Pintrest Challenge update

So I'm at pin 87, I thought that I would like to do something special for pins 90-100. I would love some ideas. Leave me a comment with the pin link and I'll check them out!

Here's the catch:
You have to be following me on my blog http://pintrestchallenge.blogspot.com/
It has to be a legitimate pin (with an original source)
It can not be illegal, discriminating, etc...
Tell me WHY I should make it.
I chose whether or not I do it (most of the time this will be based on products I have on hand, I cannot and might not go out and buy a bunch of stuff to make them) 

I would LOVE if it was something I've already pinned

http://pinterest.com/mcasillas86/

Mothers Day/ Fathers Day/Grandparents Day

This was made for me by my daughter at pre-school. It's really cute and I love it. It makes a great Mothers Day gift, Fathers Day gift, or even Grandparents Day gift.

You'll need:

Large clothes pin (found at the craft store)
Picture of your child
Paint in what ever color you choose
paint brush
foam letters (optional- also found at the craft stores)

Simply paint the clothes pin and let it dry. Add stickers for decoration. Place the photo in and you're done :)

Do it yourself picture magnets

You'll need:
pictures
Spaghettic sauce lids
puzzle glue

We kept a bunch of old spaghetti lids (I like Classico) then traced the lid around the photo and cut out the selected photos. Then I had to trim them because they were still a little too big. I put a little glue on them to keep them down and poured just a little bit of puzzel glue on them. Now I kept hearing rave things about Mod Podge, and I've tried it several times and this is all the ever happens with it (even gloss!)

Need a card? try this one: my pintrest challenge

Glow in the dark play doh

So we tried a pintrest pin on my other blog for glow in the dark play-doh and it sounds really cool. Then you fin out they are using a black light (which they state in the actual blog). I decided to step in up a notch. Hannah got a science kit for her birthday a year and a half ago and there was an experiment for glow in the dark water.

For dough:
1 c. flour
1/2 cup salt
1 T. cooking oil
1 T. cream of tartar

1 c. water  (This is where I changed it and used the ingredients from the magic science kit)
We followed the directions on the kit and checked in the bathroom to make sure it glows:

Then we poured it into the flour mix

and stir constantly until dough forms into a ball and isn't wet anymore.  We did had to add a bit of extra flour here and there and kneaded it by hand to get the right consistency. Since we want it to glow we put it under our portable light for 10 minutes before testing it in the bathroom:

It glows! Maybe not as much as the black light version, but the girls are happily playing in the dark in my bathroom right now.

For kicks and giggles, this is what it looked like under the black light it's the one in the bowl:

Here is how we did the black light doh :Pintrest Challenge


If you like what you saw, please follow me or share it on facebook

BEST pizza dough

So I've tried  a few different pizza crust recipes, including the knock off for Pizza Hut (which I figure it can't be because that calls for dry milk and Hailey was allergic to it- but not Pizza Huts real pizza).

What you'll need:
 5 cups flour
1 TBLspoon honey (trust me)
2 tsp salt
1 TBLpoon yeast
2TBLspoon oil
1 3/4- 2 cups water


Combine  yeast to warm water (at 110-115 degrees). Add a pinch of sugar to help it activate. Set aside. Add all the dry ingredients to the mixer, turn on. Add honey, oil and yeast/water (when ready) mix for 2- 3 minutes. You may have to knead the rest by hand.

From here we decided to experiment.

We took most of it into a greased bowl and I took a small portion of the dough and rolled it out into a  9 inch cake pan (like they say you should do for Pizza hut) and sprayed the crust with butter oil spray also. We let them rise for 30 minutes.

Then we added toppings. I rolled out a big piece of dough onto a butter sprayed/corn meal pizza pan with air holes into it. We added Calssiso (new!) pizza sauce, cheese and pepperoni and half olive.



The girls got the small pizza with cheese and olive

and I made a braided calzone


We put them in the oven at 450 degrees and baked them for 6 minutes, before I pulled them out and brushed the crust with butter and sprinkled a little garlic salt on the edges.

Then we cooked them for another 6 minutes.

American girl feel better kit

This one post will show you how to make: The crutches, Leg cast and gown. see below link for arm cast

 Leg Cast

What you'll need:
Paper and pen (to make a pattern)
 White fabric
Colored fabric (your bandages)
Velcro

Hailey has this funny thing going where she likes to pretend her dolls leg is broken. I had seen a pin on Pintrest and made the arm brace before and took the same concept to the leg cast.

 I started with a piece of paper and trace the dolls foot. Next I took a rectangle piece of paper and kind of formed it around the leg to get an idea of what the cast would look like. When I was happy with that I cut it out

I took out my white fabric (an old hanes t-shirt) and batting and my choice in cloth for bandages. With the white base and batting you will cut them the same shape as your paper. The color "bandages" are cut into strips and places haphazardly (to give them the realistic effect) on top of the batting (think of it like a sand which:  white, batting bandage)

After you're done laying it out, it's time for the tedious work of sewing it ALL on. (pausing for you to realize I'm serious) After I did that I tested it wrong side out . I noticed that the spot right around the ankle was kind of poofy, So I pinched it together and pinned it and sewed it together (look inbetween the circle).

I also made sure the shape around the foot look "realistic and trimmed where I thought would need it.

I sewed the foot/ bottom piece together and pinned it right sides together to see what it would look like. After looking it over and pinning it to get the optimal fit, I sewed it together.

and tested it again on the leg. Then added the Velcro strip.


Crutches:

I saw this on youtube, and thought I could prefect it a bit.

What you'll need:
Hot glue gun
Popsicle sticks
 12 pack of cake rods ( $3 at Wal*mart)  The youtube video used skewers- cake rods are more sturdy.
duck tape

First we measured the rods to the American Girl doll and cut them down just a tiny bit so they were the perfect height (I used scissors). Then we painted the rods purple and the handles (Popsicle sticks) hot pink and let them dry.  Heat your glue gun up and add glue to the corners of the Popsicle sticks, quickly add the  rods at an angle. Add more glue for safety

***Thinking about it I think you might want to use wood glue. I wanted to, but didn't have any on hand.***

Next find where your dolls  hand will rest when the crutch is under her arm. That is where you're going to glue two Popsicle sticks (one on each side)

Take a piece of duck tape and cut it in half. Wrap it around the base of the crutch

Now your doll has something to help her get around in her new cast. They can be fragile- do not put your weight onto them!




Gown:

 I used the same pattern as the doctor scrubs just made the shirt longer to be a gown, shorter sleeves and added bias tape instead of  Velcro. The pattern has been destroyed since the original making of this. Here is a general idea based on the woman who came up with the scrubs. It's just a rectangle with sleeves. the front gown is cut on a a fold and has a curve for the neck. Then you'll add bias tape around the top and bottom. Make the top long so it can tie in back, or add Velcro.

Hope you get this! If you liked this, please feel free to follow me and tell others. Thanks!

DIY Lunch organizer

Earlier I was telling you how I wanted to buy my girls new lunchboxes next year because they smelled. They are also almost impossible to fit reusable containers in! I hate throwing away all those plastic bags. I was looking at buying the lunch containers with dividers already in them, but they are too large for the girls lunchboxes. Plus I have a ton of sandwich and snack containers from the dollar section at Target. I also had a bunch of silicone cupcake wrappers that I tend not to use because I don't like how they cook. So I figured, "Why not give it a try?" You can use the paper cups but I don't recommend anything that will sweat or is already wet.

I started with four cupcake wrappers, but Hannah wanted peanut butter and crackers instead. So I just took two out and voilà.  I put the lid on and shook it up (because we all know our kids are not going to just hold their lunchboxes. Sure enough everything stayed in tack! well, okay a sandwich cracker broke...but I don't know if that counts because we're talking about the carrots and fish not mixing. Since I had this stuff on hand it cost me nothing. If you find this at the dollar section it will be about $2...now it's not always the cheapest thing. I do suggest looking at the pre-made ones because if they will fit in your lunchbox it will probably be a better deal.

Swirl Pancakes

So my daughters have been eating a lot of pancakes, probably because Nate The Great does.  We made Earth day pancakes yesterday. Today I decided to try to tie dye them.

I separated the batter and dyed each one a different color: red, yellow and green.  I typically mix my pancake batter in a measuring cup  (the kind with the handle) because it  makes it easier to pour. Yes, I have tried the ketchup bottle- no it doesn't work as well. Anyway, I tilted the measuring cup jest enough to pour each different color back in.

Then I heated the skillet and cooked the pancakes like normal.

How to get rid of smell in lunchbox

So ever since Kindergarten Hannah has had a problem with half way through the year her lunch box would smell rancid. I tried washing it, bleach, making sure it was really dry, nothing was helping. So we threw it away and gave her another we had  on hand. The same thing happened this year in first grade! I tried bleach again, 409, nothing. I was gonig to buy them a new lunch box each for next year ( I hear the BYO are washable...) Finally I decided to wash it with baking soda- I know it works I've done it with Hannah's already. Now Hailey's smells.

Having a bit of OCD I'm not really proud when I tell you my daughters are messy eaters. They also in their defense only get 10 minutes to eat lunch.

Sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda into the lunchbox, add enough water to make a paste and rub it around the insides of the lunchbox. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes. 

Rinse in warm soapy water. Be sure to get it all out because if you don't it will dry with baking soda stains all over it like Hannah's did:

Be sure to let it dry thoroughly before the next use. If you see baking soda stains, hopefully you have enough time to wash it out and dry it again.

Ta da! No smell!

How to fix broken doll head

I know you have all been there before. You spend $4.99 on a little princess with a plastic dress  and after a couple of times the dress breaks, or worse- the head falls off. I know people who will go out and just re buy one because their daughters will cry about it. And although it's sad to have our favorite dolls head act out Anne Bolyens execution, re-buying a doll that will break is out of the question for me. Luckily my husband is in IT and has a bunch of small screw drivers. This is how you fix a doll head

Start with the little screw driver, slightly open up the neck hole a little larger. With the peg in the head out angle it in. The little peg will try to go back into the head- don't move!

Because you're gonig to take the little screw driver and poke that peg down from the side of her neck.

Snap the neck closed and if you really want to make sure the head stays on, add a dab of super glue (be careful: it can and has glued arms down on our dolls)