Necklace Rack

Do you have this problem?

Me too! (Obviously). I didn't have a good way of organizing my necklaces so this is what they looked like, a big old mess! I was starting to get a little frustrated with the whole things so I decided it was time to come up with better system.

So this is what I did. I bought a blank canvas, painted it (excuse the quality of the artwork, I'm not exactly an artist!), screwed hooks into the wood at the top, added a ribbon to hang it with and Voila, a necklace rack. :)

I had a blast painting the canvas (Cameron helped me out, she painted a butterfly next to me while I worked on my beautiful ;) flower montage). Plus it was really easy screwing in the hooks. So there you go, a simple, easy and fun way to get a little more organized.

Blessing Bags

Several years ago Ryan and I did the Crown Financial bible study series on how to manage your money in a godly way. Part of that study talked about helping the poor. I remember our group having an in depth discussion on what exactly Jesus meant when he commanded us to help the poor (because today's society looks a lot different than biblical times). Our discussion eventually lead to some pretty standard questions: What do you do about beggars? Do you give them money and risk them spending it on drugs of alcohol? Do you do something else like buy them a meal? Should we do anything for them at all?

One of the ladies in our group said that she always kept water bottles in her car and when she saw someone standing on a street corner, she'd roll down her window and hand them a water bottle. Intriguing. That definitely got me thinking, but that's about as far as things went.

Five years later, I still have never done anything to help. Actually, I take that back. One time about two years ago, I saw a homeless man sitting at the intersection as I was getting onto the highway. I happened to have some cookies in my car, so I rolled down my window and I handed them to him...but that hardly counts.

Anyway. Every time I see someone standing on the side of the road I feel like I should do something, but I never do. For awhile I thought maybe I should keep some gift cards for McDonald's or Subway in the car and hand those out, but I never did anything about it.

Then a few weeks ago I was reading a blog—Life Unexpected—and I saw a post she did about homeless bags. What a great idea! She packed bags full of food, toiletries, socks, etc. and kept the bags in her car so when she saw people she would have something to give them. Brilliant. If her husband was with her when they saw someone, he would get out of the car and ask the person their name and tell them that he would be praying for them. How awesome is that?

I loved her idea, so I decided to make blessing bags of my own. Most of the time I'm driving by myself or with my girls, so getting out of the car and talking to someone might not be the best idea, but I can at least have bags packed in the car ready to hand to someone when I have the opportunity.

Here are some ideas of what to put in the bags: non perishable food and drinks, toiletries, cards, a pocket bible. I ended up adding a few other things too: first aid kits, note pads and pens, mittens. You could really add whatever you want.

Then I printed out some blessing cards.

And put everything together in bags.

Now I'm going to put these bad boys in the car and be prepared next time I see someone in need. To be honest, I'm a little nervous about giving the bags away. It's kind of a weird thing. But I just hope that God uses it as a way to touch someone who may have lost hope.

It really is easy to put these together, and it's not a huge investment considering the impact that you could have on a person's life. So go make some bags people!

Valentine's Day Cards from Toddler Artwork

I really wanted to make Valentine's cards with Cameron this year, but she's still too little to really understand the concept. Then I had the idea of taking her "artwork" and converting it into fun cards that we could give away to family and friends.

She had a blast coloring "trains" and "hearts" on the paper and I had a blast turning them into cards (as you can most definitely tell from these pictures!).

Here's what you'll need:

Construction Paper or Card Stock in Various Colors

Paper Punches

Scissors

Glue

Black Archival Quality Pen

Have your toddler go crazy coloring, then use any kind of paper punch to cut shapes from the paper. I used a heart punch since we were making Valentine's.  

Then you can take the shapes and turn them into whatever you want!

So fun! This would also work great for birthday cards, thank you notes, or anything else of that nature. And the best part is you get to spend some quality time with your kiddos. Win, win!

Bedroom Door Signs

I am not a huge fan of the TV, so I'm always looking for fun projects that get us off the couch. This morning I was going through some boxes of old scrapbook stuff, (I haven't scrapbooked in years, it's just way too much of an undertaking these days) and I found some fun paper, ribbon and chipboard alphabet stickers. I got the idea to create name signs for the girl's bedroom doors.

Cameron helped me stick the stickers to the paper and then attach them to the paper with glue. Then she found a picture of herself in the pile of pictures that we have sitting in our office area. She was already putting glue on the back before I even realized what she was doing, so we went ahead and put it on the paper too. I added some ribbon and tada...we have bedroom door signs.

Boutique Hair Bows

My sister-in-law taught me how to make these bows a few months ago and I absolutely love them...and so do my girls! It is not unusual for my almost two year old, Cameron, to pull a bow out of her drawer and bring it to me me so I can put her hair up "pretty". Or sometimes she'll me to give Sydney a bow "Nee bow". Cameron has also been really into Mickey Mouse (and crew) lately, so when I saw this Minnie Mouse ribbon at Hobby Lobby it only took a second for me to toss it into the cart. Bonus, it was 50% off.

These are the things you'll need:

Ribbon of your choice

Clips

String

Hot Glue Gun

Scissors

Lighter

NOTE: Ribbon with wire doesn't work quite as well as ribbon without.

Start with your thickest ribbon, the ribbon you want to be the base of your bow. Take one end of the ribbon and make a loop.

Take the other end of the ribbon and create another loop, opposite your first loop, by wrapping the long end back behind your first loop.

Now create a third loop by bringing the ribbon back across the front of the bow. This loop will be on the same side of the first loop.

Create a fourth and final loop by taking the long end of the ribbon and wrapping it behind the back of the bow.

Gather the ribbon together in the middle. I like to create a W shape to help give the bow the fullest possible appearance. Once you have the center of the bow gathered together, clip it using one of your clips. This might take a few tries before you get it how you like it.

Cut the long end of the ribbon leaving enough to create a tail.

 Take a piece of string and tie it around the center of the bow. I  usually wrap the string around several times. The string will not be visible at the end, so don't worry about how it looks. Leave the long ends of the string, no need to cut them yet. Remove the clip and the first part of the bow is complete.

Take your next ribbon and repeat the first steps to create a second bow. This one should be slightly smaller than the first so it can sit on top of the first one.

Once you have the two bows take the long ends of the string on the big bow and use them to tie the two bows together. Cut off all excess string.

Now we will create the center of the bow. Cut about a three to four inch piece of the ribbon you want to use for the center. Create a loop with the ribbon. It should look like a breast cancer loop.

Take the end of the ribbon that is in the back and string it though the hole and pull tight to create a knot.

Now put some hot glue on the back of the knot and glue to the center of the bow so you cover the string.

Flip the bow over and thread the bottom of the clip (the flat side) between the string and the ribbon.

Take one end of your knot ribbon and wrap around to the back of the bow and slide it in between the sides of the clip. Squeeze a small drop of hot glue under the ribbon and affix it to the clip. Cut off the excess ribbon.

Take the other end of the ribbon and slide it between the clip and hot glue it to the other side of the ribbon. Cut off the excess ribbon.

Cut the for ends of the bows to the length you like them.

Run the flame from your lighter across the ends of the ribbon to prevent them from fraying. NOTE: Be very careful with this step. You only need the flame for a second. If you leave it there for too long you can catch your bow on fire. I've totally done this before! 

You're done!

 The fun part about these bows is you can make a ton of different variations using different ribbons and changing the amount of layers you do, etc. I like to get together with friends and share ribbon too so I don't end up with a million bows using the same ribbon.

Don't get frustrated if your first couple bows don't turn out exactly how you'd like them to. You'll get better and better as you practice more. 

Happy bow making!