Wide Eyed Buy

Good Morning Sunshines: currently I am testing the waters in selling my homemade treasures... Any suggestions????

My friends have some how convinced me that I can do this, and that people would pay money for the crafts I make. So we started off with an Instagram account "wideeyedlittlelady" and a hashtag #wideeyedbuy (supposed to sound like "why I'd buy", yes no?). The hope is to get people I've made crafts for our people that end up buying them will take pictures and share on their personal accounts. I've linked up my Pinterest and am in the process of all this fancy internet stuff to connect and join and what not. I've yet to start an etsy account because like I said I'm testing the water. 

So my questions are: what are you interested in buying (crafts wise)?, would you buy these?, price wise/budget wise: what would you pay for some of these???? 

I am very cautious about starting this up because I, like many, fear rejection. I mean who doesn't like/want to be successful when trying something? No one, thats who. People liked to be liked and people like their ideas/creations to be liked. So here I am trying to get people to like me and my ideas; take a gander, let me know what you think....

  

All creations can be made to your specifications to fit your individual needs... 

Until next time

xxoo-Tara

Heart

What a bumpy past couple of days it has been for this Wide Eyed Little Lady...

Last Thursday around 10:30 I received a startling phone call from the Husband. He proceeded to tell me that his father had been admitted to the hospital late last night with chest pain. (I being the early to bed, early to rise person that I am missed all the commotion). After being at the hospital for nearly 12 hours the hospital deemed that Brad (father-in-law extraordinaire) was having a heart attach (second one within 14 months). The reason this is so startling is because Nathan's grandpa, at the ripe age of 63, died from heart failure after his 3rd heart attach. 

Nathan so unsettled by the news had to have his mother inform me that his dad was finally going under. My eyes began to swell with tears and my voice cracking as she handed the phone to Brad so I could say "I love you". As we get off the phone I immediately drop to my knees and bow my head to pray. I could barely organize my thoughts to start off my prayer, but as I continued I felt more at ease and felt such a strong presence there with me. 

I rushed off to the hospital, not forgetting to stop off at Nielson's Frozen Custard to pick up some Carmel Cashew. I arrived just as Brad was getting out. While waiting for the doctor, Brad still a little groggy from surgery he still managed to crack a couple of jokes about his condition. His sense of humor is awful but I am so grateful for it. After a couple of hours the doctor comes in and explains that he had a tear/crack in the previous stent that they had put in his artery and it caused another blockage. To remedy the situation they ended up putting another stent on top of the first one! The doctor also informed us that from the time he was omitted to the time he went in for surgery he had 4 "mini infarctions"!

It is a week later and I am glad to see that my father-in-law is heeding the doctors advice and taking things slow. Brad is such a determined man and I know that he won't let this stop him. I am so thankful for the example he sets and am hoping to have him around for many more years to come. Please keep him in your hearts as we pray for a clean bill of health.

Until next time...
xxoo

Up-Cycling

Summer is here and I couldn't be more excited! The Sun, the pool, camping, bonfires, carnivals, and so much more are in store for this wide eye'd little lady. 

With the new change of season comes a new set of decorations for my little home. Consequently changing my decorations every month isn't too friendly on my wallet, so we must resort to getting a little crafty... or as I would say time to up-cycle.

What is Up-Cycling??? Up-Cycling is to reuse an item to create a different product or create value to an item. 

And VOILA taking us from...

To....

Instructions:

• Start of with any pair of pants; I've used jeans, khaki, and slacks to make various different banners. I typically just use a "ruined" pair from friends or family. 
• Next you will want to cut up the pant leg like so... (try to stay as close to the seams to maximize the material)

• After you have cut both side of the pant leg discard of any trim pieces left on the sides. This will leave you with two strips.
• Now choose the desired length and width for your flag pieces. I typically go with a 3 or 4 in' width and a 5 or 6 in' length.

• Cut out all necessary pieces, trimming as you go to match length and width.
• Choose a style of flag. For this banner I chose to do a traditional two point. You can also do triangles, multi-point, or just a rectangle/square, even mix it up (the possibilities are endless)
• The quickest way I have found to get the double point is to simply fold in half and cut at the desired angle

                   


                 {{Now it is time to start adorning your flags}}

• I started with a simple tag (paper left over from a previous project at work), I used my Cricut for these and let me tell you if you don't have one you need one. I simply hot glued these on but you can use fabric glue as well.

• After you've glued on your tags you'll want to do your letters. I first glued them straight on to the tag but didn't like how it looked so I used foam blocks to build them up

• Time for the fun part: lets fancy these up. I chose to use bows, buttons, and ribbon. You can also use gemstones, glitter, feathers, or what ever your heart desires!

• Last but not least you will want to secure your banner and hang it. You can find this Jute Twine at your local Walmart, I like it because it gives it a natural look. 
• First you will measure the area where you want your banner. Make sure that both sides are even (I typically tie a ribbon in the center, it is very handy). Evenly space your flags through out the length of the string
• Next you will want to hot glue the back of your flag and press onto your string. Be careful not to glue the flag to your floor.

and... Tada 

Happy Up-Cycling!!! 

For Time & All Eternity

Recently Nathan (the husband) and I have been subjected to having a couple of difficult discussions with the topic landing on the Temple and Church.

For those who don't know me, I was loosely raised in and out of the LDS faith. I wasn't too much of a regular and my ward until my older years where I got the opportunity to service as a counselor to my fellow Laurels. I also served as a member of Seminary Council. Despite my families non-involvement in the church this didn't not deter me from the church and the love I felt for the savior.

Nathan was closely raised in the LDS faith, attended church every Sunday, planned to serve a mission, and he too was a member of Seminary Council at his school. When it came time for Nate to receive his Mission call he was deemed "unsuitable" to serve due to his constant and debilitating anxiety.

Fast forward to down the road Nathan & I meet, dated, and got engaged, yay! At this time we made the decision not to get married and sealed in the Temple. It was something that we prayed and discussed frequently and was very hard. We simply were not ready to take upon this gift. Many of you might be thinking "if you weren't ready to go to the temple, than what makes your think your ready to get married" or "whatever you guys weren't worthy". Those thoughts and comments are fine to have and don't bother us because we know the truth. Plus, I too am guilty of doing that. 

So here we are 2.5 years later with a big decision ahead of us... are we ready??? We have done many things to prepare and made adjustments where needs be, even enrolled in a temple prep class. Nathan has worries of the "obligations" that will come with this new change (did I mention he has anxiety?!) 

Mine worries come from the actual temple part. I have no idea what I am doing or what to do, what needs to be done, NOTHING! Being the control freak that I am this is not okay.

Like I explained earlier my family is not involved in the church and despite Nate's family's involvement in the church, I just don't feel comfortable taking about these matters. I don't have many friends who have married in the temple and most of Nate's friends are single so that is out of the question. I just want some advise, guidance, a checklist. Help! 

I am excited/terrified to move on to this next chapter in our lives together and know that we are making the right choice. Plus as my sister puts it "it's another reason to celebrate, I'm down". So blogger/reader friends if you have any advise for this wide eye'd little lady please do share, anything helps. 

Until next time...

xxoo

Hello World:

Or should I say blogging world... Since I can't seem to manipulate the "about me" section into allowing me to add anything I decided my 1st post shall be about me! So exciting... NOT. This first post has been overwhelmingly intimidating. Circling in my head is the chain of thoughts of how my first post needs to be profound, unique, and eye opening all rolled into one equalling out to the PEFECT blog... Yeah not so much, unfortunately.

So here I am getting the first post out of the way so we can move on to the more important things. My name is Tara Kramer, married, mother of two... dogs that is {{Harrison & Chester}}. I am a crafter, cooker, dancer and self proclaimed "doer". I don't like to be told what to do, I much rather lead the orchestra rather than play in it. I have an immense urge to be ME, regardless the situation. I have and always will dance to the beat of my own drum (tambourine, guitar or trumpet depending on my mood).

Growing up my mother always told me that my eyes were wider than my stomach (what can I say I love to eat). As I grew older this common saying began to reflect my personality. My eyes are always WIDE OPEN to: opportunity and adventure, questioning and understanding, similarity and diversity. My eyes, wide open to doing everything and anything. No task to big or to small, to silly or sane to be done. No setting or scene goes overlooked or without appreciation for the beauty that is hidden within. 

Please follow me along as I capture the moments of my wide eyes as there are many things awaiting us in this adventure called life. Until next time friends...

xxoo- tara