Michelle Barneck - 19/264 - A Little Tipsy

Easy Mother’s Day Gift Idea

April 29, 2014 By Michelle Barneck 2 Comments

Post sponsored by DOVE® Dark Chocolate via MomTrends.

With Mother’s Day fast approaching it is always nice to have a fast and easy gift idea up your sleeve for family and friends. This is such a special holiday and can sometimes be hard to think of a gift that shows your favorite moms how special they are. I was recently able to spend some special time with an aunt of mine and she sparked an idea for the perfect gift!

As a seasoned mother of five girls, she was giving me some advice on how to stay sane as a mother of little ones. She said when she had young girls and would find herself overwhelmed she would go in her room, shut the door and indulge in a piece of chocolate. She would take a breath and clear her mind as the chocolate melted and once it was gone, time was up and she would continue on with her crazy day. Taking this little break for herself helped renew her spirits and we all know a little chocolate can go a long way to change the direction of your day.

I thought this would be the perfect idea/advice to share with special moms in my life and putting them in a painted jar would be the perfect way to hide them in plain site on a night stand or dresser. My boys would never touch such a dainty looking piece of decor and little would they know it was a treasure trove of treats.

See the full tutorial…

SUPPLIES:

Mason Jar
Milk Paint from Sweet Pickins
Ribbon Scrap
Patterned Paper
Lace Flower
DOVE® Silky Smooth Sea Salt Dark Chocolate
DOVE® Silky Smooth Mint & Dark Chocolate Swirl

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Mix up the milk paint according to package directions. Paint the jar with two or more coats until it is covered with desired amount letting it dry between coats. For a distressed look like the pic above, rough up with words and some areas with sand paper.

2. Cut a piece of patterned paper the size of the lid and tape or glue on the lid below the ring. Cut a piece of ribbon to go around the lid and hot glue in place.

3. Attach the flower with hot glue. Mine was a hair clip from Hobby Lobby, so they could even detach it and wear as an accessory if they like.

4. Fill the jar with chocolate. I did one bag of the DOVE® Silky Smooth Sea Salt Dark Chocolate and one bag of DOVE® Silky Smooth Mint & Dark Chocolate Swirl (which by the way are my new favorites, no lie).

I love that the DOVE® PROMISES® have little sayings inside each wrapper as well. Is this one not perfect for a little mommy time out?

I can’t wait to gift some of these cute jars to the special moms in my life to let them know I know they deserve a break every now and then. And, I mean really, who doesn’t love chocolate?

If you love DOVE® chocolate like I do, you can follow along on their Facebook and Twitter pages for the latest updates!

Disclaimer: Compensation was provided by DOVE® Dark Chocolate via MomTrends. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions of Dove or Momtrends.

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SNAP Conference 80’s Giveaway

April 24, 2014 By Michelle Barneck 54 Comments

So today begins the first day of the SNAP conference in Salt Lake City! A couple of the parties have an 80’s theme and I was born in 1980 so I thought it would be super fun to host an 80’s giveaway to celebrate! I lived in Southern California when I was little and one of the things I remember missing when we moved to Utah was Target. Who doesn’t love target?! Luckily, I live within ten minutes of four now!

So what will we be giving away?

$80 gift card to Target!

Enter using the rafflecopter form below and if you are going to be at SNAP be sure to find me and I’ll give you a code for some extra entries! I’ll be the one wearing the Pac Man lanyard and I’ll give you a little something to adorn yours too!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Mom of Boys: Comic Relief for Moms of the Male Variety {round 9}

April 22, 2014 By Michelle Barneck Leave a Comment

A few months ago, I began jotting down things I hear from my boys because, well, they make me laugh. It’s now turned in to a full on Mom of Boys series on the 3rd Sunday of each month. It gives me a good reminder each month why I love my silly boys so much. If you missed our first Mom of Boys posts be sure to go back!

Let’s explain how this will work and who things were said by…

A = my skinny, karate obsessed, 6 year old

L = my spunky, snack loving, 3 year old

J = my geeky chic husband

M = me aka mom of boys

This is in no way meant to be a parenting lesson. Just a little peek into our crazy and at times comical lives.

Mom of boys…things you never thought you’d hear in your home, then you birthed a boy.

A: How strong is a baby? Not very strong.

D: A Little strong, they can squeeze your finger.
A: As strong as an ant alone.

L: Remember that vacuum in the hall in Hawaii? (He’s never been to Hawaii)

L: Mom you are like Perry the Platypus.

M: Oh really, why? Cause I save the day?

L: Ya.

L: I have lots of ideas.

M: Oh really, tell me one of your ideas.

L: They have lots of candies and lots of pizzas. But, one of the pizzas is grody so here is the garbage can (motions). Throw.

Read the whole post.

M: What do you want for a night night snack?

L: I want a nothing.

M: Ok, here’s your nothing. (holds out an empty hand)

L: (grabs nothing and pretends to eat it) Thank you, num num num.

A: I wish I were left handed. I like the word left more than right.

M: Oh, why?

A: Actually, I’m glad I’m right handed. I like the word right better.

M: I’m glad I have funny kids.

A: I’m the funniest don’t forget.

L: I’m the funniest.

A: No, you’re the cutest. I’m the funniest.

L: Aiden got my sweatshirt! (That had fallen behind the dresser)

M: Yep! I’m an Orangutan I used my feet as hands.

L: Good Morning Mom! Let’s make breakwast. Let’s make awfuls.

M: Ok. Do you want butter and syrup?

L: No.

M: Do you just want syrup?

L: No, just syrup in the little holes on top not on the bottom.

L: If there was a waffle guy, I could be the waffle guy. If we had a waffle dress up I could wear it because I know how to put on dress ups, but not scary dress ups. Only kind of scary dress ups. But, not little milk dress ups.

M: Do you want another waffle?

L: No I want a smoothie and then another waffle.

M: Hey, where are you going with those spoons?

L: Aiden wants to try sticking a spoon to his nose.

M: Where did you learn that?

L: In school, when I was sixteen.

A: I want a piggy back ride.

L: I want a piggy back ride too.

A: I’ll get on dad, then you get on me.

A climbs on dad, then L climbs on A.

L: This is going to happen. Steady now.

I am also happy to include my favorites from the comments on last month’s Mom of Boys post:

From Haley Grossman:

My 8yr. old son, James, asked for Fruity Pebbles. My husband was trying to talk him into something else because “those are pure sugar”. James said “no, they have way less sugar than Lucky Charms!” My husband and I agreed. Then, James said “Lucky Charms are pure sugar….like candy. Well….except for the wood parts.” That kid has apparently never had plain cereal before…because he thinks the “cereal” part of Lucky Charms is made of wood? WTH. Maybe I need to broaden his diet a little.

Have your kids made you laugh lately? What comical or off the wall things have you said or overheard your kids say? Share in the comments and we will choose our favorites to share in our Mom of Boys post on May 18th.

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Fun Patches for Boys Pants

April 16, 2014 By Michelle Barneck 9 Comments

Anyone else have little boys who go through pants like wildfire? They look perfectly fine one day and the next you are pulling them out of the wash with holes in the knees? Well, I am expecting boy number three and poor kid is going to have a wardrobe full of hand me down hole in the knee jeans, so I went on a quest to find fun ways to patch those knees and stretch the clothing dollar. Check out these creative patching solutions!

See the whole post.

Criss-Cross Patch from My Poppet

Sew-on patches for jeans

Flash and Captain America from The World Spins Madly On
She has lots of ideas including the Punisher, Chicago Bears, and more superheroes!

Band-Aid Patch from Muddy Mouse Iron Ons

Band-aid cross iron-on patch for kids clothes

X-ray Patch another favorite from Muddy Mouse Iron Ons

Hip iron-ons for kids clothes. To patch them up, or just for fun!

Pinstripe Patch from Craft Whatever

Painted Patches from Ricochet and Away

Pocket Patch from Having Sufficient

Outer Space Patch from Knee Caps by AliJoy
An etsy shop with lots of options from dinos to skulls.

Outer Space Jean Repair Patch for Boys

UK Flag Patch from Make It and Love It

Flag Patch could not find source, but please let me know if you know I’d love to give credit!

Distressed Patch from Katie’s Secret Blog
How to patch Holey Jeans
Batman Patch from A Little Tipsy

I needed a quick patch for my little guys pants and decided to see what my Cricut could do with it. I found a Batman image from an old cartridge, altered it just a bit and tried cutting it out with some store bought iron-on denim patches on the canvas setting.

Next time, I would use the heavy stick mat and possibly cut twice to get it perfect, but with a little trim it did the trick. Use a bit of fray check on the edges to keep them crisp for future washing and iron on according to the patch instructions.