Washer and Leather Chord Bracelet

Happy Easter!

Humm... what do I want in my Easter Basket. Craft supplies of course. Jewelry would be nice. How about both!

I saw a similar bracelet on a facebook link, it had a fancy metal circle. A bit too fancy for my taste and style... So I decided to do the bracelet myself, but make it my own style of course. I can't tell you how much the original jewelry maker charges, but my bracelet came in right around $2.

Supplies and where to get them in Sioux Falls

Metal Washer: 17 cents at Ace.

1 yd Round Leather Colored Chord: Naga Leather and Beads  (you won't find colored chord at the chain stores) Head in to Naga and talk to the Hark, tell him Kara sent you for it. :)

If you want purple like mine you better get there soon, he is almost out and it is a discontinued color.

My daughter knows how to pick her friends, and her BFF's dad is Hark.

I am sure he can hook you up with a couple jump rings, 4 chord crimps, and 1 clasp as well but I had those in my stash.

Cut your 1 yard into 4 equal lenghts, Easy way it so fold it in half, cut and fold in half again.

One side of the washer is rounded and one is square, I like the rounded side up. So when you sting your chord in keep the round side up.

To string your chord first take one piece and fold it in half. Stick the round folded part through the hole, this makes a loop. Then pull the two ends into this loop and pull tight. Repeat on the other side so it looks like this.

Now fold the chords so they are sticking straight up out of the hole, this will get them out of the way so you can put the other chords on the same way... but the side of the loop you pull through will be on the outside of your first loop knot. Then fold other knot down into place on top.

You will have four raw ends on each side. This is your chance to adjust the bracelet to the size that fits you best.. I had trouble finding a chrimp end that could hold all four ends. So I used two on each end that each hold two ends. Then a jump ring to hold the two together. Attach your clasp to one of the jump rings. Then you are done!

Window Valence to Easter Egg Hunt Skirt

One of my favorite things to do is to walk through thrift stores and find something I can turn into something else. Last week I had a good week.

First I was inspired by Dana over at MADE who posted the simple skirt tutorial, she has posted plans for other skirts in the past including the Market Skirt, with it's gathered pocket how-to.

While thrift shopping I found this!.. A pink window valence. There were two actually for $1. I instantly saw the simple skirt. Practically finished already. That would make it the TOO Simple Skirt!

Look!! The top already has the tunnel for the elastic too!!!

I thought about doing the two layered simple skirt with this second valence. It was too adorable! Also $1. But when I thought about how many skirts I could make from the pink valences I realized it matched the number of little girls who I will be seeing at Easter!!! Jackpot!

I ended up deciding to use the second valence for an extra large Easter Egg pocket. Each pocket can fit 8 of the larger sized plastic eggs! Perfect skirt for an Easter Egg Hunt!

Here is my assembally line. Went super quick since all the seams were done already.

She was quite excited when she saw the pocket!

WOW!.. This is how the cool kids say "WOW" in kindergarten so I have been told. "W" with one hand, "O" with your mouth and another "W" with your other hand.

Planting the Seeds!

We planted our seeds! This year we bought the instant coconut dirt stuff. It comes in a block and you add water and it makes a dirt like material. Then we used coconut cases to plant those in and bought a special plastic box with lid for them to grow in. They have grown the best I have ever seen seeds grow. I recommend using the coconut stuff, and the box with a lid to keep things nice and moist. Perfect growing conditions! Oh and the last few sunny days helped too! Shhh don't tell anyone but I bought the SUPER cheap seeds. Nothing fancy and so far so AWESOME!

Little fingers make great seed holes in the dirt.

Notice the masking tape on the side so we know what we planted where.

Kids love to water, and they can water all they want when your watering can is a sippy cup. This is a great way to keep them from over watering.

 I was surprised at how fast the seeds came up this year, they are growing like crazy! We have some corn, summer squash, zucchini, tomatoes, wild flowers, pumpkin, and cucumbers. I can't wait!

This is such a great kid project! Not only do they get to make instant dirt, play with instant dirt, and play with water, they also get to see things grow! Can't wait for it to get warm enough to more our little plants outside.

April Fools!

Our favorite kid tricks from this year. Sorry I wasn't able to tell you about them before the big day, but now you will have them ready for next year.

First up, from our daughter's kindergarten teacher.

This is the best BROWNIE  in the world!!!
 or should I say the best  BROWN, E

What a hoot!

My daughter came home to share this trick with her brother and then again when Dad came home. What a funny trick.

MOM MY MILK IS GREEN!!!

Next up we have the good old mom breakfast gag!

Put a few drops of green food coloring under their dry cereal in the morning. Then when they go to poor on the milk, their milk turns green. You could use any color actually but the green also works for St. Patrick's day when those pesky Leprechauns play tricks on people. (wink wink)

Tie-dye Coffee Filter Easter Eggs

Today I had a play date with some preschool aged children and their mommies and this was the perfect little project for the kids. I had gotten the supplies earlier this week to do on a rainy day with my kiddos but the play date was the perfect time to get them out.

Coffee filters

Markers

Spray bottle with water

Line to hang them on (optional)

Cut your coffee filters into an egg shape and let the kids color them with markers. Once they are colored give them misty spray from the water bottle and then hang them up to dry. The maker colors bleed together when wet making them look tie-dye. 

Warning if you use too much water the colors will wash off your egg. One nice misty squirt does the trick, the colors will take some time to bleed so give it a minute or two. Use LOTS of color. One small line from a skinny marker may not give you much. The more color the better. :)

We hung ours up on a line, The ends of the line are attached to the window with suction cup snap hooks. I just happened to have some super tiny clothes pins on hand, they were perfect to hang them on the line to dry.