Not a new photo but, I wanted to share

I like to give the kids' teachers ornaments for Christmas. I had an idea about the ornament I wanted to make this year but time got away from me. I saw some BEAUTIFUL ornaments on Laura's blog and they look like something I could manage. How wrong I was.

I thought I followed Laura's directions exactly. They aren't hard directions? What could I be doing wrong. Well, I think I figured out the problem. It was 2 fold: I was draining them too long & was using semi-icky glitter. I had the MS coarse glitter & it was just too coarse & not sparkly enough. This picture does not show how truly UGLY this ornament is!!!

I decided to try again. This time, I could only find HUGE ornaments at Michael's, all the little ones were taken by people who planned ahead better & knew what they were doing! Oh well. I used Cool Caribbean reinker (I only have brown reinkers for some reason. Weird. I bought Cool Caribbean, True Thyme & whatever the reddish In color was at that time. This was before I started boycotting In Colors!) and my ultrafine glitters in colors. Here is the weird thing; the color of the ink is not that important; it's the color of the glitter that effects the color of the ornament!! (The pink was done w/Pretty in Pink ink)

I used pink glitter w/CC and it came out more of a true blue. I used light blue glitter and it turned out light blue. I used gold glitter & somehow, it gave a greenish gold tint to the ornament. When I ran out of the gold, I used dark green. WHOA, that turned out a dark, Dark, DARK green ornament!! I think if you click the pics below, you might get a better picture of what the colors look like.

So, if you decide to try this next year, here are a few tips:

1) use a waxy or plastic drink cup to drain them in. You will be able to reuse the ink (if you use one color of ink anyway) cause the ink will just pour right out of the cup. If you use the 3oz PAPER b/r cups, the ink soaks thru.
2) Drain the ornaments for 10 min or less!! But, before you turn the ornament back over, wipe the "mouth" of it off so it doesn't drain back into the ornament & make the glitter glob.
3) Experiment w/different colors of glitter. I'm dying to try a brown ink w/a gold or red glitter to see what happens!! (When does Michael's restock their ornaments?? Mine is COMPLETELY out now!)

I guess it's time to take the trees & the other decorations down now. :( I hate this day!! But, I bought a cool, big light up snow man & I can't wait to get him & the rest of my snow stuff out!! My upstairs tree is mostly snowmen: can't I leave it up til Valentines????

Happy Halloween!!!

My kids don't ToT anymore and we don't go to the parade (hate crowds & the long wait for it to start!) and I stopped handing out candy at my house (protest for the bus loads of kids that come to my neighborhood & don't LIVE HERE!!)

But, as an ode to the holiday, I made up these cute (I think they're cute) little goodies for my co-workers. In case you can't tell, there are Cheetos in the bags.

Maybe later, I'll post a pic of what I look like going to work today. Maybe. If it even "works"

Catch-up From July -- Part 1

I have been really busy this summer. Since the weekend BEFORE school got out until now, I've been on 5 driving trips, 6 states, 6 hotel rooms and 2 huge storms away from home! I'm tired!!

Now, it's back to school time already. Becca's sign up for volleyball and Nick's going to start Jr. High at Bethel (same Christian school that Becs has been going to for 3 years now). I'm still working in the Alton public school system so our days off will still be different (Spring Break is the biggest difference & PITA!)

So, 3 weeks ago, we went to Des Moines IA. I love the state of IA and would move to Dubuque in a HEARTBEAT! Des Moines was ok but not an overly friendly place. We stayed in what we now call the "Target Hotel". Very contemporary & very RED! I didn't think red was conducive to rest; why make a hotel red??? I swear, we were at a Target & they had a employment computer right near the check out. The screen saver was the EXACT carpet from the hotel!! Weird.

The best part of DM? Meeting up w/Cindy & Tracy at Archivers!!! TWICE!! Meeting up with a Shackie is just the BEST!! Putting a face w/the screen name and feeling like you really KNOW someone now. Not just an Internet acquaintance!! So very cool. We shopped & stamped & Cindy let me borrow her oval Nestabilites to work on ATC swaps. Oh, it was so much fun!!

When I was not w/"the girls", the kids & I got to do some fun things. Usually, when we go on audit trips with Scott, we have no vehicle. But, because of the number of miles he had to drive to GET to DM & then the amount of miles he had to travel WITHIN IA, he rented a car once we got there. The kids and I went to see a matinee showing of Wall*E. Nick & I loved it. Becca, who didn't think it would be that good to begin with didn't think it was super. She didn't hate it. She's 13, need I say more??

That same night, we went, along with Scott to go see Indiana Jones. It was an ok movie, not nearly as good as 1 & 3 but much better than 2!! I think Harrison Ford may have moved out of the "doable" category.

The kids and I also did some back to school shopping. Nick has to wear polos & khakis and needed more clothes. We found him 6 acceptable (to him) polos. When I got back to the hotel, I had an email from the school: stripes are now acceptable. We went back to the mall & bought him a striped polo (from Holister. ACK!!) Becca found a hoodie she liked (the "hip" stores don't cater to "round" teens!)

The best part of Iowa? Diet Vanilla Pepsi. They do not distribute DVP in the St Louis area. They have it in Bolivar MO, Jackson IL and Des Moines IA but NOT StL. So, I stocked up (forgetting that I had to pay a deposit on aluminum cans. Oh well).

More from July tomorrow

I must be the worlds WORST blogger!!

I haven't posted since we were in Cape Girardeau. Now, we're in Des Moines IA. LONG trip up here but I slept most of it; got a headache from trying to read online stuff in the car. Dh got a new interent connection card thing & now, we can surf from anywhere. But, alas, I can not as I get car sick doing ANYTHING in the car but sleeping.

Some time in the next 3 days, I'm gonna meet up w/Shackies Cindi & Tracy. We're gonna meet at a LSS and PLAY!!! Woohoo!! I can hardly wait. Plus, dh will have to mind the kids while I get to play. Not the way these trips usually work out. Usually, it's me in the hotel with no car w/the kids for 4 days while he goes to work. I guess that IS the whole point but, it's gonna be fun for me to get to go somewhere!

Tower Drop

Here are the pics from my dad. Unfortunately, he shrunk them down so small to email them to me that I can't make them bigger. Sorry.

I have no idea who the blonde is. Despite the look on my face, I am NOT happy! Happy to be down maybe and alive, but not happy with the ride. By the way, we went on a water ride just before this pic & my shirt is still soaked!

Vacation Snaps

Sorry, still no "craft posts" but here are some pics from my vacation. No shots of me falling off the tower thing (still can't believe I did that) but somewhere, there's one of me in a swim suit.

Days 1 & 2, Great Wolf Lodge, Mason OH

Day 3, Cincinatti, OH & Newport KY -- walking tour!

Day 4, Kings Island

Not many pictures here. I forgot to charge my camera battery & it died BEFORE I fell from the tower. Look how high it is!! ACK!!! Still scared even after the fact!!

Day 5, Newport Aquarium

No, my prince did NOT appear. Dang it!! Maybe I need to look for frogs wearing crowns??

Home again, home again, jiggety jig

We left Monday for Mason, OH/Cincinatti, OH/Erlanger, KY vacation. It was too fun but oh so tiring. My parents went with us. Talk about your double edged sword. Hopefully I'll get some cards/ATCs done while I'm home: we leave for Cape Girardeau, MO a week from tomorrow. I don't think I should even unpack!