Tag: sad

Life

Columbia Mall Shooting

Jessica Smith

Ugh. I don’t understand why people do the crazy things they do…

Columbia is my home. It is my happy place. It is where I grew up. It is where I went to school. It is where I bought my first house. It’s where we’ve met some of our best friends. It’s where we will have babies. It. Is. My. Home.

It could have been me at that mall. Or my husband. Or my sister, brother, mom, dad, stepmom, stepdad or mother-in-law. It could have been my best friend or my neighbors. It could have been someone I loved. It really saddens me that such a senseless act of violence took place in our mall, leaving three people dead. Three families are mourning the loss of their loved ones and I feel for them. I feel for them and at the same time am so eternally grateful that my sister and I weren’t shopping at the mall. Or that my hubby and I hadn’t just ran in to get food like we’d done two nights prior to the shooting. Or that my mom couldn’t get her manicure appointment until Sunday. So grateful that my loved ones are safe and didn’t have to endure the terror that filled the mall on Saturday.

I am also so grateful to live in such a great community with fantastic first responders. The Howard County police and all of the other first responders who attended to the mall shooting had the situation under control minutes after they received the distress call. I truly appreciate the professionalism and courage they displayed on Saturday and know that they do everything in their power to keep our community safe.

Here’s hoping the families that lost loved ones will find peace and this tragedy in Columbia will help inspire a change. No family and no community should have to suffer a loss like this.

Hug your loved ones tightly.

#HoCoBlogs

Life

#BloggersforSandyHook

Jessica Smith

The blogging community is coming together tomorrow to post cookie recipes, craft tutorials and tributes to the Newtown community in the wake of last Friday’s tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. If you have a blog, this is my invitation for you to join in.

#BloggersforSandyHook

Christmas, Craft Projects, Holiday, Quick and Easy Crafts, Wine Crafts

Holiday Wine Charms

Jessica Smith

I welcome today with open arms after yesterday’s tragedy in Connecticut. I was in a real funk after hearing about the shooting (rightfully so) and couldn’t quite snap out of it all day. Even though we had our holiday party at work and I got to come home to my hubby and my puppy, I couldn’t shake the terrible sadness I was feeling. I can’t even imagine what that town is going through right now and my thoughts are with them in this unthinkably difficult time. I am so thankful to get to see my little brother today and my sister and my parents… they are all getting extra big hugs from me for sure. Today is a new day and will most certainly be a better day, so with that said, onto a few happier things.

Today is my best friend’s birthday! Dana and I have been friends forever. Seriously. We were next-door neighbors when we were born and have been friends ever since. Sure, we were forced to be friends. But years of our parents making us play nice turned into a fantastic friendship that I know I’ll have as long as I live.

Me and Dana

Weren’t we cute? I’m on the left and Dana is on the right. And that’s my momma 🙂 She’s so pretty.

Dana and Me

And here we are today… Dana is on the left this time and has a lot more hair, but we are more or less the same.

Love you, Dana! Happy birthday.

And now onto the craft!

I’ve already shown you how to make wine charms, but did you ever think to make holiday-themed wine charms as inexpensive Christmas gifts? I hadn’t until this year, but as I was wandering the aisles of Michaels I Stumbled across holiday buttons and picked up a pack of holiday lights and cookie cutter buttons. Holy cuteness.

In case you forget how or simply missed the post on how to make wine charms, it is super easy. All you need are different charms or beads, pre-made hoop wire, and pliers. Add your beads and charms onto the hoop wire, then bend the end of the wire into a right angle so nothing can fall off. Put this bent end into the eyelet on the end of the hoop wire, and your charm is finished! Just make sure there is something obviously different about each charm so when they are used people will be able to remember which is theirs (although I never remember… oops.)

The first set I made were a Secret Santa gift for my coworker Julie. I made her a set of three wine cork ornaments and these wine charms to go with a nice bottle of wine. I used the Christmas light buttons and a few silver beads as accents to make this adorable set of wine charms. She really liked them and said she didn’t have any wine charms at all before! Sweet.

Holiday wine charms

Then I made this set of cookie cutter charms. The colors are all very similar, but each charm is very different: Heart, tree, gingerbread man, star. I have two sets of these and will be giving them out as Christmas gifts. Gah, they are so cute.

wine charms

All in all, these probably cost about $2 per set. So if you need an inexpensive gift, these are a great idea.

I hope you all have a great weekend! Hug your loved ones and make wine charms 🙂