Saturdays Are All About Family Time: Family Olympics and Medal How-to

Sure the Olympics are ending on Sunday...but who says you can't keep the Olympic spirit alive after the closing ceremonies.

A great family activity is to hold your own family Olympics. If you are fortunate and live somewhere that isn't snowing (I will try not to hold it against you!), take it outside. If you are like us and snowed in, and have been FOREVER, hold it inside.

We of course had our family Olympics on the Wii (pictures at the end), but really you can do anything. Here is something you can try. Gather wax paper and rubberbands. Tear the wax paper pieces big enough to wrap around each foot, so that it closes around at the ankle. Rubberband the wax paper in place. Instant ice skates on carpet. My boys love this.

Okay so obviously if you are having  a family Olympics, you need medals. I had left over felt (I am sure that surprises you), so I whipped out some medals. It was super duper easy.

You will need:

Felt in gold, gray, and something resembling bronze...I used tan

a circle shape to trace

2 pieces blue felt (more if you make more than 9 medals)

coordinating thread

Let's Make 'Em:

Trace circles, two for each medal. Make as many as you want. I made three sets for three games.

Cut circles out. Cut 1x8.5 inch strips of blue (that is if you buy the craft sheets and cut with the long side down), 2 for each medal.

Assemble medals. First put two pieces of blue felt between two circles. If you traced them, make sure markings are facing in.

Pin circles together. Sew around the edge with about a 1/4 inch seam, in coordinating color.

Lay out so that neck band make's a V.

Grab the bottom piece of the V, and turn the very top part facing you.

Place the end of the top piece of the V on top of the turned over end of the bottom piece. Pin, and then sew together with a straight stitch.

Woohoo! Now you are done. Instant medals, and that leads to...

Instant fun, and your own Family Olympics.

What a good looking bunch of athletes. 

Don't worry hubby got a medal too, alas the strap was just a little too small to go over his daddy sized head.

Go have fun. My boys LOVED it. We now have the medals in the same box with all our Wii stuff because the boys insist we will be having another competition soon.

Fridays "Just Another Fabulous Blog" Showcasing Blogs I Love

So Fridays are going to be set aside for me to spread the love for some of the awesome blogs I love. Some Fridays I may link up to the blog specifically, sometimes it might be a fabulous tutorial by a blog, sometimes it will be a new blog on the block, or sometimes it might be one that is an old pro and everyone knows who they are...so basically Fridays are all about others...aka the people I want to be like when I grow up!

Today I want to spread the love about these couple sites...

Maryjanes and Galoshes 

She has super cute ideas. Go and check her blog out. No, seriously, just do it. She has a boy and a girl, so she has cute ideas for both genders.

Like these super cute tattoo barrettes (ps there is a coordinating little boys shirt to go with)...

What about the ingenious bank idea???? When I get a break in the crazies, I am totally making this.

Isn't her stuff wonderful??? I told you that you would be happy if you went to her blog!

NEXT...

A Lemon Squeezy Home

Doesn't the title of her blog say it all! So cute. This is a fairly new blog, but jump back you would think she was always blogging with all the awesome stuff she does. I might heart this shirt that she came up with to go along with homemade by Jill's car caddy. 

Every time I go check her blog to see what new things she has come up with, I smile. Go and check her blog out now...I know you had things to do today didn't you, like clean or something. Sorry to ruin your plans!

NEXT...

Thirty Handmade Days

This blog is just wonderful because she gathers tons of great ideas, plus she adds her own too. I love, love, love, all the ideas she puts in one place. Plus I love reading her stuff...I kind of feel like we are long lost friends even though we have never met.

Not only does she compile great ideas, but she also has great giveaways. 

I might also heart this blog because it was one of the first to give me a creative blog shout out with my Valentines Polka Dot Pillow and Banner.

Next...

seven-thirty-three

This is a great crafty blog. What I really LOVE about this blog is the What are little boys made of weekly round up that happens every Thursday. Everyone pretty much knows we have a house full of little men here. So between this and of course the Celebrate the Boy happening at Made and Made by Rae I have been gathering plenty of crafting ideas for my little men. So go and check out the crafts for boys, and hey link up an idea of your own.

Last...

The Train to Crazy 

I think I have tickets for that train...

Anywho...here is another blog that shares crafts, tutorials, and the general thoughts of a fellow mother. What caught my eye was this fabulous part of her blog...Make it, Wear it. Another way to link up with fellow crafters about what we make for the purpose of wearing. Super fun. Go and check this out and hey, take another chance to link up something you've done.

Like I said earlier, I will be doing this every week. If you know of a blog that I need to check out, leave the link in my comments. If you have a blog that you think is blog love worthy, leave me your blog address. 

I look forward to increasing my blog must-read list, which will undoubtedly decrease my hours of sleep.

Hah...sleep, it is highly overrated anyway.

Still Recipe Thursday: Pepper Jack and Spinach Stuffed Chicken...YUM

Bacon: With a side of chicken/spinach/cheese


I found this recipe through allrecipes forever ago. The first time I tried it I used turkey bacon...don't. Go all out. You taste buds will thank you, you can ignore your arteries just this once. You will be good tomorrow.

ingredients-

1 10 oz bag of spinach
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 shredded pepperjack cheese
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 chicken breast, pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
pinch of pepper
8 slices of bacon

Preheat oven to 375.

Put spinach in a glass bowl and put in microwave for three minutes, stirring every minute or so, until wilted. Stir in sour cream, cheese, and garlic.

Lay chicken out. Place a spoonful of mixture on each piece of chicken. Roll up chicken to enclose mixture. Wrap each one in two pieces of bacon. Can secure with a toothpick. Place in shallow baking pan.

Bake uncovered for 35 minutes, then increase heat to 500 or set to broil for another 5-10 minutes to crisp up the leading lady...BACON.

Serve with a green salad so you feel a little better about all the bacon.

Clarifications on the Crazies, Lies, and Wednesday Around the House: Have Easter Eggs Will Decorate

Whew. Anyone else exhausted after reading that title. 

Okay first things first: CLARIFICATION. I am not crazy. After a motherly phone call from well, my mother, looks of "are you insane?" from my friends, and a hubby worried for my mental stability, I feel I need to clarify. This little crafting adventure will NOT be an everyday occurrence. I am not going to craft myself into an early grave. Neglect my sweet boys in an attempt to get something crafted/posted everyday. Or any other number of things that would surely happen if I focused primarily on crafting. 

Each day will have a theme, BUT I may not post on that day. This week will be a little different because I have little things to post every day. So all of my loved ones concerned for me, relax and remain calm. I am not that crazy.

On to the Lies...are ya all still with me? 

Okay so other concerns came from a lack of family stuff being put in this blog and, again the crazy thought to make another family blog...that would make my blog total 5. When repeated to myself, yes that did sound a little crazy. SO here is the solution...the boys blogs will become private and family and friends who want to still have access to them shoot me an email, but I will still have family stuff in this one from time to time, because lets face it, they are the reason I do all this stuff, so they were still going to be in it anyway. SO I lied when I said this was switching from a family blog to a crafting blog. It will be a crafting blog with a side of my sweet family.

I am exhausted from all the typing...hopefully your eyes have not fallen out of your head from all the reading. It would a shame to miss my Wednesday Around the House part of this marathon post.

I had grand plans for these plastic eggs...

...grand plans aside because my spray paint just wouldn't adhere.

So I left the plastic eggs as they were and I used yellow spray paint on these...

Have plastic eggs, will decorate...

Easter Table Decor

yes a little early...just planning ahead

I had plans to paint them in less pastelly colors (not really my thing), but it didn't work this time around. The paint would have totally adhered to the paper eggs, but they were A LOT more. So .67 a bag later, I decided pastel table decor would work this year. 

Upon seeing it my oldest little man said, "Mom, it looks great out there!" And yes my heart melted.

Tuesdays are For the Kiddos: Chicks Dig Me Tee How-to

Welcome to Tuesday are "For the Kiddos". Tuesdays is when I am going to be showing crafts done just for kiddos. Today is the direct result from all the freezer paper craze happening in the blogoshpere. I wanted to make a T-shirt for my boys and was feeling a little springy/Eastery and this is what came of it all...plus it totally fits with my boys...

Chicks Dig Me Tee

What you'll need:

t-shirt in a color you like

1 bottle of coordinating permanent fabric paint ( I used tulip brand from craft store)

freezer paper

foam craft brush

exacto knife

chicks dig me pattern (reduced or enlarged to fit shirt)

cardboard (I use a cereal box)

a little ladies man

How-to:

Prewash shirt.

Print off pattern.

Outline pattern with a black marker so that it is easter to trace.

Lay a sheet of freezer paper, shiny side down, on top of pattern.

Trace pattern.

Here's the labor intensive part...cut out pattern with exacto knife. Then lay the pattern pieces like so...make sure to keep tiny pieces. Using a warm, dry iron (on silk setting with steam function off) iron the freezer paper pattern, again shiny side down, onto your t shirt. Make sure pattern is firmly in place.

Cut a piece of cereal box to fit into your shirt to keep the paint from bleeding through.

Grab your paint...you will need almost the entire bottle...if you buy the smaller one. The paint will be way more than the little dab I have shown in the picture.

Start applying to your shirt. Apply one coat evenly. Then repeat with how ever many coats needed for desired coverage.

Follow instructions on bottle. It will need to lay flat and dry for about 4 hours. I pulled off the larger pieces of my pattern after about 10 minutes. After about an hour, I pulled off the tiny pieces. Freezer paper will come right off, use tweezers for smaller pieces like the letters.

Find your little ladies man and strike a pose...

Sometimes charming...

Sometimes goofy...

Sometimes GQ'n...

Sometimes a playah...

But no matter what, he can always say..."Chicks dig me"

Something New From Something Old: Refashion How-to

Today begins the shifting from something old (this family blog) to something new (a crafty blog). I have wanted to have a crafting blog for awhile and have finally decided to make the leap. There will still be a family blog, which I will start up sometime soon (and let you know), and of course I still have my boys blogs.

Why a crafting blog? Really there are only a couple of reasons...

1. I have always needed courage to put my ideas into actions...so here is one big dose of courage...I actually feel like I have to throw up as we speak.

2. This gives me a creative outlet.

3. Crafting makes me happy. Everyone needs a good dose of happiness. I am going to be honest with ya all, after having sweet baby number three, I have been sent on more emotional roller coasters than I can remember AND yes crafting makes me happy, so here is my little dose of medicine.

SO there ya have it. I hope you will still be my friend and follower in this crafting journey. Really not much is going to change here...just more projects. 

Because I am anal about organizing my thoughts...I have given a theme to each day. Mondays is going to be Refashion, Reuse, and Recycle. Check on back each day this week for my other themes...I can just feel your anticipation...

SO drum roll please, here is my first Monday Refashion--

A Touch of Spring Sweater

Start with a long-sleeved cardigan you have grown bored with...

Do this...

Fold your sweater in half, so that the shoulder seams line up. Decide how long you want your new sleeves, and cut.

Cut again about an inch above your cuff. Set aside extra sleeve piece, we will use later...hehehe...

About now, things should look a little like this...

Using a basting stitch, sew once around bottom of new sleeve opening at 1/4 inch. Sew again a 1/4 inch from that seam. Using ends of thread, gather the fabric slightly like so...

Flip cuff inside out. Slide over the new opening of your sleeve. Pin the cut ends together. and sew with a seam allowance that will match with the start of the cuff. Repeat for other sleeve. Turn out. Sleeves done!

Moving on to another touch of spring for your sweater. Take the left over sleeve pieces.

Cut them open and lay flat.

Make each extra piece a rectangle. Cut strips varying from 1- 1/5 inches in width. Cut 8-10.

Sew with a basting stitch along bottom edge. Then gather into a ruffle.

Roll each ruffle into a flower shape, do this one at a time. With a needle and thread, hand sew each flower closed. Finish all your flowers. 

Sew on to the collar, going down the front of your cardigan. Be creative, do this anyway that looks good to you.

Now you are done, and you end up with this girly little number...

Just another thanks for joining me in this journey. I am sure it is going to be fun little ride.