Be Memorable

Making Valentines

Today we made valentines for the kids' school parties tomorrow.

I found this post on the Family Fun website, and it turned out awesome.  The boys enjoyed the process, which is half the fun, and the valentines came out so cute. 

We started with silicone ice cube trays from Target. In the first try, I thought we should use some crayons I bought at a discount store to save money.  In this craft, it pays to use the name brand.  The cheaper crayons melted weird, with all the color falling to the bottom, topped by brownish wax on the top.  Once I figured out to use the name brand (which I ended up paying less for at Target on clearance), the hearts came out great.

First you soak the crayons in warm water, to get the wrappers to slip off easily.  Didn't do this the first time, and it was a major pain to peel the papers off by hand.  Next we chopped the crayons into 1/4 to 1/2 inch long pieces and placed them into the molds.  Bake at 250 until all the pieces are melted, about 15 minutes.

We had fun and these turned out super cute!  Happy Valentine's Day for Crayon out Loud! 

Happy Groundhog Day

Yep, we had a Groundhog Day party!  The kids doubted, so I had to prove its possible to have a party for Groundhog Day.  Tommy said, "people don't do that", and it was on...

We had Groundhogs (meatballs) on top of a mound of pasta, and Groundhog muffins for dessert.  For the Groundhog muffins, I used store bought double chocolate muffins, coconut covered marshmallows, caramel melts, white frosting and mini chocolate chips for eyes. 

Ok, I love them. 

We also had $1 Target sunglasses as party favors.  They should never doubt my party planning abilities. 

Happy Groundhogs Day!

Sneak Peek- 1st Kit???

I've been playing around with some papers and embellishments, and think I have stumbled onto the beginnings of my first kit for FlutterByBlue.  Here's a Sneak Peek...

More embellishments to add...more to come.... 

Ribbons, and tulle, and pearls!

Recently as I was shopping in one of my favorite clothing stores, I saw the cutest little necklace made of ribbon, tulle and pearl beads.  I loved it, and had it in my hands to buy when I thought about it and decided I could make it so easy and it would be way less expensive.  So I went to Goodwill and found a perfect necklace.  I then went to Hobby Lobby for some ribbon and black tulle, and all said and done, it cost me less the $5! 

Here are the supplies...

 

I thought about posting a tutorial, but then I figured, anyone reading this could figure it out for themselves. The only thing that took any effort was tieing all those knots, but I did it while watching the State of the Union address, and I finished my necklace before the President finished his speech. 

For fun, here is the tutorial pic...

And the finished product....

I'm thinking of making more in other colors...If I can find another perfect necklace at Goodwill, I will have a red one for valentines day, so easy!

Happy 2010!

I can't believe its already here.  We rang in the new year with whoopie pies (thank you Williams-Sonoma) and party poppers.  We are simple around here. 

Yummy red velvet cake and marshmallow filling...
Beginning at 8 until midnight, we went outside and popped our party poppers every hour to welcome the New Year somewhere in the world.  It was quite fun and a learning event for the boys - well sort of.  This one was "Happy New Year, Brazil!".  It was quite cold, so we only ventured out to the back deck...

 The next morning, we made waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. Ok, I am making more of these tomorrow, because I totally forgot how much we love waffles.

LOVE.

I've been working hard on FlutterByBlue.  Finally, I am getting somewhere.  There will be more soon, but for a quick preview of the first kit, think Red, Jillibean Soup, Jenni Bowlin and some handmade goodies.  Can't wait to show you more.  Maybe later today...

White Christmas

Love snow pictures. We are a little sick of the below zero temps...enough already. But we don't even have to leave the house for tons of winter fun.
Jordy almost missed out, but he finally figured out that if he could tolerate the frigid themps, the white stuff was pretty OK. Then of course Jake could not be interrupted from his snowball throwing. It is so funny to him if he hits you in the head. Boys!

A Christmas Carol Newbie

I am so ding dang proud. Tommy performed in A Christmas Carol, with the Wichita Children's Theater, and was one of the youngest actors! He totally nailed all 3 of his lines!  The best part was all the carol singing as he learned the songs before the play. We are all a little sick of God Rest ye Merry Gentlemen, but we'll get over it. He's not even nervouse when he goes out on stage. In front of 400+ people. 3 times. I cried my eyes out before the first show I was so nervous and proud.
Love that he has found his niche. He's made for the stage...

Its finally FALL

We had some fun with Jordy at the park in the beautifull fall leaves.  He loved playing, and you can see that in his pictures. As you know I never claim to be a good photographer, but I love pictures of the kids.  Soon I will get around to posting his first birthday party!

I love how the light comest through the leaves! 

   

Fall in Kansas, YAY!  Someday we'll have trees like these in our back yard, but today they are not much taller than he is.  Looking at his pictures makes me want to make chili and corn muffins...
 

Monster Fun

Jacob and I were goofing around today with some face paint.  I bought this online from Snazaroo - amazing how this face paint is so easy to use, and clean up - yep, he's wearing a white shirt - the makeup is totally washable and nontoxic.

Jake wanted to be a monster, of course.  I wanted him to be a cute puppy.  So I gave in as long as he agreed to let me shoot some pictures! 

Here is a cute shot - he has a hard time acting scary, because he's too darn silly!

Yes, I played with the coloring and focus on Picnik (I LOVE Picnik!  I'll say it again, I LOVE Picnik!)

Another one:

What a ham.  So darn cute, and still not scary!! 

Well, since he and his brothers are Mario characters for Halloween, this may be the only face painting I get to do this month.  Or maybe not...  Besides, I need lots of photos for all the cute scrapbooking papers out this season.  Have you seen the new Fancy Pants Designs Halloween paper?  CUUUUTE!  And, wouldn't you know, there are some Monsters...

Nope, I am not above taking the pictures because of the cute papers.  Do it all the time, doesn't everybody? 

Carnival Birthday

We are blessed and thankful for every birthday, but there is something special about turning 5.  So we did it right for Jake this year with family, friends a balloon artist and silly fun and games.  It was a blur of balloons and bright colors.  Started with the invitation thanks to my Cricut and Martha Stweart punches...

 

Then I was daring and made what I've been seeing all over my favorite blogs lately...the rainbow cupcake...ok, so my rainbow is upside down, but a five year old is still impressed! Not bad for the first attempt - next time will add sour cream to the mix so that the layers stand up better...

The balloon artist is called "Pax" and he was awesome.  He can twist anything you can think of, and throws in a few cool magic tricks to keep it lively!  Kids love this guy, and can you see why?

When we sat down for cake, the kids had rainbow cupcakes, magic birthday punch consisting of 3 colors of gatorade frozen into star shapes and dropped into Sprite which turned colors as the stars melted, and funny face glasses- you know the kind with eyebrows and a big nose!  I shamelessly stole the idea for the silly glasses from my friend Dina, but hey, it was a great idea! I was a little preoccupied and only have one shot of the funny faces!

Jake's Carnival 5th birthday was a screaming success!  All the kids went home with brightly colored hula hoops (from the dollar store) and silly face glasses.  Will definitely be making those adorable cupcakes again soon!