Kitchen Flooring-Help Me Decide!

I have a flooring dilemma and need your help! We were going to go for Laminate in our kitchen and sunroom, but after looking at the fabulous choices in a wood look vinyl, and the durability of it, we decided to go that way. We narrowed it down to two that we love...

Number 1 is a Wide Plank and a bit more ridgier (is that a word?) on your foot. It has a warmer tone to it. I think it resembles a rustic hardwood more closely then number 2 and is $1.00 more a sq. ft.

Number 2 is a smaller plank and has a smoother feel then number 1. It is also a bit ashier in tone. It's maybe a little shinier then the first one too.

Problem....we like both!!!! We've layed on the samples, took our socks off, put our socks back on, the kids jumped on them too! Which do you think? One or two? Two or one?

Reno Updates

Happy Monday!! Or is it? I know things here are moving along, but I dunno about happy. Gray was puking all Sunday afternoon, add this onto the fact that he decided to throw his soother (sucky) into the garbage on Friday night. He only used it when he slept, but Sucky was his well loved never to part with buddy. Well, it's gone! Friday night was rough, Saturday nap was rough, Saturday bedtime was better and Sunday was better too...so fingers crossed that this is the end of, "where sucky gone?", "Sucky on holiday?", "I want Sucky back!" Oh, and Westyn's sucky went with it into the garbage (but not really, cause we have back ups for him). But Gray thinks that it's gone, so we have to keep hiding Westyn's on him!

Anyway, I've been getting some emails asking how the reno is going so I thought I'd give an update. Last week our contractor started ripping things apart.

Goodbye old/rotten roof

This was just the start of the mess!

The kids and I didn't stick around to much after those photos were taken. And of course, Mike, being a man, didn't take any photos at all during the whole 'rip off the ceiling and roof, sleep with a tarp over the sunroom while the wind whistled through our house' process. So by the time I got back, Mike and his dad were putting in the insulation. Then we had to wait for the building inspector to give us the green light to start the drywall.

Yes, that is my stove in the middle of my kitchen, it's actually supposed to go over beside the microwave. I love how open the sunroom is now. The peak of our new roof is so much better then the flat ceiling we had!

We got the go ahead to start the drywall, so Mike and his friend, Justin worked all day Saturday putting that up. We still have to do some filling and taping and then the dreaded sanding! Mike's dad also put in some electrical so we get to have a ceiling fixture!! I've finally got on top of the dust for the time being and we can now walk on the floors without our shoes on. The sunroom is still blocked off from about the stove back, until everything is finished. But at least the stove is back in the right spot, so I can cook dinner!!!
I actually got a ton of inspiration over the weekend for what I am hoping is the final 'look' I want for the kitchen. I've kinda been stuck in a rut on that whole thing, but now I can't wait to show you all my inspiration, I just need to finalize a few things!!!!

Sunday Confessions

I've always though it was funny, when in the movies, someone goes into the confessional booth and confesses their sins to the priest, only the priest wasn't really in there, it was someone else who schemes and plots against that person and uses their secrets to blackmail them...don't you?

Well, here are some of my confessions...please don't hold them against me :)

via

1. I saw actual stars float around my head when I was younger. I hit my head off the bathtub, I think someone else was involved and I got pushed? All I remember is seeing the stars...

2. I am deathly afraid of snakes. I can't look at them on TV, in a book, in a magazine. I get creepy crawlies all over just thinking about them! {shudder}. Before I met Mike he had a handful of these rather huge, slithery things living with him as pets!!!! I think that if we had met and he still had them, we would never had gotten married!!!
3. I will eat any kind of chocolate bar, I don't really have a favorite kind.

4. I have had my ears, belly button and eyebrow pierced. All of them have been rejected by my body. Mike and I got our eyebrows done together shortly after getting engaged. I remember a lot of people at the time (parents included) were shocked that we didn't take them out for our wedding photos!

5. I get a little frustrated when I read another blog post on something similar that I was going to write about, or a craft that I just did. But really, free world, right?

6. I often think back to a day when I was younger. A day that I am pretty sure shaped how I am today. I'm not sure if it was in a good way or a bad way. But it's who I am now.What about you? Can you think of a moment that shaped you and how you view things?

Linking up with Every Day is a New Adventure and Three on Three.

 

Frivolous Friday's Linky-THE RETURN!!!!

Welcome back to Frivolous Friday's!!!

I know, the long awaited Re-Debut is finally here!!

For anyone wondering what Frivolous Friday's is all about...well..it's about you! You can come here on the last Friday of every month and link up your photography posts that center around you! I want you to Capture the Moment, you know, the one moment that you get all to yourself? I'd love for you to share with us what you love to do...walks on the beach? A simple cup of coffee? Shopping? Did you buy yourself something new? A haircut? Do you read?

Get creative and take a photo (self portraits are welcome), then grab a button, link away and have fun!!

<a href="http://www.imprintalish.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="Frivolous Friday's" src="http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l607/Alicia_Hummel-Kettlewell/frivolousbutton.jpg"/></a>

What did I do this month? Well, considering the reno hell we've been in, I drank, a lot...lol, well not a lot, just a bit...!

I also found myself alone on a Friday afternoon, so I took a walk with my camera in a nearby local town. After scouring forever for pics, I finally called it a day and picked Mike up from work. On our way home we caught this beautiful sunset!

Ok, your turn...link away!

Some guidelines:

I'd love it if you followed me, but it's no biggie if you don't want to.

Please link back to this blog post with button or link.

Take a second and view some other link ups, leave a little comment love!

3 Valentine Garlands

I've mentioned before that I love Valentine's Day, but not because of the meaning behind it (love should be shared every day-not just one day a year!) I love it because of all the fantastic crafts that can be made!!!! I'm going to share with you three Heart Garlands that I've made, two are new this year and one is from last year.

Twinkling Doilies

Supplies

Strand of white mini lights

Package of white and pink heart doilies (dollar store!)

This is the easiest project ever! Simple poke mini light bulbs through the top of the doily hearts. That's it!! DONE! LOL!

Melted Crayon Heart Garland

I had been thinking about these Melted Crayon Hearts for a bit now and I was dying to try them out for myself! I thought it would be a good craft for Gray and I to try out together. I was mistaken though and ended up doing it on my own, which was probably for the best because it got quite messy!!! 

Supplies

A handful or crayons

Knife

Wax Paper

Towels

Iron

Start by peeling the wrappers off the crayons (this is not as fun as it sounds, LOL) My fingers were pretty sore! Then take a knife and cut up the crayons into tiny pieces. The smaller the better. I found that some of the chunks took forever to melt, so next time I will keep chopping away!

Lay out a towel on your ironing board, followed by a piece of paper and then a piece of wax paper. Scatter the crayon pieces around, spreading them out well. Lay another piece of wax paper over top.

Fold the edges of the wax paper in two to create a seal to keep the melting crayons in side the package. Place a piece of paper over top.

Place a hot iron on top for a couple minutes, moving it around to melt all of the crayon pieces. Since some of my pieces were thicker, I had to leave it on that area for a bit longer!

After ironing you are left with a sheet that looks like this. Now you can start cutting out your hearts, I just free handed mine, but you could use a stencil if you like.

I love how they turned out and I may just leave them up all year round!

Sewn Paper Hearts

This one is from last year and I unfortunately don't have a tutorial for it, but you basically cut out hearts onto a variety of scrapbooking paper and sew them together! For some of the hearts I grouped three together and then fluffed them up after sewing to give it a 3D appearance.

How do you decorate for Valentine's Day?

This post is Sponsored by Gaia Metal Studio.


Linking up at: Freestyle Friday, Do Something Crafty, Shine on Fridays, Weekend Wrap Up Party,
Feature Yourself Friday, Cheap Crafty Mama, Someday Crafts, Whatcha Got Weekend, Sharing Saturday, Just Something I Whipped Up, Creative Blogger's Party, Do Something Crafty

Guest Post from Digger at Digging Deeper into Design

I've got a special treat for you today!!! Please give a huge welcome to Digger. If you haven't been over to Digging Deeper into Design, I suggest you get your butt over there after you read this. Digger's words are from the heart and she is an absolute sweetie!!!!


Hello!! I am so honored to be guesting here at Imprintalish. My name is Digger. I blog over at Digging Deeper Into Design. I absolutely love Lish, so I'm super excited to be taking over her little piece of the interwebs today and talking to all of her fantastic follower. (hint: that's YOU!) Anyway, I've been asked a lot lately about what my day looks like and how I keep things balanced… lol… well, I try. That's pretty much "how" I do it. It's never perfect and it's always a work in progress, but I thought I'd give you a sneak peak into a normal Monday-Friday day. So without further ado, pretend you're really sleepy (pretend hehe, right!) and let's get into…

A Day In The Life...

6:30 - Alarm goes off.. eyes, kind of open… left hand slams iPhone… and... snooze…hehehe

6:45 - Bruiser's alarm goes off, and my day starts for real. He's in the shower and I'm searching for his shoes, or coat, or gloves, or reading book, or whatever else he left out and didn't put in his backpack.

7:10 - I wrap Monster in a blanket and strap him into the car seat, then we're off to take Bruiser to school.

7:45 - Kiss Bruiser good-bye, wish him a good day, and watch him run off after a friend as they walk into school together.

8:15 - Pull back in the garage and very carefully unbuckle Monster and even more carefully carry him back inside and lay him in my bed in my spot. (8 out of 10 times he stays asleep. Points for Mom!)

8:20 - Start coffee, cut up/peel some fruit and pull out the granola, make breakfast.

8:30 - Pull out computer and put the finishing touches on the day's post.

8:45 - Monster climbs up to the counter next to me and asks for juice and toast.

9:00 - I shower, put Monster in while I get dressed, then it's his turn for the clothes.

10:00 - Onto the house: laundry, dishes, toilets, carpets, etc.. etc.. etc..

Right in here is when I design, write, play Batman (ok, you're right, usually it's more along the Joker/Riddler/Penguin lines, cause I don't quite fit in the cape and it looks dang cute on a certain little boy) 

12:00 - Lunch: PB&J Tortilla with fruit and crackers for Monster & bread, cheese, yogurt, and veggies for Mom.

12:30 - Storytime and Schooltime for Monster: My favorite time of the day! Seriously, I love this part!! We read books, tell stories, and turn the music on to dance. :) Then it's school time: ABC's, numbers, sorting, colors, animals, etc…

2:30 - Monster gets some time to play with Batman and watch a little Backyardigans while I finish up a design, a post, or some other project.

3:45 - Monster and I walk up to the bus stop and wait/climb trees until Bruiser steps off the bus.

4:00 - Fix a snack and start homework with Bruiser.

4:30 - Depending on the weather we go outside and swing, jump on the tramp, work in the yard, play in the water or ride bikes. If it's rainy we pull out the art stuff and draw, paint, or sculpt something at the table.

5:30 - The boys finish their game or project while I start dinner.

6:00 - Hubs is home and dinner is on the table. We eat as a family and go over our day: school, work, Batman, and design.

7:00 - Family time: wrestling, movies, games, etc..

9:00 - Boys go to bed and Hubs and I take care of our online stuff: emails, business calls, paperwork, posts and anything else that's needed.

10:30 - Get in bed, watch some TV and talk.

11:00 - Bedtime. :) Good Night! :)


Thanks so much for letting us take a peak at a Day in Your life, Digger! Being a mom is probably the toughest job and I always wonder how other's balance their time. I see now that the secret is to have one kid in school...hehe...:)

Words, Winners and Wintery Fun on a Wednesday!

Did you ever make tractor marks in the snow whe you were little...Grayson loves them!

Ya, I know Wednesday is supposed to be How Pinteresting...But, honestly I haven't had time to come up with anything. The kids and I are at my parents for the next couple of days while our roof gets torn off and rebuilt from the groundup, fun, eh? Ya....we were pretty excited when our contractor called on Monday and said the building permit came through already and they could start on Tuesday. So I scrambled last minute to pack up and head out of town for the week. One thing I didn't have planned was some scheduled blog posts, but I figured I could throw some together at my parents using their laptop. Well, when your not familiar with a laptop, you just can't quickly throw something together. The 'thumbed' mouse thingy sucks, the keys aren't in the right place, I keep hitting the cap lock key and well, let's just say there wasn't much use throwing some photos and stuff to do onto a memory stick, cause it's not getting done!!!!





So now you just get my rambles amongst some photos. K?



BUT, if you want a post with a bit more substance, I'm also guest posting over at Digger's blog, Digging Deeper, so come on over and say hi!

PLUS, I can also let you know who won the extended giveaway from Jordan Marie at Hottlt Designs!!! She actually picked four winners instead of three, how nice is that!!? So here are the lucky winners! Jordan Marie will be emailing you soon!

Congratulations ladies and I can't wait to see your new designs!!!!
I've got a new giveaway going on as well, head on over here, to win your very own copy of the My Memories Suite digital scrapbooking software and to get a special discount code!!!