I've known that I needed to get back on here and update my blog with all of the things I've completed lately, but it has been crazy around here. What I didn't realize was just how long it's actually been! I just looked at my last post date. February 12th?!?! Really?!?! Man, oh man!
Okay, well I'm back to it now and promise to give you a whole lot to enjoy! February was a crazy month around here. Between planning the class Valentine's Day party for my kindergartner (which I can never seem to do anything but get way in over my head), coordinating the Book Fair at our school, random comings and goings of the cold, and many other things, I was glad to have things finally settle down. Then...WE GOT SNOWED IN! Yes, we get snow here. Yes, I've seen it many, many times before. However, we've never been totally DUMPED on like we were at once with 18" and then another 7" on top of that two days later. In fact, the 18" set a record. I believe it's been somewhere around 100 years since that much snowfall at once was recorded around these parts. Ridiculous!
And what did I spend my lovely time trapped inside doing? Crafting, you ask? Ha! That would've been AWESOME! No, instead I spent my time cleaning the house and making it shine. I know. Bore. But, it made me feel so much better to have everything caught up after making things a mess preparing for the V-Day party at school. Seriously, my house looked like a tornado picked up a craft fair and then threw it up in my house. NIGHTMARE! Plus, having a clean house makes it so much more enjoyable to craft. Then I don't get the nagging feeling I should really be doing something else that actually NEEDS done versus something I just want to do. :-)
So, enough rambling from me. Now I'll get to the good stuff! Excuse me while I prepare to craft vomit (it's like word vomit, only with crafts) all over this blog.
Monday, March 4, 2013
Belt Buddies!
That's my little guy with his Belt Buddie I made him!
I always feel so bad looking back at the kids when they've fallen asleep in the car; chins smashed into their chest, neck in all sorts of cramping positions, their breathing labored. I am known for frequently waking them up to rearrange their head because I end up thinking they're going to stop breathing and suffocate or something.
I've been wanting to find something to fix this problem. I'd seen several things on Pinterest from different people, so I started looking into it and thinking about what it was I wanted from them.
Kids are messy. They spill things. They get sick. Heck, they're tinier versions of us adults. And as an adult, I am messy. ;-)
I needed something that was washable - therefore removable. I've seen them with the Velcro tabs like mine has, but they were simply "tucking" in extra fabric at the top. Which is totally fine, but I wanted mine to be a bit more secure. I needed for it to be fully enclosed.
So, here's what I came up with: a fleece, removable, washable cover for the Belt Buddie pillow. The pillow portion itself can also be washed. Win/win. When the pillow portion is inside the fleece cover, it is fully enclosed via a Velcro pocket at the top.
The Velcro tabs easily attach to a regular seat belt, or the top tab can attach to the shoulder strap portion of a front-facing car seat while the rest of the pillow is curved and tucked into the other side of the car seat as pictured below:
The Belt Buddie can also be attached to the shoulder strap portion and left un-curved depending on your child's preference as shown:
Either way, the Belt Buddie is secure and allows for a comfortable position to rest the child's head whether in a front-facing car seat, a booster seat, or no car seat at all.
The MOST AMAZING Bathroom Cleaner EVER!!! P.S. It's green too!
Okay, I am so freaking excited about this post! I love love LOVE finding better ways to clean. I know. I'm a freak. But I always get so frustrated spending boat loads of money month after month on cleaning products that fail to deliver on what they promise.
I'm not looking to get out of work. I'm not looking for those cleaners that you "set it and forget it." I understand that for something to be truly clean, you actually have to do SOMETHING. But, I also don't want to spend forever scrubbing until my hands cramp up without things improving.
Also, while we are in the rental house waiting for our remodel to be complete at our own house, I've been wanting to find that perfect cleaner. We will be having all new everything in our house, and I want to make sure I don't end up ruining any surfaces right off the bat. Everything seems to be so sensitive nowadays. You can't use this or that cleaner on this or that type of surface, and so you end up having fifty different cleaners that you have to keep track of what you can and can't use where. I don't want that. I want something that works on multiple surfaces without scratching, fading, dyeing, etc. I also am becoming more aware of how your store bought cleaners leave you feeling like you just inhaled a can of spray paint or something while simply spraying down the shower and tub. Yuck. That seriously can't be good for you, right?
So, here's my new little secret that I'm going to share with you! EEEEKKKK! I'm so excited! Seriously! This has changed things drastically around here!
That's baking soda. BAKING SODA! Are you kidding me?!?! To clean my tub/shower, the glass doors, the entire toilet minus the bowl and the bathroom sink, I use 1 cup of baking soda plus enough water to make it a paste (not shown in the picture.) I also add 10-12 drops of lemon essential oil because I love the smell.
Wet a washcloth, dip it into the paste, and rub over the entire surface. Rinse. Done! I use a washcloth instead of a scrubbing brush because it won't chip away your surface or scratch it. The baking soda is a natural cleaner and cleans amazingly well. Remember: this is the stuff our grandmas' grandmas' were using! Plus, no harsh chemicals. Good for you. Good for your family. And it leaves everything so nice and clean!
I've heard the comment that 1 cup of baking soda is a lot for a one time use. Here's my math. I find 4 cup boxes (2 lb) of baking soda at Wal-Mart for less than $2.50 a box. 4 cups = 4 weeks/bathroom. Less than $2.50 for a month. I was spending almost $5 for cleaner that would only last a couple weeks, if that because I use enough to coat things, not just sprinkle them. So, I'm spending half the amount I was, I'm getting a better clean that lasts longer, and I'm not inhaling horrible fumes and subjecting my family to that as well.
I'm not looking to get out of work. I'm not looking for those cleaners that you "set it and forget it." I understand that for something to be truly clean, you actually have to do SOMETHING. But, I also don't want to spend forever scrubbing until my hands cramp up without things improving.
Also, while we are in the rental house waiting for our remodel to be complete at our own house, I've been wanting to find that perfect cleaner. We will be having all new everything in our house, and I want to make sure I don't end up ruining any surfaces right off the bat. Everything seems to be so sensitive nowadays. You can't use this or that cleaner on this or that type of surface, and so you end up having fifty different cleaners that you have to keep track of what you can and can't use where. I don't want that. I want something that works on multiple surfaces without scratching, fading, dyeing, etc. I also am becoming more aware of how your store bought cleaners leave you feeling like you just inhaled a can of spray paint or something while simply spraying down the shower and tub. Yuck. That seriously can't be good for you, right?
So, here's my new little secret that I'm going to share with you! EEEEKKKK! I'm so excited! Seriously! This has changed things drastically around here!
That's baking soda. BAKING SODA! Are you kidding me?!?! To clean my tub/shower, the glass doors, the entire toilet minus the bowl and the bathroom sink, I use 1 cup of baking soda plus enough water to make it a paste (not shown in the picture.) I also add 10-12 drops of lemon essential oil because I love the smell.
Wet a washcloth, dip it into the paste, and rub over the entire surface. Rinse. Done! I use a washcloth instead of a scrubbing brush because it won't chip away your surface or scratch it. The baking soda is a natural cleaner and cleans amazingly well. Remember: this is the stuff our grandmas' grandmas' were using! Plus, no harsh chemicals. Good for you. Good for your family. And it leaves everything so nice and clean!
I've heard the comment that 1 cup of baking soda is a lot for a one time use. Here's my math. I find 4 cup boxes (2 lb) of baking soda at Wal-Mart for less than $2.50 a box. 4 cups = 4 weeks/bathroom. Less than $2.50 for a month. I was spending almost $5 for cleaner that would only last a couple weeks, if that because I use enough to coat things, not just sprinkle them. So, I'm spending half the amount I was, I'm getting a better clean that lasts longer, and I'm not inhaling horrible fumes and subjecting my family to that as well.
Valentine's Day Classroom Party Favors
I know. I know. Valentine's Day has already come and gone. Blah blah blah. I should've posted this BEFORE V-Day, not after. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Seeing as how I'm new to this blogging world, the last thing I thought was, "Oh, I should do this ahead of time so others can use this as an idea of something to make!" And by last, I mean last. As in, the day of the class party (aka Valentine's Day), mere hours before it was to start.
So, let's just pretend that I did think of that before the last second. Let's just say I'm a year ahead, thus giving you a year to work on your class party favors! Nothing like being prepared, right? You're welcome. ;-)
So, I am the Class Parent for my daughter's Kindergarten class. At our school, this means I am in charge of planning and coordinating the year's parties and making sure our volunteering parents know what to bring.
One of the things we make sure to have each party is a party favor for each of the kids. Since this year was my first year doing anything like this, for the Fall party, I asked one of the parent volunteers to bring party favor bags for the kiddos. It worked out well because you can go to Party City, fill bags full of little trinkets for just a few cents a piece, and voila! Party favors! It's super fast, super easy, and economical.
For the second party, the Winter Party, I had an idea for party favors, so I chose that responsibility for myself. I ended up finding ceramic ornaments (all the same) for $0.50 each at Michael's. They had red ribbons for hanging. I already had plenty of acrylic paint at home. I picked up some silver and gold glittery sticker letters to spell the kids' names out on the ornaments. After painting each ornament - 3 ornaments per color (yeah, I couldn't have done it simply by using only one color) - I spelled out each child's name with the glitter letters using gold letters for the boys and silver letters for the girls. Then, I used a paint pen to write the year and teacher's name on the back of each ornament. The teacher also received one herself.
It took a lot of time. I even had to send my husband to the store to buy one more ornament I was short on the day before the party because I was so sick I couldn't go. But it was SOOOO worth it! The kids loved them! I was so happy to be giving them something they could enjoy not only then but for years to come. I had parents tell me they went up on the tree at home and then packaged away safely for next year. And it cost less than $25 for the entire class! Well worth it!
So, back to Valentine's Day...
After seeing how well the Winter Party part favors went over, I knew for certain I wanted to do something similar for V Day. I just wasn't sure what...until the last minute, of course. About a week before the party, I was walking around Michael's trying to stir up some creative visions when I came up with the perfect idea! A picture frame, each with their own names, with a class picture. But, I only wanted to do it if I could find just what I was looking for to complete it: an owl. In my daughter's class, they are the owls. This is not the school mascot, just her kindergarten class. I've managed to incorporate owls into the past parties one way or another, including her birthday party sleepover with the owl pillows. So, I definitely wanted to make sure I did it this time. It was one of those make or break things. If I could find what I pictured in my head, it was on like Donkey Kong! If I couldn't, I would scrap the entire thing. That's how I am with pretty much everything. I've got to be all in or not at all.
So, I searched the store up and down, and wouldn't you know I found exactly what I had pictured in my head! PERFECT! It was meant to be!
So, let's just pretend that I did think of that before the last second. Let's just say I'm a year ahead, thus giving you a year to work on your class party favors! Nothing like being prepared, right? You're welcome. ;-)
So, I am the Class Parent for my daughter's Kindergarten class. At our school, this means I am in charge of planning and coordinating the year's parties and making sure our volunteering parents know what to bring.
One of the things we make sure to have each party is a party favor for each of the kids. Since this year was my first year doing anything like this, for the Fall party, I asked one of the parent volunteers to bring party favor bags for the kiddos. It worked out well because you can go to Party City, fill bags full of little trinkets for just a few cents a piece, and voila! Party favors! It's super fast, super easy, and economical.
For the second party, the Winter Party, I had an idea for party favors, so I chose that responsibility for myself. I ended up finding ceramic ornaments (all the same) for $0.50 each at Michael's. They had red ribbons for hanging. I already had plenty of acrylic paint at home. I picked up some silver and gold glittery sticker letters to spell the kids' names out on the ornaments. After painting each ornament - 3 ornaments per color (yeah, I couldn't have done it simply by using only one color) - I spelled out each child's name with the glitter letters using gold letters for the boys and silver letters for the girls. Then, I used a paint pen to write the year and teacher's name on the back of each ornament. The teacher also received one herself.
It took a lot of time. I even had to send my husband to the store to buy one more ornament I was short on the day before the party because I was so sick I couldn't go. But it was SOOOO worth it! The kids loved them! I was so happy to be giving them something they could enjoy not only then but for years to come. I had parents tell me they went up on the tree at home and then packaged away safely for next year. And it cost less than $25 for the entire class! Well worth it!
So, back to Valentine's Day...
After seeing how well the Winter Party part favors went over, I knew for certain I wanted to do something similar for V Day. I just wasn't sure what...until the last minute, of course. About a week before the party, I was walking around Michael's trying to stir up some creative visions when I came up with the perfect idea! A picture frame, each with their own names, with a class picture. But, I only wanted to do it if I could find just what I was looking for to complete it: an owl. In my daughter's class, they are the owls. This is not the school mascot, just her kindergarten class. I've managed to incorporate owls into the past parties one way or another, including her birthday party sleepover with the owl pillows. So, I definitely wanted to make sure I did it this time. It was one of those make or break things. If I could find what I pictured in my head, it was on like Donkey Kong! If I couldn't, I would scrap the entire thing. That's how I am with pretty much everything. I've got to be all in or not at all.
So, I searched the store up and down, and wouldn't you know I found exactly what I had pictured in my head! PERFECT! It was meant to be!
$0.29 a piece for these little boogers! That's it! How great is that?!?! They are actually a bit lighter in color - I had already painted this little guy before I realized I needed to take a picture. Again, new at the blogging thing. Bare with me.
So, now it was just to find an inexpensive frame. When you have 21 students plus the teacher, you've got to make sure things don't get too costly. I ended up finding some great wooden frames for $1.00 each. They are 4x6 and don't have glass/plexi glass, which is perfect for younger kids, and they come with sticks for the back to prop the frame up horizontally or vertically. And yes, I did forget to get a picture of the frames before I painted them. You live, you learn.
I already had paint at home, so I was officially good to go!
Again, not able to keep it simple with just one color, I painted half of the girls' frames pink and the other half purple, and I did half the boys' green and the other half blue. My middle name is alwaysinoverherhead. No, really. It is. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but when you have to do three coats on each side, plus the edges and wait for space while drying, it becomes very time consuming. Time which I did not have. Let's just say an hour before I was to leave for the party, I was still finishing these. Made it just in time. Whew!
Once the frames were painted (I used spray paint), I used a paint marker to write each of the kids' names on the frames. All of the owls were sprayed with brown spray paint, and then I used paint markers to hand paint each of the owls. I started out without hearts, but decided since it was for Valentine's Day, I wanted to add the hearts.
I used a hot glue gun to glue the owls to the front corners of the frames - making sure to not put them too low so as to keep the frame from sitting level once upright. Here's what they looked like:
and a close up:
I contacted the teacher, and she was kind enough to get a class picture while everyone was there. The kids took two pictures - a regular one and one with crazy faces. Of course, I used the crazy faces one! So, I printed out each of the pictures on photo paper, cut them to size, and inserted them into the frames. You might be wondering how I got the pictures to stay with nothing backing them. Well, the frames came with cardboard backers, so I used those.
I didn't put a close up of the frames with the pictures because all of the kids' are there, but you can get the idea from this of the final product:
They were a total hit! I received so much thanks from the parents that were attending the party, and then received emails from parents that hadn't been able to attend thanking me for the frames. The kids were already putting the frames out in their rooms when they got home that day! That right there is the whole reason I choose to do homemade gifts for these kids instead of random plastic trinkets. When you figure I spent approximately $30 (since I already had the paint) for 22 gifts, that's INCREDIBLE! 22 gifts for 30 bucks!
So, now hopefully you have an idea for the kiddos in your life...or shoot...even yourself! These are cute, even if I do say so myself!
Cookie Decorating Gone DIY
So, while we're on the outdated subject of Valentine's Day, I'll show you what I planned for the kids for their classroom activity for their party.
I wanted the kids to be able to decorate their own sugar cookies. But, these are kindergartners. And the school has brand new carpet. And I can just see the horrible messes and the janitors chasing after me with chainsaws and clubs. I needed to come up with a way to make it less messy. Or pretty much make it as impossible to be messy as possible. Make sense? Good.
I won't go into my love/hate relationship with the sugar cookies I attempted. Let's just say after multiple attempts at heart-shaped sugar cookies, I went to the store and bought already made, and my love/hate relationship turned into a purely hate relationship. I can bake cakes. Not cookies. *hurumph*
Back to the less messy. Have you ever heard of Dollar Tree? Where everything really is a dollar not just close to it? LOVE. THAT. PLACE. I needed cookie sheets. And I needed them cheap. Unfortunately, I didn't plan ahead soon enough, so I felt I couldn't ask people to bring their cookie sheets from home so we could hopefully have enough combined without having to buy any. Oh well. I needed some for home anyway. I'm not sure what for though, now that I think of it. I can't bake cookies, remember? Well, I can chocolate chip, but that's about it. Aaannnyyyway....I figured with 5 tables in the class, if we had 2 cookie sheets per table, the kids could decorate their cookies on the cookie sheets, keeping the icing and sprinkles at bay. So, ten bucks later, I walked out of Dollar Tree with 10 cookie sheets. Perfect.
Each kid was going to get two cookies to decorate; one to eat at the party and one to take home. Notice how I put them in a bag so it looked like I made them. ;-) Ha! No, it was just easier to carry this way, but apparently people thought I made them.
I found these condiment bottles at Walmart for $0.97 each. I filled half with white icing and half with pink icing. I was going to make the icing homemade but ended up running out of time, go figure, so I cheated and bought store containers. Better choice.
I love that these bottles have caps on them. I made it easy to travel with knowing they weren't leaking. The bottles worked out wonderfully...for the adults. Honestly, it's a great concept - if there's someone stronger than a kindergartner to squeeze the icing out. Either the icing needs to be a bit runnier (if it's homemade you can add more milk) or you can cut the tip off a bit more to make it come out easier for those little hands. Other than the strength needed for squeezing the bottles being more than a kindergartner has, they worked out great. We ended up cutting all of the tips shortly after realizing this problem, and then the kids went buck wild decorating.
And guess what...NO MESS!
I wanted the kids to be able to decorate their own sugar cookies. But, these are kindergartners. And the school has brand new carpet. And I can just see the horrible messes and the janitors chasing after me with chainsaws and clubs. I needed to come up with a way to make it less messy. Or pretty much make it as impossible to be messy as possible. Make sense? Good.
I won't go into my love/hate relationship with the sugar cookies I attempted. Let's just say after multiple attempts at heart-shaped sugar cookies, I went to the store and bought already made, and my love/hate relationship turned into a purely hate relationship. I can bake cakes. Not cookies. *hurumph*
Back to the less messy. Have you ever heard of Dollar Tree? Where everything really is a dollar not just close to it? LOVE. THAT. PLACE. I needed cookie sheets. And I needed them cheap. Unfortunately, I didn't plan ahead soon enough, so I felt I couldn't ask people to bring their cookie sheets from home so we could hopefully have enough combined without having to buy any. Oh well. I needed some for home anyway. I'm not sure what for though, now that I think of it. I can't bake cookies, remember? Well, I can chocolate chip, but that's about it. Aaannnyyyway....I figured with 5 tables in the class, if we had 2 cookie sheets per table, the kids could decorate their cookies on the cookie sheets, keeping the icing and sprinkles at bay. So, ten bucks later, I walked out of Dollar Tree with 10 cookie sheets. Perfect.
Each kid was going to get two cookies to decorate; one to eat at the party and one to take home. Notice how I put them in a bag so it looked like I made them. ;-) Ha! No, it was just easier to carry this way, but apparently people thought I made them.
So, we had the cookie sheets. I brought small, plastic bowls to hold sprinkles. Now, I just needed a way to make the icing less messy. Here's what I did:
I love that these bottles have caps on them. I made it easy to travel with knowing they weren't leaking. The bottles worked out wonderfully...for the adults. Honestly, it's a great concept - if there's someone stronger than a kindergartner to squeeze the icing out. Either the icing needs to be a bit runnier (if it's homemade you can add more milk) or you can cut the tip off a bit more to make it come out easier for those little hands. Other than the strength needed for squeezing the bottles being more than a kindergartner has, they worked out great. We ended up cutting all of the tips shortly after realizing this problem, and then the kids went buck wild decorating.
And guess what...NO MESS!
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