Negative out, Positivity Back In Full Swing

There comes a time in life where people talk about reflection. A lot of people say it happens after bad choices or loss, which have made me reflect in the past. But I have heard some people talk about how life is different after you turn 30. The reflection factor isn't forced, it just happens. I feel as though I am there right now. And I kinda love it. 


With some crappy crap happening to me in the past couple of years it is so nice to look at my life and feel the positives in it. Not just say, "Hey I am positive today!." But to actually FEEL the positiveness. I have to thank the people that are in my life right now for that. The ones that call and cheer me on, send me little notes and postcards to brighten my day, and the ones that hold the mirror of life in front of me and say "You are such a good person." And I actually believe them.


I know, I know, most of you may think I should already be saying that to myself and believing it. But I had been letting negativity creep up on me and making me a grouchy lady. Well, grouchy grandma is no more! I am feeling the love and strength from those around me. I am climbing the ladder into the clouds instead of grumbling in the mud! 


The nice words of encouragement have really been paying off too. I mean, I still can't believe I made the LTYM auditions! My etsy store is finally up and I have been accomplishing a lot of projects that have been sitting on the back burner for a long time. Karma in full swing? I would say so!


So this post is just to give a big hug to everyone who has actually REALLY been there for me. By focusing my attention toward the positive things that they have been pointing out in me (that were always there but I wasn't giving myself credit for) has really given me the strength to make negativity just smoke in the wind.


I need to remind myself of my mantra (that just happens to be tattooed on my neck so I can always have it at the back of my mind):


Live how you want.
Love who you are.
Learn from your mistakes. 


That is all we can ever do in the end. 


<<Big hugs>>

Sewing Circle Meeting One

My friends and I have been chatting about doing a sewing circle and it finally happened!

There were four of us and it worked out great! We all met at my house and I had everyone bring their own fabric and sewing machines. We are all at different levels of sewing. Which is why I had everyone try to bring their own sewing machines so those who hadn't sewn before could get used to using them. So it was a beginner/intermediate sewing circle. We figured that the person hosting the sewing circle would pick out the project. I used the trusty 'ol Twenty Minute Tote because I have sewn this so many times! I did switch up the handles for the bag by following this guideline from Whisk and Needles.

I use this method for making ties for my aprons also. There is so much you can do with it!

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I also gave the girls a fun little print up from the blog Missie Krissie

Isn't it so funny and cute! I am going to frame mine.

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Here are the final twenty minute tote bag results of our first every sewing circle!!

These pictures make me smile because I got to have a great time sewing with some of my best friends. Plus, the bags turned out great and they each have their own flare and personality to them.

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We all had learned some new sewing techniques and got to chit chat along the way. It was BYOB but I did serve some easy and great snacks that I found, of course, on pinterest. Here is what I made if you would like to include them when you do your sewing circle. They were super easy!!

Cream Cheese and Olive Tapenade

I made something similar to these Parmesan knots but used premade pesto sauce and rolled them up in crescent rolls and then baked them.

And last but not least, the trusty Rotel and Velveeta cheese dip! Always a hit, even with my kids.

Let me know if you put together a sewing circle! I would love to hear about it .

Hello...Is This Thing On?

I have been absent from the blog posting because, well...I didn't think I had too much interesting stuff going on! Plus, I wasn't sure if anyone was really interested in Funky Chicken. Per request of my awesomely crazy friend Sue, I am back in the game!!

As I sit here and post my first post in what seems like FOR-EV-ER! I am drinking this wonderfully deelish wine that my above noted awesomely fun friend Sue gave me for a Christmas present. The picture on the bottle is a vintage Gypsy (in other words, a picture of me <<smile>>).

I am also eating the most delicious (and easy) vegetarian dish! I don't even know what to call it besides noodles with pesto sauce and black beans.

All you need is the three above mentioned ingredients. Boil the noodles and when they are ready, drain and put into a bowl. I love the Target brand jarred pesto sauce, so I add a half a jar of that and a can of black beans (drained and rinsed). I then mix it all together and put in the fridge. Chill for a half an hour or so, and VOILA! It is finished! So simple! If you want to make it meatier, you can add some 

chopped, grilled chicken breast.

As I finish my relaxing dinner-of-sorts, I am going to work on beefing up my posts! If you are a new or old follower don't hesitate to leave me a comment to let me know you stopped by :). 

Have You Missed Me?

The past couple of weeks have been so much fun, but required some driving which can be tiring on my part. We like to visit our friends and family members that are spread out over the Midwest so much that it is something we are used to doing. It makes me feel so great to see people I love and don't get to see a lot!

I have done so many exciting and heart warming trips in the past two weeks that it is too much to put down in a post. I will give you some pictures that sum up my adventures.

Good times = Good memories!!

Collage Postcards

I have mentioned before that I have had the hardest time finding postcards. I have gone to cutting the top half of note cards off and using them as a postcard. But my Grandmother in me won't let me throw that back piece of the note card away, so I save it to use it for something else. I had them forever until, I was like duh! I could upcycle by decorating those extra note card backings and using them as postcards too! I then started thinking about what else I could upcycle that was postcard size and I found paint color cards from your local hardware store and sturdy junk mail that I received and usually throw away *both are free, which is always good*).

I always have lots of magazines laying around and I have had a love for collaging since I was a kid. So why not combine the love of sending postcards and collaging? VOILA! Handmade postcards galore!! One of my best friends (who is in the process of creating her blog Tarantula) and also joined postcrossing.com, came over and we had a postcard making get together. The boys weren't interested in collaging, just cutting paper. Instead we put on Netflix and watched one of the best documentaries I have seen called Microcosmos. *Just had to add that since I think everyone should check it out, especially if your kids like bugs.*

We began by cutting out pictures and words from magazines. Then I introduced my friend to my love of Mod Podge! With a foam brush or small paint brush, put a small amount of mod podge onto the postcard shaped paper (she brought along some sturdy craft paper so we used that too). Then you take your picture place it over the mod podge you just put down and add another layer of mod podge with your brush. I continued to do this with all of the pictures until my postcard was to my satisfaction. I then added a final top coat of mod podge to the entire front of the postcard (the side where all of the photos are). Once again, VOILA! Your beautiful, handmade, collaged postcard that was made on the cheap is ready to send (once it is dry *which I tend to find is one day*) to your many pen pals across the USA and the World!

Sidenote: If your collaged postcards tend to curl up on the ends after drying, I like to lay them on a flat surface, add a small layer of wax paper on top of them and get a heavy book, such as a cook book or phone book, and lay on top of the wax paper. The wax paper adds a barrier so the postcard won't stick to the book. I learned that the hard way after stacking mine and putting a book on top. Some of them adhered to each other! Let them sit until they are flat.

Sidenote II: If you choose to use the paint color cards or junk mail, they will not have a blank surface on the back to write on. I just wrote on a piece of stationary or paper that is cut to fit the back and either use a glue stick, double sided tape, or scotch tape to adhere.

Here are the postcards we made:

My friend's finished postcards.

Collection Of mine.

This one is made from a larger paint color card found at Menards.

This one is also made with a color card, I just cut it in half.

Another paint color card upcycle.

The other half of the above mentioned color card that I cut.

This one is already in route to a postcrossing.com user in Russia!

Hope these give you some inspiration to make your own handmade postcards or collages! I have lots of ideas brewing for more of them. But if you don't feel like being crafty and want to get your own postcards that are already made, check out zazzle.com (thanks Melissa), Indiana.gov for postcards of Indiana, or even your local visitors center or truck stop :).