need help picking some sweetness

So I'm gonna buy myself a little present since I got a surprise check in the mail. Not a lot. Maybe around $50. I want to get a couple little things instead of one big thing, but I can't decide what to get!! I haven't shopped in forever. I'm not keeping track of how long though because it might make me lose my ever-loving mind. It's unnatural.

So anyway, one of the things I'm looking at is a new watch. I found these spoon watches that I really like. They're my style - silver and simple. They come from LT Creates Jewelry. I've narrowed it down to two choices, but I can't decide. I've left them open for a couple days on my computer. That usually helps me pick cause I lean towards one or the other, but I'm so stuck on this.

So the watches are going to be my Spoonful and everyone is going to help me decide which one I need!

So what is it? One or two? Hammered or smooth?  Check out all the other spoon jewelry in the shop while you're at it! I love spoon jewelry :)

In my quest for a little treat, I've found that I really like expensive things. These watches are totally reasonably prices though. I love it when I find something like that!

So give me opinions! And any other ideas you have for cool stuff for me to buy :) I'm going to make this last!

Sleep tight!

xoxo

sweet kisses

Have I mentioned how much I love all of your comments and emails? I so appreciate everyone who reads and leaves me little notes. I try really hard to get around to every one's blog and post comments. I just wanted everyone to know that you guys are the best!!

Tonight's Spoonful is for your lips. I am obsessed with Burt's Bees lip balm. However, I'm finding that in the midst of my sassy earring phase, I'm wanting some color on my lips. I don't do gloss (too sticky) and I don't do lipstick (too much color). I think I look weird when the tint is too strong. I have so many "tried and failed" tinted lip balms that it's not even funny. I'm to the point where I'm scared to waste my money anymore. But today I searched, out of curiosity (which killed the cat, BTW) on Etsy. I found a lot, but after much deliberation (because we all know how much I like to shop), I chose this 3-pack from Laughing Leaf Farm.

The colors look perfect, plus you get 3 for a very good price! That way if one doesn't work, I have two more chances! This could restore my faith in tinted lip balm :) And it's on sale. It would have to be on sale. I LOVE sales. I haven't bought anything yet, so I don't want to ruin it. But this is a good price. And I need it. Ok well, maybe I don't exactly need it. But still. If want gets bad enough it turns into need, right? No? Ok. Does anyone want a handmade personal shopper? Cause I would so find you exactly what you need. I'd get my shopping fix and you wouldn't have to sort through the millions of products out there. Wouldn't that be fantastic???

The buying willpower is wavering. If I get the lip balm, I'll have to get the bath bombs. Because seriously, who puts $6 on their credit card? I'd need something else to even make it worth it. Right? No again? *sigh*

xoxo

sugary goodness

Today was a shopping day! I loooooove shopping days! I got bunches of tile, trays, crosses, stuff to make my earring holders, and clothes :) Buying things makes me happy. I bought some earrings on Etsy too. I'm going to have to make myself an earring holder. A big one...

I was kind of lazy before shopping. I read a book. On my KINDLE! Sorry. Love the Kindle. I haven't read a whole lot this week since my family was here and I was working and junk. So I indulged today. It was fantastic. I read for almost 4 hours. Bliss. I'll never understand people who don't like to read. I know it sounds cheesy, but you can go anywhere, do anything, and be anyone! I dunno. I guess people who don't like reading will never understand me.

Today's Spoonful comes from Letha Colleen. It's a really cool collage. I can't imagine the time and care it would take to make something like this...

There is some really cool other stuff on there. It blows my mind. Check it out! Have a good night everyone!

xoxo

sug-ah

Well. It's been an interesting day. I got a lot of staining done. I made a huge sticky mess. Have I mentioned that I HATE stain? Ugh. So gross. It's hot as Hades outside. Not that it's even gotten close to the kind of hot it's going to be here in Houston. Good old Houston. So humid it feels like you're drowning when you walk outside. Yummy.

I'm on my feet all the time. Me and Jers walk 2.5 miles a day, 7 days a week. I stand most of the day, either outside to stain or paint at the worktable or inside by the sink scrubbing grout off my masterpieces. I got a massage the other day. Mom got me a gift card at Christmas and I kept forgetting to go. See how stressed I've been? I forgot a stinking massage. Sad day. Anyway, after my massage was over the girl was like, "Are you on your feet a lot? Because the muscles and ligaments in your feet are incredibly hard and tight. It looks like you put most of your weight on the inside of your feet too, and that's not good."

Lesson of the day: pay attention to your massage therapist. I brushed it off. Yeah my feet hurt. I stand all danged day. Duh. But today, I tore a ligament in my foot. I just took a step and hit my knees. The pain was so bad. At first I thought it was a bad muscle cramp, so I stretched it and rubbed it and tried to walk it off. Not so much. So yeah. Torn plantar fascia. That would be the ligament that connects your toes to your heel. It hurts when I walk, when I wiggle my toes, when I flex my foot, when I stretch my foot, and basically anytime I think about my foot. And now my other foot hurts from putting so much weight on it!

I know I'm being a whiny baby, but for crying out loud in a bucket! How much crap is one person supposed to take. I guess that's what I get for telling the universe to "bring it on" in a fit of rage. Second lesson of the day: don't take your anger out on the universe.

I'm supposed to tape it, take my pain pills, ice it, keep it elevated, and stay off my feet. Well, 2 out of 5 isn't bad. I can't stay off my feet. It's what I do. I hate ice. It hurts and basically makes me grouchy. Plus I don't like doctors, so I get mad when they tell me what to do. I broke my foot and didn't use my crutches or walking cast. Well, I did for awhile because my foot was literally incapable of holding my weight. That lasted about two weeks though. Then it was, hello Ace bandage and hobbling. I never went back for my recheck either. You think I'd learn because the bone healed funny and now I have a lump on the side of my foot. I broke my pinky once too and didn't go to the doctor at all. Now I have a hunchback pinky. I was kinda bummed because it was my favorite pinky. It was skinnier and had a prettier shaped nail than my other one. But I don't learn. I figure if broken bones didn't kick my ass, a ligament has no chance. Rub some dirt in it and walk it off.

But tonight my Spoonful of Sugar is in honor of my aching, throbbing foot. It comes from Blissology. It's called the Footsie Bar. It's a fun name. I know it's technically for dry feet, but I love peppermint and it just sounds so refreshing and tingly.

So go check out the shop! There's all sorts of blissful sounding things there. And check out the Sweet Coco-Mango Soap. It's purty.

today is a shopping day!!!!

I love shopping days :) Especially when I know I'm going to make money on what I buy! My cousin wants me to do a custom piece for her. She wants a hook rack for the wall of her boy's bedroom. I guess backpacks and jackets always end up on the floor. I'm really excited. I love custom pieces! It's gonna be so cute. I'm gonna find some blue, red, and yellow tiles. The theme of their room is space and astronauts and stuff. I'm going to have a few tiles made that have stars, planets, and spaceships on them so I can scatter them throughout the piece.

I'm going to skip merrily through the stores. Too bad I can't buy everything I want at one place though. There's going to be at least 3 stores on my agenda today. Maybe more if I can't find exactly what I want at one of my "go-to" places. I have a tendency to stand in the aisles staring at things for a long time too. I might not be home til midnight...

One of my very best friends also wants me to make a tray for her. She likes the brown one I already sold, so I need to get stuff for her tray too. My credit card is gonna be smoking by the end of the day :)

Funny story...I'm in limbo at the moment. Since I'm getting a divorce, I'm living with my parents till September when I move in with Tammy in NC. I can't go before then cause she's still in a lease. So, anyway, I have my craft table upstairs in the game room. That's what I call it. It's what it was when we were little. Now it's the treadmill/old TV/telescope (don't ask...)/my craft table room. It's at the top of the stairs and there aren't any walls on the stair side. So basically every time you come up the stairs, you can see into the room through the railing. Not sure if that made sense.

Back to my funny story. I get off track a lot. All the bedrooms are upstairs in my parent's house, so you walk by that room everyday. I have all my finished stuff set up and I always see Mom stopping in there all the time to look at stuff. She doesn't work on Fridays, so yesterday I got back from walking Jers and she was in the kitchen. She yells at me as soon as the door opens, "Michelle! Come in here and tell me what you think!" She's always moving stuff or painting something, and we have relatives coming so that's been increased exponentially. So I figured she just did that again. So I go in the kitchen and she's got two things from my table set up on the counter. She was like, "I'm just going to buy these!" When Dad got home he said, "Why didn't you just take them? They already sit up there." He's got jokes. Oh, Dad.

So she's got this candle holder and a mirror that I've made. They actually look really good. She's draped like this fake vine thing around the mirror. I dunno where she gets this stuff. So I told her it looked good. Then she whips out this 4"x4" ceramic tile that I had in my stash and she goes, "And can you put this in the middle of the mirror so it's more decorative than mirror-ish." The woman cracks me up. Having that craft table there is my best advertising ploy ever! And I didn't even mean to :)

Well, I was passing the time while my hair dried a little. If I try to dry it right away, it takes like an hour. So I have to let it air dry for a bit before I take the hair dryer to it. Not that anyone really cares about that. But I've got shopping to do!

sugar fix

Today I need a lot more than sugar...but I'm nothing if not true to my word, so I will post my Spoonful of Sugar despite the crushing need to hide forever. It makes me pretty happy to find cute things, so I guess I get something out of it too.

I happened to find this next item on the recently listed screen of Etsy. When you feel like crap, it helps to watch them just flash across your screen. So much prettiness. It's like getting distracted by something shiny. Then, I have this game I play where I see how fast I can click on something and add it to my cart. Bonus points if I've paid in under a minute...Just a little mental health tip from me to you.

So here the cutest thing I've ever seen besides my puppy:

It comes from Renee's Funky Country. She's got all kinds of adorable hand painted art and signs (lots that you can customize!). The crosses are stunning, so be sure to check those out as well. You can visit her shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5509648

Her stuff makes me want to pinch some one's cheeks. The face cheeks, folks. I'm not quite that desperate yet.

pour some sugar on me

Ha! Now you're all going to have that song stuck in your head all day.

But seriously, who doesn't like sugar? I think I might be addicted. Well, I'm a recovering addict. I gave it up completely at one point. What followed was not a pretty thing. Mood swings, headaches, nausea, exhaustion...the whole spectrum of withdrawal symptoms. I kid you not. I don't joke about my sugar. As you can tell, I ate a lot of sugar. Lot's of candy and cookies and brownies. Gobstoppers are my favorite. Mmmmmm, Gobstoppers. My detox went on for about 2 months. Then I slowly started integrating some sugar back into my diet. I'm proud to say that although I splurge sometimes, I'm still doing quite well.

There is a point to all that. I'm attempting to introduce my very first blog feature. I shall call it "Spoonful of Sugar". Every day I'll find a handmade shop or item that I adore and post it on here. A little taste of handmade sweetness from me to you.

I'm a teeny bit proud of the name because it has some meaning behind it. Here's my reasoning: life sucks sometimes. It just does. There's no getting around it or avoiding it. Some days it just downright bites. So today I was sitting around not eating (ok, I was) a few (twenty-three) Gobstoppers, and I got to thinking about how sometimes you just need something sweet to enjoy. Something for yourself. For some people it might be a bath. For me, it's sugar. I realized that life is kind of like that. In all of the crap we get loaded down with, sometimes we just need something sweet. Then I started thinking about Mary Poppins. I have no idea how my brain gets from point 'A' to point 'B' sometimes. But there's that song on the movie about how a "spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down." The point? Life is medicine. Some days you can hold your breath and shoot it and some days you need some help.

So I hope that my daily "Spoonful of Sugar" helps life go down a little bit easier. Just something pretty, fun, touching, charming, indulgent, hysterical, colorful, calming, unique, decadent or whatever other adjectives you like. Something to look at (and maybe buy!!) to restore a little bit of something you lost.

Plus it's a heck of a lot of fun for me! Not that a shopping addiction is going to be any better than a sugar addiction...