Ok, I admit it... this 'creative' project took me all of... 45 seconds to do!  Which doesn't really reflect well on my 'artistic' ability, but it may be a great time saver and entertaining thing for kids to do!  I saw the idea here, and bought supplies to make a bunch of them.  They would make a neat treat for a birthday party favor or just for your kids to have water fights outside with this summer! 

Supplies Needed:
                                             -4 Rectangle Sponges
              (packs can be found almost anywhere including the dollar store!)
                                               -Plastic Zip-Ties
                                                   (Walmart)
                                                    -Scissors
That's it! Simple, Fun, and Fast!

Cut the sponges into strips of 3-4 the long way, depending on the size.  Make them close to 1" wide.

Put them sponges all together and squeeze them tight in the middle.
Tie them together with a zip-tie as tightly as you can.

  Spread the ends around and make it look somewhat round.  There are so many ways you could use this idea and make them super cute! Like adding a little bath toy onto it and using it for a scrubby in the tub... or making it into a flower type design and use it as a accent on a gift (especially for kids!)... and the list goes on an on!  And since I have been wanting to share this idea and happened to have some PINK sponges on hand... ah ha!  I'll just 'cheat' and do something super easy! I mean, who said the challenge had to be something hard that takes 3 days to finish!?  :)

  I finished it! Yay! :)  I actually DIDN'T end up going with my idea with the picture in my previous post.  I pulled out material I got quite a few months ago that I planned to make a blanket out of and decided to just get that completed!  It's not really just pink... but good enough for me!  So this is my Pink Craft for the Color my World Challenge.

  It's the softest thing EVER... the black and white floral print is that Cuddle material that is just amazing! I plan to make some mini blankies with my extra fabric. This one measures approximately 35" x 43". 

 Now I just need to have 'my girl' so that I can use it! BUT since I don't know if that will happen, I will probably end up giving this as a gift to some sweet little princess.  Unless of course someone here decides that they'd like to buy it. In that case, email me and I'll figure out a price for you! :)

 February is PINK month! Check out our Color Challenge and join us! Here are some of my favorite pink things.

-Please Note: I do not have a daughter, therefore, my selection of pink around this house is limited.  Mostly limited to my craft room in fact! And my box of some day clothes for a girl! :)

  Have to post this one more thing for my white recipes.  Homemade yogurt!! SO yummy... and a frugal way to enjoy a tasty, healthy (??) treat :)

   Another Color Challenge!  This week we had to use a recipe with the color White.  So I thought... and thought... and decided to take the 'easy' way out! :)  I had a lot of baking to do today and started thinking.  What does white make you think of... natural... clean... pure... and this led me to the basic ingredients to nearly every recipe you will find.  Nearly every ingredient is WHITE!  So I decided to summarize these ingredients in their original consistency. 

  I also thought later about all the other things that can be added to this list... eggs... onions... cream cheese... garlic... cheese (some kinds)... potatoes...and so much more!  Isn't it amazing how the combining of many white things creates such YUMMY foods!?  I mean... it helps to add a little of this and that as well... but here are the basics.  It's hard to find a recipe that doesn't call for at least ONE thing white!

  Here are a few of the results of my combining of ingredients today:

   It was SUCH a beautiful day today... and I've noticed from others' blogs from this area that they enjoyed it as well!! I think the sunshine is a great motivator!  I got about 5 times as much done today as normal.  I'll use that excuse anyways! :)
   And, thank you, Mom, for all you taught me!  I believe all of these recipes are yours!  For those of you who haven't experienced it, my  Mother's cooking is THE greatest! For those of you who have, you know it! :)
   Also, I'm wondering if any of you have a good whole wheat bread recipe.  I'd like to learn to make some healthier bread, as I know white isn't the greatest for you and I LOVE bread!! Email me if you do!

  So the goal for this week's color theme was to use the color white in an unusual way.  I was having a little lack of originality going on, so I pretty much just did another craft, but still could be considered a creative perspective on the color. (?) :)  I am currently (yes... still!!) in the process of funkifying (yeah I made that up) my 9 month old son's nursery.  And yes, I plan to have a post about it once I completely finish.  But for today, here's my white project to add to his bedroom:

 A hand-made, mommy designed mobile to hang over his crib!  So he's 9 months old, maybe doesn't need a mobile anymore, but I was really excited about it, especially once I hung it up! It really gave that extra something to the bedroom.  It's a fairly simple project, inspired by my 9th grade Spanish class when we made pinatas!  Thought I'd give you a simple tutorial in case you are struck with inspiration from seeing this post. :)  (If you are... send me some photos and I'll share them here!)

Whimsical Mobile Tutorial:

1.  Cut a star out of a piece of cardboard.  I did most this project free hand, but it may be smarter to use a pattern!  If you want to make it 3-D (as we did when doing the pinatas) create a paper machete shape with paper and glue.

2.  Using white tissue paper, cut approximately 1 inch strips, and then cut that into 1 inch squares. 

3.  Smear a thin layer of glue across a small area to start with.  Wrap a single square of tissue paper over the flat end of a colored pencil, or over the eraser of a pencil.

4. Push the tissue paper firmly down onto the glue with the end of the pencil.  Twisting the pencil helps to make the paper stick to the cardboard, and not to the pencil.

5. Cover your entire shape with tissue.  It is also neat to mix tissue colors, or create another design by drawing it first on your cardboard and filling it in with colors of your choice.

6. Cut small slits where you plan to hang the mobile from, as well as wherever you plan to hang your extra doo-dads from.

7. Paint the backside black. After doing this project, I would actually recommend completing this before you glue the tissue on the front. You can paint words, designs, or glue photos, or even glue tissue to this side also to make it look more 3-D.

8. Draw/trace stars onto paper and cut out.

9. Cut ribbon and string through mobile.  Glue stars together with ribbon ends in between to attach to mobile. Also string ribbon through the top hole to hang from ceiling. 

10. Easily hang completed mobile from the ceiling with a thumb tack.  That's all I needed because it was so light-weight, but if you used heavier things to hang, you may need to find a better way to attach it.

 And the finished product, from both angles! Not the most complicated thing, but fun to make and cute for kiddos!  There are SO many different things you could make using this simple technique! I would love to see what you can come up with!

    Don't forget to sign up for the GIVEAWAY in my previous post!  Many ways to sign up, 4 days left to do it!   God bless you always!
-MJ

   So I went with the sweet and simple for my White Craft for this week. After being inspired by Stephanie (and the need for something fun for myself!), I pulled out the white ribbon and went to work..

  Just a little something to add that little extra!


 Here’s what I started with:

  Some tacky, ‘tweeny’ hair clips from years ago that needed some improvement
  And a few bobby pins

  And here’s a few more I did… since I was on a roll!

   Nothing too fancy, but fun… and most importantly… WHITE!  :) Now off to find some way to use white in an unusual way for next week! Hmmm…  

 PS. That glitzy ribbon is oh so fun! I didn’t realize it was stretchy when I bought it!  Endless possibilities!

                                                   MJ

  So I was 'blog browsing' and ran across this neat idea on Karen's blog. Check it out! I decided to join her... it sounded creative and fun!  Here are the basics:
1st week-a collage of things I love in that color
2nd week-a craft in that color
3rd week- use that color in an unusual way
4th week-use that color in a recipe

January-white
February-pink
March-green
April-yellow
May-purple
June-blue
July-red
August-gold
September-brown
October-orange
November-black
December-silver

So for this week my 'assignment' is to create a collage of my favorite things in the color white. Here's what I came up with:

Want to join us!?
Get started on your blog!