Project Pinterest: Gum Advent Calendar

Do you believe that it's December 1st already? It's hard to believe, isn't it?!

Every year we do some kind of Advent calendar with the boys. In more adventerous years, I've made bags with sayings and candy and strung them on yarn in the kitchen and did similar bags and attached them to a yardstick with clothespins. This year, I really wanted to get them the Star Wars Advent calendar, but sadly, didn't see that until yesterday (online) so it was too late.

A few days ago I saw this wonderfully thrifty Advent calendar on Pinterest and was delighted to find a wonderful blog called http://www.jessicalynette.com .

I love this simple idea of using gum (in lieu of the typical sugary chocoalte) to help count down the days until Christmas. Do check this blog out for other great Advent calender ideas as well!

So I we went to the Dollar Store and bought gum that punches out of the foil wrapper. I bought four packs of gum with 12 in each pack.

I wrote the numbers 1-24 on each piece of foil where the gum pops out.

I wrapped each box with Christmas wrapping paper, then taped the two boxes together.

I made a little tag in Word so the boys would know whose is whose and not fight over it every single morning.

I think they're adorable! It's not the Lego Star Wars Advent calendar that they wanted, but it is sure cute and will serve its purpose of counting down the days until Christmas!

Pin It




Ready to link up your Project Pinterest post?

Here are the rules:
1. Decide which pin on Pinterest you’d like to recreate.
2. Create it!
3. Flop or success, create a blog post about your re-do and include the original pin’s url.
4. Add the Project Pinterest button to your post so others can join in too!
5. Link up (on Thursdays) and check out other bloggers’ posts!

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Sarah :)

P.S. Also sharing with Tip Junkie!

Hello Monday

Hello last Monday of November.
Hello Monday’s high temperature of 75 degrees.
Hello week of scouts and football practices.
Hello week of wellness (I’m thinking positively here!).
Hello Cyber Monday. I love you so much more than Black Friday.
What are you looking forward to this last Monday of November?

Sarah:)

Scavenger Hunt Sunday – November 27, 2011

Waiting

We have been waiting and waiting for Ruckus to resurface. We knew it wasn’t lost, lost, just lost. The boys and Kurt cleaned out the garage and found Ruckus in our “donate” pile. What a tragedy that would have been; this is seriously one of the most fun games ever! You don’t have to take turns and you just grab, grab, grab!

 

Foliage

 

Candid

 

Fork

This looks like an ordinary fork, doesn't it? Look closer. This fork was a wedding present. We got married in 1999. This fork has lived in three homes. This fork has been used literally thousands of times.

 

Rule of Thirds

Don’t forget to join Katie Lloyd and me for Project Pinterest every Thursday!

Sarah:)

Upside-down Pizza in a Mug

Happy Friday ya'll!

I wanted to share this awesome kid-friendly recipe with you that a scout mom shared with us at a scout meeting. It's so much fun for the kiddos and so easy and pretty healthy too!

Upside-down Pizza in a Mug

1. Spray butter spray in mugs or other similar size dishes (we used little ramekins too) that are oven safe.

2. Combine the following ingredients for the crust. Mix the dry first, then the wet, then together.

2 C wheat flour

1 C white flour

2 1/4 tsp (or one packet) yeast

1TBSP sugar

1 tsp salt

2 TBSP olive oil

1 C very warm water

3. Divide dough into portions (we had 10 mugs) and make in to circles a bit bigger than the mug.

4. Put cheese (we used about 1/3 C, but you can use any amount you desire) in each mug.

5. Put toppings over cheese. The sky is the limit here folks!

6. Put a spoonful or two of your favorite pizza sauce. I go bargain on most things, but splurge on good pizza sauce (Classico) because it makes a world of difference.

7. Put a circle of dough over the opening of the mug.

8. Place mugs on baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

*I know I am a pretty horrible food photographer. I think it's because I just want to eat the food and not mess around taking pretty pictures of it. If I were to take a picture of a Brussels sprout it'd be pretty because I'd do everything in my power to try and stall so I didn't have to eat it.

Sharing at Tip Junkie and

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Don't forget to check out Project Pinterest every Thursday with Katie Lloyd Photography and me!

Sarah:)

Time4Learning

I've been invited to try Time4Learning for a month in exchange for a candid review. Their online program can be used for homeschool, as an after school tutorial and for summer learning. My opinion will be my own, so come back and read about my experience. You can write your own curriculum review, too!

I'm excited for this opportunity because I am really searching for some assistance in teaching science and social studies. I LOVE teaching ELA and math, but just can't seem to get it together with science/social studies.

In a month, I'll share my review with you!

Sarah:)

Project Pinterest: Paper Beads

Happy thanksgiving everyone!

I saw this pin a long time ago and have been itching to make these beads. I used to be in to scrapbooking so I have a lot of great paper to work with. This is the original pinner’s beads.

Basically, you cut triangle pieces of paper. Glue the back side and roll them tightly around a pencil or paint brush end. Gently pull the bead off the pencil and place on wax paper. Spray the bead with a glossy or matte glaze. Let dry. Bead up!

 

Ready to link up your Project Pinterest post?

Here are the rules:
1. Decide which pin on Pinterest you’d like to recreate.
2. Create it!
3. Flop or success, create a blog post about your re-do and include the original pin’s url.
4. Add the Project Pinterest button to your post so others can join in too!
5. Link up and check out other bloggers’ posts!

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Also linking up to Fun Stuff Fridays!

Sarah:)

Looking Back One Year

I am so grateful that Charlie is so happy right now. Last year at this time, things were not good. At all. Makes me stop and think about when people say, “Time heals all wounds". While I don’t necessarily agree with that, I do know that when you look back to a very difficult situation, the time that has passed does seem to shed some light on the situation and make it easier to handle.

Sarah:)

 

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Hello Monday

Hello Monday of a (very) short week.

Hello week of giving thanks for all God has blessed me with.

Hello week of intensive antibiotics and no Humira.

Hello week of probable hurting and fatigue.

Hello wonderful SC fall weather.

Scavenger Hunt Sunday–Saluda River Edition

Mainly One Color

I nearly always have my camera with me. I was thankful the other night when it down poured and I had my camera with me to get night with rain shots.

Around the Home

Around our home this week has been filled with all things ankylosing spondylitis. Sometimes the treatments are as bad as the disease itself, but unfortunately it’s essential to take the meds. This past month I’ve been plagued by stomach pain. Turns out I have a bleeding ulcer from years of NSAID for the inflammation and H. Pylori bacteria (that most people do have) in the stomach that turned infectious due to my lowered immunity from the Humira. Ugh! It’s hard to not get down about me health and lack of control over it, so I continually give it to God and know that He has plans to prosper me and not harm me and plans for my future.

Oh, and I knew about that white dog hair on the bracelet. My dog, God love him, sheds like a crazy and his fur is everywhere.

Water

Remember when these were all the rage in the blogosphere? This one features the Saluda River.

Reflection

Another Saluda River shot.

Words

See where it says “water”. Yeah, I could’ve used this shot for water too.

  Have a great week!

Sarah:)

Project Pinterest: Citrus Hand Scrub

I have to tell you, when I saw this pin on Pinterest I almost screamed with excitement. I love scrubs and always forget to use them. What I really loved about this scrub is that it only had four simple ingredients. (Click on the photo to go to the original source.)

Instead of the posted recipe, I used:

1/4 C olive oil - 1/4 C course sea salt - several orange slices- a few drops of lemon juice – blender/food processor*

 

 

*I ain’t got none of dem fancy blender or food processor gadgets, so I jus use what I got. Ahem, I’m back now. Had a little episode of backwoods redneck for a minute there. (Don’t go thinking I was making fun either. Some of my favorite people ever are backwoods rednecks and they’re everywhere, not just in the good ol’ south!)

The pseudo food processor/blender didn’t do a great job of making the salt any finer or the peel any finer. It was basically just like putting the ingredients into a bowl and giving it a good stir. I think the results would be better had I used an actual appliance that didn’t cost $10.

My nose tells me that the smell of olive oil is still very present in this ratio so I added more orange peel and juice and I can say that the olive oil has lessened in the past several hours and now smells more citrusy.

Next time I think I’ll use kosher salt instead. The sea salt just seemed to be too large of a peice to me.

I’m going to keep on working on this to fine tune it to my liking. Don’t you think scrub in a cute little glass container like this would be cute for a little gift? I do!

Ready to link up your Project Pinterst post?

Here are the rules:
1. Decide which pin on Pinterest you’d like to recreate.
2. Create it!
3. Flop or success, create a blog post about your re-do and include the original pin’s url.
4. Add the Project Pinterest button to your post so others can join in too!
5. Link up and check out other bloggers’ posts!

<center><a href="</span><a title="http://randomthoughtsfromamomsperspective.blogspot.com/" href="http://randomthoughtsfromamomsperspective.blogspot.com/"><span style='font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;'><font color="#993399">http://randomthoughtsfromamomsperspective.blogspot.com/</font></span></a><span style='color: rgb(42, 26, 42); font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;'>"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6102/6265501356_0ebaa16968_m.jpg" /></a></center>

Photography Challenges Galore!

The autumn sky always amazes me. A few nights ago the sky looked like it was straight out of a fairy tale.

I was “stuck” at soccer practice so I was very limited in where I could go to shoot it.

 

I love PSE actions and have come to rely on them for quick edits. I used Nelly Nero’s Autumn Vintage on this shot.

Have you used any of Nelly Nero’s actions?

  

 

Almost everywhere else I’ve lived, the autumn leaves are much more vibrant than they are here in SC.

However, autumn is still pretty, mostly because it’s about 75 degrees in the middle of November and that makes me happy!

Have a wonderful day!

Sarah:)

P.S. Katie and I would love to have you link up to Project Pinterest this Thursday!

Hello Monday

Hello first week of being 36.

Hello week of no appointments!

Hello Monday, day of beginning a diet after indulging sinfully on my birthday.*

*This was the birthday parfait the boys made me for breakfast (that and pancakes, eggs and sausage) and I would consider this to be healthy. It was all the other things I didn’t photograph that, once added together, make for a crazy calorie fest of a day!

Hello first week of flag football and last week of soccer.

Hello week of homeschool that I completely have not planned for yet.

Goodbye insecurities, heartbreak, pain and anxiety of 35!

Have a great week everyone!

Sarah:)

Scavenger Hunt Sunday and Watermarking Photos

After reading several posts about the importance of watermarking photos, I have decided to start doing it. I was hesitant because I did not want to appear like I think my shots are the bomb and therefore watermark them because people were just dying to get their hands on them. Now, however, I see it a little differently. I don’t want to be like the family who saw themselves in an Ikea ad and they had no idea that their picture was being used by anyone, much less a major company.

Little Features

What pair of shoes should I wear?

Custom bokeh

Opposing lines

Before/after

Have you checked out Project Pinterest hosted by Katie Lloyd and me? If not, check it out!

Have a wonderful week!

Sarah:)