2 weeks!

2 weeks left til summer vacation for my kids. Well, that's a lie. They're going to summer school so technically I have until July 1st before they're home every day (woooooo hooooo!), but I am starting to put together some 'plans' for summer to keep them busy anyway.

 I bought a book on clearance one time - 1,444 Fun Things to Do with Kids. There are so many great ideas in this book, it's just amazing! I'll share a few with you, but if you click that link you can get the book for under $5.

Monster Dough

Combine 1 cup of salt with 1 and 1/4 cups water and 2 teaspoons of cooking oil. Knead the mixture until smooth and then divide it into several small bowls. Color with food coloring and mix well. Too sticky? Add flour. Too dry? Add a few drops of water.

Magic Mud

1 cup cornstarch in a bowl and 1 cup of water -- add water gradually until the mixture is like bread dough. Then roll the mixture into a ball. Watch the ball carefully and it will magically dissolve to liquid!

Candle Maker

Collect all the old candles you have. Let the kids choose the shapes for new candles (using dishes, cartons, and other forms that can withstand contact with hot wax). Affix to the bottom of the form a string that can be used as a wick, and then carefully supervise the melting of the candles. Fish out the old wicks. Melt in a crayon to change the color of the wax. Cool slightly, and then pour into molds. After the wax cools a little more, straighten the string wick or insert in the center a thin candle as a wick. When firm, remove from the mold and enjoy on the dining table or elsewhere.

Reading Journal

I'm going to have my girls keep a reading journal this summer so they can write about the books they'e read. Jenelle has her own blog so I might let her get away with typing it up, but we'll see. :) Just get a notebook together and give them a time chart, a suggested reading list, and 50 stickers to use when they read the books. Have them write down the title, author, and a short review about the book. Would they recommend it to a friend? Would they like to read it again?

Chalktown

In your driveway or on the sidewalk, help your kiddos sketch out a large transportation system using white chalk. This is educational as well as fun! Draw highways, small roads, airports, etc. Using green chalk, add in the trees, fields, and other greenery. Make rivers and lakes with blue chalk. Red chalk: houses, skyscrapers. Use your imagination! Use toy cars, boats, and people to play in your chalktown. This can lead to days of fun, until the rain washes it away!

What's in the yard?

From your garden or yard, gather blossoms from flowers and leaves from trees. place them between wax paper and then under heavy books. After about 2 weeks they will have dried. Make a plant identification book! Use a tiny dab of glue to affix them to the page, and label the page with the name of the flower or tree. Super fun and educational!

Sail Boats

Make some little boats out of folded paper or big leaves. Use a water puddle after a rain to see if the boats will sink or swim.

Shadow Plays

Hang a sheet in a doorway and place a floodlight about 8 feet behind it. Let kids play between the sheet and the light, acting out nursery rhymes and scenes from familiar books. See if you can guess who the actors are portraying.

1,444 Fun Things to Do With Kids really is a great book. I recommend buying it (or checking it out) if possible. It has given me lots of ideas for fun, inexpensive, and sometimes educational, projects!

What do you like to do with your kids during summer break?

School Time: Paint Chip Learning Tools

A FREE project! I'm all about inexpensive homeschooling tools. This one is really versatile.

You'll need: Paint chips/cards, hole punch, and thin ribbon.

Choose a side. Punch a hole (or two).

You can write numbers, colors, letters, etc. Tie the ribbon through

the hole, or you can use a jump ring.

We made a book of colors (above), and an addition book (below).

And a vocabulary book (will be adding definitions, too!).

Store them in a cute little shoe box! :)

DIY Ribbon Organizer for $4!!!

Okay so I have decided to turn my Nellie Bug's blog into a DIY blog. I think it will get more traffic that way and will also get me together with more boutiques and crafters. Not sure I'll have time for this blog much. I just got ALMOST caught up on orders this week and now I have 16 more - plus word of 2 more coming in tonight. Getting a bit overwhelmed!

Check out the DIY ribbon organizer tutorial and let me know what you think!

Diaper Cake For Under $15

I haven't made a diaper cake in a few years, and I was in a hurry, so I am a bit rusty. But I wanted to share a quick tut in case anyone wanted to make one as well. I made small ones so they cost under $15. The person I made them for is having twins so I couldn't really afford to make two full sized ones.

You will need:

About 40 size 1 diapers - $6
a cake board - $4 (pack of 10)
40 clear rubberbands - $1
3 large rubberbands - had around the house
ribbon - had around the house
a baby bottle - $1
a topper (I used ducks) - $1

TOTAL: $13



Directions:

Fill the baby bottle with candies.

Roll the diapers up, and secure with a clear rubberband. (I used black for tutorial purposes.)





Put large rubberband around the bottle. Wrap the large rubberband around the diapers.




Make another layer of diapers around the first, secure with a large rubberband. Cover with ribbon.



The next layer will sit on top of the first. Wrap a rubberband around the top part of the bottle. Then wrap the rubberband around a row of diapers. This row will only have one layer. Cover rubberband with ribbon.

Top with a stuffed animal, curled ribbons, etc.




You can wrap each layer with a receiving blanket, or a fleece blanket (mine didn't go all the way around which is why there is a bow there).



Do not use glue!! It will ruin the diapers. You can also make these with CLOTH diapers but it gets VERY expensive. You can put anything in the middle.. lotion, shampoo, etc. You can also hang pacifiers off of the diaper cake. It looks cute that way. :) I'm going to add lots of bows and girly things to the girl one.

DIY t-shirt vest thing..

So Jenelle wanted to make a vest thing out of a shirt. I don't care for it, but she loves it.. so I'm sharing it. :)

Also, before I get started, please check out this blog. I was featured. :)

First, you take a t-shirt (can be long sleeves), and you lay it flat. (Took the pics after the fact, so the shirt is actually already cut in this picture.)



Then, you cut the sleeves and the collar/neckline off. You can experiment with different neckline cuts. Ours was plain because we were just doing it for fun. You want to use a fitted t-shirt. This one was too big.


Then, you want to cut the front portion in half. Don't cut through the back of the shirt. ONLY the front. Cut it all the way up. Try to make the line as straight as possible. Or heck, maybe cut it in a zig zag for fun. We haven't tried that yet. :)




Then, you can wear it as a vest or you can tie it in the front. Again, use a fitted shirt or it will look kind of sloppy like this one. This is a great time to stock up on fitted tees from yard sales for under $1 each! Kids love this kind of project.



A fitted shirt underneath would have worked best as well. But I think you get the idea! :)

DIY: Taffy

After finding about 10 different recipes and ways to make saltwater taffy, I decided to combine them and.. well, you know me.. wing it. I suggest checking out a few of those recipes, and picking one. Winging it, well, it's nerve wracking lol.



I was really nervous, because it was candy. I used to make candy every holiday, until November of 2004, when I burned a batch!! It was the MOST INSANELY DISGUSTINGLY AWFUL SMELL I HAVE EVER SMELLED IN MY LIFE. I was pregnant, so that might have been why it was soooo bad, but I never ever want to smell it again. Ever. Ick.



So, as I was mixing the ingredients, trying to decide whether to stir or not to stir, I started having flashbacks from when I burned the candy before. I'm standing there, trying to keep the kids close but not too close, quietly trying not to freak out. I was at the nail-biting stage, that's how bad it was. Add to that, 3 kids wanting to get a little too close to the extremely hot stove, and Rachel texting me because she is "bored at work", and I was a nervous wreck!



Anyway, I (we!) survived, and made some great tasting taffy. However, it's nothing like saltwater taffy, which is why I changed the name of it. It's more like.. that Laffy Taffy stuff you can buy in the candy stores. It's a little harder, though. Not sure what I did wrong. Either way, it was delicious. The kids won't stop asking for it. :)



This is a great website on pulling instructions. It's not as easy as it sounds LOL. I mean, I guess it is.. but I didn't have any instructions until after I was done, so mine didn't turn out the right way. But, we had fun while doing it!



Weee!!

Creativity keeps me up at night

So, I've been woooooo-saaaahhhing today, and now I'm fine. :) However, Rachel came home early from work so I could get a break (and go to sleep early), and here I am crafting my booty off. *Sigh* Oh well. Tomorrow is another day, right?

I made a list of things I needed/wanted to get done, and I marked quite a few things off my list. Since throwing the schedule out the window, quite honestly, I've been a little stressed. The kids are doing better without one, and nap time has been a breeze, so I'm not about to bring a schedule back at this point but I'm the schedule type. You know, the one who makes a list for her lists?? Yep, that's me. I love having every little detail written out. I hate when things change. I've learned to adapt, but I always just make a new list. So, lately, I've been fretting a bit. I'm learning to chill.. it will just take time.

I need to go to sleep, but first I wanted to share with you a little upcycled project I just completed. Jenelle is always losing her bookmarks, giving them away, etc and is always asking for me to make her more. I used to spend a LOT of time making a bookmark for her, laminating it and whatnot, but now I know better. I was staring at these paint chip cards and was like a-ha! They're the perfect size and shape for bookmarks!!

So, grab some leftover ribbon (1/4 to 3/8 would work best, but you can use bigger), some paint chips, and a hole punch. That's seriously all you need! Optional materials include a corner rounder punch, some glue or mod podge, and some other fancy punches.. but again, totally optional!



Round the corners of the paint chip cards (you can use any size/shape, these are just the ones I had on hand). Punch a hole in the top. String ribbon through (tie a knot any way you'd like, I just tied the ribbon in a loop with a knot on the top).

You can add other punch-outs, and then mod podge over them.. or you can just leave them plain. They're awesome either way.



Another idea.. use your Cricut to write out whatever (a saying, poem, your child's name), and mod podge them on. I know I say this a lot, but the possibilities are endless! I'd love to see what you come up with!

Be sure to head over to our business blog to check out the new mohawk hats we added to our line!

Make your own Easter soaps

You can actually make any type of soaps with this tutorial, but I made Easter Egg soaps and they're awesome! :) These are a great alternative to buying soap made with chemicals in a factory.

You will need:

glycerin soap (5lb bag at Hobby Lobby was $15 but I had a 40% off coupon)

microwavable container (I used an old mayo jar.)

egg mold (I used one of those trays you put deviled eggs in)

Optional:

soap dyes (do NOT, I repeat DO NOT, use food coloring)
essential oils (use sparingly)

The directions are on the back of the glycerin soap bag, but basically you take a few chunks and melt it at 30 second intervals until it's liquid. Remove from the microwave, and add your essential oils (just a few drops!!) and soap dye (again, a few drops does the trick - especially with these, as I wanted them to look "pastel"). Stir with a skewer or other wooden/metal object (do not use plastic).

When making regular soaps, you can also add oatmeal. If you add oatmeal to your Easter Egg soaps, they will look dumb. Trust me on this one.



On the topic of oatmeal soaps, you want to make sure the oatmeal is at the TOP of the soaps (which means pour it in after you pour just a little bit of soap in the mold.) If the oatmeal is at the bottom, it will get soggy and gross when it's sitting on the sink or in the shower.



Anyway, you mix the oils and dye in with the soap, and pour it into the egg molds. Let sit for about an hour at room tempature. Turn over, and pop the soaps out of the molds. You can wrap them in ribbon, add some stickers, or put them in a basket with some fake grass.



Aren't they adorable? (Notice the clear looking one at the top? It's the oatmeal egg. Gross)



I'd like to see what everyone comes up with. Please link back to my page and let me know what yours look like! I think these could be really cute in a little Easter basket. You could do all pastel colors, or layer a few colors.. I mean, the possibilities are endless, really!

My first award :)

Tina gave me a blog award -- thanks, Tina! I don't know that I have 15 favorite blogs to pass it on to, but I'll try.



Also, I'm working on a pretty big project that will hopefully be done by tomorrow. I will post pictures then! Hint: It involves chalkboard paint!

Blogs I heart, in no particular order:

The Muse Factory -- My favorite blog, & favorite blogger, ever. :)

Family Treasures -- My other absolute favorite blogger!! She blogs often, has a goals list that is fun to follow, and has a not-too-busy layout.

Chunky Dunk at Large -- Love the things she blogs about

The Floundering SAHM -- I love how honest she is.

Bye Bye Fat Pants -- I like her layout, her short blog posts, and I like how she doesn't give up even when she gains weight. (She is also one of my prize pack winners!!)

My Marriage Experiment -- Because I heart anyone who is open enough to share their marriage problems, and anyone who is strong enough to work on them rather than walking away.

Mommy of 1 and Counting -- This mom is awesome, she does tons of reviews/giveaways, and her little girl looked adorable in one of my tutus

Project Mommy, Wife, and More -- I like this blog because of the simple layout, and she blogs often.

The Traveling Fish -- Besides being cute, this girl is hilarious. :) I love reading her blog.

**Disclaimer: If I forgot to mention your blog, I'm sorry! I'm sick today and the kids aren't letting up at ALL. If I follow your blog, then you are someone I would give this award to. Feel free to take it for your blog!! Thank you for understanding!**

Working on some goals

#4 - Complete 100 swaps -- 22/100 completed. I am currently in like 6 swaps as well. Honestly, it's a bit overwhelming right now. I haven't joined any new swaps in at least a week, and won't be joining any more for at least two more weeks. Too much going on.

#15 - Make spreadsheet for tutus -- I made a spreadsheet on the computer, but I wasn't happy with it. I'm now inventorying everything on regular wide ruled loose leaf paper and keeping it in a binder with my receipts for expenses/income.

#16 - Add 20 items to ETSY shop -- 7/20 completed

#18 - Add 10 tutu designs to website - 2/10 completed, plus I redid ALL of the inventory numbers and added more Allie Clips!

#22 - Add more pictures of bows to website - Completed 2/20/2010

#23 - Make 4 mohawk hats (without ear flaps) -- 1.5/4 completed. :)

#41 - Drink at least 3 bottles of water a day -- Working on this one.. drinking at least 1 or 2, haven't made 3 yet.

#44 - Lose 40lbs -- 6/40, all in the past week or two.

#52 - Make pop-up card -- Completed 2/1/2010, forgot to blog about it. The girls and I made pop-up Valentine's with little squiggly hearts for Mammie. We actually lost them and made new cards (not pop-up) yesterday. Not sure if I know where those are, either.. haha

#54 - Write 25 articles for eHow - 1 and 2/25 completed

#56 - Weigh in weekly - FAIL.. haven't been doing that. Will start when the scale goes down a bit.

#58 - Post craigslist ad for tutus at least once a month - 2/12 completed, but people keep flagging them and saying they are "prohibited" or "spam". I think it is other people who sell similar items who are doing this, because I've NEVER had anything flagged before. Sad..

#60 - Teach Gracelynn Sign Language ABCs - she is doing well with almost all of the letters! We will make a video when she has learned how to fingerspell a few words.

#72 - Make something with my button stash - Completed 2/10/2010, will post pictures later, made flower clips with button in the middle

#74 - Make a journal and swap it - Completed 2/4/2010, sent to swapper in Illinois. She sent me a message saying she LOVED it. :)

#79 - Make 10 YouTube videos -- I actually made another video and created a new (business) YouTube Channel 1/10 completed

#97 - Try to stop using shampoo -- This is going well. I am on week 3(?) of no-poo and my hair is amazing, better than it's ever been - HOWEVER, now my scalp is kind of breaking out. I've been using baking soda and lemon juice mixed with water to "wash" my hair once every 4 days or so. Everything has been great (minus a little frizziness), until this week when I started breaking out. Am looking into getting some tea tree oil, heard this helps. Any tips?

#99 - Pay all bills ON TIME -- doing well so far. :)

Well, I guess that's not so bad now that I type it all out. I was feeling as if I wasn't moving forward with much. However, I made like 70 clips and bows this week (even korkers, which I HATE to make). I have four tutus I have to make by tomorrow evening (EEK!) for customers, and at least five by Friday morning (EEK!) to put in the shop. I am corresponding with a woman who makes beautiful boutique hairbows that wants to put her items on my website, and am talking to a few others about link exchanges.

I'm hosting three giveaways currently - two on Cafemom and one on my blog (OWOH). All giveaways end this Friday (busy day!).

This weekend is something I am really looking forward to. For one thing, all of my stuff will be in the shop and I can breathe again. And for two, Rachel and I get a date night because my mom is keeping the kids alllll night! w00t!! :) Next week will be busy, too, but not QUITE as hectic! Hopefully I can continue to get things organized and move forward with my business and my goals.

Leave a comment, let me know you're reading! :)

No more goals, but a tutorial/video!

I've kind of been rethinking my goals for the year. Some of them seem boring, while others seem stupid. I have a few that I want to start on within the next week or so, but I've been super busy gearing up to put our products in the mall in St. Louis!

Please give me 5 stars.. I like stars. Thanks. :)

(This is a small version, if you click on it and go to YouTube it gets a lot bigger.)



As always, let me know if you have any questions! I'll help you the best I can.

EDIT: Actually, this was one of my goals.. more YouTube videos! COOL! :)

Home made body scrub, SO awesome...

We have been soooo busy this weekend! We made a 53" tutu, a 38" tutu, and now we have to make 3 little tutus. Whew! Our tutus and things are going to be featured in a mall in St. Louis starting this Friday! We have LOTS of work to do - none of our things are tagged or anything! Geez! (Order yours by Tuesday for Valentine's Day! Click here to order)

I just wanted to stop in and write a quick blog because I know everyone loves tutorials and projects! Okay well maybe not everyone, but I sure do!

I am making Valentine's Day baskets for Rachel's mom, aunt, sister, and for my mom. (Mom, if you're reading this.. disregard that last comment.. they're supposed to be a surprise!) I'm not sure what I'm going to put all of the stuff in.. I bought these little take-out boxes but they are too small now that I have all these nifty things like scrubs, soaps, and knitted wash cloths!

First, I knitted a red wash cloth for each basket. This week, I will make some heart soaps, scent will be "Love Spell" ($3.99 at Hobby Lobby, plus I used my 40% off coupon! w00t!). I am also including the body scrub, which is what this post is about.

Combine equal parts of brown sugar and white sugar. I recommend starting out with a cup of each, just to get the feel of what you are working with. Add in olive oil (I recommend LIGHT olive oil) until you get the consistency you want. If you've ever used any kind of hand scrubs that have the oils in them, you know exactly what I'm talking about. If not, I can't really explain the consistency but you want it to where you can rub it on your skin but you don't want it too oily or the oils will stay on - gross.

Then, add a teaspoon of vanilla. Vanilla as in the baking vanilla. Now, this part is optional or you could replace the vanilla with some essential oils. Just remember you will have a slight brown sugar smell so you don't want to add anything too weird, or it will smell like.. who knows what.

Put the scrub in a pretty package and you're done!! I bought 10 little plastic containers with lids at the Dollar Tree for just a buck. Of course glass ones would be a lot nicer but I couldn't find any small ones I liked! I think Michael's might have some, I just haven't looked yet. Sorry, rambling.. haha. So, anyway, these scrubs are super easy and they make your skin soft! Add a ribbon and card to the container and you have a GREAT Valentine's Day gift. Also add a little note telling the recipient to pat their skin dry instead of scrubbing it off with a dry wash cloth.. it helps your skin stay softer for longer periods of time.



I know my tutorials don't always have a TON of pictures of the steps, and that is because I don't realize I'm posting them as tuts until I am finished. I will work on this! :) If you have any questions, just ask. You could always use different body scrub recipes, depending on the recipient's likes/dislikes. Just google "home made body scrubs" or "body scrub recipes". :)

Loom Knitted Mohawk Hat Tutorial

I looked all over for a decent tutorial for a knitted mohawk hat and could not find one. After getting frustrated, I just decided to wing it -- I'm good at that, remember?

I used Wool-Ease (I think that's the name?), about half a skein. I recommend using two different colors - one for the hat and one for the mohawk. I wasn't sure if I would like the finished product, so I just used one color for practice (cheaper that way).



Knit the hat up on the 2nd largest loom -- mine is green but I know different brands are different colors. This hat will fit most heads (not mine, because I have a huge head). Use the smaller loom for a tiny baby, use the largest loom for a big head like me. You can put a brim on your hat, but I think it looks better without one.



After your hat is completed, you want to add the mohawk (duh). I cut a ton of 4-5" pieces of yarn, and laid them out. I stretched the hat a little bit to find the middle row, where I wanted to add the hawk. It isn't an exact science, just eyeball it. Just make sure you follow the same knitted line so it's not a crooked mohawk. That would look kind of dumb. Use a crochet hook to pull the yarn through, and double-knot each piece of yarn to make sure it stays on. You could add two rows or even three but I just stuck with one. It all depends on how wide you want your mohawk.

You can make your hawk go from end to end, or just on part of the hat. I chose to have it go from one end to the other, minus three stitches on each side.

Last but not least (and optional) is to "fluff" your hawk. I used a regular brush but a wire brush would work wonders! You can cut it a little shorter if you'd like.. or next time make the yarn pieces longer if you want it shaggier. Again, it's all up to you! The possibilities are endless here.. these are so flippin' cute!!



Let me know if you have any questions and I'll try to answer them... I know this isn't the BEST tutorial because of the lack of pictures, but I honestly didn't think it would turn out so I didn't take pictures along the way. It's pretty self-explanatory if you know how to make a hat already.

Good luck, and I'd love to see pictures!!

#28. *whew*

28. make mail bags and letters for the younger girls

Completed!!

We looked at a few different tutorials online, but ultimately decided to just wing it, like we do with 99.9% of our projects. We do better that way. :)

First, I purchased 8 sheets of felt. They were a quarter a piece at Hobby Lobby. I know you can get them at Michael's, Wal-Mart, etc.

If you recall, I don't really sew.. I hate sewing.. so we I used the hot glue gun to put everything together.

Supplies needed:
At least 8 sheets of felt
Hot glue, or a needle and thread (or better yet, a sewing machine)
Ribbon or rick rack (we used scraps of ribbon)
Patience

This craft took us about an hour and a half. Of course, if you're doing it yourself it will probably be about half of that. I let the girls cut the ribbon, help shape the felt, and of course they played with it the whole time we were crafting.. so that's why it took a little longer.

First, you want to make the envelopes, letters, and post cards. If you visit the link above, you will see that she did a lot of sewing to put these together. I wanted something a little less "perfect", and wanted the girls to help.. so ours don't look the same as hers. I think it's just a matter of preference.

To make the envelopes, we took the felt sheet and cut it in half long way. Then we cut about an inch off the top of each piece. Take the two top corners and fold them in to make little triangles, like the top of an envelope. Then take the bottom part of the felt and pull it up to make the other half of the envelope. It's really simple once you have the felt in front of you.



Please excuse the foot in the picture, my photo editing software is not yet installed on this computer lol.

Then, we worked on the letters. Sapphire said this was the "most funnest" part. :) Take a sheet of felt and cut an inch or two off the top. Then fold the remaining felt and cut it into fours. These are your letters.



Then take small strips of ribbon (or rick rack) -- about 1-3" long -- and hot glue (or sew?) them on. While we were gluing these on, the girls were "reading" their letters. I think we are going to have to make a YouTube video for them to read them because they were hilarious! They have crazy imaginations!



You can also make postcards in pretty much the same way you make the letters, only don't cut off the inch at the top. Fold the sheet of felt and cut into fours. Glue (or sew) a stamp into the right hand corner, and then ribbon for the "writing".




To make the mail bag, take two full sheets of felt and hot glue (or sew) them together, leaving one of the long sides open. You can make a fancier bag.. I was just tired by the end of this craft -- we usually do them in the afternoon or early evening but we started this one at 7:00pm!



I made the strap with scraps of felt, just overlapping and hot gluing them together. Also, folding down a few inches on the front piece of felt might be helpful. We did not have any velcro but I recommend using a small piece to secure the bag as well as the envelopes!

My goal only included making them for the younger two girls but I just made one set for everyone to share, because even my 8 year old was VERY interested in this craft!



A letter..



And then, just as we were getting ready to finish up, I saw a lonely (and empty) Capri Sun box sitting on the counter!



So, even though they were quite content with their letters and mail bag...



We decided to UPCYCLE that Capri Sun box and turn it into a mailbox! We covered it with leftover scraps of paper and covered it with shipping tape to make it more durable. At the end, where the opening is, I cut the top half and glued it to the bottom half to make one big flap rather than two small ones. I used a hole punch and made a handle with 3/8" ribbon, so it was easier to open. We also made the flag out of cardboard from an old shoe box. We covered it with scraps of paper, and shipping tape.. secured it with a brad.. and voila.. a fully functional mailbox! :)



And yes, I'm aware that she looks tired.. we all were after this one! lol

If you have any questions about how we did this project, feel free to leave a comment. It's late, so who knows if this post makes any sense! :)