Tag Archives: crafts

Halloween Monster Donuts DIY

This amazingly adorable Halloween Monster Donuts DIY is incredibly easy, but it can trick you if you don't heed this one crucial key to success! | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

This amazingly adorable Halloween treat is incredibly easy if, IF, you heed one crucial step. Follow along and you’ll be well on your way to delighting children of all ages. Seriously, being the “best mother ever,” (that was a direct quote) is just a trip to the donut shop away.

This amazingly adorable Halloween Monster Donuts DIY is incredibly easy, but it can trick you if you don't heed this one crucial key to success! | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

So I can hear what you’re thinking: “What directions could there possible be to follow? Get some donuts, candy eyes, icing, and vampire teeth and throw them all together.” Oh, simple one, I thought the same things, too. I saw the pictures floating around the internet and thought “I can do that.”

So I hit the shops to gather my ingredients, only when I got to Dunkin’ Donuts, they were a little low on donuts. Probably because it was 2:00 PM, but whatever. I had planned on getting three dozen chocolate glazed cake donuts because that was what my daughter requested, but alas, I had to make do with what the breakfast crowd left behind. I ended up with a dozen glazed and two other dozen cobbled together with chocolate glazed, pumpkin, and chocolate iced. I’ve learned as a mother to go with the flow because sometimes it’s the flow that keeps you afloat. You’ll see what I mean in a minute.

This amazingly adorable Halloween Monster Donuts DIY is incredibly easy, but it can trick you if you don't heed this one crucial key to success! | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

I had a speedier time in Michaels Craft Store. It being the first day of fall and all, the slime green icing, candy eyes, and vampire fangs were right up front. Yeah, nevermind they had been up front since August. I guess I should be glad they weren’t sold out.

In no time I was home and on my way to creating my cyclops monsters . The first box of donuts I opened happened to be the complete dozen of glazed.

I soon figured out it was helpful to pinch the fangs like so to insert them into the center.

This amazingly adorable Halloween Monster Donuts DIY is incredibly easy, but it can trick you if you don't heed this one crucial key to success! | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

For attaching the eye, I put a big glob of icing on the back because I wanted it to ooze out the sides.

This amazingly adorable Halloween Monster Donuts DIY is incredibly easy, but it can trick you if you don't heed this one crucial key to success! | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

Voilà!

This amazingly adorable Halloween Monster Donuts DIY is incredibly easy, but it can trick you if you don't heed this one crucial key to success! | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

So onto the next dozen! I went through the same procedure, except I stopped halfway through the box because I needed to switch the laundry over. Couldn’t just be making treats for the field hockey team, I needed to wash my girl’s uniform, too. Minutes later, I came back to a horror show! The fangs had sprung open to break the donuts.

This amazingly adorable Halloween Monster Donuts DIY is incredibly easy, but it can trick you if you don't heed this one crucial key to success! | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

Are you kidding me? I “glued” the donuts back together with some slime icing and ended up just laying the fangs on top of the other ones. Not quite as cute, but not bad either.

This amazingly adorable Halloween Monster Donuts DIY is incredibly easy, but it can trick you if you don't heed this one crucial key to success! | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

KEY TO SUCCESS: The type of donut matters! Use classic glazed donuts because they have enough spring and give to hold the teeth. Cake-like donuts crack and break apart!

I am so glad I was forced to buy so many glazed ones because they turned out the best. At least I had a bunch of those!

This amazingly adorable Halloween Monster Donuts DIY is incredibly easy, but it can trick you if you don't heed this one crucial key to success! | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

May your treats not play any tricks on you!

-Ellen 

Apparently, we are all about the donuts here. Check out these posts, too.

Doughnut New Years Eve Tradition

Make a Donut Bouquet

 

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I Just Want to Be Perfect

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Check out our books, “I Just Want to Be Alone” and “You Have Lipstick on Your Teeth.”

 

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How to Make a Donut Bouquet

Did you know that National Donut Day is the first Friday in June? Did you know it’s not just a gimmick developed by the donut conglomerate to push its pastries on the it’s-national-whatever-day calendars? Do you even care about the “how and why” since we’re talking about the deliciousness that is donuts?

As it so happens, the first National Donut Day was celebrated in 1938 by The Salvation Army in Chicago to help raise needed funds during the Great Depression and to commemorate the work of the “donut lassies” who helped make the donut what it is today by feeding the tasty confection to American soldiers during World War I. The donuts became synonymous with The Salvation Army, as well as the American soldiers who were returning home with the nickname, “doughboys.”

I like a national day with some solid history and philanthropy behind it. So anyway, I did not find this out because of random Googling. I found out through desperate Googling. I discovered National Donut Day was a thing because my daughter came to me one hour before midnight on the first Wednesday in June and asked, “Is that florist still open near the school?”

“Um, it has been closed for about five years. Why?” I asked.

“Because I need flowers for the band director for Thursday night,” she said.

My husband uncharacteristically chimed in, “Would he even want flowers?” (“Uncharacteristically” because he usually avoids input on all things gift related so I can’t blame him later. This tactic works about 10% of the time.)

And thus a debate was launched about the likes and dislikes of our fabulous band director who deserves all the good things in life and this said discussion ended with me saying, “Sure I can make a donut bouquet. I’m sure it’s on Pinterest.”

Guess what? There are not any good donut tutorials on Pinterest. I nearly fainted dead away. Good thing I am a Craft Queen with the ability to publish my own material on the interwebz.

See, all I could find were donuts stuck on sticks in a vase. That’s great if you like stale pastries. Also, that design is not portable, like, AT ALL. My daughter had to get it to school, put it under her chair on stage, and then present it at the end of a concert. Yeah.

Also, I have taken a turn or twelve thousand through the kitchen creating outlandish bake goods and I just didn’t believe that donuts would stay on skewers extremely well. Spoiler alert: I was right.

So here was my answer: a design that was more along the lines of a Miss America bouquet. Not counting getting the materials, it truly only took me 30 minutes to construct. It worked out great: scoring huge points for portability, mess containment, and wow factor.

How to Make a Donut Bouquet (Tutorial). Deliciously perfect gift for National Donut Day or any occasion! Quick, easy, and impressive: everything a craft project should be. | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

 

Materials

  • Donuts (do not get ones with filling)
  • Candy bar
  • Cookie Sticks or Bamboo Dowel Rods
  • Foam Core Board
  • Duct Tape
  • Clear Packaging Tape
  • Ribbon
  • Decorative Wire Garland
  • Clear Cellophane Gift Wrap

How to Make a Donut Bouquet (Tutorial). Deliciously perfect gift for National Donut Day or any occasion! Quick, easy, and impressive: everything a craft project should be. | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

1. Cut the foam core board into a triangular shape. This is easily done running a box cutter or rotary cutter along a ruler as a guide. (Don’t do this on your counter. Use a cutting mat, or like I did, the garage floor.) I trimmed the points off of the top angles so that it would be easier to wrap later.

How to Make a Donut Bouquet (Tutorial). Deliciously perfect gift for National Donut Day or any occasion! Quick, easy, and impressive: everything a craft project should be. | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

2. Carefully put your donuts on the skewers. Not going to lie, I wrecked a couple of the smaller donuts and donut holes. Make sure you have extra. Lay your arrangement out on your board and start duct taping into place. I used tape that matched my board, but you could do something more decorative or contrasting. Duct tape choices are limitless nowadays.

How to Make a Donut Bouquet (Tutorial). Deliciously perfect gift for National Donut Day or any occasion! Quick, easy, and impressive: everything a craft project should be. | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

3. Using clear packaging tape loops, I attached the candy bar to dress it up. I also added a Dunkin’ Donuts gift card.

How to Make a Donut Bouquet (Tutorial). Deliciously perfect gift for National Donut Day or any occasion! Quick, easy, and impressive: everything a craft project should be. | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

4. Next I measured out the cellophane: twice the height of my project plus 14 inches. I laid the cellophane out on my counter and placed my bouquet on it so there was 7 extra inched below the pointy end. I folded the cellophane over the the top of the bouquet and secured it at the bottom with the wire garland. I folded the sides under the board and secured them with clear packaging tape. Then I added the ribbon.

How to Make a Donut Bouquet (Tutorial). Deliciously perfect gift for National Donut Day or any occasion! Quick, easy, and impressive: everything a craft project should be. | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

 

This really is one of the easier projects I have gotten myself into. While it is perfect for National Donut Day, it is swell for most any occasion. Remember that famous quote that I am making up right now: “A donut makes any day better.”

Ellen

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Check out our books, “I Just Want to Be Alone” and “You Have Lipstick on Your Teeth.”

 

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10 Tips for Crafting with Kids without Losing Your Mind

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Newsflash, folks, all kids like to get their crafting on, even boys. I had really hoped the hefty dose of testosterone we have over here would let my un-crafty self off the proverbial “latch hook.” No luck. Something in the kid code screams, “I must express myself!” Providing regular access to a glue gun is definitely part of any mom gig. The sponsor of this post, the new Fruitocracy from Dole, gets it. Fruitocracy  understands the special kingdom of tweens where self-expression, individuality and creativity may reign supreme, but harried moms are the ones actually running the place. Their fine all-natural real fruit snacks come in great flavors that my picky kids actually like. So my kids are fed and happy in the midst of and in spite of all the creating. As a bonus, they also help keep me from pulling my hair out in the middle of it all.

10 Tips for Crafting with Kids: A complete guide with strategies and ideas for non-crafty moms and dads! | Parenting Advice | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

Time, experience, and Ellen, aka MacGyver, have taught this self-proclaimed crafting disaster a thing or ten. Behold some things I have figured out along the way that make all of the pipe cleaner and papier mâché mess much more palatable and enjoyable, even for glue gun challenged folks like me.

1. Embrace the mess.

Creative process tends to occur on the south side of messy. Add kids snacking to this mess and you have yourself a formula for disasters. That’s one of the things we love about the Fruitocracy pouches: a great-tasting snack that doesn’t ruin a masterpiece by spilling or devolving into a pile of crumbs. Knowing we can contain, if not exactly command, the mess is a true comfort. So bring on the mess that comes with their inspired dreaming, we are ready. But we draw the line on glitter. Glitter is the spawn of Satan.

10 Tips for Crafting with Kids complete with parenting strategies for non-crafty moms and dads | Parenting Advice | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

See how nicely the little fruit pouch sits on the edge of the oh-so-important model rocket directions. Water bottles and chips don’t  play as nicely.

2. Let them lead.

In my house, we have a bin full of craft supplies that well-meaning relatives and cruel friends have given us over the years. Since I have no idea what to do with any of the baubles, bells, and little pompom balls, they all get thrown in a box cleverly labeled “craft supplies.” When my kids are being so annoying that I worry the neighbors will hear through the open windows, out comes the box. Time potentially wasted wrestling with each other becomes time spent gluing rocks together and making fantastic things. Bottom line: my kids are still alive, I fostered their creative expression, and I didn’t have to do a thing. Win-win-win.

10 Tips for Crafting with Kids complete with strategies for non-crafty moms and dads! | Parenting Advice | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

Slingshots are better than hand-to-hand combat, right? Right?!

3. Leave them to it.

Many of the things my kids craft are part of a school assignment. From a philosophical perspective as a teacher, I believe that a kid’s work is theirs alone. As a craft-challenged parent, I wouldn’t know how to help them anyway. The results aren’t always pretty, but they are 100% theirs.

10 Tips for Crafting with Kids complete with strategies for non-crafty moms and dads! | Parenting Advice | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

“Character in a Can” is my favorite book report project. This is my son who thinks he just made Ralph from “Mouse and the Motorcycle.’ Just smile and nod and agree with him.

4. Give them room to work.

Creativity is a process that will not be denied. Surrender dining room tables, art supplies, and precious reserves of patience to the cause. But when necessary, leave the room completely, because sometimes you are just gonna need a break from all the mayhem. Maybe even use your break to raid your secret chocolate stash. Chocolate cures all, even a crafting hangover.

10 Tips for Crafting with Kids complete with strategies for non-crafty moms and dads! | Parenting Advice | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

Ralph’s nose took eons longer than the rest of his coffee can body. Relaxation breathing helped us both survive.

5. Give them stuff to work with.

There are worse things in life than a burnt finger or two. With supervision, tweens can handle most power tools. So hand over that glue gun. But eat more chocolate. Remember, chocolate cures all, even a hot glue emergency.

10 Tips for Crafting with Kids complete with strategies for non-crafty moms and dads! | Parenting Advice | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

They might become so handy they can multi-task and tutor a friend in Algebra while building a rocket.

6. Appreciate what crafts can bring to your family.

Crafts can bring more than macrame plant holders and knit toilet paper cozies into your life. It’s not all kumbaya over here all the time, but every once in awhile, the stars align and they work together on a project and I nearly weep with joy at the beautiful memories being made.

10 Tips for Crafting with Kids complete with strategies for non-crafty moms and dads! | Parenting Advice | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

Is that a hug or are you just trying to launch a rocket?

7. Expect the unexpected.

Acknowledge upfront before the first bead has even been strung that this whole project can go off the rails. Whether it’s a lost piece, ruined directions, or worse, things can and will probably go wrong. Make peace with Murphy’s Law.

10 Tips for Crafting with Kids complete with strategies for non-crafty moms and dads! | Parenting Advice | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

Sometimes the problem isn’t with the craft itself but your crafting buddy.

8. Appreciate the process.

One step, brick, bead, knot, or brush stroke at a time, this project will work it’s way towards completion. Reward the forward momentum with praise for the effort, snacks to keep them energized, and hugs along the way.

10 Tips for Crafting with Kids complete with strategies for non-crafty moms and dads! | Parenting Advice | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

9. Take pride in a job well done.

Take your props for getting the project finished and heap it mightily on the kid who did it.

10 Tips for Crafting with Kids complete with strategies for non-crafty moms and dads! | Parenting Advice | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

The smile says it all.

10. Celebrate successes.

Sometimes the crafts work out and it’s a beautiful sight to behold.

10 Tips for Crafting with Kids complete with strategies for non-crafty moms and dads! | Parenting Advice | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

So go ahead, lay out those craft supplies and let your tween follow their creativity wherever it may lead. With our handy tips and Fruitocracy, you won’t just be able to manage the process, you might actually enjoy it too . . . but only if you follow our one hard and fast rule: NO GLITTER!

10 Tips for Crafting with Kids complete with strategies for non-crafty moms and dads! | Parenting Advice | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

We loved how easy it was to bring our new favorite snacks along for the next big adventure! A definite bonus!

What tips would you add?

One more note: We love that the new Fruitocracy seems to have anticipated the slightly explosive union of the tween need for self-expression with their need for regular fueling. Fruitocracy really cares about what’s going on inside our growing kids. Each squeezable pouch is packed with real fruit, free of any high fructose corn syrup and GMOs, in great flavors like Apple Banana, Apple Mixed Berry, Apple Pineapple, Apple Strawberry, Apple Cherry and Apple. My family was missing these great snacks in our life because now we cannot get enough of them. 10 Tips for Crafting with Kids complete with strategies for non-crafty moms and dads! | Parenting Advice | Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

They are available now at retailers nationwide with a suggested retail price of $2.79/per pack.

Need more information about these great new snack pouches? Visit Fruitocracy

This is a sponsored post for Dole Fruitocracy but the two thumbs up from Erin’s tweens, our seal of approval, and our appreciation (or rather tolerance) of crafting is all our own.

You can follow us on Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Check out our books, “I Just Want to Be Alone” and “You Have Lipstick on Your Teeth.”

 

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Yarn Pintershizz is the Bomb

You know what’s popular now? Knitting and crocheting. Know how we know? Well, the internet. Duh. When memes like this start popping up in your feed, it’s time to take notice or at least write another installment of Pintershizz.

Proper grammar is also sexy. "IT'S," Ryan, "IT'S."

Proper grammar is also sexy. “IT’S,” Ryan, “IT’S.”

Ellen: I fully acknowledge we could have gone in and made our own meme to correct the grammar, but “Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That.” See what I did there?

Erin: Funny. But the “its” is still making me twitchy.

Ellen: Well, move on, because this is more about making you itchy from bad knitting projects.

Erin: Please tell me this has nothing to do with the performance art lady knitting out of her vagina?

Ellen: Noooooooo! I am taking a MUCH higher road than that. This is just the fun wooly stuff that started popping up in our Pinterest feed. Like yarn bombing. Did you know that was a thing?

Yarn Bombing: Making Vandalism Cozy and Adorable.

Yarn Bombing: Making Vandalism Cozy and Adorable.

Erin: I do now, but that is pretty charming. Not really Pintershizz.

Ellen: THAT is technically a form of graffiti and vandalism and it’s illegal. It’s also very badass — one of the more prominent artists went under the “graffiti knitting name”, Deadly Knitshade.

Erin: That. is. awesome. Are people really getting arrested for this?

Ellen: I don’t think so. Can you imagine the court scene?

Prosecutor: Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present this rapscallion who had the audacity to put this hat on this bus stop and thus bring a smile to every person’s face who happened to pass its way . . .

Judge: I hate to interrupt, but what idiot called the police instead of just picking up some hedge clippers?

Prosecutor: Good point.

Judge: Case dismissed.

Erin: By the way, how do you know all of this?

Ellen: Shut up, but Wikipedia. I know I’m a Wikipedia snob, but I thought it was probably okay for graffiti knitting.

Erin: Probably. We won’t make you turn in your library card, but you seem to be dropping some stitches, where is the Pintershizz?

Ellen: Did you just try to use a knitting term to illustrate that I’m getting off track??

Erin: Sweet kittens with mittens, I’m damned if I get on board with you and damned if I don’t. Just show us what you found on Pinterest.

Yarn Pintershizz Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

 

1. Throne Cozy

The Ultimate Cozy

Ellen: What better way to kick off Pintershizz than with a crocheted toilet?

Erin: I did just finish two bathroom remodels in my house . . . but no. There are waaaaaaaay too many people who stand up to pee–with questionable aim, I might add–in my household.

Ellen: Stop right there! I can feel the bacteria crawling through the computer screen. But speaking of science experiments, what about this gem?

 

2. Trapped Like a Rat

Yarn Rat Dissection

Bonus genuine dissection tray. Only mildly used.

Erin: Now isn’t this something you would like? Seems like the perfect gift for that med student in your life.

Ellen: No! It’s not even anatomically correct! Where are the lungs? WHAT is that brown blob on the left? Is that green thing the heart? Everyone knows the gallbladder is green, but it most definitely is NOT in the center of the chest.

Erin: Wow. I think we just found your OCD trigger. At least the tray is authentic.

Ellen: I’ll be impressed only if it smells like formaldehyde and desperation. Moving on to less evil-scientist-type items . . .

 

3. Bad Yarn Decision Dude

Bad Yarn Decision Dude

Ellen: Now this one is just funny. Pretty sure it is from the 70s.

Erin: What a lovely decade that was: avocado green and harvest gold EVERYTHING, Vienna sausages on toothpicks as appetizers, and clothing like THIS.

Ellen: I can’t remember what that hat is called and it’s driving me nuts.

Erin: That’s a tam o’ shanter.

Ellen: HOW did you know that?

Erin: I have my niche. You’re full of knowledge everyone needs to know, but I know things no one ever wants to know . . .

Ellen: Don’t sell yourself short. You’re just like Google, except less profitable and user friendly.

 

4. Keeping Those Buns Warm

One French Fry Short of a Happy Meal

Ellen: I do NOT want to know what her secret sauce is.

Erin: If you ask me, she looks like she’s one french fry short of a Happy Meal. See? I’m hilarious.

Ellen: You have your moments. Keep the faith.

 

5. More Fashion WTH?

WTH SweaterEllen: What would this be for? Is it for those times you only want 50% of your limbs to be sexy and frostbitten??

Erin: Oooo. It’s like the woman who’s famous who had the leg sticking out of the dress.

Ellen: You mean Angelina Jolie? You came up with tam o’ shanter, but can’t remember Jolie? I’m getting you a People Magazine subscription for Christmas. You need to up your Google game.

Erin: I told you, I’m a niche.

 

6. Two Woolens Arses are Better Than One

Two Woolen ArsesEllen: This is for those people who think Snuggies aren’t ugly enough.

Erin: Yes, because what would make you feel better about being hideous than knowing you spent eleventy gazillion hours creating that ugliness?

 

 7. Earbud Time Suck

Earbud Time Suck

Erin: What’s so bad about these? They would actually be pretty useful in my family of seven. Someone is ALWAYS complaining that someone else is using their earbuds. Blah, blah, blah.

Ellen: It’s the TIME SUCK factor. In my family, someone is always losing their earbuds. I can’t imagine spending this much time on something that has such a short life span. By the way, you know you could just color the connectors with different colored Sharpies?

Erin: YOU know that would require a master chart that we would promptly lose, right? Ain’t nobody got time for that.

 

8. Here We Go A-Flaying

Here We Go a Flaying
Ellen: I feel like I disappointed you with the last one, so back to the weird. Doesn’t this look like someone has been skinned? Wasn’t it St. Bartholomew who was flayed?

Erin: I don’t know. It seems like there were a bunch of them.

Ellen: Okay, not to keep spinning the same wheel (yeah, I did it), but how do you know something like tam o’ shanter, but you’re not sure which saint lost his hide?  You’re a religion teacher.

Erin: Told you, I’m niche-y.

 

9. Because We Love Llamas

Llama With a Scarf
Ellen: I didn’t want to end being a complete knitting hater. If I had a llama, I would totally knit it a scarf. I don’t know why I love llamas so much–maybe it’s their long, sweeping eyelashes, their goofy expressions, or the way they spit like they just don’t care. There is nothing wrong with the textile arts, it’s just, I don’t have the time.

Erin: I wouldn’t mind learning to knit either. People have told me it’s great to do while sitting in car line or sitting on the sidelines . . . the only problem is, I already have things I’m catching up on during that “down-time.” My “down-time” is double-booked until three months past 2020.

And Sweetie, you can just buy a scarf at Target for nine bucks. The llama will never know.

 

-Ellen and Erin

 

 

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Ghetto Chic Swimming Pool Design

Ellen is working towards the completion of her new pool and it is consuming her life. On the upside of Nirvana, it is a beautiful thing because it’s already bringing rollicking good times like this . . .

Foot Washing Station DIY Tutorial - Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut, it is also one more thing to take care with the vacuuming, the scrubbing, and the mad scientist mixing of chemicals. It also causes extra messes– toys strewn across the lawn like plastic landmines and mountains of wet towels posing as mildew starter farms. Hmmm, suddenly Ellen’s yard is sounding more like a chlorinated Vietnam than a swimming wonderland. But that is not what is bringing her down because she signed up for all of that. And she REALLY likes geeking out playing mad chemist.

Here’s the problem. Apparently the Mid-Atlantic climate decided to get its Starbucks on and emulate the Pacific Northwest without sending us the proper notification. We have had the coldest, wettest spring. So the pool that was supposed to be dug in April, did not get excavated until June.  And the rain continues. That means the pool deck was completed in stages days apart.  At one point, the only things missing were broken glass and dirty syringes to complete the “Ghetto Chic” appeal.

Foot Washing Station DIY Tutorial - Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

Things have gotten safer because the concrete surround has been finished. No need to call child protective services or OSHA, but you could ring up NOAA and tell them to just shoot up a satellite or ray gun or something to make this rain stop.

The whole patio is still not done and since it rains every 15 seconds, Ellen is left with 30,000 gallons of watery delight surrounded by a mire pit of suckity muck.

Foot Washing Station DIY Tutorial - Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

While Ellen probably should just embrace the situation and host mud wrestling matches to pay for the patio furniture, she just can’t because she is too busy vacuuming nasty red clay grit out of the pool and her house. She is by no means a neat freak, but this is construction grit and it has the potential to damage the pool and her hardwood floors. So she vacuums land and sea. Fun.

Glee and glamour are highly staged in this photo and not at all representative of Ellen's actual attitude towards vacuuming.

Glee and glamour are highly staged in this photo and  do not at all represent Ellen’s actual attitude towards vacuuming.

Erin is a friend with a heart of gold and more importantly, not one to let something as trivial as a La Brea-esque mud pit stand between her and aquatic fun. She was a synchronized swimmer for goodness sake (although we have yet to see the photographic evidence). What she is NOT is crafty. Here was her solution . . .

Foot Washing Station DIY Tutorial - Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

So apparently the solution for dirtiness is grossness? Since people won’t stop getting in the pool now that the menacing Spikes of Tetanus are gone, Ellen got busy making a truly useful foot washing station.

For feet that look like this . . .

Foot Washing Station DIY Tutorial - Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

Use the fantastic foot washing station . . .

DIY Foot Washing Station Tutorial - Keep that mud out of the house this summer! Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

And voilà . . .

DIY Foot Washing Station Tutorial - Keep that mud out of the house this summer! Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

How did Ellen come up with this brilliance? She saw it on Pinterest of course. However the pin led to a dead end. Don’t you hate that Pintershit? Ellen is going to fix the interwebs and dirty feet by making her own directions. Pin that!

Sensible Moms Foot Washing Station

  • Move to Mayberry so you can find a tractor supply or feed store. The pan Ellen used was a Fortiflex Salt Block Pan. Livestock need salt and you need a pan to put it in. This $8 tray has a funneled bottom with drainage holes perfect for this application. Mayberry has its perks. Don’t fret if you’re a city slicker because we found it on the ever amazing Amazon for you, just click the link.  Or we guess you could go to a fancy pants Target and get a shallow pan or tray and just drill  holes in the bottom, but we’re telling you, the salt pan is sturdy. A cow can stand on it. Beat that Target.
  • Fill half way with pea gravel. This provides the cushion so you can actually stand on this marvelous contraption.
  • Finish off with a layer of river stones found in the floral supply section of craft stores or Walmart. You can also find them on Amazon. (Couldn’t find them in Target, just sayin’.) Theses stones feel good on your feet and warm up in the sun. If you think they are too fancy, just go with the pea gravel.
  • Make sure you put this on a grassy spot because the water runs through it and will make MORE mud. If you have kids under 6, you probably should just put it on a deck or driveway because they cannot dismount without getting more shizz on their feet.

DIY Foot Washing Station Tutorial - Keep that mud out of the house this summer! Sisterhood of the Sensible Moms

 

Happy Water Fun!

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

-Ellen and Erin

 

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