Fun for a Rainy Day

As a member of Smiley 360 I have had the pleasure of trying out new products and leaving my feedback.  I have discover plenty of great items.  My last mission has been the Airhead mission, which required me to bake up something yummy and use Airheads candy to decorate.  Here are my instructions and results.

First off, you want to make sure you have everything prepared.

The first thing I created was the roses for my creations.  I did this by cutting the Airhead in half and rolling them up on a slight angle, thus creating little rosettes.

Next are the leaves.  Heat your Airhead in the microwave for about 5 seconds to make it moldable.  Roll into a ball, then using a rolling pin, roll out into a circle.  Cut this circle into 8 wedges (or smaller, it is all your preference) and pinch the flared edges together.

To add more color and use up some of the remaining candy, I decided to make little snails.  Cut the white Airheads into strips and roll an Airhead bite inside, leaving a bit at the top to make your snail's head.

Gather your little rosettes into the groups of 3 using colors of your choice and press the leaves under the clusters. (below)


Arrange the designs on your baked item however you want.  Cut the Airheads Extremes into small strips and sprinkle on for added color. (below)  Ta-da!  That's it.  Take pictures and share your creation.


#airheadscrafts

Greetings!  It has been far too long since my last post, but things have been very busy for me.  First off, we have finally moved to a new house.  Yay!  It has been almost a year here and I feel like we are finally getting settled.  The kids are getting to make new friends, since we have started going to a new school.

I am really exciting as this year is the first year that our family will be celebrating Christmas.  We haven't done it in the past due to personal reasons, but those are gone now.

I hope to be getting my Arvi's Attic Etsy shop back up and running.  I think it will be in a couple of months if things go as planned.  I do have my Scented Scenes back up and it has been a lot of fun.

That's all for now, and I will try to stay up to date from now on.

Hats, hats, and even more Hats!

Sorry to take so long between posts, but I have been super busy.  Just a quick update for my Etsy Shop:


Hats....more hats :)  I have a couple new patterns of hats that will be coming to my shop very soon.  One is just  a regular cap beanie, alot like the ones I have now, just a different stitch and such and the other is the newboys type hat.  I will be offering them in all sizes from newborn to adult.  Prices are yet to be determined, but they won't be much different from  what I have listed.
I am also working on some new baby shoes...looking into cute baby boy booties as well as some different girl's shoes.
And of course, there are still alot of different items, ranging from house decor to baby items in my shop.  They make excellent gifts for any occasion.
Until my next trip to my blog.....

The cat...really?

My darling boy who keeps me busy all day, in fact, I have to keep a close watch on him even in his bed, until he goes to sleep that is, then I can relax.  
I find that some nights he will sneak the cat in, yes, Sparks, our calico cat finds her way into his bed.  She loves it there.  And he would actually sleep all night with her if I let him.  Most the time I would probably not know about the cat (he hides her under his blankets and lays so quietly) if his brother that shares the same room didn't tell me.  
Perhaps it is time to invest in a small stuffed kitten for him?  Maybe it is being able to snuggle up with something warm that doesn't shove him away or tell him to get into his own bed.  What ever it is, I do hope he grows out of it and soon!  

Attempting to switch over to all Natural cleaning stuff

I have been thinking about this for some time now.  I really like the idea of a cleaning my house and laundry with greener and more natural products.  Safer and in some cases, as I will explain here, cheaper.
This post is mostly about my homemade laundry soap.  I go through tons of laundry at my house, mountains of it.  A lot of them are pastels for my girls, who simply love the mud and anything else they can possibly get on them.
So started my journey.  With the economy as it is these days, we make barely enough money to pay the bills and get a few basic groceries.  I have read online how homemade laundry soap is so much cheaper.  I thought about this, cheaper is great, but does it clean?  So instead of buying my usual detergent 2 months ago, I bought the ingredients to make it and then would just hope for the best.  The first few formulas were a disaster!  I browsed some more and found new ones, and took the ones that worked fairly good and changed it to how I liked it.  I finally succeeded with 2 formulas, one powder and one liquid.
Make no mistake, these are no miracle workers, I still have to pre-soak and pre-treat.  Sometimes I will pull something out of the washer and spray it down and throw it back in the laundry for the next round.  All in all, my close are clean and smell good too!
To go along with my homemade laundry soap, I have made some fabric softener and pre-treating spray.
As I have the supplies to make soap, I get to choose from a variety of different scents.  (I also so have a soap shop on Etsy-link to the left)
I make my laundry soap with my hand-poured goats milk soap, great scents, even cheaper than buying soap, and still works nicely.
I am currently selling a Make Your Own Liquid Laundry Soap Kit in my soap shop so you can make some of this at home.  I will post my formulas for pre-treating spray and softener in a later post, when I make sure they are perfect.
More posts on making my house greener, safer and more natural will come as I slowly switch over.
By the way, to buy all the ingredients and make my own laundry items really has been a lot cheaper!

Being 2 Steps Ahead.

About 1 year ago, my five year old boy (Ruey) who then was four, was diagnosed with ADHD/ODD. Which is much worse that just ADHD, but occasionally happens. (Read about ODD HERE.) It was a serious change in my lifestyle.  We had been in and out the of Doctors office since he was 3 and showing signs of odd behavior.  He would rush and attempt to stop traffic, he was mean, and started yelling.  It was all so quick, as a baby and toddler, he was happy and easy-going all the time.  Nothing bothered him.  Nowdays it is a completely different story.
I get to be up in the mornings before him so I can make sure he gets his Adderall right at 6:30 otherwise, it ends up being too late to give him a second dose 6 hours later. (He can't have it after 2:00PM or it keeps him up all night.)
The good news is, he is usually pretty mild when he first wakes up.  He likes to just lounge around on the couch wrapped in a blanket.  Lucky for me, so I have time to get the 2 oldest off to school.
A year ago when we finally figured this all out, I wasn't too concerned.  My thoughts at the time were "oh, this should be easy, just make sure he gets his pills and he will be normal and everything will work out"  How I wish I was more concerned back then.  It wasn't just that simple.  I dealt with the mood swings and the being mean, just thinking "He had his pills, so this must be a phase or something like that."
The truth out the matter was and is, I have to be 2 steps ahead at all times.  I need to have a schedule worked out and stick to it.  He loves crafts and coloring and stuff like that. So that is one thing I need to stay on top of.  We run out quickly because he will do some for hours.  Gluing popsicle sticks, perler beads, beading on strings...you name it.  He loves them and I get something done and know he is not burning the shed down. (He actually lit it on fire one day when he was unattended for 2 minutes while I was changing the baby, but that is another story.)
  Getting him to so even the simplest chores can be an act of congress at times.  Other times he is willing to do his chores if he is getting something out of the deal.
We have been to see his pediatrician several times and changed his meds and doses.  Right now, he is quite a different boy.  The meds this time seem to be helping.  But that is no excuse for me to lax...his body still moves faster than is brain sometimes.  He never thinks about consequences, but I am told, as he gets older and I make sure to keep his meds regular, he will start thinking about things like this, and making better choices on his own.
I have changed alot in his diet, taking out highly processed foods, and Red 40.  I do, however, let him had processed food sometime and even red 40 sneaks into his diet occasionally.  I have on the blog some recipes that I have adjusted and made healthier. Check them out if you have a second.  Just changing his diet to a healthier, less processed diet has been beneficial not only for him, but for the rest of the family as well.
I am posting this because I know this is no rare disorder and tons of other children out there have it, whether their parents will admit it or not.  I would love to hear your suggestions and your stories about the best things you have done for yours and what has helped you.

Super Creative Tags...

I came across this great blog when I was bored and searching for ways to make things more creative.  I found these FREE, very cute, vintage gift tags.  I was very pleased with them, they make great "Thankyou" tags for tie to my sold Etsy items.  I love leaving little thank you note on them.  
Anyway....  Click Here to go to this exciting new blog that I found "Eat Drink Chic" by Amy Moss, and print your own tags.  This blog is just a whole lot of fun with some great ideas.  Thanks Amy, glad I found you.

A New Tactic

I have decided to try merging my 2 Etsy shops in to one and hopefully start getting a lot more traffic and hopefully a lot more sales.  It is a slow process as I don't have a lot of time on the computer to do it, so it will be a little here and a little there until I get them all done.  I have a lot more crocheting lined up to do and add to it as well, so keep checking back.  

Knitting.....

I have decided that it would be a lot of fun to learn to knit.  So I have ordered a few books and some basic supplies to learn how.  It will be fun to do something different than crocheting, but still making cute things.  I will post picture and post about my progress.  Hopefully I catch on quick so I can get some more darling things in my Etsy shop. 

My Mind is Cranking.....

I have been super busy the last little while creating new and exciting items to put in my Etsy shop.  I have a got a few in there, the latest being my cute Mary Jane Baby Shoes.  
I have in mind to make some soft crocheted baby blocks, still working it all out.  I am going to make a set for my baby and then, depending on how they turn out,  some to put in my shop.  
I will post pictures as soon as I get my first set done.  

Sneek Peek at My New Item

I have been working on something new and really cute to put in my Etsy shop.  I finally got it all worked out and practiced up enough to make some really cute little baby slippers.  They are alot of fun and super easy to adjust and add too.  There are so many options for these little cuties.  I don't have any in my shop yet, but am currently working on a pair to put on.  

Here are some sets that I made for my Sister-in-Law who recently had a set of twins.  They turned out really cute.  

Doubled Colored

Just recently added to my Etsy shop are some really cute 2 colored scrunchies.  Handcrocheted with 2 different threads, the result was just amazing and cute.  I made a bunch for a few friends, who really liked them.  Now is the chance to get your own.  If there is 2 particular colors you are looking for, I can probably find and make it up for you.  Check them out now. 

More crafting.

I got some more supplies for crafting, so you will be seeing some more pop up in my shop.  Some more socks, bigger sizes, and some different scrunchies - soft fuzzy ones.  These fuzzy ones are my favorite, I just wish I could find alot more colors.  I will keep looking.  So, keep checking my shop to be the first to get these great new items.

We have adopted another pet.

The newest addition to our pet family arrive about 1 week ago.  My 9 year old along with the neighbor boy caught a horny toad and it came to our house to live.  I don't really mind, as it just overjoys to boy to have a cool little pet like that.  It was rather shy in the beginning and would his and snap at him when he tried to pick it up, but after a while, he figured out that if he just rubbed behind the little horns on the top of it's head, it calmed down.  Great, now we get to chase the little guys around and make them scream.  
So, a place was made to keep the lil' toad thingy safe from the cats.  They really wanted to eat it!  So for a few days in lived in a barrel type home will plenty of red ants for snacks.  Now it has been moved to an empty fish tank filled with sand and rocks to enjoy a safer life.  We are still looking for names, so any suggestions would be great.

What do little people think?

The other morning I was combing my 2 year old girl's hair.  She was just jabbering along and through the course of the conversation, she let me know that the neighbor boy, about the same age, said she was ugly.  Then she stops, looks up at me and says "Kick him?"  I say no, we want to be friends.  She hangs her head for a moment then looks up again and says "Bite?"  It just made my day.  Makes me wonder what her idea of a friend was.

QuickRewards

Here is another great site I have found for taking survey and earning cashback while shopping online.  QuickRewards is a great place.  I have cash out so many times.  The great thing is, they don't require a minimum to cash out.  This is one place that I use alot, they have a pretty quick turnaround time in paying  as well.  They also pay through Paypal, which I used alot.  Here is the link so you can try it out.
QuickRewards

Busy, Busy, Busy

Wow!  I have been so busy focusing on my Etsy shop that I have neglected my baking and cooking section.  I will get something made and the recipe and picture hopefully posted soon.  Don't give up on me :)