Quote for the Day

If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?
:-)

Post It Note Holder

I found this very cute idea on YouTube! This would be a great Teacher Appreciation idea or even Mother's Day. I am going to try this idea with a spiral ring! Hope that works too.

Home Made Hair

My daughter has short hair (mostly because I like it that way) but she really wants LONG hair - like Hannah Montana!!!! So I figured that I could MAKE her some hair from ribbon. She likes to buy the fake hair from the dollar store, but it gets all tangles so quickly - I don't like the way it feels either.

I bought 4 small hair bands from the Dollar Tree in different colors. Then used the ribbon from Michaels, the kind that is 5/$1.00 on sale. Took my trusty hot glue gun to adhere the "hair" to the hair bands. Each band has the same color hair. She now has pink, blue, yellow (which is the Hannah Montana hair) and this purple one. I had to slightly burn the ends of the ribbon so they don't unravel. Each wig is different lengths. This purple one is the longest one.

It is really cute to watch her play dress up with the "wigs" on. I love to see her do the "Cher" hair flip when she is singing or just walking around the house.

I used a total of 10 spools of ribbon, which only amounted to $2.00 and the additional $1.00 for the 4 hair bands! Not bad for many afternoons of fun. Not to mention the time we spent together while making them. That was the most fun for me!

Thanks for looking.

Quote for the Day

"We can learn a lot from trees: they're always grounded but never stop reaching heavenward."

-- Everett Mamor

Quote for the Day

"The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore."

-- Vincent Van Gogh

Personalized Coasters

I made a BIG OOPS!! In one of my past posts I entered it wrong!! Don't go looking for it, because I deleted it! But I wanted to repost my personalized coasters. Splitcoast Stampers has a great tutorial for this process. Check it out here!

For Christmas 2006, I created about 40 coasters for my family with old family pictures from my mother's basement! Everyone was so surprised to see their face from elementary school or sports in high school. I love giving surprise gifts! Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of my first batch of coasters!! What was I thinking! Since then I've made quite a few. Here are a couple - Enjoy.


This is my nephew a few years ago. He was walking in the ocean while holding his dad's hand. So cute!!


A few years ago my Mom was getting some experimental chemotherapy in Buffalo NY. While there she stayed at a home named HOPE Lodge, I was hoping these would fit in with the theme of the house. I hope you can read the words on each of them.

Courage is like love; it must have Hope for nourishment.

Hope is a waking dream.

Hope is never lost only found.

What oxygen is to the lungs, such is hope to the meaning of life.

For these coasters I printed the sayings on tissue paper, then stamped the images, colored them in with colored pencils. Finally adhered with Mod Podge, and a spray sealer.


Another example is of a child's illustration of his grandfather!!! Too funny, this child drew what he thought his grandfather looked like, I scanned it in, printed out on tissue paper, then put it on a coaster. These were a big hit!


This is a coaster I made for a doctor's office. From her business card, (wish I had a copy of her card) I recreated the background, then I had a problem with the Chinese characters, scanning in the card didn't work - characters were too small!!! Fortunately for me one of my neighbors are from China so I asked her to translate (it means healthy) and help me write the characters. Presto, this is the result. She really liked it for her office.

This is just a couple of the millions I've created (not really just a couple hundred). TFL

Quote for the Day

"Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others."

-- Robert Louis Stevenson

Wine Glass or Scissor Charms

I love using the shrink paper to make stuff! Here I used it to make some wine glass or scissor charms. After being at a small ladies night at a friends house I thought it would be funny to give each guest a label based on their personalities. Used my Sizzix letter die cuts on the shrink paper, and colored in with colored pencils. At the time that I bought them, Michaels had the wine charms on clearance 4 for $.25!!!! (Can't beat that price! So I just bought all of them and changed out the charms.)
Each letter has a word on it, I thought it would be funny if each person had an adjective for themselves at a party. Then when someone misplaces their drink, the hostess can ask "Who is the DIVA? or Who is SASSY?" :-)




I know my handwriting isn't the best, but couldn't figure out how else to put the letters on the die cuts. Anyone have ideas???? Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Not sure if you can read them -
E - excited
P - p*ss*d
H (pink) - humble
A - airhead
H (orange) - happy
S - sexy, D - diva
and S (green) - sassy

Personalized Night Light

A dear friend of mine lost her 8 year old niece to a brain tumor on July 14, 2007. I made this night light for her family so that her beautiful face shines bright day and night.



I bought a night light from the Target $2.50 (near the $1.00 stuff) and took the original cover off, had to use my Xacto knife and a little elbow grease. Then downloaded a picture of the little angel from her Mom's blog. Next simply printed the picture out on regular printer paper (NOT photo paper - photo paper didn't seem to let enough light through). Used a hot glue gun to affix paper, ribbon and buttons to the night light. I thought that the yellow and white buttons were KINDA like sunflowers. Maria's favorite flower was the sunflower, so I stamped sunflowers on the edges.

I hope this will last for a while, not sure if the picture printed on regular paper will last and not fade.
Thanks for looking.

Teacher Appreciation Quote

A gifted teacher is as rare as a gifted doctor, and makes far less money!!
--Author unknown

Masculine Gift Bag

This is a gift bag I created for a friend of my husband. I never seem to have enough masculine things on hand!! Most of my crafts are geared toward females and kids, not sure why!



This is a bag from Michaels, always stock up when they are on sale 3/$1.00. Then made 5 at the same time so I don't have any excuses any more! It was pretty easy to make, so I should have made 5 in pinks too.
Enjoy!

Teacher Appreciation Quote

Teaching is the profession that teaches all the other professions.
~Author Unknown

Friendly Faces travel Tic Tac Toe

I made this portable magnetic Tic Tac Toe game for my friend's daughter's 7th birthday. When ever we are out to dinner the kids can get a little bored or antsy. I thought it would be fun to make something the kids could play with and use their own faces!!
Last summer I found this little case at Target on sale - only $1.50. It had some travel game in it with a pad of paper and ... not sure what else. So I thought - this case must be good for something!
The colors didn't come out very well in the pictures but it was a very cute pink and purple (every 7 year old girl's favorite color combo!) , the letters are cut out with my Cricut (Mickey Font) and just used a hand punch for pictures. To play you just take out all your "faces" and close the case, play on the front cover. It was a big hit at the birthday party.
The pictures didn't come out very clear and the colors were much better IRL. Sorry about that, but I hope you get the main idea of the gift.
Enjoy!

Quote for the Day

"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong."
~ Joseph Chilton Pearce

Starting to think about Teacher Appreciation Week

In my life before children I was a teacher! Each year my peers and I always looked forward to teacher appreciation week. The first full week in May is a chance for teachers to feel really appreciated for their hard work and dedication to their students. For all of my years teaching here in Virginia I was very lucky to be in a school that made an effort to show their appreciation for their hard work. NOW it is my turn to come up with great ideas, preferably NOT food, for our educators.

This is one craft project that I found. I have created etched glass plates (found them at Wal-Mart for $1.00 each) and used my Cricut to cut out the words.

Here is an example of a glass baking dish with a name etched on the bottom. An excellent idea for teachers! Never lose your baking dish again at a pot luck dinner or leave it at a friends house!
There is an excellent tutorial on the HAPPY VALLEY QUILTER blog. There she shows how to create letters on contact paper using and an xacto knife. When I made my plates I used my Cricut machine and some shelf paper liner that I had left over from a while ago. It worked perfectly. Had to pay special attention to how to cut the letters out so that they show up correctly from the bottom of the dish. Turns out very nicely.

My examples of plates are on my Splitcoast Stampers gallery. My idea of giving the dishes was one of "paying it forward", my kids gave them to the teachers and they could give them as gifts if they wanted to. Click here and here to see them. Good luck.

Kinda makes you think...

"The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it."

-- Jean Paul

Have you seen this crafting toy???

I HAD to share this with everyone!!! Saw this on the Inky Antics site and fell in love. I'm going to check Ebay for one!! ENJOY!!

Pink/Brown Card Swap

I completed a card for a swap I'm in on SplitCoast Stampers. Had to use my favorite color combination. First, of course, I had to narrow that down to just one combo! Love pink or turquoise with brown. AND, I love the Cuttlebug embossing folders. Not sure if you can see it but the brown strip is also embossed with polka dots. And my other "love" is buttons! They are so cute as an embellishment. I think the holes in the buttons go with the polka dots on the paper. That is what is going on in my mind anyway!

Enjoy. Any comments are welcome.

Snack help for tiny hands!

How cute is this idea!!! Found this on the Tip Junkie site which was submitted by weelife. If my son ate any fruit it would help him hold the apple! These holders would help out tiny little hands and help the kids get less frustrated!
So clever, just wanted to share it with everyone.

Quote for the Day

"My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to 99 cents a can. That's almost $7.00 in dog money."

-- Joe Weinstein

Very Clever Card

I just found this super cute card that seem so EASY to make. Check out this cute spring-y card by Just for you by Jenn. I am going to try it this week - at least that is my goal we'll see it if can really come true.
Here is a link to the directions. Give it a try and let everyone know how it turned out.

Simple Card holder video

I love this video showing how to make a clever note holder to give as a gift. It seems really easy, haven't tried it myself. I'll show you how it turned out as soon as I get one done. ENJOY!

Cleaning Your House

"Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing." ~~ Phyllis Diller

Yes, that is the reason I never clean my house!! My kids are 7 and almost 8 years old. They can rip through the house and leave a trail of devastation behind! I get so lazy and frustrated that I can't keep up with the mess. Other than locking them in a closet so they can't ruin the house, any one have any ideas for me?
I've tried setting up a chore chart, but it is my fault that it fell through. I kept forgetting to put the stickers on it! The kids hated that. LOL!!

Too Much Chocolate!

Hope everyone had a chocolatey (is that a word?) Easter!! It just wouldn't be Easter without a chocolate Easter bunny. My kids had to get at least one, YUMMY!! THE Easter Bunny visited our house and then we had an egg hunt in the back yard with 2 nephews. Too cute. We also received close to a ton of chocolate from family members. It is great but I don't really want it in the house. I'm trying so hard to NOT eat sweets and carbs, but now what am I going to do?? I hid all the goodies from the kids last night, but the problem is that I KNOW where they are hidden!! Hopefully I will forget about the huge box of sugar soon and then go on with my life.
Enjoy your day!

Check this out!!!

I found this excellent idea for a QUICK bandana bag. Smilemonsters created this cute bag, and shows the instructions on her blog. Check it out, can't wait to try one myself!

YUMMY Crafts

Here are a couple Valentine's day gifts I made for my kiddo's teachers. They are SOOOO easy to make and make a great WOW impact! I can show details in another post. The teachers loved them. After I finished these, I thought it needed some types of "leaves" or something, so I added some curly ribbon on each stem. It made it look much better. ENJOY!! Have a yummy day!

Botanical Gardens

Took my little angels to a botanical garden today! It is the 3rd day of spring break and they are getting ready to go back to school! I'm trying to find things for them to do that will use up TONS of energy - not an easy task!!! It was pretty chilly out today but the kids did a great job of walking around and seeing all the gardens. Had a great job, now I have to think up something for tomorrow!!

True Character

"The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out."
-- Thomas B. Macaulay


I just like this quote, it can really make you think about your actions to others. This is kept in the back of my mind when I'm out with the kids and I want to make sure they see me doing something good for others. It is the whole - be a good role model - idea!! But it also makes me feel good to brighten someone else's day.
I can remember my mother doing something so nice but meaningful for people she didn't even know. One day we met for lunch in her hospital cafeteria (she worked in a hospital laboratory for many years) and there was an older gentleman sitting alone many tables away coughing. It was the end of the lunch time crowd so there weren't many people eating. The man was having a hard time catching his breath, and seemed to have something caught in his throat. This went on for a short while when my mom stood up and brought the man a glass of water. That was all he needed to clear his throat. He was so thankful and it made quite an impression on me. I heard the gentleman coughing but never thought of helping him. My mother's true character was to help others! She had 5 kids and devoted her life to us and our father. She was stronger than I think I can ever be.
Do something today when no one is looking that makes someone else smile. It doesn't have to cost anything, even share a smile, make someone else feel just a little better today.
Have a good one.

Just saw this funny quote in an email, don't know who it is from:
If you can't be a good example -- then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.

A Better Tomorrow

Just a thought for today. Have a better tomorrow. Believe that every tomorrow is better than today.

Every day do something that will inch you closer to a better tomorrow.
Doug Firebaugh

Some other crafts

I made some folding "TV tables" for my mother's birthday in Oct 2004. I used my kids hand prints to make different pictures. At the time they didn't like getting their fingers dirty, but the tables turned out so cute!! She really loved them! Unfortunately, I now have them at my house because leukemia took her life in February 2008. They make me smile every time I look at them because I knew that she enjoyed them for a while.

The fourth table is of a butterfly using my daughter's hands. Can't believe I don't have a picture of it. I'll have to add that to my TO DO list.

Book of Life

Charlie Brown said it the best....

"In the book of life, the answers aren't in the back."
-- Charlie Brown

My poor husband has been suffering with a knee injury that just won't heal. Last year he had 2 surgeries on the patella tendon, both on his right knee. He fell twice and is still recovering from it. I wish I had known about this in my "book of life" so I could look up an answer in the back! I was a teacher for about 17 years before my kids blessed my life, so I'm used to having the answers in advance!!! But this one is beyond my reach. Wish I had an answer for him, he is so frustrated and hating his crutches. I know he wants to go play catch with our kids, or help them learn to ride a bike, but he is seriously restricted by what he can do. It is a blessing that he can drive because he doesn't feel so trapped in the house. It has been more than a year since the second surgery and his physical therapy has run out. We may be going to get a second opinion soon. We pray every day for his knee to get better soon, I hope it is this month!