[St Patrick's Day] Lucky No. 7

Is there a number luckier than seven?

How about when you add it to eleven?  I'm not talking eighteen.  I'm talking 7-eleven!  Nothing is luckier than that.  Especially when it involves Slurpees!

And a gift card.

My boy is in California.  He is a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He is riding his bike in the California heat.  All day long.  This just might be the perfect way for him to stay cool this summer.   I'm thinking every high school and college student I know could put this to good use.  Cut two pieces of white card stock to measure 5 3/4 inches square.  Measure in 1 1/4 inches from one of the sides and fold.  Repeat with the other piece.  This little flap will eventually make the pocket for the gift card.  Click here for the "Lucky no. 7" printable.  Cut out the card front and glue it to one of the card stock pieces.  Line up the card stock so the flaps meet in the middle.  Glue carefully around the sides and the back of the flap.  Leave the front open.  That's where the gift card slides in!  I used some green patterned paper to embellish the pocket and the back of the card.  I wanted to leave the inside of my card white so I could write a little letter.  But whatever tickles your fancy.  Go crazy if you want.  Have fun.

Write a sentiment or two.  Send your love.  Then slip the gift card into the pocket.  Slide the card into an envelope and send that fun-mail on it's way!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

[Easter] Spring Bouquet

I just had to share this with you.  Is this not the cutest thing you have ever seen?  My friend Kelley gave this to me last week and I absolutely love it.  Love. 

I'm sure you could figure this out on your own just from the picture.  But, I'll run through it anyway.  Why not?  She basically took a rectangular bud vase and filled it with peanut m&m's.  I'm sure any small pastel candy would work.  Pick a favorite.  Then she attached three paper flowers--that I am sure she crafted all on her own.  Because that's the kind of awesome that is Kelley.  And paper flowers are kind of her signature.  She does amazing things with paper flowers.  Anyway,  attach the paper flowers to some long wooden skewers.  Stick the flowers into the vase and arrange them all pretty-like.  Then tie an organza bow around the vase!

And there you have it!  These would make super cute centerpieces for your Easter table.  Or how about a teacher appreciation gift?  Or just because.  Give one to a friend.  It will make them happy.

Soda Pop Walk

Our local elementary school is having a fund raiser tonight.  Part of that involves a soda pop walk.  Have you ever heard of that before?  Me either.  Apparently it is akin to a cake walk.  Cake was sort of out of the question--because our school has a strict policy about homemade treats.  So they opted for soda pop.  The kids were asked to decorate a 2-liter bottle of pop to have as prizes for the "walk".  And really that was all the instruction we were given. 

OK.  So now that you are all up to speed.  Want to see what we came up with?  In honor of the two up-coming holidays...

This lucky leprechaun started out life as a bottle of Sprite.  

We added a few embellishments, made a few snips with our 

scissors, applied glue generously, and...lo and behold his true identity was discovered!

This little guy has a heart of pink lemonade!  You may recognize his britches from here.  The soda pop bottle fit perfectly!   We wrapped the bottle in brown craft paper, added a face and some ears.  My daughter thought he needed a bowtie.  And I wholeheartedly agreed!

This bottle of Fanta orange shouted "spring" to my kindergartner.  She thought a spring scene was definitely the way to go.  She created this almost entirely on her own.  I punched out the flowers and helped her glue her scene onto the bottle.  I thought it turned out so cute.  I love the flowers and the little bunnies.  Those must be baby bunnies.  Not all of them have caught on to the art of hopping yet.  I guess we all must fall sometimes.

Who knew that a bottle of pop could be such a fun canvas for creating!

Happy Day Punch Cards

Sorry for the sporadic or should I be honest and say "lack of" posts lately.  We are on spring break around here.  Normally that would mean that we high-tail it to the mountains for some family fun and relaxation.  But this year we needed to stay close to home.  So we are taking advantage of the extra time to get some things done around the house.  Both of my older kids are in dire need of some extra cash.  I am more than happy to pay them for extra work around the house.  I am not talking your average everyday chores.  I could tell you my philosophy on that, but I will save it for another day.  I am talking extra projects that I need help with.  I make them work hard for the money!  The problem is, that I am not so good at keeping track of what they've done and whether or not I have paid them.  So I devised this punch card system to keep track of the hours they work.  When the card is full, they can trade it in for cash.  It's up to them to keep track of their punch card.  We've been using them for a couple of days now and they are working like a charm!

This is how it works...determine how much money each smiley face is worth and write it on the left side.  Then just use a hole punch and punch out a smiley face for every hour worked.  Simple.

Want to know what we've been working on?  It's amazing what can get done when three or four "adults" are working together!  So far we have...

*washed, vacuumed, and prepped the boats for some summer fun

*scrubbed all of the cars inside and out

*tilled the garden, amended the soil, and planted some spring vegetables

*cleaned up the yard from a long winter--lots of leaves and lots of sticks!

*weeded the lawn and fertilized

*fixed the swing set (we came across an extra slide that the neighbor was getting rid of, so we moved the stairs  to the back of the fort and now we have two cool slides coming off of the front!)

*hosed down the siding and all of the porches

*pulled out all of the wicker and other patio chairs- cleaned them and got them all set up for spring/summer

*cleaned the grill

*cleaned the garage

*cleaned the shed

I'm sure that I am missing some stuff, but you get the idea.  We have had gorgeous weather the past couple of days, so we have been concentrating on outside projects.  All of that is about to change though.  So, maybe we will head inside and do some spring cleaning?


UPDATE:

My littlest one is not quite old enough to work for an hourly wage yet. But, she wanted in on the fun. So, I made up a punch card for her too. This one is job based instead of time based. For every extra job she does, she gets a punch on her card. Decide beforehand how much each smiley face is worth and write it on the side. Nickel? Dime? Quarter? Maybe even a dollar? Whatever you think is fair.

Would you like to have some punch cards for your kids?  Just click on the printer icons below, print and cut out your cards.  That's all it takes! 

Spring Basket

 Raise your hand if you are ready for Spring?

Picture me raising my hand.  I am ready.  We have had a pretty mild winter as far as winters go.  But, I am ready for lush.  I am ready for color.  I am ready for new life and green growing things.

If Mother Nature isn't going to cooperate, I am going to be forced to take matters into my own hands.  And you can too.

This is super easy and relatively inexpensive.  Grab a basket from your stash.  I know you have one.  Or a bucket or a box.  Anything.  Gather a few little plants.  I picked up a couple of primroses from WalMart for a dollar each.  I added a fake green plant.  (Shh--don't tell anyone)  And I added a little pot of daisies that I grabbed at the grocery store for a couple of dollars.

I took the foil papers off of my plants and removed the planting instructions.  You can replant them into a little pot or just leave them as is.  Remember that when you water them the water could run out of the temporary pots and flood your area.  Take precautions, or just pull the little pots out when you water them to let them drain.

 
I thought my basket needed a little something, so I lined it with a scrap of burlap.  Then I just packed the plants in there.  Pack them good.  Fit as many as you can.  You want your basket to look full.  Add a bow if you want to the handle of your basket.  Place it on your kitchen table or counter.  Somewhere that will make you happy.

Now sit back and dream of sunny days!

And when the sun finally does start to shine, take those little plants and transplant them to a lucky spot in your garden.

*****

I'm linking up with:

Whipperberry