Baking Soda Clay

I finally tried out a Pinterest project that I wanted to do with the kids. It was Baking Soda Clay. It's very simple to make. Here are the ingredients:

     1 cup corn starch
     2 cups baking soda
     1.25 cups cold water
     Non-stick pot
     Wooden spoon
     Med-large bowl
     Damp cloth, lid or plate

First combine ingredients in a pot and stir until smooth. Cook over low-medium flame, stirring constantly until mixture resembles mashed potatoes. Remove from heat and let it cool in a seperate cointainer covered with a damp towel and voila. Then let your imagination run. Allow to dry for about two days, depending on the thickness of your piece.

We decided to make our pieces into magnents as an activity after Family Home Evening. So we first used a glue gun to glue small round magnents to the back of our pieces and then we got to painting them.

And here are our final results. The easter egg look a like is mine, the green with flowers was made by the hubby and the rest are made by my daughter.

Here they are displayed on our fridge. Can you tell what's missing? Yup one of the magnents. I was so worried Jaimito would break them and then I'm the one who ends up breaking one of Natalie's, and as I type this there's actually another one missing. Yes, I'm ashamed to say I also broke the round one. I feel so bad but I accidently dropped them. Needless to say I'm being super careful with the ones that are left.

Lollipop Center Pieces

Tomorrow is our Primary activity, EL DIA DEL NIñO! I have a lot to do and many ideas.  I went over to my Pinterest account and looked through my Party board and decided to go with this cute project for the center of the tables. Here's a link to check it out. http://www.meetthedubiens.com/2011/06/lollipop-tree.html  

I already had the pots. A very nice lady at a garage sale last year gave me a bunch for free. All I needed were the styrofoam balls and the lollipops. Unfortunately the primary has a tight budget so I wanted to do the shopping at the Dollar Tree store. I couldn't find the styrofoam or the lollipops so I had to improvise, which I don't mind too much because I like to get inspired by pinterest but still do my own thing, not just completely copy all the time. So here's my final project.

Yes I know, it's not as cute as the original but I had to work with what I had and the time I had. I used the bottom parts of the pots instead of the actual pots. I had these flat styrofoam circles which I painted green. I had to buy these lollipops instead and then I just pushed them in the styrofoam.

I was planning on putting fake little leaves on the lollipop sticks but I couldn't get around to it. I'm sure it would have added extra cuteness points.

I still like the result. I think they will look cute on the tables and the kids can snatch the lollipops at the end.

Apple Cider Vinegar in My Hair.

When we first moved in with my mom we discovered that she liked to shower with very low pressure. :( It was horrible, every time we were going to take a shower we would have to change the setting to our liking and then move it back for her. It was an old shower head so it was a very frustrating process.

When we finally moved out we were so excited to finally have a permanent normal pressure shower head all to ourselves!!!!!

NOT! Our new apartment's shower has horrible water pressure. It's my mom's shower all over again except I can't change the setting here. Aaaaaaa it's so horrible. We bought a new shower head thinking it would fix the problem but no luck. (anybody have any recommendations) I'm so miserable, I like me some strong water hitting me on my back. So as a result it's super hard to get my hair truly washed and clean. No matter how long I try to wet it, how much I scrub, how many times I shampoo it, I can't seem to get all the gunk and hair product out. It so reminds me of the Seinfeld episode and I picture Jerry's and Kramer's hair! LOL! Any Seinfeld fans!!!!!!!

Sooooooooooo, I decided to try something I had cut out of a magazine.

First here's a before picture. You can't see it too well but my most troublesome spots are on the top where tons of flakes come out from not being able to get all the product off. (and no it's not dandruff)



You then get a cup of Apple cider vinegar. Use more if you have extra long hair or tons of hair. You pour over wet unwashed hair and then wash and condition as usual. You're suppose to do it once a week according to the magazine's directions.

Please be careful, I unfortunately got some in my eyes and it was not a very pleasent thing. I quickly rinsed my eyes and was fine.

Here are the results. Overall I'm pretty happy of the results . My hair was a lot cleaner but I still had a tiny bit of the flakes but I think that was related to the low pressure. I'm pretty sure that with a stronger water flow the results would've been way better.

I did notice that my hair was super extra shiny, more than the usual. So I liked that. And overall it did feel a lot cleaner and now it's been a few days after and my hair didn't get greasy as fast as it did before. So I think that this might be something I will try to keep up with, minus the vinegar in the eyes!

Hand Made Cards

This past year I had made it a goal of mine to serve others more. To take a moment each week to think of people or members of my church who I can reach out to or help. Sometimes we can't do much or really big things because of our circumstances so it feels like we really aren't doing much. But I told myself that I should start by simply reaching out to people and trying hard to let them know they are cared for or noticed. I know when others have done the same for my family or me it really has meant a lot to me.

So what I had started to do was pray and meditate and let names of people come to my mind. I started calling them even though it felt awkward sometimes or even nerve wreaking. I mean here I was calling people out of the blue, people who I might not have even talked to in awhile or never before. Sometimes I didn't even know what to say but I did have some really nice experiences.

I then moved on to letters and cards. I have to say it has been my most successful work. I have had much success with this and my testimony has been strengthened by many wonderful experiences. I have made new friendships and have gained many new smiles that cheer my days.

The cards that I have been sending where are hand made. I had a stash of them that I had made in prior workshops. But I pretty much ran out of them and I knew I needed some for the coming month. So I busted out the supplies. I use to be a Stampin Up distributor so I have quite a few things to make them with. We have no space in our apartment so they are tucked away in the closets and other areas so busting out the materials is pretty tiring so I had to make sure to make a good bunch to hold me over until the next month or so.

Now I have said before that I love crafts and doing things but I'm not very good at it or very creative. They always end up looking like my 3 year old made them. So I was actually very pleased with my cards.

All the stamps where from sets I bought from Stampin Up. If you like any you might still be able to find them. I did use inspiration by looking at other cards on line and from the catalogue. So that's why I didn't add specific directions or products because my goal was just to inspire you guys and give you some ideas for you to make your own. Usually we just need a little inspirational push and then we create our own treasures!

So enough yapping, here are my cards that will hopefully brighten up some more people's days!