Dr. Seuss Mobile

Last week my son quietly woke up from his nap. Then he stood up in his crib to go play with his mobile, which was located within his grasp. I came in to check on him, after I heard him laugh, to find that he had destroyed his mobile. He had pulled off all the hanging pieces and ripped them up. Now under normal circumstances I may have been upset. That was not the case in this situation. I was actually thrilled that he had done this. I hated the mobile. I was never a fan of it. It was something that I had made, but wasn’t satisfied with. The only reason I kept it around was because it was magical. Yep, we called it the magical mobile. Anytime my son would cry uncontrollably all we had to do was put him in front of the mobile and the tears stopped. He loved it! But when I found it destroyed not only was I thrilled that it was gone, but I was excited that I was going to be able to make him another one!

I knew exactly what I wanted to do this time around! In my Dr. Seuss Storage box post, I mentioned how I attempted to wall paper an entire wall with pages from a Dr. Seuss book. It was a disaster. So I had a few extra pages left over from this failed experiment. Some I used to create the storage bins. Others I used for this new mobile.

I started out by cutting the pages into the shape of the cats hats- you know The Cat, the one in The Hat. And actually I didn’t do any of the cutting. My circuit did it all for me. I fed my child breakfast while my machine cut away.

I wasn’t sure if it would make sense to have just a bunch of solid hats, since the Cats Hat is striped. So I cut out half of the hats in stripes and half of the hats in solid.     

 

The next step was to sew them all together. I ran all of the pieces through my sewing machine. I switched the color of thread for each strand. Some I did in yellow and some I did in blue.

 

Here is one completed strand.

 

I hung each strand to two wooden sticks that I painted blue and yellow.

I absolutely love how this turned out. I know that this mobile may not be everyone's taste. It works so well in the room. It goes a long a lot better with the type of feel that I was going for in the room.

Here is a closer look at some of the hats.

I wish that I slept in the crib so I could stare at these every night. So fun!  

And most importantly my son loves it! (And it is conveniently out of his grasp :)   

I’m a Contestant…

 

I woke up this morning to a very exciting email announcing the news! You can follow the contest over on Naptime Crafters. Projects are posted every Friday. You can vote for your favorite every Friday to Sunday.

I’m a little nervous, because the first contest is Valentines themed. I’ll be honest I am a little Valentine Crafted out. My house is already decked out for the holiday. I am excited for the challenge and for the chance to stretch my creativity! Wish me luck!

Snacking on the go

Life is busy. Sometimes that makes it hard to eat healthy on the go. If you know you have a busy day or week make sure to PLAN AHEAD! Get your food for the following day ready the night before, and it may help you choose healthier options to eat.

I’ve listed three healthy snack options I enjoy that give me the energy boost I need during my day!

1. Edamame (aka soybean) One cup of these babies is 120 calories. They carry a little protein, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, and omega-3 fatty acids — the perfect pick-me-up for the 2 p.m.-drowse.

2. Almonds 15- 20 pieces is a good amount of almonds for a snack. 15 almond pieces amount to 105 calories. Research has shown that almonds can reduce your bad cholesterol (LDL) and help improve your good cholesterol (HDL).

3. Hummus and Carrots ¼-cup hummus and 12 baby carrots. 135 calories. This snack, to me, is to die for. I can’t eat carrots alone. I just can’t do it. They don’t do anything for me, taste-wise. Carrots with hummus are the only way I can eat them. This is a great alternative to ranch dressing. Stick the hummus in a little Tupperware and pack some carrots, and you are good to go. Hummus is great because it has the right kind of fat in it — monounsaturated. Carrots are great because they are loaded with vitamins.

These are all great snacks that you can toss in a Ziploc and throw in your purse. They'll help you eat healthier and give you energy throughout your busy day!

Enjoy!

Question of the Day

Dear Angie,

I have this cute TV stand with four different slots you can put things in. I bought two wicker baskets that take up two of the slots, and another slot holds our wii. My question is what can I put in the empty slot to help spruce up our outdated living room? A vase? A picture frame? I need help!

The one thing I do know is that I want it to match the pillows that are on our newlywed denim couch. I have hated this couch from the first time I saw it. Being the good wife that I am, Matt and I kept the couch and these are the three reasons why:

1. It helped us save money that we would have used on buying another one
2. It was comfortable and well broken in
3. To Matt it was some kind of family heirloom

Anyway, I think the pillows helped out the couch, right? So those pillows are my inspiration for trying to help spruce this outdated living room. I am hoping to get some help with the TV stand so it will be able to tie in nicely with the couch and pillows we have. Bring some ideas my way because I am ready to hear them!

Love, Lauren

Dear Lauren,

I think you have done a great job with the room. I also think that you are a very sweet wife. The couch really isn't that bad. You can always put a slipcover on the couch if the denim gets to be too much for you :) The pillows you picked out for the couch are adorable. I love their fun colors.

I think you are on the right track with a vase. In fact a couple of vases wouldn’t hurt. I'm sure you could pick up some cute, fun, and cheap vases at your local thrift store. If they are not the right color, you can always paint!

I like the group of vases below. You could even do a vase and a book, or a vase and a frame.

Real Simple

Here is a fun idea. You could do a couple of colorful empty frames.

Real Simple

Or Maybe some brightly colored books. Obviously you don’t have room for this many books. Even if you get just 3 or 4 books in the right color, it could look cool.

(Sorry I can’t give credit to where this photo is from. I have no idea where I got it.)

You could always add some colorful and decorative paper or fabric to the back of the empty shelf, as well as the Wii shelf. Something like this perhaps.

idealhomemagazine.co.uk

You could also put your initials in the open slot. I picked up a cardboard H at Hobby Lobby the other day for only $1. I’m sure your local craft store has some initials for sale. You could paint them or cover them in a decorative paper or fabric. You could even make your own initials out of cardboard if you have an empty box lying around. 

  Real Simple

And if you need to use the shelf for storage and not just decoration, you could always put some colorful boxes.

  Real Simple

I would focus on finding something fun to display. Don’t count something out just because it is the wrong color. Paint can be your best friend! I hope these ideas help. I can’t wait to see what you do with it!

Love, Angela

What about you, our blogger friends, do you have any advice for Lauren?

Coupon Organization

I have a love/hate relationship with coupons. I love that I save a lot of money with them. I love the thrill of using coupons and seeing my total at the check out line keep going down and down. What I hate though is having to cut them all out. And then this leaves the question, what to do with all the coupons? So today I want to talk about coupon organization. I have three methods on how to store your coupons. Each have pros and cons, but each one works well depending the level of the coupon users.

First Method: The Binder system
This is the one that I use. You will need dividers, 3 ring binder, and baseball card holders. You divide your binder into different categories. My categories are: baby, beverages, canned, cereal, cleaning, dairy, laundry, meat, medicine, misc., personal hygiene. You can have as little or as many categories as you want. This is what works for me.

Pros: The pro to this is that you always have all your coupons with you at all times. So if you find a deal you weren't expecting you have your coupons right there with you. Another pro is being able to see all of the coupons that you have.

Cons: The cons to this method are that you have to cut out every coupon and they don't always fit perfectly in the baseball card holders.

Here is a picture of mine.

 Here is someone elses that is very similar to mine.

Dividers

I always carry the store coupon policy with me

I always have a pair of scissors, because I don't always cut every coupon before going to the store.

Second Method: Accordion Folder
This is a great method for just starting out. All you need is an accordion folder. You can usually find these in the dollar spot at target. Just as the first method, you cut all of your coupons out, and organize them into different categories.

Pros: The pro is that this is a lot smaller to carry around than a 3 ring binder. It will probably fit into your purse easily.

Cons: The con is that you can't see all the coupons you have, because they are smashed together in a folder. You have to take the coupons out of the folder to view them.

Third Method: File System
This system works great if you don't want to coupon aggressively. When you get your coupon inserts you just write the date you received them on the front. Then file them away in a folder. You then rely on people posting deals, going to the specific coupon, and cutting it out. (Here are a few of my favorite deal sites.)

Pros: The pro to this is that you don't have a to carry around a huge binder.

Cons: The con to this is that you only are going to the store with those prepared deals, and if you find something else you won't have your other coupons with you.

I hope this helps you feel a little more organized, and I hope it gives you the motivation to start or continue to coupon.

Where We Create- Angela

Let me introduce you to a part one of a three part series we would like to call Where We (Wray sist3rs) Create. Our space whether it be our kitchen, our sewing room, or our favorite place to run is important to us. They are places where we can be ourselves and create projects, dinners, or a stronger/healthier us. For the next three Tuesdays we will take turns. Whitney will share where she cooks, Lauren will share where she runs, and I will share where I sew.

Today, I(Angela) will start off. As I mentioned yesterday I am in the process of reorganizing my craft room(although, I updated yesterdays post so I may have taken that part off.) I am still in the middle of the reorganizing process, but I am happy to share what I do have done.

Here is my sewing table.

I repurposed old baby formula cans into my storage containers. I used paper and flowers to spruce them up a bit.

I have eight of these floating around the room. They hold anything from pens, pencils, glue to buttons, fabric scraps, and even clothes pins.

 

And since I am on the topic of repurposing, I use an old William Sonoma Peppermint Bark tin to hold extra bobbins, thread, and pins.

A while back I fashioned my own thread rack. It is made out of hot glue and toothpicks. I glued two toothpicks together. Then I glued them to the back of my shelf. I was skeptical on whether or not it would hold up, but it works! I just need to add some more now.

Here is my ribbon holder. It used to be a tea cup holder. I purchased these cups at World Market a while back. They are now hanging on a rack in my Kitchen. So I repurposed my cup holder into a ribbon holder.

Here is my machine. It isn’t anything fancy. I know people can be picky about their brand of machine. I learned to sew on a Singer. It is what my Mom uses and now I use one. I love it!

 

A clock that my husband picked up for me one day. He went to Wal-Mart to get diapers and he came home with a gift for my craft room.

I just took down my inspiration wall to hang my embroidery thread. I used to have a big cork board here with all of my ideas on it. I never use it anymore. See the internet is a glorious place. Now if I find inspiration, I usually bookmark it. I would rather look at beautiful colored thread anyway.

Now you have a little peak into my creative space.

Where We Create- Lauren