Leather Journal gift

For my husband's birthday he had asked for a journal to keep with his Bible. After pricing the nice journals, the kids and I decided to make him one.

 I wanted to get him a leather bound journal. I went to Goodwill and bought a leather coat for a whopping price of $4.98!  I took it home and we ripped the lining out of it.

 I laid it out as flat as possible on the cutting mat and went to town. The back was the largest piece.

 I eyeballed all the cutting and measuring. I took   8 1/2  X 14 paper and trimmed it a bit  to fit the leather part. I wanted to give the journal a "rugged" look.

I took a stack of paper (about 20 or so pieces) so there would be about 40 (or so) papers for journal entries.(80 if using front and back).

I wanted to make sure that the fold  of the leather cover was nice and straight with the fold of the paper. So, I folded the leather cover with the paper inside.

 I did not have an awl to make holes in the leather, nor did I have an extra strong paper punch. So, I used a Phillip's screw driver and a bit of elbow grease. I made 4 holes. Roughly about 2 inches from the top and bottom were the first two holes and then about 1/2 inch from the two, I made two more.

Once, the screwdriver made the hole and went all the way through the stack of paper, it made a nice white mark on the leather where I needed to make the holes in the cover.

Once the holes were made. I cut 2  long strips of leather about 15 inches long and  about a little less than 1/2 inch wide. The strips were used to bind/tie the journal paper to the leather cover.

I threaded each strip from the back of one hole , through all the paper to the middle and into the other hole to the back.

Then threaded both strips through the inside of the leather cover to the outside.

Then I just tied a knot and snipped the ends as long as I wanted.

I wanted to make a strap, so that it could be closed. So, I cut another strip about 15 -17 inches long and stitched it roughly to the back of the journal.

Then I cut another strip about 3 1/2 inches long and about 1 1/2 inch wide and stitched it along both sides to the front of the journal. I wanted to be able to thread the long pieced through, so that the journal would close nicely.

Here is the final product! It took about an hour and a half and a quick stop at Goodwill.

The kids and I wrote a happy birthday note on the first page, along with my husband's  favorite verse. 

Crayon making

When my daughter first started school, she was given the cutest heart crayon at her first Valentine's party.
So, this past year we gave it the good o' Jones try and they turned out pretty good.

 We gathered all our old broken crayons. Peeled off the wrapping, which in our opinion is the hardest part!

 So, we wanted to make our hear crayons multi-colored. So the first layer we wanted it to be red. So we melted crayons that were red or in the red color family.

 I designated an old pot to melt crayons in and made my own double boiler. Just stuck it in another old pot of boiling water. Once the water began boiling, I just turned the flame to low and kept it on the whole time. Once all the crayons were liquid I poured them into molds. You need to make sure all crayons have melted, and that there are no lumps.

 I bought these silicon molds at Target 2 for $2.50. I poured red melted crayon in each mold about 1/3 of the way.

 Then I melted another color for the second layer.  We decided to go with a purple'ish color. NOTE: you want to make sure your first layer is solidified before you pour in the second layer. It does not have to be all the way cooled, but it does need to be solid enough to not allow the second layer to mix through.

 Then melted orange and yellows for the last layer. Make sure you second layer is solid!

 Our final crayons! Make sure that the crayons are completely cooled before popping them out of the mold.

 Our second batch.

We used small jewelry bags (purchased at Michaels) to put them in, my kiddos made Happy Valentine's Day tags and we stapled them on the bags.
Note: make sure to ventilate the area you are melting the crayons in, it can get a bit smelly. ;)
Happy melting!

The MINI doughnut

So, we have been on this Starbucks kick lately. My husband got my kiddos hooked on the mini doughnuts. I think that they are so adorable. So, I came across a mini doughnut pan made by Wilton and had to buy it!
I figured baking doughnuts would be much healthier than frying them!

 My only problem, was the icing. I used the confectionery sugar icing recipe on the sugar box and it was a bit gooey. Next time I will definitely research a better icing, one that hardens a bit.

Other than the icing which was more my issue, they were a big hit with my Starbucks loving family!

Outer Space Mobile

My youngest kiddo just turned 3 months and a month after he was born we bought a larger home and moved across town. Now that he had his own room, I had to seriously think about a frugal way to decorate! I was blessed by the clearance aisle at Target!

 I was on a routine shopping trip to Target, and after I got all the items on my list, I treated myself by browsing the clearance. Low and behold in the bedding section, I  found a "toddler" bed in a bag for $14.98. The theme was Outer Space and the set included a comforter, 1 pillowcase, a flat and a fitted sheet. It was perfect! The toddler size bedding fits crib mattresses!

 So, being that my little guy was only 2 and 1/2 months then, I had to make the space theme accommodate a baby.  And what better way to start that hanging a mobile? Unfortunately, Target did not have a space themed mobile for sale. So, with my daughter's help, we made one.
Someone had given me a bamboo ring that you could hang mosquito netting from,  so my daughter covered it with some bulky yellow yarn we bought at a thrift store for cents.
Then I made the space "hangers" with felt all free hand. And hung them with clear thread.

 I stuffed all the "hangers" to give them a better look.

 Like I said, everything was cut and sewn freehand,  so UFO not to scale.

 It was very hard to cut a perfect star, so mine is a bit lopsided. My husband said that I gave it character. ;)

What is an outer space mobile without the moon? Most importantly my little guy loves it, and that's what counts!

Gift of a Spring Wreath

My sweet friend was so gracious and threw me a baby shower this past Spring and I wanted to make her something special. I caught a glimpse of this http://www.marthastewart.com/336078/spring-grapevine-wreath on the Martha Stewart show and knew this would be perfect! 

 I found the two little lambs at Michaels and lightly brushed them with white glue and sprinkled them with iridescent glitter. I also found the grapevine wreath and pink floral pic at Michaels. I just bought one floral pic and was able to cut them and stick them sporadically throughout. The reindeer moss, I lucked out and found at the local dollar store.

I loved the way it turned out. Definitely thinking about making our family one next Spring!

Crazy Tie Night

My kiddos came home one night from AWANAS and informed me that the following night would be CRAZY TIE night. So immediately the wheels went turning!

 I talked my daughter into wearing a toilet paper tie! I got a half roll of toilet paper ( not too heavy) and we strung it on a piece of fabric. Then I unrolled some paper to make the "tie" shape and cut the edge in a V shape. Viola!

We bought my son's tie at Goodwill and he decorated it himself with some fabric markers. We added the googly eyes and monkeys (from a barrel of monkey game ) and he had a wining tie!
Both kiddos won the CRAZY  TIE contest!

Taking a stab at cake pops!

So, for Christmas my sweet daughter gave me the book Cake Pops from www.bakerella.com
What an awesome concept!  Cake on a stick!

 These green cake pops, I made for my husband's birthday. I don't think that I made the balls of cake big enough, because not all were big enough to be molded by my "star" cookie cutter.

 The rest I decided to make just round. Hey, they taste just as yummy no matter the shape.

 One thing that I wasn't too sure of was the right consistency of the cake inside the pop. It was a smidge gooey, not too crumbly like regular cake. Everyone enjoyed them.

 My second time making cake pops, Valentine's Day for my husband's employees and my daughter's club meeting.

They were a big hit!
A few weeks later, I notice Starbucks started selling them. Just tried their Rocky Road Pop, yummy! I am on the search for the tiny marshmallows and then I am all over it! Stay Tuned!

Easy Smore on a stick

 These were  yummy Fourth of July treats! Easy and scrumptious!

These super yummy treats are super easy to make! I came across GIANT marshmallows at Target and had to buy them! Our family loves smores, but the traditional smores are so messy. Especially for a 6 year old boy who does not always immediately wash his hands after he eats before you goes through the house touching just about everything!
I took the giant marshmallow and dipped them into melted chocolate. Then stuck a skewer through the chocolate and marshmallow and sprinkled crushed graham crackers all over the chocolate. Then I stood the treats (white side down) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. After I finished all of them, I stuck the baking sheet (carefully to not tip over the treats) in the fridge to allow the chocolate to harden.
When your ready to toast the smores, take out the treats at least 15-20 minutes before to allow the marshmallow to reach room temperature before toasting.  I used a butane lighter with a long nose to toast the marshmallow evenly all the way around.
After they were scarfed down, I thought about how I would present/serve them next time. I think that they would have looked cute skewer side down in a glass jar (or metal bucket) of sand.
Enjoy!