Cook a Mug

Something so simple, who would've thought! A lot of people, that's who. Anyways, I had to try it. How could a person not want to get a mug from the dollar store, and decorate it how ever they want? What a great gift--kids can do it for grandparents, a personalize it to give to a host, or a gift to send your deployed husband (me!). What you will need:

• Sharpie (or Sharpies)
• Mug, plate, bowl....
• An oven!

Use your Imagination. Look online at pictures. Create whatever your would like not matter how complex or simple. Its like pottery painting with permanent markers! 

Once you are done with your creation, cook it in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes. Once you are done, turn the oven off, but don't open it. Leave your item(s) in the oven to cool. 

I forgot to take a picture of the finished product, but you get the gist! Fun!

I also created plates for my husband's 30th birthday, and it was such an easy project for a cheap price, but it looked so fancy! So fun. And if you DON'T like what you colored with the permanent marker, it scrubs off (before baking). Always, always, always, have fun!

Success or Failure.

I heard a quote today that said "Success is Scarier than Failure." I completely agree. And I am using it as an excuse as to why I haven't written on my blog in a while. Run with it....

Some more fun success/failure quotes:

"Failure is the foundation of success, and the means by which it is achieved" 

"In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure." 

-Bill Cosby

Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.

-Bruce Lee

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

-Winston Churchill

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.

-Abraham Lincoln 

Losing feels worse than winning feels good.

Success is to be measured - not so much by the position that we have reached in life - as by the obstacles that we have overcome while trying to succeed.   - Booker T. Washington

Failure? I never encountered it. All I ever met were temporary setbacks.   - Dottie Walters

"Those that say they never got a chance never took one."

"No one can predict to what heights you can soar. Even you will not know until you spread your wings."   

"Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you, but as the attitude you bring to life."   - John Homer Miller

Toilet Paper Roll Garland

So many toilet paper rolls and nothing to do! I guess you could recycle them... Or make some fun garland! On Mother's Day, my daughter and I decided to do a fun project together. We gathered some toilet paper rolls, some paint, a stapler and some string. 

First we painted the rolls (this is not a necessary step, but it's super fun for mommy and her 3 year old).

Let them dry.

Cut the toilet paper rolls in 1/2 to 2 inch strips... I don't think it really matters. My daughter tried to do this step, but the cardboard was a little tough for her to cut. 

Staple the strips together to make petals. Again, My daughter had a hard time with this, so she cut green leaves while I stapled.

A flower!

Tie the flowers together and...

Ta-dah!!!

Something pretty to hang in your house. Sometimes kids' projects are a little crazy  to be displayed all the time, not that I don't love everything my daughter colors or paints, but this is really simple and pretty. Simply fun! Add it to your activity jar!

Fabric Wreath

I am not a huge fan of wreaths honestly, but I thought this was cute. I saw a wreath somewhere (I don't remember what it looked like), and I came up with an idea to use all the little pieces of fabric have collected over the years. (I am a fabric hoarder and proud of it!) A fabric wreath! Fortunately, I was about to find a wreath base at the dollar store, so this project did not cost a lot. Unfortunately, this wreath bases are no longer available at the dollar store, and they can cost about $5 at Micheals, etc.

For this project you will need:

• Fabric! In these pictures, I used Fat Quarters (fabric sold in a quarter yard, usually used for quilting), but you can use any assortment of fabrics or ribbon that you have laying around. I would say, at the very least, have about 6 different fabrics. 
• Wreath base: grapevine or straw
• Rotary cutter/fancy scissors/regular old scissors 
• Self healing mat (optional)
• Quilting ruler

The two wreath color schemes I used. I have a ton of fat quarters just itching to be used, and I don't feel like making a quilt at the moment. =) 

Cut pieces of fabric in about 2inches by 8inches. If you have ribbon, just cut in 8 inch pieces, and if your fabric isn't 2 inches wide, just cut it in 8 inch pieces. There is no real uniformity to this other than eliminating all frayed edges. The easiest way to cut fabric is by stacking it too. Especially since fat quarters should be all the same size. 

Supplies are ready to go!

Start with one fabric, and tie around the fabric base in various places. When you are choosing places to tie, try and tie around various widths of the wreath base. Sometimes you will tie around the whole base, sometimes just a few strands of grapevine/straw. Also, change the direction in which you tie. Sometimes right over left, sometimes left over right. 

*You can also start your wreath in a different manner. Line up your fabric/ribbon stacks, and starting in one place on the wreath, rotate colors as you work around the wreath base. 

*Push the fabric together as you work to make more tying space and to create a fuller wreath. 

Four of each color at this point. Clearly not enough fabric, so I push the fabric together and keep on adding. 

 Finished product. My wreath base was about 9 inches across. I used 9 colors and 8 pieces of fabric for each color. That's 72 pieces. Unfortunately, there is no formula (at least not one that I have created) to know how many fabric pieces you will need, but at least this is a starting point.

More wreaths that I created. I think they are really cute, and the fabric that you can use really express your personality or can be displayed for the season. The one that I created on my wall has bright orange, red, brown and a little blue...my favorite mixture of colors! 

There are many variations to creating wreaths. They are easy, don't require sewing, and they don't take a lot of time. You will feel like you actually did something fancy in a short period of time. I like to cut the pieces, and then sit in front of the TV while I tie. It keeps my hands busy (I have trouble slowing down-- Type-A!), and it keeps me from snacking while I watch TV (common problem). If you want to use a styrofoam base, you can either tie all your fabric pieces around that, or cut your fabric pieces much shorter, and use push pins to put your fabric on the styrofoam. I have not tried this, but I'm sure it will work. I ALWAYS like to try new crafty things! Use fancy scissors to cut your fabric, glittery ribbon, or I have even seen this done with old cammies! Maybe use old T-shirts you hate to throw away, or baby clothes for the kids' room. Anything! 

Tell me your ideas! Happy Crafting! 

It's never too late...

It's never too late to thank the teachers that help our kids "grow." I know that Tuesday was Teacher Appreciation Day, but this whole week is Teacher Appreciation Week. I thought this was a really cute idea and although its a little late in the game (you still have 1.5 days!), I wanted to share what Lexi and I did for her teachers. (Plus, it is a super easy idea!)

                                 Supplies: Cute paper, Card board, and yes, those are wooden skewers.

Finished product. 

These cactus flowers started blooming before we gave them to Lexi's teachers and they were sooo beautiful. I am thinking about getting some, and I am hoping since they are "cactus," I won't kill them like every other plant I have ever owned. 

There are definitely cuter ideas out there on Pinterest for teachers, but I really liked the saying on this one. And who doesn't love plants? Just an overall fun idea. 

Yay to all those awesome teachers out there who do what I could never do! Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! 

First Craft Fair. Ever.

Well hello bloggity bloggers and blogettes! I guess if you are reading this blog, you might not technically be a blogger, but a blog reader. Ohwell. Anyways, in true Jaime fashion, I thought that I could do anything and everything, and go to every event without any regard for time, but I just can't! Meaning: I am sorry that I have had no time to blog these past few weeks. I was preparing for my first ever craft fair!

Being the type A personality that I am, doing my first craft fair was nerve wrecking. For some reason, the closer it got to the event, the more merchandise I thought I needed. Trust me, I did not need a lot, because it was a small fair. I live on a Marine Corps Base, in a very small town, and it was in the community center on base. There were about 15-20 other vendors. I guess it was good for a first time fair. Here's my booth.

One fun thing I enjoyed doing was handing out little goodies to all the kids that passed by. It made everyone stop by my booth. Wink wink.

I made (what I call) crayon roll-ups and basically those only sold to friends (Thanks to all who visited!). It was hard to decide about pricing, and I didn't really have time to look around at the rest of the crafters before the fair started. I realized about half way through, that another table was selling these at a MUCH lower price. So I slashed prices...That didn't really help either. I'll just have to try again.

These are women's half aprons. They did not sell at all. The funny thing was that I stayed up late the night prior making Marine Corps aprons because I thought that they would sell. Who knows! So many factors.

Kid's half aprons.

Kids whole aprons. I sold a few of these, but mainly in the "Cars" print. Anything "Cars" print went like hotcakes.

Fabric wreath.

Fabric wreathes and plush owls. The owls sold really well. Kids just ate them up and everyone else thought they were cute. Although, one kid was swinging his around by the feet, and it made me question my sewing skills. I was so afraid that foot was going to fall off. Haha.




All in all, the fair went well. I sold some things, and even after buying a few things from other vendors, I ended up with a decent profit. The poor lady next to me had baked goods, and she barely sold anything. She ended up giving a lot of it away. There really wasn't a lot of shoppers there. I am not sure if it was the location, the weather, or the advertising, but I am hoping for more shoppers during the next fair.

The crafts that I chose to make were rather easy, and I am sure I will post how to do them in the near future. I always thought that the things I made were too easy and if most people can make them, why buy them? But my friend Jenni says that there are plenty of people out there that have no interest in doing crafts, so they are willing to buy them. So true. Not everyone sees a craft and says "I can do that myself." (Yes, I walk around craft fairs looking for gift ideas, sewing ideas for my daughter, and easy decor.) Anyways, I think that this may be something I do again. We will see!

Thanks again for everyone's support! A truly enjoyable experience.

Daily Activity Jar

Oh what to do? what to do?... That is always the question when kids are around. "Mom, I'm bored." "Mom, let's do a project." "Mom, what are we going to do today?" Well, not anymore! Create an Activity Jar!

So, most of the activities only take a few minutes, but at least it is time that you can spend with your kids, and it is exciting to pick a new daily activity. My daughter and I have really enjoyed doing daily activities, and it forces me to drop everything I am doing, and giggle with her for a little while. I used this site http://www.overthebigmoon.com/summer-activity-jar/ to start my list, but then I added quite a few things that would cater to our family. Dolly tea party. Paper boats (http://www.niftythriftythings.com/2011/08/paper-boat-place-cards.html). Silly dress up photo shoot. Wash the dogs. Write a letter to Daddy. Write a favorite things list for Daddy. Hopscotch. Etc....

Supplies: A jar, whatever you want to decorate the jar with, and little sheets of paper.

I printed out the list of activities and cut them up, because it was easier than writing them all down. Also, I used a plastic jar because I knew my three year old would be handling it. Whatever works for your family. Go Crazy with your ideas!!

                                                                Finished product!