creative love

How is this for a creative teachers gift...

I also think this would be adorable in a kids room or an art studio or even hanging in a family room with your family's initial.  Found at Delightful Distractions.

diy

I am so making this perpetual calendar.  How great would this look on a wall?  It is so full of graphic goodness I can hardly stand it.  Keep track of your appointments and other calendar jive by using post-its.  

I'm off to take pictures and find a suitable wall to display this beauty.  Who am I kidding?  I'm actually off to clean my fridge and organize my pantry but after that maybe I'll shoot some pictures.  Sometimes the realities of life really get in the way of my creativity.

NOTE:  I realize the picture is cut off - sometimes I hate Blogger.  I can get the full picture if I download from Iphoto but Blogger is not letting me go that route at the moment.  For a full picture just head over to the link.

i want s'more

I totally want to make this with the kids.  It looks simple and fun.  Directions can be found here.

what we did during summer vacation

So I had this bright idea to have someone in the family post everyday - journaling what we did that day as part of our summer vacation.  I was hoping to be able to look back at the blog in September and have a great record of what we did during summer vacation. Problem is...it's not so easy to sit down everyday and get it all down.  I don't want to be a quitter especially since we hadn't even gotten one summer post written so we're going to try to go the distance and see how well we actually do.

Day one of summer found us making our lunch bright and early in the morning (If you call waking up at 8:45 in the morning bright and early - yea, for sleeping in) In high school some friends and I would throw together some quesadillas, wrap them in foil and leave them on the dash in the car so the cheese would be melted by lunch.  I decided to try this little culinary wonder with the kids.  Each kiddo made their own "dilla", wrapped it in foil and sharpie'd their name on the ready to cook foil packet.

We tossed them onto the dash and let them do their thing for a few hours.  When we finally pulled them from our "oven" we feasted on yummy quesadillas and hoped the neighbors hadn't seen our little packets baking in the heat of the car - wonder what they would think?!?!
We also spent some time finger painting.  Luke had been begging for days to be able to finger paint but I was so overwhelmed with end of the school year jive that I was the mean mom constantly saying no.  I finally said yes and the kids had a blast creating their masterpieces.

Our other summer activity that we started was Summer Bridge Books.  The kids are always excited to start these the first few days of summer but then their excitement dwindles.  We signed contracts complete with rewards for finishing their books so hopefully their motivation will stay.  I agreed to reward $15 to each kid (Except Megan - she doesn't have a book) to spend in Mexico. Just let me note for the record - I don't normally pay kids for school work but I want my kids to have spending money for when we go to Mexico and this seemed like a good way to go.  I also threw in an outing/activity for each kid that they got to pick.  Luke wanted to do a lemonade stand, Nathan wanted a day at the pool just for fun - no parents telling him to practice his swimming and Emily requested a trip to the bowling alley.

remember

I gave the visiting teaching message this month in my companionship. Since last month was conference there was no set message so I had decided to use the talk by Elder Oaks, which I believe was titled Good, Better, Best (one of my favorite talks from conference) A few days before our appointments I felt like I should change the message and instead I focused on Pres. Eyring's talk O Remember, Remember (another fav talk from conference) I felt that this was an especially good topic with Thanksgiving coming up.

As I was preparing the message I was thinking about my own family and what we could do this month as we prepare for Thanksgiving that would allow us to remember God's hand in our lives. It needed to be simple enough for the kids and out in the open so we wouldn't forget to do it. I decided to do a remembrance jar...each day we can write down a quick sentence or two about how we have seen God's hand. I was just going to use any old jar but then remembered a post I saw on Amy's blog about glass etching. I decided to try my hand at it to see if I could spruce up the plain glass jars that I had. My first attempts were not great (I needed to use more etching cream) but I still love the results. It turned out to be such an easy craft project that Kari (my visiting teaching companion) and I delivered them to our sisters as well so that they could use them with their families.

If you want to make these for your own family check out Amy's how to. I also ended up making a monogrammed one like Amy's for one of Megan's friends and am trying to think up other reasons to make more. I may try to incorporate the idea somewhere on our Thanksgiving table.



I used stickers from the scrapbook store to write remember. I mixed up the fonts because the word was so long and I was making 4 of them - I didn't want to buy so many stickers just to get all the letters in the same font. Each jar was a variation of the different fonts. I found the glass etching cream at Michael's but I am sure you could find it at any craft store. I had the jars but they also can be found anywhere. I buy a lot of glass stuff for parties at Big Lots - the prices are good.

holy envelope, batman

Do you love these stamps or what?!?! I was at the post office the other day and just had to get these. Think of the possibilities, people.

After I bought the stamps I went and picked up some red envelopes because you know super heroes are all about the color. I got on the computer and made an address label that looked like the "pow', "kaboom", etc bubbles and then added the name and address. In my attempts to foil the evil forces that lurk around every corner I have changed my friends address, although it would be cool to live on whatever street. This one is going to my friend to thank her for being a "super friend" but these stamps and envelopes could be used for a ton of stuff...

thanks for sharing your "super powers" with me (for someone that helped you do something or brought you dinner, etc)

Have you gone out with friends lately or been to a party or dinner? How about thanks for a "super" time.

I think a super hero birthday party would be a blast and you could use this idea for the invites.

What else? I'm sure there are a ton of ways to use these way cute stamps. Let me know if you think of anything.

added...for those interested the font used on the address label is International Superhero

visiting teaching or just because

I thought I'd share this quick and easy Visiting Teaching idea.

I was at Smart and Final the other day and they had T. Marzetti's Carmel Apple Dip on sale for a dollar. I bought up a bunch not really sure what to do with them all but unable to pass up the deal. I mean a dollar for a tub of goodness - you would have bought it too.

The next day Derek and I were at Cost Plus one of my favorite stores and I found cute little jars for under $2.00. The ideas were rolling and I decided to put together these gifts for the girls I visit teach and a friend that was having a hard time.

I had the baskets so I threw in some apples and the cute little jars full of carmel dipping yumminess. The labels on the side read "an apple a day can't keep us away, we love being your visiting teachers." For my friend it said "an apple a day can't keep me away, I love being your friend"

The labels were all made on the computer using Honey Script and another font that is called June 15. I'm pretty sure that is not the name of the font but I probably put the date I downloaded it or did some equally lame I can't work the computer thing.
These could be done up with something besides carmel. How about a little jar of salsa with chips or some yummy dip with vegetables. These would work well as a teachers gift too.

potter peek

Friday is the HP party. Here is a peek at the potion bottles I have been working on. I think I have done somewhere around 30 or so bottles. I have a few more left to do but am having a hard time figuring out what to use for the contents.
Today I started to turn our family room into the Gryffindor Common Room. We are also creating a herbology classroom, the yule ball, the divination classroom, the great hall, and the room of requirement - that's the plan anyway. We'll see how much we can get done over the next few days.

now showing

Friday night was movie night again at the Baker house. We showed The Incredibles and ended up with 32 people here - if I counted correctly. We didn't do hot dogs this time but we had popcorn, nachos and drinks free of charge. We decided to let people pay for the candy so we set up a concession stand case to showcase what we had. It was a great addition. I found a shadow box at Michael's and used velcro to secure the candy inside. I printed up little yellow tags with the price and taped them to the candy. It was an easy project and made life so much easier since kids couldn't come and just grab candy off the table. Emily worked the concession stand and kept all the candy hidden behind the table only giving it to people when they paid.Another addition to our movie night was tickets. I loved how they turned out that I plan on using them every time we show an outdoor movie. I got the template for the tickets here I found the link on the forums at Backyard Theater. If you are thinking about an outdoor theater you have to check the website out -lots of good ideas and great pictures of outdoor movie set ups. Back to the tickets...the template was easy to use and once we had the tickets printed up on matte photo paper they look pretty legit.

shari lewis has nothing on me

may she rest in peace. Does anyone even know who Shari Lewis is? Megan used to watch Shari and Lambchop when she was little. Looking back I don't know how either of us could stand to watch the show - Meg was too young and was probably just happy that there was movement in front of her face and I was a new mom just pleased as punch that I could have a half hour of peace while Meg watched the show. I'm not sure I could tolerate Shari and her puppet if I was forced to watch it now but that's not the point of this post.

Nathan had his final economy day last week and so we had to come up with yet another "what's the best product to sell" idea. The cinnamon rolls and bag o' fun went over pretty well and we wanted to keep up the streak. Nate decided he wanted to sell sock puppets. Great idea but he wanted us to make all the puppets, umm no! I told him I thought sock puppet kits might be better - the kids would think it was fun to make their own and it would be a great craft activity for the summer. He agreed so we went with it.

Each kit contained...

• 1 sock


• 2 buttons


• 2 google eyes


• 1 pompom


• yarn


• red felt


• small container of glue


• pair if scissors

We packaged them up in cellophane bags with a ribbon and called it good. I realized looking at all the packages that the kids might not be super thrilled with the contents unless they could see what they would actually get to make so we made a puppet using all the supplies so that Nate could display it. So here is Fred, Fred? Is it Fred? Is that what Nate named him? I can't remember now but here he is...

Oh, I forgot to mention - Nathan sold out! I see a little entrepreneur being shaped.

photography 2

I started my photography 2 class a few weeks ago. We are working on portraits and lighting. Each week we turn in one photo for our homework assignment - the one of Nate is what I turned in last night. I'm learning a lot but am still finding it hard to convey in the photo what I'm picturing in my mind. I'm trying to observe more and to be aware of light, distractions, etc. when shooting but sometimes it all seems like a lot to remember. I am enjoying myself though and it is nice to have a hobby, especially one that allows me to create.

nate's eight

So Monday was Nathan's birthday - the big 8. Here is how we celebrated...

Derek and I went up to school for lunch and brought cupcakes and water for the kids to have during lunch. The cupcakes were a bigger hit then the water (surprise, surprise) but I personally thought the water bottles were better then cupcakes, but what do I know - I'm not 8. We also took up little gift bags that Nathan passed out to his classmates at the end of the day. Nate felt like he had a little party and I hardly did any work - I might have to turn this party at the lunch tables thing in to a tradition :)

One of our birthday traditions is the birthday boy or girl gets to pick the meal for dinner. Nate picks the same gourmet meal every year - frozen chicken nuggets & tater tots - is your mouth watering just thinking about it? The afternoon ended up being a bit overbooked and the grocery store quickly ended up at the bottom of the long to do list. Nate was easily swayed to go out to dinner at a restaurant of his choosing so we ended up at Chili's and enjoyed a nice dinner complete with birthday serenade by the talented wait staff.

We concluded the evening with a birthday gift trip to Target where we each picked up a gift for Nate. We put our very posh wrapping skills to use and wrapped the presents in the back seat of the Suburban using the beautiful and graphic Target bags, handed the gifts to Nate in the middle seat where he opened the bags and found all was right with the world. A rousing rendition of Happy Birthday and we were home for bed.

on to saturday's activities

Saturday was party day...Luke had a party for a classmate/neighborhood friend at our local little park. He was having a great time until we had to pick him up early so we could head out to the next party. No child wants to leave a party early - you can imagine the tears I'm sure.

As a family we went to celebrate Abby's 1st birthday - what a great celebration for a very special girl. You can see pictures from her party here. It was amazing to see such a happy, healthy little girl so aware of her surroundings when it wasn't that long ago that Derek and I saw her in the hospital after her birth. She truly is a miracle.

I had fun putting together her birthday present. We put together "Abby's Bedtime Box" and filled it with books, a blanket and a cd of lullabies. I reused my birthday label that I made for the apple but I changed the words. I knew I would find other uses for it.

After the party we did a quick change into church clothes and then went to our Stake baptisms. Our friends the Wrights baptized their youngest son. After the baptism the Wrights invited family and friends over to their home for a meal. Amazing doesn't even begin to describe it. Max (the mom) is an amazing cook. She does catering on the side. She prepared an amazing feast of Chinese food that was enjoyed by all.

no time for cupcakes

It's been one of those days. You know the ones where you are busy and running around all day but you're not really sure what you accomplished.

I wanted to deliver a birthday treat to a woman in our ward but there was just no way I was going to get cupcake baking into the day. I ran to Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and got a yummy apple pie apple and then did some simple packaging.

I have probably said this before but I love labels. They are quick and easy to make and add a great personal touch. I know that there are a few of you out there that make labels too - the fonts I used are walkway bold (thinking of, on your special day) Jane Austen (all cursive) and the "YOU" I can't remember but it was a basic font - arial, maybe. The label is pink and brown, although in the picture it looks black.

This would be a great little gift when neighbors need a little pick me up, for teachers, for visiting teaching or to remember someones birthday. I just plan to change the wording to fit the occasion when I use this idea again.

check it out

Ok, so look what I found today...Martha Stewart Craft. I'm not a huge fan of Martha but she (or at least her staff) comes up with some great ideas. Imagine the party possibilities with all these goodies. And the cute cupcake liners & the boxes - I'm giddy with excitement.

derek is feeding my obsession

So I have a Sharpie obsession. Even with all the damage they can do (we have black sharpie'd window sills - thanks Luke) I still love them. Every time I go into an office supply store my heart races a bit when I see Sharpies in all their glorious colors. I nearly have a heart attack when I see the huge multi pack at Costco.

Last night Emily and Derek were out buying a protractor at Staples and they came home bearing a gift. Yes, you guessed it I am now the proud owner of 24 colored Sharpies - life is good! I colored for about an hour or more last night thoroughly enjoying my vibrant colored doodles.

card class

I taught my card class at the end of March and it went well. The only mishap was Nate getting a horrible ear infection again and Derek was out of town so I had to juggle. It was one of those times that as a mother you wish had a few more hands and a more patient personality. It all worked out however, so no worries.

A few women in the card class wanted to start meeting monthly to work on cards. I think it sounds like fun and it will make me commit to working on cards more frequently.

For my birthday I got a a few homemade cards from friends of mine that had taken the card class. I was so pleased to see that they had gone home and made cards and I felt lucky to be the recipient of their handmade creations

I made the pictured card a few weeks ago for a friends birthday. I love making them but find it hard to find the time to make them for everyones birthday. Meeting monthly would be great for this very reason.

enrichment night and thank yous

Last night was our quarterly enrichment activity (that's when the women of our church get together for some type of activity) I am the enrichment leader so I have been busy with all the planning and stuff (along with the counselor over enrichment) We started the evening with dinner (a big thanks to my sister in law Gail for loaning us her mugs - we used them to serve soup) We also had salad, homemade rolls and a yummy blueberry, peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream - mmmm!We based the program that followed dinner on this song, My Sister's Hands and had some women sing it. They were followed by my friend Kelly, who has definitely been touched by "her sister's hands" this past year. Kelly spoke of her experience with her girls Emma, Maddie and Abby It was a touching talk and stressed how much a kind word, a hug, or a meal can mean to someone who is in need physically or emotionally.

The enrichment counselor also spoke and she did a really great job. She shared the kind acts of service that are happening everyday in our ward that most of us are not aware of. (she didn't share names but it was nice to hear what sisters were doing to lift one another)

We ended the meeting having each sister (all 60 of them) make a simple card - we had put packets together ahead of time with all the paper cut and with adhesive, etc. We included a stamped envelope and encouraged all of them to send their card to another sister this week to say thanks for something or just to say thinking of you.

Our enrichment committee did a ton of work to help pull the night off so here is the thank you that the counselor and I are giving them. I know, I know, stop it already with the take out boxes - but I love them!

The label reads "it's our good fortune to work with you" and the inside is filled with soap fortune cookiesIt has been trial and error today as I have made the soap. It is a little tricky figuring out when to start molding the soap into cookies - it has to be firm enough to handle but still soft to not break. I got most of them done today but have a few more to make tomorrow. On the inside of each "cookie" we put a fortune. The 3 fortunes said one of the following Rona, Denise and Confucius say (followed by ...many blessings come from service...thank you for all your help...we love you _________) The we love you fortune is personalized for each sister with her name.

Visiting Teaching

I visit the greatest ladies for VT and I have an amazing companion. I love getting together each month and sharing gospel conversation with them as well as a lot of tears and laughter. I wanted to show my appreciation for them so I put together these little gifts. It's a box filled with a cute candle that says "lucky" and then some chocolate coins.I made a happy st. patty's day paper wrap to wrap around the box and then added a tag and ribbon. It was a simple, inexpensive project - I love the computer, you can do so much with it and a stack of paper. I may try to do something similar for the kids teachers at school and at church if I can recover from enrichment night last night (more on that later)

A few more cards

Here are a few more cards that I made. I love the elephant paper - who am I kidding, I just love paper. I was going to teach one or both of these cards at the class I'm doing but decided against it because of time restraints. I think these cards are a bit too involved for a class with a lot of people and not much time.

Since I'm not going to teach these at the class I have been trying to figure out who to send them to but am having a difficult time giving them up. I don't know why these two cards are hard to part with but for some reason they are.

If any of you should end up with this card in your mailbox please know that you are loved and that it was a huge sacrifice on my part :)