Link Party Monday

Thank you all for another great link party! Check out all of last week's links here. My top picks of the week are....


Love these adorable Framed Pincushions from The Autocrat.


Head over to Eye Spy DIY to find out how to make your own Fabric Labels!


Learn how to Install a Dimmer Switch at Mrs. Arkansas. I'm really excited about this one since we just picked up a dimmer switch for our dining room!


Scrabble Magnets and Tin from Greenbean's Crafterole.

Check out these Glittery Letters along with other St. Patrick's Day crafts at The Pike Family.
If your project was featured, feel free to grab a 'featured' button from my Buttons Page. Now on to this week's link party!

RULES:

• Link up anything related to the domestic arts: crafts, recipes, photography, cleaning tips, money saving tips, decorating, etc.
• No advertising or Etsy shops.
• Link directly to your post - not your home page.
• Please add my button to your post or sidebar to spread the word. :)
• By linking up you give me permission to use content from your post for the purposes of featuring your project.

This party will be open until Friday at Midnight. My favorite projects will be featured at next week's party!

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Kid's Nutrition Chart Printable

I'm lucky enough to have a son who likes to eat healthy foods. The only problem is that he can be a bit picky and doesn't always get the variety that he needs. So I came up with this little system to help both of us keep track of his eating habits!

I went here to find out how many servings of each food group my son needs at his age. This site had a guide for serving sizes.
I made up a list of various foods that he likes to eat and did an image search for them on Google. I edited the photos in Picnik using the Polaroid frame which made them all the same shape and gave me space underneath the photo. Then I added a sticker in the shape to coordinate with the food group that it fits in and wrote the description and serving size.

After editing the photos, I saved them and then copied them over to a Word document with spaces in between and a frame around each one for a cutting guide. Then I printed them out on cardstock.

After that, I cut out each photo and laminated them. I have a Scotch Laminator that I picked up at Sam's Club for about $20. They also have them at Target for around the same price. If you have young children, a laminator is a really handy thing to have. I used it on this project to increase durability and make the chart dry erase.
You could also use clear contact paper. Or you can just print out a new chart for each day and use a regular pen or pencil.

Once they were all cut out, I threw on some self-stick magnets.

Every time he eats something, he moves that picture to above the chart and checks of the box in that food group with a dry erase marker. By moving the photo above the chart, he knows that he has already eaten that kind of food today and should pick something different.

I am loving this new system for a number of reasons:

• I don't have to try and remember what food groups he still needs to eat from that day.
• When we are out of a certain food, I can just remove that magnet.
• Since each food has a shape associated with it he can see for himself what kind of foods he can eat instead of constantly asking for something he can't have.
• When he asks my husband to make him something to eat, Shelby can look at the chart and see if it is okay instead of having to ask me if Jer has already had some.

Of course, I am not a nutritionist so I can't guarantee that the accuracy of the serving sizes and all of that but it is at least a good guideline. I don't want him to over eat so I'm not really worried about him eating the entire portion size. I'm more concerned about getting him to eat a larger variety of foods so we try to make sure that at least one box is checked off in each category.

Oh, and the serving sizes for both dairy and protein were twice the size of what he would normally eat. So instead of having two servings of dairy at 1 cup each, I listed four servings at 1/2 cup each.

Alright, I don't think I have any more disclaimers to add. If you would like to print out my version you can download it as a Word Doc or PDF File. (This is my first time using that file sharing program so let me know if you have any troubles with the download.) Or you can make your own using the foods that your child likes and the portions appropriate for their age and gender.

Link Party Monday....On Tuesday

I'm sorry that the link party is a day late! Things have been crazy around here! I spent a couple of days puppy-sitting for a friend:


Isn't he cute? He was fine on his own but you get him together with our pitbull....


...and you've got the destruction twins. We also had a guest of the human variety for a couple of nights. Then there were errands to run, eight loads of laundry (and I haven't even gotten to the bedding yet), three (or is it four?) loads of dishes, and today I have been hired to do some administrative stuff for Shelby since he is completely buried at work. All of this while taking care of our four-year-old. Fun times! :)
Oh! And we decided to swap all of the bedrooms around again. It has been a lot of work and the house is a complete disaster. It's a much better layout though and I will be able to decorate the rooms the way I envisioned instead of just trying to make them function temporarily.
The good news is that I will have lots of projects to show you very soon! I can't wait to see the house finished. It would be nice to be able enjoy a completed house for awhile before we move and start all over again.
Alright...enough rambling. On to the link party! First, a few of my favorites from last week's party. You can check out all of the links here.


Closet Crafter made these adorable Cookie Charms out of fimo!


I love enchiladas so much I have at least four different recipes that I use for variety. I need to add these Chicken Enchiladas from Ask Anna... to my collection!


I am loving this Vintage Sign that Mrs. Adventure made. It would look awesome in our next house!


You MUST check out the Pink Monkey Party that Racks and Mooby put together. So cute!

This Earring Holder that Chuckles, Grins, & Banged-Up Shins made is genius! Functional and pretty.
Thanks to everyone who linked up last week! I love checking out what you have all been working on. If your project was featured, feel free to grab a 'featured' button from my Buttons Page.
Now it's time to link up again!

RULES:

• Link up anything related to the domestic arts: crafts, recipes, photography, cleaning tips, money saving tips, decorating, etc.
• No advertising or Etsy shops.
• Link directly to your post - not your home page.
• Please add my button to your post or sidebar to spread the word. :)
• By linking up you give me permission to use content from your post for the purposes of featuring your project.

This party will be open until Friday at Midnight. My favorite projects will be featured at next week's party!

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Link Party Monday

Hello! Welcome to another Link Party Monday! To check out all of the projects from last week, click here.

My top picks of the week:

This Upcycled Valentine from Posy The Porcelain Pig is adorable! It doesn't just have to be for Valentine's Day either. You could do this with a number of different sayings, colors, etc.


Ask Anna... celebrates special occasions with a bottle of champage and displays the corks in these Shadow Boxes along with a tag noting the date and occasion. This is such a fun way to display a collection and remember special events at the same time!


Technicolor Dreams not only gave this coffee table a facelift with a new coat of paint but she also added this awesome Table Skirt for extra style and to camouflage items stored underneath. Absolutely brilliant!


Created in His Image shows you how to create amazing Textured Paintings!

Check out how My World Made By Hand created her own Apothecary Jars.
Thank you all for linking up! If your project was featured, feel free to grab a 'featured' button from my Buttons Page. Alright....now it's time to link up and share your amazing talents once again!

RULES:

• Link up anything related to the domestic arts: crafts, recipes, photography, cleaning tips, money saving tips, decorating, etc.
• No advertising or Etsy shops.
• Link directly to your post - not your home page.
• Please add my button to your post or sidebar to spread the word. :)
• By linking up you give me permission to use content from your post for the purposes of featuring your project.

This party will be open until Friday at Midnight. My favorite projects will be featured at next week's party!

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Link Party Monday

First, I would like to say "Welcome" to all of the new followers! I'm so happy to have you here and I hope you will stick around even after the giveaway is over! Speaking of the giveaway...

...I can't believe how excited everyone got about this little guy. I mean I thought he was cute and would make a fun little giveaway but I never expected to get 24 Entries! Apparently I'm not the only one who thought he was cute! Thank you all for entering!

Without further ado the winner is......

Comment #12: Tale of Many Cities!!! Congrats Tracie!

Now on to the link party! You can check out last week's links here. A few of favorites of this week were:

These Felt Roses from Inside BruCrew Life. I love how they look with the simple white vases!

Increasingly Domestic made some Upcycled Crayons with a cool two-toned look.

Words cannot describe how much I want these Thin Mint Cupcakes by Sourkraut Krafts right now. All I can say is: YUM!

Just A Geek Named Jess came up with these adorable Newspaper Hair Clips. I love the "Meow" in the middle of the Garfield one!

Groundhog's Day may be over but these Chocolate Treats from tt.scraps could be used for just about any holiday. I'm thinking hearts for Valentine's Day...bunnies for Easter...the possibilities are endless.

If your project was featured, feel free to grab a 'featured' button from my Buttons Page. Now it's time to link up and wow me with your talents once again!

RULES:

• Link up anything related to the domestic arts: crafts, recipes, photography, cleaning tips, money saving tips, decorating, etc.
• No advertising or Etsy shops.
• Link directly to your post - not your home page.
• Please add my button to your post or sidebar to spread the word. :)
• By linking up you give me permission to use content from your post for the purposes of featuring your project.

This party will be open until Wednesday at Midnight. My favorite projects will be featured at next week's party!

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How To: Take a Screen Grab

In case you have ever wondered how to take a screen shot or screen grab (a picture of whatever is on your computer screen) here is a quick and easy way to do so. Hit the 'Ctrl' and 'PrntScr' buttons at the same time. Above you will see these buttons circled on my very dirty computer.
Now you have your picture and you just need to find a place to paste it. I like to use Photoshop. Just open a new file and choose dimensions large enough to fit your entire computer screen. For mine I use 1366 pixels wide by 768 pixels high.
Then just click 'Edit' drop down menu and select 'Paste' (or you can simultaneously press the buttons 'Ctrl' and 'v'). Then crop and edit the photo however you like and save it as a .jpg There are lots of uses for screen grabs but it comes in particularly handy for things like selecting a giveaway winner through random.org You can show everyone which winner was chosen and no one has to worry about it being rigged. You can also use screen grabs to create computer tutorials like this one!

Cookie Cutter Painting

I originally saw this project last year on Totally Tots and it sounded like a fun one to try with Jeremy.
I taped some plastic wrap to the dining table, spread some pink and red paint onto a palette, gathered some paper, a couple of heart shaped cookie cutters and just let him go at it!
It was a big hit!
He liked it so much that he had to make sixteen of them (his favorite number) to give to his grandmas and have plenty to put "all over the whole house". He was so excited about decorating for Valentine's Day that I may have to rethink my plans and find some more projects for him!

Hedgehog Pincushions & A Giveaway!

I whipped up these adorable hedgehog pincushions the other day and guess what?

This cute little guy wants to come live with you! :)

Why? Because it's time for a 200 Follower Giveaway!

Okay so teeeechnically we reached 200 followers over a week ago. Well, more like three weeks ago when you include email subscriptions. I was having a really difficult time thinking of something fun to give away though so I kept putting it off. Then I remembered this project I saw almost a year ago and decided it would be perfect!

If you don't win the giveaway you can make your own following the tutorial and pattern here. They only took about 20 minutes each!

This would be a fun accessory if you are a sewer. Or it can just sit on your shelf and look cute. :)

Alright. There are only two rules for the giveaway:

RULES:

1. Must be a *public* follower through Google Friend Connect (since this is a giveaway to thank my followers I would like to be able to confirm that the winner is actually a follower) or an Email Subscriber.

2. Leave a comment on this post and you are entered in the giveaway! If you are an email subscriber, just send me an email reply to this post and let me know you want to be entered.

One entry per person. Giveaway ends Sunday at Midnight. On Monday I will randomly choose a winner and announce it at the link party!