RWOP: Above Earth's Lamination

About a year and a half ago, in the middle of the night, I was up nursing my daughter and making the rounds on my ipod touch -- Facebook, Twitter, People app ... and apparently a little online shopping. While half asleep, I purchased a Scotch Thermal Laminator. It was a gold box special on Amazon and cost less than twenty bucks. By the time it arrived two days later, I had practically forgotten about it. I hid it in the closet my oldest called "Santa's Church" (???) and didn't reunite with this lamination station until we moved to our new digs.

You may be thinking, "MEP, it's a laminating machine. I can't believe you didn't rip that bad boy open as soon as it arrived. How odd."

A bit odd indeed, especially considering that the dream of ready access to lamination was one of the reasons why, from my girlhood on, I wanted to be a teacher. I have grade school memories of teachers entering the classroom with those huge glimmering sheets of lamination covering extra special student work, name tags for desks, or all the cool stuff for the bulletin boards. I was the kind of responsible, eager girl who might be asked (or was not too proud to beg) and entrusted to cut the individual items from the lamination. I could do it very carefully, sliding the scissors like a pro and leaving a perfect little border of lamination, all the while thinking, "I can't believe Mrs. Strouse does not want to do this HERSELF?!" Cutting out the laminated items seemed the height of pleasure and power.

The sad truth is that though I realized my girlhood career dreams, I never had ready access to lamination as a high school teacher. In fact, before the first day of my first year, I made a very special poster that was crying out for lamination. I took it to Kinkos and it was laminated in a super sturdy plastic. Twas beautiful but cost something like thirty dollars which almost made MEP of 1997 throw up a little bit.

Anyhoo ... I think I ignored the sleepshopping lamination machine because I knew that it required special lamination pouches and would not be generating immense glimmering sheets of goodness to slice.

But then I saw those pouches at Target, realized they came in a variety of sizes, and started thinking about how I could use them. And now, I proudly present ... business card-sized laminated tags for those cloth bins that one can also buy at Target.

With some cardstock, sticker paper, computer/printer, ribbon from my stash, a single hole punch, and the Scotch thermal laminator, I made a bunch of labels for the basement bins. For example ...

Yes, you read that correctly: "defense" (it was that or "weapons" and we actually need two of those as we are heavy on lightsabers and plastic armor).

I also made some labels for the bins in the playroom ...

Excuse the crappy phone photography but those labels say "little creatures" and "special powers." I have since realized we need a label that reads "toy cell phones." Sad but true.

Folks, I'm just getting started. Think adorable luggage tags. Think laundry room organization. Think bookmarks. Think something that could be written upon with dry erase markers. Think newspaper clippings if my children are ever in the newspaper. Think inspirational quotations (found on Pinterest, of course).

Here it is: Scotch Thermal Laminator. Thirty bucks or less. I even spotted them at Walgreens.

Lest you think this post is a paid (or unpaid) promotion for Scotch instead of my weekly Real Women of Pinterest offering, I'm also sharing the latest project for the kids' changing seasonal frames. These fingerprint hearts (for Valentine's Day) are perhaps not as awesome as the fall fingerprint trees or even the handprint Christmas trees, but when we were finished with them, Little Bit said with his sweetest smile, "That was really fun, Mama." So there.

If you are a Pinterest-ing blogger, please link up any of your Pinterest-inspired posts below. Anyone else who wants to share their Pinterest products, please send stories and pics to mep AT nottobrag DOT net.

I'd also welcome lamination narratives (I know I'm not the only freak out there) and ideas.

SPECIAL GIVEAWAY for the first person who can correctly name the title of the song I am riffing upon in this post's title: a one-of-a-kind laminated NTB bookmark!

Okay, check the links below for more Pinterest-ing!

RWOP: Do you need anybody?

Hello, is this thing on? Real Women of Pinterest, can you hear me? Truth is I don't have any of my own Pinteresting to share this week. We're still getting back in the swing of things after the holiday "break," and I'm not sure how much Pinteresting I can justify when I still haven't managed to get our tree taken down. Thanks to hubby traveling and a DVR filled with the premiere of the new season of Downton Abbey, I have started wrapping up our ornaments, but there's still a ways to go. Plus, I need to help JJ, our Elf on the Shelf, returning to the North Pole this evening, to craft a letter explaining why he hung around an extra two weeks in the same spot where he was spotted Christmas morning and reminding the kids to listen to their mom and dad, say their prayers, and be kind.

Lucky for me, I have awesome people who answered my call to share their Pinterest-inspired projects. Check them out!
First we have a fun, kid-friendly art project. The Pinteresting mom, my sister LAP who is a valued NTB contributor, wrote, "The J, N, and B are on display on the window ledge in our stairwell. ... I used painters tape to make their first letter (I was not ambitious enough nor did I have large enough canvases to do their full names). The girls painted and once the canvases dried, we peeled off the tape. Voila...masterpieces! (or something like that)." I can see this project being used with a large shape as well -- a heart for Valentine's Day, a bird because I dig them, a shamrock ...

LAP had another offering as well: "The 'est 2002' was a trial for the Popular Pinterest pin that says 'use glue and paint over using any solid color.' I just used regular old Elmer's brand, but my suggestion is perhaps doing two layers of glue? I feel like mine is a little hard to read, but I still have it hanging out on my bathroom sink next to my soap and lotion (because I know you were wondering.)" I like the idea of trying this project with an inspirational word, perhaps "enough" since that is one of my themes for the year.
A dear friend of my family has a preschooler who requested "dolls of her teachers" for Christmas. Since such dolls aren't readily available at Toys 'R Us and the like, I am so excited to share her totally awesome creative solution: photos on magnets that can be moved around on a cookie sheet. I've been jonesing to try the much-pinned cookie sheet magnet board project, but I think this project takes that to the next level. It would be fun to think about what sorts of kids activities/games could be made with magnets and cookie sheets. There are probably multiple pins of such already. Maybe next week.
Last, but surely not least, is some Pinteresting from a high school friend who is a talented photographer and a pop culture guru. Inspired by a Pinterest pin (she sent it to me, but I'm too tired for any more links right now), she crafted alphabet printables (like the one above) as holiday gifts.

By next week, I promise, the tree will be down and I'll have something cool of my own to share.

If you've done any Pinteresting, please link up below or send me pics of your projects: mep AT nottobrag DOT net.

I get by with a little help from my friends.

RWOP: Two Trick Christmas Pony

Welcome back for another week of Real Women of Pinterest.

Do a search for "handprint Christmas tree" on Pinterest and you'll see multiple pins of a couple versions of this holiday creation. I was ready to give it a whirl myself and had even purchased green and red acrylic paint several weeks ago in preparation. But, I forgot to buy a canvas. Because taking my three kids to Michael's is not even a little bit enjoyable, I decided I had to improvise. Take a peek.

Handprint Christmas Wreath

What? You don't have a large canvas? Grab a ceiling tile from the pile the previous owners of your house left in the basement.

Find something in your kitchen to trace a large circle with pencil.

Then, trace again with a smaller circular something.

Squeeze some acrylic paint into some little plastic egg cartons (good idea, right?).

Paint your son's hand green.

Instruct him to press that hand onto the ceiling tile. Don't try to press his hand down to make a stronger imprint because, apparently, those ceiling tiles are a bit scratchy. Repeat the painting of the hand and the pressing several times.

Get your littler guy in on the act as well. Try to stay breezy when he deliberately plants his hand in the no-holly zone in the very middle.

Okay, time for red paint and finger tip berries now.

Then, mom uses some more of that Costco ribbon from last week's wreath, ties a bow, and glue guns it onto the wreath. If your ceiling tile has a rough edge, use some ribbons to frame the wreath. Voila!
There you have it. Not the most gorgeous wreath ever, but not bad for using what I had in the house. And, yes, I realize that I have a larger-than-most supply of crafty crap on hand.

Christmas Handprint Trees

Okay, use pretty much the same process above, except pencil a triangle on a sheet of thick paper. Once the trees were dry, I placed them in the frames I used for the autumn fingerprint trees. No photos of the artists as little sister was topless during this project.

Voila!

The kids did the trees and the berries/ornaments. I cut out and glued the stars and tree trunks (why, yes, I did have three different brown scrapbook papers to use here, all purchased a dozen years ago when I had time to do things like scrapbook).

Big Brother's Tree -- "Mine is the best, mom, right? Don't you like mine best?"

Little Middle Guy's tree. No time to reflect or evaluate,
he just throws himself into the project and then walks away.

And Little Sister's tree -- yep, she was most willing to
accept coaching and guidance on hand placement.

Anything Pinteresting in your life this week? Bloggers, link up your Pinterest posts in the comments. Other readers, send me your photos or leave a comment about your Pinteresting.

See you next week, if not before.

RWOP: I wreath I can, I wreath I can

My Real Women of Pinterest offering for today is a bit weak, but you can't win them all!

Excepting the company of a spider web from Walgreens back in October, our front door has been pretty lonely since we moved in. We needed a wreath. Now, I would very much like to order a wreath from the Williams Sonoma catalog, but I can't justify that purchase at this time ... or possibly ever.

Enter Pinterest. I saw a tutorial on making a wreath from strips of fabric. Unable to locate the big bag of fabric I absolutely could not get rid of before the move, I decided I would use a similar technique using some ribbon I did know where to find.

I didn't photograph my process, but here it is:

1. Find an inexpensive and not-too-thick wreath. I found an off-white grapevine-esque wreath at Dollar Tree.

2. Choose some lovely ribbon. I chose a wide, wire-rimmed ribbon that I purchased at Costco (personally think their huge rolls of ribbon there are a good value).

3. Cut pieces of ribbon long enough to tie around the wreath and knot. Do this a bunch of times until the wreath is covered.

4. Fluff and arrange the ribbons as you wish.

I wasn't sure about the project as I was doing it so I think that uncertainty subconsciously made me stingy with the ribbon. I probably should add more, but I think it's okay as it is. Not the most beautiful wreath ever, but I'm not embarrassed to have it keep my door company.

If you've done some Pinteresting or Pinterest-esque stuff of late, please link your posts below! Don't have a blog? Feel free to email me with pictures of your projects so I can share: mep AT nottobrag DOT net.

Please check out and comment on the posts of those who have linked up below. Join in next week for another edition of Real Women of Pinterest.

RWOP: May the Force Be with YOU and you and you too ...

Welcome! It's time for the second week of Real Women of Pinterest. Please visit this blog and It's a Small World After All on Wednesdays to see Pinterest-inspired projects and link-up your own Pinterest-esque posts.

I've got a mountain of laundry to fold and four bags to pack for our Thanksgiving road trip so this post will be brief.

My son is obsessed with Star Wars. He received Star Wars bedding for his birthday back in June. This past weekend, he finally inherited his big brother's twin bed and was thus able to use that bedding.

I thought he could use a lamp. I thought it should be a Star Wars lamp.
We had an old lampshade that was slightly bent/cracked. I took photos of my son's bedding, printed them on full-sheet labels, did some cursory tracing and cutting, pulled the backing of the labels, and affixed to the lampshade.
If I had it to do over, I would have taken the time to cut a pattern out of plain paper before cutting out the labels. Then I could have avoided unsightly layered seams (see below). I also would have printed the labels on an inkjet printer and not a laser one. I think the colors would have been truer.
But, guess what? I can pull these easy-peasy labels off no problem and do it over if I want. I probably won't bother because really, it's pretty awesome, just as it is.

Not sure about the ethics of photographing the bedding, but I'm thinking: we paid for it and are enjoying this lamp in our own home, not trying to sell it or anything.

Let' s look at it one more time.
Link up your own Pinterest-inspired post below! Too busy with turkey day? Join us next Wednesday for the next installment of ... Real Women of Pinterest (RWOP).