Busy Book

So I wanted to sew a quiet book, but I'm not a seamstress by any means, and all the tutorials I found seemed pretty intense. So I was over joyed to find this awesome tutorial for a busy binder! I really had a good time putting this binder together. It kept me busy for awhile, so hopefully it will be worth it.

What you'll need: a folder, box colored pencils, zipper pouch, file folders, beads, items for I spy bag, hot glue gun, magnets, velcro, envelopes. 

I spy bag: I purchased my Eye Spy bag at the dollar store. It is pencil bag. I also bought two packages of beads from the dollar store. My little princess and I filled it with beads and items I found around the house. For example, key, safety pin, Barbi shoe. After we filled it, I sealed the zipper with hot glue to make sure my little princesses can't unzip the bag an sprinkle goodies all over the place.

Colored Pencils: I cut the colored pencil box, like the tutorial suggests. Then I covered the colored pencil box with sticky laminate paper. (The kind you line drawers or shelves with.) I finished it off by placing velcro dots to the back of the box and the folder, so my little princess can pull the box off and put it back on. I'm a little concerned the lid is going to fall off, so I will probably secure the lid with a strap of some sort. Maybe something with a magnet or velcro. What do you think?

File Folder Games: For these I did an online search for Black and White File Folder Games. I only have a black and white printer, so I found some games I wanted, printed them off, colored them, cut them out, and had them laminated. You don't have to laminate the file folder games, but they will last longer if you do. I put quite a bit of effort into coloring the games I printed, so I want them to last for awhile.

Magnets on the ship game

 Once I got home, I placed magnet backings** on the ship game and velcro on the alphabet game.

 To hold the pieces for the games, I hot glued envelopes to the back of the file folders. I also used the sticky velcro piece to keep the envelope closed so we don't loose any pieces in the madness of my diaper bag.

So there it is! A relatively inexpensive, no-sew busy book. I'm really excited to give this a whirl on Sunday.

I linked up to Frugal Friday.

** Just a little side note: After my princesses played with this, I discovered magnets were a horrible idea. I will be replacing the magnets with velcro.

White Chicken Chile

So this is an amazing recipe that everyone should try. It is soooooo easy, and quick, and I love it. I paired it with sourdough bread, guacamole, sour cream, and cheese. Enjoy!

Tried, Tested, Approved

Last night I made this delicious Broccoli  Chicken Cheddar Croissant Braid. It was a big hit, and we even ate it again tonight! One thing to watch out for is cook time. The first time I took it out it was doughy, but I put it back in and , so you might need to cook it longer than the recipe suggests. It is a really quick and easy recipe. Follow the directions spot on and you cannot fail!

Butterfly Toes

This was a really fun project. We made a set of Butterfly Feet for my hubby's office! The girls had a ton of fun getting their feet painted. So much fun in fact that I couldn't get a picture of me painting their feet for fear acrylic paint was going to end up all over my counter and clothes. (Acrylic paint doesn't come out of clothes, and I don't feel like scraping it off my counter. I know, not a fun mom.) But they did turn out super cute. The original pinterest pin has the feet on canvas, but I used stuff I had on hand.

 So I used acrylic paint, pipe cleaners, card stock, paint brush, and an old frame.

 I painted my little princesses' feet. It was hard because they're squirmy, but we got it done.

 I cut pipe cleaners to roll them for the antennae. The original pin uses thumb prints; I think both ideas are cute. Although the pipe cleaners get smashed in the frame, they still look cool.

Final product. I like it!

Cream Cheese Wontons

I made stir fry last night, and I decided to pair it with some cream cheese wontons. I've never done it before, but I found this lovely little recipe. The real perk is its a weight watchers recipe so it is lower in calories than other recipes. I made a couple adjustments like dropping the crab because my hubby doesn't like crab.

The edges got a little crispy, but they were still pretty tasty.

Pipe Cleaner Rings

So it's a random crafty find! Cute flower rings out of pipe cleaners. I stumbled on this link and it is an awesome tutorial for a flower ring. So I decided to make my little princess some rings today. Unfortunately, I only had one color. I'm sure it works better with three different colors, but she loved it none the less. And it is a fun, quick, easy project!

Pipe Cleaners

Twist them together to make the set look like whiskers.

Wrap it around the finger you want to wear and twist.

Start to roll the edge of pipe cleaners to the center of the ring.

Finished product!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link Party!

Wednesday Wowzers. I just linked up some of my latest creations! Check out all these awesome ideas. More inspiration for pinning.