March For Memories 5K

Where I work coordinates the 5K that is held in conjunction with our county fair. This year was the 9th annual March for Memories 5K. It was started after our general manager at the time was diagnosed and lost the fight to cancer.

This year we added a twist to the 5K making it into a Super Hero 5K. It was so much fun! The department I work in decided to go as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT). Which, of course, means it is time to turn to Pinterest for costume ideas.  TMNT costumes are actually a lot easier than you think.  The shell is probably the most difficult component.  Supplies needed are a large disposable turkey roasting pan, we picked ours up at the dollar store, green spray paint, brown/tan paint and some type of string. I started by punching 4 holes along the edges to be used to attach the shells to our backs.  Then I brought out the spray paint. It was nice enough outside (read No wind and warm enough) that I was able to paint them laying in the grass.  I choose to do multiple light coats which dried faster than one heavy coat.

After they dried I painted the design on the backside using the brown/tan paint. I considered painting the diamond in the middle but my crafty daughter assured me that it looked fine the way they were.

My co-worker Angela was able to score some cheap kids T-shirts which she cut apart to make into the headband, arm & knee bands. She also went super crafty and made us each our own set of abs. Actually its the bottom side of the turtle shells, but they do look like abs don’t they?  I was so proud of my “abs”.  It was a fun 5K, despite the heat that day.  We had a great turn out and a lot of people that dressed up! Batman, Captain America, Wonder Woman, Spiderman were just some of the other super hero’s that made their appearances.

Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo & Donatello

This is the fun group of ladies I get to work with everyday.

Co-workers but more importantly, friends.

 

Water Bombs

If any of you by chance follow me on Pinterest you will see a rather active board called “Busy Kids Stuff”. A heads up on that board, I have only pinned about 5% of the pins on there, the other 95% are from Paige. With that said I can’t remember which of us pinned the water bombs idea, but it turned out to be a good one.  To make each water bomb you will need 2 sponges and a zip tie.

Measure out 4 equal strips on the sponges

Cut the strips out. This is much easier if the sponges are soft, not dried out and hard.

Because I’m an air head and still fairly new at this whole, “remember to take pictures of every step of a project for your blog” thing, I don’t have a picture that says…..Stack 8 strips together in two rows, 4 on the bottom, 4 on top. Put your zip tie around the middle and pull as tight as possible.  This is where the sponges being wet helps.

Zip Tied

 

Snip the zip tie end off and its ready to go!

These little babies are awesome, place a few buckets of water around and the kids can have a ton of fun.  No trying to wrap tiny balloon ends around your finger to tie them or little pieces of water balloons all over the yard. Can easily be stored once they are dry. So go out and add a little water to your summer, who says the kids get to have all the fun!

 

New Tomato Cages!

Cutting the panels into manageable pieces.

Shortman & I built some tomato cages earlier this spring when it was too cold & wet to plant the garden, I’ve tried the cone shaped ones from the hardware store, but they always seem to bend as the plants get heavier. I’ve found some sturdier looking ones online, but by the time I think to order them, they are sold out for the season.

Which brought us to our DIY session. With the chop saw and our bolt cutters we re-purposed some old hog panels. We cut them down into 16″ sections . Then Shortman wrapped wire around the corners of the panels at the top & bottom.  We did consider welding them but decided against it, since using wire allows me to fold them flat for winter storage.  We were able to make 7 of them for this year.  Didn’t want to go too crazy and find out they won’t work.

Shortman trimming off the rough edges.

 

 

He’s such a good helper

Finished product in place and working!

Soup Can Holders

A few weeks back my friend was visiting for the weekend and we needed a project to work on.  When our mothers’ get together, they quilt,  we don’t quilt, at least not yet.  I had this little project I had been wanting to try for a while, Soup Can Holders.  These particular ones are FIFOs.  First In-First Out.

A bit of glue.

Got get the slope just right, or the cans won’t roll.

We zipped into town to the local lumber yard, the guys there are great for reading my material list and pre-cutting everything for me.  I don’t have all the saws and such for wood working, but I’ll get them eventually.  We started out by measuring & marking where the little shelf goes, gluing, then nailing it with my handy dandy brad nailer.  I snagged this neat air brad nailer from Menards on Black Friday.  That thing is what makes wood working projects fun!  We were able to whip out 3 of them in just a short time.  After the glue had some time to dry we painted them up with some left over black paint.

I have to say they have been working great.  There are no backs on them, it just uses the wall as the back.  But it would be very easy to add a back on if you want them as free standing units. The units do not move at all when putting cans in or taking them out.  You can see at a glance how many cans you have left.  The measurements would be very adaptable  for larger cans.  This project cost me less then $20 to complete, much cheaper than any of the can systems I had found on the Internet. Granted there were some that were cheaper, but the reviews didn’t speak well of them. Plus it fun to build your own.  Here is a link to the site I got the instructions from. Check it out!

Works Great!