It's beginning to look a lot like...

...Christmas! No spring here, though it was getting close last week. Today I've spent the whole morning watching it snow. And snow. And it shows now sign of letting up. Ah well. Easter is still coming this weekend, with or without the snow. So I thought I'd share what the Bunny will be stuffing eggs with this year. You see, we have very enthusiastic families and this year my kids will be getting 4 (yes, FOUR) Easter Egg hunts (including the official one first thing Sunday morning). So I try to be creative every year with my egg stuffers. We still get candy (tons and tons of candy since I assigned the candy buying to my husband and he brought home 6 bags!) but I like to break it up a bit with other things.

I hit up the dollar store a few weeks ago and the dollar section at Target and this is what I brought home.
-character Post-It type notebooks
-mini gel pens
-rolling stamps
-character socks
-bath poufs (a frog and a duck) and foaming soap
-tiny egg shaped pots and flower seeds
-mini puzzles in tiny tins
-little cars
-powdered drink mix (the individual kind that you pour in water bottles. My kids love these)
-fruit snacks
-juice boxes
The drink mixes and fruit snacks fit inside regular eggs and I was able to fit most of the other stuff inside some XL ones I saved from last year (they had My Little Ponies, cars, and Fisher Price Little People in them from Target and WalMart). I overestimated sizes on some of them so the flower pots and the stamps will have to go in the baskets, but in general I think the kids are going to have some great fun opening eggs this year. I put stickers on some of them (trucks for Ty, butterflies for Kate) so the kids will be able to tell which things were intended specifically for them.
Other ideas from previous years include:
-coins
-stickers
-rubber stamps
-jewelry
-small toys
-any kind of individually packed snacks

For the baskets the kids will each be getting a new soccer ball (Kaitlyn played her first soccer game last night!) some bubbles and giant bubble wands. I like to go with an outdoor theme to get them geared up for summer. This usually includes toys for the sandbox, rain boots, sidewalk chalk, kites, etc. Last year they also got beach towels and pool noodles. But this year I decided we had almost enough sand toys so I only got Tyler some trucks and tractors and went with an art kit and Pixos for Kaitlyn. (and I know my mom is getting them hula hoops, which are big on Kaitlyn's list this year)

So there you have it - in case you needed extra ideas for Easter this year. I'd love to hear if anyone has any other great ideas I may want to use next year.

Tyler's Quilt

I did it! I finished his quilt! It took me one, maybe two WEEKS longer than I had hoped - because these things always take longer than I plan for. And because I got sick of the hand sewing part and procrastinated getting it finished - but it's done.

I pretty much just drew my inspiration from these great fabrics. I knew I wanted something bright, fun, and simple so I finally decided to go with strips and let the fabrics speak for themselves. I didn't want it to have a theme, but the cars are SO Ty. I think the combo of colors and patterns keeps it from looking too theme-y and more in line with what I had intended.

Then I spotted the oversized ric rac and HAD to add a few strips to it for dimension. Turns out, it's my favorite part.

My mom helped me with the sewing part. We split the duties - she runs it through the machine and I handle the cutting, planning, pressing, and making sure everything is in the right order. Then I did the hand quilting and the binding on my own.

To finish it off, I whipped up a matching pillow case (see, there's another strip of ric rac - love it!) and TaDa! I'm pretty happy. Just ignore the fact that we don't have a headboard (and probably won't for a good long while) and that the white dust skirt does absolutely nothing to set off the quilt. (Do you know how hard it is to find a decent dust skirt? They just aren't available and the ones that are, are the complete wrong colors!) I'm happy. And Tyler's very happy (when we had the fabric pieces all laid out on the floor he said "for MEEEEE?!!!" and got so excited. It was cute).

Now I have some ideas on what I want to do to make the whole room look finished...but that's another project (or two, or five) for another month.

St. Patrick's Day Ideas and Plans

I'm an idea collector. I don't collect coins, or dolls, or stamps or anything. But I have files and files of photos and internet links for anything and everything that strikes my fancy - crafts, parties, holidays, creative things to do with the kids...
And the past week or so I've had such fun seeing all the fun St. Pat's Day crafts, traditions, and ideas popping up on my favorite blogs. My mom took Tyler for an hour or so this morning while Kaitlyn was in school and I decided to play Leprechaun. So fun! I love all the magic and happy surprises that go along with being young.

Here's my plan:
-the kids will be getting new shirts (Old Navy) from myself and Sam. We have to make sure they have green to wear on the big day, right? Though Katy's shirt only has a touch of green because in general she doesn't really like green. On the other hand, Ty's favorite color is green. Anyway - so this is the little presentation they will find on the kitchen table that morning. I also made Kaitlyn a hairbow to go along with it.

I made the little baggie to slip into Sam's bag next week - he's going to be out of town. Inside it is a handful of Rolos and a little "Kiss me I'm Irish" pin* I whipped up Super Fast, (I can't remember what cartoon that phrase is from but there's a little singsong voice that pops into my head every time I say it lol) which he may or may not decide to wear. I don't know if that's acceptible with the uniforms or if guys are into that :)
- And this is what the leprechaun is going to hide. I'm thinking it will be somewhere out of sight, with either tiny shamrocks or footprints or maybe a path of yarn leading to it.

A peek at what's inside: Lucky Charms (for breakfast), green bubble bath, green foaming bath soap, green tub tabs, tiny juice boxes, a little toy for each, and of course Rolos for the "gold." It looks like a lot of stuff. But I got most of it at the dollar store or the $1 section in Target so it was probably all under $10. The pot is what I use to hold the candy for Halloween.

-the leprechaun will also be turning things green and getting into a big of mischief. I'm sure he'll find the milk and maybe the toilet water with the food coloring, at the very least.
-breakfast will be the Lucky Charms with the green milk
-lunch will be green smoothies and leprechaun sandwiches. Or maybe smoothies and green MacNCheese. This recipe for smoothies uses bananas, peaches, yogurt, milk, ice and spinach and I'm excited to try it out on the kids. Yes I said SPINACH. I would love to find another way to work veggies into their diet and supposedly you can't taste it in the smoothie. (Having such picky eaters worries me sometimes.) Be sure to click on that link. She has ideas for all kinds of green food that sound like a lot of fun.
-still deciding on if I want to stop there or if I will have the energy for green themed dinner and dessert.

*I found the printable links for the pin and the tags on the shirts here. It's also where I found the link for these pillow boxes that the leprechaun put the cars and Pet Shop fish in before hiding them in the pot. I also printed off some little leprechaun clipart that is meant to be stuck on toothpicks and inserted in food. She has gathered lots of fun stuff at that site.

Other things that inspired me but didn't make the cut
-rainbow cupcakes from FamilyFun.com. They also have a recipe on how to make any old cupcake into a 3-leaf-clover shape that was cute.
-http://www.tipjunkie.com/ Always a great source of inspiration. There's more than one post about parties and crafty decor.
-I loved this post (yes it's Secrets of a Super Mommy again - I love that site!) on fun ideas for St. Patrick's Day
-and my friend Dari had a really cute idea too. Every year she has her boys make a "leprechaun trap" (I just love that they get to use their imagination on this one) the day before. Then at some point on St Patrick's Day she sets off the trap (not always first thing in the morning) and leaves a chocolate coin or something small for the boys. She also wants to teach them stuff about Ireland and make them cabbage for dinner. That one's beyond me - I rarely go for the educational! lol
-I've been thinking about making a "lucky" sign (a board painted green with each letter cut out of different kinds of green patterned paper) too. But that always seems to be a project for another day so it's probably going to wait until next year.


And tacking this on at the end because I don't feel like it needs its own post.
Kaitlyn is in LOVE with Hello Kitty. She was given these cute earrings but lost one at the pool the VERY FIRST day she wore them. So sad. The single earring sat there all by itself for weeks until I was looking at hairbows and thought "hey! that would be a good way to use it." So while I had the glue gun out I whipped out a fabric flower and added Kitty to the center. Then I slipped it in Kaitlyn's mailbox for her to find when she got home from school. I just love surprises! :)

Slumber Party - Grown Up Style

My mom's best friend (and the kids' honorary grandma) just turned 60. My mom, of course, wanted to do something special for her and when she asked for my input the first thing that popped into my head was "slumber party!" :) I admit, there are parts of me that long for those long ago nights of girl talk and junk food. So that's exactly what we did.

The Decor:
-have you seen this table idea? It's making the rounds in blog land, at least on the party circuit and I think it's totally cute - make the table look like a bed by adding a pillow at one end. Simple and effective - right up my alley. We kept the rest of the tablescape pretty simple because we were doing fondu for dinner and didn't want a lot of stuff in the way.
-downstairs we set up our munchies. We had caramel corn and regular popcorn too.
-and a "just for fun" table to help set the mood, with games, movies, and the matching sets of pjs that we used for party favors. (side note - those tissue paper pom poms did not turn out anything like they did on Martha Stewart's site. ugh)

The Party:
-as I said, dinner was cheese fondue and strawberry salad (lettuce, craisins, strawberries, candied pecans and raspberry viniagrette dressing)
-dessert was a raspberry cream thing (no name because Mom got the recipe from a friend who had served it at Bunco) - very light and yummy. It has a graham cracker crust and the filling is mini marshmallows, melted with a bit of milk then mixed with whipped cream (unsweetened) and raspberries.
-we then went downstairs, changed into our party pjs, then sat around talking and doing each other's hair. We also had supplies for manicures and a ton of game options but in the end we just decided to watch a movie. That took us until midnight and at that we were all ready to turn in. (I had sent my dad to my house with the kids and needed to relieve him anyway. Good thing I hadn't left him alone with them all night because I found him sitting up with my little one who was all stuffed up. So I spent another half hour getting him all set up to sleep better)
(mint truffles on the pillows, of course)
-First thing this morning, the kids and I headed back over to my mom's house for breakfast - strawberry/banana crepes MMMMMM.

Know what I'm doing today? NAPPING! :)

Linking to: Weekend Wrap Up Party (Tatertots and Jello)

Valentines Craftiness

My friend, Audrey and I had one of our craft days yesterday - so fun! Just wanted to share :)
After I took the above photo I realized I hadn't put anything in the frame. This is a detail of the final product.

A close up on one of the hearts. We LOVED the glitter! Isn't it great?

And this little baby will be put away until I pull out my spring stuff.


A couple tips I thought I'd point out.
-at the wood place where we bought most of our supplies, Audrey had the prescience of mind to ask them how they got the glitter on their finished products. The trick? Dip the object INTO the glitter (we put wax paper over a cookie sheet and sprinkled the glitter onto it. The wax paper made getting the glitter back into the jar easy) while the last coat of paint is still WET. Then when it's all dry, spray with a clear coat of GLOSSY glaze.
-for any sort of decoration that has a stick and a stand, glue only the TOP to the stick. That way you can remove the base and they'll fit in your storage totes more easily.

I've had a lot of fun working on my little Valentines vignettes today. Still need to find something suitable for those apothecary jars! I'm betting they stay empty for this year and hopefully I can find something on sale for next year.

Gift Box Tutorial

I had a couple of requests for the tutorial on this gift box and since I wanted to make another one anyway...here you go! (because honestly if I knew where to find the original tutorial for this I'd just point in the there right direction)

You will need:
cut from cardboard (cereal boxes worked well)
-4 - 2 1/4" x 5"
-1 - 1" x 5"
cut from patterned paper (any combination of colors/patterns you want)
-1 - 12" x 6" (this is the outside of the box)
-1 - 4 7/8" x 10 1/4" (this is the inside of the box)
-1 - 7" x 7" (this is the box top)
-4 - 6" x 6" (these are the smaller boxes inside)

Step 1: on the back side of the 12" x 6" paper, draw a line along the top 1/2" from edge. Draw another line along the left side 3/4" from edge.

Step 2: use the lines you just drew to start placing the cardboard pieces on the back of the patterned paper, spacing each cardboard piece approx 1/8" apart. Glue the cardboard onto the patterned paper.

Step 3: cut the corners off the patterned paper (as shown)

Step 4: fold all edges of the patterned paper over and adhere to the cardboard

Step 5: cover the back of the patterned paper/cardboard with the 4 7/7" x 20 1/4" piece of paper. Glue down, making sure it's smooth. Fold between each piece of cardboard.

Step 6: Take one of the square pieces of paper and draw diagonal lines from corner to corner (on the back of the paper, obviously)

Step 7: Fold a corner to the center point

Now fold the folded edge to the diagonal line. Crease each fold well. Unfold. Repeat this on each of the corners

You will now have a grid like this.

Step 8: cut along lines as shown, making sure to stop as indicated (sorry this is the hardest part to explain. Hope the photo illustrates it well enough)
Step 9: Take the larger, triangle-shaped piece and fold the point into the center. You will notice that this folds along a crease you already made.

Place the point of the second triangular piece on the center point as well

Step 10: Fold these pieces up to form 2 sides of the box. Now the ends of each piece form little tabs. Fold those tabs in to make the 3rd side of the box.

Step 11: Take the point of the 3rd side and put it on the center mark. You will notice that this completely covers the tabbed side.

Repeat with the remaining side.
Adhere all points into the center and there you have your box!

Step 12:Repeat this process with the rest of the square pieces.

Step 13: Adhere one side of each of the smaller boxes to the back of your cardboard part. (as shown - note the stairstep pattern.)

Fold up the box and add the lid and voila! Now you can embellish any way you like. Fill each little box with goodies and give to someone you love.
Linking to: (7/19/10)

Checkered Flag Birthday

My husband turned 30 last week and you can't hit a milestone like that without a party right? So of course we pulled a big group of family and friends together for it. I have to admit I was doing my best to keep this one streamlined. I'm a bit partied out at this point (and have to admit that is shows in the photos too, sorry. I was more interested in playing hostess than taking photos). So I enlisted a bunch of help with the food and kept the theme really simple.
Sam is really into NASCAR, and since I had some black and white stuff left over from the last big party I decided to go with a checkered flag theme. A package of flags and a plastic checkered tablecloth is all it took to pull everything together. And I have to say, Sam walked into the party room and was impressed, so that's all that matters. And he said he had a great time - yay!

The decor:
-white tablecloths with a small piece of the checkered tablecloth (I cut it into six 18" squares for the tables, one large square for the buffet table, and used the leftover strip on the cake table). Then I alternated centerpieces. Some were black and white balloons tied onto a wooden block and others were altered paint cans with flags stuck in them.

The food:
-I wanted to go with a tailgate theme so we had hot wings, pigs-in-a-blanket (biggest hit of the party, I need to do these more often), chips, veggies, pasta salad, chinese chicken salad, and a nice selection of drinks. I set the drinks up on their own table, with the beer (that my hubby snuck in) in a big metal bucket. The cake (Boston Cream Pie) got it's own table, along with the other goodies.

The entertainment:
-well it's a grown up party so everyone is pretty happy just sitting around visiting. The only planed entertainment was singing happy birthday and having Sam blow out the candles. But I did grab a big race track game from the party store to keep the kids occupied.