Simple, Fun, Father's Day Gift

Hey everyone, time flies when you're having fun, and we're really enjoying our summer so far.  Sorry for the lack of posts, I've just been enjoying my kids being home.

Anyway, here's fun, quick, little gift my kid's had a lot of fun making for their dad.  

We bought the bottled root beers along with a bunch of his favorite snacks.  Then Billy, Cheyenne, and I made the sacrifice (while no one else was around) and drank three of the bottles.  Cheyenne was hilarious.  Every time she took a drink she'd start grinning and giggling because she was feeling like such a rebel drinking her "beer".   I washed out the three bottles and let them dry really well, you don't want sticky candy later.  I just made the little tags with my scrapbook software, or just type it out and print on scrapbook paper.  The kids (with some help) came up with ideas for each candy of why they love their dad.  Of course their favorite part was filling the bottles, a few treats might have ended up in their mouths along the way.  Then they cut all the circles out and we tied them with twine onto the bottles.  We left three of the bottles full, because he really likes this root beer, too, and instructed him to take it all to work for some afternoon pick-me-ups.  Easy peesy! 

See how much we were having! :)  Oh, and we actually made this for Bill's birthday a month ago, and he loved the gift.

P.S. Come back tomorrow for a Father's Day printable to display or use on a card!  

Teachers and Graduates

 Hallelujah, it's the end of the school year!! I'm so excited to have my kids home.  Cheyenne and Natalie's last day was yesterday, well officially on Thursday, but since they didn't have to take the "fake finals" (attendance finals, so lame!) they're home today.  Natalie just has to go to get her yearbook on Thursday.  Billy, Chloe, Maddie, and Jon are just playing today and field day/last day of school is tomorrow.  I really do enjoy having my kids home, well, most of the time.

Anyway, it's that time of year for teacher gifts and celebrating graduates so I have a couple ideas for you.
First for the graduates, what is better than money.  (Kristen, don't tell/show Landon, because his is in the mail.) This is a really easy card to put together.

I used my Cricut and the Batman cartridge for the numbers and Locker Talk for the cap all cut at 1.5".  The "Congrats" are stickers by Doodlebug Design.  If you don't have a cutter and want to do it by hand, it's very easy to type your numbers in Word or whatever program you use and then flip them backwards.  Then print them and cut them out on the black outline.  Then you can flip the numbers over and the black outline will be on the backside and you'll have perfect letters.  I also used my Cricut to cut a small envelope for the inside for money or a gift card.  If you know your graduates school colors, use those to make it more personal - these are for two nephews and a friend of ours, or I've also cut the numbers out of "Congratulations" paper and mounted them on black.  That's really fun, too.

Now for my kids' teachers, I don't do "teacher appreciation" gifts, I do end of school gifts.  I don't know, it's probably just me, but I hate when people tell me when I'm supposed to be thankful or appreciative or whatever.  Maybe I'm more like my husband than I thought with his dislike of Valentine's day for the same reason.  So anyway, since we happen to hear both of their teachers have Kindles, and one of them is retiring this year so I didn't want to give her "teacher stuff", we decided to give them Amazon gift cards and decorate these cute glasses for them.

I used some outdoor vinyl, which I've heard washes better and stays on longer.  However, the teal dots are regular vinyl, so I'm crossing my fingers that it holds up.  I used my Cricut again, to cut it all out, but again, I'm sure you could print something out on your computer, tape it onto your vinyl and trace around it to cut it out by hand.  So in the card I gave them, I wrote something about wanting to kick off the summer right with a tall glass of lemonade (included a couple lemonade packets in the glasses) and a good book.  I really hope they like them.  My kids have had such awesome teachers this year and have been just my kids have needed. 

So that's it, some quick, easy gifts for the teachers or graduates in your life.  Now bring on the summer fun!

Baby Stats Sign and Custom Onesie

 A friend of mine just had a baby a couple weeks ago, so of course I had to make her something cute.  Lucky for me I found this adorable subway art sign on The Winthrop Chronicles a week or so ago.  I fell in love with it and knew I had to make one, too.  I also had some flocked iron-on vinyl that I'd been dying to try out and this was the perfect opportunity.  So here's what I gave her and her adorable baby boy:

For the sign, I first painted my board white, just around the edges and on the back.  Then I created the word art in Storybook Creator (my scrapbook software that I LOVE!), printed it out and mod podged it on to the board.  Easy peesy!  I like to cover the board with mod podge and then put the glue on the back of the paper, too.  It seems to bubble and curl less that way.  I also use a brayer (or credit card, or just your hands) to smooth out all the bubbles I can.  I let that dry well, and then put a coat or two on the top. Oh, I also sanded the edges of the board for a distressed look.  See the above picture for the finished product.

The onesie I found a year or so ago on a super clearance and grabbed a couple just for this idea.  I've just never gotten around to it until now. :)  I found an image I liked and cut it out with my Cricut.  I like to give bigger clothes, like 12 mo. size, since it seems like I was always given tons of 0-6 mo.  So I didn't want something too babyish.  The P!ay Hard was perfect.  When I'm cutting vinyl of any kind, I always test my image by cutting it out on cheap cardstock first.  Why waste the good (expensive) stuff on errors.  Did my adjusting, and then cut it out of the Silhouette flocked iron-on vinyl.  This stuff is cool!  I can't wait to do more projects with it.  Then it was easy as ironing it on, letting it cool, and pulling off the top coating layer (I washed the onesie first, too).  Again, check out the top picture for the finished product.

I really hope my friend likes it as much as I liked making it.  Making things for others is just so much fun!

Sunshine for the Soul

"There is sunshine in my soul today..." I've always liked this song, it's just so cheery and makes me happy, plus it was fun to play on the piano, too.  However, do you know someone who needs a little more sunshine in their life; someone having a hard time right now; or just someone who is still in the throes of winter and needs a little glimmer of spring?  I found this on Pinterest, again, one of the very first things I pinned.  When I saw it months ago, I immediately knew I had to do this for my friend who lives in Alaska, where the winter lasts forever, and the winter days are very short.

So here's my version:

I had so much fun shopping one day and just looking for anything yellow, orange, or tropicalish.  The party supply store was where I ended up getting most of it - the leis, little yellow guys, cookie cutter, sprinkles, and flip-flop straws (those were so cool!)  I lined a box with different shades of yellow paper and layered it all in there with orange and yellow tissue paper.  Then I whipped up a quick card to go with it.  Cloud/sky paper (I finally found a use for it, yeah!) and just scraps of yellow and orange paper.

I had so much fun with this project.  It probably brought more sunshine to my soul than to hers.  Try sending some sunshine in a box to someone you love.  I guarantee it'll leave you smiling and sunny, too.
 
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Lotion and Lip Balm - Beat the Winter Weather

It's the middle of January, the bitter coldest winter month; snowflakes flying; kids praying for wind so we can get out of school; the temperature dropping to negative digits - again the kids praying it gets to the magic number for school closure.  Well, that's usually what January is around here.  Today is a balmy 35 degrees already at 8 a.m., rain if we're lucky, and not a trace of snow. :(  However, my hands and lips are still feeling the effects of winter's wrath, always dry, chapped, and cracking.  I have a solution, and this year, my hands are much better than in the past.  I found two great recipes for making your own lotion and chapstick and they are great!

I found this recipe from Katie at This Chick Cooks.  She also has a great cost break down if you're interested in the nitty gritty of it.

Homemade Bee Balm Recipeyields 16 ounces of balm 1 1/4 cups grated bee wax (about 2 ounces)
2 cups light olive oil or coconut oil
15-20 drops of essential oil (optional)
Containers for your balm

Set out your containers that you will be putting the balm into so that they are ready. Next, find a large pot and a smaller pot that will sit in your larger pot (or a double boiler). Add enough water to the larger pot so that it comes up around the bottom of the smaller pot. Bring the water to a boil.
In the top pan, add the olive oil and cook for 15 minutes. Next, add your grated bee wax. Stir the mixture until everything is melted. Add essential oil. Dip a spoon into the mixture and set it aside for a few minutes to see if the balm is your desired consistency. If you want thinner balm add more olive oil, and if you want a thicker balm add more bee wax.

While the mixture is still liquid pour it into your containers. Let it sit uncovered for several hours until totally cooled and it will harden and be ready to use. 

I used coconut oil and a some mango essential oil and it smells delicious.  However, the coconut oil really overpowers the other smells and the essential oil isn't noticed much.  Also, when you grate the beeswax it smells like honey, who knew?! Probably all you smart people out there. :) I've never used beeswax for anything so this was a nice little surprise. lol  Anyway, this is SUPER easy.  I'm not sure why you need to heat the oil for 15 min. because it took maybe 1 minute for it to all melt so I might try shortening that time next time I do it.

Lisa at Lisa Take Six shared this super cheap, you can get everything at the Dollar Store, but wonderful recipe for really moisturizing lotion at her blog a few weeks ago.

Super Moisturizing Lotion

Baby lotion
Vitamin E Cream (found out from looking at other recipes, this was probably supposed to be Vitamin E face cream)
Pictured here is a cocoa butter WITH vitamin E.  Pretty much any lotion will do, the vitamin E cream would just be more nourishing for your skin
Vaseline (small jar)
Containers - these small travel bottles are perfect for a purse, a desk drawer, or to give as gifts

Just dump everything in your mixer or you can use a bowl and hand mixer, and start whipping.  Tip - if you cut down the middle of the bottle, you can use a spatula to scrap out every bit of the lotion.  However, you might want to keep your biggest bottle to reuse and put the lotion back in when you're done.

Looks yummy, doesn't it?  Let it combine until it's all nice and fluffy.

That's it!  Now put it in your containers.  I tried using a funnel to fill the jars, it worked okay, but I spent a long time trying to "push" the lotion down, it doesn't pour.  However, I found an awesome tip from another lotion blog and I apologize to whomever I found it from, I forgot to write your name down, but she scooped the lotion into a ziplock bag and cut a corner off the bag to easily squeeze it into jars.  Trust me, do it this way, it's got to be sooooo much faster! This is a nice thick lotion. It's a little greasy at first (because of the vaseline) but it really soaks in quickly, and I'm a little picky about how greasy my lotion is. I don't like to be slimy. lol  This would be great to rub into feet and wear a pair of socks to bed or into hands with some cotton gloves to really let it soak in all night.

I made these for my friends for Christmas, and to decorate the jars, I used Avery 2x4" labels.  You can go to Avery's website and design them however you want, even bringing in any digital scrapbook papers, or even pictures if you want.  For the lip balm jars, I used the same labels, but used a 1" circle punch to cut them out.  I'm sorry, I don't have pictures, I guess I never took any before I gave them away and the ones I kept are just plain.  Plus, at the time, I only had a black/white printer (got a new color printer now, yeah!) and the labels weren't super cute. :)

Hope this helps with you beat your winter dry skin!  Now pray for snow or spring, I can't decide which I want more now. :)

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Teacher and Neighbor Gift Ideas

Here is my sister, Leslie, again with some cute, simple, easy gift ideas:

Are you still looking for inexpensive gift ideas for teachers or neighbors?  These are some of the things I am going to give this year:

These word art picture frames are fun and super "cost effective" (that sounds so much better than cheap).  I bought used picture frames from D.I. ($1-2 each) and gave them I fresh coat of paint.  Then I printed the free prints found here and here. 

Next up, neighbor gifts:

I've seen lots of cute ideas out there for reusing glass jars.   I reused spaghetti sauce and pickle jars, and spray painted the lids black.  The bases are Dollar Store candlesticks that I also painted black.  You could fill them with all kinds of things.  Pencils or crayons for teachers?

And one more idea to go along with a gift for my children's teachers, these initial notepads, journals and cards from the dollar section of Target:

I couldn't find a whole set for each initial I need, but I think they would be cute to add to one of the ideas above. 


Hope your shopping is almost finished!  Once I find Neil Diamond's Greatest Hits, I think I will have everything I need (Mom, don't tell Dad!)

Thank you, Leslie, fantastic ideas as usual!  I'm going to start saving my glass jars now so I can do this next year (we don't use those very often, lol.)  I'm so excited that Leslie and family is coming up to visit for Christmas! Yeah!! You're still coming right, Les? Tell Luke I published it so it's fact now. :)

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Fun Twist on a Journal

Last week when I showed you my Christmas Planner, I told you I'd show you a few variations on this idea.  Here are a couple of journals, an adult version and a teen/tween version, and also a cookbook, all out of the same basic supplies.

A couple years ago in the October 2007 conference session of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Henry B. Eyring gave a wonderful talk about journal keeping called "O Remember, Remember".  I LOVED this talk, maybe because I'm not a very good journal writer and this is really something I need to work on.  Anyway, shortly after this, my sister-in-law, Alana, brought a cute journal for us to make at our traditional Thanksgiving craft fest.  So I decided to combine the two and add Elder Eyring's talk to these fun, twist on a journals to make a cute gift.

The basic "how-to" is the same as the Christmas Planner.  However, the tabs for these journals are as follows:  Goals, Accomplishments, Adventures and Travels, Books I've Read, Favorite Scriptures and Quotes, and Blessings.  As I said, I made a Teen version, too. For those tabs I used: Goals, Favorite Songs and Artists (since this changes week to week, it's fun to remember), Books I've Read, Friends Info., Travels and Adventures, and Blessings.  I also dressed these up a bit more than the Christmas book by adding quotes to each title page and matting each title and quote with either one or two layers of cardstock and/or scrapbook paper.

On the left is the front title (pocket) page.  On the right is a sample section title page.

For each tab, I sectioned off about 5 pages and then left the rest of the tablet for the Blessings section.  In the front pocket (inside page) I added a shortened version of Elder Eyring's talk.  In this talk, he speaks about every day writing down "how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family." And as you pay more attention, you'll notice more blessings - even if it's little things like a neighbor helping out or someone letting you go in front of them at the grocery store.  If you would like to make your own, you can download them all here:
Titles and Quotes
Titles and Quotes - Teens
O Remember, Remember
This is two pages, that I print back to back, cut down to size, and then fold it backwards so the title is on the front.


In the picture at the top, you'll also see a Recipe book.  Cheyenne made that for Natalie a year or so ago for Christmas.  This is a place Natalie can jot down her favorite recipes she got from 4-H, or while she's cooking at home.  It has the sections of Breads, Meats & Main Dishes, Cakes & Desserts, Cookies, Candy, and Misc.  Cheyenne also found some cute food quotes to go with a couple of them:  "Man cannot live by bread alone...he needs peanut butter and jelly to go with it"; "You do not like them, so you say. Try them, try them, and you may. Try them and you may, I say."; "You get what you get, so don't throw a fit!"; and "The problem - how to get 2 lbs. of chocolate home in a hot car. The solution - eat it in the parking lot."  She also decorated it with cute cooking stickers.

These make great (thrifty) gifts.  I made the journals for my friends, ladies I visit for church, my girls made them for their friends, and I made them for my children's teachers.  I got rave reviews from them!  I even had the mom of one of my daughter's friends (who I didn't know at the time) call and tell me how much she loved it. Really! That made me feel happy.  The best was when I actually saw them using them.  Quite a few of those who received them would take them to church meetings to take notes in.  I have loved mine to keep track of all the books I've read - found out that I read about 2 books every month. :)  I also used the Quotes section to keep track of my favorite scriptures, but also the funny things my kids would say. It's fun to look back on that now.  If you decide to try this, I love to hear about and see your version.  Let me know!

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Christmas Planner

Yesterday I was thrilled to be a guest poster at Type A Decorating.  This is what I shared with Tammy's readers over there, and now I'll share it with you here. :)

Today’s post is a simple, cute way to organize your Christmas.  This is small enough to stick in your purse, or easily hide, but contains everything you need to know to get you through the holidays with more time for having fun with your family.  Bonus, you can use it for several years, too.

Supplies needed:
Small 7x5” notebook
Scrapbook paper
Ribbon
A file tab punch is great, however, I also had tab stickers, or you could just cut your own
Other stickers, flowers, and embellishments
Adhesive – make sure whatever kind you use it’s a permanent adhesive

I started out with all the stuff on the left and then as I looked further into my stash of papers, I found all these on the right that I bought recently (okay, a year ago) and loved them even more.  Just a couple ideas to show you how completely unique these can be (great gift ideas, too!)

Start by cutting your two papers, the top one is 4 ¾” x 4” and the bottom one is 4 3/4” x 3”.  Basically, I went with two-thirds on top, one-third on bottom if you use a different size notebook.  Cut a piece of ribbon approximately 5 1/2” or a little longer, to cover the edge where the papers join.  I actually had adhesive-backed ribbon, which was nice.  Probably the easiest way to join them all together is to lay your ribbon down with the adhesive up, and center your two papers on top of the ribbon.  Then wrap the ends carefully around the edges, be careful not to bend or curl your paper, and glue the ends down on the backside of the paper.

Next, glue the whole paper/ribbon combination onto the notebook.  Make sure you put adhesive on both the notebook and the paper – just seems to hold stronger.  I used a tape runner, but ended up using Scotch brand Quick-Dry liquid glue to touch up spots that were coming loose.  Add a title to your planner and whatever other embellishments you want on the front. 

Now is the time to do some thinking and decide what exactly you want in your planner.  My notebook has a pocket inside, so that’s a great place to keep Receipts.  I also did Gift Ideas so as I find ideas throughout the year either on-line or in catalogs, I can jot it down here and remember where I saw that perfect gift.  Also I’ll use it as a place jot down things people just mention in conversation.  You know when that light bulb goes off in your head as your husband (who’s my hardest to shop for) mentions some strange tool “it would be really nice to have,” but then I can’t remember when I’m standing in the tool store.  You could also keep a list of clothing sizes here or things they need for those you’re shopping for –  Chloe wears a size 11 shoe, but Maddie is an 11 ½, Billy needs pajamas.  Traditions could be another category, traditions to try and traditions to continue.  If you’re like me, December can get a little crazy with all the things we have to do and all the things we want to do.  This will give me a spot to list those things I really want to make time for and also a place to write down cool traditions that I hear from others that I want to try with my family.  Cards.  I keep all the addresses of those I send cards to on my computer so I can print labels, but I think it will be nice to have a place to just list the names I’m sending to.  I can also add to the list here in preparation for next year as we make new friends or get cards from different people. (Or to cross out those who don’t make the list! ;) lol)  Menu is where I’ll list my Christmas dinner menu, obviously, but I’m also going to make a list of treats to make, or treats to take to neighbors, or even jot down new recipes to try.  The Gift List section will be where I actually list out the gifts I’m giving, that’s why this planner will be hidden from all little eyes!  I’m one of those people who buy gifts all year long.  The all get hidden away, and sometimes I forget what I’ve bought, who it’s for, or how much I’ve already bought.  It’s also handy when you can’t remember what you gave people last year (or the year before.)  Plus, it’s kind of fun to look back and see what your kids got when they were younger (or in my house, prove you were right when you said you got “such and such” in “whatever year”.  Yah, we get a little competitive about the dumbest things. J)  My final section is Notes.  I can use it just for notes, or as a little journaling place to write down some thoughts and highlights of each Christmas season.  There are many other things you could list: decorations - take a picture of that perfect mantle so you’ll remember how to set it up next year; glue in a December calendar to make notes of all those parties, kids programs, concerts, etc. that you want to attend; a budget section; a party planning section – a place to list all you need to do to host that perfect party; whatever else would be helpful to you.

After you’ve decided what to include, you need to make tabs and a title page for each section.  I used a file tab punch to punch out my tabs out of the same paper I used on the front.  My papers were both double-sided so I used the back side for tabs, too.   You could also buy tab stickers, or just cut out a tab shape – they’re about 3” long.  For the title pages, I had a sheet of embellishments/tags, I’m not sure what they’re called – it’s the top paper in the right-hand picture.  I cut these apart and wrote the name of each section on them.  Some of the tags were too big to use, so I just cut a square of decorative paper or used another large punch to decoratively cut a title plate for some sections.

Glue the tab to the edge of a single page.  I only stress that because the first time I made one of these I accidentally glued it to the first page and then the last page I had sectioned off.  Doesn’t work very well that way. J  Then glue on your title tag.  I made my sections about 10 pages each, although some were a little bigger when I’d be writing a lot more.  It’s up to you, how many sections you have, and how many years you want to use it, etc.  As you are gluing your tabs on, remember to stagger them so it’s easier to read the tabs.

The final step is to add the ribbons to the spiral binding.  I like the mix of some plain ribbon and some patterned ribbons.  Cut them about 4” each, but I found out that the wider and stiffer the ribbon the longer the length you need to be able to tie them.  For example, the green ribbon I used was 1/8”, and a 4” long piece was more than enough to be able to tie it on.  However, 4” of the patterned ribbon, which was more like 1/4” and a grosgrain ribbon, was barely enough for me to tie on.  Just slip the ribbon through the binding and tie a double knot on each spiral.  A little tedious, but makes it really cute, I think.

That’s it!  It really doesn’t take that long to make and it will be invaluable to you as you try to have an organized, stress-free Christmas. 

Here are some variations of this planner that make great gifts!

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Wedding Gifts - Wood Name Signs

Last week I shared with you this cute baby gift I made for my cousin.  I must be on a name kick right now because as I was contemplating what to give/make for a couple of weddings we were celebrating this weekend, everything I kept thinking of involved their new names.  Then I got this email from GroopDealz (love them!) and knew I wanted to make this:

I remembered I had a couple other wood signs that "spoke" to me at the thrift store.  Here's my beauties in all their glory.

Check out the skill in that wood burning!  That gave me a little trouble.  The other board had a super, high-gloss finish on it plus a few holes.  So they took a little work, but it was worth it. I filled holes, filled the whole "let freedom ring" and bells, sanded, and sanded some more.  Then I painted them both black.  The first board looked great, the freedom board, not so good.  I could still see all the bells and words through the paint.  So some mod podge and paper to the rescue.  That covered it all up.  Did a little more sanding and added vinyl letters and their names.  I LOVE how the first board turned out!  The second one I was in a hurry, even using the blow dryer to get the mod podge to dry before I wrapped it.  It didn't turn out so well, the paper didn't match as well as I'd liked and I didn't get the name on it over the line between the papers.  Grrr!  Oh, well, I hope it isn't too noticeable.

  Anyway, here's the finished products:

Great news! I made it to 100 followers so that means it's time for a P.A.R.T.Y!! I'll be having giveaways every day for the next week.  Come check them out!

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