Many people dream of doing their own tile flooring. The internet is full of DIY tile flooring tutorials and when you read them you feel like it'll be an easy one day project that you can gaze upon with pride the very evening that you lay your first tile. However that is not always the case and the truth sometimes alludes the Pinterest project seekers. How easy is DIY tile? Is it as easy as they make it look on TV or Pinterest? Sit back while your back will still bend without pain and let me tell you a little tale. Once upon a time we returned from a four day trip and took our … [Read more...]
Plastic Easter Eggs – A Fun Way To Teach Kids How to Read
Easter eggs are fun. Finding hidden treasures in the yard is always fun. Learning to read isn't fun for a lot of kids. But here's a simple tip that can help kids learn their phonic blends - use plastic easter eggs and a marker to help make new words using the basic blends. Plastic eggs are festive and kids love them. What better way to help them relax and let go of that early reading anxiety than to put something into their hands that they love? Making these couldn't be simpler. You need plastic eggs and a permanent marker, that's it! Most easter eggs … [Read more...]
How To Get Super Glue Off Of Skin
Super glue. It's the glue that we can't live without yet we can never use without somehow getting stuck. The worst thing is when you get super glue on your hands or maybe even your fingers stuck together. Don't worry, today I'm going to share how I get super glue off skin. This process is much easier than you think. Getting super glue off skin isn't rocket science but when your hands are literally stuck together, the panic of the moment can keep you from thinking clearly. It's easy to freak out and panic when you're stuck to something or super glue is stuck to … [Read more...]
Make Perfect Signs With A Simple Pencil Transfer
Making the perfect hand lettered sign can seem like a daunting task. Either you need a really steady hand to get great letters or you need a really neat trick to show you how to transfer letters to make a painted sign. We all know that I don't have a steady hand so hopefully I have tricks up my sleeve. Well the good news is that I do! You won't believe how easy it is to hand letter a sign with this simple pencil transfer trick. This will stand the test of time. Cutting machines are here and will continue to evolve and change but this simple trick will always be there. All you need … [Read more...]
4 Easy Ways To Cool Your Home And Reduce Your Energy Bills During A Heatwave.
The heat is here. Summer has arrived like a roaring lion who's not taking prisoners. It's hard to stay cool when it's over a hundred degrees on a daily basis. But don't fret my friends! Here's a few easy tips to cool your house and reduce your electric bills during these hot summer days. If your AC is broken or just not working properly, these tips will help! Mr. Byrd and I closed on our first house a few weeks before we were married at the beginning of the fall. He lived there until we were married and then I moved down from east Texas to join him after the wedding. It was a great starter … [Read more...]
How To Prepare Your Fridge/Freezer For Power Outage
Living on the gulf coast there's a certainty that you are going to loose all the food in your fridge and freezer at some point due to a tropical storm or hurricane. Bad storms happen and most likely you'll have to spend time picking up debris and making repairs. One of the worst parts of bad storms that take out your electricity for a few hours or days isn't the repairs or damage, it's dealing with your refrigerator and freezer when you haven't had power to keep it cool. With a few simple steps you can prepare your fridge and freezer for power outages and hopefully save the food … [Read more...]
Why Are There So Many Types of Scissors and How Should I Use Them?
There's many types of scissors and shears but did you know that they're made to do different jobs? Obviously my children have no clue of this fact and grab my cloth scissors to cut cardboard with all the time. But knowing what each scissor does can help the scissors keep their sharpness and simply work better for you. So what are some of the different types of scissors and how can you use them? 1. Dressmaker Shears - Dressmaker Shears are pretty much what they sound like. These are big scissors with very sharp offset handles. If you look it seems like the handle is … [Read more...]
Keeping Your House Market Ready
How can you keep your house spotless and ready to show at a moments notice when you're busy with life and kids? This is an old post from when we sold our first home three years ago and all our children were 6 and under. But it's a popular post on Pinterest and I know that many of you are getting ready to list your homes for sale right now. Hopefully this old post will give you some helpful tips. Just remember - it's going to be worth it in the end! Anytime I hear someone mention listing their home for sale, I hear the same thing. "Groan... I have to keep the house clean!". … [Read more...]
Painting With Young Kids
Painting with young kids is fun but it can be a hassle. There's spilled paint, painted siblings, painted hair, paint in the nose and maybe even paint in the ears. Painting with young kids can give you gray hair way before your time. But with a few simple tips, painting with young kids can be easier. 1. Mix a few drops of dish soap into paint when painting with kids. The soap helps it easily clean up, especially when the paint gets dripped or spilled on clothing. 2. Buy powdered Tempra paint. Yes, it can be messy to mix and the powder can go everywhere if … [Read more...]
Chocolate Dipped Strawberries and Pretzels
There's a simple answer to any question that begins with "what do I do with?". The answer is - dip it in chocolate. Ok so maybe that won't work for everything but wouldn't it be glorious if it did? "Mom, what do I do with the cat that won't stop meowing?". Dip it in chocolate. "Honey what do I do with this sink full of dirty dishes?" Dip it in chocolate. Ok so that won't work. But there is one simple thing that always does work - Chocolate dipped strawberries and pretzels. But how do you make chocolate dipped strawberries or chocolate dipped … [Read more...]
The Most Surprising Craft Tool
Sometimes people ask me what craft tool they really need or what I can't function without. What can I not function without? Coffee. But some people may not consider that a crafting tool. About two months ago I bought a new toy at the craft store and it has easily become a crafting tool that I've used more times than I could have imagined. So what'd I buy? A wood burning tool. I've always wondered how hard they were to use. Honestly I thought it would be easy. Standing in the store with a gift card in one hand and a 40% coupon in the other, wood crafts … [Read more...]
An Easy Way To Make Custom Signs
Have you ever wondered how people get perfectly painted letters without a cutting machine such as a Cricut or Silhouette? Here's a secret: It is so easy you'll think you've been duped. Don't worry, you haven't but I am going to show you today how to transfer letters for the perfectly painted (or wood burned) sign. All you'll need to transfer words or images to another surface is a printout of the words or image you want to transfer in the correct size and a pencil. That's all. I created this image using a graphic program. You could also do it in Word or Google Drive since it's … [Read more...]