More DIY Magnet Boards

There are a few thrift stores in my little town, and my SIL and I 

like to go to them each week to see what treasures we can find.

Last week I found some gold trays hiding on a bottom shelf of one of the stores, 

and knew immediately what I could make with them.....more magnet boards!

These trays were gold, so I spray painted the edges a chocolate brown color 

before mod- podging scrapbook paper onto them.  

They turned out so cute!

I think there may have been a few more trays at the store....

and I'm hoping they're still there!  

My girls and I will be making more of these 

for Christmas gifts for their friends this year.

(if I can find more trays!)

Upcycled Soda Box Pencil Cases

I've got a daughter who is a pencil/crayon/marker/pen hoarder.

Seriously. (can't imagine where she gets that from :)

I thought that if I made her a fun case for her pencils, maybe she'll use them.  We shall see.

These cute pencil cases were made using a 12-pack Fanta soda box.  

Turned out adorable!  

And this one was from a 20-can Diet Coke box.

Each of my kids have requested one now, 

so I guess we'd better find some more soda boxes!

These would also make cute back to school teacher gifts!

You can make your own by using THIS TEMPLATE.

If you don't want to use soda boxes, 

you could also upcycle some cereal boxes, like THESE.

**a little tip** the pencils that I bought were too long for my cases.  

This could be solved simply by lengthening the box as you assemble it, 

or just sharpen your pencils before putting in your case.

{To Do Lists}

**This year's '12 Days of Christmas' features the items that my daughters and I made for our very first craft fair**


Day 9: {To Do Lists}

These were sort of a last minute addition to our booth!  I decided the night before the craft fair that we needed something else, and found several cut up notepads in my craft stash.  I ended up glueing a magnet to the back of them so they could be hung up on the fridge.

We priced our 'To Do' Lists at $3.00 each, and sold a few.

I made mine a bit differently, but was inspired by THESE.

 

From the Desk of... {Birthday Gift}

One of the ladies I work with in my church calling had a birthday a few weeks ago, and I wanted to give her something I knew she would use.  Here's what I came up with...

A 'From the Desk of' Gift Set! 

(the template can be bought HERE)

I made 8 cards to go inside...4 that looked like this:

And 4 that looked like this...

A matching Post It Note Holder fit perfectly...

And for a little treat...some chocolate!

This was such a fun gift to make, and she loved it! 

Now I need to make one for myself...

Initial Coat/Backpack Board

This picture isn't the greatest......sorry!!

After tripping over my kids' coats and backpacks one too many times, I decided enough was enough!! With the help of my sweet husband, I made this coat/backpack board for the kids.
They each have 2 hooks....one for their coat, and one for their backpack. And I decided to put their initials above the hooks to eliminate any fighting about whose hook was whose! So far they have been excited about hanging up their stuff as soon as they get home from school. Hopefully it will last!!

To make this, I:

**grabbed a board from our wood pile
**spray painted it with 3 coats of "Chocolate Brown" spray paint
**had the hubby buy 5 hooks....then sent him back to the store to return the first ones he bought to get the right ones!! ;)
**let the hubby screw in the hooks
**used the Cricut to cut out the initials
**Mod Podged the initials on

It was a quick project that has brought a little more organization to our home!!


I'm linking to: Fireflies & Jellybeans, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Keeping It Simple, Skip to my Lou

Our Articles of Faith Reward System

For the past year or so, I've been trying to figure out a way to help my kids learn the Articles of Faith. Previously we'd work on 1 Article of Faith a month for Family Home Evening, but there was no motivation for them to work on them on their own.

As part of my New Year's Resolution to "work on my organization", we revamped our Family Home Evening schedule. For the past several years we followed the Primary Outline for Sharing Time, but we wanted to incorporate talks from General Conference too. So this year, our FHE schedule goes as follows:

1st Monday: Lesson from the Primary Outline for Sharing Time (OST)
2nd Monday: Lesson from a General Conference Address
3rd Monday: Lesson about an Article of Faith
4th Monday: Lesson from the OST
5th Monday: Our Choice

Since we're having a lesson on an Article of Faith a month, I decided to implement a reward system for memorizing them. I grabbed a #10 can, cute paper, and Mod Podge and went to work.

The kids can work on memorizing the Articles of Faith however they want. They can wait until our lesson on them each month, and then try to pass it off, or they can work on 1 (or more) a week. For each Article of Faith that they pass off, they can pick a treat from the reward can. And to make it easier on myself and my husband, we've designated Sunday afternoons as the 'pass off' days. That way we aren't bombarded every day of the week with someone wanting to pass one off.

So far this has worked wonderfully! The kids are excited about learning and passing off the Articles of Faith, and I feel more organized about it all.

Organization & A Giveaway!!

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to work on organization.....in my home, in my family, in my life! I'm normally a pretty organized person, but at times I slack off and need to get back on track.

I always make homemade birthday cards to give to family and friends, but for the last couple of years it's been a last minute thing to hurry and get some made. This year I decided to make them in advance, like I do for my parents' Christmas gift. So far I've gotten 3 months worth made.....yay!! I ran out of adhesive and blank cards, so once I get stocked back up on those, I'll get the rest of them made (I have to make 62 total, just for my family!).

These are some of the cards I've made so far. To make it easier on me, I try to make them all the same style, but use different papers so they're not all exactly the same.

So in honor of my New Year's Resolution, why not help you to be a bit more organized when it comes to birthday cards? How would you like to win a set of 8 birthday cards?!

The winner will receive 2 of each style shown here, along with the envelopes. Each card is 4"x5.5", and was handmade by your's truly!

So, now for the fun stuff.....to enter to win, here's what you need to do:

1. Become a follower and leave a comment letting me know you're one. If you're already a follower, just leave a comment saying so.

2. Leave me a comment telling me your tips on organization.

That's it! If you do both of these, then you have 2 chances to win! Oh, please leave a way for me to contact you in the event that you win in one or both of your comments too. I can only ship in the US, so no international entries, please!

This giveaway will close on Thursday, January 7th at midnight (MST), and I'll announce the winner Friday morning!

Good luck, and I can't wait to hear your tips on organization!