Easy Gift Wrapping Station

I have always wanted to have a gift wrapping station. So much so, that I once bought one of those cheap plastic hanging thingies with the dividers for wrapping paper rolls, etc. But you know they still look kinda messy and after a while it ripped apart. So I searched and searched until I found this: Pantry Door Rack And a light bulb went off! I could turn this into a gift wrapping station! It's versatile, inexpensive and can hang on any door :) I ordered it immediately. It was simple to put together and I like that you can put the baskets where you want. Now the trick to having a good wrapping station is to get some good quality wrapping paper in some simple generic colors. Colors you can use over and over for birthdays, weddings, baby showers, etc. Add some pretty ribbons, gift tags and you're set. Here are some pics of my gift wrapping station:   Since I do most of my crafting in this room I decided to hang the wrapping station on this closet door. No mor...

Read more »

2 Bites of Awesomeness! {Cake Pops}

Who likes to eat cake? (raises hand s ) Who likes to eat cake with built in frosting AND covered in chocolatey goodness? How about with a sprinklin' of candies and chocolates? Sound good? Well here's a recipe you're going to be making over and over. Yeah, they're THAT good. Cake pops are very simple to make. Here's what you'll need: 1 box of your favorite cake mix (mine is Duncan Hines Golden Butter) 1 can of your favorite frosting Parchment paper Candies for coating lollipop sticks (found at craft stores) sprinkles, chocolate bits Saucepan Heat proof bowl Cookie Sheet Styrofoam blocks You are going to prepare you cake as usual. Bake it and let it cool. Take it and crumble it into a large bowl. You will then take 3/4 of the can of frosting and mash it all together with your hands. I find that I rinse my hands off a few times to take the sticky-ness off them. Take some of the cake/frosting mixture and form into balls about 1 inch. Put them on ...

Read more »

Bright and Sunny Day {YAY}

Finally! A bright and warm day :) We were overjoyed to find the weatherman last night predicting beautiful sunny days to come. Sunny days in the 60s and 70s I tell ya! So today we decided to take a little train ride into the BigD. We went to the Dallas Museum of Art. My daughter, Ellison, is majoring in Advertising and art and one of her requirements is to do some paper on art. Well pfftt....that's nothing to her. WE LOVE going to the DMA! And the best part of all (well for Aaron anyways) is riding the DART train downtown. It was perfect. We had a late breakfast at Chick Fil A (yummy) then headed to the Parker Rd. station where we boarded the train. We then walked the few blocks to the DMA. As I pulled out my wallet to pay, the lady said, "Today is Free! ". Well Luck O' the Irish!!! That's the best price for me. Apparently they were having African Mask day and had a lot of activities for the kiddos. And well, we saw a cool African lady singing and drummi...

Read more »

Dreary Day No More

As another winter storm threatens the DFW area, I sit and look ouside my window. I yearn for the  BLOOMS of my roses to stare back at me, but alas there is nothing but melting snow. I really want Spring to be here. I want to hear the  birdies sing and I want to sit on my front porch and watch my little guy "chalk" all over the sidewalk. I want to smell fresh cut grass and go on long bike rides and feel the wind blowing thru my hair. So there. You feeling as nostalgic and depressed as I am with all this wintery weather yet? Well I have some news for you. I am not going to take another dreary day. I want to have a smidgen of Spring time here in my home. So I went to the Home Depot and bought myself a tin bucket. I was looking for one of those empty paint cans but when I saw the bucket I liked it better. You can use whatever you have on hand. For smaller arrangements you can use a soup can or an empty peaches can (anything you can get your hands on). I decided to...

Read more »

I {Heart} Recycling

Get it? I heart recycling? Well if you don't get it - you will (in a little bit). Last night as I was thinking of what to wear to work today, I suddenly decided I was feeling crafty. Yep at 11:30 at night. That's when it usually hits me. Forget about sleep and how I REALLY need to rest, what I really wanted to do was craft! I have been wanting to make a cute wreath for my front door. I wanted to do a Valentine's one and now here I was at 11:30 at night and I was NOT about to go to Wal-Mart to buy the supplies. So I went to my closet, took out a wire hanger and shaped it into a heart . Sort of. Then I rummaged through my under-the-sink stash of plastic bags (which I despise!!)  only to find out that I didn't have that many to work with SINCE I now use the reusable bags when shopping (I know...I'm SO GREEN :)) So I decided to at least get it started. I gathered my hanger and plastic grocery bags on the floor along with my trusty glue gun and I commenced to p...

Read more »

Ice Ice Baby

For the past 4 days the Dallas/Ft Worth area has been iced in. Yes that's right, not snowed in, but iced in, which is even FUNNER!! Well I'm being sarcastic. Most of the parents are about pulling out their hair by now, what with having school cancelled for the last 4 DAYS !! Thankfully my kids (of which I have three but the oldest one doesn't really count since she's 19 and "on her own" *cough*) are spread far apart age wise, so there's not much fighting between them (thank the good LORD!) Sooo after cleaning out my office, baking the blasted fortune cookies (hee hee, read my post right before this one) and crafting, doing laundry, sleeping, cleaning,planning and then postponing a jewelry party-- I AM READY TO GO BACK TO WORK ON MONDAY. With that being said, we did get to go out and play for a little while on the ice . My little guy wanted to go outside and "sled on the ice" with a cardboard box after seeing a girl ice skating on the str...

Read more »