Mod Podge Mania

The Month has flown by! It's time for Mod Podge Mania with Xazmin @ This is the Year. After you are finished catching here at Bloggin' It, please hop on over and visit Xazmin and be sure to click on the links to other crazy Podging ladies. Okay, now for a bit of a confession: I am obsessed with Mod Pogde. Seriously! A couple of weeks ago my husband and I were watching TV and I looked over at him and thought "I could Mod Podge him some good lookin' pants.". So, if you are around me don't stand still too long you just might get a good podging.

I made these a couple of years ago. I used a pine board and cut it down to 6 14x14 squares. I then painted them black, sanded the edges, Mod Podged 12x12 scrap book paper, painted and sanded small rectangles of wood (I bought them at Wal Mart in the craft section)and glued them to the paper. I topped the whole thing off with pressed tin. ( I bought at a scrap book store.)

I drilled holes and added ribbon.

They are at each end of my dining room. Warning don't have your timeout chair right by decorations. Your kids might just start peeling things off.

Kid Food

My kids love the Gerber raviolis. They cost about $1.25 for a very small serving. I love them too, because they do not have sauce on them and usually contain a vegetable. I found this bag of cheese tortellini for $5.50 at Wal Mart. If you boil them in water seasoned with chicken bullion they are very similar to the Gerber ravioli. What a savings and you store them in the freezer so they are ready to go.

Beans Beans the Magical Fruit...

One of my earliest memories is of me playing on my great grandmother's floor with my cousins and a big bag of beans. She would give us spoons and little brown bowls. We would play for over an hour with beans.

I keep this plastic shoebox filled with beans and little pie tins in the kitchen. The kids can pull it out whenever they want to. I don't worry much about them eating them. Beans are good for you and kids are full of beans anyway. :)



A lot of beans make it to the floor. At least they are not wet, soft like play dough or messy like paint. I just sweep or vacuum them up. They are a cheap toy I don't mind replacing every several years.

Story letter

My kids are having a blast making cards and mailing them to their cousins with the puzzle pieces. If you missed that post please take a look here. I started thinking about older kids. Puzzles might be to silly for some kids older than 10. Instead, encourage your child to choose 2 or 3 cousins or friends and start a story letter. Help them establish what order the letter should be sent and write instructions for all participants. Each child will add a line to the story and then mail it to the next in line. By the end of the summer you should have a pretty funny story. Make a copy of the finished product and have a book signing party.

Craft it Forward

Craft it forward is a wonderful way to share your crafts and to meet other bloggers. I was lucky enough to be one of the first 3 commenter's on Heidi's blog Blue Eyed Blessings. This week I received my package (he he he) the mail. Take a look at all this handcrafted fun.

The cards are my favorite part.

Now, it's my turn. The first 3 commenter's on this post will receive something handcrafted by Me from Me. You in turn will post your gifts when you receive them and will offer the same chance for the first 3 commenter's on your blog. Go forth and craft my friends.

Me MakeOver

I have decided that I am allergic to my scale. Each time I step on it I puff up like the Marshmallow Man. I had a rough week. (What Mom didn't?) I haven't given up hope, but I have become sceptical.

I wanted to share a couple of tips to help those who have a hard time drinking water. 1. I keep 2 32 oz. Gatorade bottles filled with water chilled in the fridge. As long as I drink those two bottles I know I have gotten the recommended 64 oz. 2. If you like flavored waters and don't like the cost and calories. Try chewing sugar free gum while drinking. You chews(ha ha) the flavor.

Trash to Treasure

It's Tuesday!!! You know what that means right? If not, it's about time you blog hopped to Kimm @ Reinvented. Kimm hosts Trash to Treasure Tuesday. If you are looking for idea's, want to share idea's or are just curious go now. No wait! Finish this post, then go as fast as you can and join other trashy ladies on Tuesdays!

Oh how I do love scrap wood.
I painted it tacky pink. Found an image I liked. With a fork I pressed down hard and traced the image onto the painted wood.


I then used my dremel with the small round tip and went over all the pressed lines...

and that is how this princess board was born. I did something similar with a long piece of scrap wood. I printed out my words off the computer and traced them with the sharp end of a spoon. After I chiseled the words I stained the whole thing. The sign is above pictures of my kids.

Got the Blues?

Get ready to expand your tool belt. If you don't already use microfiber towels for dusting, scrubbing, washing cars and other chores, you should start today. They are a little more environmentally considerate than paper towels and a lot tougher. They are soft for fine furniture. They clean well with just a little water. I also love to dampen one to leave by each of my children lunch plate to clean their hands and faces.

You can get this package of 24 at Sams Club for around $15.

Okay, let's talk balls. These little buggers don't work for me. I bought mine at Bed Bath and Beyond for $10 for 2. I have used up to six in my dryer at a time. My clothes still suffer from static and I don't think it helps the clothes dry any faster as claimed on the package.

However, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law both use them and like them.

Quick tip: If your bathroom drains are a little slow, pour boiling hot water down them. About 8 cups at a time. This should help until you are able to clean them out with an auger. If your clog is a little higher you can clean out the P-trap.

Give-a-way winner

Congratulations to Amy @ Keeping up with the Shultz Family you are my winner! Please look in my Etsy account and choose the style of Bib Clip you like best. There are 4 sets to choose from. Then email me with your mailing address. iamblogginit@gmail.com

Bathroom Artist

*** Today is the last day to get entered for my Bib Clip Give-a-Way. Click here to leave a comment and don't forget to become a follower. ***

I am sure most Mother's, Dad's, Grandma's and other care givers have those days were they just need a minute. A minute without some little tike pulling at their pant leg begging to be entertained. This is a little activity I have shared with my friends. It fun for the kids and doesn't leave a big mess for Mom to clean up.
All you need is paper(I prefer to use stuff that has print on one side and would other wise be thrown away), tape, watercolors, paint brush and tape. Just tape paper to your shower walls. Dress kid in swimsuit, diaper or do this before their bath. Give them a cup of water, water colors and paintbrush and let them get busy painting a masterpiece. Afterwards quickly clean walls and kids with a splash of water. My kids enjoy this activity for at least 30 minutes. I do not recommend filling the tub up with water.

Top That

Last Friday I asked all of you to top that story. If you missed it click here. I only received one reply. Thanks to Viviene @ the V-Spot I got a good chuckle out of her pain. It is a must read. I could not have done her justice by paraphrasing and posting. Please click here to go to her blog to read the full story.

A Puzzling Activity

Every kid, no matter what their age, loves to receive mail. This activity is meant to connect friends and family and give the kids something to look forward to. I bought package of two puzzles from the Dollar Tree. Fifty cents a puzzle, not to bad. I then got all of my scrap paper and let the kids use their creativity to make cards.

I assembled the puzzle. Then I numbered 10 envelopes per puzzle 1-10. I took the puzzle pieces 5 at a time, careful to keep them in order and placed them in the envelopes.



I wrote a little poem to go with the pieces and card.


I am excited that school is out.
So excited I could shout.
I wanted to share a bit of fun with you.
I will send mail from me to you.
In the letter you will find a puzzling thing
Just a few pieces of a picture, you might think I’m a ding a ling.
Not enough pieces you say.
I might not have sent enough today.
Save all the pieces until the summers end
And you will have enough pieces my friend.


Every week for the next 10 weeks my kids will make cards and mail them in the numbered envelopes to two of their cousins. The card making gives them something to do and hopefully their cousins will want to mail a letter back to them. I hope their cousins will be excited and will check their mailbox every day not knowing when the next pieces will come. If all goes well next year we will do the same thing for a couple of other cousins.

Me Make Over part blahhhhh

Oh man, it Wednesday, which means I have to hop on the scale and so I did. I was not good. Poor Mr. Scale gave out groan and said "oh it's you again. Alright tubby looks like you are going for world record of chunkiest monkey not able to loose weight." Not even an 1/8 of a pound. I have done so well to walk everyday and not eat after 8pm. I have said no to dessert and have drank plenty of water. Why me?! Why me?! I guess I will have to start writing down every thing I eat. I can't stand food journals, but something has got to change.

This weeks question directly from The Great Amber @ {ae filkins}, who is the Master Mind behind the Extreme Me Make Over. Q- Name your guilty pleasure. Think of a healthier choice you could use as a substitute.

I love you brownies so moist and rich!

This is my substitute. Brownie pudding. You get a little brownie with a lot of chocolate pudding. The trick is to use fat free pudding and cool whip. However, I have found the best thing for me is just not have any treats in the house. If they are there, reduced fat or not, I will eat more than my fair share.

Click picture for recipe.

Second favorite thing to indulge on is cheese dip. Love cheese dip! A good substitute is a cream cheese(fat free) Carmel dip. Even healthier you dip fruit instead of chips.

Recipe for Carmel dip
8 oz. Fat free cream cheese or reduced fat
1 Cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Whip until fluffy. Serve with Apple slices, strawberries, watermelon and other fruit.

Don't miss the give-a-way. Go two posts down and leave a comment. For another entry become a follower.

Trash to Treasure

Hello my Bleeps! I hope all is well in your world. Trash to
Treasure Tuesday with Kimm @ Reinvented came quicker than last week. I am fairly sure our weeks are getting shorter. In fact I don't think I got a Saturday last week. If you haven't joined up with Kimm yet, it's about time.

You probably think I am obsessed with cans by now. I am a little. They are well made and meant to be around for a long time. I feel responsible to use them in as many ways as I can. I was inspired by a friend to find an affordable way to share flowers with our friends and family who have passed on before us this coming Memorial Day. Flowers in a can is nothing new. I just tried to make it a little lovelier.

I used:
Soup cans, emptied and washed
Vinyl (I bought mine at Wal Mart, it was only 50 cents for about 1/8 of a yard)
Potting soil, $3
Pony Pack of flower, $2.25
Ribbon, raffia, thin rope or yarn (use something that can withstand water)
Bottle opener or hammer and nail
Double sided sticky tape or glue
Pinking shear if you have them( it gives them a finished look)


Poke holes in the bottom of the cans if using potting plants. If you are lucky enough to have stem flower in your yard or lilacs, do not puncture cans. Note: you will need to use a nail and hammer on pop top cans. Their bottoms don't allow for the use of a bottle opener.




Keep cans on a paper plate or fill with soil outside to prevent a mess. Plant flower. Wrap a strip of vinyl or cut up outdoor table cloth around can. Secure with tape or glue. Tie ribbon around can.

You can paint the can if you want. Any size can will work depending on size of annual used.

Okay, I am I always a few steps behind. Please refer to previous post. I don't know why I didn't' remember this while I was doing the bib tutorial post. A give-a-way! How could I forget. Go back and leave a comment and become a follower for 2 yes 2 entries. The winner can choose which set of bib clips they would like. Ends Friday, May 22nd 12:00 am.

Bib Clip Tutorial

I noticed a lot of people viewed my bib clips when a put them on Etsy. Since there were no sales I guessed most of the hits were from people looking for idea's. So, here it is. A tutorial to make my bib clips.

You will need:

Ribbon

Hot glue gun

Office clips (for paper)

scissors

In the past I have tried small clothes pins and other clips. What makes the office clip ideal is the metal loop. It keeps the ribbon from pulling off. Measure the length of ribbon around your baby/toddlers neck. (not ideal for newborns) About 8-9 inches should do. (be sure to measure your little one for the best fit.)

To keep ribbon from fraying seal ends with fray check or melt with flame.

Fold the metal loops to upright position.



This is the tricky part. Choose a back side of the clip. Pull ribbon from middle of clip to outside. Glue.



Position next clip and check to make sure you have it on the right side, then glue in place.

Your done! Bib clips are great, they eliminate the need for carrying a dirty bib around. Just use a napkin at a restaurant or a paper towel while traveling. I think most of my readers prefer to make their own crafts, however, if you don't want to make them check out my Etsy site on my sidebar.

Art Wall

I have been trying to republish a post from last month that a lot of you missed and I can't seem to figure it out. Please click here to view.

Top that

Let's all play a fun spirited game of top that. You know how it goes, you just told a friend about a funny, horrible, challenging day and they follow with, "oh yeah, listen to this." So here goes.

About 2 years ago my cousin had invited my kids, 2 of them at the time and expecting the third, to her house to celebrate her daughters birthday. I was over 1 1/2 drive, but we were excited to see them. I got us there with out much of a problem. However, by the time we got there the party had been canceled. We decided to just hang out, do a little shopping and have dinner together. Towards the end of the day the kids were acting wild and my cousins baby got her fingers smashed in the door. My kids were not at fault, but I could feel my cousin tossing the blame their way. So, I thought it was a good time to leave. I felt awful and of course began to worry about how things were left. Anyway, we got caught in traffic. Really bad traffic. What should have been the first hour of traffic took us 3 hours. My kids, being little, were out of patience. I pulled over at a Target that was about 30 miles from my home. I thought after they were able to use the restroom, have a diaper change, walk around a bit and get a snack the ride home would be much better. We stopped in the restrooms first. Oh how I wish I would have just drove home. We all went into the stall together. My son finished his business and then it was my turn. While sitting there my son decided to open the door to leave, so I jumped up and stuck out my naked right leg to hold the door shut. While trying to shimmy into my pants my daughter started to quickly unroll a full roll of toilet paper. So my right hand shot out to stop her. With most limbs occupied I leaned back to flush and as soon as I did, I heard plop, plop, flush. I reached in my pocket to find my keys, my big wad of every key I have ever owned along with numerous chains were gone. GONE, sometimes you can't even get the paper to go down, but no, my keys went down. I was just sick. I went to find the manager so I could get help. We plunged and plunged. Nothing. I started searching for my cell phone to call my husband for help. I couldn't find it. Now, think back to what happened, plop, plop, flush. That's right two plops, no phone. So, a big wad of keys and a cell phone down the pipes never to be seen again. The night did not improve from there. We waited for almost an hour for help. The kids drenched themselves in the complimentary you flushed everything down the toilet soda. After wrapping them in my jacket we ran outside to find there was a freak snow storm. All the way home I sang "So you had a bad day....).

Okay, your turn. Top that story. Email it to me and next Friday I will feature the top stories. iamblogginit@gmail.com

Wipe out

I love Clorox wipes! You just can't beat the convenience, cleaning power and disposability.(If it's not a real word, just pretend with me.) I think they make a great baby shower gift (I'm a bit practical.) or get well gift.

However, you know I love to save money and if I can make something myself I will. Recently I discovered organizedhome.com. I hope to explore the site more and share what I find with you or check it out for yourself. I found direction for making your own cleaning wipes. You can make 3 different types: disinfecting, general cleaning and mirror/glass cleaners.

They suggest using a store bought container, it looks like a Rubbermaid product, I didn't want to spend the money so I found an almost empty Chicken Bouillon container. Look, mine as a handy handle. Neato.
Click here for the original directions. Using an electric knife cut paper towel roll in half. Place inside container. I cut a slit in the cardboard center and pulled it out.

Mix solution. I used 1/2 cup all purpose cleaner (next time I will reduce it to 1/4 cup) mixed with 2 1/2 cups water. Pour over paper towels.

Instead of drilling a hole, traced the cap of a tube of carmex onto the lid. I then cut it out with an Exacto knife. Pull inside paper towel through hole and secure lid.

Winner

It seems fitting that I am announcing the winner of my very first give-a-way on my 50th post. So here it is:

Lisa @ onegirliegirl! Be sure to stop by her blog and congratulate her. Lisa, please email me with your mailing/shipping address.

Thank you to everyone who left a comment and became a follower. Come back soon! I update almost everyday.

Did anyone watch the Biggest Looser finale last night? The host, I think her name is Alison, just had a baby and you should have seen her last night in her teeny tiny little blue dress. She looked awesome. I just wanted to throw cupcakes at her. Frosted ones, so they stick real good. Maybe a few sprinkles or so.

This weeks Me Makeover question given to us by the lovely Amber @ {ae Filkins} is: Show us your inspiration picture. Of yourself skinny, of yourself fat, of a celebrity that inspires you to keep going. I don't have a picture, but I will definitely keep a mental picture of Alison in the front of my mind. I also use my always tiny sister-in-law and another sister-in-law, who has gone down several pant sizes in the past several months, for inspiration.

After last Wednesday's post I felt so encouraged by every one's words, that I did fairly well. By Friday, I had let life get to me again and I was heading down that sugary path of emotional eating. On Sunday I was given the flu as a Homemade Mother's Day gift. I guess that got me back on track.

So, last night I was starving. I wanted to eat so bad. I remembered that irritating special K commercial. You know the one, beautiful skinny girl gets hungry late at night. She in front of the open refrigerator looking at all the enticing treats and a half eaten cake, which you know the neighbors must have put there, because we are looking at a bean pole of a girl who obviously lives alone. The light bulb pops up over her head, she turns towards the already open cupboard, leaving the refrigerator door wide open. What an energy waster. She grabs the box of cereal and is oh so very satisfied. Well I had the bowl of cereal and I was never satisfied! Don't trust the skinny girls!

Be sure to comment on my previous post and become a follower to be entered twice for my give-a-way.

Why Wooden't I

I love Trash to Treasure Tuesday's with Kimm @ Reinvented! This week I decided to tackle a pile of wood I have been saving from when we built our house, almost 4 years ago. I gave them a light sanding. Drilled 3 holes with a 11/32 bit.

Stained them Walnut. Stained cloths pins I had hanging around.

I gave them a good podging and applied paper. Last I glued 3 clothes pins to each board. Now, I have cute desk caddies. Ooops, I forgot to put the pens and pencils in the 3 holes before I took the picture. Darn it.




There you have it. They could have been trash and now I hope they will be somebodies treasure.

Now, I will be giving the middle one on the last picture (blue and brown) to someone. Yes my bleeps (if people are peeps and twitters are tweets then you all must be bleeps.):) I am having my first give-a-way. I wish I would have chosen something lighter to ship, but when it feels right, it's right. So, to be entered, leave a comment. For an extra chance, become a follower or remind me you already follow. Thank you all for stopping by.

Man Craft Monday!

I am having a few technical difficulties with Mr. Stinky Linky. Next time he will be up and running and hopefully I will be too. For now, please type your URL into your comment I will then compile a list of links for Man Craft Monday.

Man craft Monday is for any male, your grandpa, dad, husband, son. We want to see what they have been crafting. Regardless if it is painting, building, cooking and much more.

Handy Andy made my kids a picnic table. It comes apart and fits together for easy storage and travel. I found this pattern several years ago on FamilyFun.com

Next Man Craft Monday will be June 8th.
You can make one too. Click here.

I apologise for my difficulties in attracting Mister Linky. He is playing hard to get, but I think I can wear him down.

You can now reach me via email. iamblogginit@gmail.com