How to Make a “God Bless America” Frame

Supplies:

• “God Bless America” music chart free printable
• Cardstock
• Patriotic fabric
• Buttons
• 8×10 frame
• Paint

Directions:

First, print out your “God Bless America” music chart. Next I took some different patriotic fabrics from Riley Blake’s Stars & Stripes collection and cut out little pieces for my covered buttons.

I then used my Itop button maker to cover some small buttons with the Brad Daddies on the back.

I gave an 8′” x 10” frame a quick coat of red spray paint and while that was drying I printed out the God Bless America printable on white cardstock. I punched holes in the music notes and slid my brad backed covered buttons through, then opened the brads on the backside so they would stay in place.

Then I popped that into the frame. Instant patriotic décor!

What ways do you like to decorate for the holidays?

Beckie Farrant is a tri-blogger at Infarrantly Creative, Knock Off Décor and Roadkill Rescue.  Beckie likes transforming the old, discarded and unused into beautiful and usable décor for her home.  You can connect with Beckie on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

How to Throw a Cinco de Mayo Party

Cinco de Mayo Invitations

When it comes to Cinco de Mayo invitations, we say: “Make your own!” Come up with a great saying to print on the front, such as:

• “Vamanos, amigos…it’s party time!”
• “Put a little salsa in your day—come to our Cinco de Mayo party!”
• “It’s nacho ordinary party!”
• “Come to our casa for margaritas and fajitas.”
• “The party’s hot, hot, hot…and it’s here on (date) at (time).”

Colorful Decorations

Green, red and white—the colors of the Mexican flag—dominate during this day of remembrance. Paper Mexican flags, hanging decorations and tissue paper flowers in these colors are perfect. Check out your local dollar store, or shop online for easy Cinco de Mayo party decorations. Or get creative and make your own!

Pick up some inexpensive chili pepper lights and string them around the room for added atmosphere. These can often be had at a steal at dollar shops, WalMart and other discount stores.

Setting the Party Table

Your décor should extend to the party table. Cover this with a colorful disposable tablecloth for easy cleanup later. Choose tableware with Mexican imagery—sombreros, maracas, Mexican flags and chili peppers fit the bill. Look for napkins, plates and cups that match this theme.

As a centerpiece, take a large straw sombrero—decorate your own by painting a plain straw hat pink, yellow and other bright colors—and lay it on the center of the table. Then sprinkle chili peppers along the rim. Toss some confetti around the hat and you have the perfect Cinco de Mayo table centerpiece.

Party Eats and Treats

Go traditional with your party menu. After all, who doesn’t love Mexican food? Try these ideas:

Yummmmmm! Tacos

Hot Hot Hot Tacos

Ingredients:

• Hard (pre-fried) corn tortillas
• Shredded, cooked chicken and/or shredded cooked beef
• Chopped jalapeno peppers
• Lettuce
• Your favorite cheese, shredded (if desired)
• Chili powder to taste
• Garlic powder to taste

The recipe:

Traditional tacos don’t call for cheese, but if that’s your preference, set out a dish and let people self-serve. To prepare the tacos, heat each tortilla in a 300 oven for 10 minutes with a moistened paper towel stuffed into each (this keeps them pliable). While these are heating, add jalapenos to your beef or chicken in a skillet. Add chili powder (go slowly and taste until the desired amount is reached) and garlic powder. Cook only until jalapenos are heated through. Serve each element on a separate dish on your table with spoons so people can self-serve in the quantities they like best.

Salsa Con Queso

Ingredients:

• One 12-oz. jar of mild or medium chunky salsa
• 16 oz. processed cheese (such as Velveeta)
• Sliced mild jalapeno peppers for garnish
• Sliced black olives for garnish
• Corn chips

The recipe:

Cut up cheese into chunks and place in a microwave-safe dish. Microwave on high for 30 seconds at a time, stirring every full minute, until cheese is melted. Add the salsa (no need to heat further) and mix well. Pour the mixture into a decorative party dish and top with a few slices of mild jalapeno and half a handful of sliced black olives. Serve with corn chips on the side.

Mmmm…Mexican Drinks

For the thirsty reveler, have plenty of yummy drinks on hand. Margaritas, daiquiris (all flavors), imported Mexican beer (cervesa) with lime wedges, sangria (with plenty of juicy fruit chunks) and Mexican wines will wet their whistles while they party.

Make sure you have at least one non-alcoholic beverage available; try a punch of red fruit juice, such as raspberry with lemon-lime soda, and float orange slices on top for a pretty presentation.

Just for Fun

Don’t forget the party games! Whether your party is for children, adults or both, a pinata is an absolute must. A donkey, star, or sombrero shape is traditional; fill with lots of pinata favors and candies. Blindfold each guest and let him or her take three swings apiece. Be sure to have goody bags ready so guests can catch the favors as they fall.

For convenience, rent a helium tank or buy a disposable one. That way, on the morning of the party, you can fill as many balloons as you’d like without having to stuff them into your car to get them home.

With Mexican party music rocking in the background (or this fun one for the kids), drinks being passed around and tacos on the menu, you’ll have guests dancing, partying, and having a fun fiesta to remember … at least until your luau!

Will you be celebrating Cinco de Mayo? What’s on your menu?

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

By Chris Molnar, who will definitely be having a party on May 5th … as that’s his wife’s birthday! She’s Italian, but close enough! Chris is a father of two children, and is the owner of Themeaparty.com, where you can find ideas for your next party. Right after he’s finished writing this, he’s making some spicy tacos!

• Always takes place in Spring and usually, but not always, around the same time as Easter.
• Both faiths eat a lot of eggs but I am not sure that it is for the same reasons.
• They are both hope based: Passover celebrates the exodus out of Egypt, while Easter commemorates the Resurrection of Christ.

But that is where most of the similarities end.  The differences are truly interesting:

What Makes Passover Different from Other Jewish Holidays?

Passover is Celebrated in the Home

The celebration usually takes place at a meal, called a Seder, and therefore there is no need to go the Synagogue. Much of the family is usually congregated in one place—like the dining room table. All festivities and readings are done from a text called a “Haggadah,” which is read at the table.

Family & Friends Participate in the Service

The purpose of reading the Haggadah is to recall the liberation of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. Everyone has a job during the Sedar; in fact the youngest child has one of the biggest jobs: asking “The Four Questions.” The “Four Questions” are actually statements about how the celebration of Passover is different from other days. In my family, it is imperative that the child read the questions in Hebrew and not the phonetic pronunciations. To be allowed to read them means that you have started your Hebrew studies and are no longer considered “a baby” in the family. (On a side note: I didn’t learn how to read Hebrew until I was an adult and therefore have never had the honor of reading the Four Questions.)

The Seder Plate

The seder plate is the table’s centerpiece.  Each of the seven foods on the plate symbolize different aspects of the imposed slavery on the Israelites:

Vegetable (Karpas): It is traditionally dipped in salt water. The vegetable (usually parsley or lettuce) symbolizes an old tradition of beginning a meal by dipping vegetables. The salt water represents the tears our ancestors shed during their years of enslavement.

Shank bone (Zeroa) / Roasted Beet: Represents the tenth plague in Egypt, when all firstborn Egyptians were killed. The Israelites marked the doorposts of their homes with the blood of a lamb as a signal that death should pass over them.

Hard Boiled Egg (Baytzah): A symbol of mourning for the loss of the two Temples in Jerusalem. Hard boiled eggs were traditionally considered the food of mourners.

Charoset: A delicious mixture that is often made of apples, nuts, wine and spices. It is supposed to represent the mortar the Israelites were forced to use while they built structures for their Egyptian taskmasters.

Bitter Herbs (Maror): Symbolize the harshness of servitude. Horseradish—either the root or a prepared paste—is most often used. A small amount of maror is usually eaten with an equal portion of charoset.

Bitter Vegetable (Hazeret): This piece of the seder plate also symbolizes the bitterness of slavery. My family places a bowl of salted water as a representative.

Four Glasses of Wine

The Haggadah actually directs the adult participants to drink four glasses of wine during the service. As my family consistently tries to abbreviate the time spent recalling the Exodus, that’s 4 glasses in less than an hour.  Of course, after consuming that amount of alcohol in less than an hour, some of the family participants get a bit rowdy and decide to share some family stories that are better left in the past.

The 10 Plagues

Ten Plagues of Egypt

Because the Passover story is told at home, we are able recall (and even act out) our favorite parts including the recitation of the Ten Plagues imposed on Pharoah.  As each plague is called out, my family dips our little fingers in our wine and place a drop of wine on our plates.

No Bread (Or Anything with Leavening!)

I love bread! But it’s nice that once a year I have an excuse to throw out all of the old bread that has been lingering in the back of the refrigerator just waiting to be made into breadcrumbs. At Passover, it is customary that everything with leavening be thrown in the trash. In its place, we eat Matzah (flour and water) that has been baked for exactly 18 minutes. It’s amazing what can be made out of matzah with a little imagination and time. Crab cakes are DELCIOUS with a matzah meal base. (Yes, it’s true that crabs, by themselves, are not exactly considered kosher according to the Jewish Culinary rules, but I am just making a point about matzahs’ many uses.) Of course, by the end of the eight days of Passover, we are all a bit tired of eating it as our only form of starch but for most of the week it is a great alternate for bread, cereal, pasta etc.

Unleavened Bread or "Matzah"

Hiding the Afikomen

Like any Easter egg hunt, this tradition is really focused on the children participating in the Seder. At the beginning of the Seder, half of the middle three pieces of Matzah (called the Afikomen—which also means “dessert” in Aramaic) is hidden. The Seder service concludes ONLY when it is located by one of the children. The child may “sell” the Afikomen back to the Sedar’s leader. Usually the payment is a new toy or, in my family, five gold dollars. Allegedly, the custom aims to keep the children engaged throughout the entire service and interested in Passover traditions. However, having been the seeker and the one hiding the Afikomen, I find that it is really more rewarding to be one of the adults steering her favorite child towards the matzah before any of her bigger cousins ambush and steal it away from her. After explaining these seven customs to my neighbor, I was surprised to learn two things: first, she was actually still awake and listening to me and second, that she wanted to participate in a Seder. She explained that having listened to the yelling and singing coming from my home last Friday night, she wanted to be part of the party too. I can think of no better guest. After all, the Haggadah notes: “Let all who are hungry, come and eat.” The welcoming of guests to the Seder table is actually a central Passover tradition and in our neighborhood, that could be a lot of people at the table next year.

Featured image courtesy of Flickr.

Fun Family Easter Traditions

Decorating Eggs

The kids still love to decorate eggs for Easter. Over the years we have dyed, painted, tye-dyed, drawn designs with wax then dyed, glittered, boiled decals and put stickers on our eggs. You name it, we have tried it!  We always have a great time gathered around the kitchen table.

Sunrise Service

I remember going to sunrise services as a kid and we have continued that tradition with our children. We get up before the sun and head to church for the sunrise service. It is a wonderful time as a family.

Easter Baskets

I have bought and prepared baskets for the kids. Every year I fill the basket with little trinkets, favorite candies, a chocolate bunny, and other items that the kids are into that particular year. The gifts have ranged from outside toys, guitar strings, Christian themed t-shirts to jewelry. The Easter Bunny even brings Mom and Dad a special treat!

Easter Lunch

Our traditional Easter lunch always consists of foods like spiral ham, potato salad, green beans, macaroni and cheese, fruit salad and delicious rolls smothered in butter. This fabulous meal is followed up by a fantastic spread of desserts, including a coconut cake shaped like a bunny. Whew! I need a nap just thinking about all the food!

Easter Egg Hunt

The favorite activity of the day, other than looking at the loot after, is the Easter egg hunt! All of the adult siblings get together for a multi-family egg hunt. We have a couple hundred eggs filled with candy, novelties and money! Most of the adults head outside to hide the eggs while a couple of adults make sure the kids do not peek. We have an easy section for the little kids and a hard section for the big kids. Once the doors are opened, the race is on! What if it rains, you ask? One of the best hunts I can remember was on a rainy day; we hid the eggs inside the house. It was so fun watching the kids! One year the eggs each had a letter on them. The big kids had to find letters A to Z before moving on in the hunt. When the hunt is over, all the kids go through their basket.

Easter is definitely a fun filled day of tradition for our family. As we enjoy our special day together, we talk with the kids about the real meaning of Easter: Christ!

What are some traditions that help teach your children the true meaning of Easter?

Featured image courtesy of Flickr.

Robin Greene wishes everyone a very Happy Easter!  Robin enjoys spending time with her family and friends, teaching Kindergarten and freelance writing for mybabyclothes.com.  With the sun shining bright you are sure to be taking your little one out to the park.  Make sure they are dressed in the most comfy baby clothes, with a cute baby headband or a baby hat to protect that delicate skin from the sun.

How to Dress Up Your Easter Baskets

Supplies:

• A basket (I got mine from Goodwill)
• Ribbon
• Lace
• Tulle
• Hot glue gun
• Scissors

Directions:

I went to my local Goodwill store and picked up two adorable baskets for around $3 total.  You can also go to a dollar store and get a couple there.

Then I gathered up supplies to decorate. I decorated two baskets and used only ribbon, lace, and tulle; I was trying to keep it simple. I also used a hot glue gun to attach the ribbon and scissors to cut. Otherwise that is it. You can use all kinds of items, just dig through your craft bins for scrap fabrics and ribbons or grab a roll of ribbon at the store.

After you gather your supplies, get to creating! For the boy version I used the hot glue gun to attach blue ribbon around the outside of the baskets. Then I weaved in the green ribbon and attached with the hot glue gun on the bottom and around the top.

For the girl version, I cut strips of tulle, about double the height of the basket, and then double knotted the tulle around the top rim of the basket. The shorter you length of tulle, the fluffier it will be. I also added lace around the handles of both baskets. I attached the lace around the base of the handle with my hot glue gun, then wrapped it around the handle until I reached the other side, cut, and glued.

And Voila! Quick, easy, and inexpensive way to take an ordinary basket and turn it into a one of a kind keepsake!

What are some simple ways you’ve personalized holiday decorations?

I am a full time housewife and mother to one boy. My blog is According to Dee, and I share my family photos, crafts, recipes, and freebies.  In addition to blogging, I am also a photographer/graphic designer/artist.  You can view my photography work at DSisk Photography and my designs at Artied Designs.  I am self taught and have always had a natural knack for anything involving creativity and am so happy to share my passion with the world.

How to Throw a St. Patrick’s Day Party

Here’s how to get started on your very own St. Patrick’s Day party for kids:

Invitations and Fun Party Activities

Send mailed invitations out two weeks before the party. For evites, send 7-10 days before the big day.

Download images of shamrocks and print onto green paper. For contrast, print a few white shamrocks, or try patterns. Cut the images out and glue to regular note or decorative paper that has the party invitation written or printed on.

Arrange some activities that fit with your green party theme. For young children, we recommend a face painting or temporary tattooing station. For face painting, use nontoxic, kid-friendly, washable paints. Choose simple images such as shamrocks, rainbows with big splashes of green or green leprechaun hats.

Tattoos can be any variety that fits with the idea of a “green” party. St. Patrick’s Day temporary tattoos will generally have green in them somewhere, but don’t limit yourself. Any green tattoos that your kids will love will fit in perfectly with the green theme.

For older kids or grown-ups, have a “green trivia” contest. Compile questions that contain the color or word green (or have answers that do). Some examples:

• What two colors make green? Blue and yellow.
• What little vegetable lives in a pod? Peas.
• If somebody has a green thumb, what does that mean? They’re good at gardening.
• What island has the name green in it? Greenland
• What is another name for a three-leaf clover? A shamrock
• For adults: What race was Captain Kirk’s green love interest from in the original 60s series? An Orion.

Of course, a green scavenger hunt is a fun activity before or on the way to the party. Ask guests to snap pics on their phones or cameras while a parent drives or walks with them to the party. Scavenger items could include a green car, a green bicycle, a woman wearing a green shirt, a green house, etc.

Party Foods … Mmm!

For ease of preparation, serve foods that are naturally green. Green melon balls, green pears, grapes and kiwi make a great fruit platter. A nice guacamole dip surrounded by celery sticks, raw pea pods, broccoli and asparagus is a delicious dish. Toss a few lime corn chips on the side.

Green milkshakes – Make your own McDonald’s style “shamrock shakes.” Soften one pint of green colored mint ice cream (no chocolate chips!) and scoop into a blender or food processor. Add 4 oz. cold 2% milk (don’t use low fat milk). Pulse together until creamy. Add a froth of whipped cream and a few mint candy chips.

Green Pizza – Kids love pizza! (Except a thankfully short phase when mine was three.) Make a “green pizza” using any standard prepared pizza crust dough, cheese, tomato sauce and plenty of green veggies including olive slices, cilantro, fresh spinach leaves, or any greens your kids will eat and that look appealing. Decorate them into a face to make it look more fun (green mustache and eyebrows, anyone?) If you feel like getting creative, make your pizza dough in the shape of a shamrock first!

Broccoli Soup – Prepare a yummy green soup for adults (and some kids). Some ideas are broccoli soup (which my kid loves!), green split-pea soup, Italian wedding soup, St. Patrick’s Day leek and potato soup, pea soup with cheese, and asparagus soup.

Broccoli Soup Recipe

My favorite is broccoli soup, which I know by heart:

• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 3 large crowns of broccoli (about 1 to 1 and a half pounds), chopped
• 3 tbsp flour
• ½ cup milk
• Salt and pepper

Optional: grated Parmesan cheese

Melt butter in a pot, then add the onion and garlic. Simmer for 5 minutes until onion is translucent. Add chicken broth, then broccoli. Heat to boiling, then turn down to low for about 20 minutes.

Add everything to a blender, and pulse until well blended. Do this carefully. I only add a couple cups at a time, and start on low. The first time I tried it, the cover exploded and I had hot soup all over the kitchen! Once blended, pour everything back into the pot. I keep a couple chunks of broccoli to give the soup texture.

Mix the flour with the milk in a covered container, and shake well to blend. Add to soup. Add salt and pepper for taste. Simmer another 5 minutes, then serve. Add cheese, if desired. Yum!

Easy Green Décor

Decorations really set the mood for your party. Try these ideas to save money while decking the house out in green glory:

• Use green cardboard to make pretty shamrocks. Hang from ribbons or tape to the wall with double-sided non-damaging sticky tape.
• Take any green paper and use a hole punch to create confetti. Set the kids to this task – it will take a while but they’ll love it. Toss the confetti onto the table for cute décor.
• Go to your local party store for cups, plates, napkins, a tablecloth and cutlery in any shade of green. Don’t look specifically for St. Patrick’s Day items. You’re seeking the stuff that’s on super-sale! (Don’t you love a great bargain hunt?)
• Find pictures of beautiful rolling hills and villages in Ireland; print on shiny paper. Pick up cheap picture frames at your dollar store. Insert the pictures into the frames and hang or set up around the party area.
• Buy a cheap, plain white or light-colored paper tablecloth. Cut out a regular, DRY kitchen sponge (non-scratchy) in the shape of a shamrock. Dip the sponge into green paint and decorate the tablecloth with it.

We’re sure you’ll have ideas of your own to make your party special, but we hope these awesome suggestions will get you on your way to a great “easy being green” party!

What other “green” ideas can you think of to celebrate?

Invite photo courtesy of Enokson. Shamrock photo courtesy of Flickr.

Though only a quarter Irish (or is that an eighth?) Chris is still patiently waiting to inherit a supposed Irish castle – he’s 986th in line. He edits a party site with a section on St. Patrick’s day party ideas here, and considers himself very lucky, with two adorable daughters and an amazing spouse.

Today I am going to share with you a quick and simple last minute craft that will instantly add a little green to your home just in time for St. Patrick’s Day!

I just love the look of pallet art in the home!  But, as a busy mama, it’s hard to find the time to hunt down a pallet, clean it off, sand it down, paint it, etc.  So I took the easy way out and found a simple way to get the look of pallet art in my home without all the work of a real pallet.  Not to mention my version is much smaller than the real thing so you have more choices of where to put it in your home!  Sounds like a win-win situation to me!

How to Make a St. Patricks’ Day Mini Pallet Art

Materials:

• 3 packages of wood strips from craft store (I got mine at Hobby Lobby)
• Green paint (I used FolkArt’s “Citrus Green” acrylic paint)
• Foam brush
• Wood glue
• White vinyl

Directions:

1.  Open all of your packages of wood strips.  Here is what my package looked like:

2.  Paint all of your sticks with the green paint.  Be sure to get all of the edges.  I only painted one side of the stick.  I knew the backside wouldn’t be showing so I didn’t mind!

3.  Next, lay 2 of your sticks vertically.  Using your wood glue, start gluing the other painted sticks horizontally over the 2 vertical sticks.  I ended up using 10 horizontal sticks.

You can tell I wasn’t too concerned with my paint job because I knew I would give it one more coat of paint once it was all put together.  I left a small space in between each horizontal stick.

3.  After all the sticks are glued down, allow your wood glue to dry.  I’m not terribly patient so I only waited about 20 minutes and then gave it another quick coat of green paint.

Here is what the back looks like:

Pretty, right?  Wait….don’t answer that!

4.  Using my Silhouette digital cutter, I created a saying using some of my favorite fonts and a horseshoe.

Hint:  If you don’t have a Silhouette or a digital craft cutter, it would also be really simple to create the saying in Word and print it out.  Then, use an exacto knife to cut out the words and then use the cut out as a stencil and stencil the words and shapes on!

5.  Next, I cut the saying out on white vinyl, then used transfer tape to transfer the vinyl onto my mini pallet.

All done!

So there you have it!  A quick and simple craft to get your home ready for St. Patrick’s Day!

Enjoy!

What are your favorite quick and easy holiday crafts?

Amy Waller is a wife, mom, blogger, and New Kids On The Block lover!  She writes about her home, her family, and various creative projects on her blog, All In A Day.  You can usually find Amy on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google +.

How to Make Rainbow Pudding for St. Patrick’s Day

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup 2% milk
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 whole egg plus 3 egg whites
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (clear if you can) or 1 vanilla bean
• Gel food coloring (such as AmeriColor) in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple

Directions for Classic Vanilla Pudding

Step 1: Add the sugar, cornstarch, and salt to a medium saucepan (preferably stainless steel). Whisk the ingredients to combine, then add 1/2 cup of the 2% milk to the sugar mixture. Using a wooden spoon, stir until combined and thick.

Step 2: Whisk in the remaining milk (2% and whole), cooking over low heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon for about 15 minutes. Do not let the mixture boil.

Step 3: In a medium bowl, whisk the two eggs until gently beaten. Slowly add about 1 cup of the hot milk mixture to the eggs, whisking as you pour. Then pour the milk/egg mixture into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk mixture.

Step 4: Cook over low heat for an additional 5 minutes – do not boil. Remove from heat; stir in the butter and vanilla (or vanilla bean).

Directions for Rainbow Pudding

Step 1: Add the pudding to a medium bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic against the surface of the pudding until airtight. This will prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until well chilled, about 1 hour.

Step 2: Divide the cooled pudding evenly into 6 medium mixing bowls. Add food coloring to each bowl, corresponding with each color of the rainbow. Stir; add more food coloring (if desired) until desired color is reached.

Step 3: Divide the colored pudding into 6 pastry bags. Alternatively, you can just spoon the colors into bowls, but that can be a bit messier. Snip the end of the red pastry bag off so that there is about a 1/2″ diameter hole. Pipe the red pudding into each bowl. Repeat with remaining colors.

What are your favorite St. Patrick’s Day treats?

Photo courtesy of CraftZine.com.

Desiree Allen is a thirty-something single parent with two children. A native of Denver, Colorado, she lived there until 2009, when she moved across the country to northern New Jersey with her kids. She is doing her best to avoid ‘picking up’ a Jersey accent, but she’s not making promises that she won’t eventually start sounding like some of her new friends. You can find her blogging at Writing to Sanity and tweeting @writingtosanity.

This is an easy home decor idea that you can re-create for any season or holiday. I made a fall welcome sign last year using this same technique and it is simple and fun and only takes about 20 minutes from start to finish (minus drying time). When Plaid sent me some fun paints in a variety of colors, I decided to make one for Valentine’s Day.

How To Make Valentine’s Day Love Jars

Materials Needed:

• Paint — I used Martha Stewart Satin in three different shades of pink ($1.99 each at Michaels)
• Jars — You can use recycled condiment jars, or pick some up for less than $2.00 each
• Puffy Paint for the letters (about $1.00)
• Embellishments — Ribbon, flowers, etc. (I spent about $4.00 total)

Directions:

1.) Squirt some paint inside your jar.

2.) Shake your jar vigorously to coat the entire inside. If you don’t have a cork or cap, just put a napkin over the opening while you shake. And you can add a teeny bit of water to the inside to get the paint moving a bit, just don’t go overboard as the water will keep the paint from sticking to parts of the jar if you use too much.

3.) Repeat Step 2 for all your glass bottles, using a variety of colors if you would like.

4.) Use your puffy paint to write a letter on each jar to spell a word.

5.) Embellish & Enjoy! Add some ribbon and flowers or other creative flair! Have a happy Valentines Day everyone!

What are some of your favorite home decor projects?

7 Tips for Shopping on Black Friday

1. Stay Hydrated—The single-most important factor in athletic competitions can be water. Is not shopping on Black Friday pretty much the Super Bowl of shopping? My rule of thumb is “Pre-hydrate, then rehydrate.”
2. Don’t Mistreat the Feet—Black Friday is not a fashion event and comfortable, sturdy shoes are a must. Flip flops are not allowed. You don’t want a stubbed toe or a twisted ankle to take you out of the race.
3. Gas it Up—Before sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner send a family member out to fill the fuel tank. Running out of gas could mean the difference between your kids getting an Xbox 360 4GB Console with Kinect or a Limited Edition Chia Pet.
4. Map it Out—Do you know where the Electronics or Toy aisle is at your store? Simply following everyone else won’t work because you’ll be at the front of the pack. They’re all following you!
5. Bring Snacks—Nothing is worse than waiting in line for three hours only to pass out from a sugar low mere feet from the checkout counter. Just trust me on this one.
6. Tag Team—Bring a friend (a really fast one). When the doors open one of you can snag the deals while the other gets a place in the checkout line. Remember, seconds count.
7. Have a List—Some of us can be forgetful in times of stress. Make a list and bring it with you. Santa not only makes a list, but he also checks it twice.

In the end just remember to relax and have fun. Every contest will have both winners and losers—and you’re better than both of them.

Do you go shopping on Black Friday? What are your Black Friday shopping tips and tricks?