A sunny day for park play here in the Willamette Valley

We finally saw signs of the sun here in the Valley.  It was one of those weekends where the sun sticks around for longer than an hour.  Spring is finally here, it would seem.

To take advantage of the sunshine we met up with a couple of other friends and hit some of the local parks in Corvallis, Oregon.  It was a pretty good day overall and the sun stuck around the whole time we let our kids play

Wildcat Park in Corvallis, Oregon

Spring flowers at Central Park along Discovery Garden Path in Corvallis, Oregon

The metal car was a big hit with the kids.

Hopefully the sun will stick around a bit longer in the next few weeks to come.

Eco-Tip:  Try to keep your thermostat at 72 degrees year around.  The more you keep your thermostat in check the more money you will end up saving overall.  For this and other tips on going green visit, The Earth and Me Go Green.

Melted Crayon Art

I have seen this technique A LOT on Pinterest boards, but never tried it myself.  But recently we have been wanting to dip our crafting hands into this neat art and just to our luck we received the tools from Namaw in Arkansas.

Some of the ones I have seen on Pinterest boards are incredible.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Left:  Source                                         Right:  Source

Source

Source

Source

After seeing all of these pretty crayon crafts we decided to give it a try with our gifts from Namaw.  It was quite an easy craft and to be honest with you, it was a ton of fun too!

I wasn't aware that Crayola came out with their own version of the art craft until my mom sent the canvas and the crayons.  All I had to do was glue the Crayola crayons onto the canvas and hit it with a hair dryer.

The pack came with some color coordinated crayons with some funny names like, Sundae Slide, Streamin' Green, Lime Slime, and Oozie Smoothie.  These particular crayons are specially made for this craft, so they melt a bit faster than normal crayons.

We dumped all the crayons out and Skylar got to pick out his favorites.

I then hot glued them onto the canvas sheet one at a time.  Most of the crayon art I've seen has been color coordinated, or ombré, but we loved the colors mixed.  

After hot gluing them to the canvas, we set up a backdrop to begin heating them up.

We started hitting them with high heat at first, then switched to low heat so the wax wouldn't splatter all over.

They began melting after 5 minutes of blowing them with hot air.

We let Skylar take over after that.  He loved the colors pouring out of the wrappers and it was such joy to hear him laughing so hard.

Our Crayola crayon craft was such a great success and I plan on framing his art and hanging it in his room soon.  You can get your own supplies for this craft by visiting the Crayola Shop HERE!  And don't forget to check out the other Crayola products at the bottom of this post.

Eco-Tip:  Power down and save energy, as well as the wear and tear on your hardware by shutting down your computer at night.  This method goes for all electronics.  You'll save an average of $90 of electricity a year by just powering down your computer alone every night.  For this and other tips on going green visit, The Earth and Me Go Green.

    

Quick Tips 107: Things you can't go without knowing

1.  Using a potato Peeler to get thin slices on an onion.  Extra tip:  Supposedly hanging a piece of bread from your mouth when chopping an onion will cut down on the tears that flow.  

Source

2.  Cut down the dust on ceilings and crown molding with a dust cloth attached to your broom.

Source

3.  Place a flashlight near your electrical outlet box when the power goes out from a tripped breaker.  Use a giant magnet glued to the back to secure it to the outside of the metal outlet box.

Source

4.  Use a pillbox for storing buttons and/or other craft and sewing supplies.

Source

5.  Use coarse salt and a sponge to clean off cast iron skillets.  Using dish soap or any other solvents can eat away, if not remove completely, your coating and seasoning from your cast iron.  The cleaning method with the coarse salt helps keep the cast iron cooking the way it should.

Source

6.  Use pipe insulation to store extension cords when not in use.

Source

7.  Use Velcro Dots to keep drawer organizers in one spot and not have them slide around when the drawer is opened and closed.

Source

9.  Use your riding lawnmower as a snow plow.  Bob Villa shows you how HERE!

Source

10.  Use clothes pins as towel holders.  This would be a great tip to use in a pool house or during a pool party.  Large clothes pins to hold the towels and keep them off the ground or floor.

Source

Eco-Tip:  Stop idling in your car when stopped.  Unless at a red light, don't allow your car to idle while waiting on someone, or loading and unloading your car.  The emissions let out by your car can have great effects on the planet over time and it also wastes gas.  For this and other tips on going green visit, The Earth and Me Go Green.

    

Spark of Loves this Week: Announcement, Ornament, Picture, Sheep, Bridge, Container, Sign, Curtain, Fortune, and Sign

This Announcement.

Because it made my day!  Paint me proud!

This Ornament.

Because I want to display it all year round with the LED Christmas lights.

This Picture.

Because I stumbled on it the other day and it make me smile.  It is me!

These Sheep.

Because, even through a foggy day they almost seem to be posing for me.

This Bridge.

Because this shot I love more and more every time I see it.

This Container.

Because it is a start to Skylar's Disney World fund.  He can't wait to build it up.  

This Sign.

Because any alley named "Pig Turd Alley" has to be a good alley.  Ha!

This Bamboo Curtain.

Because it was a great way to hide the room behind it.

This Fortune.

This picture is CC to South North South, please do not copy.

Because it was a great fortune to find in my cookie.  

This Sign.

Because it's a nice drive, but also because every time I see it all I see is R2-D2.  :-)

Eco-Tip:  Don't forget to celebrate Earth Hour on March 23rd, 2013 at 8:30 PM your local time.  It's a great way to put an hour of your time for a good cause.  For more information on this event click HERE.  For this and other tips on going green visit, The Earth and Me Go Green.