Hoo are You

What a fun party idea!!! Okay, so here's this week's questions and MY answers:

1.Do you type on a keyboard the correct way or do you peck like a cute little chick?

I type correctly for the most part... when it comes to numbers and symbols, then I peck like a cute little chick.

2. Typically how long does it take you to get ready in the morning?

That depends on if I plan on being seen in public. :) 30mins tops

3. Do you prefer lip gloss or lipstick?

Over the two... Lip Gloss!

4. Do you take clothes to the dry cleaner or wash them yourself even if they say dry clean only?

If it says dry clean only, I do. But I probably only have 2 or 3 things that says that. I do the normal, delicate and hand wash types myself.

5. Do you prefer Wal Mart or Target.

Humm, tough choice. It depends on the item. I know I like to get my girls clothes and diapers at Target, cleaning and art supplies at Wal Mart. I really just go to both since they're right next to each other (at least where I live). One plus for Wal Mart is they price match!

placemat challenge: Activity Book

FRONT

MOTOR SKILL PAGE

ARTS AND CRAFT PAGE

BACK

For this challenge I thought it would be perfect to make an activity book for my daughter. I found the perfect placemats at the dollar tree. The white placemats have interfacing inside of them so they were stiff and perfect for the covers. The tan placemats make the perfect fabric pages (not too thick but thick enough).

SOOO, the total number of placemats I used was 4 (2 for the cover and 2 for the pages) 

The activity items were either from the dollar tree or from my craft stash. Here's a brake down of the sections along with how I did it (but not step-by-step directions--sorry):

MOTOR SKILL PAGE

ZIPPER ACTIVITY

I bought this zipper windbreaker jacket at the dollar tree in the baby section--Perfect size to fit in the placemat page. I cut off the long sleeves, fold the edges to make a clean line and hot glued it to the placemat page.

BUTTON ACTIVITY

 

I used an old button up shirt from my husband’s closet. I cut it to fit the area (trial and error---always start big). I fold the edge to make a clean line and hot glued it to the jacket.

SHOE LACE ACTIVITY

 

I printed off a pair of shoe image from my computer, laminated with sheets of laminated paper that I had from a previous project, used a hole punch to make holes for the laces and laced it up with shoe laces I bought from the dollar tree.

I used hot glue to add Velcro on the back of the shoes to make them easy to take off for lacing and put back on for putting them away.

PURSE ACTIVITY PAGE

WALLET ACTIVITY

I bought this wallet at the dollar tree. My daughter loves to go through my purse and get my wallet out (re organizing my cards and money in there). Now all I need is fake cards for her to put in her wallet.

MONEY ACTIVITY

This is good-oh monopoly money that I took from our monopoly game. Good not just for play but also to recite colors and numbers. I laminated each one with that laminated paper I have, hot glue Velcro on each piece and spot on page for easer play (Velcro I had on hand as well--not sure if I mentioned that already)

ARTS AND CRAFT PAGE

.

CRAYON ZIPPER CASE

I bought this cute zipper bag at the dollar tree in the school section. All I did was hot glue to the placemat page... That's it.

Here it is opened...

(crayons and pen we had at home but can too be found out the dollar tree)

CLIPBOARD AND PIPE CLEANERS

I bought all these items from the dollar tree once again. The clipboard matches perfect with the crayon pouch and can be found in the school supply section along with the paper pad (packs of 5). The pipe cleaners were found in the craft section and matches perfectly as well.

CLIPBOARD

I hot glued Velcro to the clipboard and placemat page so my daughter can take off and put on her lap. I add half of a purple pipe cleaner shaped into a flower with a orange button I had on hand (with hot glue).

PIPE CLEANERS

The other half of the purple pipe cleaner I used to hold the other pipe cleaners as a twisty tie. (I hot glued the middle of the pipe cleaner to the placemat page).

Total cost for the project:

$11.00 (not included the items I had on hand)

Did you say Artichoke Spaghetti?

Okay, surprisingly my family loves this! Even my(flavor)picky husband!! It was created out of pure experimental causes to feed my family one night. Flavors were added one by one until I was very happy with the result. Add more flavors to fit your own family taste.

_______________________________________________________________________________
Ingredients

6-7oz thin whole wheat spaghetti (or regular)

2 T and 1/2 T extra virgin olive oil, divided

2 T unsalted butter melted

1/2 med. onion finely chopped (I prefer yellow)

3 1/2-4 cloves of garlic minced

1 (12 oz) jar quartered marinated or just in water artichoke heart, drained and ruffly chopped

1 (14.5 oz) can Fire Roasted diced tomatoes, drained reserving 1/2 C. of the juice

2 fresh basil leaves chopped

2 stems fresh oregano, stemmed and chopped

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Directions
Heat 1/2 T olive oil in large skillet over med-high heat. (start your water for your pasta). Add onions and saute for 5 min (till they start to caramelize), stirring often. Add garlic and saute' addition min. (oil should be almost completely absorbed in onions and garlic). Add artichoke hearts and cook additional min. Add remaining oil, butter, roasted tomatoes, basil and oregano saute' additional min.

Lower heat to med-low and let simmer, covered, 7-10 min.

While simmering, cook spaghetti according to al dante' direction on package.
Drain spaghetti and add to artichoke marinate.

Serve and enjoy :)

Unexpected Material Wall Decor

I've been in the process of decorating our first home. It's been a fun but daunting task when it comes to finding something I love but with a price tag I wasn't willing to pay...So... I had to get creative and do things DIY style, but I've loved how things worked out.

One day while eating breakfast, I noticed how empty the top of my kitchen cabinets looked. I knew I had to do something about that.

I of course googled "decor for the top of kitchen cabinets" and hit images. I didn't find exactly what I wanted, although found great ideas. I got a little bit more specific, hoping I would find my inspiration. I changed my search to "kitchen decor". I finally found this picture

modern country decor picture

I love the plates over the stove and thought that would be perfect for my empty space over my cabinets. Unfortunately I couldn't find cute plates that I loved with the price tag I was willing to pay for... So I thought "what can I do with things I already have"
I was trying to find a cute project to do with my daughter using paper towels/toilet paper rolls...So I googled again.

I came across this CUTE idea using toilet paper rolls.

Toilet paper roll wall art

Perfect! So I started saving my toilet/paper towel rolls.

I also came across this picture that I loved.

(Crafty Nest)

Okay, so I now have my inspiration...So FINALLY, here's what I came up with....

I used toilet/paper towel rolls, glue gun and red spray paint for this one

I cut the tubes into 1 in circles, pinched them to make them form a petal. I then hot glued them together in a circular form.
For this one, I used vertical blind panels (only because I had some laying around from breaking off), hot glue, and red spray paint.

I made a flower pedal template, traced it on the material, hot glue them together, then spray paint it...
(The baskets were bought at the dollor tree and spray painted red as well).

Seamstress Wreath

I made this seamstress wreath using nothing but scraps from previous sewing projects. It was great how it just came together perfectly. Has a collectors feel to it. Perfect for a sewing room.

Bird Pedestal

I got the idea from "Heirloom White Spring Bird" by room to inspire . I didn't want to spend a lot of money for this project so I went to my local Dollar Tree store and found these items...

I picked up two different size birds, three candle sticks (two of them will make one) and two table top tee light candle holder (one broke while working with it ...so... I only used the flower pedal one and sub the other with a 1/4" thick 2" wide wooden circle from the any craft store). I had the remainder materials at home: hot glue, black spray paint, glass beads, pearl beads, and green moss.

For the bigger bird pedestal, I joined two of the candlesticks, (tops together), with hot glue. I then hot glued the tee light candleholder to one of the ends to create a more substantial candlestick pedestal. I hot glued the bird and positioned it in the center of the tee light candleholder. Spray painted it with flat black paint, surrounded the bird with green moss, hot-glued little glass beads to the eyes and pearls to the pedestals.

For the smaller bird pedestal, I toped the candlestick with the wooden circle (with again, hot glue). Hot glued the smaller bird in the center of the wooden circle, spray painted it with flat black paint, surrounded the bird with green moss, hot glued little glass beads to the eyes and pearls to the pedestal.

Very, very easy to do and both were crafted under $7 (not counting material I already had)

Easter Wreath

I've seen this book page rapped Easter eggs wreath before but wanted to do it a little bit different :). Instead of using plain book pages, I used dyed book pages, added moss, and added decals (ribbon, buttons, feathers and pearls). I also didn't rap the whole wreath so that I could offset it with a flower type bow.




I love the result!!!