I Printed on Burlap!

Being the true Southern gal that I am, I love burlap. The idea of being able to print on it was something I really wanted to do. I ran across this tutorial and thought maybe I could do it.  

Here is how I did it:

1. Take a piece of printer paper and use it to cut a piece of burlap the same size. 

I laid it all out of the floor. I put the printer paper on top of the burlap and used a marker to trace how big to cut the burlap. I made the burlap just a little bigger than my printer paper.

2. Cut a piece of freezer paper to fit over the burlap.

It doesn't have to be an exact. It can be a little bigger than the burlap. 

3. Put freezer paper (wax side down) on top of burlap and iron on.

Make sure you get the edges really well. The picture below is after it had been ironed. Make sure your freezer paper is on top of the burlap when you iron.

4. Cut the freezer paper with attached burlap to fit the size of a regular sized piece of printer paper. 

I had to do some trimming to get it to be cut to size. 

5. Put the freezer paper with attached burlap into your paper tray. Hit print.

You want it to print on the burlap and not the freezer paper so put it in your paper tray in such a way that the burlap gets printed on. It took me two tries to get it to work. The first time it said paper jam. I got out the burlap and trimmed it a little more and it worked the second time. 

6. Pull off freezer paper and use burlap how you wish. 

I'm making a gift for my secret pal. Hopefully the finish product will make it to Perks of Ponder. 

Fall Pinterest Bucket List

With the invention of Pinterest there are so many more ideas available to us. The problem with Pinterest is that there are so many great ideas available. It is impossible to do them all. It's Friday night and I'm cleaning up my Pinterest board (yeah I know-wild night!). As I'm looking at everything I try to make mental notes of things I want to try in the upcoming months but there is no way to remember it all. This is how this blog post was created. I thought I need to take some time out to document those pins that I REALLY want to do this fall. I'll be able to come back to this post to keep myself on track. I may even make myself a printed checklist just to really satisfy my inner organizer self.

Get Jack a pumpkin patch shirt made


Print and frame this fall printable


Print and frame this fall printable for my Secret Pal


Cook this for breakfast


Cook this loaded baked potato soup for dinner


Make this goulash for supper (it looks so good!)


Cook this dip for a football watching party


Put these together for a snack (I've never done these using oyster crackers)


Try making this for football tailgating 


Make two of these as gifts


 Do this activity with my kiddos at work


Use this printable to attach to a gift for my Secret Pal


Put together these for Jack's teachers


Make these for the kids in Jack's class


Jack and I are going to make some of these as a Halloween treat



Jack and I will be doing our annual Halloween foot art using this idea


Get a hair cut and dye with the inspiration of this photo


Buy a pair of these earrings or at least tell Santa about them


Read this book


Buy my sister this for her birthday


Well there you have it, my very busy plans for the next two months. I didn't even try to include the baby shower I'm hosting, Thanksgiving, the upcoming birth of my niece, or Jack's birthday. If this works well for me I just might come back and do a November Pinterest Bucket List. November is always such a busy month for me (and I'm sure for everyone else). You can follow all of my Pinterest boards by clicking here.

Happy Fall Y'all!!!

Active Mama-Activities With Jack

I'm so thankful for Jack's daycare and all the things they are teaching him. Even though I can't be a stay at home mom and have to hand over most of his hours to daycare, I still like to do fun activities with Jack when I can. If it is educational, then even better. Here are some activities that I'm excited to try with Jack in the near future.

Color match: He will get to work on his colors and discuss circle. Also, they make a great snack.

Cookie sheet sight words: Jack is too young to fully understand sight words but he's never to young to start practicing. 

Animal cracker counting: Such an easy activity. Jack can count to ten but he doesn't have his number recognition down. I believe this activity will help, and once again, a great snack.

Number recognition and fine motor skills: Another acitivity to help with number recognition plus he loves clothes pins.

I'm looking forward to working with Jack as we learn and play today. If you would like to see these and more activities follow my Acitve Mama board on Pinterest. 

Best of Spring

I think, just maybe, that spring is on its way and we are done with all this cold icy weather mess. Since I LOVE spring so much (my favorite right after fall) I decided to share some awesome spring pins that are perfect right now.

To Cook

How about making a pan of these yummy sugar cookie bars from Somewhat Simple? Not only are they super yummy but perfect for St. Patrick's Day or any day this spring. 

To Wear

I'm loving these polka dot converses from Delia's. 

To DIY

This is one wreath I could actually make! Grab an umbrella and some fake flowers and you have a modern wreath with a pop of color! 

To Print

I love free printables! Print and stick inside a Dollar Tree frame and you have an instant decoration. I love cheap, easy, and fast :)

To Read

People have been talking about this book for some time now. It's been on my list for awhile and I'm ready to get to it as soon as I finish What Alice Forgot. 

To Drink

Yellow just screams spring to me. What better than to serve a classic like lemonade in more of a punch form? You could really do some things to dress it up in a beautiful punch bowl.

To Give

Giving just feels awesome, right? Give a few of these out in a co-workers box or a neighbors mailbox to help brighten their day.

What are you most excited about doing this spring?

Give a Gift

I love giving gifts and what I love more than that is when I make or put them together myself. It gives you the ability to customize the gift and add your own personal touches. I have a Pinterest board dedicated just to homemade gifts. We have a secret pal thing at work so I go to my board for lots of inspiration.

Here are a few of my favorites!

Perfect for St. Patrick's Day

Source

Sensational for Summer

Source

Big Thanks

Source

Snowed In Friend

Source

Do you ever send or give homemade gifts?

Night Before Visitation Begins

Tomorrow Jack begins getting to spend Saturdays with his Dad. The official papers say from 10 am to 7 pm. I'm quite anxious. Since we split six months ago, his dad has seen Jack maybe five times. Jack has changed a lot in these six months. Ms. Control Freak here has to hand over her most precious piece of her heart to a person she feels like lied and manipulated her. Mama here is feeling a little (okay a whole lot nervous). I even asked if I could tag along for the first hour so they could get reaquantied before I just left the two of them alone. He didn't go for it.

His Dad lives two hours away so he is going to get a hotel room for visitation. Obviously, he can't do that every Saturday. Right now there is no plan. We are pretty much at a standstill on our terms. He clearly wants to take Jack the two hours to stay overnight at his girlfriend's house and I am not okay with those terms. Boy divorce sure is fun! When I say this I mean it. I understand now why some people wait until their kids are grown before they get a divorce. If things weren't so far gone between the two of us I would try and make things work just so I could keep Jack with both of his parents.

His Dad is going to pack the things that Jack needs such as diapers, wipes, and cups. I keep thinking of all the things that his Dad needs to know to make things smoother for the both of them. I also thought it would be a good idea to gather up a few of Jack's favorite toys to take with them. Not only will it give them something to do but also will give Jack a feel of home. Do I sound like a crazy mother yet??

To make myself feel better about tomorrow I decided to head to Pinterest for some divorce humor. I'll share with you some of my favorites. I'll be sure to also share with you how tomorrow goes.

5 Super Simple Sweets

1// Cinnamon Roll Cake

I'm starting my list off with the one I've made the most. It is scrumptious! I love baking it really early in the morning and bringing it into work for my co-workers. You can get the recipe by clicking here.

2// Cookie Bars

I have made these a gazillion times. They are super simple, yummy as all get out, and easy to change up. You can substitute the chocolate chips for anything else you would like and boom you have another dessert. This is another recipe from Lil Luna that you can get here.

3// Fudge Brownies

This recipe is a from scratch brownie recipe but don't let it scare you. It is another easy peasy one. I've added nuts to mine and peanut butter morsels. It's fun to be able to mix it up. More than likely you will have all the stuff in your kitchen to make these now so chop chop. First, click and get the recipe here. 

4// Frosted Sour Cream Cookies

Every Christmas I make iced sugar cookies. I always try a new recipe but this year I have found the one. The cookies are so good even without icing that they are perfect. Adding icing just makes them that much more yummy. I need to start making these more than once a year. If you want the perfect sugar cookie recipe click here.

5// German Chocolate Pie

My Mom loves German chocolate cake so when I saw this recipe for German chocolate pie I knew I had to make it for her. It is exactly what you would expect it to be. It's all the German chocolate flavor without the cake. The top has a nice crunch. You will really love it if you enjoy the cake. Get the recipe here. 

I would love for you to follow me on Pinterest. You can go to my board by clicking here. If you would like for me to follow you on Pinterest leave your link below. I love finding new great boards to follow!

Couldn't Have Said It Better

I wanted to share with you some of my favorite someecards on Pinterest. It's Tuesday and we need a laugh so here goes.

I hope you did a little laughing out loud and if you would like to follow me on Pinterest just click here.