Glue Stick

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

We had an awesome Christmas!  We took the family up North and we got to learn something new.  Cross Country Skiing.

I sent my cards out late this year...on purpose!  I wanted to make sure everyone got a copy of this picture of our family.  We had an amazing time and stayed at the most amazing place.  But that is a story for another time.

So why do I have a post on glue sticks at Christmas you wonder? 

 Well, because I absolutely cannot stand to lick envelopes.  Yuck!  I always spend extra money to buy the self adhesive office envelopes but for my Christmas cards I never did.  I always worried about having enough cards for a cheaper price.  This year I had to add a few extra cards to the ones I picked up last year so I actually found self-adhesive ones and smiled when I put them in my cart.

For the envelopes that were not self adhesive I grabbed a half used glue stick that one of my kids brought home at the end of a school year.  It was wonderful!  So much easier than a wet towel.  And easier than bribing the nearest kid to lick them. (They are all getting too old now so it doesn't work anymore.)

I am all about recycling when possible.  Especially since 3 of the 4 kids bring home about half of the ones I send to school all half or barely used.

 Some other uses I do with these are:

Christmas projects for the kids!

I keep one in my bill box, just in case I have to actually use an envelope these days.

Office.

I put a few extras in my scrap booking caddy, since even at my most prepared I might run out of my favorite tape runner, or I can step up and help out a friend when they might have no adhesive.

The kitchen junk drawer (you just never know).

My youngest daughter has an old school box with scissors, washable markers, and glue sticks to glue all her scraps of paper.

Budget/Organizing Tip:

This is also the time of year that I dig out the old school supply list that has just been laying around under a stack of other papers, make a copy of it and stick it in my purse.  Why, you ask?  Well, I have 4 kids to buy school supplies for.  I have found that if I start to buy a couple things a week during the school year it doesn't seem to hurt as bad when school starts back up.  

I like to start after Christmas.  I try to dedicate no more than $5.00 per week.  I have a 10 gallon plastic container I keep all the supplies in.  (Put a copy of your list in the bucket too, not much changes year to year) Then in July or August my kids can shop in the container and we load the backpacks.

My school supply store

Yes, somethings are cheaper that week before school starts so save out for those items if you want.  I tend to grab items like glue sticks, binders, pencils and pens from Sams Club when we are close to one.  (My last package of glue sticks from Sams ended up being a few cents cheaper per stick than the sale ones before school started.)

If you take on this idea yearly, make sure you check your inventory and cross off what you don't need, then you don't have to worry about it, unless it's a really good deal.

I also buy the big package of Kleenex's at Sams Club and divide it up per kid.

It's just so nice to not have to deal with the stress of it all before school starts when you are dealing with so much other stuff, as well as other school expenses that take an unexpected chunk out of your wallet, for example...school lunches, pictures, snack fees, sports fees, shop fees, parking fees, you get the point.

One thing to consider as well, I hit Menards a couple of weeks after school started and they still had school supplies on sale for .85.  Then they had a .50 rebate.  Limit of ten items.  These were great items like pencil sharpeners and colored pencils, as well as other things.  So I loaded up.  I find that you always need colored pencils.  My sophomore even needed some last year for Geometry and this year for Biology.  I was surprised, I thought once she was in high school she wouldn't need them anymore.   My final cost was .35 per item.  WOW!

Good luck.

Diaper Baby Cakes

No, you don't eat it!  

On top of this one I put on a pair of paper booties in lavender.

This is a wonderful baby shower gift that I have been enjoying making lately.  In fact, I made these two before Thanksgiving and I am making two more in the next few days. It is a great centerpiece for the gift table, then afterwards the future dad can disassemble it to be used after the baby arrives. 

Supplies:

Box of size 2 diapers

hot glue

1 wide colored ribbon

1 thin colored ribbon

3 spools of  10 ft length 1/8" thin white ribbon to tie diapers with (you can also do a coordinating color instead.)

1 large cake cardboard circle

1 smaller cake cardboard circle

decorations such as tulle, flowers, paper booties, baby bottles, pacifiers (whatever your mind can imagine)

To start out I cut my ribbon into strips to tie the diapers with.

Cut your 1/8"  ribbon into about 12 1/2 inches long pieces

To save on hot glue, I roll up the diaper and tie the ribbon around it to hold it closed, it's looks cute too.

You could even recruit some helpers to roll the diapers while you tie.

Cake cardboards,  I use two different sizes.

First layer

For the first layer I start with the cardboard and put a little hot glue in a small area to stick a couple of diapers down with.  I continue this process all around the outside edge of the cardboard until I have my circle of diapers.  Yes the diapers will stay standing up if you let the glue set.  I stick a few diapers in the center to hold the shape and then I add the wide ribbon and hot glue that on as well.  I go all the way around the diaper layer and give a little dab of hot glue here and there to hold the ribbon in place.  Once the ribbon is secure I fill in the center with more rolled up diapers.  

Adding the other ribbon color.

I hot glue the smaller ribbon right on top of the wider ribbon.

This becomes the back.

These pictures are of the bottom layer.  To jazz up the cake a little bit I glued some coordinating tulle to the diapers so it will stick out past the next layer a little bit when you place the next layer on top.  I do keep the bottom and second layer separated.  The cardboard sits nicely for the final display but it is much easier to move around when the two cardboard layers can sit, and travel separately.

 For the second layer, use the smaller cardboard and repeat.

Then make one more layer on top of that one.  The third layer is glued right to the second layer.  For the very top, I like to lay down two diapers and glue, then angle a couple more over the two laying down and glue those on.  Then jazz it up with a bow that has some long tails, or some tulle.

Some flowers to decorate with.

I even had extra supplies to made the momma a diaper corsage.

Not the best picture but this is the top of the diaper cake with the booties.

Then you just hot glue all your decorations on, just a little dab goes a long ways.

Have fun!