Back-to-School Already?!

Can you believe summer break is almost over? Are you ready? My summer is already over. I'm back in the classroom after 8 years. I've been working around the clock putting together a preK classroom. I'm plumb exhausted. 
I thought I'd share some super cute back-to-school ideas/projects I found on Pinterest. Now, if only I had the time to actually make them.... 
Super cute, easy-peasy gift for the teacher for the first day of school. FREE printable on Simply This and That! 

A-DOR-ABLE door hanger for your new teacher. This looks so do-able! Maybe one of my students will make me one?!? Yeah, I don't think so either. I may just have to give up some more sleep and make one for myself. Thanks for the tutorial, Warm & Fuzzy! 

O-Mmm-Gee! Look at how cute these apple pretzels are?!?! I'm not linking it because the link is showing to not be safe. Sorry about that Bake.Bake.Celebrate. I think this could be recreated fairly easily without having directions. 

I know my kids would LOVE this. What a cute way to gear up for the beginning of a new school year! Check out the directions over at Pen N' Paperflowers. 

LOVE, love this idea of a back-to-school dinner night with the family. The decorations would be easy to put together. Check out the cuteness over at Our Family Blog. 

If you're going to have a Back-to-School dinner, you're going to need a Back-to-School dinner recipe. Here's one of my family favorites - Crockpot Ranch Pork Chops. Thanks to One Day at a Time for having a great picture with the recipe. This is recipe I use and I've shared, I just can't find my picture. Bummer. No worries. You'll find other great recipes over at One Day at a Time as well. 

Have you found some great ideas to kick off back-to-school?! If I had hours to spend, I could find so many things to make.... if I had time. {sigh}

When do your kids start back? Ours actually start on the 15th. I, on the other hand, have been working for a week in my classroom. I report for meetings on Friday. Life for this housewife is drastically changing. 

~Mrs. Alright

Wishing I could do it all, like.... 

Crafty Feet

It's been a while since I have brought a craft to The RHOK, so I think I will share a fun one that I haven't shared before. We all wear shoes, right? And I know we can all go purchase these glittery canvas shoes now in stores anywhere from $15-$60. But, if a craft opportunity presents itself at my house at a shoe cost of $5, materials I have on hand and creating memories to last a lifetime I jump at it.  I of course pulled another Real Housewife of the Internet* and used that beloved site called Pinterest to produce this idea. Take a look at this pin. If only I could have reproduced those. Here are the directions for mine.
You’ll need:

• a pair of canvas shoes
• 8 ounces of Mod Podge
• 1.5 ounces of glitter
• 1 flat foam brush
• small bowl or cup
• tape (preferably duck tape)
• rhinestone decoration
• heavy duty adhesive 

The cast of characters- as the Pioneer Woman would say!

Tape off the areas of the shoe that you do not want the glitter on- the sole of the shoe. You can't see mine, because all I had on hand was clear tape. You will mix the glitter and the mod podge together in the bowl/cup and then brush on to the shoe as seen above. Below you can see my daughter hard at work helping. She was a big help!

After the mod podge mixture dries, adhere the rhinestone piece one with the glue. I will be honest, mine did not stick well after wear, it would have done better had the end of the shoe been vinyl.

My daughter has loved these blinged out shoes. And to be honest. They have lasted so much better than the more expensive brands!

♥Mrs. Hart♥
who likes her crafts anyway and anywhere, just as long as she can get crafty!!

*What do you think about that name? I'm thinking of moving my personal reviews/giveaways over to a new blog and separating them from my family blog. Input please...

Always the Fool

It probably says a lot about our family when I tell you that April Fool's is considered an actual holiday in my house.  I'd like to blame the Doc, but that wouldn't be too honest.  This year, I forgot to really plan out some good tricks.

As a last minute lame attempt, I was going to show my kids the "road kill" I saw.
It was not the winner of the day.

Michael was a disappointment as well.  His best joke was the good old "your shoes are untied" standby.
No one falls for that anymore around here.

Doc had nuthin'.

Jacob was the winner.
Jacob came home with brownies that he made in art class.

Any of you who have read my blog in the past know that I am not overly thrilled with the art teacher at the elementary school.  She's often cranky with the kids and grades the artwork a little harshly.  If you want the back story, you'd have to go here. 
It's kind of funny if you ask me.

When Jacob announced he made brownies in art class and brought them home to me, I was filled with dread.  I think I started to break into a cold sweat.  I am soooooooo not kidding.  The germaphobe within me was having an absolute panic attack.

He was going to make me eat food made with a thousand little dirty nose-picking fingers.

I saw the foil and was completely grossed out by how flattened they were.
But... the joke was on me.

I had carefully unwrapped a bunch of BROWN E's.
I have never been so relieved in my entire life.
I even forgot to be embarrassed about being April Fooled.

Here is my clever little trickster.

I was so amazed that I told him his (typically cranky) art teacher was very clever and must have been in a good mood.

That's when I found out they had a sub that day.

Aha!

Did any of you get fooled this April 1st?

~ Mrs. Priss
Fooled by a 2nd grader like...

St. Patrick's Day Family Style

If you are like me, you have nothing green for this St. Patrick's Day. I will share the cute ideas I found with you. My girls wanted green nails. Found this polish at our corner Walgreens for 99 cents.

Saw this idea & thought it was cute AND easy. Great idea for lunch boxes or friends.

Free Printable Here
I love to do crafts with the kids. This idea from Parenting Magazine is just too cute. Cute to display for  future St. Patrick's Day decorations.

In our house poop is a popular topic. I even receive poop texts from time to time. When I found this idea I just knew I had to make  it for St. Patrick's Day. 

Free Printable Here On behalf of all the RHOK girls we wish you nothing but green this St. Patrick's Day. Here is a little blessing for you.

Free Printable Here

What do you do for St. Patrick's Day? Share your ideas with us. xoxo- Mrs. Montgomery Chasing that Pot O' Gold, Like...

Make Your Own Ornaments!

We get pretty excited about Christmas around here.  

My family started decorating Thanksgiving week - and we're almost done.  Our pace is killer - as in so slow it's killing me!  I start shopping early for extended family so I can hand them wrapped presents at Thanksgiving.  Yes, I'm so cheap that I refuse to pay shipping.  I even started baking (*gasp*) things that can be frozen for later in the month.  Yes, it's true.  I love having things done early so I can just coast and enjoy the season!

It's only December 5th and I'm curious how many of you are as immersed into the Christmas season as my family is.  Mrs. Albright, Mrs. Hart and Mrs. Sinclair are all either done or almost done with their shopping and decorating.  Only Mrs. Priss (that would be me) has started baking.  The other housewives have declared me insane on this one.  Most of the RHOK have only wrapped a minimal number of gifts.  Mrs. Montgomery is on a different track.  She has done very little for Christmas and plans to do a little each day to prepare.  I think she is just making sure the family celebrates her birthday first.

Over Thanksgiving break, I decided on a whim to put my boys and niece to work creating dough ornaments.  My mom used to make these with me when I was a little girl.  Sadly, mine have only slightly improved over the years - but they are still fun to make!

After you mix the dough, you begin making your ornaments.  Roll and flatten the dough into the shape want to make.  To attach other pieces, dampen your finger with some water and moisten the area you want it to go to "glue" it in place.

The "Before"

After you get your ornaments just right, put a bobby pin or a paper clip in them (so you will have a place to attach a hook later) and let them dry out.  I usually put mine in the oven on a baking sheet at about 200 or less.  I leave them in the oven overnight and keep going until they completely dry out.  If you aren't going to be able to check them every couple of hours, just turn the oven off but leave them in.

Once they are dry and they cool off, it is time to paint!  I use acrylic paint and a variety of paintbrush sizes.

Jacob is having fun with his creations!

Our crazy ornaments.

The "After" for my tree

It was fun to see what my boys would create.  Michael stuck with Nintendo themed ornaments.  Jacob stuck with his own creation - Evil Toast!  Believe me, it's going to be a hit someday.  No stealing his idea!

Eeeeeeeevil Toast King!

These are mine. Just plain ole Christmas.

Once the ornaments are painted and dry, spray them with that shiny stuff that makes them look all pretty and glossy.  That's what you call it if you are not really a crafty gal.

Those of you who are crafty would call it... I dunno.  Clearcoat? Spray Gloss? Varnish?

You decide.

Ready to hang on the tree!

If you want to try this at home, I am attaching the recipe for you.  And if you actually make some ornaments, please post them on our Facebook wall.

~ Mrs. Priss

Enjoying the Christmas season like...

Fall Fun with Kids

My kids have been in school for 23 days for the 2012-13 year and just had their second day out this past Friday. Professional Development Days. Teachers have to get them in, and unfortunately it just doesn't happen with the kids present and on school property. My daughter who started Kindergarten this year told us that she really likes having three day weekends. I bet she does.

I'll be honest I enjoy it also. Can we have year around school with just breaks here and there? Please? I had so much fun with my kids on Friday. It was a no makeup, stress free, craft and full of fun activity day with my kids and a few neighbor friends, whose mom just happens to be one of those poor teachers who had to go get schooled.

We made two of these Candy Corn wreaths. I found the idea on Pinterest, of course!

HGTV Moma here I come! He looks mighty efficient with a glue gun doesn't he?
BTW if anyone has seen my glue gun, please return it. We have a few battle scars from this one.

I didn't want to overload this post with pics, but you can see we had loads of Fall fun and were on a real sugar high between bites of candy corn, sprinkles, chocolate and caramel that was served up. At least the apples were healthy. This is what Fall Fun with Kids is all about until the leaves fall, the pumpkins patches open and its cool enough to get out and enjoy the weather!

On another note of Fall, remember my last post when I hosted the RHOK into Fall Y'all Decorating Contest? We have a winner of the $25 Los Cabos Gift Card! Congratulations RHOK Reader MissPam DanceMom! If you are in the Broken Arrow or South Tulsa area and are looking for dance lessons for your child, I encourage you to look Miss Pam up at Beautiful Feet Dance Company.

Miss Pam's Fall Village. I love villages!

♥Mrs. Hart♥ Celebrating Fall and looking forward to cooler temps like

Patriotic Style the Crafty Way

With only 10 days until our country's 236th birthday, I thought it would be fun to give our readers a few ideas to get their crafty style poppin'! I personally like the RW&B year round, but these items will go an extra mile this year as we support Team USA in the 2012 Summer Olympics- I can't wait to see what the designers are pulling out for us there! 
I made this shirt for my daughter last year courtesy of Make it and Love it! It has been a huge hit and she can still wear it this year!

Source: makeit-loveit.com via ShaRhonda @ The 4-Crow's on Pinterest

Patriotic Beaded FlipFlops anyone? Most of you know that I make these like crazy! What started out as a football fundraiser for my son, has now become a popular gift item, raffle item and just all around favorite among sport moms! A few of our RHOK readers have even received a pair at our RHOK Outs.

Source: via ShaRhonda @ The 4-Crow's on Pinterest

For a little patriotic style around the home, or even a hostess gift you could make a patriotic Wordle like this one to frame.

Source: Uploaded by user via ShaRhonda @ The 4-Crow's on Pinterest

And finally I will show you what my daughter and I will be sporting this year for the 4th! I think I saw this idea on Pinterest, but never pinned it so I can't give it credit to anyone in particular. Besides at less that $8 for both shirts, the rick rack, ribbon and some Liquid Stitch that I already had on hand this was the easiest style maker ever! (I'm still not 100% sure about the bow on mine though, but for one day I guess I can bow out.)

Source: Uploaded by user via ShaRhonda @ The 4-Crow's on Pinterest

What will you we wearing and doing to get your Boom Boom Pow on?

 Hope I gave you a few ideas, if you notice I didn't even touch on all the food.

♥Mrs. Hart♥Getting my Crafty Patriotic Style on like