Piles and Piles of Presents

Ahhhh, I'm late! I am just catching the tail end of Tuesdays Trash for Treasure with Kimm @ Reinvented. Wait, it's Tuesday right?

It has been a rough day. Starting with Baby Bug being covered in an awful rash and ending in Wild Child falling asleep with a Migraine and a whole lot of crazy in between. Still, I love my trash and wanted to share another 2x4 scrap idea with you.

So, stain your scraps. Size doesn't really matter. (In fact go larger for a bigger impact.) Any scrap will do.

Then Mod Podge scrap paper to your blocks and tie on some ribbon.
There you have it. You can make piles and piles of tiny wooden presents to add a bit of Christmas flare to any shelf or counter top.


Wrap them up in cellophane and you have a great friend or neighbor gift for this upcoming holiday season.

Rock Star

This past Saturday I attended a baby shower for one of my little cousins. I say little, but of course that is just my perspective. Oh I am getting older and none the wiser. Anyhoo didly doo, it was great to see my cousins. While there my cousin (hmmm, I didn't ask to use her name) S, showed me a cute little rock covered in melted crayon. So cute, so fun and of course cheap and easy.

For this activity you will need to send your kids on a rock hunt. Just about any rock will do. However, a smooth rock looks better.

Place rocks on a baking sheet. Heat rocks in oven until they are hot. I just put them in while the oven was pre-heating to 375 degrees, then removed them when the oven had reached it's goal.
Give each child a piece of wax paper. After giving a lesson on not touching hot things, place the rock on the wax paper and give your little artist some crayons. This is a great way to use you broken crayons.

The crayons will melt as soon as they touch the hot rock. Caution: the rocks stay hot for a long time.

Even Baby Bug (2) was able to color a rock.

My kids had a blast and I hope yours will too. Thank you Cousin S!

By the way, if you do any of the crafts, activities or other idea's be sure to let me know. I would love to see what you have done.

Mod Podge Some Birthday Cake

I have been working on making homemade Warm Delights with a box cake mix. (recipe here) I thought it would be fun to give as birthday gifts for friends, neighbors and co-workers. So I put this mix in a jar. To make the gift wrapping fun and to re-use what I have I grabbed small jars. You can use half pint or pint depending on recipe size.

Cut a 2 1/2 inch circle out of scrap scrapbook paper. Mod Podged onto a used, but washed canning lid.

I just Mod Podged the edge.

Then covered the top in Mod Podge. (Let's see how many times I can use the words Mod Podge in this post.)

Tie a ribbon with a candle. Include directions on tag.

Microwave cake right in jar.

Let cake cool before adding candle.

Here are a couple of other Mod Podge posts for this month. Click on photo for full post. (The bread box post is one of my favorites. Be sure to check it out if you are new to my blog.)




Be sure to check out other Mod Podging nuts at Xazmin's Mod Podge Mainia @ This Is The Year.

Microwave cake

I Love Betty Crocker Warm Delights!!! They are delicious and convenient, but sadly, a bit pricey. I have tried microwave mug cakes. Gross! When I heard my MIL discussing how one of my cutie nieces made microwave cakes using a cake mix I knew I needed to give it a try.

You will need: (for a 2 serving cake, that I of course will eat all by myself, use the following recipe. Cut recipe in half for single serve.)

1/2 cup cake mix

3 tablespoons water

1-2 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)

Stir cake mix and chocolate chips with water until completely moistened.

Microwave for 65 seconds. If cake still appears wet, microwave for an additional 5 secs at a time until all wet spots are gone.

It definitely needs the chocolate chips or frosting. I am working on a recipe for the fudgy filling.

You can use any cake mix. Be sure to try them all and get crazy creative with your add ins. I am thinking Carmel bits will be handy. You may have to try it over and over agian. Just remember cake eaten in the name of science does not hurt you. It's for the greater good.

Homemade Bookmark

This is a fun east activity for kids. Your child may want to make a whole bunch of bookmarks to give-a-way to friends for school or even simply gifts to Aunts and Uncles.

You will need:

Paper

Clear Contact Paper

Scissors

Markers, paints, stickers or whatever you can find

You can cut the paper into strips or have your child color the entire paper first then cut into strips. You can also use existing art work.
Color.

Cut 2 pieces of contact paper for the front and back of you bookmark.

Adhere to paper. Smooth out bubbles.

Trim edges. There you have it. A homemade book mark.

You might even want to read books with your child before or after your craft or even take a field trip to the Library.

Just a little more

I promise I will be back to idea's , crafts and cooking soon. I just need to get Harry out of my system first. I had had a plan to ask for a movie and book every Christmas for the next 7 years. However, while on a fancy date with Handy Andy at the local Walmart I saw a package of all the Harry Potter movies. For $40!!!!! I pleaded my case with Mr. Handy Andy left the store with my boyfriend Harry in a bag.

So as I was preparing for this post I went to the Walmart web site to find pictures. Lo and behold my Harry was being sold for 26.32 wide frame and 25.32 full frame! If you order the full frame you can have it shipped to the store for free!!!!!!!

I can't believe that price. It's an absolute steal!

Great Cans

Every week I think I am going to be ready for Trash to Treasure Tuesdays with Kimm @ Reinvented. Yet every Tuesday seems to come a little faster than the last and I am caught of guard. Next week I will have a piece of furniture ready to go. This week is a fun activity for the family using soup cans.

All you will need is:

Empty clean aluminum cans

Hammer

Nail

Water

Fill your cans with water and freeze over night. The ice will give you cans needed strength.

Place cans on their side on top of towels. Punch holes into cans using your nail and hammer. You can plan a design or use a random approach. You would like a lantern look, punch two holes across from one another at the top and add a wire handle.

Place cans upside down outside or inside your kitchen sink. You can run hot water over them is you are in a hurry.

Once they are dry you are good to go. They are great for camping or a beautiful center piece for a great summer meal.

I think we all know by now that I am not photographer and my camera is a bit outdated.

Another great way to use your trash.

Restaurant bag

I recently posted about giving ordinary and somewhat tacky canvas bags a face lift. Just after that post more bags began to turn up. Click here for previous post.

This little beauty was transformed into.....

My new restaurant bag. Handy Andy and I rarely go out to eat without the kids. So it has become important to keep entertainment with us. The best toys for a restaurant are small and engaging. Match box cars, paper and pens, Polly pockets, Pet Shops etc. Our favorites are magnadoodles, play dough (there is a large assortment of travel packs), I found a little wooden tic tac toe board at Target, small puzzles and Legos (I love the small pack pictured below!).
Lego Creators make can be used to build more than one thing. Love it!!!!!

This Playdough set even comes with a play mat.

I like to keep our bag in the Van (oh yes, I am that cool, I drive a Minivan.) so we have it anytime we need it. The bag is also great for Doctor appointments.

I have a few more idea's for your bag. Keep a look out for future posts.

Be sure to scroll down to the frame post and sign up for the give-a-way. Today is the last day to get entered!!!!!

Starry eyed

Happy 4th of July! I thought I would get a quick post in for the weekend.

Did you see this cute Patriotic window done by The Creative Crate? It was featured on U Create a couple of days ago. It reminded me of a project I did last year.

Which is pictured below. It is a regular picture frame from Wal Mart. I painted the frame and the back of the glass. The lettering is done with a dry erase marker. I change it with the seasons, I use it to record medication dosages and to write quick reminders. Wouldn't it be cute to have three of them, one above the other, the top and bottom smaller than the middle? You could write Home Sweet Home, Live Laugh Love and so on.Anyway, after seeing the flag, I knew I needed to do something similar, but with a frame a little easier to get a hold of. So, I got a $3 Wal Mart frame.
Painted the frame. Cut of a template of a star. (I used paper, which was a big mistake. Next time I will use contact paper.)

Painted the star.

Then stripes.

Not perfect, but I love it.

Another great affordable gift. You could do any season. I know I will be doing a Valentines day frame. The wipeable board is a great gift for Newly weds, they could write sticky sweet gaggy messages to each other or just about anyone. Also, a good affordable way to fill space on a wall and add color.