Ingenious Candlesticks...by Impatiently Praying for Patience

{Pottery Barn}

What if I told you you could make these babies for $12.00?
Well that is exactly what Katie from Impatiently Praying for Patience did!

{Katie's}

I know just where these babies are going! Love them!

Emily's Craft Room

My good friend Emily requested help with her craft room. She has 4 boys and needs a space just for her. This is something I put together for her. All items are from Ikea, Target or Walmart. Fabric is from Hawthornethreads.com



Click on picture for product details.

Vintage Art by Twice Remembered

I am loving this tutorial from Twice Remembered........Check it out here!

MOM.....I'm Bored

Last year before the end of the school year I put together this list of activities for the kids to do for when I hear the famous words...MOM, I'm Bored. I direct my kids to this list of activities and they are usually entertain for a good while. I will be happy to email the list to those that are interested.

Cinnamon-Oat Pancakes

I often pick up Martha's Everyday Food Magazine at my local grocery store. I usually find at least a couple of really great recipes. One of the recipes we use often is the Cinnamon-Oat Pancakes. My family loves them. Each Saturday it is my routine to make a nice breakfast for the family and as I do this I make a double recipe of whatever it is ( waffles, pancakes, muffins) and freeze the rest to use during the school week. It saves time and gives me piece of mind that my kids are eating something healthy.

Cinnamon-Oat Pancakes
by Everyday Food

Makes 20

2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

2 cups milk

2 large eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more for skillet

Directions

1. In a food processor or blender, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and 1 cup oats and pulse a few times to coarsely grind oats. In a large bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, and oil. Add dry ingredients and 1 cup oats and whisk just until moistened.
2. Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium. Lightly spray griddle. Using 2 to 3 tablespoons for each pancake, drop batter on griddle and cook until a few bubbles have burst, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip pancakes and cook until browned on undersides, 1 to 2 minutes more. Repeat with more oil and batter.

Menu Planning

Does dinnertime creep up on you and find yourself staring at the fridge trying to figure out what's for dinner 15 minutes before dinner time? Well I have an idea that may work for you. With a little organization you can have weekly menus for a whole year and eliminate the guess work!

A while back I mentioned that I was gathering recipes to make weekly menu's for the whole year. It took some time, a lot of organization and finally I am done. I am thrilled with how everything is working! This idea first came from Nanny Goat and their 30 meals program. I followed their 30 day meal plan for a year and it was great, but we got tired of some of the recipes and so I did a little tweaking to create a new rotating menu for the year!

Here is what I did:I bought a small 6 x9 binder from Staples. I wanted it smaller so it wouldn't take up to much counter space. And it fits nicely into a recipe stand...like these.
Next I gathered our families tried and true favorite recipes and we even tried some new ones. We came up with 50 dinner recipes and 7 breakfasts, 11 lunches, several snacks and desserts of course. Then I typed each and every recipe we use, down to the really basic ones just so I had them visually. If I was just going to make hamburgers I would write down that recipe, even though I know how to make hamburgers without a recipe...having it there visually helped with my planning.
It took several weeks for me to type them up but once they were done I used the handy excel sheet from Food Storage Made Easy found here to calculate how much of each ingredient is needed for each recipe. This serves as an inventory tracker. This helps me buy just the things my family eats and keeps track of how much we have on hand and what I need to buy. So now I know how many jars of peanut butter and jelly I need to make pb& j sandwiches throughout the year! Crazy huh?Then I took it one more step...I took all of my printed recipes and organized them into categories such as Chicken, Soups, Mexican, Italian, Beef, Pork, Salads. Once they were separated I figured out weekly menus using a variety of meals for 10 weeks. In each of our weekly menus there are many meals that will leave leftovers for the next night. For example if I served a roast on Sunday and we had left over meat I will use the meat for enchiladas or tacos the following night and if I make enchiladas we will have leftovers for the next night. Friday night is our date night and I don't cook on those nights.. the kids will have leftovers or we will put together a simple dinner like mac and cheese for the kids.

The 10 weeks then went into a menu planning sheet that I created on Excel. On this sheet I list the meals for the week and the ingredients needed to purchase at the market. I take this handy list with me shopping and stock up on non perishables for the next time this weekly menu comes around (10 weeks later)

Tip: I try to prepare as much as I can during my daughter's afternoon nap. This helps relieve some of the dinner time craziness that often comes around during dinner time. Each child also has a responsibility at dinner time to help with dinner prep, set table, clear table and do dishes. This makes dinner time run smoother.

Interested in downloading your own..click here.





ABC and 123 Organized Linky Party

Cute Hair Accessories by eighteen25

Rolled Felt Headband

Pinwheel Hair clips

Check out the tutorials for these cute hair accessories by eighteen25

Let Me Introduce You To.....

Kendra is the creative mind behind Key Lime Designs. She offers cute backgrounds, buttons, installs fonts, and much more! Not only are her design cute they are very affordable!

She designed my menu bar, installed a cute font for my post titles, and made me that cute button over there.......she was great to work with and for someone who likes instant gratification she works fast! :)

Check her out and don't forget to tell her that Endless Crafting sent you.

Craft Rooms

My dining room often looks like this when I have several projects going on...it drives me crazy! Every time company comes I have to clear it off and find a place to put everything.


I dream of someday having a room designated for all of my projects...here's to dreaming:

Pottery Barn

Cottage Magpie

Pinklovesbrown gorgeous studio.

Jannypie's Craft Desk Tutorial

Ikea Hacker's Craft Desk...love this!

Monogramed Tile Art

Check out this cute tile by Shanna
from Keepin' Up With the Moody's.

Wish List

My list keeps growing. Here are a couple of things on my wish list.

Crate and Barrel Prints


And because our bedroom is in need of some side tables...I love this transformed Ikea dresser.

Aubrey+Lindsay

What's on your list?

Teacher Gifts

Printable from Dimple Prints

It's that time of year again to thank those wonderful teachers. I am always on the lookout for creative ideas to give to those amazing teachers. I've done several things for my kids teachers.
One year I made personalized canvas bags with the teacher's name saying "Mrs. So and So's Teacher Survival Bag. It had several different things inside and included a little saying for each item. These were a big hit, later the teacher that I gave it to asked me to make one for a student teacher the following year. I wish I had a picture of it.

I've also put together baskets of goodies with soaps, journals, certificates to book stores, etc.

I also encourage my children to write letters to their teacher to thank them for the wonderful year they had. Last year we made these cute shirts...(idea from Tip Junkie) the kid's teachers loved these! We will do it again this year.

Here are some other great ideas:Candy Gram Bucket by Simply Savvy

Plant Picks from Skip To My Lou

And Check out this cute idea
Cute Pencil Gift by Made With Love and Glue

Paper Organization

Let me share with you a great way to get a handle on all your household papers.

It all starts with a file box:

This one was found at World Market

Then some cute file folders. These were from Staples

Then label your file folders into these categories:

To Be Filed: first folder in your box...this file is for when you don't have time to sort through the mail you put everything in this file. Once you can sort through it you will either put the papers into other files or in the trash. Or papers that need to go to a filing cabinet for long term storage. I usually check my mail when I know I will have time to sort through it.

Calendar: When you receive party invitations, wedding invitations, school fliers with important information..jot the date on your calendar then stick the invitation into this folder for reference if needed. Just remember to go through this folder and throw away the parties that have past their date.

To Be Paid: Just that...as you open your bills put them into the envelope and put into this file. The actual bill statement goes into the monthly file folder to be discussed.
Paid Bills: Label 12 files with the months of the year. I just used regular file folders...this is where your bill statements will go. I like to staple our bank statements after we have electronically paid our bills. You may toss out all your bills after 1 year as long they are not tax related.Coupons: You know all those great coupons you get in the mail and want to save but just don't know where to put it until you use it...this is where they go.

Receipts: All large purchase receipts can go into this folder or receipts for exchanges or returns. You may even want a small envelope for each store that you go to and place the receipts into the corresponding envelope for easier access.

Taxes: All tax deductible receipts, mortgage statements, charitable donations all go in this file for easy access during dreaded tax time.

Family: Label a file folder for each family member! This is where you can put all those important papers that need to returned back to school or certificates that you need to put into another box at a later point. These files will get a lot of use when your kids are in school for field trip information, after school activities, etc.You may want to store this box in the kitchen for easy access or in a kitchen cupboard or wherever you find yourself opening your mail.Be sure to periodically go through the files for maintenance purposes.

Kassett boxes

I have a small box like this one for each of my children for papers I just can't part with.

Do you have a system that works for your family? I'd love to hear what you do to keep on top of all those papers. Here are a few more tips.


ABC and 123 Organized Party



Oh....I can't wait to share with you my revised menu planner! I LOVE IT!

Super Cute Skirts

Recently I found Tiffany's blog Simply Modern Mom and found these adorable skirt tutorials. I love making skirts for my girls especially during the summer. Check out these adorable tutorials and check out her other skirt tutorials while you are there!

Reversible Skirt

Knot-Me Tie Skirt