Pinterest Challenge Week #1

Don't know about the Pinterest Challenge? Read this post first.

Okay, I know I'm a little late here. I'm not behind in my projects, just behind in posting them here. It's been really fun doing this. It's just hard to find the time to blog about it. :)
Here is week one:

11/1/12

Inspiration:

(source)

 

My Results:

 

This seriously took me less than 5 minutes to do. I realized I really had a lot more in this cupboard than I truly use, so many items got pulled out and are in the charity box in the garage.  I already had the pan rack from the first time I thought about attempting this. (It just sat on the shelf, unused.) I have more pots than skillets and some really large cookie sheets and pizza pans, so the set-up in the picture didn't quite work for me. I tweaked it to work for my stuff for now, but I think it will work.(I have a few more cookie sheets in the dishwasher.) I may move some of the larger things to a different place later on. Doing this allowed me room in the other side of the cupboard for the second pin of the day...

Inspiration: 

(source)

 

My Results:

 

I had already done a little prep work earlier in the week. I bought a new set of storage containers at Wal-mart. (They were the same as the ones I have.) They had different colored lids, so I made sure that each size container has a different colored lid. That should make it easier to keep sorted and to match up when we need a container. I didn't see any dish racks (like in the inspiration photo) that I liked or were particularly big enough, so I bought a few dish pans (buckets) the size I needed and a three pack of little storage trays to keep things separate inside. This was also a quick fix, maybe 30 minutes. Most of the time was spent sorting through my old containers. 

 

11/2/12

Inspiration:
100 Toddler Shots to Improve Your Family Photography

(source)

Click through to see the 100 inspiration pictures. I know these are for toddlers but I thought some of these pictures would be great with my preschooler (age 3) as well.

My Results:

(Yes, she has a lollipop. Halloween candy bribery for a photo shoot.)

It was slightly overcast, cool and even a little foggy this morning, so I thought it would be perfect to get some pictures at the park. By the time I had gotten big kids on the school bus, fed the baby, double checked my inspiration, and found everyone shoes, the weather had changed. It was bright and sunny and at least 15 degrees warmer, but we trekked down to the park anyway. First off, let me just say the sun was against me. I could not believe how stinking bright out it was at 9:30am. Secondly, it is hard to take pictures when you have a baby strapped in a carrier on your chest. Just saying....

Here are a few of my favorites:

 

 

 

I tried taking some pictures of Bekah, but she wouldn't have it. Here's why...

(sleeping)

Did it improve my photography? I don't know, but it definitely got me thinking outside the box. And it was fun to take a ton of photos.

 

 

11/3/12

This day was a super busy day, a Super Saturday in fact. Our women's group at church (Relief Society) was having a fun all-day crafting/learning/visiting activity called Super Saturday. We had lots of different crafts and projects that we could sign up for, demonstrations we could watch, food to eat, a service project to help out with, and/or just sit and visit with our friends. I love Super Saturdays. However, I knew I would be busy because I was going to be teaching a class on glass etching for casserole dishes/glass pans. The funny thing is that I had never done this before but my friend in charge (knowing me to be a crafty person) asked if I could figure it out and then teach it to everyone. Um, yeah. Technically, I practiced quite a bit before teaching it, but I turned to Pinterest to teach me and gather ideas, plus I actually etched one of my pans on this day, so I'm saying it counts.

 

Inspiration:

(source)

 

One of My Results:

This one says, "{Yummy}." I also made one with my last name, one that says "This pan does not belong to you," and one that says, "Oh no! It's all gone!" I really liked doing this and it wasn't too hard. If you do this make sure you use glass cleaner to get fingerprints of the glass before applying the etching cream. Also, some Pyrex don't etch well. We found that it's a gamble. Some would etch in 5 minutes. Others would take 20 to 30 minutes and still others wouldn't etch at all. The one time I'm thankful I didn't buy the name brand. All of my cheap pans etched very easily.

 

11/4/12

Inspiration:

(source)

 

My Results:

 

 

I really wanted some cute bows for church and remembered pinning these. There isn't a tutorial with this pin (since they are on Etsy) but I loved the idea and pretty much knew how to make them. They were actually pretty quick. I made 3 before getting ready for church. I LOVE them! Both of my daughters wore them and I contemplated wearing one too but my husband nixed the idea. Something about overkill. I see many more of these in my future. Many more for the baby, a few for Bee, and maybe some on hair clips for me...

 

11/5/12

Inspiration:

(source)

 

My Results:

 

I used two different sized washers because I wanted a little different lay out. Instead of using jump rings on the large washers, I used eye pins that looped through and I twisted around. Yes, I know very technical. I was afraid that my yellow nail polish wouldn't look yellow. So I did 2 coats of white nail polish before putting on the yellow.

 

11/6/12

Inspiration:

(source)

 

My Results:

Technically, I started this project back on Saturday. It was one of the classes being taught, but I never had enough time to work on it during the Super Saturday activity or after. So, I had to find some time to make it later. Thankfully, I had the instructions pinned on Pinterest. My turned out really long. I'm not sure if I cut my spirals too thin or I stretched it too much (probably both). Either way, I like it. I was actually afraid it was going to be too short, because the example that I saw seemed too short to

 

11/7/12

Inspiration:

(source)

 

(source)

 

My Results:

 

We had Cub Scouts and I needed a quick dinner, so I turned to Pinterest. (Okay, I actually already had this one planned out.) I combined the two ideas to make a meatless sloppy joe sandwich. We called them Beany Joes. I thought it tasted pretty good. I liked the beans better than the lentils though.

 

Check back soon for a recap of Week 2!

My Latest Project

Two little projects that have been keeping me busy lately have just finished up. Check it out here.

Summer Fun Day 5

Lego Day
My boys are obsessed with Legos. Seriously. They love building with their Legos, playing Lego games on the computer, watching Lego movies, drawing Lego pictures, coloring Lego printables, and anything else that uses Legos or is related to Legos. No joke. So I only thought it fair that we have a Lego day.
We started out building and playing with Legos all morning. Then, I printed some coloring pages from online. To do this go to Lego.com and then “products”. Each product line has their own website, click here to see an index. Clicking on the picture of one of the product takes you to that product website. Coloring pages are usually under the “Funzone” or “Download” tabs. Then, just download and print.
Some of the websites also had printable stickers. They are basically just pictures that you can print on sticker paper and cut out. We printed them on plain paper and used them to make dioramas. Most of the kids just glued them flat onto a background. I was pretty impressed when I saw Bean’s 3-D version.


I also saw these Lego puzzles on Pinterest…

Source: icanteachmychild.com via Marissa on Pinterest

...and decided to make our own with some clipart cutouts. I just taped over a picture using clear packing tape on two blocks and then used an Exacto knife to cut apart the blocks. The kids had fun putting them all together.


Later I saw these and wished I had more time to make some like them…

Source: ilovechesterrific.com via Marissa on Pinterest

Then, the boys wanted to make a movie. We took about 70 pictures, each time moving the Legos a slight bit and writing our dialogue on a dry erase frame. The plan was to take a bunch of these pictures and when put together in quick succession it would look like they were moving, playing out the story. However, after all our work ,we realized we didn’t have any video editing software on our computer.  We did have a slideshow DVD maker. So we did that, adding some fun music. Unfortunately, I can’t upload the video here because it’s only on the DVD. So here’s just a few snapshots from the video….

To be continued…
The actually video is pretty cool. So if you’re ever at our house, ask Bean to see his Lego video and he will be more than super excited to show you!

Halloween Playdough

(eighteen25: Today's Guest: Under the Sycamore)

I love this idea! (Check it out--link is above.) I would love to do this for my son's class, but since sugar is prohibited in Texas classrooms, they have also cut out all of the parties. (We get 2: "winter" and end-of-the-year.) Also, we are usually out trick-or-treating as a family, so we aren't usually home to pass out candy. However, this year we just might be home on Halloween. I've heard that we get at least 100 kids, but last year it seemed like there was only a handful of kids out in our neighborhood. So maybe (if I start now and do small portions), I just might have enough playdough for everyone. :)

T-shirt transformed to Pleated Dress

I LOVE this dress from Make it and Love it! (Her daughter is adorable in all her pics.) What's funny is that the last couple of week's I've been trying to dream up a way of turning an old t-shirt into a cute dress and I just stumble upon this idea. That's the great thing about craft blogs from crafty people everywhere, all of these wonderful ideas floating around in cyberspace just waiting for me to find, and they've already figured out the hard part (the how-to)! Once I get my sewing machine up and running again, I'll definitely do this for Aubrey. Hmmmm...if all goes well, I might even try it for myself...

Loving Skirt Week

I am totally loving "Skirt Week" at Simply Modern Mom, a week full of repurposed skirts. This one is called the "Knot-Me Tie Skirt." I want to make this one for Aubrey. First, I just need to figure out the zig-zag stitch on my ancient sewing machine. :)

Beautiful Butterflies

I just discovered the wonderful blog of my friend Jen! I knew that she was talented but wow she is talented! I love this wall hanging for T's room. Great on it's own but even better in a group of three! Thanks Jen for sharing! Check out how she did this here.