Happy Earth Day!

Aside from being Good Friday, it's also Earth Day!

In recent years I have really tried to be more environmentally conscious by recycling, not being so wasteful, etc. Even more recently I've really seen the beauty in upcycling/repurposing.  I have some projects in mind to tackle in the coming weeks to do just that...and I am SUPER excited about them!

I really think it's important for us to realize how very precious and fragile our world is.  We need to do our part to protect and preserve it for generations to come!  It amazes me how wasteful we are.  At the rate we're going now, in 20 years we'll be living in a landfill!  Kind of scary to think about!  Take some time today to brainstorm ways you can be less wasteful.  Take the time to recycle (really...it's not hard!), take 5 minutes off of your shower time, turn that light out when you leave a room, carpool to work (with gas prices soaring, this is actually a very wise decision), reuse items when you can....the list goes on.  Every step you take to change your lifestyle makes a difference!

My "adopted niece" (since we don't have any brother's or sisters, I have claimed my best friend's kids as my niece and nephew) enlisted my help on her school project for Earth Day.  Her assignment was to make a piece of art using "clean trash".  Her idea was to make some flowers.  With some newspaper, straws, Tootsie Roll tubes, and cardboard, this is what we came up with:

How super cute and fun is this?  I think it's a beautiful piece of "recycled art".

Happy Earth Day everyone!

Easter Tweets

Can you believe Easter is right around the corner?  I sure can't.  This year is flying by already!

I wanted to make a special treat for Bryson's daycare class for their Easter party yesterday, so I came up with the brilliantly titled "Chicks on Sticks" to make.

You'll need:

• Marshmallows
• Yellow melting chocolate
• Sucker sticks
• Chocolate sprinkles
• Orange gummy candy

First, you'll want to of course melt your chocolate. 

Then, you stick your marshmallows onto your sticks.

Next,  dip into the chocolate and cover the marshmallow.

Now you just add your chocolate sprinkles for the eyes and cut a small triangle for the mouth out of your orange gummies.

At this point, I was a little worried that they weren't going to turn out as cute as I had envisioned (which always happens to me) and I ALMOST gave up....but, I thought better of it and kept on.
After letting them dry for a few minutes, I went back and drizzled a little chocolate on top for some "hair". (I also think this makes them look kind of "Elvis-y"...which is super cool.)

Afterwards, I (with the help of my husband) wrapped them up and tied them with some cute Easter ribbon.  I had a little bucket I got at the Dollar Tree for, you guessed it, $1 to put them in.

I think all in all, they turned out to be pretty cute!  Bryson loved them, so I'm sure all the other 2 year olds did too. Tweet tweet!

Gift for Grandma

My mom's birthday was this week and instead of going to the store and buying a typical gift, I wanted to make something more personal for her. Ever since Bryson was born, I always try to incorporate him in the presents we give in some way whether it be photos, crafts, what have you.  For this gift I thought we'd try out a painting.
A while back, while reading an article online, I was inspired by a painting I saw in the background of a picture in the particular article.  It was a picture of a child's hand prints painted as flowers.  I thought this was such a cute idea and I knew I'd have to try it out.
I bought a wooden frame at Hobby Lobby and painted it green with white polka dots.  (Don't you just love polka dots?) After some begging, a tantrum (him not me), and a bribe with candy, Bryson was up for the task of helping me paint. We made a few hand prints and after a few additions from me we have a cute little garden painting.

For the paper I used textured white card stock, which I love because when in the frame, it gives the illusion of a framed canvas.  
I wish I would have done more colors for the flowers but with an impatient toddler, it was all I could do to get this.  I love how cute and personal this is though.  And Bryson loves to look at it and say "I made that!"  Success!