Happy 4th of July!!

This year our 4th of July was packed with lots of fun activities. So here is just a little recap of today's festivities:

[My 2-year old daughter and I decided we were going to make an American flag to celebrate the holiday. And I was very surprised how well she followed instructions and placed each piece of paper neatly where I told her to put it. I'm a proud mom!]

[Then it was off to the kitchen to whip up these patriotic strawberries! Such fun and super easy to make!]

[To cool off, we all decided it was about time to hop in the pool. My daughter was so excited to swim!]

[Once it was dark enough outside, my husband set up the projector and screen to have a little movie night outside. I placed some blankets on the ground, brought some fruit to munch on, and we all enjoyed watching "Tangled". I love that movie!]

So that about sums up my Independence Day. How was your 4th of July?

[Jen]

Father's Day Recap: Envelope Surprise

Hi everyone! Wow, a lot has been going on lately that haven't even had time to sit down at my computer to blog! I was planning on at least blogging on Monday, but little girl decided not to take a nap that day. No nap = no blogging for mama. :0

Anyways, I just wanted to give you an update on last weekend. On Saturday, I hosted a 30th Birthday Party for my husband (more about that in later posts!). And on Father's Day, I officially became a Godmother to my 2 week old Goddaughter Scarlett! Isn't she adorable in her Baptism dress?!

Also, to celebrate Father's Day, I did this little "Envelope Surprise" that I was first inspired to create from Oh Happy Day [here]. Since my husband's birthday was the day before Father's Day, I didn't want to do anything to too big to overshadow that. So starting on Tuesday, June 14th I made an envelope for each day that had a little "surprise" waiting for him inside. So there were 6 days of surprises.

These envelopes were hung next to my husband's desk in his office. He was so excited to wake up every morning to open up his envelope for the day. It was so cute! And to make these, I just used some large envelopes that I have been hanging onto for years and covered just the portion you see with colored scrapbook paper. Then I used white foam number stickers to place on the envelopes.

The 6th Day was of course Father's Day, so I put little stars next to that number. And inside that envelope was his Father's Day card that I ordered from Tiny Prints for FREE (such a steal!).

The other envelopes had other little surprises such as a "free lunch", his favorite candy bar, and coffee that I made for him that morning. It's the little things that can do wonders to brighten his day. :0)

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend! And stay tuned for posts about my husband's 30th Birthday Party! It was a "mustache theme" party! Here's a little preview:

Linking up to [these] parties!

[Jen]

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the fabulous moms out there!

Shouldn't every day be Mother's Day?? :0)

[Jen]

[Scrapperday: Mother's Day Card]

Have you checked your calendars? Yes, that's right, Mother's Day is a week away! So to prepare for the occasion, I decided to whip up a fun little card. :0)

I got the idea around Valentine's Day after I saw one of Kristina Werner's videos from her blog, KWerner Designs (adding my own flair as always!). I thought it would be the perfect, non-traditional "Happy Mother's Day" card for any mom.

I especially love the little cut-out heart as the "o". And it was super easy to make! (seriously, it only took about 10 minutes to make) Bonus: who doesn't love a handmade card?!

Happy Scrapperday! :0)

Linking up to these parties!

[Jen]

Easter Wrap-Up

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been M.I.A. for the past week. Guess I got wrapped up in Easter, Earth Day shopping, etc.

Anyways, how was everyone's Easter? Mine was fun filled with the Easter Bunny coming to visit for the first time this year (my daughter is 2, so we were sort of introducing her to the whole concept), dying Easter eggs for the first time (and we didn't even make a mess!), and visiting family. Here are a few highlights:

[Elizabeth was so excited after she woke up that the Easter Bunny came and wrote her a special note on our chalkboard table! Even more excited that there were Easter eggs filled with M&M's (her fave!).]

[Dying colorful Easter eggs...]

[A little Easter tea party is such a treat! And there's a side of yummy monkey bread to have for dessert!]

[Jen]

[Motivational Monday: Easter Brunch Ideas]

With Easter weekend coming up, I thought I might look around for some Easter brunch ideas. I would love to host a brunch someday, but with busy schedules this year it just won't happen. It's still nice to have lots of great ideas to keep on file, so be inspired!



[via The Party Dress]

[via Tiny Prints]

[via The TomKat Studio]

[via Tiny Prints]

What are your plans for Easter?

[Jen]

[How-to Tuesday: $2 DT Hurricanes]

About a year ago, I was inspired by Leanneja over at Organize and Decorate Everything on her thrifty candle holders (view her post HERE). And so I thought to myself, "hey, I could do that!" So I did. :0)

[I first went out and bought some supplies: tall cylinder vases & candle holders from the Dollar Tree, and E6000 glue from Hobby Lobby.]

[After researching the Internet, I found that this glue works best on glass. Plus you can still use it on basically anything, except Styrofoam.]

[After putting the E6000 on the glass to adhere the candle holders to the vases, I had to wait at least 24 hours for it to dry. This is an extremely important step!]

[And voila! As you can see here, I put eggs and flowers inside and wrapping a colorful ribbon around it to decorate for my Spring Mantel. But I am sure as the seasons change, I will put an actual candle inside.]

Not bad for $2! And it was so easy to make! I'll be linking this project up to these parties! Hope to see you there! :0)

[Jen]

Spring Mantel

Okay, I would just like to start off this post by saying that I NEVER decorate my mantel for Spring. Christmastime? Of course! But never for any of the other seasons. So this year, after being so inspired by other bloggers, I decided to give it a try! And actually, I surprisingly had a lot of fun decorating! :0)

[If you have read my previous post, you might recognize this cupcake liner wreath. (click HERE to view the tutorial) It hangs over our framed poem called "In Our Home" that we received as a housewarming gift a few years ago.]

[Below the wreath are these fun little plastic Easter eggs from last year sitting in a tea light candle tray (another housewarming gift). I think they add a little "fun" to the mantel, but my 2-year old daughter constantly wants me to take them down to play with them!]

[This "Spring" banner is a free printable from At Second Street. Super easy to make! Click HERE to print one of to make for yourself and to check out her super cute Spring mantel.]

[I decided to include one of my handmade frames from my Etsy shop. Inside the frame I made a little butterfly art that I will talk about tomorrow. So stay tuned!]

[I found this free Spring printable from Smile Like You Mean It and knew I just had to include it on my mantel (click HERE to print one out for yourself). It's just a fun colorful subway art that totally describes Spring. I stole the frame from my chalkboard frame that I first posted about when I started blogging. You can view that post HERE.]

[This little flower pot traveled from my craft/laundry room (click HERE and HERE to view a post on my craft room). I purchased it from Walmart about a year ago, and it's held up quite nicely.]

[I decided to fill these little candle holders with plastic eggs, a couple of feux flowers, and a colorful ribbon tied in a bow. And p.s., this candle holder only cost $2! I will show you how I made it on Tuesday!]

Well, that concludes today's post on my Spring mantel. I'll be linking it up to these fabulous parties! Happy Friday! :0)

[Jen]

Spring Cupcake Liner Wreath

After hearing all of the amazing and encouraging comments on my red cupcake liner wreath that I posted about a month ago (click HERE to view), I decided to make a Spring cupcake liner wreath. Actually I designed it to where I can change out the little embellishments throughout the year to decorate for the seasons/holidays. Which explains why I chose to use white cupcake liners to keep it neutral.

Here are the supplies I used:

• foam wreath (this one was 12 inches in diameter)
• thick ribbon (I used green since it's what I had on hand)
• white cupcake liners (I used about 150)
• hot glue and gun

Overall, it only took me a couple of hours (with many added interruptions), but it was well worth the effort!

I also added this little embellishment that I made out of tissue paper. It's just a standard pom-pom flower (click HERE to view the tutorial) with a big white button and and orange ribbon tied in a bow. I attached the entire thing with ribbon to make it easy to remove and change out according to the theme.

Linking this project up to these parties! Come join me! :0)

Stay tuned tomorrow to view my Spring mantel that includes this wreath!

[Jen]

Lucky Star - St. Patty's Day Treat

Do you make any special treats to celebrate St. Patrick's Day? Well, it has sort of become a tradition at my house (you can view last year's St. Patty's Day cookies HERE). This year I decided to make green Rice Krispie treats. I originally got this idea from Mique over at Thirty Handmade Days and her super fun Rainbow Treats. This was so much fun to make with my 2 year old daughter, even though she'd rather eat it than make it. :0)

Ingredients:

• 6 cups Rice Krispie cereal
• 1 package of marshmallows
• 2 tablespoons butter
• green food coloring
• cooking spray

First, melt butter in sauce pan. Then add marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from heat and add food coloring. Pour cereal into a large bowl and stir in melted marshmallows. Spray 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray and pour in mixture. Using your hands, firmly pat down mixture into pan until even distributed. Let cool and enjoy!

Since I don't have a shamrock cookie cutter, I decided to use one of my Christmas cookie cutters (since that's all I have!). After I found the star, I immediately thought "lucky star". Okay, I know it's a bit of a stretch for St. Patty's Day, but I had to get a little creative.

YOU are my lucky star! :0) Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

[Jen]

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Coming from a girl who's about 1/60th Irish (haha!), I hope you all have a fabulous St. Patrick's Day!

You are all me lucky charms! :0)

[Jen]

[Motivational Monday: FREE St. Patty's Day Printables]

There are so many FREE St. Patty's Day printables out here in blogland that I just had to share some of them with you. So here you go! Enjoy! :0)

Subway Art

1.  St. Patrick's Day Subway Art from While He Was Napping
2. Lucky Subway Art from eighteen25
3. Shamrock Subway Art from Today's Fabulous Finds
4. Jefferson Quote Subway Art from C.R.A.F.T.

Lucky & Shamrocks

1. Shamrock Print from Auntie Lo Crafts
2. Lucky Print from Sprik Space
3. Quatrefoil & Four Leaf Clover from Crafts and Sutch
4. Sweet Lucky Print from Madigan Made

Gift Tags & Cupcake Toppers

1. Lucky to have You Circle Tags from The Crafting Chicks
2. Lucky Tags & Shamrocks from it is what it is
3. Lucky to have You Strips from The Crafty Chicks
4. St. Patty's Day Cupcake Toppers from The TomKat Studio

Card & Party Printables

1. Lucky Banner from The TomKat Studio
2. Happy St. Patrick's Day Card from Nifty Thrifty Things
3. Keep Calm and Shamrock On from Two Twenty One
4. Somewhere Over the Rainbow from Funky Polkadot Giraffe

For Your Special Someone

1. Lucky in Love from Agape Love
2. Oh So Lucky To Have You from A Little Tipsy
3. Kiss Me & Happy St. Patrick's Day from The TomKat Studio
4. You're My Pot of Gold from it is what it is

Lunch Notes

St. Patty's Day Lunch Notes from Crafts & Sutch

[Jen]

[How-to Tuesday: Cupcake Liner Wreath]

Recently I stumbled upon an adorable little Whimsical Valentine Wreath over at Tatertots & Jello. And you are not going to believe what it is made out of....cupcake liners! How ingenious! You can view her entire tutorial [here]. And this is what her wreath looked like:

And this is the one I made:

To make this you will need:

• a Styrofoam wreath (I used the one pictured above from Hobby Lobby. It's the 10" Styrofoam extruded wreath.)
• wide ribbon
• cupcake liners (I used about 150 liners since my wreath was large.)
• hot glue gun
• LOTS of hot glue

[Step 1: Tightly wrap the entire foam wreath with some wide ribbon. Fold 1 cupcake liner like a flower, by folding the bottom of the liner to a point.]

[Step 2: Place a glob of hot glue onto the wreath, and then carefully place the folded cupcake over the glue. Hold it there for a few seconds to secure its placement.]

[Step 3: You will repeat step 2 many, many times. I found it easier to work in sections, to allow each section to cool properly. Once I had all 4 corners of the wreath completed, I filled in the gaps with more liners. I placed the liners in sort of a staggered pattern: started with one liner in the center, then staggered another liner on the inside and outside of the wreath. Does that make sense? Once you find a pattern that works for you, it will go by very quickly.]

[Voila! A beautiful cupcake liner wreath. I have to say I am quite proud of it!]

I made 2 of these wreaths for a retirement party I threw this past weekend. Stay tuned tomorrow for details and photos!

Linking up to these [parties]!

Happy "Party Week"! :0)

[Jen]