Tutorials Archives - Palmettos and Pigtails

Potty Training Around the Campfire {From the Archives}

May 22, 2013 posted by Shara

In honor of our beginning attempts at potty-training Millie this week, and of camping-worthy weather, here’s a peek back into the archives on how we did potty training while camping!

So in September, we started thinking about potty-training. We hadn’t previously thought about it, but then all of the sudden Jayna took an interest in accompanying us for every one of our restroom needs. She was very interested. So, we started the process….buying the miniature potty, stickers, books, yada yada. We haven’t really pushed the issue, especially since I wasn’t sure how to potty train Jayna while still keeping my eyes on the ever-busy little boy I watch everyday. So we stalled. Until last week. Because of Thanksgiving, I was relieved of my babysitting duties from Wednesday through Sunday, so I thought, “This, is the perfect time!.” So from then on, every 30 minutes we potty-trained. It was going very well, until Dave and I decided to go camping.

Yes, camping. Yes, potty training while camping. And no, contrary to (Dave’s) opinion, I am not crazy. We packed up the car and drove to Santee State Park where we pitched our tent, lit a campfire, fished, and pottied in the back of the truck every 30 minutes!!! It actually was great, other than being a tad cold (30 degrees that night!!). It was the perfect setting to do all things potty….there were no distractions and any activities we wanted to do (i.e. fishing, playgrounding, campfiring, stick-finding), could be accomplished within that 30 minute time frame before the timer went off. So, all in all, I would highly recommend the Potty Training While Camping Method!Yes, here she is on the potty in the back of the truck! You just need a timer, a potty, some blankets {for privacy!}, a few books and snacks, and LOTS of spare clothes!!Proud Girl!!Have you potty trained in a creative way? I need more ideas now that Millie is ready! Leave me a comment!

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Filed Under: Life, Tutorials

How to Support a Blogger You Love

May 6, 2013 posted by Shara

I’ve been blogging for over two years now! Crazy huh? I feel like I have come a long way in my posts…..I’m branching out, trying new things {and then blogging about them!}. Hopefully, you are still enjoying what I write! What started out as an easy way to post stories and pics about the kids for my family, has morphed into my passion and my second job. And I LOVE my readers! I get giddy when I get a notification of a new subscriber, or see a new “like” on my Facebook page. And I literally jump for joy at each and every comment I get {even from you, Mom!}! And I try hard to stay connected with my devoted followers…..I try to reply to comments, answer emails and interact with you on Facebook and Twitter.

And still, it’s hard to get more followers….especially without posting shamelessly about how to support your local blogging mommy! But, then again, even I’m still learning, so I know that some of you don’t know how easy it is to support me Mommy Bloggers. In a nutshell, advertisers look at numbers….subscribers, Facebook page “likes”, Twitter followers, etc. They even look at how many pages each of my viewers look at, and how long they stay on each page. Complicated stuff, but every little bit helps! Here are four quick ways you can help!

Read my posts and give me feedback:

I know I blog about a variety of things {family, Disney, crafts, DIY, recipes, etc.}, I’d love it if you’d read {or at least scan} my posts. And let me know if there is something you’d like me to write about.. Love or hate a topic? Let me know! You can email me or leave me a comment on my blog or Facebook page. I love my readers and want to continue writing content that’s relevant to you!
In addition to me learning more about what you like to read about, the more comments you leave on my blog or on my Facebook Page, the more “activity” the blog world says I have, which leads to more sponsorships, more readers and hopefully more money down the line! Easy-peasy!
And finally, subscribe! You can click on the “subscribe” button {right under my picture on the right sidebar of my blog}, to add each of my posts to your RSS feed. Or, you can click on “email” to sign up to get an email from me each time I post {generally, Monday/Wednesday/Friday}. This is convenient in order to get the latest post, but when you read my whole post on your email, it doesn’t give me credit for your view, so if you can, it’s always better to click to get to my actual webpage to read the post.

Spread the word! Tell your friends about awesome blogs you find! Encourage them to subscribe by email or RSS:

Share: When you see a blog post show up on your Facebook news feed, hit SHARE, and it will go on your newsfeed too (which will let new people potentially read the post as well). If you have Twitter, RETWEET blog posts that you love. If you have Pinterest, please PIN and REPIN my posts and pictures.
At the end of every post I write, there are buttons for Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest, click on any and/or all of those buttons to easily share the post with others.

Enter contests and giveaways….even if you don’t want the SWAG:

I can’t speak for others, but I appreciate each and every entry I have for a giveaway. Usually, giveaways are held in conjunction with a company or brand that has sought me out. The more people that participate {and get exposed to the brand} the happier that brand is with me….and will be more likely to want to work with me again!
Even if you aren’t interested in the prize, feel free to enter anyway….if you happen to win, just let me know you don’t want it, so someone else can win it! Again, the more entries there are in the giveaway, the happier the brand is with me!

Support my affiliates:

Just to let you know, I spend between 2-4 hours a day working on blog-related work. Between editing pictures, writing original blog posts, scheduling those posts to be advertised on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest, researching future blog topics, answering blog-related emails, and actually creating and executing those recipes and crafts that I write about……it takes up a lot of time. Time I generally don’t get paid for.
Don’t get me wrong, I love it, and still do it even when I don’t get paid. But, obviously, I’d rather have something in it for me! Cue advertisers and affiliates here.
When you see the words like “sponsor”, “affiliate”, “advertisers”, etc. on your favorite blog, it means that if you click on one of those links or pretty pictures, the blogger will most likely get something in return. Quite often, a check! Same for the ads you see on our sidebars….if you see something that strikes your fancy, by all means, click on the box! We get paid by clicks.
Giveaways, reviews and feature articles are either paid for by sponsors, or the blogger is getting something from the sponsor. For example, when I worked with Smart Balance Kids, I advertised for them on my sidebar, got paid when you clicked, got milk samples to try and review, and got coupons to give away to YOU, my readers! Bloggers will rarely advertise for free, so help a Mama out by checking out all of the advertising!

{source}

So, hopefully you read {at least} my first tip, and skimmed down to this point….bottom line, bloggers want more readers to get their voice out there, so please help us out by sharing the blogs you love with your friends! Help us get a tiny bit of compensation for our time by checking out our sponsors. And send us some love {even if just in a comment}! We love you too!

{Look below to see the buttons that oh-so-conveniently allow you to SHARE this!} Thanks!

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Filed Under: Blogging Basics, Tutorials

{Walt Disney World} Mickey Mouse Pizza Night

April 26, 2013 posted by Shara

Another Countdown Chain activity that we did to get excited about Disney was personal Mickey Mouse pizzas! Super easy to make from Pillsbury Pizza Dough, using a couple of different sized biscuit cutters.Just be sure to really smoosh those ears to the head….we didn’t smoosh enough and all of our ears fell off when transferring our Mickey’s to plates! Once we had adequately smooshed, I baked the Mickey’s at 350 for about 5 minutes……watching them…..I just wanted the dough to set, not actually cook them. Then the decorating could begin!Millie was dying to help!!And the great thing was that we all chose our own toppings {aka no picky eaters!!}….I just wish I had bought some of the mini pepperoni, instead of having to quarter regular sized ones! Mickey Mouse Personalized Pizzas from Palmettos and Pigtails

Yum!

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Filed Under: Recipes, Tutorials

From the Archieves: Upcycled Brown Paper Basket

April 15, 2013 posted by Shara

Today I’ll be sharing one of my old posts. But it’s one of my favorites, and one of the most popular ones that I’ve written. Enjoy!

In the midst of babies crying, toddlers whining, and dogs barking, I hear a beautiful sound…the doorbell. Normally, I curse this sound because it makes my baby cry, wakes up my toddler, and makes my dog bark. But that was already happening, so I welcomed the distraction. But when I peered out the window, no one was there. Now, this has happened to us before, when we got Boo’ed at Halloween….a candy version of Ding Dong Ditch. But this time, when I opened the door instead of candy….BOXES! Pampered Chef and Thirty One boxes to be exact!

So as exciting as opening all those boxes was (and no, it wasn’t all for me….I’ll have to redistribute to all the lovely ladies who bought all that stuff and allowed me to get all of my stuff for FREE!!), the packaging in these things was ridiculous!

And since I made a pledge to my good friend The Lorax, to speak for the trees, I thought maybe I’d find a way to upcycle some of this packaging. A long time ago (before the days of pinterest unfortunately!), I had seen a cute use of recycling newspaper…..cutting into strips and weaving it into a basket! Reminded me of Girl Scouting….

So, I decided to try it with some of the brown paper from my Pampered Chef boxes. It was in pretty rough condition, but I found some good strips, and cut those into approximately one inch strips. Then, I folded each of those strips in half and used white thread to sew down each side with 1/8″ seam allowance. I figured that would make the brown paper look fabric-like when the basket was finished.

Basket weaving the bottom was the easy part. Just make sure you are adding strips equally on all sides to keep you basket even. I started with strips that were about 4 feet long, having no idea how big the basket would end up being.

About halfway through making the bottom, I realized that I only needed the strips to be about half that big (I wanted my basket to be about a foot squared, to hold my fabric scraps). So I slid everything over and cut about two feet off the end of each of my strips.

When I decided that the bottom of my basket was big enough, I started on the sides. I bent all the strips upwards, and then took a new strip and weaved it around the side (under, over, under, over….just like the bottom). I used a little piece of tape to hold the end of the strip to make it easier to weave. Let me tell you, it wasn’t pretty.

I thought about quitting. The strips were everywhere except for cooperating. But I used tape liberally for those first couple of strips around the sides. (I did take the tape off later, so just use it to tack).

But after about the third layer of weaving around the sides, everything kind of fell into place and starting looking like a basket!

With every layer I added, I was able to adjust the lower layers and make everything a little tighter and neater. I was also able to take off the tape, as the other layers helped hold the ends in too. I just tucked the ends into the weave. When I decided the sides were high enough, I stopped adding strips around the sides, and just tucked the ends of the basket into the weave. You can see some of the places where I did that in this picture.

It ended up being the perfect size to hold all of my fabric scraps!

What do you do with your old newspaper or paper bags?

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Filed Under: Crafts, Tutorials

{Walt Disney World} Meeska Mouska Mix

April 9, 2013 posted by Shara

Morning! Are you totally over my Disney posts yet? Hopefully not because I still have a few up my sleeve as we count down these final weeks til our vacation! So hang with me!We’ve started the beginning stages of making lists and are starting to pack for the trip. I got to thinking, while making my food lists for the car and for the parks, that we needed a “signature snack” just for the Disney occasion!So after a quick trip to Target to buy pretzels, yellow M&M’s, dried strawberries, yogurt covered raisins and semi-sweet chocolate chips, we had our perfect Mickey Mouse snack mix!So far, it’s been a big hit with the girls…hopefully it will stand up to the Florida heat!Although, would it be terrible if the chocolate melted over the pretzels and strawberries?!?!? {I think not…..}Got any other ideas for a red, white, black and yellow trail mix? Leave me a comment! Palmettos and Pigtails linkin’ up this week!

Have you checked out some of my other Disney Posts?

Get your kids pumped for your Disney vacation with these Disney Activities!

Disney Countdown Chain

Secrets of the Kingdom: A Collection of Walt Disney World Tips

Walt Disney World: A Mom with a Plan

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Filed Under: Recipes, Travel, Tutorials

{Walt Disney World} Mr. Mickey Mouse Head Bags

March 22, 2013 posted by Shara

Is it pathetic that I spent like, 3 whole minutes trying to come up with a clever name for these? Essentially, they are Mr. Potato Head felt bags…..but with Mickey Mouse heads instead. What would you call them?As you know, we are headed to Disneyworld soon on our family vacation with our best friends, Bets and Jay and their daughter, Lulabelle. And since Lu might as well be my third daughter, she reaps the benefits of any craftiness attempts I make!I bought new sheets awhile back and them came in these cute little bags with snaps…so of course I kept them, waiting for something that needed containment….and these ended up being perfect!! I bought a bunch of felt and cut out accessories in various colors (I sketched them out on cardboard first, then traced, since I had to make three of everything!). My favorites are the pink sunglasses and the purple “nerd” glasses.What a Southern lady, with her pearls on!Any guesses on how long it takes for the little felt eyes to go missing?!?! Hopefully these bags will keep the littles busy in the bakseat for a little while!

(linking up this week!)

Check out my other Disney Posts!

Get your kids pumped for your Disney vacation with these Disney Activities!

Disney Countdown Chain

Secrets of the Kingdom: A Collection of Walt Disney World Tips

Disney Princess Wand Tutorial

Filed Under: Crafts, Travel, Tutorials

DIY Rainbow {in a jar}

March 20, 2013 posted by Shara

This is the recipe that I used to create my Rainbow in a Jar that was a gift from our Leprechaun on St. Patrick’s Day. But honestly, it’s just a great, fun little recipe for some eewy guey slime that kids love to play with! You can make it any color you want, or use it to make a lesson in combining primary colors to make secondary colors!{Here’s the original post and recipe that I found on Pinterest}

All you need is equal parts liquid starch and clear glue. I used 1 1/2 cups of each {which is exactly two bottles of glue}….but in hind-sight, I wish I had done 2 cups of each to fill up my jar a little more.And you simply combine them in a bowl and stir. And stir. And stir. Until it makes a thick, jelly-like consistency.Then, I divided it into four bowls, and added 2 drops of food coloring in each bowl. {Don’t use any more than 2 drops!}I layered the colors in my jar {the gel pours pretty easily, and you can guide it into the jar with a spoon}. But I did notice that after letting it sit overnight in the jar, the gel colors kind of melted into each other {you can see the very beginning of it below}, which ruined the rainbow effect a little. Jayna didn’t care a bit, but next time I will wait until the last second to layer the colors.And finally, I added a scrap of green fabric to the top, tied some baker’s twine around it and set it our with the other Leprechaun gifts!And it was the source of independent play for about 30 minutes!

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Filed Under: Crafts, Tutorials

{Walt Disney World} Bibbity Bobbity Boo Wand

March 13, 2013 posted by Shara

We are having a blast around here getting ready for Disneyworld! Jayna cuts one of her chains every morning, and on the white strip days, we have had a fun new Disney activity to do! Yesterday’s activity has been the most fun yet though. Jayna picked the stick that said “Make a princess wand.”

And of course, I was prepared! I had bought feathers, sparkly pom poms, silver pipe cleaners and a dowel rod at Hobby Lobby. Add a glue gun, and we were ready to make a wand!

We started out by wrapping the pipe cleaners tightly around the dowel rod, hot glueing the ends down (or else the wire will be sharp!). Then we wrapped the feathers (which were actually from a hair clip that I took apart) around the top into a circle and glued them to the dowel rod too (this created a base on which the pom pom would sit).Then, I hot glued the giant pom pom on top, and viola! A sparkly, magic wand!

Disclaimer: Please do not let your children use the hot glue gun! I used it to attach one end of the pipecleaner, and then had Jayna wrap the pipe cleaner around the dowl rod before I glued the other end down.And of course every wand needs a princess to go with it! {And…cue the Cinderella dress!}Princess Jayna was casting spells on Maggie, Millie and me!Finally, Millie decided that she was tired of being turned into random things {think frog, tree, burrito…}. So, I made her one too!(Notice hers doesn’t have the feathers….she was insistent on trying to pull Jayna’s feathers out, so I left them off of hers!)

But first, Jayna decided that Millie needed a “Princess School” on how to use her wand. {I think she has been watching too much Sophia the First!}And now that they both have mastered the Bibbity Bobbity Boo, I guess I better watch out!

Linkin’ Up this week!

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Filed Under: Crafts, Life, Tutorials

{A Handmade Holiday} Canvas Heart Garland

December 3, 2012 posted by Shara

Last winter, I stumbled upon Craftaholic’s linky party full of handmade Christmas gifts. I came to realize that all of the participants had given each other the gifts that were showcased. What a neat idea! Imagine creating a gift for a perfect stranger, and receiving one as well! Sounded like fun, and a great way to network as well. So this year I signed up to participate. The lady who I was assigned to create a gift for must be awesome…..her name is Sharra {so, how could she not be awesome!?!}, and seemed to have a similar decor style as I do. So I decided to create a couple of little Christmas decor items for her. {we weren’t required to make Christmasy items, but hey, I was in the mood!}

One of the items I made for her was a cute canvas heart garland. Perfect to decorate a Christmas tree, mantle, or hutch. I adore how it turned out! And even though I’ve already sent it on to Sharra, I’m thinking I may make another for myself….and it would be really easy to personalize with appliques, colored stitching, etc. And SO easy to make!

I used a canvas drop cloth from Lowes, some batting, some rope, and some red thread.

First, cut out a bunch of canvas squares, 5″ by 5″. Fold each in half and cut out half of a heart on the fold. I actually made a little pattern to trace and cut out so they would all be exactly the same. The garland I made had 20 hearts, so I cut out 40 heart-shaped pieces of canvas. Save your scraps!

Sandwich the rope between two heart cut-outs, pinning the rope in place.

Baste stitch 1/2″ around the edge of the heart, leaving a small opening to push the batting through.

When your heart has been stuffed with the batting, straight stitch around the heart again, following your original baste stitch, and closing the gap. This should also keep the rope in place. Do the same for all of the hearts, spacing them about 4 inches or so apart. Use pinking shears to cut around the edge of the hearts, taking care not to cut through the rope.

Cut strips from the scraps of fabric, and make the center of the strip thinner than the ends. Tie the strips in knots around the rope, one in between each heart.

String your garland around your Christmas tree, hang it on a hutch, or decorate your mantle with it. You can even use it again come Valentine’s Day!

I’d love for you to Pin this and Share it, but please link it back to my site! Thanks!

Want to participate in the Summer Gift Exchange, but need a reminder? Click here!

Linkin’ up here this week…..and participating in this linky party too! {Click on the box to see what everybody else made!}

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Filed Under: Crafts, Tutorials

DIY Fabric Softener

September 20, 2012 posted by Shara

We’ve been trying to pinch our pennies around here. And one of our biggest household expenses is fabric softener and laundry detergent. So…..thanks, once again to The Frugal Gals, I found a recipe to attempt to make my own. Here’s how I did it:

Ingredients:

6 cups of HOT water

3 cups of white vinegar

2 cups of your favorite scented conditioner ( I used V05)

Steps:

Mix conditioner & hot water well, until conditioner is dissolved completely {I used my tea kettle and then poured the water into the conditioner in a bowl}