Teacher Appreciation

Today was the last day of school.  My oldest has been bugging  asking me, since teacher appreciation a few weeks ago to do a gift for her teacher.  Well, the last couple weeks have been crazy.  I just haven't gotten to it. I meant to do it yesterday and then got coerced into  got asked if I could help with field day, which it was my good friend so of course I said yes I'd help.  It was divided up into two sessions so I thought for sure I'd have time to work on my project (if I could remember what I was going to do).  Well, turns out things came up for other volunteers, SO, I helped all day, and have the sun burn to prove it.  No problem right, I still have the rest of the night (what was I going to do?).  Well, then the guy who was trenching for our sprinklers came and I had to keep all small children off the sidewalk and make dinner.  And then husband wanted to plant some things in the garden and, well, when he's willing I take the help.
Fast forward to time for school this morning.  Now, I know, I saved an idea somewhere for what I was going to do, but I still don't remember what it was.  7:00 frantically searching online...7:30, just give up and go get a gift card or something, not everything has to be homemade (get over your neurosis), 8:00, I checked Pinterest and came across something I remember liking but wrong time of year for doing it cheaply.

Bummer, what am I going to do?  8:30, I've got it!   

I have an obsession with cupcakes, and while I don't have the supplies for this large cake I may have some for a cupcake.  Did I mention that school gets out at 12:30?  So, I ran around my house gathering supplies, which isn't easy as we are still in a bit of a mess from moving. 

I found a tube in my trash from my vinyl rolls, but you could use a yogurt container, or sour cream, or the bottom of a plastic bottle cut off.

I used a hacksaw to cut my tube into three pieces and I made a duct tape bottom for it, which if I were really intentional and cool I would have used patterned not just the silver.  You tube videos on making duct tape wallets really came in hand on this one.   

This was really using the trash I had on hand and making do.

I got a box of crayons 24 pack for each of the three I had to do, and an additional box to split between the three because 1 didn't quite do it.  You'll need to chance your number depending on your base container.

I lined the crayons up to look as nice as they could color wise.  There are not enough purples in a box, might I add.

After I had them lined up I taped the back with packing tape so they could use them if they wanted to. You will need to leave an inch and a half at both ends.

Then wrap the tape sticky side out around the tube and secure on itself making a ring that fits around the tube.  Then fill in the remaining sticky with the remaining crayons until it is surrounded.  You could just put double sided tape around the tube and then apply the crayons, or you could make it more secure by using hot glue but you wouldn't be able to use the supplies, which was my goal here.  And the tape trick made it so fast.

I then added some supplies to the middle, paper clips, book clips, treats, erasers, a glue stick.  

Because I didn't use heavier glue I wrapped it in a ribbon and tied a bow to the outside and wrapped in cello wrap for good measure.

After I filled it, it didn't look like a cupcake like I wanted it to, so I grabbed the tissue paper I had in my wrapping stash and folded it into a loose tube and wrapped in a coil gently crumpling it to the shape I needed and then I taped off the end on the bottom and taped it to the top of the stuff inside and squished it into the crayons carefully, so it would stay on top but could be taken off to see what was inside.  I did have to make a trip to the store for some goodies but I finished it at 11:40 and ran to the school. 

Valentines wreath

I had this brilliant idea for a wreath out of felt.  I wanted it to be heart shaped and I wanted to do it out of felt and have a variety of flowers.  I changed it up a bit from when I started. 

I wanted to make a wreath for Valentines day.  Whew, I got it done and still have a few days to show it off.  And now that I look at it I can see some things I would move.  Ha isn't that how it always goes.

So this is what I did:

I cut a billion 3" circles.  Well, ok maybe not a billion but more than one hundred.  I didn't really count them, sorry.  It was about a yard and a quarter worth of felt sold on a bold I'd say maybe a 72" wide.  Next, with the help of my 6 year old assistant, I folded them all in half and then in half again so I had a quarter circle.  Then we stuck a straight pin in the point and pinned them into a straw wreath.  You could use another kind but straw was cheaper.

I pinned them pretty close except for the last third I did loosely so that I could put the flowers on that side and it wouldn't stick up too far.  Next I made several different flowers out of red, light pink, and dark pink felt.  I also used some teal tulle too just to add some more interest.

I sewed the flowers but you could glue them with fabric glue or hot glue.  For this one, I had a middle that needed to cover my stitches and so I used a button for the middle.  I happen to have a large box of vintage buttons that belonged to my grandma.  Side note: This piece of information does not help the hoarder in me get rid of anything.  If you know much about me, you know that I really love my grandma and I got a lot of my crafting abilities from her.  Every time I look in the box I find little reminders of her and the legacy she left behind.  I love her.
After gluing the button to the middle.

Notice they were 25 cents, for more than one button.  That's just all that's left.

I hot glued all of the flowers onto the wreath

Yay!  I need to make the wreath hang lower, but I love how it turned out.

Home made presents

This is one of those posts to keep in mind for next Christmas...well, or there's always birthdays.  We have a family tradition, each year we make home made gifts for the name we draw.  It's funny that most years we all somehow end up on a theme.  This year everyone was different.  Except that my sister in law and I both did chalk boards.  I don't think I even took a picture but I just wanted to post a few of the gifts past that I made that I have pictures of.

This is one from this year.  A dollar store cookie sheet with die cut paper dolls put on with Mod Podge,  I put scrapbook paper on adhesive backed magnet sheets and cut out the clothes.  

Scarf, one day I'll post a tutorial.

I'll have to find more pictures...

HOME ALONE

I have been experiencing a bunch of new changes in my life in the last year or so.  My husband changed jobs, we are attempting to sell our house, and I am home alone ALL day long.  That's right, the kids are all in school full time, what's a girl to do?  With all this wonderful, uninterrupted time to do as she pleases there is so much to do and...

I find myself wandering around the house wondering where to start.

I have plenty to do I just don't know what to do first.  Do I sit down at the computer and check Facebook and other websites I am addicted to checking while no one is here to bug me?  Do I clean the house and do house work because it will stay that way for a couple hours?  Do I work on projects with no one to get into things?  I wander...and look...wander back...make bed...brush teeth...and...sit down at the computer....next thing I know the kids are home.  Ugh!
Well, I need to figure this schedule out, so I have set some goals for myself, you know that accountability of setting goals? that's what this is right here.  I am going to work on projects and creating one day a week, I am going to start a chore chart to enlist help in keeping up with the house.  And I am going to be better at keeping up a blog or at the very least doing projects that I can post to this blog.  I have a few that I need to find just one more perfect element to complete them.  Hopefully some of my not knowing what to do with myself is just coming because we are in such transition around here. I am hoping that the sale of our home is just around the corner so I can start some of those home design projects in my head.

I need professional help...

I am so over whelmed by all of the stuff in my house.  Really, I look around and think 'I'll stash that here for a minute until I decide what to do with it'.  According to every magazine article I have ever read that is WRONG.  Only touch the paper once right?  Well my system is so non existent not working.  Help, I don't think I can do this on my own.  However, in my defense, we have been trying to sell our house and I am living in transition.  I don't want to come up with a system that will not work in our new location.  And I have packed away half of the stuff we own to take away some of the clutter.
I want to start some amazing creative project to make it all better.  I go to look for supplies to start...it's in the storage shed...  So that's no good.  Then I get a call that someone needs to look at the house and I scramble to think where in the world I can hide the mess.  FAIL!
So, I scour organizing magazines, pictures on Pintrest, blogs...and weep dream of the day when my life will return to a normal pattern.  I imagine me sitting in a large mostly empty room with a few empty boxes and before me all the tools to complete an amazingly organized space to rival a picture in one of those magazines.   But really, I probably just need a professional organizer to help me get through my crazy scrambled un-focused mind.  What's her number and how much does she charge?

And today...

I have done so much but yet so little.  I was feeling all productive like and then BAM! had to leave the house for a minute and the only thing I accomplished after that was showering and shaving my legs (which REALLY needed to be done)  I'm not one of those nature girls.  No offense I just can't pull it off, it drives me crazy when it all gets too long.  Was that an over share? 
Well, all my great intentions have gone out the window today to update here.  So, I thought I'd share something with you.  It's about color.  Have you ever noticed that there is a difference in the richness of colors?  Like Wal Mart vs Dillards.  The color pallets are somewhat the same but Dillards seem so much richer.  I often refer to colors as Wal Mart or Dillards.  I used to say Macy's but here that's also a grocery store so it doesn't work (not that I have readers from elsewhere but ya never know perhaps someday).  I tend to like the brighter more rich colors.  Wal Mart colors are a little washed out.  This isn't a bad thing just a different.  Often things that are more expensive have a richer color.  Is it because it costs more to have more pigment?  Or is it just that we perceive that richer colors are worth more?   There is a lot more to color than just what we see.  There is a lot going on inside us when we see color.  Try to pay attention to this.  Right now I am drawn to really bright but tranquil colors like turquoise, maybe it's because I really am ready for spring.  Maybe when you get these feelings of love for a color you should write that down somewhere for future reference.  One day you may decide you want to paint a wall and you wonder if you will like the color, you can refer back to your notes and see what kind of reactions you have had from that color.  When I paint a wall orange you will know I had to have had a major moving feeling towards it cuz I'm not feelin' it.

I leave you a question
Have you noticed the Wal Mart color theory?  Do you have a color you just don't love but you see it everywhere? I won't hand slap.

I'm ahead of the trend

Today in the mail I got a Potterybarn catalog. As I was flipping through the pages I saw they had a room they had done with a denim paint look. I experimented with the technique when I did my first nursery. When I was expecting my second child we built our house. I knew I wanted my boy nursery to be denim and stars so I painted my son's room using this technique. That was eight years ago. I tried to find a picture on Potterybarn's website but couldn't find one but here's mine.

I've never finished the bedspread...I know, slacker. I don't always get to all the projects I'd like to.

This is the upclose. I added stitches too with stencil tape.

People always think it's wall paper when they see it. Nope! I painted it all by myself. And I did it before Potterybarn. =)