Happy Birthday Reminder Plaque

From The Mom.  (Daughter not present for this one...she has to go to school or something like that...:(  )

So, I've pinned this on about six different boards.

I guess that means I should give it a try, right?

Right.

I apologize I didn't take pictures of the process, to be honest it was so easy to do, that of course I had to goof up at least one step.

*sigh*

Anyway, I purchased the wooden plaque and paints from Wal-Mart, along with a cabinet pull all for about 8 dollars.  I used my Cricut to cut vinyl lettering and after applying a base coat color, I applied the letters to the plaque then painted the entire thing with a second color (in this case, navy blue). One it was dry, I lightly sanded over the vinyl and the edges to give it a distressed look...this is actually where I screwed up.  I didn't sand the first time, and just tried to pull the letters off. They brought some of the paint up with them causing me to have to sand and redo that letter...so as I was saying - SAND LIGHTLY - ahem - and then carefully pull off the vinyl lettering.

*note - if your vinyl is as aggressive as mine was with the adhesive, you may need to rub a little goo gone or lemon oil on it to get rid of the sticky goo left over.  Trust me, this is important...*

Finally, I drilled a hole where I wanted the 'hook' to be, and hung from it some pre-made tags (also cut with my cricut, but you can get them pre-cut from the craft store) with everyone's name and birthday.  I will eventually add a hangar on the back, but for now,it's resting nicely on my piano in a photo easel.

Why did I want this so badly?

In our house we play the game : "Who's birthday is next mom?"  "When is MY birthday mom?"  "Mom, how many more people have their birthday before I do?" - yea, it's lots of fun.

I like how this turned out, and now I am thinking I may just make one for everyone in my family for Christmas.

Or not.

Tape Art

Original Pin Here:

From the Daughter:

I did the project because I wanted to paint but I had no clue what. So I did what what was usual. A Chicago WhiteSox logo. Yes I am a Sox fan also a Bears fan. It was simple and easy. All you had is find any canvas (I used paper instead) and think of an design. Normally I would practice making the design with tape on a smooth surface so you peel it of and put it on. It is a lot easier. Get dirty!

Banana Peanut Butter Nilla Wafer Sammiches (With Sprinkles)

Original Pin Here.

From the Mother (who did this pin all by herself, without the knowledge of the daughter because she was hungry, these looked good, and apparently teenagers sleep until like noon in the summer time.):

Who doesn't like Nilla Wafers?  These things have got to be on the list of the top ten most perfect inventions ever.  Seriously, right up there with the telephone and sliced bread.

I saw these today on Pinterest while I was waiting at the car wash for my car to be finished (entirely different story there).  Even with three televisions broadcasting the 2012 Olympics from London and one showing whatever crime drama shows at 10 AM on A&E, I still decided Pinterest was a much better use of my time.  

The Master Bedroom (totally just from Mom.)

The Cat approves.

We haven't forgotten about our project, promise.  It's just that the daughter has left me and gone on vacation for two weeks, and it just isn't as much fun without her. :(  BUT...I did get something done I've been meaning to do for a while...

Inspired by THIS pin, (and admittedly, several others...) I wanted to do over my master bedroom.  Keep in mind the budget is very tight, so I had to get creative, and I'm pretty sure that some of this will evolve over the next few weeks as I find what I want in the right stores...but so far, I can see the bedroom floor, and I'm LOVING the black and white with splashes of yellow. It just feels - well, bright and new.

Sharpie Decorated Special Occasion Plates

Original Pin Here.

From the Mother:

When I was growing up we had a special plate.  It was red and made of glass...I think.  Whenever it was someone's birthday, if someone did really great at something, or if we just wanted someone to feel extra special, when we set the table for dinner that night they got the red plate.

I've always wanted to do this with my kids, but I never found anything that was fun and special enough to become the great occasion plate.  Until now.

Thank you Pinterest for teaching me that I can buy a plate at the dollar store, decorate it with multiple colors of sharpie markers, bake it in the oven  at 350 for 30 minutes, let cool in the oven and then remove - meanwhile making all the sharpie colors permanent.  Because of you, Pinterest, I now have TWO plates one made by me and one by the daughter, of course.

Dollar Store Cake Stands

Original Pin Here.

From the Mother:

This pin was totally for me.  100% no questions asked.  What would a teenager do with cuppycake stands anyway? Since I have a cuppycake business, and since we have a few events where we will be catering in the near future, I was looking for inexpensive ways to display our creations.  This. Was. Perfect.

The teenager definitely helped. She took pictures and mocked me openly while I struggled with centering the candlesticks on the plates.  Teenagers are so helpful, aren't they?

Pool Noodle Marble Racers

Original Pin HERE

From The Mother:

This one was awesome for me.  Why?  Because it's one that kept all five kids busy for a very long period of time, and I got to sit in the other room blissfully unaware of what was going on.

Terrible for me to think that way?

Nope.

Indoor Campfire S'mores Cones

Original Pin Here

From The Mother:

Nom. Nom. Nom.

I mean, um...

Nom. Nom. Nom.

Honestly I didn't think these things would be as tasty as they are.  The original pinner made these outside on a barbeque grill.  I didn't want to do that.  Two reasons: 1) It's like ninety five bagillion degrees outside and 2) Fire and I are not friends.  Instead we made ours inside, in the oven.

S'mores Please

Original Pin HERE.

From The Mother:

I admit it, this one was 100% completely my idea.  I wanted these. They sounded good. They would have been even better if I wasn't allergic to chocolate and could have made them as the Pin suggested, but oh well.

The idea was to take Crescent rolls, fill them with chocolate chips and marshmallows and bake them.  Sort of like a S'more in a pastry.  

3d Hand Art

Original Pin HERE.

From the Mother:

I remember when I was in kindergarten, the teacher had us make plaster of Paris hand prints which she somehow magically turned into 3D art which we gave to our mothers for Mother's day.  I actually still have mine.

I remember how thrilled she was to get it, and how she compared her hand with mine and told me how special it was.  I remember the day she gave it back, after I had my first baby girl...

Bleach Shirt Designs

Original Pin HERE.

From The Mother:

Okay, these things are just cool.   Since the original pin was a little short on instructions (I can't blame her, it's a pin from an Etsy shop), we had to try and figure it out ourselves.   We had some old shirts laying around, so there was no worry if we ruined them, and found our stencils online by searching for silhouette images.

All of the kids quickly chose their pictures, and then we had to change their minds - I'm not doing a four stage rainbow with sparkles, thankyou - and settled on a lion, a castle, a butterfly and a princess crown.  We guessed on the bleach spray, we used a 3 to 1 ratio, bleach to water and it acted fairly quickly...with the exception of the princess crown which we had to spray and then put in the sun to get it to change color.

Hot Buttered Pretzels

From the Mom:

To be honest, today I wanted something simple, easy - no baking or heating up the house involved.  It is 110 degrees here, and there are a lot of other things around the house that need doing.  BUT, I'm starving, and honestly, a soft salt and buttered covered pretzel sounds amazing and a trip to Wetzels Pretzels would require going out in the aforementioned heat.  Plus, the teenager really wanted to do pretzels today, who am I to deny her that?

Original Pin Here

Borax Bouncy Balls

From The Mom:

Pinterest (n):  The place where women go to find a whole bunch of crafty and organizational ideas that they are NEVER going to use for their home.

Of course, it can also be used for mother-daughter bonding time of AWESOMEness.  Or at least, that's what we plan to do with it.  First up?  Bouncy balls. Made at home. From Scratch. Sounded easy, looked easy, we were pretty sure we couldn't mess it up...so why not.  Plus, my idea of using the "clean all the baseboards in the house and wipe them down with bounce dryer sheets to repel future dirt" got vetoed.  Not sure why.