Valentine's Day ~ A Whole New Perspective

You might be wondering why I am posting the picture of this not so fresh looking flower. Let me tell you a story of our Valentine's day this year...

Mr.TRH and I have big date night planned for end of this month. So we decided to stay home on the Valentine's day and do pizza & movie night as a family. He came home and just before we started eating, he gave me a flower and a card. It made me so happy, but I had hungry kids waiting to eat, so I set the card to the side and started serving the pizza. Then I noticed that Mr.TRH disappeared somewhere. When he came back to the kitchen again after a few minutes he had his hands behind his back.

At this point, the boys had already started to eat.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I asked. Then, he pulled out a white rose and gave it to our 8 year old daughter, Rachel. I was surprised, but Rachel had a shocked look (in a good way), she dropped her pizza and said "Thank you" in a small voice. It sounded like "thank you, but why?". I know this is the very first flower that she received just for herself in her life time.

During this time, her two older brothers were stuffing their faces with pizza, there was no sign of slowing down or stopping. Then Michael mumbled, "Is that real?".

While Rachel was still admiring the flower, Mr.TRH pulled out the other hand and handed her a card. This time, she gasped and said thank you and start opening her card (the boys continued to chomp down pizza). Then she read the card out loud with smile on her face. The card it self was cute and sweet, but Mr.TRH wrote how proud he was of her, and how she is growing up.

I thought, "ok, it is over I am going to sit down and start eating too." Then, I noticed that Rachel put the card on the table, both hand on her lap and her head bowed.

"Rachel, are you ok?" I asked.

She replied with a very weak voice. "The card is going to make me... cry..." Then, she started crying.

I knelt down beside her and asked, "Are you happy? Is that why you are crying?" She just nodded several times with tears streaming down on her cheeks.

Then, one of the boys asked "why is she crying?" STILL no sign of slowing down, well, I felt like they sped up on their eating pizza like "quick! Three of them are not eating, now is the chance... hehehe".

This was an unexpected reaction for Mr.TRH and I. The thoughtful act of a father's love touched his 8 year old girl's heart so much that she was crying. I was touched and I too started to tear up.

Of couse the boys kept eating while we were having this beautiful moment on the other side of the dining table; I just think it is so funny how boys and girls are so different. Even at such a young age.

The next few days Mr.TRH and I caught her looking at her flowers and card when she thought no one was watching. It was just so cute to know that meant so much to her. Also, the day after Valentine's day, she wrote "I love you mom and dad" with a heart on the white board in the office as a surprise. She is so blessed to have such a loving and attentive father. Mr.TRH is not a really romantic type person, but I told him several times he out did himself. What he did for our little girl, and how she received the gift made me feel warm inside. I thought that was way better than going out for Valentine dinner.

The flower will wither, but I know the loving gesture a father showed his daughter will have a lasting impact. I think I will never forget this Valentine's day.

P.S Are you all wondering if we gave anything to the boys? Yes we did. In the past, I gave them sweet cards, but I could tell they didn't care much about them. So I just gave them a heart shaped box of chocolates with message like "hugs" and "cool dude" and they were so excited. :)


If you haven't entered for a chance to win a $1000 gift card from Suave, make sure to check out my last post. Don't miss out!

Spring Hair Clip Project

If you haven't entered for a chance to win a $1000 gift card from Suave, make sure to check out my last post. Don't miss out!


When I was putting my sewing room together, I came across a bunch of things that I forgot about. These are one of them and it gave me an idea of what I can make with them. Where I live, the last few days have been pretty sunny and I kept longing for Spring.

I share my spring hair clip project today.

All you need are metal hair clips, skeins (or any type of yarn), glue that will hold metal and fiber. It is super easy and simple; you could do this project with young girls and have fun together as well. Are you ready to have fun?

1. First, cut 1 yard of skeins then put glue on the back of the metal clip where you pinch to open. Put the tip of the skeins and wait 5 minutes or so until it sticks to the metal and is more stable. It makes it easier to work with when this part of the glue is dry.

2. Put some glue on the metal and start wrapping the skein to the metal.

3. Keep going...

4. Make sure there is glue on the tip of the skein when you are finishing it off. Place the end on the back where it won't be seen and glue it on. Cut off the excess.

5. Of course I had to try other colors to see what they would look like.

6. I also found these cabochons in my scrap booking supplies and the colors match so perfectly I had to see what they look like on the clips.

What do you think? With? Without?

My Sewing Room Tour

I am so excited about today's post my friends! It took me (WAY TOO LONG) long enough to finally put together my sewing room, but as I promised, I am welcoming you today to celebrate this with me. :)

Are you ready?

My creative space is located right off the family room area which is really convenient for me. I don't have to go up and down the stairs with my bad leg. I can pretty much stay on the main floor all day. Let's open the doors and go inside...

On the left hand side there are shelves from Ikea and a cupboard that Mr. TRH and I created in the past. I looked everywhere for storage solutions when I was brain storming on how I was going to design my sewing room. Ikea has a great selection of shelves and storage bins. I am so happy to see most of my fabric stored nicely. There are things that I am not perfectly happy about and I might make some changes later.

I scored this clear display case when Borders in our area was going out of business. I thought it would be perfect for fat quarters, and I didn't move till someone who worked at the store came by. I didn't want other people to snatched it up! This spinable display case takes very little space, and holds a ton of fabrics.

On the right hand side of the room, I have tall drawers and tables and such.

You have seen this in my other post, my desk with tall drawers and threads. This is one of my favorite areas in this room.

On the windowsill I displayed some of my creations and wooden spools with fabric I bought last summer.

I created this inspiration board after I moved in to this house, it is finally up on my sewing room wall.

Speaking of an inspiration board... I also created a design board for quilt blocks. Thanks to Erin (Check out her blog Décor Allure) for an idea of what to use. This design board is light weight, and I used metal clips on both sides of the board, hanging hooks from 3M on the wall to hang it. Very easy to take it down, just in case when I want to work in a different room. This girl loves flexibilities and options. :)

Speaking of options, I am still trying to decide where to put the table. against the wall like the picture I have showed you up top or in the middle of the room like an island. Mmmm... that is something I have to start using the room and find out which is more convenient.

There are a few things I know I am going to rearrange in the future, but for now the "horders" sewing room has become usable space, and I am super happy about it. Big thanks to my super patient and supportive husband known as Mr. TRH... He has given me so much ever since we have been together, I mean tangible and non-tangible things. He knows me better than anybody on earth and I just appreciate him so much. I am such a lucky girl to be able to call him my husband.

I promise, I will get good use out of this room... pinky promise.

Good News from Australia ~ Homespun Magazine~

I have exciting news to share today... It is from Australia! One of my tutorials is featured in their newest issue.. I haven't received a hard copy yet, but I decided to share the news anyways. :)

I have never been to Australia, but knowing that there are many people who love the same things that I love (which is sewing and quilting), and to be able to connect with them through the internet makes me feel like they are a lot closer than I used to think. Australia is one of the places that I would love to visit someday.

Go check out their website and Facebook page to see their exciting content.

In my next post, I will share more pictures of my sewing space. I. am. so. ready. to SEW!! I will see you at my next post. :)


P.S If you haven't entered for the chance to win a $1000 gift card for Suave, make sure to check out my last post. Don't miss out!

Review & $1000 Gift Card Giveaway / Suave Professionals® Moroccan Infusion Body Care

A little over 18 years ago, I moved from Japan which has more moisture in the air than Utah. I remember the first winter was the worst... my skin itched like crazy and if I wasn't careful my hands would quickly crack. Over the years my skin adapted to the new area somewhat, but I still need to moisturize it constantly. Based on my experience in the past, the moisturizers that work well cost more... and to tell you the truth, I usually pass the Suave® shelf area when I am shopping. When I was given a chance to review the new Suave Professionals® line, I was very much interested. Seriously, if we can find a great product that is wallet friendly; what could be better than that??

The Suave Professionals® Moroccan Infusion Body Care line includes Body Lotion, a daily moisturizer that absorbs quickly for up to 24 hours of non-greasy hydration, and Dry Body Oil Spray. The Dry Body Oil Spray is perfect for special occasions such as adding a radiant sheen to legs. These awesome products create silky and radiant skin. Let's talk about this Body Oil Spray... I LOVE IT!! I don't like to push the product I don't care for, but I seriously am in love with this. The Body Lotion is wonderful too, it absorb quickly into the skin and keeps my skin hydrated for 24 hours (it really does!), the Dry Body Oil Spray... after each shower, I put the oil on my elbows and the next morning, I touch them and they were lot silkier than normal! I thought maybe I was imagining (you know, when we use new products we feel like it's working) so I did this every single day, and my elbows are very soft.

The new Suave Professionals® Moroccan Infusion Body Care products, clinically proven to moisturize as well as Moroccanoil®1, feature a light, luxurious fragrance and are infused with authentic Moroccan argan oil. Aragan oil a lightweight miracle oil known to be rich in nutrients and antioxidants. You can find out more information about the Suave Professionals® Moroccan Infusion Body Care products at their Facebook page. Leave a comment on my blog and let me know which of the Suave Professionals® Moroccan Infusion Body Care products you would most like to try! You will be automatically entered into a random drawing for a $1,000 gift card (across all participating blogs). Good luck everyone! :)

 

 

 

Sweepstakes Rules: 

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 2/7/2014-2/28/2014.

Be sure to visit the Suave Professionals® brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

 

¹When clinically tested vs. comparable Moroccanoil® products. Moroccanoil® is a registered trademark of Moroccanoil®.

Chair Makeover

You already know that I have been working on, my sewing room. I also had another project I quickly started.

when I was at a thrift shop last week I found this chair:

Pros: It is sturdy and the paint on the metal frame is in a good shape and it was priced very well ($5.50 baby!)

Cons: The fabric was in bad shape(and not my style AT ALL).

I have been looking for a chair for my sewing room, for a guest... which mainly will be Rachel since I am planning to sew with her a lot more often. I didn't want to spend a lot but I wanted a sturdy chair. This chair has potential.

I went home and looked through my stash and found the perfect fabric for it. When I bought it I didn't know what I was going to use it for but I had the perfect amount of fabric for this project.

After less than an hour, I got a new chair with personality!

I went through my trim drawer and found this which was the perfect combination with the paint color of the chair and the fabric!

Oh, going through my sewing stash and organizing them was the most AMAZING thing I have ever done for myself this year so far!! I have to admit it was a long and slow process at the time (and I hated it), but by organizing things I know what I have, and I know where they are. It makes it so much more efficient on so many levels.

If you are contemplating attacking your stash, absolutely DO! You will love the end result. :)