teacher gifts

The school year was quickly winding down with not much time left for me to get overly creative with teacher gifts, and believe me I have MANY options pinned on Pinterest! Then a little light bulb went off above my head and I noticed that both teachers did not have names to show which classroom was theirs! A quick scan of Pinterest found a couple of cute ideas for teacher name plates and a begging session with Kira got me a couple of canvases that she had stashed away and I was ready for action!

The top one I made for Alex's teacher. She was new to the building and didn't have a cool name plate- now she does! I used an idea I found on Pinterest and adjusted it for my needs. I traced the letters onto some cardboard and cut them out attaching them to the canvas with a very small amount of adhesive that I knew I would be able to remove when I was done. I picked some acrylic paint colors and went to work with the ends of some paint brushes and a pencil top eraser. I waited until the paint was totally dry before removing the cardboard letters. I used an Xacto blade to make sure I didn't pull up the paint with the letters. I was pretty happy with how it came out.

This one I made for the teacher I was with. Her name plate had fallen down and needed to be replaced (she has had it since Kira was in her class!) I used the idea I found here. Used some fun colors on the circles. Yellow was the hardest one to cover the pencil markings. After they were all dry, I used a dry embossing tool to create the dots around the circles with acrylic paint. I stamped the name with some foam stamps I have had forever and black paint. 

Tons of fun but I really should have started them earlier. As it is, I started them about three days before the end of the school year. eeeek! Thank goodness that the acrylic paints dried really quick.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

pinterest is my friend

Why yes it is. Especially on those days when I really don't feel like doing anything productive. Those are the days that I reorganize my boards, I currently have 159 of them. Or I change the cover picture on those boards- keeps things fresh. Or there is the old stand by of actually pinning other pins and commenting on the really good ones!!

I found this recipe for a cucumber salad on Pinterest and knew I had to try it. Not because it was tagged with only having 50 calories in it, but because it was cucumber!! Love me some cucumber. Especially in the summer- yum yum delish.

Anywho- I got the ingredients for the salad and then found some time (had to stop pinning for a bit) to make this delicious salad! 

OMG!!

Seriously it is incredibly wonderful.

When I make it again I will use less salt as the two teaspoons were a bit much for me. Of course if you like that much salt, you will be all set. I would say start with one teaspoon and then add to taste when you finish. I also had to use dry dill as the dill plants at the store were quite sad looking and I didn't want to have to wait for them to grow a bit after taking them home. I wanted the satisfaction of eating the salad. I should probably invest in a dill plant for the summer!! 

On the second day it starts to take on a dill pickle kind of flavor which made me even happier with this salad. You need to check out the link above and get yourself some of this salad. Yes you do.

Why are you still here?? I told you to go get some.

happy belated st. patrick's day!

I hope you had an amazing green day on March 17th!! I did!! The week before I was able to help the kindergarten kiddos create a sparkly shamrock. The one below is what I created as a sample. Love the glitter!! Everything in kindergarten is better with glitter.

I was able to pin Kira down long enough to paint her nails for the occasion. She complained the entire time but she looked great on Monday!!

A blurry picture of my nails. I have been having some major issues with my nails splitting and breaking so this is as long as they have been in weeks. As the week went on, I lost three of them to me just being a plain klutz! 

We were trying to find a craft to do with the kindergarten class that wasn't too simple they were bored but also used skills they will need all through life and have meaning in their education. We had beads but could not find a craft to make them work so off to Pinterest we went. Heading to Pinterest sounds pretty easy doesn't it?? Not if you are inside of the classroom!! I had to go into the hallway to get the WiFi service. It was worth it though. I found an amazing idea for a leprechaun popsicle stick puppet!! 

I went home and got the templates and brought them in the next day to pick up paper and find out what we wanted the kids to do. There are a ton of pieces that had to be traced and cut and then put together. We had to keep in mind attention spans and time restraints! I ended up cutting out the small pieces of the buckle and belt on the hat, the face (circle punch) and the hands. The rest of the little guy I traced onto the green paper and the red beard for them to cut.

Here he is!! I attached him to the stick before I attached his legs therefore the large stick between his legs. oops.

The kids did so great!! Look at a couple of them after the completion and put into their leprechaun traps. They had fun!! Not sure if we'll do it again or not next year.

I am trying my hand at coloring with Gamsol and colored pencils. These images are part of my practicing. I enjoy coloring this way and will continue to hone my skill. I am a bit too cheap to invest in Copics. I picked up this kit from Simon Says Stamp and I am happy I did!! 

I used the duck to create a birthday card which I was trying so hard to get into the mail, that I forgot to take a picture of it. duh.

But I did remember to take pictures of the other cards I created!!

I created the background myself using a Studio G $1 stamp and some inks that I have. Inside I added a strip of washi tape at the top along with the sentiment and the stamped border. The shamrock is popped up to add some dimension.

The frog on the front of the card is on an action wobbler. I have had these for a bit of time. They were a generous gift from my amazing Alien friend and I was FINALLY able to use them. Here is the frog in action!!

I totally forgot to get a picture of me in my shamrock tee and shamrock headband. There is always next year!! Hope you wore your green and didn't get pinched!!

dryer sheets

My husband always knows when I have been hanging out on Pinterest too much. Things get organized or cleaned or changed around. Or I even do something crafty!! I stumbled across this pin about homemade dryer sheets. Sure why not see what that all entails. 

Seemed pretty easy. Jar with a lid that seals, fabric softener, sponges and a measuring cup. I plucked a container out of the recycle bin and washed it all up (it was full of yummy cashew goodness in its previous life). I picked up some sponges on my next trip to the store and everything else I had!

I started a few cups at a time as I wasn't sure how much room I would have in the jar and how much room and displacement I would encounter once I added the sponges in. I think it was a package of six sponges so they weren't the really big ones that I used and cut in half. It seems to be working very nicely for us. As you can see I am halfway through my first batch of softener and it has been well over a month since I have started this adventure. Static doesn't seem to be a problem anymore and this is so much cheaper than buying the sheets or the bars to replace my Bounce holder.

I'd say this is a win for this Pinterest pin! 

rudolph christmas tags

A few days back, Alex was bored. Code word- needs to be hanging with mommy or daddy. So I asked him what he wanted to do. He wanted to do arts and crafts. Okay, we can work with that. What kind of craft? Gluing, paper, marker, paint, clay? oh yeah, and let's remember I was heading upstairs to start working on dinner in five minutes!!

He didn't know what he wanted to do so I pulled up Pinterest and showed him this cute pin I found and asked him if he wanted to create some to/from tags for us for Christmas. He was all for it. I got him all set up and walked away!! He was so excited to be left in my office with paints and in charge of getting these tags done. He came up to the kitchen, without any paint on his fingers!! and let me know he had finished stamping and was waiting for it to dry.

He went up and down the stairs a few times until he was certain things were dry so I got the red and black paint all set up for him and let him at it. Oh my gosh, he did such an amazing job!! I told him I would add the antlers and the to/from stamp when he went to bed. I also rounded the corners and love how they came out!!

I think I have to get Kira to do some too. There are not enough tags here for all the gifts we have to give!!

the treasures continue

Still working on some samples for the website and to show off. Who knows... they may even be for sale! I'm wild and crazy like that. 

These four cards I found the inspiration for them on Pinterest. Then I took some scraps out of my cardstock bin and went to town. I had a great time creating them.

This first one was inspired by this card. I was having some issues with my new three in one EK Success butterfly punch (the first most basic butterfly would not cut all the way out) so I cut a circle around it and stuck it down on the card. I embossed the vellum with my Cuttlebug and carefully tacked it down where the circles would be placed so you can't see the adhesive. I pop dotted some of the circles and stickled the bodies of the butterflies for some pizzazz.

This one I think I would do different. Not sure I would use the marker for the lines again. I'm not that happy with that part of the card. Maybe a piece of pattern paper or even some ribbon underneath. But I do like how the embossed circles came out. I then pop dotted them and added the bling. The gracias is heat embossed and has a bit of bling on the "i". The inspiration card is here.

This card I started with the idea of the circles above but tried to add the stamping for the base and once I put the flowers on top of the swirls, I didn't like the feel. The card felt very heavy on the one side and pretty empty and boring on the other. Problem solved... put the flowers on that edge. I embossed the flowers in my Cuttlebug and added some bling to the centers.

I really like how this card came out. Of course I can see room for improvement when I make it again. Plus it will give me a chance to play with these flowers again! I LOVE how they came out. I used my small heart punch from way back when punches were hot... cut out eight of them, folded them in half and attached one of the halves to a circle. Once all of them were down, I could lift the non glued half up to create the flower. A bit of bling and how awesome is that?? Inspiration card here.

I made eight cards yesterday and need to make a few more however, my pantry is screaming for me to organize it and I need to heed its call. Really I do.

cards and teacher gifts

The first two cards that I am sharing today are safely in my stash... for now. Again they were both made from the scraps from other projects that were laying on the desk and they screamed to be used. So I did!

The next four cards are for Alex's teacher. There are three of each design. I had fun making them but I really am getting "carded out". Good thing its the end of the year and I won't have to make any more for a bit.

And this is the card purse that all those cards are in. She likes green so I thought this would be a good fit.

This is going to be Kira's teachers gift. I will admit I found this idea on Pinterest and I am so happy I went for it. I had a blast making this up. It was so fun picking out the buttons and the different brads to fill in the spaces as well as the mini star confetti that I have been in possession of for quite awhile.

Here is a close up shot of the J. Kira loves it. Hubby says I have too much time on my hands if I stitched all of those buttons. He may be right. LOL

I think I am off to scrap a layout. Feeling the need to do a page instead of cards. Can't imagine why.

my donation for the pta basket raffle part 2

I am pretty sure I have shared these Thank you cards before on my blog. I had made them for a friend of mine awhile back. These are ones that she did not want and I have not used yet.

Heat embossing on these with the gold.

Used Sizzlits dies to cut the corners and the center detail.

Lots of fun sewing on this one.

Stickles filling in the stamped image.

The next ones are Blank Inside cards since you always need blank cards. Used my Cuttlebug to emboss some scraps.

There are two of these cards.

And the last four are Congratulation cards. This first one I found on Pinterest. Totally love how this is laid out. Of course I like the one on Pinterest better but still very happy with mine. The Congrats is heat embossed with a kaleidoscope embossing powder which makes it rainbow-ish.

This is another one that I found on Pinterest which took me to Jackie Rockwell Design's blog. Her's is amazing but again, I am happy with what I came up with as my interpretation. I cut the flowers out and then backed them with white cardstock flowers to give them depth. Added some mini buttons that have been living here for many, many years. Used some of my white pre-colored bakers twine and some letter stickers to complete it.

Oh look at that.... another amazing card design found on Pinterest!! (Seriously am loving that site) The link on Pinterest took me to the PaperCrafts Connection site where they had a contest and this card created by Lindsay Amrhein was hanging out looking a thousand ways of awesome. This is my attempt on her card. All stickled up and looking pretty!!

This is the last card for the card box and I will have to admit it is my all time favorite!! I would love to boast and gloat that I created it with just the smarts of my own brain, but that would be a total and utter lie. I wish I was that creative!! Nope... found it on (can you guess?) Pinterest!! The link at Pinterest took me to craftieodamae's blog. Lots of goodness hanging out there and you should check it out!!

Anywho... hers is to die for. But I do love mine as well. Love that it is all white (yes I know it looks light blue in the picture. What can you do?? I need a better lighting system here.) But it is an all white card that I embossed and border punched and added some amazing fiber I've had forever. I think it might all be gone now. Oh no!! LMBO I punched the star six times. I attached three together to make two thick stars and then pop dotted the top star. I heat embossed the sentiment on the inside of the card as I didn't want to mess up the total white look. Thank you Olga for some great inspiration!!

So that's the entire box. Whew... I need to pick up a clear bag to package it all up for Unplugged Week but I have a few days of vacation to do that!! Thanks for stopping by and looking!!

valentines and dance pictures

I had to share some of the fun pictures that hubby took at the dance on Thursday. There were a bunch of girls and daddies dancing and having a great time, but there were some priceless friend moments as well.

This one of Kira and Cedar. You would never know that Cedar had heels on and she was still that much shorter than Kira. Such a little thing!

Here's the gang that was there! Kira, Cedar, Michaela and Cheyanne. Sweet group of girls and all so beautiful!!

Kira with her BFF Michaela. So sweet that they both ended up wearing purple. Almost like they planned it!! And they didn't!

I finally got the kids valentines packaged up and ready to go. These are the tags that I did for both sets of valentines. Both kids had the pleasure of finally doing something for their treats this year and had to write all the tags out. Alex's class will get the melted crayons heart shaped crayons which can be found here, and Kira's got some dog and cat foam clips that I made. I need to remember to take a picture of them in the morning with the good light.

I added this little note inside the bag with the crayons so that parents wouldn't think it was candy and throw it out before the kids could play. Hope it works!

I think we are ready for Valentines Day which means I may be able to play tomorrow on some of my stuff and not the kids!! oh the dreams I have.

couple projects happening here

I've been working on some stuff and sad to say not scrapping. But still being creative is a good thing. With my immense love of all things posted on Pinterest, I have been finding many projects and things to try. Some I may someday get to... others not so much but fun to have them if I ever feel the need. Anywho I found this one pin and knew I had to do it for Valentine's day. 

To start our crayon melting project, one must first strip a few boxes of crayons down to their bare naked selves. Big time hint here for anyone attempting this... use the cheapo RoseArt Crayons and not the Crayolas. Trust me. Those wrappings are down right frustrating to get off! Both of the kids gave up and left me to finish unwrapping four boxes of 24 crayons by myself. Oh the things I do for my kiddos. I left out the black and brown crayons since I didn't want the end product to be too dark and heavy feeling for Valentine's Day.

I found these heart silicone muffin trays in the dollar section at Target (they were $2.50 but so totally worth it) Here are the bits and pieces getting set to go into the oven. I believe this is a little bit before I had finished filling them in but was so ready to get them in the oven, I didn't take one right before cooking.

Here they are after I popped them out of the trays. I will say that I cooked them for about 17 minutes at 230 degrees. They are still kinda chunky looking and have since re- cooked them and they look much better. I need to take another picture of the whole collection for Alex's class. But I was pretty proud of myself for not only finding the idea on Pinterest, but actually doing it!!  I didn't scrub the trays clean since they were not that expensive and who knows... there is always next year!!

Now to figure out exactly how the tags for these will look. I have some ideas so that will be another post.

Then today, I dusted off my Silhouette (aka Sybill) and created a 100 cut out for Alex's 100th day of school celebration. We had started thinking we could punch out 100 Mickey Mouse heads and place them on a piece of cardstock. Which he thought was cool until he decided that would be a ton of work and hard on his fingers. Then he came up with the wonderful idea of 100 smiley face stickers! And wouldn't you know it, we had purchased such animals a few weeks ago on one of my shopping trips to Michaels. Even better, the package we purchased had 112 smiles in it!!

Sybill all done cutting. I bet she was quite happy to be plugged in and running. It's been way too long for her. I feel bad that I use her more for holding my agenda and my notebook than for cutting. What a waste!

This pile would be the reason that she is not used more often! I had to move all of this before I could cut since the paper has to be able to move freely back and forth. I need to clean my desk off in a big way. It's on the list. oh what a disaster. BTW... that is one small section that is overly piled up, the rest of the room looks about the same. oh the shame...

And here is Alex's project!! I glued the numbers down for him and had to help him get the stickers off the sheet (and they were hard for me and I have nails!!) But he put them all on himself. It really shows him. My happy little guy. We are ready for Tuesday!! (as long as there are no snowdays!)

Well... I need to clean up a bit around here. sigh... I don't wanna but I think I would like to have some order and then maybe I can be more creative with more space to work!!