Serenity Now

Friday, June 24, 2011

::Weekend Bloggy Reading:: Link Up!

Welcome to Weekend Bloggy Reading. I hope you'll link up your best post of the week today, and maybe leave me some comment love!

All kinds of posts are welcome--recipes, crafts, funny stories, home decor, etc.; but please do not link to Etsy shops, businesses, items for sale, etc. (I have a Sponsors section, if you'd like to Advertise with me.)

Here are a few of my faves from this week:

sources listed below

~Melissa came up with a great Summer Chore System for kids.

~Lisa brought a Summer Theme on a shoestring budget to her home with some vintage sports equipment.

~Crystal's whimsical take on a Big Girl Bedroom Design will inspire you!

~This hand-me-down Headboard Makeover will make you smile. Great update!

~You must read Richella's Advice for a Lasting Marriage.

~And me? This week featured:

Girls' Night Out Recap (Shopping "Social")
Child Safety Temporary Tattoos
What to do on MY "Weekend Off"
Party Favor Temporary Tattoos
A June Silhouette Promotion (a $199 Silhouette Bundle Package, or 25% off your purchases-excluding gift cards and download codes--when you use my code SERENITY)

Time to link up your best post of the week (please take the time to include a link-back or my party button and visit some of the other participants!)

Here's the button code if you'd prefer to use that rather than a link-back:

Party is open until 10 pm (ET) on Sunday night.

Remember that blog parties work best when bloggers participate, so if you have a chance to visit a few of the other links, you might find a new friend or two!

My in-laws are taking Natalie and Michaela Byrd on a little trip for a T family reunion this weekend. I'm honestly not thrilled about the girls going so far away (my 3 year old has never been away without me before), but T pretty much insisted that they be allowed to go. So I am sucking it up and vowing to enjoy my Saturday and Sunday. Trying to convince my mom to go to IKEA with me on Sunday, and I have plans to yard sale tomorrow. By myself!

What are you up to this weekend?

I'll be back tomorrow with some highlights from Weekend Bloggy Reading!

(This Code is for blogs featured today!):

Thursday, June 23, 2011

More Tattoo Fun

As cool as I thought my Child Safety Temporary Tattoos turned out, my girls were relatively unimpressed. Natalie wanted something a little more "fancy," so I agreed to come up with something more to her liking.

Like I said on Tuesday, the beauty of Silhouette's temporary tattoo paper is that you don't have to own a Silhouette machine or software to make your own tattoo creations.

I did a quick search on Google for a cute Tinkerbell image, saved it, and printed out a sheet of the images right onto the Temporary Tattoo Paper. It only takes a minute to smooth the green adhesive paper on with a pot scraper and cut the images out.

When I was finished, I had a nice little pile of Tinkerbell tattoos...ready to go up to the party closet for Natalie's (December) birthday party. (Tip: I hit Target's Dollar Spot throughout the year to find inexpensive party favors so I don't have to fork over $$$ when the birthdays roll around)

Of course, I couldn't get away with stowing all of the tattoos. I had two product testers who were more than willing to try them out for me:

Have you been itching to buy your Silhouette SD? You can details on an awesome June Silhouette Promo here on my blog...plus 25% off your purchase (aside from download codes and gift cards) when you use my SERENITY code.

I hope you'll come back tomorrow to link up YOUR best post of the week to Weekend Bloggy Reading. Recipes, crafts, home decor, book reviews, funny stories, you name it. Come prepared to showcase your blog and find some great weekend reads.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Independence Day Comes Early for this Mom?

It looks like I may celebrate Independence Day a wee bit early this year. My in-laws asked if they could take Natalie and Michaela Byrd to a T family reunion in North Carolina this weekend. T will be working, so it will just be me for most of the day.

After some initial trepidation, the prospect of spending two whole days doing whatever. the. heck. I. want. won out.

Everyone parents differently, and my in-laws are pretty fantastic. I don't worry about them losing one of my kids, or accidentally teaching them bad words (~~I already did that~~), or letting them roam the hotel unattended. I tend to be a worrier, and my worries revolve around car crashes and sickness and snake bites and general maladies and tragic events. I went all Dr. Phil on myself once and deduced that this most likely stems from losing a parent as a teenager.

Once I told myself to stop acting like a head case, the idea of going Ferris Bueller for a couple of days really seemed like a great idea.

The only problem is, I am so lame in my old age, I can't think of anything to do now that I know I'll have free time.

I didn't seem to have this problem as a teenager, or newlywed with no children. What to do? Dumb question- sleep in, buy stuff at stores, meet friends for fun stuff, sleep in, and buy more stuff.

So that's not really going to work for me. The guilty mom-side of me feels like I should use those two days to paint something, fold something, iron something, cook something, or just generally be productive.

The selfish ~~real~~ side of me wants to go shopping, get a pedicure, read a book by the pool without a three year old hanging around my neck in a cold wet bathing suit, watch a movie, frolic in a meadow...you know.

And also, my friends are all busy having no breaks, so I don't want to rub it in or anything by driving through the neighborhoods shouting "I'm free! I'm free!" or seeing if they can take the whole day off to cater to my whims and fancies of shopping therapy.

I am weighing my options and trying to find a little bit of balance:

Get up early on Saturday to Yard Sale and then sleep in a bit on Sunday
Treat myself to lunch out
Make a meal plan for next week...and use coupons (scary, unforged territory!)
Finish sorting donations for Salvation Army
Read a book by the pool
Complete a craft project for an upcoming Crafterminds campaign
Get a little work done for another blog related deadline
Convince T to go out on a date after work, even if he is tired and doesn't feel like it--I will win him over with my charm and "rapist wit" (name that movie quote!!)

I probably won't get to everything on the list, but I'm sure gonna try!

{What would you do if you had a day to yourself with no commitments?}

*Did you miss the June Silhouette Promo? A $199 package deal or 25% off your our purchase in the shop (excluding download codes and gift cards). Just use my code SERENITY when you shop! I used the Temporary Tattoo Paper to make some Child Safety Temporary Tattoos (great for those summer amusement park trips!)

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

"Lost and Found" Temporary Tattoos (Silhouette Tutorial)

If you missed this morning's post with the awesome June Silhouette Promo, you don't want to miss it! Part of this month's bundle features Silhouette's Temporary Tattoo Paper, and I got to play around with the material last week.

The big selling point for the Temporary Tattoo Paper is that you don't have to have a Silhouette SD machine to make your own tattoo creations!

I'll be honest and say that tattoos are not really my thing (I'd end up with something like Phoebe's), but my girls always go ba-nanas when they receive temporary tattoos in party goodie bags. I wanted to come up with an easy project today that would something useful for other mamas out there.

What would you do if you found this adorable child wandering outside of Disney World's Space Mountain?

She's old enough to tell you that she's lost. She knows her own name, and her mom's name, but she's so upset she can't remember her phone number.

If she's wearing a Child Safety Temporary Tattoo, you can take a quick look at her arm and call her mommy (that would be me).

How to Make Your Own Tattoos (with or without a Silhouette machine):

1. You can use any Word Processing program to create your own tattoos, but I worked with my Silhouette software and a magnifying glass clipart piece that I imported to my Library from MS Publisher.

2. I made sure to reverse my image before printing.

3. Regardless of whether you own a Silhouette or not, you'll print the images on the glossy white side of the tattoo paper.

4. When your images are printed, you'll peel the green backing off of the separate adhesive paper and lay it directly on top of the tattoo images. Smooth down well with a pan scraper.

5. If you own a Silhouette, this is where you would send the paper through the Silhouette machine on "Double Cut." As a fairly new owner, I had some trouble with this step--It cut completely through the paper on the first cut, as opposed to the second cut, and it started to cut the magnifying glass separately from the rest of the tattoo. I was so mad that I cut the machine off to save the tattoo paper and decided not use the machine for that step.

6. If you don't own a Silhouette, you'll just cut out each image separately with scissors, giving you a nice little pile of square tattoos.This probably took less time than actually sending it through the machine, and I liked having the images in squares/rectangles.

7. Peel the backing off the tattoo, place it on the skin, and soak with a wet paper towel for 10 to 20 seconds. The backing will come right off!

Clearly, I blocked out our phone numbers here for the sake of the blog, but you can see that I added a spot for "Dad" just in case "Mom" might be unavailable by phone. If you're traveling as a family, you may want to add grandma's number or someone else who can get in touch with you in case of emergency. These are great for trips to the amusement park, museums, field trips, large parks or festivals, etc.

It's a fine line to know what kind of information to provide. I didn't add our names or Natalie's first/last name because you don't want just anyone to be able to stand next to her and copy down our information. You could also place it on the ankle underneath where a sock would be, so it's not visible to just anyone. But I think it's a great way to help authorities locate me in the event I am separated from one of my kids.

(*These should not take the place of simple child safety lessons you can teach your kids--don't talk to strangers, stay in one place if you are lost, etc.)

I've seen similar tattoos advertised online with child safety sites, and they offer similar information printed...for a lot more money. They normally run about $20 for 30 tattoos.

I think you could easily fit 30 child safety tattoos on one sheet of the Silhouette paper, and it's only $10 for two sheets (four including the adhesive backing).

{What do you teach your kids to do if they are lost?}

In other news, Jen from Tatertots and Jello invited me to guest post today, and I am so excited! I hope you'll stop by her spot to see my Decorative Tile Memo Board and leave me some comment love! If you're stopping by from Tatertots and Jello, welcome...I hope you'll stick around.

*Next Tuesday will bring Myth #2 in my new Blogging Myths blog series. Hope you'll join us for the ride as we explore some of the misconceptions bloggers (and readers!) have about blogging!

June Silhouette Promotion!

Silhouette is running a wonderful promo this month, friends! Not only can I hook you up with a super package deal, but you can also earn 25% off other purchases...keep reading for details.

If you've been considering purchasing a Silhouette SD, this might be your month!

From now until Wednesday, June 29th, you can purchase a Silhouette Bundle Package for $199 (US only). The package includes:

1 Silhouette SD and software
2 packages of Temporary Tattoo Paper

*Please be sure to use my affiliate code SERENITY when you click my Silhouette button to shop!

Not in the market for a crafty cutter this month? Silhouette is offering 25% off all other Silhouette products (excluding download codes and gift cards). Just use my SERENITY code to shop!

Summer is the perfect time to let your kids play around with temporary tattoos. I'm usually the Type A mom who likes her kids to look cute and unmarked 90% of the time, but my girls have had a blast rocking their "tats" over the weekend.

The neat thing about the tattoo paper is that you don't have to own a Silhouette machine to use it! I'll show you an easy project later this morning that you can complete...with or without a Silhouette.

{Happy Crafting!}

Monday, June 20, 2011

Girls' Night Out Idea: Shopping "Social" and Dessert

This time of the year can be rough because my MOPS group doesn't hold meetings during the summer, and I miss the connections I made. My friend Christy and I signed up to plan "Outside Events" for the 2011-2012 year; which means we'll be in charge of directing Moms' Nights Out and also coming up with a fun Mom/Kid Event each month. We thought it would be a great idea to host events over the summer to keep the moms connected, and we started June off with a bang!

Our local Charming Charlie store agreed to host an after-hours "shopping social" for our group last Sunday evening, and we had an absolute ball wandering the store (kid free!) for a glorious hour or so. The manager had a small table with refreshments set up, but ~~I was~~ we were so excited by all of the sparkly jewelry and the knowledge that we'd get 20% off our purchases that we scarcely noticed the cookies and water bottles at first!

I've talked about my own Charming Charlie experience before, but if you've never been to one, it's like walking into a small and very sparkly corner of heaven. The feeling I get when walking in can only be described as a cross between giddiness and the Hallelujah chorus.

What? You don't feel that way about shopping?

I love that everything is arranged by color, so you don't have to cross the store three times in order to find the perfect turquoise necklace to match those earrings. Even better, the jewelry is so affordable (most sets run around $15) that you don't feel bad for picking up a couple of pairs of earrings and you don't have to tell T your husband that everything was on sale and you only spent "like maybe $12."

We had the best time browsing, but also just trying out accessories and being silly, because Christy and I never do stuff like that. (If you believe that, please don't read any of the other posts detailing our Lucy and Ethel-like hijinks)

Other people, like my sister-in-law (SuSu), managed to be mature and shop without acting like a pair of twelve year olds dropped off at the mall by their moms.

When we almost dropped from all the shopping, we headed down the sidewalk to a nice little Italian restaurant for dessert. The lighting was dim, so please forgive the pics with my old point and shoot, but I so enjoyed relaxed conversation and getting to know some ladies I don't always have a chance to chat with. We had about 16 ladies attend, which is not a lot for a group of 80, but a pretty good turnout for a Sunday evening during the summer break!

If you think I ordered anything other than the lone chocolate dish on the dessert menu, then you are sorely mistaken, and I'm not sure we can be friends.

If you also think I was able to shop without resisting the lure of the sparkles or the 20% off, you are dead wrong.

Charming Charlie usually has a "clearance wall," and adding my 20% off to the clearance prices ensured some great deals. I got a couple of really nice earring/necklace sets that I'll be saving for Christmas gifts, but I can't show you those because the recipients may or may not read this post and also I didn't take pictures of the buy.

For moi, I chose some super shiny things that called my name:

As I've said before, the pieces you can pick up at Charming Charlie are not heirloom pieces. They are trendy and I wouldn't expect them to last beyond a season or two...but if you keep that in mind when shopping, you can have some fun!

I think that regardless of whether you are a mom or a wife or a single girl, spending time with girlfriends is important and necessary...we all need social time!

{What do you like to do for Girls' Night Out?}