One Last Big Thank You!

Before February slips away (can you believe that tomorrow is MARCH!!) I wanted to say one last thank you to all of the wonderful ladies that donated prizes to the February Blogiversary Giveaways!

Removable Chalkboards

I wasn't going to post about chalkboards for a while. I know I have sort of over saturated this blog with chalkboard ideas lately. I thought we could all use a break.

Especially after I saw this picture:

That dusty mess is one of the reasons that I haven't painted my entire house in chalkboard paint! (although I am tempted to paint an outside wall...the kids would LOVE IT!!!)

But on the last chalkboard post Heather posted a link to Wallies in her comment. And I fell in love again!


The best part, they are removable so that when they get yucky you can get rid of them!!

And they come in dry erase too!


So let's pretend that this is a post about white boards!! Deal?

Peanut Butter Cake Mix Cookies

Back in October, I left a comment on a blog post about using cake mixes to bake other things. At least I THINK that is what the post was about. It was 5 months ago, I don't really remember!

She emailed me and asked for the recipe. I said sure. About a week later I emailed her to let her know that I hadn't forgotten about it and would still get the recipe to her. Every time I clean out my email I see that conversation and think, oh I need to do that!

Yeah, so, un, here is the recipe. It is good, but probably not wait 5 months for it good! It is great if you are in a hurry and these puppies stay soft FOREVER!! I like to add a little more peanut butter though!

What you need:

1 pkg yellow cake mix
1 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 T. water
2 eggs

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

With an electric mixer, mix all of the ingredients together.

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls on ungreased cookie sheet and make the cool fork criss cross on top to squish them down.

Bake 10-12 minutes.

Makes about 4 dozen if you don't eat half of the dough like I do.

Heather, I apologize for not getting this to you earlier!

Daisy Cut Metal Lids

I am thinking that these are going to be a must have for this summer:

The metal lids came from Candle Soylutions. Super cheap! They used them on mason jars to make these cute drinks I found on Hostess with the Mostess.

They will be so fun for the kids, but would also be so cute for a birthday party or baby shower!

The Farm Chicks Giveaway

The Farm Chicks are having a giveaway on their site. The prize is a surprise, but I am hoping it is that little glass because I am sort of in love with it! It is like a mini milk bottle! Or something. I don't know what it is, but I want it!

Tick Tock Make Your Own Clock

I usually try to think of a clever way to introduce stuff. I usually post things I like, most of which I want to try at some point. But I am frantic, desperate even, to find a place in my house that I can use this idea from decor8:

You can buy a kit from Dutch by Design for $65, but you could also make this SO easily!! You can find clock hands anywhere. I have a friend that used to buy them on Ebay, big ones to make wagon wheel clocks. That and a piece of wood to mount it on and twelve random frames that you can find anywhere and you have this!

I am thinking that I can do family pictures and use it in the living room...or I could use patterns (from fabric or paper) and use it in my master bedroom.

More Chalkboard Stuff

I feel sort of obsessed with chalkboards at the moment! And I really don't love chalk dust all that much! But that is one of the reasons I like these!

This is a chalkboard mat:

You can buy these at Baby Browns, but I also found a tutorial from Little Birdie Secrets. Did you know that you can buy chalkboard cloth! Now I want to make a chalkboard apron! I wonder if you can wash chalkboard cloth? I will have to find that out!

Even if you can't wash it, you can at least take it outside to clean it! No chalk dust in the house!!

And if don't sew, you can still just unroll it and use it as a table cloth like they did at Remodelista! Then roll your chalkboard up when you are done:


And back to the paint...I also found this from Cathie Filian:

a globe! How fun is that! It makes me want to go to a garage sale and find a globe! It also has me thinking what other fun things you could paint! I think the outside of a journal or old book would be fun!

I wonder if they sell chalkboard paint in the 5 gallon buckets! Someone stop me before I go to Home Depot!

Framing Flashcards

I find some of my favorite new blogs from Ohdeedoh. Today was no exception. They had these flashcards from A Little Hut:


They are simple, clean, and cute, some of my favorite things! (Have you noticed I like white space!!) But what I really like about them is this idea:


The whole flashcard idea gave me an idea! I have extra silhouettes of my kids that I received for my birthday. I think I want to make flashcards with the silhouettes and the first letters of their names.

Like this:


I snagged this silhouette online from The Silhouette Shop and made a quick example in Photoshop. I haven't decided how I am going to get my silhouettes on the computer. Scan the ones I have or take a photo of the kids and paint it black in Photoshop. Or I might just glue the ones I have on paper...

Choices, choices!

Let's Talk About Blogging: Profile Part I

I promise that I am not going to blog about this everyday, but this was part of the original post, but it got too long, so I had to split it in two.


Let's talk about your Blogger Profile. No matter where you blog, your Blogger Profile can be a great way for people to find you and your blog. If you really don't want people to ready your blog, keep reading, because we will talk about ways to HIDE your blog too!

We will start with the Privacy section (the first section you will see if you click EDIT PROFILE) Here is what I know:

1 - Share My Profile

If you do not have the box checked on Share my profile, people will receive a message from blogger when they click on your name that says your profile is not available. They will not see your profile that includes the link to your blog.

If you do have it checked, people will be able to see your profile. You will still be able to limit the amount of information people can see.

Do you have that box checked? Why or why not?


2 - Show My Real Name

If you have this box checked your first AND last name will appear in your profile.

I personally like people knowing my first name, but don't really want my last name floating out there. So I choose to leave this unmarked, but I use my first name as my Display name (in the Identity section)


3 - Show My Email Address

This one is a big one (and one of the MAIN reasons I wanted to talk about blogging)

If you have the box checked, there will be a link on your profile that says Email. People can click it to send you an email.

Also, if you leave a comment on someones blog they will be able to reply to you directly from your comment. This is one of my favorite features! Especially when someone asks me a question in the comment section. I can just reply to them through email and I know they will get the answer.

If you have the box checked and you do not share your profile, bloggers will still be able to reply to your comments via email messages.

If you do not have the box checked the Email link will not appear under Contact in your profile. If you leave a comment on a blog and they want to reply, it will show the email address: noreply@blogger.com

Make sure to look to the right of the box. You will see the email address that will be visible in your profile and when you leave comments. You do not have to use your main email address and you do not have to use the email address that you use to login to Blogger.

I have an email account that I set up just for contact from my blog. You enter that email address in the Identity section of your EDIT PROFILE page. (It is the section directly under the Privacy section we are talking about here).


4 - Select Blogs To Display

If you click on the link it will take you to a list of all of your blogs associated with your profile. You may only have one. Or you may have 11. (Yes, I have 11. Don't ask. Or you can ask if you want to!)

Select which blogs you want people to see on your profile. If you have a private blog, you can hide it so that people don't try to access it just to receive the message that they are not invited. You can do the same thing for any test blogs you have.

If you hide a blog from displaying on your Profile, you can still see the blog on your Dashboard.

So most of that may have been really basic. Did I miss anything?

Do you have an email address on you profile? Why or why not? Can I bribe you to add one?

Is your profile private? Is your blog private? Does that keep you from commenting on blogs?

I could ask like a million questions! But I will stop now and leave it at half a million!

But if you do not have an email account on your profile I would love to hear why! Start talking ladies!

Glass Jar Frames

Photojojo posted this cute idea for using glass jars (and just old glasses) as photo frames:


I do the same thing with my Apothecary jars when I don't have anything festive to put in them. I take out some photos and slide them inside.

A = Doughnut

A Krispy Kreme Doughnut to be exact!

Yesterday my son came home from school and let me know that if we took his report card to Krispy Kreme they would give him a free doughnut for every A he had received. I called my local Krispy Kreme and sure enough, they will give you up to a half dozen donuts per kid.

I wish I would have had my camera because The Boy was so proud as he handed them his report card and received a box of original glazed goodness!

So if you have a kid in school and a Krispy Kreme near by, give them a call and see if they offer this promotion!

Ribbon Hair Ties

I am cute little girl hair-do challenged. I think I have mentioned that before. But it really is a shame, because Lou La has the most gorgeous LONG hair! I actually subscribe to like ten blogs about cute hairdos that have videos tutorials and everything. And I would practice, but she hates me when I try to do her hair. Now if Aunt Annie wants to do it she sits perfectly still and doesn't cry. But that is another post!

So being cute little girl hairdo challenged, Lou La wears her hair in a plain pony tail a LOT! So when I saw these from Amy and Angry Chicken and I saw how EASY they were to make I knew I had to make some!


And you will love how easy they are! She bought colored hair bands (rubber bands, ponies, piggies, whatever you call them) and coordinating ribbon, double knotted the ribbon around them and cut them to the length she wanted! Easy and SO CUTE!


I am going to have to make some to match the girls Easter dresses. Or maybe I will make Lou La make her own!! She loves to use the scissors anyways! Might as well put her to work!

Let's Talk About Blogging

I want to talk about blogging! I want to talk about some stuff I have learned as I tweaked templates, wrecked HTML code, and set up about a bazillion blogs. And I want to know what stuff you know! Stuff that will make my little corner of the blog-o-sphere friendlier.

So lets talk about what we know. I will blab about some bloggy topic and you can share your two cents in a comment. Or blog your two cents and shoot me an email with the link so I can add it to the post. Maybe I will even attempt to conquer Mr Linky a time or two. And maybe not.

We will call it Let's Talk About Blogging!


I was going to start yapping right here, right on this post. Get down to business! But honestly it got a little long! So lets start with a couple of questions for you!

Why do you blog? Is it the social aspect? Do you promote another site (like an Etsy store?) Is it to share a hobby? Is it a personal journal? Is it because you are so funny that you feel it is your civil duty to share yourself with the rest of the world?

And are you a Blogger or a Wordpress user? Or Typepad? Or something else?

PS - don't worry, this will in no way take over my blog! I promise there will still be a ton of cute things to look at!

Make your own Fabric

One of my ebffs Kacey just emailed me about Spoonflower. She had posted about it on her blog and knew that I would LOVE it!! Dang my ebffs know me well! What is Spoonflower you ask? Oh, only the coolest site in all the land if you want custom fabric.

By custom I DO NOT mean you give them an idea and they design something for you. I mean you give them a design and they print it out on a bolt of fabric for you! Or just a yard!

They have a blog too! And you can check out some of the fabric they have made there, or on their site. Like these:

The pattern on the right makes me want to take some of Lou La's art and have it made into fabric so that I could make her a pillow, or just stretch it over a canvas and hang it is her room.

It is a little pricey. $18 a yard, but I think it can be used to make some pretty great gifts. And I can think of a ton of things that wouldn't require more than a yard of fabric.

Like one of these:

Handkerchief Vases

These beautiful vases from Once Wed were intended to be used for wedding decorations, but when I saw them they screamed Spring!! With some jars, handkerchiefs and these instructions, you can make these little cuties! And the best part is they are secured with a rubber band and ribbon, so you won't damage the handkerchiefs when you use them as a centerpiece for a tea party!

Unusual Garland

If I am not mistaken, Annmarie strung marshmallows and strung them as garland for her sledding party:

Which made me wonder what other fun things you could sting and use as party garland! Popcorn for your game night party:

Pom Poms (the fuzzy ball kind, not the cheerleader kind):

image from Craftzine

And I think that I am going to have to make that for a birthday decoration!

Leis:
Remember the cupcake liners:

image from VeronicaTM

And a candy garland...although not real candy:

image from onetomatotwo

She used this tutorial from Craftbits.

What other things do you think would make a cute nontraditional garland?

Coasters

My friend lbug emailed me a link to these:

DIY Maven used ceramic tiles and napkins with a little decoupage to create these cute coasters. I was going to blog about them, but completely forgot! And then I saw this on Kari's blog:


It is from the same tutorial! But seeing them together made me think of these:

And now my love for the mismatched is going to have me searching for cute napkins to make coasters with!

Happy Fat Tuesday!!

So I couldn't let a chance for celebration go by without posting something about it!!

And if you celebrate, then make this cake because it is fun:

Even if you aren't celebrating Mardi Gras, King Cake is yummy! And this one saves you the braiding!

If you are looking for some recipes, here is a Mardi Gras menu from Martha.

And here are some printable Mardi Gras masks from Loving Locurto:


Happy last day before Lent!

Ladybug Picnic

It had been a while since I had searched Flickr for some cute cupcake ideas. When I did today the first thing I saw was this:


and I am SO going to attempt these! Look at the cute ladybugs! And the caterpillars! I love them! And it was no surprise to me when I figured out that the lady who made these gorgeous cupcakes was Hello Naomi.

I fell in love with Hello Naomi last summer when I saw her Mario cupcakes and used her idea to make this for The Boy's birthday:


Well now she has her own site so I can stalk her on her own turf! Go check it out! There are a lot of really fun cupcake ideas!

Spoons

We played spoons last night. My kids love games. Board games. Card games. Made up games. We were at my parents house. Their house is a little light on games, but we had a deck of cards and spoons. So spoons it was!

Have you ever played Spoons?

You need a deck of cards and a spoon for everyone playing (minus one...it is like musical chairs).

Sit around a table with the spoons in the middle. Each person gets 4 cards. The rest sit in a pile in front of the dealer. The goal is to get 4 of a kind. The dealer takes a card from the pile, adds it to his hand, and then discards one card (so that he still has 4 in his hand) by passing it to the person on the right. He then repeats this step over and over. When you are passed a card from the person on your left, you decide which one to keep to try to get 4 of a kind and pass one to the right.

The last person (sitting to the left of the dealer) discards his extra cards into the trash pile. If the dealer runs out of cards he then uses the trash pile to continue playing until someone gets 4 of a kind.

If you are the first to get 4 of a kind, you sneak a spoon off the middle of the table. Once one has been taken, everyone rushes to get a spoon. (this is the part that is like musical chairs!!) The person that is left without a spoon it out. You continue playing until there are only two players left, and the first person to get 4 of a kind and grab a spoon is the winner!

Have you ever played? Did my explanation make any sense? It is fun! I promise!

Framing Mirrors

Rhoda at Southern Hospitality posted a tutorial on framing mirrors.

She took a regular square mirror over the bathroom vanity, the same plain old mirrors that I have in my bathrooms, and she turned them into this:

All I can say is I am SO DOING THIS!!!

You can check out her tutorial here.

Glorious Cake

I think I want to get married again so that I can have this cake:


I think it would be a little much just to do it for Easter. Don't you?

At least I won't have to have another wedding to use this cake idea:

images from Martha Stewart