An Indoor Snowball Fight

Who doesn't love a snowball fight?  Being outside in the freezing cold, getting pummeled with icy cold "rock" like objects that always seem to hit you in the face?  Well, I love a good snowball fight; when I am the one that stays warm and out of target range, but I especially love the idea of having one indoors.  So, since my kids and I love to have these snowball fights, but aren't too fond of the icy cold either, we decided to bring the snow indoors.

 

 

I found these little metal buckets at the dollar store

 

and with a paint pen, added some embellishments to the front.

 

I then went over to JoAnn's and found me some fluffy white fabric....on the clearance rack of course.  When I got home, I cut the fabric into various sized circles, and with right sides together, sewed them up leaving small hole so I could turn them right side out and add stuffing.  When they were stuffed to my liking, I simply hand stitched the small hole together.  And that's it, a homemade, fluffy warm snowball.

 

I decided to take it one step further and add faces to these snowballs.  Perhaps it would make getting hit with them a little more fun.  So, I embroidered little black eyes, an orange carrot nose, and a mouth with cold rosy cheeks to make them look fun.

 

Put a bunch (my buckets held 6) together in a bucket and then, you are super well equipped for the best snowball fight ever.

 

Now isn't that crafty?

A Walk Down Memory Lane

My husband and I have just celebrated our 12 year wedding anniversary.  Let's face it, the man's a Saint putting up with all of my craziness and am sure at times what he would define as my "multiple personalities."  Nonetheless, we have made it this far, with many more years to look forward to. 

 

We don't typically exchange gifts with one another.  We are already so blessed to have all that we need, but we do love to exchange romantic gestures.  This year was no different.  My husband is quite sentimental so for me this year was easy.

 

 

I bought 12 balloons.  One for each year we have been married.  And at the end of each balloon, I attached a picture of a fond memory and shared with him reasons that I love him.

 

 

Example.... I love that no matter how old we are, traditions (like dying Easter eggs) still mean the world to him and he participates in them with excitement and sincere enthusiasm.

 

When he arrived home from work, my sweet 4 year old spoiled the surprise a bit by informing him of the "tons of balloons" on the bed.  But the real surprise was what they all meant. 

 

 Here's to the best 12 years of my life....with the absolute love of my life.  And this is only the beginning!

Refill anyone?

This is one of the best ideas I have ever seen.  No, it's not my original idea, but I am sure gonna copy it.  I hate having to buy a whole new jar of bubbles every time my kids spill theirs or use them up.  And those huge refill jugs are impossible to pour into the little bottles without losing half of the bubble solution to the ground.  So, here's what some clever person came up with, and I will for sure follow suit.  

I hit the local Walmart and bought a drink dispenser with a spout that is easy for the kids to use (and the best part about the dispenser is it's plastic, so if it falls, it won't shatter).  Add a little vinyl label so we all know what it is and now, those little rug rats can fill their own bubbles with less mess....hopefully. 

Now isn't that pretty crafty?!!!

A gift for our teachers!!

While I had my saw out cutting out some St. Patrick's Day decor and a few other delights, I decided to get a jump on some gifts for my kid's school teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week usually in April.  This is the easiest gift ever and I thought they turned out pretty cute.  

I winged it on the pattern.  The first one turned out pretty good, so I used it to trace onto the next few pieces of wood I was going to cut.  

After it was cut and sanded, I painted it up just using your run of the mill craft paint from the local craft store. 

Because my painting is no where near perfect and I tend to have a lot of flaws, even on an item this large, I like to distress it so it looked like my mistakes were meant to be there.  With the help of a wood file or some fine grit sand paper, I love my file, I destressed the pencil in a variety of places to make it look worn.

The last thing to do was to add their names.  It would be super cute to just write their names on the pencil, but my handwriting is not cute enough to do such things, so I turn to my trusty vinyl cutter for projects like that.  

And there you have it.  A pencil that is super easy, cute and a great way to show your appreciation to the teacher's that educate our kids.

Have a SUPER Valentines Day!

I love it when my kids get to exchange Valentines with their friends at school and get to decorate boxes and envelopes.  It's like crafting nirvana for me.  I am not one who goes to the store and buys the pre-made Valentines cards and just adds a piece of candy. Oh no! If it doesn't require some forethought and time.....it's just not worth making.  Okay, so I'm crazy, I know.  But it is fun to share things with others that may not be so common.  This year for some reason both of my kids are really into the superhero thing.  So I thought it would be fitting to make some superhero valentines to share with their super valentine friends. 

With the use of a sucker.....tootsie pops or blow pops....

 and this template that needs to be printed and cut out...

You can put it all together on your sucker and have a SUPER superhero valentine to give to your kid's friends!

Happy V-DAY everyone!!

The "Light" of my life

Valentines Day is quickly approaching and for most of us, finding that "Perfect" gift is next to impossible.  My husband does not enjoy candy, it would take a miraculous event to get a reservation at a restaurant, and the fact that we have two invasive children, well, ya know, kinda kills any romance you could attempt to create at home. 

So this year I decided to make my valentine a little something different.  A reminder of where he stands in my life. Now he can put it on his desk as a reminder of his role in our family. 

People, this was so easy to make, and I am sure that whoever you give it to will love it because it's creative, it's as inexpensive as it gets, and most important, because you made it. 

Here's the how to:

Take a light bulb.   Just your standard, ordinary old light bulb.  It doesn't matter if it's clear or white, just needs to be a light bulb.  At the bottom of the light bulb, below that black ring is a piece of flat metal.  With a pair of pliers and probably a garbage can underneath, you want to pry that piece of metal off.  The black ring holding it on is glass and it's okay if it breaks. 

Once the metal is removed, use your pliers to break apart the black ring and  pull out the filaments inside. 

*In case you are wondering, yes, I am wearing a cast on my left hand.  A cast that went all the way to my shoulder.  So hey, if I can do this one handed, surely you can do it with two hands.

When the filament and all the inside pieces are removed, the bulb (if it's white) will start shedding the powder that's on the inside of the bulb.  It's not harmful, so take it to the sink and wash that bulb on out. 

While the light bulb was drying after being rinsed out, I had to make my new filament to put inside.  I took a heavy gauge wire and with my pliers, fashioned it into the best heart I could possibly make.  And then because I have this crazy obsession with glitter, that's what I used to embellish it. You can paint the wire or leave it in it's original color.  Your call.

Because I was afraid that this was looking a little "girly", I decided to adhere this to an old weathered piece of wood to try and "man" it up.  I used a 1" drill bit to make a hole just barely deep enough to hold the light bulb in and not risk it tipping over and breaking.  I hot glued the sparkly filament on to the wood....

And then slid the light bulb over the top of it and hot glued the bulb to the wood.

If you're doing it right, it should look like this right now.

Now for the finishing touch, a little note

"Light of my Life" and with some little pins pinned to the wood.  

Now you have a unique and darling valentine to give your sweetheart this year.  And although small and simple, it's packed with tons of LOVE!!

Super Hero in Training

My daughter is always running around the house flitting and flying like she is on a mission of some sort.  She says she is in training to become a superhero.  Well, I got to thinking, what better way to be a super hero than to have wings.....and since she is training a to be a super hero that runs fast and flys high, I thought it fitting to add wings to her shoes.

I found am image on the Internet of wings and determined the size I would need to fit her shoes.  I then printed them out onto iron-on paper.  With some extra vinyl fabric I had left over from a previous creation, I ironed the pattern on and cut it out leaving a fairly stiff and long lasting wing. 

However, it still needed a little flare.  So, with the use of a little glitter glue purchased from the local craft store, I added some sparkle to the wings and let them dry for about 24 hours.

Then, with the use of a fabric punch and some small scissors, I cut out the holes where the laces would go and tied them on to her tennis shoes.

Now she can run and move like a super hero in training.  Who knows, with these wings, she just might become a real super hero after all.

Now Isn't that pretty crafty!?!?!

Remembering our Teachers

I just posted one idea for a Teacher Christmas gift using gift buckets and filling them with M&M's.  But for my daughter's teacher and teacher's aid, I wanted to do something a bit different.  Something that perhaps would stay in their classroom and would bring a smile to their faces whenever they looked at them.  So, I got out my box of crayons, hot glue and paper, and went to work.

I needed to use a little heavier paper for this project than just printer paper. 

I drew an outline of the letter "L" , the first initial of her teacher's last name, and just started cutting crayons on a cutting board until they were the size I needed to make the shape of the letter I wanted.

When the letter was finished, I found a black frame, took the glass out and inserted the newly created art.  How fitting for any teacher.  Letters made out of crayons......come on now, you have to admit that it's all 

Pretty Crafty!!

Merry Christmas to our Teachers!

At Christmas time we get so concerned with gifts for our families and neighbors, and sometimes it's easy to forget those who do so much for us in raising our children and teaching them how to succeed in life.  

We wanted to make sure to our TEACHERS did not go unrecognized.  So, here is one idea that I found to use for my little guy's Preschool teachers.  

He is blessed to have 3 teachers working with him and the others in his class.  Money is a concern this time of year (as it is every year) so I had to do something to show them my appreciation, but that didn't put a huge dent in my pocketbook.  Here's what I came up with:

I found a cute poem about M& M's and how "Marvelous" and "Magnificent" our teachers are.

 

In the dollar section at Target.....one of my favorite sections, I found these cute gift buckets in all different colors. They were the perfect size to fill up with M&M's I bought to go inside.

 So I filled up the buckets, added the poem, and decorated with a fun raffia ribbon.  It may not appear to be much, but it's made with love and appreciation.

Here's the poem so you too can use this idea for the Teachers in your life.

Green is for the inspiration you give me each day. 

Blue is for your patience in showing me the way. 

Orange is for your warmth and caring style. 

Yellow is for the way you always make me smile. 

Red is for my life that you have touched this year. 

You place knowledge in my hands, that melt into my heart and live forever! 

You're a "Magnificent" & "Marvelous" Teacher! Thank you for being my M&M!

Christmas for your neighbors

I love to give my neighbors gifts around the holidays.  Not only because it's a holiday, but also to show them how lucky we feel to live around such wonderful people.  Usually baked goods are passed around and treats show up on my doorstep, and oh how yummy they are.  I, however, am not a fantastic cook and am too embarrassed to share my treats with others, so I craft instead.  It's hard to know what to get for your friends that doesn't look cheap and corny, but also that won't brake the bank.  

I wanted to focus this year on the "True" meaning of Christmas was, and do it in a very simple way.  So I came up with this little nativity.  As simple and plain as it may seem, the meaning is there and if my neighbors choose to not keep it around, it's not like they are throwing away a gift that cost a lot of money. 

In fact I spent a total $6.27 for my supplies and was able to get 11 gifts in all. 

It is nothing more than a square dowel cut into 2 different sizes representing Mary and Joseph.  A small, thin board painted white to represent a baby in a blanket, and wooden beads from the craft store glued on as heads.  Simple, cheap, yet inspiring. You could attach a favorite poem or saying to it if you would like, or just wrap this up in cute cellophane.

Pretty easy.....and pretty darn crafty.

Happy Holidays!

A Card to Remember

I love to write cards.  Whether they are thank you's, Happy Birthday notes or just notes to say "Hi", I think a letter or card that you took time to hand write, put in the mail and have sent your way goes the extra mile to show how much you care.  Not only do I love to share notes with others, I LOVE to receive a note in too. My heart is full of joy to know how much I am loved.  I collect those cards.......sometimes when I have a bad day,  I pull one out as a reminder that I matter to someone.  

These cards are my treasures........ but my treasures need some organization.  

How fun and easy it is to just put them together with some paper rings or ribbon and make them into a special book of their own.  Now, I always know where they are when I need a little pick-me up or just a good laugh.  

.

Now isn't that crafty!

An anniversary on a Budget

The years have almost flown by as my Husband and I come upon our 11 year anniversary.  I love and dread this time of year.  My Husband is the hardest man to buy gifts for....and typically we don't even exchange gifts on our anniversary, rather nice thoughts or gestures.  Well, after 11 years, I am plum outta ideas.


I am always so grateful for everything he does for me and my 2 rambunctious kids, and I need to somehow tell him that in a way that would matter. I saw something on this fantastic website called Pinterest and thought it would be the perfect way to share how much I love him. 

I used a new deck of cards, scuffed them up with sandpaper and gave them a rub with a pigment ink stamp pad, concentrating on the edges.   I punched holes in them, hooked them on a few paper rings and added some labels to give me a place to write. 

I hope they all show him why he is just right for me.

Happy Anniversary my Love!!! I am looking forward to many more

XOXOXO

Hand Scrub

As the gardening season begins to wind down.......the remnants left over are calloused, rough hands.  I have come up with the perfect gift to share with your "green thumbed" friends to help them find that smooth soft skin we all once remember. 

Start off with a BIG ol’ mixing bowl and some sugar

some dish soap (since it is HAND SCRUB I love using the Hand Renewal kind)

a couple drops of peppermint extract

& some pretty little jars

Whip Up a Batch:

Tip: My measuring trick that I’ve learned
after creating several batches:

** pour the sugar into the jars you’re gonna use nearly to the top

& then…

pour that into your mixing bowl

you get the consistency you like

then add a few squeezes of soap until

to the consistency of…well…

HAND SCRUB!

add a couple drops of extract to up the scent factor

and

stir, stir, stir

plop into your jars and then

Decorate the jars as you’d like!!