Sunshine Committee Pillow Box Treats

Recently one of the teachers from our awesome school asked for a crafty parent to assist with the Sunshine Committee.  I jumped at the chance to be creative!  I love to volunteer at my kids school but I must say, I am picky what I will do!  I believe we should work to our strengths and of course, I have some creativity to share!

The Sunshine Committee is a group of teachers who have come together to offer little gifts of sunshine to teachers, staff and students who for whatever reason may need a little boost of sunshine.  They offer encouragement, cheer, a pat on the back and more. I love the idea of this committee because I know how the simplest gesture of kindness can totally make a person's day.

Each month, the committee brings me a bag of goodies and I work my magic.  Since everyone loves a little sweet treat we always have some candy.  This month I was working with M&M's and candy corn.  I decided to make some little pillow box treat holders with my Silhouette.

I downloaded this adorable turkey pillow box from the Silhouette online store.  Perfect treat for the month of November.  I added googly eyes instead of the paper eyes because, well, googly eyes are just plain fun!  Inside, I put a small plastic bag filled with M&M's.  These would work great with the fun size candy bars too as they are the perfect size.

The Silhouette website has a number of other cute Pillow Box ideas including an owl.  Of course, even though the downloads are cheap, I knew I could make my own owl using the Turkey box since it had the same "ruffles" on the chest.  For the eyes, I used a scalloped circle punch that I have used in the past.  A simple yellow beak and some larger googly eyes and there you go.

I love these pillow box owls because they can be so many different colors to fit the seasons.  I will definitely get the use out of this pillow box download. 

A few months ago I had downloaded this fun owl treat holder from the Silhouette website as well.  Using some fall colors, I created a few cute treat packets using the candy corn as well. I just love how they came out.

I sure hope that these fun projects bring some sunshine to our most deserving students, teachers and staff!  I look forward to making more creations in the future.

Halloween Minion

It is that time of year again and the kids have so many ideas about what they want to be for Halloween.  I lucked out with my daughter and found an adorable Children's Place witch costume at a consignment sale for just $5!  My son chose to be a minion so I got to be a bit crafty.

My original hope was to find a pair of cute denim overalls.  However, that was more difficult than I anticipated.  Of course, my good friend Heather from No Business Like Sew Business came to the rescue with a pattern for overalls - she just so happened to create the pattern the week before for her own son, albeit for a different costume.  The boys happen to be the same size.  Woo hoo!  By the way, Heather rocked out 26 costumes this year!  Amazing!

So I headed to my favorite discount fabric store and picked up a couple yards of navy gabardine and whipped up the overalls.  Perfect.  The shirt is from Old Navy - yay, did not have to sew!  I painted the Gru symbol on and then, to make it stand out a bit, I used some glitter glue!  It is a costume after all.

I am not a huge seamstress, in fact, I am pretty bad. The details are not pretty but it works and my boy was ecstatic!  I will NOT be showing you the construction.  It is U-G-L-Y!!!  Speaking of which, it laid there for nearly 2 weeks unwearable because I was afraid to attempt to make button holes.  Confession, I have never done one.  Anyways, Heather came to the rescue again.  She reminded me, it is a costume, use a snap or Velcro and fake it (she did with hers).  So that is just what I did.  Perfect!

The hat and goggles were a ton of fun.  Confession, Heather made the hat!  (Have I mentioned, I LOVE Heather - you should too!)  The goggles were easy.  I used a pair of safety goggles that the kids got at the Lowes builder workshops.  I hot glued a couple of canning lids and added some "eye" circles to the inside.  Easy peasy.  The goggles sit up on my son's forehead on top of the hat.  I simply hot glued some black pipe cleaners on top for hair.

Oh, how we love our little Minion!

Back to School: Sign of Encouragement

With the new school year in full swing, I wanted to give my kids a simple reminder of how awesome their Dad and I think they are.  I love to see our kids grow, learn, struggle, win and blossom.  Childhood is filled with wonderment.

Each day we talk with our kids about their day.  What was great?  What was not so great?  How can we start tomorrow with a fresh outlook.  I wanted to remind them of the words we tend to use when helping them through their struggles and their triumphs.

 I have seen versions of this on other blogs and on Pinterest.  I love how it reminds us that there are many sides to us and that each and every day we should be proud of who we are.  This is a great mantra as the kids leave for school each day and a perfect reminder at the end of the day.

I had the perfect spot for this sign, a small wall right between the kids bedroom doors.  It is right at the end of the hallway so it will always serve a reminder as we reflect on our days.

I used a dark gray vinyl and some craft paints I had on hand.  After painting my board a creamy white, I used my Silhouette to create the words in a variety of fun fonts to help each word stand out.  I placed it on the board, slight off center.  This allowed me to add some color with a simple dry-brush technique using blue, green and gray.

 

It still needed a little something so I decided to put a banner across the top.  I found a fun chevron card stock in my stash with just the right blues and greens.  I used the Silhouette again to cut out a bunch of 1" circles.  I then pulled out the sewing machine and quickly sewed the circles together.  Gluing the end circles in place the banner was perfect.

I love the reminder for the kids (and for me too - as we all can use a little encouragement).

Back to School: Teacher Gift

We recently had our "meet the teacher" night, gearing up for the first day of school.  In addition to bringing the plethora of school supplies needed for each of my kids, I wanted to give their teachers something special for them.

Last week I saw this great printable from Skip to My Lou (one of my favorite craft blogs).  I really liked that it was a gift from ME and not the kids.  I enjoy spending time volunteering at my children's school and want their new teachers to know that I am available to help in any way needed. This is one of the many blessings of being a stay at home mom with a flexible schedule.

Living in Arizona, I decided that lotion would be a nice touch.  I printed and cut out the tags and grabbed a couple of bottles of lotion from my coupon stash.  I have hoarded some fun printed card stock packs from Michael's recently.  In addition to plain colors, they have started carrying some very fun prints.  This particular pack was colorful chevrons reminiscent of Missoni.  I loved it.  I used the sheet that was mostly teal with the design only at the bottom.  I adhered the tag to the card stock and cut a hole at the top to go around the lotion bottle.

Volunteering at school is something that is so rewarding.  I am blessed with the time to spend helping out at school as I know working parents are not afforded. I know the teachers appreciate it too.  It is so wonderful to spend time helping young readers and kids who struggle with their math facts.  That small group and one-on-one time can make all the difference for some kids.  I have also spent time in the classroom helping with center work and assisting the teacher who can't be everywhere when the kids are working on independent projects.

We are all looking forward to another amazing school year.

Back to School: Homework Station

Day two of getting ready to head back to school.  Today I am sharing how I put together a simple homework station with the goal of keeping us organized.

Our kids are young enough yet that I still have them sit at the kitchen table after school to do their homework. One of the big frustrations I had from last year is that we could NEVER find a sharp pencil or other supplies needed to complete their work.

I had the perfect thing to create this station - a picnic organizer that I picked up at Target a few years ago in their summer section.  It is designed to hold utensils, plates and napkins but the compartments were perfect for notebooks, paper, pencils, markers, etc.

Using my Silhouette, I cut out some vinyl letters to remind the kids that the items in this bucket are to be used for homework.  I don't know about you, but everything I own gets "stolen" by the kids and hauled upstairs to their bedrooms, never to be seen again.  The kids know that these items may NEVER be removed from the bucket unless being utilized for homework!  I will have to let you know how that goes!  hee hee!

This year when doing our supply shopping, I decided to pick up extra supplies to put in our homework station.  With elementary age kids, the supplies I have included are:

• pencils (only Ticonderoga - they are the best)
• markers
• colored pencils
• crayons (only Crayola - again, the best)
• highlighters
• ruler
• school glue & glue sticks (Elmers - the best)
• index cards (to make flash cards)
• wide ruled loose leaf paper
• pencil sharpener
• scissors

I will not be surprised if I need to add a few things once school starts.  As I typed this I thought of scissors.  I will need to head to the store this week and pick up a couple of those.

Now if I can just get the kids to sit down after school and do their homework without whining!  Wish me luck!

Back to School: Water Bottles

School starts this week for us (doing the happy dance)!  It is hot and dry in Arizona so our school requires each student to bring a water bottle everyday.  I love this about our school.  Well, with all those kids there are bound to be duplicate water bottles.  Face it, we all shop at Target and the options are limited!

These are the bottles I chose for this year - actually the same style we used last year.  I love these bottles by Embark because the lid is tethered and therefore can't be lost.  I also love the wide mouth which allows for super easy cleaning.  It is also really easy to fill with ice in the morning, rather than struggling to push large cubes through a small hole!  We are a busy family, I don't have time for that!


To make sure that we don't lose our water bottles, I always try to make them easy to spot and differentiate them from everyone else.  This year I decided to use my Silhouette machine to put the kids names on them.  It was quick, easy and the kids love the results.

Just a few more projects and we are going to be ready for school!

Cherry Chipotle Dr. Pepper BBQ Sauce

 I love going to a BBQ!  Who doesn't really!?!  Great food, fun friends and did I mention, great food!  We were invited  to a friends house on the 4th so I decided to make some BBQ ribs that I had in the freezer from a recent sale!

I personally like a sweet barbecue sauce.  I remembered a sauce that I had made a year ago but I couldn't find the recipe anywhere....on-line or in my recipe files.  Of course, that never stops me.  I decided to whip up my own recipe.  And I must say, it turned out spectacular. 

I am really in to creating sauces, salsas and dips lately.  They are so versatile and can totally change a meal from boring to spectacular.  While this sauce was spectacular on our ribs, I can't wait to try it with chicken, pulled pork or even steak.  I have an idea to turn it in to a dip or spread too (consider that recipe coming soon).

I knew that the recipe I had used in the past used canned cherries and chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, so that is where I started.  

As a general rule, barbecue sauces consist of an acid, spice and sugar.  With that I in mind I developed a sweet, fruity and tart sauce with a subtle, smoky heat on the back side.  I love giving sauces a unique depth of flavor that progresses as you eat it.  Here is the recipe I came up with...

CHERRY CHIPOTLE DR. PEPPER BBQ SAUCE

4    cans Sweet or Tart Pitted Cherries with liquid

1   7oz can Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce

2    cups Ketchup

2    cups Dr. Pepper

1   cup Apple Cider Vinegar

½  cup Lemon Juice

1   cup Brown Sugar

3   Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

2   Tbsp Cocoa Powder

1   Tbsp Finely Chopped Garlic

1   Tbsp Nutmeg

1   tsp Cloves

1   tsp Cumin

Bring to a boil.  Turn down to a medium simmer until the liquid has reduced by half, stirring occasionally.  Liquid should have a thick syrup quality that richly coats the back of a spoon.  Using an immersion blender, purée the sauce until all cherries and peppers have been combined into the sauce. 

  

If you do not have an immersion blender, get one!  They rock!  Otherwise, you can use a regular blender.  Since you are blending a HOT liquid, only fill the blender half full (or less) and hold the lid on with a dish towel. The hot sauce can burn you if it splatters so proceed with caution.

This sauce can be canned by placing in jars with ¼” head room.  Using a water bath, process for 20 minutes. The recipe made 12 half pint jars.  {Friends - you know who you are - these jars have your names on them!}

 

For the BBQ today, I made some ribs in the slow cooker - low and slow all day - and then through them on the grill with some of the BBQ sauce.

The ribs were amazing.  They melted off the bones and the sauce was a huge hit.  Just the right amount of sweet and heat.  I should have brought more jars with me to the party!!

Mmmmm, mmmmm good!