Water Paint

On a cool, rainy day my daughter and I accidentally came up with this activity to do to keep her occupied while I made lunch. I got out a small dish of water, some newspaper, and a paintbrush. Before I could get a piece of paper out and some paint she was already painting away.....with the water! She had so much fun "painting" with water that I did not even have to give her the paper and paint. 

The "water painting" kept her busy for over 30 minutes! The whole length of time it took me to whip together a quick lunch. She loved it so much that she asks to water paint all the time now! 

"Welcome Home Daddy!"

Daddy travels often for his job. He can be gone for weeks at a time. On the last day of one of his work trips my daughter and I made him a "Welcome Home" sign. It was a big hit! We enjoyed making it and he enjoyed seeing it upon his arrival home. Sometimes its the last minute things that make the best memories!

Materials Used:
* 1/2 a piece of white poster board
* Cricut (to make letters)
* Dark green card stock paper
* Finger paint in red, yellow, and blue
* Glue stick

"Drink" Birthday Cakes

This does not have anything to do with my kids or the daycare but I had a blast making it and even more fun seeing the reactions of others that I thought I'd share it....

Both of my parents turned 60 this past year...so my siblings and I decided we should do something really different, fun, and unique. This is what we came up with....Drink Cakes!

Here is my mother's cake:

Materials used:
* Bottled/canned drinks (water, tea, and Diet Dr. Pepper)
* Two different size metal pizza trays (bottom and middle)
* A metal round cake pan (top layer)
* Glittery ribbon (from Michael's Craft Store)
* The Topper: a coat hanger pulled straight and different color card stock and scrapbook paper
* 2 miniature roses on each side (from Sam's club)

Here is my father's cake:

Materials used:
* Drinks (different kinds of bottled beer)
* Same pizza trays and cake pan as used above
* Same ribbon from above
* On the bottom we placed a round ice cream bucket in the middle (as I didn't have enough beer) as a filler. I wrapped it in birthday themed wrapping paper.
* I added #60 themed wrapped candy around the bottom and middle layer
* Not pictured: the same #60 topper used above

Audrey's 2nd Birthday: Tractor Theme

I've been asked to share pictures from Audrey's 2nd birthday...so here it goes!

Audrey chose to have a tractor theme for her 2nd birthday party. Her great-grandfather "Popo" was a farmer for many years so naturally his great-granddaughter would love tractors just like him!

Yard Sign:

We placed this sign in the ground (using a wooden stake) near the door of our venue. 

I used colored poster paper, a glue stick, scissors, and those pre-cut card stock type letters.

 

Homemade chocolate cupcakes with piped on yellow frosting. 

The tray with lid was purchased from Party America. It is so worth the investment (I have two!)

 

Homemade yellow cupcakes with piped on green frosting. 

I put a few drops of food coloring into store bought white frosting and mixed it up. Then I placed the colored icing into a piping bag with a frosting tip. Simple, easy, and cute! 

Here is a close up of the homemade cupcake toppers I used. I made them on the computer using my Word program and printed it off on thick white card stock paper. 

I then cut it out and used hot glue to glue two pieces back to back with a toothpick in the middle. 

 Party favors placed on each place setting at the tables. 

Materials used: tractor ribbon (found at Michael's Craft Store), blue and green construction paper, snack size baggies, staples/stapler, computer to print label on bottom, gummy worms (purchased from the bulk bin at Super Saver), chocolate chips, double-sided tape, glue stick, scissors 

3-D #2

Made with cardboard, scissors, tape, and green wrapping paper. 

Water bottles (from Sam's Club) with homemade labels

Homemade cake

I used a white box cake mix and food coloring .... followed the directions on the box then evenly split the batter into two bowls. I added yellow food coloring to one bowl and green food coloring to the other bowl. I baked the layers separately (in two different round pans) then let them cool. Once completely cooled I cut the cakes in half horizontally. Then stacked them on top of each other alternating layers and added white frosting in between each layer. I then completely covered the sides and top with white frosting. Next I cut the #2 out of white paper and placed it on top then added my cake sprinkles. Lastly, I removed the paper #2 and stood back to enjoy!

We also served:

*Green punch 

* Chocolate Wagon Wheels: store bought mini chocolate donuts

* Haystacks: Homemade Rice Krispie Bars

* Yellow and Green colored candies

 

The guest book sign in table had:

* 2 haystacks

* Toy tractors

* A John Deere book that everyone signed 

 Table Decorations:

* Green table cloths (Dollar Tree)

* Yellow streamer (Party America)

* Clay Bee Pots with flowers (painted by my mother)

Here is my adorable daughter with green and yellow balloons (from Party America). 

The balloons were on the food/serving table.

A Letter to Her Brother

We have a rule (more of a tradition) that everyone in our house must give a hug and kiss to everyone else (in our house) before we go to bed at night. Our kids are really good at doing this.

One night several months ago my infant son fell asleep early. My husband wanted to get him into bed before he woke up again so he quickly picked him up and whisked him off to his room....before we could give him a hug or kiss good-night. This didn't go over very well with our almost three year old daughter. She was upset with daddy that she didn't get to give her little brother his goodnight kiss. Not wanting to wake her little brother I quickly grabbed a piece of paper and a pen from the notebook in my nightstand and asked her to write him a "goodnight letter" and slip it under her door. She was so excited. She spent almost 20 minutes "writing" him a letter. The next morning when everyone was up she asked him if he got her letter. It was over-the-top adorable!

Last week I decided to frame this note and place it in his room. We all love looking at it. Our daughter is really proud of the letter. Though our son is only ten-months-old now I'm sure someday he will like it! 

Materials used:
* Scrapbook paper (as the backing)
* Clear double-sided tape
* Picture Frame (I got this one for around $2.50 at Walmart)
* Scissors (to cut scrapbook and label to size)
* Printer and paper to make label

Lucky Charm Bars

Ingredients

• 3 cups marshmallows
• 4 cups Lucky Charms
• 1/4 cup butter

Instructions

1. In a large pot add the butter and begin to melt on medium.
2. Add marshmallows and stir constantly until marshmallows melt.
3. Add lucky charms to pot and stir well to combine.
4. Pour mixture into well greased casserole dish  
5. Let cool, cut into squares, and enjoy! 

Cheap Medicine Cabinet Makeover

Here is a cheap and super easy way to makeover the inside of your medicine cabinet!

 Before Picture 

 After Picture 

I love the end results! I found two different styles/patterns of contact paper. The marble one I used on the shelves in the medicine cabinet I found at Menard's and the black and white one used on the back I found at Target. (I've also found cute contact paper at the Dollar Tree though I've never used those ones....yet!) 

Using my measuring tape I measured the height and width of the inside of the cabinet. I then marked the correct measurements on the back of the contact paper and cut it to size. Then I peeled the backing off the contact paper and stuck it inside. It was really easy! 

Here is a close up:

 

I love it! It is really cute and I enjoy looking at it  every time I open the cabinet!