How to Appreciate your teachers (for Teacher Appreciation Week)

It is Teacher Appreciation Week this week - did you know?
This is the week that you let your (or your children's) teacher(s) know that you are thankful for all that they do.
What should you do?  Some grand gesture?  Actually, some of the best ideas are simple ones.
How about a bookmark.  It is easy to make your own, printed on cardstock or stamped with a bit of ribbon.
How about a simple baked treat?
How about a handmade set of Monogram cards, perfect for them to send a little note to someone.
Here is how you can very easily make a set:

1.  Open an 8.5" x 11" page in your print program (I use Storybook Creator by Creative Memories, but you could use Adobe Photoshop and can even do a very simple set in Word).  I set mine up to be portrait.

2. Determine the measurements that you want for your card (usually determined by your envelope size).  To keep things simple, I am dividing my page in half, so that I will have 2 cards on one sheet, each card will be 5.5" x 4.25".

3.   Create a text box in one of the right hand boxes that is about 1.5" wide.  Type your monogram letter in this box.  It should be about large and take up most of the center and in a very bold font (I choose Pickwick, 132 pt.)

If you are doing this process, you will then need to flatten it, in order to fill it with a paper.  Some programs, allow you to insert the shape of the letters and fill them immediately with any paper.  Here is the difference.  In the upper corner, I added a letter in a text box, and then flattened it (therefore, making it an element).  Then, I was able to fill it with a digital paper.  In the lower corner, I inserted the same letter, as a shape, filled with the same paper, but in this program, you can add a border, so I did.

Either way would work.  Now, all you need to do it print them and cut them in half and then fold those in half.  Walla - Monogram cards!

There are many things that you can add to these cards - shadows, elements, ribbons, etc.  But simple is very nice, too!  Make up 5 or 6, add envelopes to match, tie with a ribbon together & instant present!

Thanks to all the teachers in the world!  We love you!

Meagan

Public Service Announcement - How to save your toilet from flooding the house

About a year ago, my dear friend came home from work to see water coming from her house.  She rushed inside to find water filling up her house and gushing from her bathroom.
What had happened, you say?  A little tiny plastic connector that goes from the back of the toilet to the wall broke.  Simple as that.  Every toilet has one.  This is what it looks like:

The thing that really is amazing is that EVERY house has one and they are only rated to last 5-10 years and they DO NOT make them in stainless steel like their connecting hose!

So, back to my friend.  She tells everyone she knows - "go now, learn from me and replace this simple connector before your house is flooded.  The most amazing thing; this little connector costs less than $10." 

She had tons of professional dryers going 24 hours a day trying to get the floors & walls dry.   In ruined almost every floor in her house.  All her carpets and hardwoods had to be replaced, some of the walls and some furniture.

Would you like to know how much it cost to replace all the damage done to her house?  Over $40,000

Did I rush out and buy said connector??  No!  

Why not?  I am sure there are reasons, got busy, didn't think it would happen to me, forgot, etc.  The reason doesn't matter, just that I never did.

So, fast forward 1 year.  

Fans going full blast

Chamois - I even had the 2 yo soaking up water

Shop Vac - not just for dirt!

Yep!  You got it!  It happened to me!
I do not have any pictures of the water gushing out or of the 2" of water that were in my bathroom, because I was too shocked and panicked to get a camera at that point.   The big difference between my friend's situation and mine is that I was home when it happened.
It was early on a Saturday morning and I was in my living room with all my kids asleep still.  I had gone in to tell them that it was time to start waking up and gone back to the living room.  I heard the water running about 5 minutes later.  Not just "running" . . .it was on full blast.  I thought that one of my kids had gotten up and was using the bathroom.  When the water didn't stop after about 5-8 minutes, I went to check.  The light was off in the bathroom, and as I stepped forward to push open the door and turn on the light, my foot squished in the carpet and I noticed that the sink was not gushing.  It was coming from my toilet!!
My husband had left for work about 20 minutes before.  I panicked and called him and made him turn around to help.  What followed was a morning and afternoon that I had not planned on.  Hours spent bailing water off the linoleum, sucking up the water from the carpet with the shop vac, soaking up water with towels, and chamois and trying to air dry with our fans.
Boy, were my muscles hurting that evening!
And my "flood" was nothing like my friend's.  I caught mine in under 15 minutes and it did all that damage. The water not only got into the carpet in my bathroom (why do contractors think carpet in a bathroom is a good idea anyway???), but it went under the wall, into my closet and into my hallway.

Have I scared you enough yet to make you go out and purchase this simple connector??

I hope so!  Please learn from our mistakes.  If you have not replaced your connector in more than 10 years or your house is older than 10 years - go down to your hardward supply store.  The best part - you can do this yourself.  You do not need a plummer, you only need a wrench.  I will show you how!

1 - See what kind of connector you have.  It is easier if you disconnect your current part and take it with you as there are many choices.  Mine is connected to the hose, so I had to buy this:

Stainless Steel 12" Toilet Connect with 3/8" x 7/8"  - It was under $7,  after tax

2. Turn off your water supply

It is connected to the wall behind your toilet.  Turn it until it cannot go anymore.

3. Flush the toilet, until there is no more water in the back of the tank.  (You do need to take off the led from the back of the toilet to see if it is empty.)
4. Unscrew the plastic connector from the toilet.  You should do this with a bucket underneath - just in case there is water.  You should be able to disconnect it with your hand.

5.  Unscrew the other end with a wrench.

I loosen mine with my wrench and then unscrewed the rest of the way with my hand.    Once you do that, you can remove the whole thing.

6.  Take your connector to the store and buy a new one.
7.  Reattach the connector to the water inlet, first with your hand and then tighten with your wrench.

8. Reattach the plastic connector to the back of the toilet by hand

9.  Turn the water back on.

You're done!  It really is that easy.  Now remember to that again in 5-10 years!

If you replace this simple connector, I hope that you never have to deal with a flooded house.

Good Morning!

I have so many cool things that I am working on that my head woke me up at 4 am this morning!
I just laid there in bed, working through all the things that I need to do in my head.  So when my little man wanted to get up at 5:20, I was okay with it.

What am I working on?  Here are some of the things:
Lego Party for my 12 year old
Travel Party
End of Year Banquet for my Mom's Club
Mom's Club Newsletter (due on Monday)
(at least) 2 Science Fair Projects with my kids
Finishing my Disney Album from last year before I go this year
Just Between Friends Consignment Sale
Trip to the snow
Blog post about creating an Altered Book Invitation


I think that there may be more, but my head is spinning right now!  Wish me luck and I hope to have my blog post up soon about the cool way to invite someone to a party.

Book review: "The Friday Night Knitting Club" by Kate Jacobs

Here is my review from the book that I finished in January:


The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I decided to pick up this book since so many people suggested it.  All in all it was a "good" book.  Not really my style, but it did keep my interest for the most part.  There was a lot about knitting in it that maybe if I knitted, I would have found interesting.  I did enjoy how knitting brought together women from multiple backgrounds and abilities, but I did not really "love" the main character, Georgia.  I found her bad self-image hard to keep taking.  All the self-doubt bothered me, so I just couldn't get into her.  I know that most people, especially women, are plagued with huge amounts of self-doubt, but hers was a bit over the top.

I don't plan on reading any others in the series.


View all my reviews

maybe you will like it more than I did. . . 

Meagan

Book Review: "11/22/63" by Stephen King

I just finished Stephen King's new book and realized that I have not been updating my Good Reads site since last fall.  So, although, I completed my goal for last year, it doesn't look like it.  I am going to have to go in a update what all I read.  I hope that I can remember it all!  :)

11/22/63 by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a huge book by my favorite author.  It took me a lot longer than his books normally take me.  I found all that "history" hard to sift through.  I thought he had an interesting theme though and I really enjoyed the parts that intersected his "It" storyline.


View all my reviews

I hope you enjoy it.  Stay tuned for some more reviews!  Plus, I have a new book challenge for this year - 15 books!

How to work with cool fonts

Fonts are Fabulous!
My favorite thing about choosing the perfect font, is that it really sets the tone for what you are typing.  A great font conveys feeling, style and thought.  That's a lot for just what each letter looks like.  I mean an "a" is still an "a" right?

Obviously, there are times and places for "neat" fonts.  If you are typing your resume, for instance, it is probably not the time to use "Catchup" (which looks like a kid wrote it).  "Catchup" would be the perfect font for an invitation to a 2 year's old thank you card.

Ironically, as I type this, I am forced to use 1 of 7 regular fonts!  Ug, I hate being stifled!  So, before I finish an invitation, scrapbook page, letter, etc, I always look at my font.

Here are some cool regular fonts that came pre-loaded on my Window 7 systems

Have you ever wished that you had a particular font or alpha for something you are typing?  

Well, I found a great website that provided free downloaded fonts.  

dafont

These are all fonts that are created by individuals, which upload and share them for free.  If you like them, you can donate to the creator.  

I have found such cool fonts as Buka Bird, Tron, Alice in Wonderland and Mickey.  

Do you have someone obsessed with Mine Craft, like my son is?  Try this one, minecrafter.

With Easter coming up, would like your font to be made out rabbits? - or other Eastery fonts?

Are you looking for a font for Halloween?

Want to type in Elfish or Runes?

How about something Christmasy?

How about Chinese/Japanese, Mexican, Arabic, or many other nationalities

Would you like your words to sizzle or freeze?

Super Mario Brothers

Goonies

Another tip that I have.  For those of you working in a spreadsheet and creating a check off list.  Try using "zbats" for the font.  Then, try out a "4".  It is a checkmark!  

Well, I hope this gets your creative juices flowing!  Now, go out there and try out some fonts!

Happy Valentine's - How to make V-Day treats

Hello Everyone,
I am just popping in to say Happy Valentine's Day to you all and to share some yummy treats that you can make for Valentine's Day.  Most of these are super easy that don't need a lot of instructions.

First off, Peppermint Hearts

To start with you need left-over mini Christmas Candy Canes!  I happened to have a whole box that I only used a few from.

Line them up on a sheet of parchment paper in a heart shape, like this.

Next, you will need to melt down your white chocolate.  I used white chocolate chips in my glass 2 cup measuring cup and added just a little bit of olive oil to help make it pour easy and thin it out a little bit.  I microwaved it at 50% for 45 seconds and then stirred.  After that, I would microwave in 30 second intervals (still at 50%), stirring in between, until it is completely melted.

Pour white chocolate into the centers of the hearts.  Pour slowly, or you will over fill them (yeah - I did that on the first one!  You can kinda see in the back left).  It is easiest to start on one lobe of the heart, pour down to the point and then back up to the other lobe.

*tip - I realized about this point, that I should have placed my parchment paper and hearts on top of a baking sheet so that I could pick them up easier and place in frig to harden or move.

While the chocolate is still hot, you can add your decorations.  Use whatever you have.  You can sprinkles, candies, etc.  I happen to have this mold from a Vegas event that I did, so I used my red melting candies to make red hearts.

First, I add red sprinkles in the bottom of the mold.

Then, just squeeze melted red candy in the hearts and let harden.  Then pop them out.  They will be sparkly on top and perfect little hearts!

So, back to decorating the hearts, I sprinkled pink and red sugars on the hot white chocolate.  Then, I placed the red hearts that I made on top.  If the chocolate had gotten to hard, I "glued" on the hearts with a little more melting chocolate.

Of course, after doing half of them like this, I realized that a heart should be on the left, but oh well!  :)

And, that is it!  Let them harden by themselves, or you can speed it up in the refrigerator.  You can wrap them individually or serve on a tray.  They are flat, so you can add them to a Valentine's card, too!

On to the other treats.  I must say that I waited until the 13th to go looking for Valentine's Sprinkle.  I wanted to supplement the red and pink sugars that I had with "jimmies" in VDay colors.  EVERY place was sold out.  I went every where.  I started making my own heart shapes, using the red melting candy.  

Here is what else I made:

I made chocolate dipped pretzel rods.  Super cute, very easy and always a huge hit.  Just melt chocolate in a tall thin container and dip end of pretzel.  While it is still hot,  sprinkle with whatever you want.  I added my hand made heart to each one.

Just your basic heart shaped sugar cookies.  I add sprinkles, balls, and melting candy.  Another tip for you.  After you bake them and they spread out while baking, you can re-cut them with your same cookie cutter to get that sharper edge!

So, that's it!  I hope you have a fabulous (and sweet) Valentine's Day!