And the winner is. . .

First off I need to apologize for being late on this post.

I promised I would announce the winner of my 3 book giveaway yesterday,

but I lost track of time. 

School has started back up, and some how all my time has vanished.

Anyways on to the winner.

The lucky random entry was. . .

Serenap95.

Thank you for taking the chance to enter, and to check out my blog.

Pumpkins on the Ways!

Ahh. . . I'm so excited!

Our pumpkins are coming in.

I was getting a little worried. 

The plant was just getting bigger and bigger, but no sign of pumpkins,

but today when Peter went to check on them. . .guess what. . .PUMPKINS!

Well, small itty bitty pumpkins, but we don't want them big too soon. 

Halloween is still a ways away.

 The pumpkin above is about the size of my fist, and obviously the one below is much smaller.

I'm so giddy inside just thinking about this.

I truthfully didn't think the pumpkins would make it this far.

Yay!!

Thanks for stopping by "Through Betsy's Looking Glass".

Work Area Organized!

Since I moved into this house 4 years ago I have always wanted a desk/work area,

but it slowly took the entire 4 years for me to finally have one. 

I have always loved all the fun corkboards, and other crazy things that you can hang or have to help you better organize your life.

Not that next week my life won't go back to complete chaos.

We'll see!

So, I have finally accomplished one more thing on my massive to*do list.

All of the corkboards came from Michael's.
That place is so addicting once you get stuck inside.

The picture below is of a frame that I have had in my basement for probably 4 years now, or very close to 4 years. I went through a frame buying phase, and I am so glad that phase is over, because I have a bajillion frames to choose from. So I decided with my over abundance of frames I could salvage one to make a small chalkboard.

I couldn't pass up this adorable corkboard, but it did send me over what I was planning on spending.
So I had to skip on magnetic paint for now.
I was planning on putting magnetic paint down under the chalkboard, but I felt that this corkboard was a necessity. I'll buy the paint later!

Well I off to enjoy my work area!

Thanks for stopping by "Through Betsy's Looking Glass".

This page was shared with House of Hepworths, Sew Can Do, Adorned from Above, and Suzys Sitcom.

3 Book Giveaway

School is starting, work seems more intense than normal, and my stress level is high.

I'm so excited for my 3 day break tomorrow.

I have crafts, goodies, and relaxation planned.

But before I'm off to work I thought I would post my latest giveaway.

Today I'm doing a 3 book giveaway.

I thought I would give 3 books away this time since these are paperback.

They are all teen award winners.

The titles are "Looking for Alaska" by John Green, "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson,

and "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie.

"Looking for Alaska"

by John Green

Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps." Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young. Clever, funny, screwed-up, and dead sexy, Alaska will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.

Looking for Alaska brilliantly chronicles the indelible impact one life can have on another. A stunning debut, it marks John Green's arrival as an important new voice in contemporary fiction.

"Speak"

by Laurie Halse Anderson

Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud: "My throat is always sore, my lips raw.... Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I sputter or freeze.... It's like I have some kind of spastic laryngitis." What could have caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be due to the fact that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs. While Melinda is bothered by these things, deep down she knows the real reason why she's been struck mute: Andy Evans. He's a senior at Melinda's high school, and Melinda hasn't been able to speak clearly since the Incident with him at the senior party last August.

"The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian"

In his first book for young adults, bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot. Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is based on the author's own experiences, coupled with poignant drawings by acclaimed artist Ellen Forney, that reflect the character's art, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live.

To enter the giveaway all you need to do is make a comment on this post.

"What book did you last read?"

Make sure that you leave your email.

And for a second chance to win become a follower, and leave a second comment letting me know that you are a follower.

Restricted to USA only!

Giveaway ends: August 25, 2012

Winner announced: August 26, 2012

Happy Commenting!

And the winner is. . .

The winner of the hardcover book "Ruby Red" is. . .

SummerJuly 31, 2012 7:55 PM

I'm a follower via GFC.!

Random generator chose entry number 6.

Congratulations Summer!

Keep checking back for more chances to win!

Easy Curtains

Kids are about to go back to school, and so are the teachers.

And this year is a close friend's first year as a teacher.

She is going to do so great at her job, I just know it.

And when she asked if I would make curtains for her classroom I was so excited to be able to add something that would contribute to her day to day life.

 Her theme for her classroom is a jungle theme.

It is so cute, and fun.

I would have loved to have her classroom when I was little.

 And really there isn't a lot to know when making these curtains.

I measured the distance from one end of the window to the next.

I then multiplied that number by 2.5.

And that's the amount of fabric that I used for each curtain.

That probably didn't make any sense. Sorry!

 I then serged all the edges, and then continued to hem each edge.

The top edge I folded down so that there was enough room to hold the curtain rod.

Very Easy!

Thanks Ms. Slough for letting me make the curtains for you!

Happy Sewing and thanks for stopping by "Through Betsy's Looking Glass".

This page was shared with The Gunny Sack, Family Ever After, Adorned from Above, and Thrifty 101.

Garage Sale Skirt Revamped

On Friday I went around to some garage sales with my nephew.

We found a few things here and there.

But my favorite stop was when I found tons of fabric, and a dress for 10 cents each.

Well, the fabric was 10 cents each. 

The dress I bought for 2 dollars, more than I wanted to spend, but I still feel it was a good deal.

My whole goal with the dress was to make something out of the fabric, because naturally I knew it wouldn't fit me. I liked the colors and the pretty birds along the bottom.

I picked a random spot and cut it off.

And I made a skirt for Cameron.

I gathered it at the top, and the side is closed together with a button.

And I was trying to get a picture of the button, but it turned out blurry sorry.

Happy Sewing, and thanks for stopping by "Through Betsy's Looking Glass".

This page has been shared with Sew Can Do, It's a Blog Party, and Krafty Kat.

Fabric Hair Bow

Emma, my lovely neighbor, who was a huge help this week asked if I would do one thing for her.

And I of course am more than willing to oblige since she was such a big helper.

I had made Cameron a huge fabric hair bow for the 4th of July,

 and Emma asked if I would make one for her.

Simple Enough!

So I asked what color she wanted, and she said "blue". 

You can't believe how excited I was that she said blue. 

I am overflowing with blue fabric right now.

The tutorial for these big fabric hair bows can be found at Domestic Fashionista.

And they are so easy to make.

I'm probably going to be making an over abundance of them.

To check out the bow I made for Cameron for Independence Day click here.

Oh, and sorry about the photography skills.

I was taking the photos of my hair myself, not the easiest thing to do.

Thanks for stopping by "Through Betsy's Looking Glass".

And don't forget to enter into my giveaway.

It ends August 10th, 2012.

This page was shared with Its a Blog Party.

Wedding Celebration!

Two friends of Peter and I joined in marriage this morning.

We are so lucky to have been able to celebrate with them.

And to top the whole celebration off was the wedding cupcakes made by yours truly. . ."ME".

They chose vanilla, chocolate, and peanut butter.

Yummy!

We did have one small downfall though.

Just as the reception was about to start Peter got a call to come into work.

Of course!

Not his fault, but when your on call, your on call, and theirs nothing you can do about it.

He was my ride, so we gathered up our things and headed out.

I'm really hoping that the reception was just as wonderful as the ceremony.

And I pray that my cupcakes were a hit, but I won't know until the bride or groom calls to let me know.

"SIGH". . .that's how life goes.

But here's a teaser, I happen to get one photo of the cupcakes,

 or I should say cupcake before we had to run off.

And before the ceremony started Peter and I were having some photo fun.

Hopefully by next week I will have some photos of what the cupcakes looked like after they were all set up. Keep checking back!

And don't forget to enter into my giveaway.

Sweetsy Cushion for Kit

Cameron comes home tomorrow.

I could not be more excited.

You know that giddy feeling you get before going on vacation?

That's what I'm feeling right now.

She's be gone almost 9 days, and I can't wait to give her a huge Mommy hug.

And I knew I wanted to surprise her with something.

So earlier last week Peter, my hubs, spotted something along the road.

I know I'll repeat that, "Peter spotted something, for me. . .Ahhh."

He strongly discourages the road side stops, scrounging, and shoving into my car with all my might.

This could be, because our garage is increasingly losing space.

Anyways, this is why I was so shocked when he chose

 to make a stop to pick something up that he knew I would need.

He came home with this perfectly in shape, completely intact, and 

absolutely nothing wrong with it, wooden babydoll bench.

See nothing is wrong with it.

I feel as if I should start walking up to the owner's house and inquire why they would choose to throw away such an awesome piece.

But, then again, I could see myself telling them all the cool things that could become of this roadside find, and then they could choose to keep it.

That's why I will stick with see, stop, and stroll away with.

Wait, that sounds like I'm stealing it, but you know what I mean.

Anyways I'm rambling!

So I knew Cameron would love this.

She has a little babydoll named Kit, and this will be perfect for her.

But, you know me I can't leave it at that.

I wanted to jazz it up a bit.

So, I made a seat cushion for it.

And guess what fabric I used...Yep you guessed it.

The fabric Peter surprise bought me the other day.

Click here to check out a previous post about this wonderful fabric.

 I think the colors are perfect for a little 2 yr. old girl, and her magical mind.

And below of course is Kit.

I will most definitely post a pic of Cameron first seeing her bench.

I pretty sure she will be ecstatic.

And to view more of my roadside finds click here.

Thanks for stopping by "Through Betsy's Looking Glass".

Oh, and don't forget to enter my giveaway.

This page is shared with Thrifty 101, Someday Crafts, Creations by kara, handy man crafty woman, Its a blog party, family ever after, childmade, sew chatty, funky polka dot giraffe, and adorned from above.

Crayola Hair Bows

The other day I was looking through a wedding magazine at work.

Why? I'm not sure. 

I'm already married, and I'm not planning a wedding.

It's fun just to see what other people do for their special day.

And I actually got a crafting idea from one of them.

For the groomsmen they wore bow ties, and not just any old bow ties, crayola bow ties.

I immediately knew I needed to make some hair ties similar to the bow ties.

Since I wasn't into going and buying knew crayons I went through my daughters stash and chose my desired colors. Shh! Don't tell her!

My lovely 5 yr. old neighbor helped me out again.

Thanks Emma!

Thanks for stopping by "Through Betsy's Looking Glass".

This page was shared with Its a Blog Party, Thrifty 101, Family Ever After Someday Crafts, Creations by Kara, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Krafty Kat, and Gingersnap Crafts.

Definition of Cameronsick!

Okay it's obvious I'm a little "Cameronsick".

Definition of Cameronsick is when lacking or in short supply of one's 2 yr. old daughter.

Symptoms are:

*feeling the need to watch spongebob when no child is around.

*humming "I Love You" as if to console myself.

*and partaking in activities that normally involve a child, but no child is around once again.

Used in a sentence: I was Cameronsick today so I decided to invite my 5 yr. old neighbor to watch

the "The Jetsons" and paint with me.

And that's just what I did.

For some reason I felt the need to paint.

Luckily I think I might get use out of the painting.

I originally thought my $1 buy from Goodwill would be a few hours worth of entertainment, and then trash, but as our masterpiece came together I quite liked our Andy Warhol like creation.

And I've officially decided it's now going to be making a statement in our kitchen until I become bored with bright cupcakes. Which may never happen!

Now for some explanation of photos.

The painting was bought at Goodwill for $1.

It's a paint by #, and to tell you the truth this is my first one.

I was kind of excited.

It's framed in a frame I already owned.

Okay now here's the kicker.

If my mother*in*law reads this, I do apologize. I used your "Live, Laugh, Love" photo frame that

I acquired from you a few years ago. 

She was getting rid of it so it's been hanging in my living room ever since.

And don't get me wrong I loved the picture and frame, but I loved the frame so much I wanted to use it for this. I new it was perfect.

Thanks Maggie I knew you would understand.

I didn't want to ruin the backing to the frame so I covered the glass with black foam board that happen to be in a boxes packaging. I had kept the foam board knowing I would find a use for it some day.

I then glued the "paint by #" onto the foam board.

I think it's really unique, and fun.

Now I just need to decide where it will go.

And as you can probably tell I was going a little camera crazy.

The coffee cup in the photos were given to me by my lovely cousin for our wedding.

It's from Pier 1 Imports, and it's a set of 4.

The coffee I was drinking is one of my latest guilty pleasures.

I couldn't resist buying it the other day, because the coffee company is called "Cameron's Coffee". 

Ahh, how awesome is that?

And to make it even more amazing it comes in a variety of flavors.

I went with snickeroo.

These beautiful sunflowers were given to me by my best friend ever.

She knows me so well!

And lastly I can't resist bragging about my amazing husband. 

Sometimes he surprises me with how much love he puts forth.

Just the other day he comes home with the most beautiful fabric.

He bought me a yard of this gorgeous gray and pink fabric to do what I pleased with.

And he did it just because.

He knows me so well!

I can't wait to figure out what I'll make with it.

Well, I'm done rambling for today.

Sorry about the post being so long.

But, Thanks for stopping by "Through Betsy's Looking Glass".

And don't forget to enter into my giveaway.

This page was shared with Its a Blog Party, Thrifty 101, Someday Crafts, Creations by Kara, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, and Gingersnap Crafts.