Leafy Tree Tops

Science Birthday Party- Part 1

2012-01-30T10:57:00.003-05:00

Jedi had a birthday last fall but life was crazy and we postponed his party. He FINALLY had his party last weekend.

He's really into science right now, so we decided to go with that theme. I have TONS of pictures so I'm doing this in parts. First up:

INVITATIONS

I used a flask from Silhouette and added extra bubbles. Each invitation had a test tube of "catch a bubbles" included with it.

The inside

Hind sight- I would have asked for RSVP's sooner, as I needed more time to get things personalized. I needed photos of each child as well as their measurements. I ended up emailing parents and asking for these.

THE LAB

This is the 'Cafeteria and Molecular Gastronomy' area.
Dessert was on this table

and lunch on this one.

I printed signs and put them around the house. It was a really inexpensive way to add a bit of fun.

We had a clean room curtain which was a lightwweight clear plastic table cloth from the Walmart fabric section. It was cut to length -84 inches. I sewed a sleeve across the top to put a tension rod through and cut the plastic in long strips.

Lab equipment was set out and ready to use

We had an employee locker room where the scientists could pick up their lab coats, name badges, and mustaches. They left their coats, shoes and gifts in there.

The scientists had to do a thumb print scan to verify their identity. We used a free app for iphone. They loved it! Some of them were even denied entry, and had to rescan.

Everyone who was helping wore scrubs or a lab coat to carry out our theme.

The kitchen was the main lab area, and we had tables set up for the kids to do their experiments on.

THE FOOD

I saw this super cute cake and wanted to do something similar

The green flask has slime in it and fondant bubbles coming out, the blue flask has blue water and dry ice.

I was suprised at how much I struggled with what food to serve. Part of it was because the kids don't actually know anything about the kind of science we were doing, since they were only 6-7 years old.
I like my party food to go with the theme- and they wouldn't "get it" at all.

I decided to do stuff they would love to eat and then put a science spin on it.

We had Pizza Pi- just pizza with a fun name
Micro Burgers-
which are made using Rhodes rolls. Defrost dough and divide each piece in two. Roll balls out of dough and place them in a mini muffin tin, pressing them a bit to flatten the bottom. Let them rise and then bake them 350 degrees for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned on top. The "burgers" are premade italian meatballs sliced. I didn't use the ends, only the slices that looked like a burger. Cut sliced cheese down to size, add a slice of cherry tomato and a sliced pickle. YUM. You can add Ketchup or mustard if you'd like to but they were plenty juicy with the pickle and tomato.

Quantum corn dogs

Molecular melon balls

Protons and electrons

Cheesium particles (cheetos)

and Jello Specemins. We made jello and put them in petri dishes. Put them in the fridge for a bit and then add a little bit of food coloring with water to squirt "bateria" into the jello.

For dessert, we did an ice cream sundae bar. The scientists experimented to create the perfect sundae.

The test tubes had small candy and sprinkles in them

Syringes filled with Jelly Belly ice cream toppings, caramel, chocolate, and butterscotch.

I made lab coats for each child and embroidered their name on it ("Dr Sarah"). I used mens white dress shirts to make them. I started by asking around to see if anyone had some they were willing to party with. I got 9 that way and then bought the remaining 5 shirts from Goodwill.

To make the lab coats, you cut the sleeves just above the arm button area so they are plain sleeves. Then cut the bottom of the shirt so its straight across. Hem the bottom and the sleeves. I saved the sleeve material to use to make extra pockets on the coats, but never got to them. My sewing machine does embroidary, so that was a snap.

Check out part 2 to see what fun we had at the party!

Science Birthday Party Part 2

2012-01-30T10:30:00.002-05:00

THE EXPERIMENTS

For decorations and food from this party, go to THIS post.

I borrowed ideas from every science party blog/website I could find! Pinterest helped a lot with this. I searched for "science birthday party" and "mad scientist" for the most part. My husband is a science buff and he planned out all the the experiments.

We started by having the kids pick a lab partner. We had enough adults helping to assign one to each lab partnership. That worked out really well. We even hired a few high school kids to help us- and paid them in party food. :)

Each scientist had a tray to do experiments in that were messy. We bought a 30 pack from Sam's club of the trays. They also each had a baby soda bottle, goggles, film canister, and petri dish.

As the kids arrived we had them make marshmallow molecules.

They would watch a demonstration of each experiment, and then go do it.

Shaving cream and food coloring to dye paper. This was a MESS. They loved it. All of their lab coats were covered in food coloring. (comes out with bleach :). I wouldn't recommend it, at least not as the first experiment.

Blowing up balloons with baking soda and vinegar

The favorite experiment was shooting film canisters up in the air with water and alka-seltzers. This went on for a good 20 minutes.

We did ph indicators with red cabbage juice

Blew bubble with dry ice smoke

Learned why you never seal up dry ice in a container

Used an air cannon to learn about air drafts

We even filled it with fog machine smoke and blew smoke rings. The kids preferred being hit with a blast of air.

And we did the mentos and diet coke experiment- of course!

We sent the kids home with a lab coat and googles, name badge, baby soda bottle, mini air cannon, mentos experiment mento holding tube (pvc pipe with a pin in it), syringe, pipettes, film canister, measuring spoon, and petri dish.

It was a lot of fun, and oh so messy!!

Fairy Birthday Party

2012-01-04T14:37:00.002-05:00

UPDATED:

My little Love Bug is having a birthday next month. In case you couldn't tell, she loves all things tutu, so I had to get thinking about what theme we could do that would appease her inner floof. We've done princess, and straight up tutu parties in the past. She's not at all into ballerina (mostly because she hasn't discovered it yet) but she does adore fairies. Fairies wear tutus of a sort...so bingo! Fairy party it is!

Now this is just in the planning/preparation phase still, and I have just under 2 months to get it all together. BUT because I know there are other fairy lovers out there, I just wanted to give you a glimpse of what my plans are so you can RUN (don't walk) to your nearest craft store and score some AMAZING deals on fairy party decor and craft items.

WHY are we running?? Three words: Clearance Christmas Items.

It wasn't three weeks ago that I was in Michael's completely disappointed that I couldn't find anything that fit in with my Christmas decor. EVERYTHING was covered in glitter, bright colors, and fairy junk. It's Christmas for pity's sake!

But.....what a change a few weeks and a different focus can make. Here are some of my major scores from this morning's outing to Michael's.

Fairies, normally $10 down to $2 each

Gobs of glitter covered foliage- anywhere from $.13-$.75 each.

Very fairly land looking, no?

I have been trying to come up with inexpensive wings for our little fairies, and all the DIY ideas consist of hangers and pantyhose. Problem is, these little fairies are three year old at most! Can you say "snag"? I sure can.

So what to use...I thought that tulle might work but its so flimsy. So I checked out the mesh netting at Joann and found some in bright colors that I think will work out perfectly.

Here is a little peek at how they are going to look.

It's a bit hard to see what my entire vision is, but you get the picture.

The best part about this path is that the netting was/is?? On sale so it was only $.75 a yard.!!! Bonus.

Hard to see, but the wings are covered with spray on glitter- as is the flower. I'm going to try adding some adhesive rhinestones here and there so long as it doesn't weigh them down too much. It will add some sparkle to that glitter.

The whole party is going to be covered in glitter!

For the Tutu's I bought some 6"sheer chiffon ribbon in colors that coordinated with the netting. I'm cutting the ends to a point to make them fairly looking. Not a great photo...but you can see that its cut to a point. I found the chiffon in their "deal zone" baskets.

Also you can currently get star wands at the Target $1 zone, which I plan to tie lots of ribbon to for their little wands.

Hope you can catch the great deals this week while they are having them!!

I'll be posting some tutorials and the whole party in the coming weeks!

Silhouette Cameo Giveaway

2011-12-29T17:07:00.003-05:00

One of my favorite blogs to follow is I heart naptime! She's got an awesome giveaway going on right now for a Silhouette Cameo. I absolutely LOVE my silhouette and would LOVE to have the new cameo!

Hop on over and check out the giveaway HERE!

Snowman tutu

2011-12-09T07:47:00.001-05:00

Do you actually need a good reason to make a tutu? I think not. But in this case, I fell in love with this fabulous idea and I needed a photo for our Christmas cards.

So I whipped it up one evening and took Love Bug to the mall to see Santa (um.....hearing Santa tell you that your outfit is adorable puts an extra big smile on your face ---and she loved it too ;)

Super easy....I did the tie style tutu on a piece of ribbon. About 20 inches each, folded in half. Two layers of tulle for each strip as I attached them. Then I went back and added another layer between every two knots with tulle cut a bit more than half that length to make it fluff upward more.

A pair of tights and boots, a scarf, and a long sleeved white shirt with a couple of felt circles (I wanted to do black pom poms but couldn't find ones big enough in black- and didn't have time to make them.)

The hat was a bit more daunting. I used adhesive felt and cut two pieces in a circle and put them together sticky side in. Then I cut a piece of felt in a strip (eyeballed the length) and sewed it together on the ends to make a tube. I cut out a smaller circle based on my "tube of felt" size and sewed it on. Turn the whole thing outside out. I hotglued it to the bigger circle and added the ribbon- also with hot glue. It's bobby pinned to her head. The pic of the inspired outfit had it attached to a headband, but Love Bug is anti-headband.

Cute, no?

Jingle all the way

2011-12-08T22:54:00.000-05:00

Cute little Christmas decoration I made after falling in love with one on Pinterest. I ~~was inspired~~ copied it from here. Why waste energy on being creative when there are SO MANY ideas online that you can use? Obviously, I had to recreate the vinyl myself. I used my Silhouette and it was my first vinyl project. I can't call it a complete fail since I did manage to make a cute plaque...BUT I did use almost half my roll of vinyl trying to get it working right in the machine. Lessons learned the hard way are never forgotten.

My bucket list of holiday crafts and yummy food is entirely too long. If all I get done is this one project (okay---and also the rest of the homemade gifts I need to help kiddos with) then I'll be happy.

Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving shirt and tutu

2011-11-14T15:52:00.000-05:00

My little Love Bug loves to wear tutus as much as I love to see her in them!!

I just *had* to make one in fall colors for Thanksgiving, and of course she'd need a shirt to go with it.

I also made a mini version for a friend who had a baby a few weeks ago.

Can't be too over-dressed for a feast, can you??

Fall/Autumn themed candy buffet- the sequel

2011-11-14T15:38:00.000-05:00

I did another fall themed buffet for our youth group. This year there are a lot more items that were individually wrapped. I found it harder to find fall candy clearanced after Halloween this year! I pick up a few cute baskets, ribbon and the center piece marked down at Joann fabrics. It's hard to see, but there are lights on the white table cloth, and I used an 18 inch netting/tulle cut in half lenthwise to also put along with the lights. Then I added the leaf garland.

Happy Autumn!!

Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon When You Take the North "Poll"

2011-11-10T20:25:00.000-05:00

Attention Melissa & Doug Fans!!!!

Melissa & Doug want you to tell them which of their educational toys you think is the best! Just click on the image below to place your vote in the North "Poll!" You'll Get a Melissa & Doug 25% Off Coupon** to use at MelissaAndDoug.com just for voting!

We absolutely love Melissa & Doug toys at our house, and if you haven't played with any of their products with your kids, you're missing out!

Angel wings

2011-11-04T11:37:00.001-04:00

We have a rule at our house: No one over the age of 12 can trick or treat without a valid costume. Valid= time spent planning and making costume exceeds 4 hours.

That being said, this year Teenager decided he wanted a pair of wings after seeing this post

I asked him what he was going to be if we made those wings, and he decided to be Archangel from X-men. I didn't have a pattern, and I don't have a tutorial for you. But I can say it was relatively easy, but time consuming.

I simply had Teenager lay down on the muslim I bought and drew the wings. I cut those out. Then we cut the fabric into strips twice the width of the feathers, he folded them in half lengthwise and pressed them. They using a templete he made, traced and cut scallops. A LOT of scallops. We pinned them in place and I sewed----a lot of sewing!!

My thought in all of this is that these would be great to use for a Christmas Nativity, now that we're past Halloween. Dual purpose items make me happy. So if you're thinking of investing a ton of time in a pretty amazing set of wings, these might be right up your ally.

Swiss Bircher Muesli

2011-10-13T20:18:00.000-04:00

When I was a kid, my mom started making a breakfast dish she called Swiss Bircher Muesli. She got the recipe (I've been told) from her sister who served a religious mission in Switzerland.

We ate it for dinner ALL THE TIME

I started making it for my kids and now they won't let me stop!

I don't have the actual "recipe" but this is how we make it at our house. Keep in mind that we don't take this stuff lightly...we make it for everyone to stuff themselves with!!

2 lbs yogurt any flavor (I prefer strawberry-this is the big container from any grocery store)

1 can crushed pineapple juice included

2 cans fruit coctail juice included

grapes

2 mandarin oranges

1 apple cored and cut into bite sized pieces

any other fruit you want to add

sliced almonds (optional- but a must for us)

oatmeal (2 cups or more)

orange juice

Mix the yogurt, canned fruit, fresh fruit together. Add 2 cups oatmeal and nuts. Add a bit of orange juice and stir. Adjust the oatmeal and orange juice until the oats are not dry but its not runny. Refrigerate overnight.

You can add more juice in the morning if its too dry.

Obviously, its not a great recipe for those of you who don't do well without precise measurements. But you'd really have to try hard to mess it up. It's oatmeal, yogurt and fruit for goodness sake!

Enjoy!!

LDS General Conference Ideas

2011-09-25T15:00:00.002-04:00

LDS conference weekend is a holiday at our house!

When I was a kid, I remember dreading the loooong conference weekend held twice a year. It meant going to church for four hours, two days in a row. We sat on cold hard chairs that made too much noise if you tried to play with anything on them. It was hard not to wiggle, and paying attention was not even something on my radar. My parents did their best, but given the circumstances- had a hard time making it anything but a struggle. And I was always STARVING!

Happily, things are quite different in the age of technology that my kids are being raised in. We are able to watch it now in the comfort of our home. But its still a challenge getting the kids interested- better yet, excited about the weekend.

So we did what I love best: Made it an official holiday.

We pick several of our favorite foods, treats, and activities and make it super special.

During the priesthood session on Saturday night, when the men are gone to their meeting, we have a party!

I am always looking for new ideas to keep the kids quiet and hopefully listening to the speakers.

We start with a family home evening lesson the Monday before, and discuss what conference is, why it's important, and what we hope to gain from it. We talk about activities to help them stay focused and quiet, what snacks and treats we'll include, and what our expectations are. Doing this really helps set the mood for the upcoming weekend.

It's a bit of a challenge keeping a teen, toddler and everything in between entertained.

So we start with a sweet reward.

The older kids are asked to listen and take notes, doodling if they'd like. They are challenged to find something in the talk they can apply to their own lives.

Younger kids are asked to identify the topic(s) of each talk, and listen for words they are familiar with- such as sacrament, temples, etc.

In exchange, they get some candy. Love Bug who is only 2.5 years gets one little piece every time she can tell us a word she hears. It starts with LOTS of words being identified. Every "the", "she" etc is included. Then she starts to forget to listen and when she sees her siblings eating candy, she'll ask for more and we remind her to listen for words. You can kind of get an idea of what she might hear based on the topic. We might hear that the topic is Temples, and say "listen for him to say 'temple'" and then reward her when she identifies it.

To reinforce the topics of the talks, we do an activity I ran across last year. It's a conference wall idea that we used quite successfully for our last few conferences. I chose common topics and found pictures to go along with them. I also kept some 3x5 cards handy for extra topics that we encountered. As the speaker spoke, the kids wrote down the speaker's name on a strip of Post it notes and put it up next to the topic. Some of them had multiple topics and the kids were right on top of it. Some didn't have anything listed, so they would tell me what topic we should add. I was really surprised at how well they listened and knew what was being said. After conference we added new photos for next time. They are laminated and we reuse them each conference.

We are also learning the names of the First presidency and 12 apostles. I have pictures of each of them on the window. I also have their names listed on the window. When someone speaks, the kids take turns putting the name with the face.

We also like to use conference packets. I print out the activities from great websites like sugardoodle or LDS.org.

Most of all, we want our kids to FEEL THE SPIRIT and understand the their Heavenly Father loves them.

This year I'm trying something new. I want to help my younger kids understand that the warm fuzzy feeling they get inside when they hear something important for them is the Spirit is testifying to them.

I'm going to help them "feel" for the Spirit, by filling a jar with warm fuzzies. We'll have a bowl of pom poms and a jar next to it. We'll ask the kids to put a "warm fuzzy" in the jar when they feel the spirit and tell us what they felt and what was said that made them feel that way.(and help them document it) If we can fill up our jar by the end of the weekend (or even include FHE the next day if we need to) we'll have some Hostess Sno Ball snacks! "When you feel the Spirit, it Sno balls until you gain a testimony of the things you've heard"

It all sounds super busy, but it really isn't. The kids keep their hands occupied but their minds are always concentrating on what is being said. We rarely have any contention during our weekend.

The Family Home Evening following conference, we discuss what we learned and ways we can apply it in our lives. We set goals for our family to improve relationships with each other, and learn more about the gospel. We also include the conference talks in our future FHE lessons to help us remember what we've been taught.

I also have plans to pick one thing we've heard or learned that will be a goal for us, and make a sign for the wall to remind us about it.

Harry Potter Cake

2011-09-15T08:58:00.001-04:00

Jedi just turned seven and I wanted to make him something special for his "family cake". We do a family party in which the birthday boy/girl chooses dinner and we have cake and ice cream together. The actual party with friends comes later.

Being short on time (we don't get into details) I decided to just make him a few characters to put on top. He's way into his new Lego Harry Potter game that his older siblings got him for his birthday, so I decided to go with that.

Fondant characters on two six inch round over-filled cakes to look like mountains (use your imagination)

I used sparkler trick candles in between the mountains for his candles and he was excited to see the "magic" of his douling characters come to life!

Father's Day Gift for LDS Dad

2011-06-23T20:20:00.001-04:00

I asked my husband what he wanted for Father's Day, and he told me he wanted a copy of his Priesthood Line of Authority. Then he proceeded to order a copy of it. That threw that idea out the window. So I googled ideas of what to do with it and ran across THIS idea. I loved how she made it- as is evident of how close mine is to here. I did want to do thing a bit differently with the last few photos though.

All the photos I needed for it were available by doing a search in google images online, except for the first two in his line- because those men are not apostles and such. So..I did a search for them on New Family Search, both are deceased. I found the contributers to their geneology information and emailed them to ask for photos, explaining what I planned to do with them. I also was able to contact a few people using Facebook. It was a lot of fun hunting the living relatives of these great men. I even made a few friends a long the way. :)

So although its past Father's day, the idea is still out there for future father's days. It would be great for a husband, dad, son in law, etc.

I love how it turned out, and more importantly, my husband did too.

Last minute Father's Day Gift ideas

2011-06-17T09:30:00.001-04:00

Are you a procrastinator?? I'm not, but somehow I still manage to do things at the last minute. Guess its my over the top projects....Well whether you're like me or not, here are some last minute ideas sure to please dad in a pinch.

1. Magazine subscription- Make Magazine is a favorite at our house and for any dad that likes to tinker around with ordinary objects and make them into something fun. Purchase the current copy and add a note letting him know a subscription is on it's way. To make this a fun gift from the kids, have them go through and circle projects they want to do with dad, or even make a simple project from it and give that too him too! Of course hobby magazines, sports magazines, etc will be fantastic too! And hey, while you're at it, throw in a magazine holder for the bathroom. You know that's where he's gonna read it.

2. Goody stash- Dad doesn't always get showered with yummy snacks such as chocolates like mom does. Why not pick out some of his favorites treats and present them in a useful item like a remote control caddy, new toolbox, pair of pants (fill the pockets), or a package of socks (who wouldn't want candy filled stockings without the normal expense associated with the filled-stocking season??) The dad at our house received 50 candy bars for his 50th birthday last year and is still working on them. It's nice to not have to share with the kids for once.

3. Entertainment passes- Give him movie passes, tickets to a ball game, concert, etc. Maybe get him a couple of them and let him choose if he wants to go with the guys, or take the kids.

4. Rootbeer! A fun drink to share with the kiddos. Did you know there are over 100 varieties of rootbeer? How 'bout a sampling of a dozen different brands? You can have a rootbeer tasting night as a family. Or what about making homemade rootbeer with the kids? The dad at our house loves his Mr. Rootbeer kit. You can buy a kit such as this one which includes everything you need (practically).

5. Digital Photo frame- There are a lot of digital frames out there now. We love the Kodak pulse. It has wifi and the ability to upload photos from your computer at home to the frame at work, or 3000 miles away. We gave one to my husband AND to my parents. Perfect gift for a grandpa and my husband loves that he has so many photos to look at without the clutter of lots of frames in his workplace. I was concerned about it at first because it didn't come with a random mode, but they have since fixed this by offering the ability to do this from the kodak pulse website. Check it out here.

6. Slice- I know my husband would LOVE this little device. And its so inexpensive. Check it out here

If you hate opening up rigid plastic packaging (I know my husband does) this little item is a perfect solution. It has a ceramic blade, magnet inside so you can put it on the fridge or toolbox, and a hole for putting it on a keychain. You can use it on practically anything you'd use scissors for. And hey, why not give him a gift that you can borrow?

DIY

1. Apron- Whether he's a chef in the kitchen or a gourmet on the grill, what dad doesn't love an apron from the kids? Family fun has a very cute idea for a bbq version. We've done a few aprons for my husband over the years. The last one was made from a denim apron I picked up at Michaels. It was a gift from Jedi when he was a year old. I used iron transfers to make it say "Jedi's dad" and then covered that with masking tape. Then I put Jedi on the floor with the apron and some paint. Soon they were both covered in paint- a true masterpiece!

2. Personalized Candybar wrapper- I ran across THIS great iDad candy bar wrapper that is super cute. Get creative with other wrappers that fit the personality of the dad in your life.

3. DIY gift bag/box- I can't get over how adorable this shirt and tie gift box is. Of course you still have to come up with something to go IN it, but I'm totally motivated to find the perfect something to fill it with!

4. Superhero stash- This is akin to the goody stash idea from above, but with a fun twist and a DIY aspect to it. I LOVED this idea.

5. Date with dad- Better than a coupon book because it's "set in stone" persay. Buy him a calendar, and mark it up with Date's with Dad for the rest of the year. Choose lots of his favorite activities and then plan dates to make them happen. Is there a movie coming out he'll want to see? A ball game? Trip to the ice cream store, fishing for a weekend, etc. Make sure to include a few days when dad gets a break from everthing else.

Ocean themed birthday party

2011-06-11T18:19:00.007-04:00

A friend of mine won a service I offered at our church womens group service auction. I offered up hosting a party- I plan and host it, they *just* had to pay for the goods involved (not my time and engergy :)

She chose for the theme Under the sea! Seems a bit popular on this blog as of late. I honestly wasn't at all an influence on her choice, surprising??
I was a bit disappointed at first as I wanted to expand my horizons, but 20 seconds later I was really excited to be doing ocean again.

I've mentioned this before, and I'll say it again.
I LOVE FONDANT!!
Could these be any cuter??
The crabs and turtles you've seen before, but I added a friendly whale.

Including a birthday whale for the birthday girl.

My original idea was to have the lanterns look like bubbles around the room, but things got a big crazy and we ended up hanging them across the room in a line.

The party was outside for the most part, so I didn't want to do much on the inside decorations. The table is, however missing the little umbrellas I bought for it. I still have no idea where they disappeared to.

Dessert & Favor table

I scoured the internet for ideas for this party, and of course it's no surprise that there are A TON of great and creative ideas!!

The birthday banner was made with my Silhoutte- my favorite paper craft tool!!

How cute is a goldfish bar?? I got lots of ideas from this post, and the goldfish bar was one of them.

I wanted to jazz up the obvious choice of using Swedish fish. :)

"Sushi" We've been making these for years. I believe I first saw the idea at family fun magazine.

However, when I just did a google image search for "fruit roll up sushi", I was blown away with how far it's come since I originally saw the idea. And you think *I* go overboard?? Just go do the search and you'll think I'm a simpleton.

I love candy coating marshmallows. SO EASY and so fun. I added blue sprinkles to them.
The pixie sticks can be purchased individually at Party City. Lots of candy can- as well as at grocery store candy bins. I love to shop for candy in bulk bins when I'm trying to buy specific colors.

Dum Dum lollipops wrapped in purple tissue paper. I "planted" them in a bed of uncooked rice. They stood up perfectly. If I had the time, I would have colored the rice blue.

This oh so cute fish cake pop stand was ~~copied~~ inspired by This idea.

I used glitter cardstock in aqua colors. I was covered in glitter for a few days after making it. I'm such a sparkly person :)

Fish cake pops!! I loved the idea here. I made a few changes. My favorite part was the heart candy confetti used for the mouth. These cakepops were almost scratched from my party plans after a 105 degree heat index day which included 85% + humidity. Not fun conditions for cake pop making. Even my basement wasn't a safe haven for making them.

I used starburst for the fins. It was STICKY!

Incidently, at the party, the starburst had dried up, and the fish weren't sweating any longer.

Starfish chocolate covered Oreos. I used Wilton dark chocolate candy coating. The stars are made from star burst candy. I went through the trouble of making a cute dot pattern on the starfish, but then with the humidity, they kind of stuck inside the plastic. If you decide to make these and will be in any kind of heat, I'd skip those kind of details. (I'm sure you're probably thinking you'd skip most of the details that I put into things by now)

The favor part of the table had bubbles

Go fish cards which I bought a the Dollar store in a variety three pack (so they ended up only being about $.33 each)

Shovels which came with the buckets

Fishes

And MY FAVORITE PART!!

Ocean in a bottle.

I used Target's Market Pantry brand flavored water bottles because I liked the size and shape.

They are filled with two orange fishes-like the ones on the table cloth in the previous picture

water with blue food coloring, and baby oil. I hot glued the lids on

The kids played a relay game with fins.

Played on a inflatable waterslide

and had a bubble machine.

Happy Birthday my little fish friend.

Superhero birthday party!!

2011-05-14T16:23:00.003-04:00

Jedi had a superhero birthday party for his 5th birthday several years ago.

We started with an evite invitation that said this:

Superhero Headquarters is now recruiting new candidates for their Superhero Program. One of our top secret superheroes in training has named you as a friend with special powers that make you a perfect choice for our program. You know him by his code name: "Jedi".

Join us at our Superhero headquarters for your superhero training.
Everything you need will be provided to you, no need to dress up.

Please RSVP and tell us the following information about you:

Super power
Favorite color
Your Super Hero name

We will be having some super hero snacks and treats during our training, so please notify us of any "weaknesses" you may have- Kryptonite, Brussels sprouts, peanuts (other allergies).

WE CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU HERE!

I think one of my favorite parts of this party was seeing what all the kids/parents came up with for their name and power. We had Lavender Lightning- with super speed, Bubblegum girl- could make giant bubbles, Fire Laser man...you guessed it- can shoot fire and laser.

Jedi was "FREEZE-OR-BURN" and could do just that.

I made capes and masks for all the kids. The capes were made with pieces of felt and I added a logo to it depending on their superhero name. I made the masks out of silly foam. I googled superhero mask templates. I don't remember where I found them.

Lavender Lighting

Bubblegum girl

Freeze-or-burn

The superhero crew

Demonstrating their powers. (notice the girl in the left front corner and the boy in the left rear in red "turned invisible")

While we waited for all the kids to arrive, we had the kids color superhero pictures I printed from the Internet, or they could color on the butcher paper we put on the table.

Then came the training...

Get them limber!!

Then an obstacle course. They had to walk a wobbly blank, run on tiles without getting hit by balls that were flying by,

Climb through a tunnel,

then leap over a ottoman. They could "fly" over it if they felt they had harnessed that power already.

Then each superhero received their cape and mask. They were SO excited!

We then played pin the cape on Superman, and some of the kids seemed to have x-ray vision and could see through the blindfold.

And had lunch. Hero sandwiches with fresh fruits and veggies.

After lunch, they learned that an evil villain had found the location of their training and threw a bunch of kryptonite in the room hoping to make them lose their powers.

They each took turns picking up the kryptonite and putting them in a "lead" storage chamber.

Next was a team building exercises where we broke them into two teams and races to get giant floor puzzles done before the other team. It was a tie!! We were so happy to hear it because we knew that the evil villain would be back and it would take the whole superhero team working together to defeat him!!

They lifted "100lb" weights with ease as they built up their superhero muscles! (wrapping paper tubes with balloons on each end)

We heard the villain telling the superheroes he planned to defeat them. They all gathered in the superhero clubhouse to come up with a plan.

They tickled him until he promised to be good!!

I made a volcano cake with superman saving a lumberjack. Looking back at it, I would have done it so differently if I was making it today. BUT, the kids loved it. I used jolly ranchers melted and poured to look like lava.

The top of the cake had a hole in it with a small dixie cup inside. It had a bit of water in it. We put a few small pieces of dry ice in it so the volcano would smoke.

Hurray for superheroes!!

Coral Reef Ocean theme Cake

2011-05-05T15:30:00.001-04:00

I volunteered to make a few cakes for the school spring festival's cake walk. Probably not what they were thinking I'd be bringing, but I honestly can't pass up the opportunity to make a fun cake!!

It's very similar to the fish bowl cake from a month or so ago, but I had so much fun making all those little sea creatures. There were many things I wanted to do that I couldn't/didn't have time for with that one, so here is my take two! (Plus- my Jedi asked me in the sweetest voice to make another fish cake- and I really can't resist him)

The cake!!

Are those not the cutest crabs EVER?? I borrowed the idea from here.

Honestly though, I love the turtles the best. I made the one on top here, and then HAD to make a few more.

I know that not everyone is a fondant eating fan (myself included- I can only handle small doses), so some of the sea life is made from other edible items. I love working with all kinds of candy and goodies. The creative juices just flow when I stand in that aisle at the store!

Here is the low-down on what I used to make my coral reef come to life!!

The starburst candy and jolly ranchers were made by softening/melting the candy. I love working with melted jolly ranchers. I made a volcano cake with them for Jedi one year. (I'll have to dig out that picture)

The blue confetti sprinkles are Wilton cake sparkles. I love the shimmer you get from them. I also painted the whole cake and all the sea life with Wilton pearl dust mixed with clear vanilla extract. It gives everything a nice sheen.

The pictures don't do it justice, but I also didn't mix the blue color all the way into the fondant, so it has a slight marbled effect to look more like water.

Also, I've learned recently, that if you buy the Wilton colored fondant, mixing it with white fondant makes it softer, more usable, and less drying. Maybe the package said to do that, but I don't have the packaging anymore.

There you have it!!

I think I'm going to go plan my next scuba diving trip now...I really miss being under water!

Ice cream cone cake pops!!

2011-05-05T15:27:00.000-04:00

The spring festival cake walk is this week and I volunteered to make some goodies. My first endeavor is something I've been wanting to try for a while. I love how realistic they look in person. They don't look fantastic in my photos, sorry about that.

I learned a lot and had a great time making them. I'll post a tutorial in the near future!!

Geography lesson

2011-05-03T14:30:00.001-04:00

Confession: I am not a whiz with geography. I honestly get lost when we start discussing something more involved than continents, oceans, seas, and news headline countries. I have a daughter who went to Albania. Never heard of it before she went there (did, however recognize the name Yugoslavia when I learned that Albania used to be part of that country way back when).

When we start talking about European countries, I can name a dozen or more off the top of my head. Africa- six for certain. I can't even tell you which states in the good old USA touch each other for the most part. I've got CA, NV, OR, WA, AZ, UT, CO, and ID for certain. I can also tell you what's next to each other from NY down to GA and as far west from the eastern coast as WV. I'm not sure who lies where in the middle or the south.

BUT ever since I started this blog, and saw that people from all over the world are landing here from somewhere, I've been getting a great geography lesson. Check out the map at the bottom to see where some long distance readers have come from. I just started the map last month, after seeing that people from countries I've never heard of before have been by to see what's going on here. I learned today about the country of Latvia. After seeing some pictures online....I would LOVE to come visit there. It's so beautiful!!

Thanks for stopping by- my world-wide friends! I'm enjoying getting to know the rest of the world!

Bunny Gift Bag

2011-04-23T18:19:00.000-04:00

A bit hooked on cute bunnies today. I made this little gift bag for a special treat. I'll be putting a picture of Christ laminated with a magnet back and a little bit of jelly beans inside.

I used half a velcro dot on the flap just under his nose so the bag can be opened and shut. I'm not sure how long it will last, but I know Little Miss would carry this around for a few days.

I used adorable_box_20_C00658_20509 deleting the flowers included and the holes on the body of the bag. I added the bunny features from bunny_treat_bag_C00068_30551. The wiskers are made with the cut line for the slit on the bottom of the bag. I copied them and cut on the pink paper.

I was out of white paper...so my bunnies are cream. Still SO CUTE.

And the Cake pop winner is.........

2011-04-23T14:07:00.000-04:00

Well...if you were thinking about entering and decided against it, this is NOT you're lucky day!! Everyone who DID enter is a winner!!!

My FAVORITE reason was definitely Brandon because he got super creative with his lame excuse. As if they had cake pops in 1976......

So...Brandon wins half a dozen cake pops to make Cari happy!!!
Carrie wins half dozen cake pops to share with her grandkids.
Sheryl wins half a dozen cake pops
AND
Rebecca wins a sheep pop for Eden!!! And cakepop making lessons.

Congratulations to all the winners!!
I'll see you all tomorrow!!
(if you want to come pick them up, let me know)

Bunny T-shirt made with my Silhouette SD

2011-04-23T13:57:00.001-04:00

Looky looky what I made! I've been waiting for new fun toys to play with my Silhouette!! Thanks to a great birthday present from my sister and favorite brother, I bought- among other things, the pink iron on transfer paper. I couldn't WAIT to make this so cute T shirt for Love Bug.

Darling!!

Bunny buns!! Is there anything cuter??

Easter Cake Pops! Win some here!

2011-04-21T21:35:00.001-04:00

This afternoon my friend and I spent a few hours in the kitchen making these cuties for Easter. (yes I know my sheep don't have ears...long story) Anyway, I announced on my facebook status that I was making them and I wasn't planning to share a single one. That of course invoked some comments and one of them that a friend left inspired me to be a kind and thoughtful sharing person. She tried to guilt me into giving her one with her sad story. So I thought.....sounds like a GREAT idea.

Here is your chance to get a half dozen of these in time for Easter.

Rules:

1. Must be local. Okay...to be more specific, you have to be someone who either I'll see on Saturday afternoon or Sunday or who is willing to come pick them up. I'm giving them away but I'm still too busy/too lazy to make a special trip. Oh, and I'm not going to try to ship them.

2. Tell me why you deserve them. If your story isn't true, it has to make me think it's true. The more pathetic the reason the better.

3. One submission per person. All submissions must be received by 2pm 4/23/11 (local time).

4. If you don't qualify under number 1, but want to share your story anyway, please do. I'll award the best story publicly here and give you a big hurray and then give the pops to someone with a great story whom I'll actually see......

So there you have it. I know what you're thinking....this it totally rigged! Only people who know me really have a shot of winning. Yep. You're right.

Can't wait to hear your story!!!!!

Black and white damask table overlays/toppers for sale

2011-04-14T15:34:00.000-04:00

I'm adding this post here because I've noticed a lot of hits on my page while searching for "black and white damask wedding" recently. That got me thinking: Brides are planning weddings right now- and I have table overlays for sale!! Brilliant! So here's the story on them:

I have 20 overlays total. 10 with white backgrounds like this one.

And 10 with black backgrounds like this one.

I also have 10 round black table cloths, and 10 white tablecloths. They are 118".

This is how they looked together.

The tables we used are 58 inch rounds.

I'm asking $450 for all 40 items together. I'd like to keep them as a set. There is some minor staining on a few of the white cloths but nothing that you'll notice with the overlay and table decorations.

If you are interested in them, leave me a comment.

We'll have to work out a paypal payment, and you'll also be responsible for shipping.

I'm planning to get this up on Weddingbee as well, so I'll link up to it when I do.

Oh, I also have all those paper lanterns leftover too. Again, leave a comment if you are interested.

Simple Spring Dress

2011-04-14T15:12:00.002-04:00

I've been waiting for it to warm up and turn springy outside so I'd have a good reason to make a sundress for Love Bug. Pillowcase dresses are really popular for toddler girls right now. I found a really easy pattern by Simplicity that was perfect! I love to sew, but what I really love is something that I can sew in less than an hour. Sometimes that's all the time I have!!

The pattern is two pieces plus ribbon and bias tape. Easy-peasy!! I have a friend whom I will be giving sewing lessons to in the very near future and thought she'd like it for her little girl as well. I made this one for Love Bug.

Ignore our Raggamuffin look. This is post piggy tails. They don't last long in her hair.

It turned out so cute and was so easy, I decided to make another while she napped this afternoon. I timed myself this time around. (mostly because I told my husband it would only take me 30 minutes to make one and when it took me 1.5 hours he was teasing me about it. Never mind that my serger wasn't functioning correctly and it took me 45 minutes to get it set back to where it was suppose to be. There are lots of little hands that like to turn dials at my house)

Anyway. From pattern to hanger- 45 minutes. I am the kind of seamstress that likes a nicely pressed seam and clean serged edges. So adding in all the times I pressed the seams and ironed the fabric and serged three edges, still a quick project.

Here is the second dress:

I decided against using ribbon because I liked the idea of it matching the dress completely. I made my own straps out of the fabric I used for the bottom of the dress. Cut the length required for the ribbon (in my case 2 yards) by 2 inches wide. Press both sides in 1/4 inch, then fold it over so one side almost meets the other. Press. Then sew along the edge. Cut it in half for two straps. Fold each end over twice (about 1/4 inch each time) and stitch to keep in place. If you have problems working with such a thin edge of fabric, here is an easy solution. You can use it anytime the piece you are sewing won't catch well on the sewing machine to move.

Place a piece of lightweight card stock under the pressure foot of the machine. Place your strap on the card stock positioned where you need it under the foot. Put the foot down and start sewing, being careful to reverse before you go off the edge of the strap. Move it forward to the edge again, then stop. Cut the threads.

Fold the card stock back away from the fabric exposing the seam. Cut the card stock off as close to the seam as possible. Now working with the card stock up, pull the remaining piece of card stock downward away from the seam carefully. Any fragments of paper left can be picked out with your fingernail. And there you have it!!

If you're interested in the pattern, it's THIS one.

I found it at Walmart.

Happy sewing!!

Fish Bowl Cake

2011-03-31T21:31:00.001-04:00

I had need for a fabulously decorated cake this week, and felt inspired to make this one. The idea was borrowed from a Women's Day Cake. I loved the idea in general, but wasn't interested in using goldfish crackers on a cake, so I used gumdrops, for the most part. I did learn that I dislike the precolored fondant- something I'd never worked with before. No matter what I tried, it dried out really fast. The blue was mixed with white fondant, and for some reason that helped it stay moist. Anyway, here's my fish bowl cake that I got WAY carried away with decorating. But I love scuba diving and it just became a reef without even planning for it to be.

Sea anemone....tube coral, sea sponge....

Coral, sea fan...

Sea snail....Did I mention I had way too much fun with this??

and the one fish trying to get away.

My kid's can't wait to "dive" into the cake this weekend! Who could blame them??

Rainbow Cake

2011-03-24T08:46:00.001-04:00

Love Bug was invited to a St Patty's Day party and I volunteered to make a rainbow cake. I ran across THIS

rainbow cake on Martha Stewart's site one day and wanted to make one. I just needed the right occasion. I liked that it was layered and that each layer was a different color- not the usual "drop color" idea where you color the batter and then drop the batter by spoonful into the pan to get a mottled rainbow.

I was making this cake for tots, so I didn't want it to be too large (read: so tall that they'd have to have a big piece and get so sugared up they'd never take their nap), and I was also pressed for time. I used a box mix which was *just* enough to make each layer. When I make it again (and I will :), I'll make it from scratch and the layers will be thicker and easier to work with. These layers were pancake thin.

For the decorations- Skittles were used for the rainbow. They didn't have the pack with blue in it at the store I went to, and I never made it back out shopping to find one.

The cloud is made of extra large marshmallows. I sliced the ends off of three of them.

So there it is!! My rainbow cake.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree tutorial

2011-02-26T23:03:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite books is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom! How can you not love an alphabet book, especially one that is as catchy as this one?

My kids love to take stories a little farther than the pages we read them on. Of course the most fitting way to do that with this book is with our own coconut tree!! Here is how you can make your own:

The tree is 16 inches tall when finished.

You will need:

Green felt cut in two 20x20in pieces and one 9x9in piece

Brown felt cut into one 17x17in piece and two 6 inch circles

pillow stuffing

beanie baby filling

3 wooden 1 inch beads

brown yarn

4 pipe cleaners, any color

large eyed needle

Start by folding your first piece of green felt in half and tracing the pattern. Line up the edge of the pattern and trace again. Repeat with second piece (or you can pin them together so you are cutting through both pieces).

Fold the smaller felt piece in half and trace the smaller leaf pattern onto it. Cut out all leaves.

Pin the two large leaves together and sew along the outside edge, completely.

Fold leaves in half, then half again, finding the center. Mark the center.

Measure from the center to 6.5 inches on all leaves. Mark the spot.

Sew a casing .5 inches wide on each leaf. Don't worry about it overlaping in the center.

Cut the center with a seam ripper, pulling up the overlaping threads.

Fold two pipe cleaners in half and turn up their ends so they are rounded.

Push half of the two pipe cleaners into one side of the casing, then the other half through the casing across from it. Repeat with the second set of pipe cleaners.

Sew along the edge of the smaller leaves to give it a finished look. Sew lines down the middle of each leaf using zigzag stitch set tight.

Mark brown felt diagonally from the bottom corner to 5 inches in at the top, then cut excess off. Repeat on other side.(or use a rotary cutter as I did) The picture shows one side cut already and the other side being marked. It will now be 7 inches across the top and 17 inches across the bottom.

Fold in half and sew along the open edge.Lay with seam in center back and cut off excess fabric making a straight line. (the picture shows it turned so the outside is out. You don't need to do this at this point)

Pin the two circles to the right side of the felt on the bottom opening. Sew it closed and turn right side out.

This is what it will look like. I used two pieces for the bottom because I know it will get tossed around a lot and not treated gently. It's for reinforcement only.

Fill bottom with beanie baby beads or other weighted beads.

I put in about 2 cups to make sure it would be stable.

Stuff with pillow stuffing until its firm. You want the tree to stand tall and not slouch over.

With the open edge of large leaf down, stitch to top of tree by hand.

This is how it should look now.

Place smaller leaf on top and hand stitch it on larger leaves to tack it down.

Use a large eyed needle to thread yarn.

Begin at the back seam and pull the yarn through.

Wrap yarn around the tree and pull it through again about 2 inches lower than the first stitch a quarter turn around. Continue down the tree in this manner until you reach the bottom.

Tie a large bulky knot at the base. You will now continue back up the tree, tying bulky knots at each previous stitch.

They should look similar to this.

Tie off the yarn well at the top. Then tie on the three beads at the top to look like coconuts.

Finished tree with knots showing.

You are done!! Now add letters made out of foam or felt. I also made blue polka dots and apples out of felt and made the numbers to go along with the book Chicka Chicka 123.

Enjoy!!

I'll add the patterns for the leaves as soon as I get them scanned into my computer :)

Valentine's Day Goodness

2011-02-13T22:14:00.001-05:00

If I were more organized (and my kids didn't have fevers for the past few days) this post would have gone out early enough that you just might have been able to put some inspiration to use for THIS Valentine's Day. Better late than never.

That Silhouette SD that my fabulous husband bought me for Christmas is very well broken in at this point. I even feel like I almost know what I'm doing now!!

Love Bug is having a V-day party and this is her Valentine to pass out. We are catering to the 4 and under set with these bubble bodied butterflies!!

Jedi is passing out these too cute cupcake boxes to his kindergarten class.

Angel has these totally cute pillow boxes with a little heart card attached. She's giving out the heart leapers, so that is what inspired the note. It was suppose to read: You make my "heart" leap, Valentine" but something got a little lost in translation, and before I knew it, they were a bit difficult to understand.

And for the teachers and staff. Cupcakes are for all occasions!

Our messy Valentine projects underway.

Now these cuties are for Love Bug's party as well. I'm loosely going with a "Love bug" theme (fitting), and the kisses are love bugs! The flying bugs are two kisses taped together with wings and eye stickers added.

And these are hopping bugs.

Precious!! I made a killer garland this year, right before Love Bug's party. Then I proceeded to place it in a very special place until AFTER the party. It's still in that special place. I only wish I knew where it was, it's that special. I'm sure I'll find it in time for Christmas. That's still after the birthday party...which still counts, right?

TUTU and TUNIC second birthday party

2011-02-05T16:54:00.005-05:00

Love Bug turns two this month, and we celebrated with a TUTU and TUNIC party. I saw some ideas on the Internet that were absolutely adorable, and of course did my own spin on it. Some people have done at Tutu and ties party, but I like the idea of tunics better. Each guest was given either a tutu or a tunic to wear.

The cake. It wasn't what I set out to do, but this is what I had time for. A two wearing a tutu.

All the guests had cupcakes with these cute tutus on them. It's fondant skirts and straps, and candy hearts from the Wilton bracelet making set out for Valentines Day. I used pink pearl powder with clear vanilla to paint them shimmery. I also made them earlier in the week, so they were har-ard!

We did photo mobiles of Love Bug "growing up" (ha! all two years of it)

This was the spread. I tried to think of foods that reminded me of Tutu's, and then threw a little nutrition in there too. Do you know how many sweet treats qualify as tutu-like?? I had to cut waaaay back on my planning list!

Cotton candy....of course! It's fluffy and delightful.

In the left corner there you can see where I hung up the tutus and tunics for the guests as they arrived. I made them to size, so I had little labels on them to keep track of who they were for.

We also had cupcakes for the parents.

These are lemon and strawberry swirl cookies (from Safeway). Very tutu looking if you ask me.

Mini sandwiches, cut in a flower shape (that qualifies as a tutu shape...doesn't it??)

Pink fluffy marshmallow pops!! I had grandeur plans for these, but time got the best of me.

Tutu tacos for the grown-ups. I just pushed warm tortillas into large muffin tins and cooked at 350 for 10 minutes. Then pull them out at carefully put a child size cup inside them to open them up more. Remove them when cool.

And the banner.

Tutus!! I did the easy version of tying tulle onto elastic.

The tunics. Again, as easy as you can get. It's fleece, cut down to approximately 18 inches wide by 40 inches long. Fold in half. Cut out a circle. Then I used adhesive felt for the emblem. The name tags were made with my nifty new Silhouette SD :)

We played tutu bowling.

And tutu basketball.

I made tutu purses for the girls and had foam swords (Target $ zone) for the boys. I used satin and medium weight interfacing for the tutus. Rectangle shape big enough around for the circle I happened to have. If you really want to know how to make them, leave me a comment.

That was the party!!

Star Wars Party

2011-01-22T12:00:00.003-05:00

For Jedi's 6th birthday we threw him a Star Wars party. My husband and older son jumped right in and were excited to help plan the games, make the sabers, etc. I definitely could not have do it without their help (as my insanity level would have reached an all-time high, while my sanity level plummeted to it's lowest)

Here is the skinny on the party. I'll go into details on things that will help you if you too are planning a Star Wars party. Or perhaps it will convince you that it is far too much work, and a movie party at the local theater sounds PERFECT! :)

I got most of my inspiration from reading this post.

Preparations.

My most ambitious task was making an R2D2 cake. Not having much experience with fondant, and wanting it to be 3D, didn't help me much.

I started with a board and dowel at an angle hoping to make it like the Sharper Image R2 that we have. I decided to make the body out of Rice Krispie treats, and the top part out of cake.

Here are my shattered dreams:

So then we switched to just having him sit on the board, and ended up with this:

Not too shabby. I'm showing you my grand plans for a stand up R2, so those of you with more talent than I can use my mistakes as a jumping block. I'd love to see you link up to my post if you've successfully accomplished it!!

Light Sabers were made with 1/2 inch PVC pipe cut in 2 1/2 foot sections. Then we cut pool noodles in half and put them over the PVC. It was a nice snug fit. Then electrical tap was added at the handles in different color combinations so the kids were know which was theirs.

Death Star Pinata!!

Okay this was also a bit more ambitious than it should have been. Mostly because I over estimated the strength of the kids that would be at the party. We didn't use light sabers to break the pinata. We decided to use a PVC pipe with silver duct tape covering it. The foam from the noodles would break if it was used for the pinata.

I used a round ball from Target- the big colorful balls that you find in those large cage-bins. Then I got started using homemade paper mache glue. I alternated between newspaper and cardstock. Ten layers. Let me just say this was overkill. You'll see why. I would recommend 5 layers.

I put the candy in it, then sealed it up with a bowl shape I also made from paper mache. I used a bowl that seem like the right shape for the death star dip, then put 5-6 layers on it. I cut the hole out of the ball, removed the real ball, and placed the candy in. Then I hot glued the paper mache bowl in, and added more paper mache layers to make it blend in with the rest of the ball.

Then I painted the whole thing with silver spray paint. Next I used tape to make all the lines on the ball. I stared pretty precise, but it somehow got off track and no one would ever notice. (if you do, you're looking too hard. Its a pinata for pity's sake)

I found some granite finish paint on clearance at Michael's and used that to paint over the silver. I fished it by hand painting the circle with silver and black craft paint and painted the black line around it with paint that has glitter in it. This is how it turned out!

This is post beating. My 14 year old son beat it a dozen times and the bowl finally popped out allowing the candy to be dumped out. Definitely too many layers. :)

I also made tunics for all the kids. I used earth tone colors and muslin. 1.5 yards of 44 inch fabric cut in half length-wise. Then I cut out a line across the center for their heads, and a line down from the very center of that slit down about 4 inches toward the chest. I folded the fabric back and sewed it. Now there is a v-neck. I also folded the outside edges toward the right side of the fabric and sewed them to keep the fabric from fraying. The front and back edges were sewn under. When put on the kids, the edges were folded to the center front to look like there was another layer of clothing. The belts were made with fleece cut in 2 inch strips.

I made the girls tunics out of white satin to look like Jedi Princesses, but the fabric kept slipping. I suggest against using satin if you make them in the same fashion that I did. It would work fine if you sewed the fabric over, or pinned it.

Food:

We started with a grand buffet of force-fortified foods. We used blue and green food for the light side, red and orange for the dark side. They also all had Padawan pizza.

Yoda....eating a mini lightsaber made with Pirouline cookies dipped in blue Wilton's candy coating, then in blue sprinkles. I also made dark side sabers in red.

We made Yoda Soda- green Hawaiian punch with lemon lime soda.

And of course we had the R2D2 cake. I didn't want to put candles on R2 so as a last minute decision, I stuck them in large marshmallows. :)

Party.

Each step of the party had them learn a new skill and there was usually a new tool to go with it.

Training began with some team building activities. The Padawans carried this atomic ball across the room without dropping it. (My husband cut a piece of particle board in a circle with a circle in the middle. He painted it and put holes in it for the ropes. The 'atomic ball' is a hamster ball with cotton batting and a flashing light from a toy.

They had to lift together keeping it steady or the ball would fall off.

Then they did problem solving to cross Yoda's swamp on some space rocks. We simply used construction paper cut in rock-like shapes. They had one more rock than people, so they had to pass the last rock up to the front of the line, then step forward, then repeat. They did this all the way across the room.

They used the force to lift these meteorites. Foil covered newspaper with fishing line hooked to them. At first they didn't see the fishing line, and really thought they were lifting it!!

Jedi has had a bit of practice.

Now the fun tools.

They learned how to use thermal detonators. They LOVED them. These were nubby balls with flashing lights I picked up from Party City. They threw them at a chalkboard with a target on it.

Blasters training came next.We picked up an off brand Nerf-like gun for each child. They came in a three pack at Target.

Light sabers! They were each allowed to choose their saber. My husband gave them some safety rules for these and the guns.

I have not photographic evidence of the last part. They had a maze to go through and were able to use their blasters, detonators and sabers as they made their way toward a power core. It was made from a clear soda bottle with more cotton and flashing toys in it. I think it was a flashing wand...

They had to work in pairs to get to the power core and knock it down to destroy the death star.

After that, everyone went home!! So that's our party.

Fall / Autumn Themed Candy Buffet

2010-11-15T08:21:00.001-05:00

Toddler on a plane - how to keep them entertained

2010-09-26T18:58:00.001-04:00

The title of this post could have easily been changed to that of a popular movie title that struck fear and chaos into the hearts of passengers. Likewise, a toddler on a plane can and does cause parents to avoid travel all together until JR is a bit older, like on their way to college.

I had the ‘pleasure’ of traveling with my Love Bug (age 1.5) this week, and after my last traumatic experience with her in which she basically screamed/cried for 6 hours straight, I found myself wondering why I was glutton for punishment and putting myself through it all over again. But 7 months had passed and surly at 19 months, she could handle a plane ride again.

I scoured the Internet for new ideas and found a few tips that I hadn’t thought of or read before. After traveling countless times with seven other children over the years, the bag of tricks becomes pretty familiar.

I found some things that were helpful and thought I’d pass them along. I decided to do this in a series, so as not to have one gigantic post.

Part One- How to keep them entertained:

The "rule of thumb" for Toddler travel is pretty simple- lots of little activities, and lots of little snacks. The idea is to have enough short activities to add up to the length of your flight. Most activities can be stretched out with a bit of creative thinking, and most things can be repeated if you don't allow them to become too boring the first time around. Don't do all the really fun stuff first. You need to have some tricks for the end of the flight when the patience (on both parts) is long gone and there is still a bit of time left.

Snacks

Inspired by my bento box lunch craze:

I used a craft box with dividers (like a tackle box) and filled it with different snacks. It was absolutely fabulous. Love Bug had a blast nibbling on her little buffet and did so for almost the entire flight. She took them out and put them on her tray table, then sorted them back into the box. The crackers “walked” along the edge of the container, then hopped into her mouth. She placed fishes in my hand, and they would “disappear” until my hand opened back up and she would eat it quick. I liked that everything was separate so the Craisins which are moist didn’t slime up the yogurt space chips, etc. I folded a small piece of paper towel and put it under the grapes to catch juice and moisture. It was perfect. The flight attendants on every flight loved her “food tray” and I heard one of them telling another passenger traveling with little ones about it. The one warning: If your child is small like mine is, don’t let the container get too far away from you. We had a near tragedy on multiple occasions when she jerked it upward or pulled it away quickly. (ours was filled with goldfish pretzels, grapes, dehydrated strawberries & bananas, cheese crackers, chocolate and and graham cracker cookies, Craisins, and dehydrated yogurt)

We also used a large weekly pill keeper that has push button release to put extra special treats in, like yogos, dehydrated fruit, and fruit snacks. You could put small candy in it as well, but I was avoiding adding large quantities of sugar to the airplane experience.

In addition to my little snack trays, I had a few fruit snack packages, toddler fruit leather, and smarties (for emergencies near the end of the flight).

Activities

From this post I found a very original idea: Tape. Blue painters tape to be exact. Although I did try to find purple and green as well but ran out of time. Love Bug LOVED taking the pieces I tore off and sticking them to her shirt, her hands, the chair, the table, me, everything. She also loved unrolling it and trying to tear it. An older child would have this added experience, but her little hands weren’t strong enough. There is a book that is a tape book but I read comments that the tape was too hard for kids to tear, and why not just buy a roll?? Painters tape (a bit different than masking tape) doesn’t leave a sticky residue and it comes off super easy. We covered the DVD screen with tape and then pulled the pieces off one by one to see what was underneath. We covered the animals in her board book with tape. We used tape to make a road for her wheel pal toys to drive on. We covered pictures in the Skymall magazine with it. The possibilities are endless. Several passengers were very entertained watching her play with the tape, and were surprised at how long it held her interest. Who knew??

Retractable sewing measuring tape. Love Bug loves to play with it at home, so I thought it would be great on a plane- and it was! She pulled it out, measured something, and retracted: repeat 100 times.

Mini flashlight. Held her interest for a good 15 minutes each flight. I take what I can get.

Mini slinky. I bought a pack of party Slinky's. They were plastic and since she has had limited experience with slinky, it was a big hit.

Children’s bead necklaces. I picked some up from the dollar store. They look like Mardi Gras beads only they are actually meant for dress up. Love Bug put them on, took them off, put them in the seat pocket, snaked them around the chair, put them on her dolly, etc.

Disney Plug: Baby Einstein DVD’s. Love Bug just got some of these, unlike the rest of the gang at my house who were apparently deprived. She loves them! We watched Baby Neptune over and over. It was her favorite because she loves water. We talked about the fishes, the whales, the beach balls, etc. I would leave it going until she seemed board with it, then turn it off to save the battery. Then I would pull it out again later and it was all brand new to her! I'm sure whatever your little one is into will work too. What I liked about the movies I brought was that it allowed me to sit and discuss it with her, and it was really simple for her to understand since there is no storyline, which she's too young for.

I found that she didn't need to have headphones on, because the volume turned up all the way on our DVD player was loud enough for her to hear, but didn't disrupt other passengers. She doesn't like headphones.

Digital Camera- Love Bug took pictures (turn the flash off so you don't disrupt those around you) and looked at pictures. She loved it!

Bubbles- I had leftover wedding bubbles, the tall slender containers. No problem with security. Love Bug was THRILLED that there were bubbles on the plane, and a few passengers were entertained as well.

New books. I had some mini board books I picked up at the $ store that she loved.

Buckle Bear- I saw a bear online at Amazon that has buckles attached. Love Bug LOVES buckles. I purchase an inexpensive bear and sewed my own ribbon and buckles on him. She had great time buckling and unbuckling her bear.

Craft items:

Pipe cleaners and pom poms were a hit with her as well. She loves bending pipe cleaners and pom poms disappear nicely into pockets, between seats, in hands, etc.

Ribbon on colorful beverage stirring wands. Lots of swirling goes on with these. Resist the temptation to add fun things like beads to the end of the ribbon. Its too close quarters for whips!

I also had some of her favorite toys with us. We brought her doll, wheel pals and a foam book that has a piece on each page you can take out like a puzzle.

I put the small items (wheel pals, necklaces, measuring tape, etc) in a lingerie bag to keep them in one place. Using more than one bag and separating items will allow you to pull out a bag now, and keep one new for later in the flight or your next leg.

Pulling out one item at a time helps keep things from getting too cluttered or rolling too far away, and picking a few items to have stashed in the seat pocket make it easy to get to something quick.

That was our entertainment!

Black and White Damask and Yellow Wedding 4

2010-08-14T22:36:00.001-04:00

Decorations

Can you believe This used to be a church gym?

We were lucky enough to have access to a cargo parachute (I'm sure everyone has one in their garage, right??) and it was big enough to cover the entire interior of our church building's gym. A tent without the rental fees!

Lighting:

There are existing lights in the gym that can dim, so we only needed to add a bit of lighting. We choose paper lanterns, as they add a nice classy touch.

I found a great idea on the internet (I know- right?) to use throwies inside to light them(ps-you don't need the magnets). My husband had a great time putting them together. But in the end, I would have to say (as did he) that we really didn't need them. I'm guessing that in other situations, they may work fine to light them, like an outside location were it really is the only light. But indoors with another light source, they were hardly noticeable. I would highly suggest if you are considering using throwies as a way of lighting the lanterns, that you use white lanterns and don't get any larger than 16". Beyond that, you won't see much light. We used some 24" lanterns, and they had hardly a glimmer.

We used battery operated tea lights for the tables. To go along with the centerpieces, we gathered up a bunch of stage 2 babyfood jars (thanks Lori, Becky, and Crystal) and tied yellow damask ribbon on them. It was VERY inexpensive. And they turned out really nice.

Tables:

I shopped around the internet for black and white damask table overlays. They are hard to come by and expensive. Even renting them is expensive. Wedding bee has a classified section- and let me just tell you how brilliant this is! I purchased all of my overlays, and table cloths from a previous bride who also did black and white damask. I was VERY happy to find them, and I'm sure she was happy to sell them. (BTW- I am now selling them. So if you have need for them, leave me a message)

Our center pieces were made from jars we found at Target. We filled them with fresh lemon slices and the flowers purchased from Joann Fabrics. The ribbon was from Michaels.
(sorry didn't get a better picture, so this one is a repeat. You can see all the details though.)

Black and White Damask and Yellow Wedding

2010-08-14T22:30:00.000-04:00

The Cake

Instead of having a wedding cake, the bride wanted cheesecake and a small cake just large enough to cut a piece and smash it into each other's faces. We thought a cupcake stand would be the perfect solution. I bought the cardboard stand from http://www.save-on-crafts.com/cupcaketree1.html for $35. I found damask patterned
wrapping paper at Michaels, along with the black velveteen ribbon. The flowers were from Joann Fabric.

I used double-stick tape to attach the wrapping paper, then trimmed the edges. The ribbon was attached with hot glue, as were the flowers. It was time consuming, but I liked the end result.

Going this route for the "cake" also was very inexpensive. The cheesecake we purchased at Sam's club and then repackaged in white mini cupcake papers (thanks Meagan:)because the paper they come in didn't go well with the decorations. The cake was an 8" cake from Safeway decorated like one of their wedding designs, and cost a whopping $16. I think our total for 300 mini cheesecakes, the cake, stand, and decorations for it was just under $125. Not bad for the "cake", and everyone loved that it was cheesecake instead of cake.

We also served Rita's Italian ice for refreshments. The bride picked Mango, Oreo Cookie, and Alex's Lemonade to go with her colors and theme. We purchased 6oz dessert cups from Party City that were a pretty clear plastic floral design and had a few young men serve it. It was a hit!

Black and White Damask Yellow Wedding 2

2010-08-14T22:28:00.000-04:00

Next up on the wedding DIY scene is the table numbers. In all honesty, they were a last minute addition to our plans. We had thought of doing seating assignments, then decided not to. Changing our minds again within a week of the wedding led us to this idea: Let the bride and groom tell you where your seats are.

Using publisher, we pasted a damask pattern downloaded free off the internet as the background and then placed numbers on top of them. Then cut the number out and pasted it to cardstock. The photos were taken in black and white, then printed and tapped to cookie lollipop sticks which you can buy at Michael's. They were put into our center pieces at each table.

The placecards were printed and pasted onto yellow cardstock and taped to long lollipop sticks.

We put the placecard in jars alphabetically and divided (A-H,I-R,S-W) to make it easier to fine names. The jars were filled 1/3 full of fancy lemon drops.

The bride came up with this cute saying to go along with our lemon theme "Pucker up and pick your seat".
Here is the final product.

Black and white damask wedding- bouquets

2010-06-16T14:09:00.000-04:00

We decided to go with silk flowers for the wedding. We knew that we wanted to use Forsythia because it is such a stunning yellow. Forsythia was in bloom at the time, and we saw it every where we turned. Because they are not often used in weddings, it would also offer more originality.

Rachael chose beautiful white flowers for her bouquet (I forgot their name..sorry) and we accented with forsythia. I added buttons to tie in with the boutonnieres.

For the tossing bouquet, it was fun to tie the lemon theme in. We thought a bouquet of lemons would be perfect. Of course we had to add forsythia and buttons to it as well. I found the lemon bouquet at Michaels, and then added to it

We were a bit worried about the idea of some poor single girl getting whacked in the head with something as unforgiving as fake lemons, but it turned out just fine! So there you have it, our wedding bouquets.

Jungle Baby Shower

2010-06-13T17:44:00.002-04:00

A good friend of mine had a baby a few weeks ago. Amongst all the wedding chaos, I didn't have a chance to post the shower that I threw for her in April.

She had a boy, and her nursery theme is jungle animals. I liked the idea of carrying it over into her shower theme, but just focused on animals in general. I also thought it would be fun to use things as decorations that were actually useful to care for little Kaleb instead of things that would be thrown away.

There were a few others who were helping with the shower, and they contributed to a group gift with me. That was how we "funded" the decorations. I got busy looking on the internet for jungle themed items. Most things were toys (which she had a lot of already), or nursery decorating items. Then I remembered a fun idea from family cruises. Towel animals!

I got to work looking for towel origami instructions online, and using new baby blankets, bath towels and wash cloths I came up with these cuties.

Dog

Pair of monkeys

Elephant

Turtle (which didn't look as turtlish as I had hoped) and a mini Seal complete with a juggling ball

I also made this snail out of diapers combining the diaper cake idea and a towel snail idea. I think he turned out pretty cute!

Then I added in some animal friends that could be played with

And to go with her jungle nursery- a lion laundry basket

and an elephant storage box, which we used to house the rest of our group gift- addressed animal thank you cards, bath items, etc.

I made banners from new clothing. Boy- with sleepers

Kaleb spelled on onesies (both were animal print fabrics)

and a laundry line of socks and newborn hats

These hard to resist pom poms (Martha Stewart) were the only decorations that weren't reusable. But seeing as though the ones I made for my little one's first birthday were then used at two additional events...maybe they are reusable)

The shower was a brunch. I had help making the food. I made these cute signs out of folded cardstock and wooden animals from Michaels- already painted.

We also seved yogurt, Dole fruit juices, and raspberry spritzer lemonade.

The tables had towel animals as centerpieces, and an animal board book.

The monkeys hung over the buffet table.

Each of the guests received a bag with a little book of recipes of the dishes served, and could also put their treat to take home in it.

At first, a few guests passed on the cute little cupcakes. Then someone who knew they were cakepop cupcakes (Bakerella) volunteered to take home whatever didn't get eaten. Someone decided to try one out, and after that, I don't think many made it in the bags....I heard that there was one guest who did well getting them in the bag, but they were gone before they reached home. I just LOVE these cupcakes.

I'm not a fan of most shower games, so we kept it to a minimum. I provided each table with several cards with questions to answer that the mom-to-be would benefit from. They were to be answered on the back. Then for our game, we sat in a circle before the gift opening. Each person in turn read a question out loud, and the person to their right read their answer. Most answers were quite humorous advice-since they didn't relate to the question asked. I collected the cards and put them together in a book tied with ribbon while the gifts were opened.

I bought a pad of cute boy print 4x6 cardstock and glued the questions to the printed side of the paper (it wsa cute rough or embossed paper, so printing onto them wasn't an option). Then I punched two holes in each card to pull the ribbon through. This was done ahead of time, so it was easy to bind and give to the mom-to-be as part of her gift.

I think it turned out really cute, and everyone loved it- especially the recipes they got to take home! Who doesn't love a good brunch recipe?

Wedding Reception Photo Booth

2010-05-31T00:57:00.001-04:00

One of the highlights of our DIY wedding was a photo guest book idea I borrowed from this fantastic site

http://www.weddingbee.com/2009/01/23/that-wedding-photobooth/.

In place of a little book with signatures, our bride and groom will have a book full of pictures of their guests giving them personal messages written on a chalkboard. We also provided props, for those interested in using them. I was a little worried that guests wouldn't be too excited about doing it, but that wasn't the case at all.

Here are a few photos from our wedding. It was fun to see all the encrypted messages- via inside jokes, or other languages (any else translating the Albanian??):

We were very happy with how it all turned out. Next, we'll upload the photos to an online printing company and have it made into a leather bound book.

Black and White Damask and Yellow Wedding

2010-05-27T08:30:00.006-04:00

Coming soon!!

All the details of our DIY Black and White Damask & Yellow Wedding. We had a very limited budget and did everything on our own (with a lot of help from friends).

I'm waiting on photos- because I know you'll want to see them!

But for now, here are some things to get you started in case you are in the middle of planning your own DIY wedding.

We bought everything we could on sale, using coupons, or used. Joann Fabric and Michael's put their floral on sale for 40-50% off every few weeks (or every week for a short time). Michael's also puts their ribbon on sale 40% off. So watch for that as well.

We also used 50% coupons from the Joann circular. Ask your friends if they can hold onto theirs for you. You can use one coupon per full priced item. These came in really handy for the apothecary jars we needed for the candy buffet.

Michael's prints a coupon after your receipt for either 40 or 50% off. You can't use it until the next week, and it's one coupon per customer per day, so that makes it more difficult- but not impossible. I also bought apothecary jars using these coupons.

I bought the table coverings used from a previous bride.

The lanterns I found at http://www.justartifacts.net/index.html were the least expensive online that were in the colors and sizes we wanted. I thought the quality was great!

If you're just starting out on your DIY wedding- I have a few tips for you:

Bookmark everything you like so you can find it easily later

Get as much help as you can

Do as much in advance as possible

Shop around for the best prices and buy everything on sale

Keep your receipts in one place so you can easily return what you don't need/didn't use

Look at sites like The Knot to get ideas and find your style- then search using keywords (like lemon wedding- in our case)

Be flexible

Good luck- and check back in a few weeks for the details!!!

Black &White Damask and Yellow Wedding

2010-05-09T10:49:00.001-04:00

My daughter's wedding is just a few weeks away, and we've been busy getting ready! She chose black and white damask, and yellow as her colors, and lemon is the theme. We are really pleased with how it's turning out. Her aesthetic is a simple elegance, with a touch of nostalgia.

I've scoured the Internet and magazines for HOURS getting ideas. As I've mentioned before, I'm very good at borrowing ideas, and then adding my own personality to them.

First up: Boutonnieres

Somehow I happened upon a great blog and found this fabulous idea from a blogger named Camille (thanks for the idea!). Rachael loved it! Who would have thought of using buttons for bouts?? Well, apparently more than Camille, because it was also featured in Real Simple Wedding (I LOVE Real Simple)- a different style though. In keeping with our theme, I tweaked it a bit and came up with this:

Groom's

Father of the Bride

Small fry younger brother

And the remaining four menfolk

They aren't having Bridesmaids or Groomsmen, so all the family men will wear bouts and the family women who are sisters etc will wear matching flowers in their hair and matching yellow necklaces; the "older" women (MOB etc) will wear corsages and the necklaces.

A friend is making the corsages and flowers for hair. I'm not superwoman after all!!

Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree

2010-04-14T12:23:00.001-04:00

My favorite season is easily spring. The cold is gone, the trees turn green, and everything blossoms. It doesn't hurt that I live in an area where baby animals are in abundance as well. Bunnies, squirrels, deer, birds...we see all their cute little offspring roaming about.

But we especially love the blossoms!

One of our favorite springtime activities begins with a walk or drive through the neighborhood looking for blossoms. They look like popcorn popping on trees. Some of the popcorn is pink, some yellow, purple, and of course white. We choose a color, then go home and make popcorn balls!

It's something I loved to do when I was a child. I remember making them with my mother, while singing our beloved song- Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree.

Don't know it? Have a listen. And while you're at it...here are the lyrics and hand motions: http://broadcast.lds.org/churchmusic.../words/242.mp3

I looked out the window and what did I see? (Make hands into binoculars)
Popcorn popping on the apricot tree! (Flick fingers open and closed)
Spring has brought me such a nice surprise,
blossoms popping right before my eyes. (Flick fingers open and closed)

I could take an armful and make a treat. (Swoop arms out and bring in)
A popcorn ball that would smell so sweet! (Cup hands together to make a popcorn ball, then bring to your nose to smell it)
It wasn't really so... (Wag finger back and forth)
But it seemed to be... (Nod head)
Popcorn popping on the apricot tree! (Flick fingers out)

The very same recipe my mother used when I was little is still my favorite.
Here is the link to the recipe:

http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/popcorn-balls-50637.aspx

Want to make your popcorn balls even sweeter? Make some and give them to the neighbors whose trees inspired your sweet activity. I'm sure they'll love it!

Getting baby to sleep in their own room

2010-03-13T08:21:00.003-05:00

Getting baby to sleep in their own room at night is an occasion celebrated in most homes! Making it happen is often another story.

In our home, getting from point A to point B is several months in the making, but can be shortened if there is a need. We start with the end in mind from the time baby is born.

Point A: The cradle in our room

Point B: The crib in her room

My "Plan" is to have the baby out of her cradle completely by the time she is 5 months, or is too mobile for such a small place. If you want the baby out sooner, just do everything on a faster plan than I do. I like to keep her close until she outgrows the early morning feeding, which is about that time.

Love Bug has slept in our room since we brought her home. I like having her close at night so I don't have to go far to get her and can hear her well. I have a "lovey" for her that we tuck in next to her face when she sleeps. She likes to have something touching her cheek and covering one eye. (btw I bought 4 of them, so that when she loses it as she gets older, we have others to replace it) I also have a CD player in our room that plays lullaby's 24/7. I turn the music up louder during the day and have it at an almost inaudible level at night. If you've spent any time in a house with 4 other kids, you know the importance of teaching a baby to sleep through noise.

I put her in her cradle when she is sleepy but not asleep so she can learn to fall asleep on her own without rocking etc.

After the first month, I start taking her into her room for "visits" a few times a week. We don't use a changing table (rather not run up and down stairs all day long just to change her) so if you have one in the baby's room you won't need to make a special visit (you will want to put baby in the crib for a bit though). While we are visiting her room, I put her in her crib. She just lays in her crib looking at the mobile and talking to the bumper. I usually fold her laundry and straighten up the room while I'm there.

By the end of the second month, the visits are every day. I plan them so they are after she's fed and before she's tired. I want her to be awake and see that this place is just as cool as mom and dad's room.

At three to three and a half months I put her in her room for naps. She has her lovey with her and the CD player goes in her room with her too, making it all more familiar. I like to stay in her room for a while until she's dozed off, so I plan things to do while I'm there for 5-10 minutes. Laundry folding, moving clothes she's outgrown out of her drawers, reading, etc. I don't let her know I'm there and if she fusses too much, I help her calm down for a minute then "disappear" again. At this age, baby is usually too young to pull themselves up and see you there.

It only takes a few weeks to get her napping in her room without any problems. When the time comes for her to sleep in her room overnight, she's already so used to it that there are no problems with it being a strange place.

Deep cleaning bath toys (aka what to do when your kid poops in the tub)

2010-03-11T17:08:00.001-05:00

Today I thought I'd share a tutorial on cleaning bath toys. Maybe it was inspired by an immediate need in my household.....perhaps two kids in a tub full of water and toys, suddenly tainted by "foulness"...or maybe I was just thinking back upon the many opportunities I've had to *suddenly* feel the need to deep clean the toys and tub from an experience given to me by one of my other kids. No matter really- I'm sharing my tips with you on the topic.

1. Remove child/ren quickly from the tub, preferably to another tub or shower. Clean them really well, dry and dress them (the 'damage' is done, so take care of the kids).

2. Remove all foulness from the tub with a cup (or whatever is handy) and flush it down the toilet.

3. Drain the water. Collect all the toys and set them aside (be sure they are not draining on anything. I place mine in the sink). Deep clean the tub with an antibacterial cleaner. Be sure to wash the sides of the tub a few inches above the previous water level. Rinse. I have found there is always too much foulness left in the tub to just skip this step.

4. Fill the tub with 3-4 inches hot water. Add 1 cup bleach for every gallon water (guess if you need to.) Wash toys thoroughly. Any toys that suck up water, allow water to flow into to them, or have cloth need special attention. Let toys sit for 20 minutes.

**you could also wash the toys in a sink, bucket, etc. My kids use a LOT of toys, so the tub size is needed.

5. Rinse really well. Be sure to run clean water through squirting toys several times.

6. Rinse tub with hot water.

7. Wash whatever item you transferred the toys to while cleaning the tub.

Now if by chance you are just doing a monthly toy cleaning, the bleach water is the best way to do it. I have also run my toys through the dishwasher on the top shelf on sanitize if they could handle the the heat. Be sure to turn off the drying cycle in case any fall on the heating element.

Young children (even potty trained kids) don't always know when they have to use the toilet and warm bath water gets things going. Never punish your child for having an accident in the tub. If they are old enough to know better- find a way to deal with the situation in a loving manner.

Keeping track of milestones & memories

2010-03-07T18:09:00.001-05:00

Having a house full of kids makes for a large task in keeping milestones and important events documented. There are a million ways to accomplish this task, but not all will fit every situation. Here are few things we've done at our house. (sorry for the repetition- as I have mentioned a few of these in previous posts)

1. Quick calendering- When the tooth pulls through the gums, the first step is taken, kindergarten graduation commences....it all gets jotted down on the calendar. (I use googlecalendar) I add small details that will help me remember important facts. Then I can add it to a scrapbook, journal, etc at my leisure (as if I actually have leisure time). I can relax about it, because I know if all else fails I know the date, and what occurred. In addition, I've found that it's really simple to jot down the minor things that I may not otherwise have taken the time to- like the first time the entire alphabet was included in the song, or the day Jake decided he could fly.....

2. My how you've grown! We've moved a few times as the kids have been growing. Marking their height on the wall, or even on cutesie little paper growth charts have proven a defeat at my house. What we have found to work is a portable measuring device. Ours is a PVC pipe.

The one we are currently using is only a 1/2 pipe. We are too big for it and I will be moving the marking to something bigger around, or possibly more than one pipe. I may opt for a decorative piece of wood that I can easily paint first. The bottom line for me is that it's easy, it tucks into a corner, and I don't have to worry about it being left behind. I realize that for some, attaching something to the wall is an option. But the design of my house has very little area of usable, tall wall. (you'd really have to see my house to understand. I'm not plastering my kid's heights on the front door or kitchen wall). One thing I like about the pipe is that I can write all the way around it, so each child is on the same pipe, we just twist it around to a new spot. When the kids grow up and fly out of our nest, they are welcome to copy their height onto their own pipe to compare their kid's height to.

3. Photos galore! The invention of the digital camera has made documenting milestones really inexpensive! I'm sure I don't need to give any details on taking pictures of the first day of school, first lost tooth, high school graduation, etc. But what about pictures of things you want to remember without all the clutter involved. If you can't part with any art, take a picture of it instead. And the 3 ft self portrait, 4lb clay vase, first pair of tap shoes, soccer trophies (for the past ten years...one without the head), spelling bee metal, training wheels, and don't forget the t-shirt she was wearing on her first date!! The memories will live forever, and you'll find that the clutter involved is gone.

I also like to make a collage of my kid's favorite items from time to time and take a picture of it. It may include their blanket, stuffed animal, favorite toy, shirt, movie, etc. It's really cute to make a simple sign that says their name, age and date, and have the child hold it in the picture. Then when you're ready to part with said treasures, you know you have good documentation of their existence.

(p.s. school papers can be photographed or scanned :)

4. Don't forget the moment. You honestly aren't going to remember exactly how your little one said the word "theater" 10 years from now (few-ter), or what it was about your little guys laugh that was so contagious. Digital video (don't you love technology??) helps with this, as does the little video clips that you can take with your digital camera. When taking digital video, be sure to rename your files to something you'll recognize to make it easier to find when you want it. (date and then title work great- ie. 2010-03-krishawalks.mpg) Pretty much a no brainer, but sometimes we forget that we're going to forget the little things that we love about our family.

5. Quotes. Start a quote file. It can be a notebook, journal, word doc, or even emailing yourself if needs be. When someone says something you want to remember (and kid's say the darnedest things), document it! I've found that a word doc it the best place for me to store those things I never thought I'd hear my kids say. I know some people add them to their blogs, but if you find that it's not post worthy (or appropriate) having a back-up place is a good thing.

6. A year to remember- One of the things we've done in our family that we have loved is taking time around the new year to reflect on the previous year. Whatever stands out we right down. Some years we've just named everything that pops into our heads. Other years we've have a theme, such as the top 25 events or things we are thankful for. We also keep a document of our family goals so we can see how well we did ( or how unreal our plan was perhaps.....) the next year.

We all have those nights when we sit around talking about the time the orange juice spilled on the dog, the cookies burned and set off the smoke detectors, the bathtub overflowed, and the apple pie was made with taco seasoning instead of cinnamon (okay- maybe that last one was just at my house). Jot it down. Have memory lane nights several times a year and record what you remember. When all of you get talking about "the good old days" you'll find out just how good they were!

7. What are they thinking? One of my favorite projects I've done with the kids was a father's day gift for my husband. I made a book full of him- through the eyes of his children. I started with a set of questions that each kid answered. It included his eye color, height, favorite color, food, car, how old he is, etc. (similar projects are done in kindergarten for Father's day). Then I had each child list 25 things they love about dad. I also had them list what they thought dad loved best about them (which was very eye opening, "he loves to make me eggs").

Doing something similar throughout the year is a great way to remember what your kid's perspective was like at the time.

That's pretty much what we do around here. Have any great ways to keep track of memories?? Love to hear them!

Quiet book cover and inside

2010-03-06T11:28:00.001-05:00

My quiet book is not a finished product, as I plan to keep adding to it over the years. It's actually more of a quiet....briefcase. I was going to post instructions on how to make the cover, but I changed it so much while I was making it that I didn't have time to keep track of all the measurements. I will tell you though that I picked two cute coordinating fabrics out of cotton. I used a heavy duty nylon 36" zipper that zips all the way open (parka zipper). If you are afraid of sewing on zippers, or don't have much experience-then this is a great place to start! It was so easy to sew on because you can zip it apart from the other side while you sew it on the strips of fabric.

I used heavy duty iron on infusing- that can pretty much stand up on its own. It made for a nice stiff cover. I also used 3" binder rings, so I could remove the pages and pass them out to kids and choose what to put in it each time I take it somewhere. I found them on the Internet.

If you're a local..I could show you how to make the cover.

I also added pockets in the front and back inside cover so I could add paper and pencil or crayons, etc. I really like how it turned out!

All the pages are either made with felt or fleece. I used lightweight infusing on the insides of each of them to help them last longer and hold the stitching better.

My pages are all 11x11 and the cover is made 12x12, with a 3 inch spine.

Happy to give more details if you need them!!

Quiet book page 15

2010-03-06T11:15:00.000-05:00

Our piggy bank! There are 10 coins, and I put plastic bag in them so they make a wonderfully quiet crinkle noise.

Loved the idea I found here http://craftingchicks.blogspot.com/2009/09/quiet-book-i.html

Quiet book page 14

2010-03-06T11:14:00.002-05:00

Just a cute lion with a ribbon mane. I just found a lion face in free clipart and used that. It was time consuming pinning all the ribbon on, but then I sewed them down and added the face on top. My little Miss loves to pull on the ribbon.

Got the idea from here http://thedixonstory.blogspot.com/2009/10/guess-what-i-finished.html

Quiet book page 13

2010-03-06T10:55:00.000-05:00

Oh how we love monsters!!
I got this idea from Joann Fabric. I don't remember the name of the monsters, but they are pillows and you can add different faces, arms legs, wings, etc. (if someone knows what they are called..leave me a comment)

Adorned with purple hair, eye brows, three eyes, a nose and then arms and legs.

Extra pieces

Quiet book pages 11 & 12

2010-03-06T10:51:00.001-05:00

Noah's ark pages!! Match the raindrop color with the rainbow.

(sorry for the bad pic...the background is light blue on this page)

You can weave the side of the ark. And no, there are not animals in it yet. I've been putting little animals in that are not the right size and haven't found any that I like or taken the time to make them yet. BUT there will be a Noah and several pairs of animals.

Quiet book page 10

2010-03-06T10:38:00.000-05:00

I'm finally posting the rest of the book. I'll go back and add the info of where I got my ideas at a later date. For now...here is the rest of the book!

A Royal First Birthday

2010-02-24T00:31:00.003-05:00

My Little Miss turned one this month and we threw her a Royal Ball!

Before you give me too much credit for creativity, you must know that most of my creative genius lies in my ability to scour the Internet for ideas, and put them together in a cohesive fashion.

I sent out Royal invitations asking all the little Lord's and Ladies to arrive in style. (and had fun using my wax seal) I couldn't find printed paper that I was in love with, so I used some pretty paper with crowns on it, and added vellum. I hand delivered the invitations.

I also included a note for the parents that was written from their child's "Fairy Godmother". It included more information on the party, including what they needed to bring, how they should dress, etc.

I borrowed an idea for a birthday banner from http://paperflowers1.blogspot.com/2009/01/homemade-birthday-banner.html. It reminded me of royal banners. I printed the letters on regular paper in the color I wanted and cut them out. I used 12x12 paper for the pink- cut into fourths. The green printed paper is also 12x12, and cut into an 8x12 size. I folded the top back about 1 1/2 inches and used double stick tape to attach it to a 1 inch ribbon. I didn't cut the ribbon to begin with. I attached it to a few chairs as I taped each piece onto it, then spread them out how I liked them and then adjusted the length of the ribbon. The banner pieces stayed in place just fine.

I wanted a personalized cake topper- and not just a candle. So I spend a few days making this cutie patootie topper. I borrowed ideas from here http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=31584205 and here http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/2009/10/all-partied-out.html. (I frequent Jill's site. Love her!)

The finishing touches!!

I absolutely loved these tissue paper pom poms....inspired of course by Martha Stewart http://www.marthastewartweddings.com/article/pom-poms-and-luminarias. I made mine with 10 sheets of tissue paper to make them more full.

To add more whimsy...I thought paper pinwheels would be fun. We made these a few years back for an activity, and I immediately thought of them for our buffet table.

I borrowed two tables from our church nursery, along with little chairs for the little ones to sit at. There was enough room that mom's or dad's could sit with them. Each guest was also given a sippy cup with apple juice in it, which they took home.

That covers the decorations!

~On to the party~

Most baby's take a morning and afternoon nap, so I decided to have our party be a luncheon and held it at noon, a time when most baby's would normally be awake.
Because I would be hosting a lot of little ones that were under the age of two, as well as adults, I wanted to be sure there would be food that all ages and stages could eat. One way to guarantee that there would be something for everyone was to offer normal baby snacks, such as Cheerios.
I wanted a way to serve them that was fun and creative. I ran across this site http://theparteaplanner.blogspot.com/2007/10/isabelles-first-birthday-party.html and thought she had a great idea! This is my version of it.

I served fresh fruit, including bananas cut in half in their skin, all natural apple sauce, and Colby-jack cheese cut into little flower shapes a little bigger than Cherrios.

I also offered turkey and cheese sandwiches for the toddlers. We cut them out into flower shapes as well.

For the adults, we had a veggie tray, chicken salad sandwiches, and Chinese chicken salad served on mini croissants.

And M&M's. I bought the Valentine bags after Valentines day when they were clearanced, and had my boys separate all the red ones from the pinks and white.

Little Miss had her own cake. I used whipped cream frosting and strawberry cake- since I didn't want her to slip in to a chocolate coma with her first taste of REAL sugar.

I made banana bread mini muffins for the under one set, with a low-sugar cream cheese frosting.

I saw these on Bakerella's website and just couldn't resist!

http://www.bakerella.com/make-your-cupcakes-pop/

I hesitated at first with the idea of serving them to the rest of the guests, who would be adults. But they were a hit. I made 60 of them, and there were only about 26 adults there. Most of them had two each.

They are very time consuming to make, but I think they are well worth it. You can make them several days before your event, because the candy coating keeps the cake moist. I made mine the day before, but did a practice run a few weeks before the party- and a week went by before one of the cupcakes were eaten (weird..in MY household??) and it was really moist and fresh.

As the guests arrived, they were invited to play with toys in the family room. We set up our little tea party table and two chairs off in our morning room where we took individual pictures of each child with Krisha. Those will be included in the thank you cards.

We ate lunch about 15 minutes into the party- allowing a little time for guests to arrive. Little tummy's were growling already
The baby's all finished eating at different times (and some never left the table), so they went back to play for a while. Meanwhile, we finished up the pictures with Little Miss, and all the adults just visited with each other.

We then gathered back at the table to sing happy birthday and eat dessert! While everyone was busy eating cake, the family room was turned into a Ball Room!

We filled it with 18 inch balls from Target. Each guest took one home with them.
We did a group photo of all the little lords and ladies...which was a feat! There were eleven in all.
It turned out quite precious!
We don't open gifts at birthday parties at our house to avoid issues with sharing and reclaiming brought gifts. But Little Miss had a great time opening them later.

Happy Birthday Little Miss!

Spring Cleaning- Reducing Clutter

2010-01-28T08:00:00.001-05:00

I know it isn't spring yet- but I'm getting an early start this year. I'm doing a three-part series on Spring Cleaning. Today we're reducing clutter!

It's time to clean out closets, cupboards, and under the kid's beds! But I've found that I have a huge list of things to organize and not a lot of time each day to get it done. Here's my plan:

1. Make a list of everything needing to be deep cleaned, organized, etc.
2. Give each item an estimated amount of time to complete (and be reasonable). I may break these down into parts such as; clothes in the closet, upper shelf, toy bin.
3. Pick an area every day to organize- maybe it will only be one shelf at a time in the linen closet. Whatever I have time for.
4. Dedicate a few days to working all day, while someone takes care of the kids.
5. Give away or throw away anything not NEEDED or used within the last 12 months.

Clothes:
There are lots of ways to organize things. I always have problems with my own clothes. A friend gave me a tip that I just may try this year.

Hang all your clothes in the closet with the hangers turned backward (so the open end is toward you). When you wear something, turn the hanger around when you return it to the closet. At the end of the season, or year- whichever you prefer, get rid of anything with a backward hanger because you don't wear it, obviously.

Toys & books:

If you are like me, you have a ton of toys in your house. Rotating them is a good way to keep them "new" to your kids and also help with having too many toys out at the same time. I've found that it is also helpful to put away toys that your child has outgrown- even if they still play with it. Sometimes they need a new challenge, and the puzzle with 12 pieces is just too easy.

Let your child help you decide if there are toys or books they don't like or don't play with anymore. You may want to choose a number of things to give away, such as 5 toys, and let them help you decide which ones they will be. They can be involved in giving to a charity such as Good Will. Or, if you child is easily upset at the idea of giving up their treasure possessions, tuck them away for a while to see if they are missed, then get rid of them altogether when you feel there won't be a meltdown.

Passing things down:

If you have several kids, and are holding onto items for the next one to grow into, it's important to keep them organized so you don't forget to use them at the appropriate time. This is especially true with clothing. Put clothes in containers and label it with the size. I like to do the same with toys, baby items, etc. Take note of things that were not used with one child, and decide if it's really something that will be used with another. Reduce like items if you can.

I always find it interesting that something I thought I NEEDED ended up being used once or twice, and never again. The best way to reduce clutter in your home is to thoughtfully consider what you bring in to begin with!

Kitchen cupboards:

Containers and lids get out of hand in our kitchen. Going through them every few months to match them up with lids helps a lot. Any lid without a container, or container without a lid goes straight into the recycling bin.

Consolidate where you can. How many boxes of baking soda are open? Or cinnamon? Do you have three bags of raisins in the pantry? Reduce where possible. Be sure to use food items before they expire

Rearrange your cupboards so that the things you use the most are the easiest to access. If you have room, store less used items in a basement, closet, or other location to help keep the kitchen neater- and therefore easier to keep clean. I keep my chargers, extra pots (only used a few times a year), decorative platters and serving utensils in my basement.

Go through your gadget drawer and store away, or give away anything you don't use a least once a month. The melon ball scoop you bought for your sister's baby shower really only gets used twice a year. Be sure to keep them organized wherever you decide to store them- labels are a great way to find them easily.

Hall closet or mudroom:

This is the breeding ground for clutter. I don't know why everything migrates to it, but it sure does! I like using cubby's for each person in the house. I allow 1-2 pair shoes, backpack, coat or sweatshirt (mittens, hat, etc in winter months) and that's it! Ideally, once a week they should be cleaned out. Deep cleaning involves pulling EVERYTHING out of the closet, and putting back only the allowed items. Why is there a Frisbee behind the cubby's?? My kids love to point out that my cubby has about 6 pairs of shoes shoved in it. But I have no backpack and my coat is on a hanger since I'm tall enough to reach it, so I'm allowed a few extra shoes.

Have any great tips on spring cleaning clutter?

Handprint apron- the sequel

2010-01-23T23:08:00.000-05:00

I made this Apron for my daughter from her baby sister(whom she had never met). Like the other apron I made, I wanted to add hand prints without using paint.

I made the hands from felt, and merged them together at the thumb to make a butterfly. Then I sewed it on and hand stitched the pattern on the "wings".

The pocket is embellished with beads, as is the ruffle on the bottom.

And a little bling on the top over the snap!

Sweet Treats!!

2009-12-21T08:26:00.001-05:00

Every Christmas season our family has a tradition of baking Christmas goodies! We love to package them up and choose a few families and friends to share them with- and of course we love to save some for our own family! This year we are way behind on our holiday baking. Come to think of it, we are way behind on a lot of things this season. (I guess I didn't do enough editing of my to-do lists)
While the snow fell outside, we were able to get a few of our favorite goodies made! With a snow day today and the kids home from school, I'm hoping to sneak in a few more batches of sugary goodness!!
Marshmallows dipped in chocolate or white candy coating..then dipped in nuts, chocolate or sprinkles.

Chocolate covered Caramel

Caramels with nuts...and we did some white chocolate with chocolate on top as well.

Chocolate dipped cresents

And one of our new favorites, White Chocolate cherry shortbread cookies....dipped in white chocolate of course!!! (are you seeing a theme here?) We dipped them in white non-perils and red edible glitter. I ate three of these in the process of photographing them. Shameful, I know. I should have had breakfast first!

I'll try to get pictures of more goodies as we get them made.

Hopefully we'll get our caramel corn (with chocolate and nuts) and chocolate covered toffee done today.

Snow gear!!

2009-12-10T13:43:00.000-05:00

It's officially winter (okay, it feels like it) and the snow is falling in many parts of the country! Here are some tips to keep the snow outside and the gear in it's place!

The investment:

If you have more than one child- or are planning to add more to your family, buy neutral colors. Blue, black, white, cream, green and red can all be worn by a boy or girl. Girls can get away with boy colors better than a boy can girl colors. Purchase scarf's, gloves and hats in pinks and purples if you want to add a little girliness to your daughters snow fashion.

When your children grow out of one size, it can be passed down to a younger sibling. Before snow starts to fall, size up your kids and purchase new gear where needed.

Storing:

Put all the gear in one large or two medium storage bins kept in a basement, closet or attic all year. This has worked better for us than storing each child's gear in their closet or dresser and helps cut back on searching for a lost glove!

Using:

We have a dresser that we like to put the gear in when it is in use. Each child gets a drawer. Using a bin will do the trick as well. Put only what you are using THIS season in the bin, dresser, wherever you plan to keep them for easy access.

Our kids have separate gloves and hats for everyday use and do not get mixed in with the snow gear.

Since we live in a house with a basement, we send our kids in and out the basement door to cut back on puddles in the entry (which is wood flooring) and to avoid any snow covered stairs that may need climbing. Mud rooms are great for this purpose too, but we don't have one.

When you send the kids out, cover the floor where you plan to have the kids come back in with beach towels. Use an over-the-door shirt hanger, coat rack or other similar item to hang wet coats and snow bibs on. Place towels under your hanging device. The boots go right on the towels.

The kids will most likely go right back out after some hot cocoa, so throw the gloves, boot liners, and hats in the dryer. At the end of the day, wash what you need to, or dry the gear and put away for the next great storm!

Have any great tips to keep the snow gear neat and ready for use?

Keeping the kids out of the Christmas gifts

2009-12-06T22:03:00.003-05:00

I've learned, in my 17 plus years of Christmas' with kids, that the best place to hide gifts are under the tree. I've lost gifts in the back of closets, under beds, and hiding in the rafters in the garage..what a surprise it was to find them later in the year!

But how do you keep those gifts from being shaken, and their contents discovered, especially when some of the kids are old enough to know what a box of Lego's or video game sound sliding in a box sound like?

I've learned a few tricks that not only keep the gifts a surprise, but also build more anticipation.

If you see it, you don't get it! This one has worked more perfectly than I ever expected it to when the words first left my tongue. Honestly though, the first time I had to take a gift back to the store was a sad time. I was really excited to give my daughter a toy I knew she'd love, but she wandered into the closet before I had a chance to wrap it and dove right into the bag it was in. She was super excited- a look I had hoped to see come Christmas morning. After a few times of gifts being taken back, the kids run the other direction when they hear there are gifts entering the house for fear of accidentally seeing something and ruining their chance of getting it! For those of you who need to motivate your kids to clean their room- try this one "clean it before dinner or I'll show your your Christmas present" ;)

We do allow them to shake the gifts (carefully) and try to guess what's inside. That's part of the magic of Christmas!

Don't put their names on the packages. This has become a tradition that the kids really look forward to! Every year, I come up with a different way of marking the packages so they don't know who they belong to. Not only does this make guessing the contents more difficult because they don't know if the gift is theirs- .....; they also look forward to cracking my code!

Ways I've done it in the past:(be sure to have a key so you know how you've marked them)

1. Swap the kid's names around.
2. Give them a new name entirely- one year we did Wiseman, Shepherd, Angel, Star; or you can use regular names not associated with Christmas or your family.
3. Use a different wrapping paper for each person. All of Sara's gifts are in the red paper, while John's are in gold with green stripes.
4. Use a specific ribbon for each person
5. Use a specific gift tag- with nothing written on it
6. Write a number or letter on the package
7. Write their real names on the package after you've mixed them all up a few years- they'll never know you didn't switch

Even the little ones who can't read love trying to guess if it's their gift. They count on older siblings to tell them what the gifts say (or don't say). Christmas morning, before the gifts are opened, we open a small box that has the code I used that year. It may contain name tags with their new names, a ribbon to put on their wrist, or a swatch of wrapping paper to pin to their pj's. Whatever the code was, the answer is in the box. Having a visual for each person will help a lot when you need to pass out gifts. It makes it easier to remember who had what.

Change the packaging- We always put batteries in toys, and get rid of the impossible twist ties before wrapping to save us some sanity Christmas morning anyway, so taking things out of the box it came it or adding things to it to help conceal the contents is a pretty easy trick. We may put tissue paper in a Lego box to keep it from rattling as much, or tape a video game to the bottom of a shirt box so it won't slide. Extra large gifts that are hard to conceal (a bike comes to mind) are hidden in a nearby room or closet and a box with a paper giving it's location are put under the tree in it's place. One year, we even took a high chair out of it's box and replaced it with the new Wii console. The kids didn't even want to open the box, because they didn't care about the high chair. It was a gift for the baby....wasn't it?? We had to talk them into delving further. We used an old printer cartridge box for our daughters new camera lens. She didn't open the box...and was surprised when she didn't get a printer to go with the cartridge- until she opened the box at the end and was doubly surprised to find the lens! (she didn't want a printer anyway)

Hide large items at a neighbors home or other location If you don't plan on wrapping that bicycle (maybe Santa is bringing it??) and are planning to get it put together before Christmas Eve so you can sip eggnog and watch "It's a wonderful life" instead of wrestling with a wrench- you may need to stash it off location. We have asked neighbors to hid it at their home, or put the items in other locations not at our home (my husband's office, the trunk of his car..).

Give little ones gifts they CAN open I've learned that my young ones really just want to open a gift-and waiting until Christmas is a long time. They love to open a gift, and then want to put it back and open it again. I bought a set of nesting prefabricated Christmas boxes for them to play with, and it keeps them happy for the several weeks before Christmas. They fill them with gifts for each other- toys from their bins, books, socks, whatever. They are then gifted, and refilled. The magic of a secret gift is satisfied all season long with the gifts they are allowed to open. From time to time, I'll even put a little something in them, like fruit snacks or other little things so they have a real gift.

Above all, try to remember that you were once little and anxious for gift opening. It's better to have Christmas spirit than be stressed about your kids getting into gift before you want them to. Try to find ways to keep them excited about the secret of gift giving!!

Taking turns- made easy

2009-12-04T13:07:00.001-05:00

We have several things at our house that rotate through the kids. Dinner jobs, sitting next to Mom at the dinner table, and this time of year- four countdown calendars. Trying to keep track of whose turn it is for what isn't easy.

We have a wheel chart for dinner jobs. Last night I learned that keeping track of 5 kids sharing 4 countdown calendars wasn't going to be easy. Especially when some nights get skipped or an older child may not be home at the time of night that we do our countdown.

My three minute solution:

Using two 3x5 cards, some staples and a pen, I made this super quick, easy to use pocket chart. You could make one using cute paper and making it look really nice, but this was needed in a hurry. Sometime I may get around to making ours look better, but it's doing the job for now. Each strip of paper has a child's initial on it. Each night after the countdown they move to the next pocket. On the fifth pocket they skip taking a turn. If someone isn't home or available when we are doing the countdown, the person in the "skip" pocket takes their place, and the rotation continues as is should.

Ornaments every year

2009-12-04T12:47:00.001-05:00

We have a tradition in our family of giving our kids an ornament every year. They also get one from their grandparents. We try to select something that will have special meaning and/or is related to something which happened during the year. We have given a bus ornament for a child starting kindergarten, 1st Christmas to a new baby, Flute to our new flute player (who quit a few months after Christmas- now its a great story teller), new driver, braces, etc. There are a lot of places to get ornaments that have to do with events, places, etc.

We continue to give them to the kids until their 18th year. At that time, they are on their own to create their own memories- and may very well be out on their own. When they do leave the nest, they take their box of ornaments with them to decorate their own tree with lots of memories!

Leftover Turkey

2009-12-04T12:35:00.001-05:00

I know this is a late post, but wanted to include it anyway. We cooked an extra turkey this year have handy for other meals.

What we've done/are doing with leftover turkey:

Sandwiches
Rigatoni with spaghetti sauce, cheese and chopped turkey (super easy, freezes well)
Quesadilla's
Enchiladas
Turkey pot pie

Chopped and frozen to add to:
fried rice
Salads
Veggie turkey casseroles
corn chili
subsituting in any chicken dish

The internet has some great ideas for using leftover turkey as well as other holiday items. Some of my favorite places to look are Food Network and Allrecipes.

Turkey's are still on sale through December, as well as hams. If you haven't already, consider buying one or two and making dishes ahead of time with them or freezing them cooked for quick use.

Have any great leftover recipes?

Ruffled Apron- with handprints

2009-12-01T20:06:00.002-05:00

While making homemade Christmas gifts this year, I ran across the instructions for a super cute apron. I loved it and decided would be perfect for our project. The site I got the idea from is this http://modestmaven.blogspot.com/2009/10/fully-lined-ruffle-apron-tutorial.html. The instructions are simple to follow. I did tweak mine a bit to adjust not only the size, but to add a personal touch. The apron I made is for Jedi to give to his older sister Doodle. I wanted to do something with hand prints, but steer away from the fabric paint avenue. This is what I came up with. I'm really pleased with how it turned out!

The flowers are hand prints and can droop down or lay flat against the apron. I personally think it looks cute drooping. I used fabric I already had, but the flowers would be cute in different colors.

I love that the apron ties in the front! Doodle is a lefty- which is why the pocket is on the left.

The flower on the top is where the snap is and it has two snaps on the strap so the size can be adjusted.

I added the sheer ruffle to make it a little more fun.

Bottom ruffles

I am definitely making an apron for myself! I thought that it was a cute pattern for any recipient, but adding the hand prints would be a great gift for Mom's, Grandma's, Aunts, etc. I also thought it would so easy to secretly get hand outlines from children of a friend/neighbor too. Who would guess that you are doodling their kid's hands to make them a gift?

Let me know what you think!

The Turkey

2009-11-26T00:15:00.001-05:00

I posted about putting the bird on the grill and freeing up the oven. Here is one of three turkey's we are grilling this year. We love how juicy it tastes. The gravy I make with the drippings has such a great flavor! Turkey's will still be a great price between now and Christmas. Give it a try!

Photo Christmas Cards

2009-11-24T18:05:00.001-05:00

I got my Christmas cards from FedEx today! They look great. The paper is a little thinner than what I'm used to, but I'm not complaining since they were totally and completely free. The quality is otherwise fantastic! I'm very pleased. If you haven't ordered your 100 free photo cards, it's not too late! You have until November 30th. I ordered mine late Thursday night and got them today (Tuesday). Not too bad! Three business days for free shipping, free cards, free envelopes. Freeeeeeeeeeeeee!

If you need the info on how to order your own, scroll down two posts. Now....if only the postage was free......

Free Photo Christmas Cards

2009-11-20T07:40:00.001-05:00

I don't usually post deals that I've found on my favorite couponing website, but this one is going to be gone soon and something that almost everyone uses.

You can get 100 Photo Christmas cards including envelopes for absolutely nothing. Shipping is included as well.Just sign up at Seehere (Fuji Films website) and follow the instructions from this wonderful post!
http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2009/11/100-free-custom-holiday-photo-cards-from-seehere-have-you-gotten-yours-yet.html

Hurry!! You only have until the 30th to order them. I ordered mine last night. It took me a while to get my card set up because the website didn't agree with my version of explorer...but I did finish it up. It cost me nothing, and this morning I got an email letting me know it shipped already!!
Unless their paying you to let them make your cards...you can't beat this deal!

Time trade-offs

2009-11-20T07:35:00.001-05:00

Last week in my provident living section I posted an article on Freezing foods. I thought I'd add to that by telling you a little bit about how our family uses the freezer to make mealtime faster.

Sometimes you have to invest time in one area to save time in another. Here are some ways I have made mealtimes quick by spending a little extra time in preparation.

1. Cook extra food when preparing a meal. In most cases, it doesn't take any extra time to double a recipe. When I cook chicken breast for taco salad, I'll cook extra for Asian chicken salad later in the week. I package the extra chicken in a zipper bag and freeze it. I double the recipe for sweet and sour sauce when making sweet and sour meatballs, freezing the second portion (we buy pre-made meatballs). We cook extra meat that we're grilling. Seasoned chicken breast gets sliced to toss on salads, or mixed in with pasta.

I freeze the leftovers of a planned larger meal to send in my husband and kid's lunches. Sometimes there isn't a balanced meal left from one dinner. Using plastic containers with dividers in them, I may freeze rice from one meal, meat from the next day and then add in some frozen veggies.

2. Invest time in a cooking/baking day. Spend time once a week/month/etc preparing foods to freeze so you have them on hand when your in a rush. I posted our family lasagna making a while back, and doing other dishes have given us a great variety of dinners to choose from. There are tons of recipes on the Internet for "freezer meals" that can help you plan what meals freeze well.

I also bake muffins and breads and freeze them to pack in lunches etc. Banana bread is a great way to use bananas that have become too soft to eat and are therefore thrown in our freezer.

We buy and cook extra turkey and ham when you can get them cheap around the holidays. The ham is sliced for sandwiches, and I also have some cubed to toss in fried rice, soups, etc. The turkey is also packaged for sandwiches and meals. Cook bacon and freeze it for BLT's. Make calzones, pizzas, etc and they are ready to heat in the oven or toaster oven for lunches or dinner.

3. Freeze perishable when you can. Dice an onion, green onion or peppers make them convenient to use when you need them, and save you from throwing them away. Some herbs can be nicely frozen as well to use in recipes. Cut potatoes into cubes to freeze. The Internet is a great place to find information on freezing foods.

Tips: Freeze items such as cubed ham, bacon, fruits, etc flat in the freezer first on a cookie sheet and then put it in a bag. This will make it so the pieces freeze individually so you can take what you need and put the rest back in the freezer. Doing this will make it so you won't have to defrost the whole portion you freeze. Once you have thawed food, you cannot refreeze it safely.

Thanksgiving Turkey BBQ style

2009-11-19T07:49:00.001-05:00

Growing up, we cooked our turkey on the bbq. It began when I was young and we were living somewhere with a oven too small to fit the turkey. Dad put it on the grill. It was the most wonderfully tender and juicy turkey we'd ever had and a new tradition was born!

Besides the best tasting turkey ever, grilling it frees up the hottest commodity on Thanksgiving - the oven! It makes preparing the meal so much easier, not having to work around a turkey in the oven for 4 hours.

If you're brave enough to give it a try this year, you won't be disappointed! Here is the information you need, provided by Weber BBQ:
http://www.weber.com/Recipes/Tips/Detail.aspx?tid=7

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving recipes we love!

2009-11-19T07:41:00.001-05:00

These are tried and true, must-have favorites at our house for Thanksgiving. I posted our Apricot stuffing recipe in a previous post. At our house, it's about flavor....and we save the healthy for another day!

By far, the biggest must-have is the Turkey! We grill it on our Weber. See this post for details:
http://houseworkinheels.blogspot.com/2009/11/thanksgiving-turkey-bbq-style.html

Sweet Potato Soufflé

3 large sweet potatoes cooked and whipped
1 cup sugar
2 eggs beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick butter
1/2 cup evaporated milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 bag marshmallows
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Peel and cook potatoes until tender. Drain potatoes and whip. Add sugar, eggs, salt, butter, milk and vanilla. Mix well and put in a greased 1 1/2 quart casserole. Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 25 minutes. Place marshmallows and pecans on top and return to oven for about 5 minutes or until brown on top.

Cranberry Chutney

1 cup water
3/4 cup white sugar
1 (12 ounce) package fresh cranberries
1 cup apple - peeled, cored and diced
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Directions:
In a medium saucepan combine the water and sugar. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat. Add the cranberries, apples, cider vinegar, raisins and spices. Bring to a boil, then simmer gently for 10 minutes stirring often.
Pour mixture into a mixing bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the sauce. Cool to room temperature and serve or cover and refrigerate. Bring chutney to room temperature before serving.

Layered Fruit "Salad"

Crust:
2 cups crushed pretzels
½ cup butter
1 cup sugar

Middle layer:
1 large container (12-16oz) Cool whip
8oz cream cheese
¼ cup sugar

Topping:
2 cups water
1 large box strawberry Jell-O
20 oz frozen strawberries or other berries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400.
Combine crust ingredients and press into 9x13 pan. Cook for 10 mins.
Meanwhile, combine middle layer ingredients and spread on cooled crust.
Boil water, Dissolve Jell-O in boiling water. Remove from heat and dump frozen berries into Jell-O. Place in fridge until soft-set (about 5-6 mins.) Pour over cream cheese layer carefully. Refrigerate for at least one hour. (Easy to make ahead and store in fridge overnight)

Organizing Thanksgiving cooking

2009-11-18T15:48:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving is probably the busiest time of year for your kitchen! Trying to time everything so it's not only ready, but still warm, is one of the biggest challenges in making the big meal. Try these tips to organize your time and food so it will all be ready when the pilgrims come to the table!

1. The shopping list

Make a list of everything you plan to serve and use it to create your shopping list. Make a list of items that you can buy ahead and one for perishable items that will have to wait for a day or two before Thanksgiving. Shop ahead for as much as possible. Stores get crowded this time of year. Shop in the early morning or late at night when store are less crowded. If you plan to buy fresh bakery items on or the day before Thanksgiving, place an order at your store bakery to be sure they'll have it available.

2. Preparation:

Make a schedule of when each dish can be prepared. Begin baking and preparations a few days before Thanksgiving. Some items can be prepared a day or two in advance, and then put in the oven on the big day. Pies and other items that fare well in the fridge can be made a day or two in advance. Other items that must be made on Thanksgiving may be able to have a part of their preparation done. Do all you can ahead of time.

Don't forget to thaw the bird! Turkey's take several days to defrost in the refrigerator. A frozen bird can really "freeze" up your oven time that you had intended on having for side dishes that need to be heated last minute.

Make an hourly list for Thanksgiving of things that will need to be done. Be sure to consider where each item will be cooked or prepared, and what dishes you may need to use. Avoid any overlap in baking that will need the oven at different temperatures.

3. Turkey Day!

Rally the troops! Enlist whomever you can in the preparations. Even the kids can help by washing dishes as you go so your work space doesn't become cluttered. Stick with your schedule the best you can and be sure to be flexible about the results. Everyone would rather have an enjoyable time than to have you stressed over the stuffing not being perfect and dinner being late.
4. Have simple, non-filling snacks available for kids, and activities for family and guests to keep them occupied if they aren't helping out in the kitchen. Assign another adult to supervise the table setting, and have the kids pitch in. Kid's can color their own place mats, watch a movie, or go on a Thankful treasure hunt (more on that in another post).

5. Allow others to help with the clean-up.

6. Relax. It's a day to be thankful.

White Elephant Gift Exchange

2009-11-17T13:08:00.001-05:00

A White Elephant is an item that is unwanted by it's owner, or whose maintenance exceeds it value. Traditionally a gift that you would give as a white elephant would be something that someone else may enjoy or could put to better use than you have. That being said, my experience is that gifts at a White Elephant gift exchange are usually a gag gift, or food item, such as candy. There are usually a few items in the mix that are so useless that the new owner is not pleased with the chore of having to get rid of it on their own. These sometimes make it back to the gift exchange held in a following year. Items that are of value (either by popularity or actual value) get the highest amount of "stealing".

If you are planning to hold an exchange, here are the basic "rules":

1. Decide if you will have a theme for the gifts. Gift should be used in good condition, or purchased for set amount.
2. Set a monetary value for items that are purchased (ie $5). White Elephant gifts should be inexpensive.
3. Gifts must be wrapped, but not labeled in any way, so as not to disclose whom they are from.
4. Gifts should be something that someone would actually use or want.
5. Designate an area that guest can put their gifts as they arrive, so those already present cannot see who them are from.

To play the game:
Each guest who wants to participate must contribute a gift. Everybody sits in a circle with the gifts in the center. Prepare pieces of paper with numbers clearly written on them, one number per paper. There should be the same amount of numbers as their are participants. Each guest should then draw a number (from a hat or bowl).

The game begins with number one. That guest picks a gift from the center. They must keep the first gift they touch. There is no shaking gifts, etc. They open the gift and show it to all in attendance. It is now number two's turn. Number two has the option of stealing the gift from number one, or picking a new gift from the center. If they steal from number one, number one must go back to the center for a new gift. A gift cannot be immediately stolen back from the guest who just stole it. Number three then begins, but either stealing from one or two, or going to the center for a new gift.

Continue playing following the rules outlined below:

1. In a single round, gifts can be stolen twice, and the third person must go back to the center for a new gift (ie. 5 steals from 3, 3 steals from 4, 4 goes to the center) A new round begins when a gift is opened from the center.
2. A single gift can only be stolen three times. The person who stole it for the third time (the fourth owner- because the person originally opening the gift is number 1) keeps the gift and it becomes "dead".
3. Any gift that is still "live" must be out where it can be seen, and there is no consuming of any edible gift until the game is over.
4. When the last number has had their turn and the gift stealing has ended, the guest holding slip number 1 may swap evenly across with any one guest of their choosing. Play ends. Guests are then welcome to swap amongst themselves if desired.

Less dishes = less time in the kitchen

2009-11-17T08:05:00.001-05:00

Our dishwasher used to get filled up fast with 3-4 cups per person each day, making hand washing or running two loads necessary after dinner. That cut into our family time more than we wanted it to, and we needed to find a solution.

Some families have a specific cup for each person. It gets used all day, then is washed and ready for the next day.

Others have a designated spot for each person's glass. My sister's kitchen has fruit tiles along her counter top. Each person puts their glass in front of a different fruit.

We liked the latter idea, but lacked the tiles to mark a spot. Our solution:

We used small round stickers the size of pencil erasures to mark our spots. Each person has a different color. Any cup or glass can be used and placed in their spot. At the end of the day, all the cups get washed. It's worked well for our family.

What ideas have you incorporated to make doing dishes faster?

Quiet book page 9

2009-11-16T12:20:00.001-05:00

Did you think I gave up on the quiet book? Not a chance! I have been super busy with so many other things going on...like Christmas shopping.

Here is my Autumn page:

Obviously the leaves come off and are attached with very small pieces of Velcro. I sewed some of the leaves to the tree, which I made smaller than the ones that come off. Someday I'll make apples to go on the tree to "harvest", so I wanted some leaves to stay on for that.

The little basket holds leaves, and the grass can be moved and grasped by little fingers.

My little girl tried this page already and loved pulling the leaves off, she also tasted them repetitively....and didn't find them tasty at all. I don't think she enjoyed the Velcro on her tongue.

"Family" for Thanksgiving

2009-11-16T08:00:00.001-05:00

Growing up, Thankgiving was a huge deal that involved tons of cousins, aunts, uncles, and fun. It was a big crowd smashed into a small space and we loved every minute of it. We continued the tradition as we all grew up and started our own families.

Then our family moved across the country- away from the huge Thanksgiving festivities. It's pretty expensive to fly a family our size to a weekend event. But it wouldn't be the same with just our family.

Our Thanksgiving tradition is to invite other families who are far from their own to our home for the holiday. We enjoy the time with friends and for a day (sometimes longer) they become our family.

If you are far from your family, adopt someone else in the same boat. Holidays are meant to be shared with others you care about.

Be a kid again

2009-11-15T22:32:00.001-05:00

Do something together you loved as a kid...and chances are your kids will love it too! Our favorite is hide and seek. We play it in the house. Sometimes we play it in the dark, other times in the light. Or we'll switch it up and play sardines. Most of the time we play for hours until it's bedtime or someone gets hurt.

Games we love are; go fish, slapjack, duck duck goose (proves interesting with older kids), tag, train game (with dominoes), jump rope, musical chairs -with many variations, and red light- green light.

We still love to make blanket forts, rice krispie treats, cookies, and s'mores- which we make in the oven if the weather doesn't agree with our plans.

Horsey rides and wrestling around on the floor are some of the kids favorite things to do as well. When we all get together- the older kids coming for a visit, we watch movies all night and quote them the next day. We can't get enough of the Emperors New Groove.

But the place you will find us the most, is hanging around the island in the kitchen making/eating/stealing food from each other while laughing and having a great time.

Family Time really is about that. Being a family.

Long Term Freezing & Storage

2009-11-13T07:20:00.001-05:00

If you have the space, freezing food is a great way to save money. Stocking up on items you use often when they are sale and having them on hand when you need them saves you a last minute trip to the store, to say the least.

When wondering what freezes well, think of items you find in your grocer's freezer. Realizing that some foods have preservatives added that help them sustain a trip in the freezer longer, most foods that are frozen can be there for some amount of time without the use of preservatives.

Lasagna, for example, tells you that mozerella and ricota cheese, tomato based sauce, cooked meat, and under cooked noodles fare well in the freezer. Pizza demonstrates similar items freezing well, but adds uncooked bread dough, pepperoni, ham and other meats, olives, bell peppers, onions, etc.

Also think of the fruits and vegitables you can buy frozen. Any of those will freeze well when bought fresh.

Keep in mind that items that are frozen then cooked in a casserole etc will have a less noticable texture change because they are mixed in with everything else.

Here are some items that freeze well:

Shredded cheese (cheddar, mozerella, colby, etc)- brick and sliced, not so great
Butter
Heavy cream (to be used in cooking, not whipped)
Eggs out of shell (to be used in baking- not to eat plain)
Sliced lunch meat
Raw meats
Cooked meats
Bread (package well to protect from freezer burn)
Bread dough
Tomato based sauces
Cream based sauces (if frozen thin- think "meal in a bag" type foods with sauces)
Vegetables
Onion, Green onion, Bell peppers- cut up
Bananas in skin (the skin will turn black but the inside is still delicious)
Most berries
Peaches
Strawberries
Mango (cut up)

For an extensive list of foods that freeze well and how to freeze foods try these links:

http://extension.missouri.edu/main/DisplayCategory.aspx?C=194
scroll down to freezing foods.

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/freeze.html

Next week I'll post an article on things we have in our freezer that make meal preparation faster. It will be in my 'provident living' section titled "Time trade-off's"

Apricot Stuffing

2009-11-12T07:17:00.001-05:00

This is our family's favorite stuffing! It taste great and has a nice tangy flavor to it from the apricots. Give it a try this Holiday season.

Apricot Stuffing

1 box stuffing mix (like Stovetop)
15 oz can apricots with juice, chopped and juice reserved
3 TBS apricot jam
½ stick butter
water
Directions:

Pour juice from apricots into measuring cup and add water to make 1 2/3 cups liquid. Pour into saucepan. Add butter and heat on medium high until butter melts. Add jam and stir until melted. Add chopped apricots and continue to heat until boiling. Stir in stuffing mix, cover with lid and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff and serve.

Lost socks

2009-11-10T08:03:00.001-05:00

The washer and dryer eat socks at every home. Especially tiny baby socks. A quick way to keep socks from running away in the wash is to attach a small laundry bag (such as a lingerie bag) to each of the laundry baskets. When socks are taken off, they get put in the bag. Problem solved.

I realize that this idea will only work if laundry gets put IN the basket, not on the floor throughout the house. To help with that issue, why not charge your kids (and maybe your spouse) a penny or a nickel for every piece of clothing you have to pick up from somewhere other than their laundry basket.

Have any great ideas to keep laundry in it's place?

Walgreens and Target shopping trips

2009-11-10T07:22:00.001-05:00

This was my couponing adventure yesterday.

Walgreens

There are 16 of the Christmas gift bags. My total was $23.05. I actually only paid $12.05 out of pocket because I had Register Rewards to spend for $11. Considering that the diapers would have been $35.96 alone, that's a really great savings. I also learned last night that the Huggies coupon reset on Coupons.com. If you have printed within the last week- but not yesterday, check it out and see if you can print again. It's a $2/1 coupon. I have four again, and will be making another trip to Walgreens to pick up four more diapers.

Target

I picked up Clue: Secret and Spies, and Pictureka Flipper for a grand total of $10. See http://www.commonsensewithmoney.com/2009/11/target-toy-deals-price-match-coupon-deals-walmart-kmart-toys/ to find out how.

Thank you to my favorite coupon blogs for always keeping me up to date on the best deals out there. Common Sense and Moneysaving Mom over there on the right are great places to get info on store deals!