Lanterns At some point near the middle of March, I always decide that I’m “done” with winter. The sweaters and jackets get pushed to the back of the closet, the flip flops come out, and I inevitably freeze my butt off for several weeks until the weather catches up with my warm-weather state of mind. Likewise, my cravings for fresh herbs and veggies are always a little ahead of the season. Growing your own herbs is a great way to save money and avoid buying too much at a time and letting most of it go to waste. If it’s still too cold to plant outside where you are (or if you’re short on space!) this hanging herb garden is the perfect project to get you in gear for spring. What you’ll need: Tin containers with snap-on plastic lids (tea, cocoa, and coffee cans are a good bet), coat hangers, pliers, scissors, herbs (I bought basil, rosemary, dill, and cilantro for about $2.50 each), masking tape, coffee filters, a nail, a hammer, X-acto knife, scrap fabric or paper, and glue or spray adhesive.
Easter Craft: Yarn Eggs (Easter Decorations) | Outdoor Crafts for Kids - Outdoor Craft Projects This photo originally appeared in FamilyFun Magazine Total Time weekend projects Ages school-age These bright and funky eggs are a blast for kids to make -- and they're a great party decoration too. What you'll need Thin cotton yarn Balloons Craft glue Newspaper Waxed paper Clothespin Clothes hanger How to make it For each egg, cut twenty 3-foot-long strands of cotton yarn and blow up a balloon to a 6- to 8-inch diameter.
Hammock Hammocks are great for the backyard, camping, backpacking, when your pregnant and on bed rest, or for turning your large capacity vehicle (in our case our minivan) into a camping vessel, more on that in this post. We make our own hammocks because: It’s cheap (i.e we can’t afford an ENO).You can customize the size.It’s easy! There are two different methods we have used for making our own hammocks. Hammock 1 involves a sewing machine, Hammock 2 does not. A piece of fabric roughly 7+ feet long and at least 3 1/2 feet wide. Hammock 1: The Sewing Machine Method Step 1: Lay out your fabric and fold the ‘shorter’ end over to make a 4-5 inch hem. Step 2: Sew the hem using a straight stitch. Step 3: After you have sewn both sides of the hammock thread your webbing through the hem. Step 4: Tie a knot in the webbing and repeat step 3 on the other side. Hammock 2: The No-sew MethodNote: For the No-sew hammock you will also need 3-4 feet of something like this 3mm utility cord. Good luck.
Did You Know... One thing that just makes me giddy all over is when I am randomly bouncing around from site to site and suddenly I discover something new. Something that makes me think "Why did I not discover this sooner?" Some of these new ideas (new to me at least) have made life just a little easier. Today I came across another new idea and it got me to thinking... Either way here are a bunch of completely random links that may or may not come in handy to you. When pouring food into a plastic bag, use a glass to keep the bag upright for easy pouring. - Source You can flip a toaster on its side and grill cheese in it. - Source NOTE: Due to some concerns written in the comment section I must add that the toaster used in the following photo is a vintage toaster.
Planting A Pineapple Did y’all know that you can take this and turn it into… This? And that this will eventually produce… This? Yes, I’m talking about turning your average, ordinary grocery store pineapple into a tropical showpiece within your home. Planting a Pineapple 1. 2. 3. In 24 months (sounds better than two years) it will look like this. You will have an actual, large, utterly delicious pineapple in 24-36 months. The thought of growing my own pineapple always makes me smile and giggle just a little bit. Now what am I supposed to do with all of this leftover pineapple? I see something sweet coming soon. While you’re waiting for me to make something yummy with the leftovers, go ahead and plant a pineapple. Be adventurous plant a pineapple. Hugs, Tickled Red *Please bear in mind that I am not a hortoculturist. Tagged as: Gardening, Pineapple, Tropical Fruit
DIY: Vintage Tin Candles June 7th, 2012 If you’re looking for an excuse to start collecting those adorable vintage jello molds, I’ve got one for you. They are ridiculously easy to turn into candles. Once you’ve gathered all your supplies, you can make these in 15 minutes or less! Supplies: microwavable soy candle wax (available here) lavender essential oil (available here) candle wicks (wicks with the metal anchors work best—available here) vintage tin jello molds How to: Clean and dry your tins. 10 Tooth Fairy Traditions and Ideas - Tuesday {ten} I would love to hear any traditions your tooth fairy has {or had if your kiddies are grown} – especially if you have any ideas for special needs children who don’t quite yet comprehend what is actually going on. For us, we tend to go big and a bit over the top for events such as these so our little guy possibly gets a better idea of what is happening. Plus it makes the experience a little more fun and a lot less traumatic as seen though his eyes. {Tooth Fairy Traditions & Ideas} {one} The Official Tooth Fairy Kit is a package that can be purchased from the Office of the Tooth Fairy site. {two} Here is another kit found on Etsy from Paper and Twine. {three} Tooth Fairy Pillows Tooth Fairy Pillow with Record Chart from Loop Loft Molar Shaped Tooth Fairy Pillow knitted from soft baby alpaca available from Oeufs {eoc-friendly and hypoallergenic} or if you are inclined to make your own here is a similar free pattern and directions from Embroidery Library Projects {four} Tooth Fairy Pouches
SLIME Don't you LOVE it when your little one is over the moon about an activity you shared together?! I do!! This morning we made RAINBOW SLIME and Biscuit was beside herself with excitement. There are a few ways to make slime, however I found this recipe works best ~ 1 1/2 cups of CLEAR glue and 1 1/2 cups of liquid starch. You mix it all together, separate the slime into a few small bowls and add food coloring to each bowl. You only need a few drops of food coloring!!! Making her slime All ready to go! "Stretchy" "Eeeeeew." "I squish it!" Deep in thought.... By the end there was just one big ball of slime. She played with this stuff for thirty minutes ~ uninterrupted. *High-fiving myself* Happy Playing & Exploring!!
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...... Christmas! I love Christmas! I love all the decorations, both inside and outside, the yummy treats we get to indulge in, shopping for loved ones, even addressing Christmas cards! Part of the fun is trying to come up with creative ideas for gifts for different people. One thing I am doing this year is making the DIY Canvas Art that I blogged about last August. In addition to the picture of Grandpa, I am doing a picture of my Grandma as well. On thing I am doing differently is I am painting the edges of the canvas. I haven't take a picture of the final results just yet. Teenagers are somewhat difficult to buy for. For my niece, who enjoys taking photographs, I made a shadow box bank in which she can put money to save up for a dSLR camera. For my nephew, I was also going to do a shadow box, but the store only had ONE. How about you? As of today (12-20-11), I've had the shadow box pinned over 1,500 times! Update (2-16-12), my shadow box has been pinned over 11,500 times!! Original Sources:
Bleach Pen Ich habe im Internet einen Bleach Pen entdeckt und was man damit machen kann. Heute habe ich meinen ersten Versuch gestartet, ein T Shirt zu bemalen...ist noch nicht so perfekt geworden, aber ich finde es ganz lustig. Im Grunde hat es den Effekt wie beim Batiken, nur anders herum. Man nimmt ein farbiges Shirt und trägt die Bleiche auf, mit dem Stift und seiner feinen Spitze ganz einfach. Es gibt aber keine scharfe Kante, sondern verläuft etwas. Ich überlege, ob ich das Shirt zusätzlich an den gebleichten Stellen noch besticke, es könnte ganz hübsch aussehen, was meint Ihr? I've discovered the Internet a bleach pen and what you can do with it.
A Pretty Life in the Suburbs: Backyard BBQ Birthday Bash 239k Shares This past week was my daughter’s 10th birthday! (on a side note, I just can’t believe she’s 10. I mean I’m still 25 right?!) I swore I would never have another birthday party hosted at our home, but she really really wanted to have her friends here for her special day! I couldn’t resist…if she still wants to hang out at home, I’ve got to go with it! So what to do?! 10 is a tough age for parties…they’re not quite little kids anymore, but they’re not teens yet either. This makes it kind of tough to plan activities – I didn’t want it to be too babyish, or too old for her either. So we decided on a Backyard BBQ Birthday Bash! Just simple food, simple fun, and a lot of relying on the girls being their own entertainment! Here’s a little recap on what we put together: warning: picture-laden post!! Here are the invites! Loot bags of bubbles, glow sticks, bubble gum, salt water taffy and chocolate covered pretzel sticks. I had the kids make their own sponge water bombs! Toooooo fun! Very festive!