Staying Home Sawyer

Real Life Living on a Real Life Budget

DIY, Holidays!

Halloween Mummy Jars

Halloweenie Mummy Jars

*Pinterest Fail Alert*

I’ve been called the crafting queen many times (seriously, hearing that never gets old), but the truth can sometimes be hard to believe. I am not always that great at creating projects. I cannot paint pictures. I cannot draw. I am not good at following directions. So when I saw this tutorial on It All Started With Paint, I thought: Rubber-bands and spray paint? Pshhhhhhh (that’s me acting like it’s too easy). Clearly, I could do this.

I know what you’re thinking: this project has Sparkle written all over it. How could you fail? How could you not take this project, run with it, and make it even more amazing? What could go wrong? You are the crafting queen! There’s only one thing you’re good at, and it’s crafting!

Well. If you thought any of those things, you put too much faith in Sparkle.

Halloween Mummy Jars

I already had all the ingredients, so I got to work on my project immediately. Sort of. Of course I had to change it up just a bit, you know, because it won’t sparkle without some added Sparkle. Instead of rubberbands, I used painter’s tape to tape off the mummy strips. The problem? When I peeled the tape off, the gold paint came with. As you can see from two of my mummy jars, it was definitely a Pinterest fail. Or, I guess, technically it was a Sparkle fail. Since I clearly didn’t follow directions well.

Halloween Mummy Jars Filled with Candy

Overall, the original creator of this project definitely deserves some props. She clearly knew what she was doing with those rubber-bands. Too bad for my co-workers, because they’re still getting these mummified mummy jars.

DIY

Elephant Love

DIY Felt Stuffed Elephant

Do you know what’s as big as an elephant in the room? Writer’s block. I haven’t been able to come up with any craft projects, much less blog posts lately. I feel like I’ve been trunked. See what I did there?

Do you know what’s as small as this elephant in the room? Your palm. Because who doesn’t want an elephant that fits in their palm? If I could shout “Me! Me! Me!” – I would. But since I’m sick as a dog, my husband is sleeping, and the cat is enjoying the peace and quiet, I’ll keep my mouth shut. For now.

DIY Stuffed Elephant

Because of what seems like a revolving door of illness (that, and my decision to watch the entire Gossip Girl series from episode 1), I haven’t had a lot of time to get crafting in. So when it came time to come up with a gift for my brother-in-law’s girlfriend (who just so happens to adore elephants), I went the old fashioned way. Store bought.

Until I just couldn’t handle it anymore, and I had to hand make something. I sewed this little “baby” (only because he’s so small) elephant out of felt, and shipped him on his way to her. Hopefully she’ll give me a free pass for only giving her one teeny tiny handmade thing. Because what is cuter than this baby elephant? The answer is nothing. Nothing at all.

DIY

diy felt letters

DIY Felt Letters - Teach your child to write their name

Clearly I am not the best person to ask for advice on how to raise your children. But to be fair, I did work in a children’s museum for five years, a daycare for two, and was a nanny for several families. And (almost) all of those kids turned out okay. Or mostly okay. Fine. They’re all still alive. That means something, doesn’t it?

I always thought I’d have about six of my own kids to ruin, but time changed that. Now I can’t even ruin my best friends kids, because they all live so far away. I guess they’ll all have to find other “aunties” to buy them their first beer in high school college. They’ll have to settle for someone else to teach them how to sneak out of their bedroom windows when they want to see their boyfriends besties. And they just will have to buy their own itsy bitsy, teenie weenie, yellow polkadot bikinis. Okay, that, I can do. Thank heaven’s for Amazon.

Teach Your Toddlers to Spell

One of my best friends has a toddler (I’ll give you one guess at her name) that I would love to show the ropes. But since she’s still pretty little, I’ll settle for just teaching her some of the basics. Like how to spell her name. This is very important because when she eventually goes on to become the President of the United States, she will need to know how to spell her name. And then I can say I taught the President how to spell her name. I’m really just hoping for a tax break.

Teach Your Toddlers to Spell DIY Felt Letters

So in honor of Avery, I sewed some letters out of different colored felt and stuffed them with a little stuffing. I printed out her name in big black block letters on some cardstock, and sent her the little kit. My bestie assured me it really helped her. She got the hang of it right away (just like a future President would), and she learned the letters of her name quickly. Gosh my kiddos are the smartest.

DIY Felt Letters - Teach your toddler to spell their name

DIY

Disneyland Gift Bags for Grown Ups

Gift Bag Ideas for Adults at Disneyland

You didn’t think I went all the way to Disneyland (pockets stuffed with magic stones for little kids) and nothing for my husband, did you? I mean, it was our anniversary and all. And I never go overboard with crafty projects for my husband. He probably doesn’t even know if I love him or not. Oh gosh. I am clearly failing at this thing called marriage. So much for a two year anniversary. Hopefully I make it until my third.

So now onto stating the obvious: clearly I go overboard sometimes. Or a lot. Okay always. My husband had a conference in Anaheim the week leading up to our trip so I figured I should make him a little gift bag for each day he was gone. Just so he didn’t forget how much he loved me. That’s what all wives do right? Since he had to share a hotel room with a co-worker, I’m sure he really enjoyed opening them up each day.

Disneyland Gift Bag Ideas for Adults Disneyland Gift Bag Ideas for Grown-ups

I started with the obvious: A small bottle of gin, a bottle of tonic, and a Disney tumbler. I mean, what’s more magical than drinking your favorite cocktail out of a Disney cup? Yeah that’s right. Nothing.

Two different days were boxes of his favorite candy. I searched high and low for any candy that was Disney themed, but found nothing. Oh the joys of shopping last minute. Instead I just turned his favorites into “Disney” candy by adding little mouse heads.

On one of the box candy days, I added a Red Bull. The accompanying note said that since all the kids at Disneyland would be all hyped up on sugar, he should be too.

Glow Sticks. Now, I know if you have children this is a must purchase before your trip. Seriously, they are 8 for a dollar at the Dollar Tree or $8 each at Disneyland. Buy them beforehand. And for adults? Yes ma’am. We had just as much fun with them as the kids did. And I had so many extra that I handed them out to the other kids in line.

Disney Journal love note. I bought a Disney journal at the Dollar Tree and wrote him a love note throughout it. Don’t worry, I only put a few words on each page. I don’t have that much to say to him, since we do live together and all.

Disney puzzle with a twist. I took the kids puzzle out of the box, put it together, flipped it over, and wrote a short little note about how excited I was to go to the park with him. Then put it back in the box, seal it up, and make him struggle to put it back together. Or is that just my husband? Seriously. It was a 24 piece puzzle! I thought it was going to be easy!

Lastly (and this was a stretch), I bought a Disney magic towel. You know those things you see at the Dollar Tree while wondering who would ever buy them? Yeah. Those. I bought one. I added a little note about how he was obviously crying without me by his side, so this could dry his eyes. Yeah that’s right. I’m clever like that.

Disneyland love notesAfter I picked out all the gifts, packed them in small gift bags, I needed to write the accompanied note. I cut out Mickey Mouse heads in black cardstock, then “shorts” out of Disney themed paper. I hand sewed the shorts onto the head outline, and hot glued buttons on the shorts. And because everyone knows Mickey wouldn’t be the same without Minnie too, I made a few Minnie heads by adding bows. Then I wrote little notes for each head, and tied them to each gift bag.

Overall, I think it was a success. Especially because when he begged me for Disneyland souvenirs at the park that night, I was able to tell him he already had enough. And you thought I had it easy without children.

Grown-Up Disneyland Gift Bag Ideas