Teacher Appreciation

I agreed to head up
Teacher Appreciation Week
again this year.
I love doing it.
I love our teachers.
Our school is the perfect school for us.

Have you discovered picnik yet?
LOVE it.
Like really love it.

I used it to make this subway art for the teachers.


It could not have been easier!

I googled "gray background image"
and uploaded that to picnik.

Then I edited the image to a perfect 4x6 size.

Next I added all the words
and played with their fonts and colors.

I used some obvious words for appreciation
but I also included words unique to our school
to make it really special and personalized.
Our school has dual-immersion, so I included "thank you" and "gracias."
I included our school motto "safe, responsible, respectful"
We have an incentive program where the kids collect "gotcha's"
I even thought about doing individual prints
for each of the teachers
that had their own name on it.

Then I remembered I have four kids.

:o)

This was easy and fun.
I will definitely do it again!
Go try it!

Handwarmer Tutorial

This Mom-Of-Four thing is killin' me.
And I mean that figuratively,
of course.

My craft time is close to extinct these days
but my mamatime is through the roof.
Through. The. Roof. I tell ya.

So hang tight.
I'm planning on a homemade Christmas.
I've got the materials
now I need the time.

Here are some handwarmers
that I whipped up
out of necessity
during One's soccer season.


Cut four pieces of fabric (mine are 4x5)
I did two cotton and two something-fuzzy



Put front and back pieces right sides together
and stitch around all four sides
leaving a hole for turning



Turn inside out and stitch around outside again
still leaving the hole open (this time for filling)



Fill (I filled mine with rice) and sew opening shut.

(I will probably fill with something bigger than rice next time.
Maybe lentils? I'm hoping they might hold the heat longer.)

That's it!
I used scrap fabric.
It took about 10 minutes.
Super easy and would make a great gift
for teachers or any number of other people.

Just microwave and enjoy!

What's for lunch?

Whatever you're taking for lunch,
why not take it in a cute
reusable snack/lunch bag?


You'll need:
fabric
clear vinyl
sew-on velcro

To make this sandwich bag
I cut my fabric approx 7 inches x 14 inches
and also some clear vinyl the same size.

1 - Sew fabric and vinyl together
right sides together
leaving a hole for turning

2 - Turn inside out

3 - Sew on velcro -
fuzzy velcro on vinyl side of one end
scratchy velcro on fabric side of the other end


I opted for the fuzzy side to be on top
and the scratchy side to be on the lower outside piece
(look at the picture above)
so it wouldn't scratch any hands
reaching into the bag.
That's also why I chose to do
a fold-over type bag
as opposed to a ziploc style.

So now that I've completely confused you...


4 - Sew up the sides of the bag

5 - Pack your lunch and enjoy
all the nice comments you'll receive!

To make a snack size bag,
cut your fabric approx 7 inches x 10 inches

It's a cinch!

I needed a gift for a little superhero
who is turning 5 this weekend.
I decided to make a cinch bag
mostly using this tutorial from Martha
and some spiderman fabric from my stash.


First, I cut a 14-1/2" x 32" piece of fabric
and folded in the short ends 1/4 inch
and then another inch to make the tubes
for the drawstring:


Sew up your sides, but
stop before you get to the tubes!
You can also sew in short loops of ribbon
at the bottom for later.
(See Martha's tutorial or my picture at the bottom)


Then I cut letters of the superhero's name
out of interfacing
b a c k w a r d s
(remember that part)
(I do it wrong first everytime)
and ironed them onto some
coordinating fabric:



Cut out the letters and
sew them onto some black fabric:

I had red thread in my machine
and white thread in my bobbin...
something was definitely wrong with my tension
but in this instance,
I actually really like the outcome.



Cut two lengths of nylon cord - 50 inches
(heat seal the edges so they don't fray)
and slid them through the tubes at the top:

And knot them through the loops you sewed
into the bottom of the side seams
because you were too cheap
to fork out $22 for a grommet punch!

And there you have it!
A super-fun, personalized gift
for a superhero!

Laundry Excitement!

In an attempt to be both frugal and green,
I made my own laundry detergent!
*gasp*
We were using liquid store brand detergent
which was running us about $15 a month.
I haven't broken down my exact cost but from researching others,
this homemade version will cost about $12 a YEAR!

Yes people, a Y-E-A-R!!!

Interested?
Here are my ingredients:
1 bar Fels Naptha soap
1 cup Washing Soda
1 cup Baking Soda
1 cup Oxy Clean

First, I grated my bar soap on the teeny-hole side of my grater:

I left it to dry out (took a few hours) and then blended it to dust.
I just used our magic bullet.

Combined all the ingredients:

That was it!!!
2 Tbs/load

So here's the important part....the first load....

I washed a sheet,
DaddyMan's running gear,
and some bath towels.

Pretty mega duty stuff, right?

It was awesome! DaddyMan is training for a marathon. He's not just running around the block, he's running 8-12 miles, so his running gear is gross! Now, in full discloser, I admit to not smelling the dirty laundry (sorry, not going to happen!). But the clean laundry was totally clean and fresh smelling and looking!

Here's what I learned from looking at other laundry detergent recipes:
*If you can't find the Fels Naptha, others have used Ivory.
*In my area, I could only find the Fels Naptha and Washing Soda at Fred Meyer (Kroger). It's on the same aisle with the laundry detergent. I think others have also been able to find them at Walmart.
*Some recipes called for Borax, but considering one comment said it was optional and also "great at killing roaches" I left it out.
*Since Borax is apparently a great cleaning agent, I opted to use the OxyClean instead.

Another resource w/ 10 detergent recipes including liquid detergents here.

Let me know if you try it!

Plus-Size Flowers

Dollar Store flowers ROCK!

At this post, I used them to make a hair pin for Two.
Then my girls group (10th-11th grade) got together
and we made pins for ourselves.

Here are mine:

My girls got a kick out of how full they were.
I just couldn't stop adding more petals!
Don't knock the plus-size flower!

To make them:
I combined lots of layers of each size
petal to make them super full,
(Seriously, these are like 3-4 flowers combined!)
then topped them with a clearance button from Joann's,
and added a pin to the back.

I wore the pink one on my Anniversary Date with DaddyMan
and got lots of compliments.

Put one on a shirt, put one on your bag....
Go make one!
Seriously, it cost less than $1.50.

Tutorial: Wear it on your lapel, wear it in your hair!

Back on this post I teased you
about a cute flower pin that
I managed to turn into a hair accessory
for Two.


The big reveal is finally here!


Here are your supplies:
* Alligator clip
* 3/8" ribbon, enough to line your clip
* Electrical wire cover




Line the inside of your clip as usual. While the hot glue is cooling, put another big glob of glue on top of the clip and place your electrical wire tube perpendicular to the clip:



Finish lining your clip as usual:



Here is the Messy Flower grad gift I made all set to be worn as a pin:

(How much am I wishing I had used white thread?! Don't ask!)


And here it is "pinned" through the adapted alligator clip:


Pretty neat trick, don't you think?!