Gifts - Make 'Em Stand Out!

I had a realy fun present... with a very boring presentation. I wanted my creative bridal shower gift idea to shine a little - maybe even stand out. :)

So I took a boring blue box and covered it with some cute striped wrapping paper using elmer's glue (I was out of good stick glue). Then I tied a simple brown ribbon around it.

It was cute, but not sassy enough for a bridal shower.

So I found some hot pink feathers, buttons, beads and a little hot glue.

Now we're talking!

But don't forget to make the card cute too!

I just glued wrapping paper to cardstock and pulled the same centerpiece trick on the card that I did on the box. It was a hit!

And of course, I filled it with games, candy and a little "eye-candy" for her fiance. :)

~Jannie

Give Leather new Life!

I have a pair of leather boots that were beginning to look.....used! I really wanted them to look a little nicer. The one in front has not been treated. See how dusty and abused it looks. But the one in back has a deep, rich look!
I looked on line and there is an easy --at home-- way to condition the leather (they said this works on a sofa too).

Vaseline! Just rub it on with a soft cloth until it feels dry. Work in small areas and that is it!

These boots are ready for walkin'.


--Tara--

Ear Infection Home Remedy Idea

My little girl had an ear infection. Actually it was a double ear infection. Her ears were also so jam-packed with earwax that the doctor (D.C.) couldn't see passed it to the ear drums. So I took an eye dropper and filled up her ear canal with Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). I had her lay her head to the side for all of this. I let it bubble until it slowed to almost a stop. My other daughter called it a volcano. The H2O2 ate away at the earwax. We then filled a bulb syringe with warm water and had her tip her head the other way so we could flush her ear. We made it a game and let her say, "One... Two... Three... SQUIRT!!" It was hilarious. She would wiggle a little bit from the burst of water, but it didn't hurt her at all. We were successful in removing the extra and hardened earwax this way. After it was gone I filled up the ear canal again with H2O2 to clear up the infection. Within 24 hours her symptoms were gone and there was visible improvement on the ear drums. The doctor said that whenever you feel a cold coming on, put a drop or two of H2O2 in your ears since most illnesses begin in your ears.
Good to know.

The Sweetheart Ball

Just wanted to share a couple of pictures of the Sweetheart Ball. You can see why I've been so busy lately.

A picture of the refreshment table. Love how the light reflects off the glass and silver.

To see more pictures of the Ball go here.

Joanna

Door 1 or Door 2?

For singing time last week I played "Door 1 or Door 2?" The song was "He Sent His Son" (CS 34). So, I would read (sing) the first line of the song which was a question and then a child got to come up and pick either door 1 or door 2 to find the answer. The right answer was (of course) the next line of the song, but the wrong answer was something silly that made all the children laugh. I would let them pick the other door if they happened to pick the wrong door the first time. Then we sang the song from the beginning to that point. We continued this through the entire song. You could do this with any song you need to teach. Say (or sing) one line of the song and have the child pick a door to find the next line. I got this idea from the Crazy Chorister.

I didn't have the same materials that she had, but I had a box. So, I cut doors then glued construction paper to it. I then drew on the numbers with a fushia permanent marker. (I should have used red and then we could have used it for "Our Primary Colors.")
I cut a huge hole in the back so I could place new answers behind the doors quickly. I wrote answers on 3x5 cards.
This was such a fun idea. The kids had a great time picking the doors. I laughed as much as the children did!

Singing Time Face

Primary chorister idea:

I heard about "Singing Sam" which is a face on a poster and it's mouth can get bigger and smaller. I would make it bigger for the primary children to sing louder and smaller to sing softer. Or make the mouth get bigger as the children sing better and better. My poster isn't "Singing Sam" because the face closely resembles the Bishop in our ward. So I call him the "Father of our Ward." I use this poster when we talk about families, the ward Family, Father's Day or if we need a boost in morale. The primary children love making the "Bishop" open his mouth wider and wider. It really does make them sing better.

This is how I made it:
-Draw the face on big sketchbook paper then trace the mouth on another piece of paper and elongate his mouth, making sure that the very top (where the top lip would be) is at least an inch wider than the rest of the mouth. This will make it stop when you move it down.
-Color, cut and mount the original face onto a poster board. (This would have been easier if I had use a white poster board and just drawn the face directly on it.)
-Used an exacto-knife and slit the mouth right on the line.
-Color, cut and mount the elongated mouth onto another piece of poster board or sturdy paper.
-Attach bamboo skewers to the back of the mouth for easier moving. (I used two that stuck up in the back so I could grab on easier. You don't have to do this, but it made the mouth lay flatter when it was fully extended.)
-From the back side of the poster slide the mouth into the slit that you cut with the exacto-knife. Because you made the mouth wider at the top it should stop when his mouth is all the way open.

Puddles of Joy

Rain showers are not really common in the Sonoran Desert. But when it does storm, a unique phenomenon occurs. PUDDLES. These are not just any small bodies of water, they are RAIN p00ls. My beauty girl just had to play in the rain created Barbie mud baths.

The idea is to do the little things. Take a minute to have a family activity and make family memories. Play in the puddles. See what wonder the children see. Weather you get rain lots or only once a year, nothing makes a family stick together like mud!

(Ignore the date stamp on the corner of the images. My camera is in denial about what the date is.)

Lovely little wood pile

Here in the land of perpetual sunshine we have little need of a wood pile. Yet in the off chance that the weather gets cold, it is lovely to have. We have had a cold weather system blow through the Phoenix area and had a good reason to use our fire place.

I have found that there is a trick to chopping wood.
Have your big-ol-boy do it! Ha! He gets a kick out of chopping wood because it is a novelty. Isn't it lovely that we can still use our teens for manual labor!

Hazzahh.... it is fire time!