Twiggie Makes by Candace Grahl

Back in January I went through an organizing overhaul and no closet, drawer or cabinet was safe. I can say I cleaned out and organized everything in this house. It was wonnnnnnnnnderful. Keeping it organized has been fairly easy (thanks in part to my understanding husband who complies with almost all the crazy rules I implemented
post-organization) yet my studio gets the raw end of the deal almost every time.

Since it is the first room you see when you enter our home, keeping it messy isn’t an option for me - drives. me. bananas. So when I’m done with a craft, I just stuff supplies back into drawers, cabinets, behind the island where it can fit that will not be seen. This type of unorganization makes things most difficult when I want to work on something fast and can’t find a darn thing.

I’ve really been into paper crafting lately so I decided to move out old craft supplies that I have temporarily lost interest in and were continuing to collect dust and organize the supplies that I was using now and those I will need for the upcoming holiday season. And like any good organizing project, it must get worse before it gets better, right? And what was assumed to be a small one-day project has turned into almost a week and I’m being so meticulous even my OCD is rolling it’s eyes at all the labeling and cross-referencing.

I tackled the paper first. I have lots of paper. I love it so much but even I did not realize just how much I had until I pulled it all out and began to separate it.

Some I had forgotten about so I am now super excited about knowing exactly where it will be so I can actually use. Crazy idea, I know.

So anyways, went from this (paper packs, card stock bundles still bound and in the original packaging)

to this

Ahhhhhh. Feels good.

I dissected all the paper packs, pulled them a part, labeled it all and everything.

And even my card stock got organized.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

And the best part is I forgot to make a card for a bridal shower I was going to and had to do it fast and it literally took two minutes to gather the supplies as apposed to the ten minutes it would’ve taken me because I couldn’t find the right shades of paper, inks or stamp set that I needed.

Stay tuned for the exciting sequel to this post: organizing all my stamps. It’s sure to be an award-winner. *snore*

Maybe not yours, but definitely mine! I hosted a baby shower for my dear friend Amanda last weekend, and while having a third child is (socially, unfortunately) not shower-worthy, she is having a baby girl after having two little boys so forget etiquette - throw some pink at the woman!

Pink and white was the theme, and please forgive the photo quality. I had to get photographer-friend-extraordinaire Kelly to show me how to use my external flash again (it had been almost two years since I had last used the thing and had forgotten how to use it *blush*) and then after, well, the difference it makes! But the before pictures were a nightmare to edit and I finally just gave up. You get the general idea, even if the color is a little wonky.

Anyways, cuppies are my favorite thing to do for a party or event. They are playful, adorable and so simple. And Michaels finally carries the larger icing tips now so the icing-to-cuppiecake ratio was split pretty even - just as much sweetness on top as cake on the bottom. Just how I like it!

More cookies from the fabulous Kelli Tripp (who will hopefully have a website soon if her designer would get her blog together. Wait…that’s me…oh right…)

Love Amanda’s excitement over my choice of plates and napkins. This woman is easy to please!

Amanda is a talker. When first meeting her, you never have to worry about awkward pauses with her - she can find any topic of conversation and go with it. This picture makes me laugh so hard because it looks like Amanda is sharing some salacious gossip (which Amanda never does) and her face shows her obvious feelings about it, and Jen is interested yet wary?

This is our good friend Keisha. She found out she was pregnant shortly after I did (with Max) and later found out she was having twin girls. After the initial congratulations and squeals, Tim says, “No fair, they get two!”.

Joy also has two little girls (not twins) who are the most precious, girly-girls you’ll ever meet. Amanda will not be lacking for moms in her life who know how to raise amazing little women.

This is Andrea and Meagan. I can post this picture of Andrea because one, it makes me laugh and two, she doesn’t read my blog and can’t get mad (heehee).

And we had a special guest at the shower - Sharon Obsorne! She heard Amanda was a fan and graciously made an appearance. (This is actually Kelly’s mom, Dawn, who is just as fabulous as Sharon herself).

I never understood all the gushing and babbling that happens at baby showers until I started having children, but to be with your closest girlfriends, celebrating another life that will be introduced into your life and your family’s as well, there’s something so special about it. Even more so when it’s a baby that you know has been hoped and prayed for for so long. Congratulations Amanda - we can’t wait to meet Addison Elizabeth!

So until the good Lord decides to bless our family with a little girl of our very own, I shall live vicariously through my friends who have them. Everyone tells me that in about ten years I’ll have all the little girls I can handle (following the boys with their tongues wagging!) but I’m holding out hope…and crossing fingers, toes, legs and anything else that our next addition will help balance out all the dude-ness in our house.

I hear you guys loud and clear, “no more cast-offs as giveaways!” and message received! To be perfectly honest I am surprised I even got seven commenters, I was thinking it would maybe be one or two. But either way, to the seven of you thank you for your desire for my clothes. And to the rest of you, no harm no foul right? And the winner is my Canadian blogger-friend Heather - congrats Heather! Email me your addy today before 4pm EST and I’ll get your prize in the mail this afternoon, otherwise it may be a few days.

Craftiness has not been abounding too much around here but I am seeing it peek it’s head out to say hello a little more often. Not quite sure what that’s about but I am embracing whatever I can.

I made this card for a new friend, Lisa, who is one of the most talented artists I have met in a while and apparently had a blog but doesn’t keep up with it anymore (which is a shame because she should be sharing her gifting with everyone *wink, nudge*). Anyways she hosted a scrapping class, which was AWESOME and I can’t wait to share the finished product when it is completed, and I wanted to send her a thank you for her hard work prepping all the material. I am really digging vintage-inspired paper crafts, especially vintage-parisian. I may have to do this card a few times over since I love love love it!

I also whipped up some thank you cards for Amanda that were part of her baby shower gift (which I will share shower pictures later - so much pink!) and then a few extra for me because I was quite smitten with them.

I mean, birds, red and aqua, hello! LOVE IT!

Speaking of, don’t you love when you’re going about your daily life and you turn around (or look down in my case) to see something that makes your eyes adjust a little more quickly and then it clicks what you’re seeing and a smile begins to spread across your face?

Something about the red strawberries in the teal colander and I found myself staring at it for a few moments, letting the depths and richness of the colors settle into my brain and I had to take a picture. It just makes me so happy! I’m pretty sure I will visit this photograph in the winter when the trees are dull and bare and color is not the only thing in hibernation. It was another moment where I found myself completely in awe over color and what a gift it really is.

So I’ve been bit by the cleaning and organizing bug again. It struck shortly after Max’s birthday party when I had a serious balancing act going on in our pantry. I did a major cleaning and organizing overhaul in January and have done a fabulous job at keeping it up (if I say so myself) but you know how it is - drawers and closets grow untidy slowly and then all of a sudden it’s out of control.

So two bags of trash went out, followed with three more bags of clothes I no longer want, and then I found this little gem:

I stitched this back when I was learning how to embroider and I made it as a gift for someone that I don’t remember now. I wanted to keep it but realized 1) I have a bazillion white tank tops (am I the only one? Isn’t it impossible to have just one? Or seven?) and 2) I know I will never wear it. That’s why I kept it, thinking I would and yet almost three years later and nothing. So I’m going to give it away here.

It’s an Old Navy brand tank top, never been worn, hand-stitched, and a size medium. Don’t limit yourself if you’re not a medium, I’m sure you can think of someone to give it to. I want Miss Kitty to go to a loving home, but even if not I want it out of mine. So leave a comment telling me how many tank tops you own (because before my clothing purge back in January I easily had fifty, no. joke.) so I know I am not the only one who thinks you need a tank top for literally every occasion.

Max’s birthday party went off without a hitch. It’s amazing to me that when you decide to not stress about something, and stick to your guns, how much that can change your perspective.

We have a large circle of friends and family. Large. I feel so incredibly blessed to be surrounded by so many people who love me and my children immensely, however planning events can be daunting, especially when over half those on the guest lists are kids who are coming to a swim birthday party and they are calling for a chance of rain and everyone may end up in our small-medium-sized home. Thankfully the rain stayed away and with my mom and mother-in-law to help with last-minute prep, my decision to not stress about his party was rewarded by everyone having a great time, myself included.

This is the banner that I made and will keep and use for their birthdays from now on. I read about a woman who made one for her children when they were babies and puts it up every year for the whole week of their birthday, and the kids gets so excited when they wake up and see the banner, signaling that their birthday week has begun. I found the paper at Michael’s and fell in love with the color pattern, which happened to match the plates and napkins. Again, something I decided not to stress about and it all just fell in place. Then I used my handy-dandy die-cutting machine, added some chipboard letters and voila.

And to everyone who may or may not have broken a tooth on the cuppie sprinkles, my apologies. I was obviously going for aesthetic appeal over comfort and those bad boys were hard. Next time, only the soft ones, pinky swear.

And true to my southern roots, tons and tons of food. Don’t know what I was thinking when I kept thinking over and over, “Will we have enough food?” And the answer is always yes. Take me by the shoulders next time, shake me and say, “yes, woman, YES!” Or bring tupperware so you can take some of it home because we still have spinach-artichoke dip sitting in our fridge.

Those are the cookies that the fabulous Kelli Tripp made, who has just started her own cookie company and as soon as her website is up and running I’ll post it so you guys can order from her. I’m pretty sure she’ll be offering to ship them, which is good for those of you not in the ‘burg. She does her own homemade fondant which is WORLDS better than the store bought. I give this chicka and her product two thumbs up!

Max didn’t quite know what to think of all twenty-something party guests singing at him. I’m actually surprised he didn’t start to cry because he is not a fan of loudness. Just ask his big brother.

And when it really came down to the cuppie, Max was way more intrigued by what it was, than what it tasted like. The icing ended up everywhere, in his hair, his eyelashes and his ears. But hey, it’s his birthday and I had to calm my OCD down by reminding it that these are the few moments in life where wearing your birthday dessert is perfectly acceptable.

All in all it was fun and made me realize that while I am so saddened by Max’s first year of life being over, it’s only going to get better and more fun as he gets older, birthday parties included. If you want to see the whole set of pictures from his party, head on over to my flickr.

Update: Some of you have expressed interest in purchasing a banner. I will custom-make one for you, but will not stock them in my esty shop just yet. So if you’re interested, email me or leave a comment and I’ll get back with you to work out the details.