Weekend in Arkansas

The girls and I left Thursday evening to go to my parent's house. We stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner, which was a good half way point! Both girls did very well eating, and we explored the store right after we ate. 

G loves to sit in their rocking chairs, so we took a few pictures before getting back in the car. 

 Poor MC, G was trying to hold her into the chair!

 Once I put her in a chair by herself, she was very happy!

 Since G was so well behaved, I let her choose a candy for the rest of our trip. 

 We managed to get to Gee's house around 7, so that gave us some time to play before bedtime. G showed off some of her gymnastic skills. 

 And MC flirted and played. 

 On Friday, my mom watched my niece, A, as well. But, I ended up watching the two little ones, while my mom took G to the dollar store to buy some toys! G loaded up on play-doh, a mermaid, paint, fingerpaint, and a sun catcher. 

I let the little ones just hang out in their jammies and play. 

 It's so fun to see A and MC play, or fight, together! They both wanted this puppy. 

 On Friday evening, I left my mom with all 3 grand girls and went to visit my friend, Laura, in Little Rock. Her mom just sold her house, and is moving, so I helped them get their garage sale together, and racked up on some goodies for the girls!

Saturday morning, G played with play-doh, and then we went to the pool. 

 My cousins came over later that day, and we swam a bit more and grilled hamburgers for dinner. MC was so hungry that she chowed down on this piece of corn!

We went to church Sunday morning, and then to lunch to celebrate my mom's birthday. We all bought her a watch, bracelet, necklace, and earrings. Once we got home, my sister and her kids came to visit, and I headed home. 

The girls are staying with my mom for a few days, because their daycare is closed this week. I needed to finish up some work visits, so i'm thankful that my mom was able to arrange her schedule to keep them. I miss my girls, but I know that they are enjoying time with Gee and grandpa!

Teaching Tots~ Cookie Cutter Fun!

I was able to stay home with the girls on Friday, and G was begging for us to do something "fun", so I browsed through Pinterest, and eventually found this idea.

I got out all of our cookie cutters, and let her go to town.

 We pressed them into different types of carpet to see if they would leave an impression.

 It didn't work on our regular carpet, but we could play with this soft bathroom rug (freshly vacuumed) and sort of see an impression.

 Then, we got out papers and crayon and traced the inside and outside of the cookie cutters. 

 G eventually took her papers and wrote a "book" about the different shapes she had made.

We also stacked cookie cutter towers!

 G is probably too old for the impression part of this activity, and thanks to our carpet it wasn't that fascinating, but it was easily expandable to working on fine motor skills such as coloring and tracing. 

Sewing Projects

I was able to get a lot of sewing finished last week. G requested a cheerleader shirt for football season this year. She refuses to wear anything that's not "girl like". So, this is what we came up with. She didn't want any blue in it either, so the poms are outlined in yellow. 

 I made this design for MC and I love how it turned out! 

 I also had the idea to do a Barbie appliqué, and since no one volunteered to do a product test, G got another new shirt! I used brown and light pink polk-a-dot fabric and placed the appliqué on a light pink shirt. She loved the way it turned out!

 I did have a mom of twin boys request to product test monster appliqué shirts, so I purchased coordinating fabric from Etsy, (i'm not sure i'll ever shop at Hobby Lobby again..... okay, I know I will.) And snapped this picture to give her a sneak peek. They're placed on the shirts already, and I should get around to finishing them this week. 

 I have a friend, here in Tulsa, that is pregnant with her 2nd child, first baby boy, and she asked if I would sew her some burpies and bibs. I still have three of her monogrammed burpies to finish up, but this was the last bib that I had to finish for her! I loved working on these, and I'm determined to add some more bibs to our inventory. 

I'll show off these last few projects in their entirety when they're finished!

And, I found out this past weekend that Pinterest is opening a Shopinterest site! We're not quite sure all the ends and outs, but I do know that you'll be able to buy products that you've seen and pinned on Pinterest! And, as a special invitation to get ahead of the gang, i'm asking that you'll follow my Honey Pie Accessories Shop board. It's all products that are currently available in my Facebook store, and if you follow this store and re-pin at least one item and you'll receive 10% off an order placed by the end of August! Re-pin 3 or more and receive 15% off a purchase!

Stay tuned for more exciting details! 

Ready To Ship Bows!

I haven't been able to sew and craft in several weeks, and as soon as I got back from my vacation, I was ready to re-open shop and create bows. All of these are listed on my Facebook page and all of them are ready to ship! 

Owls have been all the rage this summer, and when I found this owl ribbon, I wanted to snatch it up. I used a lavender polkadot ribbon as the base bow, and added a lime green ric-rac spray for a whimsical effect. The sides of the base bow are adorned with hot pink tiny baby bows, and the entire bow is set on a lined alligator clip. 

 I've been loving on Dr. Seuss for a while now, and I was excited to get this ribbon set at a steal of a price, along with the sparkling bottle caps. I already had the red and white stripe ribbon, which is a perfect replica of the Cat's Hat. I added a turquoise ribbon spray, a polkadot side bow, and the cat & the hat ribbon; all topped off with the turquoise sparkling bottle cap. 

 I love creating team spirit hair bows, maybe it's because our world is surrounded by football! But, we have a new strength and conditioning coach with a two year old little girl, so I made her this TU bow! I gave it to her Wednesday night, and she was wearing pigtails but asked her mommy to immediately put it in her hair and she proudly wore her bow all night! I can recreate a bow in your favorite teams colors!

 My daughter loves Olivia, so I bought these bottle caps from a vendor on Facebook. I had the red and black ribbon from a previous sports bow order, and double layered the black base bow, so the inside is red. I added a surround-a-loop and fun red and black spray with the Olivia bottle cap on top. 

 I've also fallin in love with ostrich feather sprays. I've ordered a handful and i've started using them in my hair bows. I used this "I love mommy" ribbon on top with a turquoise bow underneath. I added a stripe ribbon spray along with the feathers, and placed it all on top of a pink and white stripe boutique bow. This bow is so much fun, and who wouldn't want their little honey pie declaring they love their mommy!

 A few weeks ago, I offered a Facebook page special for the weekend. 10 boutique bows for $20.00 shipped, which comes out to $2.00 a bow! I only had one customer take advantage, and these are her bows! I bet you're sorry you missed out! (wink, wink)

 One of my friends in Indiana, requested a Purdue bow, and since I couldn't come up with Purdue ribbon, but had Purdue fabric left over from an order a few years ago! Those scraps come in handy and I made this scrappy bow for the little Purdue fan! Go Boilermakers!

 I also had this fabric left over from a tutu project, so I created this scrappy bow. Such bright, fun colors! 

If you are interested in any of these bows or would like to place a custom order, please visit my Facebook page and become a fan! I offer sales and discounts all the time, and i'm currently having a fundraising auction for Emmett's Search Dog, and you can even bid on a $20.00 HPA gift certificate!

SUYL~ Window Treatments

Today's Show Us Your Life with Kelly's Korner is all about window treatments. 

I thought I'd take you around several rooms in our house and show you our various window treatments and let you know a few of my tips for transitioning our curtains throughout our various houses we've owned and different rooms.

Our living room has a set of three windows, and I had a hard time figuring out how to cover these windows without covering our view of the backyard, at my husband's request. Because they are so long, and I didn't have curtain rods long enough, we ended up using two of the same curtain rods putting them side by side, and hanging two curtains on the ends; covering more of the walls than the windows. 

These curtains are a green "silk" and I bought them at Wal-Mart. They are also lined and I love them. They were originally purchased for the master bedroom, but we have a green couch, so it was easy to transition them. 

 If you look carefully though, you'll notice that this picture only shows one of our treatments, because G pulled down the other side this morning. DJ will have to put it up when he gets home.

This window treatment is my favorite, although I wish it were a tad longer. We have a huge window in our dining room, and I only wanted to cover the top half. We purchased this fabric form Hobby Lobby, and my grandma hot glued a hem into it! She firmly believes anything can be fixed with a hot glue gun!

I think i'm going to buy some black trim and hot glue along the bottom, just to give it some extra length. 

Here's a close up of the fabric.  

 The next set of window treatments are in G's room. When G was a baby we purchased two pink panels that hung in her room. Once we moved into our purchased home in Indiana and updated to her big girl bedding, we added fabric along the bottom of the pink curtains. The white curtains were left by the original home owners, so we added fabric along the bottom of those as well. These have now been in three different houses. Although, in our first Tulsa house, we just hung the pink curtains. 

 Here's a close up of the bottom. 

This last set was purchased from TJ Max. I bought both panels for a total of $12.00! They are perfect in the girls play room, and I love the ruffles at the top and bottom.  

 Here's a close up of the bottom ruffles. 

I was going to share MC's window treatments, but she was napping as I was going around to snap photos. Her curtains are white panels, and my mother bought eyelet to add to the bottom. She also made an eyelet topper.

DJ and I still need to come up with window treatments for our master bedroom and bath, but we are waiting, because I'd love to purchase a new comforter. He also needs curtains in his office!

I would love for you to realize, that decorating doesn't have to be expensive, and that you can find window treatments anywhere! Wal-Mart, TJ Max, or even make them yourself, or decorate them yourself! I also would either request for window treatments to remain, when you purchase a home, if you like them, or if you are selling a home, make sure you note which curtains you will be taking with you. There was no way that I could leave G's curtains in Indiana since they match her bedding!

Football Cookout

Sunday night we had dinner at our Head Coaches house and the football family. It was our last before the craziness of our lives begin with the start of football season, and gave us a chance to enjoy our husbands as we won't see them for the next 4 1/2 months. Seriously.

DJ and I didn't plan on getting over to their house until later that afternoon, after the girls napped. So, we made our way over around 5:00, thinking we'd be the last ones there. Wrong! We were the first. 

Thankfully, within 30 minutes other slowly began trickling in. I'm guessing the heat kept everyone inside for the afternoon.

The girls enjoyed playing on the swing set.

Here's MC toddling over to play. Y'all know I don't really call her MC in real life don't you? One of my Facebook friends saw her the other day, and was like, "Yo, MC, what's up!" Yeah, I just type MC because it's my way of protecting my kids while I continue to publish their lives online. 

 Here's G (I don't call her G either) and our little friend E (again, not his real name, or his nickname) and MC climbing up the slide. 

 MC, just standing around watching. 

G was enjoying this as her look out spot!

 And, MC decided to join her. This girl is really good on stairs. 

 I finally told DJ that he had to go watch her in case she fell, because I was too busy snapping pictures of her climbing skills. 

 See, she even went up to the very top. 

 G decided to do some swinging before dinner. 

 Do you remember swinging like this? I do, and I wish I still could, but it gives me a headache!

After the girls played and swam, we really did enjoy the company of the coaching families. We had BBQ, played some volleyball- fun times!

Changes....

If you're just popping in my blog for today, you'll notice a few changes. First, I've changed the header, my welcome logo, and the background for this piece of home in blog land. I've also edited and deleted some sidebar images.

This change comes along with a few other changes to my Facebook page.  I have to give a shout out to Karen at Designs on Demand for customizing new images on Honey Pie's page. After four years of crafting, it's about time I get a real logo!

Karen was amazing to work with! I had no idea what look I really wanted, so I looked through her previous designs and gave her two that I loved. I told her I wanted something whimsical, and she immediately sent me three designs. We discussed each one, and after two re-edits, she developed my new logo!

She also made a timeline cover to match:

Thank you so much Karen for making me feel official!

And, to you followers & fans, use the code design10 to take 10% off ANY order!

Lake Portraits- kind of.

Every year at the lake, we try to get some good photos of the girls. We waited until right before we were leaving, because it was so hot, and because we were too dirty every other day! They started out okay....

 but, MC has learned to walk and she didn't want to stand still. 

So, we tried to get the girls sitting....

I asked G to hold MC's hand to try to get her to be still, but this is what happened....

 Then this....

 And, it ended in a full out melt down.

Maybe next year, i'll get a decent one of the girls.

At least they cooperated for a family photo.

Sleepover & Hocus Pocus ~Recipe~

G had her very first sleep over last Friday night. She and our neighbor, who is also 4, had been bugging, pleading, and begging us to have one. T is the same age, and they've become good little friends over the past few months that we've lived near each other. So, T's mom and I finally planned a sleep over for the girls.

We decided they could come to our house, because T has a 2 month old baby brother, and I just cannot imagine having a 2 month old and a sleepover! T came over after dinner and the girls played in the playroom and played outside. We also made Hocus Pocus rolls that I found on Pinterest.

You'll need: Melted butter, marshmallows, cinnamon & sugar, and crescent rolls.

Dip your marshmallow into the melted butter, next roll around in the mixed cinnamon & sugar. Place the marshmallow in the center of your crescent roll, and seal tightly, then bake as directed.

 The girls had a lot of fun making them. 

 The pin connected us with the original bloggers recipe, who encourages these to be made at Easter and for you to tell the story of Jesus' resurrection. The marshmallow represents Jesus, white without sin. The melted butter represents the oils used to prepare him for burial, as the cinnamon and sugar represent the spices used. The crescent roll is the tomb. Once they are baked, you can open the rolls and Jesus (i.e. the marshmallow) is suppose to disappear, as in resurrected to Heaven.

Our Jesus did not resurrect. Instead, he spilled out of the tomb into a mess.

But, they sure did taste good!

I also sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on the tops.

The girls didn't go to bed until midnight and were up at 6:30 Saturday morning! Needless to say they were so tired the next day, but ended up playing together until 1:00! And, all the parents were shocked that T was so willing to spend the night!

I think this will be our first of many sleepovers and baking sleepover treats!

What's your favorite activity for sleepovers?