Spring Wreath

After spending more than an hour weeding around the deck, I was left with a pile of vines and thought I'd make a spring wreath.  Wanting to change things up a bit, I thought I'd see if I could make a square wreath. I started with four sticks tied together on the ends to form a square. Then I began wrapping the vines around them. Well, it turned out to be a very round-ish sort of square, but hey, it still looked okay. I then went off to my favorite dollar store and bought some flowers. They even had butterflies mixed in with the flowers. Heres what I ended up with!

Material List:
2 bunches of Tulips: $2
2 bunches of Mixed Flowers w/ Butterflies: $2
Wreath: made from vine-y weeds
Ribbon: on hand

TOTAL: $4

Trucks, Tubes and Taquitos

TRUCKS
Mr. L2D asked me to make a NGV Ford Truck for his boss's b-day-- I think boss wanted a real truck for his b-day, but he'll have to be satisfied with a cake. After googling "Pick-Up Truck Cake" this is what I came up with. Mr. L2D was pleased so I hope it goes over good.

Cake stacked and carved













Decorating

Donut tires, fruit roll-up lights, Kiss (halves) mirrors, chocolate coin cargo

TUBES

Best thing about this cake... I tried out the mess-free method for filling a cake decorating tube that I found here and it works fantastic!! It was a bit tricky to thread the twisted end of the plastic wrap through the opening of the tube but I just grabbed a bamboo skewer and poked it right through. I have always made disposable tubes out of waxed paper because I never liked washing out the resuable tubes. I'm off to buy my first one because I'll never have to wash more than the very tip and give the rest a quick rinse for good measure! Pure Heaven!  

TAQUITOS

Yummy!

So I found these on Pinterest and they are pure heaven! The recipe says they can be frozen but we didn't have any left to freeze after I ran a few over to some neighbors so they could enjoy the yumminess. I changed the recipe a bit. I cut the tortillas in half and started rolling from the cut side--more filling less tortilla. I also didn't sprinkle them with salt either.  

We dipped them in sour cream, chopped avacado, and green salsa accompanied by rice, refried beans, chopped lettuce and tomatoes. These will definitely be on the menu again.

Material Hangers

Craft Room Organizing: Part II

My material is currently stored in large 18 gallon tubs under my craft table. Rummaging through them to find what I need/have is a pain. I never remember what I have in my stash either.  Purusing Pinterest hasn't helped much either. I did find this one here, but I don't have the shelf space. 

While I was digging through my craft room today, I came upon these cooling racks that I bought at the Dollar Tree Store. (Remember, I said it was my favorite store.)  I picked them up one day knowing they would be great for something, just not knowing at the time what.  Guess what? I figured it out.

I sorted my material by colors and hung them from the rungs. I love how you can see each piece of material. All the pieces were 2 yards or less. The cuts that were bigger than 1 yard I spaced every other rung. A yard and less cuts were hung using every rung.

White ribbon (also a Dollar Tree purchase) tied the cooling-turned-fabric racks to a sturdy hanger. (Note: standard tube hangers were too weak, but I noticed at my last Dollar Tree Visit that they now have Heavy Duty Plastic Hangers so I wonder if those would work.) Now my fabric is ready to be hung in the closet for easy viewing and access. I'm already eyeing some for a cute summer skirt for my little girl.

Materials:
Wire Cooling Racks, 2 pk (Dollar Tree): $1
White Grossgrain Ribbon (Dollar Tree): $1, or on hand
Sturdy Plastic Hanger: on hand

TOTAL: $1 and up for 2!

Ribbon Holder w/ Shelf

Craft Room Organizing: Part I

I'm slowly digging out my crap craft room by finding homes for everything. First up, ribbon. My first thought... dowel rods, of course.  After asking Mr. L2D to make me holders for the rod that I bought so I could mount it to the wall, I got tired of waiting for it to get to the top of his To Do List. While walking through my favorite store, the dollar store, I spotted these plant hangers. Perfect.

I bent the longest hook so it hung down instead of straight out. Then I used Mr. L2D's saw and cut my dowel in half. After mounting the first plant-turned-ribbon hanger on the wall, I hung the second one so the dowel rods could hang over the edges of both-- a little insurance that they won't slip off easily.  After threading my ribbons on both dowels I place one on the upper hook and one on the lower. Works perfectly.

But why stop there?! The flat area behind the ribbons was begging me for a shelf! I went out to Mr. L2D's scrap wood pile and found a board that would fit. After painting it white with acrylic paint, I added some recycled cans wrapped in scrapbook paper to hold pens, scissors, glue sticks, etc.

Mr. L2D conceeded that it turned out better than what he could have made. 

Material List:
Dowel Rod (craft store): <$1 .
2 Plant Hangers (Dollar Tree): $1, each
wood saw: on hand
scrap wood (optional): on hand
white acrylic paint: on hand,<$1

TOTAL: $2 and up

Hello, Is Anyone Out There?

My first blog post-- introductions are in order. I'm Shauna, a wife and stay-at-home mother of 3, and a preschool teacher (in my home). I love to cook, read, garden, teach and craft. I have two confessions. 

One: I'm a copy-cat crafter. If I see it and like it, I'll make it, (or at least try). I rarely have a crafty idea on my own. More often than not I'll copy all the genius ideas out there or tweak one to my taste.  Same goes with cooking. 

Two: I hate very extremely, most definitely, fully and completely despise cleaning.  I have the habit of using my hobbies (crafting included) to avoid the bane of my exixtence. I dream of the day when I can make enough money to pay someone else to come clean...every day. What's your dream?

This blog is to record all my adventures in the crafting, cooking and teaching world.