Soooo....WhAt IS it???

That's what I first thought when I saw this....it's GLITTER playdough! Don't you think the little girls would go CrAzY for this?? You can find the recipe at Just Deanna.....or I posted it below!

4 C all purpose flour

2 C non-iodized salt

4 C water

8 tsp cream of tartar

4 tbsp cooking oil

Cook and stir on med-low until it forms. Careful not to burn. If coloring, mix food coloring in water first. When cooled down, knead dough and put in sealed container.To add glitter just use craft glitter and knead into dough. Keep adding glitter til it is as 'sparkly' as you desire.
This recipe makes a ton. She got 7 individual containers out of less than half.

Tissue Paper Flowers/Pom Poms....

Don't laugh, but I am about to tell you to check out Martha Stewart's website! She has a fabulous tutorial on HOW to create these lovely decorations! I threw a Dinner Party for my students last year and one of the moms made a TON of these to decorate the ceiling. It completely transformed the classroom and the kids LOVED it!! They all wanted to take one home!

Almost Realistic Paper Flowers!!

These flowers looked pretty realistic to me...and not too hard to create! You can find more info on Homemade By Jill....and she will direct you to where you can find AWESOME tutorials on how to do this! I believe this is how she created the flowers for her "Diaper Cake."

Homemade DiApEr Cake

Homemade By Jill created this super-duper CUTE (not edible) diaper cake! What a FUN decoration for a baby shower!! I cannot WAIT to try it out on my next prego friend....or cuz. You never know, they ALL seem to be pregnant right now! Tee, hee!

The Christmas OrNaMeNt Tradition

One Christmas Tradition my family ALWAYS did involved Ornaments. My parents would find ornaments that represented something each child did or accomplished that year. We would open them on Christmas Eve & hang them on the tree. I like the idea of keeping a little book for each of them - to remember exactly WHAT each ornament stood for! A gal over on Errand of Angels blogged about how her family does this tradition...check it out!!

Grocery Clipboard

Anything that can help me stay MORE organized and help with saving money....I am ALL about!! Check out this "Creative Organizing" blog to find out more about this cute clipboard.

My FaVoRiTe Craft Kits from Elle Design

These are a few of my favorite "Craft Kits" from Elle Design. They are ALL reasonably priced...$10 or less. You may have to buy a few more materials for some of them...but none should be going over $15!! I would LOVE to use these for our Craft Club!! Now, if you are NOT into hot pink Christmas Trees....she DOES offer other colors!! Tee, hee!

The SpEcIaL RED Plate..

My family had a tradition growing up of "The Red Plate." Whenever it was someone's birthday...you got to eat your dinner on the red plate! It was lots of fun and gave us "warm fuzzies" inside! I would LOVE to do this tradition in our new little family. I also like the idea of celebrating ANY victories, whether small or big. Getting 100% on a test, remembering to make your bed for a week, getting onto the High School basketball team! One thing I have learned over the years of teaching is that it is EXTREMELY important to give out positive praise! It really does work wonders in children!

Sew Much??

I found this apron on Elle Design Cottage....I still need to find out WHERE she got this pattern! I am not by any means a "seamstress" but I do have a lovely sewing machine that I have not broken in.....grrr...so this could be a FUN project to get me in the "Sewing Spirit."

Thanksgiving Treat

This adorable "Blessing Mix" come packaged with a custom-made scrapbooked turkey! It could be a fun gift for friends & family...OR...this could also be a cute art project with kids. Click here to get her recipe.

Picture Perfect!!

What a FUN wreath to make!! I showed Lisa & we are totally going to do a mini-craft together! It looks pretty simple & inexpensive! Just purchase a wreath, some ribbon, & scrapbook paper at your local craft store...photoshop & then print some of your favorite pictures of your family...and then assemble. DAH-LING!! I found the idea here.

"Shoes Off Please"

Who out there is a fan of guests....and husbands....and chilluns...taking off their shoes when they come in the house?? I TOTALLY am!! I was raised that way...and I loved that our house always looked nice! I always thought it was tacky to ASK guests to remove shoes...so I just let them notice our shoeless feet and then they would hopefully figure it out...{well, some just never catch on...} Wink, wink!! I came across this adorable way to ask guest to remove their shoes. I am going to take a picture of my nieces & nephew's feet over Thanksgiving and copy this idea!! I also saw some cute wooden crates at JoAnn's that were on sale....I am going to buy one, paint it black & then hang the frame of the kid's bare feet on it with ribbon! I just might do it for the back door as well!! :)

"Thankful" Activities for Thanksgiving

In my "wanderings" thru "Blog-Land"...I came across this great idea for families with younger children. If you would like to do a Thanksgiving Advent Calendar - you can count down with your children by doing "thankful" activities each day. Go here to see the great list of activities. I will have to remember this one!!

HoLy HaNnAh!!!!

Ok....now THIS is the future Craft Room for me! Go to this link and check out her room. She goes into detail...and is VERY helpful in explaining how she organizes everything. I was pretty impressed!

Thanksgiving Kids Craft

This will be cute craft to do with my future kids...tee, hee! DEFINITELY lookin' down the road, huh! I love that it tells a little story...there are also a few other crafts & activities to do! GREAT website!

ThAnKsGiViNg DiNnEr

I read on another blog that Saving Dinner has a complete Thanksgiving menu that gives you the shopping list, recipes, timeline and tips. All the planning has been done for us...I haven't checked it out yet...since Jamie & I haven't had to host our OWN Thanksgiving Dinner yet....but when we DO have to do that - I will know where to go!! Here's the link to a FREE ThAnKsGiViNg PlAnNeR!! Yeah for free stuff, huh!!

Paper Sack Crafts...

I mentioned earlier that my class this year enjoys scrapbooking...go figure... SO - I have been keeping my eyes open for fun & simple ideas that the kids can easily create. I found these adorable bags! SO cute!!

Simple Thanksgiving Decor

I also found this fun little idea on Heartland Paper's blog! It's a simple sheet of Karen Foster paper, wrapped around some wheat and tied with a bow. Add some leaves cut from card stock and distressed and you have this fun table setting. It could also be set on a mantle or shelf. I love the simplicity of it...wheat, paper, and ribbon....and you have a LoVeLy centerpiece for your table!

Then - I thought these Paper Mache Pumpkins were fun! Just cover them with any of you favorite fall paper and mod podge. Add leaves, ribbon, beads or other embellishments. You can do them in any color and style you like.

Fun Christmas Countdown Advent Calendar

I can't remember where I first saw this kind of advent calendar....but when I saw that our local Heartland Paper was offering kits to make them...I jumped on the offer! Each piece holds a special treat for someone to open each day. Who would've thought you could make something SO fun out of a muffin tin?!?

Darling ChRiStMaS Decor

This is a VERY easy-to-make Christmas Decoration. It is definitely one that I will be doing! Click here for a PDF with directions, pictures, and patterns.

FUN Ideas for Thanksgiving Place Cards

Are you trying to figure out a fun and creative way to display everyone's names this Thanksgiving? Well, Tip Junkie has gathered a bunch of ideas...plenty to choose from!! My two favorites would be the one above AND the cute Mayflower boats! So darling...and kids would LOVE them!

Roses From Maple Leaves???

I teach school and I am always on the look-out for cute projects I can do with my students. I have already dabbled in scrapbooking with these kids...and have discovered that the majority of them (yes, even the boys!!) have a knack for it! I am hoping it's not too late in the year to try this project with them! (Are all of the leaves gone??) There are leaves EVERYWHERE on our school's playground...now tomorrow I will just have to play detective and find out what kind of leaves they are. Here is the tutorial for this fun project!!

Super Cute "Family Christmas Letter"

I am TOTALLY going to do this! What an adorable way to tell people all about a year in the life of your family! You can get more details here! Go to that link and then look at the card up close...this family made the front of the card look like a board game with the squares saying things like, "Courtney's First Girl's Camp - Lose a Turn to Catch Up on Sleep" and "Bowen Gets Glasses - Everything is Clear...Move ahead 3 Spaces."

The inside of the card read, "To all the most important players in our "Game of LIFE", thank you for helping us "collect new memories", for being there for us when we "lose a turn" or when we get to "roll again". We love you and wish you a Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2008. Keep "moving forward". SO - don't be surprised if you open up our Christmas Letter this year....and it looks strangely familiar!! {WINK!}

My FUTURE Craft Room...

So, I have a dream! One day I would like to have a room in our wonderful home in which I would have ANYTHING and EVERYTHING needed to create all of the beautiful items I desire...at my fingertips...it would be my DREAM Craft Room!! I have included a picture above of what that room could possible look like. Do you think my husband would die if he saw this post?? I know, I know...I need to get my food storage in order FIRST...but then after that...

Here is a link to more WONDERFUL pictures of this amazing lady's Craft Room...and what I would like to have one day....

My FIRST Post!!!

Ok...for my FIRST post...I found this great blog called "An Altered State of Mind"...if you click here then you will get to see ALL of the projects that she has been working on! She mostly works with paper. Amazing! I have displayed a few pictures of projects that I really like...including an Easter Basket, a Photo Memory Box, and a School Memory Box, ..and I am sure I will be highlighting some of her other ideas further on down the road. Have fun looking! (Her blog is: http://analteredstate.blogspot.com/)