Tag Archive: crafts

Adorable (& EASY) Pillowcase Dress

I’ve blogged about this before, but the page I linked to with directions is now gone.  So, I decided provide a step-by-step guide here based on my experience.  If I were a supa-awesome blogger, I would make one and post pictures along with my directions.  I, however, am only awesome.  (And Lydia has 6 of these, so I have no reason to make another one.)   But since a picture is worth a thousand words, I’m going to add some really crappy drawings that will hopefully make the directions easier to understand!  Hopefully is the key word.  (Click on “pcdress#” to see the drawings.)  **I’ve never inserted pdf files before…I hope this works!  And if not, they weren’t that great anyway.**

This is such an easy project that if you can even barely work a sewing machine, you can make this adorable dress in less than 30 minutes!!  And if you make it large enough, this is  a “grow with me” item.  Lydia has worn hers so that it was long, and now it’s short.  I have seen several girls wearing them as shirts(adorable!)

Materials you’ll need:
1 pillowcase
matching or coordinating thread
2 yards of matching ribbon
Fray Check(optional)
Washable fabric marker or chalk
Tape measure
Sharp scissors
Sewing machine

Lay the pillowcase flat, with the hemmed end at the bottom.  Measure upwards according to the following measurements:
6 month – 14.5 inches
12 month – 16.5 inches
18 month – 17.5 inches
2T – 18.5 inches
3T – 19.5 inches
4T – 20.5 inches

Once measured, cut off everything above the line you’ve drawn, saving the scraps. (pcdress02)

From the leftovers/scraps, cut a strip that is 1.5 inches tall.  Cut the strip open and then in half, so that you have 2 strips.  Each strip will be about 1.5 inches tal by about 20 inches long. (pcdress03)

Now take the large part of the pillowcase and fold it in half longways.  You will be cutting out the armholes, and it keeps it even if you fold it in half and only have to cut one time. (pcdress04) For sizes 2T and below, cut in about 1.5 inches and 3 inches down. For larger sizes, cut 2 inches in and 4 inches down. (pcdress05)

(You will have to read and re-read this next paragraph several times, I assure you.  There is no way I can draw this for you.  It won’t make sense until you try it, so just get out your machine, start sewing and make sure you have a seam ripper in case you make a mistake!)

Take one 1.5 inch strip and place it on the inside of the armwhole, right side of strip to wrong side of dress/pillowcase.  Fold down the top of the strip about 3/8th of an inch.  Meet the top of the fold with the top of dress.  Stitch the strip all the way around the armhold.  When you get close to the end of the armhole, stop and cut off the extra strip, leaving enough to fold down 3/8ths of an inch.  Fold down, and finish off the armhole.

Next, fold the strip TWICE: once so that the raw edge of the strip is touching the raw edge of the armhole, and then fold it over again to the other side of the armhole(essentially making a binding).

Fold like that all along the armhole, pinning as you go.  Then stitch along the binding.  Don’t stress out about trying to make a pretty stitch, the inside stitch won’t show when you’re done.

Now do the other armhole just like this one.

Then fold down the top of the front, first by 1/4th of an inch and then by 5/8ths of an inch.  This will form a casing (with no raw edges exposed) for the ribbon once its stiched up.  Stitch it up, and then do the same thing to the back of the dress.

Now thread a yard of ribbon through each casing.  If the casing is small and the ribbon is wide, it may help to put a safety pin on the end of the ribbon to help you pull it through.  Once you have the ribbon through the casing, trim the end and seal with Fray Check.

Now just tie up the ribbons and you have this adorable dress:

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Blue Snack Day:Homemade Ice Cream Bowls and Candied Popcorn

Both of my kids were “sweethearts” at school one day this week, which meant that they were in charge of bringing snacks.  Both classes requested “blue snacks”.  And seriously?  There are no naturally occuring blue foods.  Well, blueberries seem obvious…but a) blueberries aren’t really blue…they’re more of a dark purple, IMHO and b) I’m too cheap to buy enough blueberries to satisfy 30 kids.  (Was anyone else aware that blueberries were so expensive?)  There’s also blue corn…but I doubt the kids want blue corn chips.  Just guessin’.

So…instead of delicious, healthy blueberries and blue corn chips, I decided to make trans-fat-full, high-fructose-syrup-laden homemade dough bowls(dyed blue, of course) and oh-so-(not)-healthy candied popcorn(also dyed blue).  I know…other parents love me.

So if you’d like to corrupt your children’s digestive system and make them happy at the same time, this is how you do it:  Make these homemade bowls.  (We usually use them as ice cream bowls, but I couldn’t figure out how to keep the ice cream frozen long enough for school.)  And make this delish candied popcorn.  Try ’em together, or try ’em separate.  Either way, they’re yum-yum-yummy!

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Homemade Ice Cream Bowls (shown here dyed blue, but usually a nice sugar-cookie color)

You’ll need the following ingredients: 1/4 cup of shortening(yes…lard makes everything healthier, right??) 1/4 cup softened butter, 2/3 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips(optional, not used in these photos)

Beat together shortening, butter and sugar.  Add egg and vanilla until combined.

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In separate bowl, sift together salt, baking powder and flour.  Then gradually stir into the batter.

Stir in the chocolate chips(or in this case, 3 jars of blue food coloring).

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Divide dough in half.  Shape each half into flat disk and wrap in plastic.

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Chill in fridge for at least 2 hours.

Heat oven to 375°.  Turn two 12-count muffin tins upside down.  Cover ten of the cups with squares of aluminum foil.  Spray the foil with cooking spray and set aside.

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Unwrap one disk of dough and roll dough into “Peeps” sized balls. (Hey, we just had Easter…that’s the best thing I had to compare sizes.)

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Flatten balls into small disks, and place each one over a cup bottom and mold it to the muffin form.

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Bake 10-12 minutes(8-10 in convectional oven), or until light brown.  Let cool 10 minutes.

Remove foil and bowls together.  Let cool a few more minutes, then peel foil out of bowl.

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Fill with yummy deliciousness…today candied popcorn, tomorrow ice cream!

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Candied Popcorn

I almost always make candied popcorn at Christmas(red and green, of course).  It is fairly easy to make(as long as you are paying attention and don’t burn it).

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You’ll need: 1 regular size bag of popcorn(popped) minus a few handfuls for “taste testing”, 1 cup salted peanuts or cashews(optional), 1/4 cup butter, 3 TBsp light corn syrup, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1 package(4 serving size) any flavor Jello.

Very important: Don’t forget to taste test the popcorn before you start.  If you don’t skim a little off the top, the candy to popcorn ratio just isn’t right.  🙂

Heat oven to 300°.  Seriously.  Not 301°.  It’ll burn.  I promise.

Line a 15x10x1 pan with wax paper.

Place popcorn and nuts in a large bowl.

Heat butter and syrup in a small saucepan over LOW heat.  Stir in sugar and Jello; bring to a boil on MED heat.  Reduce heat to low and gently simer for 3-5 minutes, stirring almost constantly.  (Be very careful to not let it burn!!) It should start out kind of thick and get more fluid as it heats up.

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Immediately pour syrup over popcorn, tossing well.

Evenly spread popcorn onto prepared pan (like you used to do when people actually made Rice Crispy Treats).

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Bake for 10 minutes(7 minutes in convection oven).

Cool.

Remove from pan and break into small pieces.

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Eat it all in one sitting.  YUM!

Secret Craft Post

For Christmas, I’m making silhouettes of the kids for my mom and MIL.  I wasn’t sure I could do it, but it was actually much easier than I thought!  I’m going to show you the pictures of Tucker along the way, and I’ll show you both kids at the end.  (Emmie would not put on a shirt, so it’s kind of risque…)

Step One: Put your subject(kid, cat, dog, whatever) against a white or light background, and get a good profile picture.

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Step Two(much easier if you have Photoshop): Go into Photoshop and use the “Magic Wand” tool to select and delete the background.  I turned mine black and white, so the lines would be more distinct.  Then you can print(on white cardstock for best results) the back-groundless picture and cut it out.  OR…go the old-fashioned route of printing out the picture at a store photo-lab and cutting out the shape.

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Step Three:  Use the picture/shape you cut out as a template, and cut out the silhouette onto a piece of cardstock.  I used traditional solid black.  (Eyelashes are the hardest part…I suggest using little bitty manicure scissors.)  But you could do some really fun and funky stuff with all different kinds of crafting papers!

Step Four:  Mount it on a background(once again, I used traditional white).  Frame, and  you’re ready to give this keepsake!  (I obviously haven’t framed this, and there’s a little bit of a shadow, but you get the idea.)

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Have fun making yours and good luck!

Cinnamon-Applesauce Ornaments

These are the easiest, most awesome-smelling homemade ornaments you’ll ever put on your tree!   I can’t take credit for the idea; we made some last year at our old church’s advent festival(where the kids come and make all kinds of Christmas and Advent crafts).  Anyway, when I pulled out all the ornaments to put on the tree, I was surprized to find that not only were the ornaments we’d made last year not broken, but they still smelled quite yummy.  The only problem with making these was that my kids wanted to eat them…

I don’t have pictures, but the instructions are super easy:
Take 1 cup of store-bought applesauce and add 1 cup of ground cinnamon(about one whole regular spice-sized container). You can also add a tablespoon of white craft glue if you want. (We did because I think it makes them last longer, but if you don’t have any on hand…don’t worry about it.) Once you have all of this mixed up, you’ll want to make sure you have it at a good “cookie dough” consistancy. I had to add cinnamon, so you may want to make sure you have an extra container of it. Once it’s “dough-y”, use cookie cutters to cut out the shapes. Then use a straw to make a hole at the top of the ornament, so you’ll have a place to tie on a pretty ribbon once it’s all dry.

I found that it was easiest to cut them out on paper plates and leave them there to air dry. Trying to move them while still “wet” was really hard to do.  But you can either let them air dry on the plates, OR you could transfer them to a baking sheet and bake them until they’re hard.

Really easy for you(with easy clean up, too!).  Fun for the kids.  Smells good for at least 2 years!  🙂  Looks cute for a long, long time…

Snowman Gift bags

With Christmas and a baby due at the same time, I’m trying to be as pre-prepared as possible.  I’ve purchased all my gifts, and wrapped about half of them.  I’m a big fan of the gift bag.  I like to wrap, but if I can put something in a bag with some tissue…why not?  But when I went to the store, I had a specific snowman gift bag in my mind(to match the little teacher gifts I’d already bought).  Oh, I could find a plethora of snowman gift bags…but nothing was just right.  Too big, too little, too lime green, too this, too that…and pink and blue for Christmas?  I guess they were maybe reaching out to those who celebrate a non-Santa-and-reindeer-yet-still-nothing-to-do-with-Jesus holiday, or (more likely) people who are just more stylish than myself.  (Oh…and what’s the deal with penguins?  When did they come onto the Christmas scene? But I digress…)

So I decided that it’d be fun to let the kids make gift bags for their teachers(and once I saw how cute and easy it was, we made a whole pack of 10!)  This is what the finished project looks like:

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If you’d like to make some, here are the directions. 

Step One 
For starters you’ll need to gather your supplies:

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-White gift bags(can be purchased in packs of 10 in most craft stores) 
-Some type of black fabric for the hat, 1 per bag(I had plain cotton fabric in my “scraps” box, but you could easily use felt)
-Black circles for the eyes, 2 per bag(I used “Foamies“, since my kids love them and they already have a sticky back, but you could also use felt or just paper)
-Orange “Foamies” paper(or regular paper or felt) cut into the shape of carrot noses, 1 per bag
-Buttons, 2 per bag(I used actual red buttons for most of them, but Em wanted some pink ones so we cut those out of “Foamies” paper, too)
-Strips of fleece in three different lengths, 1 of each length per bag
-Black paint or black pen
-Glue (and/or “glue dots” for putting on the buttons, if you’d prefer)

Step Two 
Cut out the hat shapes from black felt or fabric.  The size will depend on the size of your bag, so that part is up to you!

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Step Three
Cut out the strips of fleece.  The shortest will need to be the same width as the small part of the hat.  The longest strips will need to be about 10-12 inches long.  The medium strips can be made by cutting the long strips in half(5-6 inches long).

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Step Four 
Let the gluing begin! Glue on the hat.  Glue on the smallest felt/fleece strip.  Add eyes and a nose.

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Step Five 
Mark the bag with little lines(one on each side, as seen below in the yellow circles), and cut the bag on those lines.

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Step Six
Thread the longest piece of fleece through the holes in the bag, and then tie the medium piece on to the longest piece to make a cute knot in the scarf.

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Step Seven
Add the buttons(with glue or craft dots if you’re using real buttons, or with foamie paper made to look like buttons).  Draw in the smile.  I used black puff paint dots to make it “pop” a little, but you could easily use a sharpie.

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Add a little tissue paper, fluff it up, and you’ve got something you(and your kids) can enjoy and share with others!

Learning with crayons…

Every now and then I’ll get all the broken crayon pieces, put them in those mini muffin tins, and melt them down to “new” circle crayons.  Sometimes, if I’m feeling like super-mom, we’ll melt the pieces down and pour them into cookie cutters so that we have “shape crayons”.  (Let me be honest…I did that once.  I probably won’t ever do it again!)

But I did find something that I thought would be fun to try…alphabet and number baking trays.  I figured it couldn’t be much harder than using a muffin tin(most letters weren’t), and it would be fun to spell things out with crayons.  You can also use them(obviously) for baking or for making ice. 

So if you want to try to make crayon letters too, here’s the low-down on how I did it.  Like I said it was pretty easy except for the letters “E” and “M” (which is kind of unfortunate because EMMiE has more than its fair share of “E”s and “M”s!).  I did learn, however, that by making them thicker(using more crayon pieces), it ultimately made it easier to pop them out with out breaking them.  I’m also thinking that the thicker crayons are going to withstand more use than the thinner ones…

So…what you’ll need is crayon bits and pieces, the alphabet baking trays, an oven and a freezer.

Start by preheating your oven to about 300 degrees. 
If you want to expedite the cooling process once the crayons come out of the oven, you’ll need to clear out some room in the freezer.

 When I was looking at these online, I wasn’t sure of the actual size. 
Here’s a quarter for comparison.

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Once you have all your crayon pieces broken up, you’ll simply use them to fill in the letters, as seen here.  (You’ll notice that since I was spelling certain names, I only needed certain letters.  You could easily do the whole alphabet.)

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I found it easiest to place all three trays on one big baking sheet.  That way you won’t have to keep it quite so steady when you move it out of the oven.  It’ll be pretty sloshy by then, and the potential for mess-making is definately there!  (Um, yeah…I dropped a red one all over the bottom of my freezer.  It took FOREVER to clean it all out…learn from my mistakes, folks!)

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Then comes the hardest part to me…waiting.  Once you take them out of the oven, put them into the freezer to harden them up some.  Then take them out and let them finish cooling/hardening at room temperature.  If you try to pop them out fresh from the freezer they will be too brittle and they will break

It may take a little time and patience, but see how fun these look in the end????

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I almost forgot to blog today!

Weekday blogging is fairly easy.  The kids and I have a routine of sorts that we follow, and there’s always a bit of “screen time” for all of us in there somewhere.  They usually watch Diego or The Backyardigans while I steal away a bit of time for myself at the computer.

But the weekends are a different story!  We always have something going on around here on the weekends.  Like I mentioned before, my friends from Augsuta came for an overnight stay on Friday night.  We had planned to all go to Christmas in the South on Saturday morning.  But Jesse woke up sick(hope you’re feeling better, Jess!), and so we had to go without her.  Once we got there it was so incredibly crowded that I was going a little nuts.  It didn’t help matters much that the kids were not wanting to cooperate.  I guess they were going a little nuts, too, come to think of it!  🙂  Anyway, after all the craftiness of the morning(or lack thereof), I was dying to craft something on my own.  That’s when I asked for your suggestions.  (Thank you to those who left ideas.  Some of those are now in my “to do” pile.  Next time I go “to town” I’ll have to get supplies.  I’m still having to get used to NOT being close to a Joann’s or Michael’s!)

So last night, I looked online for all kinds of ideas.  I came up with a few fun things, but I was missing at least one thing for each craft.  So I went to take a nice, warm bath…and realized that there was something wrong with the water pressure.  It took FOREVER for the tub to fill!  Well, come to find out…I apparently should have conserved that water.  Our town had a massive water main leak/break, and has left us nearly dry.  We still have some water, but not much.  Since we’d had friends over on Friday and Saturday, I hadn’t done the dishes or laundry like I normally would.  So now we’re stuck with a bunch of dirty clothes and dishes, but no water with which to wash them.  I also heard that if they don’t get things fixed tonight, they’ll be cancelling school.  No water = no school.  So I’ve spent most of my night trying to figure out what to do with the kiddos if school is cancelled tomorrow.  I have a doctor’s appointment, and I really don’t want to take them with me!  Not that I haven’t done it before…but it surely wouldn’t do my blood pressure any favors! 🙂

So…point being…in all the chaos, I almost forgot to blog.  Thanks, Marsh, for keeping me on track.  (He brought the laptop to me in bed…wasn’t that sweet?)

Oh!  I almost forgot(is there a theme here…me forgetting things?) that in all my online craft searches, I found a nifty little new-to-me website that I’m lovin’: TipNut.com.  They have ideas and tips for all kinds of things.  Go have a look around, and if you don’t find something interesting or just plain cool…then you’re a loser.  They have tips about everything from how to make a oh-so-soft bath mat from old towels to a handy little list of substitutes you can use while baking to 12 rules of etiquette for children. I loved the craft section and the DIY projects list.  I’m telling you-they have it all!  So if you want to make a craft, bake a cake, build a headboard for your bed, or learn how to make house cleaners…go check ’em out!

And then come back here tomorrow, and I promise to have a brilliant post(much better than the last few)!  🙂

**Update:  I just saw on the news that the pipe has been fixed, but it will take about 24 hours to get the water pressure back to where is should be.  Schools and business will be open(yay!), but the schools will be giving out sack lunches.**

Easy Personalized Clock

I orginally planned on showing how to make a Photo Clock like you can order from Snapfish and Walmart and Walgreens for about $20, but I didn’t have a photo on hand.   So…I decided that the kids could draw a picture instead!  🙂  The whole project took about an hour from beginning to end, but that did include the 20 minutes or so my kids took coloring.

So…you only need a few things: pen, scissors, a large(12×12) sheet of paper, a large photo(based on the size of your clock, you may need an 8×10 or 11×14), a tiny screw driver, and a clock.  I grabbed a cheap $4 wall clock from Walgreens today(like the one shown below), but you could use any one that has screws on the back…some of the really cheap ones are glued together.

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I’m going to give you a ton of pictures and a ton of directions…it’s really idiot-proof though.  I’m just trying to be really specific.

To start, unscrew all the little screws on the back in order to take the glass front off.  Be sure to set the face of the clock on something semi-soft so that it won’t get scratched.

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Next is probably the hardest part:  You’ll have to take off the second, minute and hour hands.  For most clocks, you just have to pull on the second hand and pop it off.  Once you get it off, it’s really easy to get the other two.  When you’re pulling, you may think that you’re going to break it…you won’t…probably.  If you do break it, you’ve only lost four bucks!

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Once you get all the hands off, it will look like this:

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Next you’ll want to turn the clock over and carefully trace the edge of the clock on your 12×12 paper.  I say be careful because you’ll have the little center part sticking out.  If you break it, you’ve broken the clock.  So don’t break it!

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Once you have it traced out, you will cut out the circle.  Remember that you’ll also want to trim a little bit off from what you traced because the inside of the clock is smaller than the outside.  It’s always better to make it too big than too small though…you can keep trimming it until it fits perfectly.

Once it’s all cut out and looks like it’s going to fit, you’ll turn the clock back over.  Center the circle over the clock and gently push down on the center post.  You probably won’t be able to push hard enough to puncture the paper without breaking the post.  So just make an indentation that you can punch out later.

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I then used my little screwdriver I had on hand to make a hole where the indendation was, and make it all smooth.

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Now you’re to the fun part!  Since I didn’t have a picture, I let the kids color on the white circle I had cut out.  If you were using a photo, you would take the circle and use it as a template for cutting your photo into a circle.  But remember to take note of where the clock hands will be once you place your picture in the clock.  You probably don’t want the hour hand sprouting out of Uncle Bob’s nose, or even worse…someone’s crotch!  (Or maybe you do…because really, that’s funny!) 

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You’re getting close now!  Take your photo or artwork and glue or tape it onto the clock face.  I like to use double sided tape, but you could use whatever you have available.

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Then you’ll need to put the hands back on(usually in the hour, minute, second order).  Make sure that they are all flat.  If they got bent when you were trying to get them off, they won’t run smoothly.  But you can easily straighten them back out.

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Now just screw the clock back together…

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And you’re done!  Congrats!

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This will be a super fun gift to give my Papa.  I’m always trying to find something my kids can make for him, but that he can actually use, too.  I still plan on making a photo one for myself.  Once I do it, I’ll post that picture, too, so that you can see what it looks like!

I barely made the deadline for Nov 6th, but I’m still hanging in there!  You promise to keep on reading, and I’ll promise to keep on posting!

3 topics for the price of ONE…on this blog for a limited time only!

**I apologize in advance for a horrible post.  I simply cannot focus because I’m glued to the TV.**

As much as I want to, I am not talking about politics.  It’s a topic on which I usually try to keep my mouth shut.  Not because I’m embarrassed by my opinions, but because here in the bible belt I’m often in the minority.  And that’s ok with me.  But it’s not always ok with other people.  I’ve heard people ask how someone could be a Christian and a Democrat…seriously.  I try not to complain about your beliefs, or tell you that you’re wrong.  So please don’t do it to me.  (I’m now stepping off my soap box and on to another non-political subject.)

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day here!  Since I’m supposed to be “taking it easy”(read, as I do: not doing any housework), we decided to meet up with some friends at an awesome new playground with a picnic pavilion.  The kids had fun playing with their friends.  I had fun talking to the other mommies.  But my favorite moment of the whole day was when the other moms headed to the car to get lunches, I got all the kids to “link up” (hold hands) and I held tight to 5 tiny tots all in a line.  I really wish I’d had a camera then!  What a beautiful sight!  Anyway, we all tried to enjoy the picnic.  We would have been more successful if we hadn’t been plagued by a pack?…group?…colony??…a whatever of yellow jackets.  I’d always heard that if you killed one yellow jacket, they would give off some kind of pheromone and attract others.  But none of us were sure if that was a myth or truth.  Do any of you know?  And do you know of anything we can do next time to try and keep them away?? 

Another thing I’ve been doing to “take it easy” is craft.  Since we left Augusta, I haven’t been able to craft because all my supplies have been packed up.  I finally got some stuff out, and let me tell you…I had forgotten just how relaxing a good craft can be!!  One of the mommies from the park is a Demonstrator/Sales Rep for Uppercase Living.  It’s a cool product that allows you to personalize your space without permanently painting.  It’s kind of like vinyl lettering mixed with those old-fashioned “rub-ons” that you used to see on woodcrafts. (Just go look at the website, I’m not explaining it very well.)  UL offers a variety of pre-made words, phrases, and embellishments and they have an online option to make your own designs!  (That’s my favorite part!)  It only takes a week or two to get the item in once you order.  And it’s SUPER easy to apply.  I ordered 6 different products, and did three of them today! They were so easy to apply, and look so tasteful! AND…whenever I get tired of them, they just peel right off. Those of you who know me well enough know that I’m prone to change my mind frequently. 🙂  I, once again, don’t have my camera easily accessible…so you’ll have to take a look at the pictures I took with my Blackberry.  When I put the other ones up, I’ll try to remember to do step-by-step pictures!

On the back door: img000761      By my amazing new whirlpool tub:         By my amazing new whirlpool tub:   img000781

 

BP update: The doctor’s office called my mom’s house earlier today to give me results from my labwork.  I, however, no longer live at my mom’s house…so I didn’t get the message until after business hours.  I’m assuming that had it been something bad, they would have walked next door to Marshall’s office and let him know.  He had lunch with my doctors, and none of them brought it up…surely that means it was ok, right???  But, just to be sure, I’ll call first thing in the morning and let you all know what I find out then.

I loved those…

Remember those old scratch-and-sniff books we all used to have.  It’d have some delightful smells like apple pie or roses.  And my brother and I would always have fun coming up with a list of alternate, disgusting options that they should have put in, like dog poop or rotten eggs. 

Anyway, recently on my friend Kate’s website, she posted about something fun she’d done with her almost 4 year old daughter: scratch and sniff painting!  She got the idea from Wondertime magazine, which is published by DIsney. We had a subscription to this magazine before we moved, but I let it run out so that I wouldn’t have to deal with a change of address. But I miss it! It’s a great magazine full of lots of fun ideas, and as soon as we move into our new house, I’ll be ordering it again.  Another magazine we loved, also published by Disney, is Family Fun. Both magazines are cheap, but chock full of good ideas! They both have great websites, too, that let you easily search for activities appropriate for your child’s age, the season, or your little person’s latest obsession(is anyone else tired of the pirate thing yet?)

So…here are our masterpieces. (My kids are apparently aiming for a Picasso-esque feel vs. Maddy’s truely delightful and accurate realism painting.) At least they smell good!  🙂

OH!  And just in case you are wondering if they really make scratch-and-sniff books any more, they do!  I knew I’d seen a Strawberry Shortcake one recently(which smelled heavenly), so I did a quick Amazon search and found this list. We might have to buy some of these!