One True Thing...

Our Mischievious Elf on a Shelf, Elle.

For some reason I haven't been in the Christmas spirit quite yet.  Maybe we just need to get our tree up and lights on outside and I'll get more into it, but I will say that I've really enjoyed our Elf on a Shelf, Elle.  She is quite mischievious this year....very messy and in to all my things, but Em's laugh in the morning makes it all worth the while!  Here is what Em has woken up to the last four mornings. 

Snow angel

Snowball fight

Tea Party

Fishin' for goldfish

Em's face each morning is priceless! She doesn't know what to think half the time and she just stands there speechless...and speechless is a state that we rarely find Em in! :-)

Advent Calendar #2

Last year we made this advent calendar...

It was made from paper that I turned in to pouches by sewing them up the side.  In each pouch Em would get a little gift (a sticker or candy) and then she'd get a sentence or two of the story of Christmas.  On the last day of the calendar we put all the slips of paper together and read the whole Christmas story. It was great fun!  This year I changed things up a bit by creating this little calendar...

No gifts of candy or stickers this year though.  To create, I simply took a canvas and glued clothes pins that I'd decorated with sparkly ribbon. Then above each clothes pin I stenciled the numbers of each day of December.  Each clothes pin holds a little to-do note for Em to make sure she understands the "reason for the season".  I want her to be thankful...I want her to be grateful...I want her to be helpful!  We're approaching day 3 and she is eager to grab her little slip of paper and tackle her task!  Here are a few examples of her tasks:

• Spend the day helping your dad
• Pick out a jacket to donate to the Salvation Army for another child
• Tell a friend thank you for being such a great friend
• Pick out one of your toys or books to give to another child
• Write an I Love You note for Granny
• Write down five things you're most thankful for this year
• Do something helpful for your teacher today
• Write someone in your family a thank you note
• What are five things you most want to learn next year
• Call up a family member and sing them your favorite Christmas song
• What is one chore you can start doing every day to help out your family?
• Who is someone we can pray for tonight?

These are just a few things that on her advent calendar this year.  I just wanted to get her thinking and acting upon thankful thoughts!  I want her to be a thoughtful child and if I can have the types of conversations that go along with these little tasks then I believe that is a good step in the right direction. With each task comes plenty of coversation before her task and after her task...its a great thing to talk about on the way to school and again later at the dinner table.

I love advent calendars!  I especially love the one this year because I feel like it embodies all the things that this season represents...if only we could carry this spirit of giving throughout the whole year...it is a goal worth aiming for!

We hope you're all enjoying your start of December!!  Lets all do something each day that can help another feel better, warmer, and special.

Father's Day Printables

Thought you could use some help on this up and coming holiday with these free printables.

Great for cards and isn't the print for an old fashioned bottle of Coke great too!

Here is what I did w/some clip-art found on MarthaStewart.com.  This is perfect for the Dad who has to deal with horrible coffee at work!  I just bought a box of Starbucks Via Coffee and gave it a revamp!  And thank you Starbucks for "lending" me some stir sticks. 

 

Found at http://aproffittablelife.blogspot.com/2011/05/fathers-day-free-printable.html

 

Found at http://www.whipperberry.com/2011/05/printable-fathers-day-pop.html

Easter delights

 

 

 
Hope everyone else had a wonderful Easter too!

Spring Nest

 
Easter grass ($1), a bowl ($1), candy eggs ($1), butterflies ($1), yarn & glue dots (already had on hand)...thank you Martha Stewart for this sweet spring time idea.

 

We did this outside in the sunshine...high up in a playhouse. Go ahead and space the yarn out and glue with dots or double sided tape (this will help hold the rest of the yarn in place using less glue.  Then go back in and fill in the gaps with more yarn, using one long piece of yarn for the whole bowl.

 

 

We're going to make a light pink one too with a blue bird, but I ran out of glue dots and just couldn't wait to share an idea with you...Easter is only 5 days away!

Our Spring Mural

Monday & Tuesday rain led to this.... Our Spring mural! Not so shabby for only using supplies/materials that I already had on hand! My one rule for this project was not to buy anything to create it, as I have more than enough crafty stuff at our disposal . We talked about Spring, words associated to Spring, what a mural is (I ended up showing her famous ones online), and we just enjoyed a lot of talking...as you can see it took a bit of time to do (especially the paper for the tree!!). This would be a great thing to do for each season! 

 
The picture doesn't do it justice I'm affraid, as it's all in the little details.  ;-)  Things to try:

• Making leafs out of tissue paper.  Twist tissue squares around the eraser side of pencil, dip in glue, then stick to paper.
• Tiny fingerprints make for great tools! We made lady bug, caterpillar, and flower fingerprints.
• Cottonball clouds, ribbon for stems, sponge and paint for grass.
• Stickers make for great add-ons. 
• See what carft paper or scrapbook paper you have laying around that you can cut out.  I had  paper with rabbits on them so we cut out all the rabbits. 
• Stamps come handy too.

The empty space in the middle of the mural is where we'll put Easter pictures of all the family coming over for the big hunt and Easter lunch!

Em & I conquered the Cake Pop...Easter style!

 

I've been dying to make the oh so popular cake-pop for some time now.  The tipping point was when I saw Starbucks selling them...ok well the tipping point was when I ATE one that Starbucks was selling!  My mother-in-law found this in recipe in her Kroger magazine, so all signs were obviously pointing to the fact that these little scrumptious bites had to be made once and for all!  And voila!  Aren't they great!  They were way easier than I imagined and they didn't require any special molds or baking "stuff".  It was so simple!  Beware...there is some chill time required, so I recommend you make the cake balls ahead of time...before getting your little ones excited about decorating and eating these treats, that is!

Ingredients:

• 1 - box of cake mix (flavor of your choosing) & the ingredients to make it
• 1 jar cake frosting (again a flavor of your choosing)
• 1 (32oz) bag of candy coating (go to your local Michaels Crafts & you'll find what you need)
• 48 (we did NOT make 48 of these!) sucker sticks (in the same area as the candy, at Michaels)
• Sprinkles, candy, jelly beans, icing in tubes, and fondant are some great ideas for decorating

Instructions:

Bake the cake according to the box, let cool, crumble into a large bowl, either breaking apart by hand or use a food processor.

Mix a large spoonful of frosting into the bowl of cake crumbs and stir until it has a truffle-like texture.  Add more frosting if desired or needed to hold cake together.  I would be generous with the frosting as its what keeps the ball together.  You don't want the ball to fall apart when you put the stick through it.

Roll tablespoon sized amounts of cake mixture into little balls (or in our case we made egg shapes); place on a cookie sheet and let chill for 2-4 hrs or overnight.

Afte the cake has chilled for time mentioned above, follow package instructions for melting candy coating.  Dip end of sucker stick in candy coating; insert this end into cake ball; dip in candy coating; swilr to coat.  TIP: Be careful you don't make the cake ball too heavy with icing or it will fall off the stick.  I scooped some of the melted candy coating in a large spoon and swilred the cake pop in the spoon for better control and less candy coating.  Quickly after dipping the cake ball in the coating, coat with sprinkles.  For other decorations you may need the coating to harden into a shell.

*Tips:  Have a cube of styrafoam or something to stand the cake pops up while the candy shell chills in the freezer.  Chill until ready to serve.

 She eats as I type!

Lots of pink. Lots of sugar. Lots of LOVE!

We're celebrating our last weekend in KFalls among many boxes, but we managed to bake one more batch of cupcakes (thank you Hetherington family!), Em & Nana made Valentines Day cards too, & I was SO happy to work in a little bit of V-Day fun before we move.  I know it's early, but I won't have a computer to do this on the 14th, so let us be the first to wish you a happy Valentines! Here is our ecard (turn up the volume...this one sings). 

Create a free photo collage

Here is a link to a Luvly Day playlist I made for you all on iTunes.  Enjoy!http://c.itunes.apple.com/us/imix/luvly-day/id418760131

Love is in the air...

Ok I know that it's not even February yet, but Valentines Day is my most favorite holiday.  I'm not sure if it's the candy, all that pink, or the amazing handmade cards that I like most, but I'm convinced that I was blessed with a daughter so that I could enjoy Vday all that much more!  I spent well over an hour in Michaels Crafts today and I will STILL be going back for more. 

I have more ideas than I could ever accomplish on my own.  Here is some of the fun we had today!!  We made a garland to decorate the breakfast nook, experimented on different card ideas, and made brownie bites. 

I'm giddy with excitement!   (Click on pic to enlarge)

 

 Love cards!

  Sweets!

And with that my dear friends...I'm off to curl up in bed with a sweet man and watch the movie Elizabethtown!  Ahhh so perfect and lovey, I know!  ;-)

xoxoxox Come back for more Valentines Day fun...I have some great gift ideas & more!

Photo Diary: Scenes from a Christmas break at home

Here are scenes from our 4 day holiday at home...just the three us!  Click on pics for the fun details!!  We hope you all had a very very Merry Christmas! xoxoxoxoxoxo...now bring on another short work week & a happy New Year!

Performing the Nutcracker (this lasted 4 days):

 

Loving gifts from family, tea time (thanks Gammy & Popo), & cookie time:

 

Handmade stockings, video cam w/family, & me and my girl:

 

Fav ornament, fav little smile, & my fav duo making a gingerbread house:

Pedi's by Joe, cookies by Em, & costume trunk w/love from the Carters:

 

Princess trunk, glazed cinnamon cake, & citrus glazed ham:

 

Sugar Plum Emy, assigned seats for the wknd, & coffee deliver via a sweet man:

 

Costume change #?, watching White Christmas (love!), table set by a princess:

 

Joe playing w/Trio blocks, Em & her baby, & a little old fashion tic-tac-toe.
 

Reading time, jewelry time, & a fun maze with her frenzies!

 

 Lots of cuddle time and R&R!  Just what this family needed! We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and spent it with those you love most! We say thank you to all our family and friends for the thoughtful gifts, cards, and sweet treats!  Each and everyone of you made Christmas 2010 one for the books!

From our house to yours - Have a safe and happy New Year!    Love, The Carters