Goodbye 2011..... Welcome 2012!!!!!

This past year has just been a crazy and full of changes for the Nguyen household.  We started 2011 with Mr. D getting back from Afghanistan, and preparing for life outside of the Army.  I started my own photography business, and KJ turned 4!  By May we took a much needed honeymoon cruise to Alaska to celebrate Mr. D getting out of the army and because we never got a honeymoon when we were first married :)  It was amazing!!!!!  While on the cruise I found out that we were expecting kiddo number two, which we would later find out to be our first boy ET.  We then moved from crazy hot Texas to mild and cool Washington State, where Mr. D started his new job and I quit my job to finally be a full time stay at home mommy!  Homeschooling for the first time began in August and now we are here on the last day of December ready to welcome in a new year.

For 2012 we have some exciting things happening....  Baby ET is due January 29th!  Yup only 4 more weeks to go!  KJ will be turning 5!!!!!!!  Mr. D is looking at a career change, and I'm looking at houses ;)  These are only the things that I know about for this next year, but I'm sure God has more surprises for us all.

I am looking forward to 2012 and a fresh start for the family.  It will be interesting taking care of a newborn and KJ, and I'm sure I'll be blogging on sleepless nights about how tired I am.  I can't wait to start my P90X back up (once my midwife releases me) and get toned for summertime, along with getting back to my Vegan diet.  I look forward to spending more time with our families in Kentucky and Oklahoma, to taking more trips with the family and exploring new areas.  And lastly I look forward to growing in wisdom....  About everything... How to be a better mother, wife, teacher, crafter, and Christian.

So goodbye 2011... it was a very eventful year, and welcome 2012!  I can't wait to see what God has in store for the Nguyen Family!!!!!  

Happy New Years Everyone!!!!!

Teacher Time Aide... Make your own clock!

You can go and buy a clock for about $7-$15... but I'm super cheap.  So I made our own!  We started working on telling time a few months ago with KJ, and I got creative one day and made this clock.

All you need is construction paper, piece of white chalk, and a metal button clasp.

• Cut a square in any color of construction paper.
• Cut a circle of black construction paper to fit into the square and glue it to the square.
• Write the numbers on the black paper with your white chalk.  If I had to make it again I would have put the dashes in between the numbers too....  Don't know why I didn't....
• Cut out two arrows for the hands, making them different colors to help with telling time.  You could also write "Hour" and "Minute" on them too if you want.
• I used my laminator for the clock and the hands.
• Last attach the hands with the metal button clasp so they move but will stay where you want them too.

That is all!!!  Super Easy DIY Teaching Clock!

Bow Hair Style... Super Easy and Cute!!!!!

KJ has super thin hair and it is hard to do some of the cuter braid hair styles out there....  But I found this adorable bow hair style on Hair Romance (see the link below for tutorial).  It worked perfect with her thinner hair, only took about 5 mins, and looks too cute!!!!!!! 

Click here for Tutorial!!!

DIY: Reversible Nursing Cover

Instead of spending 30 bucks for a nursing cover.... I decided to make my own and make it reversible just for the fun of it.  

Start with two fabrics that match but aren't the same.

Cut one piece from each fabric that is about 26x38, and then one piece from each fabric that is 23x3 for the neck strap.

Start by sewing the strap with fabric right sides to each other.  Sew down the sides and along one bottom.

After you are finished turn the strap right side and iron so the seams are straight.

Here is what your strap should look like after you iron it.  Put it aside for now and lets start on the cover.

Put fabric pieces right sides together again... and sew the sides and bottom.  Fold the fabric in half to find the middle and use pins to mark out a spot to NOT SEW so you can turn it right side out.

When you are finished with the edge sewing turn the fabric right side out and iron down the seams.  Now place your strap where you had your pen markers on the cover.  The bottom that is finished on the strap will go on the outside with buttons... but the side that is still unfinished will be tucked into the opening of the cover to be sewn over.

Once strap is penned into place (use your own neck to measure where it needs to go to be comfortable), use a strong stitch to finish the whole top of the cover including sewing in the strap.

Use a stitch that looks good on both front and back since this is reversible both will want to look finished.

On the strap side that wasn't tucked in the top of the cover... you will need to pick out a button and make a button hole with your sewing machine.

Use two buttons that are the same size since the hole will the be same size for both.  Sew on the buttons to the cover.

FINISHED!!! DIY Reversible NURSING COVER!!!!!!  

Idle Hands.... make more bows!!

Since we are out of 'school' for the holiday season I had planned lots of fun activities for us to do to occupy our free time.  KJ loves when I get my ribbons out and we make new hair bows for her.  (I love she is such a girly girl!!!)  Below are the pics of the new hair accessories for KJ!!!!!

Learn to make Headbands Click Here

Learn to make different bows Click Here

What the Holidays Mean to Us

I love that when you ask KJ why we celebrate Christmas, she states that it is to celebrate the birth of Jesus who died for our sins.  I am guessing that most four year olds in the US would reply something about the gifts, the tree, and a hefty jolly guy named Santa.  We made the decision long ago that as a family our children would never be told that Santa brought them gifts, or that Santa actually exists today.  We try to keep our focus on the true reason for the holiday which is the gift of Jesus being born on this Earth to fulfill God's Holy prophecy.

I hope everyone has an amazing and safe weekend, full of family and good memories!!!!  I will leave you all with a few pics from our family making our yearly gingerbread house.  Happy Holidays Everyone!!!!!!!

Party Idea: Hot Chocolate Buffet!!!!!!

Okay so the amazing ladies at my church threw us a baby shower last month and the conversation topic for most of the guests was this AMAZING hot chocolate buffet idea!!!!!  You need some mason jars or glass jars and lots of hot chocolate goodies!  The list below is what we had at our party... but you can totally add your favorites and change the list up a bit!!  Special thanks to Mrs. Angie who threw us the party and the hot chocolate buffet.

• At the beginning of the buffet stood the cups and hot water
• then hot coco
• marshmallows
• peppermint marshmallows
• peanut butter chips

• white chocolate chips
• wafer cookies
• candy canes
• and hand dipped chocolate spoons (my favorite idea ever!!!!!)

And last but not least.... three different types of Reddi wip!

Needless to say this was such a cool idea and you can totally make it your own.  I highly recommend for anyone who will be having lots of people over this holiday weekend!  Super cute and way fun for everyone!!!!!

DIY: Step By Step Headbands

Super KJ gets really excited when mama gets out the bag of ribbons.  Yesterday we spent some time making some new headbands.  Tomorrow we will be working on some new bows.  But I figured I would go ahead and post how we make our headbands.

First get plastic headbands from your local craft store... they usually cost around 2-3 dollars for a package of 3 headbands.  Check the clearance bins for ribbon... we NEVER pay full price for ribbon.  Start the head band at one end with a bit of hot glue and some extra ribbon off the bottom.  You will use it later.

Keep winding the ribbon around the band, using the hot glue every two or three times around.

Wind until you are finished.... At the end hot glue the extra ribbon around the bottom.  Then use a lighter to fray check the ribbon and make sure it will stay.

Now for our bow... I don't like to measure anything... so I just use my hand.  Wrap the ribbon around your hand four times and make sure to leave some extra ribbon hanging off each side as seen below.

Use a needle and thread to go in and out of the ribbon keeping it straight and in the middle.  Make sure to sew through the front and back of the ribbon.

Pull the thread and you have made a bow!!!  Finish the thread off by tying a knot.

Now you can add decorations if you wish.  I added some bells since this was a holiday bow.  The ends of the ribbons that are longer can be trimmed and fray checked with a lighter.

Hot glue the bow on the band and YOU ARE DONE!!!!!  One head band takes about 15 mins to make.

For the second headband I wanted a flower bow... So chose your ribbon and use a needle and thread to sew the bottom of the ribbon as seen below.

Here is a better pic of the in and out sewing on the ribbon.  Depending on how big you want your flower depends on how much ribbon you sew.

I'm going to make a three layer flower so this is the biggest bottom layer.  As you pull the thread the round flower will emerge.

 Repete the process for each layer until you have the flower you want.  Here is our three layer flower made with two different ribbons and a rhinestone in the middle.  Hot glue all layers to the band and you are finished!

Happy KJ with her new headbands!!!!!

Christmas on a budget.....

This year has been rough on us when it comes to having extra mula.... So when we purchased our tree we went with a 3ft purple that came with lights, and the stand.  As for decorations, I told Mr. D not to worry, that crafty mommy and super KJ would make all the decorations we needed!!!!  By making your own decorations you can save a bundle this holiday season and I personally feel they mean more than anything store bought.

Here is our finished tree... Looks better at night when the lights are on!

First we made the popcorn string... Cost: about 1 dollar for the package of popcorn and the string.  Pop the corn, and after it has cooled, take a sewing needle and very long piece of string to thread the popcorn onto.  Some will break as you push the needle through, but those you can eat!!  KJ loved this project and eating the left over popcorn. Click here to see pictures of instructions

Next we painted the three wood ornaments we bought for 2 dollars at Michaels.  We spend the afternoon painting them and sprinkling glitter on them.  We also painted the year on the back so we always know how old KJ was when she painted that specific ornament.

The star on top is made of construction paper and glitter... which makes the cost about 10 cents!  We first cut out two stars of any construction paper color of KJ's choice.  Then we cut a strip of paper and glued it around like a tube.  After we used put a layer of glue and glitter on the stars we glued them to the top of the tube.  So the stars are on top and the tube opening is ready to put it on top of the tree!

Next were our snowflakes.  KJ decided that she wanted to use white paper and glitter again.  So the cost of these are about 10 cents and super fun for us to make.  Click here to see how to make and cut snowflakes

Finished snowflakes!!!!

Our paper Angels were the last addition to our tree and house decor that cost around 50 cents.  These were a little harder to make than what I expected... and a lot of it had to be done with a glue gun, which ment KJ couldn't do it.  So she wasn't as interest in the project as I had hoped.  I would recommend this for children over the age of 9 who are able to use a glue gun by themselves. Click here for step by step instructions  

So our total spending for all of our tree and home decor this holiday season was..... $3.70!!!!!!  Much cheaper than anything we could have bought at the store.  Below are some more DIY holiday crafts for those who want to try them!!

Cinnamon Dough Ornaments

Martha Stewart Ideas

Ornament Ideas

Kid's Christmas Crafts

Christmas Crafts

Why Make a Blog?

So I'm a full time mother, homeschooling my daughter, 8 months prego, and trying to keep my photography business going.... so why am I spending my time making a new blog and FB page????

GREAT QUESTION!!!!

I am not very crafty, nor very creative (unless we are talking about photography).  So I do a ton of online research to find all the crafty people and sites that can help me be an awesome SAHM.  This is what this blog is about.  Not only will I get to share all my research with you but also try things out and post how these activities worked.  I have also been getting a lot of messages on FB about how homeschooling is going with my daughter KJ.  It seems more people are interested and curious about homeschooling then I thought!  So I will also be posting lots of info about our process here in the Nguyen Nguyen Academy.

As far as advise on parenting and family life.... I have never claimed to know the answers, or have a clue as to what I'm doing.  I have my way of doing things, and my own person ideas that I will be sharing, but that is all it is... my own ideas.  Take them or leave them, I am putting them out there incase I can help someone else.

I really hope you all like this blog and I would love for it to be as interactive as possible.  So please, comment on my posts, email me if you have a topic that you want discussed, and share this blog with all of your mommy friends!

Here are a few quotes about learning that I just love.... Since we, as humans, are NEVER done learning!

• “Learning is not attained by chance. It must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.” ~Abigail Adams

• “No one as ever completed their apprenticeship.” ~Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

• “Everyone and everything around you is your teacher.”~Ken Keyes

• “I am always doing that which I can not do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”~ Pablo Picasso

• “I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.” ~ Albert Einstein

• “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” ~Henry Ford

Quotes

Welcome!!!

Please bear with us as we are constructing our blog.  

But let me be the first to welcome you to the Nguyen Nguyen (win win) Academy.  This will be a blog about homeschooling, DIY crafts and sewing projects, interactive activities for children, cooking and recipes, and parenting/family advise.  I hope you all can get something useful out of my writings and ramblings, and please feel free to comment and share your own thoughts and resources!!

In the mean time.... 'like' our facebook page and start connecting with our community.

Nguyen Nguyen Academy