Craft Day

Lizzy and I had a craft day today, thanks to 1-2-3! Textured Products. We LOVE crafts around here and anytime we need something to fill up our day, I dig into the craft drawers. Today, we tried out the Freckles the Ladybug Textured Craft Kit.

I don't have any pictures of us making the Ladybug because we were too busy gluing the fun little textured pieces to the ladybug cutout. The 1-2-3! Textured Products come with a cutout and textures pieces (like paper, beads, and confetti) to place on the cutout.

These products are perfect for little preschoolers and helps to develope fine motor skills and the feeling for different shapes and textures. Each kit comes in a handy, portable package. I was a little frustrated at the difficulty of opening each little package for the textured pieces, but that's just me. :)

Our finished project. I think it'll make a good "Grandparent's gift." Lizzy loved making this craft. I don't know that I would buy these just for our home as I could do this with things we already have for less. I do think that these projects would be good for group activities like daycares, Sunday schools, etc. The individual packaging would probably help keep things under control and less messy!

And..... just for fun, this is what happens when silly Mommy gives Lily chocolate pudding to snack on while she writes a product review....

Disclosure: I recieved one of the Textured Product Kits for review purposes. All opinions are my own (and maybe Lizzy's too)

Repainting an End Table

This week, in trying to be a better Home Keeper more content with what I already have, I've been working on my dining room. My main project was to do something with this ugly white end table my husband's mom gave to him before we were married. I think she had it awhile before him, too. :)


I decided to try and be frugal and crafty and repaint the little guy. Thankfully, someone graciously left me a comment with some great advice on how to accomplish this task and saved me some money too.

You don't have to strip the old paint off. I already had a sneaking suspicion this was the case, but the worker a Lowe's told me I needed to. I'm taking the stripper and cleaner back. :) I did get some paint I love at Lowe's.

Step One: Lay down cut up plastic grocery bags instead of a drop cloth to save money and use up my endless supply of them.

Step Two: Sand the surfaces using a ratty piece of sandpaper my husband rustled up from somewhere in the basement.

Step Three: Paint the first coat using a pastry brush from my kitchen drawer because I cannot locate any paint brushes larger than my daughter's little craft paint brushes.

Step Four: Go out to Hobby Lobby while first coat is drying and get a real paint brush. I recommend using a real paint brush. :)

Step Five: Apply second coat.

Step Six. LET IT DRY COMPLETELY!! I put stuff on it while it was still a little "tacky" and almost had to do another coat. Luckily, it was still ok. I'd recommend letting it sit over night.


Isn't it cute now? It was totally worth it! We bought a quart of paint and I seriously used about 1/8 of it. Now I'm daydreaming of what else I can paint with it.... :) This was a very frugal project! Check out Frugal Friday for other great frugal ideas!

Interested in my "Keeping Our Homes" series and why I'm doing it? Come back Friday morning and see my post on my final results of cleaning, decluttering, reorganizing and making my dining room a spot I'm proud of. It doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg or a ton of time to do!

Plus, come link up how you kept your home this week or tell us how have you repurposed something or learned to be more content with what you already have. Share with us so that we can encourage one another in being Keepers at Home!

Share Yourself Satuday: Pretty Crafty

I know how to knit (and crochet).

Does that surprise you? Actually, I got a book about knitting socks and did one. Yes, one. It was so awful I stopped at one. :) I thought about ripping it out to start a new one when I got sidetracked by a new hobby... card making.

Then a few days ago I found an old project of mine... a shirt for Thad that was never finished. Are you getting a picture of me now? I LOVE crafty stuff, so much so, that I can't finish a project before I get excited about another and take off after that. I have a lot of half finished stuff, which I know is a bad character trait. But, alas, it is so. I know I need to pick one or two things and really concentrate on getting good at them, before moving on, but my attention span seems to be short with crafty stuff.

We were finger painting her new craft drawers. :)

On that note, my new rule is that "Janeen isn't allowed inside Hobby Lobby." Ask me why I created this rule. :)

Anyway, how about you? Do you love crafts? Love starting stuff so much you tend to leave when you started unfinished? Share with us!

Free E-Craftbook

You can download this free craftbook filled with ideas to recycle old stuff into new crafts!

Christmas Ideas: Homemade Gifts

http://www.flickr.com/photos/execgifts/ / CC BY 2.0

I've made no hiding of the fact that everyone's getting homemade stuff this year (and stuff from my stockpile!) I've been searching the internet for quite some time and have seen a LOT of ideas for homemade gifts. Need some inspiration? Here's a few of the ideas I've found:

• Homemade girl scout cookies (samoas bars, thin mints, tagalongs, do-si-dos)
• Matzo candy
• Homemade peanut butter cups
  (Thanks Holly!)
• Visit the Homemade Gift Party to see lots of ideas
• Check out the Ultimate Recipe Swap: Food Gifts for more ideas
• Vanilla Chai Tea Mix (This was great!! My Mom love it!)
• Fireside Coffee Mix
• Hot Spiced Tea Mix

That should be enough to get you started... :) Hopefully you're almost done with your Christmas preparations! What will/did you make for gifts this year? Share with us!

Christmas Ideas: Wrapping

http://www.flickr.com/photos/theogeo/ / CC BY 2.0

Looking for some wrapping ideas for a few last minute gifts? Check out the article over here which gives a couple of cute (and very inexpensive!) ideas for creative wrapping. I personally use my daughter's artwork as wrapping paper. Grandparents love it!

Works for Me Wednesday

If you have a toddler, have you ever wondered what to do with all those scribbles? I turn them into wrapping paper, cards and sometimes even presents! Grandparents and other relatives are thrilled to get personalized gifts from your little aspiring "Impressionist." :) For Mother's Day, I took a few of my daughter's drawings, had them laminated and gave them to the grandmothers. You could even add a magnet to the back for a great, frugal gift. At this time in their lives, our daughter's grandparents don't need much materially, but they really do appreciate a good piece of art! To see other people's great ideas this week, check out Works for Me Wednesday! Check out Life as Mom for other great Frugal Friday posts!

Socks

Woohoo! I just finished knitting my very first sock (one of my 101 in 1001 goals) and.... it looks terrible. I'd post a picture but it'd be really embarrassing. :) Besides, my phone pictures don't show up on here very well.... might have to find a really great deal on digital cameras soon... Anyway, this sock was amazingly easy to make and I did it using white cotton thread, which is what socks are supposed to be made of, right? This is really the type of finished work that will end up being unraveled for something new... shame. But at least now I can say I did it and cross it off my list!

And who knows, maybe I'll practice some more and make cute little kids' socks... I'm sure that'd be way quicker and easier. Oh boy, I just finished and I'm already coming up with new projects to add to my already seemingly endless list! Stop me, quick! If you're a knitter and interested in the pattern, let me know and maybe I can send it to you, or point you to something similar. I don't want to infringe on any copyrights. :)

Christmas Gift Ideas/Awesome Website

Like it or not, the holidays are right around the corner (in case you didn't notice in the stores yet!) and they'll sneak up faster than you think! I have been racking my brain lately about how I can give budget friendly gifts to a rather large-ish family. I know it's not about the gifts, but I still love to give, even if it wasn't expensive. I'll probably try to unload some of my stash of freebies on unsuspecting family members, but I want some more ideas too.

I am totally into homemade stuff (I love to knit, crochet, cross stitch, make cards, soap, candles and more) and I love to give it away (not much selling potential in my opinion, although I am considering setting up a shop on etsy.com) I recently rechecked out a website I thought was interesting: www.budget101.com I could spend all day searching through the extensive lists of "make your own" (MYO) recipes she has on there. Many are for gift giving. I saw a page on there to MYO exploding creepy crawly bath buddies. How awesome for giving to kids in your family! Anyway, as I come across MYO recipes I like, I'll list them on here. Maybe one a day until Christmas? Anyway, enjoy!