Tuesday Confessional Link Party Sponsored by Appliances Online--$50 Amazon.com Gift Card

Hello everyone. I have some exciting news for you! This week's Tuesday Confessional link party is sponsored by Appliances Online's Fridge Freezers.
Appliances Online is the UK's Largest Online Kitchen Appliance Retailer.

Appliances Online has been generous enough to offer Confessions of a Stay at Home Mommy readers a chance to win a $50 Amazon.com gift card!

To enter follow these instruction carefully (required):

1. Link up the same way you always do, then copy and paste the following tagline into the actual post you are linking up:

"My entry into the Tuesday Confessional link party sponsored by Appliances Online and their Fridge Freezers."

2. Come back here and leave a comment letting me know you have done this along with the number of your link. Each post you link up must include the tagline to be entered to win!

Additional entries:

1. Follow Confessions of a Stay at Home Mommy on Google Friend Connect.
2. Follow Confessions of a Stay at Home Mommy on Facebook HERE

3. Follow Confessions of a Stay at Home Mommy on Twitter HERE

4. Let me know what you would buy with your Amazon.com gift card.

MAKE SURE TO LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY.

As always, link back here with a text link or button.

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Pencil Crate Teacher Appreciation Gift

This week was Teacher Appreciation week at Samantha's school, and believe me, I APPRECIATE her teacher. Samantha is in Kindergarten and I think Kindergarten teachers are some of the most important teachers a child will have. They introduce a child to school and can influence that child's attitude about education and learning forever. Samantha has an amazing teacher who has really helped her blossom this year and gain an enthusiasm for school. Thank you Mrs. Melzer!

For Teacher Appreciation Week the school sent home lists of items each teacher had requested. Mrs. Melzer asked for washable markers, Smarties, Ziploc baggies, and stickers. Being me, I couldn't just put these items into a gift bag like a normal person. With a little Pinspiration I came up with my own fun little container. Here it is:

I found a mini milk crate at Target and hot glued pencils around the edges.

This is the Pinspiration

Teacher loot. I love how twine can make anything look charming!

Who doesn't love an apple cozy? They are about as practical as barefoot sandals, but oh-so cute!

There you have it. An adorable gift for an amazing teacher.

Happy Crafting!

~Macy

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Candlestick Pincushions

What do you get when you cross Sudafed with a hot glue gun? The wacky idea to turn candlesticks into pincushions!

I have been battling a nasty head cold this week, but after a big ole' dose of cold medicine cocktail, I was feeling well enough to get my craft on.

I have had a couple of dollar store candlesticks sitting on my craft cupboard since Valentine's day. I occasionally drop a loose button into the top of one, but for the most part they have become dust collectors. The other day I had a few straight pins lying around just waiting to roll onto the floor and stab someone. I dropped them into the top of the candlestick and the idea for my candlestick pincushions was born. 

Materials:

candlesticks

scrap fabric

a handful of stuffing--the polyester kind, not the kind you stuff in the turkey. :P

hot glue gun and glue

tiny rubber band

Cut your fabric into a circle. Mine was around 9 inches.

Wrap the fabric around the stuffing and tie off the end with a rubber band.

Make sure you have your cushion the shape/size you want and cut off the excess fabric.

Hot glue the inside rim of the candlestick and carefully place the cushion into the stick.

Fluff and squish and add your pins.

Voila! In less than 10 minutes you have a new pincusion (or two). 

What household things have YOU turned into pincushions?

Happy Crafting!

~Macy

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Tuesday Confessional Link Party

Hi everyone! Welcome back to the Tuesday Confessional link party! I missed you all last week. I didn't get the party up last night because it was my 7th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY! 7 amazing years of hanging out with my best friend. :) It was great, but now it is back to the real world, and I must say: What the heck happened to Blogger! I really hope this posts ok. Anyway...
A few "rules":
Link back with a text link or a pretty button.
Follow me on Google Friend Connect.
Check out a few of the other link-ups to get your inspiration on!

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Making Veggies Fun With Help From Country Crock

This post is sponsored by Country Crock. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

The other day I downloaded a copy of The Clare Crespo Cookbook. There were so many amazing and fun veggie recipes that I felt like I was browsing Pinterest! I chose MY favorite step-by-step recipe to make for my family and it was a hit!

The recipe is copied straight from The Clare Crespo Cookbook: 

Beautiful Butterflies

4 Servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

6 small or medium crookneck squash

3 Tbsp. Country Crock  Spread

2 Tbsp. finely chopped garlic

12 baby carrots

4 chives, cut into 24  ½ -inch pieces

2 Tbsp. finely chopped assorted fresh herbs (parsley, mint, tarragon, dill, chives)

1/8 tsp. of salt

1/8 tsp. of pepper

Slice fat part of squash into 24 slices (save the necks for another recipe).

Melt Country Crock Spread in large skillet. Add garlic and cook until golden, about 5 minutes. Add squash and carrots, saute until tender, about 7 minutes.

Once I added the garlic my kitchen smelled like a restaurant!

Arrange carrots on service dish or individual plates. Place two squash rounds on either side of carrots. Using a toothpick, poke two holes in the tops of each carrot and insert chive pieces as “antennae”.

Sprinkle remaining herbs on squash “wings”. Add salt and pepper.

*If you want these to hold together, add toothpicks—but don’t forget to remove them before eating!

Samantha was so excited about the butterflies that she insisted
 on wearing her flower headband.

Dax is my little herbivore,
but this is the first time I have gotten him to actually eat squash!

My kids and my hard-to-please hubby really enjoyed this. We've been putting Country Crock on our veggies for years. It makes vegetables taste good so I don't have to hide them from my little ones. 

Because our little Philly has a dairy and soy allergy I made a separate serving for him without Country Crock. I can honestly say that adding Country Crock to our veggies made a big difference in the taste, and with 70% less saturated fat and 30% fewer calories than butter I don't have to feel guilty about serving it to my family.

8 out of 10 kids think veggies with Country Crock are delicious.
I don't have 10 kids, but the two who can eat it definitely agree!

If you are looking for even more veggie inspiration you should head over to The Crock Country Chronicle. It has tips and recipes for serving veggies to your family, and there is even a How Does Your Garden Grow feature that has advice on planting your own vegetable garden. This will be my first year planting veggies so this will be a big help!

You can also keep up with Country Crock on Facebook and Twitter:

Country Crock’s Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/countrycrock

Country Crock’s Twitter page: https://twitter.com/#!/countrycrock

Are you looking for quick and simple tips and recipes to make serving veggies more fun? Download the free Clare Crespo Cookbook here for fun and whimsical recipes your family is sure to love!

Read this post and help change an amazing woman's life!

Are you having a typical day today? Maybe you went to work and had a nice meal with your family. You would probably expect the next day to be pretty much the same, wouldn't you? This is exactly what Stephanie Palmer thought, but the next day and the following days have turned out very different.

In January 2009 Stephanie was 14 weeks pregnant with her second child. She had an 11 month old son, a husband, and the life she really wanted. She was enjoying a family meal out when she began to experience horrible pains in her arms. She was raced to the emergency room and within hours she was paralyzed from the neck down. Diagnosed with Guillian Barre Syndrome, Stephanie spent the next the next 5 months in the hospital, where she delivered her son Talon 7 weeks early. 

The last few years have been filled with hard work and therapy, but Stephanie now has limited use of her arms and hands and is able to get around in a wheelchair. In 2011 it was confirmed that Stephanie had Transverse Myelitis. This means that recovery can take much longer than expected. Instead of giving up, Stephanie has a renewed determination. Now a single mom, she says she is done putting her life on hold while she waits to recover. She is ready to live now.

Stephanie with her two beautiful boys

Unfortunately, with limited mobility it is difficult for her to live the life she wants for herself and her children. This is where we can help!

Starting this year, the month of May is being recognized as National Mobility Awareness Month. As a result, the National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association is giving away a minimum of 3 custom wheelchair accessible vehicles to someone who really needs it. Stephanie has entered this contest and is currently in 17th place. Let's help her get to first place and make a better life for this amazing woman and her family.


You can vote HERE once a day. If you use the codes 777, 935, 837, 889, 843, 860, 829, 810, 788, 805, 829, 834, 852, or 866 your one vote turns into 5. This takes less than a minute and you could help change her life.

I know Stephanie personally and she is one of the most extraordinary women in the world. You can follow her journey at Recovering as a Mother.


Thanks for your help and let's make this happen!!

10 Ways to Reuse Plastic Easter Eggs

If you are like me then you are up to your ears in little plastic Easter Eggs! I bought four packages on the outside chance that we couldn't make it to an egg hunt. On top of those four packages my three children collected a ton of eggs at the hunt we went to. I'm planning on saving some for next year, but I upcycled quite a few eggs. Here is what I did along with a few other ideas:

1. Button storage. To make it easier on yourself glue one of the buttons to the outside of the egg so you won't have to open each egg looking for the correct color.

2. Tea cups. Seriously! Just hot glue anything round like a button, poker chip, or penny to the bottom of the egg. Double up a pipe cleaner, bend into the shape of handle, and glue it to the side. Voila! A teacup! You can also glue the bottom part of the egg to the top to make a mini-goblet. If you plan on putting anything into these cups make sure you dab some hot glue over the little holes.

3. Snack container. These are perfect for bunny grahams or Cheerios. Just stick them in your purse and you are good to go.

4. Teaching tools. Write the uppercase letters of the alphabet on the top halves of the eggs and the lower case letters on the bottom halves. Mix them up and let your little one match the letters. I also did this with math problems.

5. Play dough containers. Use the eggs to store homemade play dough, or even clay. Just make sure you cover the holes so no air gets in.

This is black Halloween dough and yes...it looks disgusting!

6. Paint containers. Cover the holes with hot glue and glue the eggs to one another as shown. This is perfect for painting projects. I used mine to hold home-made sidewalk paint.

Here are a few other ways to use your eggs:

7. Seed starter. Because most plastic eggs have little holes at the bottom they make perfect seed starters.

8. Seed packets. You can use your eggs to simply hold your seeds until you are ready for them.

9. Organize office supplies like paper clips, push pins, etc...

10. Store little game pieces like BINGO chips.

I hope this helps you cut down on your every-growing supply of plastic eggs.

Happy crafting!
~Macy

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