Braided Celtic Hair Knot

Normally I don't get photos of hair styles we try out at home, either because I don't have time or they turn out that poorly. This time I found one to do on my hair that I love because it's easy and I actually managed to take a decent photo.

I can't seem to find where the how-to photo came from so if anyone knows please let me know so I can give credit where it's due. This is all over Pinterest right now but no one seems to have a link to an actual site.

If you'd like to create this hair-do simply follow the step-by-step photo only instead of small strands of hair, braid the sections first. Secure the braid with clear elastic. Then at the very end pull the last section of hair (e) through one part of the braid it goes over so it will sit under rather than over and fall flat rather than sticking out (see arrow). If you secured the ends of each braid just high enough the elastic should be hidden at the very end of your tied knot.

Snow Cream

Winding down the last of winter here and it got me to thinking about making ice cream using snow. Snow Cream is sort of a winter tradition around these parts, but it is one we'd never tried in our family. I asked a friend for her recipe and the girls and I set about making some yummy snow cream of our own. We made a couple adjustments and it turned out great....Hope you Enjoy our creation.

Snow Cream

1 gallon FRESH snow
1 tsp - 1/2 tbsp Vanilla extract
2 cups milk
1 cup white sugar


If you'd like to make mint snow cream substitute mint extract in place of the vanilla.

 

 

 

 

Mix together the milk, sugar, and vanilla until the sugar is dissolved. If you like a stronger vanilla taste add a little more now.

Then add in the snow, folding it into your mix. It should look like white play-dough when it is done. You don't want it runny since it will start to melt and get creamier as you eat it. If it looks too runny just add more snow.

 

Check out the amazing sparkle the snow creates.

 

 

That's it, dish some up and enjoy!

Global Green USA Green School Makeover Competition Presented by Pureology

WHY SHOULD OUR SCHOOLS BE GREEN?

When a school goes green, children benefit—as well as the environment! Green schools lead to:

• Improved student performance. When children learn in classrooms with natural daylight, improved sound quality and non-toxic building materials such as non-VOC carpets and paints, test scores can improve as much as 20%. Attendance also improves!
• More funds for student resources. When green upgrades are made to a school, water and energy costs can be reduced by as much as 40%. These savings can be channeled back into resources that directly benefit students, such as textbooks, computers and other essentials.
• Reduced carbon footprint. Greening a school significantly reduces carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming.

I feel every child deserves a learning environment that’s safe, comfortable and free of harmful toxins. So many of our schools are old and either have not seen any updates or budgets cause updates to be limited. The Global Green USA Green School Makeover Competition Presented by Pureology will give one school a chance to makes changes and improve their school for generations to come.



Spread the word, enter your school (http://www.pureology.com/greenschools), make change happen!

Valentine Message Clothespins

Every year I dread my kid's class Valentine's Day. They hand out candy and dorky cards that just end up a huge waste in the garbage. I think it's an over commercialized holiday that we all waste way to much money on buying stuff that ends up as garbage. So each year I try to come up with a treat or toy and a delivery method that limits waste so my kids are still a part of the class fun.

This year In steps Pinterest with lots of crazy ideas. Many were more wasteful and expensive than cheap cards. I finally found one that was both cheap and something they might use or keep. Valentine message clothespins. You may have seen them with the painted envelope and little fold out message? So I adapted a bit and came up with my own that cost me practically nothing to make.

First I had to find clothespins since I wasn't about to give up my supply. Walmart sells packs of 100 for just under $3. That (and suckers) was the only thing I bought.

Next, a bingo dotter in red leaves the clothespins with a lovely red stain. Why I have these in my house I am not sure, but they get used all the time for all sorts of crafts.







Then comes the white out and sharpies. Color in a little white rectangle near the opening end of the clothespin to create the envelope shape. Trace around the shape with a sharpie in black. Add inner lines and, using a fine tip sharpie, some dashes to the top envelope fold.

Finally add a little message (to/from can go on the back or top), clip in a sucker and your kids are ready to hand out a cute little treat with no paper waste!

Journaling

Before each of my kids were born I started a journal for each of them. A, my oldest, who is now 10 has two journals. I wish I could say that I write in these everyday but honestly I am actually terrible about getting to these. Instead I take an insane amount of pictures and write notes on our message board so I can write later. I try to write about every milestone, haircut, size change, doctors appointment, and fun or cute thing they do. I'm not sure if it will be of any interest to them when they get older, but I enjoy writing it for them and even reading some things here and there as a younger sibling hits the same age. They are growing up so fast, I just don't want to forget a second of it!

February Blog Hop

Seriously you have no idea how excited I was to get to be a part of this months ScrapbookSteals.com Blog Hop. So much so I convinced them to let me pick up my item at the boutique rather than wait for it in the mail! I was super lucky too because this months fantastic item was Prima Marketing Flowers, and I love working with flowers.

When I picked up my flowers I couldn't wait to get started making something. I received the Prima Calypso Script Hydrangea Tin with Handmade Paper Flowers in Purple. The color is just amazing and the petals have a very realistic texture and hue.

So I dug through all my scrapbooking supplies to narrow down the possibilities and decided on two projects. A simple pressed flower look card and a grapevine wreath for Valentine's.


First the card. I wanted to do something that showed off the simple beauty of these flower petals. They look so real it reminded of how I used to press flowers in books when I was younger. I grabbed some silk leaves, card and glimmer mist in addition to the flowers and set to work. I went with a water stain background on the card by lightly misting the card base with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Spring Violet.

It has a great shine, don't you think?








Glue down a couple silk leaves and a simple grouping of Prima petals and you have a simple pressed flower card. A hand written note inside and this card made it's way to say thank you for Christmas presents from family.

With my first project in the mail it was time to brave the snow (we have several feet of it piled up in our yard now) and gather some grape vines for my wreath. I started wanting to do a bow shape and then changed my mind in favor of a heart for Valentine's Day.

When working with vines or branches of any kind the key is to work quickly but bend slowly. If you take too long the wood will dry and set its shape and if you bend too fast or take too long . . . SNAP! I use pony tail holders and binder clips to hold the vines in shape while they dry out. I used a 28 gauge wire to secure the top (you don't need to use such a fine wire though, it was just what I had on hand in green.)

I glued down a few Imaginisce Bitty Blossoms first, then added on a layer of the Prima flowers, finished off with some wire rosettes. Use a piece of ribbon or more wire to make a hanger and it's done.












These flowers were so much fun to work with that I could have easily come up with a hundred more projects to make.

Don't forget to visit and leave a comment on ALL the Blog Hop Blogs for your chance to win a $20 gift code to ScrapbookSteals.com (deadline to enter 11:59 PM Sunday Feb 3rd MST):

ScrapbookSteals: http://scrapbooksteals.stealnetwork.com/wp/ 

Akiha's Momma Scraps! - Charissa Miller - www.akihasmommascraps.com

Scrap Happens - Catherine Povec - http://tybearsmom.blogspot.com/ 

Grand Diva's Creative Corner - Brenda Ragsdale - http://granddivasscrappyplace.blogspot.com/ 

Chronicles of my crafty life - Abigail Stoops - http://www.scrapbookista.com 

the "Divine" hand - Candice Elliott - http://truedivinehand.blogspot.com/ 

The Other Sink - Abbey Colbert - YOU ARE HERE

Mama's Sanity - Kristina MacKeen - http://mamasanity.blogspot.com YOUR NEXT STOP!