Keeping fish hook earrings secured

I create dozens of earrings a week.  One thing I have found is the earring findings that I purchase never have anything to secure them.  I know that customers like it when I go the extra mile.  I am ordering these safety backs to go with all of the fish hook earrings that I sell.
These are an awesome deal.  Only 1.49 for 144.

There is also the style below for 2.18 for 144.

Making mosaic stepping stones for the garden with kids

My grand plan is to make an entire pathway on the side of our house to meander through a yet to be created flower garden on the side of our house.  I will post before and progress pictures soon.
I love this Flip flop shaped stepping stone kit.  I just ordered one of these for my 6 year old, T.J. and myself to use as soon as we have created our square ones (previous post).  We opened out first kit tonight to get ready for casting tomorrow. You will need a small bucket or large plastic bowl from the dollar store to mix the cement in.
While you are at the dollar store, pick up some extra glass gems for making more stones with the re-usable mold in the kit.  When you have used the cement that comes in the kit, you can purchase a bag of regular old cement (not concrete) to use the mold again and again.
When I taught fourth grade, I made stepping stones with my entire class using donated un-used pizza boxes lined with clear Contact paper.
We used it sticky side up, placing our decorations on the Contact paper and then pouring the cement it over the glass gems.  The kit has you decorate the top of the stepping stone.  I think this will work better than pouring the cement over the top; the cement ended up oozing around the gems and covering them up a little.
Check back tomorrow for pictures of our stepping stone project.

West Michigan residents keep the kids busy without breaking the bank!

The overall price may not seem like a great deal, but after the fourth visit you will be visiting the park for free.  I also love that I didn't have to pay the entire cost up front.  I went with a platinum pass for my son, which means parking is included!  If you have a child under 48 inches this is a no brainier as it is only $10 more for the season, which is the cost of one day's parking!
Do you think it is worth the price to go with a season pass?

Update: We had a fabulous time on our first visit.  TJ has reached 48 inches.  We were able to go on all but one ride.  We decided not to wear our bathing suits, as the temperature was only around 70 when we went.  Big mistake.  We ended up going on the Grand Rapids raft ride.  I may as well have had a bucket or two poured on my head!  

What I loved most about our visit was that TJ had as much fun on the Dumbo ride as he did on the Shivering Timbers wooden roller coaster.  

Deal Alert:  If you are a season ticker holder, I recommend purchasing the souvenir cup for 12.99.  You will receive free refills on the day of purchase and 99 cent refills for the rest of the summer.  

Keeping the kids busy with fun crafts

As a certified art teacher, I love to keep my 6 year old busy with arts and crafts.
 My son loves this Alex Paper Plate Bug Kit. Regularly 15.00 on sale for 10.04 You never know when an Amazon price will change.

 As a mom, I love it because the bugs are adorable and easy to assemble.  Some of the embellishments are actually stickers, making assembly very low on frustration for the kiddos.  As an art teacher, I love that the pieces in the kits allow for lots of creativity.  These are not just color and assemble kits.  So far we have made three of these.  I'll post pictures of our creations soon.

We also love this My first Sticky Mosaics Vehicles kit  available on Amazon for only 9.99!  

Food Mills: which works best? hand or Kitchen Aid attachment?

Canning Season is almost upon us.  One thing that I have put off getting is a food mill.  It will make prepping tomatoes for homemade sauce so much easier! In past years I have hand peeled all of my tomatoes.
I can't decide between and hand crank version or the attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer.  What do you think?  What do you use to process tomatoes or apples?

Amazon has Victorio VKP250 Model 250 Food Strainer and Sauce Maker on sale today for 51.58, normally 69.99.  Amazon deals don't last long, so get it now if you are interested.

Otherwise the parts to make the grinder attachment into a food strainer for the Kitchen Aid attachment  is on sale today from 64.99 down to 47.00. 

 What do you think?  What do you use to process tomatoes or apples?

Live Butterfly Garden deal on Amazon

We just ordered our caterpillar larva from Insect Lore for our Live Butterfly Garden.  We have hatched butterflies before and had a ball.  I will post pictures as soon as they arrive and along the way.  The kit is usually 19.99 on sale for only 11.36 ! Amazon sale prices can end at any time, so get yours before the deal ends.

This post may contain affiliate links.  

A new beginning at JunQueJules

The time has come to reactivate my blog.  Expect new content.  Don't worry I will still share my love of beads, but I will expand with bargain deals and seasonal recipes.  I can't wait to get started sharing with you!
Check out what I have been up to on etsy!