Cookies and Milk Valentine Party

Max & I decided to throw a Valentine Party. We wanted it simple so decided on a Cookies & Milk theme. Most of you are on Pinterest and have seen the brilliant party ideas. All I did was copy what other really smart women had already done!

Enjoy my pictures & some of the details. It was a great party theme. 

I made this invite using Picnik. The idea came from here.


I made the tissue flowers from a Martha Stewart tutorial.

I bought most of the glass jars from Walmart & Target. All the cookies were store bought. As party favors, I bought Valentine themed chinese takeout boxes & as guests left, they filled boxes up to take home for later!


I kinda made the peanut butter kisses. Instead of homemade, I added red dye to a box mix. Don't judge. Idea from here.


Since the majority of my guest are of the "little kind", these milks were a no brainer!


This is a picture of my breakfast room. I continued with the pom-poms & I decorated the table tops with crafts for the kids to complete.


I also borrowed several small tables.




I wanted to have some food for the adults. I did simple veggie sticks in dip cups, cheese & crackers and nuts.


Of course, Sangria!! {recipe}


This is my sweet, awesome neighbor Holly.


Can you believe that all these kids live on our street. It was a cold day in Houston so we played Valentine Bingo in my foyer. I gave away prizes to the top 3 winners. Bingo Idea here.




Anyway, as you can see, this was a fun party! Sorry to be so late with posting all the details. I have one more party to post about & I am painting my piano tomorrow!! Wish me luck ;)

XOXO

Crabby Patty Cupcakes

I can't bake. Really I can't.  However, little man has been begging for these Crabby Patty cupcakes and today is big man's birthday.  Unfortunately, big man is in Dubai on business, so we celebrated with him in spirit ;)  Any excuse to eat a cupcake, right?

I will say that these can be made to look a lot prettier. I just don't have the skills or patience.

Here's the 411:

Ahoy Matey-

XOXO

The Pig and That Very Angry Bird

Well, I did it. I made The Pig. More importantly the little dude made a movie. Making this Pig was so frustrating, watching him play with it, was so worth it.

~XOXO~

My Angry Bird Post HERE

Every Day's a Holiday

Every Day's a Holiday - Year Round Crafting with Kids

by Heidi Kenney

Photographs by France Ruffenach

Chronicle Books

ISBN: 978-0-8118-7144-0

*Thank you Alyson & Chronicle Books for the opportunity to review*

My Review:

From the Publisher:

Kids love making crafts, and no one knows that better than Heidi Kenney, creator of the popular blog My Paper Crane. In this festive how-to book, Heidi shares a year's worth of classic and not-so-classic projects that the whole family will enjoy, from the National Bird Day embroidered handmade book to the St. Patrick's Day mini leprechaun pin. Fifty fully photographed projects are geared to all age levels and abilities. Some—like the New Year's Day newspaper hats—are simple enough for small kids to make themselves with minimum assistance, while more complicated projects require a little extra help from mom or dad. With so many fun projects to bring the family together, Every Day's a Holiday proves that every day really is a holiday.

Inside the Book:

Nov. 13 America Recycles Day: Recycled Mini Robots

Nov. 4 National Candy Day: Rock Candy

1st Friday in June Donut Day: Marzipan Doughnuts

April 1 April Fool's Day: Faux Cupcakes

Feb. 14 Valentine's Day: Felted Love Bugs

Other Resources:

My Paper Crane

The Nature Connection (and GIVEAWAY!)

The Nature Connection

by Clare Walker Leslie

Storey Publishing

July 2010

ISBN: 978-1-60342-531-5

My Review:

From the Publisher:

This interactive workbook, packed with creative, year-round nature activities, is sure to please everyone ages 8 to 13. Clare Walker Leslie guides kids to observe and record what they see, hear, smell, and touch outdoors, whether they live in the country, the city, or somewhere in between. She offers dozens of fun things to do in every season: write a poem; make a sketch; tell a story; record daily sunrise and sunset times for a month; draw a local map and mark the locations of trees, rocks, animals, and other sights; keep a moon journal; learn about the constellations; or collect leaves and bring them home to sketch and identify. Rediscover the world outside with The Nature Connection!

The GIVEAWAY:
Leave me a comment with your email address. That's it!  One random commenter will win a copy, provided by the publisher, shipped by me :)

Giveaway ends 11-10. Thanks for entering. You will love this book :)

**Thank you Alee for the opportunity to review.  Storey Publishing ROCKS!**

~XOXO~

Homemade Gummy Candies - Lego Style!

These little gummy candies are so easy and fun to make (and the kids loved to eat them!).

Gummy Candy Recipe

1 3-oz box of Jello, any flavor

1 box of unflavored gelatin, mine came with 4 small packages to a box, I used 2 pkgs

1/3 cup water
corn starch for light dusting

candy molds, ice cube molds etc.

In a small sauce pan add 1/3 cup of water, 1 3-oz box of flavored Jello and 2 small pkgs of unflavored gelatin. Stir and let sit for 5 minutes. Turn heat to med-high and dissolve Jello mixture, stirring constantly for about 3-5 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool for about 1 minute. Transfer mixture to an easy to pour container (I used a small coffee creamer) and fill your molds. No need to grease the molds.

Let the molds sit for 20 minutes or for faster cooling place in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes. After they had hardened (or jellied?), I used a clean makeup brush to lightly dust the candies with cornstarch to keep them from being sticky. Hint: The candies will seem hard to get out of the molds but they are really not. You can really pinch them out, they are pretty tough at this point. Don't worry :)

*I found the Lego molds at the Lego store in Dallas last month or you can buy at Lego.com*

~XOXO~

Resource Links:

Skip To My Lou

Lego Ice Cube Trays

You Light Up My Lego

These are the greatest gifts for kids ever! Hours and hours of fun. I bought the key chains for the girls and the head lights for the boys. Brilliant Lego Brilliant!

Have a great weekend!

~XOXO~

Lego is not selling these items online (in stores only) but I did find them on Amazon:

LEGO Head Lamp
Play Visions LEGO Super Bright LED Key Flash Light

Kid's DIY Bird Feeders

I just love these little pine cone bird feeders! They are so easy to make and can hang from anywhere.  Here's what you need:

Pine Cones

Peanut Butter*

Birdseed

String

Use a plastic knife to spread the peanut butter on the pine cone. Be sure to get in between the needles.  Then coat the pine cone in birdseed and tie a string around the top. Hang from any tree!

*If you have a peanut allergy, canned frosting can be substituted

Tweet, Tweet~
XOXO

Cheap Father's Day Idea: The Coupon Book

Max and I made this little coupon book and gave it to Byron for Valentine's Day but this project would make a great Father's day gift.

What I did: I scanned in several of Byron's neckties. I then used www.picnik.com to add text to the top of the necktie pattern. After I had several different looks and coupon sayings, I cropped, printed and stapled them together at the top. Very Easy!

Pick out your ties and scan them into jpg files

Use some kind of photo editing software, I used Picnik, add text

Crop, print and staple

Ta-Da!

The last coupon says "Coffee on Us" and it included a Starbucks GC

Have fun with your own version!

~XOXO~