Happy Spring!

Spread the word

Spread the Word to End the Word

Fact Sheet

WHAT

Spread the Word to End the Word_™ is an ongoing effort by Special Olympics, Best Buddies and our supporters to raise the consciousness of society about the dehumanizing and hurtful effects of the R-word and encourage people to pledge to stop using the R-word. 

The campaign, created by youth, is intended to engage schools organizations and communities to rally and pledge their support at www.r-word.org and to promote the inclusion and acceptance of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

WHEN

The official annual day of awareness is held the first Wednesday of every March. While most activities are centered on or near that annual day in March, people everywhere can help spread the word throughout their communities and schools year-round thru pledge drives, youth rallies and online activation.

WHO

Spread the Word to End the Word was founded by college students Soeren Palumbo (Notre Dame 2011) and Tim Shriver (Yale 2011) in 2009, and continues to be led by passionate young people, Special Olympics athletes and Best Buddies participants across the United States and in many other parts of the world.

WHY

Respectful and inclusive language is essential to the movement for the dignity and humanity of people with intellectual disabilities.  However, much of society does not recognize the hurtful, dehumanizing and exclusive effects of the R-word. 

Language affects attitudes. Attitudes impact actions. Make your pledge to choose respectful people first language today at www.R-word.org.

HOW

Visit www.r-word.org to learn how you can Spread the Word to End the Word.

Laundry sorting trick: Sock keepers

Sometimes there are simple things that make a job quite a bit easier.

This is one of them:

One of the things I strongly dislike about folding and sorting laundry, 

is matching socks and figure out who they belong to.

I would spend quite a bit of time holding up socks to see if they were the same length, 

and once I had paired them all, trying to figure out which child was the owner.

A few months ago I read about something that could help to eliminate this chore:

Give each child their own laundry bag, let them put their worn socks in it.

Then just wash the whole thing, throw it in the dryer like that,

and hand it back to them to be sorted. 

I used cheap laundry bags, and sewed a strip of patterned fabric along the zipper so that my girls would know which one belongs to them.

The result?

After 3 months of doing this

(yep, I am a slow blogger)

I have to say:

it works GREAT!

For them it's easy to put their worn socks in the bag every night,

and after laundry they just match up their socks and put it in their own drawer.

Should have done this YEARS ago!

Now, go make your own sock keepers :)

Shared at: Sugar Bee Crafts.

Easy, healthy & delicious berry smoothie

I came up with this recipe on one of these days where I felt I needed something fast, easy and healthy.

It makes one serving, as pictured, and I really like it..

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup cranberry juice (100% juice)

* 1/2 cup Greek vanilla yogurt

* 1/2 cup strawberries (I used fresh)

* 1/3 cup raspberries (I used frozen)

Put it all in the blender & blend till smooth.

Enjoy!

Shared at Tatertots and Jello and Sugar Bee Crafts.

Loved

Happy Valentine's Day!

Free Chalkboard Valentine Printables

I really like the chalkboard art I've seen everywhere lately.

A few weeks ago I found this great tutorial on making your own chalkboard printables.

I gave it a try, and happened to find my attempts again today.

So I thought I'd share :)

They could be used as a card or home decor.

And the following one is a variation on this printable I created last year.

And as always: for personal use only please...

Shared at Todays Creative Blog.

Valentine Pencil Flags - Easy handmade Valentines (Free printable)

Do you need a fast and easy, but cute Valentine?

You've come to the right place!

The colorful text on these flags wishes you a Happy Valentine's Day,

while on the back there is room for the giver to write their names.

They're fast to make, and your kids can help, or they could even do it.

You can use Valentine pencils, or any other kind of pencil would work.

We picked plain ones for the boys and patterned ones for the girls...

Below you see the sheet you're going to print out.

One page makes 11 flags.

You can print on regular printer paper, 

colored cardstock, or scrapbook paper...

Click HERE to download the PDF document.

Use a paper trimmer or scissors to cut the page in strips, 

as pictured below.

Let your child fill in his or her name at this point, before they are attached to the pencils.

Use a glue stick to put glue on the strip. 

You don't need to put it on the whole strip, but make sure to put it a little further than the center of the strip. 

(So I mean more than half of the strip has glue on it.)

Hmmm, does that make sense?

This will make sure that the flag stays in place.

Cut out a little triangle.

And that is all!

Simple, right?!

My girls are excited to give these to their classmates on Valentine's day!

Enjoy!

Shared at Tatertots and Jello and Todays Creative Blog.

Easy and affordable gallery wall

We updated our hallway upstairs with a pretty rug.

Our current wall decor didn't match the rug,

so I started thinking about an easy way to change it.

I came up with this gallery wall using simple black & white pictures of our children.

It was very cheap, fast and easy...

So I will share what I did.

First, I selected some pictures of my girls that I really like.

They were all taken in different settings, and they were wearing different colors,

so I changed the pictures to black and white for a more uniform look.

I also took pictures of their hands.

Then, I got some frames at the $ store:

11 by 14 document frames for the large pictures, and 5 by 7 frames for the small ones.

Since I wanted to add some color,

I used Picasa to do that:

1. Create a picture collage in Picasa (option: Picture pile)
2. Pick the right size (for me 11 by 14)
3. Pick "solid color" for your background and select a color.
4. Add the picture of your choice: you can drag it to the right position and resize it if necessary.

I saved it and added their names (in the same color as the background) on top of the picture.

Then I just had the whole picture printed. No need to mat the picture, since that is already a part of the picture. 

A very easy way to customize the colors with your decor. 

The added names add to the customized look...

Simple, right?!

I hung the pictures, but something wasn't quite right yet:

I didn't like how everything was centered around the thermostat, so to distract from it, 

I used some vinyl and my Silhouette Cameo to create this little owl.

Now the thermostat isn't the center of attention anymore :)

2013...

Happy Holidays!

Southwestern Dip Mix Gift - Free printable labels

Do you need a last minute handmade gift idea,

that's easy and tasty?

I got one for you!

It all started when I spotted these cute dishes at Michaels:

They were too small for baked gifts,

but I thought they were so cute, so I got them anyway.

Then I realized they would be perfect to serve a dip in.

Looking around online, I found a dip that sounded tasty.

So I mixed it up, and I tested it, and I served it to my family.

We all liked it, so I considered it a success.

It is this recipe for Southwestern Dip Mix from Taste of Home.

I mixed up a big batch,

got Ball half pint wide mouth canning jars, 

and filled them with the mix.

I printed a label with directions and stuck it on top of the jar.

(You mix one tablespoon of the mix with 1/2 cup of sour cream and 1/2 cup of mayonnaise.)

To protect the dish, I cut this shape with my Big Shot,

out of the protective material the cashier at Michaels had wrapped around my dishes.

I put the protective material in between the dish and the jar:

Then, I wrapped it in some clear plastic bags,

and tied it up with ribbon.

And they were ready to be gifted!

In case you want to make your own,

I am sharing the printable labels with the directions on it HERE.

Shared at Tatertots and jello.

Washi Tape Candle Holder and Candle - Fast, Pretty & Easy

This HAS to be one of the fastest, easiest crafts I ever made...

I decided to share, since it's fun to make, and it can be used for gift giving, or just keep it for yourself...

I found this beautiful tape at Michaels.

I remembered seeing somewhere online where people were decorating candles or candle holders with Washi tape.

I wanted to use only a thin strip of the red and white striped tape, 

so I stuck it onto the backing sheet of a sticker sheet,

and trimmed it with my paper trimmer.

Then I just put it around a glass jar.

You can use store-bought canning jars, windlights, or just use an empty jam jar like I did...

In order to make the tealight match, I put some tape around that, too.

Simple, but lovely...

I really like the candy cane tape,

the colors, and the cute border, and also like how well it goes together with the narrow piece of candy-cane striped tape.

So if you don't have much time,

but still need to do some decorating,

or if you need a simple gift,

now you know what to do!

If you're looking for more handmade gift ideas,

check out this list of DIY gift tutorials.

Shared at Craft-o-maniac and Sugar Bee Crafts.