Friday Favorites and other tidbits

Woot Woot time for this weeks Friday favorites and I have a bunch of random things to share. I am also working on a blog post of my living room so that will be coming soon!

But first off shout out to NOVEMBER! Yes it is November 2018 already and how about them colors! I mean seriously these red trees in my yard are like my favorite! Aren’t they just so darn ppprrreeetttyy!

Our trees are really losing their leaves and hubs had a huge mess to clean up this week. Luckily we have a mulch kit on the tractor but he had to go over each row like 3-4 times to get through the heavy leaves. At least he does not have to rake. But look at the flaming red!

This one is not as bright red but still so fallish, right!

Halloween fun!

This year I decided last minute (Monday night) to make Halloween bags for my grand-kids.

I went into Joann Fabrics not really sure what I was going to do but I knew I wanted a bag of some kind to hold the goodies from us. It also needed to be inexpensive but yet something that would be fast because I had 4 to make. Kicking myself all the way that I waited until the last minute to make something. But yet I wanted something handmade. (its a grandma thing ya know, lol)

So I headed over to the fleece and found orange and green at 50% off, score! I then knew I was going to make a orange bag with a green handle and a black pumpkin face. I grabbed some black felt, threw it in my cart and out the door in 10 minutes. Headed home to start the project.

Let the assembly begin

I was excited to get them started as soon as I got home. I first took a piece of craft paper and cut out a pattern of what I wanted. This is what I came up with…easy peasy, right!

So I started with the big bag pattern and cut out the orange bags. Then the green handle I decided on a 3″ strip and just guessed at a length, lol. The eyes, nose and mouth I then cut out of felt.

Because I hate sewing I really was going to just glue everything. Although, I was a bit worried if the seam would hold the bag together. So I brought out the sewing machine and just sewed one seam on the sides and bottom. That I could handle. lol  Then, I glued the eyes, nose and mouth on with fabric glue and BAM done in no time.

Here they are and I was pretty happy how they turned out. They would for sure serve the purpose of my goodies.

Time to fill them up!

On Tuesday I headed to the store to buy some fruit such as apples, oranges and bananas. I also threw in some random things along with stickers, Halloween bubbles, books, and very little candy for the grand-kids over 3. My grandson got some Gerber snacks like puffs and yogurt melts since he is just 10 months old.

All this random stuff filled the bags completely. I then realized I should have put the face up higher on the bag. Because once it got filled the mouth kinda got buried at the bottom. Oh well live and learn right! Plus did I really expect perfection in 30 minutes, um no!

They still were super cute and knew they would go over well with the kiddos. I finished them off by making a tag with their names on them and here they are!

Ava (4) and Kaylee (3) dressed up as Elsa and Anna from the Frozen movie and looked so adorable. Those orangy/red braids hid her natural wavy blond hair so well.

Ellis was….can you guess….the cutest, chubbiest turtle I ever did see. I mean his cheeks look even bigger in this very padded costume but so cute. He was getting a bit tired so getting smiles was a little harder that night. lol

Onto Friday Favorites

~I really like starting my day with a small devotion. While I am still in bed I use the app called First 5 on my phone.  It is centered around giving God your first 5 minutes before you get busy for your day and distracted by social media and everything else that needs your attention. I like how it focuses on one passage of scripture per day and always ends with a prayer. Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys starting your day off with the word of God.

~Another favorite of mine is this book, Embraced, I purchased from Amazon here a few months ago.

When I sit down for a break later in the day I love reading just one devotion which is always so uplifting.

The author, Lysa wrote this book so beautifully. Embraced features 100 devotions that will resonate with women in all stages of life by giving them a godly perspective on the issues they face each day. Lysa shares her own struggles, doubts, and heartbreaks while pointing to the Ultimate Embrace which is God.

This book is so beautifully made and has a gorgeous cloth cover, a really nice ribbon marker, and the stained page edges are just so pretty. Embraced is such a nice keepsake for you and will make such a great gift for others so keep that in mind! I just love this book.

More favorites!

~This favorite is something I cannot rave enough about.  I can honestly say it is the best, ever! Turmeric Curcumin. 

I have had scoliosis since I was 15. It has never bothered me until about 4 years ago. Through so many trials of many things such as chiropractic therapy, physical therapy, acupuncture, yoga and seeing many doctors including back specialists my back pain was still there.

They all gave me some relief to a degree but was never permanent. Lets be honest none of them are cheap either.

Although, I found yoga was most beneficial and felt amazing after I left each time. So I bet if I had stuck with it I would have been in a better position. I often think about going back but you know me always trying to save the almighty dollar. Peace Yoga studio in Menomonee Falls is where I went and highly recommend them. The instructor, Diane, was also amazing and I very much enjoyed going each week but should have gone more.

But for some reason I found some youtube videos online I vowed to do at home. Well you know how that goes when you work from home you always have more important things to do. My bad!

Acupuncture also gave me good temporary relief but I spent a pretty penny on that and just could not afford it anymore. So I was still on the hunt for something more permanent and cheaper.

Finally, last year I found this product on Amazon, Turmeric Curcumin, with so many positive reviews I had to give it a try. I mean it is all natural and I certainly have nothing to lose other than another $16 right!

Well let me tell you it made a huge difference. I did try a cheaper alternative from target but it was not nearly as good and I could totally tell the difference.

I take two of these a day and will certainly keep doing it as it is the best and most cost effective for me at this time. Now I just need to start up yoga again since I feel so much better and I know how good yoga is for everyone.

So if you have any pain of any kind in shoulder, neck, arthritis, knees or anywhere I highly recommend trying the turmeric. It really helped so many people with any pain and joint support and I can 100% say it helped me tremendously and I truly love it! 

My last favorite!

~Lastly, I seriously went without a cell phone car mount holder all these years. I mean…. like my whole entire life (which is really long) until 2 weeks ago, lol. Yup, I broke down and bought one because my phone always sat in the cup holder next to me and would rattle around. Also, whenever I use my map app I literally would hold my phone and listen for the directions and glance down at it periodically. I know I know….totally not safe. I really tried to do it just at stop lights, really! Honestly though I DO NOT text and drive! NEVER!

So I got this one from Amazon because it got 5 stars and appeared to be so great. It gets clipped right to the car vent.

So that’s exactly what I did, clipped it to my vent and OMGosh I love it there so much.

You just set the phone in there and pinch it shut. Then when you want to take it out you just press a button at the bottom and it opens those wings on each side for you to take your phone out. It seriously stays just where I put it and no bouncing around anymore. There is a rotating ball on the back so you can adjust to any direction you need it.  I literally love this phone holder. It’s the little things ya know! lol

This certainly would make a great gift idea too for anyone that likes all those kind of gadgets. I mean $9 you cannot beat it! Amazon prime and you have it in two days! woot woot!

There ya go my friends. I know that was a random bunch of tidbits but I hope you still found something interesting.

Next I am working on a post that will show you all of my living room. I know you have seen bits and pieces here and there but I have never shared our TV wall unit we built and a little secret with it! So stay tuned.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend and I would love to hear from you in the comments. Just anything random about you or something you love and would like to share with all of us.

(((hugs)))