The Savvy Mamma

Wood work has been my new hobby lately now that its nice outside, I had a few pallets last fall and finally got around to doing something with them! This was super easy to do! I cut off the end of a pallet, that's what I used for the main part of the rack. Then I used aa long board I also had laying around (you can cut more of the pallet if you want) for the bottom. I used long nails but you can also use screws. I scrubbed the rack when it was completed with Dawn dish soap, a brush and the garden hose. Let it dry in the sun for a few hours,  flipping every hour or so to dry every side. Then with a brush I lightly painted it white, to give it that rustic look. Let dry again I used a stencil, black paint and a sponge to do the lettering You can use whatever you want to fasten to the back for it to hang on the wall. Just go to your local hardware store or even Walmart!

So I recently went to Sams Club looking for a Pokemon cake for my sons 9th birthday and they didnt have anything I asked for just a plane white frosted cake, no edging, nothing but a flat white cake I went to Walmart bought 2 things of white frosting and a squeezable tube, a little one, of black frosting. Also need red food coloring I turned one frosting can into red and left the other white Using a cake piping kit I did the red first, then the black in the center a d lastly added the white to the bottom. It didnt take long and it turned out fabulous!  Dont limit yourself to what the stores have I wanted to decorate it but didnt want to spend the time baking!

Looking for a neat way to teach your little one the basic colors? Stop by your local hardware store and grab a few color cards! Best part... they are free!

This Valentine's Day my son picked r2d2 for his Valentine's Day box project. Thinking of a way to make the top round I decided to do a paper mache for the dome of his head. I was out of Elmer's glue so I decided to use some wood glue that I found in the back of a cubbord. To get it to the right consistency I boiled some hot water and mixed in a little at a time until I had a good watery glue consistency. I blow up a little balloon and placed it on the top of the oatmeal container box that would be the body of r2d2 I cut out strips of newspaper about one and a half inches wide I took a paintbrush and made a layer of glue around the balloon in place the strip top of each other in X fashion I kept doing this until the entire balloon was covered and continue to do about 2 more layers Seeing as though I waited until the last day to do this I had to place it in front of the fan to dry but really you should do this 24 hours in advance. Once it was dry I carefully remove t...

Happy Valentines Day! 

Here's a quick and simple way to recycle a couple old tee shirts into 2 dog toys All you need is a pair of scissors and two old t-shirts. Find the t-shirt out onto a smooth surface, you will only be using the bottom portion of the t-shirt. Cut off the bottom hem of the shirt. Then cut across underneath the armpit of the shirt Now continue to cut strips out of the piece of shirt that you removed Cut anywhere between 12 to 14 strips Now take each strip and stretch them. Gather all the strips together and cut them on one end. Anchor it down underneath something heavy. Separate into 3 different sections and braid. Tie a knot on each end. For extra support on each end you can save one strand of each color and tie around underneath each knot For the smaller toy I simply used the arms of each t-shirt! This takes about 20 minutes to do and I guarantee that your dog will love it! You can also experiment with different ways to tie your dog toys for different types of toys ...

Less than 24 hours until the start of my 1st time as a vendor! I have eveything set and ready to go! Best part, I didnt buy anything, except the M&Ms. I used old books off my book case for table decor. Along with an old scale and case that are part of my bedroom decor. Also framed a piece of my photography work, used black and white for the antique feel. I had a piece of burlap left over from last fall I used for a table runner. The table cloth is an old off-white sheer window drape. A pint sized mason jar is used to hold the pens for the giveaway slips. Again, I used an big old pickle jar to hold all the giveaway slips. I also printed out the slips at home! For the scarfs and rice packs wrapped them with twine, cut out tags with scrap book paper, punched holes and tied them to the items For my photography I created a slide show of my work to play durring the event and placed it in a standing case atop of the books and cases. Im ready to join the club and be a vendor! ...

These rice packs are super simple to make!  They are great to have around the house and they also make the perfect gift!  Materials needed: Cotton fabric Fleece fabric Sissors Needle and thread ( or sewing machine ) Pins Measuring cup Funnel And of course rice (NO INSTANT RICE) Cut out 2 square pieces of cotton in the desired size. This will be the actual rice pack. Pin around the edges. Pin so the outside of the rice pack is on the inside. You goingto filp it "inside out after you sew it together" Sew all 4 sides leaving a gap a few inches long. Flip it inside out through the small gap. Put the funnel in ghe gap and add the rice, one cup at a time. Be sure to leave room in the bag so it can conform to area when used. Sew the gap by hand Measure out 2 pieces of felt fabric, one 3 inches bigger on each side and one 7 inches longer Cut the longer piece in half Pin and the edges of the 2 pieces where they would meet in thr center. Remember , your still workin...

I love my garden, so much that I give it the best possible fertilizers I can. One of the best ways to help your garden flourish is by mixing in compost. Being a family of 6 we generate quite a bit of stuff to add to the compost pile and living up north I dont have the luxury of beautiful weather all year around so adding to my compost daily is not pleasant. Although that chore is reserved for my 8 yr old son. Still, having banana peals, apple cores and egg shells laying around my kitchen until I feel like trudging out back through 2 feet of snow is not ideal. Plus my cleaning OCD just won't allow it! I just needed something to hold my compost until there was enough to take out back, which only takes a day or two in my house. It also had to be easy to clean and have a sealed lid. What better way than to use and recycle a plastic tub! I found a 4 lb tub that once contained the most delicious ox roast this tri state area has to offer! Nice excuse to buy and devour a container in ...

One thing I really enjoy is throwing a party, any party, for any reason. Birthdays are my favorite! Last year for one of my daughters 1st birthday we did an "Over the rainbow" theme. It was super easy and turned out great! I bought most items for the decorations at the dollor tree (everything is $1)! I used tissue paper to make the puff balls that hung above the table. I made 2 bunches and each had one of every color. Currently they are hanging above the changing table in the girls bedroom. They love looking up at the while they get their diapers changed! I hung streamers along the ceiling in rainbow order, pinning up every few feet, ending at a big window (or other wall). Then pinned balloons in conjunction with the color streamer. I also used the left over streamers to create a "rainbow chandelier" in another room. I even found a roll of rainbow streamer at a party store for a few dollars!  (I only needed one roll) The dollar tree had a pack of multi color ...