Random Acts of Kindness (sewing)

  Random Act of kindness means what to you?  Today at the library the event was for kids by kids.  My local library offers many events as I have mentioned before.  Well their latest one was to sew crayon pouches for kids.

  My kids know about volunteering and helping others but have never given physically from themselves.  Today they got that chance.

Today they sewed crayon pouches and left them there to be given away to other kids at a shelter or hospital.  The final destination was not determined yet.

  The kids are learning to sew!  They are getting better the more familiar they are getting with the concept.

The project started with a piece of red felt.  It was already pre-measured for us to use.

Tracing the heart was easy with an extra hand.

Cut out the heart for the front of the pouch. Yes, the pouch has a decoration!

Young eyes have just as much trouble threading a needle as older people.

So proud that my son likes to sew.  I don't see very well but he wants to take the class and does pretty well.

The finished project! 

The crayons slide right in and stay secure with the help of Velcro.

My kids had fun making these for unknown kids! I'm proud that they never questioned it once.  They didn't ask to make one for themselves either.  They seemed genuinely happy to make something and give it away.

Easter and Mermaids (gift ideas)

  Spring is here and it's time to start Easter planning.  Here we prepare a dinner, decorate a bit and make baskets for the kids.

  Easter baskets are a combination of a spring item, candy and some fun toys.  The spring item is fun but, toys are really what my kids want. Something new to play with that will be there the next day unlike a piece of candy.

  I found a great selection of girls toys here.  I have my eye on this mermaid journal for my daughter.

She is learning to read and write at school and this would be a great book to document her day in a way only she can do.  The invisible ink pen and black will add a little fun to her creativity.

Find the direct link for the mermaid journal  here or check the other themed journals. 

I am able to share a deal with you for your future purchase.  Get 20% off your entire cart of gifts!  Go to: http://amzn.to/2a3d3v8 and use coupon code N3CQD6AE on checkout.

Christmas is Over

  Christmas is over!  Or is it?  Is Christmas over after you opened the presents? Traveled to all your families? When you get home?  I say it is over here as the kids are in bed.  All wore out from getting up early, peaking at their highest excitement level and are now sleeping.

  No more questions.  How did Santa....?  Can you open this please?  Can you make it work? All is calm.

I don't know if I appreciate this time the most out of the whole day or not.  It's fun to see the pure happiness but there's a lot going on through out the day.  I'm exhausted.  More so mentally then physically.

  I had to open presents.  Its becoming a whole new experience.  Toys are so secured in their box that even if they roll off a truck at 60mph; all will be ok.  Even if they fall off a sleigh at 30 feet in the air; all will be ok.

Take a look at this locking device on this toy. Now here's an area that even comes with directions and should have some.  You need to twist the knob into a groove for release.  Is all this plastic cheaper then the ties?  Does it secure the toy better?

  Not one box was the same.  These are the easiest tie downs in my opinion.  Ah, untwist it, pull it back threw and that's it.  Definitely the fastest securing system that I can master!

  Then comes the dolls.  Have you purchased a doll lately. Lately meaning these are not the tie downs from my childhood.   These remind me of the strips that secure pet food. You pull one string and it opens right up.  Except these don't work so magically.

  After all that work then preparing dinner; bedtime for me just couldn't come soon enough. I'm so exhausted; mentally exhausted.  

  Good night everyone!  I hope your holiday was great and everything will almost go back to normal tomorrow. I don't promise, I only hope.

Christmas Ornaments equal Holiday Gifts

  Tis the season to break the bank or get creative.  Depending how many supplies you have on hand will depend on how many trips to the store but these trips still shouldn't break the bank.

  Over the last few days I have made items for my daughter to give as gifts.  A few trips to the dollar store and items I have had on hand have aided in some nice gestures of thoughtfulness and kindness.

  My two main items for gifts inspired by Pinterest:

A wine cork.  Which is really easy to find even if you don't drink.  Stop at a local restaurant, check with neighbors or even grocery stores that have wine tasting.

These plastic ornaments came from the dollar tree.  I like that you get two to a package.

Pinterest is great for any and everything.  You just need to have a plan in mind or risk the chance of losing time over searching for something and getting distracted and looking at something else.

  I have been on there looking at all things Christmas.  My daughter wanted somethings to give out and I wanted it to be unique.  I have no shame in that they are cheap gifts because they are homemade and unique.  The teacher will probably get tons of cookies, mugs and coffee gift certificates and when the air clears the food and drink will be gone!  

Cork Mouse!  For the mouse I used two corks.  1 for the whole body then I cut two circular pieces off for the ears. Face was applied with a marker.  Scarf was scrap ribbon. Arms, legs and tail were wire I picked up at the dollar store and twisted into limbs and after making an initial hole with a paperclip I pushed them in and secured them with hot glue. You could add a eyelet on top to make it an ornament.

Santa cork!  I deviated from the directions of painting him and just covered him in red felt.  Hat is also red felt with a cotton ball pulled apart for the trim and a white pompom.  Eyes are drawn on and his nose is loose felt rolled up.  His beard is pulled off a cotton table runner (dollar store purchase) but you could use a cotton ball pulled apart for this too.  Everything hot glued together.

The last two items made my daughter and I were like elves.  I made one and see made the other.  

  

We shredded a sheet of brown paper and she had the task of stuffing the ball.  The eyes and nose were hot glued down.  The antlers are one pipe cleaner.  I didn't have brown so it is black for this deer.  One piece of pipe cleaner wrapped around the top, then cut in half on each side and wrapped around again.

I loved this idea when I saw it and had to make it.  I didn't know a pig could be so cute.  He couldn't have been easier to make!  I didn't have pink paint so I went about it a little harder by adding drops of red and white and shaking it around the inside.  I was amazed and grateful to have found a pink button nose.  I drew in some little black beady eyes and cut out pink ears that I hot glued on.

There you have it folks! If you even have only a half hour you have time to make 4 cute, unique, homemade, handmade gifts!  

I'm glad I had glue sticks in bulk but after this season I may need to stock up on some more.

Have you made any unique gifts?  Have you gotten stuck on Pinterest for hours?  What's your favorite holiday item?

Mini Wreaths (DIY)

  I have spent a lot of time on Pinterest.   Certain times of the year I spend more time on there then others.  In the spring I start looking at garden ideas and bright and festive fun, summer I am looking for kids activities and maybe some snacks but winter has me looking for gifts.

  Not everything I make is gift worthy (in my opinion) or turned out so neat I want to keep myself.  So stay tuned for the rest of the month to catch glimpse of what I'm making.  Most of it will be cheap (think dollar store purchases, recycle or items from home) and easy to make.

  Today its about the mini wreaths.  These can be made in a flash and decorated in a variety of ways to personalize them.  You need a ring from the top of a canning jar.

  I now have a couple jars without the lids but I heard you can buy just lids so I will hold on to that.  My jars have been sitting under the sink so it's about time something got done with at least a part of them.

  I choose twine for my first one but you can choose anything. Ribbon, garland, tape or anything you can wrap.

  After you have your wrap of choice start on one end and tightly wrap it around the lid.  You don't want to see the lid or any gaps.

  Continue around till you meet the place where you started.  I added a dab of glue to secure the end.

  You are finished with your wreath and ready to embellish it anyway you want.  I choose to make a simple bow for the top.  Grab some mini letters and make one for each of your kids, add some red puff paint and leaves for holly or wrap a ribbon around it.  The bare wreath is your canvas to personalize!

Do you have any plans to make ornaments or gifts this year?

Crayon Candles (diy)

  I have posted my box of crayons before.  I can't recall when it started obviously it didn't happen overnight but let me stand back and admire this box of crayons with endless possibilities.

  Thanks to Google and Pinterest we have the ability to type in a project and be provided with images and directions on how and what go make with anything.  Enter my idea to make crayon candles.

  This is an easy craft for you to make.  As you can see from my box of crayons there are a variety of brands in there.  I can not comment on which brand worked better or which didn't.  In my box are name brand crayons as well as generic crayons and those crayons you get from restaurants (I may be a hoarder).  So with that last statement I just said if you want to make one of these you can collect from the restaurants or just buy a few boxes.

  For this project you need crayons, a twine and glass jar.  Choose your crayon color combinations.  I planned on doing a wave of colors so I choose a few colors versus a solid color.

Of course you need to peel them and choose your pattern if your using more then one color.

This is a good easy step for little fingers if they want to help you!

I used a empty clean soup can to melt the crayons.  Reuse at its finest.   Fill a pot with water and bring it to a boil.  Add your crayons to the can.  I  melted my lighter colors first.  You see I'm using tongs to grab the HOT can and then I poured it into the glass jar after it was thoroughly melted.

I used twine that after much research was comfortable with this choice versus buying anything in particular.  You need to prepare the twine wick prior to use.  To prepare the wick you need to coat it several times with wax.  Dip it in wax, let it dry and redip.   

You will need to secure the wick to the bottom of the jar.  I added the wax slowly and held the wick in place until the wax dried.  There are different ways to use this including attaching the top to a chopstick and dangling the wick to the bottom.

After your wick is set continue adding your other wax colors.  You can see my jar was small and I only used 4 crayons per color.

It looks like a candle, works like a candle and in all senses it is a candle.  This is a super easy project to make.  A great personal gift to make for the holidays.  Pick up some glass jars at the thrift store, dollar store or reuse old baby food jars or items you may have on hand.  Make them one color or mix them up.  

I had fun making this project and look forward to making a couple more in different ways and shapes.

#nablopomo 

The hub bub of the holiday

    We participate in all the traditional fun of Christmas.  We unwrap presents, play, eat, nap and do it all over again minus the unwrapping part.

  Either way my goal is to not over indulge the children but to make it a special day for them.  The get a variety of items.  Some they want and some they don't.

New clothes for everyone.  Socks or underwear anyone? Yeah!

Toys for the young and old.

Toiletries for the teenage girl. Her very own stash to spare mine for a little while.

Even homemade ornaments made great gifts for everyone.

  My favorite thing to give my family are family gifts.  The kids get to each unwrap one of them and it's a surprise for everyone.  This year it hit a little bit of all areas for everyone to have fun in.

All the family gifts were accepted happily along with ......

The Pie in the Face game.

  No matter your traditions I hope everyone finds happiness somewhere in today.