Lately...

Man I have needed to update forever. My laptop is on the fritz and can only be used for a few minutes at a time...so I have stopped using it altogether. I keep up a little bit via our cell phones but haven't done much posting. Now, I have some down time because I am at my sister's watching my nephew while she and the hubs go on a date. So I will use her laptop. Have I mentioned yet that my sister moved to Mississippi? Right to my same town? It has been awesome! I especially love getting to spend time with Atrion...he is so, so sweet and I just adore him.

What have we been up to?

Carter started his second year of T-Ball. His team this year is the Hernando Yankees. He has grown by leaps and bounds from last year....going from being one of the smaller on his team to now being the biggest. He is really great on the field and stops the majority of the balls. I have to yell out to him from the sidelines to please give other kids a chance to get the ball. He will then let one go by for someone else. He needs more work at batting. He hits the tee a lot and then when he does connect it just kind of dribbles a few feet in front of him. If he could connect right he has the power to hit it out there. Josh is working with him. I will admit...I am one of those moms that wants Carter to be good...one of the best on the team. I don't really settle for mediocrity. I am not mean about it or anything but when I know there is potential there I expect to see it reached. With that said we have a lot of fun going to his games. The kids are riot to watch...after all...they are only 3 and 4 years old.

Casey and Atrion enjoying Carter's t-ball game as well. So fun to have them here!

I have also been trying my hand at couponing. I follow Freebies2Deals and am on high alert for items I can get for free. It has been fun...it is really satisfying to come out of the store with items you had to pay NOTHING for...legally.

This is my first picture of completely FREE! There are items even missing. I will have a second picture soon. This is all stuff I use. The travel size items are perfect for 72 hour kits...or for...erm...traveling. Getting laundry detergent and deoderant free are my favorite scores. By the way...I really love Ban Deorderant. It works superbly. I had never used it before getting it free....now I am always on the look out for a good deal for it because it is pricey when full price. If you want to try I have seen it at Wal-Mart with a $1.00 off coupon attached to it. My couponing ambition is now trying to get some free or cheap toilet paper.

I have no secrets or real advice other than saving your coupons. I only get Red Plums in the mail and then whatever I find online...I have yet to get hard core enough to subscribe to the Sunday paper...but some of the best coupons are in there I hear...so I am sure the Sunday paper is in my future. Then subscribe to some coupon sights...they do most of the work for you. They tell you where and what coupons to use to score deals. Then...you have to be a nerd and carry your coupons with you wherever you go in case you come upon an unexpected or unadvertised sale...that is how I got the Purex for free. Kroger had it on sale for 1.99 each...I had two 3.00 off coupons...so I made money on buying one...which I used to get another one for free. I did not hear about that deal online...so I just happened upon it and was really excited that I had my coupons with me. I am not smart enough to be one of the extreme couponers. You have to be good at math and have loads of time and devotion to spend on it. For now I am content with how things are going. More of a little hobby than an obsession, if you will.

P.S there are lots of companies that give away free stuff online....usually when you 'like" them on Facebook. It is fun to get free stuff in the mail too.

Lately I have also been in a crafting and repurposing craze with my sister. Goodwill has become a treasure trove that we like to haunt weekly. I love to get ugly, wooden or metal pieces and refinish them. Love it! I have a lot of really cute pieces in my home now that would cost me a fortune if I bought them new. I also get more satisfaction from the things in my home when it is something I created or beautified.

I LOVE this headband I made. I don't think the picture shows just how fun and cute it is to wear. I wear headbands all the time so I love that I can make my own.

Here are a few of my projects...I don't have the "after" pictures with me....so I will leave you in suspense.

Calling All....

of you who make things with your own genius and talented hands! (or even off borrowed genius but still with your own hands)

I have insanely talented friends...coughDesicoughKatycoughBeckycoughLaracoughetc. (if you aren't named here please keep reading because I am still talking to you).

I am opening a boutique. Which I need to ask...do you like the word boutique? I really like it. To me it sounds quaint, cute, and like I am going to walk in and find something beautiful or cutesy. My sister on the other hand thinks of cobwebs and dust when she hears that word. What comes to your mind. I really truly need to know.

I will give full details soon. But part of my vision is to be an "Etsy Live" shop. Where I live, internet is not as huge and used as much as in the west. It might be for economic reasons but I am not totally sure. Therefore, so many ...and I mean 95% of the people I talk to have no clue what I mean when I say, "oh I got this on Etsy". So, I want to bring pieces of Etsy to my town. But not really Etsy...I want to bring pieces of YOU to my town.

I am looking for those of you interested in having your creations featured in my shop. I only want to start out with 5-10 of your pieces. If they are a hit we will talk more. If they are slower to move...we may never talk again. Totally kidding. But you understand.

Your items should come with a cutesy tag with your design name and website. I am more than willing to send customers directly to you via the web. I hope this will draw people to my shop to discover new designers as well as boost the sales of those of you who definitely have the skill to make money by your designs and creations.

If you are interested please e-mail me at lauravannoy@gmail.com and we will talk more. And don't feel pressured to think this will have to be a big ordeal. If you only want to make 2 things...then 2 things it is and you can choose to never make another item ever. But I hope we both find that this is not the case.

So e-mail me...and if I want some of you and you don't e-mail me...well...I just may come looking for you. So don't think you get off that easy!

Be Mine

 

 Tutorial Here

 This is the project I picked for our combined Relief Society/Young Women Activity. 

Cute huh!

This website is chock full of the funnest ideas ever!

Tutorial Here

Meet Twisty People and Bouncy Family

Excuse the horrible cell phone pics...but Carter and I wanted to show you what we made today!

Here is Twisty People. Carter named the first one "Carter" and he affectionately named the second one "Carter" as well. He can come up with other names...I think he is just a little egocentric.

Here is the Bouncy Family. Daddy Bouncy, Carter Bouncy, and Mama Bouncy.

You can play with them like little springs hopping along or you can use them as finger puppets.

I was walking by the dollar bins at Target the other day and saw the pipe cleaners and picked up some googly eyes and pom poms from the bins as well. 3 bucks is not too shabby for some good, creative fun. Super cheap and super easy for hours of fun and you can use and reuse them. Some of you probably have this stuff lying around anyhow. I was just super proud of my "moment of genius" because my creative moments are few and far between...I am sure some of you are guffawing at what I call "creative". BUT if any of you decide to try these out do post pictures for me to see! I want to see what little creatures you come up with!