Cookie Monster Mug Tutorial

It's crunch time, y'all. Christmas is in 10 days!!! I am working like a crazy person trying to get all of my last minute gifts together. I hadn't planned on it, but most of my gifts are handmade.

Which is really fun!!

One of my gifts I am giving is a Cookie Monster Mug.

This little mug was so much fun to make, and really cute, I think!

I was going to purchase one, but decided I could do it myself.

All of the supplies were purchased from Walmart.

You need:

-One blue mug

-White Oil Based Sharpie

-Black Oil Based Sharpie

-Circle stickers for template

-Scissors

-Rubbing Alcohol

-Paper Towels

Absolutely make sure you have OIL BASED paint pens. The oil based paint sticks better.

Hand wash your mug, dry it, and then wipe it down with rubbing alcohol. 

Then, use two large'ish circle stickers and place them where you want the eyes. (Can you tell we homeschool? Never can have too many stickers!!!)

Trace around the circles with the black paint pen. Remove stickers, and realize that stickers were placed in the wrong spot. Use rubbing alcohol and paper towels to remove said mistake. If you'd like, you can skip this step altogether :-)

Over lap the stickers like the picture below. Trace around the stickers with the black paint pen.

Allow the paint to dry just a few minutes and then remove the stickers. 

You can draw the mouth on next if you'd like.

Fill in the black circles with the white paint pen. It will take several coats of the white, so color in, and then give it a break. Come back in about 10 minutes or so, and reapply the paint. It's sort of like painting your nails. You can't reapply immediately.

Fill in the little pupils, and place in a cold oven on a sheet pan. With mug in the oven, turn it on to 350 degrees and let it bake for 30 minutes. 

Turn the oven off and let it cool to room temperature.

Once it cools, it's ready to gift, or use!

This mug was my inspiration. If you don't have the time to work on a mug of your own, you can click on the photo below and order one for yourself!

***This post contains affiliate links***

Elf on the Shelf

I was bound and determined that Snarf the Elf was not coming back to our house. But things never seem to go how you plan them where children are concerned. Our neighbor, a.k.a. E's best friend, busted through our doors December 1st wanting to know where our elf was.

Ahhhh!

My plans were foiled. The kids started freaking out because they couldn't find that Curs-ed Elf, and I wanted to scream. That was one more thing I had to remember, and I am truly running out of room in my brain at this point.

So Snarf made his debut a day late. The kids were so excited, and it really has been fun finding new things for Snarf to get into every day. I see a smile every morning, and sometimes hysterical laughter when they see what Snarf has done...especially when he drew on the kids' faces with a dry erase marker.

S.R. talks to him just about every day. 

She loves him, and even made a special cupcake for him, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

Snarf became the Amazing Spiderman one day. 

And he was caught roasting marshmallows over a battery operated tea light. 

(E kept asking if he could eat the marshmallow.)

I'll keep you posted on what else Snarf gets into on Facebook

Christmas Decor 2014

This year I decided to do things a little different when it came to decorating for Christmas. Not only did I change the color scheme, but I didn't put nearly as much out.

Mainly because I am lazy. 

I have found that with homeschooling, I just don't have the time to do what I used to do. My priorities have changed drastically, and the things I used to think were important, aren't as important now.

 So we have the main tree in the living room, and the kids have their trees in the bedrooms.

The hubs wanted some color on the Christmas tree this year, and color he got.

This is definitely much different from our tree in the past.

Our Home in 2011

Our Home in 2012

Part 1

Part 2

Our Home in 2013

And now our tree in 2014.

 I really like it. It's fun, and cheerful. 

It sort of reminds me of Thing 1 and Thing 2 from Dr. Seuss. 

We had a little red from last year, so all I needed to do was add a little turquoise.

We have had so many compliments on our tree.

I made this wreath two years ago, and have slowly added more items to it. Last year, I had it on the front door. I didn't want to spend any more money on Christmas decor, but I needed something on the mantel, so I moved the wreath inside. I think it finishes off the whole look. 

I didn't do any greenery on the mantel this year because it felt a little cluttered. 

I did a little decorating to the front entry table, but again, it's very minimal.

 We have been doing a Christmas craft a day in December, and the kids made stained glass ornaments the other day. I found this craft kit in the clearance section at Target after Christmas last year. They had fun making them, and I think they turned out beautiful.

We are focusing on service projects for the month of December. We are going to be sewing and baking, and visiting. 

The kids are really excited about all of it.

In my next post, I'll share what our sneaky elf, Snarf, has been up to.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Hey There!

So, I thought I had hung my blogging hat, and wasn't going to do it anymore, but I had a change of heart. 

I have missed you guys!

We have been so busy since I last posted, which was all the way back in May, I believe. 

So much has happened since then.

We started the homeschooling journey in July, and what a journey it has been so far. The kids and I have learned a lot....whether it be school related, or about one another. 

Most days are great and we move right along, and then there are other days....yeeaahh...those other days are something else.

There are days when my children couldn't be any sweeter. They get their work done, they are kind to one another, they offer to do their chores without being asked, and I think to myself, this was the best decision EVER!

Then there are the "other" days when demon possession has riddled our home, and I am hunting the internet on how to perform an exorcism (not really, but I have come close a few times). Those days I really have to step back, breathe, and say a little prayer and remind myself that my precious babies are in there somewhere, and they are fighting a battle themselves.

They are learning what it means to take control of their emotions. Some days they are great at it, and other days, not so much.

But the same goes for me as well....some days I feel like I am very mature and wise in how I handle situations, and then there are times when I look back and think, "wow, you really screwed that one up. Better start setting money aside for therapy."

Thankfully the good days far outweigh the bad days.

  There are a ba-jillion homeschooling blogs out there right now, and I am going to be the ba-jillion + one homeschooling blog. I'll still talk decorating and crafts, but I am going to throw in a little school too.

I'll have links to websites I am using as well as the curriculum that we are going through.

I have a Homeschooling Pinterest Board and a Homeschool Crafts Pinterest Board that I pin to frequently...sometimes hourly.

If you are interested in those types of things, make sure to follow those boards.

Like I said earlier, we started school in mid-July. I wanted to get a head start on school because we were surprising the kids with a trip to Disney. 

I can't believe how much the kids have changed since summer...especially E.

 We had the most amazing time at Disney. By far the best family vacation we have been on. The kids were big enough to ride everything, and were real troopers, riding everything at least once. A few of the rides scared them, i.e. the Hollywood Tower of Terror, duh! 

Their most favorite ride was Splash Mountain. I lost count how many times they rode that one.

We went at a perfect time too. NO ONE was there! Don't believe me? Look at the picture below...no one else is in the picture but us.

Amazing!

 We planned the Disney trip to celebrate the Hubs 40th birthday and E's 8th birthday, so we didn't do any special parties. E did have a few friends over to play on his actual birthday, but it wasn't anything but cupcakes and hot dogs, and lots of running around shooting Nerf guns.

 We also survived another soccer season. S.R.'s team didn't win very many games, but it definitely served it's purpose for P.E.

E's team was awesome, and they kicked booty every single game, except for one. He had a great time, and got plenty of exercise.

 Basketball season has started now, so there hasn't been any break between seasons. But that's ok because they need the exercise.

I have tried to be aware of all important holidays and work them in the curriculum when I can. Here is one of the crafts they did along with a story book we read.

This particular craft came from a website I use often called Teachers Pay Teachers. It is an excellent resource for printables and for inspiration. There are a lot of free printables on there as well. 

Here is one of the kids' first art projects. They had a lot of fun with these, using straws to blow the hair on. S.R. decided that crazy hair wasn't pretty, so she smoothed hers out:-)

S.R. joined the American Heritage Girls.

 It's similar to Girl Scouts, but more service/Christian based.

She loves it and I love that she loves it. She got to march in the Veterans Day parade in November. 

 She also got to be the flower girl in this sweet bride's wedding.

 She had an amazing time.

On a side note, I finally took the time to set up my Etsy Shop. 

If you look on the right side bar, it will take you directly to my shop page. I will be adding to it as often as I can. 

It's definitely my way to decompress and do something for me.

We are having so much fun spending time together. I am getting to witness these two precious faces hit every new milestone. There has been lots of laughter, a few tears, but our family has become so much closer as a result of homeschooling. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for us in the future.