Monthly Archives: January 2012

Batter Up!

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This blog is dedicated to what we’re busy with. And lately for me, that’s been eating! (Good thing I don’t have any new year’s resolutions, huh?!) What have I been eating, you ask?

Cake batter dip!

It is SOO good. In fact, I was making it for a church potluck and had my husband taste test it. He had me make a whole new batch just for him! Well I won’t make you wait any longer. Here is the recipe.

Cake Batter Dip

  • 1 1/2 cup funfetti cake mix
  • 1 cup yogurt
  • 1/2 cup cool whip

Mix together cake mix and yogurt until smooth. Fold in cool whip. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Simple, huh? It’s good with vanilla wafers, animal cracker, grapes, etc., but my favorite is granny smith apples!

What are you going to do with all that left over cake mix? Make cake batter rice krispie treats! I made these about a month ago to kick off a friend’s new diet (best way to do it, huh?). We loved them! I don’t have a picture though because we devoured them too quickly. Oops!

Cake Batter Rice Krispies
(From Gimme Some Oven)

  • 3 Tbsp. butter
  • 1 (10 oz.) bag of mini-marshmallows
  • 1/2 cup funfetti cake mix (original recipe said 1/4, but I increased it to 1/2 and STILL thought it needed more!)
  • 6 cups crispy rice cereal
  • 1 (1.75 oz.) container of sprinkles

Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat and add marshmallows. Stir until they begin to melt, adding in (dry) cake mix one spoonful at a time so its combined. Stir in cereal so it is completely coated with marshmallow mixture. Sprinkle in half of the sprinkles and mix. Press (with buttered fingers) into a baking dish and top with remaining sprinkles. Let sit for about 30 minutes before cutting.

I know. You’re totally going to go pick up some funfetti cake mix. Go for it! And tell me how it turns out.

A PINspired Classroom

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As crazy as it may sound, while in college one of the most memorable pieces of advice we were given was,
“As a teacher, you need to BEG, BORROW, and STEAL!”
And that was at a christian college too! (That makes us wonder what they tell teachers at secular colleges!) When first hearing that, not many people would be inclined to follow those words.  But, when you think about it -it makes so much sense! As teachers we are always looking for new strategies, activities, displays, projects, and ideas that will enhance the learning experiences of our students.  And as we all know, there is little or no time to do it all, (especially if you want to have a life outside your job!). There is really no need to “re-invent the wheel” when so many people around us are displaying their ideas and creations from their classrooms for all to see! Why not take an idea from a friend, use inspiration you’ve found in a book, or PINsperation from the internet?!…..which brings us to our next point. If you have not found PINTEREST, the lifesaver website that is saving teachers and crafters, and artists, and bored people all over the world…….then well,…. you must be living under a rock! :(
OR maybe you feel that this is what you might become if you surrender to the ploys of pinterest.

Picture from digitalmomblog.com

OR maybe you’ve ran across this definition of pinterest and it depresses you:
Picture from perdueosity.com
OR maybe you’ve met people with this attitude:

picture from brittanysbuttons.blogspot.com

Whatever is keeping you from pinterest is also keeping you from being PINspired!

We’re here to tell you that getting a Pinterest account is totally worth it, and it might possibly change your life! There is so much out there to be PINspired by!

If you haven’t succumbed to the realm of Pinterest (or if you have, but you are so busy pinning that you don’t actually execute the ideas you pin) then here is a suggestion: START SMALL. Choose a craft that you have all the supplies for (or the supplies are cheep and easily found).

Then do it!

Here are some of Leslie’s first PINspired classroom projects: {Pictures are linked to original pinned source}

This took me all of 2 minutes! I just found some extra magnetic letters in my class and some fake flowers and a jar from home, and whipped this up!

When beginning the school year, I found some quotes that I loved and wanted to put them up inside/outside my class. Here is one that I simply saved, printed, and cut out to put outside my door.

Later, I came across bigger projects that I wanted to tackle like this mailbox system and a teacher wreath. With both of these, I used the picture that inspired me and turned it into my own version.  I just created it with a twist!

Although my creations are not always the same as the ones I pinned, I still love my finished projects because they were made with my special touch, and they work for me!

See it IS possible to not let pinning take over your life. It’s possible to let it be a tool to assist you in accomplishing tasks that you would’ve never thought of in the first place. It’s OK if you PINdulge every now and then, but I’m PINferring that you might’ve done yourself some PINjustice by not being PINnovative with your pinning. So use your PINtellect and be PINspired! (Ok. I’m done.. I might’ve gotten carried away.)

(We both have lots more PINspired pics and projects to share with you in the future! Keep following us!)

Happy pinning and be PINspired!

Just wondering. What do you think about Pinterest?

Life Cycle of a Frog

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My second grade class has been learning about the life cycle of a frog. We made these Life Cycle of a Frog Wheels.

If you would like to make your own wheels, click on the picture to download. It’s free!

There are three different sheets that you can use depending on your students’ ability levels~great for differentiating!

Level 1: Students fill in the blanks, cut out, and assemble.

Level 2: Students fill in the blanks, cut out, order, and assemble.

Level 3: Students write their own sentences to describe each phase, cut out, order, and assemble.

FYI: If you use Reading Street, they go well with Frogs by Gail Gibbons.

*Frog images from adobetutorialz: Examining the Life Cycle of a Frog

Enjoy!

To The Letter

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One of my favorite crafts to do is “Altered” Wooden Letters. You may have seen some of these at a craft fair, in a boutique, or at a friend’s house and thought, “That’s so cute!” or “Who made that?” Well, now you can take all the credit because I’m gonna give you the few simple steps to making them. It’s easy, I promise!

1) Gather your supplies:

  • wooden letter(s) from Hobby Lobby or Michael’s
  • newspaper or paper towels
  • 1 bottle of Mod Podge
  • 1 small foam paint brush
  • scrapbook paper of your choice
  • paint (if desired)
  • pencil
  • scissors

2) Turn the wooden letters upside down and trace the shapes onto the back of the scrapbook paper that you want to show on the front of the letter.

3)  Paint the wooden letter the color you wish. For the paper/painted hybrid version that I like to do, it is only important to make sure that the sides and backs are painted well. I usually paint the whole letter, worrying mostly about how the sides look. Sometimes (because I like to use a light paint color) I have to paint 2 coats to have it looking the way I like. * Also if you are painting the back, the painting should be broken down into more steps, allowing each side to dry so that it doesn’t stick to the newspaper!*

4) While the paint dries, cut out the scrapbook paper letters.

5)  After the paint has dried, lay the paper letters onto the top of the wooden letters. Make sure they will fit. (If they are too big, that is fine too! You can always come back and trim the edges later!)

6)  Dip your paint brush into the bottle of Mod Podge and paint a thin coat onto the front of each letter. Then lay the paper letter on top and smooth it down with your fingers.  Let the letters dry for 10 minutes or more.

7)  Now, apply another thin coat of Mod Podge on top of the paper.  This will give it a shiny/glossy look. (You can skip this step if you want the final product to be more rugged or natural.)

8)  After the top layer has dried, now you can trim any excess paper that might be hanging over the edges. I use a small pair of scissors to do this because it is easier to get into the corners.

9) Add any finishing touches that you desire: paint, glitter, ribbon, bows, buttons, any embellishments of your choice!

Here is the latest letter that I did for another baby girl’s nursery. It’s my favorite so far. I just did a simple “E” for Emelyn to hang on the nursery door.  We hung it on the door to the hospital room when she was born, but they had already hung a wreath for Christmas, so we tried to work with it. However, using one of these letters in a wreath could be a cute idea too!

Altered wooden letters aren’t just for nurseries either! Use them:

  • in the kitchen: EAT
  • at Christmas: JOY, NOEL
  • at Valentine’s: LOVE
  • at Halloween: BOO!
  • on the mantle: FAMILY
  • in the classroom: READ

New Year, New Hutch!

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I got this hutch at an antique store back in October when I went to the Covered Bridge Festival in Indiana. We cleaned it (and boy did it need it), painted it, spray painted the hinges and handles, and frosted the windows. It’s a completely new hutch! If you are interested in how we frosted the windows, read on…

(Numbers correlate with picture above)

1. Supplies: Cricut (I used expressions), Adhesive-Backed Vinyl, Transfer Paper, and Armor Etch Glass Etching Cream

2. Using the quatrefoil image provided by Designed to the Nines and importing it into Sure Cuts a Lot (This is program I use to cut images with my cricut. Beware if you are interested in this program, the latest version is not compatible with Cricut cutting machines. However I’ sure there are other similar programs out there if you look.)

3. This is my finished “cut” after peeling off the unwanted sections. I used a piece of electric tape on the edge because I wanted a border of glass showing through around the edges. I couldn’t get this using Sure Cuts a Lot, so I improvised with the tape. It worked fine.

4. I covered my stencil with transfer tape. It is easer if you do not peel the backing off the transfer tape before you apply it. Instead peel the backing off as you go. How to do this: Peel about an inch of the backing off and fold it down so it is not in your way. Line up the corner of the tape with the corners of your stencil. Smooth your tape down evenly. Then continue to smooth the tape down as you peel off the backing. This will help you reduce the amount of wrinkles.

5. Once my transfer tape was on, I lined my stencil up on my windows (They just happened to be the exact width of a cricket cutting mat!) I used the same method or peeling the backing as you go to peel the backing off my stencil. (As you can see my stencil was not the same length as my window. I had to cut more stencil for that part.)

6. After applying the stencil, I applied Armor Etch with a paint brush using a dabbing motion. It is important to look through your glass to make sure you haven’t missed any spots. I shined a flashlight through to make those spots easier to notice.

7. After about ten minutes (I think the bottle says five, but I’ve always done ten), I washed the cream off using water and a rag. I started the etching at the bottom so that when I washed it off the water would run down already etched glass (versus starting at the top and water running down just applied cream or clean glass). Also, it is important to use gloves and a well ventilated area this armor etch stuff is pretty serious. Make sure you read the precautions on the back!

8. Last step! Pealing the stencil off the glass- the most fun part!

9. Finished product! I can’t wait to go shopping and fill it up with pretties!

This is a pretty big etching project. If you are interested in doing something like this, I’d start out small first, just to get the feel for it. Here are some other ideas for glass etching using the same method as above. If you don’t have a cricut- no problem. Your local craft store should have a selection of stencils you can use.

Project Descriptions:

1. Root bear mug (my classic Christmas present to people… I usually find the  mugs as thrift stores for cheep!)

2. Pyrex dish with last name (my go to wedding shower present)

3. Monogrammed canister (I gave this to my aunts one year with homemade hot chocolate powder inside.)

Happy Etching!

If you give a girl an idea…

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….she’ll want to share her teaching, organizing, decorating, or crafting ideas with others. Sharing her ideas

Photo courtesy of StockFreeImages.com

with other teachers, DIYers, and crafters like herself will make her feel good. This will cause her to want to create a blog! Coming up with this idea will remind her of her sister. She’ll have to call her to tell her about her new idea. Her sister will want to join her. So they will spend a whole day thinking about how to design their blog and what to name it. All this thinking will make them hungry. That will remind them about the pancakes they had for breakfast hours ago. Thinking about pancakes will remind them of a book they once read: If you Give a Pig a Pancake. Remembering this book will give them an idea for our first post in our blog. The post you just read.

Welcome to our blog. We hope to share with you, learn from you, and inspire you through our common interest in crafting, decorating, teaching, organizing, and life itself.