Our Little Firecracker is 5!

We had a sweet time celebrating Jonathan's 5th birthday on the 5th of July.

iPhone Hack: Video Display Using Ponytail Holders and Console!

It may not seem like a big deal to some but I'm sure there is someone out there who could use this hack! Let me begin by explaining that I am only posting this because I searched and searched for something like this and came up with nothing. We don't have an iPad, portable DVD player or Kindle. When we decided to take a 2000 mile road trip with the boys I packed lots of toys and coloring books, but I knew that they would most likely get tired of those and our ride would be much more peaceful if we could let them watch videos. So, when the road got rough (boys arguing, crying, etc.) I held the phone for them to see while they watched Verizon Fios. Not ideal... Anyway, I was trying to think of a way to stand the phone on the console (I used a box and some other ideas that failed.) Then my husband asked if I could open the console and attach it some way. Two ponytail holders worked perfectly, once I hooked them onto the console latch.
We have a 2014 Corolla and I'm sharing that because this hack may not work for all makes of cars.
With the console in the upright position, and two ponytail holders, we had a hands-free video display!
I love that I can plug the phone into our car via USB and the sound goes through the stereo. It worked perfectly. and it was cool trying to McGyver something out of nothing.

DIY Stone Path

We wanted to make our front yard a little less wasteland-ish and more welcoming, but have little to no extra money for little things like that to make us happy. :( After a bit of Pinterest-surfing we decided to make a path from the driveway to the front door. We always cut across the grass there anyway and our grass is atrocious...less grass is good.

We took an afternoon and dug up an old stone pathway on the side of our house that we never used. The rocks just got in the way of the gate and most of them were almost completely covered up with soil and debris... ugly. We just used a shovel and lifted them out one by one, bringing them to the front yard. These rocks turned out to be a blessing because when they're cleaned up, are attractive and... they're free. :) We took a look at how many we had in order to figure out how long the path should be and where it should lay. The final decision was pretty easy. We wanted it to line up with where we park the car often and we wanted it to lead one to the front door.

The hardest part is putting all of the pieces together to make an attractive path. After trying to work together on this (and failing) I gave up and let my husband figure it out. I'm glad I did, because he did a superb job. I love it! This is the design he made:

Stone Path covered in Texas snow. 

We just left it as is for several months- no time, no money, no babysitter (cannot leave our pre-schooler and toddler alone for five minutes!) The grass and weeds grew up in between the stones and started to cover them. Ugh. Finally, my husband was able to get a trailer-load of crushed granite. He picked all of the stones up, cut out the sod, leveled the dirt and laid down weed cloth. Then, he began shoveling the granite onto the path. When it was time to put the stones back, this is where it got tricky. He took pictures ahead of time and laid the stones aside strategically but those rocks just all looked the same and we could not recreate the first design. After much aggravation, he finally made a new design. The crushed granite improves the look, don't ya think? That trailer-load only cost about $35. We are not finished filling it in yet because we are trying to figure out what to edge the path with. We have a bunch of bricks that were free and leftover from a project. I say free is great and the bricks will do, but my husband wants to try out other options.

Stone Path with crushed granite.

I'm glad he wasn't satisfied with the bricks because the perfect stones to line the path were hidden in the tall, grass around an overgrown flower bed in the back yard all along. We don't quite have enough to line the whole path but it really makes the whole thing look nice. Nobody in our neighborhood has a path similar to rhis. Either we're on the cutting edge or in a time warp. But who cares? We like it, use it everyday, and it makes our yard look like prettier.

There's a pesky cat in the 'hood who likes to use our front yard as a litter box. When you stepped outside, the smell of cat urine assaulted the nose! I decided to clean out the flower beds and put the crushed granite in place of the mulch. There was an overgrown and diseased rosebush in this bed and it had to go. (Very sad that it became diseased because when we first moved in, it was full and had lovely blooms.) I got a shovel and some trimmers and got to work. I raked out the debris and filled the bed with the granite. We used a dolly to move a big planter filled with zinnias, cockscomb and coleus from the backyard to the front and set it right on top of the granite. My husband is a science dude and loves to collect rocks and fossils. He had a bunch of these white stones scattered about so I piled them all up and placed a wrought-iron Texas in the middle. We never could find the right spot for the Texas thing but now I think this will be it's home for a while. The granite doesn't float away with rain. It stays put and looks great. Wish I had a "before" picture...

Flower bed filled with crushed granite, potted plants,
pile of stones and a Texas symbol.

Jonathan's Fourth!

Jonathan turned four on July 5th so we had a red, white and blue celebration! Good times!

Music Stand Pocket

I made this and posted it on Pinterest a few years ago... when I was new to pinning... so I didn't know how to link to my blog or any of that. Then, I forgot about it.  Searching on Pinterest tonight for elementary music classroom decor ideas, I saw my creation on this blog! It feels good to know that I had a good idea!
I am now going to attempt to explain how I made it.

All it took was some hot glue and a little bit of sewing.
(Honestly, this was a botched pillow slip cover turned music stand pocket!) I love reinventing things and giving them new purpose.

I needed some storage for my remotes, markers, etc.  I am a bit impatient when it comes to crafting, so I didn't really measure anything or take pictures as I created. I just went with it!

This music stand pocket looks and works similarly to a nail apron. (It ties in the back.)

You'll need:
Fabric (width- about the same as a music stand; length- depends on how deep you want your pocket, mine is about as deep as a pencil then multiply that times 3... sorry, again, I didn't measure... dang it!)
Sewing machine and thread
Hot glue gun
Iron
Pencil or pen for measuring the pen pocket

First I folded the fabric into three equal sections. You could use a pencil or pen as a guide to how deep you want your pocket to be. Trim away fabric to make it just the right length/depth.

Then, I cut one third off, to save for making the pocket later, and left the remaining two-thirds folded in half with the patterned side facing out. I trimmed the ends of the fabric to the width of the music stand. After I had trimmed to the size I wanted, I hemmed the edges (iron the hems, then hot glue or sew).

Next, I set to work on the fabric that I had put aside earlier for the pocket, cutting it slightly shorter than the width of the music stand, to be the front of the pocket. Iron hems, then hot glue or sew.

The last thing to cut were two identical, long, thin strips to be the ties. These can be a little longer than your music stand measurements. I would suggest laying them on top of the apron and adding a few inches so they will be long enough making them easy to tie. (I made mine too short and it was a challenge to tie.) Fold edges under, iron, then glue the hems.

Piece it together and sew or hot glue the ties in place on the top edges.

For a finishing touch, I made a pencil pocket by sewing a straight line, near the right edge, all the way from bottom to top.

And there you have it- a functional, cute, easy to make pocket for your music stand!
 Please feel free to share with other music educators.

I would love to see photos or your creations! Find me on Twitter @JenSings79.

Rustic Sign: Papa's Shop

A cool sign we made for my dad's workshop using cedar pickets and paint. It looks great and Papa loves it! 

Superman and Graffiti

Jonathan shows the I Love You sign to dad who is way over there. :)

 I don't know if this art is PG or not... I think it says "thief"... but I thought it was a neat backdrop for a cool kid like Jon-Jon!

Halloween Fun

Here we are as Rosie the Riveter, Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, and Tick-Tock croc!

Ryan's 2nd Down!

Hard to believe, but it's true! Our little Ry-guy turned two. He and his brother (and his dad for that matter) love to cheer on the Cowboys and since they were playing in the play-off game on the same day as our little one's birthday, we declared it to be a football birthday party: Ryan's 2nd Down!

 Peanut Butter Dip found on Pinterest

Football shaped cake (made by baking in a rectangular pan, then let it cool, turn it out and trim off the corners with a knife. Frosting the cake was tricky... crumbs.)

 Had to get the Cowboy cupcakes because I knew the boys would like the rings!

 Isn't he adorable?!

 Big brother stepped in to blow out the candle after Ryan's unsuccessful attempts.

We sure do love you, Ryan!
You make us laugh and smile everyday. You're so easy going and a delight to be around. Strangers stop us to tell us how cute you are and we agree completely! Jonathan loves playing with you and helping you.
Some of your favorites:
Favorite food: cereal, beans, cheese, fruit, ham, pretzels (you are not a picky eater!)
Favorite candy: chocolate and suckers
Favorite toy: (changes daily) but recently Tweety or Woodstock
Favorite clothing: shoes
Favorite person: Daddy
Favorite activity: painting, playing outside
Favorite book: Naked!
You can take off your own diaper, you're just about ready to potty train!
You can say a ton of new words.
You cry for Daddy when he's not around by saying "My Daddy!"
You like to go for rides in the car but hate being in your car seat. You say, "I'm stuck! Ow-ie!"
We pray you will grow strong, healthy and even sweeter in the coming year.
Love you very much,
Mommy and Daddy

Christmas Crafts: Chalkboard Pizza Pans

I made these chalkboard/magnet boards for my nieces and a couple of my sisters for Christmas. 

Materials: Pizza Pans

Chalkboard paint and brush

White craft paint (Wal-Mart)

Ribbon and faux flowers

hot glue gun

magnets

chalk

 The first one is for my niece who is a daycare teacher. I thought she could hang it in her classroom or on her door and add magnets to make it a message board for students or parents to see.

 This one is for my high school aged niece who is very into fashion and taking lots of selfies. ;) I thought she could use this in her bedroom or bathroom as a make-up holder. I gave her magnets to attach to her eyeshadow, mascara, etc.  She liked it! and uses it!

 The last two are countdown to Christmas chalkboards that I gave to my sisters who both have little ones at home. These were pretty easy to make. I scuffed up the pans first with sandpaper, wiped it clean, painted it with two coats of chalkboard paint. For the crown and the reindeer, I just went online to Google images, found ones I liked, sized them and printed them out. I then rubbed chalk all over the back of the paper and traced the shape with the non-brush side of my craft paintbrush. The chalk left the outline on the pan and I just filled it in with the white paint using a small craft paintbrush. I used the same technique for the letters. Hot-glued the ribbon in place, hot-glued a loop of ribbon to the back to act as a hanger and voila! The whole project took me about two evenings to complete and I think they are so cute!

Laundry Room Shelves from Reclaimed Lumber

Our laundry room is tiny and serves as the entrance to our home if you're coming in through the garage. The space was pretty blank... no shelves or cabinets or anything like that. We ran into the problem of having nowhere to put our laundry baskets but on the floor and tripped over them every time we walked through. And the corners of the tiny room were stacked with stuff that couldn't go in the house but couldn't go in the garage either. My husband and I came up with a solution and made these shelves from reclaimed lumber. We measured, cut, sanded and installed in one afternoon (while the children watched a little too much T.V.) Didn't cost us a thing but time. We already had the tools and materials at hand. I love how they came out and I am proud that we made them without spending a dime. So much better!!!

                                       

The other side is where the drier lives and now the drying rack does as well. 

Old lumber from someone's deck patio re-purposed into laundry room shelving.

We had enough lumber left over to make a little soap shelf as well.