Valentine’s Day {party for PreK Homeschoolers!}

February 4, 2013 by Jules 2 Comments

What's not to love about a holiday all about love?

I have fond memories of school day parties. You remember, back in the day when schools were allowed to throw a shindig for every holiday under the sun. Class lists were sent home, homemade treats were passed out personalized for each student, homeroom moms showed up and celebrated with their kids and fun games.

There have been a lot of positive changed in the past few years and some of those things are still happening. But since I plan to homeschool I don't have the chance to see if my kids are going to have the privilege of enjoying "party day" at school...I get to plan the party! Woot Woot!

Find our plans for "LOVE Month" on the Homemaker's Challenge today!

It includes pictures, ideas for teaching History, fun Foods, Crafts/Gifts/Surprises, and Activities, and some resource links as well!

Filed Under: Baking and Cooking, Decorating, Holidays, Homemaker, Homeschool, Parenting, Parties, The Ones about Homemaker's Challenge, The ones about the Rothacher Home, The Ones about things Jules tried off Pinterest

Fall Decor turned Science Project {Thoughtful Thursday}

October 25, 2012 by Jules 2 Comments

So some of you may have the wrong impression and think I'm a great cook or DIYer. Just wanted to put this out there along with my facade I publish here every week on Thoughtful Thursdays:

"Acorns in a Vase"

Simple. Cute. Free!

We gathered acorns after a fun family picnic outing and brought them home for a cute fall DIY decorations.

The girls were very proud that they'd help 'make' this fun display on our dinning room table...until a week later! No, they were still very proud of it...me, not to much. I was discussed as my girl examined their creatures they had accidentally carted home in their acorn.

THIS great post taught me that you should dry out the acorns in the sun, then Wash them, and Bake them to kill all the living stuff in them. DUH! Read this dudes article for more details.

I sure felt like a goob as I made my hubs dis-guard the nastiness that was my fall decor...

Filed Under: Decorating, Homemaker, The Ones about Link-Ups, The ones about the Rothacher Home, The Ones about things Jules tried off Pinterest, Thoughtful Thursdays

To Pin or Not to Pin

September 28, 2012 by Jules Leave a Comment

True dat! Keep'n it real. You know you do it.

Filed Under: The Ones about things Jules tried off Pinterest

DIY Cake Stands {Thoughtful Thursday}

September 27, 2012 by Jules 11 Comments

I love baking! But surprisingly I don't own a cake stand, of any kind. Hmm, how did that happen. Anyways. I'd seen tons of cute DIY cake stands on Pinterest and when this shower came up I thought it would be the perfect time to try out a custom made colorful cake stand and several other Pinterest inspired projects!

As always I looked at pictures online but I'm terrible at following directions so I winged it and did a little tweaking to work with what I had or could get easily. Here's what I came up with.

Supplies {enough for 1 cake stand- I ended up making 4}:

1 dollar tree pizza pan {preferably not warped}
1 dollar tree {short} glass candle stick holder
1 can of each desired color
Glue {E6000- great for glass!}

Directions:

Head to the local Dollar Tree {ya know, where everything is Uno Dollar!} and snatch up your suppies then shoot on over to where ever you buy your spray paint {I did Krylon from Wal-Mart because they had the colors I needed but pic your fav}
Peel off the wrapping from the pizza pan and pick a place to spray away. I prefer to do a light coat on the bottom of my project 1st so then I can concentrate on the most visible part. In this case, the TOP of the pan will be the bottom of the cake stand.

Next spray paint your candle stick holder. I did spray inside of the holder and then the bottom but the focus will be the outside since it will be glued on the pan and sitting on the bottom but I wanted maker sure the white wouldn't be transparent.

Place your pan on a flat surface, find the center of your pizza pan and glue your candle stick there. This is important so it balances your cake and won't tip over. I chose to put the smaller end of the holder on the pan. Then I balanced heavy books on top of the 'bottom' of the holder to assure the glue adhered well.

Vuala, Cake Stand!

If you liked this DIY Cake Stand Tutorial, pin it!

Filed Under: Homemaker, Projects, The Ones about Link-Ups, The ones about the Rothacher Home, The Ones about things Jules tried off Pinterest, Thoughtful Thursdays

Tutu Table Skirt (Sugar & Spice Baby Shower) {Thoughtful Thursday}

September 20, 2012 by Jules 4 Comments

I told you last week I got to be apart of an awesome baby shower! The theme was "Sugar & Spice". We used hot pink and orange everywhere. It was so fun!!! I wanted to tell you about the fun tutu table skirt I got to make. I found the idea HERE on Pinterest. I wanted to show you how easy it was!

Supplies: {for a 12' round table}

6 yards of white tulle
3 yards of both orange and pink tulle
12 feet of white ribbon
table-cloth hooks
lighter
scissors
some sort of measuring tool

Directions:

measure & cut white tulle into 2 inch strips
measure, cut {quickly burn the end of the ribbon to prevent reveling}, & string up ribbon {easiest way I found to know tulle on}
loosely knot each strip evenly onto the ribbon {this takes a crazy amount of time}
space white tulle evenly across the entire ribbon
go through and group a few strips so there is even spaces available along the ribbon
cut the orange and pink tulle in 2 inch strips
loosely knot colored tulle evenly across the ribbon placing several strips together to make the color bolder
once all the strips are on the ribbon, move them around to even them out
when decorating for the shower {or whatever event you'd like to use the tutu for}, stretch the tutu around the table, using the table-cloth clips, hook the tutu evenly to the table
fluff, rearrange, cutesy up the skirt prior to the shindig {we also layered an orange-colored plastic table clothe under