Christmas Gifts in Mass

While thinking of the gifts I wanted my kids to make for their parents, I started searching for ideas online.  I wanted something cheap, easy, and I needed it fast.  I have been a tad last minute lately.  Didn’t want to waste my time on something that was cheesy, but something that they would pull out every year.  I decided to have the kids make their parents Christmas coasters.

I have 17 kids and I decided to have each kid make 3.  It was affordable and they turned out super cute. 

Materials:

tiles (I picked mine up at Home Depot)

modge podge or Elmer's all purpose if you are cheap like me

acrylic spray

paper (either photos, pretty paper, or paper to draw on)

I first cut out paper, slightly smaller than my tile and had the kids draw pictures on them.  If you are doing this from one adult to another, you would just cut out your pictures or pretty paper to the correct size.  Then you paint your glue on the blank tile.

Place the picture in the center of your tile, and coat again with glue.  Do a fairly thick layer and be sure that you get the edges really well.  You can see from the picture below how white it will look.  It dries clear, so don’t worry.

Just let them dry, then spray with clear acrylic spray to seal them and make them waterproof.

They really looked impressive, and if I hadn’t already started making other presents for friends, I would have made adult versions of these for them. 

Bam!  Impressive keepsakes. 

Some Christmas Cheer

It is hard to believe that we have owned our home for a year now.  We got our keys last December 10.  Of course, I still decorated for Christmas last year… but this year feels like the first real Christmas in our house.  Unfortunately…. I still don’t have the energy to do a ton… but this time for a completely different reason.  One thing I did do, was string some ribbon across the shutters that divide our living room and den, and then hang ornaments from it.  It really helped festive up our house. 

We had wanted to put lights up on the outside of our house this year, but time got away from us, so we went the cheater way and scotch taped some lights to our front window :)

The tree is finally decorated, the nativity set is on the table, random decorations are littered though the house, and it is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas… which is good considering it is only a week away.

 

I’m currently listening to music in front of the fire, looking at my tree, and happily digesting the cold pizza I just ate.  Ok, that last thing has nothing to do with Christmas, and everything to do with being pregnant :)  I can ‘t believe this is my last Christmas without kids!  Crazy!

Sheet Music Star

At my most recent craft night with some co-workers, one of my friends taught us all to make paper stars from sheet music. They are super easy, and look very impressive.

Materials:

6 pieces of sheet music (or any other paper you would want to use)

large and small glue dots

Directions:

First you need to cut your sheet music into squares. Take all 6 of your squares and fold them diagonally. Then you are going to cut starting at the folded edge until you almost get to the middle. Do three cuts on one side, following a diagonal line, and then a mirror of those cuts on the other side. (see picture) There should be about an inch going down the middle that doesn’t get cut.

After you have made your cuts, open the pages up. You will work with them one at a time at this point. Take one of your papers and find a center corner. You are going to roll it up and put a small glue dot on the back. Roll the mirrored side up and attach them together.

Flip it over and do it with the next set. Keep flipping back and forth until you are done.

After you have made all six, you will be attaching three of them together. First lay them out so they are all “facing” the same direction. If you look close you can see one side is more “open” than the other. (see picture) Attach the bases with a large glue dot. Then attach the sides of the three pieces with small glue dots.

Do the same thing with the second set of pieces. Then you are going to attach the two halves together. Use a large glue dot to put the two bases together, and then attach the sides using small glue dots.

Then your star should be all put together! Put in a pretty place and enjoy :) Just to warn you, making them is slightly addicting.

Pumpkin Carving

Tonight our fellowship group came over for a pumpkin carving party.  While many went for the traditional Jack-o-Lanterns, I wanted to so something cute.  A friend reminded me of a Pintrest  idea (oh Pintrest… how I love thee) of using a cookie cutter to punch designs into a pumpkin.

I used a mallet to hammer in the cookie cutter, and the pushed out the center.  I made five cut outs in the pumpkin. 

So Cute :)  And then my husband carved this:

And there is the difference between girls and boys.

We are now happily eating roasted pumpkin seats…. toasted by none other than Jessica from Just About A Girl.

Kale Chips

I have been hearing a lot about kale chips lately, so while I was at the store, I decided to pick up some kale and try it. 

First I washed the kale and made sure it was super dry.  I ripped it up, and placed the pieces on a cookie sheet.  I would suggest only using the curly part of the kale, and toss the fibrous steams. 

I then drizzled the pieces with olive oil and sprinkled with salt.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. 

They come out very light and crisp.  They were pretty yummy, but I don’t know if I was completely sold.  Hey, they are a healthy alternative to potato chips, but I think I still prefer my kale in my mashed potatoes. 

A little maternity closet cleaning

Today I decided to clean out my drawers and closet to make room for my maternity cloths.  I gathered to gather all of the cloths that didn’t fit or were tight before I got pregnant that I recently grew out of, so that I could put them into storage.  I decided to keep the cloths that still fit now, as they will be the first things I will be able to fit into after the baby is born.  Man I had to pack up a lot of cloths.  I purchased one 20 gal tub, thinking it would be large enough….. WRONG!  Oh well… at least half of the cloths are now packed up.  Bye cloths… see you in probably about a year when I fit in you again… or hopefully less. :)  Now the cloths I currently fit in, and the ones that I am growing into are all snug in my drawers and closet instead of sitting on top of my drawers or on my dining room table. 

I've got a big project in the works!

 

So…. I have been working on this big project the last few months…..

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I’m pregnant and due March 19! (so I am currently 15 weeks)  At first, I felt sick… and now I'm just tired.  That, mixed with working full time, taking on more responsibilities at work, and finishing my masters has left me with zero time… and when I do have time… zero energy.  That hasn’t stopped me from dreaming though.  I recently discovered pintrest, and it is a new love.  I have pinned tons of crafts that I will one day have time for.

So, this is me now…. didn’t stop eating breakfast for the picture, and there is a stain on my belly.  Just keeping it real.  I think the horizontal stripes makes me look like I have more of a bump than I do… but hey… better than just looking fat.

The other day I couldn’t take it any more, shirked off my responsibilities, and made myself a nursing cover with some fabric that I fell in love with a while back.

When I was making this one, I decided to look back at my old tutorial for the dimensions, (hey, no use reinventing the wheel when you don’t have to) I realized that I left out a bunch of steps.  Oops.  Well considering most of my friends are also pregnant, I will be making a lot more of these in the near future and will make a more complete tutorial.  I tend to be slow at sewing, and this only took me like 30-45 min.  If you are quick, you could probably do it in 20, once you got the hang of it.