FABULOUS DIY! HAHAHA!

DIY: make your washing machine a winter wonderland! 


simply put a fluffy decorative pillow in with the wash without checking to see if it's sturdy. 


(will NOT be sharing photos. hahahaha!)

Awesome Article on Being Happy

12 Things Happy People Do Differently

Avant Garde Writeup

Another Avant Garde show coming up at the end of January. I'm excited to be involved.

This is a little article featuring myself (blushing).

Avant Garde Shows- Meet Shari Dippong

Holiday SHipping

HA HA! so, how is everyone doing with their holiday shopping...

and shipping?  HAHA!!

Pizza Boxes make Great Bobbins

I got tired of buying the plasic bobbins that the craft store puts out, so I decided to make some out of cereal boxes... not sturdy enough. Pizza Boxes, though, are definitely nice and sturdy! I use the ones from our Aldi frozen pizzas, so they're clean. 

I like to make sure I put the slit on the side without the holes, and that I wrap the thread following those lines. If you do it the other way, it has a tendency to bend, when you're wrapping the thread.

Who's Gorgeous Photo is this?

I'd love to give credit to whom it's due. This photo is stunning. I just can't get over it.

Trick or Treat 2011

a few photos from the evening.

 i decided to put a few of my crafts in this year

 jackolantern crayons, bracelets, and chocolate, and a few nutrigrain bars. :)

 my boys all ready to go trick or treating

 first house 

this dog cracked me up, she looked so cute in a tutu

 i had tried the glow liquid in bottles, but didn't really have enough, the bracelets were too skinny, so i just put the whole pile of bracelets in water. haha.

 they turned out looking cute anyway.

 my husband is a hottie!

Happy Halloween, Everyone

Sunday School Barbies

I love helping with the kindergarten sunday school. I donated some Barbies last year, and some clothes I had found on eBay. the girls have loved playing with them. Recently, I noticed they were getting pretty straggley. I brought them home and redid their hair. I realized that I had only blonde white girls. HAHA. That won't do at all, so I'm on the hunt for Barbies that more of the girls can identify with.  I used to have a beautiful hispanic doll, 2 black dolls, and brunettes... but in a fit of insanity I sold all my Barbies and the huge stash of clothes I had too.

I found that Value World sells Barbies for $1.01, so I've kind of been snatching them up. It's funny that people just toss the Barbies because the hair is ratty. I work a little bit, and make the hair nice again, and they're good as new. I like doing it too. Maybe I should start my own Barbie Refurbishing business. :)

I found a large group of generic Barbie clothes at Marcs... but when I got them home.... hardly anything actually fits! the capris are way too small. It was a very frustrating waste of money.

I don't like the clothes Barbie (and similar fashion dolls) is putting out now, it's all way too revealing. I think it's definitely the wrong image. Little kids shouldn't be thinking about sexy clothes, and bodies like that. They need to be able to associate Barbie with their own mom, or teacher, etc. I get sad seeing little kids trying to pose all sexy for photos, and wearing clothes that are way too grown up for them. Sigh, well, that rant is done, so I'll move on. LOL.

There is a fantastic seamstress on Etsy called White Squirrel that makes nice Barbie clothes that are more modest. I plan on buying them sometime, but for now, I just wanted something to dress these girls, so I could take them on Sunday.

My solution was just to make my own clothes for them. I had a ton of sleeves left over from the Tshirt Bags I make, so I just started stitching away. I think in the future I would actually like doing it by hand much better than the machine, just because the machine is like a runaway horse sometimes. It was pretty stressful trying to get the machine to do what I wanted on such a small canvas.  Here are some photos of my refurbished Barbies, and the clothes I made for them. I did find a pretty black Barbie, but she has the wind up mechanism in the back for wings, so I'm going to continue my hunt, and use her only if I can't find better ones.

Craft Show for Avant- Garde in Northeast Ohio

Avant-Garde Fall Art & Craft Show
Sunday, October 23, 2011, 10:00am-5:00pm
Holy Spirit Byzantine Catholic Church
5500 West 54th St.
Parma, OH 44129.


Be there or be square!

Jennifer Morris- Cool Artist on Etsy

you know how you see someone and think "that would be a really cool girl to have as a friend"?
yeah, i just found someone like that....

http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2011/featured-seller-jennifermorrisbeads/ (read this, it's great)

http://www.etsy.com/people/jennifermorrisbeads?ref=ls_profile (and this, while you're at it)

oh my so fun!!

and this is what she makes!! i am in love with these little things...

http://www.etsy.com/listing/64090987/chefs-choice-surprise-heart-festive?ref=v1_other_1

and i'll leave you with a little quote that was at the end of her profile page on Etsy...

*we all have unique talents*
follow your heart and you'll create your own unique things!
the world needs to see what you have to offer,
not a copy of someone else's.

Giddy Phrase of the Day

Giddy phrase of the day- the Sit and Spin turned on and started talking... 

Giddy said.."Spinner! You're talking, I'm so proud of you!!" 

WE DIED LAUGHING!!

Sharing a Blog of a "Not So Typical Church Lady" LOVED it!

I found the coolest blog. Someone had shared it on facebook.

Journey of Faith

This week, she wrote about MY church, how exciting! She visits different churches and then writes about them, for her blog. What a great idea!!

She wrote all about her experience as a visitor at Cleveland Baptist Church, and the service she attended, Civil Servant Sunday. What a perfect day to visit!

I love my church, but I'm totally biased. Ha ha! It was so encouraging to read about CBC from a visitor's perspective. You need to go check out her blog.

Oh, and she has a really cool addition... a "cross of the week" drawn by JB... here's the one from this week, it's gorgeous!

Some Fun Links I've seen lately...

http://carolynshomework.blogspot.com/2011/08/sew-and-tell-fabric-scrap-journal.html

http://sugarswings.blogspot.com/2011/08/rainbow-ice-cream-cone-cake-bites.html

http://thelifeofjenniferdawn.blogspot.com/2011/09/shake-art-for-kids.html

Angry Birds, Anyone?

http://chrome.angrybirds.com/

Found the online version! COOL!

Started a Facebook Page for Mommy's Craft Box

I've started a Facebook Page

  Mommy's Craft Box

Etsy Treasuries for August 2011

I have had so much fun putting together treasuries on Etsy, here is my list of treasuries so far.

(treasuries on Etsy are kind of like a little scrapbook of favorites, a little visual album)

http://www.etsy.com/people/shari313/treasury?sort=creation_date&order=desc

Hair Wrap or Feather Extension Threader on Etsy- Plus Tutorial on Installing a Feather Extension

since, i'm starting to make hair wrap extensions that attach with micro beads, and so i figured it would be cool to offer threaders in my shop too.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/80454566/feather-extension-micro-bead-threader

Here is a  fun photo tutorial on how to thread a micro link through your hair, and insert a feather extension. :):)

An Etsy Shop with a Big Heart

I just ran across an Etsy shop today that I was so impressed with.

The photos were gorgeous, and diverse. I added one of the photos to a treasury I was making- In Anticipation of Cool Autumn Days, and loved the premise behind the wonderful owner's shop.

Lauren Wilkie started her shop to raise money for different causes through the sale of her fine art photos. Each photo has a theme, or series, and the proceeds go to help different charities, and causes. What an honorable reason to own a shop. She has raised the bar from just being a shop owner to make money... to being a shop owner to make a difference. I applaud this effort, and wish Lauren's shop Doors and Windows all the success a compassionate world can give.

Definitely Liking Etsy

Come see my shop...

http://www.etsy.com/shop/shari313

It's called Mommy's Craft Box... and it's just that. Whatever craft I'm working at the time will randomly pop up there. For the most part, I focus on Hair Wrap Extensions that are Clip on, or Semi Permanent with a silicone micro bead attached. I love making feather extension clips too, and have been having some good success with that.

Here are some of my latest items for sale on Etsy...

Autumn at the Farmer's Market Notecards

Black Feather Hair Wrap Extension with a Mood bead accent

Hair Wrap Extension with mini Extension Clip

Pink and Brown Hair Wrap Feather Extension- Clip on, with pink lampwork bead

Heart Shaped Metal Pendant Necklace

Thanks so much for checking it out. Have fun browsing my shop, and all the other wonderful crafters on Etsy

Good and Bad and then Good again.

today has been mostly great! God is so good.

We visited one new playground this morning, for a little while (we never stay at the ones without bathrooms for long.) that was nice... then we came back home, and headed right back out to meet jeffie, and bring him lunch.

i set up a little picnic lunch for us all in a school playground that had a nice picnic area. it was wraps again. man, i love those so much. i'm almost out of the 2 packages i got this weekend. haha. so a second new playground visited.... then another trip for a bathroom break, and more to drink.... and on to playground #3. haha!! (i'm trying to make this the finale of our playground summer.)

well, on the way to the next playground, :(:( i witnessed something horrible. a group of kids were riding their bikes across the street. they were on the crosswalk, but for some reason they were out in the middle of the street at the wrong time, and all the cars kept going.... i stopped... because the one boy decided to try to beat the cars... he got hit. :(:(:( i was so shocked. the boy's bike was totalled, but he got up... i was so glad to see him get up. but it was nuts that he was crying and upset that the lady had killed his bike. it was his fault for riding in front of a moving vehicle. i'm just so astounded by all the pedestrians and bikers that assume that a vehicle can stop if they get in front of them. don't even get me started on that. haha. i hope he's ok, and very thankful that the accident wasn't more serious. i'm also thankful the boys didn't take it as hard as i did. i slowly got past the mess, and then just started bawling.

but... just a few minutes down the road, i was on the parkway, and noticed a family of deer lunching in a person's front yard... i was able to put my hazards on, and stop to watch them and take photos. i will forever believe and be grateful, that it was the Lord that put those deers there to help comfort me. i am very visual. so this was like a little healing for my soul, after what i had seen earlier.

we spent the rest of the afternoon at the playground, and i met some great people. one lady homeschools, and goes to a romanian baptist church, and knows beth from church. it was cool to get to know her. and then another lady talked to me, and i found out that she named two of her boys GABRIEL and GIDEON!!! and she calls them Gabey and Giddy! can you even believe that?? it's uncanny! they were on the playground too! she said she kept wondering why someone was calling her boys. hahaha!! that was just the coolest.

also, i got to get some photos of an adorable baby squirrel who came up right behind me to munch on something.

so all in all, it was a blessed day. i'm thankful, so thankful that my boys... that my whole family... is safe and sound, thankful that i have a car to take us places. and that we have so many cool places to go. lol.

Laurel and Hardy in the Hollywood Revue of 1929

Mots for Tots

I just signed up to get some new juice called Mots for Tots, isn't that the cutest name?

http://www.vocalpoint.com/mottsfortots

Today's Flowers

...just a few random flowers I've found recently.

Be sure to visit http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com/2011/06/todays-flowers-147.html for other beautiful flower photos.

A Few Random Photos