Dry Erase Dinner Plate

So, neccessity is the mother of invention, or so it is said. Well, I had a sick little girl who didn't want to get off the couch, but wanted to draw- a LOT! So, I handed her a dinner plate and a dry erase marker and she was happy for hours!

 

(sorry the picture is sideways )

Super simple and last so much longer than those cheapy dry erase boards from the store! Kids love to draw, write and play games like tic-tac-toe and then they just wipe clean! At the end of the day, just throw them in the dishwasher and they will be germ free!

 

Of course you could always expand on this idea and get a rectangular serving tray, or really pretty serving plate and put it in a plate holder on the counter and use it as a memo board. Write what you need from the store or just little notes to your family- you could even decorate the edges with a permanent marker (then bake at 350 for 20 minutes) to permanently personalize each one- it would be so cute!

Buggs!

Just a sweet pic of all the sweet baby buggs we got to take care of this summer! Gotta love a bucket of puppies!!!

Easy peasy bird feeders

 

I wanted to do a fun and easy project with my littles, so I threw this together and it was a hit! I've seen the bird feeders with pine cones- but our selection of pine cones is pretty pathetic. So, I grabbed a box of graham crackers, peanut butter and bird seed. The littles spread the peanut butter on each side of the cracker and then pressed it into the bird seed. Daddy used a skewer stick to poke a hole right in the middle of the cracker and then we used twine to hang them. Having the hole in the middle lets the birds eat more of the cracker without it falling to the ground. It was a fun, quick project and the birds ate them up- the entire thing- which they can't do with the pine cones!

 

 

Our birds loved them- they ate them so quickly that I never even got a picture of the birds!

Ironing tip

Just a quick tip that I like to use- I spray my curtains with febreeze (or the dollar tree knock off) when I iron them so they smell fresh and the wrinkles pop right out too!

Keep your iron on the steam setting and it will steam the febreeze and dry the curtain/table cloth or whatever you want to iron! :) Happy ironing!

Head board and foot board bench!

This is one of those great projects inspired by Pinterest! I saw a picture, read her tutorial and then tweeked it a little bit. So, I invite you to do the same! This project turned out so cute, and it cost me a total of about $12 bucks!

Start off by finding a headboard and foot board at a local Goodwill or other thrift store.

 I scored with this one at $4.99 for both pieces!!!!

 Next, measure the foot board to the very middle and make a mark- you will cut this in half on this line- so make it straight! (I want to add that once the foot board was cut in half, it was a deeper seat than I wanted, so I measured and cut the foot board on each side so I ended up with a 20 inch side and I made my seat 18 inches deep- I was much happier with this size- so make your foot board sides any size you like and then measure your seat accordingly).

 There it is- I cut it in half by myself- with one eye scrunched in terror the entire time! I would have closed them both- but that would have been more scary!!! I'm not a power tools kind of girl- so this was a challenge for me.

 Now, line up your foot board pieces to the large post on the sides of the headboard- mark a few spots to drill holes and insert 2 inch lengths of dowel rods. (you only need to buy one dowel rod and cut it into sections)- I used a total of five sections on each side. These are NOT for supporting weight- but just add a little more support to the structure of the bench.

 Once the sides are glued with the dowel rods inserted- let it dry for a few hours. (disregard the boards that look like a seat- we were experimenting in this picture)

 While the glue is drying for your sides- go ahead and build your seat. We chose to make a box structure and put short slats. Measure the width of the bench and the depth- size your seat accordingly.

 We (my hubby was great help at this point!)- screwed the outer box together with wood screws and then placed our slats on top using wood screws, then flipped it over and used small L brackets under each slat.

 With the bench still laying on it's back we put the seat in place and used large L brackets to secure it.

 See the large L bracket?.... we also used wood screws to add extra support.

 Ta-da!!! Isn't it pretty!!!! So, we sanded it a little and then coated it with a primer/paint combo. If you only want to paint the bench a solid color with no distressing- skip down a few pictures- and don't grab the Vaseline!

 Then I grabbed some Vaseline because I wanted it to look chippy painted and funky- and this my friends is the BEST trick ever to get that look!

 Just smear a little Vaseline in the spots that you want to remain the color of the base coat- in this case white. - Now I should caution you that this really works- so if you want small little streaks it would be better to apply the Vaseline with a paint brush so you can get it exactly where you want it.

 I wanted it to be big chunks and streaks so I just used my finger to smear it on. Can you see the Vaseline one the edges?... the picture is tricky- but it's there.

 Now, paint the bench whatever color you like- I chose bright pink! Isn't it so happy!!!!

 Let your top coat of paint sit for at least 20 minutes to make sure it is dry. Then grab a dry rag and just start rubbing the bench everywhere you put the Vaseline. That top color will wipe right off and the underneath color will pop out. See!

 Again- if you want smaller spots or more like lines- use a brush. See how large my white spots are- that's what it will look like if you smear it on with your finger.

 Oh so fun!!! I LOVE this so much!

 There you have it- my distressed bench. I wasn't sure where I was going to put the bench, so I went ahead and used a clear coat sealer over the top just in case it's new home is outside.

 One more pic of the white popping out of the pink..... did I mention I love it??? Well, I do!

 Here it is, sitting in our entry with a few little pillows- I plan to make a seat cushion for it with oilcloth, and I've decided it will live on the back deck for the summer!

Exercise trick...

For all the mamas out there who are at a loss as to what to do with those left over baby legs.... well here is a good solution! I've been exercising a lot lately, and praise the LORD my running shorts and pants are getting too big! So, while I was thrilled about that, it presented a new problem- my waist band would no longer hold my phone in place!... yeah, I don't have a clip, I know! So, I grabbed one of my little bug's baby legs, folded it in half to form a pocket and slipped it on my arm- problem solved! The elastic holds it on and it works great! There you go!!!!

Ice cream sundae cake!

My biggest little said "I want a cake that looks like an ice cream sundae for my birthday, ok Mom?".... uh, sure.... I can do that!

So, I did. I think it turned out ok. It's a little messy, but hey, so are sundaes! So let me tell you what I did.

Two cake mixes-

one cupcake pan (I only baked 9 cupcakes not 12)

one bunt cake pan

one  small circle pan (about 4 inches around) (make two of these total)

One large batch of home made marshmallow fondant

Sprinkles

One large batch of home made butter cream icing

icing bag (or ziploc bags)- icing tips

one cherry

tooth picks/ wooden skewer sticks

Bake all the cakes and let cool completely.

Begin by stacking the two small circular cakes on top of each other - you will want to ice in between them with your choice of flavor. Once stacked, ice the entire outside of these cakes and cover with fondant. This will be your base. Position four wooden skewers about 1/3 of the way in around the center- this will support the bunt cake later.  

Turn bunt cake right side up and ice completely. Cover with fondant completely. Now turn it upside down and stack on the base- if you feel like it isn't sturdy enough, you can cut a heavy duty paper plate to size and use as support underneath the bunt cake- if you do this, you will want to cover the plate in fondant as well- just for looks.

Ice cupcakes in different colors of butter cream and stack them on top of the bunt cake. I actually iced my cupcakes upside down because they looked more like ice cream scoops that way. Use tooth picks or wooden skewers to position them on the cake.

Once all of the cupcakes are in place- decorate! I decorated with chocolate, vanilla and strawberry icing- added sprinkles, a whirl of white icing on top for whipped cream and then a real cherry to top it off.

I rolled out extra fondant to make a trim around the bottom of the bowl, and around the top edge of the bowl (the top edge I did before I place the cupcakes on)- get creative and make it however you like!


I will post my home made fondant recipe asap!