Day 15--Sharpie creations

There are plenty of pins on Pinterest about decorating mugs/bowls/plates with Sharpies. 

At Christmastime, my younger sister asked me to make a teapot for a good friend of hers.  Here is what we made.

Fun, right?? Her friend LOVED it!

My older sister wrote "I pity the fool who don't like tea" around the lid. Too funny :)

So today I decided to try some Sharpie art again. 

I started with putting the pictures I wanted in a Word Doc so I could crop & make them the size I needed.

Then I color very dark with a pencil on the back of the picture.

Positioned & taped the pictures on the mug & bowl.

Trace around all parts of the image. I traced over the words too, just to be safe. I'm decent at free handing letters, but I wanted to be sure on placement. (Press down hard.)

If you are doing this, keep in mind that bowls & mugs are rounded!!  The image & words may not lay exactly flat on the surface!

After tracing, un-tape one side, to peek at the image.

Only peek, in case you need to trace parts again.  You DO NOT want to have to try to re-position the picture if you un-tape the whole thing and need to trace more.

When you are satisfied with the transfer, remove the picture. Trace & fill in with sharpie. 

Work carefully and keep in mind that the pencil will rub off. If you lay your hand down to trace, you could end up rubbing off other parts of your design. 

All the pinned tutorials seem to agree on baking at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Most say to put in a cold oven, place items in, turn oven on, bake for 30 minutes.  Then leave the items in the oven to cool down.  

Here are the finished items I made today!

I will say that the teapot we made & the tea mug I made today will be for display purposes only. Many of the tutorials have comments about the sharpie not staying on.

I would recommend hand washing any items you intend on using regularly.

There are so many things you could do with sharpies and dinnerware items!  Let your imagination go...or search on Pinterest for ideas :)

NOTE: we got the idea for the teapot here, which led me to find the idea for the bowl & mug. It's a great Etsy shop that makes their items with more permanent ink, not just sharpies.

Day 14--Nutella Pop tarts & dinner idea

I have pinned a couple of different recipes for homemade poptarts.  One is for Nutella poptarts, found here and the other for strawberry poptarts, found here.

Today, I made Nutella Pop-tarts.  

Super easy & yummy!!!

Store bought pie crust, square off the edges. Cut into rectangles the size of pop-tarts.

I added 2 tsp. of Nutella to each like the recipe called for. I think next time I will use a little more. You can never have to much Nutella :)

Spread the Nutella evenly around the center of the crust, leaving an edge all the way around.

Place the other rectangle on top of the Nutella rectangle and crimp edges all the way around with a fork.

Being that the crust is about the only thing I like about most pies, I didn't want to waste the rounded edges. So I spread some Nutella on those and made smaller pop-tarts.

Oven temperature should be set according to the package directions for the crust, which for mine was 450 degrees.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.

The recipe called for drizzling melted Nutella over the top before serving.  We simply sprinkled powdered sugar on top. Extra Nutella never hurt anyone, so do what sounds yummiest to you. 

These were very quick & easy.  I will definitely make them again.  

Dinner idea--Bubble up Pizza

One of the first dinner ideas I tried from my pins on Pinterest was Bubble up Pizza.  I forgot to take a picture of mine tonight, but you can find the recipe here.

Canned biscuits, pizza sauce, cheese & your choice of pizza toppings.  Easy and yummy.  Try it & enjoy!! 

It's one of our favorites. 

(Picture from Pinterest, not mine)

Now go make some Pop-tarts!! You know you want to!!

Day 13--Polymer Clay pendants

I was excited to do this project!!  Polymer Clay (Sculpey) pendants.  Pinned the link from here. 

Here are the pendants I made today.

I had my doubts as I was making them, but they turned out pretty cute.

It turned out to be a little harder than expected.  The tutorial is easy to follow, but I think the paint I used made it more difficult than it should have been. 

I used various items that I had around the house to make the shapes and designs. 

Stamps, buttons, burlap...you can really use anything you want to design them!

I used acrylic paint I had on hand.  The tutorial used silver metallic paint. I also had copper so I used both. 

The copper paint was thicker, so it covered much better & was easier to use.  The silver was thinner & required more coats. I lack patience for drying time, so I will definitely get a thicker silver color paint the next time I make these!!

I'm sure you could use any color metallic paint if you wanted to try different colors. 

I think this one is my favorite.

This would be another good project for older girls or to make to give as gifts. I will definitely make them again and make some bigger ones to  use/give as ornaments.

NOTE: I had to Google how long to bake them because the package did not have the directions.  Baked at 275 for 30 minutes.  They didn't seem hard enough, so I flipped them over & baked for an additional 10 minutes.  

Also, I would recommend laying the clay on a heating pad or something similar to help soften it when you get started.

Day 12--Cleaning tips I tried today

We've all had the snot/cough/cold gunk the past week or so.  Especially Kevin & I.  Last week I felt like poo, so little cleaning was done.  So today, things needed to be done, why not try some of those cleaning tips I pinned on Pinterest!

First, I started with our kitchen. We have a bad habit of letting dishes pile in the sink. Don't judge, neither of us like kitchen clean-up duty.  So after unloading & loading the dishwasher, I cleaned the sink.  I like to use Comet. 

See how shiny it is?!?!??!

(This is just what I do to clean the sink. Not a pin from Pinterest.  I really just wanted/needed a picture on here today, so why not a shiny sink picture?)

Microwave Cleaning

While I was cleaning counter tops, I checked the microwave. Not terrible, but dirty.  I remembered that I had pinned a tip for cleaning microwaves.  Decided to try it out. 

Find the link here. 

I debated whether or not to try...it wasn't that dirty, I could spray it with cleaner & scrub it.  But I'm so glad I decided to try it!!  Cup of vinegar & cup of water, heat for 10 minutes. Loosens everything that is stuck & you just wipe down!

Garbage Disposal Cleaning

While looking for the microwave cleaner instructions, I saw the pin for cleaning your garbage disposal. Why not try it too, while I was at it!! Find it here. It's the 2nd idea listed on this site. So I put 1/4th cup of baking soda down the disposal & let it sit. After the vinegar was finished in the microwave, I poured the hot vinegar down the disposal drain.  Bubbled up just like it was supposed to!!

Honestly, I am not sticking my hand down there, so I will just assume that it is all clean!!

Towel Washing

Before I started cleaning the kitchen I decided to try a pin for washing towels.  Idea pinned from here. This site lists 10 cleaning tips. If you want to go straight to the towel cleaning site/instructions, click here. 

You wash your towels first with vinegar & hot water, then wash again with baking soda & hot water. 

They smell clean, like baking soda.  I guess we will have to see in the morning if they absorb better & don't smell funky. Will keep you posted about this one...

So there you go. Some cleaning tips to try. 

Microwave cleaner. Too easy!! Would DEFINITELY recommend trying it!

Disposal cleaning is easy, just no real way to know that it worked. (At least that I want to try.)

Towel washing was easy enough, if you have time to devote to 2 washing loads for both steps.  Will let you know later if I would recommend it.

House is cleaner and now the kids are home...so not sure how long it will last :)

Day 11--Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies

Despite the fact that yesterday was my birthday (reason why Day 11 is today instead of yesterday) and that I bought 2 boxes of Girl Scout cookies today at church, today's post is about cookies I baked!!

Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies

Not the greatest picture--they kinda blend in with our counter top!!  The link to the recipe can be found here.

The only thing I think I would change is next time I will dip my fork in sugar to criss-cross the tops, like when you make regular peanut butter cookies.  Otherwise, follow the recipe in the link above and enjoy!!

NOTE: I got a Silicone baking mat from my mother-in-law for Christmas.  It is AWESOME!! If you bake, you should have one!!  

Day 10--Cross

I made this today!!

The original picture/pin was linked to an Etsy shop.  Since I'm pretty crafty, I knew I could make it for myself.

It turned out to be even easier than I thought it would be!

Many people tell me I should start selling the things I make. So rather than posting pics on how I made this, if you like it and want one, let me know! 

I'll be happy to make one for you. :) 

Day 9--Washer necklaces

There seem to be several pins for necklaces made out of washers.  The tutorial I pinned is awesome!! Find it here. 

Here are the necklaces I made.

 

The tutorial is great & easy to follow.  I did a few small things differently.  1. I used embroidery thread because it's what I had on hand. 2. I used a small piece of sand paper to fix up the edges instead of a nail file. 3. I don't have a paper punch for the center hole, so just cut it out with scissors. 4. I made a stacked necklace using 2 sizes of washers.

And a close up of the other two necklaces.

These are really easy & turned out cute!  They would be fun as a craft for older girls or could be made a gifts for friends or teachers. 

Day 8--Reminder/Note frame

Many ideas pinned on Pinterest end up being just pictures, with no link to tutorials or blogs.  This is one of those ideas.

I have pinned a couple of different reminder frame ideas.  Here is the one I made today. 

Now I can make notes on it with a dry eraser marker...as soon as I figure out where I want to put it.

I took an 8x10 frame I already had & put a piece of notebook paper in it.  Easy enough, right? But I needed to dress it up!

I found a picture on Pinterest of flowers made out of felt, but it wasn't a link to how to make them. So I had to create them myself.  If you want to see the picture, click here to view my "Craft Ideas" board. 

(It's a long picture with several examples.)

I started by cutting squares out of felt.  Some are 2.5 inches square, the others are 3.5 inches. I just eyeballed it & cut. You could really cut them any size.

Next I folded a square in half...

Then pinched in the other sides.

Looks like a flower, right??  Put a glob of hot glue down in the center, then place a bead in the middle of the flower.

Cute, right?  Too easy!

Then I just arranged & glued on the frame.  If the frame had had fatter edges, I would have kept the flowers on the frame. My frame is skinny, so I glued some right on to the glass.  I used hot glue, so if I ever want to remove them, they will easily come off.

Here is a close up of the flowers on the frame.

You could easily print a saying on the top of your paper--"Don't Forget" or "Grocery List" or "I Love you because..."

These would be easy to change & personalize for whatever you want to use the frame for. 

Here is an example of a frame I pinned for this idea.

Its link leads you to craftgawker.com. It's another great, Pinterest type, idea page.  Many ideas, just not a direct link to this particular one.

I also liked this idea. Might do this for the kids soon. After we are finished with the hearts from Valentine's Day.

Point is, there are lots of ideas out there! Just take them and make them your own!!

Day 7--2 for Tuesday

I have a list of things I want to do during this 40 days of Pinterest blog, but today I just don't feel like tackling a crafty project.  Maybe it's the 4 kids projects we did yesterday, maybe it's the sinus gunk sitting in my head.  Either way, I'm not going to tackle anything new today.  Don't stop reading yet, though.  I am going to share one of my favorite things that we made recently and one of our favorite dinners!

#1

We've tried several things to help the kids be more responsible--to take care of things on their own without us griping at them constantly. After a particularly rough morning of constant nagging to get things done before we left for school, I decided to search Pinterest for ideas. I found this.

This is very easy to make!  Her tutorial is very thorough. I will just run through what I did & what changes I made.

Here is Landon with our responsibility charts.

I bought 10x13 floating frames at Wal-mart for $3.  I found the white hooks at Dollar General for $1 for a pack of 8. I used scrapbook paper & labels that I already had. So for about $10 total, I made a chart for each kid.

We've been using this about 2 months now.  I didn't laminate the chore cards & they have held up nicely. 

The kids have the same 3-4 chores each morning.  Once completed, they flip them over so we know they are finished. I swap them out each afternoon with chores they need to finish that evening.  Just depends on what needs to be done, so they will have 2-6 chores each afternoon.

The kids LIKE this!!  There is much less nagging, especially in the morning.  Afternoon chores need to be completed before 7 pm.  This allows them to be responsible for things and learn some time management!!  

We also made & started using this. 

I combined an idea from Pinterest with the charts they use at Landon's school.  At school, they start in the center and can move up or down depending on behavior. 

I have to say that both of these ideas are working GREAT!!  They are both super easy & inexpensive to make!!

#2

Prior to Pinterest, I did not cook much.  I'm good at baking things, not at cooking dinners.  Kevin is much better at it, so most of the cooking was done by him.  BUT since becoming addicted to Pinterest, I have found many recipes to cook!!  We've tried several--most of them were good & we now have them regularly.  

One of our favorites and one of the first ones I tried was Poppy Seed Chicken.

Try it you will like it!!  And if you need something to go with it, try the 7-up biscuits.  Seriously awesome. 

Hope you enjoyed the Two for Tuesday ideas!!

Day 6--Kid Crafts

Happy President's Day!  

A few days ago I asked the kids what they wanted to do on their day off.  They both said, Lazy PJ Day!!  This idea turned out to be a great one, considering today I feel cruddy. 

So we had a lazy, pajama day--with some kid's crafts thrown in.  Here's what we did...

First, paper plate frisbees.  I pinned the idea on this blog. It has a ton of paper plate craft ideas.  Unfortunately, the link for the frisbees goes no where.  But they aren't hard. 

Two paper plates. Draw a circle in the middle & cut out.

(Each frisbee takes 2 plates.)

Let your kids color the bottom of the plates.

Put a small bead of glue around the edge of one plate, put the other plate on top.  I stapled the edges 3 times just to hold it all together while the glue dried.  You will end up with something that resembles a UFO.

Here are the kiddos with their finished frisbees.  

Up next, paper plate T-Rex.  The tutorial can be found here. It's a great tutorial, so no need for me to recreate it!

Here are the kiddos with their finished dinosaurs. 

I've wanted to try this 3-D hand project for awhile.  

Find the idea here.

Landon's did not turn out at all.  I think we made the lines too close together on his.  This is Savannah's.  A little better...can you see her hand??

Last we made Paper Rockets. Idea found here. Once again, tutorial is pretty straight forward, so no need for me to recreate it here.  

Here are the crazy kiddos posing with their rockets.  

Easy to make, fun and they actually fly a good distance!

Landon with all his finished crafts.

Savannah with all of her crafts.

So despite not feeling 100% today, we had a fun, lazy, pajama day making crafts.  I would recommend all of them!! 

(And it kept the sibling bickering to a minimum today!)

Day 5--Half Birthday

I found & pinned this the other day...

(too bad realized is spelled wrong...but anyway, you get the idea)

It's true, most all "my" ideas these days are found on Pinterest.  

Earlier this year, I found a picture on Pinterest of a half birthday cake (find it here). I pinned it on my Fun, Fun, Fun board, because it seemed like a super fun idea!!  

Today, Landon turned 8 1/2!!  Hard to believe, but it's true.  So here is the cake I baked yesterday, decorated for his day.

In case you are wondering, or even if you're not, we did celebrate Savannah turning 4 1/2 earlier this year. 

A fun & easy tradition that we started this year!!

The kids LOVE it!

(Our babies are getting so big!)

Day 4-Bake a Level Cake

Day 4--Baking a Level Cake

While looking for Christmas gift ideas, I found these:

Bake even strips made by Wilton.  Supposed to make your cakes bake evenly, keeping the centers from rising so high. Neat idea, right?

But then, of course, there was an idea on Pinterest.  

Simply cut strips of an old towel, wet them with cold water and pin them around your pans.  You can find the idea here.  

Seems easy enough. And since I need to bake a cake for a special day tomorrow, I figured I would give this idea a shot for today's post.

I cut up an old Christmas kitchen towel. The long edge wouldn't fit around the pan, so I cut 2 strips from the short end to wrap around the pan. (2 strips for each pan)

Here are the pans before I put in the oven. I wasn't going to put them on a cookie sheet like she recommends in her blog, but when I put one pan in, the towel started sizzling.  Then the towel fell off the other pan, so I decided it might be best to use the cookie sheet. 

Finished cakes.  Not completely level, still slightly domed. I would say more flat than when I usually bake, but not totally flat.

I think next time I may try a thicker towel. I would definitely recommend trying this if you want level cakes!!

Stay tuned for Day 5 to see what this cake is for :)

Day 3-Clean make-up brushes

40 days of Pinterest--Day 3

Here is something I think I pinned under Handy Tips--cleaning make-up brushes.

I grew up in a house of girls.  Family of 5, 4 of which were girls...with 1 bathroom.  You learned to get ready fast.  If you weren't ready when dad was ready to go, you weren't going. And there was no way we were going to be late, to anything.  I tell you this because I'm sure this is one of the reasons why I'm not a girly-girl.  

I do wear make-up, but not a lot.  Luckily I learned from these blogs that other girls don't clean their make-up brushes like they should either.  So it's not just that I lack girly-girl skills. It's just one of those things that everyone should do more often than they actually do.  

I'm pretty sure I'm just rambling now, so I will just get to it.

I pinned a couple of different cleaning techniques.  One blog I scrapped because many of the comments were negative.  I had 2 others pinned, with different cleaning solutions that both had positive comments.  So I decided to try both.

One used water, vinegar & liquid soap. You can find that here.

The other used olive oil & liquid soap. Find that one here.

I wasn't going to take pictures--these tutorials have it covered.  But once I got started, I figured I should show if it was really working.

Here are all my brushes.  Being non-girly, I don't actually use all of these all the time.  But if I'm going to clean, might as well clean them all.

Here is my plate with olive oil & blue Dawn dish soap. I had already cleaned one small brush, so that is the weird colored part on the plate.

The water, vinegar, blue Dawn soap mixture.

This is the first brush I tried in the vinegar/soap/water mixture.  See how it's kinda pink colored on the ends?

Here it is after I cleaned it.  The ends are actually white!!  Nice, huh?

Here is the vinegar/soap/water mixture--after washing just that one brush.  Feel free to gasp in horror.  I did.  So gross! 

All the nice, clean brushes!

I cleaned the bigger ones in the vinegar mixture.  It was just easier to swirl them in a glass than glob them up on the plate of oil & soap.  The small ones were cleaned with the oil/soap mixture. 

RESULTS--I liked both!! They were both easy, took little time and cleaned the brushes really well!!  I ended up making each solution a couple of times so I wasn't trying to clean brushes in dirty soap.  

So if you've pinned a tutorial for cleaning your make-up brushes, just go ahead & do it!!

See you tomorrow for Day 4!