Bloody Art

I am so excited about my recent DIY project at our house.  The girls have reached an age where they are begging me to do their own art and I have no where to display it.  We are not your hoity toity refrigerator people who have a clutter free facade.  No that surface is covered with all kinds of projects from art school, mom's group. etc... But I wanted a place where I could really show off the ones I really like.  At the same time, I have been contemplating what I wanted to hang on the bare wall in my dining area.  Nothing against it, but I am not fond of store bought art on the walls in my house.  I would rather litter my walls with personal family photos and my kids glorious use of color.  So, I woke up one sleep deprived morning with the epiphany of combining the two.  How smarts I am :)

I had a few projects in mind that I had pinned on Pinterest but none of them individually really excited me.  Therefore, true to Angel-a nature, I took the best of all of them and attempted to combine them all to suit my personal taste.  And I have to say, I am pretty thrilled at how they turned out.  Plus, the hubby really liked them too (which isn't always easy to do!).  I wanted a magnetic, framed board that could really show case their work without looking cheap and cheesy.  I am on a tight budget, so I could never have possibly afforded to buy three large ornate frames that I envisioned for the space.  I kept my eye out and scored in the Michael's clearance section.  I found three large backless frames (wrong color) for only $5 each!!!  They were ugly but nothing a can of semi-gloss black spray paint couldn't fix. I sprayed them black and headed to Lowe's for some sheet metal for the magnetic board.  Only cost me $10!  I needed to cut them to size.  The guy warned me that sheet metal is really sharp when cut.  "I know, I know..." I said rolling my eyes.  I'm not careless.  And that is where the blood comes in.  That guy wasn't kidding.  I got out Jason's tin sheers and started cutting.  I by-passed the gloves because they made for clumsy handling but that was just plain dumb.  That sucker sliced all the way practically to the bone effortlessly.  Almost like a paper cut.  Barely felt it when I did it but that didn't last for long!  Yowzers!   Needless to say, Jason finished cutting them while I nursed my wound with a butterfly band-aide. 

Once cut and with gloves on... I painted the metal my kitchen color to coordinate the two rooms.  I then inserted them into the frame and staple gunned them in place.  I then purchased three white wooden craft letters from Michael's ($6 total)  and glued a magnet to the back and voila!  perfect way to display the girls art!  The whole project cost me $31!  That's cheaper than one regularly priced frame!  I absolutely LOVE how they turned out and they are quickly becoming my favorite things in the house.

As far as the artwork they created here, all I had them do was paint two half sheets (one red, one pink) and make lines on a third with a green marker.  They took a wadded paper towel and used it to paint on the blue for the background.  Once dried I cut the red and pink pages into hearts and the marker page into strips for the "stems".  I then helped the girls glue them on.  They love using the glue stick.

I love the proud little faces that excitedly display their masterpieces for everyone to see at our house! 

Craft Stick Snowflakes

Recap of the last month of my life... horrifically busy.  As I am sure all of your Decembers were.  Ours was intensified by a two week venture to California.  That's right.  Half way across the country with three, three and unders.  I had been dreading the seven hour travel day since we had purchased tickets months ago.  However, I am going to have to boast a little.  My monsters did remarkably well.  With the aid of a dual dvd player and usually off limit candies (don't judge this bribing mommy) we survived as did the rest of the plane.  I had thought about bringing treat bags for those surrounding us (including ear plugs) but decided against it since it was just one more thing to get through security.  Thankfully, they were unnecessary.

In all actuality, the plane was the easy part.  The two weeks of no naps, a baby who refused to sleep in the crib provided for us there, wonderfully bad for you food, weird half Cali half Missouri time change thingy and absolutely no structure was the hard part.  They kept it together pretty well until mid-week two where it became evidently clear that toddlers, although great at creating it, do not bode well for chaos.  Looking back at it now, we did some pretty awesome stuff while visiting though.  Got to catch up with lots of friends and family we hadn't seen in way too long, Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, Aquarium of the Pacific, trips to the beach, shopping, eating, eating and more eating.  Don't get me wrong, FANTASTIC vacation, but man was I glad to be back home to the normal chaos that is my house. 

So, in the days to returning to normalcy, I decided to lay low until our precious structure reappeared.  However, the girls were bored within minutes...  So, I came up with this wintertime craft to occupy them so they didn't destroy our house in the plethora of downtime they had.  Winter is hard on toddlers.  And mommies.  And furniture...

I had the girls paint 24 craft sticks each white.  That part was glorious.  It took them, no joke, a half hour of concentrating silence to master that first step.  Great thing about washable tempera paint is it dries pretty quick.  So by the time they were finished painting, the first ones were already dry for the next step.  We laid out our pattern on the table to make sure we had enough pieces and began gluing them with Elmar's glue.  My kids love to glue so I let them.  However, once they went down for their nap they had to be reinforced with a hot glue gun.  I hot glued some ribbon on top and viola!  A pretty non-Christmas winter decoration.  The girls were pretty proud and I have to say they came out pretty cool.

They are pretty big since I only had jumbo size sticks on hand.  So, I hung them in the kids play area in our basement.  I kind of am digging how their inconsistent paint job makes them look rustic.  Which, being my toddlers, I am pretty sure they meant to do that...

Have a Hoot this Summer...

With my husband being a teacher, working with lots of women..., there are several events and things that come up through the year that require forethought and creativity.  You know, the little things us multi-tasking ladies don't give a second thought about, thank you cards, small gifts and cards for colleagues for special occasions, and end of the year gifts.  I have to give him credit.  He is definitely getting better at recognizing the need for such things but hasn't quite mastered the forethought part.

Usually, it goes something like this at 8 o'clock the night before... "Hey babe, it's the last day of school tomorrow.  Do you think I should come up with something to give the other teacher's on my team?  You know, like an end of the year something or other?  How about those cookies you made for Christmas?  Those are cheap to make, right?"

He does this on purpose, not the last minute thing, but the throwing ideas out there thing.  He knows that being a stay at home mom has left me desperate for creative outlets.  And although he complains that I go overboard, I know he secretly loves the outcome. Plus he is a work smart not hard kind of guy.  So, this is exactly what happened yesterday.  Usually, I'm twelve steps ahead of him by the time he comes to me with this convo but being just a couple days a way from going into labor, I guess it slipped my mind...

This is what I came up with.  Of course I had a ton of things pinned on pinterest, God bless that site, and chose the one that I already had everything for since it was now 9 p.m..  This one was an owl theme with a very cute play on words (which Jason slightly complained about since he was a dude passing these out, but I assured him that everyone knows his wife does these things for him), "OWL miss you!  Have a HOOT this summer."  I quickly made a little 4x4 card on Microsoft word to print out and place inside my cookie bag.  Next step was making the owl top for my cookie bag.  Since I fortunately only had to make 8, I did it assembly line style.  First, I folded the brown paper in half and drew the face of my bird, and cut those out.  Next, I used three different sized circles (traced from a modge podge lid, a sippy cup bottom, and the lid of my glue stick) cut out of grey, white, and black pieces of cardstock for my eyes.  Lastly, I cut out orange hearts for my beaks.  Once I had all my pieces cut, took me about 30 minutes, I just glued them all together.  Voila, adorable owl head.

Meanwhile, while I was doing all this I was baking the cookies I was going to fill each gift bag with.  Jason loves my go-to chocolate covered cherry recipe (he enjoys bragging).  I refrigerated the cookies over night so the gooey chocolate coating could set and wouldn't be all over the bag.  The next morning it was a quick assembly.  I placed a label on top of a napkin in the bag, cookies behind the napkin (so they wouldn't grease up my label), folded the top down and stapled on my owl.

I have to say they are cute.  They didn't require too much thought or time, I know the cuteness will embarrass Jason as he's handing them out (which I love.  Secret punishment for waiting till the last minute), and were an inexpensive way to say thanks for a great year.

I pinned a few others that I thought were cute as well but just didn't have the stuff for.  I hope to still use them in the future.   I'll share them here.  Let me know if you have any other end of the year parting gift ideas!

- See you later alligator
- Customized hand soap
- Fishies
- S'mores 
- Another take on the S'mores
- Stay cool this summer

Dissecting Daddy...

I think I have finally recovered from our bout with potty training.  And I regretfully have to report that Adelyn won and I lost.  We have decided to start back up when big papa is home to help :)  And speaking of Daddy, I want to share a little idea that the girls and I constructed for dear old dad for his stocking.  Moving into a new house, being pregnant, a first birthday and Christmas all within three weeks pretty much left me with no choice but to be extremely frugal for stocking ideas.  Jason and I agreed not to get each other gifts this year but I just couldn't let his stocking be nakie.  So I whipped up a little interview sheet for the girls and I to fill out all about their dad with the intention of continuing the tradition year after year.  I think filling them out might have been as fun as Daddy reading them.  I wish I would have had enough forethought to video tape the actual process.  I sat the girls down at snack time and explained to Adelyn what we were doing.  I would ask her a question about daddy and write down her answer word for word and then she would get to color a picture of her and her daddy when we were finished.
Hilarious.  I loved that there was no pause or hesitation between question and answer.  Everything was matter of fact and absolute truth.  My personal favorite was, "My daddy likes to...for fun" and Adelyn quickly answered "wear skirts".  Yes...yes he does.  And true to Adelyn form when we were coloring the picture I asked her to try to stay in the box and she responded, "Mom, I don't like to stay in boxes..."  No Adelyn, no you do not.

However, the real tricky part came to when it was time to do Marcella's.  I wasn't quite sure how to fill hers out since Mama. Dadda, Papa and wawa are about all we can really make out of her sumo style rantings.  Therefore, I decided to stay true to the interviewing process and phonetically sound out her mumbles.  This is the part I wish I would have taped.  I would ask her a question and she would look real serious like she was thinking it over and state her answer.  I have no idea what she was saying but she definitely did.  We went back and forth through the whole questionnaire without even getting off track.  She was focused and firing those answers.  Loved it.

I can't wait to see their handwriting and drawings progress as they grow.  I plan on compiling these into a book once they are all grown and out of the nest. I've attached the document I created if you would like to use it or base it as a jumping off point for further questions.  Enjoy!

All About My Daddy...

Big Letter L...and It's Not for Loser...

One of my latest creations for the home was inspired from a post on pinterest.  I have always loved the simple, classy, and modern look of monogrammed letters.  This was a unique twist.  They had wrapped a cardboard letter in a fun color yarn and it looked adorable.  I have been debating what to put as my focal point in my living room above my couch.  I love collaged pictures but I needed some color.  I thought, "I have a college degree with an emphasis is art... I can tackle yarn."

So, I ventured down to JoAnnes (JoAnne and I are getting really tight), and discovered this wonderful oversized letter.  Fantastic two feet of blank crafting canvas.

I found some vibrant green yarn that matched an accent color in some pillows I made and thought it would look really nice against the neutral paint color in that room.   Let the wrapping begin.

Armed with a glue gun, my yarn, gigantor letter and some quiet time while the girls were napping I began my endeavor.  The hardest part was figuring out a way to make it look cohesive, intentional and neatly done.  It took some creative thinking but I figured out a way to loop the corners and angles of the letter so that I wouldn't have to cut my yarn.  I used the glue gun only on the corners where I changed wrapping directions.

Two hours later, I had my wall decor.  I have to say it was strangely calming.  I am really happy with how it turned out.  Now if the man and I could just agree on the frame color for the surrounding collage.  What color would you choose?

I'm Back Baby...

Whoa.  Whoa.  I cannot even begin to express the exhaustion that has ensued from the craziness of the past several weeks.  In the last month, I have closed on and moved into our new home, finished my first sick trimester of pregnancy number three, and have been preparing for little Marcella Jane's first birthday party all during the crazy frantic holiday season.  To top it off we have gotten the flu twice and I have been cut off from the rest of the cyberworld because of a month long battle with our internet carrier.  But I finally feel like we are settling in and that I can take a breath just long enough to start organizing all the things I would love to create for my new home.

I have been known to be several things: One: cheap or I guess frugal might sound nicer.  Two: stubborn.  And Three: creative.  Since moving into an older home where priorities like "fixing the gas line" and "Resealing toilets so they don't leak everywhere" have taken precedent over the important things like wall decor and curtain choices.  So, with finances limited and a blank pallet with endless possibilities I have begun the crafting marathon.   I am going to blog you out with all the happenings around here!

First project was curtains.  I searched for two weeks for curtain panels for my front window and just never liked anything enough to blow that kind of money on.  I had no idea curtains were so expensive!  So, I decided to make my own.  I know, crazy over-achiever right?  Nope.  I found a really simple tutorial on how to make basic grommet style curtains with very minimal sewing.  Since, I don't sew.  I waited in the craziness that was JoAnne's Fabric the day after Thanksgiving to nab 50% off on my fabric.  They also had a very, you can't mess this up, easy grommet kit that I got for an additional 20% off.  Also my new second home Lowe's, has clearance sections and I nabbed my designer pole for 80%!  Steals!

Now the fun part, sewing.  My sister knows the ins and outs of a sewing machine so I had her set it all up for me.  I can sew a straight line if everything is working the way it should.  I laid my fabric out and measured and cut it into the panel sizes I needed.

 Now, I learned later that grommets take up a lot of your measurement when you hang them.  Therefore, you really need almost double your fabric from what you would measure just straight across!  Also, I had to take in account my hem line.  I decided to do a roll hem, because that's all I knew and it's easy.  I literally just folded my edge a half inch, then folded it again a half inch and pinned.  I did this around the entire perimeter of my fabric.

 Then to the machine to sew straight lines all the way around.  Once both panels were hemmed, I used the very basic instructions to guide me through the grommet process. It took me a while to figure out the primary math on how far apart I wanted them but once that frustration was out of the way, easy street.  Pretty much trace the template where you want them, cut out your circle, and snap them together.

Voila!  Curtains.

It was really hard to get a good picture because there is always a lot of light streaming threw these windows!

I love them.  They match perfectly to the rest of my decor (can't wait to share those later!) and they literally cost me a third of what store bought panels would have run me.

Small Little Baby Shower...

This year my aunt asked me to organize a little baby shower for my cousin's wife who is due in February. They live in Texas so we don't get to see them very often. She felt that Thanksgiving, when the whole family would already be together and my cousin would be in town, would be the perfect time and venue. There were some challenges though. She requested games (but not too gamey), something crafty (but not too crafty) and small (but not too small) since they were flying back and wouldn't be able to take much. Hmmm... games but no games, crafts but no crafts and small but not small. Ummm... no problem? So, I brainstormed, researched, and reached deep down for some creative juices and this is what I came up with.

For the not crafty, which I had a hard time relating to, I did two things. Which I think they were positively accepted!

First, we did a family tree. I had seen some ideas for this on pinterest but only for weddings. So I decided to tweak it a little. I sketched a bare tree using pen and ink and in my most nervous cursive, wrote "Our Family" underneath it. I sketched a little nest in the tree and used a blue sharpie to make an egg. I wanted them to add more "eggs" as their family grew. I framed it and had it sitting on the table when everyone came in. I had two shades of green ink pads and everyone placed their fingerprint on a branch (the leaves) and I wrote their initials underneath. I had the mommy and daddy do theirs near the nest in yellow and I made them the birdies. Not too crafty right?  All it required was a finger.  I thought it turned out very cute and I am excited to do it for myself :)

The other "crafty" thing we did was I set out colored index cards and fine point sharpies.  Everyone was asked to share their best motherly advice.  I then glued them on corresponding cards, hole punched and attached them all together on a utility ring.  Crafty?  For me.  No one else :)

Lastly, the game I chose was one my inlaws organized for me for one of my showers and I loved it.  I got my list from http://baby-shower.yeahbaby.com/game.php?page=candy-bar-baby-shower-game.  I made a poster board with post it notes.  On the note I wrote a phrase like "Hospital Bill"  and underneath I wrote the corresponding candy.  In this case "100 Grand".  When someone correctly guessed they got that candy.  I removed the post it note so we could remember which ones we had done.  A game, yes.  But it didn't require anyone to do anything silly and you won candy.  CANDY. 

Overall, I was excited with my little shower ideas and I think the surprise was a blessing to my cousin and his wife!

What's Up Doc...

Well, I finally got some pictures of my favorite little bunny and carrot!  We took at little trip down to Stuckmeyer's Pumpkin Patch.  It had just rained a ton and was still drizzling so we weren't really able to get out into the fields like I would have liked; due to me being anal about them destroying their costumes before Halloween.  However, it was fun to see my creations come to life.

About a month ago, I started collecting coupons and ideas for the girls' costumes.  I am proud to say that I ended up only spending $20 to make both!  Adelyn was very excited about being a bunny "princess" (you have to throw princess behind everything to make it worth while) and as you can see from the following pics the Lord even blessed her with some awesome bunny teeth to match :)  Her costume was simple.  I took a grey hoodie and cut two slits at the top.  I slipped a leftover bunny headband she had from Easter through the holes.  Next, I sewed a large white pom pom onto the back for a tail.  I made a tutu out of three different shades of grey tulle knotted around a band of elastic.  Paired it with a discount pair of grey leggings and the grey boots that I had already bought her for the winter.  Voila, bunny princess.  On Halloween, I'll paint whiskers and a cute pink bunny nose but she was being a stinker today and I didn't feel like that battle :)

Now, Marcella's carrot costume wasn't hard, but it posed a set of challenges that required some creative thinking outside the box.  I dyed a white hoodie orange with RIT dye from Michaels.  I already had the orange leggings and socks from another outfit.  I made her an orange tutu out of three shades of orange tulle knotted around elastic.  I wasn't exactly sure how to make her a recognizable carrot and not just an orange monster.  So, I randomly sewed on three shades of green tulle from the top of her hood and hot glued a scrap of white vinyl with "fresh carrots" written on it to secure the bundle of greens.  I'm still not sure if I'm 100% satisfied with how it turned out but it got a lot of "oohs, ahhs and look at that adorable carrot costume" at the pumpkin patch.  So, I guess the picture got across!  She was REALLY grumpy and not very camera friendly but you get the idea...

I think they turned out pretty cute and I'm proud to say that I did them cheaply, uniquely, and warmly :)

A Quick Sweet Thank You

So last night at about ten o'clock, Jason casually mentions how he wanted to send a nice thank you to a fellow teacher who went above and beyond that week.  In Jason language that was, "You do it for me."  So, broke as a joke and tired, I had to use stuff I had on hand.  I had just finished making pumpkin spice cookies.  Not going to take credit for the recipe.  The prepackaged, make it yourself kind I picked up from Target are incredible!  Therefore, I don't feel like I need bragging rights to try and make them better; but that's beside the point...

I loaded up a cookie packing box I had from a previous project with some of the fall fantastical goodness and used some left over ribbon to dress it up.  I then hoppped on Word, typed a little personalized thank you with a cute font, dressed the cell up with a cute simple border and printed it out. I mounted it on a scrap of orange cardstock and attached it with a cute clip I had. 

Voila, in less than ten minutes a cute thank you for a hardworking civil servant.

We Roll Fancy Like Here...

So... I woke up to this this morning...

Yeah... 45 minutes later we were still at it.  Instead of being defeated, I decided to use all that edumacation I spent a whole lot of money on and try to relieve the morning stress of choosing breakfast for Adelyn.  That is usually where these tantrums and wrong side of the bed kind of mornings stem from.  Breakfast.  It's stressful in the life of a two year old.  No one being able to understand your rationalized arguing that cupcakes and ice cream are a perfectly good choice and sitting in your booster chair isn't nearly as good as an option as the floor for dining.  I'm such a mean mom.  But realistically, this battle is getting old and I'm just tired enough (but I refuse to let her know that although I think she's starting to sense) that I'm just at the breaking point.

Therefore, I thought back on my classroom teaching experience to what I did when I had a student that had a hard time communicating.    Adelyn wants to feel like she has a say, and I want her to feel like she does even though we all know that a two year old doesn't.  That's when the menu idea formed.  I know that many a battles have been won by me by simply giving the allusion that there is a choice.  I got my camera out and started taking pictures of the regular food options that are available in our house for breakfast.  I found this old miniature photo album that has been gathering dust forever and started tearing it apart.  I printed out the pics with their corresponding label and placed them in the slots.  I couldn't stand how unfinished the edges looked so I whipped out my hot glue gun and placed some leftover ribbon as a trim.

I put it all together on a decorated piece of cardboard.  One row for drink, another for main food, and a final for fruit.  She can pick one from each. I saved the front pocketed album cover to hold the ones I wasn't using and glued it to the back.

Viola! Free customizable interchangeable menu.  If I buy something different it's as easy as taking a picture.  I am also going to make a similar one for an incentive chart

I'm going to try it out tomorrow morning.  Wish me luck :)

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

These are Jason's favorite cookie that I bake.  So much so, if he discovered I was giving his prize recipe away for free he would flip.  It's a weird pride bragging rights thing with him :)  However, they are simple, relatively inexpensive and a great DIY gift option.  I made these recently as a gift, along with two other cookie recipes that I am still working up the courage to put the recipes on here in fear of retaliation from my recipe protecting husband. Hopefully, those will be coming soon.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup unsweetened coco
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla 1 10 oz. jar maraschino cherries
1 6 oz bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup eagle condensed milk

Step 1: Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Step 2: Beat butter, sugar, egg and vanilla.
Step 3: In a separate small mixing bowl combine flour, coco, baking soda, and baking powder.
Step 4: Gradually add dry ingredients into the butter mixture.  Beat on medium until thoroughly mixed.

Step 5: Using a cookie scoop, roll balls into even 1 in. balls.

Step 6: Bake for 8 min.
Step 7:  While cookies are baking, melt the chocolate chips, condensed milk and 4 tsp of cherry juice in the microwave. (approximately 45 sec. on my 1100 watt micro).  Stir until mixture is smooth and creamy.
Step 8.  Remove cookies and while still hot make an indentation in each cookie either using your thumb or tsp.

Step 9: Place a single cherry in each well.

Step 10: Spoon the melted chocolate onto each cookie to cover the cherry and let cool.  The chocolate will gradually harden to the consistency of fudge.

This gift box was one I had saved from a gift I had received.  I lined it with tissue.  I then printed out labels for each type of cookie and mounted it one shiny paper.  Using a ribbon I also had leftover from a gift and hot glued the ribbon to the box and the cards onto the ribbon.  Very cute and a sweet gift I know I would like to get :)  I know Jason wanted one too because I had to make him extra just so he would leave these alone :)

Car Trash Can

This one was made for me by my husband's cousin, Amy.  All she did was cut a hole on the top of a plastic cotton candy container (any plastic container will do) and voila!  Instant trash can for the car.  The hole is small enough that the trash doesn't come toppling out if my crazy husband driver takes a turn too fast.  Another added bonus is that it is plastic and easily emptied and wiped out with disinfectant wipes.  This simple little thing is what I credit for my car being so clean :)  This would be easy to have the kiddos decorate too.