Lunches made Fun!

So while constantly on the search for cool fun easy lunch ideas that will intrigue my picky eater and make her excited about lunches i stumbled upon something called "Bento Lunches".  Traditionally "Bento" is Japaneese, it is a single portion home packed or take-out meal! Ive been experiencing with these lunches for a couple weeks and ive come to the conclusion that if you make it fun and interesting, kids will eat just about anything!!! Here are some lunch ideas you can try at home, and even play around using things your child likes!

 Healthy Lunch #1
mandarin orange slices
Home made vanilla pudding with sprinkles
Flour tortilla rolled with cheese
Salad consisting of lettuce,cucumber, corn, carrot shreds, wheat germ, dried cranberries and some fetta cheese.

 Healthy Lunch #2
Mixed green salad with romaine, spinach, cauliflower, carrots, broccoli topped with quinoa, lentils dried cherries (some raspberry
vinaigrette on the side).
Some cookies and strawberries and mango.

 Healthy Lunch #3
Cream cheese sandwich, cut using cookie cutter, mini marshmallow slices with food color pen for the eyes and mouth.
cherry tomatoes
cucumber flowers
carrots
strawberries and blueberries
choc chip cookies, bananas and licorice

Healthy Lunch #4
Home made granola with sesame seed candy
hard boiled egg chick (the nose is made with carrot and eyes with sushi paper) on a bed of lettuce
Sandwich with cheese on lettuce, with carrots red peppers and red onions. (dressing on side)
mandarin slices.

Very cool no hassle way of peeling potatoes!

Found this video and though i would share! I actually tried this tonight while making potato salad and was super impressed at how quick and easy i got my potatoes peeled without even needing a peeler!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4W0qIPJmoo

"The only thing better than being a superhero is being a big brother!!!"

So my son has outgrown his baby room and I've kind of been dragging it out as much as possible, partly because i wasn't ready to accept it and partly because i was indecisive as to what i wanted to do for his big boy room! I got my inspiration from this quote i saw "The only thing better than being a superhero is being a big brother!!!" What a great idea i thought, he's such an energetic vibrant little boy i knew this would be perfect! In the next few weeks ill be posting pics and tutorials on his room remodel. I'm having my talented father build his bed and ill be doing some online shopping to create the decor for his room. I'm on the search for some "superhero" themed scrapbook paper and i really love the vintage comic styles as well, so as soon as i find the right one i will be making a custom lampshade for him. The color scheme is red, yellow and blue! 


The first thing i created for his new room is this really cool bat-mobile and it also doubles as a book storage/reading area!

The best part about this is it's made entirely out of cardboard boxes! That's right this entire project is not only super-cool looking and budget friendly but also eco friendly!! I had soo many unused boxes leftover from my last move and lately its been driving me nuts to have "stuff" just cluttering my house unnecessarily and even though they were neatly stored i just couldn't take it anymore, i don't want every inch of my house to be housing something!

Here's what i used:

10 cardboard boxes (the bigger the better)

Hot glue gun

Jig Saw

Plastic roll (the kind used to line cupboards)

Sheet of silver tagboard

Spray adhesive

Wooden Letter (optional)

Black acrylic paint

Small paint roller

metallic silver paint

Black duct tape

Open up 6 boxes and lay them out, then start by drawing out the side of your car. You'll need about 3 layers on each side of the car. Next you'll need about 2 ppl for this part and two glue guns. Get as much glue as you can especially near the edges and attach the boxes together. Attach each layer on top of each other with as much glue as possible and press until dry. Next use your jigsaw to cut out the shape of the car you have drawn! Do the same for the other side of the car!

You should have two sides that look like the pic on the right! If you're using old used boxes, try to use the nicest one on the outside, the paint will cover over the writing but you want to avoid spots where tape has been torn or there are uneven textures! For the next art you'll need to use two identical boxes that are a good width for the car! One of them can be used for the seat and you can use both of them as a gauge to make sure youre gluing both sides perfectly parallel. Next PLACE, DONT GLUE your boxes inside the car, measure the width and cut a long strip to run up the front of the car. As you hold it up on the car mark where the car bends and score (that means to cut but not all the way through) the box so it will lay flat up the front. I recommend using two layers for the top, glue them one by one. 

Next cut a shape to match the front of the car and make it two layers thick. Glue this under the hood to act as a brace and support the top. Next measure the inside width of the car and cut two pieces to be 4" wider than that. These pieces will go under (where the red arrow is pointing) forming a "T" with the other brace. Score each piece 2" from the edge on both sides. This will serve as the tab and give you a place to glue the brace better. The tabs where the yellow arrows are, are 2 layers thick One piece has tabs going towards the front and the other going towards the back. Make sure you also glue where the pieces meet (blue arrows). I also created some bracing with the seat by making an "X" since that's pretty strong. The back of the seat is much like the other brace.  Cut a piece to span from the floor up to the top of the car and give it tabs to glue it in place.  (The tabs won't run the full length of the piece because the seat will get in the way.  Just make them stretch from the top down to the seat.)  Cut another piece with tabs to go behind it.  Glue these pieces in. Use the box that matches the seat for the bookshelf and reinforce it the same way you did with the seat.  Glue it in place. 

The windshield has two layers and the inside layer has tabs to secure it.  The windshield is all one piece with the sides scored.  It's pretty much trial and error here.  Draw it out, cut it, try it on, and make necessary adjustments until it looks right.
 Next is the best part, the decorating and finishing touches! Cover the whole thing with black acrylic paint. I used a small roller to speed up the process. I used metallic silver paint for the windshield. Now to clean up all the lines i used a roll of black duct tape. Run the tape along all the seams.  Where there are curves you'll have to make slits along the way just like you would when sewing.  Later you can cover the slits with another layer of tape. The tape will give the car a cleaner look and strengthen all your seams.

For the tires I cut circles out of the textured, rubbery stuff they sell to line your cupboards.  It was a translucent gray and gave the car some texture. For the rims I bought a sheet of silver tag board 
and cut circles out.I cut out the black shapes to go over the top of the rims for more detail.When applying the tires and bumper, i used spray adhesive. I'm also making an emblem "M" for my son's name to go on the front of the car. The flames are stickers that i had lying around but don't remember where they re from, possibly a toy. I cant wait to finish the room and see it all pulled together! 

Mission Glitterize!!!!

So this is week 2 of my decluttering and organizing mission and as i was attacking my daughters closet i came across a pair of ballet flats that even though still fit were kind of outdated so i figured i may as well turn this into a craft project, i had nothing to loose since they were going to the donate pile anyways.

My inspiration were these Kate Spade glittery flats, but at $285 i wasn't prepared to spend that kind of money on shoes for a 5 yr old who will most likely outgrow them in 5 minutes! So i decided to attempt to replicate these.I used the following supplies:
a pair of ballet flats
modge podge
glitter (in the color of your choice) i used a mix of several colors
acrylic finishing spray
a sponge brush
a glue gun and a button
some newspaper or other material to cover the area

I blended the glitter in a plastic cup with a small amount of modge podge and began painting the glitter glue on the shoes. I took about 3 coats but i let it dry about 30 min between coats. This way you will be able to judge for yourself if you need to add any coats or go over any spots.

This is the result after the glitter glue has fully dried.
After they were completely dry i headed outside to apply the clear acrylic finishing spray, this usually dries quickly. Use some tissue or newspaper inside the shoes when spraying them so the spray doesn't get inside.

Now for the final touch i added the ribbon. This is very simple take two pieces of ribbon and just join them at the tip, you can play around to determine how big or small you want the bow. I used two, one slightly shorter than the first and glued them using my glue gun. Next you take a smaller piece of ribbon and wrap it around the center of both ribbons creating your simple loop bow. Then take your button and glue it to the bottom of the two bows (smaller one on top). You then apply a small amount of glue to the button and apply the bow (button side down) onto the shoes, make sure its properly centered. Hold it down a few seconds to make sure its dry!

And Voila! This is the final result!! My daughter will be so excited when she gets home to find these in her closet!!

Not bad for a difference of $270 right? Not only do they look pretty good but i just made use of a pair of shoes she no longer wore!! Can't wait to see her reaction!

More creative organizing ideas!

I saw this on Martha Stewart and thought this was such a great idea because im always looking for matching sheet sets and pillowcases in my linen closet this way it makes it so much easier and those pesky corner sheets that i can never quite fold perfectly are hidden!

This isn't my linen closet but i just found my organization project for today!!

Fun meal for picky eaters!

So if you have a child that's a picky eater you know how frustrating it can be trying to find ways to get them to eat without having to put on a show! If you're one of the lucky ones who happens to have kids who will eat anything you put in front of them then count your blessings. However any child has at some point been picky maybe cause their not feeling well or they're just not in the mood. I decided to make a fun lunch for my little man who happens to be home sick today and although hes usually a good eater (unlike my daughter) today he just doesn't really want to eat so i thought id make a game out of it.

Ice cream cone grilled cheese!
I used 2 pieces of wheat bread
 cheese
 butter
 1 banana
 1 strawberry
I cut the corners off of the bread to shape it like a cone. Save the scraps. I buttered the bread and placed the cheese in between to fit on the bread. Grill it and place it on the plate. Take the crust off of the scraps and pinch off pieces of it to cross on top of the bread. You can skip this, but i thought it looked more like a cone that way. Take 1 banana and slice it. Pile the slices on the top edge of the bread to look like ice cream. Take a strawberry and cut it to look like a cherry. Kids will love it and have fun eating it!

Next is the fruit snack i prepared, my son loves sesame street and this was way easier to do than it looks! I used:
1 clementine
1 banana
raisins
2 mini marshmallows
1 red fruit roll up
Peel the clementine and save the peel. Separate it in half and put them on each plate. Peel the banana and cut in half. Place those on the plates. 
For Ernie, cut a slit towards the bottom for his mouth. Roll up a fruit roll up tightly and then cut part of that for the nose. Cut a small piece for his tongue. Cut a mini marshmallow in half for his eyes. Cut a small raisin for the pupil on the eyes. Cut more of the raisins in half for his hair. Cut the reserved clementine peel for his ears. 
For Bert, cut the reserved clementine peel for his nose. Cut the banana peel for his ears. Cut a mini marshmallow for his eyes. Cut a small raisin for the pupil on the eyes. Cut a slit for his mouth. Cut a small piece of fruit roll up for his tongue. Use 2 or 3 raisins for his eye brows. Cut raisins in half for his hair. You should have enough to make two of these!

Quick easy and delish recipe!

So I was looking for an easy and quick recipe to make for shabbat that would be really nice to serve even when you have guests over! I found this recipe here; http://www.chabad.org/multimedia/media_cdo/aid/972662/jewish/Deli-Roll.htm
and it was super easy to make and come out delicious! I made a few changes with the cold-cuts and used some dijon mustard i had but mixed it with some honey and it was a huge hit!

This is a picture how mine came out!

DIY Magnet board!

This is my project for today! I love the idea of reusing  cans to store art supplies like crayons, pencils, glue scissors ect... I looked into buying one of these magnetic boards but found they can be quite pricey so i decided to make one myself! I purchased all the supplies and this should cost about 10 to make!
In order to make this you will need;
Sheet metal - I used a 12x17" piece pre-cut from Rona (cost- around $8.00)
Tin cans (free)
Magnets (dollar store $2.00)
Contact Paper
Glue gun
                                                                                   
Cover the piece of sheet metal with your choice of contact paper. Clean cans thoroughly and use your hot glue gun to glue small magnets to the back of each can. You can also label them if you'd like. I use picture hanging strips to hang up my magnet board instead of drilling holes as i often move stuff around. This is so easy to make and so versatile, I'm looking to find some chalkboard contact paper to cover my magnet board instead of plain contact paper so the kids can use it as a chalkboard as well!

Organizing & decluttering made easy!

I decided to re-organize my home in anticipation for my new baby! Maybe its just the pregnancy hormones but lately I've been feeling the walls closing in on me so i decided it was time for "spring cleaning" sort of speak!

I'm going to show you how to declutter and reorganize your home without spending tons of money and by re-purposing items you already have in your home.

Rule #1 

• Have less things than you have room for! Just because you have the extra space doesn't mean you should fill it!
• One in, one out.  Come home with a new package of socks? Get rid of all the old ones with holes. Come home with new toys for the kids? Donate the old ones they don't play with.  Assuming you already own enough (or too many) things, you can stay on top of clutter by disposing of the old when you bring home the new.
• Label things.  It keeps you accountable to your own organizing.  If you have a basket on the counter with no label, it will probably soon be holding some mail, a spare key, some legos and a loose button.  If it's labelled "mail", there's a good chance that you (and those you live with) will only put mail in it.
• Have a place for donations.  And bring them down to the car as soon as you've put them aside. Things left sitting around the house waiting to be donated have a way of never actually getting donated.
• Re-purpose Things. Just because you no longer need the shoe box your new shoes came in doesn't mean it cant be used for something else! Organization boxes and supplies cost a fortune and you don't have to spend a fortune in order to organize your home. Everyday items that we often throw away can be used in many different ways to organize your home without costing you a cent!
• Everything has it's place. Having a place for everything in your home will help keep you on track. When you take something out put it back as soon as you're done using it. If everything has its place chances are you will put it back where it belongs rather than putting it in some random drawer or closet or on top of a table or counter, you'll also be less likely to hold on to things you don't need.

This is a great organization tool for storing your make-up! I have tons of make-up more than i need or use but i love this for storing my everyday go to make-up. It saves me time during my morning routine because i don't have to dig through my piles of make-up to find the things i use on a regular basis.

I was also constantly looking for things like q tips and cotton-balls and make-up sponges because they would get lost in a drawer somewhere and spill out and end up in the trash, this way they're neatly put away and very accessible.

DIY Hairbows for picture day!

Tomorrow is my daughter's picture day at school and i was in the mood to make some beautiful stacked hair bows for her to wear! I decided to take out my craft boxes and get tow work, i haven't made any hair bows in a while!

Isn't this such a cute bow? Its still needs some touch ups, as you can see one side is slightly longer. These are super easy to make and i love that you can mix and match your own colors and patterns to match your little girls outfits! And the best part is it cost so little to make as opposed to buying them.

Supplies you will need

 -Scissors
 -a lighter (to seal ends of ribbon)
 -your choices of ribbon (I chose 3 different ones)
the cupcake pattern one is 1 1/2" and the other two colors are 3/8"
 -a cupcake resin applique
 - a needle and thread (any color)
 - a barrette or clip of your choice

   

And a glue gun with glue sticks!

Step 1

Cut approx 22-24 inches of  your first ribbon

Have your needle threaded and secure a knot at the end.

 Make a loop like pictured on the left. The length of the tail you leave depends on your preference!

 Make the second loop overlapping the middle.

Make the thrid loop by looping under the right side.

And bring the fourth loop over back towards the center.

Put your needle through the center and pull through. Thread it back and forth a few times to secure it and fasten with a knot.

 Repeat twice more with the two other ribbons!
I used a larger one and two smaller ones!

 When you finish making the three bows, stack them on top of each other with the largest one at the bottom. Before putting your needle through them make sure they are all properly place in the center.
You can then put your needle through as we did before and go back and forth a few times before making a knot!

 Pinch the center of the bow and begin to wrap your thread around it tightly. Secure it with a knot.

 Cut a small piece of ribbon in the color of your choice. This will be to cover up your center bow!











Place some glue on the center of your bow and then wrap your small ribbon around it going towards the back!

 Place your clip like pictured but make sure the part that will lay flat against the bow is the top of the clip!

 Place some glue on the back center and lay the clip down flat against the back of the bow. Then take the other end of the ribbon and pull it through the same way, add another drop of glue and press down.
You can then cut off any excess ribbon.

This was my final product!
If you dont have any appliques you can leave them out and your bow will be just as beautiful!
I forgot to mention i trimmed the ends of the ribbon diagonaly and used the lighter to seal the ends so they wont fray. You just hold the end of the ribbon over the flame but not directly on it and pass it over quickly.

Make ahead lunches!

Who doesnt want to save time?? If your a busy mom like me, you'll welcome any tips and tricks that will save you an extra 5 or ten minutes in the morning! I'll show you how you can prepeare a whole weeks worth of school lunches in 30 minutes! I have 2 kids but only one of them take lunch to school (the other is in daycare) but i also prepare my hubby's lunches!

I got my baggies and my slices of bread.
I prepared egg salad and tuna salad ahead of time which only took about ten minutes and started assembling. I did 2 of each of the following
2 tuna sandwiches
2 egg salad sandwiches
2 cheese sandwiches
2 cheese pizza's
I also prepared some chicken nuggets that i buy frozen but fully cooked so it only takes ten min to bake in the oven!

I also prepared;
 10 baggies of grapes
 10 baggies of sliced oranges
 8 cheese sticks (my daughter has dairy & meat days)
10 individual bags of chips
10 granola bars
10 juice boxes

Btw now is a great time to buy those big boxes of individual chip & snack bags because they go on sale after Halloween! I bought a 60 bag box of lays chips for $4.99 which is less than half of the pre Halloween price!

The plastic container i used to put my lunches in are shoe boxes and they work great!

Its really easy if you just take 30 min to do this you save so much time in the morning trying to figure out what to do for lunch everyday! You can use whatever your kids like, make a list of things they like to take to lunch and make sure to always have them on hand. Also i like to make sure my daughter eats some fresh fruit and veggies and even though she's a super picky eater if you get a little creative you'd be surprised at what you can get them to eat and love!

Here are some more fun snack ideas for kids

Sliced apple wedges with homemade caramel dip.












Strawberries and chocolate dipping sauce!

DIY Party Favors!

When it comes to loot bags for kids birthday parties, most of us will just go to the dollar store and spend a small fortune on junk that we know will likely end up in the garbage before the kids have even left the party. I try to find some more creative ideas for things kids will enjoy. First thing that comes to mind of course no matter the theme of your party is candy!! What kid doesn't love candy in their loot bag?? For my daughters upcoming party I've put together some ideas for DIY party favors i hope her guests will enjoy!. First off i had tons of broken crayons, some pieces too small to color with so i came up with a great idea for reusing them. I have some silicone molds for candy or ice making and decided to try and make some cool multicolored shaped crayons.
Gather up any broken old crayon pieces you may have and divide them into your preferred color combination.

Put the mold on a cookie sheet and  place in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 150 degrees.

This is what they should look like right out of the oven!!

Once the mold has cooled, place in the freezer for about 30 min!

This is what they should look like once ready!

I plan on wrapping them up in a pretty clear plastic wrapper tied with a nice bow!

Do it yourself birthday party decor and treats!

So this weekend i'm planning a small birthday party for my five year old ( a little late due to all the Jewish holidays). I decided to make most of my own desserts such as cupcakes, cake pops and even candy pops! If you have some time on your hands and want to save money the best thing to do is to make it yourself. I didn't used to really bother with these things because i always thought it was either to hard or not worth the hassle but not i realize that not only can you save tons of $$ but i find i really enjoy it as well. I also turn it into a fun activity for my daughter by getting her to help me with certain things!

For the poms (third picture) I took 12 sheets of tissue paper, you can mix different colors if you like and if you want them fuller use more paper. Lay the paper out flat on a table and start folding it like an accordion (left pic) all the way to the end (bottom pic).

Then you are going to fold the paper in half and tie in the middle. You can use anything you like but make sure to secure it tightly.

You then need to cut both ends, you can cut them either pointy or rounded, either way you prefer!
It should look like the pic below, don't worry if the ends are cut messy it wont show when its done!

You then begin to gently lift each piece of tissue paper one at at time on each side fluffing it up towards the center. Make sure to do it on both side so as to make a ball! This can be tricky and the tissue might tear but don’t be discouraged.  The final result is so fluffy and spherical that no one will notice a few tears.

 

And this is the final result!! They look so beautiful hanging from the ceiling as decoration! I bought my tissue paper from the dollar store and it came in a pack of 20 sheets for 1$ and i saw these for sale in a party store for $7.99/pack of 2!!! 

Here are pics of some of the decorations i made myself for the party, it was really easy cheap and fun to do and they look so beautiful!!!!