Halloween Treat Bags

Well it's been a while since I've blogged. We had a major deployment at work and I've been working late days and nights sometimes 17 hour days. With school back in session the commute has almost doubled The good news is .... I carpool with the hubby and I found a way to be productive during that time.



My mother-in-law taught me to crochet!!! Whoot Whoot!

I found this great free pattern for the adorable and FREE happy bat bag crochet pattern on Red Heart. I added my own special touches the google eyes instead of buttons amd put the buttons on the handle. I then used the same pattern and various colors of yarn to create the other bags. I'm going to be giving them out to all the kids at the Halloween party we are having and I'm obsessed with making them!

To make the bat wings, I just printed out a clip art graphic and then cut it out and pinned it to the felt and was able to use it as a pattern.

Each bag takes about 3 hours, so I've been able to complete about a bag a day. Until I can find a glue gun that plugs into the car, I do that part at home when the lil one is fast asleep.

 

 

Happy Fall!

It's no secret that I LOVE fall! I love the cooler weather, the colder nights when I can snuggle up in my blankets, the great comfort foods, the beautiful landscape and of course the holidays! Today, when I drove thru the Starbucks drive-thru I was happy to discover that my Pumpkin Spice Latte was back! Oh how I missed it! (Even if it is $4! ) I know it's not quite fall yet and the tempurature outside is still 100 degrees but the site of that drink on the menu made me want to start decorating for Halloween. My husband stopped me before I brought the boxes in from the garage but I was able to start my first Halloween craft of the year.

At a trip to Dollar Tree  (There is a new one by me and it's big and beautiful!) I found these great mini baking cups. They had spiders, ghosts and pumpkins and I needed all of them! I made three topiaries and painted the wooden dowels. I put them in a bucket that I already had and added fog (or cotton balls).

 I finished each flower off with a ribbon and the whole look off with a sticker that I got from Michaels!

Yeah!!! I love the holidays!

  

Happy Fourth of July

I had so much fun with celebrating Fourth of July with my family... but as soon as the fireworks were finished, I promptly climbed into bed! 


The day started with a Fourth of July breakfast celebration. My in-laws weren't going to be able to join us for our annual Fourth of July BBQ with my side of the family, so I did a last minute Fourth of July breakfast celebration.   The night before I decorated our breakfast area with some quick circle garland, which I was able to put the banner together while finishing up some last minute items for work. (Hey...I needed to enjoy the holiday off!). I made the fabric pendant banner (No Sew!) the day earlier. My table cloth... was a left-over piece of fabric that I had purchased for my fabric banner... love it! Some festive plates I picked up at the dollar store and my traditional patriotic leis which have become a family tradition in my home finished off the look. 



Fourth of July was the first holiday my husband I first celebrated together when we were dating and I made him wear one of these throughout the day. Despite his greatest efforts to get rid of them, I always find a new supply of patriotic leis to make sure he remembers! :) 

With work so busy the past few months, I had to dust off my favorite breakfast accessory... my belgian waffle maker. LOVE! Our breakfast consisted of eggs and fresh berry waffles and whipped cream...yummy!! I set each place setting with a goodie bag to help start the day. While it made my table awfully cute, not sure convincing a toddler to eat waffles and eggs with candy staring at him was such a good idea... but it was a holiday and I brushed his teeth a lot. After breakfast we had a little play time before naptime for Drew and getting ready for the annual Fourth of July party began. My aunt always throws the best celebration and this one was no different.




 She had a country fair theme so I made some country style goodie bags of course. I was able to find these great felt sticker stars which were great on a standard clothesline. I loved them so much I picked them up in both the bright red, white, and blue and a more subdued tone as well. I was able to use them for the bag toppers, a shirt I wore and made a few bows for my nieces and myself.

Simple?...Check! 

Adorable? ... Double Check! 

      I also made the standard bag topper with some great country style paper. The poppers, ring pops (Let Freedom Ring!) and patriotic lollipops were all found at the dollar store. 

Our contribution to the pot luck...fruit salad and fruit skewers for the kiddies. I knew that battling with candy was going to be a challenge so my husband I used a star shape to cut out stars from all the fruit. I'm happy to report that all 40 skewers were gone by the end of the day!  When it looks this fun...who could say no.  

But I couldn't just bring fruit... so here are some fun treats I whipped up while Drew was napping...but before you get too impressed they are "semi homemade" by that, I mean I bought the marshmallows and put them on a stick! I did dip half in melted white chocolate because chocolate always makes everything better. :) 

Our day ended with a firework show viewing in our backyard. I'm not sure about you but our area doesn't allow fireworks. We were able to watch a few great firework shows from surrounding areas from our backyard though! So after a fun filled day of swimming and eating, I put together a few last minute items, for the firework finale. Some cake pops and pinwheels made the show so much better. 

We had such a fun day... Can't wait for vacation time 9 days and counting...

Happy   of July!!

I'm partying with ...

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 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! 

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!