A VERY special giveaway!!!

Last night I headed over to one of the Elementary Schools where my friend, Allie, works! We met while I was in Grad school, and I haven't seen her in a few years!!!
The elementary school put on the event, Empty Bowls. The students got to design and glaze a bisque fired bowl, and sell them to raise money to help hunger in their area.
There were so many to choose from, and these are the ones I bought!
This is the first one I picked up. It was made by Nate in Kindergarten!!! All the bowls are about 6 in. in diameter.
Each bowl came with a hand-made note thanking the receiver of the bowl for helping them fight hunger!!! *melt!* This one is from Wilson who is in the 3rd grade. The inside of the bowl is jet black with a beautiful green glaze. The 3rd graders glazed their bowls a specific color, then attached some sort of "sticker" and painted black over their color. When they removed their "sticker," their design showed through.
Regan, who is also in the 3rd grade, made this next bowl. The gorgeous blue color caught my eye from a few tables away!!! It's hard to see in the pictures, but she created a cloud design along the lower outside. It's beautiful! She also addressed her letter, "Dear Friend." *melt again!* Once I saw that, I had to get her bowl!!!
And I'm glad I did, because I am giving away Regan's bowl to a special friend!!!! I want Regan's bowl to go somewhere else, somewhere away from here for a bigger purpose. I want her bowl to go far away to remind others of the cause she worked so hard to create for.

In her letter she says, "Thank you for buying my bowl. You are helping to fight hunger in the community. We are trying to help people who are hungry. I hope you like and enjoy my bowl because I worked very hard on it. We had fun painting and making our bowls. I appreciate you buying this bowl and helping the community fight hunger."
My heart melted a million times at this event. 1. I so appreciated the letters that came with each of the bowls. 2. I loved the turn out of families and kids who were showing off their bowls. 3. I was saddened by the number of bowls left on the tables, and didn't want those kids to feel left out. I wanted to buy them all!!!

I plan on writing a thank you letter to each of the classes from which my bowls came from. I want to include where Regan's bowl is when I write to her, so that's where you come in!!!

Here's how you can enter to win this VERY SPECIAL bowl:

1. Leave me a comment telling me why you want to win this bowl. Where would you put it? What will you use it for? I want to share it with Regan!

2. For a second entry, Follow my blog!!!

3. For a third entry, Like my Facebook Page!!!

Please share this with others! I would like as many people as possible to know about this great project that these wonderful kids created to help others!!! I can't wait to send this bowl to one of my amazing blog friends!!!

***Remember, you don't have to have a blog to enter this giveaway!!! Simply choose the Anonymous option, then leave your name and email address with your comments!!!

Little Boy Knee Pad Pants Tutorial

Cute kid, huh?! :) Check out his pants!!!
T-man is sport'n some new pants that I made him!!! It was a super easy project, and they look adorable!!! :D Here's all you need!:

*a pair of pants (I used Carter's little "sweat" pants-the thin kind), but these knee pads would be so cute on a pair of jeans or corduroys!!!
*colored fabric of your choice
*iron on fabric stuff (you iron it to the colored fabric, then iron that piece onto the pants)

Step one:
Cut out your knee pad shape. Trace it onto your iron fabric as well.

Step two:
Iron the iron fabric to the colored fabric.

Step 3:
(optional, I suppose) Sew a cute pattern onto the knee pads. Peel the backing off the iron fabric FIRST to make things easier. I chose a little criss cross diamond pattern, but stripes would be cute too!
Can you see the pattern? I used light blue thread to give it a bit of contrast.

Step 4:
Iron the knee pads to the pants!!! Try them on your child first to make sure they will be covering the knees :D

And, ta-da!!! Fini! :D

I LOVE these pants! I think it's so hard to find cute stuff for boys. Girls get tutus, leg warmers, bows and headbands, so boys need something to make them looks super cute as well!!! Success? I think so!!! :D

Happy Thursday!!!

Meet and Greet!

I am having so much fun with this blog right now, and LOVING all of the new friends and followers I'm making!!! However, if you haven't followed my family blog, you probably don't know much about me. So, let's change that!!! Here we go:

A. Age: Twenty-Seven

B. Bed size: Queen. I want to be able to still be close, but let's face it. He's a King Size man, so sometimes it gets a little crowded :)

C. Chore you dislike: Oh my gosh, ALL of them! J/k...sort of :) If I had to pick, it would be laundry. It's Never Ending!!!! I feel like I just keep folding and putting away, just to do it again!

D. Dogs: Sookie!!! She's a Bichon, and basically part of our family! We've had her for about 3 years now.

E. Essential start to your day: Breakfast, usually Life cereal or Strawberry Pop Tart, and as of a few weeks ago, my cup of coffee!!!!

F. Favorite color: right now, teal!!! I am totally a color person, for sure! So, also included in this list would be orange, pink, and yellow! :D

G. Gold or silver: I think silver. Most of my jewelry is in it, but I do have some gold as well.

H. Height: 5' 5"...shortest in my family...due to the coffee maybe?!

I. Instruments you play(ed): Piano for a little while when I was younger...I have the talent show tapes to prove it!!!

J. Job title: Wife, Mom, Homemaker.

K. Kids: T-Man!!! Oh, my goodness! This little guy is the best thing EVER! He is SO much fun, and I just love him to pieces!

L. Live: Indiana.

M. Mom’s name: Mom, Momomia, Mops, Toodles :)

N. Nicknames: Kel, The Girl in the Blue Glasses (people actually call me this when they see me!), K-Money (one of my favs given to me by a couple 7th grade boys :) Gebbs.

O. Overnight hospital stays: My first time was when B-A was in the ICU for his A-fib. Second time was as a patient for the first time giving birth to T-man!!!

P. Pet peeves: Oh, goodness. Whistling, people who drive slow, people who start a sentence, then tell you that they can't say what they were going to say, flipping through the channels really fast without seeing what's on, people who look in the mirror at themselves while they're talking to you, rude people, babies who don't sleep...:) I kid ;)

Q. Quote from a movie: "The man up and disappeared like a fart in the wind."

S. Siblings: 2 sisters. One older, one younger. We get mistaken for triples and twins when we're together!!!

T. Time you wake up: It depends on when T-man get's up. Usually between 7 and 7:30.

U. Underwear: what about it?!

V. Vegetables you don’t like: broccoli.

W. What makes you run late: Well, besides my existence (I've ALWAYS run late!), T-man!!! There's a lot of stuff to think about when leaving the house with a baby!

X. X-rays you’ve had: On my back. I have scoliosis, so I had a bunch when I was younger. Don't worry, nothing serious, just a slight turn of the spine!

Y. Yummy food you make: Pioneer Woman's pizza!!! I also make delicious chocolate chip cookies and chocolate mint cookies!

Z. Zoo animal favorites: Oh, my. I haven't been to the zoo in forever!!! Maybe the elephants and monkeys?

Well, I hope you feel like you know me a little better!!! If you have any other questions, shoot them my way! :D

Book Shelf tutorial

I had so much fun this weekend with redoing the wall outside of our bedroom!!! One of my favorite projects was this book shelf!!!

I saw it somewhere, and HAD to try it!!! I am a huge fan of old books...think I get that from my mom ;). I will buy a book based completely on the fact that it looks cool, and then never read it :/ I have high hopes, but let's face it, I just don't have time to sit still right now!!!

Ok, so all you need is:
*L shaped brackets (the larger your book is, the larger your brackets should be...for support)
*paint (if you want them to blend into your wall)
*An old book! (fabric covered ones look the best...something to look for at your next garage sale!)

Next, screw 2 brackets into the wall. Make sure they are level so your book is not crocked. Lay your book on top, and mark where your top bracket will go. I pushed my down a little to make sure that it was holding the book really well.
***You are NOT drilling ANY holes into the book. You are only drilling into the wall, therefore saving your beautiful book for later use! :D The brackets will hold the book in place.
Once your book is securely fastened,
You can add something to your shelf!!!
I am really loving this look, and as soon as I find some more good books, there will be more shelves going up in our home!!!

Enjoy!!!! ***If you make your own shelf, email me your pictures so I can share!!! SimplySmithDesigns@comcast.net

*I am also now on Twitter, so if you'd like to follow me, click the little button on the side :D

Winner and a Makeover!!!

Happy Monday! I hope you had a great Easter weekend, celebrating our RISEN Lord!!!

T-man is getting over his RSV, so we didn't get to go to his first Easter Sunday :(, and we didn't even get to visit the Easter bunny!!! Oh, well. Since we were banned from The Resort because of our sickness, Big-A, T-man and I all got to have our own family Easter! :D

Now, onto the good stuff! The winner of Meghan's gorgeous canvas isssssssssssssss......
ERIN!!!! Congratulations!!! Email Meghan your address at meg.simonett@yahoo.com!!!

And now, for a little wall makeover!!! The wall leading into our bedroom as been bare since we moved in. I've had some high hopes for it, but after some Great garage sale finds, I was able to finally transform it from this:
to this!:
(I apologize for the bad pictures. I took it last night, and there was no good light :/) I got all of those brand new picture frames at a garage sale for a great deal!! I filled them with favorite pictures, and wallllaaahhh!!

I've got some super cool tutorials to show you this week from this wall alone, and a few others as well!!! Happy Monday!!!

GIVE AWAY!!!

Happy Friday!!! I am pleased to present you with another fabulous Give Away!!! It's a great way to end your week, right?! :D

Well, meet my friend, Meghan!
I LOVE this girl! I actually met her 3 years ago when she was a counselor at the camp that we took my students to! We met again a few months later at Gallery 116 where she worked, and I taught classes. If you know Meghan, you know that you just instantly fall in love with her!!! For a high school student, she was so mature, articulate, and just FUN!!! We became fast buddies!

Meghan is now a student at IU majoring in art therapy. She has started Outside the Lines which specializes in custom paintings and shoes, as well as jewelry.
Do you see that gorgeous green ring? It's one of my favorites!!! My mom has that ring, and it looks AMAZING!!!

I also own this pendant that she made me. I LOVE the funkiness of the wrapped wire, and I get so many compliments on it! It really spruces up a lot of my bland outfits.

Meghan also makes these amazing dry erase boards!!! I wish I had known her when I was in college because that would have been awesome on my door!!! Need a graduation gift? This would be PERFECT!!! I might even need this for my kitchen!!! Menus, To-Do lists... :D



Now, for what you can win!!!!

This 8x10 twisted wire painting could be YOURS by entering any of these ways:

1) (required) Leave me a comment telling me your favorite item(s) from Meghan's Etsy site.


2) For a second (and separate) entry, become a follower of The Girl in the Blue Glasses, or let me know if you already are.


3) For an extra 2 entries (both separate) post about this giveaway on your blog and facebook, and link back to here!


4) Become a fan of my Facebook Page

*** You do not have to have a blog to enter! Simply choose the Anonymous option when posting, and include your name and email address in your post!!!

*** Winner will be announced Monday morning!

Almost Done!

Remember that little craft I showed you?! It's almost done!!!!
That's right, this little beauty is still not completely finished!!! I love it "as is," but you're going to love where it's going!!! I'll show you on Monday with a tutorial for it as well!!!

The re-decorating is coming along...in theory. My ideas are super fresh, but I'm moving slow because of our little Sickie :/ Poor little guy! In the mean time, though, I'm enjoying tons of cuddles!!!

Now, be sure to stop back by tomorrow for another great GIVEAWAY!!! Don't you just love to win cool stuff?!!! But to hold you over in the mean time, Alison is hosting ME over on her blog for a chance to win one of my aprons!!! PLEASE go enter to win!!! I would love to send one of my faithful readers a happy!!! :D

Well, have a great day!!! See you tomorrow!

We're Making It-Wednesday!

Hi again! Sorry I missed most of you yesterday. T-man has some kind of respiratory viral infection (maybe RSV, maybe just his ugly cousin :/), but either way, we were just taking it easy yesterday!!!

I thought I'd share a few pictures of some of my projects that I started over the weekend! I'm working on this gorgeous wreath, in teal of course :), that I saw on another blog! I'll reference and give instructions when I show you the finished project :D
Next, I was a spray painting maniac this weekend! Unfortunately, I can't find the pictures of the other stuff I did :/ Well, I used my new best friend, Blue Ocean Breeze to transform one of my gorgeous garage sale finds!!!
Aren't they fantastic?!!! I know!!! Trust me, they are just amazing now that they're blue!!! Did I tell you that I'm trying to vamp up our bedroom? Well, I am. It's pretty boring in there. But since we only sleep in there, I haven't really been motivated to improve it.
Also, check out my Colors n Cups tab up top!!!! Parties are now only $35/person!!! Email me to set your party today!!!

And the winner is.....

#1, KENDALL!!! Congratulations!!! Please email your address and prize choices to Alison at justinandalison@gmail.com

Thank you to Alison and Whitney for giving away such amazing prizes, and to all of you who entered! Stay tuned this FRIDAY for another fabulous giveaway from my friend, Megan!!!

I was going to post a few pictures this morning, but T-man is sick :/ Hopefully he'll be feeling better soon, but I'll have pictures up tomorrow of some of my current projects and garage sale finds!!! :D Hope y'all had a great weekend!!!

Giveaway!!!

Meet Alison and Whitney of AW design! They are today's special guest on The Girl in the Blue Glasses' Giveaway!
They specialize in headbands, hair accessories, uniquely decorated onesies, wreaths and burping cloths.

Alison and Whitney are two women with a passion for children, design and providing families with affordable and trendy children items.

They have a strong attention to detail and need for perfection, so we give every item we make a lot of time, care and attention.

If you don't see what you are looking for please email them and they would love to create what you want!

Here are some of their gorgeous creations!
This fuchsia flower is one of my favorites!!!
So many styles, and all so cute!


Oh, my goodness! The T Man would look SO cute in this!!! He's rock this style for sure!
These burp cloths look amazing!!!

Ok, so now, how to win!!!

One lucky winner will win their choice of a headband and a burp cloth (your choice of fabric)!!!


So here's the deal:
There are 2 ways to win!

1. Go check out their Etsy shop AW Design and come back and leave me a comment telling me what you would choose if you won.

2. 'Heart' AW Design on Etsy and come back and tell me you did.

(2 separate comments please)

The winner will be announced Monday morning!!!

Thank you so much AW Design! I am so excited to have you here on The Girl in the Blue Glasses!

Good luck, everyone!!!

Hang up

This is what I worked on yesterday:
Weird picture, I know, but the sun was coming in on them when I went into the studio this morning, and I kind of liked that :)

I made this series of key/jewelry hangers using my gorgeous new teal paint that I got ridiculously on sale!!! I LOVE the color combination, too!!!

I know what you're thinking, "where are you supposed to hang stuff?" Good point! The hooks are to come. I have to wait for Big A to use his massive man strength to curve them for me, and then screw them in!!! I'll show pictures of the finished product when they're done.

Don't forget to stop back by tomorrow for another GIVEAWAY!!! If you missed it last week, be sure to enter this week!!! Happy Thursday!

Etsy and such

My Etsy shop is not as empty as it used to be!!! I just posted some of my mixed media collage prints!!! I love these things-so colorful, so fun!!! I didn't put up the originals because I'm saving them for the festival this summer!

I also added a boy example to the custom silhouettes. My friend, Katie's adorable son was a GREAT little model, and that canvas is going to look perfect in his little bedroom!!!

I have also been painting like a mad woman!!! My friend Sarah will be having little Miss Marlee on the 28th, and her room just wasn't complete yet!!! I brought her this 16x20 canvas to her school shower yesterday, and she loved it!!! I've got to say, it's one of my favorites too!!! The butterflies and circles matched her bedding perfectly!!!
I've got lots more paintings to show you, but that's for another day :)

Be sure to check out my Etsy shop, and let me know what you think! Also, let me know what some of your favorite Etsy shops are. I'd love to take a look!

*Remember, if you have an Etsy shop, or just like to make stuff, contact me if you'd like to get a little free advertising and donate something for a giveaway!!! Email me at SimplySmithDesigns@comcast.net

Gel Markers!!!

Ever since I was little, I loved school supplies!!! I soooo enjoyed getting to put my art box together for the first day of school, and oh, the excitement when we got to use it in class!!!

Since then, I have always found a way to sneak into the school supply isle on any given shopping excursion just to see all of the colored pens available, new markers, and any other supply that might enhance my life :)

So, it's no surprise that I adored my job as a junior high art teacher!!! Despite the fact that I was often mistaken for one of the kids, I enjoyed the projects that they created, and finding the next "cool" thing in the giant supply order book!!!

Then, I stumbled onto these:

If you have any junior high aged kids, or know any, you know that any type of cool pen or maker is a must in their life. My kids went crazy over these things, and now I know why!!!

They work amazing on black paper, but just regular paper as well!!! The quality of the mark changes as it drys on the page, giving it that real gel look. I love the thicker line, and how it flows SO much better than a small gel pen!

You don't have to be an artsy, crafty person to enjoy these pens! They can jazz up any note to a friend, drawing for your children, or just a little doodle time on the phone!!!!

You must try these!!! (Wal*Mart for like 3 bucks!!!) Do you have a favorite school supply?

And the winner is.....

Rachel@dreaming of the country!!!!
Congratulations, Rachel! Please email me your address at SimplySmithDesigns.comcast.net and I will get your new purse in the mail!!!

Thank you to all who participated! Check back again this Friday for another fabulous Giveaway!!!

Also, if you have an Etsy shop, small business, or just like to make things, please let me know! I would love to host one of your items for a Giveaway, and give you free advertising by sending people to your site!!!

Give Away Friday!

I thought we should celebrate my gorgeous new makeover with my first Give Away!!! (No, this is not the "something big" I was talking about, so stay tuned!) How appropriate for our little item to be a gorgeous shade of blue!!




This Vera Bradley clutch will spruce up any spring outfit!!! I love the paisley pattern on the outside, and the smaller pattern on the inside!!! This bag is just perfect for your wallet, phone, lipstick and any other accessory you take with you on the go!

Now, for how to win this little beauty!

Rules:

1) (required) Leave me a comment telling me your favorite style of purse/bag for spring.


2) For a second (and separate) entry, become a follower, or let me know if you already are.


3) For an extra 2 entries (both separate) post about this giveaway on your blog and facebook, and link back to here!


4) Become a fan of my Facebook Page


5) Winner will be announced Monday morning!

Thanks for stopping by!

Welcome!

Welcome to the new Blue Blog!!! Thanks to my great friend, Amanda, who basically created everything, and then taught me how to use it, I am loving the new make over!!! Head over to her blog and tell her how great she did!

Please notice the tabs above! I will be spending more time creating them in more detail, but the basics are right there for now!!!

So, what do y'all think?!!! Please leave me a comment and let me know!!!

And, as previously promised, I will be hosting something big coming up pretty soon, so please keep checking back! I am SO excited, and I hope you will be too!!!

Under Construction!

Although some things have changed, the site is still under construction! I was on a roll, and then the T Man woke up :) But he's more fun to play with, though :)

Makeover!!!

Ok, guys, The Girl in the Blue Glasses blog is about to get a MAJOR makeover!!! I am SO excited! And, something to look forward to...

I will be hosting something VERY big in celebration of my new blog, so keep checking back!!! :D

Hurry, get one last good look of this little blog! :D

shelf

Remember that Border's sale I told you about? Well, they were selling their furniture as well! They really did mean "Everything Must Go!" My parents were there a few weeks ago, and saw this shelf. We got to pick it up today! I'm so excited to use it for my booth this summer, but first it needs a MAJOR makeover :)
First things first. I had to sand down this bad boy, so Big A showed me how to use his sander. I know what you're thinking,

"Oh, no. Kelly with a power tool!"

But, you'd be wrong! I'm a power tool fiend! Bob Villa's got nothing on me... except for maybe Tool Time, and probably a multi million dollar business, but I'm getting off track here.

I LOVE working with tools. Granted, it's not my strong point, and I leave most of the building to Big A because he's more of a pro, but I can get behind a hammer, sander, and anything else that isn't going to cut off any of my appendages. I've I get all cut up, who's going to be the front man of this whole shebang?!

Back to the shelf.

So, I was out in the garage sanding away, when I discovered this little beauty!
I know it's hard to read, but someone wrote "_____ was here!" I can't make out the name, but it made me smile. First I thought, how neat! My shelf has a little history! Yes, someone was here before me. Before this shelf became transformed. Before it will hold all of my art. I like that. It's like there was a little gnome or elf living in my shelf (yes I know that's not possible :). Then I thought, what are these Border's people doing at work! Obviously no one was watching as this, what I can only imagine to be a pre-teen on a unsupervised trip to Borders without his parents, carved this note into the side of a very prominently positioned shelf!!!

Anyways, we have to get new sand paper, but I hope to get this thing finished by the end of Big A's spring break! I'll post more pictures as the Gnome-inhabited Border's Shelf Saga continues :D