37 weeks and a total insomniac

I have a severe case of Baby Brain these days, so I'm not going to attempt to be clever, witty, or even coherent on this post. That would be an exercise in futility and I'm just too tired for that business.

I figure that my best shot at sounding at least like a kindergarten graduate is to stick to the basics... so here we go:

My 37 week appointment was happily uneventful. No news to report except that baby Charlie has "dropped", but is still not going anywhere this week.

His heartbeat is nice and strong, and the doctor guesstimated that he weighs around 5 pounds right now. I'm very proud to say that I'm not waddling just yet - and aside from being very tired and a little edgy, I feel great.

We scheduled our C-Section for Friday, November 21 at 1:30 pm. I was hoping for an earlier time at day, but evidently, the 21st is a popular day for C-Sections. I reserved the last time that they had left. All I can think about is how hungry I'm going to be by the time 1:30 rolls around.

2 more weeks, people. 2 more weeks. How crazy is that?

Thankfully, you don't have to use big, impressive words to Craft - so I'm dedicating the remainder of this post to the only sure-fired-tried-and-true method for staying sane when willing oneself to sleep just doesn't work.

I think you know what I'm talking about...
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My Craft Club friends came over on Monday night and we went to work cutting, gluing, pasting, creating beautiful things, and solving all of the world's problems. It was, in my estimation, an extremely successful night.

This was my project from the night:

It's entirely made of paper - except for the ribbon and the frame. I found the idea on Martha Stewart's website.

Oh, Martha. I have such a love/hate relationship with her.

The beauty of her projects always sucks me in. They're just so pretty, fancy, and fabulous...

Martha's spell usually wears off sometime during the third hour of my investment in the excruciatingly intricate details of the project. That's when I start thinking not-so-nice thoughts and vowing never to be fooled by her crafty trickery again.

This crafting experience was no different.

Even though this it wasn't HARD, it took forever-and-a-day to finish...not to mention a MILLION paper leaves.

Dahling Mahtha says to staple the leaves in place, but I decided to use a glue gun instead. 'Cause glue guns are so much cooler than staplers and Martha's track record with me hasn't been the best lately.

I'm not sure that my decision was a wise one with my reflex skills as they are right now...I came pretty close to burning off all of my fingertips by the time the wreath was finished.

Worth it? Sure.

Here's my second project of the week:
It's a fun little paper leaf garland

I read a million fun, crafty blogs, and found this idea on Just a Girl (she found it somewhere else in the blogosphere).

I adapted the idea just a bit since Avery isn't old enough to participate in the "I'm thankful for..." conversation just yet. But next year, I plan on writing our thankful thoughts on the leaves. Won't that be too, too cute?

Finally - I thought that I would include a little tutorial for making my little signs/plaques. I've had a few people ask me how I did them, so here goes:

Supplies:
Wood Board or Plaque
(I use Lara's Crafts rectangle wood boards from Michael's, but you could easily use any kind of small wood plaque)
Paint or Stain
3M fine sandpaper
Mod Podge (the greatest invention known to man)
Scrapbook papers
Paper cutter or Scissors
Corner punch
Flower punch
Circle punch
Computer and Printer (to print your verse or saying)
buttons/ribbon/embellishment of choice
Drill

What You Do:
1. Paint the back and sides of the board

2. Once the paint is dry, smooth the board with Sandpaper. Sanding the painted board creates a really cool aged effect.

3. Cut and glue the first layer of scrapbook paper to board. This will be your "background"

4. Print your saying or verse on a coordinating paper and then use the corner punch to round the corners. Glue that piece on top of the "background"

5. If you want, you can add additional punched paper embellishments at this point. I like to do flowers with a circle inside. It adds just a little somethin' somethin'.

6. Sand the papered board with a fine sandpaper to distress it.

7. Dust off the board and cover it with a light coat of Mod Podge

8. Wait a few minutes and then smooth any bubbles in the paper with your fingers once the Mod Podge is dryish

9. Embellish with buttons and ribbon

10. Drill holes at the top of the board to attach a ribbon for hanging

Total Cost: $4 at the most!

HAPPY CRAFTING, MY BLOGGY BUDDIES!