New Uses For Old Things: Mug Rack

14" tall stainless steel mug tree; $25 Crate and Barrel. 

I love re-purposing old things in new ways! Thanks to HGTV, here are three clever ways to use a mug rack or "tree" to organize some loose ends around the house. Their "branches" are perfect to hang objects. 

Jewelry: No more tangles when you hang your everyday jewelry. 

Original source: HGTV

Scissors: All kinds of cutters can fit neatly on the pegs. 

Original source: HGTV

Ribbon: Slide on the spools and you can cut off pieces as you need them. 

Original source: HGTV

Other items you can hang; washi tape, rubber bands, keys. If you don't want to spend a lot, hit up your local Dollar Store. They usually have wooden ones there that you could paint to match any room in the house.

New Uses for Old Things: Valentine's Edition

This February 14, you can craft handmade and heartfelt sentiments even if you're all thumbs. Like me. These DIY cards are inexpensive and simple. What's not to love? 

 

Birthday Candles: Turn a birthday party prop into a loved one's bright spot on February 14. All you'll need to make this card is a blank note card, glue, birthday candles and a felt tip marker.

 

Matchbook: Once you've found your perfect match, it's easy to turn sentiments into handmade crafts. Start with a blank note card, glue, matchboook and a felt tip marker.

Playing Card: When the stakes are high, you'd bet your money (and your heart) on this guy. Start with a blank note card, glue, playing card and a felt tip marker.

Puzzle Pieces: For the one who lights up your life, create a card that'll be for keeps. Start with a blank note card, glue, puzzle pieces and a felt tip marker.

Want to give the best Vday gift of all time? Discover what it is HERE.

Other Valentine's Day food ideas from Hailey's Helpful Hints found HERE.

Looking for sweet inspiration for Vday treats? Click HERE.

Want thrifty but cute Vday gift ideas? Get inspired HERE.  

A yummy pink dessert that is great for summer but works for Vday as well found HERE.

 

Bright Idea: Jar of Thanks

 

For the next week leading up to Thanksgiving, have your family write down things that they are most grateful for, put the papers in a glas jar, then read them aloud together before you gobble down your Thanksgiving meal.

If you have guests joining, have them jot down one or two things they too are thankful for and drop them into the jar upon their arrival so they'll be included as well.

Bright Idea: Thanksgiving Leftovers

Having a house full on Thanksgiving? Wondering what's the best way for your guests to take home any left over food? That is if you're willing to give any away.

This week sometime, hit up your local craft store and pick up a handful of kraft paper takeout boxes and cute stick-on labels. I know Michaels carries them as does www.shopsweetlulu.com but you might have to pay for rush shipping*.

Before dinner, set up a leftover station to make dividing up the leftovers and clean-up quick and easy.

*Search for the "BioPak" takeout boxes on Sweet Lulu's website.

Weekend Craft: Tangled Webs

 

If you're looking for a holiday appropriate, low cost, easy clean-up craft do with the kids, give this a try:

What you'll need:

Jars - small mason jars or baby food jars work best
Orange & black yarn
Elmer's Glue
Tealights

Directions:

For each candleholder, dip 48 inches (more if using a larger jar) of yarn into a one-part Elmer's glue, two-part water solution. Squeeze out excess; wrap strand around clean baby-food jar from top down. When dry, add a tealight and light the night.
Have a spook-tacular weekend!!

Must Do: Personalized Alphabet Book

Saw this idea on Pinterest and became inspired.

And no don't go searching for my Pinterest page. I don't have one. How does anyone find the time??? I think I'm a pretty ahh-mazing multi-tasker but the thought of adding a Pinterest page to my to-do list makes my head spin. And yes, pretty much everything I do gets put on a list to be checked off. Just how I roll. Over the top? Alittle. But highly effective. You should try it.

Moving on.

How cute is this personalized alphabet book? If you've never checked out "Modern Parents, Messy Kids" blog, I highly suggest you do. It was named one of the top 50 Craft Blogs for 2012 by Babble.com. There are so many ideas for DIY projects and activities for the kids and organization tips.

But don't you start reading that over HHH. I'm watching you. ;)

The purpose of this alphabet book is to get your child excited about reading and to become familiarized with the letters of the alphabet with personal objects or experiences that are salient to your child. For my Chase it would be: A for Ambulance. L for Lightning McQueen. S for Swim Lessons. F for Firetruck. All big things in a 3 year olds world.

If you're inspired to make your kid(s) their own personal alphabet book, I suggest spending a little more money for a hard cover. You don't want the kid's ripping the cover of this adorable keepsake. I like Blurb for creating online books but I know Snapfish and Shutterfly always have really good sales on photo books. In fact, Shutterfly is advertising a 50% off photo book sale from now until May 2nd.

If you wish to see MPMK's entire alphabet book for ideas, click HERE.

You're my pot of gold...

Every time you see a rainbow, do you look to see where it begins and where it ends? We've all heard the “pot of gold” story since we were young, but where does that legend come from? It dates back to Old Europe, where the Irish will tell you "fairies put a pot of gold at the end of each rainbow with leprechauns guarding it." It's folklore that has become part of the symbolism of St. Patrick's Day, March 17th, when many celebrate Irish culture and count themselves as “Irish” just for wearing a little of "the Green."

Saw this idea on Pinterest and thought what a cute project/gift idea for St. Patty's Day. Courtesy of It is what it is. 

Idea #1: Using cellophane pretzel bags (you can buy them at Michael's), put four rolos in the bottom of the bag and added layers of m&m's. Or any type of your favorite multi-colored candy - skittles, gumballs, jellybeans, etc. Close the bag with a twist tie (they come with the bags) and add the banner tag.

Print banner tag HERE.

Idea #2: Using the same cellophane pretzel bags, add rainbow Twizzlers and gold foil-covered chocolate coins to the bag with the custom 3" tag, and call it done!

Print circle tag HERE.

Idea #3: If you'd prefer not to give candy, this is a pretty cute alternative. Simply trim the banner tag, adhere to a rainbow of watercolor paints, and add a rolo candy. Glue works fine to adhere everything. See banner tag link above.

An interesting fact about rainbows: No two people ever see the same rainbow. As the eyes of two people cannot occupy the same place in space at the same time, each observer sees a different rainbow. Why? The raindrops are constantly in motion so its appearance is always changing. Each time you see a rainbow, it is unique in its own spectacular way! Many people consider rainbows to be an omen of some kind. It is an ancient desire rooted in our cultural mythologies.

Fancy Friday

Something I love about the holidays are the family traditions that come with them. Now that I have my own family, there are several traditions that will carry on from my childhood into my own children's childhood but I do always keep my eyes and ears open for traditions we can start as just our own little family.

One thing that tickled my fancy this week was this particular Thanksgiving tradition from Simply Vintage Girl (picture above) that is so simple to make and encourages dialogue amongst your family on what you are most thankful for. Call them what you like - Gratitude Tree. Thankful Tree. Thanksgiving Tree. Not a new idea but one worth starting.

The idea is simple: Have each family member write heartfelt sentiments for the things they are most grateful for and during Thanksgiving dinner go around the table and have each person read their tag. It fosters communication, teaches gratitude and gets the room glowing with smiles.

If you're bundled up inside this weekend, this is an easy and fun craft to do with your kids to keep them away from yet another hour of tv. You don't need much - just a few twigs from the yard and some craft paper.

Motivating Monday: GIVE THANKS

I was caught off guard the other day when a women thanked me for saying thank you to her. Umm. Ok. She acted as if she hadn't heard those two simple words in years. Since that encounter, I've been thinking a lot about what it means to give thanks and how do I, as a parent, raise attitudes of gratitude.

The spirit of thankfulness is a complex one for young kids to grasp, but by modeling generosity in our everyday actions and by openly talking about the subject, your children will begin to absorb and emulate this emotion. And I’m not talking about the usual prompt, “What do you saaaay?” that we’ve all sung to our kids. Reminding kids to say thank you is simply a matter of politeness and doesn’t necessarily translate into a general attitude of gratitude.

So, how do we raise thankful children? According to Emily Geizer from Child Perspective; Real Parenting Solutions, here are four steps;

1. Make gratitude a habit. Spend time each day appreciating what you have (love, shelter, food, family, friends, courage). You might create a daily ritual or tradition to help you remember to be grateful and establish family traditions for thinking about what we are thankful for and sharing it with others. Maybe you have a thankful tree, journal, shoebox, tablecloth, calendar, or space on the refrigerator.

2. Adopt an attitude of gratitude. This means being thankful no matter what our situation in life. Thankfulness means that we are aware of both our blessings and disappointments but that we focus on the blessings.

3. Express your thanks out loud. Don’t be quietly thankful. Your children need to know you are thankful for them, for your home, for friends, mentors, and for the other good things in your life. Celebrate your thankfulness often and initiate conversations.

4. Be generous or giving and express how it affects others. Talk about being on both sides: giving and receiving. There are many ways to give: donating blood, money, food, clothing, time, and/or energy. Share these experiences with your children. Many community service projects are appropriate for elementary aged children.

By establishing any one of these practices, you will raise thankful hearts that bicker less, need less, and whine less. Thankful hearts are always more content, more giving, and more joyful.

One of my favorite ways to emulate the above steps is to incorporate a "Thank Bank" into your household. All you need is a jar, some paper and pens. Make a rule that by dinner-time, everyone has to drop a note into the Thank Bank of what from their day they were thankful for. To liven up the dinner conversation, pull out the notes and have each person elaborate on why they were thankful for that specific thing.

Get CRAFTY: 28 homemade tutorials

Although I'm not super crafty, I know a lot of you are so because I love to make all y'all happy, I thought I'd share with you the 28 most popular homemade gift tutorials from the Tip Junkie Homemade gift site.

I know that sometimes the words “homemade gifts” or "do-it-yourself (DIY) projects" conjure visions of construction paper and cheerios, but that really doesn’t have to be the case! There's nothing more heart-felt and personal than a homemade gift. Whether it's for a special occasion or "just because," they are unique and surprising which makes them all that more fun to give and receive.

So here ya go. There are some wonderful craft projects in this list – and you don’t need to know how to sew or even consider yourself to be the “crafty type” to dive in and attempt one:


FABRIC FLOWER TUTORIALS:
1. Fabric Flower Pin {No-Sew}
2. Long Stemmed Fabric Flower Tutorial {diy}
3. How to Make a Fabric Flower Ring
4. How To Make a Pom Pom Bib Necklace {anthropology}
5. Mini Scripture Bag {Tutorial}
6. Fabric Flower Wall Hanging {Tutorial}
7. Fabric Flower Clock {Tutorial}
8. DIY Fabric Flower Bouquet
9. Fabric Flower Vase with Berries


MOST POPULAR EDIBLE GIFTS & FOOD:
10. Surprise Tags {Free Printable}
11. 40 Yummy Homemade Gifts {recipes}
13. You Were ‘Mint’ To Teach! {teacher}
14. DIY Sweetie Pie! {edible gift}
15. S’more Kit {tutorial}
16. Make Your Own Brown Sugar Scrub! {recipe how to}


MOST POPULAR GIFTS FOR KIDS (ages 2-12):
17. Pretend and Play Restaurant Set: Today’s Special Board
18. Old MacDonald Felt Finger Puppets {Free Pattern}
19. Monster Doll Tutorial {free pattern}
20. Mermaid Tail Doll Dress Up Clothes {Free Pattern}
21. Anthropologie Knock Off Ile Saint-Louis Bag {Free Pattern}
22. MP3 Player Pocket Pillowcase

HOMEMADE GIFTS UNDER $10:
23. Crochet Bangles {Jewelry}
24. Farmer’s Market Journal {Paper Craft}
25. How To Business Card Holder {Sewing}
26. DIY Pedestal Bowls
27. Game Night In A Bag {Free Printable}

28. Painted Rain Boots {Drab to Fab}

Thanks Tip Junkie for the great ideas!!

DESIGN on a dime

Now y'all know I am not crafty but this might be one I'll have to attempt. Maybe. Ok most likely not. But for all you creative souls, Eighteen 25 blog showcased this fabulous decorative project that would be fun and inexpensive for Easter.

What you'll need:

Grey Primer

White Spray Paint

E6000 Glue

Jars with lids

Old candlesticks (Check out Thrift stores for old, funky ones. Mismatched is best!)

First prime the jars and lids with grey primer (helps to cover the writing on the jars).

Next spray paint the candlesticks and lids.

Once dried, glue the jars on top of the candlesticks.

Then fill with candy or knick-knack of choice.

These are just too cute! The best part; you can switch them out with the different holidays & seasons or keep them out all year round!!