Free Books: Update!

Free Books: Update!

You guys… we’re STILL enjoying free books from Imagination Library.  I can’t say enough good things about this awesome program.  If you missed my post a few years ago about how you can get a free book every month for your child until they reach age 5, take a look here!

In fact, our oldest child has received so many books I had to get creative with some book storage solutions :/

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Ikea FTW!  Ikea spice racks make excellent bookshelves and take up very little space.  You can find them at Ikea or if you’re like me and just can’t Ikea right now, Amazon is always there for you.  It’s always there for me.  We’re besties.

What a Difference a Day Makes Craft

What a Difference a Day Makes Craft

IMG_4034I always see pins on Pinterest about the “What a Difference a Day Makes” DIY.  After much delay, I actually attempted my own version.  I figured there HAD to be a template somewhere, right?  I mean, as much as I see this darn thing repinned someone had to post their template, but alas… no template was found.  I did however find a template for a Microsoft Project, um… project (yeah, that sounds odd to me as well…), but the normal, average, person doesn’t have Project (or maybe that’s just me).  I took matters into my own hands and decided I would make my own template in PowerPoint.  After about 15 minutes (yeah, a miracle happened… FIFTEEN MINUTES), I was able to make a template I was pretty proud of.

I’ll describe my process in a few steps:

  • Create a new, blank PowerPoint slide (without text boxes)
  • Change the size of the PowerPoint document to 8×10
    • Go to Design Tab and click on the “Slide Size” drop-down menu in the “Customize” section.  Choose “Custom Slide Size…”
    • Change size to 8″ width and 10″ height.  When you choose this size and apply it will ask if you’d like to maximize or scale the document (this is if you’re operating in Windows 10 with a newer version of Office).  Choose to maximize the document.
  • Create new text boxes that will serve as the field for the dates, names, and “What a difference a day makes” saying at the bottom.  I played with text box sizes for the date until I was happy with the amount of space the text box occupied and lined them all up in the center of the document.  I did the same with the names underneath the date.

PPT Template

  •  After the template was set, I chose fonts and font sizes that worked well together.

What a difference a day makes

  • Print it!
  • Frame it!
  • Voila… meaningful decorating on the cheap!

WADADM Large View

 

Up Canvas Craft

Up Canvas Craft

  I felt pretty crafty a few weeks ago and needed something that didn’t take much time (hey, I’m a mom… all I have time for is something that “doesn’t take a lot of time”).  I came across this cute little project on Pinterest and decided it was something I could tackle in stages, so if I was tied up and couldn’t get back to it in a while I could still complete it later.  I was pretty pleased by the way it turned out!

I made a few modifications to the ones I found on Pinterest, so I was happy to put my own twist on the cute examples I found.

What You’ll Need:

  • canvas, board, or card stock
  • buttons
  • glue gun
  • paint or paint markers
  • black Sharpie

You’ll use the canvas, board or card stock as the background for your Up house and balloons.  I glued the buttons for balloons on first, so I could get a sense of how big I should make the house.  After gluing all of the buttons on, I drew the Up house with a pencil.  Next, I painted the house.  After the paint dried, I added a black Sharpie outline to the house and drew strings for the button balloons.  Voila!  An Up house.*

*Adorable baby dressed as Carl not included.