I'm A Sucker for Valentine's Day!

This week we got a notice about the impending Valentine's Day party at my son's daycare.  They told parents they'd "prefer" that we give the kids lollipops with the Valentine's cards (no idea why).  This idea came to mind immediately, I've been waiting for an excuse to try it.  I was really pleasantly surprised at how easy it turned out to be! 

So..it started with trying to get a decent picture of my three year old holding out his fist.  I couldn't get him to straighten it any further, because for some reason his fist was connected to his head and when he straightened one he tilted the other.  LOL!

Then, I uploaded it to photobucket and added some hearts and words.

Then, because I can't leave well enough alone, I added more words, lol.

Then I took it to Walgreen's to have them printed...and again, can't leave well enough alone so I added a border, which was just one of the choices once the picture uploaded.

Next, you have to cut a slit at the top of the fist;

And the bottom as well.  I noticed as I went on that if you can manage to curve the cut to match the way the fist is held out, it looks best.

Then, to stick in the sucker, you push from the back to separate the two slits, and stick it into the slot.  I'll probably put tape on the back to secure them as well.

And that's it!  How easy is that?  All that was left was to try to see what looked better...a small lollipop or a bigger one (the bigger one kind of bent the photograph but I had more of those than the small ones, so that made that choice, lol).

So, I hope you enjoyed my special Valentine's Day project, I love these and I can't wait to see what his teachers think of them!

Trace This!

So..this mom is on a budget.  Always.  Therefore, I'm always looking at how to do things I'd do anyway cheaper and easier.  Enter my latest project from Pinterest. 
My three year old is ready to start practicing his letters, and so I created this booklet...I dropped by Office Depot, bought a binder, some page protectors, a trace book (it was $7.00) and some dry erase markers (EXPENSIVE...lame!).

So then, I (obviously) just ripped out the perforated sheets and put them back to back in the binder. 

Fairly easy stuff, as you can see.

And my son COULD NOT wait to use it...he did really really well, especially considering this is his first day tracing letters!

So it's not really involved, but a unique way to do something we're all doing and my son had a really good time tracing and then erasing and trying again!
Okay, I'll confess, sometimes he was scribbling just so he could erase.  Ha ha!

So people...what have we learned today?  We've learned that:

D.I.Y. Lottery Tickets: WINNING!

So, my grandmothers LOVE lottery tickets.  We're talking...continue to keep scratching them off even after they know they haven't won type of addiction.  I decided that for Christmas I would make them some.  You're thinking...what?  I'm thinking...that's right....WHAT!  It was so very simple. 

Here's what you'll need:

• Silver paint (or any color really)
• Dishwashing liquid
• Contact Paper
• Card stock
• Scissors

Here's what I did.  I used a template from MSOffice meant for business cards (this ensures they are all the same size).  I chose Christmas clip art, and fun fonts.  I chose some inspirational quotes, and some Bible verses.  You don't HAVE to use card stock, but I wanted it to be sturdy.

 

Then I took two parts silver paint to one part dishwashing liquid in a little cup meant for condiments (thanks to the restaurant across the street for contributing to my craftasticness).

Then I covered the cards with contact paper.  You can just cover the part you're actually painting, but since I knew that my grandma's would want to keep the cards I covered the entire thing and then trimmed it.  Boy I wasted a lot of contact paper, but it was less than $5.00 for a huge roll at Hobby Lobby.

After that, I painted the portion that they would actually have to scratch off:

It took two coats.  I let the first coat completely dry before painting the second coat.

If you make mistakes (like above) it's an easy fix...just scratch it off!  :)

That's it!  It works best when you use a quarter.  The second time I made them (for a coworker's boyfriend's birthday) I used a little more dishwashing liquid, which made it bubbly when painting, but ultimately they scratched off better.  It took more coats that way because the dishwashing liquid thinned it out more. Next time I think I'll create a stencil (with card stock) to paint the area into an actual shape rather than just a blob to cover the words.

Happy Scratching!

No Sew Fleece Blanket...Check!

I've been doing these blankets for years, so it didn't occur to me until I was already done that I should have taken pictures of the process, because it is really so easy!  If you can tie your shoes, you can make this blanket!  They are so warm, you can customize them (of course), you can catch fabulous deals on fabric (especially solid colors) and they make fantastic gifts!  So here's one I made for my brother, he's a chess lover.  Next time, pics and step by step instructions, I promise.

He absolutely loves it!  I had my nephew help me with cutting one of the sides, because my hands were really hurting today.  *sad face*

21 Questions

I've mainly started this blog to chronicle my craft projects, most of which will probably be found on Pinterest.  Today a co-worker came across a pin entitled "21 Questions."  It's aptly named, since it's literally just twenty-one questions you ask your child, lol.  Well my son is three, so his answers were hilarious (and weird).  So let's get to it...the first blog on my pinterest projects is dedicated to my pie loving son, Jordan.

1.  What is something Mommy always says to you?
      PIE!!!!!!! (Yeah, I don't know either people).
2.  What makes Mommy happy?
     Sad (yeah kid, waita make sense, people are reading this you know).
3.  What makes Mommy sad?
     Funny (not true.  I laugh at sad stuff, not the other way around)
4.  How does Mommy make you laugh?
     Funny (yup, I'm hilarious)
5.  What was Mommy like as a child?
     Chocolate (I was actually much lighter as a child, I'd say caramel).
6.  How old is Mommy?
     Sad (I'll take that...yup...sad age).
7.  How tall is Mommy?
     Teeth!  (????)  You tall...big big giant!  Punkin, the giant is scary!
8.  What's Mommy's favorite thing to do?
      Anything!  (Not true.  I hate to do lots of things kid).
9.  What does Mommy do when you're not around?
      BE CAREFUL (Oh so true...this kid knows his mama).
10.   If Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
        A snake!  A scary, scary snake!  (Mmmkay then).
11.   What is Mommy really good at?
         Grapes!  (I'm assuming getting them...this is a common after school snack...he's eating them as I type this as a matter of fact--nobody washes grapes off and puts them in a pretty little IKEA bowl like mommy).
12.  What is Mommy not very good at?
        Mrs. Blech Blech *unintelligible sounds which, even when repeated still sound like Blech Blech (No idea what that is...but he has the Mrs. part right...I'm obviously terrible at becoming "Mrs." anything).
13.  What does Mommy do for her job?
        A job at work.  (Duh...he nailed it!)
14.  What is Mommy's favorite food?
        To eat (Pretty broad overview, but I'll take it).
15.  What makes you proud of Mommy?
        I proud of you!  *gives me a hug*  (Awwww).
16.  If Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
        A card.  (Which card?) A birthday card...a happy birthday card, right punkin?
17.  What do you and Mommy do together?
        Everything!  Make pie!  (Lol, good answer kiddo).
18.  How are you and Mommy the same?
       The same.  Right?  (Right.).
19.  How are you and Mommy different?
       Colors! (Hm, I think we're almost the exact same color there buddy).
20.  How do you know Mommy loves you?
       TOO!  TOO!  (I ask again) He yells TOOOOOOO!
21.  Where is Mommy's favorite place to go?
        That way.  (I burst out laughing.  He laughs too and we head to the kitchen to get more grapes.

I'd like to add, this survey was clearly not made with three year olds in mind...these questions were answered with quite a bit of jumping, falling, banging on his shoes with the spoon I took from him this morning that he wanted to take into daycare, running around, flopping, looking at me like I was crazy and trying to watch Nick Jr.

PINNED IT!