The ones about the Rothacher Home Archives - Page 92 of 107

MY Poppy Seed Project {tutorial}

February 18, 2012 by Jules 2 Comments

Today I'll be posting the step-by-step progress {literally} of
MY Poppy Seed Project.

Last night I received my long awaited package
in the mail.

1. Order and Anticipate. They took about 7 business days to receive the package after it was shipped. They we very Well packed.

This morning I started painting!

2. Paint frames: I am doing a pattern on the bigger frame that will be layered behind the smaller so it will end up being painted twice. The first coat of paint will be the color of the pattern. The top coat will be the color of the frame. I painted both frames with the Krylon Brushed Metallic Satin "Caramel Latte". I started with the back side {could have just done 1 coat since it won't really be seen but went ahead and did 2 to test how it would look}. Then I put pushpins in the inner part where the backing goes as to not make holes in the back. These allowed me to speed the process up and start painting the front by flip them over without smudging the paint on the back.

This afternoon I created polka dots!

3. Trace where the layered frame will be. I waited until the paint had dried and then centered the smaller frame on top of the larger frame. Then I traced around the smaller one with a pencil and I flipped it over and traced the square on the inside of the smaller one so I'd be able to see how to line it up after painting over the polka dots.

4. Design polka dots pattern. I raced circle using a small medicine bottle onto painters tape and then cut them out. {They are NOT exact} Then I place them semi-randomly around the larger frame.

Some of the polka dots hung over so I trimmed the extra off.

5. Double check design. Then I put the small frame back on top to make sure I liked their placement before I painted over them. I did end up moving some of the dots {GREAT thing about painter's tape}.

When the polka dots where ready I painted the top layer on the large frame!

6. Paint the top coat and remove vinyl. I painted ~3 coats of red to make sure it covered well. I didn't take many pictures of taking the vinyl off because I was fighting off babies but it's really simple. Some of my red smugged a little while I was peeling it off but that just adds to the DIY look ;o)

I then glued the frames together!

7. Glue the frames together. I using Liquid Nails to glue the small frame on top of the big frame. I'm letting the frames sit for several hours with lots of weight on top to help adhere the 2 frames. {I put parchment paper between the books and the frames to make sure the didn't stick/pull off paint when I removed them}

When the glue was securely dried I places it on my mantel in the living room!

8. Add the frames to home decor. I place my frame on the mantel along with a few other items I already had around the house. LOVE THESE FRAMES! Can't wait until my next project with them!

Keep in mind that this is just 1 example of what YOU can get with the Poppy Seed Project gift card.
Visit their site HERE and Enter the giveaway HERE!

Filed Under: Homemaker, Projects, The ones about the Rothacher Home Tagged With: DYI frames, how to, look-a-like, Poppy Seed Projects, The Organic Bloom

Preschool Finances

February 16, 2012 by Jules 1 Comment

How to you teach your child about budgeting?

Yep, those my friend are more washed out formula cans. Are you ready from some up-cycling? We have begun a new habit in our home. Partly to teach our oldest child (3.5) about prioritizing and budgeting but also just as a different system of reward. I'll tell you more about our "fake economy" later but for now I just want to tell you the 3 basic categories we are teaching her to "budget" her money into. God. Save. Spend. That simple. We give back to God just a simple part of what He's so graciously allowed us to manage. Then we save for bigger things. And we get to spend more frequently on smaller things. Here is how we made her 3 banks:

Like I said, I'm working on a future post about our "reward system" but I will just say it involves bread-ties and then divides them {currently}divides them {she calls it 'organizing' them} Evenly into the 3 categories/banks.

How are starting to teach your littles about finances and how to handle them God's way? I'm always up for new ideas!!!

Filed Under: Homeschool, Parenting, Projects, The ones about the Rothacher Home Tagged With: budgeting, commision, DIY piggy banks, homeschool, preschooler, priorities, reward system, teaching finances

McDonald’s Play Place Party

February 15, 2012 by Jules Leave a Comment

One of the newly remolded McDonald’s near our home has an awesome Play Place! There’s tons of seating near the toy. It includes a toddler area. AND they have a bathroom out there for quick potties without running through the rest of the restaurant. My eldest has been suggesting we go there for her siblings birthday’s since seeing their party room near the toy the 1^st time.

We have made the commitment to only do BIG birthday parties for our children’s 1^st birthdays and then other big milestone birthdays as to stick to our guns about being frugal. {I LOVE HOSTING PARTIES!}

My middle child just turned 2 and my niece turns 8 the same month so we decided to celebrate both girls birthdays with family by having lunch at the Play Place. We weren’t inviting lots of other children so we didn’t pay to do the party room and chose to bring our own simple decorations and cake. *note: we ask permission form the employee in charge of the party room to make sure it was okay.

The birthday banner my Sis-in-love made me for Christmas last year and the giant cupcake pan was a gift from my mom. Izzie chose a pink {strawberry} cake and I decorated it with white frosting, red sprinkles, spray on frosting coloring, and a valentine cupcake topper.

We ate our lunch,

played a little while,

sang “Happy Birthday” to both girls, ate cake {and shared more than ½ with other children in the Play Place as well as McDonald’s employees}, and opened gifts.

Simple. Fun. Relaxed. Memorable.

Filed Under: Holidays, Parties, The ones about the Rothacher Home

Why does my Husband Rock?

February 14, 2012 by Jules 2 Comments

My husband rocks because he...

wears t-shirts and hats.

goes shopping with me and pushes the heavy cart.

takes our girls on dates.

gets up early to have meetings so he can be home for family time.

makes me laugh.

figures out techy stuff for me on my blog by using tutorials.

plays loudly with our children.

thinks I'm cute in a t-shirt and ponytail.

encourages me to have mom's-nights out as well as girl-time with friends.

takes out All the trash.

he learned to french braid hair using YouTube.

sings and plays guitar {and lots of other instruments for that matter}.

drives when we go places together.

takes me on dates.

helps our children memorize scripture.

makes sound effects when telling stories.

cooks dinner when I have "no idea what to make".

helps be paint even when he hates it.

reads the Bible to our children nightly.

eats anything I make.

always orders for me at fast food restaurants {and knows what I eat Everywhere}.

does projects with me on his days off.

does breakfast with our kids so I can shower and get ready.

loves my family.

listens to me.

will put my earrings away for me when I forget to take them out at night.

Always turns out the lights when we go to bed.

plays hide and seek with me in our house {even when there is no warning}.

carries on conversations with me when I talk to him in my sleep.

is leading our family on a FUN adventure as he follows Christ.

{JUST TO NAME A FEW}

I love you Matthew Ray Rothacher!!! xoxo You ROCK!

*in honor of LOVE Day, don't forget to enter for the Poppy Seed Project giveaway! AND head over to Union28 for the Valentine's Day SALE!!!

Filed Under: Being a Help-Meet, Holidays, The ones about the Rothacher Home Tagged With: love, my husband rocks, union 28, valentines day

Kid-friendly Valentine’s!

February 13, 2012 by Jules 3 Comments

Anyone else get their 1st "LIST" this year?

I did. It was back at Christmas time and my 3-year-old came home from Cubbies with a list of classmates on it. I wasn't sure what this mean. I had volunteered to bring cupcakes. Did this list mean I was to put their names on individual cupcakes for them? Nope. Gifts. For Each Child. That's what it meant. It has begun. Gone were the days of nursery kids and workers being pleasantly surprised by my children offering simple gifts to them for the holiday. Now there was a LIST. Crazy! I guess there's no turning back and no more forgetting...

We made simple gifts with printed tags for Christmas and, now anticipating the LIST for the Valentine's Day party, I was Ready! I'd been clicking through Pinterest for ideas. Not wanting to spend too much money on top of the cupcakes for the this party as well, I finally found something we already had enough of at home, created my own tag on Picnik {entire site FREE and Unlimited until April 19, 2012} using combination of things I'd seen before, and spent ~$3.00 more to get this finished product:

Gold fish! The kid-friendly, semi-healthy snack that we had a GIANT SAM's Club size container of already at home. I bought 1 box of Reese's Pieces ($1.00) and the cheapest plastic bags I could find at Wal-Mart (maybe $2.00). I dumped tons of fish into a bowl and gave my girls measuring spoons to scoop them into the bags I'd opened.

{Some where a bit fuller than others so I evened them out later} They of course were allowed to snack on a few while making their friends gifts. I went back later and added the not as healthy chocolate pieces to the bags. You could of course put more than the ~8 pieces than I did but I was trying to keep it healthier and DID NOT add the chocolate Peanut Butter candies to the bags going to the nursery {Doctors do not want babies under 2-years-old to have peanut butter in case of fatal allergic reactions!}. I folded the bags shut, folded the sides in to keep them fresh, and then stapled the tags on top and bottom to each bag. We wrote each child's name in the top corner and "from ___" in the bottom corner. We also have some blank ones for any visitors that may be there that night.

{You could always punch a hole in the tag and tie the bag shut with some ribbon looped through the tag's hole.}