Rainbow Birthday Party

My girls' birthdays are exactly 3 years and 361 days apart.  That means that we throw them a joint birthday party every year - or I will do that as long as I can get away with it!  This year the theme was rainbow - rainbows, rainbows everywhere.

My sweets

I made both girls' tutus.  Maddie didn't want the curly tutu, so that saved me a lot of cursing because I normally curse when I sew (a wonderful trait that I picked up from my mother.)  Isn't this curly tutu cute?

I wish I had a better picture of it.  I got the idea from this picture on Pinterest.  I'd been oohing and ahing over the picture on Pinterest for a while and I found this forum that kind of helped me figure out how to go about sewing it.  The tulle will naturally curl when you sew the ribbon on the bottom of it.  It turned out really cute.

We made this pretty balloon arch:

The two people in this picture were responsible for blowing up the balloons - one of them with an air compressor and the other with pure lung power.  I pretty much followed the instructions I found here but instead of using waxed twine, I used yarn because that was what I had.

We had a rainbow candy bar.  I used mason jars and filled them with rainbow-colored candies.  I left the candy in their wrappers and then filled the jars up, so red was Kit-Kats and purple was grape Nerds - you catch my drift.

We also used our dot markers and made rainbows on the party favor bags.  Got that idea here.  I also made rainbow hair bows and clipped them on each bag for the girls to take home.

I almost left that horrible picture out, but I was so dang proud of my paper flowers I had to include it.  I have, like, an infatuation with tissue paper flowers.  I just think they're so pretty!

Everybody at the party got a chance to guess how many Sprees were in the jar, and whoever got closest without going over won the jar and the candy.  Well, our niece won but she didn't get to take it home because my youngest dropped it and glass shattered and Sprees went everywhere - awww, the joys of having a 4-year-old.

I made rainbow cupcakes.  Got that idea from this pin on Pinterest.

And we had a photo booth.

Yes, I used the falling-apart trampoline as the backdrop.  We taped plastic tablecloths over one side of the trampoline, grabbed a bunch of hats, wigs, sunglasses, different things from the girls' dress-up box and stuck them in a bucket.  We also cut mustaches and beards and lips out of foam and hot-glued them on wooden skewers.  The girls all had a fun time with this.

 

 Thank you, Pinterest, for making me pretend I'm creative!

What I've Been Working On - Yard Sale Stool

I bought this beaut at a yard sale a few months ago for $8.  The poor thing had seen better days, but I thought it had good bones, as they say, so I bought it. 

The gold velour fabric was brittle, and all I had to do to deconstruct this thing was rip the fabric off - didn't have to use a seam ripper or anything.  I was very careful, though, to rip the fabric along the seams so that I could use the old fabric as a pattern for cutting out my new fabric.  

Now, I'm not the best sewer around, but I thought recovering a stool would be easy.  It would have been super duper easy.  But do you see that piping going around the top and the bottom of the cushion?  I thought that would cause me some serious heartache, but it actually didn't.  I found this great tutorial on Pinterest on how to make your own piping. 

Since I saved the rope from the original piping, it was just a matter of cutting the new fabric on the bias and then sewing the rope into the material.  I figured out that when sewing the rope in the material, you shouldn't get right up on the rope with your seam because after you attach the piping, you might be able to see that seam.  (That makes perfect sense in my head, so I hope it makes sense to y'all - LOL)

Just kidding...this isn't really the after. 

I fell in love with this fabric at Joann's.  It's called Penny Candy.  It made me smile.  And the second I saw it, I knew it belonged on this stool, so I bought it.  

It still makes me smile just looking at it. 

You ready for the real after?  Here it is:

I swear I hugged myself after I finished this thing.

Sometimes you've just got to give yourself a little hug and say, Way To Go!

Christmas Gifts For Classmates

We've been busy little bees making Christmas gifts for Maddie's 1st grade classmates.  These were simple to make and we had a good time making them together.  

Here's what you'll need:

wooden stars (or any shape really, just as long as the initial will fit on it)

paint

brushes

glitter paint

ribbon

jingle bells

stencil

stencil brush

varnish

paint pen

parchment or waxed paper

larger needle that ribbon will fit through (not necessary but makes life easier)

I bought the little wooden stars at Joann's.  They were plain wood and had a red ribbon tied on them so you could hang them on the tree.  We painted the boys' stars green and the girls' stars red.  Oh, and by the way, you might want to use parchment paper or waxed paper to protect your table - I used newspaper and that was not a good idea because the stars stuck to it and it wasn't pretty.  

Each star got two coats of paint - of course, let each coat dry fully before you apply the next coat.  We put one coat of the glitter paint on each star.  After they were completely dry, I removed the ribbon that the star originally came with because there was paint all over them.

Next I took the stencil and stenciled the initial of all of Maddie's classmates on the stars.  Then I flipped the stars over and wrote Merry Christmas 2012 on the back and Maddie wrote her name on each star.  Then I applied a coat of varnish to both sides of the star - making sure not to fill in the hole where the ribbon goes.  Cut some ribbon and thread a couple of jingle bells and the star and then tie a knot.  I took another piece of ribbon and tied a bow around the jingle bells so they'd stay in place and not flip over on the backside.

I think they turned out pretty cute.  And the total cost for everything including the paint and brushes was less than $25 - can't beat that!

Witch Hat - From Drab To Fab

My girls both wanted to be witches this year for Halloween.  We're on a budget, as always, so I thought it would be cool to buy these cheap witch hats from Walmart, $1.97 a piece, and embellish them a little bit.

First I used a seam ripper to remove that funky green hair.  Then I plugged in my glue gun and got to work.  I measured the base of the hat using the feather boa that I also bought at Walmart (in the fabric/craft section) and then cut it and glued it to the base of the hat.  Then I glued some ribbon around the hat to make it look like it had stripes - which turned out, like, majorly ugly.  I wound up ripping all that off.

I decided to make some bows out of ribbon.  Glued those bows on the hats and then glued on some felt eyeballs (Michael's) in the center of some of the bows.  I also glued on some glow-in-the-dark bats.  You could use whatever you wanted - fake mice, fake bugs, real bugs - you know, whatever you're into.

It probably wasn't the best idea to glue the sort-of heavy bats towards the top of the hat, but I sorta, kinda remedied that by stuffing a plastic bag inside the hat.

I think they turned out pretty cute.  My little witches liked them and that's all that really matters, right? 

Display Kid's Artwork

I saw this idea on Pinterest over a year ago.  And since at that time we were redoing our dining room/entry/hallway/whateverthatroomiscalled room, I thought this would look super cute. 

You just take a 1 by something or other and cut it to whatever size you want.  My husband routered the edges and then painted them black.  I took some sandpaper and roughed up the edges a bit to give them some character.  Find you some of those little metal clips.  We could only find some that had magnets in them.  My husband had to drill them out so we could screw them to the board.  Then he just screwed the boards to the wall.

We ordered the word Masterpieces from a vinyl lettering company - I wish I could remember where I ordered it from, but since it's been almost a year, I've forgotten.

I think it turned out great.  My kids are so proud to see their masterpieces hanging on the wall. 

Easy Peach Cobbler Recipe - Peachy Keen Cobbler

Easy Peach Cobbler Recipe - Peachy Keen Cobbler

I have a folder that has some handwritten recipes that my mother got from my grandmother's cousin's wife, Christine, who lived in Arkansas.  You follow me?   I loved this lady.  She could cook like nobody's business.  I mean, she could COOK now, y'all.  She could fish.  She could hunt.  She rode four-wheelers.  She didn't mind when my brother used the pink flamingos in her yard for target practice.  She was awesome.  I have nothing but good memories of sweet Christine.  I really thought a lot of her.  

So you can imagine my excitement when one day my mother brought me a folder with some handwritten recipes of Christine's.  One of them said:  Essie's Cobbler.  Since Christine had prepared for us THE BEST PEACH COBBLER I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE, I was jumping for joy when I saw the Essie's Cobbler recipe.  

Oh, sweet Essie, I think I love you.  You must be a relative of Christine's and I bet you can cook just like her, Essie. 

I was reading through the recipe and it said to use No 2 can fruit.  I was, like, what the heck does No 2 can fruit mean?  So I googled it.  I looked up "No 2 can fruit Essie's Cobbler".  Turns out Essie gets around.  Tons of recipes for Essie's Cobbler came up.  So apparently Essie was not a close relative or probably not even a friend of the family, but that didn't matter because Essie can COOK, and therefore, I love her.  (By the way, No 2 can fruit means, I think, maybe the size of the can.  There's about 2 1/2 cups in a No. 2 can.)

Since there was no recipe for the fruit other than saying to add some sugar to the fruit, I came up with my own.  Here's my recipe for peach cobbler.

Peachy Keen Cobbler

Batter (Essie's Batter)

1/4 cup soft butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup sifted flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Cream butter & sugar until creamy.  Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and add to creamed mixture with milk.  Beat until smooth.

Spoon into greased 2-quart casserole dish. Spread out over dish.

Fruit Mixture

2 15.25 oz. cans of peaches in heavy syrup

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1//2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 tablespoon sugar to sprinkle over top

Pour peaches with syrup into bowl.  Cut peaches in to bite-sized pieces if you want.  Add in all other ingredients besides the 1 TBS of sugar.  Stir.  Pour fruit, juices and all, over batter.  Sprinkle 1 TBS of sugar over fruit.  

Bake 45 - 50 minutes @ 375.

 It's mind-blowingly delicious.

Check out other great recipes here:


And Southern Sundays over @ Slice of Southern.

Story Time at Fort Worth Libraries

My, my, my how story time has changed at my local library.  Just a few years ago, I took my oldest child to story time at the East Regional Library where the librarian read a book and then the kids got to color a picture.  I wasn't too impressed, so I never went back...until today.  I'm so glad we went back.

Paper Lanterns

Today my children, along with about 20 more kids, got to sing songs, dance, go on a "bear hunt".  The librarian read three stories to them.  Then the kids got to color, make a firework necklace and make a paper lantern.

Firework Necklace

Firework Necklace

Go here to see what time your local library offers story time and then go check it out.  I think you'll be glad you did.   

And if you want to make the paper lanterns, go here and check out this tutorial.  If you want to make the firework necklace, this post will give you an idea on how to make those.

Patriotic Wreath

I saw this gorgeous wreath on Pinterest a while back and I just had to make it.  It was super easy to make and cheap too.  The most expensive thing was the foam wreath and I think that cost me $5.99.  You could probably find one a lot cheaper than that and use a coupon at Joann's or Michael's or Hobby Lobby.

I suggest you cut all the felt pieces out with one of those rotary cutters.  I started cutting the felt like this - each strip individually then turning and cutting the strips:

 

That took a while.  So I wised up and starting cutting them like this:

Which made it go a lot faster - hello!

My only suggestion would be to mark your foam wreath as to where you want the red, the white, and the blue.  I wanted my blue to butt up to white, so I had to do some finagling at the end to make it come out that way.  If I had marked the wreath beforehand, it would have been a lot easier. 

Also, the instructions said to use cardstock and punch out stars using a punch.  This homegirl does not have a star punch, so I just decided to use some of the white felt to represent the star.

Turned out pretty, don't you think?  God bless America.

Fun For The Kids - Make Your Own Butter

I read about this a while back over at one of my favorite websites, Christy Jordan's Southern Plate.  I thought this activity would be a good idea to keep those little hands busy for at least 20 minutes, and it did.  Plus you get a bonus in the end, good ol' delicious butter!

Here's a link to the recipe on Southern Plate.

I used a pint Mason jar.  Fill it about half full with heavy whipping cream.  Put lid on the jar.  Let the kids start shaking.  After about 15 to 20 minutes or less you'll have something that looks kind of like this:

The liquid in the jar will gradually start to thicken, and then just when you think you can't shake it anymore and you think there's no liquid left, the contents will start pulling away from the sides and you'll be able to see inside the jar and you'll see something that looks like what's pictured above - a ball of butter sitting in white liquid.

Next, pour contents of jar into colander and strain.

I put the butter in a small glass dish and then added just a tiny bit of salt.  You'll want to be very careful about how much salt you add - believe me, I speak from experience.  The first time we made this, we put way, way, way too much salt.  This time we just put a couple of small shakes of salt and it turned out perfect.

Next time you're at the store, pick up some heavy whipping cream and have your kiddos make this.  Spread the finished product on some bread and watch your little one's chest stick out with pride.  It's a win-win for everybody!

Free Family Fun - Lowe's Build & Grow

I'd heard about Lowe's Build & Grow a while back but I never signed my kids up because, after all, they're girls and all, and little girly girls don't like swinging hammers or building things, y'all...yeah, right!  

 

My girls loved it.  I'm so glad I signed them up to do this.

 

Lowe's offers this free, family fun activity every other weekend.  Last Sunday my girls made the Madagascar Monkey Plane.  

Isn't it cute?

It's easy to register for one of the projects.  Just click this link and click on register.  Click the project you want them to do, click the store you want to go to and then register your kiddos.  You'll have to enter your email address, but I've never received any spam or emails from Lowe's other than the confirmation email.  You'll have to print a waiver out and sign it and bring it with you.

Thank you, Lowe's, for offering this free, family fun activity!

Things That Should Be In Your 72-Hour Kit or Bug-Out Bag

I am, like, obsessed with this blog I found recently.  It offers so much useful information that I could sit and read it for hours. It's called Homestead Survival. 

One of their recent posts is about 72-Hour Kits or bug-out bags.  If you've watched any of the Doomsday Prepper shows, you'll know what they're talking about.  I think it's better to be safe than sorry, whether it's for doomsday or a natural disaster.

One day there was a fire burning really close to our house, and I was so worried that it was going to reach our house that I just started throwing anything and everything in my car.  It would have been much easier to just have all the important, necessary stuff in one spot instead of me running all over the house gathering stuff like a chicken with my head cut off.

Here's a list of that important, necessary stuff.  Each member of your family should have their own kit.

 

Thanks, Homestead Survival, for all the awesome information you provide.  Keep up the good work.

Comeback Shane Sauce

Comeback Shane Sauce

I've seen a ton of recipes for Comeback Sauce or Raising Cane's dipping sauce.  This is the closest I've come to Raising Cane's.  It's delicious and I could eat it up with a spoon all by its lonesome.

I call this Comeback Shane Sauce because every time I hear the word comeback, I think of that old western Shane, where that little boy is yelling come back, Shane!  Shane, come back!  That's just how my silly mind works!

I found this recipe at this link.  There is no picture of it, so I couldn't Pin It and Lord knows I'm addicted to pinning stuff, so that's one of the reasons why I'm posting this...so I could pin my horrible pictures of it on Pinterest and I won't have to search through my millions of bookmarks to find that one about the daggum Raising Cane's sauce.  So there you go - I did the work for you.  You're welcome! 

Comeback Shane Sauce

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
ground black pepper to taste

If you're a fan of Keith Whitley (RIP) which I am a huge fan, you could call this Comeback Kid Sauce. A little Keith Whitley for your listening pleasure:

Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo Junior Agricultural Mechanics Project Show

This is pretty awesome.  Can't wait to see what everybody makes.  Info here at Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo Facebook page