Making the most of the gym..

When we arrived here in Cali I knew one of the first things I wanted to do was join the YMCA. I wanted a place to take the kids to the pool, a place for me to work out, and bonus is that it has a daycare that I can take The Fish to for two hours a day while I work out. At first I wasn't using up the full two hours because well, I needed to get back into shape. It just so happens that our gym requires you to carry a gym towel with you at all times. Well the crafty person in me was getting bored with my plain jane hand towels so I decided to get creative and here is what I came up with.



Aren't they cute?? My friend Alicia sent me a set a while back with a knitting swap package and I LOVE them. I use the ones she made in my kitchen, but these will be great for the gym. Just a set of bar mop towels (100% cotton) with some fabric scraps sewn on to add cuteness! And because I just couldn't stop there, I also made a flax seed heat pad for the body aches after the gym!



So now when I am burning 1000 calories a day I will do it in style...or at least my towel will have style!

4th of July Wreath

Remember this from last year????



It still looks just as awesome on the door this year, thought I would share it for all the followers who missed it last time around. I am loving it this year just the same as last! Looks great for 4th of July or any other patriotic holidays as well.

What has been taking up my time...

Over the past week and a half I have had a ton of stuff to do with raffle cans being the biggest project that HAD to get done. The ladies at the school saw the teacher appreciation gifts I brought in during teacher appreciation week and came looking for me to ask if I would do raffle cans. Silly me said "OK", 17 raffle cans later I was totally regretting that answer. I am really glad I was able to help and think they turned out GREAT, but it was a lot of work and a lot of staying up til 1 am to get them done on time. So here they are in all their glory! (at least 6 of them) I am really sad I didn't get a picture of all 17, but I was tired and the bed was calling me.

There were made from the huge peach cans from the school cafeteria, construction paper, my cricut, fabric and tape, lots and lots of tape! If you have any questions on how I did them let me know! Each of the 17 places that donated items to be raffled off had a can and you could place your tickets in the can of your choosing. The carnival had a great turn out and lots of fun was had by all!

I can't believe I am posting this...

I have a huge issue with play dough. I don't like it. AT. ALL. It gets in the carpet, it gets in the wood cracks on the table, it dries up and makes a HUGE MESS. I have never liked it, EVER. But I am realizing that it may just be in important thing in my son's life so I am pushing aside my disdain for it and decided to make him some play dough to play with. His speech therapist thinks it will be beneficial in his therapy for learning colors, shapes, how to use scissors and many other things.

So on Saturday after going to see Elmo I decided that the girls and I would make 6 different colors of play dough for him to use during the week. And of course the girls were super excited to make play dough that was actually going to stay at home. I have made it many other times but normally we shipped it off to preschool classes or other friends, but never did it remain in our home to be played with. I know, I know, I have issues.

So on to the real plan at hand, teaching all of you how to make your own play dough. Ky Guy's day care provider gave me a recipe for Kool-Aid Play Dough many many many years ago and it has always been my go to recipe. I LOVE the texture, the smell, and well just about everything about it.

Kool-Aid Play Dough Recipe

1/2 cup Salt

2 cups Water

2 tbs vegetable oil

2.5-3 Cups Flour

2 tbs Alum (found near the spices)

2 packages of Kool-Aid in any flavor

Boil water and salt in a pot until salt is dissolved. While water and salt are beginning to boil combine 2.5 cups of flour, alum and Kool-Aid packages. Once water has come to a boil add vegetable oil and combine with flour mixture. Stir with spoon until well combine. Once the mixture is at a temperature that you can handle without burning your hands begin to knead the dough, adding remaining 1/2 cup of flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Be careful not to add to much flour as it will make your play dough dry out way to fast.

These are the six colors we ended up with.

#1 Purple = Grape Kool-Aid

#2 Yellow = Lemonaid Kool-Aid + yellow food coloring

#3 Hot Pink = Cherry Kool-Aid

#4 Red = Pink Lemonaid Kool-Aid + red food coloring

#5 Orange = Orange Kool-Aid

#6 Blue = Berry Blue Kool-Aid

The other day I found these great containers at the dollar store and picked them up knowing I was going to make play dough in the near future, they turned out working great for 1/2 batch and because I planned on giving 1/2 of each batch away it was perfect...except for the fact that I didn't buy enough so I put 1/2 in the containers and 1/2 in a Ziploc bag, both are great for storage!

After we got done making the play dough the girls, The Fish and I walked to Joann Fabrics with my 40% off coupon and found this great set of cookie cutters, prefect for our new play dough. With coupon the set was $9, I found it by the baking supplies.

We returned home and set up a table outside and the kids played for hours! I had some finish work to do on their picnic table so I was able to work on that while they played and we all enjoyed a great afternoon outside. The Hubs and Ky Guy were off fishing so it was a fun way to spend our afternoon without them.

Despite what the pictures show The Fish really did LOVE playing with play dough he was just avoiding the camera...silly boy!

I shared my project on

The DIY Show Off Parade

And

Making the World Cuter Monday

And

With Today's Creative Blog

Argyle Boy.....or GIRL!

I was so excited when I saw this pattern because I had been wanting to make the girls matching argyle hats for some time. I did change the ribbing on the bottom from 3X1 to 2X2 because well...I prefer 2X2 but it is adorable none the less! I am still working on the second hat and will post pictures when I get it done but I just had to show it off!



And here is one with Bentley, our newest family member, who just had to model with his big sis!