Candy in my pocket

This project is nothing new. Homemade candy jars are a simple project, and can cost you just pennies to make. The most expensive part is constantly keeping them filled with candy.

Normally I don't like anything on my counter tops. I'm odd like that. However, with candy season starting tomorrow, I thought I would make an exception.

My city doesn't pick up glass recyling. If I want to recycle glass I have to drop it off somewhere. I don't know where that is, so I usually keep all my glass jars. You never know when they are going to come in handy.

The jars for this project were a large peanut butter jar, a large applesauce jar, and a bouillon jar. I had the paint and primer on hand. All I had to buy were a few candlesticks from the Dollar Tree.

I didn't have a lot of white spray paint left, but I did have a lot of primer. I decided to prime my lids and candlesticks first. I figured I would need less paint if I did that. When the primer was set, I sprayed everything white.

While I waited for the paint to dry I cleaned my jars up. I was too lazy to look for the Goof off, so I just used a Clorox wipe. It worked really well.

When the candlesticks were ready, I glued them to the bottom of the jars with some strong adhesive. Let it dry and you are done. Oh, then fill your jars with candy.

These candies are disappearing fast.  Maybe I will put carrots in the first empty jar. I wonder how fast they would get eaten?

Fingerprint pictures

 I pinned this on Pinterest a few weeks back. I didn't really pay attention to the book cover, just how cute the little doodle drawings were. When we were at the library last week I cam across this book...

This book, along with several stamp pads and piles of copy paper, have been on my kitchen table ever since. The kids and I are loving everything about it.

Tess has invited several friends over and they have stayed at the table stamping almost the entire play date.

Collin gets in on the action and really goes to town. He doesn't really care about the book, just the stamp pad.

Tess is very particular and doesn't stray from the example very much. I love all the little details. 

If you haven't seen this book, go to your library and scout one out. Totally worth it.

Fancy writing

Last Saturday I attended Melissa's calligraphy class. To be honest I was a little nervous to go. I don't know why. Probably because it was something different with people I didn't know.

I have this insatiable thirst to learn. I was telling Mike not to long ago that I wanted to learn calligraphy. Melissa spoke at Creative Collabrative last month, and another gal mentioned she signed up for Melissa's calligraphy class. When I got home that night, I walked in and sat down at the computer to sign up. I'm so glad I did.

The supplies are simple and don't take up a lot of room. I don't have big plans for my calligraphy, just addressing cards and making gift tags. Practice, practice, practice is my calligraphy motto.

I don't have anything to write, but I want to write all the time now. Davis was asking to try out my pen and ink. I told him no because I didn't want to share my new supplies. Lame mom moment.

Forgive me Davis. You can try it when you are older and I am not such a stinker.

P.S. Melissa is working on an online class.  Check her website for updates.

Felt Fun

 Yesterday I shared a picture of my new fall decor. Remember I went all out. 

Dana shared her happy day garland, and Elsie showed us how to make her fall leaves garland.

 This is what I came up with.

I used my sewing machine to stitch the leaves together. 

I over lapped on top of my leaves about an inch or so. Half way through the garland I sewed the leaves overlapping under the previous leaf.

After I hung the leaf garland up I got the mail from the mail box.

The October issue of Parents was in the box.

Right away the colors on the cover sang to me. I knew I had to make another garland.

I love that these colors still speak fall to me, but are not the traditional brown, red and orange. That pop of blue soothes my soul.

It just so happens that I had bought almost every color of cheap felt the other day. So, I grabbed my scissors and felt and started cutting away. I actually layered all four colors of felt on top of each other and cut them into approx. 4.25 by 2.5 inch rectangles. That took all of two minutes.

Next I stitched them together with dark brown thread on my sewing machine. I hung up the rectangles, but the garland lacked some pizazz. After consulting Davis and Mike, I decided to cut out the little triangles on the bottom.

I brought up one of my pillows from the basement because it has a fun print and more orange on it. The fall decor is looking complete now. Don't worry I didn't throw out the first garland. It's hanging out in the kitchen as a little table runner.

Free Fall Pillows

 Now that it is officially fall, I needed to change up some decor in our front room.  Instead of buying new pillows for the season, I thought I would make some pillow covers. This way I don't have to store pillows or buy new forms.

Enter pillows that we already have.

I decided to really keep this simple and only use the fabric I had on hand. This cream colored fabric was sitting under a bunch of stuff. It has a bit of a sheen and fancy feel to the touch. I decided this would be the perfect fall pillow cover.

I sewed up some envelop back pillow covers because they are the least fussy. Susan has a nice tutorial with pictures if you need a how to.

Now the brown pillow is from Target.  I don't have the patience to make that. It was in another room and I swapped it to the front room.

I like to keep things simple, so the fall decorations are nearly complete. Your probably thinking, "A couple of lousy pillows and your done?" The answer is maybe. Did you notice my little garland on the mirror? Check in tomorrow and I will share more on that.

Romantic Family Picnic

Okay, so maybe romantic family picnic doesn't sound plausible, but let's just pretend. For family night this week we shared a nice meal outside on the soon to be finished deck.

Davis was a great helper and laid out the big quilt. He shares my vision of a nice evening at home. ;)

I picked up this fancy soda for a picnic date, but was rained out. A romantic family picnic seemed the perfect time to bust it out. You know, because my children appreciate imported French soda.

Homemade pizza is always a crowd pleaser in the McBride house. Turkey pepperoni for the littles, and veggies with fresh mozzarella for the grown ups.

We didn't forget entertainment either. The kids and I watched Mike take down the railing he put up on Saturday. Mike and I have been going back and forth on some of the last details of the deck. Once the railing was up, we decided we didn't want it. Bummer for Mike.

The family was outside until there was no light left. We really are trying to soak up the nice weather while we can. I think it is safe to say it could snow at our house in the next month. Yikes!

Happy first day of fall. Have a great weekend friends.

a CHARMing necklace

Making a charm necklace is so easy and fun. The hardest part is picking out a charm. I ordered these bow charms from Yozo Craft . There were so many to choose from, I can't believe I only ordered these. 

I didn't really want to spend a lot of time or money on these necklaces. So here is the quickest charm necklace I have ever made...

1. Attach split rings to charm. My bow had two holes, so I attached two rings. I don't have a split ring tool. I just used my thumb nail to pry the ring open.

2. I cut two lengths of chain that were ten inches each.

3. Attach the end of the chain to one of the split rings. Repeat for the other side.

4. Attach a lobster claw to the other end of the chain to complete the necklace. If you have a long chain that can slip over your head, just use a split ring to tie the ends of the chain together.

All of my supplies, except the charms, I had on hand. They were purchased from Michael's and Jo-Ann. 

I have a hard time making the same thing over and over again. For my second necklace, I only used one loop on the bow.

The charm seemed lonely by itself, so I added a little glass bead. It would be fun to add more charms. I spotted a few more on Yozo Craft that I just might need to order.

There you have it. A quick charm necklace. Or three or four necklaces.

A hot breakfast

Have you ever thought of heating up your grapes?

We had some roasted grapes for an appetizer once and it was delicious.

The next time you are making flap jacks on the griddle, save some room for your grapes.

Yes, those are chocolate and peanut butter chips on our pancakes.

There's nothing like a nice warm grape to compliment our sugar covered pancake. 

Harvey Two Face

 This project almost made it's way to the trash can today. After two days of work I was getting really frustrated. In the end we decided to 'make it work!'

We turned our Ikea easel into a magnet easel. The kids didn't really used the chalkboard side and when we are out of paper on a roll, no one would color on it. Magnets are fun and this seemed like a better idea than just throwing it all away.

With a good rag, some Goo Gone, and a little bit of muscle I cleaned that baby up. I was trying my hardest to do a good through job, so I taped off the edges of the board. I shook that twenty dollar can of primer with all my might. I priced out aluminum sheets compared to the primer and both options were more money than I wanted to spend. However, the primer seemed easier than measuring and cutting, so that's what I went with.

I painted several coats, then let it dry over night. Oh, I was so proud of myself. Until I tried sticking a magnet to it. Wah wah. Project fail at this point. My magnets were not sticking.

So enter day two of impromptu project. I shake that can till I can't shake anymore. Now, I dig my paint brush out of the trash because I am not prepared with another one. I can't find a stir stick, so I grab a branch off my little tree and try to stir things up. Uh, I feel a wall of magnet half way down the can.

I pour the liquid off the top of the primer into another container, and see a solid mass of magnet on the bottom of the can. Maybe I should have had the paint department at the Depot shake the can up for me? I decided to slowly add a little liquid in to the mass.  Using my brush I get a thick paint/paste to brush onto the easel.

One side of the easel looks bumpy like the surface of the moon. The other side is nice and smooth. The bumpy side was my first attempt. After a while I didn't care about the edges and ended up painting everything.

In the end, I probably painted eight coats of primer. Five of those coats were thick. I knew that the thicker the paste, more magnet was sticking.

The kids don't care what it looks like, just that it works.

The easel is sitting in the middle of the craft room ready to be played with. When the kids want to color or paint, we can use a magnet to hold the paper on.

Overall this is a great and simple project. Just make sure to stir your paint super awesomely, and grab a couple of disposable foam brushes.

I see some magnet making in our future...

Mundane Monday

Ordinary days are not a bad thing. They are just regular old days. I actually really enjoy an easy going day to recoup after an awesome weekend. 

That's right, our weekend was awesome. How can a weekend not be awesome when it starts with a date night and ends with chocolate chip cookies by the fire pit?

carrots at the farmer's market

The junk part of this particular mundane Monday is that my body is achey and tired. It's beautiful outside with the sun shinning.  But I really want it to be cold and dreary so that I don't feel guilty curling up on the couch and watching t.v. with the kids.

Wait, my kids are playing at the neighbors house. Maybe I should just go lay on the couch and be lazy relax.

Wouldn't those fresh garden carrots be delicious in a chicken soup for a sick mommy?
Well, let's hope for a terrific Tuesday people!

Knot too fancy

Yesterday I showed you a picture of something I made. There were two necklaces. Today I'm sharing my 'knot fancy necklace.'

I always browse the clearance section at Target for good deals on t-shirts. I will only spend a couple of bucks, and I look for the biggest sizes. The bigger sizes give you more fabric to work with.

These necklaces aren't anything fancy, but it's a great way to use up old t-shirts. It's kind of my ode to the t-shirt eternity scarves. 

1. Grab your tools. - a t-shirt, scissors

2. Cut a long strip from your t-shirt.  Make it thick or thin, it doesn't matter. 

3. Trim off any sewn seams

4. Start tying knots on your strip of fabric.

When you reach your desired length of necklace knot the ends together.  There was no rhyme or reason to where I tied my knots. Except if I had cut my t-shirt and had a curve, there would definitely be a knot there.

Now repeat the process with as many t-shirts as you want.

I thought it would be fun to have a printed necklace too. To get the most from my shirt, I cut along the side and bottom. You can see my angle in the middle picture. I tied my knot right on the angle.

Adding beads and flowers is a good way to spruce them up too.

Have a great Friday!