Calming Sensory Jar

I decided to jump on the bandwagon & make the kids a calming sensory jar.  Their spats have been getting particularly difficult to diffuse lately.  Maybe because they're both always right HAHA. I grabbed the stuff I needed to make it from Walmart last night & they helped make it.  I chose blue glitter because it is somewhat neutral.  Kade likes Blue and Kyleigh says it looks like Elsa blue.

I didn't take any pictures of the process but it's fairly easy to do.

What You Need:

1/2 Bottle Glitter Glue (we used a no-name brand)

1 vial of glitter from the crafts section (we used a good amount per kids' request)

1 jar (we can, so we keep mason jars on hand)

hot tap water

**Optional: Food Coloring (we didn't use any)

First, put the half bottle of glitter glue in the bottom of your jar. Then put the hot tap water in.  Sometimes the glue won't break up good if the water isn't hot enough, so get it HOT. Then, dump your desired amount of glitter into the jar.  Make sure the lid is secure.  We screwed our lid on tight.  You could also super glue the lid on if you'd feel better.  Shake the jar and try to break up the glue.  Final Step:: ENJOY!! When the kids have a spat or a tantrum, sit them down with this and make them sit and watch until all of the glitter has fallen to the bottom. Can take up to 2-5 minutes.

I'm telling you Moms, this is therapeutic for us as well!! I've enjoyed this one and so have the kids!!

My First Valance (Hand-Sewn)

This weekend, I finally got fabric to make my master bedroom and master bath curtains and valance.  We have yet to paint the rooms, but the light in the mornings on weekends is just a bit much.  This is a quick tutorial on how to sew a valance.  I had to hand sew this because I have yet to fix my sewing machine. 

First, measure your window & add an additional 15" to the width of your curtain.  You will also want this piece of fabric to be 20" long.  Trim the fabric to this size and press and pin a 1/2" seam along the bottom and the sides of the panel.  On the top, you will want to fold your fabric 3" over.  You will place your first seam of your rod pocket here.  Then, measure down 1 and a half inch from the very top of the panel and sew the other seam for the rod pocket.  

My Fabric of Choice

Sewing the seams.

Finished Product. Again, the color will be changed soon!

General Tso's Chicken...QUICK & EASY!!

One of our absolute FAVORITE meals is General Tso's Chicken with rice and veggies.  It's also one of our splurges as far as calories and price.  I recently decided to make it at home.  This recipe is simple & easy to make and clean up after.  This had my husband running up the hall to investigate the source of the smell ;)

Ingredients::

1 lb chicken breast cut into small nuggets

1-2 cups of flour (for dredging)

2 tbsp. EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup pineapple juice

1/4 cup white distilled vinegar

1 tbsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tbsp. cornstarch, mixed with 3 tbsp. water

Instructions::

Heat oil first, on medium heat.  Dredge chicken in flour and cayenne, fry in oil until golden brown and crispy. Drain excess oil.  While your chicken is cooking, get your sauce mixture going (sugar, soy sauce, pineapple juice, vinegar, garlic & ginger), heat this mixture on a lower setting. When sauce is smooth and well-mixed, add cornstarch mixture SLOWLY and stir until you reach your desired thickness.  Then pour the mixture over your chicken.  Serve with your favorite veggies and rice.  I used Squash and Zucchini from last summer's garden, along with Broccoli and Basmati rice. 

Kids Rooms are DONE!!

We FINALLY got the kids' rooms done.  We moved in last February after our floors were done.  And we decided to put painting off until we were settled in.  We decided that Christmas was THE perfect time to do it.  Everything is magical, suprises abound & the kids were BOTH SO appreciative for their newly painted rooms.

Kyleigh's room was a horrible Pepto-pink with a wallpaper accent wall. If you check out one of my previous posts, you'll see JUST how awful it was.  When we thought we had a house the previous year, I had picked out a beautiful color called Pre-dawn Sky for her.  It's a poppy color that just fits my daughter's personality.  Here is the end result (ALONG with her IKEA Trofast organizer that has simplified life just a tad.)

Kade's room was just a flat, dull, boring white.  Which is the absolute complete opposite of my entertainer of a boy. He chose a "creeper" green (you Minecraft parents & peeps know what I'm talking about!) I don't have  a before picture but it's easy to imagine a blank room. And here is the end result of his room.

I have SO many more plans for this house.  And hopefully, many more posts showing off things we've accomplished due to many hours of Pinteresting & HGTV binging.  Thank you for reading!! 

DIY Lego Table from Ikea Lack

My babies have been SO into Legos for a while.  My son is a major Minecraft fanatic and my daughter had sweet-talked her Mimi into buying her the Elsa Ice Castle Lego set. With several sets on their way to our house, I started Googling to see how pricey Lego tables can run you.  RIDICULOUS!! Some of the cheaper ones were more expensive than making my own from Ikea would be.  I decided to buy two Ikea Lack tables. The white one for my daughter was on sale for $7.99 and my son's green one was $9.99.  Shipping ran me $10.  I got on Amazon & found the gray 48x48 Lego Classic Baseplates for $14.99 with free shipping with my Prime account.  I read that the Gorilla Wood Glue would be my best bet at getting the baseplates to stick to the table.  This ran me $4 at Walmart.  It took all of 5 minutes to glue the baseplates on and I let them dry overnight.  Screwing the legs into the tables took the longest amount of time.  I spent roughly $63 on the supplies and a whopping total of about 40 minutes making both tables.  The kids were SO surprised Christmas morning and love them already.  They've been put to the test and when you use the Lego pry tool, the baseplates do not budge or show any signs of loosening from the table top.  I highly recommend making one if your kids are into Legos and you don't want to spend a small fortune!!

Tomoson Review

I tried using Tomoson a few months back.  I was emailed by a fellow blogger and invited to join and told of what a great opportunity it would be to make some money on the side.  I mean what mama couldn't use a few extra dollars?? Especially at Christmas at that!?!? 

I signed up and quickly started applying to different promotions.  I got invited to a few that weren't paid opportunities.  I'm guessing this was because I was a newbie.  Although maybe there aren't any where you make money.  I wouldn't know.  I didn't make it that far.  

I ran into a few bumps in the road with the promotion codes being provided by my sellers.  Which then led to me receiving my products later than I'd expected.  GREAT products by the way.  However, being behind on the dates I was to review by was an issue.  I reviewed my products on my blog & had them verified (or so I thought via the website.)  Then the next week, I tried to log in to add some new promos to my listing.  I was informed that my account was suspended for 0% activity.  

I'm not saying that they are a scam site.  I have no idea.  But I was given NO chance to find out otherwise.  Also, their communication is slack.  I sent several emails trying to see about getting my account reactivated.  No such luck.  I received an email this past week that was supposedly forwarded to another department to be reviewed for reactivation.  

I would steer clear of this site if you are looking for a way to make some money quick.  Sites like Opinion Outpost and NCP are a guaranteed way!! 

Wallpaper Removal Made Easy!!

I don't have many pictures of my daughter's room at our new house showing the hideous wallpaper, but now I've got a few with some of it gone.  We decided to paint the kids' rooms for Christmas and the wallpaper had to go.  The zebra pattern seemed to burn my eyes everytime I stepped in Kyleigh's room.  I made a little concoction in a $0.97 spray bottle from Walmart and it started to peel away.  

I added about 1/3 of the bottle full of Vinegar.  Just plain, white, distilled Vinegar.  And the rest of the bottle was filled with boiling water (by a funnel...burns on the hands are no joke.)  I sprayed it on the walls and let it set and do it's magic for about 15 minutes.  My kids absolutely loved peeling and trashing the wallpaper.  It took about an hour and fifteen minutes due to having to refill the bottle three times and tend to kids in between.  But overall was fairly easy.  I still have a few pieces left that I couldn't get to due to our school work and playtime outside.  Along with my daughter's monogram in the way.  Below are pictures of the process.  Enjoy and good luck to any others attempting to remove this pesky mess!!