Lemonade Makin' Mama Giveaway

Hey everyone! Just wanted to let you know that Sasha from Lemonade Makin' Mama is hosting a give away with goodies from some really beautiful,talented women!

I have been following Sasha for a while now on Instagram, and I check into her blog every so often. She has beautiful words, a lovely home, and has the most amazing Etsy Shop EVER! (It reopens on February 5th! so mark it on your calendars!)


So head on over to Lemonade Makin' Mama to enter :)

Creative Play

How do I put this...My kids watch too much TV. They play while watching, or take off and play with each other and then take a break and watch a show, but the TV is almost always on in the back ground.

I'm not the perfect mom who has dinner ready, the floors swept, and I certainly don't always have them playing something they can learn from. But sometimes, I do pretty good. Like today. Today we built a house.

I brought out all our craft sticks, a glue gun, a cardboard surface from the recycle bin, and we got to work.

I started the base, and I controlled the glue gun (obviously because glue guns are hot hot hot, and my kids are small small small!)

From there, I made exactly what Mr.Sensitive told me to make.
"Make a ladder Mamma!"
"We need a roof here!"
"This stick has to go here"

He also sang the theme song from Bob the Builder the whole time (see what I mean by too much TV?)

Then my kiddo got artsy and made a clothes pin sculpture on the very top. 

After he said we were done building, I got him some paint so he could make it his own.

I use recycled lids from plastic containers as paint trays. Acryclic paint washes right off of the plastic with hot water.

Right now, he has his transformers inside the stick house and it's their hide out, and he's been playing quietly for a good hour...which doesn't happen often.

He has a million little toys he can use to play with his new house, and there's a lot of room to build onto it in the future.

Happy Crafting!

Mini 'Pallet' Valentines Display

I have been looking for something to do with my giant bag of popcicle sticks. Seriously..I have a million wooden sticks and have no idea what to do with them.
Then yesterday, I was walking home from the park with the family, and someone had a bunch of pallets in their yard. I decided to make a 'mini pallet' with the sticks and paint it for valentines!

Polka dot Valentines 'mini pallet'

You Will Need:
-Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
-Popcicle Sticks (about 13ish of'em)
-Paint (I used white and red acrylic)
-Paint Brush
-Nail File
- Gold Polka Dots (not pictured)

Line up two popcicle sticks, and start gluing the rest of the sticks across them like the picture.

When your done it should look like the picture above. (I trimmed off the little nubs on the bottom,but it's not a must)

next your going to paint your 'pallet' whatever color you want! I realllly love this antique white.

Ta Da! all painted and dried!

If you don't want a distressed look, skip this part. If you love the distressed look, then take a nail file, and file away until you get the look you're going for.

Paint a heart

 
I added some gold polka dots because who doesn't love gold polka dots?!

And last, I found a tutorial the other day for making an easel out of paper straws over at Wants and Wishes

Happy Crafting Lovlies!

Our New Neighbor

Yesterday we decided to go run some errands, and stopped in at our local Staples store.
Every time we go in there, Dru goes to look at electronics, and I head straight for the Martha Stewart office supplies. To my absolute surprise, they had a lot of things on clearance! Plus another 20% off the clearance price! I scored some dry erase stickers, chalkboard labels, and some book plates. I should have got more...and will probably go back. 

I have also finally got my cousins baby care packaged ready to send! I procrastinate a little bit...but I had some fun decorating the wrapping with some washi tape as you can see.

And now, onto the most exciting thing that has happened! Yesterday we had some new neighbors move in! and they are the fuzziest most cute little things in the world!

Don't you just want to squeeze it and love it!!??
There are two rabbits who live in our yard, and they let you sit beside them and watch them without worry.
It has been really hard not to run outside and start offering them carrots,because they are wild animals after all, and to mess with nature is never a good thing, so we just watch, and appreciate their company.

This house has been absolutely wonderful when is comes to wild animals. We have a bear that visits the blackberry bush out back (NOTE: our back yard is very large, and the bear is very neat to watch, but we never get close and always stay on the deck), and we have our friendly deer (two females, their children, and some times if we are lucky, HUGE bucks!), and then some raccoons from time to time. The only bad experience we've had with animals were a few rats getting into the house, but that's been fixed!

Anyway I'm going to go enjoy our little furry friends company some more!

Mr.Sensitive

This is Mr.Sensitive.
A three year old with a passion for Power Rangers, golfing, painting, and cuddling.
He hates vacuum cleaners, going to bed, and when his sister pulls his hair.

He was my first born, and saved my life. I honestly think I would be on the streets somewhere if it wasn't for him coming into our lives.
He was a kicker in my belly,and always had hiccups.
He scared us at birth because he wasn't breathing, and then a lung collapsed, but he bounced right back.

He is soft spoken, polite,and says the sweetest things like "Mommy, I love you forever and always". (Melts the heart right!?)

The other night, he woke up crying, so I came up stairs and snuggled up next to him. I watched him fall back asleep, and I watched him sleep for a little bit longer...just because.

He was my glass baby...in the sense that he was my first born and I was scared of breaking him. I was extra gentle changing him, woke up to check on him countless times at night, when he got even the smallest booboo, I was rushing straight to emergency to make sure he was all right. I read all the parenting books, joined forums, and had all the things I thought I needed to prepare for a baby.

Anyway, here, on my blog, he will be known as Mr.Sensitive, and his sister will be known as Trouble. because those are words that describe their personalities perfectly.haha

Valentine Potion

Just a quick idea that I promised to show you, and it's probably the easiest thing in the world to do.
Basically, find a fancy bottle, fill it with red or pink liquid of some sort, pop a tag on it, and you've got yourself a 'love potion'!

The decanter I used was a gift from my sister. She had made candy cane vodka, and used a bunch of these dollar store decanters to hand out as gifts. Last week when I was thrift shopping I found a whole shelf FULL of decanters! They were 50 cents each! I didn't buy them because my hubby already thinks I'm a hoarder as it is.

Anyway, after the vodka was gone, I rinsed out the decanter, and filled it with apple cranberry tea. Our house is a house of tea drinkers. Both my littles drink herbal teas, and I'd rather them drink tea than sugar filled pop because they had a whole lot of sugar over Christmas holidays- But You could easily make your 'potion' from a mix of kool-aid and sprite or fruit juice.

you can learn to make gift tags here
I am trying to find time to make a tutorial for the paper rose, and the tutorial for the crochet flowers can be found here

Enjoy!

Quick Packaging Idea I found

I just wanted to quickly share this awesome packaging idea I found from Sew Chatty !
She used it to package her adorable boot cuffs, but I used it to package the slippers I just made! So simple, and so cute!

Thrifty DIY Baby Care Package

My cousin is expecting her first baby very soon! I always get so excited when other people have babies, then I get a bit jealous because being pregnant is awesome!, and then I laugh because being pregnant also sucks. haha

I wanted to do something nice for my cousin and send her a package of things she could use. Now, I wanted to go buy her a bunch of stuff, but this week, our car broke down, and it's not going to be an easy fix. Any extra money we had, is going to the 'car fix fund'. So I had to get a bit crafty, and thrifty.

I took a box left over from Christmas, and decorated it with some paper and tape and cute sayings.

The goodies inside

Since I can't go buy an outfit for the new baby (a boy!), I went through some of my sons clothes I had.
I found this sweater that I used to LOVE! My son had so many clothes, that he usually only wore something once or twice (his Grandma has a shopping problem..)
I also picked out something that is 18-24 months instead of something that is newborn because everyone always buys the new baby newborn clothing,and they grow out of it SO fast! 

I saved a whole bunch of new born and size 1 diapers after my daughter grew out of them because I figured I would find someone who could use them, and if not, she could use them for her dolls when she's older. I packed a little bundle up for the new babe because you can never have too many diapers! I attached a cute tag using one of the clothes pin magnets I make.

I made these little booties using this tutorial by Crochet Jewel. I absolutely love them because they are easy to make, and you can make them in different sizes.

I make these bows myself. I'm sure you can find tutorials for them online, but I just winged it. Maybe I should make a tutorial sometime...
Anyway, these bows can be used as hair bows, or bowties! they are just attached using an alligator clip.

When my son was born, he never took a pacifier. EVER! so strange. We had a whole drawer full of pacifiers that he never used. This was the coolest one ever! The blue plastic part opens up so the baby can use the pacifier, and if it falls on the ground, it snaps shut so the pacifier doesn't get dirty! Hopefully my cousin will get some use out of it... (even though my son never used it, I disinfected it just to be safe)

And a little something for the momma.
After pushing a baby out, you want to feel clean! So I added a package of deodorant,shampoo and conditioner, and a pack of breath mints.

That is that!
I hope she likes it.

What would you put in a baby care package?

The One Called Trouble (And a Recipe for Earl Grey Tea)

This is Trouble.
Her hobbies include eating things she finds on the ground, pulling on cords, and trying to jump out of her high chair.
We have yet to go out and not be stopped at every corner by people telling her how beautiful her hair is.
And let me tell you, She has a fiery attitude to go with that fire red hair! Just today, she threw a cheese grater into our toilet, and pulled her big brothers hair after she tried to take his toy from him.

She's also very clever,and learns very quickly. I suppose she learns quick so she can keep up with her brother. Trouble is a daddy's girl. She sleeps on him, runs to him, screams for him, and plays video games with him.

anyway, today, Trouble has been....trouble. I know I am not the only one who has days where you need a minute to yourself without a monkey-child climbing you, pulling your hair, or biting you or you might explode, but you don't explode because then that would just be another mess you'd have to clean up.

So I took a minute to make myself some earl grey. It's my new favorite tea if it's made right, and it calms me right down if I feel I'm about to cry in a corner on days like this.



Earl Grey-Calm Down and Don't Explode Tea





You Will Need:
Earl grey tea
Cream (However much you want)
 1tsp Vanilla
2 cubes of sugar (or 10. whatever floats your boat-I don't judge)


Brew your tea like you normally do, and let it steep. While that's going on, pour your desired
 amount of cream into a pot and heat it on the stove. (I like a lot of cream...I will die young, but I will have died happily)

Pour in a teaspoon of vanilla, and your sugar cubes, and whisk it all until it gets nice and frothy.

Pour your cream mixture into your tea, and viola! One calming tea that will stop you from hiding in your closet crying to yourself!

Enjoy!

Valentines Gift Tag Idea

Oh hey you guys! Quick! Go find (or make) some gift tags, gather up pretty paper, pretty tape, sparkles, ANYTHING you want.

You're going to make some valentine tags.

This isn't so much a tutorial but an idea post. You can really do this any way you want.

A while back, I got completely obsessed with making crochet hearts. I have a jar filled with'em. I knew I'd find a use for them eventually! I also have to cut my gift tags by hand because I don't have a punch to do it for me...I should really invest in one because I make a lot of tags.

ANYWAY! I gathered up some pink wrapping paper, washi tape, buttons, crochet hearts, vintage music sheets, and some scrap book paper. Then got some scissors and glue and got to work sticking stuff together!

Stay tuned for a valentines "Love potion" idea in the next few weeks!

Mini Vacation.

My parents live an hour and a half away from us, and need to pay to take a ferry just to get to us. Ferry rides are not cheap! and prices are rising! But my Mom is so awesome, that she came over on the ferry just to pick up my 3 year old, and then hopped back on the ferry home just so I could have a weekend of catching up on everything.

I didn't do a darn thing the first night. I started some crochet projects, and caught up on Downton Abbey. Even though we still had our littlest with us, Dru and I felt rested. One kid is WAY easier than TWO! We even spent a day out shopping and it was really really nice. The last day our oldest was gone, I caught up on all the house work, and washed the floors...I know how to party...

Anyway, to say thank you, I made my mom some slippers and then made some gift tags to go with them today. I think the tags turned out pretty cute! (the slippers look horrifying so no pictures to show of those haha)

Valentines Day Arrow Tutorial

Valentines Day Arrow Tutorial

I have no valentines day decorations up yet..But I've been dreaming up some fun things. Right now I am trying to naturally stain some popcicles sticks for an idea I have,but out of the trial and error, I'm mostly just getting errors. So I've taken a break from dying wood to share this quick tutorial with you!

These arrows are super quick to make, and turn out pretty cute. I have a few unpainted ones in a box ready for my three year old to paint up whenever he is bored for the next few weeks. I may even turn some into a wreath, or hang them from the window...the possibilities are endless really!

Now, This tutorial is going to suck...basically, I'm just going to say "look at the pictures and do it"...because that's how easy it is!

You Will Need:

Coffee Stir Sticks
Scissors
Hot Glue

One stick is going to be the body of the arrow so don't cut it (That's the stick on the left).

Cut the other two stir sticks like you see them in the photo.

After you are done, You will have two pieces that have round edges left over (the two on the right side of the picture,) Just put those aside.
Arrange your other pieces to form an arrow.

Then glue them!

Paint, or glitter, and you're done!