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.

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.

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.