School Schedule Helps

Okay, so last year I put my kids into public school.  Before that, I homeschooled them for two years.  But I had a baby and another on the way, I was unsure if I could handle all of that happening at once.  And this year, I can't homeschool because the program I want to use (that I used before) I can't afford.

Anyways..... last year we struggled with our home schedules.  It threw me off because it wasn't the same as it was when I was homeschooling.  And because of that, miscommunications would happen which would become flared tempers.  I wanted to avoid that this year so I came up with a solution.  I made a daily calendar for each of my two older kids so they would know EXACTLY what to expect from the minute they wake up to the minute they go to bed.  Plus, I just need to know that things will run smoother.  Makes me feel better =]

I scanned in a sample of my daughter's schedule.  I didn't think about scanning it in until "after" she had already stappled it to her door.  If you click on the image it will enlarge and you can see better detail if you so desire.

Cute, Easy, Cheap = Awesome crafty gift!

Okay, so my friend turned 30 recently and it was supposed to be a big suprise party.  Well, since money has been tight lately, not knowing what to get him/bring to the party for him (what do you get a 30-year-old, anyway?) I remembered a cute little crafty/edible gift I saw on one of the many crafter's blogs I follow.  Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures as I went along in the making, but I will explain it.

You will need:

Shoebox
Curling ribbon
Wrapping paper
# of suckers per age
(would be handy to have a cricut or other letter cutting machine)
Foam blocks
Tissue paper
Hot glue and tape

Wrap the shoebox in the wrapping paper.  Cut the foam blocks (I used the green floral foamy stuff) to fit snuggly inside the box.  Glue foam pieces together and wrap the top of the foam with the wrapping paper also using the hot glue.  Using the curling ribbon, tie a small tie on the stick of each sucker and curl each one.  Then place them randomly in the box, poking the foam.  If you have a cricut, cut out the words as you'd like and tape them on.  Adorne with tissue paper to suit.  Voila!  Done.  Easy peasy, rice and cheesy.

Feet!

What do you do when you have eight newly clean little feet, a camera, and Adobe Photoshop Elements?

Take a picture, of course!

Here's what I took this morning before church since all of the kids just took showers/baths.  Why not take advantage of that?  Then late tonight I decided to play around with it a bit, only took me ten minutes...woohoo!  I'm getting the hang of this!

Not a professional job, I know, but I love how it turned out =]

Hair Accessory Holder Thingy

Okay, so today I had two dilemas.  One, something crafty to do.  I was just itching for it.  Two, to organize ALLLLL the hair ties that my two daughters collectively have.  Then BINGO!  I remembered a blog some time ago that my husbands super uber crafty cousin made and thought hard...do I have all I need for it?  YES!

I started searching her archives for a tutorial on how to do it (unsure if she even made a tutorial or just simply blogged about it).  I was unable to find it so I had to kind of come up with it on my own, with a little tweak.  I remember that all of the holders I've seen only cater to the hair ties that clip on.  None of them had anything for pony tail holders, headbands, etc.  So I came up with a solution and took pictures step by step along the way in case any of ya'll were interested in doing it for yourself.  It would also make a super cute baby girl shower gift or birthday girl gift too!

The dimensions of mine is quite large 24" X 30" because I have two daugthers with different hair needs.  I also thought it would look super cute if it had a distressed frame around it, but I don't have an extra at the moment.  I may add it later.  So anyways, here's the tips!

- 24" X 30" pegboard
- 1 package of 7/8" cup hooks (my package had 100, I think I ended up using about 34 or so)
- Scissors
- Sewing machine
- Hotglue gun and sticks
- Ribbons of all sizes and colors long enough to run over the height of your board you choose
- 1 yd. felt
- 1 yd. fabric for background

Cut felt and fabric around the perimeter of the board leaving an excess of about 1 1/2" all around.

If you're using masonite pegboard like I did, you'll need to sand what will be the backside of your board around the perimeter so the hotglue will adhere to it nicely and not "pop" off sometime in the future.  Make sure to clean it well after sanding.

What I chose to do was sew a diamond pattern with my fleece and fabric.  This step can be entirely eliminated if you choose.  I just chose it because I felt like it.

Next I sewed all my ribbons on with an approximate equal spacing between them all.  I sewed both ends and trimed the rest off.

Then I had my older daughter help me hotglue it onto the backside.  Super easy and quick part.  I would approximate about 3 small sticks worth.  I used 1 1/2 long sticks of glue.

This was my alteration and solution I made for the other miscelaneous hair accessories that everyone else seemd to leave out.  I added the hooks to hang all kinds of things on.  Of course, for the masonite, I had to pre-drill the holes then find them again after hotgluing the fabric on.  LOADS of fun.  But it worked out in the end.  Maybe somebody out there would have a better solution to the hole issue.

Finished project!  Now I don't have to search and search for "just the right thing" anymore =]