Creative Outlet

Kids Valentines

2012-02-14T21:32:00.000-08:00

Each of the kids did something different this year for their class Valentines.

Quinton's was an arrow from pixie stixs and hearts. He put them together almost all himself. I added the hearts with the hot glue so that he wouldn't burn himself.

His said "take your best shot Valentine"

Weiland of course needed to incorporate animals some how. He chose Dinosaurs and we added a few Starburst and we're good. He and I worked together to do them, he was a great helper.

Ellie's were felt fortune cookies. I had to do these and she helped me add the Starburst at the end. Her's said "So fortunate to have you Valentine"

For their teacher's Valentines we put some mini doughnuts in a gable box.

Love how these turned out. The teachers really appreciated them as well.

VT Treat

2012-01-29T15:35:00.000-08:00

I am ashamed to say that I have not been very diligent with my Visiting Teaching the last few months but it's a new year and I decided I wanted to be the kind of visiting teacher I'd want and to make a visit every month this year.

I am so thankful for this program and the opportunity it gives me to get to know the women of my ward and for the opportunity it gives me to talk to other women and laugh, we laugh quite often.

This month I brought just a little treat for when you just need a little chocolate.

These are Hershey Nuggets wrapped in paper and placed in the pretzel rod bags you can find in the candy isle of your local craft store. Original idea found here : Inking Idaho

tasting dishes

2012-01-16T10:28:00.000-08:00

This is one of the fun things I got this year for Christmas. My mother in law shares a love of serving dishes and well dishes in general. She sent me these super cute tasting dishes and spoons and I've found so many fun things to put in them. Now, I just need a party to use them at. . . . . .

I'll have to get working on that. : )

cards

2012-01-09T19:13:00.000-08:00

These are just some pictures I ran across when cleaning out my picture file of cards that I've done and wanted to get them posted so I have them for future reference.

these were baby cards I did for a stamp'n up card exchange

This one was my Halloween card exchange card

Christmas Gifts

2011-12-19T10:24:00.000-08:00

SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU ARE LACEY, ASHLEE, OR EITHER MY MOM or MIL STOP READING NOW!

on the off chance that they check this blog and since I'm not going to wait to publish this until after Christmas you've had your fair warning. : )

First up I have the "neighbor" gifts I did this year. I had lots of good ideas but as my list was pretty long I needed to keep cost in mind. I have done this before but not for Christmas and not here in Vegas. I have a great recipe for a dill dip mix so I made some up, packaged it and attached it to a wooden spoon with the directions needed to make it.

Second, we were finally able to participate in our family gift exchange this year. We had talked about having the kids draw each others names (all the cousins) and then having them make their gift for them. BUT we decided to do this a little late in the month so we drew a family instead. We had the option to make gifts for the kids in that family or do a "family" gift. I opted for the family gift. I saw this idea here on My Grafico Crafts blog for a movie night in a bottle. For some reason I had it in my head that the movie fit in the bottle too, but it doesn't. I filled mine with popcorn, M&M's, other smaller candies and in one went three little pandas to go with the Kung Fu Panda 2 movie that was going along with it. In the other I put three little penguin craft projects to go along with the Mr. Poppers penguins movie.

They have the instructions on the site for assembly. I hope they like them!

And third is something that I really loved putting together. This year I got both my mom and MIL gift cert. to Hobby Lobby because when they come to visit it is a must do to go to Hobby Lobby. But I couldn't just mail the gift card so I found this great idea on Inking Idaho (she is amazing by the way)

It is a small box with a transparency slide. It hold 3x3 cards and 3 Hershey Nuggets.

Can you see my gift card sticking out?

I made four different cards to go in the box. I probably could have fit at least one more but it was late and I could hardly see straight. Plus the flower card took up too much room for another card

Love the wrapped nuggets!

I'm so excited with how they turned out. I hope they'll love them and that they'll look inside to find the gift card.

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

I'm linked up at:

Pinterest inspired projects

2011-12-08T08:35:00.001-08:00

I Love, Love, Love Pinterest. SO many great ideas out there to be inspired by. These are a few projects I've done that I've found on Pinterest.

First is my Christmas bulb garland inspired from this picture

I used DollarTree bulbs and ribbon. I love the original ideas with the beads and hooking them on so that they don't move but because I used these plastic ones they didn't have the removable top. So I improvised.

Next are these wrapped gifts by the front door originally seen here.

I loved them when I saw them but wasn't sure I'd use this idea this year. Then I did my coffee filter wreath and well things just worked out that they were just what I needed.

I've seen lots of coffee filter wreaths out there and have done one before but here is my Christmas one for my front door.

Once I finished it and added the red bulbs I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I am a HUGE fan of polka dots and figured why not go with that.

So I made a ruffle garland from my red and white polka dot fabric, saw the poms at Michael's and envisioned more polka dots so I strung those as well.

I had the perfect wrapping paper to go with my polka dot theme and found the boxed at Walmart for something like $.54 each.

I love how it all turned out and that it's a little non-traditional.

I've seen MANY bulb wreaths out there and again used the Dollar Tree bulbs and made up my own. Here's the one that inspired me. I didn't use a coat hanger to do mine but I got the general idea for it from there.

Something new for me this year was having a stair railing to decorate. I saw this image from Martha Stewart and well did the best I could. I'd love to have berry wreaths, maybe next year. I'll have to find them after Christmas when they're on sale.

and well this year I had some left over bulbs from all my projects and found a great spot for them to go.

I'm linked up at Whipperberry

and TaterTots & Jello

and Sassy Sites

ladybug party

2011-10-23T09:55:00.000-07:00

This year I did a ladybug theme party for my daughter. I made party hats for all the girls using scrapbook paper and cut up boa's. I also made the medallions from a tutorial I found at the TomKat Studio.

Each girl had a ladybug coloring page, her party hat, and a box of crayons.

I kept the treat table simple but also decorated with a few tissue pom, ladybugs, and balloons.

I dipped Oreo's in red and brown candy melts and added my non perils for a ladybug look.

I made the labels for the water bottles as well.

I had a cute ladybug on one of my cricket cartriges that I used throughout the party

chocolate and powdered doughnuts to go with the polka dots in the party.

more ladybugs for cupcake toppers. I also used all my fun red and white scrapbook paper I'd been accumulating over the past year to make the cupcake wrappers.

I love my new stand I found at HomeGoods. Some one had stripped the screws on it so it was really wobbly. I got it for a discount and went home and glued them in place and it's as good as new.

The girls got to take these ladybug takeout boxes home full of treats from the table.

I also made these ladybug hair clips for each girl and the card they were clipped to.

The girls had a lot of fun, maybe as much fun as I had putting this all together.

I'm linked up at:
Today's Creative Blog
Tip Junkie
Whipperberry

Ruffles and Burlap

2011-10-23T09:33:00.000-07:00

For our Relief Society meeting this month we did a let's talk turkey night. We had a great Thanksgiving dinner and some "how to" classes, it was a great evening. As part of that night they had a table with different place settings that people had signed up to bring to show different ways to set your table. I signed up to bring one of those settings.

Of course fall colors were swirling around in my head but then I realized I don't have a "fall" plate setting. What do I have? I have my Crate & Barrel dishes that I have yet to use. They're a white ruffle'y' looking plate and that's where my inspiration came from.

I decided to go with ruffles and burlap. I've wanted to do a project with burlap for a long time and knew this would be perfect. I went to Joann's to buy my burlap and some white fabric, burlap is really inexpensive which I'm thrilled about. (now I can do more projects in burlap)

First I used an old placemat to get the size I wanted. I made it a little wider than normal because I knew I was adding a ruffle to the edge. I frayed the edges a little and made a ruffle out of the white fabric. I then glued that to one edge.

I also made a napkin ring from a tp roll by gluing some burlap around it and adding a small ruffle.

I wanted to add something fun to the wine glass and so I made this ruffle flower.

The place card was just a tag which I stamped and tied to a pine cone.

I had made apple crisp for my YW activity so I thought it would be fun to add a single dessert serving to the place setting. I wrapped the jar in twine and added the label.

I love how it all turned out and will now be making enough settings for a dinner party that I need to have in the near future.

I'm linked up at:

Today's Creative Blog
Tip Junkie
Whipperberry

A little Halloween

2011-10-05T12:36:00.000-07:00

I have been SO excited to decorate for Halloween this year. I've been collecting things and ideas since the end of August. I've finally got the house in enough order and most of it unpacked that I couldn't wait any longer. I'm only about half done, I still need to do out side and get some pumpkins but for now this will hold me over.

I pinned a lot of ideas on Pinterest and these are some that I actually did.

I made my own spell book from a old dictionary I found at DI. I made my spell pages in Printshop and distressed them to make them look old and well used. I turned the corners of the book and sprayed random pages with a water. I also used my brown ink to make it look older. I love how it turned out!!

I also used some inspiration I saw at Pottery Barn. I've been collecting apothecary jars from HomeGoods for a few months knowing what I wanted to use them for ~ best place to buy them!

The skulls I found at Michaels and grabbed them right away and the crow I found at Dollar Tree.

I also found a tulle wreath on Pinterest and knew I wanted to make my own. I added some ribbon I found at Michaels and a glittery spider.

I used my favorite frame from Hobby Lobby to put a print from Less Cake More Frosting that she designed. I'm still searching for a square bowl to put on top of that candle holder and paint it all black so I can stick in a white pumpkin. I made the small stand from a candle plate and candle stick I found at the Dollar Tree.

Love this Spooky sign from Michaels.

Like I said I'm still working on my outside entry but I do have my lantern out for now.

I saw this table runner at the Polka Dot Market and LOVED it!! But the price was a little high so I figured I could make my own and I love how it turned out. I'm planning on putting 3 white pumpkins with vinyl "Trick or Treat" on them to go on top but I'm still waiting on the vinyl to arrive that I ordered so I'll show ya that once it's done.

I still have more to do. I'm making my specimen jars and of course waiting on my pumpkins and a few other spooky things but this will get me started. Hope you enjoyed it!

I"m linked up at Whipper Berry
and at TaterTots & Jello
and Today's Creative Blog
and Tip Junkie

Visiting Teaching ideas and a cute bb shower something

2011-09-19T17:25:00.000-07:00

Just a few things I've been up to the last month or so. I made waterbottle pockets for the kids teachers and to take visiting teaching for the month of August.


for the month of September I brought cookies in these cute cans.

I haven't been to a baby shower in forever so I have been looking on line for some ideas and I found these cute washcloth & sock cupcakes

One of the things I loved about these was the packaging and we all know I'm all about the packaging.

I think they turned out super cute. So those that I know who are prego, expect one of these from me. : )

I'm linked up at Whipperberry

Obsessive

2011-08-24T13:04:00.001-07:00

So I'm a little obsessed with Pinterest. I've been creating folders on my computer for a long time collecting great ideas or products. This is SO much better. Not only do I have the image but it keeps the link for the site from which it came. LOVE!!!

So this is mostly for those here in Las Vegas who've I've put a call out too about doing a Stamp'n Up Card Club. I wanted to show you all the fun things I've found that we can do together. I had such a great experience with the Card Club I was in in Idaho that I am dying to start one here. And I have to say it's not to make money from others buying Stamp'n Up products, it's to do something creative again and to do it with great people. I looked forward to it every month, being able to be creative for a few hours, getting together with great ladies and being inspired by their creativeness.

Here's a peak at some of the fun things I've found to do. You can see more on my boards at Pinterest.

all images from Inking Idaho blog

The structure of the club:
We would meet once a month on a Saturday morning or if there is an evening that works for most.

We would make 5 projects, some cards, some gifty things, or what ever else I've found to do. I would supply everything needed to make these 5 projects.

In return you would purchase a determined $ amount of Stamp'n Up product, they sell way more than stamps. Punches, paper, ribbon, I could go on.

Once we've got things under control we could also start a card exchange. Each person would make how ever many cards as there are people participating and we would all swap.

Bonus is that one person a month would be the "hostess" and receive some free products.

So I hope you'll take a look at my "things I can make board" or any other board for that matter, and see all the cuteness we could create.

If you need and invite leave me a comment saying so and I'll send you one.

I hope you can feel my excitement and love for doing fun things like this.

Instructions:
*click on the Pinterest on my side bar to get to my boards to see all the fun things we could do
*then come back here and leave me a comment and let me know if you 'd be interested in doing the club
*If you need and invite to Pinterest leave me your email as well

it's coming!!

2011-08-13T22:37:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know it's still the middle of August but I have had Halloween on my brain for over a week now. I am SO excited to decorate this year and seriously considering throwing a party. But one of the fun things I like to do to start off the month of Oct. is the "you've been Booed" treat. My kids think it is SO fun to ring and run and this is a fabulous excuse to do it. I've seen lots of versions of the signs and instructions for this and wanted to make my own this year.

Anyone now in Vegas who gets this will know it's from me (well that it started with me, you never know who's passed it on) but I wanted to share.

Download it here

download it here

Also I'm going through my files and posting images I've saved from before "Pinterest" so I can pin them. Unfortunately I didn't always save the source where I got the image, so if you see something and know where I got it PLEASE let me know so I can give due credit.

Loved this guy,

I'm linked up at

Ruffle bloomers

2011-07-11T22:58:00.001-07:00

My little sister had a baby this last month and I was so excited to meet her. I had to have something cute to give her. I was looking around on line and fell in love with the ruffle bum bloomers I found on numerous etsy shops except they were like $15 for one bloomer. Now I am not a sewer BUT I know some one who is. So I went on line and found a free pattern and headed to JoAnn's for some cute fabric.

I am so lucky to have friends that sew. Thank you again Laura they turned out super cute and my sister loved them!!!

I also had to make a flower to match

I had to have a complete outfit so I cut out this little birdie to apply to a onesie to match the bloomer and flower.

Didn't it turn out SO cute!!!

I did one in a 3 month size and this second in a 12 month size for next summer.

And while I was browsing through etsy shops I came across one with absolutely adorable little shoes that I just could pass up. It's called PinktoBlue and she is amazing!!!! I made a few flower headbands to match the shoes and it all turned out super cute.

I'm linked up at:

Treat cans

2011-06-07T19:22:00.001-07:00

The message this month for VTing is about self reliance. And because I like to bring a little something when I go THIS idea came to me from Our Best Bites. I adapted it a little to make it my own and I love how it turned out. I found the image on line somewhere but can not remember where. If you'd like it let me know and I'd be happy to share.

I liked the idea so much that I made them for my Beehives for a "good luck on your finals" treat that I took around to each girl.

Word to the wise: be careful with the open cans when you're filling them. I've got the cuts from not being careful enough, ouch.

I think they were a big hit and had so much fun doing them!

I'm linked up at:

buckets of berries

2011-05-20T22:57:00.000-07:00

Just a little something I brought to my visiting teachees this month.
Buckets from the dollar bins at Target. Did my tag on photoshop. They felt very summery to me, loved the colors.

I'm linked up at

mother/daughter dinner

2011-05-20T15:14:00.000-07:00

Well I'm bummed because I didn't get a lot of fabulous pictures of this event. I was so occupied with everything else it completely slipped my mind until people had started eating. So this is what you get instead.

these were the tables obviously, I did mini poms and wrapped them around the napkin and silverware. Each place had their own bowl of chips and salsa.

Center pieces were the frames I painted from the dollar store and I had a few quotes about mothers and daughters with them as well.

I had been growing this grass for a month, way longer than needed but it turned out to be super cute.

We had some great desserts, mini cheese caked, mini chocolate cupcakes, & stuffed strawberries.

Dinner was taco salad.

we also had a photo booth that the moms and daughter had their picture taken in and then we printed them out for them to take home in the frames that were on the table.

We also played the newly wed game only with questions for the mom's and daughters to answer.

I had so much fun putting all this together, can't wait to do another party!

centerpiece and favor

2011-04-27T17:18:00.000-07:00

I must confess I'm not a big fan of felt. It has always looked kinda cheap to me. BUT I must also confess I LOVE these felt flowers!!!! I'm sorry I can't remember where I originally saw them to give credit but oh my heck! SO cute. I also have to say I love the fabric button maker I invested in to make the centers for these flowers. This is what the girls get to take home from the Mother/Daughter Activity I'm planning. The idea is they take a picture with their mom in a "photo booth" I'll have set up and then print the pictures out there so that they can add them to the frames to take home. I'm also using the empty frames for the center pieces on the tables. I'm loving h0w they're coming along so far!

The frames I got from the dollar store and primed and spray painted. I found the button maker at Hobby Lobby and used random fabric I had on hand. Felt, well you can find felt almost anywhere, I found mine at Michaels.

prep & gather

2011-04-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

I've been out gathering things and finding inspiration. I found these beauties at my local DI. I like the shape of the smaller and the detail on the larger frame and knew these would be perfect.
I'm still on the hunt for at least another two frames but this was a great start.

The colors I'm using are teal, lime, white and brown. I LOVE this frame that I got at Hobby Lobby, (so much so I got it in black as well). I'll be using it on the table in the hall with a Welcome sign in side. The small stand I made from a candlestick and a candle plate from the dollar store, and the large cake stand I found at HomeGoods, LOVE that place!!!

For the centerpieces on the tables I'm growing grass in those white buckets, which I found in the dollar bins at Target. They're coming along great and will be so cute. I'll change out the white ribbon for either brown, teal, or lime. The candlestick is something I have in my bedroom that I found at Real Deals. I think I'll use it one the welcome table with a teal tissue pom on top.

I'm so excited to put this all together but still have LOTS of work to do. I'm gathering tissue to make my poms from and fabric for flowers and small frames for the girls to take but it's been so fun planning.

More to come!!

Picture Perfect in the works

2011-04-04T12:32:00.000-07:00

I am SO excited to have some kind of entertaining in the works again. This time it's a Mother/daughter activity for Young Woman's. The plan is for a taco salad bar and chips and salsa for the dinner and then play the Newly Wed game with adapted questions for the mothers and daughters.

I've already thought up the color scheme I want to use and a "theme" to go with it. It's going to be a "Picture Perfect" night. I've had this image in my head since I saw it back in February on Hostess with the Mostess.

I'm going to use frames on the table that I've found at DI and painted white and teal. As well as having one to use in a photo booth that the mom's and their daughters can use to take a picture to take home.

I can't seem to fall asleep at night with ideas running through my mind. I'm so excited to be planning again!!!

I'll post as I develop more ideas. : )

St. Patrick Day treats

2011-03-18T16:52:00.000-07:00

This past Valentines Day was a bust, mostly because of the move but also because I just dropped the ball. So I wanted to do a little more this St. Patrick Day for the kids and others. We of course had green milk and green pancakes, but I also made these sweet treats for the kids as well as their teachers and my visiting teachees.

One thing I would have done different would have been to do the clovers on parchment first and then attached them to the cookies instead of drawing them right on the cookie. I had a few wonky ones that I could have done with out.

I'm also bummed because I accidently ereased the picture of the whole treat so all you get to see is the top and the tag and even that isn't very good since it's blurry. Not my finest post ever. But anyway here it is.

Dipped Oreo's with clovers

movie boxes

2011-03-07T09:34:00.001-08:00

When we moved we lost a lot of space that we had before. One of the "space" things I miss was our movie closet. Todd had built these shelves that fit all our movies perfectly and now I was clueless as what to do with them. I had them all packed in these orange boxes and this is how they sat on our shelf. I thought about buying baskets or bins for them to go in on the shelves but after looking around and pricing them out it was going to cost more than I wanted to spend.

I found the paper at Michaels on sale for .14 cents a sheet and used two sheets per box. The ribbon I had on hand (both are from Stampin Up). I organized the movies and printed out what I wanted each one to say. I cut those out on my Cuttlebug along with a solid cardstock. I stamped the swirlies on for that little something extra.

I punched holes in the top and tied knots in the ribbon to make handles.

Much happier with this than orange boxes. To bad Todd doesn't like the labels on the front and laughed that I organized them. One of those things he puts up with being married to me. Poor guy. : )

I wish I could I could stager the boxes on the shelf but with a two year old in the house they'd never survive. Over all I think it looks pretty good.

I'm linked up at

so excited!!!

2011-02-27T14:18:00.000-08:00

I am over the top excited to have a my own little craft corner. After having all of my things in boxes in my laundry room while we "finished" the back room I'll take my little corner any day.

Kids Valentines

2011-02-12T11:27:00.001-08:00

Amazingly enough I got the kids Valentines done this week while I unpacked the house. I originally saw these over on Eighteen25 and they found them here. I thought it was a cute idea and perfect for the boys who are starting a new school and the fact that the kids don't know who they are yet. I did a couple of Ellie to send to Grandma's and Grandpa's but none of the littlest munchkin, I couldn't get her to hold her hand just right~oh well next year.

I bet you're wondering why they're holding their hands like that. Well this is why. . . . .

Cut a small slit above and just beneath their hands and insert a sucker. Cute!!

baby shower invites & address labels

2011-02-01T13:49:00.000-08:00

I'm helping a friend of mine with some paper things for a baby shower she's throwing this month and thought I'd share. She's doing an animal print theme in brown, yellow, and pops of pink.

These are the invites and address labels to match. It was so fun designing these and I've almost got all the thank you tags, food labels, and toppers done, I'll share soon.

subway art

2011-01-29T16:00:00.000-08:00

I have to say in general I'm not a huge fan of Subway art. But on occasion I think it fits well with some themes and holidays. I've been brainstorming ideas for my one day mantle/ledge that I want to decorate for holidays. I've been working on of course Valentines. I've decided to do a "Love Letters" theme and have a few ideas in mind. One of them is a framed Subway art using salutations in love letters, this is what I came up with.

I plan on using black, cream, and red as my color palette. Hopefully I'll be able to pull it off before Valentines Day but with the move I'm not holding my breath. Good news is I can work on it for next year and get great deals on Valentine sales.

Thank you cards

2011-01-20T17:25:00.000-08:00

My last crafty act before the move. I made some thank you cards for my wonderful friends and neighbors who watched my kids while I was on my cruise.

I'm linked up at Tatertots & Jello

Peppermint Perfection

2010-12-22T15:47:00.001-08:00

Last week we had our annual girls night cocoa party. This year's theme was Peppermint Perfection, and was it ever. The best part about these parties is that I get to do them with the two most amazing girls I know. We had so much fun prepping and getting things together and it was all worth the hard work to see the end result.

The invitation we made to look like a peppermint with a peppermint treat inside.

This is the table scape

We had some really yummy food this year. White chocolate covered pretzels with red and white nonpareils, chips and homemade salsa, cheese ball and crackers, sugar cookies, dipped Milano's, and of course all the toppings for our hot cocoa.

I used a lot of my decorations off my tree at home for this party, it was fun to put them to another use.

For our favors this year, though you can't see exactly what they are, we did milk and white chocolate on a stick that you could stir into hot milk for a yummy treat.

I has so much fun designing the invites and tags for the party. Thanks again Dacia and Lynne for being my partners in crime. Love ya!

*all pictures taken by Dacia (she did a great job) Lynne took some too but I'm waiting to see those so they may be added later.

Tissue trees

2010-12-09T22:49:00.001-08:00

I FINALLY finished these trees. My good friend Dacia shared a link on the how to to make them and after seeing her finished trees I really wanted to give them a try. Do not attempt these if you are not fully commited. They take a lot of time to do, BUT they are SO worth it.

So there you have my one holiday craft, pretty cute if I do say so myself.

Crate & Barrel

2010-12-01T08:01:00.000-08:00

Half Baked is doing a great giveaway for a $100 gift certificate to Crate & Barrel and I'm hopin' they pick me. Sadly I have to say I would use this for myself and not to get gifts for others. But on the plus side the things I get will be used to throw parties for others : )

Holiday Planner

2010-10-19T19:11:00.000-07:00

Do most of you know what a "list" fanatic I am? Well it's true. I MUST have a list, seriously, or I'll always forget something. I love to see it on paper what it is I need or need to do. So when I saw this next project from the girls at Eighteen25 I was in LOVE!

What could be more perfect than all your holiday planning in one spot. They have a place for everything in this baby, calendar, menu, cards, lists(my favorite), and to do. I added a party tab for the cocoa party we throw each year, perfect.

They featured their planner over on Under the Sycamore and it came with step by step instructions as well as a free download with all the pieces you need. I altered mine a bit to coordinate with my paper I was using but definitely took the inspiration from them and it only cost me $1.24 for the composition notebook,everything else I had in my stash~love it!.

Some of the things I changed: Mine says "holiday" instead of "Christmas" because I couldn't get Christmast to fit on my bracket using those letter stickers.

I did my own coupon label because I wanted it to match my paper but they have the entire set for you to dowload and use if you'd like~fabulous!

I added a few ribbon paperclip for those invites you may want to hold on to or any other random thing that you think you need.

In Love !

They also tell you where to go to print off a weekly calendar for the "calendar" section of the planner, so great.

I think they turned out super cute and I can't wait to make more! Thanks again to the girls at Eighteen25 for yet another amazing idea.

Halloween project #4 ~ Halloween Candelabra

2010-10-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

When I saw this next project featured on one of my favorite blogs I knew I had to do it, and soon. But as I started hunting the thrift stores where I live I realized it wasn't going to be as easy as I'd hoped. This project came from Sawdust and Paperscraps which I found at Ucreate.
She used old lamp bases, a chandelier, some PVC pipe, and beads to create this amazing candelabra.

So this one is hers

and this one is mine

Pretty cool huh? You'd never guess the chandelier was a brass color and the lamp base was an odd red, amazing what a little spray paint can do. I didn't want a floor one, just one to put on my table. Thankfully I have an amazing friend who was also on board to do this project and she was out hunting one day and found everything we needed to do them. She is doing a floor one and I can't wait to see how hers turns out. She even did most of the work for me by gutting the lamp and attaching the two things together. All I had to do was spray paint it and hang the beads. (note: spray painting beads is not an easy task) I love it and now just need to find some candles to go in it.

Well I did better than just find some candles, I made them. Yep out of cardstock, hot glue and spray paint. The original instructions were to use a TP tube and I tried that but they were too skinny. So my friend did hers out of cardstock and they turned out great. So that's what I did. All ya do is drip some hot glue down the sides and then spray paint them white. I added some plastic grocery bags to the middles to hold up my battery tea light. Perfect! We also got this idea from Sawdust and Paperscraps.

Wouldn't this look great on the dinner table for a party? ! I can't wait to use it! So thank you to Sawdust and Paperscraps for sharing an amazing project and to my great friend for her generosity and hard work. Oh and you can see her finished project here.

linked up to the CSI challange

Halloween project #3

2010-10-05T19:50:00.001-07:00

this project was inspired by a couple others I'd seen on some blogs. The first I found at Tatertots & Jello from Made with Love and Glue. They used a crow, I also love the pumpkin I saw but for the life of me can't remember where. It was the same concept cut the pumpkin in half and mount it in a frame. These cute things cost me all of $2 to do. The skull if from the Dollar Tree and the frames I found at my local thrift store for a buck. I had the paper and ribbon on hand so that was easy. I just cut off the back of the skull and hot glued it to the paper. Cute huh? These two have a home already planned out so I may need to make one for myself.

I joined in the Linky Party at Eighteen25 & Tatertots & Jello

yeah, I found the pumpkin inspiration I was searching for, take a look here

project #2 Halloween "BOO"

2010-09-28T11:39:00.000-07:00

I am so lucky to have such fabulous friends! ! ! ! I found this super cute craft at the eighteen25 blog (which I love) and thought how fun it would be to make and then thought how much more fun it would be to make with friends. So a few of us got together and had some fun glittering and gabbing. Here's how mine turned out.

Dacia & Nicole

Katie, Rachel, Camille, Rachelle, & Bernie

Bernie's

Dacia's

Nicole's

Katie's

Camille's

Rachelle's

Lynne's

Thanks to a great bunch of girls for a large amount of laughter and glitter.

the first halloween project

2010-09-21T19:14:00.000-07:00

This fall/Halloween is going to be a hard one. First because I shouldn't even still be here and second all my fall and Halloween stuff is packed up somewhere so I won't be getting that out this year. SO, I'm itchin' to do some Halloween projects. My first one was this super easy cake stand I made, not very sophisticated but works great for kids gatherings and I'm in charge of my 1st graders class Halloween party this year so they will work great for that.

I've had these Halloween plates for years and kinda forgot about them until Holland pulled them out one day while playing in a cupboard.

I went to Michael's for some Terra Cotta pots and painted them orange and added some stripes and polka dots. (of course!!)

Hot glued them together and voila! cute little cake stands.

I'm super excited to get started on my second project and I'm trying really hard to wait to do it until our girls gathering. Can't wait, it's going to be fabulous!

more flowers

2010-08-31T20:10:00.000-07:00

I'm still on my fabric flower obsession. This time I've added them to some flip flops for my sisters and to a dress to fancy it up a little.

Cowgirl Carnival

2010-08-30T10:54:00.001-07:00

I've posted pictures of the party I helped my sister do for my niece on my party blog here if you'd like to see more. It was so fun to do with my sister.

Giveaway

2010-08-30T10:50:00.000-07:00

Ok this giveaway is serious business. I would LOVE to win this, oh how much simpler life would be. (ok not really but my party making would be) Have you seen what this machine can do? Amazing!!! Head on over to one of my most favorite party sites "Kara's Party Ideas" and enter to win one and while you're there you might as well check out all the cute parties she's featured(warning: it will take you all day to see all of them).

A little back to school something

2010-08-25T12:10:00.000-07:00

During my perusing blogs over the summer I came across some really cute teacher gifts. This one I saw and wanted to do for the boys first day back to school. It was really easy and fun to put together. You could really use this for so many different things.

I found the take out boxes at Michaels for about a $1

I could have sworn that I'd seen fortune cookies at the grocery store with the other Asian products but no such luck. I ended up going to our local Chinese take out place, and just FYI, about a dozen fit in the box.

I think they turned out pretty cute.

Flower Headbands

2010-08-10T18:58:00.000-07:00

I've been a bit obsessive as of late. I'm in LOVE with fabric flowers. I have looked up tutes on how to make like 5 different kinds. These are some of the ones I've completed. I'm also working on some to put on flip flops and a couple to go on clips.

This one in MINE!
It's a satin flower with beads as the center. (thanks Kate for the beads)

This one is Hollands to wear for our pictures I'm doing.
It's a tattered fabric flower

This is the first one that I did, I think I'd wear it with a white T-shirt and jeans.
It's two different kinds of flowers, the ones on the ends are rolled fabric flowers and the one in the middle is a ribbon flower.

This is Ellie's to wear for our pictures
They are all rolled fabric flowers.

All the tutes I've used are posted on my side bar if you'd like to give them a try yourself.

Giveaway

2010-07-08T08:50:00.000-07:00

I love looking at all the party blogs out there and when I find one that has amazing elements it makes my day. Well one of the amazing elements I've found recently are some super cute party attire for kids. I was in love with these little girls outfits the moment I saw them. Where you ask, well go take a look at Bella Grace Party Design and you'll see just what I mean. And she's doing a giveaway for a super cute pair of bloomers from Three Yellow Starfish, now you must go see and enter to win. I will have to get a pinafore top to match this if I win to complete the outfit.

invitations

2010-05-25T15:05:00.000-07:00

I'm excited to be throwing a baby shower, actually I should say a baby sprinkle since she has two boys already but is expecting her first girl, for my friend and neighbor. I have had so much fun planning and dreaming this up. I can't wait for it all to come together. So here's a little sneak peak at things to come. I truly believe the invitations sets the tone for the party so I hope mine says cute and fun. What do you think?

Teacher Appreciation

2010-05-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

Teacher appreciation week is this week and I've been lucky enough to be able to help out little at my boys school. For teacher gifts this year I thought I'd try my hand at stationary. Let's just say I won't be opening my own shop ~ probably ever. It was fun to play around with and I hope they like what I did. I made flat note cards with their names, thank you cards, and book labels. I think they turned out pretty cute. I love my digital scrapbooking kits!

The tags on the bag says: "A teacher affects eternity; she can never tell where her influence stops." Henry Adams.

Ladybug Party

2010-04-21T17:41:00.000-07:00

Because I am the way I am I have already decided on a theme and started collecting ideas for my girls birthday party this year (in October).

I thought I could go through what I've found so far and maybe that would inspire me more or someone out there would have some more fabulous ideas. I'll try and site my findings best I can.

First of course they will need party hats just for them and of course for the rest of the guests. I'm hoping to find some red polka dot paper and use black marabu and polka dot ribbons. I found this SUPER cute out fit at Miacarina. I think it would be perfect for Holland and of course Ellie would need something as well. I found a black and white pettiskirt at Halo Heaven for her and I'll make a T just for her too.

For the favors I've found lots of cute things. starting at the top ~ chocolate ladybugs, ladybug pencil and erasers, ladybug pen, two different kinds of ladybug stickers, ladybug note pad, ladybug bubbles, and of course a net to catch them in. I thought it would be fun to put the favors in clear pail with a cute label and some ribbons of course. (not everything here will be in the pail, just ideas) most things I found at the Ladybug Gift Store. Also found some things at Oriental Trading and Birthday Express
When I saw this cute red and black favor box the first thing that came to my mind was that it would be fun to serve the kids lunch in these. Stick a cute label on the front with their name on it and serve with a water bottle with a matching label. The oreo suckers I thought I could make look like ladybugs and put a wrapper on them and a cute tag. I've found lots of ideas for ladybug cakes but haven't decided what to do yet.
I'm excited to get started on the decorations. I think I can make paper ladybugs to put up, a banner, pom poms, balloons, and I want to design my own invitation and all the labels and tags and a door sign.

So that's what I've got so far. Any more ideas?

stuffed strawberries

2010-04-18T21:39:00.000-07:00

These are so yummy and so easy to make. We made these for the baby shower we did a few weeks ago but they are so good I had to make them for my mom and sisters when we got together this last week.

The recipe is very basic:
8oz of cream cheese at room temp
1/2 C of powdered sugar
beat together until creamy
cut the tops of the strawberries off to make a flat surface then quarter them but do not cut all the way through.
put the cream cheese in a piping bag fitted with a large tip and stick in the strawberry to fill.
I melted some chocolate chips in a ziplock bag and drizzled that over top.

See super easy yet so impressive, give them a try this season.

Pleasantly Pink Baby Shower

2010-04-04T08:24:00.001-07:00

I was lucky enough to do a baby shower with my good friend Dacia for another friend who is having her first girl after two boys. Of course we did all things pink in her honor.

This centerpiece I saw at the Party Dress which I fell in love with right away. We so tried to get an Edwardian umbrella like the one in the picture but they are super expensive from US sites and then ran into problems trying to get one here from the UK. Next time I'll have one.

The food was SO yummy!
These are stuffed strawberries which I found at Kraft, they were so good!

I found a really good recipe for a Caesar Club sandwich from the Barefoot Contessa at the Foodnet Work site. The original plan was to put the sandwiches in Glassine bags with a cute label but the bags ended up being to small. So now I have two dozen bags with tags and I'm not sure what to do with them, oh well I'll come up with something. (please excuse my misspelling)

We made these paper cones which were inspired from The Hostess With The Mostess, we filled them with candy popcorn.

I found these molds at Michaels and wanted to use them to see how they'd work out. We filled them with raspberry mousse and they were a big hit.

It's not a party if you don't have cupcakes.

We served chips and dips. The dips we put in the little party cups and the chips in Glassine bags.

We hung the tissue poms and paper lanterns from dowels that I painted white and stuck them in vases on a bed of rose petals.

sparkling pink lemonade

and the favors were mini cupcakes in a super cute milk carton container.

I LOVE to do a party and had so much fun doing this one with Dacia. If you want to see an AMAZING shower she did for her sister you need to check out her pictures here. WOW is all I can say.

Great Giveaway!

2010-03-30T07:38:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite places for meal inspiration is Kara's Kitchen Creations. She has great recipes and I haven't not liked anything I've tried from her blog yet. I think my favorite is the Outback Chicken recipe, so yummy! Well she's having a giveaway and I so need to win, it's a 6 quart slow cooker and I want it!!! hop on over and take a look and enter to win, but if you do win you owe me big!
Good luck!

Transformer Cake

2010-03-04T21:33:00.001-08:00

Disclaimer: I am NOT a professional!!!! nor do I claim to be as good as one.

Anyway, a friend of a friend asked if I could do a Transformer cake for her boyfriends birthday So I figured hey why not. This was my first time working with fondant and I was a little nervous. I really don't care for the taste of this stuff so I didn't want to cover all of the cake with it but I knew I had to use it for the faces. I also found the font on line and figured what the heck, it was a lot of cutting. I really did enjoy doing this and can't wait to do my next one.

Finally Something!!

2010-02-20T09:27:00.000-08:00

Having all my stuff packed up has made me realize how much I LOVE to create. I miss not being able to go back to my room and do something fun for someone. Well as it is my son's birthday this weekend I was able to do a little something. Of course I had to unpack a few boxes but hey I can't just not do anything. Anyway he brought cupcakes for his class at school and I did them up a little bit.

He is a huge animal lover and I had these cute little guys in one of my digital scrapbooking kits. The paper for the wrappers is from Doodlebug and I tried to make the frosting on top look like grass that the animal cookie could sit in.

Needless to say I don't think the Kindergarteners were that impressed but it was fun to do!

Christmas Treats

2009-12-22T12:43:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas time and I've only done a few things this year for the Holidays. Trying to sell a house during the holidays stinks! All my stuff is boxed up and my crafting space is no more, so sad. But I didn't let it completely stop me from creating a little something. I made these frames for my good friends who I am going to have to leave behind once we actually move. So I thought a small memento of us together would be appropriate. I'd love to get a more professional picture in there but the snapshot will have to do.

Also Christmas wouldn't be complete with out my Christmas candies that I love to make and eat! They turned out really yummy and I'm excited to share with all my family that I get to spend Christmas with.

Cocoa Party

2009-12-16T23:40:00.000-08:00

I had a wonderful time at our annual cocoa party and even more fun planning and working on it. Our theme this year was a snowy winter wonderland. Inspired from This winter wonderland tablescape from Inspired Bride that we saw on Hostess With the Mostess (one of my all time favorite places for inspiration)

For the invitations we used the "Sweet Treat" cups from Stamp'n Up to add a little more snow to the invitation.

I saw this idea once on Martha Stewart quite a while ago and they turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself. I took styrofoam balls and sprayed them with spray adhesive and rolled them in fake snow.

We took the branch idea from Inspired Bride and sprayed these branches with the snow in the can and they "looked" great but when it came time to use them the snow started flaking off. SO, I should have used the instructions from Inspired Bride and spray painted them white- note to self. We also hung snow flakes from the branches for a more wintery feel. Love how they turned out!!

I am a huge fan of Amy Atlas and love her simple yet amazing table scapes she does. So in her honor, I tried.

We tried our hand at cake pops from Bakerella, they're really not too difficult and are super cute so if you ever need a fun new sweet to try you should really give these a go. (I'd do chocolate cake next time instead of yellow)

We also got together to decorate snowflake sugar cookies that turned out really cute. (and yummy)

We also had ordered powdered sugar doughnut holes (cause they look like snowballs) but didn't get exactly what we were hoping for so we improvised and rolled our glazed doughnut holes in powdered sugar.

After last years party we decided we needed something to counter act all the sweet things so I made a cheeseball and we found snowflake RITZ to go with it.

And to finish off the night we sent everyone home with more cakepops to enjoy later. We put these bags together using American Crafts Merry Mint paper and hung a snowflake in the window.

A big thanks to Dacia and Lynne for all the fun times we had putting this together and co-hosting. I can't wait for next years! Thanks again girls.

in limbo

2009-11-09T07:18:00.000-08:00

As you may have noticed it's been a while since I posted here. The reason being that my craft room is all packed up. I'm now playing the waiting game. I'm waiting to see if our house sells, I'm waiting to see if Todd gets any offers from the two companies he's got second interviews with, and well just waiting to see where life is going to take us. I have a sinking feeling my next home will not be equipped with a craft room, : ( So I guess it will be a while before I'm back. I may of course do some random posts about who knows what but we'll wait and see.

I'm a winner!

2009-10-23T09:01:00.000-07:00

As you can tell by my "favorites" blog list on the side there that I have many places I like to visit. One of them is a blog from the makers of CARDS magazine. I LOVE this magazine and any time I stop in my local craft store I pick the newest one up for inspiration. I would love to have a subscription to this magazine but they are a little pricey for me right now. Someday. Anyway I left a random comment on one of there giveaway posts and was randomly selected as the winner! What did I win you ask, well I'm not really sure. It's a Halloween pack of goodies from Helen Dardik, not too familiar with her stuff but hey not complaining. I'll share what it is I won once it arrives. Until then I'll be stalking my mailman.

pumpkin topiary

2009-10-15T19:43:00.000-07:00

This is something we did for my sister's ward R.S. meeting (use to be enrichment) to got with their fall theme for the evening. I think they turned out pretty cute. I'd love to put a bigger version with lots of leaves and berries on my front porch. Thanks for letting me help Lacey.

Couple of cards

2009-10-15T19:39:00.001-07:00

First is my R.S. birthday card for the month of October

And this one is just one I made a good friend for her birthday.

Bushels of Blessings

2009-10-10T09:24:00.001-07:00

Big sigh! Yeah I made it through, it was close though. I thought for sure I would be moved by now and wouldn't be doing the Activity Days dinner, but here I am. Really though it wasn't that bad. I decided on the theme "Bushels of Blessings" and using apples. This wasn't quite as over the top as last year but I think the girls enjoyed it as did their parents.

I did digital invitations this time instead of my handmade and they turned out pretty cute.

I also use some of my digital stuff from fabulous Kristin Aagard's "Sweet Apple" collection, for my program cover. Love her stuff!!

Centerpieces I found these great tubs at Target in their dollar section for only $2.50 and that scrapbook paper was also in the dollar section and was perfect!

For a treat for the girls I made them each a caramel apple with chocolate and sprinkles. I also found these baskets in the dollor section at Target.

Kara from "Kara's cupcakes" did these super cute cupcakes and they went perfect with my theme, thanks for the help Kara! I used them for decoration on the food table, everyone was anxious to get their hands on these.

The food wasn't anything super fabulous, ham, funeral potatoes, salad, rolls, and apple crisp for the adults.

It all went really well and everyone seemed to have a good time. I only had one hiccup, the ham wasn't warmed through when it came time to eat so I just cut off the warmed outside parts. It didn't look very pretty but no one seemed to mind.

I'm almost positive this was my last activity days dinner but you never know, maybe I'll be in activity days again when I move.

(for those who don't know what activity days are in our church girls ages 8 to 11 meet twice a month for an activity and do work towards their "Faith in God" award, if you'd like more info please visit here)

Disneyland giveaway

2009-10-10T08:43:00.001-07:00

How cool would it be to win a trip to Disneyland! Like to give it a try go to these two sites for two chances to win. Sweet Life in the Valley & Out and About with the Family
Good luck!

giveaway

2009-09-24T08:46:00.000-07:00

I've found another giveaway that I'd like to share. Kim over at TomKat Studio, a place I frequent often, is giving away some super fun things from Papaya Art. What is Papaya Art you say, well check out all there fun things here.

Just a small sample of what they carry

Then you should really hop over to TomKat Studio to enter to win yourself. Good luck!

New Moon

2009-09-18T08:55:00.000-07:00

Yes I'll admit it I am a member of team Edward. I've been looking forward to the New Moon release coming in Nov. but now that I've seen this compilation of previews I'm SUPER EXCITED to see it. I'm even going to go as far to say that I'd be willing to go to the midnight showing. Here's the link to the 6 minute preview" NEW MOON". Warning though if you haven't already read the book, it pretty much goes through the whole thing so if you don't want the ending to be spoiled don't watch. Do I have any other takers for the midnight showing, you can answer after you've watched this trailer. I think this calls for another party, what do you think ladies?

temorarily closing shop

2009-09-13T17:49:00.000-07:00

I've decided to put my party business on hold for a while. I've got to many other things that need my time right now to give much time to the party stuff. But I do have some toppers, wrappers and banners for sale that I did up for a booth this last weekend. All are either Halloween or Christmas. Jump over to my positively perfect party blog to see pictures of what I have for sale. And some day I'll be at this again. Till then . . . . . ta ta for now.

have you been here yet?

2009-09-08T18:50:00.000-07:00

Have you been over to Kara's Party Ideas yet? No? Well you are seriously missing out. This girl can throw a party! She has amazing ideas and all kinds of party posts to look through and to be inspired by. And if that wasn't enough she's giving away $25 to Favor Affair. She is a must see so go and check her out.

A little change

2009-09-03T22:16:00.000-07:00

I've made some changes on my party blog. I have so much fun changing things around it's hard to keep the same thing for very long, but I think I'll be hanging on to this one for a while. You can see a little glimps there with the new button. Do you have one? You really should, have a button I mean~ : )

not a big fan of white

2009-08-27T09:24:00.000-07:00

As I do my birthday cards each month I try to come up with something fun and different. I am always looking for a color to inspire me and to use as my base for the card. Well this month I had an idea in my head and I got what I thought I'd need to put this idea down. BUT when I went to make the base of my card all I had was white. White just doesn't do it for me, it's just blah in my opinion. But I had nothing else to use at the moment and needed to get theme done, so I used white. Sorry for anyone getting this card this month, it's not what it should be but it's cute.

Winners

2009-08-22T09:22:00.000-07:00

The winners have been chosen! Go see who the lucky girls are @

positively perfect.

last day to enter

2009-08-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

Today (Friday) is the last day to enter to win on my party blog. So get over there and get your name in to win 24 cupcake toppers, 24 cupcake wrappers, and 8 goodie bag tags. These will be custom made just for you!

VOTE for this AMAZING party

2009-08-14T19:56:00.001-07:00

Have you ever been to Kara's party ideas. This girl has some FABULOUS parties!!
One of my favorites, her big top circus party, has been placed in the top 5 on a contest on Hostess With The Mostess, another amazing party site, and needs your votes. You must be on facebook and then become a fan of Hostess with the Mostess to leave a comment and vote. So while your up late on facebook while you should really be in bed, give her your vote. I know how much I appreciated all the votes my cocoa party got and I know she'd appreciate yours too.

and this is just a small taste of the party, you gotta see the rest.

I'm in trouble now

2009-08-07T18:40:00.001-07:00

This is sooooo not good (but really it is). As if I need one more thing to occupy my time. I have fell in LOVE with digital scrapbooking and stuff. My favorite designer is Kirstin Aagard.

And this is my very first digital layout.

And these are my favorite kits.

And you can see more of Kirsitn's super cute designs here.

I also have to add this invite i did, using her kit, for my Activity Days activity. Can I say again I love her stuff!!!

well it's something

2009-08-05T11:12:00.000-07:00

My husband has recently purchased Photoshop for our computer and I am so a newbie at it. Thank heavens for Google. We had pictures taken this last weekend, as you can see from the post below, and I had a vision. Well this is sort of my vision come to life. It'll take practice and patience but I'll get the hang of it. (disclaimer: I am NOT a professional)

Green and black birthday card

2009-08-04T22:41:00.000-07:00

I love being able to make just one card not a multiple of them. I can go all out and not have to worry about assembling many. So here's one I did for my great friends birthday. Thanks again for the great company over a yummy dinner. Happy Birthday Dacia!!

Tutu's

2009-08-04T07:41:00.001-07:00

While we had family here this last week and a half all the grandkids were together so of course my mom needed a picture. I thought it would be cute if we put all the granddaughters in tutu's of different colors. I made three and my two sisters each made two, I think they turned out super cute!

August b-day cards

2009-08-03T16:13:00.001-07:00

Super easy and I got to try out my new punch.

Giveaway

2009-07-13T18:45:00.000-07:00

My new favorite hair blog, Sugar and Spice, is doing a giveaway for a set of super cute hair bows. Go on over and check it out.

July B-day cards

2009-07-03T10:52:00.001-07:00

I have new favorites, Doodlebug has this super cute line called "Sweet Shop" and I LOVE it!!! I was in Roberts getting paper for this months cards and had to exercises some serious self control. They have THE Cutest brads to go along with this line as well as their super cute other lines. I don't think I got enough of this paper and will be needing to go back for more. I wish they did digital kits!!! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!

Give away alert

2009-06-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite blogs, Creative Parties and Showers, is having a give away for Favor Affair, this great place to get amazing favors for any kind of party. Hop on over and check it out.

Barefoot Bunco

2009-06-25T08:43:00.000-07:00

I can check another party off my list. Last night was my turn to host our Bunco group and for some reason (I"m blaming my cold) I was really behind in getting things done for this. So the day and night were kinda crazy and I didn't get a single picture. I do have some favors left over so I can at least get a pictures of those. Otherwise you just get to hear about it. I've found I have two nemesis in the kitchen. The first is plastic wrap, I can never get it to tear where it's suppose to and it always comes off in a clump. The second I discovered yesterday while getting ready for Bunco, Puff Pastry shells. I love to eat them so I thought doing some yummy recipes with them would be great. My first problem was that I wanted to try recipes that called for using mini shells and in my little town with only two grocery stores, they only had the regular size. So I got three boxes, I had originally had three recipes using the mini's and now I was trying to figure out what the heck I was going to do. My first box didn't work out so well, I'm pretty sure they were under cooked and when I went to remove the tops and gooey middle, well lets just say they didn't look so good. But by the third box they were starting to look like they are suppose to. Those I filled with a cream cheese and whipped topping filling and topped with fresh fruit. I also found a yummy recipe on Pepperidge Farm.com for chocolate raspberry pillows that turned out pretty good. And for a non sweet I put chicken salad on baguettes. My favorite was the Italian Soda's to drink.

I had found these pedicure kits at the dollar store about a month ago and wanted to use them as invites but like I said things just didn't go as planned. I didn't get these out before I left town and it was too late when I got back. So they worked great as favors. For prizes I had everything to do with feet, a toe ring with nail polish, an ankle bracelet with polish, foot care stuff like a scrubber, soaking salt, and pumas stone, also a french manicure/pedicure set, and an old classic movie Barefoot in the Park.

Once I cooled down I really enjoyed the night and had so much fun talking and eating with great friends, oh and playing a little Bunco.

Stamp'n Up card exchange card

2009-06-12T22:11:00.001-07:00

So like I said below I LOVE Pebbles Inc. paper and this card is all Pebbles Inc. stuff except the ribbon.

giveaway

2009-06-11T17:40:00.003-07:00

One of my most favorite paper companies is giving away free stuff from their new line. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to win this one. Wish me luck!
Pebbles Inc.

Five Little Monkey's Baby Shower pictures

2009-06-03T22:54:00.000-07:00

to see details about the party decor check out positively perfect under baby showers

It's finally happened! I've been so excited to do this baby shower for a good friend of mine. We've been talking about it and getting stuff together for a month at least and to see it all come together was so great.

This is the banner I made for her shower. She is having her fifth child and it's a boy. So what better way to celebrate than to have a shower for her, because having five kids deserves a party!
We served one of my favorites salads from the "Domestic Diva's Party Cook book" (all recipes at the end of the post), strawberries and cheesecake dip, hot artichoke dip with baguettes, and of course cupcakes. The punch was the Citrus Sunshine punch. It was all so yummy!

These are the favors we sent home with everyone. Chocolate sprinkles in these cute tins. Also the prizes for the games, salt water taffy in coordinating colors.

One of the games was design a onsie. We used fabric markers and stamps to create a unique onsie for the baby. Mom picked the winner.

The other game we played was guess what's in the bag. In each bag was a baby item that started with that letter. Here's what we had: B-bib A-applesauce B-burp cloths Y-yellow rubber duck S-socks H-hats O-onsie W- washcloths E- electrical plugs R-rattle

The results from the design contest

Sorry I didn't get pictures of the backs of these they were really cute as well.

It was so fun just to visit and get excited about the arrival of this new baby. We are so excited for you Lynne.
A big thank you to Dacia for all your help.

Ok here's the recipes;
Salad de Maison
2 bags of hearts of Romaine lettuce or 2 heads of Romaine lettuce, rinsed
1 carton cherry tomatoes, cut in half or 1 carton grape tomatoes
3/4 C shredded Parmesan Cheese
8oz shredded Swiss Cheese
1 package center cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 C seasoned croutons
1 package (4oz) slivered almonds, toasted
Dressing (recipe follows)
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Just before serving toss with dressing.

Dressing
3/4 C oil
Juice of 1 lemon
2 to 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
or 1 tsp chopped garlic
1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Combine all ingredients, mixing well and chill overnight.

Hot Artichoke Dip
8oz. cream cheese-softened
1 C mayo
1- 14oz. can or jar of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
2 green onions, sliced thin
1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese
1 C grated Motz. cheese
Dash of hot sauce
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper
*beat all ingredients together. Transfer to pie plate and bake at 350 for 30-40 min

Cheesecake Dip
4oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 C sour cream
3 Tbs powdered sugar
1 Tbs milk
1/8 tsp almond extract
1 pint fresh strawberries
1/4 C crushed graham crackers

In a mixing bowl beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sour cream, sugar, milk and almond extract and mix well. Transfer to a serving bowl. Place washed strawberries and graham cracker crumbs in separate bowls. Dip strawberries in cream cheese mixture then into graham cracker crumbs.

And you can get the punch recipe here

Thanks to all who came!

watermellon popcicles

2009-05-27T08:12:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe on Kraft and since they were so cute I had to give them a try. They turned out pretty good. I didn't have the right size paper cups so I used larger ones and it was a little too much popcicle so I'll definitely use the smaller ones next time. The kids gave them great reviews.

Teacher appreciation

2009-05-08T15:31:00.001-07:00

I'm a new mom to the whole school thing. I don't know the ettiquette for gifting for teachers. I assumed for Teacher Appreciation week it would be a good time to send a little something to Quinton's teacher. It will probably end up in the "what the heck am I suppose to do with that" pile but oh well. Anyway this is what we sent to school for his teacher. It's a clipboard, that's teacherish right? Does anyone know what teachers like to get anyway so I can be working on something for the end of the year which is quickly approaching.

back

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Centerpiece

2009-05-06T09:57:00.001-07:00

I got a call this morning asking if I had anything available for a centerpiece for a teacher appreciation lunch. Of course I couldn't just hand over a bud vase with a single Gerber daisy, so this is what I came up with on short notice. I had a million ideas fly through my head but had to work with what I had on hand. Oh well, still pretty cute.

Party hat in the works

2009-05-04T10:21:00.000-07:00

This is one of the party hats I'm working on for my nephews birthday. I am still looking for something fun for the fringe at the bottom and have decided the circles are too big. I love the ribbons at the top and am planning these in yellow and black polka dots as well. I'll be sure to post the finished products. off to do some more searching.

Party, Party, Party!!!!!

2009-05-03T21:16:00.000-07:00

I LOVE to throw a party and I'm doing a couple in the next few months that I am soooo excited about.

Coming up first is a baby shower for my good friend who is having her fifth. My theme for the party is "five little monkeys" and the colors are chocolate brown, light brown and light turquoise. I'll be sure to post pictures as I get things done for that one.

Then I have my nephews birthday that I'm helping my sister-in-law with since it's happening at the family reunion this year. He's having a construction party and the colors are red, yellow, and black. I'm doing the banner, party hats, cupcake toppers, invites, door sign, goodie bag tags, and confetti. It's been lots of fun helping with the planning, thanks Britt for letting me.

Next up is our girls night bunco group. I'm the hostess for June and of course I have to have a theme to go on so I chose to do "barefoot bunco". Lots of stuff to do with feet and summer. I have pedicure kits I got from the dollar store to put with the invites that I'm excited to do. And of course my prizes have everything to do with feet. Hopefully it's nice enough by then that we can start outside. fingers crossed.

And I know it's not until October but I've also started planning my girls birthday party. I found some great ideas and am going with a lollipop theme with the colors being light pink, hot pink, lime green, and teal. I've already made Ellie's tutu to match, way easy. I'll also make Holland one but I'm waiting until it's closer just because she'll change so much between now and then. I wonder how long I can get away with doing one party for both girls? (their birthdays are one and then the next the next day)

So here's a picture of my first tutu.

I completely forgot one. I'm helping a friend of mine do her cusomer/hostess appreciation party in July. We're doing a flirty french theme in black, white, and pink. Using damask, feathers, pink roses, etc. This should be super cute and fun to pull together.

Super Cool!

2009-04-26T22:07:00.000-07:00

Remember way back to last October when I did my sister's baby shower? Well it's being featured on this great blog called Creative Parties & Showers on Thursday April 30th. They have great parties to see so you should definitely check them out!

Twilight party

2009-04-26T12:04:00.000-07:00

I know some of you have seen this already on my family blog but I wanted to get it posted here with other parties I've done. So sorry to those who already have viewed this.

First I have to say how much I love Hostess With the Mostess which is where I got the quotes and drink labels from, always a great place for inspiration.

These are the favors I had for everyone, Twilight bites.

These labels are what made me want to throw this party.

Of course I had to have mood lighting.

Quotes from the movie.

And of course the girls.

We all had a great time critiquing the movie and how we thought it could have been better and of course the parts we liked. It was a great excuse to throw a party!

2009-04-23T13:37:00.000-07:00

I know it's been over a month since I've posted and I'm sorry. My creative juices have just not been flowing this last month. I could not come up with a card I liked for my Stamp'n Up group. I sat down in my room for almost two hours trying to come up with something and got nothin. I have finally got my birthday cards for the month done and I think it was the seriously cute paper I had to work with that inspired me. I love this paper from Pebbles Inc. They also have a cute polka dot paper that I couldn't help getting as well. We'll see what I can make out of that. Hopefully I have better luck this month with my Stamp'n Up cards.

Ten year anniversary book

2009-03-11T20:20:00.000-07:00

For our Ten Year anniversary I made Todd a little trip down memory lane. I titled it "I'll follow you anywhere" I found this great arrow book from BoBunny and paper that also had the arrow theme from American Crafts and combined the two and I think it turned out pretty cute. I did a short snippet about what happened in our lives that year and tried to find a picture of us or something related to that year. I think I had all but two years covered. For those two I just used pictures of the two of us. It was a lot of fun to make I hope he likes it!

March Stamp'n Up cards- theme=birthday

2009-03-11T17:16:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's the paper that makes all the difference. I was with friends the other day trying to make my card come together and it just wasn't working for me. I had the general idea in my head but it wasn't coming out on the paper. I decided I needed to go look for paper that sang to me, and well I found it. Can I say I love American Crafts, paper, ribbon, embellishments, the whole lot of it.

Anyway this is what I came up with. Gotta love Cupcakes!

SPT

2009-03-10T14:18:00.000-07:00

This months challenge has been really hard for me. (obviously since I didn't participate last week) I guess it's due that I don't get out much and when I do it's usually with my four kids, thus no hands to take pictures due to trying to control my kids. But as soon as Lelly posted that it would be about 8's bedtime came rushing to my mind. I love 8pm because my kids are all usually asleep by then and the house is quiet. ( ok so my 4mo old is still up but she's so mellow it's worth it). So I LOVE LOVE LOVE 8 o'clock!

March B-day cards

2009-02-26T20:26:00.001-08:00

I had the hardest time coming up with an idea for this months cards. I walked up and down the paper isle at Porters trying to decide what to do. I saw some birthday candle paper that inspired me and it just kinda went from there. I have to say these are one of my favorites.

SPT

2009-02-24T15:10:00.000-08:00

This weeks SPT is "I'm saying I love you when I. . . . "

The daily ordeal of what to make for dinner is sometimes just too much. I get so frustrated trying to think of what to make and my honey knows this. So when I make dinner consisting of more than Mac N Cheese I am saying I love you.

And when I clean the toilets I'm saying I REALLY love you!
(no one needs to see a picture of a toilet no matter how clean)

SPT

2009-02-17T08:31:00.000-08:00

This week's SPT is "The first thing that attracted me to you was . . . . "

(both are engagement pic's)

For me let's just say I was in a bit of a funky stage in my life and Todd seemed to fit perfect. I loved that he wore jewelery like bracelets, rings, and necklaces (ok more like chains, not so girly sounding) and that he bleached his hair. I liked that punk kinda look with out going too far. A bonus for me was no earring. But mostly I loved that he could dance, and I'm not talking slow dance, the boy could move! (for some background we met at End Fest which was a concert, in the Seattle area, which featured like 15 different bands, and they were mostly punk bands at the time. Blink 182, Green Day, Zebrahead, etc. . . . in 1998)

Spring Cards

2009-02-10T18:54:00.000-08:00

this month for our Stamp'n Up card exchange we were suppose to do a spring card. First thing I think of is flowers. Can I just say how much I am lovin my Cuttlebug. I use it all the time now. These scallop flowers were cut out with it and these great dies from Stamp'n Up. Actually most of the stuff I used this time was from Stamp'n Up, that doesn't happen too often with me, there are just too many cute things out there to put to good use.

SPT

2009-02-10T15:41:00.000-08:00

Amazing enough I have a minute to get this done and it's not even 10pm yet.

This week to go along with the LOVE theme the SPT is
" I think it would be romantic to . . . . "

So I am not in any of these pictures so I don't know if it really goes along with the "self" portrait part but I think this would be very romantic, mostly because there would be no kids along at all.

I would love to take a cruise with my sweetie, even though he thinks they'd be boring. I could stand to lay out on the deck in beach chairs next to him and soak in the sun & beautiful view.

I would also love to stay at a resort where your room is right there on the beach and had these fabulous swing beds.

Honestly though, anywhere warm and sunny and quiet would be heaven and just being with him makes it romantic.

Want to hear what other SPTer's think would be romantic click here

Centerpiece

2009-02-05T13:23:00.001-08:00

My good friend Dacia has these great costomer/hostess appreciation parties where she gives away a bunch of jewelry and I get to help her decorate for these. I so miss decorating wedding receptions and it's so fun to be able to do this once in a while. So these are the centerpieces I whipped up. I forgot to bring my camera so they're just on my coffe table and missing a few elements like two votive candles and some heart confetti. We also ran cute red with white polka dot wrapping paper down the food table and used our cute Crate & Barrel cakes stands.
She's such a fun person to do a party with, thanks for letting me help out a little.

by the way there is a wine glass in the vase in which we lit a tea light

SPT

2009-02-03T15:08:00.000-08:00

My SPT's should always read SPT PM

This weeks SPT is
"I love it when you . . . "

This month is going to be a hard one for me to do as my husband is out of town. So I thought I'd do the best I could and make sure he knows how much I love him, miss him, and appreciate him.

I love it when he hears a song and thinks of me and lets me know.
(side note- I got an email from him letting me know what song he'd heard that made him think of me). It should be playing for you all now. I love to know that he's thinking of me as much as I am of him.
I love it when you put up with my crazy ideas, mostly for the parties I want to throw. And for all the times you helped me create the vision I had for a wedding receptions, even though it meant more work for you. (I use to have a wedding decorating business before we moved)
I love it when you play with the kids and make them laugh.

I love it when you just hold my hand.

birthday card

2009-01-28T13:17:00.000-08:00

Last Stamp'n Up group we did a card using the scallop circle die cut to make the card and I loved it. So I had to incorporate it into my monthly birthday cards.

SPT

2009-01-27T18:48:00.000-08:00

Sorry this is so late getting done, but it is still Tuesday. Today with school being canceled I found I had no time to sit and do this until now when everyone is in bed.

So this weeks SPT challenge is:
I resolve to take more self-portraits doing things I love.

First is chocolate, I didn't think it very lady like to post a picture of me with my mouth full of this ice cream so this should do. I so much enjoy really good chocolate.

Second is me talking to my husband on the phone. He calls at least once a day. He's so Sweet! (ok these are really out of order, he should come before chocolate)

There are just so many things I enjoy doing I do need to document them more so I remember in years to come.

Want to see other SPT members or join us? Click here

SPT

2009-01-20T15:33:00.001-08:00

Tuesday, January 20: I resolve to take more self-portraits while trying new things

This is my NEW MP3 player and as of now I hate it. I've been trying for days to download songs onto it but have had no luck and only frustration.
My husband got an ipod and downloaded all our CD's to our MacBook and then from there put all 300+ songs on his ipod. I have not been able to get a single one on mine. I've tried so many things to make it compatible but with no luck. So my try something new is very frustrating!

Want to see other SPT's or join in, click here

STP

2009-01-13T09:18:00.000-08:00

I had to change my location for doing this because I made my family blog private, this is where I post some of the crafty things I do.

Me and my boys

Me and the girls

And the one I love most is far away and I didn't get a picture with him before he left
: (

Valentine Cards

2009-01-11T17:58:00.000-08:00

For our card exchange this month we did Valentines cards. this was mine. I got to use my Cuttlebug & embossing plates that I got for Christmas. it was so fun to put together, hope you like it.