Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Wicked Creative

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Retro Machine created by Napping Goat Design

I received a huge compliment the other day {at least I took it as a huge compliment!} A friend told me I was ‘wicked creative.’   
I don’t think it was the exact words that meant so much, but more that the comment was so meaningful because it totally caught me off guard.

I had no idea my friend had looked, or would ever look, at my blog.   I think I mentioned the blog once in a brief conversation and I had no idea he was actually paying attention.  

The comment had a big impact for being two simple words.

The comment was unexpected and flattering.  The comment came at a time when I must have really needed to hear it.  That might sounds silly, but it is so true.  It caused me take a step back and realize that maybe I do have a talent.   The comment also caused me to recognize I don’t give myself much credit at times.  I sometimes find myself disappointed with my lack of creativeness or lack of ideas or lack of motivation.   I suppose it all comes down to confidence in myself and my creative abilities.  

Sometimes all it takes is an unexpected compliment.  A friendly reminder, maybe I am talented.   Who knew a simple compliment could mean so much and cause such thought!

The next time I’m feeling ‘lacking’ I am just going to say the words and maybe it will be the motivation I need to press on: ‘Wicked Creative.’ 

At the very least, it will make me smile!   

Thank you, dear friend, for the compliment!  


Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Advent Idea for Kids: Book A Day

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My Mom had a great idea this year for an Advent calendar for little man.  A book a day.   

I’m not sure if she came up with the idea herself, or read it somewhere, but either way, I give her all the credit.  She wrapped up 24 books and each morning little man gets to open the package with the number that corresponds with the day. 


Seriously, a brilliant idea.  




I figured he would enjoy this, but I had no idea just how much he’d love it.  He wakes up each morning wanting to open the book for the day.  He remembers what number we opened the previous day and he knows what the current day is.  If anything, this ‘advent calendar’ is a great way to practice numbers and counting!  Again, Mom, you're brilliant.  I’m lucky to have a teacher for a mother! :) 




I totally recommend this for younger kiddos.  You don’t even have to use new books.  My Mom gathered up some books she had from when my brother and I were younger {works out in my favor that she saves things!} and then she purchased a few at the book fair at her school.  




The books are just wrapped with simple plain paper with a big number written in marker on the top.  


Easy.  And, the kid loves it.  LOVES it!


Books are much healthier than candy too!



Mom, you’re a genius!  Thanks for the idea, and the 24 new books!


Friday, December 7, 2012

Printable Holiday Fun!



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Life at my house the past few weeks has been interesting, to say the least.  Started off with a short hospital stay for my husband, then once he was back home, our entire house managed to get strep throat.  Not a good two weeks.  Since we were stuck at home trying to all get well again, I was trying to come up with various new ideas for little man to do to occupy his time- and energy.  
 
Fortunately, I had recently received Barbara Feldman’s ‘Printable Holiday Fun, Printable Activity Sheets’ disc in the mail.   I was asked to review the disk, but it couldn’t have come at a better time! The ‘Printable Fun’ disk full of various activities sheets, coloring sheets, word searches, etc. for just about every holiday!

Oh yes, you better believe I printed some of those sheets out!

When I inserted the CD I was surprised by how many different documents there were to choose from!  I figured that since Thanksgiving is the next holiday coming up {this post is a little late!}, I’d print out a few Thanksgiving related sheets. 

Little man isn’t big on coloring or doing sit-down activities unless he is in a certain mood.  But, once he did sit down to ‘work’ on the sheets, he colored for a little while and enjoyed the activities.

About a week later, some of little man’s friends came over for a bit while their Mom attended parent-teacher conferences.  One of the kiddos- who happens to be a girl- is very into drawing and coloring.   She was thrilled to have some of the worksheets to color while waiting for her Mom!  A perfect activity for her!




Now, with Christmas rapidly approaching, I’m planning to print out the various Christmas worksheets and giving them to little man during ‘quiet time’ or for a good rainy day activity!

I totally recommend this disk.  When you need an activity for a rainy day or want your kiddos to do something, this is great!   With Christmas coming up, this could be a good gift for a friend with kiddos too!

You can check out Barbara Feldman's site here!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Creating a 'New' Scarf - DIY Dyeing

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Supplies Needed:
Dye
Fabric/ item to dye
Salt
Gloves
Metal or glass bowl (or you can use your washer!)
Warm Water

I’ve been on a bit of a fabric dyeing kick lately.  I keep looking in my closet to see what I could dye for a new look.  I dyed a silk dress a few weeks ago (post coming soon), but most recently I wanted to see what I could do with an old scarf. 
  
I picked up a box of Rit dye at the ol’ fabric store.   
Little man helped me pick the color.  He chose navy.


I followed the directions on the box of dye, mostly. 
The directions recommend using a washer to do the dyeing. I have a front load washer and I’m not so sure how it would work, or if I want my washer filled with dye so I opted to use a big glass bowl filled with warm water {maybe not the best technique, but it worked!}. Have you ever used a front load washer to dye clothes? If so, how did that work out for you?
I filled the bowl with warm water, put a little salt in the water, and then sprinkled some of the dye into warm water.   
I soaked the scarf in warm water and then put it into my bowl filled with dye. 
I mixed the scarf around in the bowl with a metal spoon. 
I left the scarf in the bowl for about two hours, mixing around occasionally. 


*Word of advice, when mixing around the content in the bowl, the dye splatters a bit … my off white counter tops now have evidence of my dyeing experience.  Ooops! 


When I took the scarf out and washed it, I didn’t love the way it turned out.  It wasn’t as rich of a color as I’d hoped.  So, I put the scarf back into the bowl of dye {after getting the entire thing wet with warm water} and let it soak again for a few hours.   I didn’t even mix it around much, I just let it sit and soak up the dye.  

The second time around did the trick; the scarf came out dark bold navy.  Perfect!

I am happy with the way it turned out!  What do you think?

Have you ever dyed anything?  Any tips you want to share?

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