Frozen Grapes! Replacement for ice.

Frozen Grapes for Drinks // thepapermama.com

Tried it: Frozen grapes in wine. Yeah, it’s a neat idea. I’ve seen this little idea floating around Pinterest forever and I finally gave it a try. Keep that white wine or bubbly chilled with some frozen grapes! Ice cubes will melt and water down the drink, this doesn’t. PLUS: it’s like an appetizer with your wine. Ha!

Freeze grapes for a couple hours…. add to drink… enjoy. This would be perfect for a party.

Frozen Grapes for Drinks // thepapermama.com

– Chelsey

Tags:

Categories: diy, drinks for every season, food, gif


Back to School Party!

Hello all! I hope you guys are enjoying the holiday weekend! We certainly are. My kiddo will be starting preschool soon and I’ve noticed a bunch of fun Back to School Party inspirations wandering around the inter-webs. I love the idea of turning a sort of bummer-time (no more playing in the sun and back to math problems) situation into a celebration of growing up and moving on to the next school adventure! I’m sharing just a couple of my favorite Back to School Party inspirations below… enjoy!

Pencil Cake Push Pops from Bakerella.

http://www.bakerella.com/pencil-pushers/

Apple Paper Plates from Spaceships and Laser Beams.

http://spaceshipsandlaserbeams.com/blog/2013/08/party-central/back-to-school-party-ideas

 Paper Cookies from Party Love.

http://partyloves.blogspot.com/2012/08/back-to-school-party.html

Bobbing for Doughnuts Game from Duke and Duchesses.

http://dukesandduchesses.com/2011/08/a-back-to-school-party

 Paperclip Chain Necklaces from Lunch Pails & Lipstick.

http://www.lunchpailsandlipstick.com/2013/07/guest-post-paging-supermom.html

Vintage Flashcards Garland (with free printable) from Confetti Sunshine.

http://www.confettisunshineblog.com/2012/08/back-to-school-decorations.html

 School Supply Cake from Kara’s Party Ideas.

http://www.karaspartyideas.com/2013/08/back-to-school-vintage-schoolhouse-party-karas-party-ideas.html

 Honeycomb Apples from One Charming Party.

http://onecharmingparty.com/2013/06/11/back-to-school-party-decorations/

– Chelsey


Links to love: Back to School!

Hey lovelies! It’s just about school time, and I have been gathering some favorite DIY’s to share with all of you. I really hope you enjoy, and happy Friday!

DIY School Chart from the Spoonflower Blog.

http://blog.spoonflower.com/2013/08/back-to-school-diy-vintage-school-chart.html

 DIY Glitter Pencils from Brunch at Saks.

http://brunchatsaks.blogspot.com/2013/04/diy-glitter-pencils.html

Cloud Cork Board from Paper & Stitch.

http://www.papernstitchblog.com/2013/08/12/make-this-cloud-cork-board-for-back-to-school/#_a5y_p=895809

Monster Pouch from Redfly.

http://www.redflycreations.com/2012/11/monster-money-pouch.html

 Edible Pencils from Moneywise Moms.

http://www.moneywisemoms.com/2011/08/string-cheese-pencils/

Back to School Printable Boxes from Mr.Printables.

http://www.mrprintables.com/back-to-school-pencil-favor-boxes.html#_a5y_p=970364

Crayon purse from Sewing Secrets.

http://coatsandclarksewingsecrets.com/blogcategory/tutorials/kids-craft-diy-no-sew-tiny-house-necklace/

 Gold sparkle stapler from Pitter and Glink.

http://pitterandglink.blogspot.com/2013/08/back-to-school-week-glittered-dollar.html

Fabric Envelope from Fabric Paper Glue.

http://www.fabricpaperglue.com/2012/09/try-this-fabric-document-envelope.html

 Washi Tape Notepads from My Life at Playtime.

http://www.mylifeatplaytime.com/home/2012/11/5/pinterest-inspired-diy-washi-tape-notebooks.html

 Colored Pencil Jewelry from Design Mom.

crayon-beads-1

– Chelsey


Tried it: Magnetic Hammer

Magnetic Hammer DIY // thepapermama.com

Magnetic Hammer DIY // thepapermama.com

Tried it: I found this idea, last fall, over on the Dream A Little Bigger blog. The Magnetic Hammer… and I think it’s fantastic! You’re up on a ladder, you are just about ready to hammer in a nail… and you drop the damn thing. OMG. Yes, this is the end of the world (says your brain in this frustrated moment). Pfft, forget climbing back down the ladder, keep your extra nails on the end of your hammer!

It’s easy to make. Buy a strong magnet (mine came from Lowes) and use some E6000 to glue the magnet to the butt of the hammer. Let the glue cure for at least 24 hours, you’re good. Have a hammering project? Just place a few nails on the magnet and you’re good. The nails really do stay attached (even during hammering). It’s pretty great. Wonderful idea.

Enjoy!

– Chelsey


Wednesday Goodies: Oh kale no!

Oh Kale No! // thepapermama.com

I like kale. A lot. It’s really more of a LOVE. You can do so much with it. We usually sauté it, but I also love it in slaw form. More recently I’ve been devouring it as Kale Bites (so good guys). ::random story alert:: When I was pregnant with the kiddo, I didn’t want to eat anything (it all made me nauseous). I would eat dinner and when I was done I’d tell my husband, “That was so good, really, but we can never eat that again.” The thought of eating that meal a second time made me feel gross (pregnancy is so weird). The only thing I could continuously eat and not feel like puking afterward was chicken, rice, and sautéed kale. That’s it. It was delicious to me. The rest of the food in this world made me want to vomit… for the entire pregnancy. SO. yes. Kale and I are friends.

This year’s garden has provided us with a TON of the yummy curly green kale leaves since May. It’s wonderful growing our own food. I know where my veggies are coming from and my kiddo learns a bit about growing a garden. Another thing you will learn with a garden: how many damn bugs inhabit our plants! Yeah, I knew the slugs would eat the spinach and the squirrels will most likely eat all our strawberries. Yes. I knew this. I had no idea how perfect kale is for each and every type of creepy crawly out there.

It started out innocent enough. The sweet little kale seeds were sprouting out of the ground.  -Damn, a slug got a couple.-  Oh well. I’ll grow some more.  -Ok, what’s this? There are little eggs on the back of half our leaves?-  Wha? Dammit. Fine. Whatever. Moving on. Hmmm, just picking the kale and  -WHAT THE fuh is, oh my gah ::throw leaf and jump up and down screeching::-  There are 5 bagillion spiders chilling out on that single leaf. No. Maybe that was a one time thing? Sure. Why not.  -Oh, look at that. The little curls in each leaf are perfect little homes for all the spiders-  (I’ll just tell myself they are going to eat all the other bugs and spiders, they don’t bother me).  -What the crap are those?-  I now have to inspect the back of each leaf because apparently aphids find kale to be the most fantastic treat evar. In fact, they love it so much they’ve completely covered 1/2 the stalks of my plants. It’s pretty gross. Did you know they shed their skins and leave them for you to find and enjoy later? Yeah. More recently I’ve been finding the most adorable teeny tiny white furry caterpillars.

With all these creatures lovin’ on my kale, a quick 10 minute harvest of kale turns into a 30 minute adventure. I do not want the “extra protein” from all these creatures living in my garden. SO, I pick and inspect each and every leaf. It’s time consuming, but worth it. All aphid infested leaves go straight to the chickens (they love it), the spider leaves go flying in the air while I flail my arms and make a high-pitched screech, and the pretty non-bug leaves go in the basket… off to dinner land.

– Chelsey

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If you have a post you’d like to share today, please feel free to link it up below. And, feel free to link up to these blogs too… Parenting by DummiesProject AliciaJenni from the BlogIn The Moment With, and Live and Love Outloud.




Spooky Halloween Terrarium

Spooky Pumpkin Silhouette // thepapermama.com Spooky Pumpkin Silhouette // thepapermama.com

Ok. I know. It’s not even September and I’m sharing a Halloween DIY. I swear: there will not be any other mention of Halloween until the end of September (promise). Buuut, Michaels sent me some foam pumpkins and I got inspired. So yeah. Hello Halloween DIY. Ha!

I created a Spooky Halloween Terrarium with this pumpkin. Comes with a little spooky home and crazy/wild bats. It’s intense. Perfect for Halloween 2013.

Here’s what you need to make this:

– A foam pumpkin from the Michaels

– Green floral foam

– Moss

– Wire

– Hot glue

– X-acto Knife

– Wire cutters

– Scissors

– A couple toothpicks

How I did it:

– Use an X-acto knife to cut a hole out of the front of your pumpkin. I cut about an 8 inch hole (I freehand cut, but you could use a pencil to mark out the hole before cutting).

– Optional: to get a bit more light into your pumpkin, cut a small section in the back (I cut the hole so it was not visible when looking through the front hole). I did this because the pumpkin is flammable and I didn’t really want to put any sort of heat source in or around it.

Spooky Pumpkin Silhouette // thepapermama.com

– Place a small piece of green floral foam in the bottom of your pumpkin.

– Put a layer of moss at the bottom (over the green floral foam) for the “ground cover”.

– Cut out a spooky house from my printable. Hot glue a couple of toothpicks to the back of the home. Push the home/toothpicks into the green floral foam.

– Press your branch into the green foam, behind the tree.

– Cut out a few of my bats from the printable (don’t worry about cutting these out perfectly, I didn’t). Gently fold the bat in half (so they look like they’re flying).

::click on image below + right click + save::

Spooky Halloween Terrarium // thepapermama.com

– Cut out a couple bits of wire and hot glue the bats onto these wires.

Spooky Pumpkin Silhouette // thepapermama.com

– Arrange the wired bats around the interior of the pumpkin. You can push the wire INTO the foam part of the pumpkin, or have them flying up from the “grass” by pressing the wire into the green floral foam.

Spooky Pumpkin Silhouette // thepapermama.com Spooky Pumpkin Silhouette // thepapermama.com

Enjoy! Side note: you can place this pumpkin near a lamp to get a wee bit of light into the back for a creepy nighttime glow. Just remember, pumpkin flammable.

– Chelsey

This post was brought to you by, 

Make Your Day // makeyourdaydiy.com

P.S. these pumpkins were sent to me, free of charge, from Michaels


Ice Melt Project

Ice Melt Project // thepapermama.com

Need a few minutes of free time? Need to distract your kiddo? WELL, here you go: Ice Melt Project. You do need to plan this out ahead of time, but it’s worth it. This gave me over an hour of free time. Have your kiddo pick out a couple of plastic toys, place them in a plastic container, and fill a couple inches of water. Put in the freezer for over 24 hours.

Ice Melt Project // thepapermama.com

When the ice is solid, run a little warm water on the container and you should be able to pop the piece right out. Put in a tray and let your kiddo play. She had so much fun with this. She was also fascinated with the idea that we put the horsies in water, it turned into ice, and melted back into water.

– Chelsey