Tag Archives: under 30 minute projects

Apr9

Lemon Sugar Hand Scrub

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Lemon Sugar Hand Scrub

I love spring, partially because it’s warm enough to be outside, but not so hot by noon that it makes me want to hibernate with the shades drawn and the AC set to South Pole, but mostly because of the flowers and the garden and the yard work.  A lot of yard work.   It don’t mind though, because it’s generally work that I get to be immediately rewarded for.  I can see the results of my efforts right away when I rake out leaves and set more mulch and prepare the ground for another round of annuals (our frost date is April 15, and I can hardly wait!).  Then there’s the garden boxes that will need planting, and some potted herbs and lettuce given to me by my awesome friend Emily.  I really enjoy this time of year.  I really just enjoy getting to play in the dirt.  There’s something kid-like and soothing about patting down soil and handling mulch and mud.  I don’t wear gloves unless I am messing with something “picky”, so I tend to get good and dirty.

And so do my fingernails.

Which is pretty gross.

Enter this recipe for  lemon sugar hand scrub, which was inspired by Stephanie Lynn at Under the Table and Dreaming.   I made some of Stephanie Lynn’s version for a Christmas Bazaar a few months ago, and gave some away as gifts, and it was so easy.  I figured that I might as well whip some up to keep around my kitchen.

Three ingredients: Lemon juice, sugar, and vegetable oil.  Stephanie used olive oil, and you can also use sunflower, grape seed or safflower oil if you prefer.  This is a pretty flexible formula.

I’ve learned that the ratio of sugar to oil when you’re making a scrub is 2:1, so 2 cups sugar to 1 cup oil.  Then add a few tablespoons of lemon juice (I used 4, like Stephanie Lynn suggested) and blend it all together.  You can also use a few drops of lemon essential oil instead of the lemon juice.  I used my stand mixer, because it’s this is all obviously edible stuff, but you can also use a big bowl.  If you mix it by hand, literally, mix it BY HAND.  It will be easier than using a spoon and you’ll get everything blended better. Plus, you’ll exfoliate your hands while you mix it.

Once you get it mixed to a uniform consistency, spoon it into a wide mouthed container.  You want to container to be large enough at the opening so that you can fit your hand inside.

This recipe makes a little more than 1 cup of Lemon Sugar Scrub.  I stuffed mine in an 8 ounce mason jar, and used the rest on my hands right after I finished making it.

Perfect to have around the house for yourself, or to give as a gift to a friend!

Do you make any of your own beauty supplies?  Care to share any ideas?

Mar15

Why Didn’t I Think of That?! Pantry Storage Idea

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Zip Lock bags, rubber bands, twist ties, mason jars, recycled sour cream containers… I have used all of these, and more, to help me store opened bags of dry good in the pantry.  But then, this idea made me palm slap myself and wonder, “Why didn’t I think of that?!”

The pin is a user upload on Pinterest… those can really be a pain in the butt, because there’s no way to tell who the original source is.  I did a few google image searches to see if I could locate it, but I struck out, so, if you know where it came from, send me the link, and I’ll be sure to include it.

Basically, you need an empty plastic pop or water bottle, and your open bag, in this case, an open bag of peanut butter and chocolate chips.

Cut the top off of your bottle.  Or, have your husband do it.  He’s good with knives.

I had him cut just above the label.

Then, wash and dry the top of the bottle, remove the top, and pull the open end of the bag through the narrow end of the bottle.

Fold the open end of the bag down and replace your cap.  Know that it is not going to thread as well as it does when it goes directly on the plastic bottle.  After all, it is going over the plastic bag, and you may have to pull the open portion of the bag down a bit to make sure it’s not too bulky to allow the top to seal, but with a little pressure as you turn, it should seal the bag for storage.

That’s it.  Stick the sealed bag back in your pantry until you are ready to use it again, and toss the leftover part of the cut bottle in the recycling bin.

See what I mean? Why didn’t I think of that?

Any handy household or storage tips that you’ve pinned lately?  Share some great ideas!

Dec2

DIY Holiday Gift Idea: Peppermint Foot Scrub

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At this point in my life, time is far more valuable to me than money. Time is my most precious commodity.  In between homeschooling and housekeeping and being a wife, mother, daughter, granddaughter, sister, and friend, it seems that there is never enough of my time to go around.  In general, if something saves me money, but costs me more time, I’d rather pay more.  I’m the person who passes by the crowded gas station with the cheapest gas in favor of the place across the street that’s charging 10 cents more per gallon.  Why?  Because it is TEN FRIGGIN’ CENTS.  That’s less than $2 more to save me a minimum of ten minutes.  Being that my time is worth more to me than $10/hour, I will gladly pay more, thankyouverymuch.  That much being said, it only seems appropriate that when I give a gift, it should be purchased with my most valuable asset:  the gift of my time. So, this year, I’m going to try making a few Christmas gifts.

One of my favorite holiday gifts that I received was a tri-color knit scarf that perfectly matched my pink herringbone patterned knit coat (a much loved present from my mother, from a previous Christmas).  A friend who rode with me in a vanpool (a vanpool which consisted of myself and 5 other women, all of them my mother’s age and older. It was wonderful.) knit it for me, in secret, while sitting behind me in the back row.  She knit a scarf for everyone of the women in our vanpool that year.  It must have taken her weeks of our 50 mile round trip commute to get all of them done, and they were beautiful.  Three years later, when I get out my winter coat and see that gorgeous handmade scarf tucked away with it, I smile and think of my sweet friend.  THAT is a heart felt gift.  I didn’t ask for a scarf that year, and she didn’t ask me for my Christmas wish list, she just made, and gave, a gift that was thoughtful, beautiful, and useful.  Sure, she could have went and bought one for me, pretty much anywhere, and it might have even looked the same, it might have even cost less, and it surely would have taken her less time than knitting it, halfway in the dark, during our daily commute.  She could have even picked up a gift card in no time flat, and given it to me to buy my own scarf, or whatever else I wanted to buy. But it wouldn’t have been the same.

Not everyone on my list would benefit from the items that I am capable of making on my own.  My skills are still rather limited.  Plus, the key to DIY gift giving, as I see it, is not turning the heartfelt homemade gift into a “one size fits all” present. For instance, I wouldn’t want to give my Grandma a coffee cozy, since I have never known her to spend $4 on a cup off coffee, and she probably wouldn’t recognize a Starbucks if it bit her in the face.  But what she does like are beauty items, so a lemon sugar hand scrub would be a great gift for her.  My Mom loves to get foot rubs and to take care of her feet, so a peppermint foot scrub would be a great gift to make for her.  His Majesty loves to carry his books and random items from around the house, so a toddler backpack would be a great gift for him.  Just like when you are buying gifts, I think that in order to be meaningful, a homemade gift should match the recipient.  Why buy something that the recipient won’t like or use?  It would be a waste of money, right?  Well, along those same lines, making someone a gift would be a waste of time if they won’t use it or enjoy it.  This year, I’ll pair homemade gifts with store bought and vendor bought items (many from the Gifts from the Heart Christmas Bazaar), but perhaps as the years pass, and my skills improve, I can make more gifts to give, and save myself a trip to the stores during the bustling holiday season.  And THAT my friends, is a benefit in and of itself.

So, this week, I got busy making the aforementioned peppermint foot scrubs.  I found a basic, easy to follow tutorial over at The Idea Room, and I found really cute containers for $2 that I knew would coordinate perfectly.

The ingredients you’ll need are simple:  white sugar, vegetable oil (you can also use sunflower or safflower oil),  peppermint essential oil, and food coloring, if you choose to color your bath (without coloring, it will have a light yellow color from the oil).  The tutorial didn’t list an exact ratio of ingredients, but I’d been scoping out other bath scrub recipes and determined that a good starting ratio is roughly about 3:1 sugar to oil.

The containers hold 20 ounces, so I aimed for 2 cups for each batch, and I wanted to make 3 batches.  I started out with 6 cups of sugar in a big ol’ bowl.  Pretty easy so far.

Then I measured out 2 cups of oil, and added it slowly, stirring to combine it. You want a grainy texture, to where the sugar will still be a good exfoliant.  I ended up using just shy of 2 cups of oil when I reached a consistency that I was comfortable with.  (The sugar will soak up most of the oil without increasing the volume by a full 2 cups, so three 20 ounce containers ended up being perfect for this amount of peppermint scrub.)

Then I added a few drops of Peppermint Essential Oil.  (I will caution you that if you have a cold, don’t have much of a sense of smell, like were my problems, you may want to have someone with a functional olfactory nerve standing by to help you gauge just how much essential oil to add.  I asked Christopher to come down after I’d already added several drops, and was just about to add more.  The look he gave me said clearly that I need not add any more oil.  He said he could smell it from his school room upstairs…).  Anyway, a little goes a long way with good quality essential oil (I got mine from Frontier), so add a few drops of oil at a time you get the scent you are aiming for. Then, I added a few swirls of red food coloring and stirred it all together until it was all a pretty, pepperminty, pink.

After that, I spooned it into my peppermint themed containers, marveled at my amazing skills, and did the dishes.  Pretty simple, right? That’s all it takes to make a (very scented and delicious tasting) peppermint foot scrub.

Wouldn’t you want to indulge your toes in such a yummy treat?  If peppermint isn’t your thing, you can add any essential oil that you want.  The essential oil was the most expensive ingredient that I used, but as I mentioned, a little goes a long way, and I have plenty leftover to use in other projects later (or to use for healthy benefits:  Peppermint has many well studied benefits.).  Sugar, vegetable oil, and food coloring are inexpensive, and you can pick up the size and type of container that you want at pretty much any store you visit.  You could store this in a cabinet away from direct light for months in an airtight container, so you can even make several batches of it to keep on hand as a gift for teachers or friends or neighbors, whomever you want to bless with your thoughtfulness.

There you go!  One gift down, with some nice quiet nap time left to spare, and I didn’t have to leave the house.   It doesn’t get much better than that!

Nov21

More Clean Fun! Homemade Bathtub Paint

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So, remember last week, when my group of science club kids and I exploded Ivory soap, all in the interest of understanding Charles’ Law?  Well, when our little science experiment cooled down, it left me with this:

A big pile of powdery soap flakes.  So what did I do?

I followed the example set by Housing a Forest, the same blog that gave me the idea to do the ivory soap experiment, and we made bathtub paint!  I figured His Majesty was the perfect age to enjoy painting himself, the bathtub, and anything else that happened to get in his way, with slippery, foamy homemade bathtub paint.

Making it was simple. Of course, if you haven’t already, you have to stick an ordinary bar of Ivory soap (it has to be Ivory) in the microwave for about 2 minutes.

It will grow to about 5x it’s original size, and will gunk up your microwave, but it’s just soap, so no worries, wipe it up and move on. Then, set the soap cloud out to cool.  Mine sat out for about 30 hours, simply because that’s when I got around to making it, and it still worked out fine.

As far as what you’ll need to make the paint, you probably already have everything handy in your kitchen and pantry.

All you need (beside your cooled, exploded Ivory soap flakes) is a blender, food coloring, and some boiling water (which I prepared in that teapot, to make it easier to pour into the blender). Simple enough, right?

Since making the paint isn’t an exact science, I just grabbed a few handfuls of flakes at a time, filling the blender about half way.  Then, I slowly added water (if you add it too fast, you’ll get foamy soap bubbles, which is definitely not paint), and pulsed the blender.  The source blog advised that you blend your mixture to the consistency of yogurt, which took me about 10 seconds to achieve.  She also put hers into icing bags, so that her kids could “pipe” the paint, but His Majesty is more into squishing paint and using a brush, and I had the perfect little empty containers lying around to use for this activity…

Yogurt cups!!  We save them because they are good for lots of things:  Christopher loves to build towers for His Majesty with them, and His Majesty loves to stack them and knock them down, plus we use them to “water paint” on the cement, and I use them when I paint with acrylics. Save your yogurt cups, they really come in handy.

Anyway, fill up your cups with your soap-water mixture that is at the consistency of yogurt.

Then, add your food coloring, and mix your paint.

See how pretty the colors are?  His Majesty’s favorite is “Boo”.

Then, take them to the bathtub and have a go with your fantastic homemade bathtub paint.

My husband likes to be in charge of bath time, and he said that His Majesty was a little tentative about having the paint ON him (I guess my husband figured it WAS soap, so why not wash him up with it), but that he enjoyed smearing it around and “painting” the walls with it.  When the water turned colors, and my husband rinsed it down the drain, His Majesty started chirping “Paint!  Paint!” wanting to have some more paint.  Lucky him, we have plenty left over to use tomorrow.  We used the shower head to rinse the “paint” off of the walls of the tub surround, and it came off without a problem.  I’m thinking that if it’s warm enough in the coming days, I might take him outsideand let him paint the patio.  Cleaning it up shouldn’t require more than the hose.  My kind of clean up.

Two thumbs up for homemade bathtub paint.  Inexpensive, easy to make, and easy to clean up.  But don’t take my word for it, try it yourself! And then come back and let me know how your kids (and you!) liked it.

Nov7

Gourd Bowling

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Halloween may be over, but it was this Halloween inspired pumpkin bowling game that led me to this next activity.   The source of this idea, Jeanetics (do you not love the name of that blog?!), was so creative in her game, even using an apple corer to bore holes into a pumpkin to make it more like a bowling ball. Genius!

I didn’t get quite so creative.  In fact, I almost didn’t do this activity at all this year, since Halloween was over, and the original idea was for use during a Halloween party. I was actually reminded of it while I was in the store with both boys, buying toilet paper, and a bunch of other things, so I didn’t put a whole lot of planning into it.  It was about 10am, and his Majesty was nutty, as is usually the case when he’s required to do anything other than what’s on his own agenda (which consists of playing, playing, eating, and oh yeah, did I mention playing?), and unfortunately, I still had a laundry list of things to do around the house that day. I feared I was in for a long day of trying to entertain the little guy, coordinate lessons for the big guy, and knock out some of my own chores.  Anyway, when I remembered this pin, I grabbed an extra pack of TP ( the cheapest kind they sold) and a bag of gourds to use as balls, and crossed my fingers that the day could pass smoothly, despite the looming to do list.  I chose gourds figuring that since they were different shapes, they would each roll differently, and would perhaps make it extra interesting.

When we got home from the store, I hastily set up the toilet paper”pins”, hoping to get His Majesty engaged in the game quickly, thereby allowing me to put the rest of the groceries away.

He somehow immediately knew something was up, because he pretty much stalked me as I set the pins up, and when he realized that the gourds could be used as balls, he figured out the goal of the game before I could even snap a photo of him warming up.

And from there, my friends, it was on.

You see, my boy decided that this was not to be a game of bowling. Forget rolling them, he was tossing those squash in the air like he pitched for the Tigers.  I’m talking dead on accurate.  It was actually kind of freaky how he hit his targets every time, mercifully sparing the wall behind them.

Christopher tried showing him how to roll them repeatedly, but he didn’t care about the rules of the game, as the rules of toddlerhood declare that if you have a ball, you throw it. He was pretty independent with the game, and despite his refusal to actually make it a bowling game, he enjoyed setting the “pins” up in various patterns over and over again. .

After a while (and it was indeed a while, I couldn’t believe how long this game kept him entertained), throwing the gourds got old, he just started knocking the pins over.

He is constantly moving, so it's basically a small miracle that this photo isn't even blurrier!

At some point beyond that, he implemented total destruction, which, as always, is His Majesty’s daily mission.  He’s a happy kid while he makes his monster messes, though, so I generally try not to let them bother me.

Plus, do you even know how much I got done while he entertained himself with a few cheap rolls of toilet paper and some gourds?! Tons.  Suffice it to say that on this particular afternoon, I happily cleaned up this mess at the start of nap time because I had virtually nothing left to do on my daily list. Score 1 for Mom.

Was our game as pretty as Jeanetics? Heck no, hers rocks, and mine is totally bootleg in comparison.  But did my guy have a blast playing his own version of Pumpkin Bowling?

Yes.  Yes he did.

So, my mission was accomplished, too.

Nov4

PomPom Play

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One of my favorite things on Pinterest is cheap, homemade toys.  There are some pretty creative ideas on there, and if you are lucky enough to have a toddler or preschooler in your home, you can spend hours getting inspiration on everything from toys and learning games, to themed play dates and creative snacks.  My friend Emily, of Emily in the Kitchen, recently showed up at a homeschool activity for our older children with a bag full o’ activities for our littles, and this PomPom activity that she found on Pinterest was one of the things she brought along with her.  Come to find out, there is a whole mess of toddler and preschooler activities that are designed to be included in something called a Busy Bag, which, I have learned, is a stash of simple activities that you have handy (in a bag) to take along with you and keep your little ones busy while you are out and about, running errands, waiting at the doctor’s office, etc.  Is this not a brilliant concept?! Not to mention that it doesn’t involve handing over your iphone to your 2-year-old to distract them with a game of Angry Birds (which means that you can keep your iphone and play Angry Birds yourself while your toddler plays with the stuff in their Busy Bag! Double bonus!!).

Anyway, the original source of my pin is a blog that I have determined is pretty much the mother load of activities, crafts, games and ideas pertaining to babies and children from 6 months old right up on through kindergarten.  There are a TON of ideas on her blog, and everything is wicked organized into categories, which makes it easy to get inspiration for what you are looking for.  It’s a wealth of info, seriously, check it out.

The PomPom toy is pretty simple. All you need are scissors, an empty container with a lid (I used a sour cream container, obviously washed and dried), and some pom poms.  I got a whole bag of them at Hobby Lobby for $2.99 (but if you are better organized than I am, bring your 40% off coupon and get them for even less!).  You also don’t need such a big bag, but I figured that there will be other uses for fluffy pompoms in the future, so it didn’t hurt to stock up a few extra.

Anyway, once you have your supplies gathered, you just use your scissors to cut a few holes in the top of your lid.  You want them to be large enough for the pompoms to fit through, but not small enough that your child has to use a little effort to get them inside.  I started small, and tested my pompom against the opening as I enlarged it, so that I didn’t accidentally make it too large.  I initially worried that the plastic would be rigid potentially might scrape His Majesty’s hand when he played with it, but I tested it a few times, and it doesn’t seem to be a problem.  A commenter on the original source mentioned that you could heat the edges to soften them if you were concerned, but I didn’t find that to be necessary with this container.

That’s it.  Cut holes in the top of the container, and you’re ready to hand it over to your kiddo for a test run.

And, the verdict is… He liked it!!

He also enjoyed showing his big brother how to play with his new toy, and throwing the Pom Poms.  Everywhere.  Which made the activity even more fun for him, especially when our ancient, senior cat started to play with the stray pompoms.  Understand that this was HUGE for my boys.  Puffy does not play, at least not if other people are actually around to witness it. This could very well be a once in a lifetime viewing for them.

So, the fact that this activity was cheap, required no skill other than basic knowledge of how to use  a pair of scissors, AND entertained His Majesty in 3 different ways (watching the cat play, throwing the pompoms, and of course, using the toy as it was originally intended) means that it scores pretty high on my list of awesome toddler activities.  I’d say it was $3 well spent. Plus it’s small, can be stored easily, and could easily be carried along in a busy bag, should you feel so inclined as to make one.  And, if you’re feeling fancy, you could Mod Podge some paper or fabric onto your container and hit it with an acrylic sealer to make it pretty (or just buy a pretty container and cut holes into it).

So, have you made a busy bag for your kids?  What’s in it?  Do you have any activity ideas that you think Christopher or His Majesty would enjoy? Do tell!

Oct21

Jello Play Dough

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Oooh, do I have a recommendation for a fun activity for you and your kids today!  You may even have everything you need to make it in your kitchen already!

Jello Play Dough sounded like great way to kill some time inside, which is exactly what we needed on a rainy day earlier this week.  Both of my boys, eleven year old Christopher, and His Majesty, in all of his 19 month old glory, enjoyed playing with it, and it worked out great for me for two reasons: It made the soundtrack of my morning absolutely lovely to hear the two of them playing together, AND it gave me time to get some of my kitchen stuff done, while I simultaneously admired their jello play dough masterpieces.  It also scored bonus points because it was made with commonly stocked ingredients, and I didn’t have to make a special trip to the store.  I didn’t have any wax paper, but whatever, other than that, I had everything I needed, and I easily made it work.  It’ s pretty great to think that if we end up getting stuck inside unexpectedly due to weather or whatever might come up in our day to day chaos, I’ll have a quick activity option to whip up with hardly any advanced planning.

I wake up earlier than my boys even on our down days, mainly so that I can enjoy a shower and nice cup of tea (AND a Diet Pepsi) before anyone is awake and asking me for (or, in the case of His Majesty, demanding) anything.  It also gave me time to take a look at the original source, and figure out my plan of attack.  And speaking of the original source, what an amazing sight!  There are a dozen different play dough recipes, all a click away. I can’t wait to give some of the other recipes on there a try.

Ok, I digress.  Where were we? Oh, yeah, so, as I boiled my water for my tea and cracked my Diet Pepsi, I assembled my ingredients.

Gelatin (I had strawberry), cream of tartar, canola oil, white flour, salt, and water; Also, wax paper, to sit your dough on while it cools enough to handle it. 

Then I tossed them into a big ol’ bowl, mixing the dry ingredients before I added the oil and water.

Mix to an even consistency.

And you’ll end up with something that looks like this:

Nice and smooth

Then pour the mixture into a sauce pan and heat on low, stirring constantly.  The original source mentions that this will burn easily, so be sure not to turn the heat up too high, and remember to keep stirring it..

Just keep stirring, stirring, stirring…

Eventually, after about 5 minutes, the mixture will start to clump into a big old blob.  That’s when you know you’re on the right track.  When it is all clumpy, and there is no more liquid, you’re done.

Then, I ran into a bit of a snag, but no worries, I improvised, and all was well.  The first snag was that I got a phone call.  Kids sleeping + ringing phone = move quickly.  Turns out, it was one of my BFFs, and given that no one was awake, the opportunity for an uninterrupted conversation could not be passed up.  The second snag, which happened simultaneously with the first, was the realization that I did not in fact have wax paper, but rather, parchment paper. Oh well, I figured a stainless steel bowl and a fridge would do just as well to cool it down, and maybe even in time to finish it before the kids woke up.   It looked like this when I put it into the fridge:

Clumped together, no liquid, but still rather sticky. And hot. So let it cool before you touch it.

Well, the conversation lasted a while and when I pulled out the dough, it was nice and cool. In a further alignment of the stars, His Majesty was still asleep and Christopher was peacefully eating his breakfast and examining his daily lessons, without so much as a loud and intentional sigh.  So, I added some flour to the dough, and started to knead it as the directions entail.

I had to add a good amount of flour to keep it from being gummy. I just kept adding a little at a time until I got it to the right consistency; I’d estimate I added about a 1/2 cup.

About 10 minutes later, after slowly adding about 1/2 cup of flour a little at a time so as not to ruin the consistency, it was no longer sticky, was easy to handle, and had the perfect amount of play dough squish to it.  I couldn’t wait to let the boys play with it.

After breakfast, with the morning dishes looming in the sink, I figured it was the perfect time to let them have at it while I cleaned up.  It was an instant hit.

The dough didn’t stain our hands or the placemat, and while I wouldn’t intentionally get it on my clothing, it was very easy to clean up. The cost for all of the ingredients is be minimal, and making the dough took less than a half hour, not including the cooling time.

The original source says that it will keep for a few days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. I put mine in a ziplock bag, and then put the bag inside of a tupperware, before popping it in the fridge, and it is still usable 2 days later, although I did go ahead and add a little more flour to make it less gummy.

All in all, the Jello Play Dough was a huge hit.  And it tided His Majesty over until it was time to play with his favorite toy of recent days.

Empty yogurt cups.  Do you have a toddler?  Start saving your yogurt cups.  You can thank me later.

So there you have it.  A quick, cheap, and easy way to entertain your kids, all with easily obtainable ingredients that you may already have in your kitchen.

Happy Pinning!

Oct12

Kitchen Cork board Mini De-clutter

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I never have a place to put my weekly dinner menu, or my stamps.  At least, not a place where I can find them when I need them.  Until I saw this on Pinterest.   A hidden gem of real life pin-possibilities!!  And perfect inspiration for the inside of my kitchen cabinet:

Nothing to see here!

So, a quick trip to Hobby Lobby, with the 40% off one item coupon I received in their weekly email, and I arrived home with the necessary supplies.

11x17in Fine Grain Cork Surface by The Board Dudes; And guess what? It came with four adhesive squares.

Oh, and did you catch sight of this:

$4.99 at Hobby Lobby: After 40% off coupon, it was only $3.

Not too bad, eh?

So, about 3 minutes and practically no effort later, the cork board was secure inside the cabinet.

Instant organization possibilities.

It’s in my spice cabinet, which I definitely go into daily, so it’s a convenient spot to pin invitations, stamps, and my family’s dinner menu and grocery list; Or, recipe cards for the upcoming week, for dishes that I didn’t find online.  Things that need to be handy (handier than simply being stuffed inside my black hole of a purse), but don’t necessarily need to be out in the open.

So now, it looks like this:

Menu/grocery list, stamps, and the almighty toddler motivation tool: stickers.

It’s definitely not as pretty as the source blog for the pin (which is pretty amazing, check it out), but it’s functional, and it’s hidden, which both score points with me.  And for $3 and the bare minimum of effort, I felt pretty productive dragging my husband in the kitchen to admire my handy work!

You can do a lot with these, if you want to keep them out in the open: Maybe mod podge some fabric or craft paper on it, or make some really cute thumbtacks, like these these ones that I pinned from a neat blog I stumbled across.

I have two more cork boards waiting for me to decide where to put them, so stay tuned to find out where I’m going to place another, and if I do anything fancier with them next time.

Ohhhh, the pin-possibilities!

Happy Pinning :)