Being Thankful for my kids!

I saw this idea on Pinterest and decided that rather wait until Valentines Day I wanted to do this for the month of November as a way of telling my kids why I am Thankful for them (same concept of 'I love..').

The idea is simple. Write a short note that says "I am thankful..." and each morning when they wake up they can go and read their note. I am starting November 1st and will do the last one on Thanksgiving Day.

I made envelopes out of cardstock and then cut out pieces of paper using the business card template in Microsoft Word. (I know there are more creative options out there.)

My goals is to get my husband involved too and for us to share this project together.

Two more Halloween Crafts

Just wanted to share 2 more crafts that were completed for Halloween.

The first was letting the kids decorate some wood masks I picked up from Joanns.

At first I was nervous because it was 'big girl paint' (i.e. not kid friendly washable stuff) but I gave in to my fear (of having a permanently blue/green/red kitchen table) and went with the flow. They really enjoyed themselves and were creative.

I figured if they got to play with paint, mommy should too so I painted a few wooden letters. (They took a few coats to get a decent color.) The polka dots were made with a pencil eraser which was super simple and easy to clean!

I'm not sure how I will arrange them - maybe hot glue them together???  The key to the dots is 'less is more' because you can always add but you can't take away. I tend to over do it so it took some control to stop!

I hope you had a safe and Happy Halloween!!!





FOOD FIGHT!!

Recently I saw a blog post where somebody had an annual cool whip fight.  It reminded me of one of my favorite childhood memories - we had a food fight in the backyard and were covered in sticky soda, Twinkies, and dirt. It was a blast! 

Fast forward twenty plus years and I decided to have a food fight with my family. I stocked up on canisters of cool whip, grape soda, and little cake snacks. My kids thought I was crazy at first.  (My husband already knows I am - ha ha.) 

I made sure we all had the same ammunition - but I did set a few rules. (I know - I'm a party pooper.)

Rules were - 1) this is the only time we do this - we don't do it at school, restaurants, home, or other peoples houses!!!  2) Do on to others as you would want done to yourself - i.e. don't dish it if you can't take it.  3) No faces - I don't want any eye or ear injuries.  4) Have fun!!!

In retrospect I should have made a 5th rule - no food/drink down the pants. Yuck!!!

The ammunition!!! (A 2 liter and Redi Whip canister for each of us.)

The prep table after.

Great way to dye a shirt purple!!



It was fun - even though there were some tears. (Maybe our youngest wasn't quite old enough.)  I will share some advice though: we had a hose on hand for afterwards but I really should have had a towel ready so we could wipe our faces off afterwards.  The cool whip oozed down our faces and got into an eye or two which was no fun.  Also - the redi whip canisters were a major disappointment. They didn't fire far enough and seemed to 'melt' - it got super liquidy before it even exited the canister.

Alphabet Animals

A co-worker gave me this idea of Alphabet Animals. Her daughter's kindergarten teacher did it so I decided to try it out with my children too now that I have a kindergartner. I don't feel like we do enough arts & crafts at home so I wanted to give this simple project a try. I enjoyed it because it required minimal preparation and was simple to clean up.  As my kindergartner learns more letters in school, I plan on adding more animals to our alphabet.

I used construction paper to cut out the animal and then glued it to a piece of card stock for extra stability. Add markers, glue stick, stickers, etc. and you are set!

Girls Craft Day

Hip hip hooray for crafting day. Recently I got together with a few of my friends to do a few hours of crafting, have a nice meal out, and then watch the movie Bridesmaids. What a blast! 

Here are our projects:

My 2x4 pumpkins for fall

Back of my 2x4 pumpkins for Halloween

Sarah's vampire handouts for kids Halloween party (she made 50!)

Jen W getting a jump start on Christmas

Lacey's wine bottle pumpkins (finished product had twine around neck - super cute)

Katie's pumpkins

My BOO pumpkins

Turn them around and they are my fall pumpkins

My children's boo footprints

Katie's photo box (outside)

Katie's photo box (inside)

Unfortunately I am a slacker and didn't get Lori's door hanger - but it was super cute.  (I'll blame it on the whip cream vodka and orange soda.)

I must give pinterest most of the credit for my projects.

Woo Hoo - A craft project that worked!

I've been pinning a lot lately on Pinterest (oh my goodness it is addictive) and saw a super cute idea where you print a photo on to tissue paper and then mod podge it on to a canvas. Here is a link to the steps.  EPIC FAILURE!  It did print on to the tissue paper which was cool - but the mod podging sucked big time. I instantly tore the tissue paper while trying to smooth it out and then it went down hill from there. It was so bad I couldn't even stop to take a photo because I was busy peeling the tissue off so at least the canvas could be saved. I tried it again with just printing the photo on to regular paper and then mod podging it. That actually did work. My one mistake was that with the mod podge top coat I started on the green side (left) and worked to the white side (right) and the glue got a little discolored so I felt like the photo did too. Next time I will start light and work my way dark. Here is the result.

I used the gloss mod podge - perhaps matte would have been better?

I also did a letter for my niece. Talk about simple! The letter was pre-shaped (clearance for 50 cents - woo hoo). I bought a sheet of scrapbook paper (25 cents) and painted it with paint that was 1/2 off. (I love bargains!!)  I painted the back and sides of the letter first and let that dry. I figured it would be easiest to paint and then podge.  I traced the letter on to the scrapbook paper and cut it out with an exacto knife (more precise than scissors) and mod podged it on. (I actually used the back of the letter - not the front with the bevelled edges because it would be easy to put the paper on.) One layer down first and then one layer on top. I am super excited by how it turned out and hope she likes it!!  I actually have a little bit of guilt at how easy it was!  That will quickly go away though because the next letter to try is a M - which will require more than 1 sheet of paper. Yikes!

The other project I did successfully was re-purposing a book by turning it in to a pumpkin for my fall decorations. I got the idea from here. I lucked out and got the old book for free, found a twig, and so the only expense to this project was the $5 exacto knife and some ribbon.  I was thrilled to find my glue gun from when I was a child - and it still works!!! Talk about a happy dance!!!

I only did a few things differently - I didn't do the tea stain (to lazy) and I left the cover on the book - it was a paperback and I figured it would help it stand up better. I think I made a good choice!

Here it is:

I just asked my kids what it was and they said pumpkin - YES - it even passes the kid test!!

The rest of my weekend consisted of seeing the movie The Help (a MUST SEE - I highly recommend the book too!!!) and stopping by Real Deals so I share the experience of shopping there with a friend who has never been. She liked it a lot - but I was the only one who couldn't resist buying more treasures for my house.

I already had the bowl/tray/thingiemcbobber that I have never used so at least now it has a purpose. The idea all started with the globe - so I could use it as an educational tool for my kids - and progressed from there. I like the final result - although my son things the red ball is an onion. Hubby isn't too excited about it - and I know once I dust it I'll be annoyed - but for now - in the honeymoon stage - I can't take my eyes off of it and keep trying new placements for everything.

I had also picked up this little box for our remotes. The hubby actually likes this idea (bonus).  Hopefully now we can spend less time searching for lost remotes. I also bought the box in black and hope to find a purpose for it too.

Traditions

I started a tradition of taking the kids out for ice cream after their first & last day of school. This year I started another great tradition that I will look forward to for many years to come - Margaritas for Mommies after the first day of school. Five of us gathered to celebrate - and gave the kids an opportunity to play and talk about how fun school is. After all - it's all about the kids, right? It was great fun for everyone!!!  I contemplated Mimosas for Mommies after we drop them off, but then I figured that would just lead to a very unproductive day.

Getting ready for the first day of school

This year I've planned ahead and have big ideas for the first day of school. Although it is normal for me to take a (few) first day photos - I wanted to step it up a notch this year and make something that will make the photos more unique - and help me remember crucial information years from now.

Here is a sample of the poster I'm going to have each child hold for their morning picture.

It's just a simple PowerPoint that I plan on customizing with the teacher's name, school, date school starts, and the kids age (i.e. the crucial information that will help with memory loss years from now).  I printed it on card stock and am going to glue it to a piece of scrap booking paper (in their favorite color).  I'm definitely still going to take photos in front of the school, with the teacher, by the classroom, etc. but at least this one will be a little more unique.

I also want to take the time to do a first day of school survey (can't call it a quiz - don't want the kids to freak). It falls along the lines of information you used to fill out in their baby book when they said their first word, what their favorite food was, favorite stuffed animal, etc. I combined ideas off of a few different posts on pinterest and made my own.  My favorite part is having them write their name. I'm excited to see how their handwriting progresses over the years.

Here's my survey (that I printed on card stock so it will last longer):

2011 First Day of School Survey

Write Your Name: ___________________________________

Grade: ___________________                  Age: ____________________

Favorite Food: ______________________________________________

Favorite Drink: _____________________________________________

Favorite TV Show: ___________________________________________

Favorite Activity: ___________________________________________

Favorite Game to Play: ________________________________________

Favorite Movie: _____________________________________________

Favorite Song to Sing: ________________________________________

Favorite Candy/Snack/Dessert: _________________________________

Favorite Color: _____________________________________________

Favorite Toy: _______________________________________________

Favorite Animal: ____________________________________________

Favorite Book: ______________________________________________

Best Friend: _______________________________________________

What makes you happy? _______________________________________

What makes you sad? ________________________________________

What do you want to be when you grown up? ________________________

The last idea I have (also from pinterest) is to trace their hand onto thick paper (card stock, scrap booking, or cardboard).  Cut them out and then put them on a little ring. After doing this year after year I'll have a nice visual of how much they've grown. I'm a sucker for hand prints!



What are you planning on doing? Please share other ideas (before it is to late and they are graduating high school).

His, Hers, Theirs

I'm not really artsy fartsy (well...maybe...ha ha) but today I decided to step outside the box and embrace my creative side.  Typically what happens is I have wonderful visions in my head, but then I put pen to paper and the final result looks nothing like my original vision so I tend to not utilize my artistic side. 

Today was a slight exception. Perhaps because there was no painting or drawing - only paper, scissors, and glue. Drum roll please.....here is my creation......

Heart cut outs of the town where my husband was born, I was born, and where our children were born.  Glue em to card stock paper and you're done. 
Finishing that projected motivated me to reorganized a bookshelf where I can display it. 

Before:

After:

I bought the word FAMILY from Ross for $7 and the star from Joanns for half price.  The one of a kind bird artwork is compliments of my son.   My only problem is that there is a lot going on in a little space, so I will probably reorganize some more, but it will work for today!

Summer's here - now what

All winter long I look forward to summer.  I dream of what I will do when summer comes - all the outdoor activities that don't involve snow suits, shovels, or ear muffs.  The problem with summer is that it doesn't last long, fills up fast, and before you know it - it's gone and you've got the next 9 months to dream about it again.  Most of our weekends are already booked, but last Saturday was not one of them. We had a baby shower to attend in the afternoon, but the morning was free to do whatever our hearts desired. Unfortunately, I didn't plan well enough and it appears that our heart desired to sit around all morning and do nothing.  I got upset about my 'wasted Saturday' and decided to come up with a plan to avoid that from happening in the future. I recently saw an idea of somebody using a chalk board to write out a 'to do wish list' for the summer. Everybody in the house contributed to the list and it became part of their living room artwork.  I didn't have a chalk board, but I did have a poster board, set of markers, and plenty of wish list items. I even got the kids involved and had them write their list out ahead of time.  (Great way for them to practice their ABCs too.)

Here's their lists (they helped write some of the grown-up ideas too so we wouldn't forget when we got home)...

I love the simplicity of their desires- run through the sprinkler - eat fish - go for a bike ride. All simple things that we can easily squeeze it, yet it will make them deliriously happy that we actually did them. 

Here is what my 'Martha Stewart Eat Your Heart Out' poster board looks like.  Please ignore the spelling error - apparently poster boards don't come with a spell checker.  (Grammar & spelling are not my strong points.)

I hope that maybe this will inspire you to do something similar too.  I know I'm looking forward to checking a few of these items off the list!

UPDATE: Here's a link to the original idea if you want to see a cooler version.  I found it linked on the lisaleonardonline.com blog.