Show Us Your Life...Show us Your Singles

So, I am linking up with Kelly today over at Kelly's Korner for her series Show Us Your Life.  This week is her singles edition.  I was hesitant at first, but considering I have been out of the whole "socializing" game for over seven years, I figured, what could it hurt.  So here is a little about myself....

(me and my little man this Halloween)

I am 29 years old and I currently live in Northwest Arkansas.  I graduated from The University of Texas San Antonio with a B.A. in education.  I am currently a Pre-K teacher and I ADORE my students and their families!!  I am very much a southern girl.  I can be girly, but I can be very much a tom boy as well.  I LOVE to watch sports....and I mean LOVE it!  I am not one of those girls that says they like sports, I really mean it!  I also like to fish, cook, hike, scrapbook, and craft.

(me and my wonderful niece Clara)

The most important thing in my life is my four year old son Truett.  He is the reason I live and breathe.  You could not find a more proud mommy!!  I also adore my family.  I really have the most amazing and kind family in the whole world!!  I don't know what I would do without them! 

If there is anything else you need to know about me, you can always snoop around my blog or post a comment!

Product of the Week...Toothbrushing with Kids

It's another fun week of linking up with Tiffani and Aly for Product of the Week!!  So far I have shared my love for Bath and Body Works Gentle Foaming Soap and Revlon's PhotoReady Foundation, but this week, I thought I would share a little something that makes my life as a mommy so much easier!!

I am sure those of you who are mommys will understand when I say that tooth brushing time can be a little dreadful for me and my little guy!  For him, tooth brushing is just a chore he has to do that is taking away from his play time, and because he is miserable, well, makes me miserable.  That is, until I found the secret to fun tooth brushing!!  Here is my secret to making it through tooth brushing time with smiles instead of tears....

Now, I know that technically there is more than one product, but all three play an intricate part in making this time successful.  So, my Product(s) of the week are Listerine Agent Cool Blue mouth rinse, Aquafresh Kids toothpaste, and any kid's Spinbrush toothbrush.  The mouth rinse, I don't know what it is, but it saved my sanity! I guess Truett feels like a big kid getting to use this, but he always looks forward to getting to use it.  He swishes it around in his mouth while I do the countdown.  The Aquafresh Kids toothpaste is the perfect balance for kids.  It isn't too overpowering of a flavor, but still does it's job.  Plus it cleans his teeth well AND gives him good breath.  Also, Tru loves the way it dispenses onto his toothbrush!  As for the toothbrush, my son picked out the Captain America Spinbrush, and the Spinbrush for kids was a life saver!!  He loves it!!  I actually have to tell him he can stop brushing or he would go on forever!!  Instead of tears and arguing, tooth brushing time has become one of our favorite times in the day thanks to these three amazing products!!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my Product(s) of the Week!!  I can't wait to see what everyone else has shared!!  Have a great rest of the week!!

Craft of the Month----Love

Today I am linking up with From Mrs to Mama for her DIY craft of the month.  This month's theme is Love. I was kind of stumped as what to do to be honest.  I thought about it long and hard, and well, I decided I wanted to make decor for my house to go with my other Valentine's Day decor I have up.  As much as I love to decorate for Valentine's Day, I don't necessarily want to see pink, red, and hearts everywhere I turn.  I wanted to make something that you knew it was for Valentine's, but something that had style and was more modern.  So this is what I made...

It's a wall hanging that says Love on it.  Now, I apologize for the quality of the photo!  My camera is on it's last leg, and just doesn't take the best photos anymore.  This was super easy to make and it super inexpensive to make as well!

Here's how I made this just in case you are inspired to make one or one similar to it:

First I bought a 11"X14" canvas at Hobby Lobby that usually retails for $8.99, but was 40% off, and some really cute fabric that was also on sale.  I bought 1/2 yard, so I only paid $2.45 for it.  There was actually plenty of fabric left over to make another one if you want to make a pair, but I am saving it for later for another project.

I then covered the canvas with the material and attached it on the back using hot glue.  After that, I hot glued ribbon to the edges to act as a hanger.  The ribbon is some that I already had at home, but you can purchase it at Hobby Lobby for about $3.99 regular price per roll, but they often have these on sale for 50% off  So it is very inexpensive and you will have plenty for several projects!!

Next I cut out a heart shape out of regular white paper and traced it onto my covered canvas lightly with a pencil.  I then hot glued on these red Gemstones by Paper Studio.  You will find these in the scrapbooking aisle at your craft store.  I already had these, but at Hobby Lobby they run $2.99 per package.  You can also find these on sale every month or so.  I ended up using about three packages for this craft.

This is a shot of me hot gluing on the gemstones. 

When I was done with the heart, I then wrote out the word Love onto the canvas with my pencil and hot glued more gemstones on.  I really like the red, black, and off white.  This was very simple and very inexpensive!  I hope you enjoy!

I can't wait to go back and see what everyone else has come up with!!  Happy crafting!!!

Glue Gun Fun!!

Linking this up with Petals to Picots and Someday Crafts!!!  Enjoy!!
So I was finding myself being in a crafty mood, and how convenient for me that Hobby Lobby just happened to be having sale!!  Lucky me!!  This Christmas I went through all of my extra picture frames because I gave Truett's photos that I had done aways as gifts, so I found myself needing a couple of frames to fill in some empty spots in my bedroom.  Hobby Lobby had their frames for 50% off, so I dropped in to grab a couple.  I found two frames that I liked, both were originally $9.99, but half off, so I was able to get both for a total of $9.99!!  Not bad!!  So off to home I went to give these frames a little pizazz!!

This is what all I used to decorate the first frame.  I bought just a simple black frame, then I used some gold ribbon and black ribbon that I had at home.  This ribbon is real inexpensive.  I bought this a while back at Hobby Lobby when it was half off.  I got both rolls for a combined total of $3.99!  The final touch is a brooch that has been handed down to me from one of my grandmothers.  The first thing I did was make a bow and secure it with hot glue.  I did not want to damage the broach since it is a family heirloom, so I simply just pinned it on to the center of the bow.  Then I hot glued the bow to the frame, and this is the final project....

I am happy with how it turned out!  There was one very similar to this at Hobby Lobby retailing for almost $30.00 full price, and I was able to do this one for about $6.00!!

A closer up photo of the ribbon I used and the brooch.  I liked the glittery polka dot pattern on the gold ribbon combined with the simple black ribbon!  Added a little something extra I think!

One last image of the completed black frame....

Now on to the gold frame I decorated.  I used this simple gold frame and some old antique earrings that I had been given.  These earring belonged to my great-grandmother, but a lot of them were broken in some way, so I wanted a way to use them so that I can keep them forever even though they were all broken.  So, I decided that the earrings would really look nice on this frame since they all had gold tones in them.  I laid out a pattern on the gold frame that I thought would look nice and then just simply hot glued them on.  Here is the final result...

I am pretty happy with how this one turned out.  My favorite part is that it has

meaning to it since I used something that was handed down to me!

One last view of the finished gold frame.

It only took me about an hour or so to complete the two frames.  I am happy with how they turned out and they look really good in my bedroom too!  I also worked on another craft project that I will post later this week...you know me, once I get that glue gun out, I just can't seem to put it away!!  haha!!

Another week of freebies!!!!

The freebies have been starting to pick up again!  I love knowing that I am saving money!!  So, here is what I was able to get this week...

First, the freebies that I got through the mail.  I got another coupon book filled with wonderful coupons towards P&G items from Home Made Simple, a free sample of neck firming lotion and 10% off coupon towards an online purchase from LovelySkin.com , and a Benefiber sample made available from Rite Aid.  The rest of my items I was able to get for free, or practically free, using my coupons!  The three packages of Cascade Action Pacs I was able to get for free using my three $1.00 off Cascade coupons.  The packs run for $0.97 each at Wal Mart and Target, so there is also a little overage too.  The BIC pens I was able to get free as well using two $1.00 off any BIC stationary product coupons.  These packages of pens run for $0.97 to $1.00 at Wal Mart.  Look out for these coupons, they put them in the paper every couple of months!  I know they are just pens, but for those who have kids or work in offices, this cuts costs on supply lists!!    The two Aquafresh Extreme Clean toothpastes I got for free using two $1.00 of coupons at Target.  The coupons did not have size restrictions on them, so I used them to pick up the travel sizes that run for $0.97.  The Kotex Natural liners I got for free using my $1.00 off coupon.  At Wal Mart, they are $0.97, so there is also a tiny overage on these as well.  The Kotex Natural pads were not free, but pretty close.  I had another $1.00 off any Kotex Natural product coupon and used it towards these pads that run for $2.48 at Wal Mart.  So, I did pay $1.48 for the package, but when is the last time you paid that little for your feminine products?

All in all it was a pretty successful week with the freebies!  Oh, and just to let you in on an upcoming post, my glue gun has found its way out of the closet...dum, dum, dum! haha!!  You know that that means I have been up to no good!!!  haha!!  Enjoy the rest of your week!!