Don't Get Burned!

It took me less than ten minutes to make this flat iron cover! It is two pot holders stacked together and sewn along three sides then sewn down the middle. I picked them up at Walgreen's for around $2 for both. I use this homemade flat iron cover every day that I flat iron my hair. I worry about leaving a hot iron on the counter (even if unplugged) as it is cooling with little kids around. Though I keep a very close eye on my kids I am not taking the chance! It was really easy to make (even for this sewing machine beginner!) When I am heating the flat iron or placing it on the counter in between flat ironing I open the cover all the way up and use it to lie the flat iron on (pictured below). For another way to make a diy flat iron cover go here.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We have a tradition that every Valentine's Day we make some homemade yummy treats! This year we made mini chocolate heart shaped cakes and chocolate cupcakes. My daughter had a blast putting pink and purple sprinkles on top.

 

I'm always searching the internet, looking at pinterest, and secretly peaking at my friends on Facebook to come up with new and exciting ideas. I was very excited this past summer when I found a 25 cent mini heart shaped cake pan at a garage sale. Bonus: it looked like it had never been used. I've been waiting for today to get it out! So happy with how they all turned out. I also picked up on clearance last year after Valentine's Day cute heart printed cupcake wrappers for around 50 cents! Now the hard part is to not eat all the yummy treats before we get them handed out to family and friends!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine Love!

For an extra special Valentine gift for our children's grandparents and great-grandparents we made heart hand prints with a cute poem! They turned out beautiful! My three-year-old daughters hand print is the pink one and the red one belongs to my eight-month-old son! The look on his face when I painted his hand red was priceless! 

Here is how we made them....

Materials used:
* Computer and printer....to type the poem and print it .... but you could handwrite it as well!
* Paper ... we just used printer paper.... but you could use any paper you desire!
* Paint ... we used acrylic paint in red and pink ... again use any kind or color you want to!
* Paint brush ... I used a sponge paint brush
* Heart shaped "sticker" ... I used blue painters tape that I cut to the size I wanted. I made my daughters heart a little bigger than my son's as he has smaller hands right now!
* Newspaper .... to put underneath for easy clean up! 
* Picture frame..if you want to make it a little more special.

Above is a picture of the paper with my daughters hand print (before we added my sons hand print). And below is a picture picture after we added his hand print.

It's important to let the paint dry all the way before peeling the heart sticker off as the paint could bleed and ruin the heart shape!

Here is the poem we used:

This isn't just any handprint

as you can plainly see.

For it is a special handprint

made by me!

Along with this handprint

we send lots of hugs

and kisses your way.

And we hope you have 

a fantastic Valentine's Day!

Valentine Treats

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day! So this past week with the help of my daughter we have been putting together treat bags for family and close friends. I like to combine store bought with homemade so it has an extra special touch. This year I found these cute little zip-top heart baggies from the dollar store. There were 48 little bags so I was sold at just $1! I also picked up some candy during one of our visits to the grocery store. We had left over princess themed Valentine cards from last year so we decided to use those up instead of buying new or making our own this year.

Materials used:
* Small zip-top baggies (ours came from the dollar store)
* Assorted candy
* Valentine cards (we stuck them inside the bags with the candy)
* Colored paper (I used construction paper but you could use card-stock or something similar)
* Scrapbook paper (Valentine themed)
* Curling/gift wrapping ribbon (I used pink but use whatever color you want)
* Glue stick
* Stapler
* Pen, marker, or crayons (to write child's name)
* Scissors (to cut paper to size and cut out heart shaped "window")
* Hole punch

We can't wait to hand them out to our family and friends!

Snow Ice Cream .... Yum!

I don't have to tell you if you live in the Midwest how unpredictable our weather can be from day to day .... sometimes even from hour to hour! This weekend we are expecting highs in the lower 50's while just late last week we had below zero temperatures and snow! Sometimes when it is really cold or it snows my husband is home early from work as he has an "outside job" so we had some extra help gathering and preparing our treat. On a day were we had freshly fallen snow we decided to make snow ice cream as an afternoon snack! What a yummy and fun treat! I've heard about it over the years but never have tried it. So we gave it a try! I must say it was very delicious! My husband added chocolate syrup to his but my daughter and I had it plain.

My daughter had a blast bundling up and heading outside for a very quick trip to gather up some freshly fallen snow. They were out there less than 3 minutes because it was so cold! After gathering the snow and shedding themselves of multiple layers it was time to get the ingredients and mix them all together in a big bowl.

Ingredients include:

• 4 cups fresh snow
• 1 cup milk (any kind would work, we used skim)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• Optional: chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, sprinkles, etc. 

Serve immediately as it will begin to melt...just like normal ice cream. It was delicious! It reminded me of the homemade ice cream my father-in-law makes for special occasions about once a year. I highly recommend making this at least once with your kids! We were having so much fun making it and eating it I only remembered to take one picture!

 
Next time it snows I'm sure we will make another batch!

Growing Up So Fast!

Need any easy way to keep track of your little one's milestones? I have an easy and simple way to do that. I had my husband pick up a small canister of chalk board paint from Menard's (it comes in several different colors) and a piece of wood board which I had him cut to the size I wanted. I painted two coats of paint on both sides. After it completely dried I tested it out and it worked wonderfully! Each month I write down any important information (ex. weight, height, milestones, etc) I do not want to forget. Then I get my son ready and snap a few pictures...I always take about a dozen just in case!

 

Here are some ideas of what I wrote: 

 

I love how they are turning out! 

A is for Audrey & H is for Hunter

I love Pinterest! It is so full of wonderful ideas. I use Pinterest as inspiration for most of my diy projects. I take ideas from there and transform them into my own. I got the idea for this personal craft I made for each of my children's rooms using the initial of their first names.

Materials needed:
* Wooden letter (I got mine with a coupons from Michael's Craft Store)
* Scrapbook Paper
* Modge Podge and a sponge paint brush
* Letters (I used scrapbook paper and my Cricut but you could use stickers)
* Any other little embellishments you want to add (ex. glitter, paint, etc)
* Nails and hammer 

This was a very quick and simple DIY project. The thing that took the longest was waiting for the modge podge to dry.

Travel Keepsakes

When you go on vacation do you bring back shells, rocks, or sand? Here is a super cute idea of how to display your keepsakes.

  

Materials needed:

* Shadow Box (I got mine on sale at Michael's Craft stores for around $4)

* Picture from your trip (this one was taken at Catalina Beach on our Honeymoon)

* Shells, rock, sand, etc. from your trip

* Nail & Hammer (if you want to hang it on the wall)

It was really easy to assemble and looks really neat!

Map It!

We love to travel! There is nothing better than hands on learning. You can only learn so much reading about it in a book or magazine or watching it on television. Nothing replaces the experiences, tastes, sounds, and touches of actually being somewhere new. Every year we try to take our children somewhere new and different even if it's only for a weekend. How do we keep track of all these places we have visited with our children? Well, both kids have their own map on the wall in their rooms. I bought both maps from Walmart on sale during the back to school event which takes place around August/September. We also picked up some star stickers from our dollar store and after each trip we stick a new star on that location on the map. I taped the maps to the wall using blue painters tape so it could easily be moved without ruining the paint. a

My three-year-old daughter loves showing me all the places she has visited (even if she doesn't remember) and we talk about where we have been and what we saw!