April 2015 ~ Create it. Go!

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Mother Daughter Pampering Party for Mom {with 10 Step Mother's Day Gift Basket Tutorial}

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. 
All opinions are mine alone. 

#AmopeLovesMoms #CollectiveBias #tutorial #pamperingparty #mother #mom #mothersday #pamper #pedicure #diy #party #flipflops

 I can't believe that Mother's Day is right around the corner! I don't know about you, but when I think of a mother, I don't always think of ME as the kind of mom described by all those kind words you hear associated with mothers. Words like patient, soft spoken, great examples...Ha! I know I definitely fall short of those qualities many days! I do, however, think of my own mom. In my mind, she is amazing! Although, I bet as a young mother, she felt more like I do about myself as a mother today. I believe that most mothers, as a whole, are too hard on themselves. Some of us are carrying a heavy load and are just trying to get from day to day, and we need to give ourselves a break. We are much quicker to give another mom the benefit of the doubt, but we don't do the same for ourselves all too often, when we fall short of how we "think" we should be...or what we "think" that we should be able to accomplish in one day. But I truly believe that the efforts that all mothers make each day, make the world a softer and a more beautiful place.



(Keep reading to see what a fun Mother/Daughter Pampering Party for Mom we had. PLUS I am sharing how to create the perfect Mother's Day Basket below.)

My mother is wonderful! I can honestly say that. I don't mean she is (or was) perfect. BUT...I knew as a child, that she loved me and wanted the best for me. She loved me unconditionally and did the same for my six siblings. And that in itself is truly valuable to me, and has given me inner strength many times throughout my life. She was amazing to me in so many ways. For instance, she used to bake homemade bread all the time when I was a child. We had store bought bread maybe once or twice a year? (If that!) As a mother today, I cannot figure out how she made time to constantly do that . AND how in the world did she make enough bread/food to constantly feed us all?! OR how did she get the dishes done!? And don't get me started on the laundry, running us kids around, along with other responsibilities and things she did.

Here's another big thing that I love about my mother. She wasn't a complainer. I love that she was at home with us when we were little, and I know that she loved it, too. But I also truly admire her for going back to work as I grew older. The reason this is so admirable to me, is because it was an act of service and love for our family. My mother is the kind of woman that every child loves; even ones that are strangers to her. And she loves children, too. So, I know that going back to work for her, was not her first choice. But she did it for our family. And not once, did I ever hear her complain about it. I love her immeasurably for that. 

I've thought of her in some of my more hectic and busy days lately and have pondered what do we, as moms, truly want? Do we just want a day off? And a good book to read? Do we want a mute button on the remote some days? Do we want more time to just sit and snuggle with our little ones, without thinking of everything else that we still need to do? Or do we even just want to be left alone in the bathroom? Just once! Haha Well, I tried to think of all those things that I would love to do, but never have time to do, and then I wrapped them all up in this fun little Mother's Day Basket! In college, I actually worked at a place where we created and delivered gift baskets. It's so fun! So today...I want to share my best tips with you, on how to create the perfect gift basket for Mom!


Creating the perfect 
Mother's Day Basket Tutorial in 10 Easy Steps!

Best Mother's Day Gifts EVER!

Just wanted to share a few different little DIY Mother's Day gift ideas with you today. I know that I am always looking for new ideas, sometimes meaningful ones, sometimes simple ones, and other times just really unique ones. So I decided to ask around with a few moms I know and see what the best Mother's Day gift they ever got was. It was fun to hear back from everyone, and I wanted to share. So here you go!

Best Mother's Day Gift I Ever Received:
A clean house!


kids "prints" fingers print flowers...hand print art etc...

2 hr massage or a Merry Maids

For the kids to get along (my mom used to say she wanted this one too and we would just roll our eyes. NOW I understand!) lol

potted flowers

more handprint and handdrawn art 
(Mothers are a sucker for these!)

A Mother's necklace

Photo books with pics and stories of the kids, 
complete with pics of letters from the kids to moms in their own handwriting!


Sleeping in + a mid morning breakfast in bed 

A gift card to Barnes and noble and being kicked out of the house to go drink coffee and read alone all afternoon. I know that's not all warm and fuzzy but it's truly what I needed. Sometimes moms need a break (Agreed!)

No cooking or dishes for the whole day!

I could seriously go for any of these!

For me personally, my best mother's day gift was one that my husband did for me the first year I was a mother. My son was obviously an infant still, and my husband took post it notes. and wrote on them as if he was my son, for all of the things that my son was thankful for me for. He then put them randomly all over the house. I still was finding them a couple days later...in the fridge, in the cupboards, etc. I loved it! Something that didn't cost anything, but a little time, and a lot of thought and love. My fav!

Another favorite little DIY project I made one year that would be perfect for a Mother's Day gift are these fun little stools. I made tehm a c


They are still so fun and one of my all time favorite projects. AND...my kids have called dibs on them for when I pass away. lol

I'd love to hear some of your most memorable or favorite Mother's Day gifts! And I always love hearing new ideas to gift my mother with! 

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Be Kind. No Exceptions. {Word Art}

If you know me at all, you know that I LOVE word art. I even have a wall of word art in my house.

I love how it can make you laugh, bring back memories, smile, and bring emotions to the surface. Well, today I wanted to share with you a short and simple post, and one of my simplest, and newest additions to the word art wall.

Be Kind. No exceptions.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

LDS Temple Glass Block Lamp/Night Light

I've been meaning to post this for awhile now. I have loved seeing all of the fun things you can do with glass blocks over the past couple years. I have done the nativity on them, and personalized nightlights. But I have to say this is one of my favorite things to do with glass blocks. I love turning them into a temple lamp. (or a night light).



Temple lamps are perfect gifts for almost anyone. Whether it's for you little ones, or for the big #8 birthday!, or a teen, or an anniversary gift or even a mother's day gift,...perfect! You can personalize them by adding dates or just put your favorite temple on them!

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Kids Snack Recipe and Tutorial...Chocolate Covered Banana Bites...Made by a Kid

A couple weeks ago, my daughter came up to me with this paper. She explained to me that it was a "Tutorio" and showed how she wanted to make this snack. Totally made my day! ...Her first "tutorial/tutorio"!!!


So, I asked her what she needed first and she did the whole thing! 
So, today is her day! She's going to share with you how to make these yummy Kid Snacks! 

Chocolate Covered Banana Bites
(in her words)

 First cut the bananas. Don't use a sharp knife.


Then you put it on the plate.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Jam (and Jelly) Recipe with Kool-Aid Easy Mix

 #PourMoreFun #CollectiveBias #freezerjam #preserves #recipe #jamsandjellies #jelly #jam

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser.
All opinions are mine alone.

Every spring and summer, as the fruit prices start to drop, I start thinking about making jam. (If you've never made it, don't get scared off. I make the really easy, no cooking required,  kind of jam!) Some years, I have tried to make enough to last us throughout the year, but my children make sure it never does! Ha! Instead of having some jam/jelly with their toast, they believe in having a little toast with their jam/jelly. haha


Friday, April 17, 2015

Free Mother's Day Printables

Happy FriYAY! I've just got a quick share for you today!

I've been working on a couple of Mother's Day projects
(that I can't show you yet! Just wait and see! You're going to love them!)
...and just wanted to share a few quick Mother's Day printables with you today that I made recently. 

Choose your favorite, print, and frame! Gift it or Enjoy!

(For personal use only on all below. Commerical use prohibited.)




Thursday, April 16, 2015

DIY Temple Block Set Tutorial


A little over a year ago, I posted this super cute and fun Temple Block Set here. I had made it as a gift for my niece, and have since made several and even sold some. While, I am not selling them anymore, I have really enjoyed seeing others get excited about having one in their house as well. I know that I love seeing my kids play with it, and love seeing the reminder of the temple in our home. It is still one of my favorites and I still get asked about a tutorial for it. So...today's your lucky day! I'm posting a DIY tutorial on how you can also make one!


It's really pretty simple. 

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Silhouette Creations and Savings {with April Promotions}

#silhouetterocks #ad #lovemysil #createitgo #silhouetteamerica #silhouetteportrait #silhouettecameo

I'm sure you have seen the many things I use my Silhouette machine for. I love it! I used it almost daily! Seriously! If my house was on fire, it's on my list of things to grab. Ha! (Well, maybe not the first thing. lol) But I do LOVE it!

A couple of the more recent projects I have made with it are:

These fun little basketball hoops,


Easter basket decor:


Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Spring Cleaning Family Scavenger Hunt (Free Printable!)

#freeprintable #springcleaning #choresforkids #chores #chorelist #scavengerhunt #family #spring #PalmoliveMultiSurface #CollectiveBias

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. 
All opinions are mine alone.

I saw a sign at a nursery the other day that said, "I got so excited that it was spring, that I wet my plants!" Bwahahaha! I don't know about you, but I get ALMOST that excited! Haha I love the new life everywhere and the weather and the time outside and the excitement you feel from your kids. It even makes me more motivated! And then...this leads to thinking about spring cleaning! I have to say that by the end of winter, I am READY to open up the windows, and clean the whole house...get all the dust out, clean out the kitchen cupboards, organize everything... BUT...my kids don't get quite as excited about it as me! Imagine that?! Ha! So, this year I decided to try and make it a little more fun and to include the whole family in the Spring Cleaning Event! 



I started by coming up with this Spring Cleaning Scavenger Hunt. 

I tried to include things on the list, that needed done for Spring cleaning, but that were also items that my children were capable of doing (or at least helping with). My idea of Spring Cleaning isn't your typical vacuuming, dishes, and doing laundry, because those things need to happen almost daily anyway at our house. Spring cleaning for me is those items that don't get done very often, but still need the attention. (If you want to see more ideas of age appropriate cleaning lists/chores, you can see my post on chores for kids, where I list a bunch here.) I figured that if we did the spring cleaning as a family, then they (ideally haha) get done faster, and there is more time to be out hiking and enjoying this nice spring weather too!

So here is what our Scavenger Hunt was made of:

Monday, April 13, 2015

Meet Man's Best Friend (Or Rather OUR Family's BFF) and Make a DIY Dog Treat Jar {Plus a FREE printable!}

#NudgeThemBack #CollectiveBias #diy #dogtreats #dogtreatjar #mansbestfriend #puppylove


This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. 
All opinions are mine alone. 


You always hear the phrase that a dog is Man's Best Friend. Well, I have to say that our dogs are our Family's BFF, as my daugher would say. haha You've probably seen our dogs on some of my other posts, but I just wanted to officially introduce them as part of our family, and share a little puppy love today with a DIY Dog Treat Jar AND a fun free printable! So keep reading to see how you can make your own Dog Treat Jar for under $10 as well as get that free printable!!



Meet Sophie and Butercup!


Sophie is our boxer and is almost 3. We got her when she was one year old, and have loved her from Day 1. (This is the first day we got her:)

Thursday, April 9, 2015

DIY Miniature Working Fairy/Smurf Garden

I love looking at all of the fun ideas on Pinterest, although I have gotten pickier about what I pin. Because, let's face it...how much of what you pin, do you actually use? I do love the inspiration though.

I've seen some really fun things done with the trunks of trees to make them look like little gnome homes, and other people that make little fairy gardens with broken pots and more. Well, I was watching my daughter the other day with her watering can, and I thought how cute her can would be to make it look like a little house! And I KNOW she would love planting a little garden around it too.

It was really so easy and fun! 


DIY  Miniature Working Fairy/Smurf Garden
All you need to make your own is:

Supplies:
Large pot
Soil
Watering can
Duck tape or vinyl
Small low plants/flowers
Optional: Wood chips, twigs, small pebbles/rocks, and other accessories

Fill your pot with soil and place your home/can in the pot to see where it will sit.
Plant your flowers on either side of the front of the home. I used small little pebbles to line a walkway as well.

Robin's Nest Spring Pudding Treats

#pudding #aprilfools #aprilfoolspranks #robinsnest #spring #treat #recipe #snacksforkids #afterschoolsnack #winformom

I've seen so many fun ideas lately with pudding lately, that I thought I would share what we did with it in our house.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Top Post: Graduation Gift to Inspire

I have fun coming up with different ideas all year long and am always surprised at what seems to get the most hits. But this one, I still love and can use!

Want to know my most visited post of all time? It was titled Graduation Gift to Inspire and it was super fun to make and to give to my nieces. You can find it here on my blog.

I had two nieces graduation from high school the same year and wanted to come up with something that would be useful, but that was also fun and had a bit of inspiration for them in the gift as well. So I gathered a bunch of different items and put them all together to get this!

Monday, April 6, 2015

How to Make Pickle Chips; Fried or Baked! {Recipe}

#recipe #yum #yummy #pickles #appetizers #foodie #picklechips #texas #texasgirl #gf #glutenfree

Have you ever tried Pickle Chips? They are my absolute favorite! The best I have ever had were at a restaurant in Texas called Wings and More. Yum! If you ever go there, you've got to order the Chicken Fried Steak and some wings...but first, order a basket of pickle chips. Oh my! So good!


I was really wanting some the other day, so I decided to make some. We've made them before, but I decided to try making them Gluten Free this time, so that they didn't bother my husband's allergies too. It's easy to make them either way. You just change the flour that you use.

Friday, April 3, 2015

Sharing Easter Through Service; 14 Day Walk with Christ

I'm so excited to be part of Amanda's, at Jedi Craft Girl, 14 Day Walk with Christ. I've been following along with her and others and I was thrilled that she asked me to join in on this 2015 service edition. 

There have been some great ideas of ways we can give service already over the past week or more. I've loved following along and have posted some of the ideas on FB.

I immediately wanted to follow along with all of the great ideas she was going to post, but also wanted to include a little something more personal to our family as well. So, I put up this simple banner in front of our fireplace. I had already made the fireplace mantle Christ centered for Easter, but now we had an extra reminder to try and focus our daily lives on Christ, especially in the days leading up to Easter. Then I took these little canvas bags and placed vinyl letters on each one. How perfect was it that the days "Walk With Christ" are exactly 14 letters too! 

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Easter, From our Home to Yours #BecauseHeLives

#BecauseHeLives #easter #easterbunny #resurrection #Christ #Savior

I just wanted to share a bit with you on Easter, from our home, to yours.



We love having a large family. We love doing things together. We hike, play games, have movie marathons, are active in sports, play at the park, have a garden, work together, cry together, pray together, and even argue together. Ha!