I Love the USA!

How cute are these USA Blocks? I needed a new Forth of July decoration so I decided to make these cute Fourth of July blocks. They were so simple to make and I was quite happy with the way they turned out.   


To make cut or buy wood blocks.  My husband cut mine from a piece of 2 X 4 wood and I sanded them down with my new favorite toy ... the Black and Decker Mouse Sander. It's so much fun to use. Then I simply painted wood heart shape and letters as well as the blocks with tempura paint. To make the red stripes on the heart, I found some great glitter ribbon. The glitter gave it an extra pop of fun and allowed me not to have to be perfect on the blue and white painting. 

Materials Needed:

• Tempura Paint (Red, White and Blue of course) 
• 4 wooden blocks (4 inches x 4 inches )
• Glue Gun
• Wooden Letters and Wood Heart or Star Cut outs. I found unpainted ones at Michael's (Stars and Hearts were only 29 cents!)
• Glue Gun (Needed for EVERY project :)
• Red Glitter Ribbon
• Heart Stars

I linked to the following parties:

 

Happy Summer!

It's officially the first weekend of summer so besides a great summer dinner with some great friends I needed to create some fun summer time crafts. I've always wanted to try to create these accordion flowers so I grabbed some of my favorite cardstock and gave it a try.

I used my new flowers to embellish a few ceramic pots and some garland, I had created for Father's Day! 

 To make these fun flowers, start off by cutting strips, mine were 1 1/2 inches wide, but you can make them bigger or smaller depending on the size of the flower you want to make. 

Next I folded the strips into accordion style. 

 Glue one strip side to another to create an accordion circle. Hold the two glue strips and fold the circle inward and hot glue the circle in place. I added a button to the center and viola summertime perfection! 

I joined these parties: 

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the world's wonderful fathers! I tell my son often, "You are so lucky I searched the whole world and found the very best daddy out there!" Today we get to remind him how much we love him! 


I ordered some personalized cards from Shutterfly for my husband, Andrew's grandfathers and his Godfather. My plan was to make my husband a similar gift like I got with mother's day but Andrew's been testing the Terrible Two's out for size these days so the photo shoot was more of a meltdown. My motto, If you want to cry those will be the pictures everyone gets! So we decided to make him his favorite cupcake and buy him a new toolbelt. I picked up the tool fabric at Joann's craftstore this weekend during their Firefly sale. 

I made some garland and hung from the ceiling. It was super simple, just punched out some circles and strung some satin ribbon thru the glued front and back pieces. Super easy and super cute! 

Andrew's 2nd Birthday ... Under Construction

It's only two months away and Drew's 2nd birthday party is officially underway  My son is in love with Handy Manny and this year we're going to celebrate turning two with a Construction/Handy Manny. We've lovingly dubbed it "Handy Andy" and we are so excited about it. 


My husband and in-laws got into the fun and helped create these construction cone lawn art decorations that will line my driveway. 

To create these adorable cones... we started with, standard plywood that was picked up for $10. My husband cut out a template shape from cardboard and used a jigsaw to cut out the figure. Brian then attached a piece of pvc pipe to the back. (The pvc pipe can then be placed over a stake in the ground and makes them safer and easier to store.) After a quick sanding, my mother-in-law and I were able to paint the cones and viola...a great entryway addition to the party. 

My Husband and Son Love Me!

This Year my amazing husband out did himself and helped my almost two year old create these amazing gifts. I know how hard it is to get Andrew to sit still for anything let alone these great gifts. While I was working overtime, my husband called in the help of my in-laws and raided my craft supplies! I couldn't be a happier mommy! 

Brian bought poster board and spelled out 'LOVE'. He then tried to wrangle the little one to sit with each letter. The pouty face in the letter E...is priceless. If you are trying to avoid tears and you have more than an afternoon to complete a project, it might be good idea to give your little one a break. This would be a great idea to spell out a loved one's name, hold multiple signs that spell out a nice sentiment (Happy Father's Day!) ...the possibilities are endless. 

 The MOST BEAUTIFUL flowers I have ever seen! The best part is that these flowers will last longer than a week!