Spring Cleaning!

Does anyone else get a little boost of motivation in the spring time? I'm not planning any deep cleaning this year, but I find myself reorganizing and trying to pretty-up our home. I'm also into purging our belongings (especially clothes) and trying to get the housework into a more manageable system.

I'm finding that simple things, such as rearranging the stuff I already have, gives our surroundings a fresh look. I love rainbows and was so excited to try arranging the children's books by color. Quite pleasing to the eye! I am going to try this with my cookbooks next.

What are your spring projects?

Inspired!

I have been saying for awhile that I need a little girl in my life to craft for because there was a real lack of inspiration for boys' projects. Well the tides have turned, my friends, and I have been finding BOY ideas left and right. I am loving it. Many even use old materials to create something new, aka UPcycling. :)

Here's the links....

* Cheri has so many great projects, but the Robot Rex T is top of my list. She also teaches you about bleach pen painting, using embroidery floss and freezer paper stencils. Embellishing is a great way to cover up stains! Just sayin. (These projects seem super easy even for the non-crafty among us.)

* On made I found how to upcycle old adult clothes into a sweater vest or even a cute lap t. Makes me want a serger even more! (These projects are a bit more advanced as you need some decent sewing machine skills.) But there are also tips on non-sewing techniques such as fabric dying.

* Prudent Baby does tend towards girl projects, but there are some boy ones too. I love this tute for a hooded towel. I will be cutting up some old towels to make a beach-worthy creation!

* Course I already posted about the bandanna beach/Bermuda pants.

ETA one more! Card table play (army) tent... love it.

I'm now on the look out for cheap, plain boys T's. I am also contemplating snap pliers and a serger... Lord help me! :)

Bandana Pants!

Ok, these are more like long shorts or "man-pris" but no matter what you call them they are going to be cool and comfy for the summer. If you have basic sewing skills, you can make these. I plan on picking up bandanas for a couple more pairs and tweaking my measurements a bit. These would be perfect to change into after a beach day!


The best shot I could get. My little model is 3.5yo and wears a size 4/5. Ideally he would wear them with a non-striped top. LOL I used the directions in the first link and went with an elastic waist for ease of using the potty.

Tutorial with pictures here:
http://blueyonder.typepad.com/photos/bandana_pants/index.html

Martha Version here:
http://www.marthastewart.com/article/bandana-clothing-crafts?page=2

Foodie Friday

Gotta keep it interesting around here...

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Monster Face Sandwich:

Peanut Butter, Banana Slices and Raisins on Rice Cakes

Why rice cakes? They are pretty messy but I figured out there is no crust to discard unlike the other breads we've used in the past. Brilliant.

W: "Is it Elmo?"

Hmmm I am thinking about an Elmo waffle version now...

Frugal Fail: Home Haircuts

I am always endevoring to save more money. Sometimes out of a general conviction to be a "good steward" of what I've been given. Sometimes it's out of sheer necessity.

Sometimes my frugal efforts are a big fat failure.

My first attempts at trimming W-man's bangs were pretty rough, but I have gotten better. Well I got seriously brave last week after seeing his sweaty mop top at the playground.

I pulled out the clippers and.... you can see where this is going.

Now I have seen this boy sit very still and patient for a hairdresser. For me? He wiggled and ducked like the best dodge ball player. I'm apparently not very good at hair to start with. When dealing with a moving target I was destined for failure. The kiss of death was when I pulled out the angled piece (guard?) that is supposed to help with the fade from top to bottom. Well his hair is so fair it seriously looked like a bald spot around the ears.... I was ready to accept defeat and simply buzz him. (I have done that for the hubs before.) But as I started in the back I realized he was going to look close to completely bald since his hair and skin are super fair. Ugh. So I left the top long. I was able to at least even out the uneven edges the next day w/ some scissors... somewhat.

IMO, It looks like a cross between a jarhead/cletus the redneck. Thankfully he's three and just said with a laugh, "My hair looks funny!" :)

A nice hairdresser friend has offered to fix it up. We go and see her today.

I honestly prefer his hair longer and more "surfer dude" but I haven't yet figured out how to keep it that way without having it look like a complete bed hed all the time.

Anyone else have any frugal failures? I know someone out there has to have a home perm story... :)

Couponing!

I'll admit I have a love/hate relationship with couponing. The hate part is that it can be time consuming and often the deals are on products I don't need/want. The love part is free or almost free stuff... This week my coupon love is on.

I scored all of this stuff for FREE during Kmarts double coupon event. They do this a couple times a year. They double coupons up to $2. So if an item is $4 and you have a $2 off coupon, you just pay the tax! There is a limit of 5 q's per day so I got this in 3 trips:

4 bags of Herrs Tortilla chips (ahem we ate one before taking the pic.)

4 Tasters Choice Instant Coffee

2 Dove Deodorant (my preferred brand!)

1 Kellogg's Fruit Snacks (K picked them up for work and the only kind they had left were Princess ones. haha)

Plus some feminine products that I didn't think you needed a pic of. :)

The Colgate was a freebie coupon that printed out at the register upon my first trip.

Non-Toxic Tots GC Giveaway!

Click through to enter!

Adventures of a Breastfeeding Mother: Girl Time (With Giveaway!)

Dinos at Sunset

Maybe it's that Papa K hasn't been around as much lately (due to his job) but sometimes I get a little carried away with dinner prep. I admit I have fallen back on freezer chicken nuggets for W-man occasionally while just snacking myself.

I couldn't control the katchup coming out of the squeeze bottle all that well so it's a little odd. The rest was cute though. He ate everything on the plate except the few lettuce leafs. And he even asked for extra edamame. :)