Sock Bun Curls

Hello Everyone!

Tried something new the other day.  I had been perusing Pinterest (doesn't everyone do this now?) when I came across this new method for curling hair.  My hair is pretty long (to my waist) and very thick.  I wasn't sure if it would work for me but decided to give it a try.  I thought I'd saved the link that tells how to do this but I can't find it right now.  There are several on Youtube if you want to see a video demonstration how-to.  Anyway, the idea is to put up a high ponytail and then roll it in a sock that has had the end cut off and then rolled into a donut shape.  Sounds complicated but it actually is pretty easy.  Now like I said, my hair is long and thick so I didn't think one ponytail would work.  I parted my hair down the middle and put it into two ponytails.  Can you guess what I looked like?

Yep!  Minnie Mouse!  When I came out of the bathroom my hubby got a good laugh and asked what in the world was I doing?  I told me and he just shook his head and chuckled again.  The lengths we women go to to look good.  Vanity, vanity, all is vanity!  Ha, Ha!

So you ask, "Did it work?"  Yes, it did.  It wasn't real tight, last for days type curls that I get out of sponge rollers but it gave nice body and just what I was looking for for a day in town.  (It ended up being really windy so I put my hair up with just the ends hanging down with the curl. Perfect.)

These next pictures are courtesy of my 10yr old want-to-be photographer.

 
This method of curling was much faster to do than my normal method of using sponge curlers.  I didn't like putting my hair in high ponytails though. You know the feeling when your hair gets "moved" from it's normal position for a few hours and then the soreness that happens when you take it down?  That is what I was feeling almost all day.  That  I didn't like. I tried it again later in the week with one ponytail mounted a little lower on my head (more normal position) and then separated the hair into two sections and rolled those up.  This was much more comfortable.  It didn't curl quite as much but I think it was because I did it right after I washed it and I don't think I got it dry enough.  So, this will be my new mode of curling if I'm in a hurry.  I don't think I will pitch the sponge curlers just yet but now I have choices.  Every women's dream, choices!

So go give it a try and let me know what you think.  If you come up with any other tips, pass them on.

So until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane

Velkommen (Welcome)

Hello Everyone!

Just wanted to pop in with a quick project that I did for a be-lated birthday present.  With all the wedding happenings, I missed a friend's birthday.  I wanted to make her something but was in debate with myself as to what to do.  I have been wanting to try painting on fabric using the freezer paper method that so many have blogged about lately.  I found a great tutorial over at I am Momma - Hear Me Roar. She has a great video tutorial.  So with that in the back of my head, I finally struck on a idea.  Her dad is part Norwegian and his parents live up in Minnesota.  I thought, via another friend, that I had heard that there was a specific way that they say "Welcome" up there in Minnesota that traces back to the Norwegian roots.  I called her mom to confirm my thought and she said yes, I was right.  So, without further ado, I'll show you what I came up with.

"Welcome" in Norwegian

This was a very simple pillow.  My friend is very simple in her tastes.  She goes for the vintagey feel without a lot of froufrou.  It looked a little plain to me so I added the linen flower.  I told her if she didn't like it on the pillow she could take it off and pin it to a sweater or something. ;)  I just love double duty gifts.  Anyway, I think she was pleased with it.  It took me no time at all and was cheap inexpensive.  I used some left over white fabric that I had from the wedding.  (From the chair and bench.  It was free to me even at the wedding!)  So really, the only cost was in the stuffing and the fabric paint.  Not too much.  I love being able to make something fun and not have to spend tons doing it.  I also know my friend is not offended by my cheapness because so also likes to reuse, redo, and be a Frugal Freita!  (Is Freita a Norwegian name?  Don't know but sounds a little like it to me.)  ;)  So happy late birthday, T!  Until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane

THE Wedding

Hello Everyone!

Well, as promised, I am going to share a bit about my niece's wedding.  I know, I'm only 2 weeks behind.  Wow, has it really been 2 weeks since she got married?  We really do miss her around here but it has been so busy that the time has flown (hence me taking so long to get a post up about the whole thing.) ;)

She got married in the yard of her cousin.  This is the second time a wedding has been held here so we were kind of familiar with the lay of the land as it needs to be for a wedding.  This one was set up differently but we still used some of the same branches to hang things and such.  I kept hearing myself say, "Remember at T's wedding how we tied it off here?" or "hung it from there?" or whatever.  Anyway, we started doing a few things Friday night that we knew would weather the cool damp night.  Then it was up early Saturday morning to get the rest finished up.  I could really make this a long play-by-play but I will spare you the details.  Besides, this was two weeks ago and I kind of forgot everything we did in a play-by-play way. ;)  So, I will just show you a few pictures and caption them underneath.  I might throw a little narrative in once in a while just because I'm kind of like that and enjoy over-explaining things! ;)

This is the start of the set-up.  We had a big tree to use as a backdrop.  She wanted tulle used as "curtains" to separate the background woods from the wedding site.

This is my trusty helper, aka: husband.  I did some directing from the ground as he scaled the heights of the ladder to get the tulle just right.  I will explain the sign on his back later.

The flowers were done by another friend.  After we got the tulle up, she came and assembled the center piece.

From a distance, the is what the front looked like.  We had to battle a bit of wind but it did settle down by the time the wedding took place.

OK, the sign on my hubby's back.  We both had one.  It said, "Weddings R Us".  This is a running joke between my niece and me.  Every time she would call to ask a question on the wedding or to tell me something she found or wanted, I would answer the phone with some business like response.  "Hello, Weddings R Us, how may I help you?"  or "This is your wedding consultant extraordinaire, how may I assist you today?" or some other such thing.  So, for the big day of set up, I thought we'd wear signs to remind her of our fun of the last few months.  There were a few who got pictures of the both of us and our signs but I have yet to see those. Anyway, signs explained.  On to more pictures.

This was a little cabinet that I picked up to redo for my house and never got around to it.  We were looking for something to place the water container on and this cabinet came to mind.  We did a quick paint job and added a little wedding accent to make it stand out a bit more.  Then water with lime was served from here.

This was the center of the reception table.  Sad to say, I never got a shot of the whole area.  We had two round tables on either end of this long table.  On either side of the candle center area was a punch bowl with a coffee drink and the other was pitchers of milk.  Milk you say, wait until you see the groom's cake and you will understand.

This was the bride's cake.  She loves Rice Krispy Treats, wanted something different and was on a tight budget.  This fit the bill.  It turned out really neat and everyone enjoyed something different.  Let's face it folks.  How many of us actually love wedding cake anyway?  All that gooey, overly sweet icing. Yuck!

The Groom's cake.  OREOS!  What doesn't go better with oreos than milk?  I do wish we would have come up with a topper for this cake.  I don't think either one of us thought about it.  Anyway, everyone enjoyed both the cookies.  I don't think anyone missed the traditional cake.

Here is a close-up of one of the candles.  We came across this idea on Pinterest.  We used split peas to get the green color added.  They turned out just like we envisioned. 

This was a special table dedicated to the bride's birth mother. She passed away of cancer when my niece was just a little girl.  She wanted to remember her mother and the special place she had in her early years.  I thought this was too sweet.  

Here is a picture of her with her mom not long before her mother died.  Pink was her mother's favorite color so even though it didn't "go" with her wedding colors, it honored the memory of her mother.

On the bottom of the little table, was a picture of her mother in her wedding dress.  

This is the area we set up for people to drop their gifts and sign the guest book.  It looks a bit jumbled now.  I didn't get a picture of it before all the gifts arrived.  There was a little bench that a friend and I recovered along with a chair that held the chalkboard. 

This is what the chalkboard said.  This was also a Pinterest steal borrow.  

This was by the road pointing the way into the yard.  There was a parking lot up the road that we used for most of the guests and this was just a help to point the way.

Over all, the wedding went on without any major hitches which is always a good thing.  Wedding set-up is a bit stressful and nobody wants to deal with last minute catastrophes.  We did have a couple of "hiccups" but it wasn't anything we couldn't handle quickly.  For example, the table cloths that came with the round tables were not the right ones.  They were oblong instead of round.  It was too far to go exchange them at the rental company so we just did a little tucking here and pinning there and made them work.  Also, we had some Chinese lanterns hanging from some walnut trees.  So? You say.  Think fall and walnut trees.  Yes, a few dropped down and did a little ripping.  Fortunately, the way we tied off the lanterns was easy to drop the one down and add a bit of packing tape and then pull it back up into place.  They were so high up that you really couldn't tell.  Later another fell.

It made a perfect basket through the top and then got stuck in the bottom.  No damage was done to this one.

Anyway, all very fixable issues.  The wedding was beautiful, the weather was beautiful, the message of the minister and the music was beautiful. Did I mention that it was beautiful?  Thought so. ;)  Anyway, I feel like I wouldn't do you justice if I didn't leave you with at least one of the bride and groom.

The happy bride and groom.

I also posted a picture of the bride's little sister who was the flower girl here. I love that picture and entered it into a photo contest.
Well, this has been a rather long post.  Just be happy I didn't show you all the pictures I took. (187)  Sadly, I didn't get a picture of my family while we were all decked out in our wedding finery.  I guess I was too busy taking everyone else's pictures. :(

Boy, I'm glad I finally got this post out of the way.  Don't get me wrong, it's been fun but I have lots of other things to show but I felt like I couldn't do it until I posted about the wedding.  Because, ya know, I promised. I kind of like to stick to my promises.  So, stay tuned for more to come. Until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane

Oct. Favorite at "I Clicked it Up a Notch Pictures"

Hello Everyone!

I know I seem to be doing a lot on photography lately but that is what has my attention these days.  I am not a professional just an avid hobbyist. (is that a word?)  Anyway, over at I Clicked it Up a Notch Pictures they are doing a link party for your favorite picture taken in the month of October. Oh my.  How to pick just one!  With my niece's wedding and so many other happenings of this month, I had a hard time deciding on which one to choose.  I ended up picking one I just took this last Sunday at a friend's house.  This is my beautiful daughter with a not so beautiful pig.  Yes, I said pig.  Here she is holding a baby potbelly pig.

I guess some would call this cute but I'm still trying to decide.  :)  I mean, I think my daughter is cute but that pig?!?  I just don't know about that one.  Ok, B & J, you can ignore me insulting your pig but you know me, I'm more of a city girl at heart and pigs are just not my thing.  Unless, of course, it is in the form of a big fat ham on a platter in the middle of my table.  Ya'll did enjoy that the other night didn't ya?  Ha Ha!  All kidding aside.  I do think it is a cute picture and hope you all enjoy it and got a few laughs out of my silliness.  You will have to excuse me but I am pushing midnight here.  Anyway, check back later for pictures and thoughts on my niece's wedding.  I promise I am still going to post about that.  So until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge- "Let Them Be Little"

Hello Everyone!

Each Monday, I Heart Faces , issues a photo challenge.  It has been fun to see what everyone submits.  This is the first one that I have entered.  As you know, my niece just got married on Oct. 15th.  I have yet to post about the event but I will get around to it.  Anyway, I was a little camera happy and took around 187 pictures.  I caught some great moments.  I will show you one of my favorites of my little niece who was the flower girl.

I just love the colors and the look on her face as she looks up at her mom. They were grouping for a family pose and I zeroed in on just her.  I think it is just too precious.  Well, that is it for now.  If you want to see other pictures being submitted, just click on the I Heart Faces button on my sidebar.  Thanks for looking.  Until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane

A few quotable quotes for the wedding week

Hello Everyone!

I just thought I'd jump on here real quick and share a few quotes that go with my week.  This is the big week before my niece's wedding with lots of preparation both for the wedding and out-of-town company.  The first one deals with my children and me wanting them to clean their rooms.

I can't clean my room because

 I get distracted by all the cool stuff I find.

The next one is a Keep Calm one.

Keep 

Calm...

oh 

Who 

Are We

Kidding?

This next one is how I function.

Nothing Makes a

Person More

Productive than

The Last Minute.

This one may be me come Saturday morning.

I just don't have time

for the 

Nervous Breakdown 

that I deserve.

And the last two are ones that happen to me on a regular basis when there is planning going on.

I want to 

sleep but my

brain won't 

stop talking 

to itself.

I hate it when I'm

 tired and sleepy,

but when I go to

bed my body says,

"Just kidding."

So there you have it folks.  I love quotes and I'm the type that likes a bit of sarcastic humor.  :)  I'm sure there is a little bit of exaggeration here.  I really don't think the week will be too bad but I know it will get very busy and I will probably stress out.  But I am so looking forward to it. (Except that my niece is moving out of state. Boo!)  Saying all this, I will probably not be back with you until next week and I've recuperated from the wedding weekend.  Hope you enjoyed my quotes and got a few laughs.  So until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane

PS.  All quotes came from Pinterest but I just retyped them my own way.  I'm not sure all the ins and outs of sharing things off of Pinterest.  I'll have to check into that for future postings.

Family Photos & a Rant!

Hello Everyone!

Hope ya'll (I lived in TX for 5 years) had a great weekend.  We had a great one with much getting accomplished.  Hope to post on that later.  Today, I am sharing with you a few photos from a session I did for my sister-in-law.  This is the family with the much talked about "niece that is getting married".  They wanted to have family pictures taken before their daughter got married.  I volunteered, well, actually begged for them to let me take some pictures.  I have mentioned this in a previous post.  Sorry it has taken me a while to show you some of the results.  We had fun doing the pictures but were very limited on time.  The sun is setting sooner and sooner these days.  We went to a little town that isn't really a town.  Confusing I know.  This is a place that a local artist has built.  He has brought in a bunch of homes and buildings to his property to make it look like an old town.  There is a church, old school with a bell, general store, houses, barns, etc.  It has some old cars, planes, gas pumps, train car, and more.  Just an excellent place for pictures.  I could have spent several hours there but like I said, we were running out of light.  So here are a few of my favorites.

This was one of the first pics we took.  I brought props that would deal with each person's interests.   I wasn't sure how these would turn out but I'm really liking them.

Same idea but with everyone looking at the camera.

What family doesn't have the kids making faces at their parents smooching?

We just had to add the future son-in-law in there somewhere.

The littlest loves making goofy faces.  I got a kick out of this one.

Liking the vintage look of this one of the 3 brothers.  Old boat, old truck, sun setting. 

Dad and his boys.

Mom and her boys.

Mom and her girls.

This one is sweet to me.  Shows love of siblings, love of parents and love as a whole family.

I like the special effects of this one done with Picnik.

So there are just a few of my favorites.  Thanks for letting me "shoot" ya'll.  Glad we were able to fit it in before the big wedding day.  (Next weekend.)

Now for my rant.  I got called for jury duty.  Booo!!  Not that I mind doing my duty as a citizen.  However, I am a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom.  I tried to get out of it when they sent me the first questionnaire but apparently that excuse didn't fly.  Now I have to wait around for them to actually call me for a case and try to plead to the judge to let me off.  It wouldn't have been so bad if the timing would have been better.  I have to be available from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31.  That is like 2 months.  Am I supposed to just put my life on hold for 2 months while I wait to see if they need me or not?  Well, unfortunately, I guess so.  We were planning to go to CA to see my family at the end of Nov. / first of Dec.  I'm just glad I hadn't bought the plane tickets yet.  I almost did that the other day.  I'm just hoping I'm called Nov. 1st and I can beg the judge to let me out of it and be done.  Then we can still make plans to go.  Whew!  I'm glad I got that off my chest.  Now that I'm done ranting, I guess I better start praying.  You can join me if you wish. ;)  I better sign off for now so I can hit this last week before the wedding with some decent nights of sleep.  So until next time...

Have a blessed day.,

maggie jane

Decorating with Portraits

Hello Everyone!

Hope everyone has had a good week so far and are looking forward to the weekend.  I'm looking forward to getting a few things done this weekend. One of my projects that I've been slowly trying to work on is a family picture gallery going up my stairwell.  I have been searching the internet for different inspirations.  I came across a blog run by photographer Kristen Duke.  I have really enjoyed looking through her posts.  She has a lot of advice when it comes to photography and decorating with portraits.  In September, she ran a special series on using portraits to decorate with and invited guests to post every day of the month.  It was really fun to see how others use their family pictures to decorate their homes.  This month, she is doing a link party for anyone who wants to join in to share what they have done.  Sooo, that is what this post is all about.  I am going to share only some of the places where I have used pictures of family to decorate my walls.  Those of you who know me well know that I love pictures and use them everywhere.  I am only going to share some of the places but it still may seem like a lot.  So here goes.  We'll start off in the living room.

This is what I call the ancestor window.  I have been fortunate enough to have lots of old pictures from both my mom and dad's side of the family.  Most are all in excellent condition so it makes it fun to display.  This window shows my parents, grandparents and great-grandparents from both sides.  Unfortunately, I don't have any good ones from my husband's side of the family.

This is the ever changing piano.  A couple times a year I will change up what is displayed on the piano.  Right now, I just have a picture of my husband and me.  The other end sports a poem about Christian Marriage that my husband bought for me.  This arrangement has been up for a while so it is probably time to change it.  We'll see.

This area I've just done in the last year and a half or so.  I've had the picture hanging but it was just  kind of floating in never, never land.  Once I added the shelf and table it seemed to flow a little better.  This picture of us is a few years old.  Time to re-do that as well.

This is a little side table by my couch.  I have a couple of fun pictures that I took of my daughter with a few of her "big-sister" friends a couple of years ago.  These might actually get moved up to her room because I am going to do a photo gallery above her bed as well.  (Just adding to my "to do" list.) ;)

This is on the table under the big family picture.  It is just a basket of loose pictures that people can casually thumb through.  These are usually ones that have come off of my refrigerator after spending a bit of time there.  Or, they might be a few duplicates to ones I have in an album or frame somewhere else. 

There are two small sections of wall between some windows in the living room.  I  have pictures of my two kids when they were little on top and then a more current one on the bottom.  Sad to say, the "said current" ones are not very current.  Need to update those as well.

My son's side.

This is also in my living room.  I have mixed a few pictures in with my pitcher collection.  I like the variety there.

Now on to the bedroom.  This grouping is across from our bed and above a long desk.  I love these pics of the kids but they may also get moved to the stairwell wall that is in process.  I have recently read that the master bedroom should be about the couple and it makes sense.  So, I will probably update this space with pictures of me and the hubby.

I do have this one above my dresser but I will probably do more.  I would like to do more formal ones to replace the ones of the kids.

This is a little grouping just outside of our bedroom door in a very tiny hallway.  Actually, I don't even know if it would qualify as a hallway but we'll just call it that for now.  These pictures sit above a bookcase that holds the kids books.  This way they can see themselves often and hopefully read the little plaque that goes with their pictures.  It says, "Do everything without complaining or arguing."  Still working on that one.  FYI: These pictures need to be updated as well.  Sigh, more to the "to do" list.  But hey, I get to take more pictures!  Fun!

This is at the end of the so-called hallway.  These aren't technically photographs but they are drawings taken from some photos that I took a few years ago.  A very talented friend of ours did these for me and I love them!

Like I said, this is a lot, but really just a few.  I haven't showed you the other parts of the house.  I am hoping to share when I get the stairwell wall done and my daughter's wall done.  The big wedding I've mentioned before is next weekend.  I would like to get the stairwell done before our company arrives but I'm not sure if I'll make it or not.  These things take time and thought.

So I'm linking this up to Kristen Duke's link party so go check out her site and what others have done with decorating with portraits.  So until next time...

Have a blessed day,

maggie jane