Accessories when they are too old for “flower Clips”

Being a tween is tough.  You want so badly to be older, yet you are only ten.  My 10 year old just won't wear  those cute flower hair clips any more.  Nor will she wear rosettes, bows, or girly headbands. Enter "the bobby pin."  It all started when I bought these from Pick your Plum.

 This prompted much begging for a trip to JoAnns to buy some more buttons (which happened to be 50% off.)  Now, being a tween may mean you can't wear hair flowers, but apparently it doesn't mean you can't wear food.  Especially treats you love such as candy and ice cream.  And Bacon.  Oh, how my 10 year old loves bacon.  She made bacon out of shrinky dink paper and glued that on a bobby pin and some earrings, too.

We bought some earrings, too.  They were under $3 for 24.  All we did was clue the on using E-600.

Super fun, super cheap and best of all, happy girls!

Beat the Boredom – Fun Water Activities

It's that time of the summer.  The time where I am ready for the kids to go back to school, out of ideas and tired.  Anyone else have the same problem? Well, today was a little cooler here in AZ.  I think it was 104 and perfect for water games.  Unfortunately, the public high school pools are now closed and our backyard is void of one. I came up with a few SUPER FUN water games for the kids to keep them busy.  They are all using common items I have around the house.  I think you and your kids will LOVE these! 1.  Shave the Beard. Materials Needed: Shaving Cream Squirt Bottle You can play this as a contest between two team, or just for fun! Squirt some lather in their hands and let them spread it on their face.  (I would suggest not in the mustache area as it can drip in their mouth. Yuck!)

Using the squirt bottle, have their brother/sister/friend squirt it off their face.

2.  Body Painting Supplies needed: Bath crayons or bath paint Let them have a ton of fun coloring/painting all over their bodies.

Then, using a hose, spray them until it all comes off.  For a little more added fun, I ask them to guess a color I am thinking of.  Whoever guesses the color gets sprayed.  They love this!

3.  Soggy Pants Supplies Needed: Sweat pants Bucket of water The first person in line throws the pair of pants into the bucket of water (about 10 feet away).  They run up to the pants, put them on and run back to the line.  Repeat with the following kids. This can be done as a relay using two pair of pants, we just did it as one team for fun.

My little one needs to wear a hat all the time outside because of a scar, but she still had a ball and played with the big kids!

4.  Duck Duck SPLASH

Supplies Needed:

Sponge 

Bucket of water

We did this at a water scout activity a couple of weeks ago and I thought it was so fun!

Just play duck duck goose and instead of goose, the child wrings out the sponge over the chosen's head and yells, "Splash!"

5.  Rainy Day Relay Supplies Needed: 2 paper cups with holes poked in them all over 4 buckets or large containers for water.  2 full, 2 empty Have the kids line up in two lines by the 2 empty buckets.  In relay style, have them run across to the other bucket (full of water.)  Fill the cup, and holding it over your head run back to your empty bucket.  Dump whatever water is left into the empty bucket.  Hand the cup to the next person in line.  Continue over and over.  At the end of a predetermined time, see which bucket is more full!

I hope you all get outside and enjoy your summer!

Cornice How-to

Remember this awesome cornice I made in my master bathroom?

Well, I thought I would show you how I made it.  You are going to be shocked at how easy this is.  First of all, I found the idea here.  If you are interested in hanging curtains underneath, I suggest reading her blog post.  As this is a window above my bathtub, I went for just the cornice.

Ice Cream Sandwiches – Yum!

Our family has become very creative with ice cream sandwiches this summer.  We have made the yummiest creations and I wanted to share them with you!

Master Bath Redo!!

Does anyone remember me telling the tale of my 3 year old flooding my bathroom?  Well, I should specify which bathroom, as she has flooded two.  My Master Bathroom.  This one was the real doozy.  My 10 year old said, "Why is my carpet wet and why are there puddles in the guest bathroom?"  Ummmm.  That didn't sound good.  I was thinking maybe a pipe burst in the wall.  Nope.  As I could still hear water running through the walls, I ran upstairs to find my master bathroom door locked and I could hear water running.  Yes, the sink plug was pulled and the water had been running for a couple of hours.  In case you are wondering, I teach piano and wasn't giving her my full attention.  Obviously. Luckily the awesome CAT JONES has a mold company.  And have we mentioned her connections to Bazzill?  Yeah, I thought so.  So they lent me a de-humidifier.  I rented a few industrial fans from Home Depot.  We drilled huge gaping holes in the walls to let them air out.  And Cat and her hubby and boy came over a few hundred times to check the moisture levels.  Phew!  She is a life saver, I tell  you! But the floors were toast.  So were the base boards.  My husband swears I did this on purpose so he would have to re-do the bathroom, but I SWEAR I didn't. Here are the BEFORES:

What did I hate?  The walls were all that whitish color.  I had this cabinet sitting on the floor in the W/C for MONTHS!  The floor was linoleum dirty yucky and pealing.  The curtains were ug.  The light fixtures were crackly brown.  The walls were bare.  The cabinets were that orange-ish oak that I hate.  It was just a boring builder-grade bathroom and it needed a little TLC.  I think most people probably have a super boring bathroom like that. So what did we fix? Well, the floors are now that hand carved Antique Hickory fake wood that I love so much. I made a beautiful cornice for the window.  More on that later. The cabinets were painted "cooled lava" by Valspar.  And it only cost the $2.50 for the sample paint.  :) The walls are now Alpaca at 50% by Sherwin Williams.  And I actually bought a gallon for this project.  (I know, that is a total surprise!  but I had a coupon.) We used Ana Whites plans to make a couple of shelves. Of course, the base boards are re-done. I spray painted the light fixtures.

I love it.  Every time I walk in there, I smile.  My husband, on the other hand thinks we need to be on the Marriage Ref over my starting projects all over the house and him having to finish them.  haha!  I think we saved money by not having to pay the deductible of someone coming out to deal with the flood!  If it weren't for the floors, it would have cost less than $100. So there is one thing I don't like.  This bench right here:

I want to recover it, but I need your advice.  Do you think I should use the geometric pattern on the left that the cornice is made from or the pretty fabric on the right?  Leave me a comment and give me your thoughts!

Have a great day!