St. Patrick's Day (or any day!) hair clips

Come to my etsy shop and check out some new hair clips and bands I made.  They were so fun to make.  I love them in my daughter's red hair!

KathrynAnnBoutique

Pause

I wrote this almost a year ago. I came across it today and was so happy I paused and wrote it down. Life is too short to skip the important moments. (Sorry about the weird formatting!)


I don’t ever want to forget this day. The sun is beaming, not a cloud in the
sky, shadows of swaying tree limbs cover our grass. The weather perfect, the
month , January. The smell of leaves and freshness wafting through the air. A jean
quilt laid out on the grass. A quilt I crafted with my own hands as part of my
Young Women’s project as a 16 year old. Created from overused and worn out
jeans of my dad, mom and siblings. It is worn, but not worn out, still hanging
onto threads of love after nearly 15 years.
A pancake picnic laid out, homemade pancakes, fluffy and thick, fresh and
warm, a special treat for lunch with cool whip. Not whipping cream, but ask
Spencer and Brooke if they mind and they won’t be able to answer because their
mouths are full of cool whip. Talk of today’s school activities. Spencer played
and shared bikes and didn’t cry when his turn was up. He sang “Dinosaur Boogy”.
He read books about animals. He played with Gustavo, Joseph and Ryan. He
spoke of a new girl and blushed. I asked him if she was pretty and he smiled.
Brooke told Spencer that we went to the store, watched Curious George and read
books.
So far, they have played on the slide, played puppies, played on the teeter
totter, played with shovels. They ask each other, “Are you ok?” when they fall
down. “Yes, I’m ok.” they respond in turn. They run to me excitedly when they
share with each other. They share in each other’s triumphs. They work as a
team. They giggle and laugh as only a four and two year old can. I wish I could
push the pause button or at least slow motion. I wish all of life could be this way:
unscheduled and unstructured. The weather has a calming and soothing effect,
lessens fighting, lessens crying, lessens feelings of frustration.
I am sitting on the blanket reading The Heretic’s Daughter, engrossed when
I suddenly think, “I don’t want to miss this. I want to remember this forever.” I
want to remember that on January 31st, 2012, winter, we were outside on an
unseasonably warm day listening to bird’s chirping, leaves waving on the trees,
the occasional car and Pandora randomly playing songs from Disney movies and
musicals. That life was quite simple and lazy for a few hours on a Tuesday in the
middle of winter.
As time passes, I will remember important occasions and milestones, but
will I remember these quiet moments of playing and peace? These small
moments that make up flecks of happiness. That these flecks of happiness
combine to make up the nuggets of life. These are the flecks worth
remembering. And as I sit here unsure of our future, if we’re moving, if I can
manage four kids, if my life will be calm. Suddenly, none of that matters. God

has blessed me with this beautiful day to have some peace and quiet and
reflection. That my life will continue on the path that He has planned for me.
That I will make the necessary choices in faith.
Suddenly, a bee flies into my face. He is persistent and we run indoors to
escape him. Spencer says, “He got all of his honey” and I am grateful for my
many blessings.

St. Patrick's Day Hair Clippies

These are for sale on my etsy shop.  Wouldn't they be perfect for St. Patrick's Day?  They are $2 each and $1 shipping.  Go ahead and check them out here!

Something I wrote: might be worth 2 minutes of your time!

My husband was working late the other night and I got the writing itch.  It had been a few months since I put pen to paper.  Once I started, I couldn't get enough.  I completed my tinkerbell spiral notebook that I bought last year when I first started writing again.  This was the last page in my notebook.  This picture is down the street from us.  It isn't the inspiration to this piece, but I need to get a picture of my kitchen window for you to see. Or maybe you can picture it on your own?

                        A quite Thursday afternoon had me washing dishes left from the previous night and listening to Coldplay.  It was a job I didn’t want to do but one made more enjoyable as I looked out the kitchen window. I have never had a kitchen window in the ten years of homes I have lived in.  Until I came to Iowa to live in a small four bedroom, one bathroom brown house with my four kids and husband.  Yes, it is squishy, but how much space do you really need with 4 children?  They would be all over me with or without space!  Therefore, this kitchen window is a bonus in this house.  I can look out of it while doing undesirable jobs.  Emptying the food leftover from dinner into the garbage because there isn’t a disposal, washing and loading an array of dishes: plastic plates, glasses and multiple utensils.  It appears that the dishes never stop coming.  They always find their way back to the sink, dirty and begging to be cleaned and shined and freshened. 

                        This day, this beautifully gray Thursday complete with silence and Coldplay was made still.  As I gazed out the window, I saw one fall, now two, now three.  Swirling, twirling, dancing, meeting in the middle and moving apart to unknown spaces.  One to fly higher and land on an outstretched evergreen branch.  One to sink lower, desperate to touch ground and meld with other flakes spread across the white and frozen ground.  One that can’t make up his mind and flits between sky and earth.  Where are they going and where will they land?  Truly, it doesn’t matter but that they add to the beauty of the landscape and the amazement that crisp, clean snow provides to a weary soul.  A clear reminder of the goodness and purity of white and the symbol of a world made new through fallen flakes.  The branches stretch out, crinkly and cold and brittle.  Arms with fingers extended and awaiting fresh moisture.  Snow that will cover its barren brown branches and blanket them in beauty.

                        This view is worth it to me to live in this house that can’t seem to provide enough storage or space.  But the closeness of winter and nature and freshly fallen snow will remain in my mind long after the memories of cramped quarters have vacated.  My lips nearly cry out to the kids that snow is falling, but then I quiet.  I want this moment to myself.  Selfish? Maybe.  But these few flakes belong to me.  These puffy, lacey snowflakes are mine.  This quiet Coldplay, snowy Thursday afternoon will always be mine.

Paparazzi Jewelry Sale!

I am going for it!  I have two displays set up and lots of headbands and hair flowers and rings and bracelets. I am going to drop them off at my kid's teacher's lounge tomorrow and see what happens.  Should be interesting!  If anybody is interested in this paparazzi craze, check it out here! paparazzijewelry.com

Guest Post: Easy Printer Crafts for Kids by Tina

Easy Printer Crafts for Kids Are you trying to cut back on spending money on toys and entertainment? Are your kids bored of playing with what they have now? Or do you just encourage them to do something other than watching TV and playing video games? Have you ever considered using your computer to keep your children busy? Not just by playing games and watching videos online, but when you combine the use of your printer, you can find endless activities to do with your kids.

  3D Paper Crafts


3D Crafts are easier than ever. Nowadays, there are so many printables online with folding guides drawn on to help you know exactly where to make your creases. Just look up 3D paper crafts and you’ll find a plethora of free templates. If your kids are on the younger side, you can find 3D alphabet paper characters making it a fun and educational activity to do together. Parents, just help them with the cutting, folding, and gluing, and they’ll have something fun to play with afterwards. Print the template on cardstock to give some strength and sturdiness to your paper figures. This will help them be able to play a bit more roughly than if it were printed on regular paper. 3D crafts are perfect for the older ones to stimulate their mind as they go on and try to figure out how to assemble each character that can range from action figures to princesses. If they don’t “play” with toys anymore, then they could go ahead and decorate their room with the 3D figures. Paper Masks & Headbands



If you want to encourage your children to use their imagination more during their playtime, how about making paper masks and headbands according to their favorite character. First, try making a family activity out of picking out the masks, printing them, and decorating them. If you’re making a lot of masks, try making it a contest and pick out the best ones in the end. Then cut out the decorated mask or headband template, assemble using a popsicle stick at the bottom of the mask or string to go around the head, and let your kids go out and pretend to be their own character. This makes for a great rainy day or party activity. Puzzles Another way to get everyone’s creative juices flowing is to print out a puzzle template. You can find blank puzzle patterns or coloring page puzzles for free online. Regardless of which one you choose, just color them in or embellish them with sequins and glitter, cut them out, mix them up, and try to put them together. If you want to try to make your puzzle pieces last, think about printing the puzzle on cardstock. You could even laminate the page before you cut out the pieces. This is a great way to have new puzzles all the time without spending a lot of money on buying new ones at the store. Plus, it’s a 2-in-1 activity which could help occupy a lot of your child’s time.

  Themed Activity Book Instead of buying activity books, try making one yourself. You can tailor it to your kids age and by what kind of characters or theme they want. For instance, if your child loves superheroes, you could compile various superhero printables like word searches, connect-the-dots pages, coloring pages, mazes, etc. based on their age, and staple them together like a book. If they complete the whole book, then you don’t have to worry about adding it to your grocery list, you just have to print out another book.
  Paper Dolls & Finger Puppets This might bring back bits of nostalgia, but paper dolls are still around. Once more, just search for paper dolls online and you’ll get a result of thousands of dolls. Some are already colored, but you can find paper doll templates that are blank allowing you and your child to decorate them. If paper dolls aren’t as appealing, how about making finger puppets? There are a lot of different themed finger puppets on the Internet. All you have to do is color them in, cut them out, and cut finger holes or attach a paper ring/popsicle stick on it so you can hold the puppets. You can put on a show for the whole family. If it becomes a regular family activity, try making a finger puppet theatre to pull “the show” together. This post was brought to you by Tina, a major contributor for 4Inkjets.com, the leading provider of discounted ink cartridges. On her free time she likes to read, do scrapbooking projects, and go outside with her dachshund.

Jewelry Display Peg Board

To put as little time as I can into my little Paparazzi accessories start up, I am going to make one of these little jewelry displays.  I even survived taking the four kids to Lowes.  That's a good thing!  These are pretty great cases and easy to do.  Here is the link.  Paparazzi consultant 12326