Getting ready for Shay's 60th Birthday!

I offered to make a banner for Shay's Surprise Birthday party.  I found a couple I liked on Pinterest, then went to Hobby Lobby and got to work.

  I made a template with a piece of paper after measuring the stenciling and adding 1.5 inch.  

I was able to easily and quickly sew to top of the banner.

Then I used stencils to paint the letters (make sure you put paper under the burlap while painting).  

I used a safety pin and a pencil to tread the jute twine, then added a little embellishment.

I am really happy with the way it turned out.

We also made a gift basket for Shay.  My favorite thing was the Tea Towels with drawings from each of the Grandchildren (another Pinterest find).

I did a few thing differently then DIY I found... 

I wash and dried the towels before I traced the children's artwork.  

I also used a fabric pin instead of just of Sharpie... then I used a hot iron to set the ink.  

The kids were so proud and they turned out great... Now I need to make some for my kitchen.

Have a BALL this Valentine's!!

I found this great pin on Pinterest with a lot of cute non-candy Valentine ideas.   I let Grady pick which one he wanted to make and bring to the kids in his class.   I borrowed this bloggers printable page and changed the text to something more suitable for boys.  

All you need to do is: 

• Download the printable link and print.  
• Have your child sign their name.  
• Buy treat bags, I bought these at Amazon, I am sure you could find them at a craft store as treat bags for lollipops & hard candy. 
• Buy bouncy balls, I got 24 bouncy balls for $3 at Target.  
• Then get your child to help you stuff, fold and staple them together. 

They were really easy to make and I think they turned out really cute.  Grady is off of school this week for Mardi Gras so his class exchanged Valentine's last Friday.

Here is a link to print the page.

Insta-Friday

Sunday

Grady told Keith, "Mom is wearing baby small shorts.  Because they are too short."  

Grady has CCD every other sunday from 5:30 to 7, so on those days we eat supper when he gets home.  Well apparently they had an unannounced Christmas party tonight, on the way home Grady told Keith he had 7.5 cupcakes.  Not a surprise but Grady was not hungry for supper and had a stomach ache.

I opened this package today and look what FedEx wrote on the box... the country!  I love it!!

Here is the ornament I bought last year for our first Christmas at our New House.

Monday

Bird Seed Ornaments for Grady's Teacher

Tuesday

Red Box DVD codes and popcorn for Grady's Teacher

 Wednesday  

Monogram Mugs, Homemade Instant Hot Chocolate Mix & Homemade Marshmallows for Grady's teacher. 

 Reece told me today, "Mom you are ruining my Christmas."

 I won another House Party.  This time it is a New Years Eve Hasbro's Game Night!! 

This is the 3rd party I have been able to host.  

Thursday

Amish Friendship Bread for Grady's Teacher and Bus Driver.

Grady had his school Christmas Party today.  Papa Andy took us out to supper and spent the night.  

Friday

Polar Express Day at Grady's School, the students wore their pajamas to school watched  the movie and came home early.

We gave our neighbors Bird Seed Ornaments and Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix or Amish Friendship Bread.  

DIY Gifts!

 

Cute way to give cash!

Wedding Invitation Ornament

I made this as part of a wedding gift for our friends that are getting married tomorrow.


I feel relaxed and ready for Christmas, all the gifts are wrapped and under the tree.  Keith and Grady are off for 2weeks.   Tomorrow we will make our Many Sweets of Christmas and enjoy our time together.  I hope everyone has a Safe and Merry Christmas!!

From Gold to Bronze!

I found this on pinterest.... and knew I had to try it since every door knob in our house is gold.

Changing our GOLD door knobs to Bronze

One can of  Rust-Oleum Universal Metallic Spray Paint, Oil-Rubbed Bronze cost $8 from Home Depot painted door knobs, hinges and strike plate for 5 doors.

Grady & Reece helped use the drill to remove screws from the hinges.  Grady prepped the screws for painting.

We are loving the results and you can not beat the price.  You have to do the same amount of work if you were replacing the knobs but this way you have a little waiting/drying time.  The can of paint says it is fully dry in 24 hours and can handle in 1 hour.  We rehung the doors after 5 hours but did not shut them till 24 hours, but I did wait 24 hours to reinstall the door knobs.

We painted 5 doors this weekend.  We have 9 more doors to paint downstairs and trying to decided what to do upstairs since 3 of the 7 door knobs are silver.  I am off to Home Depot to buy more spray paint :) 

Handy Dad... water-pressurized rocket

This is the third project we did out of the Handy Dad book.  This time all we needed was plastic coke bottle, a coke and a bike pump - then we had a water-pressurized rocket!!

The book had an optional launch pad you could build but Keith just wanted to see if it worked first.  It does work really well so we might make a launch pad soon :)

DIY: Christmas Gifts

This was Grady's last week of school before Christmas I had planned to give his teachers a small gift everyday.  

Monday we gave the teachers a apple with a thank you note.

Tuesday we had a jar of Homemade Cinnamon Pancake Mix but Grady went to the doctor

Wednesday Grady had to stay home so we had to put all the gifts into two days...

Thursday we gave the teachers the jar of Cinnamon Pancake Mix and the bird seed ornaments

Friday we gave them the Monogram Mugs, Homemade Instant Hot Chocolate Mix, Homemade Marshmallows & CC's coffee gift card (I was planning on making chocolate dipped candy canes but was running out of room in the mugs) 

Design mom has a wonderful tutorial on making the Monogram Mugs (I found on pinterest).  I could only find one white mug at goodwill so bought these at Dollar Tree for $1.00 :)  I used Rockwell Extra Bold font, taped it to the mug with the transfer paper and traced over the letter.

 Then used the Porcelaine pen and trace over the lines of the initial.  I let that dry for 15 to 20min then had Grady fill in the inside of the letter.  This way I was able to easily wipe away Grady's marks to have him try again.

 Let them sit for 24 hours.

Bake them at 300 degrees for 35 minutes.

I forgot to take a picture so I took this in the car on our way to school.

Homemade Instant Hot Chocolate Mix is easy makes a ton and is delicious.

Alton Brown's Instant Hot Cocoa Recipe  

(Home-Made Instant Hot Chocolate Mix)  

2 1/2 cups powdered milk (I used Nido milk; which I found in the Mexican food section)  
2 cups powdered or confectioner's sugar
1 cup cocoa powder (dutch process)
2 tsp cornstarch (to thicken & stabilize)
1 tsp salt (finer salt like popcorn or even pickling salt; i.e. not kosher salt)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (Cayenne optional. Alton loves it in chocolate, and put 20 shakes from a wide-mouth shaker, saying the ancient Aztecs did it and 'they knew chocolate'.)

Put in 1TB mix for every 2OZ of water
Cover powder with boiling water  
Mix to a paste  
Fill rest of cup with the hot water, then whisk or stir   

Mix can keep for 2 years.  Higher-quality cocoa will last less-long due to its higher fat content.

My sister posted about making Homemade Marshmallows last year.   They were really easy, taste great and melted beautifully in my hot chocolate (by the way it is 75 degrees here but i had to try the hot chocolate).  One more hint is after you cut them .... Place confectioners' sugar in a large bowl. Working in batches, add marshmallows to bowl and toss to coat.

Sick Day & Playdough

Grady just had a hoarse voice and woke up Tuesday saying his belly hurt.  I remembered when he had that stomach bug at the beginning of this school year they checked him for strep throat.  So we went to the doctor and she said his throat was just a little red but checked him for strep and he had it.  I am so glad we caught it early but that means we have been HIGH energy at the house for past two days.  He can go back to school tomorrow.

So today at 9:30 we were all dressed, had eaten breakfast, cleaned the bathrooms, watched a show, watched home movies, colored, folded towels, and colored so more.  

So then I decided to make Candy Cane Playdough my friend Kristy posted on Pinterest the other day.   The recipe in the link is the same kind I love to use when I make playdough... but I made two single "servings" one white and one red.  

single "servings" Playclay Recipe 

1 cups water 

1/2 cups salt

2 teaspoons cream of tartar 

1/2 to 2 teaspoons food coloring

2 tablespoons vegetable oil 

1 cups flour   

Mix water, salt, cream of tartar, and food coloring. Cook on low heat, stirring regularly. As the mixture heats up,  stir in oil, then flour. Stir until playdough pulls away from pan and is no longer sticky. Dump dough on counter, let cool a bit, then knead.  

 Reece kept cutting off pieces and offering "cookies" to me.  (His hand is red from marker not the playdough)

"Look Mom papa"... he was trying to say pasta.

At lunch we talked about gift ideas the boys could buy Dad, then after lunch went to buy it.  Now we just have to see if Grady can keep a secret from Dad till Christmas.  :)

DIY: bird seed ornaments

I found this on Pinterest ... surprise surprise 

Grady, Keith and I made these this weekend using the tutorial on Saltwater Kids blog.  It was really easy and quick.  I hope Grady's teachers like them.

You'll Need: 

3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup water
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
3 tbsp. corn syrup
4 cups birdseed
molds (muffin tin, cookie cutters, etc.)
nonstick spray
drinking straw
waxed paper
ribbon/twin  

1: Combine the flour, water, gelatin and corn syrup in a large mixing bowl. Stir until well-combined.

2: Add the birdseed to the mixture, stir until well coated.

3: Spray your mold(s) with cooking spray, and spoon birdseed mixture into each mold. Use the bottom of a measuring cup to pack it down, and make the top smooth.     Poke a hole through top of each birdseed mold using a drinking straw, making sure it goes all the way through.  

4: Leave the birdseed mixture in the molds for two to three hours. Then, remove the straws and lay out a sheet of waxed paper. Gently remove the hardened ornaments from the mold, and place them on the wax paper upside down. Allow them to dry for at least two to three more hours, or overnight.  

5: Cut your ribbon and carefully put it through the hole.    

6: Package them up!

 Here is one that lost his arm so we hung him up in our tree.

I also used her tutorial to make the gift boxes.  It was pretty easy once you got the hang of it.  I stacked two pieces of paper so I could make two tops or bottoms at the same time.

DIY Magnet Board

This summer after we moved into the new house I found this blog post about making your own Magnet Board and knew it would be prefect for the playroom.  

I did a couple things different.... First off I found a 24x36 open frame at hobby lobby that was on clearance from $70 to $7.  Then the first time we looked for the sheet metal at the hardware store we could not find it.  Then we were there getting the dryer ducts for the boys robot costumes we found the sheet metal by the ac and heaters pipes.  It was $10 for a 24x36 sheet.  We also got a sheet of thin plywood and Liquid Nail.  

We cut the plywood to 24x36 and applied the Liquid Nail to the plywood then put the sheet metal on top.   After the Liquid Nail dried for a little bit we put Liquid Nail on the lip of the open frame and then placed the sheet metal with plywood attached into the frame and let it dry over night.

 I love the way the magnet board turned out and the boys have enjoyed playing on it.  As soon as Grady got home he had to sort all the letters by color.  

Playroom ABC Wall

At the end of February when we knew we were getting the new house, I started looking for room ideas and paint colors for the house.  I quickly found these images and loved the gray wall color for the office and the playroom/guest room.  It was a clean classic color but could easy add punch of color to make it fun.

 

 

Then I found these ABC wall ideas and knew that would be a great punch of color and fun in the playroom.  So I asked friends and family for any letters they were no longer using.  I started to look at Hobby Lobby and other stores for letters on clearance.  My mom really got into she has had new letters for me every time we saw her.  

These are the letters I had at the end of June.  I started painting and mod podging a couple letters.  Then got my final letters and scrapbook paper Friday.   

We were able to hang up most the letter with Command Medium Picture Hanging Strips and just had to use a couple nails.   

The R was mod podged with Reece's monogramed polo.  I plan on doing the same with the G when Grady outgrows his polo.

This is a vinyl 45 record from my siblings and my record "collection."

The S is mod podged with fabric from a pair of PJ both the boys wore as babies.

A couple of the letter are letters from the boys names that were hanging in their bedroom at the old house.