Button Rings

So.. RINGS!! Its all the rage in accessories. My darling, perfect, niece Maddie came for a couple days to hang out with me while her dad went to a Vet conference. We went shopping, running around, getting our hair done, and playing hard. Our last morning.. we had to craft! We made Dog tag jewels, and then she showed me how to make these Rings. So Cute... I love all the possibilities!

You begin with about 2ft wire. Flexible, it doesn't matter the gauge, just as long as it will cooperate and go through the buttons. I just had some floral wire (isn't she adorable?)Wrap it around your finger 2 times, this is what you'll use for the size...

thread your buttons.

pull the wires together and twist, like your closing a bag of bread

Then start coiling it around, until you want to stop, you don't even have to coil, you can skip a this step, and the prior entirely...

split the wires to go down each side of the buttons

Coil the wire around the ring, repeat on the other side.

clip

Viola...

Good Listener Chart

I love reward systems and have done several different ones in the past, and will probable do several more in the future. Am I ADD or do reward systems loose there appeal after a while? Oh well, it might just be me.

But right now our new family system is "Good Listener Charts" . The concept is simple. When my children get asked to do something and they do it the first time then they get to color in an ear. This will include chores, homework, piano practice, and changing a negative behavior (although this will be something they earn only once a day--at the end of the day. Ex: "Please stop bossing your friends" They will get to color in a ear if that happened the whole day!)

Then when they fill their chart (25 ears) they earn a prize. Which will include anything!!! Okay I haven't bought the prizes yet...but I will.

If your kids are already "good listeners" one of my favorite web sites has a ton of free printable charts. http://www.freeprintablebehaviorcharts.com/

Upholstered sewing table

I have been busy working on my craft room. That's right, I can't believe I have a craft room... So, I laid out a quilt, then layered the lovely fabric, batting (normal quilting batting 3layers) and put the table on top. As you can see I spray painted the table legs prior.
My phone is usually a crucial thing, It's my mom on speakerphone... Love that girl! While I was doing this she was actually sewing drapes. Funny! I called to ask her if I needed to wash the fabric first- which she said "no, that just makes upholstered fabric weaker... (great tip) and one less step! I just pulled the edges tight and stapled. **another great tip: when stapling, if your staples are going in all the way, you aren't applying enough pressure. So really put yo back into it! I was sure to staple a couple on one side, and then a couple on the opposite side so I wouldn't get it puckering... It was nice and even.
I then just trimmed the excess fabric off. Now I can sew, and not have to move too much to iron something. I love it.

Oreo Truffles St. Valentino

One of my favorite indulgences has to be Oreos. Growing up there were ALWAYS Oreos around, Laura, can you remember all the oreo shakes? Well, my Dad had a signature OREO shake... and we had it almost every Monday night for Family Night. So it was "love at first bite" when I had Oreo Truffles! They are sooo easy. Savannah decided she wanted to take them for her class treat tomorrow. We made them together. Its just oreos, cream cheese, and dipping chocolate! They are sooo rich, you only need one to be totally satisfied, and then 20min later you can have another...and 20min after that, another... and so on!

New Recipe Book

This project has been hanging over my head for years. I have wanted to put all my recipes in one place, and organized. But then I realized I didn't want to loose the hand writing, or the actual purple note- because then, how could I find the recipe. So I just folded them any way I could and put them in a photo album. Its been so much fun to cook again. And I just love to look at all the different things I wrote recipes on, Post its, receipts, labels, note cards, wedding invitations... apparently, whatever was nearby when I needed to jot something down. Love it!

Valentine Advent

I got this in the mail this week from my Amazing Sister. She is a crafting contessa! This measures about 2 1/2 feet across, its pretty big. She just used felt, cut a heart, glued a smaller pink heart, and even hot glued the ric rack around the edges. Then she did the smaller hearts- they have little pockets in them, and then just sticky felt numbers... she might have used the cricut?! Anyhoo... each little pocket has a little paper in it that either says an activity like "make a love shack" (a gingerbread house) or "show love to Savannah today by giving her one act of service" or "write a love note to CJ...." The kids love it, especially when the message is something about them~ Thanks LISA!! xoxoXOxoOOXxo

Valentine Bark...ruff!

I came across this idea from November 2010 Real Simple's Magazine article on something like .."What to do with leftover Halloween Candy" They just used Pretzels, raisens and candy corn. When I saw Valentine candy corn, I knew this would be a fun treat my kids could make. For a cookie sheet, I used 2 bags of White Choc Chips (nestle brand... on sale at Target) Melted, spread, then dripped red food coloring, and dropped on candy(m&ms, candy hearts, candy corn) and pretzels. It hardened pretty quick, maybe 10 min. If you need to rush it, put it in the freezer or fridge! So easy, so tasty.