"Who's, Who's" of Boys Clothes

I feel like I do laundry 24/7 for 3 boys...especially my oldest who likes to change 3 times a day!  Now that they are growing up and constantly receiving hand me downs, I have adopted the

 Dot System!

 

Last year, I was listening to an ADHD speaker, Dr. Susan Fletcher...she was amazing, but the thing I remembered, did not have to do with ADHD, but how she tells her 3 boys clothes apart. 

Yes, I think I am ADHD :) 

 

Your oldest gets 1 Sharpie dot on the tag

Your middle gets 2 Sharpie dots on the tag

Your youngest gets 3 Sharpie dots on the tag

SO SIMPLE!

 

Guess what happens when your oldest grows out of their clothes?  You put 1 more Sharpie dot on the tag and now there is 2...amazing right?  What happens when your middle grows out of their clothes?  You put 1 more Sharpie dot on the tag and there is 3...

I Know, Right!

 

 

 

Dry Erase Organizer

 Dave and I attended a YoungLife Fundraiser a few months back.  We began talking with a couple at our table and found out they have 4 boys from 6th grade to Senior.  I asked her how she does it, I had a problem with 3.  She told me about this idea. 

 

 

I purchased this Dry Erase board at Hobby Lobby and used my coupon, cost me $6.  They had much nicer ones, but I wanted something that I could move around easy. 

On Monday night I look at the boys homework for the week and write everything down.

 

 

I have what is needed, color coded.  I was going to use colored vinyl, but I didn't have it. 

The black tape I bought at Office Depot.  It was about $1.80 a package, I used 2 different sizes. 

The vinyl I cut on my Cricut using Micky Font Cartridge.  I love that cartridge.

 

 

Finished product...this week is actually very slow for us :)

I keep this on our kitchen window seat.  The boys and I can look at it easily to see what they have going on for the week.  I have been doing this a couple of months now and it works amazing.

When we have company over, I pick it up and stash it in my laundry room.

 

 

Lego Candy Valentines

 As you know, my boys love Legos.  I saw that someone made crayons for a birthday party with a Lego Mold.  Had to have it because I knew I would have another Lego party in my future. 

 

I purchased these on Amazon. They came as a set.

I am an over planner. I started looking for Valentine Ideas over Christmas Break.  I found this wonderful tutorial on Sugar Swings.  She made it look so easy...it was, after my 5th batch of trying.  The boys did not mind sampling the candy!

 

I bought Walmart snack size baggies, Wilton Candy Melts from Michaels.  I cut my paper 3x5.  I used crayons and a thin Sharpie. Because I had to make 45 of them for 2 different boys, I copied the cards on a color printer.  The sayings I used were, "Let's Connect!", "Coolest Friend on the Block!" and "Greatest Teacher on the Block!"  They were really fun to make and the boys loved them.

I attached the Lego Guy to the card with a little drop of melted candy!

 

We will see if they are a hit at the parties this week!

Copic Hair Combos

I have been on the biggest Copic Craze lately.  Went on Pinterest and started looking at things, I think it is great, my hubby thinks it is a mistake because I start locking myself in my craft room!

I love the Smash Books that people are doing for their Copic Combos.  So naturally, I had to start one...okay, I have not started yet, but I will soon.

I found these great FREE head downloads to practice on at Whimsie Doodles.  They also have boy heads, but I haven't got that far yet.

I found a hair color combo chart from Mad for Markers.  I love all the colors besides brown, black, red or yellow.  I do not have all the colors that she uses, but I have other color combos and it got me thinking "DO NOT SPEND ANYMORE MONEY ON COPICS! Use what you have."  So, one day when the boys were at school (and I was waiting 5 hours for the plumber), I sat down in front of the TV with a month of shows to catch up on and had a "ME" day.

I know some of these combos are not the best, but it also made me see combos I would have never used and I can also use them for clothing.  I do plan on cutting them all out for my Smash Book and putting them on the appropriate color pages.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Angry Birds Card Recipe (for Cricut)

First, I am so sorry I did not post this back in...April...May! I have many excuses...but won't go into that.

I need to correct what I said on the original post. You cannot cut a grass border on George, but you can cut it from Paper Doll Dress Up.

So here is (part of) the recipe for the Angry Bird card using George and Basic Shapes and Plantin Schoolbook.

I chalked every piece in BLACK ink

This is not a card that will fit in an envelope, so do not plan on mailing it.

White cardstock - 11" x 8 1/2"

Score at 5 1/2"

Green cardstock - 5" x 8", emboss with Happy Birthday Cuttlebug

White cardstock - 4 1/2" x 7 1/2"

Grass - 1" x 7 1/2"

 

****Even though I have been blogging for a few years, there are things I still cannot figure out****

So, I have all the stuff to make this really easy on an Excel spreadsheet, when trying to attach it to this blog I lose half of it.  Please email me and I can email you the spreadsheet.  I am really sorry for the inconvenience.

Christmas Teacher Gift

I am the room mom for Bradley's 2nd Grade class. So, that means I had to do the Class Gift.   I made this GC basket for his teacher.

It came out so much cuter than I thought it would.

The Snowman Hat basket I purchased at Michaels before Thanksgiving and it was  1/2 off.  I also purchased 2 smaller ones for Wesley's teachers, but I forgot to take pictures of the finished project. 

The snowflakes were cut from Cricut Cart Pooh and Friends, the eyes were cut from Friskars Large Petal Punch.

I cut 2 snowflakes for each gift card.  I used my tape runner to adhere the bottom half of the snowflakes and slid the gift card in the top.  I forgot to take a picture of the back, the snowflakes are taped to BBQ skewers (bought 100 at $ store for $1).  I usually use Styrofoam in my baskets, I used green flower foam on this project...oh my goodness, it is so much easier to work with.  It is cheaper and it cuts so much easier.  I wrapped it all in tissue paper so it looked like snow and then stuck her favorite candies in amongst the skewers.

 

She loved it!

...More Elf Antics

Day 9

Jack loving on Baby Jesus!

 

Day 10

We are big Patriots fans.  Jingle is holding onto a picture of Wes Welker signing a helmet.  Jack is Planking on the helmet.  They brought the Pats luck, that night Patriots beat the Texans!

Day 11

Snow angels on the counter with flour.  Jingle was on the chandelier with lots of "snow" trailing him.  Our puppy dog licked all of it up that was on the floor...yuck!

4 More Days of Elf Antics

These are not that fun, but I have lots more coming....

The boys woke up to the replacement of our stocking with our underwear...

Hiding with the Christmas Stuffies...

 Sliding down the banister

Boys are asking for an XBox

Jingle and Jack were checking out Toys R Us.

Elf on the Shelf

Last year, Bradley wrote Santa a letter to receive a Magic Elf.  I found this wonderful site with great free printables to do your own elf.  It was really great and I will post those pics later.

This is our elf Jingle.  He did not create a lot of mischief last year, but when he arrived this year on December 1st, he was on our entry chandelier with a note attached to him.  "I'm back and I have brought a surprise!"

Below him was a present covered with peppermints.

And a letter from Santa explaining that Jingle was a wonderful elf and he was chosen to train a new elf...but beware because the new elf was more mischievous.  The boys named him Jack Frost.

Day 2 - reading "Llama Llama Holiday Drama"

Day 3 - Jack trapped Jingle in a jar full of apples on top of the kitchen cupboards.

Day 4 - Jack gagged Jingle so he could take a bath in marshmallows and peppermints.  I am having a  talk with Jack today about the need to be nice while having fun.

Epsom Salt Snow

I usually have this hurricane on my kitchen island filled with coffee beans and a candle.  I saw this wonderful idea here to use Epsom Salt for snow.

I am utterly amazed how much it does look like snow.

Now, I am putting this out there...I have never heard of Epsom Salt...so I go to the baking aisle! 

Little tip, I found it over with the rubbing alcohol!