fabric binder

With 'Back to School' right around the corner I've been seeing all kinds of school supplies popping up everywhere! It's really too early for me and I hate having to shop for any last minute summer gear in the clearance sections already!!!

I don't know about you or your kids but I'm always using binders - for church, preschool board, etc. And if you are like me you just might have a collection of old college binders roaming around in your basement somewhere. What to do with them? Jazz them up! No need to go spend more money on newer cuter ones. Make your old junky ones look just as good :)

Stuff you need:

Fabric

Adhesive Spray

Old Binder

Directions:

1. Wipe down and clean old binder.

2. Use Adhesive Spray according to directions.

3. Cut and adhere fabric around the binder.

enjoy ~

whiteboard

Yet another bargain at a garage sale. A whiteboard. A large one. For 2 bucks! How can you pass up such a good deal? I obiviously couldn't.

Luckily my kiddos ever so graciously held unto this large sucker while they squished inside the bike trailer carrying it all the way home while I pulled them behind on my bike.

I've gone to garage sales before on my bike and I always tell myself, "this wasn't such a good idea" as I'm trying to juggle a cute white shelf and steer my bike. When will I learn???

After:

(I taped it off and spray painted it black and then attached it to the side of our fridge)

Before:

You can easily make your own using a picture frame. Take the back off and then use vinly or permanent marker to add your own calendar to the glass!

enjoy ~

chicken sausage

We don't have a Costoc near us. Tear. Tear. It's really sad I know - luckily my mom lives near one and she graciously takes me neary EVERY time we're down at her house! For now we make due with our Sams Club (which I do like as well - just for different reasons).

A couple of weeks ago we were there browsing all the aisles. Our kids were being especially good so we got to really go up and down every aisle and check out all the goods. Since we're right in the heart of BBQ season these chicken sausages caught my eye and I quickly checked out the nutritional stats and they were AWESOME so the hubby and I settled on a flavor and in the cart they went! (how is it that something extra ALWAYS ends up in the basket???)

We agreed to try the mozzerella/roasted garlic kind (Artisan Fresh) and I've been busy using them ever since. I've found a million different ways to eat them (I'll have to share more later). They are FABULOUS. Super yummy and with only 130 calories (3 Weight Watcher PointsPlus) they are healthy too!

Here's one of the ways we've been eating them:

Ingredients:
- 3 sausages (remove the casing and then slice them)
- 1/2 red onion
- 1 orange and 1 red pepper

Directions:
1. Spray pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Add onions and peppers and cook till desired texture (I like mine somewhat soft)
3. Add the sliced sausage and continue to saute everything together for 2 minutes.

This was a super easy and delicious dinner. We ate it with a salad and biscuits (recipe coming).
Try'em out and tell me what you think!




enjoy ~

favorite things

Sorry I've been away for like E.V.E.R. I've been trying to decide what I wanted to do with this blog. Get rid of it? Keep it? I have lots of different interests so I decided I'm going to get rid of my recipe blog and just combine all my other hobbies all right here. I'm taking my love for crafts, decorating, cooking, baking, health and exercise, teaching my kids, and everything else in my life and putting them ALL on here :) Hope it's not too much and you enjoy a little variety!

I have a few favorite things right now that I just must fave about. I can't stop telling my husband how 'in love' I am with these three...

Number One:

This blog. how Sweet it is. It's yummy. The pictures are fabulous. As if that wasn't enough. She is an amazing writer and oh so funny. Every post is a delight to read besides making my mouth water every.single.time. And she's from Pittsburgh - can it get any better? Go check it out - like right now!

Number Two:

Plain Chiobani with Crystal Light. I have loved Chiobani yogurt for a little while now. Doing P90X converted me over to the yummy high protein stuff. I have loved trying all the fun flavors they have and love them all. Then the other day I get the Hungry Girl email in my mailbox and she talks about a new way to try the yogurt. Mix straight up PLAIN greek yogurt with a Crystal Light packet. It adds 5-10 calories depending on how much you use but it comes in with SO much more protein and even LESS calories than the fruit kind for 8 oz. verse 6! I take an entire cupful and then mix in about 1/2 a single packet of the peach/mango Crystal Light. Yummy. Thick. Delicious. A perfect little treat! I've already went and bought 2 more containers of yogurt and can't wait to try more flavors!

Number Three:

I have been on the hunt for the perfect water bottle for a long time now. My journey came to an end this week when I went on a limb and tossed this Cool Gear water bottle into my cart at Walmart.

It doesn't leak, it has a straw (which is super long), the middle comes out and freezes, and the best parts - it's cute and only 5 bucks! Perfect :)

Check out some of these fun new finds!

enjoy~

kid's dining

I LOVE this time of year. The weather is perfect. The food is delicious - but one of my absolute FAVORITE parts??? The garage sales!!!

A friend of mine is moving to Germany and had a garage sale this weekend. The night she was setting up she invited some people over for a sneak peak and I'm so glad she did because I came home with a steal!

I snagged this cute little table and chair set for 5 bucks!

Ever since we tore down the wall between our kitchen and dining room I've had this corner I wasn't sure what to do with. Well this little set happened to fit perfectly!

So I applied 1 coat of gray primer and then finished it off by spray painting it one coat of basic black. I sanded it down a little and here she is...

Absolutely adorable and my kids and I love it!

Do you love garage sale season as much as I do???

sunroom table redo

We inherited this classic table from our college apartment. I'm sure many of you may have something similar! It's been hanging out in our sunroom ever since we bought our 'real' dining room table several years ago!

I finally decided on a color scheme for our outside room and so the table has FINALLY gotten a revamping!

No sanding. Just 1 coat of gray primer and 1 can of Navy Blue spray paint later (both of which were already hanging out in my paint box)...

(don't mind the shadows and BAD lighting!)

I also revamped these college chairs as well - they already had a coat of spray paint and fabric on them from a past redo - now they're just covered with some white washable slip covers from here - you can't beat $2 dollars!!!

Ta Da...

I'm still slowing decorating and adding more accessories but I think our outdoor space is well on it's way to having a little bit more style!

Candy Buckets

I have a good friend who gave me this fun idea that Kierste over at Brown Paper Packages shared for general conference!

She used this activity while watching general conference to try and get her kiddos to pay better attention. She fills bowls, buckets, etc. with treats and a corresponding word. Every time the word is said the kids get to pick a treat.

This year I decided my oldest was big enough to try it out and with a ton of Easter candy in stores and cute Target $1 buckets stacked up in my basement already - I figured it was worth a shot.

She is still too young to be able to read the words on each bucket so we attached a picture with each corresponding bucket. Every time she heard the word she would run to that picture and pick out a treat. She definitely paid more attention than I thought she would and definitely considered conference a fun time and was always asking to listen to more!

This will definitely be a tradition in our home from here on out.

This activity could easily be adapted in lots of other 'learning' activities.

Instead of using church words you could attach numbers to each bucket and when kids are solving math problems if their answer is on a bucket they get a treat.

You could attach a 'chunk' to each bucket (-ick, -at, -ump, etc.) or a sight word (and, there, etc.) and every time the kids think of a new word using that 'chunk' or read that sight word they get to pull a candy out.

So many ideas...Have Fun!