Minestroni soup

It SNOWED today......so look what's for dinner tonight!

The first official soup of the season.

I have made this minestroni soup..TONS OF TIMES...it is by far one of my favorites. I just wish you all could smell my house right now!!

Here is the recipe:
1/2 lb cooked ground beef with minced onion
20 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 can of each drained and rinsed: garbanzo beans, kidney beans and green beans
diced fresh carrots, 1 cup of grated zucchini
some oregano, basil, garlic salt, 2 beef boulion cubes and 1 20 oz can of water(the tomato can) salt and pepper, (you need to season it to taste)
Simmer covered on Medium heat until carrots are cooked. turn off and let it sit...that is the key and don't let it hard boil-that changes the taste. Enjoy!!

Portable craft station for the kids

I am the first one to admit how glad I am to see the HOT summer days go. We all know that with fall comes some unpredictable weather. So why not make a portable craft station that can easily be taken outside on those few good days but can easily be brought back in when the weather changes. For example, our high today is 89* and our high for Wed will be 58*.......I love fall weather!!

I took something I had but no longer used for it's previous use and turned it back into something usable.

If you don't have a designated craft area for the kids (like myself) this works great since it's portable. I had long since out grown my scrap booking case for myself so instead of giving it away (because those things are not cheap) I turned it into my kids craft station. They can come and go in it as they need and everything is right there for them. Hey they can even do all the work in getting the stuff :)

I filled it with everything.....but the kitchen sink of course! Stickers, scissors, scrap paper, play dough, coloring books, pipe cleaner, pom poms, paper towel rolls and so much more. I love having their mess contained just a bit and they know where to put everything when they are done. So go pull out that case that you are no longer using and turn it into something fun!


other uses for this case could be: 72 hour car kit, camera station for the busy photographer, place to hold stamps, teacher's bag to transport homework to and from school and more!

Owl scrapbook pages and more

In my etsy shop I sell the template to these Little Whoo Owls so you can make your own or you can buy an already made owl, ready to add to any scrapbook page! The template is also great for appliques on a shirt or bag or the cover of a Quiet Book or add it to a frame and give it as a gift. The template is emailed to you within hours with free shipping! SOoooo many fun uses!!!

Here are a couple of pages I did for my very own family scrapbook.

(yah I noticed the typo late last night after it was to late to fix it :(

Crayon Rolls

A few weeks ago I was finally able to cross these off my to-do list. They were so simple and fun that I was able to make 7 of them to sell at an upcoming boutique. Of course 2 of them are for my kids to keep.

I made several that fit coloring pencils, twistables or regular sized markers.

Then I made ones that fit crayons of course. I added a Made with Love by Mom label to the ones for my kids, the others received there very own LittlePolkaDot labels.

I did come up with my own pattern but all you need to do is google crayon roll tutorials and a bunch will come up. Choose the best one that works for you! Good luck! Remember these make the perfect gift too.

Easy, use anywhere Magnets

Hello and Happy Monday to all of you. So the crashed computer is really crashed.......how sad! So what do you do when you are feeling blue...........make something new!!

Here are some easy magnets that I made and they are awesome for your fridge, a locker or even the home or work office too. I plan on making my own alphabet magnets for the kids....when the printer is once again usable.....or I'll find alphabet stickers :)

Buy some wooden circles (found at most craft stores), some magnets, some cool glossy stuff (pictured above) and use up that never ending scrapbook paper pile to make these magnets. Super cute and super easy!!

These are 1" wooden circles, I used a 3/4" paper punch to punch out the paper, mod podge them on and then I covered them with some of the dimensional embellishment. Let them dry for several hours before gluing on the magnets. I used E-6000 to glue the magnets.

There you have it, fun easy and cute!

find more fun ideas HERE

Scrapbook USA.....here I come!

Friday, Friday, Friday is a favorite day.............why more this week then any other week??? 'Cause I am headed here right after I get off work!!! yippeee.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Heather Bailey

Oh my, Heather was here in my home town doing a local TV show and she showed all of us viewers how to make fabric flowers! Go and check it out here!!!

So cool!!

Here is another link as well

My computer....

Need I say more!!!!!!!

I hope to be back up and running real soon.....just as soon as we get it back from the shop!

This happened right before I left town for the holiday.....joy.

Thanks for still visiting, I have so much more ready to share :)

Tee Pee Pattern.......one I recommend!

One of the most vivid memories I have of my childhood is playing in this Tee Pee that my mom made for me and my siblings. We wore that poor Tee Pee to it's end, so sadly it was not around to pass on. So of course I had to make my kids one.

I made this Tee Pee a while back, I am just slow getting it on here because well the kids play with it all the time. I used the Butterick pattern B4251 (found it at Joann's but also available on line) and it was such a great pattern to use. It looks over whelming, it will take a few days to do but it came together very easily. I found this fabric, again at Ikea because it was $2 a yard on clearance and it's heavy weight fabric. That is what you want, cheap because you need about 9 yards and durable fabric to hold up to the kids.....or in my case the husband that also likes to play in it :)

So keep an eye out for some great fabric, this would make such a great homemade Christmas gift for your kids!

For more great ideas go To a Soft Place to Land