Homemade Italian Dressing

So simple, so good, so refreshing...

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 T Garlic Powder
2 T Sugar
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt

All ingredients fit perfectly in a pint sized mason jar.

Valentine Hearts with Crayons and Wax Paper

Fun and different to try with the kiddos...

Materials  

Wax Paper

Crayons

Pencil Sharpener

Scissors

Paper (to make heart template)

Newspaper

Utility Knife

Iron/Ironing Board

How We Did It

1.  Mom sliced the paper wrapped around the crayons with a utility knife and remove the paper.  

2.  Use the pencil sharpener to shave crayons of the colors you choose.

3.  Line ironing board with several newspaper pages.  Preheat iron to a low setting.

 4.  Lay down a sheet of wax paper on top of the newspaper.

5.  Sprinkle crayon shavings to one side of the wax paper.

6.  Fold over the wax paper to cover the shavings.

7.  Place several more layers of newspaper on top on the wax paper.

8.  Iron on top on newspaper to melt the crayons and the wax paper to itself.  You can check how things are going periodically.  The wax will leak out the edges and the wax paper will melt, you need to keep notice.

 9.  Set wax paper aside until cooled.

10.  Make a heart template out of any type of paper you have handy.

11.  Have your child trace the template and cut it out.

12.  Hang and enjoy.

Gift Wrap Storage

I LOVE this idea!  Wrapping paper stored at the ceiling of a closet!  I cannot seem to find where I saw it at.  I can't take credit for it though, I've never had a need until I just recently bought a load of Christmas Wrap at 75% off after Christmas.  I have these gift wrap totes and are perfect and we keep them in the rafters in the garage.  Well, it seems that they are too long!  Who knew they made them in all these different lengths!  I never even thought of it tomorrow.

Anyhow...

Materials
Eye Hooks
Rope
Wrapping Paper
Hammer

How I Did It
1.  I used a hammer to get the eye hooks started in the wall and them screwed them in.  I began with 4 hooks but I ended up using five all together because I needed a little extra lift for my heavy, leaning wrapping paper.

2.  I tied rope to my first eye hook and then zig-zagged it and tied it back to the starting hook.  

3.  I loaded on the wrapping paper!

As you can see, I needed an extra lift since I didn't quite have it centered accurately and my paper rolls were so heavy.  Oops, easily rectified tho.

Freezer Slop Bucket

I have been keeping a bucket in the freezer that I pour off fat or extra slop leftover from cooking.  This works much better than trying your luck at sending them down the drain.  Ask anyone that has had to pay a hefty plumber bill because their pipes needed to be snaked out.  =)  When the bucket is full, it can be placed in the trash.  Being frozen leads to less mess in the trash!  

Valentine's Stained Glue Hearts

 

Okay, there aren't really stained glass but they're supposed to look like it.  Any how, saw this idea at www.holiday-crafts-and-creations.com.

Materials

White Elmer's/School Glue

String

Transparent Glass Paint

Curling Ribbon (for hanging)

Staples

How We Did It

1.  We poured some glue into a bowl and dipped lengths of string in the glue

2.  We put a sheet of wax paper on a cookie sheet.  I shaped hearts out of our string and trimmed the excess on top of the wax paper.  I did this without a template underneath.  (The tutorial, see above, I found actually put templates printed out under the wax paper.)

3.  We let these dry overnight.

4.  We took the bottles of glue and filled in our hearts.  Don't worry if you happen to go outside the string, this can be trimmed later.

5.  We let these dry for two days.  You can see below that 1 day wasn't quite long enough.

6.  We took our transparent glass paint that painted our hearts and let dry.  This just took maybe an hour.

7.  We removed (by peeling) our hearts from the wax paper and trimmed excess glue outside the string.  

8.  We attached curling ribbon to the hearts with staples. 

9.  We hung our stained glue hearts to a tension rod behind the molding above the kitchen sink.  

Valentine's Lantern

Helper Boy and I made a Valentine's Lantern with a mason jar and hearts cut out of tissue paper.  

Materials

Tissue Paper

Mod Podge - High Lustre

Mason Jar

Scissors

How We Did It

1.  I took tissue paper and only unfolded it and did not separate the sheets.  There were 8 sheets all together.  

2.  I cut a small rectangle out of the sheets and folded the tissue paper lengthwise and cut out small hearts.  I thought about buying one of those heart punches but thought to myself...I can make cut them myself!  I did just that!

3.  Helper Boy Mod Podge'd the hearts around the jar.

Helper Boy did not want his picture taken.

4.  We let it dry.  (Took about an hour or so.)

5.  I inserted a votive holder with votive.

Viola!

Valentine's Ribbon Wreath

I'm obsessed with ribbon!  How many more ribbon wreaths can I make?  Well, how many holidays do I have left?  =)  

The best part?  This was Christmas ribbon at 75% off!  Looks like Valentine's to me!  The whole wreath only cost me $10!  

Materials

A large variety of ribbon spools (I used 2 wide, 2 medium width and 7 small width spools.)

Heart of round wire wreath form

Scissors

Fray Check (If you are using ribbon that tend to fray.  Check out my Keep Fraying at Bay post.)

How I Did It
1.  Starting with the widest ribbons first, cut ribbon approximately 18-24 inches in length and tie bows around the wreath form spacing the bows equally.  The bows do not need to be perfect.

2.  I continued with medium width ribbon.  This ribbon did not have to be as long as the widest ribbon, approximately 18 inches long.

3.  I continued with the thinnest ribbon.  I cut the polka dot ribbon at 16 inches and tied bows with it to the wreath form.  I cut the solid pink ribbon at 12 inches and just tied those to the wreath form by just tying knots and letting the ends hang.