Easily Make An Adorable Homemade Pen Holder!

I was doing some work this morning when I got pretty frustrated with my small dollar store pen holder. It is small, pens got stuck and fell to the floor as I tried to grab one out so there was over 30 pens all over the place, babies grabbing, dogs trying to grab and run off... Ugh.

Kyla, my 8 year old said "I can make you a new one!" So I thought why not? I love homemade gifts from my kids, this would be adorable!

I gave her a canister we have a few of that are unused, my book of Erin Condren classic sticker sheets, a roll of Pink Glitter washi, my Xyron sticker maker, scissors and a marker.

She worked away at the kitchen table for a good 20 minutes while I kept watch as I nursed the baby a few feet away in the living room. She carefully cut, Ran a little piece of paper through the sticker maker to stick on to the front, and enjoyed picking out where to put everything. Her end result is super cute and really well done!

How cute is this??

You don't need tons of fancy tapes, paper, glues, glitter etc. She made ordinary glass into an adorable functional pen holder! It looks adorable on my desk too! I'm beyond impressed. When she was done there was zero mess, she just picked up the pieces she had cut, and the back of the washi pieces and to the garbage they went. Who doesn't love crafts with no mess?

She was beaming when she handed it to me. Impressed with what she accomplished but mostly proud and feeling happy that she did it all by herself. Something I was SO happy to see. She deals with a lot, has had a pretty tough go with school the last few years so to see her proud of something she did all on her own - makes me proud and extremely happy!

I love when my kids are crafty, and sit down and do something by themselves they can be proud of! I'm that mom who has a bin in my basement FULL of artwork for the last 11 years, so I have lots!

What are your favorite crafts your kids have made for you? If your kids are grown, do you remember a specific craft they did that you just loved? 

I do What With Washi? (And You Can Too!)

As most of you who have read my blog for the last little bit know I find comfort in all things washi tape.

What IS washi tape?

"Washi is a style of paper that was first made in Japan. Washi is commonly made using fibers from the bark of the gampi tree, the mitsumata shrub (Edgeworthia chrysantha), or the paper mulberry, but also can be made using bamboo, hemp, rice, and wheat. Washi comes from wa meaning Japanese and shi meaning paper, and the term is used to describe paper made by hand in the traditional manner.

     Nowadays masking tapes are widely used for decorative purposes. They are printed with different patterns, some Japanese tapes are made of washi paper." - wikipedia.org/wiki/Washi

I use it in my planner, for crafting, for covering up ugly pieces of house, you name it I can use it! But -- when I get a new roll, or five I post it on social media I'm always asked "what do you do with it?"

Well, here is the last 5 things I've done with washi tape!

5. Light Switch - My daughter asked if I could make her light switch in her bedroom fancy! Of course I can, and she chose this beautiful Mermaid Scales washi to use! I didn't create this, I saw it of course on Pinterest (brilliant!)

4. Crafting - I had these boring "H O M E" letters on my shelf, so I decided to pretty them up a little bit and put washi on them. It took all of 5 minutes and looks super cute!

3. Envelopes - I will not mail an envelope that looks plain and ordinary anymore. How cute does this look? It never hurts to get pretty, happy mail!

2. Planner - I use it in my planner. To break up days, to decorate, and to just make the days brighter to look at. This is something I do weekly, and its relaxing and gives me that half an hour to myself once a week to start decorating for the weeks ahead to be filled. It's much nicer to look at and always makes for a cheery week!

1. iPhone cord - I didn't think this up either, but I did it because we have 3 iPhone's in our home and 2 of which use the same cord, and mine ALWAYS goes missing. No denying who this cord belongs to now!

So if you happen to just have a roll laying around, or you see a pretty pack at the store grab it! Not only can these little projects brighten up these boring plain items - you can do LOTS of kids crafts with them, use them to decorate photo frames that are boring solid colors.. ANYTHING!

Welcome to Canada!

Sorry I've been slacking a bit here on the blog. We've been dealing with major issues with the kids school. We had to pull them out, and today they finally started at a new school... so I'll be back to normal now!

Alright, now I know Target has been in Canada for a little bit now (a year or so I think?) but I've never had one near me or close enough for me to get to easily so I have never been. That is until one opened up right around the corner from me 2 weeks ago!

Oh boy, am I hooked now! I've been at least 5x now since the opening, and every single time I leave with at least one or two things, if not 20 from the One Spot. How much fun is One Spot?

I've been buying a ton of stuff for my planner - and I'm always checking for Washi there which I can't ever find. But everything else I've found and I stock up. Lots of page flags, pens, paper, pads, note book, OH MY GOSH it's like planner crafters heaven! I love it.

I've gotten lots of stuff like I mentioned for my planner, but also another little adventure I am planning in the next couple of months. Although its a "dollar" section I find the stuff great quality, and nothing like Dollar Store items I've gotten in the past. LOVE IT..

Forget the rest of the store, One Spot is my absolute favorite!! I won't lie though, I checked out the kids clothing yesterday for the very first time as well and I was impressed. While I think Wal-Mart still has a bit better prices, Target has a much bigger variety and MUCH cuter clothes. Ava was with me yesterday and went nuts over the girls clothing section. 

The toy section also blew her mind. She wants nothing but a Target gift card for her Birthday in August so she can go pick her own stuff for her big day. Talk about easy to please! 

The only thing I'm disappointed in with our Target? No Scrapbooking section, no Washi tape and it's so big it will be hard to get used to. Those aren't really big issues, they are minor and most definitely not stopping me from going there all the time and loving it! The employees are beyond nice (much nicer than the down the street Wal-Mart) and because it's so new its SUPER clean, like really clean.... Wal-Mart? Not so much. I hope it stays that way. It's also in a new mall that's opening very soon so I'll be there a lot for just about everything as the new mall has Carters, Bulk Barn, Micheal's, The Children's Place, Dollarama, Winners.. etc!

Welcome to Canada target, I'm one happy shopper here!