Make milk jug rings

Lookie lookie!  

Me:  Hey friend!  A couple of nights ago, I made these three rings out of milk jugs.

You:  No way!  Come on, now.  I don't believe you.

Me:  Oh yes.  Believe me, friend.  These crapty cool rings were inspired by La Factoria Plastica's cardboard play rings and Lana Red's shrinky dink rings.

You:  Oh yes.  I remember seeing those on your Pinterest Board.  Well dagum!  How did you make them?

Me:  Keep reading to find out!

6 ways to entertain a toddler at home

Looking for some easy ways to entertain your toddler in the winter?

So... how about that polar votex?  Boy, oh boy, that was some crazy weather.  With the snow, ice, and freezing cold winds, Chuck and I hunkered down at home. 


After a couple of hours of reading the same books over and over again, and playing with the same toys over and over again, and listening to the soundtrack of "Planes" for the trillionth time, I finally cracked.

Redrum, redrum?

Thankfully, we didn't make it to that point.  But, we definitely bounced off the walls a bit.  To maintain some sense of sanity, we had to do something to make the time at home more enjoyable.  So here are a couple of fun activities that kept us sane and smiling...

1.  Yarn family portrait craft

Chuck loves using scissors and the glue sticks, so this activity was a hit.  First he helped me cut tons of short, white yarn strands.  Then, I doodled a bald family on a piece of paper.  Then, he helped me glue hair onto all of their heads.  The result is this cute and funny family portrait. 

Keep reading to see more ways we entertained ourselves at home...

Reveal hidden lampshade silhouettes

Before I start today's post, I just wanted to say thank you for all the kind words, support, and love you sent my way after my last post.  *Gulp*  Sharing my dream was a bit REALLY scary.  I kept waiting for the rotten fruit and pies to be thrown, but nothing came by.  So, thank you.

Ok!  Now onto today's post. We own two lamps that are covered with ho-hum white shades.  I kept wanting to do something to the lamps to give them a bit more pizazz, but couldn't settle on a permanent solution.  Then, I saw this nifty decorating idea at How About Orange, and had to try it out. 

Look!  When the light is off, you just see a white shade.  But when the light turns on, a secret silhouette is revealed! 

 Magic?  Nope.  Keep reading to see how it was done...

Risking Rejection.... while wearing sparkly tights

Eeek!  My legs... for all the world to see....

Today's post is a departure from my normal craft/diy posts.  Now, if you just want to see how I made these sparkly tights, scroll directly to the bottom of the post.  But if you want to read about a neat, new Thursday blogging series and a bunch of courageous gals, read on!

Quick way to jazz up old pens

As a kid I remember loving the way new pens and notebooks looked at the start of the school year.  I also remember that by January, things just didn't look as good anymore.  Today's post shows one quick and easy way to update boring school supplies.

Tada!  Check out these clear pens that I jazzed up with colorful magazine pages.   

Let's Jazz Up Old Pens!

(This post contains affiliate links.  Thank you for your support!)

 Materials:

• Pens with clear barrels (I used these super cheap pens)
• Magazines
• Scissors

Directions:

1.  Take your pens apart so that the tube of ink is out of the clear plastic barrel.

2.  Cut out a scrap piece of paper that, when curled up, will fill the clear barrel.  Once you know what size paper to use, use this as a template to cut out from colorful magazine pages.


3.  Curl up your colorful paper and slide it into the barrel.  Then, put your pen back together. Now you've got yourself a set of "new" and colorful pens.  (And it didn't cost you one dime! *High five!*)

Happy crafting!