Teacher Christmas Gift: Cookies in a Jar

I originally found this idea during the summer when I was searching the web for inspiration on what to do with my left over Yankee Candle jars.  Now the holiday season is here and I have not come up with a better, more original idea for a teacher gift so this is my go to.

Cookies in a Jar.  More specifically Santa's cookies in a jar.
The recipe and instructions can be found at Cul-de-sac-Cool.  One helpful tip, right of the bat is to be sure you really pack the layers in there.  Especially if you want to get the chips in at the end (I skipped those, no room, whoopsie).  I should have read all the comments first, but instead I will learn from my mistakes.  This candle jar is the medium size, as you can see I had to pack the brown sugar in the lid.  I did try the pint size mason jar recipe from Damn Delicious.  This one was a bit too little for these particular jars, so I added some filler of tissue paper and fabric in the lid.  Here's a pic of all three before ribbons and bows.  (the pint size recipe is on the right)  I also tried a different layering order for the other two which have the same quart size recipe.  Both seemed to work just fine, I think the key is to be sure the flour blend is on the bottom. 

The label template can also be found at Cul-de-sac-Cool.  Next year maybe I will get more ambitious and try some of the other 4 recipes she has.  They all look so super yummy.  We will be making cookies tonight. :)  I couldn't have all the ingredients for homemade cookies laying around and not expect my family to want them.  They already stole a few M&M minis when I wasn't looking...

This is the jar that went off to school today.  The traditional quart sized mason jar, with some tissue paper in the lid.  We also attached a Christmas card with a ribbon to the side with a hand written note from Ryder just for some personalization. 
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.  I hope you have found these links and tips helpful for a last minute, personal, cute gift for your teachers.

Fall Photo Montage

One of our best family photos.  It was taken with my phone, so not the best quality, but everyone is looking and smiling at the camera.  Score!

Celebrating with cousin Devin for her 8th birthday.

One big perk of living in the Sunshine State is that there really is a lot of sunshine all year round.  When others are bundling up and shoveling snow, we get to enjoy shorts, flip flops and the beach!

And what would a fall photo montage be without a trip to the Farm.

.......and the random cute phone photos, because I always forget to print them.

The boys are really starting to play and interact well.  In between the screaming, pulling, hitting, etc, you can see that they really love each other.  Baby brother does everything big brother does.  It melts my heart when they hug.  Big brother helps little brother get water or snacks from the kitchen and there are the occasional please, thank you and your welcomes that make a Mommy feel all warm and fuzzy inside.   Even the wrestling is cute, well, when someone is not crying because they got hit or hurt by the other, but I guess that's all part of the experience.   Tyce also copies words and sentences from Ryder.  The best is "I love you, Tyce" and "I lub you, Ryder"  it will never get old.  It's pure and innocent.

Playroom Art Gallery and Whale Wall Art

With the help of my husband, I was able to recently complete not one, but 2 projects that have been on my mind.
One: a cute whale art project for the baby's room and
Two: a mini art gallery for the playroom (well, partially)

The whale idea came from a collection from Architecture Art Design.


Mine was a bit modified...

I used wood instead of canvas.  And my art skills are not as good as this artist (who is not mentioned in the article), but I do love whales and used to draw this image a lot as a kid.
First, I drew my whale and spout with a pencil.  It took two attempts for the whale to be the size I wanted.  Again, I'm so not an artist.  The paints I already had.  Dark blue from the dresser in Ryder's room, teal from the end tables in the living room and turquoise from the kitchen wall.  I think any animal outline would work.  You could do owls in a tree with pinks for a girl or an alligator horizontally in greens for a surprise gender.  Lots of cute ideas.  Lowe's and Home Depot offer small paint samples for about 3 dollars and the piece of wood I used was just under $7.  My hubs cut it in threes for me, but I think the guys/girls and the hardware store will do it for you, too.  Point is it can be an inexpensive alternative to the pricey art that is out there.

I painted an off white tinted glaze, just to add a bit to the plain wood texture.  I used kids paint brushes, but I would recommend buying something a tad more quality to make easier work.

Saw toothed hanging hardware went on the back.

Anytime I can add some interest and color to a room without spending crazy money, I am happy. 
Which leads to the playroom gallery art....
Now, this project is only partially done, we (when I say we, I mean my hubs) needs to make two more frames, so there will be a total of three.
This first one was spawned from some new toys (saw and nail gun thing) he got this year.
He was toying (pun intended) with the idea of making picture frames.  I still haven't been able to find a place that gives deals on framing.  It is so ridiculously expensive! 
He wanted to test his tools and he created a frame.  Since I didn't have anything to perfectly fit, it stayed in the garage sadly hanging empty on the wall. 
I had been wanting to create something for the art that comes home from school and future art from the baby.  I like the string and clothes pin idea, but I feel like you need a good space for that or it will look like clutter.  I already have lots of clutter on my fridge and all over the playroom floor, so I needed something else.   Randomly, I thought of the empty frame in the garage and a light bulb went off.  Perfect.  Playing off the string idea, I hot glued two clothes pins to hold the art.  and. Voila!  Gallery Art.

I love this!!  Just in time for some Fall trees that came home.  I can't wait for two more.  Pictures to come!!

DIY: Baking Soda Air Freshners the possibilites are endless!

Baking Soda is an obsession of mine right now.  It really came through with cleaning the kitchen floor tile grout so when I came across these air fresheners, making my own was a definite. 
There are tons of blogs and how to's of these little guys.  I like this one, because it had all the different reviews and versions. 
Here's my review and version....

First off, the possibilities are endless.
From the size of the mason jar to the bow you tie around it.  Not to mention the picture or pattern you choose to display on top.
These mason jars came from Target and were 4 for $4.07, they are 8 oz. big mouth.
Lots of the other bloggers used scrap book paper, but I didn't have any of that.  I did have card stock and a bunch of dividers for the file cabinet.  I was not going to just leave the plain manila color for my craft, so I started looking around my house.  I came up with a ton of choices.  I had old gift bags, magazines, wrapping paper, photos, seriously ENDLESS choices, any theme any color.  You could even print up an image of the scent you were using...  ENDLESS.

 Just trace the metal insert, cut and glue stick it down.  The flower pot circle was from a gift bag tag,  it fit a smaller jar perfectly,  I wouldn't have even had to cut it. 

The mixing is easy.  Pour in the baking soda and add your essential oil. 
Another plethora of choices.  A tip from the other reviewers is that when it comes to the smell department the deeper note  the longer it will linger.   Also, start with 8 or so drops, you can always add more if you want a stronger smell.  Mine is called 'clean air', I believe we got it at a music festival and it smells like ylang ylang and dryer sheets.   When that runs out I think I will try sweet orange or rosemary.  Sometimes you can get them cheap as an add on item through Amazon.  I know there are times when I need the extra couple dollars to take advantage of the free shipping.  For the holes I used an upholstery needle, because wooden skewers were not strong enough and an ice pick was too big.

So that's basically it!
I'm giving them out to my mom (she bought a new house and it has some interesting smells), my mom in law(just because she likes things that smell good) and my sister in law(because she's always collecting clothes for the needy and her car, well, stinks).  I'm thinking of adding it to the teacher Christmas gift, too.  Lord knows 1st grade classrooms are smelly.  You could even give them at a baby shower for the new mom who doesn't realize how stinky that diaper pail is gonna get.
Mine went in the boys bathroom for obvious reasons. :)

This was a super fun, simple project that anyone can do and have fun with.  If I had to give it a rating, it would be 5 stars!

Pinterest project: Herringbone wall art DIY

After completing the Chevron wall, I felt very accomplished.  I wanted to do more.  Searching for ideas and tips from other bloggers, I stumbled upon this artwork from Moonpie Dreams.  I thought, "I can do that."  (Remember I had just done a WHOLE wall)

 

Moonpie Dreams

 As you can see when you click the link, she has done a pretty good job of explaining the process and even has a link to the pattern she used to guide her.  I felt even more confident.
With that confidence I printed up a 40% off coupon for Michael's we headed to the store.   There was an entire wall of Canvases.  I went with the cheapest, because I wanted a big one.  Since I'm not an artist, the different quality of art materials won't be an issue.  The 30x40 was $32.99, perfect with the coupon.  We had some kid paint and some intermediate acrylic paints at home those coupled with the left over wall paints  and I was stocked.
So it begins....
Following the Moonpie Dreams blog again, I start with a zig zag line down the center of the canvas.

(Apologies for not being able to get a better image, it's quite challenging to capture a thin gray line on a white background.)
With a very large ruler or yard stick extend the lines you want to the edge of the canvas.

Then paint away.

There was no rhyme or reason to the colors in my case, but go with what ya feel.  Some of the colors I mixed together to get more variety (I didn't have that much inventory in leftover paint so I had to improvise).

I liked how the inspiration piece had texture in each color.  There was some glaze in my paint stash, so I thought I would brush it on.  My lines weren't perfect and this could be a great solution to hide my blemishes.
 Turns out, the Miller Lite and late hour may have boosted my art ego.  After the paint dried in the morning and the art was on the wall, I didn't like it.  The hubs came home from work and confirmed that the glaze was a bad decision. 

That night and during baby's nap time the next day I reverted back to the original idea.

Ta-Da!

This project was much harder that doing the Chevron wall.  But in the end it adds some nice bright colors to the room, so I'm glad I was up for the challenge.

Ya never know until you try, right?!

Hydrogen Peroxide and Baking Soda to clean kitchen floor tile grout: Holy Cow, Results!!

So, you know how everyone is always pinning those nifty cleaning tips all over the internet?....Vinegar for everything, homemade cleaning products from ingredients under your sink, etc.   Like most, I have been a skeptic.  While a couple things have worked for me, most seem too easy to be true (or at least they are portrayed that way).  Let's admit it, when you pin it your house is somehow "feels" cleaner but, how many people actually attempt all these tips and solutions? 
I decided to put one to the test.
I noticed while I was mopping yesterday that the grout in the kitchen was noticeably darker than the bathrooms.  Since they are all the same, I knew it was in need of a hard core cleaning.  Obviously, the kitchen is a much higher traffic area than the bathrooms and it's in the middle of the house so you have to walk through it to get anywhere.  I mop with a bleach solution because I have a six year old, a toddler, a husband and a dog.  I guess the bleach just wasn't cutting it to remove the grossness that gets trapped in the grout lines.  After reading several blogs and watching some you tube videos, I decided to try the hydrogen peroxide and baking soda.  This decision was mostly based on the fact that I had those two things on hand and I didn't want to burn my lungs out with straight bleach.
First, I poured a little peroxide on the grout.  I used an old toothbrush to spread it down the line.  Next, I sprinkled some baking soda and rubbed it in.  It immediately looked lighter.   I continued to do small sections because the baby was napping and I didn't want to have to hurry and clean a huge mess if he woke up.  Then I ran out of peroxide...
Oh well, the baby was gonna wake up soon, so I  sponged up the left over residue.  For this I just used water and a basic kitchen sponge. Then I put a towel down to quickly dry the extra moisture, because the baby was really awake now.
I was pretty satisfied with the results.  Then the floor dried all the way-----
Un-flipping-believable!
What a huge difference!!

 You can already see the dirty mixture just after a quick scrub... In the picture below the bottom left corner area has been cleaned and wiped.

You can see where I stopped.  The top grout lines in two pictures above is the "before" and the bottom is the "after."   And it didn't take too long.  These are 18x18 inch tiles and I probably did like a ten by five foot area in 45 minutes.
I will be finishing the job tomorrow during nap time when I have more peroxide. 
If any of you find a method that is faster or easier let me know because this floor will definitely not stay like this forever.....

Until then, (if you have the choice) I would advise to pick a grout color that is not too dark and not too light.  This way you will have one less area to detail.