Baby Water Globes

Let me start by saying, I'm not entirely sure *what* to call these.  Tiny items floating in water within a glued up water bottle?  Nah, too long.  Whatever they should be called, they're easy to make and entertains the little one.

I found the idea on Pinterest, naturally.  I used:

• two teeny water bottles
• party confetti from HEB
• Spritz rubber balls from Target
• The One Spot acorns from Target
• Spritz rubber bracelets from Target
• Spritz beaded necklaces from Target
• Super Glue
• scissors

All of the Target party favors were $1 or so.  Super cheap!  Cause I'm all about the cheap.  All of the Spritz items came from the party favor section, and the acorns were in the seasonal $1 bins up front.

I cut up the bracelets into three pieces and the necklaces into 1, 2 and 3 bead sections.  Then the boys put all of those little pieces into the water bottles.  When they were done, I filled up the bottles with water.  After that, I applied the Super Glue to the inside of the bottle cap and put that on.  Ten seconds later, we were done!  Shake it up baby!

Room Makeover... Sorta...

Boy #1 has a little reading nook in his room, and it was looking a little bare.  Time for a project!  An easy one at that.

I added a tension shower curtain rod and a fabric shower curtain to his room.  It adds color and blocks at the sunlight in the morning.

Then, I switched out his previous bookcase / seating area (Ikea's Billy Height Extension Unit) that was under the window and bought a storage ottoman.  The Billy was fine, and he sat on it all the time to look out the widow.  But I found that the books weren't staying in there and it was constantly messy.  And I wanted to make it cushiony, but that required a custom size.  I'm too lazy for that.

Lastly, two prints were framed and placed on the wall.  I found both ideas on Pinterest, naturally.  I created the alphabet one after seeing the idea.  (The post provided a .pdf, but it was not editable.) 

Unfortunately, there are no "before" pictures, but it didn't change that much anyway.  ;)

• shower curtain from Ikea: Hallback (bought in store recently, but don't see it online)
• red storage ottoman from Target: Circo Double Storage Ottoman
• alphabet print: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5gYg6AytK0SWHJiWVlEWk5BX0k/edit?usp=sharing     (In case Google Drive doesn't help, I did in PowerPoint.  Font is Century Gothic.  Alphabet is size 100.  "Is for" is size 66.  His name is size 72.)
• You are My Sunshine print: http://www.designerblogs.com/you-are-my-sunshine-free-printable/
• teal 8"x10" frame from Michaels: Utopia Wall Frame

If you're curious about this bookshelf, I bought it secondhand from a neighbor.  But it's the Kids' Sling Bookshelf with Storage Bins from One Step Ahead.

This Little Piggy...

I had always turned coffee cans into piggy banks.  Even the rectangular Maxwell House International Coffee ones.  I thought they were cute and fun.  Now, I've stepped it up a notch.  Well, a small notch.

I finally got around to making a piggy bank out of a Similac formula canister.  I took the label off and wrapped it in washi tape.  I then used an Xacto knife and cut a slit into the lid.  Next step was to place a sheet of scrapbook paper on top and press down until I got an impression of the edges.  (Since it's an inside lip, it's kind of hard to trace.)  Cut that out.  Use a glue stick around the edges of the lid and stick that bad boy on there.  Last step is to then use the Xacto knife again and cut out the slit through the paper.  (Do it from the bottom.)  The reason I did that last is because I used some of the wording on the lid as a guide as to wear to place the slit.  It is simpler than it sounds!

My New Craft Obsession

Why am I up so late?  Making these mini envelopes!

I had recently received my stash of Kuretake envelope templates and was dying to make something!  

So I grabbed an old issue of Glamour that was already headed for the recycling bin. Tore out a few pages that looked promising.  Simply traced, cut, folded and glued.  Voila!  That one on the bottom right (with the couple under an umbrella) has a love note for Husband.  Cute, right?

I purchased mine here: http://www.jetpens.com/search?q=Kuretake+envelope

My only souvenir in Las Vegas was...

... these Max Brenner Cups!  Husband and I had lunch there before heading to the airport and I just fell head over heels. The Alice Cup is made to look like the Cheshire Cat's smile.  Cute, right?  And the Kangaroo Cup, I'm sure, will make my tasty coffee even tastier.  The concept is to put chocolate in the swirl, and as it melts, it mixes into the coffee.  And Husband had the bright idea of first coating the swirl with hot water so the chocolate could melt faster.  Genius!

Triscuit Redone

Holy...  Gone are the days are cardboard Triscuits!  I'm totally loving their new flavors.  Haven't had a bad one yet!  Totally love the brown rice varieties.  And now Triscuit has given me my new favorite snack:

Triscuit Dill, Sea Salt & Olive Oil + light cream cheese + cucumber

It tastes likes a crunchy tea sandwich!  So my BFF brought these to book club the other night and was all, "I didn't have time to go to the grocery store so I whipped this together."  And I'm thinking, "I hate you.  I love you for bringing these delicious morsels of awesomeness.  But I hate that you just pulled this at the last minute."  She later told me that it's the picture on the box!  Ha!  So, of course, I made a specific trip to the grocery store to get these crackers, cream cheese and cucumber.  I assembled them as soon as I got home.  My picky eater son even liked the crackers with the cream cheese.  He declined the green stuff, natch.

Project Pantry Complete!

I finally really organized my pantry!  Woo hoo!

• I used a stacking shelf that I found at Target.
• I have a lot of baby food, so the pouches were hung using the Munchkin Baby Food Pouch Organizer, also from Target.
• Foil is now hung on the pantry door using Command Hooks and some curling ribbon.  The curling ribbon went through the foil roll and hung around the hooks.  One less thing in an already crowded drawer!
• I had four rectangular desk organizers that I bought second hand.  In one, I stored bagged sauces, seasoning, etc.  In the other three were dessert and baking supplies and I stacked two of them to open more space.
• Two magazine holders were also used.  One stored noodles and odd shaped items, like seaweed.  The other housed macaroni and cheese.
• I had two rectangular pencil trays that I used for granola bars and other small snacks.
• And two pencil cups held individually wrapped chocolates and mini raisin boxes.  
• I found this great idea on Pinterest: to store cupcake liners in mason jars!  So in they went.  I took them out of their new packaging and loaded up those jars.  A big jar for normal cupcakes and a smaller jar for the mini cupcakes.