Go Green Thank You Cards

Thank you! I made thank you cards for Jackson's birthday in an hour last night. It was so easy and saved my hand from cramping and a stamp. Besides, no one saves thank you cards these days do they? A mommy friend asked how I did it so here's how.

1. Take a picture of your kiddo holding a sign. I had Jackson hold a white board from school but you could use a chalkboard or plain piece of paper.

2. Upload the picture to PicMonkey. Best free photo editing site since Picnic was taken down.

3. Add text to your white board. They have fun colors and crazy font. I even made a frame and tweaked the coloring/exposure a bit with their easy tools. So easy to use this site.

4. Save to your computer.

I posted the Thank You's directly to my friends' and families' wall in Facebook and I emailed the picture to my dad who doesn't have Facebook. I think this will be my go-to for Thank Yous. You could get very creative and it doesn't cost 45 cents or whatever huge stamp cost it is right now. Go green. :)

Oil and Water

Watching the "Water Fireworks" exlode 

Trying to keep Mr. Jackson busy again courtesy of this lady on Pinterest this time (http://www.playcreateexplore.com/2010/04/rainy-afternoon-activity-kitchen.html) so we did some science experimenting. 

Soooo easy...and so 10 minutes long. Ha!

We put room temperature water in a mason jar 3/4 of the way full.

Then we added about an inch of vegetable oil on top of the water. 

The the "water fireworks" happened. We added a few drops of food coloring starting with yellow-red-green-blue. The drops of food coloring hung in the oil for a little bit but then dropped and EXPLODED like a firework into the water. 

It was cool and Jackson has asked for the fireworks again on a few different occasions. 

 See the drops hanging in the vegetable oil...

 Tapping the side did not work to make to drops fall sooner....sorry dude

 One cheesy picture for mom of course...

 Adding the dark colors last was key to this experiment too

Oh...and on another note last weekend me, my sister Shelby, my mom Cheryl, my besties Dett and Ruppy all earned our medals for completing the Tinkerbelle 1/2 Marathon at Disneyland. We may not be the fastest but the sense of pride at the finish line is hard to beat. 

Maps...

Of course Pinterest inspired me to do some decorating. This project was super easy and cheap and I love the way it turned out...and I have leftover materials and already made my bestie maps of where she grew up, went to college, and where she lives now in L.A.

Steps:

1. Ordered the maps of where we got engaged in Ravello, Italy; where we got married in Ferndale/Bellingham, Washington; and where we live now in Huntington Beach, California. I bet you could print them from site online and they would turn out great too.

2. Ordered 5x7 pics of engagement, wedding, and a recent family pic from Snapfish.

3. Picked out a pretty piece of wood that cost $16 at Home Depot and went to their "Cutting Center" and had the nice man cut all my wood into 5x7 pieces. I picked small because of the size of the shelves I needed them for but I know that the big 12x12 would look awesome too. That and the gray spray paint I bought cost $23 dollars and I got ~16 pieces of wood in 5x7 cuts.

4. With my assistant Jackson we spray painted the 6 boards outside. Make sure to spray the sides too. We waited a day and then flipped and sprayed the other side. On my next batch for my bestie I only waited an hour and then painted the other side and it worked just perfect too.

5. I made a little template of a heart and centered the cities in the middle of the heart on the maps and cut them out.

5. When the boards were dry (enough) we started the fun part. We used Modge Podge (got it at Michaels or Jo Ann Fabrics) and a sponge brush to cover the pretty side of the wood (one side was kinda rough from the cuts). Make sure to brush from side to side so it looks pretty. Cover the back of the picture and map with modge podge too.

6. I laid the picture on the board and made sure (or tried to) the bubbles were out. Then I brushed a layer of modge podge over the top for a nice glossy finish.

7. Let them dry about an hour (don't touch the maps..I did and a little piece got stuck to my finger and came off) and display. So easy, fun, and personal.

*If I didn't explain the process very clear this site is where I found the idea and followed their steps: http://www.mommymodelsblog.com/?p=2051

New Year

With this New Year I resolve to spend more time enjoying the simple joys of life like watching the sunset with the ones I love most. My favorite nights have gone from going out to staying in. Hope this new year is filled with laughter and joy to all we love.