Old School Lunch Box With a New Twist

When I was young everyone had metal lunch boxes, with a thermos.

They were cool and shiny, they held their shape (not like the lunchboxes these days -that are made of plastic/vinyl and crush the sandwiches and chips when you try to get them in your kid's backpack. Yeah, "old school" metal lunch boxes were the best... and if you were caught in a dark alleyway you could use it as a form of protection... a metal lunch box to the head really hurts... I know - I had two sisters :o)

Check out this awesome "old school"metal lunch box with a new twist by Ogg Studio!

You can put your own pic or artwork on it!!!I think I am going to have to make one for myself...maybe with a picture of me back in the day with my metal "Dukes of Hazard" lunch box. :o)

Recycle, Recycle, Recycle

I am constantly trying to incorporate recycled items into my crafts ~ I always feel good when I can make something wonderful and help the environment...it's a double whammy!

As you may know, I am a momma who likes to have an adult beverage from time to time....I have a special fondness for the Bebo ~ so when I ran across this funtastic blog called "Blah to Tada" ...with some OH SO COOL projects for your old cardboard Bebo holders... I was in heaven! Check out this...

She has some other great ideas for the cardboard Bebo holder... like the utensil caddy a must-have for summer parties! So ~ all my recycling buddies...check her blog out!

Nifti Notions ~ Gettin' Crafty & Goin' Crazy: Birthday Swap

Nifti Notions ~ Gettin' Crafty & Goin' Crazy: Birthday Swap

Birthday Swap

I found this quite entertaining blog the other day called Seriously Shawn, and let me tell ya, Shawn is a hoot. She blogs about her everyday ~ like how she is going to have her last birthday this year....no she is not dying...she just doesn't want to have any more birthdays - she wants to remain 39... so she won't get wrinkles, fart in public, etc... Read it...it will make you giggle.
Anyhoo, she is doing a "birthday swap" in honor of her birthday. It sounded like a lot of fun, so of course I had to sign up! All you have to do is go to her blog to sign up - then she picks who you will send a gift to, you find cool items to send to your swap mate according to their likes and dislikes, pack them all up, mail it and, then wait for your goodies to arrive. I love it! Who doesn't like to open a box of goodies!

Back to School

A friend of mine has a wall in her home that is just for showing off everything her kiddos do at school ~ they call it the "Wall of Fame". From the ceiling to the floor...it is covered with her kids artwork, school papers, and photos. It is so cool that my family had to start our own "Wall of Fame" at our house. The kids are always excited to see their new works of art go up on the wall and everyone loves to show off their hard work and photos.

So, as school is starting back up again, I am looking for new and exciting ways to show off my little ones art work and school photos ~So, as came across this great blog called My Plum Pudding ~I was so excited when I saw the absolutely fab idea she had with re-purposed alphabet blocks for showing off photos! Take a look...


She has a free tutorial for making these super cute photo holders ~ Check it out at ~ http://myplumpudding.blogspot.com/2009/07/alphabet-block-magnets.html

Mod Podge Snow White Magical Wand

I am currently in my mod podge craft phase.... look there's a squirrel.... next week I am sure I will be onto another craft obsession ~ but for right now ~ here is some of my decoupage craftiness.

At our house my children, ages 6 and almost 4, are now working on a rewards system. Each child earns a ticket if they are exceptionally good, have great manners, help with some kind of chore around the house, etc. After earning a ticket, they put the ticket in the ticket can. Once they have earned 10 tickets, they get to pick a small prize ~ a sucker, a balloon, a new jar of bubbles ~ nothing big ... but something that they wouldn't normally get everyday. As my daughter, 4, was about halfway to her prize ~ I asked her what she would like to get. She said a Snow White princess wand. Well, first of all, she already has 2 Cinderella wands (not really sure how that happened), so does she really need a third magic wand?.... but of course my daughter believes she does.

Well ~me being the cheapie mom that I am - I wasn't going to buy another princess wand for $5 at WallyWorld - then in a week come to find out Snow White isn't cool any more - Ariel is the her favorite. So, as I do with most things, I try to figure out how I can make one myself. This is what I came up with....

First, I started with a dowel rod, cut it down to approximate magic wand size, then I took my handy dandy Mr. Dremel and cut a notch in the top.Next I made the star for the top of the wand. I cut 6 stars out of poster board and then decoupaged them all together to make one big thick star (yes, you can go to your local craft store and buy a small wooden star and use that - but I was trying to only use items that a had laying around my house). Then I decoupaged the dowel rod and the star with yellow construction paper. Next I glued a small wooden circle to the star and added a Snow White sticker to the center. I also decoupaged some shiny blue ribbon to the dowel rod.Then it was time to add the bling...every princess needs some glitter, so I added blue glitter all around the sticker. Next I used my fancy scissors to cut out some triangles to accent the points on the star ~ then decoupaged them down.After that... more glitter!!! I added a large ring of yellow glitter all around the center - for extra bling - but also to hid the bottom of the triangles. The only thing left to do is attach the dowel rod to the star. I put a little of my heavy duty industrial glue to the inside of the notch in the dowel rod - just for some extra security...I would hate for my little princess to be casting a magic spell and the star fall off... My daughter loves her new magical wand...and I do too - I saved $5!!!

Sew Easy....Apron Dress Tutorial

I love Matilda Jane clothes. I have bought several items ~ even had my own show. But now as our family is having to tighten the spending belt more than ever before...I have decided to try to make my own Matilda Jane-ish clothing for my little Tan-bug.

I found this great blog http://www.bridgetbaxter.blogspot.com/ (Everyday Chaos) with a free - yes ma'am - I did say FREE - tutorial for an apron dress. I wasn't sure how it was all going to turn out - I can sew ~ but I am not a "sewer"....so I used material that I already had in my craft room - just in case I couldn't pull this off. BOOYAH! It was soooo rockin' easy, this might have been one of the best items I have ever sewn. I can't say thank you enough to Bridget for posting this tutorial ~ you must check out her blog!