Math Makes Better Snowflakes, Starflakes & Swirlflakes

While in public school I performed poorly in my mathematics classes. I'm not sure why, because now I feel I'm pretty skilled in the art of home renovations and the various math calculations that come with them. Maybe I'm more of a practical, hands-on-sort-of-girl, whereas my high school teachers were insistent on learning theory.

No matter.

Now I know enough math to make some pretty awesome paper snowflakes, starflakes and swirlflakes. Thanks to this Youtube video by ViHart, we can help our children, students, siblings, spouse, friends, and other family and friends learn that math + paper = LOTS of FUN.

Have fun!! 

This the ceiling in my basement family rec room showing what my three kids and I did for fun the other day:

Where Did I Put That? Etsy Treasury by Ellie

Ok, here goes: My name is Kristen and I love Etsy. Whew! Glad I go that off my chest. :)

I visit the Etsy website daily... Okay, I visit the website hourly. I like to look at the shops, I like to browse the products made by hand from around the world, I like to get ideas for how I can improve my (and my family's) life. I understand I can do this through Pintrest too, but unlike Pintrest, Etsy is more than pinning ideas to a wall. Etsy is your place to buy and sell all things handmade, vintage or a craft supply. There is something special about being connected to other creative people... I feed off their energy. They make me want to be more creative.

On Friday January 4th I received an email from fellow Etsy shop owner and Blogger named Ellie of My Little Chickadee Creations. Ellie shared a new treasury she created to help us get into the spirit of Spring Cleaning with a collection of handmade items from sixteen Etsy shop-owners around the world. To honor Ellie's Etsy treasury and the sixteen shop owners, I wanted to share these awesome organizational tools with you.

Why? Because a Crafty Betty is also an Organized Betty.

Below are the sixteen items Ellie included in the "Where Did I Put That?" treasury as well as links to each shop where the organizational item can be found. Check out the "Where Did I Put That?" Treasury by Ellie below:

Vintage Expanding Rack

I'm Not Messy, I'm Organizationally Challenged

Ohio Wall Decor

One Vintage Griffith Spice Jar for Spices

Set of 6 Laminated Yellow Cards

To Do List, Printable PDF

Storage Labels for Laundry

Jewelery Organizer for Jewelry

Recipe Box, Custom

Organization Zipper Bag

Handmade Paper Bowl

Scrabble Magnet, To Do

Yarn Bowl, Knitting Bowl

Rustic Vintage Wooden Textile Mill Spool

Leather Key Holder, Brown

Hanging Storage Pouch Pattern

Wedding Season Gift Idea

I don't know about you, but its summer, and it is wedding season.
I'm the type of person that thinks that the idea of the gift registry is phenomenal
(hey, I took total advantage of it when we got married!)
But, I also like giving origional and memorable gifts -- for any occasion!

So when I saw this adorable gifr on Pinterest from Darling Doodles, I knew that it was

a) getting pinned in my gifts board
b) It was not going in the archives, I was going to use it!

(btw: you should go check out all the other adorable stuff she has there!)

We were invited a few weeks ago to a wedding shower (aka couples shower) for my husband's superviosr. Naturally they had a registery but I didn't want to go that route.
However, I also knew that I couldn't do the "pb&j" gift basket either (they're older then the typical couples that I see getting married). I knew that it would be kind corny for them
So I thought and thought about other things that "go together"

And I came up with:
"You go together like Marshmallows & Chocolate"
and made them a S'mores basket for an "at-home" date night.

Fairly inexpersive and completely memorable!

I loaded my basket with totally adorable roasting sticks that are retractable (easy sotrage and transport!)
Graham crackers
Marshmallows
Chocolate bars
AND Reese's Cups
(if you haven't tried that yet -- you MUST. Its the whole sweet/salty/peanut-buttery thing. It's delish!)

I'm sure that I could have added in some cute cloth napkins, or lined the basket in a picnic blanket if I was thinking more clearly then (so you do that for me, OK?).

I whipped up this cute card on my computer and tucked it in.
It was a huge success of "ooohhhhs, and ahhhhhs" :)

What other combinations can you think of that would make a good gift?

P.S. I'm totally doing the PB&J one for a wedding coming up in a few weeks, for an adorable, college-aged couple!