GIRLZ ROCK T-shirts

So we're taking the Girl Scouts to Sea World for their end-of-the-year celebration. Twelve 10-year olds... are we crazy? They've done such an amazing job selling nuts and cookies last year and this year that not only have we been able to go on lots of cool outings and camping, but we have enough money to go to Sea World for 2 days with the in-park Dining Plan and Quick Queue to jump to the front of ride lines.

It is so much easier, in a group, when we all wear our matching troop shirts. We have silk-screened ones back at the beginning of the year for all of the girls and adults to wear whenever we have outings or events. Those will be great for Sea World... but what about Day 2? We wanted matching shirts for the second day as well but didn't have the budget to silk-screen again. We had to DIY-it!
I ordered solid colored shirts online for just over $3 each. I really wanted to try out using bleach as well, so we started with a large stencil of a guitar and, using a spray bottle, misted a 50/50 water/bleach solution onto the shirts.

I wish we had made multiple stencils as not only did it get a little ragged before we finished 18 shirts, but it took forever to do these one by one and then we still had to wash and dry them before proceeding.

We then had another stencil that said GIRLZ ROCK that overlaid the top of the bleach guitar. We used three different colors of spray fabric paint across that stencil.




They turned out looking pretty cool, I think. I hope the girls like them and they're 'cool homemade' not 'embarrassing homemade'.

To speed things up (again, only 1 stencil and 18 shirts...) we needed to find a way to press the stencil down on the next shirt when the paint on top of the stencil was still wet (we had re-positionable adhesive on the backside of the stencil) we resorted to laying a piece of cling wrap on top of the stencil, rolling it on to the shirt, then peeling the cling wrap off. The stencil stayed stuck to the shirt and we were ready to spray again.


However, then we noticed that the design left on the cling wrap was pretty cool too. So we wanted to see what would happen if we laid that same cling wrap on another shirt, rolled it on to transfer the wet paint and then peeled it off.


We were left with this: I little more messy but still neat!


Once we were able to make 2 shirts for each stencil positioning and spraying... it sped up significantly. We made 18 shirts... 13 kid sized and 5 adult ones. It was a lot of fun and I really hope the girls like them.


So we're heading off to Sea World in about a week and we'll be that large, loud group in the bright shirts... on both days :-)

Blake's 8th Birthday

Wow! My second child is now eight... how the years scream by, yes?

Simple, small party... just a few friends at one of those "Bounce House" places... we've done one there before.

Couldn't decide what to do for the cake. We didn't really have a 'theme' for the party. So he just decided on a character from one of his favorite video games... SackBoy from Little Big Planet. (those circles at the top are where the candles will go)

Oh no, but it didn't start off this pretty :-)

Baked up a nice marble cake, split and filled it with chocolate buttercream... and then just HAD to take a potty break. Come back to find this:


THE DOG ATE THE CAKE!!!!! Oh my heart just sank. I guess it was better now than after it was frosted, right?

So I put the dog outside and cut out the corner of the cake (is that wrong? Would you have still used the un-eaten part?) I really had no choice... this all happened about 10 in the AM and the party was at 1:00.


And filled it in with a half-a-chocolate-cake-mix-baked-real-quick-in-a-loaf-pan. This corner was not pretty marble... did not have filling... so I was actually hoping we wouldn't have to cut into it at the party.


Everything turned out well... no one was the wiser :-) (until I showed them these pictures anyway).

Dean absolutely LOVED this big slide...


He probably climbed these stairs 30 times:


Blake playing with friends:


It turned into a money birthday, too. I guess maybe 8 year old boys are hard to buy for??? He ended up getting well over $100 in birthday money.

Happy Birthday Bud! Love you!

Guitar Cake

Had a friend ask me to make the cake for her daughter's birthday... and she wanted a guitar.

I could have just done a sheet cake and laid a frozen buttercream transfer of a guitar on top... I'm familiar with that process. But, no, she really wanted a guitar. I'd never done a 'sculpted' cake before, but was certainly willing to give it a try.

It was SO not perfect but I was actually pleasantly surprised with how well it turned out.

The girls were all supposed to dress like a rock star... I didn't really get a good picture of Paige before the party, but I channeled my inner 80's girl to make her an off the shoulder, side-tie rocker chick shirt. Here she is on the left with her back to the camera...


And here she is with a few friends:


Apparently they all stayed up until 4 AM, woke around 10 AM and had waffles covered with maple syrup, chocolate syrup and whipped cream! She had a blast!

Weekend Progress

I've been super busy at work all week so have not yet had a chance to post on my weekend progress.


Task ONE - Twin Sheet TeePee tent for Dean: Check!



I'd still like to make some cute flags for the tops of the poles. I also missed the note on the pattern to make sure that the sheet is the same on both sides. You can see above that the left side of the flap opening is the backside of the sheet and it is lighter, but I'm guess Dean doesn't care too much.



He got right in it when he saw it (right after waking up - hence he still has his paci... and he does prop the 'handle' of it up under his nose like that... always) and it's big enough for all 3 kids to squeeze in if the want to... although Paige can't stand up in it.

The kitties play with it too... to the point of skewing all the poles as they try to attack each other - one inside and one outside the tent...





Just hanging out in the teepee...





So... Task TWO - Girl Scout Tablecloth - did not get done. It's in progress and I'll finish it up this weekend. What I did spend several hours on Saturday doing, though, was building something Paige has been wanting to work on since October.


We got two new kittens last October and Paige really wants one of those cat tree climber/scratching posts. If you've ever priced them at Petco or Petsmart, though, the nice sized ones are upwards of $100... much more for multi-level ones. I told her I thought we could build one.


So we found some particle board left out on the curb for trash day at a neighbor's house. It was intact sheets, they were just moving and didn't want to take it I guess. So we started with a box:





We cut a hole in one side and then carpeted the inside before nailing on the top. We got involved and didn't really get too many in-process shots, but here's one:

It's not finished either - we ran out of carpeting and still want to add one more upwards level. But for now, it's got three posts and a hidey box. Total cost was $0 because we already had nails and staples on hand, 2x4's (posts) were leftover from another project, and the carpet scrap was also a curbside find.

The cats have already been on it constantly and play in and around it. Often, there's one on top batting at the one inside the box.

Here's Kitty in the box playing with Opie down below...

I must say, I think Kitty approves. She's saying "Thank You" - see it?

And lastly... a quick ModPodge project. We discovered two landscape canvases in the back of Yvonne's closet when we were cleaning out her room. Paige really needed some art for her room, so we just painted over them in brown paint (same used for the dresser furniture redo several months ago) and then printed letters in cute fonts, cut them from scrapbook paper, and ModPodged them on.

Up close, a few brushstrokes are visible from the previous landscapes, but they're cute and fun and take up some nice space on her wall.

While I didn't accomplish everything I planned, I did have a productive weekend and am pleased with everything we did.

Commitment-phobe?

Do you think making a formal proclamation of something you want to / plan to accomplish actually commits you to completing said task? I hope I'm not alone as a crafter who has many... many unfinished projects. I have 'parts' for projects I bought and then never did anything with. I have piles of supplies and materials and loads of PLANS! I need to get off my butt and get some stuff DONE!

So, here on the 'internets'... for anyone who's reading... I'm going to commit to 2 (count them, TWO) projects this weekend!!! Do you think that means I'll really get them done?

Blogland is absolutely SO inspiring. It's almost dangerous for me to make the rounds of the crafty linky parties because I start mentally making those plans... maybe even start assembling materials at home.. for that NEXT project... the one that never comes.

So I saw the TWIN SHEET TEEPEE at Obsessively Stitching and fell in love!

It's the perfect project for my little guy and it sounds really easy to make. I picked up the PVC last night on my way home... already have a twin flat sheet I can use... so that is PROJECT #1 for the weekend.

For project #2... there's a little history to tell...

Our Girl Scout Troop does "Cookie Booths" every year in February and March. We stand out in front of grocery stores and the like peddling those yummy-can-only-get-once-a-year boxes of goodness. We have several tables that we use for these booths and they are functional but plain. I really have been planning (see?) for the last few years to make some tablecloths for them. It will make them more eye-catching, I think. I've just never gotten around to it.

But now, it's almost National Lemonade Day!!! The girls have decided to run a Lemonade Stand on Sunday, May 2nd so maybe this is just the right motivation to get one tablecloth made.

I have yards and yards of khaki twill (I used it behind the glass of my memo board) that I could use - cost: FREE! I had a 'brainstorm' moment a couple of weeks ago to put our troop number on there in the same 'style' as in on their uniform:

See those numbers on the left - green rectangles with white letters? I thought that would be cute across the front of the tablecloth so I've already picked up several sheets of dark green and white felt. As another 'decoration' on it, I was thinking of putting random 'extra' badges and patches along the bottom. We sometimes get extra patches from events or duplicates so I have quite a stash.

So my goal for this weekend is to get JUST the tablecloth made. Here is my 'mock up' vision I put together this morning:

Next weekend I'd like to figure out how to rig some sort of PVC frame to the table and make a slip on banner to go above the table. I can make different banners for different events..... but that is a project for another weekend. As are tablecloths for the other 2 tables we use at Cookie Booths.... hahaha

Happy Weekend everyone! I'll check back in on Monday and update you with pictures of what I get accomplished :-)

Easter Pictures

Can a 21-month old help dye Easter eggs? Well... we gave it a try.

Got one colored... let him help dip it and remove it. Then.... this...

Which led to this...

And then this... (so at least it wasn't a total loss)



And the smile makes it all worthwhile...

Paige and Blake shared in the fun....

Oh, just ignore the scythe on the floor in the background of that picture...

We baked traditional Easter Egg Bread... but didn't have time to manhandle it into a lovely braided wreath.


Our annual tradition - a Bunny Cake. I made several of these in my youth and have made one with the kids each year for several years now.

We headed over to Kim's where Paige enjoyed some obese-guinea-pig bonding time.




We had a wonderful dinner (yum!) and then the 'guys' headed to the school playground to hide 14 dozen eggs for the kids to hunt! Yikes! We had 6 kids hunting, though, so that's just over 2 dozen per kiddo. Paige and Blake waiting patiently...

To make it 'fair' (doesn't it HAVE to be with kids?) we were lucky enough to find bulk packages of eggs with SIX different colors. So we just assigned each kid their own color to find. That way, I could also make sure Dean's eggs had fruit snacks instead of all the candy in them ;-)

Blake (below) - has this boy forgotten how to smile? Is this typical 7-year-old boy behavior? I do not have a single picture of him where he's just looking normal... smiling at the camera.

Hunting...

And once all the eggs were found... some playing as well...

Oh please ignore the snot running and the black... um... I don't know... smudge on the nose. He was playing and having fun and that's all that counts, right?

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter with family and friends!

Family 'Memo' Board

Now that Mark is home during the day, he's been doing the grocery shopping. Usually that means he calls me while I'm at work once he's already AT the grocery store and asks me what we need. I do most of the cooking and meal planning, so I generally know best what we need. However, I don't usually remember EVERYTHING we need when he calls and needs an answer ASAP. We always end up forgetting several items.

So he's been saying we need a whiteboard for a while. It would be a handy place to jot down those grocery items we need as we all become aware of them. I just didn't want a plain white 'eyesore' stuck on the fridge.

Now there are chalkboards ALL over blogland... I know. Trust me, I know. I've drooled over gorgeous chalk 'walls', jars or canisters with chalkboard 'labels', etc. But... we don't like chalkboards. We don't like the sound of chalk on the boards, we don't like the dust... it's out of the question.

I did see, though, where several bloggers have made dry-erase calendars using this same method and that's where the inspiration started. I don't need a calendar (we already have one hanging elsewhere in the kitchen we use for jotting down schedules and appointments). I DO get very tired of "What's for dinner?" as soon as I walk in the door from work, though... and Mark and I DO often miss each other (he's out the door to class as soon as I walk in from work) so I thought we could have a 'reminders' section as well.

Here's what I came up with:



I couldn't take a 'head on' picture as our window is opposite this door and there was too much glare and reflection.

I started out with a Goodwill find. It was $6.99 but I stopped by on "30% off any 1 non-clothing item" day so got it for even less. All I really cared about was the size, the glass, and a decent frame.

I didn't take a whole lot of 'in process' shots, but here's what I did.

• Take apart picture - clean glass and give frame a nice fresh coat of gloss paint
• Measure area and plan out grids
• Print text 'reverse' on computer
• Using a large ruler, draw out boxes on BACK of glass using permament marker *stray lines clean up easy - scrape with a toothpick*
• Tape reverse text on FRONT of glass and trace on the back using permanent marker so it will show through the front oriented correctly
• Draw lines to write on if desired
• Cover cardboard sized to fit (I got lucky at there was a piece of foamcore board already behind the picture) with fabric or paper of your choice
• Mount glass with permanent marker writing on the INSIDE, then covered board into frame

So this way the permanent marker text is on the inside and can not be erased (unless I ever want to redo it and then I can clean it off with glass cleaner). We can then use dry erase markers on the front to fill in everything as needed.

I don't have a lot of wall space in the kitchen, so I mounted it with Command picture hanging strips to my pantry door.

After a few hours, I realized there was NO WAY the dry erase markers were going to stay in the area of the board, so I covered a small box (leftover Conversation Hearts box from Valentine's)with coordinating fabric (ModPodge) and hot-glued it to the lower right of the board to hold the markers:

Haha - that picture is from last week... right before St. Patrick's Day. See Wednesday's dinner? Tried to be a little traditional and get the kids to try something new... we had corned beef with potatoes, carrots and cabbage, irish soda bread, and a grasshopper cake for dessert.

It's so not perfect... some of the text came out darker than other areas, the writing lines aren't all straight, but it will definitely work for now. This could easily be done using vinyl for the letters and lines, but I don't have a lovely Cricut and don't see one in my future. I had to use what I have available.

The best part? Waking up to this in the morning (I usually leave in the AM before they're awake, so Paige added this last night before she went to bed)

That was taken last night. The kids are 'on top' of updating the board and erase a dinner after we've eaten. So all we have now is tonight and the next few nights meals planned. Mark will go grocery shopping agian on Wednesday or Thursday and we'll plan out the next week then.

Thanks for looking! Hope this inspires someone to tweak an idea they've seen so it WORKS for them!

I've linked this to:

DIY Day @ A Soft Place to Land
Talented Tuesday @ My Frugal Family
Toot Your Horn Tuesday @ A Silly Little Sparrow
Get Your Craft On @ Today's Creative Blog
Feature Yourself Friday @ Fingerprints on the Fridge
I'm a Createive Cat @ Poppies at Play
Hodgepodge Friday @ It's a Hodgepodge Life
Spring has Sprung @ It's FUN to Craft
What I Made This Week @ Simply Designing
Craft Concontion @ That's So Cuegly