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Dear Readers, I have been thinking recently most of my posts are not many confessions. So I thought I would create a new blog that focuses on what I really like to write about , what I am passionate about and do in my daily life. I will be moving all my articles over to the new blog, with many others I am writing ,  Semi-Crunchy Frugalistic Mommy on a Budget  Please join me there.  Thank you for following me :)
-Mama bear

Frozen Finger solution - Sock Pop holder

Boo bear loves frozen yogurt and popsicles but her little fingers cannot stand the cold.  So since Cinnamon bear is not a sock wearer, and the laundry monster keeps taking sock sacrifices, we have a few mis matched pairs of her rarely worn socks floating around. I have seen little crochet covers online. 1. I cannot crochet to save my life , and 2. If there is something on had I can use, then even better.

another pretty basic idea..
Sock + Frozen pop =  Pop in Sock. 

DIY Easy as Pie Door Stopper.

 Ok, I checked out Pinterest after I posted this and there is another blogger that did this before. I should check out Pinterest before next time.
 It is summer time, almost.  The  heat is here and the windows are open. Which creates a nice cross breeze. Except when Cinnamon Bear is sleeping, that cross breeze may be nice, but can cause the doors to slam  shut waking her.

In my Pinterest watching I saw those fabric door covers that cover the latches on doors you can make yourself. They are a GREAT idea, but I need air flow in my home.
fabric latch cover example

My last project where I made homemade water balls from sponges and nunchucks from pool noodles

 I had a pool noodle left over. I thought I would help Cinnamon Bear get a little more rest. Of course with 4 kids in the house during summer break ( and their friends coming in and out) , the baby gets woken frequently. (although, she can sleep through a concert) The cat will go in her room using her paw to open the door making a clicking noise which wakes her, or the door slams from the wind, or there are times I want to check on her but opening the door wakes her as well.


 SO In my desperation for her to finally take a nap I made these.

Here are your easy as pie instructions.

You will need, a  pool noodle, and a knife.

Cut pool noodle to desired length for door stopper. ( Do you see the kids teeth marks? LOL they must have been hungry or something.)

 Cut lengthwise a small sliver out of the noodle

BAM.. a door stopper that cost less than 1.00 to make. 

Enjoy! Finally Cinnamon bear can get a cool breeze through her room and sleep. 

Our Media Detox

 Look around when you go out. Church, playground, restaurant  while you are driving. In this day and age almost  everyone has some sort of electronic device attached to them. Cell phones, tablets, game systems, you name it. Everyone seems so very connected but in reality we have become  very disconnected. Disconnected with those around us and right in front of us. Sad as this is, this scene Disney Pixar Wall-E, points out what is going on today with electronics and us trying to be connected. Watch the whole thing and point out similarities of what you see around you today.

I must say this.. my pet peeve is when I am talking to someone face to face and they are looking down at their phone and texting. It is a respect issue for me. Be with the people who are right in front of you I believe. I have this  blue basket now at my front door ( or did until the sign went missing)  I do not force my friends to put away their phones, but encourage them to be with those in front of them.

 We just got the tablet and it has been nice when I have been at a PTU (parent teacher union)meeting I will admit. But finding the kids want to play all the time if I have it.  I see kids faces buried in these all the time when I go somewhere. Even kids who are becoming addicted.. not just to these tablets but other media. Read this article about children and Ipad addiction. Toddlers becoming addicted to Ipad require therapy.

We recently got cable television last summer for the first time   and let our kids play more on the video game consoles. My middle two kids had never experienced cable TV or commercials much for that matter. We started noticing a trend with our kids. They seemed to be sucked in like Sleeping beauty was with the needle on the spindle in the Disney movie "Sleeping Beauty"  haha. I noticed they were more distracted, and it was harder for them to focus.

In all seriousness,  We noticed that with the new media around, our kids were fighting etc and had case of the gimmies and the "I am soooo bored" whine.

A mom at my kids school I found out has no TV or video games and the only cell phone I see used is her and her husband.  Her kids are star students and  do very well at school.Another mom friend of mine did a week as well of no media,  Her kids success inspired me to do the media detox.

So we took it upon ourselves last Fall and bagged up of ALL their toys that they said they were bored with, but a few like books, blocks etc. Then shut down and turned off all video games. They were off limits up until March of this year.

It was hard at first to not tell the kids, "hey, go watch a TV show, or play a video game". At times I wanted so much to have it quiet while they watched a show they liked.  So to help instead of spending money  on a new video game or the extra cable package, we purchased board games, and books. With the cold , winter break we encouraged pretend play, writing, drawing, and outside play.  That became our media detox. The change we saw in our kids was AWESOME.

They started playing together, using more of their imagination again ( like they did before we had tv) and got along better. We played more games as a family, and I was able to teach them card games I enjoyed as a kid. Like Speed, go fish, Uno, Old Maid etc. They learned how to play poker, and even Dude Bear who is 11 made up a role playing game on his own, not knowing what those games even were.

What it does come down to is moderation of course. With summer approaching it can be hard to not let them just play a video game or watch TV for something to do. I guess in this I just want to encourage parents or yourself to once in a while do a media detox. I know some of you rely soley on cell phones, and being connected ..but unplug once in a while, You will enjoy the silence.  Be with those around you and enjoy that little time you have with your kids or your loved ones. It was worth it for us.

"Hole" solution to hole-riffic pants

Don't send your child's, or your, hole-riffic pants to the trash! There is a way to still get mileage out of them, and not make them look like you ironed on those ugly patches.  I was searching for a solution because with boys in this house, those pants get holey fast. I was desperate  to find a better looking solution. So..thank goodness for the new trend. "Distressed pants". and recently found painted pants ( which I have seen sell online from 25.00 to 95.00 for custom paint jobs)  This is how I fixed the "hole" problem. It does take some time, but with me time is money, and I am saving a ton in NOT buying new pants until they out grow them.
 All of my examples are at the end of this post.

What you will need:

• Pants with holes in the knees
• scrap pants ( the ones where the holes are way to big to repair) or scrap fabric
• Iron on patches
• scissors
• needle and matching thread
• embroidery hoop (optional)
• fabric paint (optional)
• small craft paint brushes (optional)

As you may have read before, I am not a great at sewing and have little patience. With 4  kids in this house, I need to get things done as quick and easy as possible. My awesome neighbor gave me a bag of her 4t boys pants with holes, her kiddo had out grown for me to use as "play jeans" for Boo Bear. The holes were there, but not super bad, like ripped from one side to the next. So I started looking at ways to repair the hole. Of course easily, inexpensively, and not make it look like I slapped a iron on jean patch to fix the hole.  So my solution. Patch from the inside of the pants, hand sew to secure the patch and paint creatively. 
Kids Jeans instructions and distressed instructions are below.

I did 2 different types. Jeans to look distressed and painted jeans with the inside out patch covering up the hole.

  Do this for all variations of jeans.
1.Turn Jeans inside out.

2. Cut a piece out from your spare pair of junk jeans to cover  the hole of the jean with about an 1/8
inch allowance on all sides..making sure the spare jeans patch will overlap  the hole

3. Place that spare jean part on your iron on patch and cut around the spare jean patch with a 1 inch allowance around the sides.
 side note* - you can iron the area you are fixing on the jeans to warm up the area so the patch will adhere better.

4. Place spare jean patch face down to cover hole in jeans entirely

5. Place iron on patch shiny side down ( to adhere the patch to the jeans)
6, With iron on HIGH heat, move the iron back and forth constantly until patch is secured. Let cool.

7. Turn pants right side out. With a needle and thread, hand sew around the outside hole to secure the patch further. ( some patches the edges will peel off no matter how much you have ironed them)

If you like the distressed look, stop here.  I did this for my jeans, since they were distressed when I bought them, but the distressed part on my knee tore open. now it looks like the hole was always that size.  Since I patched them using the above steps.

What this really is is patching your jeans from the inside instead of the outside. The "spare jean" part keeps the stickiness of the iron on patch from sticking to your ironing table, and also makes the finished product look better, and for kids jeans the next part, gives you a flat canvas to paint on.

Now for Kids Jeans

Follow Steps 1-7
8. Clean up ragged edges by cutting off scraps of string.
9. With creativity, you can use iron on transfers, to stencils, to bejeweled kits, buttons, etc. 
10. Come up with designs you will like that will cover up the holes and hide them better.
11. Decorate as you please.

I hope this was informative for you and will help you save those jeans , and get a little more use out of them.
 

Before

                                  After

 

 

 

 

Girls Bug pants

 

 

Before with just patches and sewing








After with caterpillar and ladybug. Flowers below pockets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Girls Butterfly pants

Before                                                                                       After