Thrill Me Thursdays! (with GIFT ideas!!!)

Another creative week in blogland! My "to-do" list is growing out of control!

Before I share my favorites from the week, if you haven't entered my giveaway take a minute and check it out HERE!

On with the projects....

       I fell in love with these Dollar store place mat beach bags!
       Hop on over to All Things Heart & Home and check them out!

Have you started thinking about Mother's Day yet?  How about a one of these beach totes  stuffed with fun stuff? Sunscreen, sunglasses, a new hat, a good book, a beach towel, a reusable water bottle.....

Or go see this great gift idea @ My Side of the Room

                           10-things i love about MOM book

What Mom wouldn't love a handmade book!!?  I bet this will bring tears to her eyes as well as yours.

If you are anything like me, you have your stash of candy hidden somewhere in your house.  (Mine is in my closet.  Shh...don't tell!)
I found these cute printable  Jar toppers @ eighteen25

 

Wouldn't this be cute for Mother's Day, or an end of the year Teacher gift?

Speaking of which, I got an email today from the my kids principal saying Teacher Appreciation week is next week.  So I started looking and here is another fun idea I found @ Our Semi-Homemade Life

Smores Teacher Gift w/poem

 
This is so creative and simple!  I think I'll be wrapping up a few of these this weekend!



 

And since I was already looking, I will save you the search.  Skip to My Lou has got a goldmine of ideas!

Do you have a great idea and want to be featured on an upcoming Thrill MeThursday?  Drop me a note @ mommaskindacrafty(at)gmail(dot)com

50 followers hooray! & Scentsy Giveaway!!!!!!

 Giveaway is now closed!  Winner has been announced! 


Last week I realized my followers had hit 50!  I was tickled and decided I needed to do something to celebrate!  So here goes.....

I hope you all remember my niece Amber who guest posted for me last week while I was on vacation.  Because she is BACK!!!  Sponsoring a great Scentsy GIVEAWAY on mommaskindacrafty!!!

Amber has graciously offered my winner their choice of Scensty Plug-ins and scents.  You will need to hop on over to her blog to see your choices!   

In addition to the giveaway, if you order thru Amber via her email Lerwill517(at)yahoo(dot)com and mention code "mommaskindacrafty"  she will ship your order for FREE!!!  You can view her online catalog HERE.

THE RULES:

I am giving everyone a chance at 3 entries for this giveaway.  Each chance needs to be posted in a separate comment.  Don't forget to leave an email so I can contact you if you WIN!

Entry #1.   Follow my blog and comment below that you are!  Already a follower?  Just leave some comment LOVE!

Entry #2.  Visit Amber's  BLOG and become a follower or leave some comment love!  Post back here that you did.

Entry #3.  Browse her Scentsy Catalog then come back and tell me what plugin and what scent you'd like to win! (from her selected choices)


It's that easy! And don't forget to leave me an email address so I can contact you if you win!


The winner will be chose by random.org @ 12:00 pm (noon central time) on Tuesday May 4.  The winner will have until Friday@ 12:00 pm (noon central time) to send me their mailing info so I can get it to Amber so she can send out your PRIZE!  If I don't receive the info I will choose another winner at that time.

Looking for more Giveaways?  Check out Heathers Birthday Week Celebration @ My Frugal Family.  She has a different giveaway each day to celebrate.  I am even sponsoring one!  And there is still time to enter the ones you have missed.  There is jewelry and a cute bag and baby stuff and lots more fun stuff you can win.  So check it out!

Color Matching Game!

Driving home from Target today my 4 yr old was trying to teach my 2 yr old his colors. They each had a bag of fruit loops and she would tell him to find a 'blue' one and he would pull one out and she would get so excited that he knew which one was blue. Some other colors he doesn't quite know yet.

So that gave me an idea to make him a color game to teach him the rest of his colors.

I used what I had at home and this is what I came up with.

I used foam core board cut into 20 - 3" squares.  Cut scrapbook paper just slightly smaller for the tops of the pieces.  Punched out 1" circles in 10 different colors of cardstock.

Then used my Sizzix sidekick to cut out the names of the corresponding colors.  I thought this way, it would also help teach my 4 year old to read her color names!

Modpodged the scrapbook paper squares to one side of each foam piece.  Let dry and spray with a clear acrylic sealer.

Then modpodged the 1" circles and the color names on the other side.  Let dry.  And spray with clear acrylic sealer.

Now for the storage of our game, I wanted a simple drawstring bag.  The one we are using now,  is a little big, so I guess I'll HAVE to make another....

BANDANNA Skirt!

 

Striking a Pose!

 The princess had a pair of kahki pants that were just too short and had a grass stain on the knee.  I had been wanting to cut them off and make something.  So today as I was just browsing through Hobby Lobby, this bandanna jumped out at me! And for 99 cents!  What a deal!

Cut your pants off just above the crotch.  Then I cut 2 strips out of the bandanna about 8" x 21" and sewed the short sides together to make a circular tube.  On the finished edge, I basted around about 1/4" so i could gather the top.

Then pin onto the cut off edge of the pants and sew on!  Hem up the bottom about a 1/4". 

I love making old things new on the cheap!  And all in under 20 minutes!

Happy Birthday Giveaway!!!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY WEEK HEATHER!!!

As I mentioned before, I am working with Heather @  My Frugal Family to help celebrate her birthday week. Hop on over to wish her a Happy Birthday and enter to win lots of neat prizes!  She will have a new giveaway each day. And if you have missed 1, its not too late to enter!

Today I am proud to be sponsoring her with a stuffed animal giveaway!

 These are so fun!  Cute print on one side and soft minky dot on the other!  Make great shower or baby gifts!  A couple pieces of ribbon and 1 loop so it can fit on a link to attach to a carseat or stroller. If you don't win and want to make your own go here for my super easy tut!  Or drop me a note @ mommaskindacrafty(at)gmail(dot)com.  Our store is still in the works and we hope to have it open soon!

Simple Felt Butterfly Clips

My daughter has been obsessed with butterflies lately. I blame it on Hobby Lobby. In the flower section they have butterflies on stems. She always begs for 1. Not 1 really, but 1 of each color. Pink, purple, green, yellow, and orange. Until I figure out something to do with those butterflies, I am not giving in to her.

I thought it would be fun to let her make (or help make) her own butterfly.   She chose the colors, and shapes and design for the wings, Then we added an alligator clip to it for her hair.
All you need is:  Scraps of felt, ric rac, hot glue (or glue of your choice), alligator clip and ribbon to cover it.

Cut 2 simple butterfly shapes and some smaller shapes to go on the wings.

Glue a piece of ric rac down the center.  We left the ends long and glued them to the backside of the flet.

Now glue the 2 pieces together with another piece of ric rac folded between the 2 for the antennae.  Glue on your shapes to decorate.

Cover your alligator clip with ribbon and glue butterfly to clip.

We started a 2nd one which I thought was a little plain so I added some embroidery floss to finish it off.  I think I like it!

So Yummy Banana Bread!

My house smells so YUMMY right now!

I will be the first to admit I am not much of a cook.  I don't spend a lot of time in the kitchen.  And there aren't a lot of things I make  that I am truly proud of.   You know those dishes you take to other people or to parties that everyone loves. 

But I have almost perfected my Banana Bread!  (nothing is perfect, right?)  At least to my family's liking.  My banana bread does not last long in my house.  A chocolate cake has a better chance of surviving over night!

Over the years, I have tried several recipes and not one was 'just right'  So I have come up with MY recipe and want to share.  Best of all, it's easy too!

So Yummy Banana Bread

2 eggs
1/2 cup margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk (or add a little vinegar to your milk)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup whole wheat flour (you could use all white flour) 
1 cup (or more!) chocolate chips
chopped nuts are optional

Lower your oven rack and heat oven to 350.
Grease 2 loaf pans.

Mix eggs, margarine, and sugars until well blended.  Add bananas, buttermilk, vanilla.  Beat well.  Mix in rest of ingredients except chocolate chips.

Stir in chocolate chips.  Pour into Pans.  Bake about 50-60 minutes.  Let cool about 10 minutes before removing from pan.  Slice and enjoy!

           Want to try my recipe?  Let me know what you think!

Did you know that ripe bananas freeze well?  Mash and add 1 Tbsp lemon juice to prevent browning.  Then you always have mashed bananas ready!  (and eliminate blackening ones sitting atop your counter)

A week of Giveaways!

Not only am I gearing up for a giveaway here at mommaskindacrafty, but I am also sponsoring a giveaway for Heather's Birthday Week @ My Frugal Family.

Heather will be hosting a new giveaway each day for the next week!  Lots of fun prizes this week to be had!  Today's sponsor is  Julie @ Singing Three Little Birds.  She has a choice of 2 great necklaces for the winner.  So hop on over and check them out and wish Heather a Happy Birthday Week! 

And check back each day this coming week for another fun giveaway!  (mine will be done on Monday!)

And Wednesday I will have all details for the Scentsy Giveaway here sponsored by Amber @ ....Social Butterfly

Happy Friday!

It is Friday and I home with my kids! My 2yr old has the biggest smile today and has been showering me with hugs and kisses.

I want to send a HUGE thanks to my niece Amber from ...Social Butterfly for posting an awesome project for me while I was gone. I love it! My kids are always bringing in treasures from outside and this is perfect!

Oh, and don't forget she is sponsoring my first GIVEAWAY! So stay tuned as we are working out the details now!

Friday means the weekend is here.
Friday is also a fabulous day in blogland.   Lots of FUN parties!











So come join in the parties! See you there! And have a fabulous Friday and weekend!

Thrill Me Thursdays !

Back for my 2nd week of Thrill Me Thursdays! 

So much to choose from but I have been drawn to frames this week.  So dig out those old frames you have hiding in the closet or stop by the dollar store for some great frame finds and let's get crafty!

Great Mother's Day Gift by Beckie @   Projects, Pinching Pennies and Pluggin Along 

This would be a great gift for ANYONE!  Birthdays, Mother's/Father's day, Anniversary, Graduation gifts, teacher gifts.....

 

Here is another great idea to do with a frame found at the Dollar Tree.  I will be making a few of these.  Fingers crossed that my Dollar Tree has these frames!

Dollar Store Frame Girly Bank by Cute As a Fox

I love finding new blogs to read and just found Jen @  Frame Fanatic.  She has  a great easy frame idea with chipboard letters HERE 

         (yes, i am somewhat partial to this one with a 'j')

                                              

Kimbo @ A girl and a glue gun made this fun earring holder for her daughter!  I would love to make this for my daughter one day, but for now she is scared to get her ears pierced.  So this is going in my file box for a bit!

I have plans for a fun frame for this picture of me and hubby on the beach.  Just have to get home to make it!  So that will be another a post another day!

But for now, I need to head out and enjoy my last  day of vacation here in Cancun.


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Me O My.. Im A Moss LOVER!

All sorts of Ideas popped into my head when I was asked to guest blog.  This is the first time I have ever guest blogged!  Believe me, I was nervous.  How silly of me, right?  I am always nervous to meet new people, happy - but nervous. Joy is my Aunt, by the way.  (THANKS JOY!) 

My kids and I are always loving making new projects.  While we were out on one of our random nature walks, we picked up some handy dandy things. 

 Rocks, Shells, Moss, and Sand, Oh MY! 

I thought it would be a great idea to make a moss terrarium.  I ♥ Moss, dont you?   I really do.. and what better way then to have it always in sight- then to make a terrarium, uhmmm?

Here is a lil crafty project that I hope you will enjoy.

Just a few lil simple things can make somthing really neat!

First put just a little bit of sand to coat the bottom

 (this can be used with different types of soil and rocks, but we used sand since that is what we brought home from our walk)

We aren't afraid to get our hands a little bit dirty!

Moisten the sand just a tidbit!

Rearrange your moss in there however suits you! 

Add your own little touch to it! Be creative!

And then Wa-La!

The projects are always fun!  Make sure to cover it so the moisture stays in and then put in a sunny area.  My kids love watching the moss grow!  OH which reminds me of a new lil project that I will be doing soon.. Check back here for further details on fun Moss ideas!

I would love to hear what you think!

NEXT: I will be doing one of these next.. Isn't that just dandy!

Photo below {via}

Well, this post has been lots of fun.  I sure am glad I did it!  I hope you all have a great day!

Dont be shy to peak on over at my blog sometime!

Thanks again JOY, this was a neat lil idea you had!