Taken 12/4/11 during a date night at FunFusion.

I recently picked up my very first bottle of Mod Podge and I am hooked. For my very first project I decided to attempt to decorate some frames for Valentine’s Day. I honestly had no idea what I was doing, but I love how they turned out!

This project is perfect for sprucing up old frames. I didn’t have any frames in need of an immediate makeover so I picked some up at Walmart for 98 cents.

I was hoping to find white frames, but I was unable to find any. I ended up grabbing brown frames and painting them with white acrylic paint.

In Photoshop, I made a chevron pattern, tiled it to fit an entire sheet of paper, and printed it out.

I then, brushed a little Mod Podge on the frame and placed the frame on the back of my chevron pattern.

With a X-ACTO knife, I trimmed around the frame, leaving just enough paper to fold around the frame.

I brushed a layer of Mod Podge on top of the chevron paper and folded the excess paper around the frame. I glopped on too much Mod Podge in some areas, so the ink bled a little. Other than that it looks super cool, huh?

Although my frame was pretty pre-glitter, I decided to go over the red chevron lines with a red glitter pen.

Voila!

I also decorated another frame (not as great as my first) and slid a cute “i love us” print inside.

What will I Mod Podge next? Stayed tuned…

I Love Us prints can be found here and here, chevron patterns here (a freebie from me).

I am a member of the Walmart Moms program. Walmart is compensating me for sharing this DIY project (featuring products that I purchased from Walmart) with you. All words and opinions are always my own. Read my full disclosure policy here.

© Sophistishe 2012 | Permalink | No comment - Oh, I see how it is...

#febphotoaday

© Sophistishe 2012 | Permalink | No comment - Oh, I see how it is...

I love supporting companies that are making a difference in the world!  Starfish Project restores hope to exploited women of Asia by providing them with job opportunities (and many other things, such as counseling, shelter, and vocational training) and the ability to rise above where they have come from.  You can read more about Starfish Project here!

Starfish Project creates beautiful jewelry that you will feel proud to wear.  Two of my absolute favorite items of jewelry are created by Starfish Project!  The Oval Bali Design Earrings are my go-to earrings, since they work with pretty much any outfit!  I wear them with jeans and a sweater, but also feel comfortable pairing them with something dressy for a more formal occasion.

 

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Purchase jewelry from Starfish Project here, starting at $6.99 (or, tell your significant other that jewelry from Starfish Project would make a great Valentine’s Day gift).

She {hearts} Freebies

One lucky She {hearts} It reader is going to win a Starfish Necklace in their choice of color (ARV $20)!

To Enter: Leave a comment telling us what your favorite item from Starfish Project is.

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A winner from the U.S. will be chosen on 2-22-12 at 9PM EST. Please see our Giveaway Rules for further details. Product Sample Provided

I went back and forth between wanting to take a picture of my sewing box full of loose buttons or Jayden’s nose. I ended up taking a picture of an Xbox controller. Heh.

#febphotoaday

© Sophistishe 2012 | Permalink | 1 comment - Let's chat!

Playing games with flash cards is a great way to encourage early childhood learning. To them, it seems like more of a game than a learning process, but it can teach valuable lessons and starting at a very early age. Even before the major learning burst of the toddler years comes on your child can learn to love playing flash card games. They can be used to help the child begin to recognize color, shapes and even simple words at an earlier age than you may think is possible.

Educational television is another great Montessori teaching method. Everybody knows that spending too much time in front of the television is not great for a child, or even an adult for that matter. You must, however, give in every once in a while. It will make your child happy, and give you some much needed down time. Time spent watching television by no means has to be a complete waste of time. There are plenty of learning programs that are designed to be fun for kids. You can even go beyond that by being a good example. Although your baby may be too young to learn anything from the educational shows you watch, they are sure to notice that their parents love learning too.

Teach them a second language at a young age by learning it yourself. A great way to get a young child to begin to learn a second language is to learn it with them. If they feel that it is special family talk they will quickly pick it up as a way to bond with their parents. Learning a second language right from the beginning nearly guarantees fluency, which can really help later in life.

This is a guest post contributed by Giraffe Childcare.

As parents of three young kids, Keith and I have struggled to find a good way to implement a chore system.  I bought this massive book, complete with “chore packs”.  The kids loved it, for a couple of days.  But the chore packs and cards were easily lost, and there wasn’t a real sense of accountability.  It just wasn’t a good fit for us.

After some searching online, I was made aware of a program called Accountable Kids.   Using a simple progress board, it’s actually very easy to organize, and keep track of what my kids have done each day.  And since they can see it too, it gives them that sense of accomplishment and importance to the family.

Accountable Kids is designed to teach accountability and responsibility in the home.  If the kids  do their chores, they are able to use their tickets for everyday things, like going to the library, watching a TV show, playing a board game, etc.  They can also earn bonus bucks for extra chores, as well as a couple of other incentives based on learning good habits, and being on their best behavior.

The program has different phases, so you don’t jump in all at once.  This has been great for our family, as the kids are at different levels, both socially, and physically.  So while Rowan is now using the whole program, Bria is still figuring out the first few steps.

I’m so glad that I have found Accountable Kids.  There is no longer any question as to who does what, and when to do it.  It is all very clear, and the kids know what is expected of them.  I highly recommend this program for parents of small children.  It really does help them to feel important, like part of the team, and like they have some control over what they do each day.

Product Purchased through Accountable Kids Blogging Program

I was supposed to be making meatballs and homemade mashed potatoes (debated in the paleo community) for dinner, but I didn’t feel like it. It’s my fault. I had pancakes for breakfast and crashed all day. They were delicious, but within a couple of bites I couldn’t even keep my head up. I’m waiting on some almonds so that I can make almond flour pancakes. My body definitely cannot tolerate white flour (a paleo no no, but I was craving). There’s about a cup of it left, once it’s gone, it’s gone. On a related note, I made Dairy-Free Strawberry Ice Cream. Check it out!

Oh, and after spending some time on Pinterest and going a little wild with my very first jar of Mod Podge, I’m feeling inspired. More on those projects a little later :).

#febphotoaday

© Sophistishe 2012 | Permalink | 1 comment - Let's chat!

My family is no different in this regard. When my husband and I had our first child, we moved into a smaller “starter home” that was perfect for our resources and our needs at the time. But our family has grown since then, both in physical size and in space requirements. We have also reached a point where we can afford to move to a larger home.

But we’re not ready to move quite yet. Our children are doing well in school, my husband has a short commute and works nearby, and I have made many good friends in our neighborhood. We’re certainly going to move sometime – probably within the next three to five years – but we’re just not prepared for the transition quite yet.

Still, the realization that a move is inevitable has caused my husband and I to start thinking about the steps we can take now to insure that our move goes as smoothly as possible when it happens. A move is a major life event, after all, and there’s more to planning a move than simply visiting new homes and bidding on what we like. It instead requires a more long-term focus.

Here’s what my husband and I are focusing on right now:

Improving Our Credit

When it comes to moving there’s no question that your credit score makes a real difference in the finances involved. If your score is bad, you may not be able to take out a mortgage at all. If it is good, you may be able to secure more favorable rates. For this reason my husband and I have been working to build credit by making all purchases on our no annual fee credit card. I have also applied for more cards and for rewards programs in the hopes of further boosting our credit and of finding the best cashback credit card in the process.

Upgrading Our Home

While home prices have shown signs of a rebound in recent months, there’s no doubt that we still live in a buyer’s market when it comes to real estate. This means that selling our home may be difficult, even several years down the road. In anticipation of this, I have already begun updating and upgrading our home to better appeal to future buyers. I’ve remodeled the kitchen and the downstairs bathroom, and we’re probably going to have roof work done sometime this summer.

Putting Money Aside

No matter what your goals or your position in life, you really can’t go wrong by making a concerted effort to save money. Moving to a bigger home (ie a more expensive one) down the road is certainly no exception. My husband and I already have dedicated savings accounts for retirement and for college expenses, so we decided to simply add one more: an account from which we can pull funds to pay a future mortgage. We have begun contributing to this account on a monthly basis.

These are the steps that we are taking now so that our inevitable move can be an easier process when it comes – whenever that may be. While this move is still several years in the future, it’s always good to be prepared, both for financial and peace-of-mind reasons.

This post was contributed by Becky W.

At the start of the new year I decided to start living a more paleo/primal lifestyle. I figured it would give me the energy boost and clarity that I so desperately need and I’d be setting a good example for Jayden, who has a ton of food allergies/sensitives. It’s been a challenge giving up some of my favorite foods, but I’ve slowly found ways to adapt. I found a Dairy-Free Strawberry Ice Cream recipe that is super simple and SO delicious. I absolutely couldn’t believe it! It’s so rich and creamy. To me it tastes like frozen yogurt. Jayden loves yogurt and ice cream, but hasn’t been able to eat it since tests confirmed his allergies. I’m so happy that he’ll be able to enjoy one of his favorite treats again!

Here’s the recipe adapted from Coconut Milk Strawberry Ice Cream.

10-12 mashed or pureed strawberries

2 tbs. vanilla

1 can of coconut milk

Mash strawberries in a medium sized bowl or puree them in a food processor. Combine vanilla and coconut milk to the strawberry puree. Stir all of the ingredients together and pour them into your ice cream maker. Run ice cream maker until ice cream is a soft serve consistency. It only took my ice cream maker 15 minutes! I also used frozen strawberries, so maybe that helped a little :).