Banner with Ties

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Jennifer

Caroline turns 4 today so we are well into party planning mode for the weekend.

For the 11 months and 3 weeks she requested a super hero party on a regular basis.

Last week she decided she wanted a cheetah party.

So we’re having a super hero party where the person of honor is wearing cheetah leggings and a cheetah tutu and calling it,” The Super Hero Party Where People Can Be Super Hero Cheetahs if They Want to Be.”

Classy party we’re hosting around here.

We’re also hosting this party on the cheap so we are using supplies and materials that we already have first and then buying second.

Therefore, the party colors are bright yellow, blue, and pink, since I had leftover fabric from my sisters shower last year. Caroline approved of the colors so we moved forward.

So first up for the Super Hero Party – the foyer.

For the “bam” and kapow” signs, I used yellow frames we already had and placed the images I created on the computer inside them.

For the “banner with ties, ” I used fabric strips and string – super easy.

I cut strips of fabric in varying widths and tied them onto the string with one tie.

Here I have tied on 3 pieces of fabric.

Once you have tied a few pieces of fabric, push them together – I know, rocket science here.

I just kept adding pieces until I thought it was long enough – in the beginning I was worried with how it was turning out but once I had tons of the pieces on there I was happy with it.

IMG_6679-001

Now onto bean bag boards, painted cardboard boxes, and lots of sewing!

40

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Jennifer

My husband recently turned 40 so the kids and I decorated for the occasion.

The glass jars are filled with black beans and then have popsicle sticks standing in the beans.

Each popsicle stick had a little picture the boys chose that represented what they thought turning forty meant.

And then they start to get good…

a tortoise…

..Mr. Fredricksen from the movie UP (of course, he’s a widow in the movie so maybe it’s not so funny)…

“I might not be over the hill but I’m past the point of no return.”

Just for the record dear, I think 40 is fabulous!

Feb 1st – My Birthday

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Jennifer

Happy Birthday to Me!

Happy Birthday Dear Jennifer,

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yep, today’s the day.

39 years young.

I’m not a person who stresses over the number so I’m good with today.

I’m going to spend the day having lunch with a friend (and Caroline) and then eating out again for dinner (twice in one day, holy cow!), hopefully followed by a movie rental with the kids and Derek.

Oh, and cake!

Can’t forget about that.

Rumor is I have a king cake coming my way so I’m super excited about that (thanks mom and dad).

Hope your weekend is full of cake too!

August Goals Updated

Posted on September 5, 2012 by Jennifer

Add 2 items to Etsy Shop – Check! I added the Baby Gender Prediction Test and the Baby Guessing Cards!

Continue Cleaning Out the Game Closet with the Kids – Check! So excited we went through and organized. I put the games and puzzles appropriate for Caroline at a level she could get them while older games went up higher. So far, three weeks later, everything has been put away when taken out – and we’ve played Candy Land every single day since we cleaned.

Take Quick Trip to New Orleans – Check! We had a great four day trip visiting my parents at the beginning of August. My kids think their Grampa has the best job ever – running a park that includes an amusement park!

Make Lasso for Wonder Woman Costume – Fail!

Make 3 Meals for the Freezer – Check! I made mounds of pasta and sauce one day so we have 3 meals of spaghetti bake waiting for us to eat up.

Go Through the Boys Clothes and Take Out What Doesn’t Fit – Check! A week before school started I set myself up on the floor next to their dresser and pulled out everything. What followed was a fairly entertaining fashion show of long sleeve shirts which were now way to short and pants which looked like waders. But since it will be hot here for awhile, I didn’t buy anything new for the boys to start school except for one pair of sneakers and some underwear.

Make Desk for the Boys Room – Check! My husband used a piece of wood we had in the garage and I found four desk legs at IKEA for $3.95 each so the new desk cost us just over $16.00! Now I’m planning on getting containers for art supplies, a lamp, and some shelves above the desk to finish out the space. My vote was to paint their room but it was vetoed so the builder beige stays.

Make Pillow for Guest Room – Fail!

Enjoy the Last Weeks of Summer – Check!

Hope you accomplished what you wanted to in August!

Food Flags

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Jennifer

For my sister’s baby shower we decided on the colors of hot pink and turquoise. Our theme of the event was “What will the baby be?” or “?” since Amanda is choosing to wait to find out if she’s having a boy or a girl.

One of the items I made for the shower were food flags.

I didn’t actually get any pictures of them at the shower but I dressed up our breakfast to show you what they looked like.

I started with a piece of card stock which I printed various lines onto it.

Click here in order to download this form.

Next I cut the paper into strips of the same size.

I then took a paper strip and a tooth pick and glued them together by placing some hot glue onto the paper and folding the strip together.

Finally. I used my scissors to cut the strip into a triangular shape.

And voila – stripped food flags!

In addition to the striped flags, I also made solid colored flags using some of the material I used in other baby shower projects.

I’ve never used food flags before but definitely will in the future since I think they added just an extra detail to the food table.

(For my 1st post about this baby shower click here.)

A Fart Cake

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Jennifer

Two years ago my son had a bowling party so naturally I thought I would make a bowling cake.

Instead, I made a fart cake.

When asked what kind of cake he wanted me to make in true little boy humor he declared, “I want a fart cake.”

So I pondered. And pondered. And pondered.

And finally we came up with this… A Bowling Fart Cake…

Where’s the fart part you ask?

Take a close look at Alex’s rear end…

The green fart smell than inundates poor Andrew who is sitting at the back of the lane.

Earlier in the day we took pictures of the boys, shrunk them, and used them on the cake.

Add in a bowling bowl and chair made out of fondant, two signs printed out, and your fart cake is all done.

Trust me when I say this cake was a huge hit with eight year olds.

Oh, and the cake tasted great, I decided not to take the theme too far 🙂

Guest Post : Survival Bracelets!

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Jennifer

My good friend Melissa and her husband Ryan surprised me with a guest post – yes, people, my friend wrote a guest post out of the kindness of her heart. Or maybe she noticed the quality of my posts slipping and wanted to remedy the situation. Either way, enjoy a little humor and craftiness from my dear friend Melissa as she writes about making a birthday present for my son…

Thank you Melissa and Ryan! Andrew loved his bracelet and was super impressed his friend Alex made it.

If you would like more instructions on making survival bracelets go here.

Angry Bird Cakes

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Jennifer

My boys recently had a combined birthday party and they requested an Angry Birds Cake.

Actually they requested a cake with angry bird lacrosse players who were shooting goals on opponents. It’s nice that they think so highly of my cake decorating skills but I said no. Instead we compromised with… 3 Angry Bird cakes.

Thanks to my good friend Duncan Hines the cakes were made in a jiffy.

I used one of my favorite baking tools…since I always have good results with it.

For the frosting layer, I went simple again by using frosting from a can. Place a desired amount of frosting in a bowl, add coloring, stir, and spread with an icing spatula.

Love, love, love this coloring. I always buy it at the cake shop (which has a retail section).

After frosting cakes, I always place them in the fridge to let the icing set a bit. I also drop the temperature in the house by about ten degrees since warm frosting is impossible to work with. (I place the cake in the fridge after each different color frosting is applied.)

To get the oval shape for the white bird I cut pieces of cake and added them to the circle cake. Putting frosting between the different sections helps hold them together.

Now onto the fancy frosting with an unfancy tool.

I like to use a metal icing tip and place it inside a ziplock bag which has a small hole cut out of the side. Simply place the icing into the bag, twist the bag, and start frosting.

For the larger sections of color I simply place the icing all over and then smooth with the spatula.

For the bird feathers I cut shapes out of black card stock and pushed them into the sides of the cake.

And for my most important tip…if you have a “helper,” be sure to provide her with her own cake and frosting bag.

Here she is actually frosting blueberry muffins since her decorated cake had already disappeared into her tummy and I needed some more time.

The final products – Red Bird, Green Pig, and White Bird.

Mary Poppins Party Activities

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Jennifer

In order to celebrate my daughter’s 3rd birthday – Mary Poppins style – we came up with a few related activities that 3 year olds would enjoy.

First up, drawing on cardboard with chalk (relates to Bert and him drawing chalk pictures in the movie).

Next up, a Mary Poppins bean bag toss. We have used these boards for many many parties. We just take off the old pictures or glue right over them with the new themed pictures.

Third, racing around with stick horses (relates to the carousel horses and when they race in the movie).

These were a huge hit. I’m putting together a tutorial on how I made these.

Next, pin the bow tie on the penguin (come on, do I really need to tell you what part of the story this is from?)

Lastly and the biggest hit of the party, chimney play! (these are supposed to be the chimneys that the chimney sweeps pop in and out of when they sing “Chim Chimney Cha-roo.”)

We bought five large cardboard boxes and two small boxes for about $6.00. My husband then connected them all and cut holes on the top in order to give the small boxes a place to sit. In order to make the entire thing stable, he screwed 3 pieces of wood together in the shape of a “C,” and then put it at the beginning of the box and then another one at the end. The 3 pieces of wood touched three sides of the structure – the bottom space where the kids crawled through didn’t have a piece of wood.

Traffic jam

Even the big kids got in on the action.

Caroline had a good time popping through the top of the structure yelling, “Cha-roo!”

So those were our Mary Poppins party activities – I also bought sugar cubes in hopes of doing a relay race with a “spoonful of sugar,” but decided against it at the last moment. Another activity we didn’t use a bunch of musical instruments I had gathered. I thought the kids could play in a band like the one that plays while Mary Poppins receives her prize for winning the horse race.

Altogether I spent about $60 on the entire party. I would have spent about $40 had I planned ahead and used coupons to purchase many of the items. Oh well, I like to think I do my best work at the last moment.

Soon I’ll share her cake and the decorations.

For Mary Poppins hat instruction go here.