THANK YOU & SOME FUN CHANGES!

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

I am pleased to report that even though my blog did not make it onto the Circle of Moms Top 25 Homeschooling Blogging Moms list, it DID make it into the 40's!!!  Out of over 220 blogs, I would say that is a pretty sweet spot!  So THANK YOU everyone who took the time to vote!  I appreciate all of the support!  :)

CHANGES COMING SOON...

I am also excited to report that some changes are on the way for The Nature of Grace!  Soon you should be able to subscribe by e-mail, follow me on facebook, twitter, etc.  (all that good stuff) - that is if you'd like to!  ;)  AND I decided it was time for a new look as well so I'll be revealing that shortly!

THANK YOU! :)

Dear followers and fans!  Thank you SOOOO much for your continued support and votes!  It is amazing to be where I am so far on the list of homeschool blogging moms!

Only a few more days left of voting so please consider taking a few seconds to click on the voting badge, find my blog's name, and click on the voting hand!  I would appreciate it SUPER much!  :)  It would take about thirty or forty votes to move my blog up into the thirties on the list today - I would love for you to be a part of that accomplishment!  :)


Don't forget to check out other blogs while you are there!  There are some pretty awesome mommies out there!  :)

REMEMBER - you can vote once a day each day until the end of the contest which ends in FOUR days!

Mommy and Me Activity: Ballerina Tee!

I was inspired to try this by a shirt I saw in a store window last year - thank you Gap or whichever store it was.  The material they used for the ballet skirt on the shirt reminded me of some shabby rose ribbon I had.  And thus, the idea was born.
However, it is so much more cute, not to mention special, if you have your own little ballerina help design it herself.  Here's how we made ours:

Materials:


- One blank shirt (find one at craft stores for $2-$5 dollars)

- Small piece of shabby rose ribbon (also can be found at some craft stores like Hobby Lobby in their ribbon section).

- One squeeze bottle of black fabric paint

- One Mark-B-Gone Pen (the pen I used one with two ends - Disappearing Ink and Mark-B-Gone.  You will want to use the Mark-B-Gone end with ink that disappears when touched by water.  These pens can be found in the sewing section of some craft stores and in sewing stores).

- A piece of cardboard or heavy paper to provide a barrier under the shirt (not shown in the picture above).

- Fabric glue (also not shown in the picture above).

Directions:


1.  Slip the cardboard or paper in between the front and the back of the shirt to provide a barrier which keeps the ink and glue from seeping through the top of the shirt to the back of it as well.  You may also want to make sure your shirt is in a place where it will not be disturbed for a few days once you are done, or on top of something which can be moved with ease to a different location as needed because your shirt will need to dry for a few days undisturbed.

2.  Let your child used the Mark-B-Gone pen to draw her ballerina on the front of the shirt (you may want to let your child experiment with a cut piece of rose ribbon to come up with an idea of how large to draw the ballerina to fit the "tutu").  If she makes a mistake or gets frustrated, just wet it down, wait until the shirt dries blank again, and start over (you may also want to make a square or rectangle out of tape on the shirt to give your child some drawing boundaries - otherwise her design might end up all over the shirt.).  When everything is dry, you can easily remove the tape from the shirt.

3.  Once your child is done, take the fabric paint and carefully trace over your child's design.

4.  Use the pre-cut piece of shabby rose ribbon to be the tutu on the ballerina design (or you may need to cut a new one for a better fit) and glue it to the design carefully with fabric glue.

5.  Follow drying instructions for both the paint AND glue.  Chances are that this will be 48-72 hours at least.

6.  Wash the shirt, and it is ready for wearing!  :)

This idea could easily be adapted in many different ways for a child to make his/her own t-shirt design so don't limit your thinking to just ballet!  :)  Happy designing to you all!  :)

Linking up:

www.tipjunkie.com

www.cleanandscentsible.blogspot.com

www.gingersnapcrafts.com

www.momontimeout.com

www.bearrabbitbear.com

www.handsonaswegrow.com

www.houseofhepworths.com

www.happyhourprojects.com

www.kitchenfunwithmy3sons.blogspot.com

www.joyfulstamper.blogspot.com

www.livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com

www.tatertotsandjello.com

DIY Newspaper Bow!

Yesterday, I posted about some secret message wrapping paper we made and mentioned the bows were homemade as well!  So here, as I promised, is the tutorial.  

BTW - I cannot claim credit for this inspiration, I once saw an awesome paper bow on www.whipperberry.com.  I went there to check for the tutorial but couldn't find it so this is my own attempt.  I chose to use newspaper because that seemed like a fun "father-like" bow.  If you want to make the child colored bow shown on the gift picture from yesterday's post (I believe I saw this suggestion on Pinterest or on another website somewhere long ago) - just have your child scribble on some paper and use that instead of the newspaper I used below.

1.  Cut three pieces of newspaper to your desired length and width (I used roughly 1 1/2 inch width and 22 inch length strips for this bow).  Fold one strip as show in the first picture above.

2.  Fold the other end of the same strip and secure both in the middle with a staple.  Cut off the excess ends.  Follow the same method for the other two strips of newspaper.

3.  Layer the three pieces of looped newspaper on top of each other (experiment with the placement of them until you achieve the desired effect - I have layered the first two in the picture above) and staple together in the middle.

4.  Following the same steps listed above, make a smaller looped newspaper and place it inside the middle of your stapled stack.  Staple or glue in place.

5.  Make one small round loop with a leftover piece of newspaper and glue or staple closed.  Use this for the center of your bow.  Place on top of the other stacked looped newspaper pieces in the middle and glue or staple in place.  All done!  :)

Linking to:

www.tatertotsandjello.com

www.diyhshp.blogspot.com/

www.makingtheworldcuter.com

Father's Day: Secret Message Gift Wrap, Homemade Bows, & Homemade Gummy Bites!

Father's Day is just around the corner so I thought I'd share a little of what we did to make it extra special for Daddy this year.  :)  To make the gift wrapping just as wonderful as the gift inside, I decided to spice up some plain white wrapping paper by having us write secret notes on it for my husband.

On one present, we used lemon juice to write messages (if you try this, just use a cotton swab or thin paintbrush and it should dry pretty clear).  When Daddy opens his present, he can hold the paper up to a strong heat source to see what we wrote!  :)

UPDATE ON THIS METHOD:  The lemon juice method did not work well on the wrapping paper we used.  The notes we wrote with the juice didn't seem to show up very well using a heat source.  It is possible that this was due to the type of wrap we used so I suggest if you try this method - you may want to make a little sample first using the type of wrap you intend to give your gift in to make sure it works well first.  Please let me know if you try this and have a successful story to share as I thought this would be a fun idea for kids.  :)

On the second gift, we used homemade finger paint to write a secret note to Daddy.  In order to read it, he will have to open his present VERY carefully so as not to mess up the paper.

By the way, if you try any of these methods, make sure you measure and cut your paper to size for your gift FIRST so you don't end up having to cut off part of your message after the paint has dried.

Don't you LOVE the bows we used?  They are homemade as well!  I will be posting a tutorial on how we made these (with pics) tomorrow so make sure you check back!!!

P.S.  A follower recently let me know about an article which might be of interest to other readers concerning ways to wrap a gift.  Here is the link:  http://www.aupairjobs.com/articles/10-ways-to-wrap-a-gift/   Thanks for the tip, Jacqui!  :)

Last year, we made Daddy some homemade chipotle gummy bears which he loved!  SOOO this year, in addition to some items that my husband wanted, we decided to make him another batch of chipotle peach gummy goodness!  AND I decided to try a new flavor combination which I am happy to report, was also quite tasty:  mango lime gummy bites!

For the recipe and post from last year, just click here (to make the mango lime flavor, I used lime jello with a tiny bit of lime zest mixed in and tiny pieces of mangos sprinkled on top before the mixture could cool and firm up).

These are AWESOME because they are so unique (how often do you see mango lime or chipotle peach gummy candy in a store?), AND because your kids can help make them for Dad!  You could even let them come up with their own flavor combination for him - if you dare!  ;)

Linking up to:
www.momontimeout.com
www.houseofhepworths.com
www.atthepicketfence.com
www.cookienut.blogspot.com
www.happyhourprojects.com
www.joyfulstamper.blogspot.com
www.sunscholars.blogspot.com
www.homeschoolcreations.com
www.livinglifeintentionally.blogspot.com
www.whipperberry.com
www.kitchenfunwithmy3sons.blogspot.com
www.tatertotsandjello.com
www.diyhshp.blogspot.com/
www.makingtheworldcuter.com

Le Chef Petite: Double Chocolate Cherry Brownies!

Miss A recently wrote down in her kindergarten memory book that she wants to be a baker when she grows up.  The idea of making super fancy cakes and cookies and so forth, seemed to appeal to her.
Soooo, being a mommy, I decided to help her with her career decision.

This past Friday was our dessert night, and I decided to let her make dessert all by herself.  She was thrilled!  All I did was prep the items (open things, spray the pan, etc.).  Then she poured the ingredients in a bowl, mixed everything, and put it in the greased pan which I then put in the oven for her.

This recipe only contains THREE ingredients and the original recipe only contained TWO ingredients (my own addition was a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips - thus the "double chocolate" part of the name.  These are great with or without the chips)! For directions on making this amazing dessert, see this wonderful post here!  :)

If you have a super easy recipe, homeschooling post or tip, kid/infant related party you would like to share - please send me an e-mail at michelle.natureofgrace@gmail.com.  I'd love to feature some of my readers if the post is appropriate!


If you have a kid/infant or homeschool product you would like me to review, or if you would like me to host a giveaway - please contact me at the above e-mail address.  :)


Linking to:
www.makingtheworldcuter.com
www.delicateconstruction.com
http://www.creatingreallyawesomefreethings.com/
www.sumossweetstuff.com
www.diyhshp.blogspot.com
www.abcand123learning.com
www.gingersnapcrafts.com
www.cleanandscentsible.blogspot.com/

Honored to be NOMINATED!!! :)

Wow!  I am so excited to have been nominated for the Circle of Moms Top 25 Homeschooling Moms list!  What a SUPER honor!  Thank you, thank you readers!!!  :)

If you love what you see on my blog, PLEASE consider supporting my blog by taking 10-15 seconds to vote for me!

I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your support and your vote!  By the way, you don't have to be a member to vote.  Simply click the circle badge on my blog (on the side near the top) or in this post and it will take you to nominated blogs.  I think I am near the middle of the list (but my blog could go up or down depending on the number of votes).  Then you just click the little voting hand next to my blog's name and you are done!

Really easy and EVERY vote counts!  ONE vote can possibly push you up the list by five or six spots so your vote REALLY DOES MATTER!  :)

Thanks again to all my followers and readers!  It is such an honor to be nominated and a huge CONGRATS to other nominees as well!