Easy dollar store craft

Another craft to let my 3 year old get into.. super easy and I let him have the GLUE!! It really IS a big deal.. since I don't let him get into my messy stuff that often. The look of concentration! All I used was a foam shape from the dollar tree (came in a pack of 8) and some pom poms.. thats all. He decorated and was done. 

the finished product:

clothes pin reindeer

Years upon years ago (without revealing my age) My brother came home from school with an awesome ornament from his teacher, made from Clothespins. How neat! Just layer them together to make 4 legs, then reverse a 3rd clothespin to create the "face" and antlers. Then apply googly eyes and a pom pom for a red nose. I let my 3 year old go to town making his own today, I think they turned out great! LOVE 3 year old art. Keep in mind, they are still in the drying stages, we plan to hang them when they are finished. :)

 

Upcycled Pringles Cans

Yet another reason to love PINTEREST. I find most of my inspiration from there now, it is definitely a great place to hunt down, well, pretty much anything and everything. I found a wonderful idea using Pringles cans to hold homemade cookies as a gift. Here is what I found: cookie holder  I decided, instead of Cookies I want to make chocolate dipped pretzel rods. I haven't made those yet though, I plan on handing them out Christmas eve, so I want them to be fresh lol, but even so, the idea is still the same, and a great way to use up scraps of holiday wrapping paper, instead of throwing it away. (I have tried saving it, but the scraps always end up ruined by next year, so lets face it, its trash). Anyway, here is my creation: (not quite like that found on pinterest, but nobody is perfect. ;p

Cookies in a jar

In case you were looking for a super easy and inexpensive gift for a neighbor, or a friend, why not go with the classic "cookies in a jar" ? Now, not everyone bakes, so take care in who you give these to, as I know my brother would find absolutely NO use of this gift, unless he used the sugar for his coffee, and chocolate chips to munch on, the rest would be wasted. I followed the recipe used here to create these simple gifts. For an added touch, I included a wooden spoon for flair. Have a wonderful holiday season! 

Cinnamon Ornaments

Last night my kids and myself played around with cinnamon, and made some cute little wonderfully scented ornaments. It was very easy to do. All you need to make these:


1 cup ground cinnamon
1 cup applesauce

Thats it. I gathered the ingredients and dumped them into a ziplock bag. I kneaded them together until they got to the consistency of a cookie dough.

Afterward, I grabbed the ball of dough and rolled it out. This was my first time so I tried it in between two layers of wax paper, though, after trial and error, I realized it would have been just as sufficient, on the back side of a cookie sheet (so its completely flat surface), just sprinkle a little cinnamon on the surface and on the rolling pin, so nothing gets stuck. This way, once you cut out your shapes, they are already on the sheet, no transporting. EASY.

Cut out your shapes and remove scraps, repeat on another pan. Use a straw to poke holes for hanging.  I then placed the sheet into the oven at 200 degrees, checking often, until they were dried out. You COULD just let them air dry for a few days, but I used the oven technique because I am impatient. I have also seen recipes that called for a little glue, for more support. I used just the applesauce and cinnamon and they turned out great.

This recipe, with only 1 cup each, made about a dozen ornaments. It went a long way. I do want to make more though, it smells great. ;) Here are a couple that my kiddo's created:

I want to find ribbon to thread through the holes, but for right now, we just used the classic ornament hook. Sure, they would look great when decorated, but I like the plain look.. add a few more of these to my tree and string some popcorn, and we will have a classic look to our Christmas tree.

beaded candy canes

Give a 3 year old some pipe cleaners, and some pony beads, and they stay pretty busy! What fun, threading and bending and picking out colors. :) Of course, my little 3 year old chose orange and blue (Syracuse orange colors, why not??)  But it was in good fun. Super easy, and cheap. I got all of the supplies from the dollar tree. 

 

A Free Printable

Its not from me. I seen it on another blog, and got Giddy with excitement so I just had to share here. If you head on over to make and takes, you can find out how you can print your own copy of an advent calendar. Fun for the kids to do. Just click here to grab yours. Thanks for stopping by! :)

The Snow Fridge, er uh, man

Brought to you, by the world of pinterest.com. No, seriously.. I got my idea from Pinterest. I LOVE that site! SO much inspiration! Here is my source for THIS project: snowman fridge It was such an easy task too. I took less than 10 minutes to clear my fridge of all the clutter, what with magnets, papers, etc.. then wiped it clean. Cutting out the shapes was the most daunting task, but still easy.. I COULD have used my cricut to cut PERFECT circles, but I like the mishapen look for the "coal" eyes and mouth. Use a little tape, and DONE. So easy.. and if it gets destroyed.. oh, wait, buttons are already gone, thanks to a certain 1 year old... darn.. but no big deal. No sweat of my back. ;)

Coffee Post

My husband brought me home a flavored creamer last night from work.. and I must admit, that I almost couldn't wait to get up this morning so I could have my coffee. *almost* but 6am isn't all that early I suppose.. oh, and I have my coffee.. and I must say, it tastes SO good.. Here is the creamer that drew me in ;)

 Now, go get yours and try it. :)

A giveaway!!

Head on over to A Blessed Existence and find out how to enter to win 25 FREE shutterfly Christmas Cards! click here!

Christmas is just around the corner!

I am getting started on christmas themed crafts, cannot wait to share!

Art display canvas

I am working on making each kid their own little display board, using cork boards we had picked up on clearance, 1.00 per piece. I freezer paper stenciled 3 pieces of fabric (I used fat quarters I had picked up at walmart, for 1.00 a piece), then I mod podged the fabric onto each board. I am not completely finished yet (wow.. seems like a going trend in my house.. :\ but its a good start. I plan to hang them in the hallway, so they can showcase their artwork without ruining the walls. :)

Pardon the photography.. between taking these at night, having a crappy camera because our good one broke, and that I stink at taking pictures, well.. this is the best I can do for this project. Will do better in the future, I promise. :)

Gift Tags

I have been working on some hand made gift tags. All in all, I had cut about 130 of them (OK OK, my CRICUT, cut them, not me) and I had hand stamped each one. I am not completely finished with them as of yet, but here is a preview.

Last Minute Fix

So, my stepdaughter has a trick or treat event going on at her school this evening.. and we spent a greater portion of the afternoon getting her all dressed up, and made up, etc... in time for my husband to get home and bring her. Well, half hour until he arrives.. whoops.. no trick or treat pail and she didn't want to bring a walmart bag with her (I didn't blame her lol) so I went into her room and dumped out her tin icarly bucket full of junk, (yep, another mess to clean later.. oh well) and had her go to town ripping construction paper. It was easy, a little tape and a little creativity can go pretty far. And, as an added embellishment, we taped on a bat from the bat-mobile project I worked on a couple years ago. I didn't get a picture of her.. (go figure) but she is going as a devil, so we stayed with the red and black theme.   The best part of this project is.. nothing is permanent.. just rip off the construction paper and the pail is still in good shape. I am sure you could do the same method, with an old oatmeal container or anything of that sort, by punching holes in the sides and stringing something through them.. possibilities are endless. Happy Halloween!

homemade playdoh

I just whipped together a pretty cool recipe I found on Pinterest for Play-doh. SO easy.. literally took less than 10 minutes. It is seriously soft, and DOES NOT SMELL like the store bought kind.. which makes it all the  more better.  Here is where to find the recipe: DIY play-doh. Mine turned out great, and when my 1 yr old tried tasting it (oh, and he did.. lol), I had nothing to worry about because I knew EXACTLY what was in it.

no envelopes? no problem!

for my stepdaughters party we did the movie ticket invitations. Tomorrow is the day she hands them out to her friends. But, of course, I never got envelopes for her invitations. Oops. So what do we do? well, go to the cupboard and grab the rest of the microwave popcorn, thats what. Popcorn and movies go hand in hand right? I know what you're thinking.. how do bags of popcorn substitute envelopes? here's how:

Simple! I know its not much, but just a little tape and a bag of popcorn, but hey, whatever works. And how many people get a treat before they even know if they are coming to the party? I think its a bonus. ;)

wishy washy

About 2 weeks ago, our washing machine decided it did not want to drain anymore. My husband managed to kind of fix the problem, but blowing air into the hose and getting things moving. This continued pretty much every load, so I have been working real hard at not doing so much laundry (i.e. reusing bath towels, re wearing jeans, only washing shirts, socks and undies, or anything that is completely soiled, etc) to take it easy on the washer. Then a couple days ago, it started to drain,t hen stopped, started and stopped and started to smell. Like maybe it was a belt burning or something.. We just bought this washer in April of this year. So, luckily, we are still under warranty. Thing is, they won't be coming by until next Wednesday to look at it. Hopefully whatever damage is done, it is a defective issue that will be covered. Meanwhile.. we are still collecting dirty clothing.. which means, before next Wednesday, a trip to the laundromat is required. Is it sad that I am actually looking forward to this? *I* get to get out of the house and NOT feel guilty about it, because, after all, I am doing chores. I foresee about an hour of nonstop reading pretty soon. :)

pumpkin pie egg nog milkshake

Very simple recipe. Sorry for no photographs of the yumminess. I had not taken a pictures before we drank it down.

All you need is:

VANILLA ICE CREAM
EGG NOG
CANNED OR FRESH PUREED PUMPKIN
PUMPKIN PIE SPICE (OR ANY KIND OF SPICE THAT SUITS YOUR NEEDS)

Mix ingredients together in a blender. No measurements, I just eyeballed the amounts. Of course, if you like your milkshake thin, use more ice cream.

Its a Mickey Mouse, CLUBHOUSE...

And... I bet now you have that song stuck in your head right? Sorry.. lol. :) My babies first birthday is coming up super fast, and naturally, MMCH is his favorite show so of course, I am going in that theme. Its a fun theme to work with, what with all the circles and bright colors.. super easy. So, as an added touch, I pulled out my trusty cricut, and made red and yellow circles, in various sizes, to mimic the floors and paths on the show. But instead of making paths in my house (that wouldn't last long what with 2 toddlers running around now) I placed magnets on each and every one, and utilized the side door in our dining room, that just so happens to be white, just so happens to be aluminum, and it also just so happens that we NEVER use it, so it will be the perfect backdrop for Mr. Mans birthday chair. I have them all currently scrunched up toward the top of the door, out of little people's reach until party day, but do have plans to arrange them accordingly. Here is a sneak peak:

My favorite part of this project? It is double duty.. Since they are all blank, I will be sure to find another use for these already prepared magnets. :)

Movie Theater Party

Planning for childrens birthday parties can be alot of fun, and stressful at the same time. I have 2 October birthdays to plan for.. one coming up fast. My stepdaughter told me she would like a movie themed party at the end of this month, so what better way to invite guests, than with tickets?? All I did, was make a template in my computer paint program (since I am not lucky enough to have a photoshop, gosh I would love to have that!), then I printed them out on red cardstock. Cut out each ticket and attacked the corners with a hole puncher. Thats it. Super simple. Now I just have to print out the party details for the reverse side, which we will just adhere with glue stick. By we, Stepdaughter will be 10, she will be helping. ;)

Kids Crafts

I have nothing new to post, so I thought I would share various things I would like to do with my kids.. hopefully really soon. Let me introduce you, to one of my PINTEREST boards. Hopefully Pinterest will help me keep my kids busy, instead of just keep me busy on the internet, pinning things, and finding myself very unproductive.. It is highly addicting, but such an awesome site! I love all the ideas that people put out there.click here to see my kids crafts board on pinterest.com 

Another shelf redo

quick and easy shelf updo

I am just rummaging through my house, and repurposing old things to make into new uses... We don't have a ton of money, so I try to make do with what we have on hand.. its actually kind of fun. Living frugal is a challenge, but a FUN challenge. The picture frame I had made a couple of years ago, I used random letters from scrapbook kits and my cricut, and a picture frame I had purchased at the dollar tree, some white paint for the frame, and it was a nice little touch for our entryway, at our last apt. Well, since I had no use for it here, in our new apt, I thought it would look good on our black bookshelf, in our living room. I also grabbed the baskets from my laundry area, that were meant for holding wash rags, and other various cleaning supplies, but instead, just collected random clutter (still better than clutter laying around, but oh well lol) and place them in front of my picture. Well, thats one shelf that looks halfway decent. Now to figure out what to do with the other 5 shelves... :\ Here is how it turned out (it literally took me 2 minutes.. too easy)

I finally did it!

I opened up an ETSY shop! The only thing I have in there as of right now, is crayons. I plan on adding to the shop at a later date (maybe holiday ornaments, or the like) but its a start. YAY! :) I don't expect leaps and bounds, but it is something to feel proud of.

Thanksgiving Day Crayons

In an attempt to make a few extra dollars for holiday spending, I decided to try to jump on the etsy bandwagon. I still have not opened my shop (procrastinate much?) but I WILL be doing that very very soon. I am etsy shy. I better hurry up though, Its already October, and since I have a ton of turkeys and pumpkins, I might want to get them up on site. Someone else suggested maybe even selling them on Facebook. I am really close to doing that. I already have a facebook fanpage (with 8 followers.. go me!) so I am considering posting on there for orders. If you are interested in my FB page, just come on over and "LIKE" me. Thanks for subscribing!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Creative-Ideas/150604811617988

Monogram Plate Decoration

I have been seeing a TON of twine or yarn wrapped letters lately, some on their own, some on wreaths etc... and I just LOVE them so much that I had to try one for myself. I didn't want to run out and spend any money so I decided to use what I had laying around the house. I first took apart a diaper box, and traced out an "M" and cut it out. Then found some twine and started wrapping and gluing. (I used a hot glue gun, this made the project much easier, and faster) The wrapping only took about 20 minutes or so, as I didn't do it thorough. I thought it would be OK to leave a little of the brown cardboard visible, as I was going for a rustic look anyhow. I then found some old wire garland for a mini christmas tree, I thought it was perfect for that little Oomph on the M. Afterward, I hot glued the letter down on a decorative plate. The plate is plastic so it is really really light (good for hanging). To finish off the project, I added old, no longer smelly potpourri around the entire plate. Thats it. Very easy. Hot glue a ribbon to the back, and hang. Or just get a plate stand, and add to a mantel or shelf arrangement. I may make more as gifts.

CLUBHOUSE PARTY

I just whipped these up tonight, used the Walter font on Paint, and my cricut to cut circles, a little glue stick to adhere it all together, and threw a magnet on the back. Easy Peasy. Took me about half hour total

STAY TUNED...

Its been awhile since my last post.. I have been very busy this last month. Then my Camera Broke.. blah. Well.. I have been working on opening a shop on etsy.com, which I haven't actually done yet, not until I get my packaging and pictures to put up on display.. but that will be this week. Keep your eyes peeled! Thanks for following! :)

more train stuff

I started working on a banner using my Cricut today.. as we are doing the train theme, I of course whipped out my "Paper Dolls" cartridge to create enough carts to carry out the train. I then whipped out the "George and Basic Shapes" cartridge to add the letters spelling out "HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRESTON" and the number "3" with the slotted option, you know, so I don't have to do the extra work of punching holes later. Here are some photographs of the carts, drying, as I used modpodge to adhere them all together.

I am actually quite proud of this one. One, because I LOVE making my own birthday banners every year. Two, because I didn't get frustrated, even when the boys were "helping". And lastly, I only used things I had on hand. It didn't cost me a dime. :0)

train party hobo bag favors

I wanted to be a bit different as far as favor bags go. I originally wanted to use handkerchiefs but couldn't find any less than 1.00 each, and that would have added up too fast in my opinion. So I settled on buying goodie bags, I chose thomas the train. I then just cut a little sliver on each side toward the top of each bag, stuffed the bags with goodies, and stuck a wooden dowel through the holes. Afterwards, I tied off the tops, with the twist ties that came with the bags. I am still debating on using ribbon to tie on the top, but its going to depend on what time I have left. I only have 4 more days until party time, and a banner to make, a cake to bake and decorate and a few other odds and ends with about 1 hr window each day. I am going to be busy lol. Here are a couple pictures of the hobo bags.

and also one of the goodies I stuffed. I just bought wedding bubbles, and train stickers. Stickers are a simple way to turn anything plain into something to fit your theme.

Next thing I need is a good lamp, with a very bright light, and a better working surface. I want to be able to take clear shots of my projects, without them being ruined by a flash. I have tried taking pictures without flash and end up with a blurry picture. I am NOT a photographer.. clearly lol.

more rambling because its my blog and I can

dishes and laundry are done. kids are *almost* out for naps.. (fingers crossed) then I can actually MOP MY FLOOR! Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ACTUALLY be excited about mopping my floor, but I am. Its been over a week since its been done and its bugging me bad. I am thinking of saving the bathroom for much later. its something that can be done during baths.. but I might get some motivation.. who knows. I may even be able to stuff party favor bags today.. hopefully, without my almost 3 year olds "help" LOL.

wednesday and some rambling on

Just another day. Still too busy to actually get anything special accomplished, but my day is filled with laundry, dishes, cleaning the bathroom (yuck) and mopping today.. ICK. I might even squeeze in some time to get rid of old toys and organize some more of the crap I have just laying around the house, and sort through the boys clothing. heck, I *just might* even clean the windows.. but the more I type the more I get tired and its beginning to look more as if I will get the laundry and dishes done.. and maybe some reading. yea.. that about sums it up.

Kitchen Shelf Revamp

My next project: to revamp my kitchen shelves. These are just simple DIY bookcases from walmart, that I am using as kitchen storage. I plan on covering the bottom half with curtains, also DIY, and creating a backsplash for the top half, which will display my dishes, etc. Ignore the chaos on the bottom half, I have a 1 yr old and a 3 yr old, they like to touch everything in reach.. what a shock. lol. Stay posted for before and after photos in the near future. :)

mr. smartie pants

For my brother's graduation favors, "rolls of smarties" I turned a formula can into a favor tin, which says, "congratulations smarty pants" on the front. A simple project, with the help of my cricut, tape, and a glue stick. easy peasy. :0)

no time to craft

in case you're wondering why my postings are so few and far between.. well.. one: its summer.. and two: well, I have an almost 1 year old and almost 3 year old. My hands are prettty full. Notice how I said "almost" for both. Its birthday season coming up, so I will be making some things to share very soon.

choo choo crayons

I found a tutorial on http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/2010/10/diy-molded-crayons.html and was dying to make some of my own, and finally, yesterday, I did. I am doing a train theme for my sons birthday so I thought I would give it a try. I used an old soup can in a small pan of boiling water to melt the crayons. then poured them into the mold, and once they were set (about 5 minutes in the freezer) they were complete. Instead of scrubbing a pan from melted wax, I just threw the soup can I used in the trash, so nothing got ruined.

Mr. & Mrs.

One of my husbands very good friends just got married this weekend and I wanted to come up with something special for him and his bride. So I came up with frame art.

I love decor for around the house, and something personal always adds that sweet little touch.

Utensil holder

Here is another recycle project. I found yet another way to re-use a baby formula can. Just another little embellishment to my mothers party. Some scrap paper, and more use with the martha stewart butterfly punch. :) another super easy project, this time using mod podge.

Butterfly garland

Here is another little tidbit for my mothers birthday. It was a surprise party, so I've been waiting and waiting and waiting to post my work, but couldn't because I didn't want her to see anything.. not one little detail. I had some tulle laying around, and used basic butterfly stickers to make a little garland to add a little oomph to the present table. It took me less than half hour to tie all the knots and adhere the butterflies. Just a simple embellishment. I don't generally post pics of me, so this is a treat. :p