Pinspiration: Bag Holder

One of the places that I feel the lest organized is my car.  It’s not covered over in clutter, but I always feel like my car is messy.  On the other hand, I always feel like I could be better prepared for emergency situations.  It’s my ‘too much stuff/not what I need’ struggle!

I want to be THAT Mom.  You know the one.  “Hey Lisa, baby Cutiepie had a blow out.  Got anything to put in a dirty diaper?” or “Hey Lisa, little Messyface got sand in his socks at the playground.  Have anything to put them in?”  Yeah, I want to be Super Mom.  I said it.  When I saw this on Pinterest I knew it would be perfect for my hero-like Mom tools.  Control clutter and destroy trash before it takes over car-topia and  look good doing it.  Word!  (See I told ya!)

So introducing my newest member in my arsenal . . dunta du dahh… THE BAG HOLDER!





I decided to not attempt the fabric and Mod Podge  like Tattertots and Jello really only because I can never get the jar open.  And then I would have had to wait for it to dry.  Instead I opted for some scrapbook paper and spray adhesive.  This is just going in the bin in the car so it shouldn’t get too much wear and tear.   Otherwise I would have went the fabric route. 

And here is my inspiration:

Source: tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com via Lulabellsdaughter on Pinterest

What do you think?  Nailed it!

A T-astic Valentine’s Day

Confession:  I love all things Mr. T and the A-Team.  It’s true.  I do.  And I’m not ashamed.  In fact, off all the famous people I have met, Steven J. Cannel (one of the creators of the series) is my all time favorite.  Yes, I know.  Nerd alert!

I also know that I am not the only one out there.  How?  Because I have found a ton of great gift ideas for other like minded children of the 80’s.



If I actually had to buy Valentine’s cards this year, this would be it.  Hands down!



And if I had an office, this would so be on the wall.  There are different versions of this, but this one totally makes me laugh.



And how great are these? 



I have this pinned to my My Style board on Pinterest.  I would own it if I drank tea.  Is it wrong to put coffee in a Mr.Tea mug? 



I don’t have an IPad, but this cover makes me want one.  I wish it was big enough for my lab top.  The listing says that they do have covers for lap tops, but on in vintage Star Wars. Hummmmm . . . . . . .

Here are some non Valentine-ie things



If I could plan my own birthday party it would be an A-Team themed party!  I don’t know why I haven’t thought of this before.  Well, either that or an originally  Willy Wonka themed party.
If I were having a baby these two items would be on the registry.  Awesome!





So what do you think?  What are you planning on gifting for Valentine’s Day?

Pinspiration: Remember When Box

For ages my Mother-in-law has been telling me that I needed to write down things that my son says.  So when I saw a guest post by I Am Momma Hear Me Roar on Tatertots & Jello, I knew I had to pin it for future reference.  And it came in handy this Christmas.  Here is our version.  I painted the background to save time.  I let someone else do the sides.  On the left is the dogs and on the right is my Mother-in-law . . . yes she is wearing an animal print suit and white high heels.  No she would NEVER wear this in real life.



And here is his Daddy. 



And here is the self portrait.  No he doesn’t have that much hair.   I’m not sure if my Mother-in-law liked it, but I think it’s a super success. 

Here is the inspiration photo.

Source: tatertotsandjello.com via Lulabellsdaughter on Pinterest

Coffee

Source: cubiclerefugee.tumblr.com via Alejandra on Pinterest

I never realized how much I want coffee in the morning until our coffee pot broke.  I miss it so much that I think I need the above print in my kitchen.  How cute would that look over a coffee station? 

So we spent all week last week without coffee.  I looked around, but couldn’t make a decision.  I even went and browsed the local WM, but left even more confused.  It seems like coffee makers now either come in one of two choices, pot or single serve.  And in the single serve you have the cheap ones that you have to feel with water for EVERY cup and only take the non standard pods to the very expensive  k cups.  Something just seems wrong in spending so much money on a machine that .  . . well that can’t bring me the coffee in the morning.  Or do the dishes.  But I know this style has become very popular.  And the people who have them say they love them.  So is it worth it?  Or do we go back to a cheap pot version? 

When I was in college I bought a Mr.Coffee pot in white for between $5 and $10 and it lasted for about ten years.  When it finally went caput we bought a little higher end $50 Mr.Coffee and it only lasted a couple of years.  The reason I think it crapped out is because  when you filled the water in the my old style pot it had an open section that you just poured the water in.  In my last one it had a grid over it and water would go everywhere.  So I think it must have run down the inside and crapped out the heating element or something. 

So the parts that have me one the fence are these:
1)  If we get a less complicated machine it will be a) cheaper b) less complicated c)if it does crap out then we won’t be out much d) maybe with less complicated parts it will last longer
2)  If we get a fancier single serve machine a) will it be of higher quality so it will last longer b) make those bleary eyed mornings so much easier

So friends I ask you, what would you do?  Do you have a coffee machine that you love?  Is it worth it for fancy coffee?

Pinspiration: Gifts for Warm Wishes

This school year I haven’t been able to put as much thought into teachers gifts as I would like.  The main reason is because it jumped from 2 to 5 different teacher gifts!  Kind of hard to do on a budget.  So of course I went to Pinterest.  And then when I found a deal at Kohl’s on gloves from one of the many money saving blogs I follow on my reader I knew it was perfect.  The original idea is from It is What is Is, but the pin only linked backed to items tagged Christmas.  There are tons of great printable there, but I couldn’t find the post of the photo in the pin.  So I decided to make my own printable using Publisher. 



It’s hard to take a picture of black gloves and white cardstock.

Here are the gloves I started with.  These were really nice chenille gloves marked for just around $2 a pair. 



For the bags I found these clear gift bags in the party section at WM.  Can’t remember the price but I think they were around $2.  For 20 bags!



Here is the part that did give me some difficulty.  I have seen a lot of bag toppers, but I’ve never seen any hint to how they are attached without showing staples.  I’ve seen some with staples showing, but I don’t really like that.  If I’ve went through all the trouble of making a printable, I don’t want to have my staples showing.  I discovered that If I stapled the bag first then I could attach the paper with my handy dandy glue runner. 



One line on the edge of both sides, then sandwich over bag and press.  That is one of my favorite craft tools.



And here you go. 



And here is my inspiration.

Source: bethproudfoot.blogspot.com via Lulabellsdaughter on Pinterest

I’m kind of on the fence about putting up a printable of this, since it wasn’t my idea.  But if there is a lot of interest in something like this, please let me know.