Something Special

** Contest closed!  Check out the winner here!**


It all began three years ago.  I was sitting on the couch in my family room and I decided I would jump on the bandwagon and start blogging.  I know, I know, everyone in the world had already discovered it.  I am usually a little tardy to the party.  I like to think news travels slow in Wyoming.  You know, I didn't even hear that song Baby Got Back until I was in college.  We're talking the year 2000 people!!   I mean, when did it come out, like 1992?! Yeah, I'd like to just say I was sheltered or something, but there were a lot of movies and songs I never even knew existed until I went out into the world.  *cough* Dirty Dancing... *cough* ...Top Gun... *cough* ...Fight For Your Right To Party... *cough cough*   


Yeah, so as you can see, I can be a little behind.  Well, I think in honor of my third blirthday (ha ha, clever, right?!  I mean anyone can have a blogiversary, but a BLIRTHDAY?  Now that's something special!) we're gonna have us a GIVEAWAY over here!  That's right, folks!  The time has come for me to reward you all for sticking by me and my fashionably late ways.  You, who have been there from the beginning.  YOU, who I've picked up along the way.  YOU, who stalk me and never say a word...(that's right, I know you're out there)...It's time to be seen and play along because I have something seriously fun to give out today!


Have you heard of My Memories?  Well, I think it's high time you learned about them because they are seriously AWESOME!  They are so AWESOME, in fact, that they have given me a free copy of their digital scrapbooking software, and and additional copy for me to 

GIVE AWAY TO ONE LUCKY READER!!

Blah blah, you say?  I've seen it all before you say?  I have my OWN digital scrapbooking software you say?!?!  Well, don't be so quick to judge.  Because I had NO IDEA just how amazing this program was until I downloaded it and played with it myself.

As some of you know, I used to LOVE to scrapbook.  LOVE IT.  I have all my supplies downstairs gathering dust.  I am SO VERY behind it's ridiculous!  I think the last thing I actually sat down and scraped was my wedding...which was 8 years ago.  So let's just say I've got a lot of work ahead of me.  My biggest problem is that I don't have my own space and you and I both know what a PAIN it is to drag everything out just to work on it for a few hours and then have to put it away again so we can actually eat up to the table.

BUT

I do have a few extra minutes today while the kids are sleeping, and my chores are done, so I sit up to my computer and BLAMO...

Some beautiful pages that took 15 minutes to put together and I don't have to put all my crap away.  And when the time comes to actually get them printed and put into a physical book, My Memories will actually make a professionally bound book for you!  (I haven't done one yet, but I think it is happening in the very near future.)  If you'd rather just get the whole page printed and add it to your own scrapbook, I know that Costco does it for a fairly low price, but I just heard about another place online that is actually CHEAPER than Costco, if you can believe it!  It's called ScrapbooksPlease and they do a FABULOUS job.

But say you don't wanna convert to the digital way of scrapbooking.  You have your own space and love the way the handmade pages look.  That's great!  There are a billion other things this amazing software can do!  Think of it like the easiest form of Photoshop you'll ever use!

Say you need to make a quick thank you card for everyone who came to your son's birthday party.

Done and done.

Or maybe you're in Young Womens and you need a handout for this week's lesson.

No Sweat.

How about an invitation?

Awesome.

Birth announcement?

Got it covered.

Calendar?

Easy.

Christmas card?

It's only September and it's done!

Birthday party decorations?

Ta-da!!

Blog Header?

Heck yeah!  Even a blog header!!

The possibilities are endless, people!  Endless!

I know you want it, am I right?

Well, my friends, you are in luck because one of you can WIN a FREE COPY of My Memories Suite Digital Scrapbooking Software right here, right now!!!  (And by the way, it costs $40, so a free copy is nothing to sneeze at!!) I will draw the winner next MONDAY morning, September 26, 2011.

BUT...

If you gotta get your hands on it right now,which I completely understand because it is so totally fun, I am giving you a code for 

$10.00 off

the purchase of My Memories Suite software...

(which makes it only 30 bucks!  WAHOO!!)

and (as if that weren't enough) another

$10.00 off

the purchase of anything else fun from the MyMemories.com Store! 

Please let me explain something here.  This is pretty awesome because all the paper, elements, alphabets, etc work in Photoshop and GIMP and the like!  So uh how awesome is that?!  

The special code you wanna use is:

STMMMS80924

Just copy and past the code STMMMS80924 your shopping cart when you check out. 

OR YOU CAN ENTER TO WIN ONE FOR YOUR VERY OWN SELF!!


Head over to my other blog for the details!
Do it!
Do it!

Installing New Glass Onto An GE Oven Door

I know, this is a very different topic for my blog, but we had the unfortunate opportunity to replace the glass on our oven range door.

We had a small incident with a child's chair which caused a massive explosion.

And much sadness.  

 So I called GE and got the information I needed.  It was no longer under warranty so we would just have to call someone locally.  I talked to someone in the parts department and got the part number, and then went to  Parts Select.com and ordered a new glass door.

It was WAY cheaper than I thought it was going to be and  arrived in really good time.  We're talking 4 days. 

There were NO instructions anywhere online.  There was a picture.

When I talked to the parts department, this is what he directed me to.

Soooo...

In order to help anyone else who has this problem, here's what we did.

First, unscrew the inside of the door using a torx bit.

There are two screws in the inside of the door that allow the glass to separate from the door itself. 

We've opened this before when I spilled pumpkin pie filling and it got inside. 

Once those screws are loosened, remove the handle assembly. 

 We used a 1/4" socket and took out the screws that attach the  handle onto the frame.

 There are two on each side.

 Once the handle is removed, you need to be careful not to let the door close because it could bend the frame.  This requires a second person.

 There are clips on the inside of the handle assembly that hold the glass in place.

 Remove any glass from under those.

 Then get the brand spankin' new shiny glass,

Align the glass into the bottom of the frame. 

 Line up the side rails of the frame with the glass.

 Position the handle back onto the glass and frames.

 Reattach the screws on either side

 The attatch the door back onto the frame and glass.

And just like that, good as new. 

 Start to finish, it took us less than 30 minutes to complete.

And that was with me saying "Stop!  I want to take a picture"

Moral of the story here is to keep all children's chairs out of the kitchen to avoid further explosions.

A Cinderella (Dress) Story

Five years ago I had a baby.

And the time came for us to bless* him.

And I did not feel like paying $100 for a tiny suit her would wear one time.

There was a little suit at the Distribution Center, but it was a little too "Peter Pan" for me.

It was all shiny and kind of effeminate.

Sorry.

I mean, I know baby boys can get away with wearing something a little more feminine,

But I had a way more manly vision in mind.

So I made him a tux.

Complete with coattails and a bow tie. 

There were no patterns out there for such a project, so I took one for a simple romper and added my tux parts. It was a ton of work, but I was pleased with how it turned out.

And he looked so super handsome!

I mean have you ever seen a more beautiful 3 month old?!

Top 3 anyway.  

Three years later, I had another baby and this time it was summertime.

And hot.

The tux was just too heavy to put my new babe in.

So I sought out another pattern, which proved to be pretty hard to find.

Why can I never find a good pattern for boys clothes?!

But I found this cute little number and thought it just might work.

And it did!

Especially without the jacket.

Such a cute tie!

And the suspenders?!  Adorable.

Although the jacket was pretty cute as well.

And speaking of cute, have you ever seen a cuter baby?!

Well, technically, I know he's one of the three cutest babies that ever lived

But honestly.  So so so CUTE!!

Well, fast forward two years and along came Amelia.

And I finally got to make a blessing dress!

Well, sort of.

You see, before I had Amelia my Mom did a super sweet thing and bought a blessing dress for her.

She's the best, you know.

 But I fear my mom got taken a bit.

She paid quite a bit for this dress.

And the fabric it was made of was SUPER cheap.

And thin.

And I knew something had to be done.

 Also, I wanted to add a couple if my own little touches to it to personalize it.

You know me.

Can't leave well enough alone.

And here's what I came up with. 

 I took the bodice off the skirt.

I removed the trim and large daisy.

I took the top tier off the skirt so it wouldn't be as long.

I bought a yard of satin and cut a skirt out of it.

There's no zipper in the back, just buttons, so I lucked out there.

I added three rows of ribbon at the bottom and some beaded lace daisies.

I added lace from my wedding dress around the waist, and added a tie in the back.

I used the original skirt as a petticoat and sewed tulle along the bottom to make it more, uh, poofy.

It turned out better than I could have ever imagined!

And I only spent $5 on fabric, tulle, and ribbon.

I had everything else.

HOORAY for saving scraps!

I also whipped up a headband using the trim I used on my wedding veil. 

And I used the big daises on my wedding dress, so I had to incorporate them somehow.

To top it off,I felt she needed a bracelet.

So I made one.

But I also made one for myself.

Mother and daughter matching bracelets.

 With a matching charm.

And I think it all came together beautifully.

A pretty princess dress...

...for a pretty princess.

 Honetsly.  One of the three cutest babies you've ever seen, amIright?!

*In the LDS religion, we give babies a name and special blessing when they are young, as in months old.  It's probably most comparable to a Christening or a Name Dedication etc.