4 Really quick and Easy Back to school Crafts!

Come and look at Gabbys Back to School Tips and Projects! 

Doll Hair Repair-What works for us.

Hello Friends! 

Here is my video on how we un-tangle doll hair at our house. I am no doll hair expert but this has always worked for us...

What do you do when your dolls are needing some help?? 

Feel free to leave a comment! 

Dont be shy now! :) 

Loves! 

Emily

How To Make Bleach Pen Tees

Summer is here! 

We are gearing up to keep un-bored with some fun crafts! 

Here is the first of hopefully many! 

Bleach Pen T-Shirts!!

Check out the video here! 

(Subscribe if you like)

How to peel a Boiled egg EASY and FAST

How to peel a Boiled Egg...QUICK,,,EASY!

Thanks OneTimeShow!

Loves,

Emily 

Mothers Day/Teacher Appreciation gift DIY only cost 39 Cents Each!

Hello Friends! 

Are you looking for a quick, inexpensive gift for the ladies/teachers in your life? Whether they are teachers or mothers this idea will work for all of them! Something the kids can help with? Something that wont break the bank?  Here is my idea... A ribbon book mark  attached to some flower seeds. The kids are going to color and create a card with this quote inside..

With Freedom, books, flowers and the moon, who could not be happy?-Oscar Wilde

Wishing your the Happiest of Mothers days!

 Guess what...it only cost me 39 cents*!! 

Here is how it comes together

You will need:

approx 4 inches of ribbon $0.11

a lighter to seal the ribbon edges 

magnetic tape (I bought mine from Walmart)$.02

a seed packet $.20

half a card stock sheet for the card $.01

and a gift bag $.05

*these are per 1 gift prices

To make the book mark just cut the ribbon to about 4 inches in length and using the lighter hover the ribbon near the flame until the ends barely begin to melt. (this is NOT the kid helping part. Adults only playing with fire please)This step will prevent the ribbon from fraying. You could also use frey check if you don't want to use fire.

Next attach the magnetic tape

The ends will now be able to stick to each other with a page or two in between them in a favorite book. 

I loved this and it was very quick and easy to put together too. In fact when Sarah (my cute 2nd grader) saw what I had done she was very excited to help make an card and put one together for her teacher at school. WINNING!! 

What are your plans for mothers day? We would love to hear!!

Fun Inexpensive Heart Garland Tutorial

This garland is fun, cheap and darling. (In my humble opinion). Wanna know how to make one for yourself? Ok..You will need 

4 sheets of card stock

scissors (or a paper cutter)

a stapler and staples

Yep..that is everything

Fold your paper hot dog style or length wise in half. You will then cut it apart down the fold line and repeat 3 times like the pictures below. 

Each sheet will make 8 strips. Once you have your eight strips fold them in half. 

Put a staple at the fold and then pull each side down to get started..

Now take the fold (looks like an alligator jaw) and place the tip of your heart into the fold. 

Staple the 4 thicknesses 

Before you know it you will have a nice long garland! 

CUTE!!

I added my garland to the front of my curtains. This chain only took 4 sheets of card stock! Imagine it in red and pinks too! I think it so cute and adds a little Valentine Day flair to the house! Do you decorate for Valentines Day? We'd love to hear what you do! 

LOVES!

Emily

Lets make Ranch Mix for less than 25 cents a pack!!

Hello my friends! I hope you have enjoyed your Christmas break as much as we did here at our house! The time was spent being and doing everything family and it was truly a joy! 

AND 

one of  the highlights of the season is the exciting news that our 2nd daughter Lindsay has accepted the proposal of her one and only beloved, and will be getting married on April 25 2015!!

 YAY!! 

(be on the look out for wedding posts) 

BTW we LOVE her man something fierce!! He is a wonderful fit for our family and can't wait for their union so that Matt will be an official member of the family!! When you hear people say "you are not loosing a daughter you are gaining a son" cant be more true in this case! Jason and I are very lucky that both of our girls have chosen wonderful sons for us and pray that the 3 remaining children pick some equally great people to join our family!

  WOOT WOOT!! (I am just a smidge excited!!!)

And now.... back to the blog...HAHAHA!!

As I have been reflecting on things I would like to improve in my life and "setting" resolutions for myself one thing that rings true to me is that I'd like to be a better steward of our money. Now, don't get me wrong we have very little debt and we are doing "ok" in the money dept but I would really like to save more, and be able to help more whether its our kids, friends and family when they find themselves in those situations when money can solve the problem. I hate having to say I wish there was something I could do...I would really enjoy being able to actually help. SO....I will be looking for ways to cut the budget to allow us to pad the savings account. Here is my very first money saving discovery!

 DIY Ranch mix! 

(yes we eat far too much of the stuff)

This recipe is a fraction of the price, easy to put together and is sans the preservatives and additives. Silver linings folks!

DIY DRY RANCH MIX

This is enough to equal one packet. Needless to say you can double, triple, quadruple etc it as much as you like. I like just doing one batch at a time so the seasonings are evenly distributed)

3/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dry minced onion (or 1/2 tsp onion powder)

1 pinch thyme

1/4 tsp dill weed

Mix and use as you would a dry ranch mix packet. PS I put it in little containers to avoid wasting baggies. More tiny money savings and hey...it helps the earth a little too. :)

DIY Free Thanksgiving Printable For your Home Decor

Hey Friends! 

Here is a darling Thanksgiving Printable for you to use in your favorite frames!! 

Come and get it! 

It is resizeable for any frame you chose to use...Hey that rhymed!!
Click to Download Here

Have fun with it! 

Loves

Emily

PS thank you thank you thank you to my sweet Gabby and her talented self for making this up for us!!

PSS...Any suggestions for our Christmas Printable?? What would you like to see for free! (another rhyme folks :))

DIY Gift Hand Stamped Kitchen Tools

Here is a great idea I found on the lovely pinterest! I, in fact, had pinned it twice on different days so clearly it was a must do. HAHA! I actually already had stamps so it was a no brainer for me. You can pick up the stamp set at Harbor Freight for fairly inexpensive. 

Here are the things we used.

1 set of 5 new bamboo kitchen tools

1 ultra fine sharpie 

(BTW the one in the picture is not the sharpie we actually used, This one wasn't quite fine enough)

1 small nylon cutting board

1/4 inch steel stamping set

A short handled ball peen hammer

Place the wooden tool on the cutting board. This is to protect your table etc from the hefty blows. :) 

Note: Be sure to wipe the stamp with a paper towel before using it. There is oil in the bottom of the box used to prevent the rusting of the stamps. 

Place the stamp where you want it and give one big blow. If a second blow is needed align the stamp in the  already stamped letter and go for it. 

See the J?

Once the word is a stamped take your ultra fine sharpie and fill in the letter. 

PS these tools will need to be hand washed only but hey! they already were hand wash only because they are bamboo so no biggy!!

Tada!

 All done! 

Notice that we changed the theme after the first spoon? 

Yep I like the kitchen words better but you could do all kinds of word ideas. 

Christmas themed words or thanksgiving words, Names etc. 

I am so excited to make more! 

You could give them as a set or just one. Imagine inside a hot pad mitt with a brownie or cookie mix!? 

YES! 

I am excited and very happy with how these turned out! 

Give it a try!

Easy DIY Pom-Pom Maker

Pom-poms are such a great thing for Holiday decorating, don't you think? They are relatively cheap and crazy easy to make. You can use Pom-pom makers which are pretty great. OR you can make a cheap one out of some cardboard. I made mine out of the top of a pizza box. HA! All you need to do is cut a rectangle as wide as you want your finished poms-poms. Then cut a notch out of one end right down the middle. Instant pom-pom maker.

Voila! Perfect pom-pom maker.

Next cut a long piece of yarn.

Then fold it in half over your notch.

Then start wrapping! Make sure you wrap loosely or you will start bending the two tines.

Remember that the more you wrap the bigger and thicker your finished pom-pom will be. I wrap 60 to 80 times myself. Another tip is to try and wrap evenly. If you wrap it really big in the middle you will have more to trim at the end. Next take the piece of yarn that is fold over the notch and wrap it around the middle of your pom. Tie and knot the yarn super tight twice! Which is hard! You want the middle nice and tight so your pom doesn't lose strings.

Carefully slide off your pom-pom maker. And you have a cute little yarn bow. 

Now cut all the strings.

Next I roll the pom-pom gently between my hands to fluff it up. Then start trimming that bad boy! All I do is take tufts of yarn and hold it between my fingers. Whatever yarn is really poking up I cut off. 

Now you have a great pom-pom! You can leave the yarn the is used to tie the middle long and use them to tie to something. A cute package maybe? Or you can use a big plastic needle and thread them together through the middle and make a pom-pom garland. I made one for Halloween and it is super cute! They are a great little project to work on while watching a movie. Which is exactly what I did. Plus the kids love making them! Anytime I pull my stuff out to start making some they jump right in!

Pantry Bag Meal-Round 2

 

So here is another idea for our pantry bag meals. If you don't remember, these are the meals for those who don't have a freezer or freezer space but still want some ready to go dinners set aside for times when time is tight. 

You can check out the first post here... 

Let me introduce you to 

Mexican chicken Soup. 

(I found it on pinterest of course)

It is SO good and guess what? It took ONLY 8 minutes to get it hot and ready to eat!! 

That is awesome!

 PLUS...only 160 cals per 1 cup measure serving!! 

Holy COW! 

Is this real life?? :)

Gather these ingredients in your bag for the pantry

1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15 oz) can garbonzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained

1 (15 oz) can sweet corn, drained

1 (12.5 oz) can chicken breast, drained

1 (10.75 oz) can cream of chicken soup

1 (10 oz) can mild enchilada sauce

1 (14 oz) can chicken broth

1 (1 oz) packet taco seasoning

Write or attach these instructions to your pantry bag

Instruction Open and pour all ingredients into a large soup pot. Heat through. Serve with tortilla chips and cheese if desired.  

ENJOY!

Emily