tai pan should be renamed 'balls r us'...

yes it has been a long long time since i last posted.
(thank you amber for pointing that out)

so much has happened but i won't bore you with it except to say

1. we are all healthy

2. no one is pregnant

and even though i haven't posted, please note that i have still been thrifty and crafty and shopping and all those things we love.

now, to proceed with the ball post!

i didn't feel like working out thursday after work so i didn't.
sometimes you have to skip it.
 i took some time for me.

(summer-no comments about how all time is me time!)

i went to tai pan for some st pat's day inspiration.
and i found balls.
i assume everyone is now on the ballswagon* because here are photos of stuff i DIDN'T buy...

these were the 1st ones i came across.

i call them spring balls.

that orange and yellow and green look fantastic together!

hey-i go to church as much as the next person so i can say these are religious balls.

thank you friar tuck.

fuzzy balls.

no other way to call it.

(not to turn all 'schweddy balls' on you but these were so soft!)

these were in the st pat's day stuff.

green yarn balls.

these might actually come home with me another day.

and of course i couldn't leave empty handed, so i purchased these beauties!

this is really a turquoisey-blue ball with sparkles.

and you can't tell but this is yellow.

WITH a small noise making ball inside!

oh, and st patricks day...not that much other than the above green balls.
some 'kiss me' and 'lucky' stuff but nothing funky enough for me.
i guess i need to get out some spray paint.

*ballswagon is a trademark of thethriftyba

what are those balls for?

when i went to the down town salt lake deseret industries, i found these balls...

and the guy behind me asked me what i was buying those balls for.

(i didn't question the broken crap in his hand, but whatever)

i guess this man never reads my blog.

they were each 50 cents, so quite a deal!

and what did i do with the small one (and some other balls and bells and ornaments?)

this!

top view...

isn't that HUGE bell cool?

i swear as soon as i figure out something to do with the big ones, i will post!

looking for a cute christmas idea? (because there aren't anyother blogs with good ideas this time of the year!)

i love christmas gifts! i love getting, of course, but i really love giving.

here is a favorite from last year.

these are just 4x4 blocks that have a vinyl nativity scene on them. each side has a different piece of the christmas story. so easy-and inexpensive! check out say it on the wall to order your vinyl! to dress them up, i wrapped them in tulle.

i got these for 2 special friends...1 in tight quarters and 1 who lives way too far away (thanks to her sweet husband mike. i would unfriend him on fb if we were friends because he took her so far away from me!)

i think this would be a great gift for a college student or newly weds in an apartment!

or just because you like someone!

ball-y gifts

there are a group of young women in my neighborhood who i always give birthday and christmas gifts to. not all the same girls i went to camp with, just some of them.

this year, in the spirit of thrifty-ness, i came up with a brilliant idea!

one word people...

BALLS.

no one should be surprised.

but these turned out so very cool!

and cheap!

maybe free if you have the items in your stash of crafting/christmas stuff!

i got some christmas balls from the thrift store. these cost $1.

one thing i would do different...spray paint them all white/cream/light color. i had one ball that was painted cream and it was alot easier to work with than the lovely blue ones above.

next, find some tissue paper that you have been hoarding since last january.

pretty, huh?

you can either paper mache or modge podge the tissue to the balls.

i ripped my tissue up. but i guess you can leave it in one piece.

ripping is funner.

i would do half a ball, then put it on the top to dry and work on another. this took a few days as i had been sick. see the one in the front, 1st full ball on the right? that is the cream ball. it only took 1 coat of tissue. the rest took many.

of course, since this is a church group, i wanted to put something on the balls to help them remember the true meaning of christmas. so i printed out this scripture on regular printer paper.

'And they came with haste, and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger.'

i just modge podged the scripture on top then gave all the balls a spray of clear coat.

i had some funky rick rack ribbon that i cut and sewed into a circle for the hook.

and here is the finished project!

jennifer, my mentor!

years and years ago, i worked in the display department for a chain of stores call the bon ton. i had a strange, but good man named dave as my boss. he always talked about his daughter jennifer and i had met her a few times. i usually felt bad for her and her mom for putting up with dave.

almost 20 years later jennifer and i met up on face book and became fast friends.

she is EXTREAMELY crafty, loves shoes and has 2 boys. one of which is named nate!

match made in heaven i say!

well, except for the fact that she now lives in georgia and i'm in utah.

she made this fantastic wreath for christmas and i was so freaking jealous! browns and greens were the colors i wanted to use for my christmas this year. but thankfully, we are miles apart and no one will know that we copied each other!

here is jennifers wreath.

and i wanted it.

bad.

i ran to michaels for some ribbon (50% off!) but didn't like the balls.

and i didn't see any HUGE grapevine wreaths (we have an 8' door so we need a big wreath).

after hitting a thrift store, i remember that i had one in the basement i could use.

i ended up getting some green and brown balls at walmart.

here is the before.

i threw away all the red stuff but kept the green eucalyptus because it was glittery and i think i'm going to use it on one of my trees.

then i spray painted the wreath with krylon champagne nouveau.

mostly because jennifer did that.

i wrapped the ribbon around (again, see jennifer's) and made a cool looking bow.

i hot glued the balls on and i might add some more hot glue later.

(it has been windy out here)

so here is my try at jennifer's wreath.

hers is still cooler.
i might have to unfriend her.

halloween decorations-finally

i know! i should have done this way way earlier in the month!

but between strep,and an early halloween party at school and getting ready for disneyland, going to disneyland, getting strep AGAIN...

let us start with this...50 cents at the d.i.! i left it on '31' all month because

1. im lazy and

2. that is what i was decorating for and i liked it.

the little coffins on the right the boys decorated.

one is glow in the dark but it doesn't really show up on the photo well.

those are my scary halloween balls on the bowl type thing on the left.

and candy corn in the cups for the hubby.

(i have refilled those cups about 10 times!)

oh and the cup holder thing?

thanks to d.i., i only paid $3!

balls with an 'S'

look at what i found in the dollar bins at michaels!

yup-more balls.

crazy sean and her monkey balls

my jazzercise instructor, crazy sean*, makes THE WORLDS BEST monkey balls cake thingy.

honestly, i have tried many and this is our favorite.

20 frozen rolls

1 package of butterscotch non-instant pudding

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter (NO MARGARINE)

2 t cinnamon

spray bundt pan with non-stick spray. cut each frozen roll into quarters and rolling in pudding. place in bundt pan. melt butter in pan and mix in brown sugar and wait until it is dissolved and bubbly. pour over rolls and plastic wrap over bundt pan. let rise until doubled.

bake at 350 for 30 minutes covered in foil. take foil off and bake 5 more minutes.

yup-the kids got to it before i had time to take a photo!

*she is called 'crazy sean' by my kids. when they would go to jazzercise and be in the daycare, they could hear sean saying funny things (like 'arm up' and 'let me see you sweat'. you know, crazy people talk.). she was also wearing a microphone, so it was nice and loud.
so why wouldn't you naturally call her crazy sean.

halloween balls!

because we need balls for all seasons!

and now that it is september, we need some fall.

big time.

these are from last years crafts but i so love them.

of course, im the copy cat queen of the world, and i found the idea here.

i spray painted my wooden balls then used a white sharpie marker (some of my 'friends' couldnt find one last year and figured they didnt exist. i wanted to prove them wrong!) and wrote all over them.

this might have been where they whole 'balls obsession' came from.

and here is parker a year ago with his before braces got to his teeth. i love my ortho!

 




the dyi showoff