#5 birthday cake fun!

As my little munchkin's BIG 5th BIRTHDAY arrives - eeekkk! - I wanted to share my cute #5 cake! She and I will venture out soon for her birthday pictures, no one is surprised by this, Im sure.

Here is her surprise cake we made! Now, I am not the best cake decorator - nope - but I do love to bake and even though its not always pretty it tastes great!  I thought me and the hubs were pretty crafty with this one though.

we started with 2 loaf cakes 

and a round cake.  I got home from the store and realized that I should have gotten a bunt pan to make the circle inside - oops.  Here is what we came up with....we ran a soup can through the dishwasher and baked the cake around it - worked like a charm! 

and I even forgot to spray the soup can with baking spray but it pulled out super easy and didn't crack the cake at all! I did let it sit over night with the can in so it was super cooled down.

here we are after being all trimmed up.

and here after decorated! twislers line the sides and polka dotted with skittles!

Christmas crafts and Owen update!

I make these wonderful cookies every year for family and friends at work.  I only make them at Christmas because I would weigh 500 pounds if I made them throughout the year.  They are seriously fantastic - and that's no compliment to me - its just the cookies!!

This year I wanted to make cute little Christmas cookie cans to pass out my goodies! Here is my up-cycle use for my son's formula containers.

Supplies needed: wrapping paper, formula can, tape, paint, ribbon, and of course your goodies!

Paint the cap - chalk board paint would be really cute!! This is the first coat - I did two and it covered fine. 

Fold and tap the paper to fit your can. 

I taped it at the seems and it held around just fine.  The formula cans have a lip around the edge that helped hold the paper in place. 

Tadaa! Now add cookies! 

Owens is home now and starting to seem better every moment! We still have some coughing fits, and I have been thrown up on a few times, but he is actually smiling now.  I have to go back to work tomorrow and I am  hoping he feels better - my poor husband....I did enjoy the extra mommy and Owen time these last few days.

Advent Calendar...almost.

I hate to say - but this will be the first year that we have done an Advent calendar.  EKK! But since I have been bitten by both the DIY and Pinterest bug this year...I decided to make one....Simone style! I found this really cute one on a blog (that was not written in English, btw) and decided to go with this theme. Unfortunately - sickness has taken down my house and we never got to finish making it.  Maybe next year I will start in July???  Well...here was my list - and till Christmas comes I am just going to let the girls pick something to do every night.

Our activities

Each package has a special not inside of what to do as a family

25: Read Christmas stories for bedtime. 

24: Make salt dough ornaments. 

23: Make and send Christmas cards. 

22: Make paper snow flakes and decorate the kitchen. 

21: Make paper garland. 

20: Pick out children from an Angel tree and buy them gifts.

19: Make Christmas presents to mail to Grandpa. 

18:Learn a new Christmas song. 

17: Make snowmen from toilet paper rolls. 

16: Make paper stockings. 

15: Make reindeer pops. 

14: Paint a Christmas tree with hand prints.  

13: Make Christmas cookies with fun shapes. 

12: Make a tissue paper wreathe. 

11: Make Christmas tree ornaments with scrabble tiles. 

10: Make a ginger bread house. 

9: Wrap presents we made for the family. 

8: Make a nativity scene. 

7: Hot chocolate and smores outside by the fire pit. 

6: Drive and look at Christmas lights. 

5: Watch a Christmas movie for family movie night. 

4: Make Christmas rice crispe treats (shaped like trees and ornaments made from candies)

3: Make treats for a house-bound member of our church and deliver them. 

2: Make a "Thankful For" board of things the kids are thankful for. 

1: Read the Christmas story from Luke.


This is about how far we got before all 3 kids got RSV....

That's it.  Pretty inspiring, huh? It would have been cute. 

Make your own wipes!

In this house - we use wipes - for everything!! So when I heard about making our own for cheap I was on board....while the glue and paint are drying on our Advent Calendar, I thought I would show how we made our own wipes.  I know there are other blogs out there that have shown this - but this is an account of our experience!

 You will need : 1 roll of paper towels.  2 cups of distilled water (or boil 2 cups and then let them cool to room temperature).  2 tablespoons of baby wash and 1 table spoon of baby oil. One container with a lid - mine is a little excessive but its what I had! Total spent - $2.20 to make 204 wipes.  204 wipes store bought = $10.00 or more depending on brand.  

1 roll of paper towels - we liked using the Viva because they are soft.  I got the select a size roll for $2.20.  Baby oil and baby wash - which most of you probably already have!  

Use a sharp, serrated knife to cut your roll in half.  The blog I saw had the roll all pretty and clean when it was cut - mine did not.  :)  Here is what it actually looked like...and it only got worse.  Take the middle card board peice out.  Set one half aside for next time.

 Place the baby wash, oil and water in your container.  Place one half of your paper towel roll (cut side down) in the bottom and close the lid.  Let it sit until all the liquid is absorbed.  Turn your whole container up side down and let it sit this way for 10-20 minutes.  Turn right side up and enjoy!!

Pinterest

Anyone else addicted to Pinterest???  Just me?  Okay.  I heart pinterest - I even made a follow me link on the side of my blog (if you haven't noticed, its above our families pictures).  So to make better use of all the useful things I pin - I decided that every week I will make something new, try a new hair style, and organize somewhere in my house.  Sounds like a good plan - its not like I am super busy already or anything....

Week 1:

 I did a new hair style! Turned out super cute (even though my boss told me I looked like a hippy) and I will post a picture as soon as I can figure out how to upload from my new tablet.  As I have said many times - I am not technologically advanced! PS...when I did it...I was so super excited about it that I downloaded a camera app and toke pictures before work and was almost late!

Last night I made a book.  Really fun - very time consuming.  I got the idea from this post on pinterest:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/80417875/abc-scriptures-for-kids

Now, hers are much prettier than mine - but I don't use things that use scriptures out of context, manipulate them, or multipul versions so I made my own.  Thank you Photoshop! And thanks to a sale at Shutterfly - my books are on their way! Pictures of my own books will come soon.

Now I am off to organize my closet - which is in dire need! It may take me all day since I will have little helpers...but it will be fun.  

Happy Thanksgiving Eve - I work overnight tonight so I must organize and then sleep!

DIY - Girl's Room

We actually did this a while ago....and this post has been sitting unpublished!

For the girl's big Christmas present this year, we decided it would be fun to fix up their room.  When we moved them to their new room, the yellow room as it is called in our house, we got them new beds and pretty much just shoved them in there.  Well - now its time for a little girly stuff! I cannot wait for the next few months - a book shelf, built-ins from Paw Paw, and lots of fun stuff I have found.  And all this on a budget....fun!

First thing on the list....a dress up clothes station.

We bought a wood quilt rack ($10) from a facebook garage sale site.

See all the junk in the background - that's my homeschool area.  Still looking for a cool shelf / cabinet to redo .

Then it was off to Sherwin Williams....$6.99 for their sample paint sized paint...and we still have tons left over!!

Something new I learned....If you are a genious like me and forget paint supplies at the paint supply store (hello??) then you might like this! I forgot a paint tray...so I took a cake pan top and covered it with parchment paper.  Worked like a charm!

painted! 

This is in the girls room....we added hooks to hang the dresses....

....and pretty pink knobs for necklaces and purses. 

DIY Chore Chart

"Ella, your room is dirty."

Instead - maybe we should just say - go ahead.  Have a meltdown...now! That's about what happens when we say the words "clean up".  Melt down.  My oldest needs specific directions and time lines.  She does not do well with general.  So we decided in a last attempt before taking ALL the toys away (no snickering, Mom, I remember toys of my own things being tossed up the attic stairs - maybe I am seeing where Ella gets it from...) to try a chore cart so she would have specific things to do.

She loved the idea - and getting to craft!

this was the old chart - pretty pathetic! 

Supplies needed : Clothes hangers, craft sticks, mod podge, and scrap book paper.  

Paint the Mod Podge onto the craft stick.  Stick it to the white side of your scapbook paper. 

Handy dandy box cutter - or exact o knife

Cut the excess paper off your craft stick. 

My Mod Podge skills stink- and I had a helper  :)  But even when they are wrinkly you still can't see it from a distance. 

Hot glue your clothes pin to the back. 

Take time out to play with your middle child and her new ballerina.

I took a ribbon and hung it under their chalk board to hang their chores. 

Tadaa! I have to make a few more...but you get the idea! 

How to curl your hair with socks!

**WARNING**  some hideous pictures of me are about to be seen....you have been warned....


Now that you have been read the disclaimer - let's curl some hair! (BIG thank you to my husband for helping me document!)

First - I started with damp hair.  It may look like my hair would curl on its own - but don't be fooled.  Left to its own ways it turns into a giant poof.  One thing I learned from doing this a few times - don't leave your hair too damp.  Mine worked better when it was dry all the way first and I ran a wet brush through it a few times.  When it was too damp it didn't dry well.

All three sections of hair are done the same way.  The first section is at the crown.  Take a circle of hair from the crown and pull it up for your first sock. 

Place your sock underneath - preferably a clean on. 

Start to twist the ends around the sock.  Make sure to get all the way to the end as if you were using a curling iron. 

Twist. 

Keep twisting down till you get to your head. 

Tie the sock in a knot. 

First sock down! (ahh this is the worst picture ever!!!) It doesn't have to be neat. 

Separate the rest of your hair like you are making two pony tails.

Do the same thing as the top sock - place the sock under your hair and roll your hair around the sock. 

Tie the sock in a knot when you reach your ear.  

Repeat on the other side.  (notice all of my socks are different!)

Done! Now go to sleep....

In the morning.....

Untwist the socks. 

Repeat on the other side and top sock, 

Tadaa! 

Curly hair.  :)