A Kid Friendly World: October 2013

Monday, October 21, 2013

Silhouette Money Saver

I thought I'd share a few tips, tricks& how to's about how to use your Silhouette Cameo! You can save a LOT by making your own stencils, fabric appliqués, cards, vinyl quotes, etc.

Here are a few basics to start with-

Silhouette Blog:

http://blog.silhouetteamerica.com/?m=1

Free Shape of the Week (main silhouette website)

http://www.silhouetteamerica.com/

From there u can find the shape of the week, go to the online digital download store, get ideas& see new items!

Want to save a LOT of money on dingbats, fonts& shapes?

How to find shapes (otherwise known as dingbats), fonts &SVG files for free:

You can simply search google by using key words like :

Free SVG files

Free Dingbats

and

Free Fonts

You can also search Pinterest

(Here's my Silhouette Cameo Board you can follow:

http://www.pinterest.com/moore4jess/silhouette-cameo/)

You can also find free ones at the following websires&blogs:

SVG Files:

http://freesvgs.blogspot.com/?m=1

http://www.sherykdesigns-blog.com/search/label/Free%20SVG%20Files?m=1

http://miraclesmommadesigns.blogspot.com/2012/02/sketchtemplate-11-with-svg-freebie.html?m=1

http://cuttingcrazy.wordpress.com/2011/05/15/free-svg-file-cooking-utensils-pots-pans-silverware-salt-pepper/

http://www.the-lady-wolf.com/2010/05/watering-girl-svg.html?m=1

Using SVG files with your Silhouette:

http://joyslife.com/how-to-make-imported-svg-files-cut-in-silhouette-studio-designer-edition/

http://michellesdigitalcreations.blogspot.com/2012/01/converting-svg-files-to-use-with.html

Dingbats&Fonts:

http://mysunnysideuplife.wordpress.com/2013/02/10/20-of-my-favorite-free-fonts/

http://www.1001freefonts.com/

http://www.fontsquirrel.com/

http://www.dafont.com/

Here are some other great resources for saving money!

This one talks about the Cricut machine but I found some of the tips& tricks applied to my silhouette as well:

http://imperfectlybeautifulms.blogspot.com/2010/04/cricut-tips-and-tricks.html?m=1

Here's a whole list of tutorials for your Silhouette:

http://joyslife.com/cricut-frequently-asked-questions/

Here's how to cut fabric. It uses the Cricut but the process is the same.

http://everydaycelebrate.blogspot.com/2011/09/tutorial-cutting-fabric-with-cricut.html?m=1

Here's the same process for the Silhouette:

http://www.craftaholicsanonymous.net/how-to-cut-fabric-with-silhouette-fox-onesie

Here's a YouTube video as well:

http://youtu.be/IBAh_fF38Ik

Keep in mind YouTube is also a great resource to search how to videos on how to do just about anything on your silhouette. I know the Silhouette website has videos too.

Here's how to cut vinyl with your Silhouette:

Video-

http://youtu.be/TRGZ3cuO3Nc

Blog Tutorials:

Without mat-

http://blog.silhouetteamerica.com/2010/11/monday-tutorial-how-to-use-vinyl.html?m=1

http://www.thecreativemom.com/how-to-cut-on-the-silhouette-without-a-mat-or-cut-vinyl-on-the-roll-html/

Extra large vinyl cuts-

http://tatertotsandjello.com/2013/03/how-to-cut-an-extra-large-vinyl-design-with-your-silhouett-machine.html

With Silhouette vinyl kit-

http://blog.silhouetteamerica.com/2011/09/tutorial-vinyl-starter-kit.html?m=1

Again just search and ye shall find!:)

How to make a stencil with your silhouette:

I've seen several ways to do this.

You can either cut out your stencil using card

stock or one time use ones by cutting out vinyl. Or

you can use clear binder covers.

The binder covers will keep their shape and

last a little longer. It's also better for those big projects

that require you to tape up your stencil.

Here is a tutorial here on making the binder cover ones:

http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/2012/08/how-to-make-stencil-without-exacto.html

HOW TO TRACE AND IMAGE/FILE and SAVE IT as an SVG or whatever you want! I haven't tried putting the file onto the Silhouette software yet, but I'm assuming it would work!

Just go to:

http://www.inkscape.org

This is the easiest, best program I've found for doing this and to make your own Subway art, flyers, business cards, fb banners, blog headers, etc! It's simply amazing and super simple! It's exactly how I wish all my other programs worked! You can go to the learn tab on their site and see how to do everything. Here's a video as well:)

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Coffee Filter Flowers

We had a huge package of coffee filters for some reason? We don't even drink coffee so it must have been for some craft or something. Anyway, my daughters love to play with them for some reason so I thought we could actually make something with them instead of just having them making a mess all over the house.

Alli actually first said,"Look mom i made a flower." And sure enough she had! That's what made me think of the old craft of making coffee filter flowers! I looked up on Pinterest how to dye them but I had already figured it out before I looked so I didn't really use a particular pin/post.

It's very simple:

What you'll need-

•Large coffee filters

•Food coloring

•Water

•Cookie Sheet to let flowers dry on

You can also choose to use floral tape and stems to make them look real but we didn't.

Instructions:

Fill a bowl about half way full (or less it doesn't take much)

Drop in food coloring according to the egg dying instructions. Or just eyeball it! Get out cookie sheet and set everything aside. You can do this after making the flowers too makes no difference. :)

To make the flowers you just:

1. Fold filter in half

2. Roll filter loosely until it forms a flower

3. Twist the end (towards the flap/opening to make them fuller)

Then to dye them just dip the very tips of the flowers in the dye/water solution and tip up to allow dye to seep down to stem and on "peddles". You can also use a spoon and drip it on the flowers. If your child dips the whole thing don't worry it will just take longer to dry. You can squeeze some of the excess out to help as well. Then just set them on the tray, foil, plate or whatever you're using for them to dry on. Metal is best so it doesn't stain though.

Anyway, just dip and let dry. If you can, put them on the tray upside down so the dye drips to the tips of the peddles. It took all night for ours to dry but my daughter soaked hers. Once they dry you can add stems or do whatever you want!

We had a green bowl, a red bowl& a purple bowl. The purple had alot of blue so it made a cool tie dye affect. The red makes a pink flower unless u have a LOT of red food coloring! And we dipped some in both purple& green mixtures to add even more color. I think they turned out GREAT!

HAVE FUN!!

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Frozen Chicken Genius

We are all about saving a buck at our place! Which means we wait until meat is at it's lowest and then stock up! We recently stocked up on Chicken Breasts. We usually buy from the butcher counter because its not only fresher but it is usually cheaper than the frozen or pre packaged kind. You can get it wrapped in whatever weight increment you want but my husband has come up with a GENIUS idea to make freezing, storing& thawing a LOT easier! It's so genius I had to share!

It's simple:

Wrap each piece of chicken in plastic wrap (we used a high quality restaurant plastic wrap from Sam's Club but not sure if it has to be the high temp/low temp tolerant kind or not? try and see!) then layer into a gallon bag!

We butterfly and cut off the fat before doing this, but you don't have to. This process also makes portioning into 10 different bags a thing of the past! And it saves $ on gallon bags because you can throw them all into one bag and then just pop however many you need out of the bag! And sense they're individually wrapped I don't see why you couldn't reuse the gallon bag too saving even more $!

The plastic wrap also seems to keep the chicken fresher and doesn't get freezer burn as easily. Win all around!

Monday, October 7, 2013

End Unit Townhouse for Rent in Rexburg

Beautiful end-unit townhouse with plenty of windows. Two bedroom and den/guest room, 2 1/2 bath, all appliances included. We will pay water/sewer/trash (dumpster on premises). Renter pays all other utilities. Rent is $850/month.

Lots of windows, open spaces, skylights, new blinds, gas fireplace, tile flooring in entry, kitchen & bathrooms, washer& dryer in unit, 2 pantries, lots of closets including walk-in closet in Master and storage space, back patio off Master bedroom, low maintenance side yard, very clean& well taken care of.Two car garage for two small cars or one large. Close to BYU-I campus, shopping, etc. Best unit in the complex at Autumn Arbor 44 South 2nd East, Rexburg. Rental applications call/text 208-821-8617 to look at townhouse.

Available Asap.6 mon-1 year lease. first month's rent ($850), last months rent ($850) plus a $200 cleaning deposit required at signing.

No Smoking, No Pets. Community Housing Only!

Update: Whole house has been cleaned up and out from top to bottom (including carpets) sense pictures were taken!