truthfully tracelaine

When the kids were small, we had a tradition of taking Christmas pictures.  Living near Springfield, Missouri, we would get all dressed up and go down to Bass Pro to take beautiful Christmas pictures in front of the awesome decorations.  We made a deal as soon as we walked in the door, "You give me ONE great picture to show people and you can take as many goofy ones as you would like".  It worked every time!  It was such a fun time and a happy memory, but time passes and kids grow out of matching clothes and Christmas pictures.  I'm sad that the time has gone but thankful for the time together and the memories of how those happy days felt.   Christmas time, is an emotional time of year.  It seems to effect everyone that way, most people are excited and find the season thrilling, although some may be anxious or saddened by the season.  It is a roller coaster that seems to start sometime in October and tosses you about until after celebrating New Year's.  I am

truthfully tracelaine: Here's what is new:    Personalized Hall Pass signs for teachers.  The sign itself is 9" x 5" and each "pass" tag is approximately 1 1/2" wide with varying lengths. These sell for $15 each and $21 if shipped to your home. I made these JOY signs for a friend of mine and I think they turned out really well.  They are approximately 32" x 10" x 1/2". These NOEL and JOY mini signs are currently for sale at the ATC Downtown Flea Market in Bolivar for $7.50 These adorable Snowmen help to count down the days til Christmas.  They are about 17" tall and 12" wide and are made of Birch wood and hand painted.  Ready to hang on your wall or sit on the shelf for just $30.  

This project is for the birds!!   Just kidding, I have actually had a really great time creating these Christmas bird ornaments.      Recently, I had a great response to a post I had shared on Facebook about my latest crafts.  From that Facebook share I got a few orders and my first order was for Christmas bird ornaments.  I am loving that I get to create these cute little things.   Partly, because it is exciting to find out that someone is interested enough in my creativity to place an order.  But even more importantly, I was able to spend some quality time with my family, getting the order put together.   See, the birds were a hit, but I had only made about ten for the booth.  A friend of mine saw them and thought they would be perfect for her staff at Christmas.  She needed 25, so the "special order" got underway.  After a quick shopping trip, for scrapbook paper, trinkets and do-dads, we called in reinforcements and got busy in the shop.        Everything, I mak

I try to get in to the flea market as often as I can, but with work and family, it is not always easy to find time.  I had stopped by not long ago, to check out my booth and see if it needed some attention.  It looked like a few things had sold, but it was still full of Fall and Christmas decor.  As I stood there, I wondered if I needed to create some more Christmas treasures or if it was time to figure out "what's next".  It was time to put my imagination to work again. As I stood in the middle of the wood shop I wondered, "what needs to happen next"?    I had a stack of lumber scraps, chalk paint, and twine, all that I needed was to toss in a little creativity.    Then it came to me!  With Christmas so close, this would be a great time to make some gifts for our teachers and show them some love.  They spend so much time with our kiddos and have such influence over them.  They spend days teaching, growing and loving our children.  With compassion that

You Guys!!  I am so excited!  As I have mentioned before, my husband has a wood shop that he allows me to make whatever I want out of the scraps that he discards. I use the scraps, along with wood glue, staples, paint, stain, scrapbook paper, and any other trinket I find to make a unique crafty project.        Well, putting these craft projects together has been such good therapy for me. It truly makes me very peaceful.  The only problem I have come across, (besides the occasional sanded knuckles) is that eventually I run out of space to put all of my little projects.  So, with that in mind, I decide to jump in and see what would happen if I made them available for others to see and buy.  I rented a flea market booth and decided to open my own little craft boutique.     It really took a lot of courage for me to jump out there. I worried that the product wouldn't be attractive to to customers.  I worried that nothing would sell.  I worried that I would be paying each mo

Aren't these the cutest things?      I love this little pumpkin trio, but it took some imagination to get them all stacked together.  You see, mm sister and brother-in-law are building a new house.  In this gorgeous new house you will find ship lap, hardwood floors and plenty of Farmhouse charm.  My husband is building the kitchen, bathroom and utility room cabinets for this house.  So there is plenty of various hardwood scraps for me to choose from when I'm feeling crafty.      One evening, my husband and brother-in-law were in the shop planing and ripping boards to make trim for stair tread.  The excess strips of wood that they felt were unusable were being tossed into a wagon to later be hauled down to the burn pile.  The thing that caught my eye was the curved edges along those discarded strips.  As I stared at them and felt my imagination start humming, I realized that stacking them side-by-side, presented a corrugated look.  It didn't take long from there to

So, I don't mean to sound like a spoiled baby, but I was a little let down on my birthday this year.  I turned 44, which means that I shouldn't be so bothered by a birthday unrecognized.  If anything I am at an age where I should want folks to forget my birthday and the reminders of getting older.  But, me and God have an understanding about life and I am thankful for everyday that he gives me so....I have to love getting older, too.      This year, my kids, friends, and family were great and I know they all love me.  What more could you really ask for, for your birthday???  I think it might have been a date with my husband. We got up and got busy trying to meet the deadlines of the cabinet business.  We worked HARD all day long and at the end of the day, we were both too tired to go out and do anything.  But when I realized the day was over and my birthday had basically gone unnoticed (other than the 5 minutes of birthday cards my kids gave me when I woke up) I couldn'

Abbi and Ethan What a beautiful, crazy, exhausting, emotional beginning to Fall.  As summer ended, we found ourselves in the midst of wedding ceremonies for two of our girls.  One had been planned for quite awhile and the other literally came together in less than two weeks.   Both fell within a week of each other.  But at the end of the day, we had a wonderful time, gazed on two beautiful brides and gained two sons-in-law that we are so happy to call family.  Isn't she a beautiful bride?      It was around 8 o'clock on a Saturday evening when we got the call.  My husband and I had been installing cabinets and having one of those exhausting days when everything that can go wrong did.  We were ready to call it quits and sit for awhile when Abbi sent me a text.  Yep, a text! It basically said, "we have set a date.  We would like to get married next Friday in Papa's back yard.  We would also like to have the reception at your house the next day.  Oh and by the wa