Pumpkin Decorating Party

I will be the first to admit that Halloween isn't really my thing. I just can't get into it. Maybe I was traumatized as a small child and have blocked out the memory of it. Don't get me wrong... I like the candy. It's just the cheesy, spooky, costume wearing factor I can't seem to get behind. I wish I could.

One thing I do love about Halloween though is carving pumpkins. I'm not sure what lit the initial spark, but way back in August I knew I wanted to have a pumpkin carving party with everyone. Being that it was still summer I put a pin in the idea and moved on... until I saw the dollar bin at Target filled with fall decorations and party supplies. Specifically these small paper snack cup that I had to have. They were just so fun and since they were more fall-ish than Halloween-ish it was right up my alley. So I came home from my first shopping trip with this: the snack cups, small orange paper plates to match, 3 small tin pails with ivory ribbon handles and a spool of 4 fall themed ribbons. Random? Yes. At that point I didn't even know who, or how many, I was inviting or what I was going to do with the pails or ribbon.

My spoils. 

Eventually everything did fall into place. I knew I wanted to keep it relatively small. Add our parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, one cousin and her family and a couple of Morgan's friends together and you get a group number in the twenties. That happens to be minimalistic in my family. I also didn't want to do a meal. Just a few (or 12 or so) snacks to munch on.

Needless to say I had a FANTASTIC time and hope everyone else did too. I think we should turn this into an annual affair. 

My favorite treats on the table were the pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and the candy corn rice crispie treats. I pulled the flower arrangement together from various plants in my yard, including the last three tiny sunflowers hanging on for dear life to the wilting stalk in my garden. 

Outside we put all the pumpkins in a wheelbarrow until we were ready. I also found small Styrofoam pumpkins at the Dollar Tree. They said they were carve-able so I grabbed a bunch as extras. They ended up being great for the smaller kids to cover with stickers or for the slightly older kids when they wanted something else to do when they were done carving the real thing. I highly recommend getting something like these as back up.

As for the tools of the trade... bowls and spoons for collecting pulp, a books of templates, and a few pumpkin carving kits did the trick. I don't think you can have enough of the carving knives, so stock up! They are worth it and work much better than a steak knife. I also found the idea for using cookie cutters and a mallet to hammer in a design into the side of the pumpkin. Then you can just use the knife to get the cuts all the way through if the skin in thick. 

 Paints, foam pumpkin faces, and stickers were great for the kids when they wanted to add extras or weren't old enough to use the other tools.

A kit like this works great. I have used this one in the past:

And who doesn't love a bouncy house?! Thanks to my sister -in-law for sharing hers for the day. 

 Lastly, I will leave you with a sampling of our handy work.

A Few of My Favorite Things

I recently watched Ten Things that Make Me Happy on Bravo. I have no idea if this was a one time special or if other episodes will air, but it got me thinking about 10 things that make me happy.

Let's start off by saying that family and friends are of course on the list of things that make me happy. This is strictly my list of superficial things. The "I could live without them but I'm glad I don't have to" things.

In no particular order I present my list:

1. My Engagement Ring.
I love my rings for many reasons. I love that my husband picked it out for me. I love the memory of taking a walk on the beach in Martha's Vineyard during sunset when he proposed. I love the meaning associated with it. I love that way it catches the light and reflects it onto the wall. After all, diamonds are a girls best friend.
 
2. Photographs.
I am photo obsessed and it may or may not be getting a little out of hand. They are taking over my computer memory and house. Seriously - we had to get a external hard drive to store them all. I can't even tell you how many times I looked at my wedding photos when they came it after months of waiting. I studied them and agonized over which to print and how to organize them in our wedding album. They preserve memories and its just fun to look at them. 

3. Lounge chairs, hammocks, pool floats.
Does this make me lazy? Laying on my hammock or any other lounging device just makes me so happy.  I'm all for comfort and being in denial that I have the luxury to waste time laying around. If I can be floating in the middle of a pool or lake its even more glamorous.

4. Pedicures.
Happy feet make me happy. Pedicures don't happen often to these little piggys but when they do it's pretty amazing.

5. Ice Cream.
I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cream. What's not to love? I like pretty much every flavor, but sometimes just good ol' chocolate makes me happy to the core.

6. Mama's Cooking.
This makes my tummy happy. Sometimes I get a little embarrassed over my enthusiasm about good food.

7. Good Hair Days. 
My hair is thick. It also has a cow-lick type thing that happens in the front if I don't take the time to dry it which drives me crazy. I cut it, grow it out, curl it, straighten it. Usually it is never the way I want it. A few months ago I cut my hair way shorter than I have ever had it before and guess what... I was sooooo happy with it. (Then I got it trimmed and something is just not the same. I think it probably has something to do with this time it is hot and muggy out.) Good hair days just make you feel so much more confident.

8. Vacations.
No cleaning. No cooking. King size beds. Family memories. Photo opportunities (ahem). New experiences. Disconnected from the "real world". Bliss!
 
9. A Good Deal.
All I am going to say is I was a Target today and got distracted in the dollar bins when you enter the store because they were having a 70% of clearance. 30 cents people! Let's just say I came home with a bunch of stuff that was way cuter than what I paid for it.

10. My Kitchen Backsplash.

When we bought our house it was ugly. We tore it apart down to the concrete floors. At one point there were no walls. We lived at Lowes, picking out the materials to build it back up. One of the hardest things for us to agree on was the tile for our kitchen back splash. I can't even remember what my vision was or what he wanted, but eventually we found the perfect one... then we discovered that tile was way out of our budget. Miraculously we found one we loved even better and it was unbelievable cheap (love me a good deal after all). It is glass tile in different shades of gray that pick up the blue in our walls. My brother-in-law was kind enough to come over and show me the ropes. (Note: Before the backsplash it was pink wood paneling! 'Nough said.)

Floating on a Turquoise Cloud

I am currently crazy about turquoise. In fact I just purchased the Old Navy blue slip dress featured below because I loved the bright pops of turquoise in the pattern. The color is particularly fetching when paired with red or coral. Perfect for summer! I'm already thinking about how I can wear it tomorrow and at the same time considering it for my front door color...

P.S. I can't find this bracelet, but I really love it. If you have seen it somewhere online let me know!

Source: shopqueenstreet.com via Danae on Pinterest

Source: baublebar.com via Danae on Pinterest

Source: capecodcollegiate.tumblr.com via Bridget on Pinterest

Source: oldnavy.gap.com via Victoria on Pinterest

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Date Night

This week I linking up with Gussy Sews Inspiration Workshop. It has been a long time since I did one of these.

I love date night! Especially since we don't get to have them too often lately. When we were in high school we would go to the movies and dinner every week, if not a few times a week. I guess that's what you get to do when you don't have bills to pay... or full time jobs... or a house to care for... or kids to taxi...

Now I really appreciate those nights we get to go out (or stay in) together.

Not only do I love dates with my husband though, I love family date night too! For Christmas my mom plans a family night and gives it to us as one of our gifts and we all go out together for dinner and an activity like bowling or a hockey game. Sometimes we stay in just the 3 of us and have Wii night and a pizza. Other times it might be a mommy-daughter-date which are also fun and special to me. Who doesn't love a girls day together?

This past weekend I was super lucky and get to have 2 date nights. The first was with my daughter and we spare of the moment decided to go to a fireworks display our community has. We layed on the hill and watched the show and had fun taking pictures and video of the pretty fireworks with my phone.

The second was a family date. One of my parents' neighbors held an outside movie night in a baseball field with popcorn, drinks, and treats for the kids. I guess you could consider it a neighborhood date night!. They played Dolphin Tale (a really sweet flick). My parents, husband, daughter, cousin, and aunt, uncle, grandmother and I all went. It was a good time.

I wish I brought my camera. I didn't, but how awesome does this outdoor movie set up look?

Source: xibex-reborn.blogspot.com via Rose on Pinterest

So as much as a enjoy a good night out with my husband, family dates are pretty sweet too. <3

Post-It Note Teachers' Gift

Where has the time gone? All of a sudden it is almost June!  I can't believe the school year is almost over. I am really looking forward to summer. Lazy days by the water, not having to get up at 6 am. Bliss!

Before school ends though we have to think about teacher gifts. My daughter has a regular classroom teacher and the school nurse who doubles as a teachers assistant in her room. This year we were inspired by a Pinterest find. (Please tell me someone else out there spends way too much time on that site too.) I thought this was so cute and simple. What teacher doesn't love pretty supplies? I sure do!

There are two main reasons I am really happy with this mini project.
1. My first grader could help make it. (It is for her teachers after all.) She really enjoys creating gifts for the people in her life.
2. It costs cents to make!

Supplies:

• plastic clear frames (Walmart has them in many sizes for 95 cents.)
• post-it notes (I purchased a package of large 4x4 notes... on clearance with my Staples rewards so they were FREE)
• cardstock or scrapbook paper (already had some)
• embellishments (ribbons, tags, letters, stickers... whatever you have on hand)

Assembly:

This could not be simpler.
Place the paper in the frame. I used two different designs for each.

Add ribbon, bows, stickers, tags, etc. Get creative! These are great because they can be any color combination or theme.

Glue post-it note to the front of the frame. Write a special note for the recipient.

Ta-da!

I can think of so many people we could make these for.  I am thinking of send this along with a pen or other school/office supplies. Does anyone else have any other ideas of items that would go well with this gift? Please share.

Lalaloopsy Inspired Birthday

For Morgan's birthday this year she wanted to have a Lalaloopsy themed party. Incase you don't know who Lalaloopsy is, she is a rag doll (minus the sewn part) who seems to have her own toy aisle, but no party supply line... yet.

 

Luckily my sweet girl is not too picky so I got away with making the party Lalaloopsy inspired... bright colors, yarn, patchwork. To change things up a bit we also make it a breakfast party! It was fun, tasty, and was kind of nice not having the party consume the whole day.

We had yogurt parfaits, cereal, french toast sticks, cinnamon rolls, sausage, eggs, bacon, fruit salad, and muffins AND a donut cake from the fabulous Allie's Donuts to top it all off. While Allie's could not copy an image of a copyrighted product for me then did a great job of creating something for me that kind of looked like a mix of Lalaloopsy and my daughter.

                                  

                                  

For favors we got mini cereal boxes (took out the cereal and used it at the party) and filled it with a rice crispies treat, breakfast themed erasers, and a swizzly spoon. To the front of the box we tied a personalized spoon that we made out of plastic spoons and letter beads with a button ribbon.

For some reason I never remember to take a picture of everything and once the party starts I am too busy hosting to snap pictures. Better luck next year.

I can't believe my girl is 7!

Almost Late (Heart Crayons)

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I know I'm late to the Valentine's party. Posting about Valentines crafts is not very helpful when its 6:40 on Valentine's Day night. My apologies. I didn't want to pass up the chance to share this idea that another teacher had given me. I am long term subbing in a second grade class and this was the perfect no-sugar treat for them. Multi-color heart crayons!

1. Find a whole lot-a broken crayons.

2. Strip the paper off the crayons and break into smaller pieces if necessary.

3. Put into Reynolds Fun-Shape foil heart cups. These worked PERFECT! (I tried rigging up my own with tin foil and a cookie cutter when I was short one and it did not go as smoothly.)

4. Pop into the oven @ 200 degrees until all the crayons are melted.

5. Take them out and let cool. It does not take long and the crayon will pop right out of the foil no prob-le-mo.

 6. Package. My label said, "You color my world. Happy Valentine's Day!"

Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

I wish I had made these for my daughters first grade class, but the unwrapping of crayons was time consuming and I didn't have time to make 50 of them between the two. Maybe next year...

Happy Valentine's Day!