Father's Day Mug from Child

Due to the fact that I am probably one of the biggest craft nerds on the planet, it should really come as no surprise that I want to encourage my daughter (and hopefully future children) to participate in as many craft projects as possible. The problem??? Its VERY difficult to find craft projects that are suitable for her toddler attention span AND non-toxic, as she has a pension for eating non-food items! After some brainstorming of potential handmade items I could have her make for Father's Day, I decided upon a mug featuring all of the funny, toddler phrases our little munchkin uses on a regular basis that she could decorate and present to daddy on Sunday. Here are the steps we took to do so...

Materials:

-mug (I purchased mine at my local Dollar Tree)

-Sharpie markers in various colors

-oven

Instructions:

1. Create initial message on mug in black, permanent marker.

2. Heat set the message by placing in the oven for 40 minutes at 275°.

3. Once the mug has completely cooled, have child decorate the mug using various colors of permanent marker (with complete supervision, I might  

    add!). This is also the time when I added quotes to the mug!

4. Heat set the mug a final time for 40 minutes at 275°.

And now for some merciless touting of what an amazing husband and father Jason is and how unbelievable fortunate Claire and I are to have him in our life! We love you soooo much!

Happy Father's Day to all of the incredible fathers out there!!!!!

Jack 'o Lantern Treat Cups

 

My classroom staff members are rock stars! Period! We work in a stressful environment on a regular basis, where flexibility, patience, and strong communication skills are an absolute must at all times. Not only do these guys exemplify all of these qualities, but they do so with a positive attitude and a great sense of humor! The absolute least I can do for them is treat them to some holiday-inspired, crafty treats! I purchased clear, plastic tumblers and transformed them into jack o' lanterns to help bring out their inner children! I mean, who doesn't still love a treat bag (or, in this case, treat cup) filled with chocolate at any age? Here's how you can make them yourselves:

Materials:

-clear, plastic tumbler

-candy in orange wrappers (I chose Reese's cups and Kit Kats)

-black cardstock

-green cardstock

-green, curling ribbon

-double-sided tape

 

Directions:

1. Fill tumblers with candy, leaving room in the middle for the straw to fit when closed.

2. Place lid and straw onto the cup

3. Cut a circle out of the green cardstock and cut two slits (making a plus sign) into the center of

    the circle to slide over the straw. You can add a message onto the cardstock, if you wish, or leave

    it blank.

4. Cut 4, 24" pieces of curling ribbon and tie around the base of the straw.

5. Use scissors to curl each tail of ribbon

6. Cut out various jack o' lantern face shapes out of black cardstock and adhere to cup using double-

    sided tape

Happy Halloween!!!!!

Elephant Themed Baby Shower

Baby boy bowtie onesie

My sister, Kyra, is expecting her first child, a little boy, in September, which means many things…tons of diapers, loads and loads of laundry, late night feedings, and eventually race cars, mud pies, and high speed chases around the house. But before all of that, it means another reason to throw a themed party to celebrate her BABY SHOWER!!!  Kyra chose elephants as her nursery theme, so we incorporated them into the shower, along with the colors blue and lime green.  We started with the basics…lime green and baby blue table cloths, blue plates and cups, lime green silverware and napkins, and baby blue and lime green  balloons and streamers.  I also cut elephant shapes out of craft foam, added a googly eye and foam polka-dots to each elephant and used them on the walls of the shower room. In addition, we purchased six blow-up elephants (found in the Target “One Spot” I might add) for added décor and whimsy.

Tables set up and ready to go!

Makeshift clothesline featuring handmade and store-bought clothing, as well as adorable blowup elephants!

More table decor...Notice the elephant confetti on the table courtesy of Martha Stewart's elephant stamp and punch

Food table

Since my mother was recently gifted with multiple boxes of empty baby food jars, we decided we wanted to incorporate them in some way into the favors or centerpieces.  As a result, we decided to use them for cupcakes in a jar to duel as favors for guests to eat at the party or take home to enjoy later AND to arrange them in a way that they could also function as table centerpieces.  We filled each jar about 1/3 full of “Whoopie pie” batter (recipe included) and placed them into cupcake pans so that they didn’t fall over in the oven. After baking them at degrees for minutes, we let them cool and eventually place in the fridge overnight, since we wanted to wait until the last possible moment to add icing and sprinkles. The following day, we added icing to fill each cupcake jar, leaving about ½” of space for sprinkles and to twist on the cap. We had previously cut out fabric circles using pinking shears to put on the tops of our jars and tie with ribbon in coordinating colors and add a tag thanking guests for attending and a spoon. I then found four-packs of green, plastic plates, blue plastic plates, green, plastic cups, and blue, plastic cups and glued the bottom edge of each cup onto the bottom of the corresponding colored plate, creating a simple, cake stand to place the cupcakes on.

Decorated cupcake in a jar

Cupcakes on their homemade cake stand

Another glance

Games included a baby pool where guests indicated what they thought the baby’s name, age, weight, and date of birth would be, and a baby-themed guessing game, where tables of guests played in teams to answer questions related to having and raising a baby (for example, “How many diapers does an average mommy change in two years?” The answer, by the way, is an astounding 7,200!!!).  Since my sister is not revealing the name of her little man, we also decided to give each guest seven Scrabble tiles(2 vowels, 5 consonants), markers, and construction paper. The idea was to come up with a name for baby using as many of the letters as possible and write down the final name on the piece of construction paper. Kyra would then chose her two favorite names from the options provided and give their creators prizes.

Team #1 ready to win!

The final activity we had guests participate in at the shower was to take a piece of cardstock with a letter placed on it (one page for each letter of the alphabet). The guests were directed to decorate the page with words and pictures of objects beginning with that letter so that, when the activity ended, the pages would be compiled to make baby’s first alphabet book.

Decorating Baby Boy's alphabet book pages

Here are a few more pics from the shower just for funsies!!!

Punch with rubber whales for added cuteness

My BFF Tammie made these adorable elephant cookies

The mommy-to-be holding the elephant pillow I made for my future nephew

Holding the beautiful and super-soft car seat cover my grandmother knitted for her future great grandson