Some Recent Projects

In November when I started my winter break, I thought I would get so much done around the house and make a lot of crafts. Well, my expectations were wrong. Although, I did get some things done in the house there's still a ton to do. And after joining pinterest I will NEVER be fully done with crafts and projects. But there were a couple projects that I have tackled. One of which, KK thoroughly enjoyed helping with. This was an idea I had seen here. I had to add my own spin to it. But here was the finished product:

The poem reads:
Santa's beard is very bare.
On his chin, there is no hair.
So each day,
Add one puff so white.
And when they're all on,
He'll come that night!

Here is KK working on his project. Actually, I think this is a picture of him peeling off the glue I had painted on his hands. He was so fascinated with it...it kept him occupied for at least 45 mins:

And here's the project all filled with his beard:

KK put a cotton ball on his beard each night. It was one of his favorite things to do, he always kept me on my toes and remembered that he needed to put it on. Mr H. thought that maybe next year I should make beard pieces out of felt and have velcro attached so that I can reuse the pieces. I think it's a good idea, I just didn't have any time to do it this time around.

Also that same day, I made cards for the grandparents and great-grandparents that had KK's 5th birthday interview on it. I wanted to interview him with the same questions to see how his answers would change over the years. These were his answers:

Favorite Color? Pink & Purple
Favorite Toy? Cars
Favorite Fruit? Apples
Favorite TV Show? Adventure Time
Favorite Outfit? Sweat pants & shirt
Favorite Game? Jungle Speed
Favorite Animal? Lizards
Favorite Song? Pump It by the Black Eyed Peas
Favorite Book? The Cat in the Hat
Favorite Cereal? Lucky Charms
Favorite thing to do Outside? Play with Zero
Favorite Holiday? Christmas
Favorite Breakfast Food? Cheesy Omelet
Favorite Lunch Food? Pizza Rolls
Favorite Snack? Fruit Snacks
Favorite Drink? Sprite with Cotton Candy
What do you want for your Birthday Dinner? Broccoli
What do you take to bed with you at night? Bear
Who is your Best Friend? Shark & Hot Wheel
What do you want to be when you grow up? McDonald’s Passer-outer

His last answer just cracks me up! KK is so much fun. And this is what the finished product looked like:

I also had KK sign his name, his age, and draw a picture of something. I passed them out and hope that they received it. I'm not quite sure if they did because I haven't heard from them. But hopefully they have.

I start school again on Tuesday. I am not looking forward to it but I have very much enjoyed the time that I have been able to spend with my family. This break has really shown me that I have really missed out on a lot of growing time with KK. He has grown up so much and I can only imagine how much more he'll grow during this next quarter of school.

Fire Starters

So when I was younger my mom saved most of the lint from the dryer. She would have us save it to make fire starters. It's really easy to make and very useful when you go camping. I am bound and determined to go camping in the coming year. The last time we went camping was in 2009...way too long! So making these is giving me the initiative to take the plunge and go camping this next year.

The supplies you'll need are:
Wax
Lint
Egg cartons
2 pots
Water
Wax paper

Wax

Lint

egg cartons

Lay wax paper down on counter for easy clean up

Stuff the lint in the crevices of the egg cartons

Heat the wax

Pour over the lint, let it soak up

It doesn't look pretty, but they are THE GREATEST fire starters

They'll still be warm and squishy so just let them sit until they harden. Pack them away with your camping gear or use them right away.

Heating or Cooling Packs

I would love to say that I thought of this all on my own...but I didn't. My sister, RR, came home from Church yesterday and some of the Relief Society women made these for the sisters as Christmas gifts. I thought they were a totally awesome, quick, and easy thing to make. So I came home last night and made 4. Now they're not exactly the same dimensions as the one my sister had...I made them a little more rectangular to fit the lower back or stomach (for cramps). I tried to make this as fool proof as possible:


Fold in half, matching the 13 inches to the other 13 inches, and sew the sides (inside out). After they're sewn, flip the pouch right side out and sew the top halfway. Then:

This worked perfectly for Mr H. and I. We had some rice that was really gross and NEVER became tender. We put the rice in a crock pot for a couple of hours with the soup I was making and it STILL wasn't tender. And resourceful me never likes to throw anything away...so I kept it. And I am glad I did...because this little project was perfect for it. But anyway, after putting about 4 cups of rice in the pouch sew it up, so that it's closed.

It'll stay warm for about 15 minutes and it kind of smells like oatmeal. I thought about putting some lavender in there...but they were already finished. I wouldn't recommend putting anything in there that would make the rice wet, like oils or perfumes. I would be afraid the rice would rot if gotten wet (I could be wrong) but try and keep them dry

You can also put the pouch in the freezer and it'll stay cold for a while.

If you have anyother quick and easy projects or any suggestions when making this project please let me know about them. I love doing this kind of stuff