New Blog!

Hey everyone! I know I dropped off the face of the planet for awhile, and it might be a while yet before I make any new posts. BUT, you have to check out this new blog! My sister created it for a school project and it is quite interesting. It's about marriage: the good, the bad, and the ugly (and beautiful). ;) Its purpose is to have discussions and express "thoughts on how marriage got such a bad rap and what can be done to save it."

What Happened to Happily Ever After?

Check it out!

Halloween Treat Bags

For Kids Club this year (an after school program I volunteer for once a week), I decided to make the kids a little treat bag. Each bag has tons of candy (sorry, Moms!), two Halloween-themed pencils, and two mini Halloween-themed note pads (jack-o-lantern and Frankenstein's Monster).

The cellophane treat bags are from Michael's and have little jack-o-lanterns, spiders, and other Halloween characters on them.

For the gift tag, I took an index card (white and blank on both sides) and made a ghost template. Then, I traced the ghost onto more index cards, cut them out, and drew a cute, non-menacing face on each one.

Here's the back.

I hole-punched an arm, and tied around the bag with purple ribbon. I think the kids will love them.

Giveaway!

Over at HomeSpun Threads there is a website called Tungsten Wedding Rings that is giving away a free wedding band to one lucky winner! Click on the HomeSpun Threads link for details!

Hem your own Jeans!!!!

I happen to be one of those people who is ALWAYS between sizes. When I need to buy jeans, if I don't get a brand like Levi's that has different inseams, I am in big trouble. "Regular" is almost always too short, and "long" is always too long. So, I would take my jeans to a tailor to have them hemmed at $15 bucks a pop! Guess what? It is REALLY easy to hem your own for FREE! I just hemmed two pairs in 1 hour. You can't even tell they've even been hemmed! It was really easy and I was able to preserve the original hem. Check out this awesome tutorial at Dacia Ray.

New Luggage Handle!

My poor little weekend suitcase's handle disintegrated. It was still functional, but it was ugly to look at and uncomfortable to hold. SOOOOO, using this tutorial from Little Birdie Secrets, I made a new CUTER one!

Here is a close up. To add more cushion and stability, I cut a piece of craft foam and glued it (with all-purpose glue) to the finished handle on the inside. No more uncomfortable hands using this handle! And it makes it easy to spot if I need to check it at the airport!

Don't for get to make a matching luggage tag!

Pesto Turkey Pasta

A meal, from Betty Crocker, so simple and delicious that I had to share. It takes 20 minutes to prepare start to finish.

You will need:

3 cups uncooked bowtie pata

2 cups pre-cooked cubed turkey breast

1/2 cup basil pesto

1/2 cup chopped roasted red bell peppers (in a jar)

parmesan cheese (not pictured)

1. Boil your pasta.

2. Mix cooked pasta, turkey, pesto, and bell peppers until everything is heated through.

3. Sprinkle with parmesan LIBERALLY and mix in thoroughly.

Voila! Easy and yummy!

SOOOOO GOOD!!!

Money Soap

I'm always looking for unique gifts for my male teenage cousins. They are the hardest group to shop for! Money is always appreciated, but I hate just handing over the cash. Gift certificates are great, but I ALWAYS give those. So, I have a new idea...MONEY SOAP. It's money embedded in soap. Now those stinky boys will have to wash up to get paid!

To make this soap, you will need:

4 oz. CLEAR melt and pour glycerine soap

1 mL of lime essential oil

1-2 drops green food coloring

paper money (any denomination)

4 oz. soap mold (I got mine at Michael's)

rubbing alcohol in a spritz bottle

Fold your money and set aside.

Cut soap into cubes and put in heat safe container. Microwave in 20-30 second bursts. Add the lime oil.

Add food coloring.

Stir.

Pour a thin layer of soap into the mold (about 1/4 inch thick) and spritz with rubbing alcohol. Let cool until a thick skin is formed.

Spray money liberally with alcohol. Spray cooled soap with alcohol again.

Pour the rest of the melted soap into the mold (you may have to microwave again) and submerge money with a toothpick. You may have to hold the money down so it won't float up. I set up a rig where I had the soap on my cutting board and I set a knife on the counter with the handle hanging over the edge to hold the toothpick in until the soap cooled completely.

Once cooled, remove toothpick by twisting then pulling out. Melt the last bit of soap and pour it over the hole. Let cool. Wrapping your soap is important to preserve it. Tear off a piece of plastic wrap and tightly wrap soap.

Cut any excess plastic wrap.

Use an embossing heat tool to "shrink up" the plastic wrap to create a nice sealed package.

You'll end up with a beautiful bar of soap that everyone will want!

A bagalope would be the perfect way to package this up! Easy and creative!

Check out more fun and easy projects on Poppies at Play!