Engraved Pencil Vase

The third Rice Krispies Making Memories challenge is currently under way and Team Phoenix and I have been working like crazy to create an awesome Halloween recipe. I can't wait until we get everything together and photographed so I can share.
I wanted to drop in really quickly and show you the birthday gift I made for my daughter's preschool teacher. This is the third year she has taught one of my kids and the third year I have given her a gift. It is getting challenging coming up with new ideas!

I decided to go with a pencil vase and use engraved pencils. I found a squarish glass jar and attached the pencils with scrapbook adhesive and a big rubberband. My thought was that they can come off and be used as pencils or just leave them on for a fun jar at school.

Here's a shot I turned on it's side so you can see the pencils a little better.


Here's one more fun shot on the corner so you can see both sides.

I found this cute #1 Teacher tote bag at Walmart and seeing as I couldn't very well put a filled flower vase in a bag, we bought some yummy Russel Stover's chocolate to go with the vase.
We really appreciate our kids teachers and I love getting the opportunity to show them how much we love them!

Okay, I have to get back the grind stone. I'll be back in about a week with our Halloween Rice Krispies Recipe!

Dolly and Me Aprons

The Walmart near my house had a fabric section, then got rid of it, and now they are bringing it back. To make room they are discounting a lot of their pre-cut fabric and projects. I took advantage and bought this cute apron set awhile back. It's supposed to be for an 18" doll but we don't have any of those just yet, so it's more of a barbie dress at the minute! Sometimes it is nice to just do a simple sewing project that doesn't require much thought. I simply had to cut out the preprinted fabrics off the panel and sew. My daughter sure likes it too.


You might also recognize the flounce on the apron as the background for my cutie's zebra manicure.

One more gratititous picture if you don't mind. This past Sunday my kids participated in the Primary Program Sacrament meeting at church. If you aren't familiar with that terminology, once a year at my church the children put on a program for everyone where they show what they learned over the year. Each child gets a chance to have a speaking part in front of the whole congregation. My kids both did great and said their part from memory. Here's a cute picture of them before church on Sunday.

Zebra Stripe Home Manicure

First a quick laundry update. Thanks for all the wonderful tips about getting dry erase marker out of clothes. I have tried many of them and sadly haven't had much luck yet. I still need to try the murphy's oil and the WD-40 though. At this point I'm spending more on stain removers than it would be to buy a new shirt! If you need any laundry tips, I recommend checking out the comments on this post!
If you follow along on the Cute as a Fox Facebook page you can see that I've been having some fun painting my nails recently. It all started when I found these Art Deco nail art brushes at Dollar Tree. I thought it would be the perfect chance to get a little artistic but not feel bad if it came out terrible.
I decided to try out some zebra stripes. They are very simple. You just make some wavy lines alternating from each side of your nail.

Here's another shot...

The one problem I had is that when I tried to put a clear top coat on my nails, the black smeared on some of them. The stripes had ample drying time, so it wasn't that. I'm not sure if it was the top coat, I used Wet and Wild brand or if it was the black paint just smearing.
I really had fun with it though and it was quick and easy to do. Prior to this I haven't really painted my nails much since about junior high. I can't stand when they start to chip so a home manicure doesn't last long on me.

My little cutie decided she needed some zebra stripes too. It's quite a bit more challenging on a 3 year old, but I think you get the effect still.


What are your favorite nail products or fun ways to do a manicure? I had so much fun I can definitely see playing around some more!

Laundry tips needed, please!

I have missed blogging terribly, life has just had some other plans. My computer made a loud popping sound and started sparking a few weeks back. The poor thing is fried so I'm doing my best on a laptop for now.
August and September have been brutally hot here in AZ. My son even had recess canceled for two weeks because of the extreme heat. That of course means our AC compressor went out on Labor Day weekend. :( We are back up and running now, but it was 98° in the house before it got fixed.
In short, I'm doing my best to keep a good attitude and get caught up on all the essentials so I can do some fun stuff like crafting.

Before I sign off I am in need of some advice and tips. My son has to wear uniforms to school and he has stained 3 of his 5 shirts with a marker within the first month of school. I'm assuming it was a dry erase marker but I don't know for sure. In any case, it will NOT come off any of them. Who gives a kindergartner access to a marker that isn't washable? Please help me, what are your master laundry tips?
I also could use everyone's opinion. My husband and mother think it is still okay to wear the stained shirts but I'm having a very hard time with that. What do you think? I sent him to school in one of the shirts today and I'm not going to lie, it's been bugging me all morning. One is a white shirt with a single black line around the collar/button area. One is light blue with two single marker dots around the button and chest area.
Please help me out if you can with laundry tips and advice! Thanks so much!

Ashley