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Friday, November 11, 2011

Friday Flashback: Craft Edition

**This is a re-post from last year. I have been looking for some great Thanksgiving shirt inspiration for this year, so I figured I would share one of my Thanksgiving shirts for last year in case anyone wants to attempt it for their kiddo!**

I have seen a ton of cute turkey shirts for Thanksgiving floating around the internet lately. I had intentions of making my boys a cute turkey shirt, but was really wishing I could make something a little different and a little more fun instead.

The Shirt of Plenty is what I ended up with after a TON of inspiration {and a template} from Family Fun magazine.
This is the original craft shared in the November issue of Family Fun...SUPER cute Thanksgiving themed felt food. I simply decided to turn my felt food into a shirt instead of making a toy:)
The first step in making this SUPER cute shirt is to print the templates and cut them out. Sometimes the template calls for two of each shape, but you usually only need one.
Use spray adhesive and stick the cut out shapes to different colors of felt. You can mix and match however you want, or follow the suggestions on the templates.
Then add iron-on adhesive to the backside of the felt following the directions on the package.
Cut out the shapes following the template, then remove the paper and the iron-on adhesive backing.
Lay out your design on the shirt and decide where you want each piece to be. Iron the pieces onto the shirt following the directions on your package of iron on adhesive.
The finally step to making The Shirt of Plenty is the most tedious and time consuming....but it also makes a big difference in the appearance of the shirt. Using coordinating colors of embroidery thread, go around the edges of each piece of felt with a running stitch. Make sure to tie off each end of the embroidery thread well, so that the felt pieces stay securely attached.
And that is how you make a SUPER cute Thanksgiving shirt!
Now if I can only find the time {and energy} to make two more:)
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Thursday, November 10, 2011

Organizing the Laundry

I know I'm not the only mom who despises laundry. I think between the monotony of folding and the fact that it's a never ending cycle of clean & dirty, most moms would love to have someone else take care of the laundry for their family! But like me, just because you hate to do it doesn't mean you can get way with not doing it! Sure if you're J. Lo or someotheroverpaidfamouspersonwhoneverhastodotheirownlaundry the laundry probably seems like a joy...drop it off and it comes back clean and folded and you didn't have to do any of the work! But in my house laundry is work, and the best way to make work easier is to be organized.

We've had the dirty clothes part organized for a while thanks to this lovely creation that I bought at Walmart a few years ago.
 My organizational issues with laundry start after the clean clothes come out of the dryer. We have spent the last few years with just two laundry baskets. You can do the math and probably figure out that two laundry baskets for five people just doesn't work very well. And most of the time the clean clothes end up piled on the couch {and the chair} kind of like this...except this is a much smaller pile than normal:)
 So I decided it was time to get my clean clothes organized by simply buying a few new laundry baskets. My original intentions were to find some fun colored baskets {ideally in blue, green, and orange to continue our tradition of color coding}, but Walmart and Target didn't seem to get the memo and only had either black or white baskets. I decided on black mostly because they seemed a little more sturdy, but also because they seemed a little more formal too...you know just in case I wanted to leave them sitting around full of laundry when we have guests over!
 Now I had three identical black baskets, and I knew that would be an issue. It is is a lot harder for my kiddos to find their clean {wrinkled} clothes if they don't know which basket is theirs. My simple solution was to cut a few pieces of ribbon {blue, green, and orange} and tie them to the handles of the laundry baskets. Now everyone knows which basket is theirs without digging through a basket for 10 minutes while looking for clean underwear!
Do you have any simple solutions for making the dreaded task of laundry easier? Please share them with me....I need all the help I can get when it comes to the laundry!
Weekend Bloggy Reading
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Tuesday, November 8, 2011

My Very Own Mythbusters

My boys don't watch a whole lot of tv. Besides early morning preschool shows, the occasional DVR'd episode of Tom & Jerry, and a new AFV here and there, they would honestly rather be outside running around in the yard! The one exception to that rule is MythBusters...they would give up playtime outside to watch MythBusters with their daddy any day of the week. We usually watch as a family {since it is a more adult show and you have to be careful about commercials}, and I love how much they love a show that is teaching them stuff!

Henry came home last week asking about an experiment we saw on an episode of MythBusters years ago. They had apparently tried out this myth at school, and he was dying to try it at home!

Here's a clip just in case you haven't seen this fun Diet Coke and Mentos experiment: 




So last weekend, we picked up a few 2 liter Diet Cokes and a roll of Mentos at the store, and headed to the backyard to test out this myth!



The boys had so much fun doing this, and I think they may have learned a little something too...at least maybe Henry did, Grant was too worried about trying to drink the spray of Diet Coke:) This was a fun experiment that kept the kiddos entertained for the cost of a few bottles of soda and some candy! If you haven't ever done this experiment with your kiddos, you should try it sometime!
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Monday, November 7, 2011

Thankful Photo Decor

I finally got around to changing out the three frames in my kitchen that I use for holiday decorations. I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that the same finger-painted Christmas pictures stayed in the frames for a year or two before I changed it out a few weeks before Christmas last year for THIS. Then I put THIS Easter decor in the frames and it stayed there until now....yep, I had Easter decor in my house all the way through October. But I am making up for it now with this cute Thankful Photo Decor.
 I started out by opening up a file in Photoshop Elements. I made my page 8x10 so that it would fit in the frame {and also so I could print it out as at a photo center if I wanted to}. I chose the picture of each kid that I wanted to use and placed it on the right side of the 8 X10 page. Then I added in the words "I am thankful for:" using a mix of fun fonts that I downloaded from kevinandamanda.com
 I printed out the page at home {because I really didn't want to go to the store}, and I was pretty impressed with the quality of the picture that printed from my HP home printer.
 I test fit each page into the frame to make sure it fit well, then I gave the kiddos a Sharpie and a few instructions.
****
Henry made a list along with a few numbered pictures....very analytic! You can tell he is the oldest for sure!
Grant was thankful for two things: his frend and toys....typical 6 year old boy I guess:)
Jason helped Eli who is apparently most thankful for pizza...I guess that explains why he wants to eat it 6 times a week!
I love seeing their cute faces along with the things that they are thankful for, but the best part of this project is that when Thanksgiving is over I will have something great to add to their memory books!
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Friday, November 4, 2011

A Post About a Tweet

Earlier this week, I tweeted:
 Nature looking,
 leaf picking,
picture taking
 morning walk
with Eli.
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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Two Pictures on Tuesday

I managed to get a few more than 50 pictures of all three of my costume clad children yesterday afternoon before trick or treating started.  Grant was feeling much better {thanks for all the get well wishes}, which I'm sure you can tell since he let me paint his nose with "sunscreen" and put his hair in a fauxhawk mohawk. Our little shark didn't quite understand that his fin was on his back so he needed to turn sideways for the pictures....otherwise he would just looked like a little boy in a gray sweatsuit! 

 We took the boys trick or treating to a few houses in my aunt's neighborhood...and Jason & I only had to carry the boys' surfboards about half of the time:) That is one major downfall of having big props that go along with your costume...but for some reason we seem to have props every year!

A Shark and Two Surfer Dudes:

I hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween...now on to Thanksgiving!
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Monday, October 31, 2011

Monster Brownies & Halloween Costumes

I saw these SUPER cute Monster Brownies over at Amanda's Cookin' last year...and I have been waiting for a reason to make them ever since! I can't remember why I didn't make them for Halloween last year, but I knew they would be the perfect treat to take to our annual Halloween gathering this year! 
 I started with a box brownie mix. I know a lot of people who say they LOVE homemade brownies, but I've never made homemade brownies {and I've tried lots of times} that taste as good as Duncan Hinds Chewy Fudge brownies! I mixed my brownies according to the chewy {NEVER cake-like} instructions, let them cool, and then cut them into squares and rectangles. Then I made a quick icing from powdered sugar, water, and green food coloring. I piped a border around the the edge of each brownie, let it harden, and filled in the inside with the same icing. Then I got busy making some monsters with M&M's, mini marshmallows, licorice, and colored icing. Pretty cute, SUPER easy, and the perfect treat for the kiddos to help with! Make sure to head over and check out Amanda's Monster Brownies...they are WAY cuter than mine:)
 Here's a BIG little sneak peek of the boys' Halloween costumes for this year: A shark and a surfer dude!
You may notice that we are a man surfer dude down...that's because Grant has been sick since Friday. I finally took him to the doctor Sunday afternoon {thank goodness for after-hour and weekend sick appointments}, and he has pneumonia! Needless to say, he wasn't feeling up for costume night at Awana's last night! He started on antibiotics yesterday, and he is already feeling a ton better. I'm hoping to get a picture of all three boys in the costumes this afternoon...and I'm hoping Grant is feeling well enough to trick or treat at a couple of houses too!
Have a safe and HAPPY Halloween!
Miscellany Monday @
lowercase letters
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Saturday, October 29, 2011

Shutterfly: Christmas Cards & So Much More!

Last year on my blog, I raved about how much I love Shutterfly! I loved them even more after I got my 50 free Christmas cards in the mail and I saw how awesome they were...seriously the best quality cards I have seen in my 6 years of ordering photo Christmas cards! So I'm going to spend a little time this year telling you about how great Shutterfly really is....and then I might just tell you how you can get some free cards too:)

Here are a few of my favorite photo cards from this year...though it is pretty hard to top our Shutterfly card from last year!




Can you tell that I love the look of a square card:) Now I need to get busy picking out clothes and planning a photo session!

I love the great quality cards that Shutterfly offers for the holidays, but did you also know you can get some really awesome photo gifts to give to aunts, uncles, and grandparents! My mom has already requested a photo book of my boys as a Christmas present for this year:) I'm fine with that, because I know she will love it....and I will have a great time designing it on Shutterfly's website.

If you are planning a holiday party in the coming months, you can check out the great selection of invitations that Shutterfly has on their websites too! I'm thinking it would be really fun to host a cookie swap, and I would love to send out some of these fun invitations:
I'm off to browse Shutterfly's amazing selection of cards, and try to make a decision about which card to chose for this year!
Which Shutterfly Christmas card do you like best?

*I received a code for 25 free Christmas cards from Shutterfly for sharing about their cards with you. All opinions are my own. If you have a blog and you want to join their blogger program, click HERE.*
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Friday, October 28, 2011

Friday Flashback: Candy Corn Edition

I love decorating with stuff that can be used for multiple seasons and holidays. I love that instead of sitting in the attic for 11 months out of the year, that I can change some of my decor up and use it year round. So when I started working on new decorations for Halloween/fall I knew I could figure out a way to makes something that would work for Christmas, Valentine's Day, and maybe even Easter.

I started with some clear glass bottles that I have been saving for three years. I knew at some point I would find a good use for them:)
 I used my Cricut and cut out some vinyl letters.
 I used some transfer paper to attach the letters to the clear glass bottles.
 I lined the bottles up to make sure that the letters were even...the "d" is a little high, but not enough to worry about.
 I spray painted the lids white so they would match almost any holiday decor.
 Then I filled the bottles up with CANDY CORN...
 ...and lined them up on my kitchen counter.

This was a SUPER inexpensive project...all I really bought was the candy corn. Now when fall is over and Christmas decorations start going up, all I will have to do is empty out the candy corn and add in some red, green, and white M &M's!

**This is a post from last year that has been one of my most popular through the year. I actually have the same jars sitting on my counter right now...they just aren't filled with candy!**
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