The Dragons Fairy Tail

Light Teal Front Door and Choosing paint colors

2013-05-22T15:00:00.001-06:00

How to choose a paint color for the front door

Choosing a paint color for the front door can be tricky. You want something that will blend well with the rest of your house and will also pop a little. We all know that neighbor who painted their door this bright green or purple expecting it turn out just like that picture from the magazine only to find it to be the eye sore of the entire neighborhood. you can see it from a mile away and wish you couldnt see it at all. Well, the reason it didn't turn out like the picture from the magazine could be due to a few things.

1. I think this is the most common mistake, matching colors with your siding, brick color, stucco, etc. is hard and some people don't think about it all. They just figure if it looks good on one house, it will look good on all. That's definitely not the case. Their are many door colors I love, but I know their are very few of those that will look good with my siding. Be sure to get paint samples, and bring them home. Study which one you like best. Also remember the inside of your house if you are painting both sides of the door.

2. It doesn't fit your personality or the houses'. If you have decorated with a very vintage vibe but then you choose a very modern bright green, it will be hard to make that work...not impossible, but much harder where as if you had chosen a vintage mustard yellow, teal, or farm house red, it may have gone really well with those other outdoor decorations you have.

3. Choose a color you won't get sick or better yet, realize if you choose a trendy color, you may end up repainting it down the road because it will be out of style. I think choosing something you can't see yourself hating one day is the way to go but sometimes your tastes change, and that's ok. Just paint it again but be prepared to have that color on your door for every holiday, event, and season. If you can picture it, than you are probably good to go.

Safe Choices:

Some of you just want some safe choices so you feel better about which color to pick. Here would e my picks and suggestions on that:

Beige, cream, and tan (my house): teals, navy blue, dark midnight blue

White: almost anything, focus more on the decorating and personality to decide. Reds, and yellows look great typically but you also might be able to do something more modern.

Grays: bright colors look great on gray houses. You might try a bright modern green, mustard yellow, or bright cobalt blue

Red Brick: navy blues, farm house red, mustard yellows

Brown stucco: teals, blues, light tan (similar colors to the tan, cream colors) but a tad more vibrant.

Light teal door

Ok so here is to my door color choice. I wanted a teal. I thought about it a lot and just decided, yes, this is the color. I went with a pretty light color. I kept going back and forth. I like it but am still not 100% sure I should have gone with the lighter. I think I would have liked the dark too. Either way, it's done for now and I like it a lot. I will tell you that I painted the door without taking the hinges off. we just taped around them. I had to do 2 coats. I used a behr exterior latex paint, i hate oil paint...it takes too long to dry. Also i didnt even tape the window. i just scraped the paint off after, that worked better than trying to tape the curves on the window. Here are the pictures:

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Paver Stone Backyard Porch on Grass

2013-05-21T14:51:00.001-06:00

Simple and Affordable Summer Backyard Makeover, Paver Stone Backyard Porch

We love having a backyard. Both of my boys love to play, run and still have some privacy. The bad part is that backyard makeovers can be pricey. We have put it off every year because we know what we want to do, we just don't have the moulah yet to pull it off. To give you a few examples, ill tell you what we'd like to do. We want a deck, a big deck and we want it built with nice materials so it lasts a really long time. We probably want a trex deck. Also, we want a few trees, a trampoline, and a patio area to have a potted garden and some seating. Alright so....yeah, if you add up all of that or even parts of that, it's very expensive. We finally decided last year to start on the backyard. We decided to add the patio portion of our yard.

Patios can be inexpensive depending on what of materials you use. Ours is about 10x10 feet. We used paver stones. They run about $1.12 per stone. When we decided how to create it, we looked up a bunch of ideas and opinions. We wanted something pretty easy but we were nervous about if our ideas would last. Also we knew we would have to move the sprinkler system around so we wanted to be sure we were ready for this kind of project.

We made a choice. We chose to just lay pavers over the grass in the area we wanted them. We measured the space and then just laid them down one by one. We live in a pretty flat space so we had seen a few other tutorials and we thought it might work for our yard. It's not perfectly level but all in all, we love it. It took about a week for them to settle into the grass completely. After that we mowed the grass and then we began to spraying weed and grass killer in the cracks so the grass died and stopped growing. We did tear out the grass around the edge of the fence by the patio and layed rocks around that border. One big tip is to be sure to lay a liner underneath the soil if you are laying down the rocks to be sure that no weeds come up. It's much easier in the patio area to spray the weed and grass killer when you see some. It's harder under the rocks so be sure to lay down a liner there. I found the table at a thrift store and the chairs at Home Depot last year on clearance. We still have a long way to go, but I am happy with the patio portion. The only other thing I want for the patio ports for now is ivy around the fence. I still need to work on that.

Can you spot my other projects? Good! Check em out.

Rain gutter lettuce garden

Painted foot step foot stones

Easy wall planters with the help of Miracle Gro

The Process.

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Cooper Spring Savings #springsavings

2013-05-20T18:03:00.001-06:00

This post brought to you by Cooper Tires. All opinions are 100% mine.

Cooper Tire Spring Savings Event

I have done posts before for Cooper Tires and they have been awesome every time so here it goes again to take advantage of some great deals while spring is still here.

From May 1st-June 30th it is Cooper Tire Spring Savings Event . Consumers can receive up to an $80 Visa prepaid card when purchasing a new set of four qualifying Cooper tires. I love deals and this is a great one. Many of you (including me) get super intimidated when it comes to handling anything with cars. I just want it to run safely and efficiently and so when you have to get new tires put on the car, it eases your mind to know that you are getting a great deal from Cooper Tire's and that they can hook you up.

For the Cooper Tire Spring Savings Event, the stuff you can save on includes:

-CS4 Touring

-Discoverer CTS

-Cooper Zeon RS3-S and RS3-A

-Discoverer H/T

-Discoverer HTP (available only at select US retailers)

-Discoverer LSX and LSX Plus (available only at select US retailers)

I put a lot of miles on my car, ALOT. My husband commutes into work which is about 40 miles away and then I also drive into the city quite a bit. We are a commuting, on the go family. We rely heavily on our car and even more so, our tires. It is great to know that we can get a great deal on a new set of tires with those summer road trips around the corner. Be sure to check out the Cooper Tire Spring Savings Event

Moms love Mombo nursing pillow.

2013-05-20T03:00:00.001-06:00

This post brought to you by Comfort and Harmony. All opinions are 100% mine.

mombo nursing pillow

Alright so many of you, my readers, are moms. I found this great product and thought I would share it on the blog mainly because it wasn't that long ago when I was nursing, and needing a nursing pillow. It is one of those baby must have's for parents even if you are not able to nurse, it's great! it becomes a great and comfortable pillow for baby. My little one used it all the time.

That leads me to Mombo, more specificially, the mombo nursing pillow. This pillow is comfortable, comes in a lot of great designs and patterns to fit any style, and it works. It is available at BabiesRUs

Some moms think that a infant nursing pillow is only helpful for those first few weeks when mom and baby are getting used to nursing but I found that I used it for many different purposes including propping baby up, burping, and tummy time. My first baby loved it so much that he would fall asleep on the nursing pillow all the time.

Now what makes the mombo nursing pillow the best nursing pillow is that it has The Firm2SoftTM, 2-Sided construction which makes it even more versatile, comfortable, and appropriate for baby and mom. The firm side offers enhanced back support during nursing and the soft side creates the perfect environment for lounging. It also has optional vibration! Both of my boys would have loved this. It can really help soothe your baby to sleep. how neat!

Alright, so hopefully I have interested many of you expecting or new moms to go and look into the mombo nursing pillow. I also want to encourage you guys to go and like Comfort & Harmony on Facebook and also become a Comfort & Harmony on Twitter fan.

New sink faucet from Home Depot

2013-05-16T15:38:00.001-06:00

So...our sink faucet broke. Not fun. We had wanted a new faucet for our kitchen but didnt plan on buying a new one for a little while until it began squirting everywhere one morning and started leaking from well, everywhere. Luckily Jared was home so we set off for Home Depot to pick out a new one. I didn't want to spend more than $100 which for those who have looked, is not easy. A lot of the choices are well over $200 however we found the one we got at Home Depot for about $97 I believe. It was pretty easy to install however Jared did all of it and I won't step you through that because we are not experts with that. Just follow the steps from the box and you will be fine, anyway, I am definitely in love with our new faucet vs. old one even though we had to purchase it a little earlier than planned on. Oh well...

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#CB2NovogratzBrasilSweepstakes

2013-05-16T12:00:00.001-06:00

This post brought to you by CB2. All opinions are 100% mine.

CB2 and Novogratz Collection

Ok people, close your eyes and begin all that deep breathing you learned from yoga class, now begin to picture warm woods, beautiful accents, and bright colors in an exciting and playful dream house. You are surrounded by a brazilian landscape and everything for that moment is perfect.

Ok now open your eyes! and guess what! That dream can come true. CB2 which is a truly fantastic store is excited to partner on their latest collection with husband and wife design-duo Robert and Cortney Novogratz. and they are throwing a fantastic CB2 and Novogratz Brasil Sweepstakes where you and 3 friends can win a week long stay in the vacation home of The Novogratz family in the beautiful area of Trancosco, Brazil. Super exciting right? Also 10 other lucky winners will receive a CB2 gift card worth $100 along with a personal signed copy of the book, "Home by Novogratz". The Sweepstakes will run from May 2nd through June 3rd. You can enter at http://cb2.com/sweeps.

Now don't worry if you don't win! You can still create a beautiful dream house of your own with the new collection they have at CB2. Take a look below at some of my favorite pieces from the Novogratz collection.

Retro, Modern, and Vintage all thrown in one right? They really have some really great additions for any home wanting style, and a little attitude. My personal favorite is the luli table lamp but I also really love the soneca pendant lamp too which you can find at CB2 and Novogratz Collection and don't forget to enter the CB2 and Novogratz Brasil Sweepstakes.

I also want to make a shout out for CB2's social networks. They really are worth following and have some great design and collection updates.

Twitter: @CB2Tweets

Pinterest: CB2

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cb2

Easy Wall Planters with the help of Miracle-Gro

2013-05-04T01:00:00.001-06:00

This post brought to you by Miracle-Gro. All opinions are 100% mine.

Easy Wall Planters with the help of Miracle-Gro

First I want to talk about The Gro Project. Miracle-Gro has come out with something called The Gro Project which is a movement to bring out the green thumb in everyone. It offers great advice, tips, and ideas for planting. It is really helpful for those like me, who weren't born with a green thumb but really want to be a part of the growing movement. take a look!

Okay now, planting a garden or planting anything for that matter can be overwhelming. The idea of keeping something else alive besides my two boys and our very spoiled cat is a lot to think about at times. With that said, I have come up with a few easy ideas that will be great for beginners and those who don't have a lot of time, or are on a small budget.

One is my lettuce rain gutter garden which I started two summers ago and have posted about it a number of times because it has been such a success for our family and it was SO easy. I got some inspiration from Suzanne Forslings' when I created it. The lettuce hasn't sprouted yet but I'm excited in the coming weeks. What you will hearing about today are my easy wall planters that I've attached to my siding on either end of my rain gutter garden to add a bit of color. I grow lettuce, herbs, and green onions in my rain gutter garden but their's no color except green so I wanted to add some fun flowers on either end to give my backyard some excitement. This was such an easy and fun project. It took me about an hour to complete and it is for beginners. I ALWAYS use Miracle Gro products for any planting project I have. They are wonderful and quite simply, they work. They also have a bunch of fun garden projects for you to get some inspiration about. Please go check them out, see their pinterest boards because they are fantastic, and get some ideas for your gardening space, big or small.

Easy Wall Planters

Here is what you will need.

steel hanger strap coils (found at any hardware store)
power drill and some screws
2 small to medium planters
flowers or plants of your choice to fill the planters
some wire cutters, or sheers
Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Potting Mix
Shake’n Feed All Purpose Plant Food (OPTIONAL)

1. you will want to measure around your planters and and cut the steel hanger strap coil so that it overlaps a little to create a circle hanger. You will drill into both matched up holes as it overlaps into the siding where you want it. To cut the galvanized steel strap, you want to press with the wire cutters or sheers until it creates an indent and then fold the indent back and forth with your hands until it breaks apart.

2. After you have drilled the steel hanger straps in a circle hanger onto the siding, you will want to make sure your pot/planter fits snug into it and hangs easily.

3. Last is super easy, I added some Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Potting Mix along with my beautiful flowers. I chose marigolds because they are full sun plants and I loved the color. Whe choosing a plant or flower, be sure to think about how much shade the area will have and how it will be watered. Our sprinkler systems hits the rain gutter garden and the planters really well so we didn't have to think too much about getting it watered but if you have to hand water the pots and are nervous you will forget, you should probably choose a drought tolerant plant. After the plants are in, fill the rest of the pot with a little water and some more Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Potting Mix and also I would recommend adding some Miracle-Gro Shake’n Feed All Purpose Plant Food because it will keep the plants healthy and thriving. It's not needed but definitely a plus.

4. That's it! sit back, enjoy. drink some lemonade, browse at Miracle Gro's fun garden projects and their pinterest page and have a great day!

Mini Makeover for Unfinished Laundry and Craft

2013-04-16T13:11:00.001-06:00

Alright so ideally, I would love to have my basement finished. It is planned for the near future but in the last year, the laundry room has been OUT OF CONTROL. I'm talking piles and piles of laundry that never end. Clothes that haven't made it upstairs for months and months because they would get stuck at the bottom of the pile. It was a mess. What also was a disaster mess was my craft stuff. It was starting to look like an episode on hoarders. This makeover was more of a cleaning, and organizing makeover than anything else but I am sure glad it's finally clean and organized. I am still working on the last finishing touches but it feels good to have a neat space where I know where everything is. In the future, I am hoping to make it even more amazing and useful when the walls and floors are done, but for now I am pretty happy.

The laundry room sign was painted with craft paint onto concrete. I free handed the letters but had a picture of kind of what I wanted it to look like and I worked from there. Start with pencil, their was lots of washing off the pencil. (I used a rag and water because it worked better than an eraser). From there, I traced the letters with marker, yes permanent marker. I then painted it a nice teal color. I added a little water to the paint so it's kind of like white washing or teal washing because then I could paint over the letters and they would still show up. It was just easier. I painted the letters white and then traced around them again with the sharpie to make them stand out more and yeah...that's it. It was a lot of fun and took less than an hour for me to finish.

My DIY craft table is now clear and ready for more work. I have drawers organized with some of my paper, mostly my photo transfer papers, laminating sheets, photo paper, and paper scraps as well. I also have stickers and stencils in the drawers. I hung up some of my fun decor that I have yet to put up anywhere but still love. It makes it a little more creative space I think. Oh also, the box below is my misc. craft stuff. I have bits of fabric and weird cardboard things I have plan to use. It's just the recyclable junk I hope to turn to treasure.

I stole logen's old table from his room and stacked laundry baskets on it to save space. This cost me nothing since I already had it and it wasn't much use upstairs. This will hopefully make it easier to keep the laundry piles organized and off the floor.

The craft shelf was something I also had upstairs. It had been organizing some stuff in a closet but we realized, we didn't need it there and it would be great use to us downstairs. I painted it a Martha Stewart turquoise. I first purged a ton of craft junk that had never been used. I used some of logen's Lego boxes to store things and labeled all the boxes. I also have a bucket you can get at home depot with some tools and craft stuff that can be portable and easy to take with me. I spent nothing on organizing this.

Jared added plywood boards to create shelfs for my scrapbook paper. I don't have tons because I am not a scrapbooker. I mainly use this scrapbook paper for birthday parties, making fun labels around my house, etc. I do have a lot of scrap paper in the rolling cart. I also have the shelf below with paint, rollers, brushes, drop cloths, etc. so everything is close and easy to find.

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Painting with Old Socks tip

2013-04-10T12:57:00.001-06:00

You probably saw this picture, and thought "what is she doing? Is this a puppet show?", well no I promise Their will not be a puppet show but this is a tip I got from a rehab addict episode and I have used it ever since on lots of projects. When you are applying a stain, white washing, or washing down walls even with a cleaner, use an old sock rather than a brush or roller. It works out a lot better and their are no streaks. It's also easier. You will need a rubber/plastic glove like the medical ones to put underneath the sock so it doesnt get on your fingers. You can get a big box in the pharmacy area. You will also discard the sock after because the paint or stain won't come out in the wash so pick one you don't care about getting rid of, perhaps from that lock sock pile in the laundry room.

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White Washed Wood Pallet Wall

2013-04-09T15:45:00.000-06:00

Alright ~~drum roll please~~, i definitely believe i deserve something amazing as a reward because this has been a long project in the making. I started this project last fall in our master bedroom. It has been quite the journey getting this done but I am super excited about it. It turned out exactly as I was hoping. To start, you should probably see a few steps of this process so I have the tutorial, a little farther down....scroll away.

Making the white washed wall.

1. First, lets talk the wall. While I LOVE the finished wall, it was not the easiest project and mainly because of the prep work. We used wood pallets which are great because you can often get them for free and they give you that aged look that is awesome but I am not sure for this project, if It was worth using wood pallets because the prep work was a lot. You will need to take the wood apart from the wood pallets and then cut the wood pallets into pieces. Next, you will need to sand the wood pallet pieces really well and discard anyones that have holes, or look too worn. Then you will need to match pieces that have a similar width. We started at the bottom and went from right to left on the first row and from left to right on the second and continued to alternate until all of the wood was attached. We used wood glue on all the pieces and then you can put nails into the wall as well. I should mention that i dont think you need nails. we decided to do them and it was a hassle. they arent going into the studs and the wood glue i believe would have been enough alone. It would be much easier with a nail gun. We don't have one and so my husband drilled a little pilot hole into the wood first and then the nail could go through the dry wall after that a little easier. It was not the fastest method but it was effective. I also want to mention, I sprayed a polyeurathane coating on top of the wood and sanded it down a lot after putting it on the wall to protect us from any pesticides that can be put on the wood. While, I discarded any "falling apart" pieces and was careful to select wood pallets, some are sprayed with pesticides so you want to be sure and sand down the wood well before putting it on the wall. All in all, we love the wall and would do it again but we might purchase Home Depot wood instead next time because the prep work before putting them on the wall was very time consuming, we would lose that aged look though...hmmm

2. White washing is so easy. Oh man, this was my favorite and by far the most simple of task of this project. To white wash anything, you just want equal parts water and white paint. You need to get rid of everything around and lay down a drop cloth on the floor because it can get messy. I used a plastic latex glove (like medical gloves, you can find them in the first aid section of a grocery store) and an old sock on top to apply it rather than a paint brush. I use the same thing when I apply a stain to furniture and it works so well. I saw this idea on Rehab Addict (love that show). The latex glove underneath is just so you don't get paint all over your hand. Mix the paint and water together, than dip your hand in the mixture and spread it back and forth over the wood. Because its mixed with water, it will drip a lot. That's ok. Also because it has water, it will absorb into the wood and dry lighter than it looks when it is applied so be aware of that. Wood can only absorb so much at one time so you don't want to lay it on thick or else it will look streaky. Do a thin layer across the wood and then let it dry and then try again until you are happy with the results.

3. Now for the shelf, this was tricky because our wall was longer than one piece of wood we could find at Home Depot so we had to attach it as two pieces together and then lay some wood putty to cover up the line. We also had to be sure it was level when putting it all together as one shelf because it was two to begin with. Either way, it worked, just took a little more time. We use Ana white's $10 shelf tutorial and plan. We had to do about 3 shelf lengths in all so $30.

4. Overall, I love the look and turnout of this project even though it was a lot of work. I chose some fun black and white frames with fun memories of our family. If you have further questions about this project, feel free to email me and I will try to answer your questions. Justkathryn143{at}gmail.com

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Rainbow Easter Theme 2013

2013-04-04T20:54:00.001-06:00

Rainbow Easter Time

We had a fun and crazy Easter. We did a fun rainbow theme and the Easter bunny was nice enough to go along with it. We got rainbow goldfish, bubbles, and a kite. We had a lot of fun. All in all, it was a wonderful holiday.

Rainbow Jello Cups

If it isn't clear, we chose a rainbow theme. Lol. I made this rainbow layered jello and did it in individual cups which worked out nicely. These are not hard at all but they are time consuming. You buy yellow, orange, red, green, blue, and purple jello boxes. If you want them like mine, make the red first and then pour the layer into the cups, put them in the fridge for an hour. Then you will pour the orange in and let that set for an hour, and then the yellow and so on until all of them are in the cups. Remember, you need an hour to refrigerate in between each layer. Also, you want to wait for the jello to cool down a little before pouring them into the cups. We waited about ten minutes which was perfect because it hadn't started setting but it wasn't too hot so it didn't melt the jello layers before at all. Anyway, I enjoyed making this even though it did take some patience.

Rainbow water balloons

I love water balloons. The person who loves them even more? Logen! We did this activity last year and he loved it so much, we have been doing them all year. This year, I bought multi colored balloons for Easter. They kind of look like eggs so they go along with Easter well and it's fun for little ones that don't care that much for an Easter egg hunt. All in all, it was a big success. The only downside, he wanted more.

Easter egg hunt with cousins

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Easy Baby Soft Blocks Gift

2013-03-29T21:16:00.001-06:00

March Gift: baby soft blocks

For those who don't know, I am highlighting, and making 12 gifts through the year to get you ready for christmas, birthdays, and any gifting occasion. On my sidebar, you can see the other ones that have been showcased. For march, I have decided to show the baby soft blocks I made for our boys. Now, I don't showcasing sewing projects on here hardly ever and that is because, well...I don't sew. I am terrible, one day I hope to be better, but now, it's scary how bad I am. Anyway, I enlisted some other talented woman, namely my sister and grandma. I used scrap fabric that I had around the house and then helped sew them together on the inside. We used stuffing for the inside and this couldn't be simpler. It would be a perfect gift for a baby shower. Also, you could put things like rice, or bells inside so it would be more fun. I wish I had but didn't think of it at the time. This gift will cost you next to nothing. The stuffing I got on clearance for like $2.50 and it was a HUGE bag. I don't feel you need any more than probably .25 worth for 3-4 blocks. The fabric I found were scraps so they were free but since its a small project, you would need very little fabric. This really is a cheap, affordable, and charming gift for those little ones.

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$10 Garage Tool Hanger

2013-03-29T21:06:00.001-06:00

Oh man! My husband and I have been desperate at getting things organized in our home the last few years. It has been a huge work in progress because we are still working on it but last year, my husband thought of this brilliant idea to hang up the tools in our garage and it only cost us $10. Now they have these in stores at Home Depot but they were priced at close to $100 or more and being ~~cheap~~ diy'ers, we decided to make one ourselves.

8 ft long 2 x 8 Wood piece estimate $6-8
3 inch nails $2 (box can be $5 but you only need like $1-2 worth)

I nailed through the wood into the studs to attach it to the wall. I then nailed the nails in about an inch and so about 2 inches were sticking out but do it at a slight angle so the tools don't fall off. That's really about it. It's really simple. Just find your tools and hang them on up. You might need people to help you hold the wood while you attach it to the wall. Also worth mentioning, we left a big gap for future tools that we purchase. We have used this for over a year and have been so happy with it and have had no problems.

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Animal Zoo Favor Bags

2013-03-29T15:39:00.001-06:00

Alright guys, so logen's birthday is tomorrow! He will be 3. It is always such a bitter sweet moment for me as a parent because on one hand, they are getting more independent and getting excited about new things, they have survived so far which is a huge miracle in my home, and they are absolutely adorable. On the other hand, they are getting more independent which means they don't need me as much, they are going out into the world which is beautiful and amazing and full of possibilities but it also can be scary, and depressing at times and you just at the end of the day, want them to be safe, and happy. Anyway, I have rambled off but I am so proud of my dear Logen. He hasn't had the easiest road. He was diagnosed with pdd-nos this last year and connecting with him all the time is not easy. You begin to celebrate the small things like eye contact, and saying any words or signs, and sitting at the table for 5 minutes without tantrums. It's a curious and wonderful but hard world for mothers with children on the autism spectrum and at the end of the day, I love him so much and wouldn't have it any different.

Animal Zoo Favor Bags

Alright so after all of that emotional let out, we are going to the zoo tomorrow with our little family, my sister, my brother, and my mom and dad. It will be a intimate, crazy, wild, adventure with him tomorrow and I am so excited. I made these cute little snack favor bags for everyone and it should be fun!

I got the giraffe printable on graphics fairy. I love that place, they have tons of free vintage graphics. Anyway, I downloaded it and then created 2 per page and printed them, cut them out, and glued them to paper bags. If you don't know how to create 2 per page when printing, just email me at justkathryn{at}gmail.com and I will send you the document for free or you can read my other blog post, How to download, use, and edit PRINTABLES

I put snacks in the bag, as well as a printed map of the zoo, and I also made some toilet paper roll binoculars. I spray painted them (which was a mess and I wouldn't recommend. They were splotchy, constantly fell over when painting, and I would definitely hand paint them instead next time), hot glued a small piece of felt over one side of the each toilet paper roll, and then hot glued both toilet paper pieces together. Last, I punched holes and tied string to them so everyone can wear them around their neck.

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"My Everyday Road Trip" Contest with Cooper Tire's

2013-03-21T20:00:00.001-06:00

This post brought to you by Cooper Tire. All opinions are 100% mine.

Cooper Tire's My Every Day Road Trip Contest

For those of you who read my Very Unlucky St. Pats Day post and noticed that I wrote about our flat tire that had to be replaced, will definitely understand a little better my excited about this opportunity with Cooper Tire.

Cooper Tire has decided to celebrate life's every day road trips by holding a contest where you can share a story, photo, or video on Cooper Tire's Facebook page that represents life's not so every day road trips. Whether that is taking the family camping, driving home with a new baby, or anything else you can think of .

The top written story will win $100 in free gas to be used over a week. The top photo will win a $500 in free gas to be used over a month. The top 5 videos chosen will each be given 4 new Cooper Tire's and all 5 of those videos will be in the final phase of the competition. Facebook fans will vote for the winning video which will get $5000 towards gas to be used over 1 year. {yippee! hooray! wow!}. With the cost of gas these days, that sounds like the best prize ever. The winner will be chosen based on originality, creativity, and their passion for Cooper Tire's and if you are in the final phase, it will be based on Facebook fan votes. The Contest runs from March 1-29 so you've got to hurry and get those in!

They have some videos to help give you some inspiration and ideas of things you could send in to this contest. The videos show off the role that Cooper Tire plays in helping create those not so every day road trips.

Don't worry if you don't have anything to submit! You could also win a prize just for voting. Starting April 15th, Fans will vote for the Top Facebook Video winner. For each vote (one per day), fans will be entered for a chance to win a road trip kit which includes a $100 Cooper Tire auto service voucher, $50 gas card, a $50 itunes gift card, and some Cooper gear. You can also visit Cooper Tire's Facebook page for more rules, and information on Cooper Tire's My Every Day Road Trip Contest

NOW REMEMBER! photo, story, and video submissions are from March 1-29, 2013, and voting will begin April 15th!

"Cooper Tire's are crafted for life's everyday moments and we've long heard from dedicated fans about their daily journey's. We're excited to create an open forum for people to share their stories".

-Hal Gardner, Cooper Tire's Vice President of Marketing Communications and Market Intelligence

100 apps for kids and autism

2013-03-15T15:30:00.001-06:00

100 affordable apps for toddlers and preschoolers with autism or those that just love the iPad.

(None are over $2.99)
I have done hours and hours of research since purchasing an iPad. My son uses it all the time for learning, games, reading, and autism schedules. I love it 99% of the time and it is such a help with my son. Sometimes however, the really great apps especially for autism can be costly. I am willing to pay a few dollars for an app but its hard to justify more than that.
I have created a list of 100 apps that we love for my boys and none of them are over $2.99, most are free. I don't have all of them on my iPad currently anymore because my son gets bored fast so I delete those ones and download new ones that are relevant to him. That's how I know quite a bit and have tried 100 apps. We typically have around 50 kids apps and they are organized in folders: math, reading, sensory, games, discovery, creative, puzzles and shapes, music, pretend play, explore, autism, and Disney. I have a lot of space on my iPad which allows me to have 50. On the iPhone, I only keep about 20-25. The Disneyland explorer app by far takes up the most space just so you know. It's way cool though. Last I want to mention that this list is based solely on what my son Logen likes. Some of these math and science apps are not for preschoolers and they are for kids a bit older like elementary school age. My oldest just really is interested in math and science so I find him apps that are for a little older audience so you (the parents) will want to try out the apps yourself and make sure they are suitable for your child. None of them are violent, or inappropriate to me however, I just want to make sure I let you know everything. If you have further questions about these apps, feel free to email me at justkathryn143@gmail.com

Math

Reading

Sensory

Music

Explore

Curious Zoo (Free)
Lego Duplo (Free)
PBS kids (Free)
First Video (Free)
Thomas Activites (Free)
I learn n earn (Free)

Disney

Autism

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PIN of the day!

2013-03-13T09:33:00.000-06:00

Source: parenting.com via Callie on Pinterest

pin of the day! leprechaun breakfast. perfect for this week. I'm so excited for st. patty's day. by parenting.com

PIN of the day!

2013-03-06T09:37:00.000-07:00

Source: projectnursery.com via Project Nursery | Junior on Pinterest

pin of the day! found at projectnursery.com (I love this party idea for boys!) so cute.

PIN of the day!

2013-03-05T15:07:00.000-07:00

Source: repinly.com via Debi on Pinterest

awesome! so cute and easy. I know they sell these little cauldrons at most super stores and I've seem them at dollar tree before as well. pin of the day!

Cruz's 1st Winnie the Pooh Birthday Party

2013-03-03T16:44:00.001-07:00

Cruz is one and so to celebrate, we threw him a Winnie the Pooh celebration. It was a lot of fun and cute. We did a breakfast celebration which was fun and made the celebration different for a Saturday morning. It was laid back and easy. We has a sideshow in our tv with pictures of cruz and then we played "winnie the pooh" by zoey deschanel while the party guests came and socialized. We opened presents and had cinnamon bun cake but that was it, we didn't do many games. The only other thing is I had a table with crafts supplies to make Winnie the Pooh faces if they wanted. Most of our guests were much older though and the majority were actually adults because we just invited family.

For Cruz's cinnamon bun cake, it was really simple. I bought Rhodes roll dough and baked them in round cake pans. I then stacked the layers together. I did put some toothpicks in them to keep the layers together but you won't need much support. We put the frosting on top of all three layers and let it drizzle down. I also had other cinnamon rolls made individually for others but we only gave cruz the top layer of this cake to actually eat. I got my inspiration for this cake on 1 fine cookie

The bees were made with yellow and black jelly beans, a black edible pen for the yellow ones and yellow frosting for the black ones, and then almond slices for the wings. We carefully used a knife to cut slits in the jelly beans for the wings. The yellow ones were much easier to make because the marker was a lot easier to draw lines than using frosting and a toothpick which was time consuming and didn't work as well. I got my inspiration from hostess with the mostess

The pooh mask printable can be found on learn create love

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PIN of the day!

2013-03-01T08:21:00.000-07:00

Source: 3.bp.blogspot.com via Fran on Pinterest

almond and jelly bean bee's! I will be making these this weekend for cruz's 1st birthday. PIN of the day!

Holiday Mason Jar ideas

2013-02-25T22:23:00.001-07:00

Hey so I was thinking about how much I love mason jars. I was pretty sure I could find a great idea for mason jars and every holiday. I was right. Their are so many awesome ideas, not to mention easy. Take a look.

Vday muffin breakfast mason jar at muffin tin mom

St. pattys day jars at babble

Mason jar baskets by A bit of Sunshine

Fourth of July drink jars at hostess with the mostess

Halloween spooky drink at family chic

Thanksgiving pie jars at Camille styles

Christmas pinwheel cookies gift by real simple

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PIN of the day!

2013-02-21T10:37:00.000-07:00

Source: johanna-vintage.blogspot.com via basiclabelSweden | B A S I C H U S on Pinterest

I know easter is still a little while away, but I am feeling spring in the air. PIN of the day! is an adorable concrete egg at johanna-vintage.blogspot.com

Vday with the kiddos.

2013-02-14T13:42:00.001-07:00

So it's fair to say valentines day with kids is very different than valentines day for couples. I have to plan 2 entirely different itineraries for us with the kids, and for when the kids go to bed. I love valentines day! I know a lot of people hate it and its not nearly as fun when you are single but even than, I loved it. It brings people together. It doesn't matter if you are just there to love your cat...you find a way to be more appreciative of your cat on this day. It's just a great day, I feel this way about most holidays. It's a way to remember, cherish, and celebrate.

Each year I get the kids a pair of socks and fill it with treats. Ussually I find socks that are striped or have hearts on them however, I dropped the ball and waited till the last minute so instead I bought them new white and gray socks and we colored hearts on them instead. It actually was a lot of fun and I might try it again in the future.

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PIN of the day!

2013-02-14T11:42:00.001-07:00

Source: sprinklebakes.com via Kim on Pinterest

baked heart churros. perfect for the day of love. Pin of the day!

The Dragons Fairy Tail

Light Teal Front Door and Choosing paint colors

How to choose a paint color for the front door

Light teal door

Paver Stone Backyard Porch on Grass

Cooper Spring Savings #springsavings

Cooper Tire Spring Savings Event

Moms love Mombo nursing pillow.

mombo nursing pillow

New sink faucet from Home Depot

#CB2NovogratzBrasilSweepstakes

CB2 and Novogratz Collection

Easy Wall Planters with the help of Miracle-Gro

Easy Wall Planters with the help of Miracle-Gro

Easy Wall Planters

Mini Makeover for Unfinished Laundry and Craft

Painting with Old Socks tip

White Washed Wood Pallet Wall

Rainbow Easter Theme 2013

Rainbow Easter Time

Rainbow Jello Cups

Rainbow water balloons

Easter egg hunt with cousins

Easy Baby Soft Blocks Gift

March Gift: baby soft blocks

$10 Garage Tool Hanger

Animal Zoo Favor Bags

Animal Zoo Favor Bags

"My Everyday Road Trip" Contest with Cooper Tire's

Cooper Tire's My Every Day Road Trip Contest

100 apps for kids and autism

100 affordable apps for toddlers and preschoolers with autism or those that just love the iPad.

Math

Reading

Sensory

Games

Pretend play and Life Skills

Discovery

Creative

Puzzles and Shapes

Music

Explore

Disney

Autism

PIN of the day!

PIN of the day!

PIN of the day!

Cruz's 1st Winnie the Pooh Birthday Party

PIN of the day!

Holiday Mason Jar ideas

St. pattys day jars at babble

PIN of the day!

Vday with the kiddos.

PIN of the day!