Where did the year go?

I know everyone talks about the busyness of the holidays, but being the crafter that I am, the end of the year is INSANE for me.

First, you have Thanksgiving. Then V's birthday.  Then start getting ready for Christmas. Throw in not one, not two, but THREE craft shows (one being huge and an hour and a half away) and my sanity is shot.

Every year at the point when the shows are over, I crash.  Literally.  My body says STOP and I get all the sickness.  Everything that everyone had for a month comes upon me and I turn into a zombie for a week. Necessary evil though because all the shows this fall went to Christmas gifts.  I literally paid for every single gift given to my family and extended family with money I made from shows. 

I know, I know....Eric helped purchase the supplies to make my wares, BUT I crafted, sewed, and peddled the wares on my own.  (Well, my friend Holli did help me when I was in Missouri. Can't forget that!  It isn't every day you have a friend volunteer her time and house to help you out!)

It felt great.  I stay home, help to raise the kids, keep the house clean (yeah,right), am a transporter of kids to and from, but I always feel bad about finances. Being able to give back to the family in a monetary way feels AWESOME.

So, here is to the end of the year.

I wish all of you a happy SAFE New Years Eve tomorrow.  I hope you get to spend it the way you want, whether it be hanging out with your loved ones, trying to convince the 8 year old that he in fact does NOT have to stay up until midnight (Oye. Aidan wants to this year), partying it up in the clubs (aka the good ole days) , or just sleeping (how I spent the first NYE with Aidan. Eric and I were passed out at 10pm!)

One last thing....resolutions...I know people do the "I am going to lose weight, exercise more!  blah blah blah."

My resolution...I don't really have one for this year.

I plan to work more (I have an online job) and I plan to take more me time.  I realize that I get very cranky without a down time in my day.  Maybe the gym? Maybe reading? Maybe a movie?  Who knows.  All I know is this mom needs some ME time after 8 years.

What about you?  How was your holiday season?  Did you survive? Resolutions....do you have any?

See you next year!  (And I know...this is a day early.  I am starting the ME time before the year starts!  RULE BREAKER!!)

What's Cookin' Wednesday!

My Gram was in town last week.  So, taking care of my three kids, having a 90 year old Gram to look after, and then I got the cold from Hades, my meal plans flew out the window. SOOOO....I have repeats this week. 

Eggplant Parmesan  Garlic bread to be added.  As well as spaghetti!

Cumin Lime Black Bean Quinoa Salad  and Roasted Cauliflower.  I REALLY liked the cauliflower when I made it last week. My hand was a bit heavy with the salt though.  Note to self....add less salt.

Turkey Burgers and Broccoli Apple Salad   I typically pride myself on my burgers. I normally just add Worcestershire Sauce and season salt.  I figured I would try a new recipe.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches   and Mostly Not Potato Salad

Taco Salad   Kids will get quesidillas.   I think they could live off of those.

Last but not least. This recipe is awesome.  Cucumber Salad  with Sour Cream and Dill Dressing  This is just a side for something. What that is, I don't know.


Desserts: 
Jello with strawberries and cool whip. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Oreo Pudding Poke Cake

Have a great week! 

Backyard Gardening...do you do it?

I haven't talked much about my garden this year, just because I was scared it would fail.  Seriously.  Last year I had squash and it was going fantastically.  I saw a lot of odd looking ladybugs, they were kind of orange. Ladybugs suppose to be good for a garden though, right?  I heard they eat aphids.  Then these happened.

 They look like cute little Minions from Despicable Me, don't that?  They are bugs sent straight from hell.  They eat through your squash plants.  They destroy them.  It was going fan-freaking-tastic....then death. Within a matter of days, the squash was gone.  RIP 2013 Squash.

So I was hesitant about the garden again this year, but I still planted.  I wanted to get that bumper crop of squash and zucchini that other people get! I wanted fresh veggies!  It is finally happening. The garden is growing.  

The devil bugs came back again.  I have been inspecting every day and picking them off and killing them.  I finally went to the nursery and got some "powder" stuff.  That didn't work.  I got sick of them and we headed to Lowe's and got some Sevin Spray .

I know,I know....poison. BUT this one it is safe for gardens and DOESN'T penetrate the plant. I wash off all my crops anyway before eating.  One quick spray/water killed the evil bugs. This says it kills on the plant and in the ground.  So far, so good.

This year I planted corn, asparagus beans, peas, squash, zucchini, peppers, and carrots. I had a few more things, but my squash over took the garden and no sun equals no plants. My zucchini never grew.  I went to the nursery and grabbed some cucumber plants and shoved them in. They MIGHT get some sun.  The squash is giant.  We are actually going to build another garden bed next year to plant all the poofy plants in.

See, giant. It is covering a good quarter of my planting area. THe bottom right is where I put the cucumber.  I am pretty sure I have some random flower growing there.  lol

So now you get to look at my random plants and ooooh and ahhhhh.  First up...corn!

I tried corn before and it failed.  The area we originally planted a garden got covered with trees.  I planted them in the actual garden this time.  It is going AWESOME.

When I told a friend I was planing asparagus beans, she reply "huh?"  Think: crazy long green beans.  I was getting REALLY bummed because nothing was happening. Just vines. Then one day, I had a gorgeous purple flower.

The flower was dead by the afternoon.  I was bummed. Then I noticed it was slowly sliding off.  Coming out of the dead flower was....A BEAN!!!! Seriously, how cool is that?

 

We did potatoes in the garden last year and they worked great, BUT it wasn't able to get very deep. I wanted lots of potatoes, so I figured I would do potatoes in a bucket. I had a bunch of green tubs that I got on super clearance at Walmart. I had Eric drill drainage holes in the bottom.  You throw some dirt in and place a potato on top.  Then throw more dirt on it.  I bought some of those "guaranteed to grow" potatoes at Lowe's.  I have found that guaranteed to grow does NOT actually guarantee growth.  I have tried strawberries twice. NOTHING.  So I figured I would give these a shot.

Nothing was happening.

Until something did.  Three of the 5 are growing!! Once they get a bit more "stalky" you add more dirt and keep repeating. This suppose to yield a BUNCH of potatoes.  You can read more about it HERE.

 I have about a million small flower pots, so I decided to grow some odd things too. I have artichokes. Once they get bigger I need to plant them in the ground.  They suppose to grow GIANT. I have 4.  I love artichokes.  I hope my neighbors do too!

 On our railing I have strawberries in pots.  I bought the "guaranteed to grow".  They didn't.  So I bought a flat from Lowe's. They are doing great! The birds are well fed! I need to buy a deterrent. Maybe a fake owl? That sounds more fun than just netting.

 In this mornings harvest I actually picked the first squash and TWO strawberries!!  Got them first ya filthy birds!

 Those are peas in the pods! Look how cute when you open them. My fingernail sliced a few. 

Last, but definitely not least....my fig tree.  It is growing so huge. It is a Chicago Hardy Fig. I probably should have kept the base trimmed a bit more then I first got it.  It has only been in the ground for a few years.

 This year is going to have a bumper crop of figs!  Normally I get a few at a time. Look how many are growing! I have to research some recipes!

 So excited to watch it grow this year!  I also have a pot of mini cucumbers. They suppose to get about an inch big and look like Barbie sized watermelons. They just started growing!

Do you plant "traditional" plants, or throw in some odd balls like I do?

What's Cookin' Wednesday Week 3

Yeah.....week three of What's Cookin' Wednesday didn't happen.  I had dance recital rehearsal that lasted until 9pm on Tuesday evening. It actually was later, but we left as soon as Nate was done.  Then I ran 900 errands the first day of summer vacation, then out of town guests, then recital, then Grandma sitting...and now it is Wednesday.  lol  Excuses, yep. I got them.

One thing I have noticed that I never keep up with is actual DAYS when I am making certain things.  So, I think just a bucket list of recipes for the week will work better.  Here goes!

Spaghetti with garlic bread.  I think I make the best garlic bread ever. Get a loaf of French bread, slather it with butter (half a stick on each side).  Make sure to leave it out a bit to get it soft before hand. After you slathered, sprinkle on oregano, parsley, garlic salt, garlic powder, and basil.  Put it on a pan and put it under the broiler in the oven.  You REALLY need to keep an eye on it.  It will toast fast, which means it will burn fast.  Sometimes when I don't have a loaf I make this on normal sandwich bread or hamburger buns. We aren't fancy here.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole.  (Stacked enchiladas)  These were SO good. It makes a bunch,so you will have leftovers.  I used used a large can of mild enchilada sauce.  I want to try her recipe though!  It sounds super easy to make.  TIP: If you need to get shredded chicken and don't have any made, grab your slow cooker.  I threw 4 boneless, skinless breasts in there and then added two cups of vegetable broth. You could use chicken if you have it. Turn it on high for four hours and leave it alone.  When it is done you can literally lift if out and shred with just one fork. You can just smoosh it and it shreds. So good and easy!

Squash Casserole Pretty sure this is Eric's new go to recipe. It is really yummy!  We were running late so we just served this with peas and salad.  Not the best "dinner", but it would be an awesome side dish!

Brown Sugar Meatloaf   Don't think less of me....I love meatloaf.  Well, turkey meat loaf. I haven't eaten beef or pork in 20 years.  HUG A COW AND PIGGY!  This recipe looks super yummy and I think it would go great with sweet potatoes.  One of Grandma's favorite foods.

Eggplant Parmesan I LOVE eggplant.  What I hate is frying the eggplant before you bake it. Eggplant sucks up SO MUCH OIL.  This recipe you bake the eggplant.I found it a while ago and it is now my go to.   I typically make spaghetti with it to throw the eggplant on top of and throw together a quick salad for the side.

Roasted Cauliflower  I love cauliflower and am planning on this for lunch one day.  Look how yummy it looks! I plan on eating it with Cumin Lime Black Bean Quinoa Salad

Cumin Lime Black Bean Quinoa Salad  It looks SOOOO good.

Desserts this week:

Cinnamon Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Ice Cream

S'mores Ice Cream...RECIPE COMING!!!

Happy Eating!!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Ice Cream Recipe!!! (or how I gained 5 lbs over night)

Back on May the 4th, we went to a comic book store for Comic Book day.  We had time to kill before we were allowed in and went to check out the ice cream store that was next to them.  Nate got Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Ice Cream and hasn't stopped talking about it since.

This week I figured I could be the coolest and try to recreate it.  I succeeded.  He told me it was BETTER than the ice cream shop.  Score one for mom! 

This ice cream is so good. You have the cinnamon of the ice cream and then the hunks of cookie. If you are an anti-raisin person, I still like you.  Just omit them from the recipe.  This recipe DOES call for planning. I baked my favorite oatmeal raisin cookies for this recipe.  You can do that as well, OR buy cookies. Either way, you need to have the cookies ready before the ice cream. The cookies are cut and frozen before being added to help keep them from falling apart in the churner.  I have a Cuisinart 2 quart Ice Cream maker and LOVE it.

My FAVORITE oatmeal cookie recipe is the Quaker Oats Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe.  If you don't want extra cookies, I would half the recipe.  I don't even really understand what I just wrote.  Who wouldn't want extra cookies?  Go ahead and make the whole recipe and eat one, or four, while they cool.  They have oatmeal, raisins, and eggs.  You could probably eat them for breakfast they are so healthy.

I have mentioned it before, but if you don't use a cookie scoop, you should.  A scoop helps to yield in uniform size cookies.  This is awesome for baking purposes because they cook at the same rate.  Plus, my kids like to be the "floppers".  V is a pretty awesome flopper.

After the cookies are cool, I grabbed about 10 and cut them into pieces.  This is where uniformity comes in. I did each cookie across in 3 or 4 pieces, turned the knife, and sliced across again 3 or 4 times. That way you get nice little squares.

Grab the squares, put them in a freezer safe container, and pop them in the freezer until they are ready for the ice cream. You should probably sample a square here...you know...quality control.

Time to make the ice cream!  (ice cream recipe adapted from The Live-In Kitchen)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 cup sugar (or 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup maple syrup)
• 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons cinnamon (to taste)
• 2 cups of heavy whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

Directions:

1. Pre-fill the sink with cold water and ice.
2. In a medium saucepan add the milk, sugar, and cinnamon.  Whisk them together and heat over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. 
3. Remove from the heat and add the heavy whipping cream, vanilla, and salt.  Stir.
4. Take the pan over to the sink and hold it in the water being careful not to get water in the milk mixture. SLOWLY and carefully stir the milk mixture until it cools down.
5. Remove pan, dry off bottom, cover with plastic wrap, and stick the pan in the refrigerator for AT LEAST an hour, up to overnight  You need the base to be COLD.
6. Pour the base into your ice cream maker and process it according to your makers instructions. Mine was about 15-20 minutes. 
7. Add cookie pieces from the freezer and process it for a couple more minutes.

 At this stage I just turned off the machine and scooped the base into a big freezer safe bowl and stirred in the rest of the cookie chunks. My poor maker couldn't handle all the cookies in the bowl.

Ice cream makers are AWESOME, but it comes out like a soft serve typically. I like to be able to scoop it, so I threw the bowl (covered) into the freezer for another hour.

I ended up with perfection.

Enjoy!  S'mores ice cream coming later this week!

Stuffed Animal Hammock Tutorial!

Picture by V

I did something today I swore I would never do...I used geometry.  Seriously.  

When I was little I had a stuffed animal obsession.  This might be why my kids have tons.  Please never look under Nate's bed. It is where his all get shoved.

Veronica, still being in her crib (it was converted to the toddler bed), has zero under bed storage.  The area eats socks, but that is all that can fit there.  V has inherited many stuffed animals from her brothers as well as collecting them on her own.

When I was little I had a stuffed animal hammock in the top corner of my room.  I LOVED to throw them into the hammock.  I figured V needed one to get her room a bit more organized.  

Since I am a regular sewer, I have tons of random material laying around I figured I would use what I had.  I knew I needed something with stretch in it.  If you go with plain cotton, it won't have any stretch and it will essentially be a "shelf" in the corner.  That would be fine if you don't have a lot to store, but we do.   I once had a grand plan to make Aidan some purple knit stripey pants when he was about 6 months old. I still have the material...8 years later.

So I grabbed that material, normal sewing supplies(scissors, pins,etc), 2 packs of bias tape, and cup hooks.  The original bias tape I grabbed, I changed my mind on.  So you will see green in the pic, but I changed to blue later.

  

Here is where the geometry comes in.  The area I wanted to put this, is near V's bed and next to a window.  One side could ONLY be 29" max.  I needed to cut the material into a 90degree right triangle.  Sounds easy, right?  Here is where the tricky comes in. 

You need the longest side (the part that is not touching a wall to be stretchy. If you grab a piece of knit, you will see that when you tug it, it only stretches one way.

ALSO, I only had half a yard. So while the two short sides could be up to 29" long, it wouldn't work on my material.

This is really where trial and error and geometry comes in.  I found the formula for figuring out the long side (Pythagoras Theorem) and started plugging away.

a2 + b2 = c2              A and B are the two short sides.  C= the long side.

So, I plugged in 29 into A and B and figured it out. If those two sides were 29" the length across would be 41 inches.  I measured that out, DID NOT CUT, and marked the center of the top.  I grabbed my yardstick, layed it from point to point. It was not 29", so I knew it wouldn't fit my corner correctly.  Remember, you want it to be square like your wall!

After lots of finagling, I got the correct number.  (26x26)+ (26x26)=1352  THEN you take the square root of 1352.  Your computer calculator should have it.  Looks like a little weird check mark. Mine is 36.76955, so I just rounded to 37inches.

Measure 37" across the bottom, draw a line to the other side, and cut straight up.  You can't tear knit, so make sure to have a line to cut on!  Then find the middle of the top and lay your straight edge from there to the bottom right corner. Draw a line and repeat with the other side.  Cut on your diagonal lines.

Get one pack of bias tape and start sandwiching the knit between it and pinning. Make sure to leave a few inches on each side to make your loops.  I left about an inch that would go onto an opposite side and allowed about 4 inches for a loop.  So- 5 inches hanging off NOT pinned.  One pack of bias tape will NOT go around all three edges. Due to this and my having random colors in my sewing kit, I decided to do the back two sides one color and the front edge another.

Once the first side is pinned on (with 5 inches hanging off BOTH sides), head to your machine. DO NOT STITCH starting at the very end.  Leave that first inch open.  Stitch down the rest of the bias tape, leaving the last inch un-stitched again.  As you might notice in my picture, it looks like I did stitch all the way.  I did.  Then I had to rip it out.  You can't sandwich the other side in it if it is sewed closed!  So, do as I say and not as I do and save yourself the headache.

Take the extra bias tape hanging off the edge and form a loop. Make sure the un-sewn part ends up on the next side.  Sandwich it inside and pin.

Grab the rest of that bias tape (or another color-your choice) and butt it up against the loop.  Pin in place.  Pin going down the side, leave the 5 inches hanging off the side, and cut. Take it to the sewing machine and sew it down!  Leave the last inch un-sewn again!

For the third side you don't leave extra hanging off. You want to butt it up against each loop and just sew straight across.  Now, this next strep is TOTALLY optional.   I was really scared of the knit coming out of the corner since I (1)-threw this together rather quickly one afternoon and didn't have the prettiest corners, and (2)-have tons of stuffed animals to throw on it.  I switched my stitches to a zig zag and went a bit crazy on the corners. It feels rather secure now!

Figure out where you want the hammock and insert a cup hook into the wall.  I realized I needed a drill at this point and predrilled a tiny hole for the hook to get started in.  Corners have boards in them. Drilling a hole makes it much easier. Just make sure your drill bit is SMALLER than the screw part on the hook!  Once the hook is in, put the back loop of the net on the wall and stretch it out to where you want the other side.  Put a dot there and insert the next hook (using the drill if necessary)

Loop the second loop on, stretch to over to the other side and do the same process.  Once all done, throw stuffed animals on and admire your handiwork.!
 

It really does hold a ton and stretches nicely!

I wrote this post the way my brain was working, so if you need help understanding something, let me know!!  Happy Organizing!

How to get rid of pesky fruit flies...THIS WORKS!!!!

We have a love/hate relationship with bananas in my house.  Probably one of the greatest days ever was when I was at a craft show that got HORRIBLY rained out (flooded tent, damaged merchandise, the works) and there was an organic grocer there.  They were selling breads, fruits, and veggies. They had a ton.  The monsoon took place and they decided to give away all their food to the vendors.  People were LITERALLY leaving with cases of food. I got about 6 bunches of bananas. They were gone in about 2 days.

We typically have bananas on the counter.  Unfortunately with these bananas we get fruit flies. Not like, 2 flies. We get a TON.  I can not stand any form of flying bug in my house and I think fruit flies fall right in line behind spiders in my top hated list.
I went to Pinterest, like every woman does when she wants to figure something out, and searched out how to catch them.  I found directions on making some cone thing, taping it into a jar, and having stuff in the bottom to attract them.  The theory was, they go down this cone to the stuff in the bottom and they can't figure out how to get out, so they get trapped.  Didn't work.

One of the nurses Eric works with told him this solution and it works EVERY TIME. Be prepared for the least technical tutorial ever.

First, gather your supplies:

Small jar or glass-I use a pint size canning jar and the ring
apple cider vinegar
dish soap
mixing tool-fork
something to poke holes with-scissors or toothpick
plastic wrap

I eye ball everything. I included lots of pictures because, well, that is what I do. Also, so you can sort of eyeball along with me.

First pour in some apple cider vinegar into your glass, about an inch or so.

Then pour in some dish soap into the vinegar. Not nearly as much as the vinegar.  MAYBE about a quarter of the amount.  Probably a bit less.
 

Stir it all up. I like to stir until it gets a bit bubbly, so I know it is all mixed in.

Take a piece of plastic wrap and fold it onto itself. You want it double thickness.  Take it and stretch it over the top of the jar making sure it is tight and wrinkle free.

Put the metal ring on the jar and tighten it.  Take your hole poking device-scissors or toothpick, and make about 4 holes. 

Do NOT make the holes to small. You need the flies to be able to get inside the jar! If you use a toothpick poke a hole and sort of swirl it around a bit to stretch them out.

Put the jar in the area where the flies are and leave it alone. I had this jar out for a NIGHT.   WARNING: Next picture is gross.

Nasty, huh? Better dead in a jar than flying around my kitchen! While I was taking these pictures, I made the new jar. I went and put it on my counter and grabbed the jar from yesterday to take the gross picture above. When I walked back to my kitchen I saw this. Look at the top right of the jar near the hole! That little dot right there...a fruit fly!  Get 'em jar!

What's Cookin' Wednesday! Week 2

Can you believe I am on week two of What's Cookin' Wednesday!  Last week I stuck to my plan pretty much.  I switched a few days around, but pretty much stuck with what I planned.  It made my days LESS stressful.  No question as to what I was making for dinner each night.  I just walked to the laptop, went to my blog, clicked the link, and started cooking.

So here is the plan for this week:

Wednesday: Slowcooker Sloppy Joes, pasta salad, Jello with Strawberries and whipped cream!  The slowcooker recipe makes a bunch, so you can either freeze some or just know what you are having for lunch for a few days!

Thursday: Sweet Lemon Shrimp and some form of veggie

Friday: Chicken Shawarma, Avocado Hummus, and random veggies to dip in the hummus

Saturday:Thai Basil Eggplant-vegan and gluten free!

Sunday:Warm Citrusy Millet Salad with Roasted Fennel and Kalamata Olives
   I never made this last week.  I didn't get the fennel on shopping night and kept forgetting. Oops.

Monday: Pretty sure we need to throw in a pizza night.  The kids are driving me batty.  So I am thinking pizza and leftovers.

Tuesday:  Dance rehearsal night!

Link up with me with your Weekly Meal Plan!

Geocaching Sunday!

After the fun the family and I had last week, click there to refresh your mind, we decided to make that our Sunday morning routine. This week we researched around Charlotte and figured we would hit another local park!  Make sure you read through this entire post.You will want to hear what "fun" I had. 

We got there pretty early to beat the heat and Disc Golf crowd.  Lots of the caches we were after were on the trail and no one wants a kid beamed in the head with a flying disc!

What is "disc golf" you ask?  BASICALLY you have flying discs (the cool kids don't call it Frisbee Golf since Frisbee is a brand and not the item used), and you play like golf.  Instead of hitting a ball you throw a disc into a big target.  There is a whole association for disc golf!   Tournaments and everything! Professional Disc Golf Association

We started on our way and this week we found out first micro cache. We found one in a film canister last week, but this was pretty darn tiny. It was so tiny and well hidden it took forever to find.

We found a total of 5 this week.  Many of these were off the trail and would be IMPOSSIBLE without the GPS.  Seriously.   Can you see that one above V's finger? A TINY capsule on a tree branch.

Of course there was a handy ammo can.  I really like these. They typically have things the kids can swap out for in them. This week Aidan weighed the pros and cons and decided not to swap any of his items.  Aidan grabbed the camera at this point and started documenting.

We were walking and I was yelling at the kids not to run (wet ground) and the next thing I know....BAM. I slipped on mud and busted it hardcore.  I scratched my arm up and was covered in mud.  I pulled my pride together, brushed off some mud,  and we carried on. There was one last cache I wanted to find.  It was the last on the disc golf trail.  We found it, but it was so off the track we had to figure out how to get back.  We came upon a tree that had fell down and a few logs around it.  I decided to step on a log to get over.

It was at this moment that the log DECIDED to be a rotten log and break apart under my foot.  Doesn't sound so bad, huh? WRONG. My left leg fell down into a hole UP TO MY THIGH. It really was no fun.  The first thing I thought of was "WHAT IF THERE IS A SNAKE!"  The second thing  was "If i move my leg the wrong way, I am about to break it."  I pulled myself out slowly, dusted off my pride AGAIN, and we went to the playground.
 

I plopped my butt down, brushed off some mud, and of course I alerted my friends of my close call with death on Facebook.  

I texted my friend over at An Ordinary Blog and told her what happened to which she replied "I don't think I would geocache again" or something along that line.

I kind of have to. We found our first Travel Bug as a family! More about that later this week. 

  
Have any of you tried it since I posted about it last week?

Stamped bag tutorial, aka: CRIKEY! It is Teacher Appreciation Week and I forgot!!!

Yeah...so. I totally dropped the ball this week. last Thursday we got the kids Thursday Communicators with all kinds of info in it. Thursday is also Nate's gymnastics AND Eric was on call.  Totally forgot to look inside....until last night...when the school called for the weekly updates and they mentioned Teacher Appreciation Week.

Our school gives us "ideas"  Sweet/Salty snack Monday, Flower (real or made) Tuesday, etc. They give ideas for every day except Friday and then they threw a little blurb at the bottom "Don't forget the other teachers that help out!"  Speech, gym, art...

So-I panicked.  I needed a quick idea that I can make for the additional teachers. I typically try to get them just for holidays. I figure they get forgotten since they don't have their own assigned class.  I started googling, found a picture with no link. No tutorial. Just a picture. And ran to Hobby Lobby.  I also lost the link for the orginal post. It was on some "round up"  So....thanks to whomever posted it!  I will try to find you and tag you!

 For this tutorial you need:

• Something to do the printing on. (I got 3 canvas totes at Hobby Lobby for $7.99 plus a 30%discount this week. So $6.39 for three... $2.13/bag)
• Acrylic paint in the colors you want.  (I already have a ton of paint.No additional cost)
• Textile Medium (Anita's-Hobby Lobby $1.99) This makes the acrylic permanent on the fabric.  You can find it with the normal acrylic paints at Hobby Lobby.  If you want to skip this, you can just skip the acrylic paint  and this all together and buy fabric paint. I used the weekly 40% off coupon so total cost $1.19
• Paint brushes,something to mix paint in
• apples-1 cut in half for 2 colors-I did 3 bags, so three apples.  Already had-no cost today.

Collecting was the hardest part. Now comes the easy part.  The textile medium says you do a 2 parts paint,1 part medium mix ratio.I eyeballed it. Mix it up.  

At this point, I would also recommend putting something inside the bag to protect the other side from leak through.  I didn't.  The paint didn't leak through to the other outside, but it did get onto the inside a bit.  A piece of parchment paper would work wonderfully.

Cut the apple in half, cover half the apple in paint, and press down onto the bag. If you have a stem, make sure to paint that as well! It ends up adding to the design.

 Sometimes you pick it up and you LOVE it.

Other times you don't. Don't fret!  Just add more paint to the apple, line it up, and press again. I found that sometimes I needed to do counter pressure on the backside to get a good print.

Have fun and play with colors! I did two colors per bag and only decorated one side. The top right was made using a smaller apple, so more fit into the pattern.  

These bags took me no time at all. MAYBE an hour for all three including set up, stamping, and cleaning. Total cost was $7.58 plus tax  ONLY $2.53/Teacher gift!!!  And something useful! Who doesn't need a resusable bag!