Printable Birthday Quotes

Two of my favorite people in the world have birthdays in March.  My mom's is tomorrow, and my husband's is the 29th.  In honor of their birthdays, I thought I'd share some of my printable birthday quotes, again.  It's been awhile. 

This picture is from a post I did last January.  This is my birthday memory board.  In that post, I go through all of the components of my memory board, and I have a link where you can print out the birthday quotes.  You can see one of them in the picture above (Happy Birthday To You!).  There are six in all.

Click to Print

And I have two more birthday quotes to print out from another post I did for my birthday and my mom's last year.  I love making the special people in my life feel extra special on their special day!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

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Bubble Art

My brother-in-law and his girlfriend were here visiting over the weekend.  All three of my boys adore both of them, and it's easy to see why.  They always take the time to play with them, and have such fun ideas!

This last time it was bubble art.  Have you heard of it before? I can't believe I hadn't, or thought of it on my own.  It's such a fun, simple way to make amazing pieces of art!  As you look at the overload of pictures, keep in mind these were made by four and seven-year-olds.

SUPPLIES

Card stock

Bubbles

Bubble wands

Icing Colors (we used Wilton's.  Food coloring would work, but the icing colors are more vibrant)

HOW TO

*Pour bubbles (around 1/2 C.) into as many different cups as you want colors.

*Mix in icing colors.  I'd say we used 1/4-1/2 tsp. of the coloring for each cup of bubbles.  It did take awhile to get the coloring to dissolve into the bubbles.  I'm wondering if you warmed the bubbles slightly in the microwave first, then the mixing might not take quite as long.

*Dip the bubble wand into the colored bubbles, and blow on to card stock.  You can experiment with how close you want to blow to the card stock.  My boys loved to get a bubble to stick to the card stock and then pop it.  That way it made a sun effect.

We did this inside, (at the request of my brother-in-law and his girlfriend (they'd done it before)) and I'm glad we did.  I've heard of others doing it outside, and the wind just doesn't help at all.  We put down a big plastic table cloth on the kitchen floor and that worked really well. 

Be ready to get a bit messy.  My boys had popped colored bubble specks all over their faces.  They looked adorable!  We got it on our hands a bit too, but nothing too bad.  We could have done this all day.  Once you get the hang of it, and start experimenting with different colors, bubble sizes, techniques, you won't want to stop.  Such a fun, creative way to spend some time with your kids!

And here are a few of our other favorite art projects we do at our house.

Shaving Cream & Food Coloring Art

Sticker Stencil Art 

Fingerprint Art

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

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Banana Buttermilk Waffles

 January was healthy breakfast recipes month at Blissful Roots.  Today, I'm taking a step in the complete opposite direction.  This recipe falls into the dessert-for-breakfast category.  It's the weekend special at our house.  We only have waffles once a week, so it's okay to splurge!

My sister made these buttermilk waffles for us last time we stayed at her house.  We usually just use Krusteaz mix, (and actually mix equal parts of water and mix to make the waffles thin and crispy) but after one bite of the homemade buttermilk waffles, I was sold!

The recipe comes from Better Homes & Gardens.  Make sure you scroll down to the middle of the page to find the buttermilk variation.  Then, just stir in one or two very ripe mashed bananas to the batter before you put it on the waffle iron.

And for me, nothing ruins a waffle more than store-bought syrup. Does that sound a bit snobbish?  It's true!  I really can't stand store-bought syrup.  I grew up on homemade, so I guess that's just what I'm used to.  Here's the homemade maple syrup recipe we always use at our house.  It's so, so easy!  Three ingredients, and a few minutes.  That's it.  I guarantee you'll be converted!

I've always loved waffles better than pancakes, and I love waffles the most when they're cooked with the right waffle iron.  I have a single Belgian waffle maker, and my mother-in-law has the double version of it.  I love it because you can cook two at a time, and they're perfection every time!  She has this Waring Pro one.  It is a bit of an investment, but if you're a waffle family like we are, then it's worth it!  We even used it to serve waffles and amazing toppings at my sister-in-law's wedding reception last spring, and it worked like a charm for a good-sized crowd.

I honestly can't eat waffles without bananas in them any more.  They add such wonderful flavor (if you like bananas), and at least I feel like I'm getting a bit of nutrition amongst my dessert breakfast.

How do you like your waffles?

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

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The Abundant Life {Printable}

Every year I'm a month (or five) behind the "word of the year" bandwagon.  I didn't post my word of the year until May (yes, you read that right) last year.  So, despite my tardiness I'm way ahead of last year's schedule.

I've read several things about living the abundant life lately, and I've decided that's my goal for this year (and every year hereafter).  I want an abundant life, and that's far from what it may appear to be at first glance.

Here's a portion of one of the talks I read entitled 'The Abundant Life' from Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin.  He says,

...the abundant life does not come to us packaged and ready-made. It’s not something we can order and expect to find delivered with the afternoon mail. It does not come without hardship or sorrow.

It comes through faith, hope, and charity. And it comes to those who, in spite of hardship and sorrow, understand the words of one writer who said, “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”

The abundant life isn’t something we arrive at. Rather, it is a magnificent journey that began long, long ages ago and will never, never end.

-Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

You can click here to read his entire message (and might I suggest you do, such a good read!).

When I looked up the definition of abundant I found words like: 

Lavish

Huge

Rich

Large

but I also found words like:

 Ample

Great

Overflowing

Generous

I tend to relate my abundant life to the latter list.   I think the reason I love the phrase ,"the abundant life" so much is because that's what I want to provide for others, and in turn my life will be abundant as well.  I want to make our home life (for my husband and boys) abundant.  I want to do simple acts of service for others that will bring a hint of abundance into their lives.  I want to enjoy abundance 365 days of the year, regardless of my circumstances.  And I believe that is possible!

What would/does your abundant life look like?

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

UPDATE
Unfortunatley, allowing you to print this printable by Rhonna's App is in violation of the EULA.  You can use my image as a guide to create your own.  Sorry!

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Think & Wonder… {DIY Dr. Seuss Wall Art @ It's Overflowing}

Happy Monday everyone!  Today, I'm over with Aimee at It's Overflowing.  She's doing a series called 'A Craft Made By You', and she was kind enough to invite me to participate.  I jumped at the opportunity because Aimee is the sweetest gal you'll ever meet, and I love everything she does at It's Overflowing.

I have three young boys, and I don't know if this holds true for little girls, but my boys wonder and wonder and wonder.  If I ever sit in their room as their falling asleep, I get a thousand questions about anything and everything.  For some reason right before bed is their "deep thinking" time.  I'm constantly amazed, and somewhat baffled at the questions they come up with.  Often times I don't have an answer for their wonderings.  I always want to foster that love of thinking and wondering in them, so I thought this Dr. Seuss quote would be perfect to hang in their room. 

You can find my entire post here with the easy tutorial on how I made the Dr. Seuss wall art.  I have a link to Country  Living's filament bulb image that I used (don't you love it?), and I let you know where I found my $1.50 stamp sets for the lettering.  Such a fun and inexpensive project!

  And here (in honor of his up-coming (March 2nd) birthday) are a few free Dr. Seuss printable quotes I've made over the past year.  He knows just how to say it!

Click to Print

Click to Print

Click to Print

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

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DIY Embellished Storybook Pages

I have a major thing for old children's books.  My mom's sister taught school many years ago, and we have a large collection of her books.  Nothing makes me happier than looking through a pile of Aunt Connnie's books.  I always hang on to  these kinds of books because of the charming pictures.

This particular book actually came from a thrift store find of my mom's.  It was full of countless stories.  I've cut the whole book apart, and have used many of the pictures for decor.  

The story I Can Fly by Ruth Krauss was the very last story in the book.  I immediately feel in love with the illustrations and the message the story had to share.  

Sometimes I just cut the picture out of the book, frame it, and then I'm done.  But what I really like to do is embellish the pages a bit.  I can't believe I forgot to take a 'before' picture of this page.  What you're seeing is the page with all my embellishments.  Pretty much anything that appears to be three-dimensional is my doing.

I like to use stickers (I layer them often times), glitter, cut outs from my Cricut, ribbon, string, pom poms, pretty much anything I have lying around that's small enough and cute enough.

Here are a just a few of the things I embellished.

I added a fun party hat sticker to the girl's head.  For her dress, I layered a white flower sticker, a peppermint-type candy sticker, and then a white pearl sticker to finish it off.  I added white stars to the sky (actually table scatter from the 4th of July), and glittered the clouds a bit.  The balloon is a cut out from my Cricut with a little bow tied from embroidery floss.

I try to not get too carried away with embellishments, but sometimes I can't help myself.  I like to find things in the picture that naturally lend themselves to embellishing (her dress was screaming for a flower or something).  That way the picture looks somewhat natural with a bit of pop, not crowded and gaudy.  But, with that being said, it's so much fun to play around with the picture and all the different embellishments you have.  They sky's the limit!  Let your imagination run.

Sometimes I frame these pieces of art, or other times I mount them on cute scrapbook paper or a canvas.  I think this particular one would be perfect for a canvas.  I can't wait to find a spot for it.  This picture makes me so happy every time I look at it!  And I made it for nothing.  Simple pleasures!  

You can click here to see my Richard Scarry Storybook Dictionary alphabet set.  Another old book I cut apart and used for decor.  That one can actually work as a word wall (educational!) as well.

What do you do with old books?

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

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