Be A Winner At The Gift Closet

Two Florida Girls are being featured at The Gift Closet today! You can win any item of your choice from our shop!!! Head on over to The Gift Closet to enter. It is really easy and the giveaway is open until December 1st! While you are there, check out the many other active giveaways!

New Products!

Recently Two Florida Girls have added some new products to our shop! We are trying to add products for Little Florida Girls and that is what we have been working on.

We now make hair clips for the little girls in your life. We have simple, cute clips and also more fun artsy clips. Check out the shop for other varieties too!

Cute Clips

Fun Christmas Tree!

We also started making custom bean bags. I made a set for Little Monkey and Little Monkette and then we decided to added them to the shop. You can pick the fabrics and whatever letters or numbers you want on them.

Bean Bags!

Check things out…you might find a great gift for a little person in your life! Don’t forget, Christmas is coming up!! Your little guy would look stylish in a Little Guy Tie!

Little Monkey modeling the Little Guy Tie

Open House Day!

Wish us luck. Today the Two Florida Girls will be participating in our first ever Open House. We are joining with some other local Etsy shop artists to have a Handmade Holiday Open House.

Check out all the Etsy shop artists that are participating. Everybody makes something different. You might find some great items that you can use as Christmas gifts this year.

:: Autumn & Everything After
:: Bird’s Eye View
:: Gold Canyon
:: Gongy & Squish
:: Happy4U
:: triple C designs
:: Two Florida Girls

It’s Been Almost A Week

So, I noticed today that I haven’t written in almost a week! (Not even a lame post letting you know about free rentals-speaking of which, I will have another one of those coming!)

I was thinking today that I often feel like I don’t accomplish much during the since I am a stay at home mom with two little kids. So I decided that today I would make a list of the things I did do today. They might not all seem like much, but it shows me that I did more than just survive the day.

Played outside with Roland and Little Monkey
Ordered and picked up pictures from Walgreens
Paid and dropped off the water bill at City Hall
Ran and emptied the dishwasher
Talked to Holly on the phone (quite a bit…that’s what happens when things are going on….)
Printed my BSF lesson and coupons for Open House
Cut the coupons for Open House
Helped Little Monkey work on cutting paper with scissors
Took the trash out, brought the trashcan back
Got the mail and read the paper
Played Candyland with Little Monkey
Fed Little Monkette…many times
Sent many emails with my sister about things regarding Open House
Sewed the buttons on the coffee cozies for Open House
Attempted to make a firecracker hair tie-it did not turn out how I planned
Actually cooked dinner for myself (granted it was a freezer meal that you just put in a pan for like 10 minutes, but still)
Fixed the font on our Christmas card that was partly cut off during printing
Read a lot of blogs

I’m sure I’m missing something…..but hey at least it appears a little productive. And the night is still young. Who knows what else might get done….or not get done.

Alright—I had to update because there was more productivity.

Spent 31 minutes working out on WiiFit
Played some games on WiiSports with Little Monkey
Wrote a couple blogs
Cleaned up dinner

Happy Birthday!

Today is Amy’s birthday. We will be going out for some dinner and then have a sleepover. On Saturday we plan to spend the better part of the morning and early afternoon crafting with her friends. Hopefully by the end of crafting day everyone will be mostly ready for our Holiday Handmade Open House. We are excited about our Open House and hope that it does go well.

You may not be local to the area….but all of the folks who will be participating in our Open House are also available online. Here is more information:

Get a head start on your holiday shopping with unique, handmade gifts.
Featuring Local Etsy Artisans…
(Check out their sites so that you know what to expect.)
:: Autumn & Everything After
:: Bird’s Eye View
:: Gold Canyon
:: Gongy & Squish
:: Happy4U
:: triple C designs
:: Two Florida Girls

What’s Etsy?
Etsy is an online marketplace where you can buy and sell items that are handmade, as well as vintage goods and crafting supplies. Consider buying handmade this year because these sure aren’t your grandma’s crafts!

Baby Shower Gift

As you have probably seen before in my blog, I have been making Tag blankets as gifts for friends. We do not sell these in our shop at this time but I have made them at the request of people or as gifts. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, keep reading or you can check out these: Kieren and Makenna’s, Makiah’s and Kylie’s

Another friend of ours from church is getting ready to have her first boy (She already has two girls.) and I am not able to make it to her shower. I was planning to make her a tag blanket, so I got it done this week so that I could deliver it before her shower.

 

Tag Blanket

I also decided to try and put her son’s initials on a washcloth and his name on the matching towel. It was something I had in the closet and never gave as a gift. Sadly the machine messed up on his name on the towel and it didn’t turn out right. The washcloth turned out okay, but I didn’t give it to her because I thought it would be silly to just give her the washcloth.

 

 

Washcloth

 

As I was wrapping up the tag blanket, I realized that I didn’t have a card to go with the gift. Seeing that it was after 9pm and Little Monkey was in bed and Little Monkette was hanging out with me, there was no running to the store to get a card. I checked my stash and noticed that I didn’t have anything that would really work for a baby shower either. So I decided to take some card stock and make a card. I had never tried to do what I was thinking in my head so it was kind of a trial run. Thankfully it turned out okay!

 

Card

I just the letters from some leftover fabric scraps we had and used a glue stick to get them in place. Then I did a zigzag stitch around the letters to help keep them on the card and make it look fun. I took a piece of construction paper and cut it to fit on the inside of the card to cover up the thread and holes from sewing. Then I wrote a message inside. Simple but quite cute if I do say so myself!

 

Thought It Was Better

After having a really good day this week, I thought things were looking up. Maybe there really is a light at the end of the tunnel (I know there is…I just can’t always see it.).

Friday Big Monkey had to work and so my sister came over to hang out with us for the day and night to help out with the kids. We had a couple of special orders for our shop and we decided that we would work on those during the day. We started by finding all the fabric we would need and got everything done in steps. Before too long, the special orders were all done, as well as Little Monkette’s “House Divided” Football onesie. (Football shaped applique, half Florida State and half Florida Gators.) Amy had also cut out the fabric for Little Monkette’s name bean bags and got the letters ironed on. Amy’s college roommate was in town with her little girl at her parents’ house, so we decided to go for a visit. We packed up Little Monkey and Little Monkette and headed out. It was good to get out of the house and Little Monkey had someone else to play with. After visiting with her friends, we made a stop at Sally Beauty Supply to see if we could exchange some hair clips that Amy bought since they were not the kind we really like. Thankfully they had the ones we wanted and did an exchange. Now we can really get into our hair clip making craze since we have 200 hair clips! Check out these cute pumpkin clips Amy made the other day.

Pumpkin Hair Clips!

Saturday started out as a very different day. I suddenly was feeling very anxious and unsure about the day. Amy was leaving for the day but my mother-in-law was already here before she left. I tried to relax and calm down but it wasn’t really working. I was still really anxious. I took a shower and then some of the new medicine that my doctor gave me this week. I was still feeling a bit iffy about the whole day but the medicine did its job and I was feeling better. It is nice to have the medicine if I need it and the day was a bit better after that.

It was very hard that Saturday started out so rough since Friday was so good. I was thinking that things were getting better (which they are) but it seems that this will still be a bit of a process and I certainly will not be better overnight. I understand that it is a process, but I was definitely hopeful after having a good day. I know there will be more days like Friday and probably still more days like Saturday, but hopefully the “Fridays” will start to out number the “Saturdays.”

It Will Get Easier

Friday we got up and moving and headed over to Uncle K and Aunt S’s house to help out with some preparations for the wedding. Big Monkey, Amy, Little Monkette and I all headed over and Little Monkey was there waiting to see us. Big Monkey helped his Mom put together an arbor/archway that was for the wedding. It was an interesting project and it was coming along rather well. After everyone had worked on the arbor a little bit, we decided to split up and go work on some other stuff.

Big Monkey went with his Dad to get a new watch battery and get ready for going out with the boys. Amy, Little Monkette, Little Monkey and I headed over to my mom’s school to introduce Little Monkette to her fellow teachers who had been asking to see her since she was born! After visiting at the school, we headed back to Mom and Dad’s house to drop off the kids with Mom and then ran a couple of errands. We brought dinner back to the house and then got ready to go out for the evening. Friday night was Aunt K’s lingerie shower and bachelorette party. Amy and I went for the lingerie shower but then headed back to the house and hotel. The lingerie shower was fun and everyone had a good time I think. I came back to the hotel and spent some time online while Big Monkey was still out with the boys.

The Girls

Saturday was another day filled with activities. Big Monkey was headed out for breakfast and golf with the boys. The girls were all going out for pedicures, a luncheon and making bouquets. I started out the day a bit rough and sad. Big Monkey offered to spend the day with me instead of going golfing but I didn’t want to keep him from it and I had my sister to go hang out with. I got moving and headed over to Mom and Dad’s house to spend some time with Amy. Thankfully when I got there Mom, Dad, Little Monkey and Little Monkette had already left to go to my grandparent’s house for part of the day. We did a little shopping, looking for hair barrettes and ribbon. We also checked out the new H&M store in the Sanford Mall. Before I left for the bridal luncheon, my Mom, Dad, Little Monkey and Little Monkette came back to the house. I wasn’t quite prepared for them to be there but it was okay. I left very shortly after they got there.

The bridal luncheon was nice. It was at the Hart Sisters Tea Room in Sanford. I had never been there before. We had a quiant room and all got to wear fun hats. We had a nice meal with scones, fruit, sandwiches and lots of dessert. We also had some tea. It was nice to spend time with everyone and just relax but it was still hard to try and be “normal.” After the luncheon, the bridesmaids were going to go make our bouquets for the wedding. I decided not to go along but instead went back to my Mom and Dad’s house. Amy and I worked on learning to make some barrettes. The first ones were okay, but when we tried our hand at a ladybug, she didn’t turn out so well. A little bit of practice should help out. I also finally got my nails done. Saturday night we had a big dinner at Red Lobster with lots of people that were involved in the wedding or who were in from out of town. After dinner we headed back to our hotel and watched some tv for a little bit before going to bed.

The Bride

Sister in law and Sister

Time For Football!

Some of the guys in our church have a fantasy football league. Big Monkey is a part of the league for its second year. (Last year he played and came in last and won the toilet seat award.) We are hoping for a better showing this year! One of the other wives had an idea to have a playdate with the kids and make shirts for the guys and the kids to represent their fantasy football teams. We went over to their house this past week and got to work. Everyone was excited that I was coming because they said they needed my creative help. (I tried to explain to them that I am really not that creative. Just about everything I make is something I have found online and just recreate!) The other moms used paint pens, markers and tie dye. I also did one tie dye onesie for Little Monkette. It wasn’t ready to go yet when we left, so I don’t have it back yet.

I also made Little Monkette this onesie.

Cheerleader!

It was simply an iron on that I bought and ironed on to the shirt. I still haven’t decided if it is done as it is or not. I might add some words or her name to it with the embroidery machine or some iron on letters.

This is Little Monkey’s shirt. I made a long sleeve shirt (mainly because when I went looking for plain white shirts, long sleeve was the only thing I could find in his size). I did most of the work at home before we went to the playdate. (Printing a template, preparing the fabrics and getting it all cut out) Then at the playdate I did all the iron on work. I had to sew it when I got it back home. I had left part of the football without the fusible webbing on it so that after I sewed around the edge, I could make it fray some.

Football Applique

Here is an up close of the football, before it had been frayed at all.

Football!

Big Monkey also got a shirt. I had picked him out a red shirt and put his team name on the back with some iron on letters. Then on the front I had also printed a template to use to create the football and the burst around it. I did all the prep work at home also and then did the iron on work at playdate. Big Monkey says that he likes it…but we’ll see if he’ll wear it out of the house at all! (It reminds me of the Incredibles outfits a little bit!)

Front, Close up, just starting the fraying of the black

Back-The name of Big Monkey's Fantasy Football Team

Another Project For Little Monkette’s Room

A few months ago, Amy sent me to this website : Pretty Partridge. She had seen a cute idea for making a clip holder and thought I might like to make one for Little Monkette’s room. I saved the webpage and waited and waited to make one. I made ours a little bit differently of course.

Model Version of the clip holder

I found some ribbon on sale at Michaels that I was planning to use for it (actually two different ribbons-I couldn’t decide on which one). I ended up using the ribbon that I had hoped to use for the border in her room but Big Monkey was against that idea. I got this ribbon at Walmart for 53cents a yard. I also found the picture frame at a thrift store for 50cents. I used paint leftover from Little Monkette’s room, some staples (staple gun we had on hand) and also some glue with a glue gun (we had on hand). Total cost for this project was about $1.56! (Not including the clips, obviously!) Hopefully tomorrow we can get it hung up on the wall. Now to also work on learning to make more clips for Little Monkette!

The start of the project....

Our completed version. Needs to be hung on the wall. I left the background blank, so the wall color will show through.