huggies storage box

So, I've been seeing this technique for years.. covering an old diapers box with fabric, paper, or any other textile you have at hand, but have yet to give it a go. Well tonight I finally have. I happened to use an old dress I had on hand. The zipper was broke. Yes, I could have replaced the zipper, but I don't wear dresses often, so instead I cut it up. It was pretty fabric, and will now be on display. Here you have it, my version of a fabric covered storage box: 

not sure what I actually want to put IN the box yet, but there will be more to come. I have 3 more dresses to cut up. I may embellish this one too, if I find something else I don't want/need anymore, and can re purpose.

behavioral charts

It was almost 2 years ago I had the kids make their own "rainbow" charts. Each color is represents their attitude during the day. The goal is to stay on RED.. and as your picture slides down the rainbow, to blue, you're in trouble. Now, I didn't come up with consequences for each color, which is why I hadn't hung them up on the wall, and they have been since forgotten, until today. I decided to go ahead and hang them anyway, and figure out a routine after.

What we did:

Cut strips of craft paper, in 5 different colors, and glued them on an old cookie sheet. We used some pinking shears to make some cool patterns as well.

We then found pictures of each kid, and cut them out accordingly, and stuck a magnet to the back of each picture.

Since we made one chart for each kid, they got to put their names on them, with alphabetical stickers.

Here is the result:

 I had hung them on pre existing nails, which is why they aren't even (I can't measure anyway, so its not like they would be straight regardless) To make them hang, I just hot glued soda tabs to the back of each tray.


Now its time to come up with consequence for each color/kid.

Mission: Organization

It has been a very long time since I have last posted. I have been very busy, and have done A LOT of things, so I might have a blog entry for every day for 2 straight weeks. :) lol. Anyway, I have been tackling my house, throwing stuff away, re arranging, re organizing.. etc. It feels great to have things where I can find them again. :) Today I am showing you my vanity I made for my master bedroom.

Here is a console table from my living room, I moved it to my room underneath the mirror I had made (another project)

I used various glass candle holders to hold my nail files, hair elastics, and make up brushes.

A Paper clip holder, to hold hair clips.

I utilized the drawer for my make up, since its not really pretty enough for display IMO

And just because I thought this picture looked pretty.... all my perfume lined up on top of my jewelry box (yes I know, I'm lame lol)

Now I have to tackle all of my earrings.. which is a task.. :) Happy organizing!

Shoe Rack used as what?

I have shoe rack that proved to be useless in my closet, as the shoes NEVER made it to the rack.. so now, I still have a pile of shoes in my closet (I will work on that another time.. but I now have a nice TOWEL rack in my bathroom. YAY.. easy. Now if I can work on those darn shoes!

we rent, so I couldn't do anything permanent.. (which stinks, because there is a lot I would LIKE to do, but can't)

fudgy cherry brownies

I got hungry last night, so I whipped up some brownies and added some leftover cherries and fudge from the sundaes we made a week ago. They turned out so good I had to blog about it. Yes THAT good. I just followed the brownie recipe on the back of the can of cocoa, substituting the butter with crisco instead. (we are out of butter, MUST go shopping) I drained MOST of the juices out of the jar of cherries, leaving about 2 tbsp and dumped the contents into the mix. Then I just baked. The recipe called for about 30 minutes, I baked for 25.. I am impatient. But it didn't matter, just made them even better IMO. After they came out of the oven, I poked holes throughout the brownies (easy since they were still warm) then dumped all of hot fudge we had left all over said brownies. We didnt' even wait to cut them. We ate them warm. Had to scoop them onto our plates. They were EXCELLENT.  The picture does not do any justice.

In case you wanted he recipe, it is below. I added my own tweaks as well. :

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons butter or margarine (I used crisco, worked just as good)

1 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
2 Eggs
6 tablespoons Baking Cocoa
1/2 cup Sifted All purpose Flour.
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I didn't use)

Also, I added the cherries, with about 2 tablespoons cherry juice. (maraschino) I mixed all the ingredients first, then folded these in.

Cream Butter or margarine, sugar and vanilla. Beat in eggs. Blend in Cocoa. Stir in flour and nuts. (and cherries). Bake in greased 8x8x2 inch pan at 325 for 30 to 35 minutes. (I used a 9x13 pan bc I couldn't find my 8x8 lol.. and baked for 25 minutes) Cool. (another option I did not go for, couldn't wait)

Enjoy! My kids had whipped cream on top of theirs too. Another added option to this yummy goodness. Now I am going to pin this. Have a nice day!

Nothing new to show off

Its been a quiet first week of the new year.. I am hoping to jump back on the creating bandwagon very soon, starting with a Longhouse project my stepdaughter has to do for school.. (her doing most the work, of course). It will be a good opportunity to break out the glue gun though. :) 

I was thinking about learning to Knit this year. I have tried and failed miserably at crochet, numerous times.. so I just gave up on that, but NEVER gave knitting a thought. Its worth a shot. Those are good traits to have. I can sew (though I suck at using my machine, I do pretty well by hand). I do need to learn all of these traits, IMO, because it would be nice to make things myself. A little self satisfaction is in there of course. ;) 

Are there any traits that YOU hope to pick up this year? Crafting/Cooking or anything?