Quick Valentine Craft

This craft came from Martha Stewart...


So easy and you probably have the paper already!
Heart template can be found here.

Children's Song Book

I made 2 books for my son today.

The first one is a combination Quiet Book & Song Book...

The cover page just has his name on it with velcro letters that he can take off and put back on.

I only have 2 songs in this book so far... I'll add to it later.
I altered clipart that I found, laminated everything and stuck some velcro on it.

The other song in the book is a song that he is learning in Primary this month.
(This is a great flip chart for the song as well)

The next book that I made is just for songs that he will be
learning throughout the year in Primary.I found the pages here and here.
Then I shrunk them in Photoshop so they would fit two on a page.
Laminated them, cut them and bound them with ribbon.
So easy!

Super Easy Scarf

I'm posting this one for my Crafty Mom...

She bought this blanket from IKEA.
It has a cute decorative edge and was only $3.49.

Cut the blanket length wise into about 5-6 inch strips.
Then cut a slit into one side of it like this:

Then you can put it around your neck and slide one end through the slit and voila! a fun scarf!
She was able to get several scarfs out of the $3.49 blanket...
no sewing involved!

Love it!
So creative Mom!

My Crafty Frames!

Tada they are done!

Here is the grouping I finally decided on, hung up on my wall. I am so not good at mathmatics and trying to get this perfectly straight. (that's my moms job, but we just moved away from her so I had to do this on my own) So I just measured the middle three over the center of our bed and the rest I just went for it and hoped it would look ok when I took a step back to look at it. It's not perfect but I am pleased.

My 2 year old thinks it all looks straight, so I am going with her opinion!! Here's the whole wall with my sconces (bought on clearance years ago from Michaels) and my IKEA candles with a newly tied ribbon around it to tie in the accent color- green.
I think I LOVE it!

Chocolate covered caramel pretzels

These are easy and yummy to make. I made them for Christmas but they can be adjusted to any holiday.

You'll need:

pretzel rods

melting chocolate

caramel

sprinkles

I use that brick of caramel you can find at most baking supply stores. Wet your hands and take a piece and roll it into a 'snake' then wrap it around the pretzel rod like shown.

Melt your chocolate (in microwave or on the stove) and dip your pretzel. I also use a spoon to help cover the entire pretzel.
Lay on some foil or waxed paper and add your sprinkles, let dry

I actually went and bought the pretzel bags and tied them with a ribbon to give to some friends.

Enjoy!

It really is a tasty treat.

Crafty frames... hopefully

I have had the same things hanging over my bed for the past 5 years, so I think it's time for a change. With this beautiful stack of black and white papers (given to me by my mom) and these $7.00 worth of frames I picked up at DI, I really hope it turns out.

(The image in my head is so pretty!) Look for another post hopefully by Friday.... keep your fingers crossed

Sneaky treats!

I have a son who is a super picky eater. The only vegtable he will eat is raw carrots. I found this recipe from the book Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfield -
knowing that he likes Chocolate - I decided to give it a try.
It was a HUGE success!!

Chocolate Fondue

1 T. trans-fat-free margarine spread (I just used butter)

1/2 c. Avacado Puree

1/4 c. Carrot Puree

1 c. confectioners' sugar

1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 t. pure vanilla extract

Sliced fruits, whole berries, or cherries for dipping

Melt the margarine over low heat in a medium saucepan. Add the avacado and carrot purees, sugar, cocoa powder, and vanilla, and whisk well until smooth. Serve warm, with fruit.

**A trick I learned while experimenting with sneaky nutrition is that for things like "carrot puree" I just use a jar of carrot baby food - it saves a lot of time.

Baby shower invite idea

I received this cute baby shower inviation today in the mail.

It says:

Willow is about to POP!

So POP on over and help her get ready to welcome her new baby boy!

Just blow up this balloon, use the pin to POP it,

and find your invitation inside!

I thought it was a really fun idea. My boys were really excited to blow up the balloon and pop it to find the inviation.