We have a vase/pen holder,
a three-piece mini log tealight candle set, 
and a log tealight candle holder/ring bearer box or jewelry box. :) 
My son and I went to the "log" store where we get our wood for making our items. As we were loading up our logs into the back of the car, we spotted this big, lovely, beautiful piece of wood that we both had to have. This thing is a monster. It must weigh about 20+ pounds. 
We took it home and my son sanded it. It is so smooth, it feels soft. I have no idea what we are going to make out of it or use it for, but we ended up bringing it in the house and used it as a footrest. It is so smooth, it feels really good on the feet. It is still natural without stain or topcoat, but I am thinking it might not need any, did I mention how smooth it is? 
Well, as of right now, I am keeping it as a foot rest unless we can think of a better idea. If you have any, I would love to hear them! :) 
Hi all, I thought I would give a quick update to our first craft fair. We spent almost an entire month making new items. I would come home after work and we would go right to the garage, sometimes making new things for hours. I spent many nights worrying that I wouldn't have enough items to sell. 
I had put everything from hiking to skiing to horseback riding on hold to make new items. Fast forward to the craft fair and let's just say that we had way more than enough. I think there must have been 50 people all day, about 1000 less than what was expected. 
So, here's to craft fairs and let's hope the next one is more successful. :) A few days ago I wrote about the trouble brewing over at Etsy, the website that hosts my online shop. Apparently one of the shops they featured claimed to be run by a lady who handmade all her items by herself, but after some looking into, turns out she did not make her items and they were not handmade, at least not by her.
Anyhooooo, another lady on Etsy thought it would be a good idea for those of us who do make our items HANDMADE, to change our shop avatar's showing our own hands. She then took those avatars and put them in a collective photo.
I wanted to share the photo as it is pretty cool. Mine is the third row up, third from the right. I am holding a green drill. :)
Fun with a 2 by 4 and a saw! This was once a piece of 2 X 4 wood - nothing fancy. Well, nothing fancy, that is, until last night when my 13 year old son and I decided to see what we could make from it using our new saw. 
We cut (we just figured out how to use the angle on our saw and had to try different cutting angles), drilled like crazy, (this wood is so easy to drill though, unlike our log candles, so again, we went a little crazy - hence, all the holes), sanded and then put on a clear water-resistant topcoat and whaa-laa! We have this these wood pen holders! 
Next time we make these, I think I will stain them. I am not a big fan of staining as it is messy and smells, but I sure do love how wood looks when it is stained. With that said, it will be worth the hassle. 
Nine days until my first craft fair and I am pretty excited! The craft fair is The Spring Market in Curtis Park on April 28. Look for Deerwood Creek Gifts. Would love for you to stop by and say hello. You can find more information at:
http://www.thespringmarket.com/
Kind of a sad day at our house today. Our pet Russian Tortoise, Jeff, died this afternoon. Jeff was a really cool tortoise. We used to take her for walks, well, those walks consisted of us standing around while she pretty much stood in the grass and ate whatever was in front of her, but they were always a good time. On a good day, one when she was feeling fast, we might have to move a few feet every 10 minutes or so to catch up with her, but I loved taking Jeff for a walk.
When my son was little, he would play Battleship with Jeff. I still haven't figured out who won, but it was cute and he had fun.
Something I should mention about the name Jeff. Jeff was a female. When we first got her many years ago, we were told that she was a he, so my son named her Jeff. Well, we found out the he was she, but since we liked the name, it sort of stuck. So, our female Russian Tortoise went through life with the name of Jeff.
Years ago, we read that Russian Tortoises can live around 50 years or more. The kids and I used to joke that Jeff would outlive all of us and someday the kids would have to put her in their Wills as to who would get her.
Jeff was just cool. For a tortoise, she was kind of feisty and just kind of did what she wanted. But she was cool.
About two weeks ago, she seemed to sleep a lot. She wasn't eating very much and just didn't have her usual spunk. I thought she was sick so we tried to take care of her the best we knew how. Over the weekend, I was pretty worried about her as she wanted to sleep all the time and wouldn't touch her food. I stayed up with her and checked on her throughout the night. The next day she seemed to perk up a little bit. She ate a few bites and even opened her eyes. She wandered around her cage and the kids and I seemed to not worry as much.
Just this morning I put up a new post in a Russian Tortoise online group saying she was getting better and we were thinking she was getting back to her normal self. I was pretty happy.
Later in the day, I called my kids and asked how Jeff was doing. My son said he gave her a bath and she seemed really tired. But, we were thinking she was getting better so he let her sleep. When I got home, and after stopping by the store to get her some new lettuce that I thought she would like, I opened her cage and went to feed her....She was dead. I started to cry and then I told the kids. It was pretty hard as we really thought she was getting better. We just all stared at her cage in disbelief for a while and were sad. My son got a shovel and we buried her next to the side of the house.
With working full-time and raising two kids, life can get pretty busy. With that said, some days I am not sure where I find the time or energy to head out to the garage to make some new items. 
I slowly got up off of the couch and lugged myself to the garage. I ended up making 16 new things this weekend! Even though I wasn't feeling well, I would have felt worse sitting on the couch with all those new ideas floating around in my head. Hours went by when I was sure it was more like 20 minutes. The time flew! 
There are so many different things you can make and they are fun and easy and practical. I can't believe I had never heard of this before, I was missing out. I ended up using a glass square vase, painted it with the chalkboard paint, and now I have this cute four sided chalkboard table number centerpiece. I also painted different wood shaps and made those into tags that can be used for a wishing tree, table numbers - the possiblities are endless!
I also made a personalized log wedding guest book pen holder which can or, if you want, it can also be used as a custom rustic toothbrush holder as we burn your initials or a word you like right on it. I am trying to branch out and find new things to make. I think I want to try log napkin rings and personalized log slice cake toppers. Something new for me so that should be fun. 
If someone had told me in early January that I would be making centerpieces for weddings and people's homes, I would have thought they were crazy.
Fast forward to three months (opened January 11, 2012) since I opened my online shop and I have made centerpieces for a wedding across the country, made personalized log tealight candle holders for a good friend to give to her friends as a gift and made tealight candle holders and business card holders from slate and rock. I have also learned how to make jewelry and how to make a centerpiece for almost any occasion.
I came up with Deerwood Creek Gifts as thinking back to when I was a kid, I lived on a street called Deerwood Street. Behind our house was a ditch that my sister and I used to find lizards and bugs and we would play along the ditch. As a kid, I thought it was a creek.
In January, I bought my son a saw and a drill. We went to a firewood place and got some wood. When we got home, he went to the garage and started cutting away. I asked him to make me a log tealight candle holder. After several tries, he made one! I loved it and he made a few more.
Later that night, my daughter and I made two fleece tie blankets. A co-worker saw them and suggested we put them on Etsy.com to sell. I had never heard of Etsy, but once I looked into it, I knew it was where I wanted to sell my things.
On Etsy, you open a "shop" and sell your items. It is .20 to list a new item, so it is pretty inexpensive. We listed the fleece blankets and then the log tealight candle.
A few days later I opened my e-mail and there was an e-mail from a lady in MA who wanted us to make 60 log tealight candle holders for her wedding. My son and I were speechless. At first I thought maybe it was a spam e-mail - 60 candle holders? We had only made five EVER! I couldn't believe that someone wanted to use something that we created and wanted to use them in their wedding. It was a great feeling.
To be honest, I never imagined anyone buying more than three of our candles, so 60 was huge! My son and I went to the firewood place and bought a lot of logs. After cutting about 20 of them (on the neighbor's borrowed table saw) we realized that there were worms in the wood. No way was I going to send a bride for her wedding wood with worms!
We ended up giving all the wood to the neighbor to burn for fires and back to the firewood place we went. We came home and started cutting, drilling, sanding, cutting, drilling, sanding...it is exhausting, but a lot of fun! Also, very messy. I often came into the house with wood shavings in my hair, in my shoes - that stuff gets everywhere.
The only mishap we have had was my son walked into the house holding his pants leg from the inside and the drill bit sticking out of this leg! Apparently the drill had a malfunction and it caused the drill bit to slip loose and it went into my son's leg. I took him to the ER where he ended up getting seven stitches.
The next day I found him in the garage where he was plugging in the drill. I asked him what he was doing and he said he wanted to get the candles done for the bride and he was going to work on them. I asked him about his leg and he said it hurt, but we promised to make the candles and that was exactly what he was going to do. Finish the job.
We have now had a few more orders and I love selling what we make. It is a great feeling to know that something I made makes others happy. 
I have a regular full-time job, but once I get home, I love to create things. I love the time spent in the garage with my son sawing, drilling and sanding. I love being the house with my daughter and making up new wedding centerpieces. She is very creative and has great taste, so it is a lot of fun. They are great kids and this is something we are doing together.
If you would like to see our shop, please stop by.
http://etsy.com/shop/DeerwoodCreekGifts
http://www.etsy.com/listing/92509520/peace-love-happiness-centerpiece-log
http://www.etsy.com/listing/94513364/blue-and-purple-wedding-centerpiece
While waiting for a moving company to haul away our old treadmill, I asked my son if he could think of anything else in the house that takes up space that we didn't need anymore.
Without missing a beat, he looked at his sister and replied, "Yes, and I am looking right at her."
Brotherly/sisterly love at its finest.
2011
A few years ago, while looking for a job, I finally landed a phone interview. The one and only rule I had for my kids during this phone interview was: Do not interrupt me. No exceptions.
As I was speaking with the lady and trying to sound very "business" like and less "been-out-of-work-home-with-kids-for-too-long-frazzled-mom" like, my son poked his head into the room and I quickly gave him a "shhhh" and indicated I would be another two minutes until I could get off the phone. He quietly closed the door so I figured everything was fine and continued on with my conversation.
A few minutes later my son was back and I was getting a little annoyed. "What could possibly be so important that he keeps interrupting my call???"
He quietly handed me a note and then quickly left the room. I glanced at the note and then had to read it again to make sure I read what he wrote.
On his note he had written:
Mom. The tree out front is on fire!!! And so is the grass!!! Some kids had matches and they lit some paper on fire and now the fire is getting bigger. Sorry to bug you.
I quickly explained to the lady that I had to go as our grass was on fire and hung up. We called 911 and once the fire was out, I asked my son how long he had waited to tell me and asked why he took so long. He said, "Well, I was going to tell you right away, but you said not to interrupt you so I waited as long as I could. I tried to tell you once, but you told me to come back in two minutes-so I did."
Parents, take note, if you tell your kids not to bother you for a few minutes, make sure they know it is ok to bother you if anything is on fire, there is blood, or bones are broken. Just a reminder.
2010 Cindy Breninger
Yesterday my son called me at work to tell me some "very exciting" news that just couldn't wait until I got home. "Hey Mom, guess what? I used my allowance and bought 10 boxes of Girl Scout cookies! I had enough money and bought 10 boxes!"
Stunned into silence for a moment at the thought of 10 boxes of cookies, I replied, "You spent your money on 10 boxes of cookies? Why didn't you wait until I got home to ask me first?"
Silence on his end of the line....and then he said, "Well, if I had waited to ask you first, I don't think I would have 10 boxes of cookies, do you?"
Good point.
2010 Cindy Breninger
My daughter just walked into the room and said to her brother, "Ya know, if we were both toys, you would be on the Island of Misfit Toys and I would be under the tree!" And then she smiled and walked out of the room.
If that's not love brotherly-sisterly love, I don't know what is. Kids. I tell ya.
2009 Cindy Breninger
My ten year old son and his buddie were talking about black widow spiders. They wanted to know why they were called black widows. I said the black part was because of their color, and the widow part was because after the woman spider makes a baby with the man spider, the woman then eats the man spider and then she becomes a widow when he dies.
Both boys were quiet, or shocked, and they decided that it was mean of her to kill the male. But, after thinking about this awhile, one of them had an idea about what the male spiders should do, or what he would do if he were a black widow spider, it went something like this:
"Ya know, if I was a black widow, I would just hang out and be friends with the girl spiders. I wouldn't marry one or have babies or anything. I would just be a black widow spider who has lots of friends who are girls and I wouldn't get married and I would say no to making babies! I think that would be the safest thing to do." Hehehe. Kids kill me.
2009 Cindy Breninger
P.S. from my other posts. I really miss having a mom and wish she were here and these walks were unnecessary. (Wasn't she just so cute?) With that said, she isn't here and they are necessary, so until they find a cure, I will keep walking in the hopes of saving some other 16 year old from losing her mom.....
2008 Cindy Breninger
TEN THOUSAND steps? Did I read that right? To lose weight, it is recommended that a person walk TEN THOUSAND steps PER DAY? PER DAY...TEN THOUSAND steps. That, to a self-proclaimed lazy person, is A LOT of steps.
My son and I both got pedometers the other day and thought it would be fun to see how many hours it would take us until we hit the goal of TEN THOUSAND steps in one day.
When I got off work yesterday, I picked him up from school and we decided to compare steps. I told him I had walked almost TWO THOUSAND and then dared him to beat my number. I was pretty sure of myself...and then my son told me his number. His number was THIRTEEN THOUSAND. Yes, you read that right, THIRTEEN THOUSAND steps by five o'clock. My smug little son looked at me and said, "Well mom, you better get walking. You only have eight thousand steps until your goal, and only ELEVEN THOUSAND steps until you catch up to me!" Snicker snicker snicker.
I went home that night and started walking. And walking. And walking. I walked until it clicked over to the TEN THOUSAND and then I sat down and didn't move. I didn't move mainly because ONE: I didn't want to; and TWO: I didn't think I could. TEN THOUSAND STEPS. Are you kiddin' me?
My son ended up walking over SEVENTEEN THOUSAND steps yesterday and he wasn't sore, he wasn't tired, he wasn't anything. He was just fine. I hate pedometers.
Cindy Breninger
2008 All Rights Reserved
In August, 1987, I lost my mom to breast cancer. I was 16 and learned first hand how cancer can, er, does affect a family.
For the last several years, my sister, our kids, and I walk the breast cancer walk in memory of my mom. Our little group dresses up for the walk every year. We pile on the pink. There is no such thing as too much pink in our group. Last year, or maybe the year before, a lady walking near us said, "You girls are PINKTASTIC!" Yes we were!
I can count on one hand, plus a few fingers from the other hand, how many people I know with breast cancer, and well, that is just too many. So ladies, let's be pinktastic and continue to be pinktastic until there is a cure and we no longer have to walk. Pile on the pink and let's hope a cure is found soon!
2008 Cindy Breninger
All Rights Reserved
My kids, sister, niece, a few friends, and me, all woke up very, very, very early this morning and headed out to the capitol to begin the 2008 Juvenile Diabetes walk. This was the first JDRF walk I have participated in and it was a great walk.
We walked behind a group of about ten people who were all dressed as pirates. They had pirate bandanas, swords, everything. One of the "pirates" was pushing a young boy in a wheelchair, his group was walking for him. Since we were behind the group of pirates, I had plenty of time, or 3.5 miles, to read the backs of their shirts. Printed on their shirts was a pirate map. The "treasure" was the cure for diabetes. How cute is that?
Walking hand in hand with my kids, I kept thinking that that little boy could have easily been mine, or any one of our kids. With that thought, I hope they find the "treasure" soon. Those kids deserve it.
Cindy Breninger
2008 All rights reserved.
Hi all,
My sister, my kids, and my friend Tonya will be walking in the Juvenile Diabetes Walk on October 5. Tonya's son, Josh, has Juvenile Diabetes and so do a few other kids I know; I am walking for them. Here is Tonya and Josh....
If you would like to donate to the walk, here is the link:
http://walk.jdrf.org/
Under the Donate to a Walker, enter my name, Cindy Breninger, and the team is Help cure Josh, Amanda and the rest. Tonya is kicking my butt in donations so even if you want to donate $5.00, it would be appreciated.
:)
If you would like to tag along and walk with us, please let me know.
:)
Cindy Breninger
Hi all,
Here is a little something-something the Sacramento Bee put in today's paper. My kids are excited because their names made it in.
Cindy
Sometimes, I am starting to think, it is ok to lie to your kids. Usually, I am very honest and open with mine, but recently something has come up wherein not only will my poor son possibly be scarred for life, but it has made me re-evaluate this whole "truth" stuff.
Where I live, the weather has been hot. I mean HOT with a capital H.O.T. The TV weather people have been saying it has been around 105 degrees. But, what they really mean is, it is more like 175.
I am very pale and always have been. I go from white to pink and then fade back to white. I rarely have a tan as I work all day in an office and I hate being in the heat. I would rather do just about anything than have to suffer outside when it gets hotter than 85 degrees. The bad part is, I am pale and there is a very real possibility that I might glow in the dark. The worst part is, I want to wear shorts, but I don't want to blind the neighbors.
I don't really mind being pale as it means I haven't spent my time being hot. But, with the weather being so awful, I have been getting sunburned way more than I should. This got me to thinking: How could I get some color and spend the least amount of time in the heat? Awww, yes, indoor tanning. (Side note: I am not promoting indoor tanning, just saying I have gone a few times and might go a few more. I know the risks and have decided to try a few anyway.)
When you tan indoors, you can either wear a bathing suit or go, ummm, nooodie. I choose the latter. My kids have been going with me to the tanning salon, but they stay out in the lobby area and have no idea what is behind that door I disappear through.
Once behind the little door, you get down to whatever you want to wear, or not wear, lie in the tanning bed, push the start button, and wha-laa, insta-tan! It seems to be working for me as I am usually a shade of bright white, but now am more of a cream color.
Well, let's get back to why I have been rethinking my position on telling kids the truth. Yesterday, my son and I were running some errands, I went tanning, and then we stopped in at a pizza place to get a pizza to go.
I was flipping through a magazine when I noticed my son had a very serious look on his face. He was looking at my feet and my arms when he asked me, "Mom, when you tan, how does it get through your clothes?"
Me: "Ummm, how does WHAT get through your clothes?" I asked still looking at the magazine.
Son: "You know, the tan rays? When you go in that room and come out with a tan, how do they get through your clothes?" He was serious.
Me: Humm, I guess I never told him about this and didn't really want to discuss it in a pizza place, so I just kind of nonchalantly said, "They don't go through your clothes." Then I went back to pretending to read my magazine and hoping he wouldn't press the issue any further. He pressed.
Son: "If they don't go through your clothes, then how does the tan get on your skin and not just your feet?"
Me: Thinking he is never going to drop this until I tell him thought, "Ohhhh, crud," while fidgeting with my collar, and bracelet, and not making eye contact.
Son, "Well?" he said still waiting...
Me: "Well, ummm, when I get in the tanning bed, I, ummmm, well, ummmm, I don't wear any clothes."
He was speechless and shocked! His mouth literally dropped open. He couldn't talk. He just sat there, mouth to the floor, totally grossed-out. I think he had a visual of his mom lying there with no clothes on and I am sure he wanted to get some soap and scrub that image right out of his brain. Poor kid.
He thought about this for a short while, but I think he thought I was kidding because he said, "No. Really. You HAVE to wear clothes. You are a mom and moms wear clothes! Now, how does it REALLY get through them?"
Me: Gawd, where is my pizza? Can this pizza cook any slower? "Well, ummm, son, ummmm, no, not while tanning. Most of us go noodie." I thought that by saying noodie instead of nude, it would have lessened the gross out factor, but judging by my son's face, I don't think it helped.
Son: "Riiiiight mom. That's a good one. No clothes. Uh-huh. Sure. Right."
Ding! "Order number 20..." Whoohoo! Our pizza was ready and I was saved by the bell.
My son asked me again in the car and I again told him. He still didn't believe me, but I bet he is going to use the industrial size bottle of soap on his brain tonight. Poor kid. Dang, I am thinking this is one of those times I should have lied.
2008 (c) Cindy Breninger
All Rights Reserved.
Wow, what a crazy couple of days...but crazy in a good way.
First, my kids were both sick for a week, and then one got better and the other got pneumonia. We found out he had it on Wednesday. Having a kid with that is scary and nerve racking and will result in many nights of little sleep.
Then on Thursday, my sister called and said she was on her way to the hospital as her water broke. Oh, she was pregnant and well, going to have her baby.
I went to the hospital about 3:30 pm on Thursday and then we waited...and waited...and waited until 4:32 am Friday morning. Let me tell you, watching someone being born is crazy - crazy in a good way. One minute, she was in her tummy, and the next, she was out and breathing and a little person. It was just so cool. It was crazy, incredible, and everything good all in one. I am so happy to have a new niece, who is super cute! Both mom and daughter are doing great. :)
Oh, the kids and I also somehow ended up getting this on Saturday...
His name is Presley (We also have an Elvis, so the name fits. Plus, being a huge Elvis fan, how could I NOT name him that???) He is sooo cute and friendly and adorable!
I think it is cool to have a new niece and a new kitten in the same weekend. I can't wait to watch my niece grow up and see what kind of a person she becomes. As for the cat, well, I just want him not to pee on the rug.
2008 Cindy Breninger
