Motivate me Monday #8

I love Mondays, I can just sit back and see what everyone has done. There were some really great things last week. There were two that really spoke to me and made me start creating that day (more to come on that on Tuesday). So here is some of the greatness!

I know that this just looks like legos, but it is soap! The ladies at Roots and Wings Co made this and shows us how to make them. They are so cute and I know that my boys would love to have soap like this!

Rochelle at Home Sweet Homebodies made these great pictures out of stryofoam and fabric! Aren't they just awesome! I'm really excited to try this out!

Lindsey at Inspiring Creations made these Spring blocks. I am so ready for Spring! Maybe if I make these then spring will come sooner.

Summer at Sumo's Sweet Stuff decorate this magnetic board with ribbon. What a great idea and I love how it turned out!

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Thanks for all the great ideas ladies! I'm so excited for this week, I've discovered that I several shelves that have nothing on them. So help me out, I need inspiration!

Scrapbook Thursday: Birthday Edition

Today happens to be my birthday!!! It really is true, the older you get, the less birthdays mean to you. I used to count down the days to my birthday but this year I've been thinking about other things. Like my oldest boy turning 5 next week, so I'm focused a little more on him. But since it is my birthday I thought I would show some birthday pages. When my oldest boy turned one, I made him a page and put down some of his favorite things. I liked the idea, so I did that for my other two boys. I love it when I come up with a good idea, then I can just stick with it!

It's always fun to go through the things that they loved to do at this age. Some of them are the same but a lot of them are different. I like to put things that they like to eat and do. My oldest loved spaghettios and still does but my other two don't. My middle boy loved to climb and of course still climbs on everything. My youngest has a thing where he loves to close things, doors, the lid to the wipes, drawers.... so we'll see if he still likes that in several years :)

Also, I took a picture of each of my boys at the time they were born. The first two were sleeping, but my baby was awake, so we had fun with the clock :).

It is amazing how similar my boys are, with looks and things that they love but how different they are. Even at this age, I can see their personalities come out. I'm so glad that I wrote these down, it will be wonderful to come back and remember what they were like at the age of 1!!

Whatever Wednesday: Guiltless Alfredo Sauce

I am not much of a cook, I just don't enjoy that much. Maybe it's because my kids never cooperate and make it so much harder to cook. Or maybe it's because I'm not very good at it. Either way, I just don't love cooking. But I do love it when I find a recipe that is quick, cheap and most of all, delicious. So I thought that I would share a recipe for Alfredo sauce, it is low calorie (for Alfredo sauce) and still tastes just as good! This recipe is from ourbestbites.com

Here is what you need:

2 cups low-fat milk (not skim, I use 1%)

1/3 cup (3oz) 1/3 less fat cream cream (I have used fat free also)

2 tablespoon flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter

3 garlic cloves

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1) Toss the milk, cream cheese, flour and salt into a blender. Blend until smooth and set aside

2) In a non-stick pan, heat butter and garlic on mid-high heat. Let garlic saute for 30 seconds, or until nice and bubbly

3) Add milk mixture and stir constantly for 3 or 4 minutes

4)When the sauce is thicker (as thick as normal Alfredo sauce) remove from heat

5) Add cheese and cover immediately

6) Let stand for 10 minutes and then serve

I like to add about a 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of pesto basil sauce in it, for a little more flavor. I also add chicken and tomatoes.

It takes only about 15-20 to make, and it's so yummy! I love it. I have even doubled the batch and froze it. Also, this would be great on a pizza!

Tutorial Tuesday: Cookie Sheet Calendar

One of my friends got a cookie sheet calendar from her friend for Christmas. I saw it and immediately knew that I wanted to make one! They are just so cute!! It took a little bit of time, but it is really easy to make.

Here is how I made mine

1) I picked out the colors, I of course went with the colors of my living room. All of these papers are double sided, so I could have a large variety of designs

2) I used a 10 in x 15 in cookie sheet and sprayed painted it blue

3) I made the days of the week strip. I cut a strip 1/2in x 11 in and stamped the words on it (you could easily use your computer for this)

4) I made the 12 months. I cut 12 pieces of paper 2 3/8 in x 9 inches and then stamped the dates. Just for fun, I alternated the colors of the months and each month has only one brown letter. I have seen people use their Cricut of the months. I seriously need one of those!

5) Out of the decorative paper, I cut out 35 or 36 squares 1 3/8in x 1 3/8in and then stamped numbers on them.

6) Using the same color that I used for the months, I cut several 1 3/8in x 1 3/8in for the holidays.

I did one for each one of our birthdays, Valentine's Day, Easter, St. Patricks Day, New Year's, Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, First Day of School, and 4th of July (I need to make one for anniversary....)

7) I put magnets on all of the pieces

8) I cut an envelope and put magnets on it for the back of the cookie sheet to hold the months and holidays

9) I inked all the edges and then put all of the pieces on the cookie sheet

10) My husband drilled holes (I'm not allowed to use the drill, I banned myself :D) and I put twine and ribbon on to put it on the wall

I had a couple of friends come over and make some with me, and this is the other one that I made. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it. Not quite sure why October is the month on there....

** I had an idea of making little magnets that say things like "Doctor" so that you can put them on the square to remind you of appointments, but I just haven't done it yet.

Motivate me Monday #7

I cannot believe all of the cuteness out there! Little ol' me had 70 links this week, it was awesome!! I loved looking at all of them. Seriously, you ladies are AMAZING!!!

So here are a few of my favorite:

Childmade made this adorable burger chore chart. I am always trying to figure out a way to get my boys to their chores and something like this would definitely make it more enjoyable for them!

Kalleen at Second Street made this little activity book for her daughter. It so great and so cute and I know that my boys would just love something like this!

Crystal from Crystal's Craft Spot made this high chair. It's so cute, stylish and very practical!

Angie at the Country Chic Cottage made this pillow out of burlap and ribbon. I loved how she put the ribbon in, it's so great and would look good on any couch!

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Scrapbook Thursday

I've decided that I don't like the sound of tip Thursday, so it's now just Scrapbook Thursday, it just happens to be on Friday this week though.

I'm still having a hard time with scrapbooking and I'm getting more and more behind. Therefore, it is stressing me out! This time of the year is the worse time to get behind too! Well I started (not quite finished, but will be soon) the Halloween pictures. I ended up doing 8 pages, two pages for each boy and then two for the family scrapbook. I did the exact same layout but with different background colors. A couple of months ago Walgreens had a deal to get a 8x10 collage print for free, so I took advantage of that sale and used it for scrapbooking. So here are our teenage mutant ninja turtles pictures (just in case you were wondering, I'm April O'Neil and we have the 4 turtles, there are some perks of having three boys :D).

Whatever Wednesday: Mod Podge and Wood

Mod Podge and Wood, what a wonderful combination! I discovered mod podge in November when I started looking at everyone's blogs and I have been in love with ever since!! Here are a few things that I have made lately.

This is a magnetic board that my sister bought several years ago at Roberts. I just painted it, adding letters, and a little ribbon. The letters on the metal part are just stickers.

My sister made these for me, aren't they cute! I need to make another one for my baby but just haven't gotten around to it

I saw this idea at Somewhat Simple one day. I thought that we needed some motivation and something to remind us every night, so I made this. Every time we say our prayers and read our scriptures we move up the clothespin and when we do everyday of the week, we get to go out for ice cream!

I've seen this idea on several blogs, so I thought I would give it a try. I really need about 100 clothespins though!

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Tutorial Tuesday: Multiple Washer Necklace

I saw this idea from Becca at Blue Cricket Design. I thought that it was so cute. I thought I would put my personal touch on it and add decorative paper to each washer, I love color.

There were at least four men that asked me what I was doing at the hardware store. I had several washers out on the shelf trying to decide what sizes I wanted and all. Even though I'm quite comfortable at hardware stores and usually know what I'm doing, I don't think they are used to seeing many women going through multiple washers :)

This looks pretty hard, but once you get the hang out of, it's quite simple. Just study the pictures and hopefully once you start, they will make sense. I"m going to try to explain it the best that I can.

This is how I made it:

1)Picked out various washers from hardware store. Sorry I don't remember what sizes they were. I decided to do a pattern, 3 small- 3 medium- 3 large- 3 medium- 3 small

2) I cut out circles to fit the washers, luckily I have punches that worked out great!

3) Using mod podge, I sealed the paper on the washers

4) Using about 5 ft of ribbon (longer is always better), I burned the edges and then put the ribbon through the first washer, leaving enough slack at the left for the top of the necklace. I used 3/8" stitched grosgain ribbon, but you can use whatever you want to.

5) Taking the longer ribbon (right side), go through the second washer from the top side (decorative paper side)

6)Next, take the long ribbon and go back through the top of the first washer. The second washer will now be on top of the first washer
7) Take the long ribbon and put it through the bottom of the second washer (metal side) and pull tight

8)This is what the first two washers should look like after pulling tight

9) Continue doing that over and over until you have finished your pattern

10) Tie off the two ends. You will want the ends to be long enough to fit around your neck.

Here is another one I did with just 9 washers. I did the same pattern 3 medium to 3 large to 3 medium

**Although this is a super cute necklace, it's not the lightest thing, so three hours of church was about my max. It was worth it though, I had at least 10 comments on it :) One of my favorite things about these necklaces is the fact that you can have it be nice and long, or make it short. I wore it short with this shirt but would wear it long with a higher collared shirt.

Motivate me Monday #6

There were a ton of good ideas this week! I cannot believe the talent out there and things that people come up with. It was so much fun going through all of them though! So Thanks

Missy for the Little Green Bean painted this wall to look like brick, isn't it just awesome! I could not believe that it was paint, it seriously looks like brick.

Cha Cha from Sit Relax and Read turned these candles from the dollar store into great centerpieces for a wedding. I'm so excited to try these out!

Tiff from Making the World Cuter made this adorable wreath out of burlap, ribbon and salt dough buttons. She never ceases to amaze me!

Misty from Creative Itch made this reversible headband. I love them and they are so cute!

Bird from Bird Crafts made these adorable flowers. These would go great in any room and in any color, I'm so excited to try these out!

I'm so excited to see what you did over the weekend and the week!

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