an epiphany in a picture

A picture says a thousand words.



Since I have two little ones, one going to preschool in just a few weeks, I rarely get a minute to even sit and think. And although it gets very stressful and chaotic, I love those parts of my life most.  I wouldn't be happy at all if there was nothing going wrong, or right, or going at all.  (If you can't tell, I have severe ADHD.... It takes pneumonia and a category 4 hurricane, at the same time, to get me to stop for a minute...) I feel like life is funny like that, you rant, rave, stress, and walk around with your mind running all day about these little things. Things that are so small, in 5 minutes you probably won't be worried about whatever it was you were worried about and then you have moved on to another oh-so-important-and-anxiety-induced stressor. If we would all just stop and soak in the beauty of what we HAVE, and not what we DON'T have, then maybe the little things wouldn't take up so much of our focus anymore. Because we wouldn't let them rob us of that moment.  I feel like I don't want to look back on these times and have any regrets.  Any "should have", "could have" or "really wish I would have" thoughts.

We only get one chance and only very few years to make a Godly impact on our children. To teach them right from wrong. To raise them to accept others, love others, have no judgments towards others, and to always lead with their heads held high.  Being an example to them and showing them what confidence, self esteem, self motivation, drive, determination, and true love is.

Oh, I am so not the perfect mother.  And if there's an award for that, I don't believe I'd ever want to take that award.  I don't strive to come off as that either. I am just doing my best and being the best influence I can be on my little girls. I am still learning things everyday.  I am trying to remind myself everyday before nap when it gets a lil crazy and then again before bed and... yeah, many times during my day... that this is all the time I get.  When I am cleaning crayon off the walls, puke off the carpet, poop in the bath *ew*, the pile of dishes stacked all the way up, throwing laundry down my stairs, and the many other things I LOVE to do, I remind myself that I will miss this someday. That these are the times that matter most. I don't wanna lose a minute of time to make memories with my daughters and impact their lives as a Godly woman and mother. 



Thought I would share these thoughts with you.  All based off of one little picture.  A snapshot in time.  Its history already actually.  The past is gone already.  All we have is now and tomorrow.

 

 

Do you stop to remind yourself that those little things don't matter so much as this does?

The worries will still be there tomorrow, that will never change.  The moments are not replaceable and can not be put on repeat. You do not get a do-over.  No second chance.  Make your moments matter.

DIY No Sew Applique Tutorial!

So, as I was discussing options for a project my bestie has going on, I realized that not everyone knows about the oh-so-wonderful heat n' bond!

Okay so I use Heat N' Bond ULTRAHOLD for projects like this....

The watermelons on the shirt are made of actual fabric and are NO SEW. made with Heat N' Bond Ultrahold! :)

I have seen so many people on various sites selling shapes and letters and such, all just with Heat N' Bond on the back and asking for your first child for them! It is NOT hard, NOT expensive, and should be 100% always DIY! :) So, lets show you how to do it so you can make your own and I promise, you will love this stuff and the possibilities are endless.



You will need:
-Heat N' Bond Ultrahold (for this I am using it from the 5 yard roll, purchased at Walmart for around $7, but that will last me a LONG time. You can also buy it in a small spool with widths from 1/4 inch up to 1 inch, as well as in a little pack that *I think* comes with about 1 yard)
-Fabric (this is exactly why I save all my scraps. Want a little heart on that shirt your making? Grab some scrap from your stash and Viola!)
-Iron
-Scissors

First, cut your fabric to about the size your going to need for whatever your cutting out.  I recommend always cutting out a square, circle, or rectangle, because when the Heat N' Bond is transferred onto the fabric it can make a mess and be a hastle if your trying to do an odd shape. 


You will then cut out the same shape for the Heat N' Bond.  Lay down the fabric RIGHT side down like this...

Then place the Heat N' Bond shape on top of the fabric with the paper side up facing you so that the glue side is facing the fabric.

 

Then you will quickly iron over those two together.  DO NOT LEAVE the iron on for long. Have the iron up HIGH, but only run it across it QUICKLY.  You will ruin the glue if you hold the iron down for long. It is not like transfer paper or rhinestone transfers that you have to hold down much longer. This only needs to melt that glue onto there and it does it quickly. You will then need to let it COOL DOWN almost completely.

You will then draw on your image to the paper backing (or to the front on the actual fabric if you are using a invisible type fabric pen, or chalk works too) Make sure whatever it is your doing is going to be facing the right way when you iron it on... ex. letters, numbers.

Now, cut out your shape or image.


Then, your going to peel off the paper backing. 

Now, you should have a nice shiny layer of glue on the back of your fabric.



You will then place it, glue side down, and iron it. Quickly again.  Make sure you get the edges well so they don't start coming up. 

That's it! Your done! Easy peasy!

Fabric Flower Hair Clip Tutorial !

FABRIC SHABBY FLOWER HAIR CLIP :)
LOVE them. and they can be made from simple scrap fabric! If you can cut circles, use a glue gun, and make shapes, then you can defiantly do THIS! Okay so I am a little obsessed with these lately. I have sold a lot of them too, so obviously you guys like them too! 

I am going to do a tutorial for you on one like this...... A super cute little girls (or big girls...or mamas!) shabby flower headband (or hair clip, or whatever you decide to do with my technique!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, you will need to get the following supplies together:

Felt

Scissors

Hot Glue Gun & a few sticks

Lots of scrap fabric cut into about 2-4 inch circles

 

 

First, cut all your circles. They do not need to be perfect. Remember this is a flower and flowers are not perfect, they are all different.  I cut these about 3 inches around, because I wanted to make about a medium size flower. 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, here is how your going to fold and glue them...

Fold in HALF first, with fabric print or pattern on OUTSIDE of the folded half moon shape.

Then, your going to make an "ice cream cone".... Fold over right side into a triangle, facing you, and right in the middle of the half moon. You should now have the left side un-folded and look like a  two triangles together.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You now will take that left side and fold it behind the right side triangle. Now that you have it folded into your "ice cream cone", you will be able to see that it is beginning to look like a flower petal.

 

You need to take your hot glue gun now and put a tiny dot all the way at the bottom closed part of your petal on each right and left sided fold. It should still be able to naturally open at the top and still look like a petal, you don't want to close those big open ice cream cone tops.

 

 

 

 

 

Now, continue doing this same technique with all your circles.  It takes time to get them down but when you do it is a lot easier then you think! 

 When your done folding and glueing all your circles, you will begin forming your flower on a circle of felt. I usually do 1 inch less then what I am doing my circles at.

 

 

 

You will glue your first petal from the bottom part where you placed your little dots of glue and closed it. You will put a dot of glue on the bottom of that petal and start centering it in the middle to begin forming your "pizza"

 

 

 

 

 

Continue to do this and you will end up with this.....

 

                            

Now you can finish right here, fluff it up a bit and be done. Or, you can add another layer on top, either the same color or play it up and change it to a pattern, do whatever you want! 

This is how my finished shabby flower turned out!

 

 

I love these, they are so fun, and you can build so much just from this basic flower. Use it as a base and jog your imagination for more fun projects that you incorporate this pretty thing into!

 
 

 *To purchase any of these headbands or flower clips, click here :)

 

 www.lamiabellaboutique.com

 

keep 'em busy projects.... edible paint!

Okay, so its summertime and I have two very busy little girls, who get bored very fast.  We have done every activity under the sun.... and today I am going to share one with you that I LOVED. (because it was super easy, kept them busy for awhile, and I already had all the stuff right in my kitchen when I decided to do this.)


EDIBLE PAINT FOR A "KEEP-'EM-BUSY" CRAFT

all you need:
yogurt (I used vanilla since its a good base for making colors)
food coloring
cupcake pan *optional*

I used some vanilla low fat yogurt and Wilton food colors. I <3 the colors that come in this set... magenta, turquoise, purple, and orange.

We got all of our ingredients together in the kitchen and I let my 3 year old start putting the yogurt in the cupcake pan.....

Then, I added small drops of food coloring to each of our "yogurt cups".....

I let Gianna mix them up and play around with mixing colors..... (another little educational part of this fun little project)



We finished mixing the colors and set up in the dining room. I have a black dining room table that sometimes is used for crafts and so I don't mind getting a little messy in there, but I definatly would not recommend doing this anywhere around carpet or anything you don't want to get messy.  Come on, its bound to happen! 

My littlest really enjoyed this also. She painted two pictures and then ended up like this.....She loved the "edible" part of this project!

We had fun.  They loved it.  And it was EASY for mama.   Try it!



www.lamiabellaboutique.com

boutiques, babies, n' business

How was your weekend?


Well... I had a pretty good weekend, if I had to compare it to some of the ones I have had recently.  In just a few short days, my childrens clothing and accessories business has soared to a few big milestones.  I am now going to be producing items for sales in TWO boutiques in the area. High five for this mama.

Check out what I have been working on this weekend......

 

 

And.... my litte baby isn't a little baby anymore. Along with everything else going on, I am just getting slapped in the face with realizing, Gab is going to be TWO in just a few weeks and we have a party to plan!  Its so bittersweet, because she is so big and so smart and so sweet. But, it also makes me want to have.... yes I will say it.... another little baby! I am not the mom who says, "oh, lets wait five years and then we will try..."   My question to that is.... why the hell raise the older ones just enough then have to start all over again?!  Not for me.  I am a wham, bam, thank you mam kinda mama. I want to have them, raise them, love them, nurture them, teach them, and then enjoy being the one who gets to sit back and watch them find their success and happiness. 

(is she the cutest or what? :) )

Anyways,
So I am thinking a tutorial is in the making.
What would you guys like to see a tutorial on?  I defiantly think I am full of lots of options, but it will be in the category of children's DIY clothing and/or accessories, crafting, mommy projects, and/or sewing tutes.  I want your feedback on what YOU would like to see.


On another note....
I am working very hard on getting my website up and running but I need YOUR help.....
Can you help me spread this site and make it viral, you know, so I can make some $$ and then share it with YOU! ;) Come on, you know ya want to!


www.lamiabellaboutique


www.facebook.com/lamiabellaboutique1


*link up with us, share us, and help us network.... we will do the same*

Therapy is expensive, here's my alternative....

What is the typical, formal first line of a blog? I don't know so I am just going to go with.....Hey yall! Lets start with me, my family, and a general idea of what this thing will be about....

My name is Courtney. I will go ahead and apologize in advance for any offending words, opinions, or comments here.  I am just going to be raw on here. The raw, real, blunt, what you see is what you get ME. If that is something you don't like, please do not continue reading on.... you will not be pleased with what you find...

---I love this Marilyn quote....goes with the above warning...---

I live up in beautiful New England. Not much sarcasm in that statement, because it is beautiful here, but I can't say I would call this *home*. My home-HOME is Texas.  <3 But basically, we have made lots of places home so far.  And anywhere my girls, husband, and...well, just the 4 of us are, is going to be home to us.  I started to type "I am... a stay at home mom....etc", I had to backspace that statement because...
well, the two words "I AM" have been quite defining in my life in the past few years. I will never speak for other mothers, but will always be completely truthful, raw, and real here. So, I have to say that after I had my second child, was playing the role of mommy, daddy, care giver, house cleaner, janitor, laundry mat slave, dishwasher, chef, etc, had a little one year old, plus my infant, my husband was deployed overseas (for two years, by the way....just had to add that in there because yes, I did it all for two years.) and I stopped long enough one day to remember there was one thing missing in the chaos of it all. And you would think you wouldn't want to add one more thing to all that mess, right? 

 I was missing something big though..... I was missing Courtney, myself, the me that makes me who I am, the mother I am, the wife I am, the friend that I am, and the woman I am. So, point being.... Sometimes as moms, stay at home moms or not, we lose ourselves in our hectic lives of raising children, duties of the home, jobs, sporting activities, taxiing around the whole neighborhood, Martha Stuart-ing, keeping up with the "Joneses", keeping your marriage alive and....raising husbands. haha yes I said it.



I love my life.  I am very devoted to my children.  I live for my family.  I strive to be the best mother and wife I can be.  I am proud that I am my girls mommy, that the Lord choose us to be their guides, parents, and protectors here on Earth.  I am blessed to be ABLE to stay home with my girls, really, I am very blessed that my husbands job has allowed me to do so.  But, I am not JUST a stay at home mother.... Although, yes, I do stay at home with my two girls, but that is not who I am. 

because P.S.....

I work all damn day. From sunrise to sunset, I don't clock out to go on "break", lunch, or to get a minute to breath, I don't get weekends, sick days, nor am I off for national holidays.....

and guess what.... I also do not get a paycheck!

but I wouldn't change it for the world.

just don't ever let me hear you say you wish you had it as "easy" as a stay at home mother.

 

Moving on......


I'm married to my husband, Bill, for almost five years now. Wow, I feel like it has gone by so fast, and it has. Because of the fact that we have been put on a roller coaster by my husbands employer.... the oh so wonderful government....he is in the Navy, my sailor.  Not that I have anything against the military, because I don't, I absolutely appreciate and adore every soldier, sailor, airmen, etc....I just hate that the military is the deciding factor to every aspect of our present life and future, at the moment.   But hey, my husband is a stand up guy who bleeds red, white and blue, and he is my hero.  Sounds cliché I know, but he is.  I adore him and all his quirkiness.... But, if you end up continuing to follow this little blog o' mine about my crazy chaotic, yet boring never boring life, you will see that I don't and wont name us the "perfect couple", "perfect parents", and never would I say we have something called a "perfect marriage."  Because guess what, WE DONT.  And I don't try to pretend like we do.   Sometimes I can't stand his face! Sometimes I wish he would go on deployment again. So sue me, sometimes I don't like my husband much.  But, at the end of the day, I LOVE HIM very very much.What is not normal about that?  (Speaking of, what is "normal"? Just a thought.)

 

Here we are this past weekend. He re-enlisted for another SIX YEARS.  I am very proud to be his wife and of the dedication he has to his career and our country. Makes me wanna scream out to the whole world that I am the wife of a great man.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, theres my girls.  My two precious little girls.  Gianna is almost 4 and will be going into pre-school! Ah, so excited for that new little adventure. It is going to be very, awfully, rough on me though. I don't know what I will do with her at school for those few hours in the mornings.  Since the sarcasm? :) She is very excited and so ready to make more friends and learn lots! She is sooo smart already though. She was actually accepted as a "peer role model" for pre-school. She will be in the class with the children who are not as advanced as others. She will be there just to be a positive role model and hopefully have a positive impact on others. Because as we all know, "monkey see monkey do". And I think that is GREAT. I think she will benefit from them as well.  

My little drama queen.... 3 going on 16.

 



 

And then there is Gabs.  Gabsy.  Gabi.  Gabriella.

My little clown. And she really is.  She is a big ol' ham.  She is hilarious and beautiful and just the most amazing little very unexpected blessing.

 

See, told ya she is a clown.

 

 

So yeah, that's about it for me. I stay home with my kids, do all the wifely duties, teach them as much as I can, keep my house up to date with all the newest and messiest trending designs, try to keep myself fabulous in my yoga pants and messy bun everyday, and...... oh yeah, I also am a small business owner/clothing designer/seamstress/entrepreneur. Yep, you heard me right.  I run my own childrens boutique online and make each and every adorable item I sell with my own hands.

 

 

 

 

  I have an Etsy shop.... you can find that here. And I also have a website.... which you can find here.

And if your interested in keeping up with me and my business on Facebook... you can follow us here.

 

And I promise, you will hear lots more about all my business adventures and the inevitable misadventures as I continue to journal it all here.

 

My plan for this blog is.... well, I don't have a real plan.... But I do plan on having lots of venting, recipe sharing, DIY tips and possibly some tutorials, kids product reviews, guest blog post by other mamas, and... LOTS of info on my journey to building a successful business as a very busy stay at home mama.

 

 

What would YOU like to read about? What interest you? What would keep YOU looking for new post on my blog?

 

I know I am not the most interesting person, however, I have been told my life could be comedy and it sure would be a good one! Love me or hate me.... I am not here to please anyone. Just trying to make it in this crazy beautiful life!