I am a craft-a-holic....yep it's true, although I haven't found a 12 step program for it. I am not sure I'd care to change either. I find sewing, knitting, and crafting to be soothing, calming, and therapeutic. I really enjoy using the skills my grandma taught me too! I love sitting down with my kids and creating fun projects together (and for them). We have a junk closet.....much like a junk drawer but bigger, and it certainly needed to be revived with life. Because I do so many projects at once I thought it might be a good idea to get all my craftiness supplies in one central location rather than strewed about the house. Want to know how I turned my closet into this lovely thing? Well, then read on... Like I said, I started with quite a junky looking mess. It was actually embarrassing for me to take a photo of it to share but I am doing it for the greater good. (tee hee hee) Here is what I started with. A heaped pile of disorganization! Oy that is so sad looking and completely … [Read more...]
Staying organized with kids
Staying organized is one thing I work really hard at. For me, I find that it keeps the stress levels down, frees up more time to spend with my family, and just plain works! With four kids organization is mandatory (if you ask me). Our mud room is one room that I use as a family organization room. I'm going to share a few of my tips and tricks to staying organized with kids! First up....the embarrassing BEFORE photos. Now here is what I did. First thing I did was make the mess even bigger! I took EVERYTHING off the shelf and out of the cubbies and tossed them on the floor. I made three piles- Save, Store, Sell. Once you have your piles then you can start figuring out what you need to do to organize. I realized that some extra baskets and buckets would help me a bunch. I taped off an area above the hooks on the wall and painted with some chalkboard paint. Right now it just has one of my favorite quotes on it but in the future I plan to use it to keep the kids reminder notes … [Read more...]
Hosting a Winter ONEderland Party
Planning birthday parties is one of my favorite things to do! With 4 kids I get the chance to get creative every couple of months (tee hee hee). This past month my baby boy turned ONE! I threw him a Winter ONEderland Party. I thought this party turned out so cute that I'd share it with you so that you too could be inspired! The first, and most important part of the party is the cake....of course! It just so happens that our local bakery offers a FREE "smash cake" for their 1st birthdays. Thanks to them I didn't have to pull out the pans and make one, yay! Check with your local bakery to see if they offer the same. (Note- I didn't blot out my sons name because it would have taken a long time to do...this will be the only post in which I will share his name). I asked them to add blue and white dots to the cake to coordinate with the colors. I also had them make a "winter- themed" sheet cake for our party guests. My lovely friend made the gorgeous fondant igloo, penguins, and polar … [Read more...]
Tutorial for making applique shirts
Welcome to day 13 of Toys In The Dryer 14 Days of Valentines! From February 1-14 we've done non-stop Valentine's posts to celebrate this lovely holiday! We hope you've enjoyed it as much as we have! Tomorrow is our last day. On Wednesday we'll return to our regular schedule. OK I know some of you might not want to do this but I promise it is REALLY easy to do and you do not need to know how to sew (OK maybe just a teeny tiny bit)! Your little girl is going to LOVE you for this project! I made the Be Mine a few weeks ago and my daughter has been wearing it out! I'm going to show you how to make one in just a few really easy steps. Let's get started. Here is what you will need a shirt small pieces of fabric steam a seam sheets (purchased online or at a fabric store) scissors needle and embroidery thread Start with making a template. I use my computer to print off photos of things I like and then cut them out. Super easy! Cut it out and place it on your sheet of … [Read more...]
Valentine’s Crayons
Welcome to day 12 of Toys In The Dryer 14 Days of Valentines! From February 1-14 we'll be doing non-stop Valentines posts to celebrate this lovely holiday! Some of you may remember our previous post on making your own crayons. Well now we'll take it a step further. Valentines gifts! It's a really easy project and your kids will be a hit this Valentines Day with these special Valentines. Here is what you will need: Crayons (oodles and oodles) heart shaped mold oven Valentine's cardstock plastic bags Step 1: gather up all the crayons you want to use and peel (the not so fun part) Step 2: chop with a chef knife (or break with your hands) each crayon into 4-5 pieces Step 3: pre-heat your oven to 350degrees F and fill each heart shaped mold half way with the crayons Step 4: bake crayons for 10 minutes and CAREFULLY remove them after the 10 minutes (if you set them aside and do not disturb them until they are hardened the colors will not mix together and make one solid … [Read more...]
Make fun of cleaning
I've mentioned my grandma a few times before and how she was creative, clever, and fun. I have so many amazing memories of the "little things" in life that she turned into great things. Not long ago she passed away and while the pain of losing her is still raw I know that I am so lucky because I have so many wonderful memories to last me a lifetime. One thing that she made fun was cleaning. Yes, you read the right, cleaning! She loved to sew and she had sewn me an apron that she kept in the top drawer in her kitchen (right next to her towels). On Sundays we'd get up and she'd open the kitchen drawer and pull out my little apron and tie it on. It's amazing to me that a simple apron made cleaning fun. I thought it would be really neat to "pass on the cleaning fun" to my daughter. I made her a special cleaning apron that I now keep in my top drawer in my kitchen right next to the one my grandma made for me. When it is time to get some cleaning done I try and make a game or a race … [Read more...]
