ETSY COUPON CODE FOR FREE SHIPPING! BLACK FRIDAY ONLY

What would black Friday be without a free shipping coupon code for my Etsy store? Crap, it would be total crap.  So to make it totally awesome I will give you the top secret code...but remember it will expire at 12 am Friday night..or Saturday morning if your a cup half full kinda person...


HOLLABLACKFRIDAY1 (a.k.a the top secret coupon code)

coupon good starting 9 pm 11/24...so what are ya waiting for? 

If you haven't been to my shop yet there is a direct link to it at the top left hand corner of the page.  Happy Shopping!

Family Dinner and Movie Night at Home...way cheaper

We don't do this very much so when we do it feels like a real treat, not only for our daughter, but also for us big people too! I like to pick a movie (obviously a kids movie) and create a dinner or snack that has the same theme as the movie.  The great thing about this is you can do it with pretty much ANY movie that you already have.

Some Ideas with links to recipes:

 ~Princess and the Frog/Gumbo
http://www.food.com/recipe/quick-easy-chicken-sausage-gumbo-109348

~Coraline/Button Cookies
http://muishkasrecipebook.blogspot.com/2010/12/coraline-button-cookies.html

~Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs/Spaghetti
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-spaghetti-with-tomato-sauce/

~Curious George/Banana Bread
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/banana-banana-bread/

~Shreck/Waffles
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/waffles-i/

~Garfield/Lasagna
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-lasagna-ii/

~Tangled/Angel Hair Pasta Chicken
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/angel-hair-pasta-chicken/detail.aspx

~Kung Fu Panda/Steamed Dumplings with Dipping Sauce
http://thaifood.about.com/od/thairecipes/r/dumplingschicke.htm

~Chicken Run/Chicken Pot Pie
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/easy-chicken-pot-pie/df0d82fa-a1de-4bc6-8952-a4a2533baf75

Howls Moving Castle/Bacon and Eggs
~I am going to assume everyone knows how to make this one ;p
 
First things first, you HAVE to turn the living room into a super awesome movie theatre unlike any other. Light a few candles, if you have a pull out sofa pull it out for once..make it cozy.  Have your kids grab all the biggest pillows and blankets in the house.  If you don't have a pull out sofa you can make a pallet on the floor..super fun too! 

Before you watch the movie have the kiddos help you make dinner/snack. This is great family time..the perfect way to start the night.

Now break all the rules..eat in the living room, in the dark while watching the movie.  Half way through the movie stop to take a potty break and make popcorn.  After this night of fun your wallets will be happy and so will your kiddos! 

Lost Camera!

Hello out there to my 4 followers! First thank you for following, second I am sorry I haven't posted anything in a while.  My camera is missing!! GASP...I am heart broken.  I have searched the house high and low and still have not been able to find it.  So my dreams of awesome blogs are put on hold for now I guess.  But I have discovered Pinterest..and I mush say I am super addicted. Since discovering Pinterst I have tested a few ideas and I am here to tell you how they work.

1.  Homemade Mod Podge (equal parts Elmer's glue and water)

• This is basically a poor mans varnish..and lets face it these days who isn't poor? I tried this stuff out and it works great.  I used it to add some floral fabric to small table top in my bathroom and it looks super cute.  Too bad I can't take a pic to show you ;(

2. No Sew Scarf made from an old shirt  http://pinterest.com/pin/453620673/

•  For this I used an old long sleeve knit fabric shirt.  It was super easy to do..and I even cut the arms off of the shirt to make super simple and cute footless boot socks, and then I cut out the hemmed neck of the shirt and used it as a tie on headband..no sewing!

3. Old baby gate turned into a message board.

• For this you need to have one of the old cheap baby gates that are wooden.  I didn't actually get this idea from Pinterest, but by being addicted to Pinterest I was inspired to hang an old baby gate on the wall..you feel me?
• To do this just decide where you want the gate to go, put a couple of nails in the wall, decide how long you want it to be..grab some clothes pins and pin your fav crap to it..easy as pie! (again I would love to show you a pic..hopefully I can either find or replace my camera in the near future)

Thanks again to anyone who reads my blog :) Hope this was helpful!

RECIPE: Homemade Low Calorie Pizza

So the hubby and I have been trying to find healthier options for the foods that we love, and our most recent craving was PIZZA! If you don't love pizza then you might just be a zombie @-@  So much guilt can come from filling your face with a super carbed up greasy pizza from the local joint.  So save yourself the guilt, the heartburn, and a little cash and try out my hubbies latest pizza recipe!!

This pizza serves 3, so if you are feeding more you will want to double the ingredients.  You will need the following ingredients:

• 1 box of Jiffy Homemade Pizza Mix
• 1 can of Pizza Sauce
• 1 package of Hormel Pre-Cooked Chicken (or anything that you might have leftover that needs to be used up)
• 1 package of fresh Mozzarella cheese
• 1 package of fresh Spinach
• 1 Tomato
• 1 Green Pepper
• 1 Red Onion
• Fresh Garlic, minced

Start by cutting up and preparing all of your ingredients.  You want to have everything ready to smack onto your pizza. Be sure to cut the green peppers and onions pretty thin, unless you like crunchy things..then please make them as fat as you would like.

Next follow the instructions on the box for making your dough..it is super simple to do, the only hint I will give is that when your dough has finished setting for 5 minuets and you are getting ready to knead it, be sure you have floured your hands.  The dough will be super sticky at this point and you want to kind of use your floury hands to make it into a ball before you take it out of the bowl.

After your dough as baked in the oven for about 3 minuets it will be time to add your toppings..of course you want to start with the sauce..but after that it is up to you which order you would like your toppings.

Cook that sucker for like 18 minuets...until the cheese is all melty in the pan and your kitchen smells so good it makes you want to throw rocks at your Grandma...that's when you know its ready..mmmm..yum..

We also let Eliza make her own personal pan pizza using her favorite toppings (or I should say "topping" since it is only sausage) because there isn't a 4 year old out there who should be eating "healthy" pizza...I am not saying I encourage childhood obesity or anything..but let your kids live once in a while people!

For this pizza all we needed was an extra box of crust and some sausage, we used the Fresh Mozzarella for hers too and we used a small pie pan to make it "deep dish"...yummmm

Girls Vest Tutorial

Turn a too small jacket...

Into a TOO CUTE VEST...

All you will need for this tutorial is...

• A Jacket
• Some Lace
• Matching thread
• Scissors
• Pins

First start by cutting off the sleeves, be sure to leave at least 1/2 inch seam allowance on the sleeve.

Next turn the jacket inside out, fold the extra sleeve in and pin.

Before you start sewing be sure you are using thread that matches your vest.  Use a running stitch to sew a hem into your sleeves.

Cut off any extra material so that it does not show when you turn the jacket/vest right side out.  Your jacket/vest should look something like this..

Now it is time to add some lace! Pin your lace all the way around the zipper and hood part of your vest (I think it is safe to call it a vest at this point).  Be careful not to pin too close to the zipper or your needle will not glide smoothly.

Now sew the lace onto the vest.

I also add some lace to the pockets.  To do this cut two pieces of lace that are the same length as your pockets, pin and sew them to the outside of the pocket (careful not to sew the pocket together).

 

 

Now flip the lace into the pocket and sew over the same stitch that you just stitched.

 



Now your vest is complete!! What a great fall re-fashion :P

 

 



Preschool Geography ~Lesson One~

Up until now Eliza and I have mainly been working on letters, numbers, shapes, ya know, the basics.  So I decided that today was the day to branch out, to really start learning about the world.

I started by grabbing a few resources from the library, including:

• The Children's Atlas of the World
• The Giant Encyclopaedia of Theme Activities for Children 2 to 5
• Vanishing Cultures Frozen Land (story)
• A Day in the Life of Narwhals (story)
• Animal Atlas Animal Passport (DVD)
• Growing up Arctic (DVD)

We are really lucky to have a great library with lots of educational resources, but if you live somewhere that doesn't (or if you would rather not spend the gas money on getting to the library) you can always go online to find some really great materials.

Typically with my home preschool I like to keep it short and simple.  I find that the more you try to force learning the harder it can be for a toddler to absorb what you are trying to teach them, so my lesson plans are usually no longer than 30 minutes long, and they go something like this...

• Song (right now we are doing a days of the week song)
• Overview, talk about what they will be learning
• Letter/Number/Word tracing
• Fun Facts
• Coloring Page
• Activity
• Story

Today I had the Atlas open to two pages depicting the North/South Poles and the animals who live there.

We had a lot of fun looking and talking about all of the animals, we even did a fun game I Spy ;p. Next I showed Eliza the coloring page that I drew up for her (please feel free to laugh at my drawing). We talked more about the North/South Poles in reference to where we live on the planet.  It was a "rough" drawing to say the least, but she got the idea.  If you would rather not draw up a coloring page, again you can find one online and print it out.

After finishing the coloring page we made Snowy Owls.  To make Snowy Owls you will need the following:

• 1 paper plate per owl
• Stapler
• Scissors
• 3 yellow/orange triangles (we used some old fleece fabric, you can use construction paper or you can just crayons)
• Glue
• 2 black buttons per owl (or again you can color them on)

Follow the  instructions to create your own Snowy Owl.  The pictures wouldn't line up exactly how I wanted, but you can see the instructions.  First you fold, then staple, cut the wings, add the fringe, last glue on the eyes, beak and ears.

Your owl should come out looking something like this...

After making our Snowy Owls we read the story about the Narwhals.  We plan on watching the Arctic DVD tonight after dinner.

That completes lesson one in Preschool Geography. Thanks for reading!

Juilet Costume of "Gnomeo and Juliet" HOW TO

First you want to start by gathering your materials that you will need for this costume.  I did a google image search of "Gnomeo and Juliet" to see exactly what Juliets costume would need to look like.  You will need the following items:

• White under shirt
• Black tank top
• Red skirt
• White apron
• Red gnome hat
• White/Black tights
• Black Shoes
• Gold fabric paint
• Elastic
• Red thread

The first thing I did was to go into my daughters wardrobe and see what items she already had.  We already had the white undershirt and black tights..so that was a start.  Next thing we did was hit the local Goodwill store.  I am not a "Creator" who really likes to buy fabric brand new.  These days fabric can cost just as much as it would cost to just go online and buy the costume..so we need to get THRIFTY  people.

At Goodwill I was able to find most of what I needed to make this costume.  I had to tweak everything but that my friends is the fun part! So without further ado...lets DO!

I started with the red skirt.  I couldn't find a red skirt at Goodwill, but I was able to find a red dress for $1.99 that I turned into a skirt.

First I decided how long I wanted my skirt to be, our skirt is about 18' long, so I cut the dress at 18 1/2 inches (measuring from the bottom up).  After cutting the skirt I created a casing along the top to insert my elastic into.  You want to measure your little ones waist to get the length of elastic that you will need. (If this is your first time creating an elastic waistband please follow this link for instructions on how to http://www.independentliving.org/fashionfreaks/skirts/sssi4.html) Your skirt should look something like this...

Next is the black tank top, we found this one at Goodwill for $1.99 as well.

I used gold glitter puffy paint to add the "corset" type design to the front, and we are ready to move on to our next piece

Now we will start on the gnome hat. First you want to figure out what fabric you will be using.  I used some old red scrap nylon type fabric that I had lying around in my sewing room.  You can use practically any red fabric you can find..an old red shirt would work just as well..just be careful using knit fabrics if you are a beginner because they are a bit tricky. First you want to measure your little ones head, for my 4 year old I measured that I would need my fabric to be 10 inches wide and 11inches long (measure forehead to chin to get the length and cheek to back of the head to get the width) now cut two pieces of fabric using your measurements. Remember to add 1/2 inch for the seam allowance.

Now lay your two squares right sides together and cut out the shape of your hat.  I already had a gnome hat to use as a guide, if you need to you can draw the shape on a piece of paper then pin the paper to your fabric and cut out the shape of the hat.

Next you will want to hem the side of the fabric that will be the front of the hat, as well as the bottom of the hat.  For mine the front part already has a hem, and I use a zigzag stitch to hem the bottom.

After hemming you want to pin your two pieces of fabric together once again right sides facing each other, then using a zigzag stitch sew your hat together. Remember not to sew the front together. Now turn your hat right side out and admire your work! (Note: my hat is a little shorter than yours should be because of a little machine malfunction, but still cute I think) If the top part of your hat doesn't want to stay up just fill it with a little batting, works like a charm.

Last but certainly not least...the apron! I used some white scrap fabric that I had.  If you don't have any white scrap you might want to check Goodwill for a white sheet to use for fabric to save some $$$, just remember to give it a good washing of course ;p

So first cut out your pieces.  For the apron you will need to cut three pieces.  You will need to cut the tie piece.  I measured mine at 3 1/2 inches wide and 18 inches long.  You will also need to cut out two square pieces.  Mine measure 14 inches wide and 16 inches long. Again you can adjust your measurements to your liking.

Now lay the two squares together, right sides in, pin and cut them into a horse shoe shape.

Now fold the long tie piece in half, right sides together and press with iron, pin and sew creating one long tube, then turn your tube right side out.  After turning the tube right side out I hemmed each end using a zigzag stitch.  Then press the entire piece flat with an iron.

For the next step of the apron sew the big pieces together leaving the top open, then turn right side out and sew a zigzag stitch all the way around the front of the apron.  Now using a fabric marker draw on the front lower right hand corner a cursive letter "J"(this part it optional, but adds a really cute design to the costume)

Now using a zigzag stitch follow your marker line to create the letter "J".

Now fold the top part of the apron down toward the back 1/2 inch and press flat, fold it another 1/2 inch and press flat again(the fold should be on the back side of the apron). Now line the tie part up on the back of the apron with the top part of the fold you just created, center  and pin. Use a zigzag stitch to sew the tie onto the apron.

Now your Juliet Costume is ready!  Thank you so much for checking out my blog..this is my first official "how to" I hope you enjoyed it.  And please email me if there is something that doesn't make sense and I will be happy to help.  Happy Sewing:p