St. Patrick's Day Card

This is a cute and Quick! idea for a St. Patty's Day card. Cash was excited about helping out, but Luc doesn't like to get his hands dirty. He passed on the painting with his thumb. (He used watercolors and made his own pic!) We used Cash's thumbprint to make shamrocks on the front of the card. I then used a sharpie to write out "Erin Go Braugh."

This is the inside of the card. Simple, yet sweet card all around. They are going out to the grandparents. :)

Hope you enjoying the weekend!-

Tracy
Linking to:

Watch Out Ladies...

Isn't he the cutest? Yeah, I am a wee bit biased, as I am the proud mama.

But seriously, cute, right? :)

Ok, so Cash totally needed (made one for Luc, too) a Valentine shirt. But you know, Valentine's Day is so very geared toward the ladies...I didn't want him to be "that kid who has to wear a girlie shirt cause his mom is overly crafty." Trust me, I have seen that kid, and NO THANK YOU.

I saw this idea somewhere...who knows? Sorry. It was probably done with a really cool silouette machine. (can you sense the bitterness that I STILL don't have one?) Since I don't have that fancy gizmo, I stuck with the "hasn't failed me yet" Freezer Paper Method. See my tutorial on how this is done, HERE.

I had to kind of explain the shirt to Cash, and yeah...he probably didn't get the full connotation. However, he still felt like a Kindergarten Hot Throb when he modeled for me.

Bird Treats

During the winter months when we are locked indoors, the boys and I like to pass the time by making those poor cold birds (and let's be honest...the squirrels, too) some yummy treats.

Last year we made these.

This time, we made gelatin treats.

Here's what you need:

Bird Seed

1 box of Knox Plain Gelatin

Wax Paper

Cookie Cutters

ribbon or twine

1 straw

What you do:

*In a large bowl, make plain gelatin following directions on the package. Instead of cold water use ice cubes so it will gel quickly.

*Add bird seed a little at a time to gelatin, mixing together so seed is completely coated and there is a enough gelatin to bind the two together.

*Create shapes by scooping a thick layer of the mixture onto a cookie sheet covered with wax paper and then cut out using cookie cutter.

*Cut your straw into pieces. Make a hole in the top of each shape using a straw. Once the molds are filled you will use this hole for the string. Make the hole in the center of your shape so there is enough strength to hold the string.

* Put trays into the refrigerator to set (about 3 hours). Once the shapes are set, remove them from their mold and lay back on the wax paper. Leave to dry out for 2 days to harden. String twine or ribbon through the hole, and hang on a tree branch.

Have a great week!

Tracy

Jack O Lantern Jars

Last week was a week of sickness at my house. Monday Cash came home with a stomach virus, and was out of school Tuesday. Wednesday night Andre came down with it. To top the week off, it attacked me on Thursday night. Whew! Harsh.

Anyway, Saturday afternoon Cash was out running an errand with his dad, and Luc started to get restless. I still wasn't feeling 100%, so I wasn't super interested in going outside to play. (Or playing at all for that matter) Then I remembered this little project from the Family Fun Magazine! Luc loves to paint, and we could do it in a stationary position. Win/win!

Yeah, Luc desperately needs a haircut. BUT look how he loves to paint!

Here's what you need:

glass jars ( I recycled some old jelly jars)

orange acrylic paint

paintbrush

masking tape

Here's what you do:

* Cut out geometric shapes, to use for the jack o lantern face, out of the masking tape

* Stick shapes onto a jar.

* Paint the outside of the jar. (YES, paint over the tape)

* When paint is dry, carefully pull the tape off.

* Place a votive or battery candle inside jar

These were super easy, having all the materials on hand, and really cute.

Have a spook-i-lious weekend!-

Tracy

More on the Jedi Party

Ok, sorry folks,I realize now that in my haste to post Cash's party before leaving on vacation, I didn't give as much detail as I should have... OPPS!! :)

To rectify this situation, I wanted to add a couple of things.

Jedi robes:
Considering I don't really SEW sew, I had pretty much just decided to buy some material, make a kind of sandwich board "robe", tie a rope around it for a belt, and call it a day.

Then I Google searched JEDI ROBES one more time. I found this website,
and I thought, "Hey, I can totally do this without SEWING!" The website calls for sewing, but I hot glued it instead. I thought about using a no stitch glue, however, I didn't have the time to wait. Hot glue satisfied my need for instant gratification. :)

They may not last a lifetime, but they will do the job. (and be super cute!)


Death Star Pinata:
Being on a budget (a tight one!) I did NOT want to spend $10-30 bucks on something that was going to BE BEAT DOWN AND RIPPED OPEN....you feel me, right? RIGHT! I decided to go for the gold here, and just make one. Considering I was going for the Death Star, which is round, it didn't seem so out reach.

This about.com guided me in this easy peasy process. I found a pic of the Death Star online, and painted my pinata accordingly. It turned out a bit egg shaped because of the balloon, but I was still pretty proud of it. :) SUCCESS!

Light sabers:
Yummmmy! Sweet and salty! My faaaaaaaaaavorite! Get some pretzel rods, and wrap aluminum foil around the last inch of each rod. Melt your favorite white chocolate, and dip non foil portion of the rod into the chocolate. Sprinkle chocolate with sprinkles, and lay on wax paper to cool.


Sadly, there isn't a closer, better pic of the light sabers. boo.

There you have it. More details.

:) Tracy

Jedi Party

My oldest son turned five yesterday. FIVE! I can't even begin to believe it. This year Cash decided on a Star Wars themed party. This was a really fun theme! Even my hubz got involved in the decorating. :)

I started by creating an invitation based on this one from Aimee Austin Designs.

This is perfect because Cash is equally obsessed with Legos and Star Wars.

I also found a lot of fabulous inspiration from these sites:

Make and Takes
Tip Junkie
Amazing Moms
Birthday Party Ideas

Here's the spread...and before I go any further...I really dislike these pics and truly do not think they do any justice. It's totally like me to wait until the last minute to take pics, then rush through the job hopping, with fingers crossed, that they come out fantastic. Odds were against me. Anyway, you will get the gist.
We had Clone Cupcakes, Vader Veggies, Padawan Popcorn, Wookie Cookies, Lightsabers, and (not pictured= at the drink table) Yoda Soda. The battle scene in the middle of the table was designed by Cash and my hubz. (See! He was all about this party!)

In attempts to make everything more futuristic I used all (almost) silver trays and covered non silver ones with foil. Everything in the future will be shiny and reflective, right?

I made 4 different cupcake toppers, but hard to see from this angle.
You can, however, see how I made the table toppers...there's the Clone Cupcake on on the bottom.

Yeah, this poster looks a little sad here. Seriously, it did look better in person. It has two toy ships attached and it's painted to look like a galaxy...you know...the one far far away. Anyway, it's pretty pitiful from this distance.

The Padawans' first trial was to go through the obstacle course, find the bomb, and save the city. Simple, right? Oh, and that crazy looking guy in the back with a cape...that's Count Dooku.

Our good friend, Stephen, was a fantastic sport, and agreed to dress up as Count Dooku from the Clone Wars. Not only did he dress up, but he also agreed to let the young padawans take him down. :) I thought his costume was amazing.
KUDOS, Stephen, KUDOS!!

Young Cash made it through brilliantly!

Taking Dooku down was suppose to be the finale, but the Padawans just couldn't stand by with dark forces around, so they moved this portion of the program up a bit.
The group helps Dooku see that there can be GOOD in us all...(cheesy, yes, I know..)

Flori and my youngest, Luc looking  pretty darn cute.

The New finale, The Death Star pinata. This was my first attempt at a homemade pinata, and I was proud of its likeness to the Death Star. :)
Luc takes the first crack at it.

"Happy Birthday" song, and the candles being blown out.

He looks so grown up...

Me and my big boy

Me and my little boy

This one is for my mom. She wanted to see my Leia inspired hair...


Cash had a great time, and so did I. It's always good to catch up with friends, and enjoy yummy party food!

May the force be with you-

Tracy

Handy Word Family Game

Cash will be starting Kindergarten this fall, and he has already started reading. (yay!) I wanted to make a little game that would be fun for him, and help him review common words. I remember seeing this idea a couple of times, and since paint chips are free....it sounded perfect! Ok, so you have to go into Lowe's, Home Depot, or Wal-Mart and take a LOT of paint chips...DONT feel guilty! They are free! You aren't stealing! ( I had to tell myself this over and over.)

What you need:
*sharpie marker
*aprox. 13 "long cards" for consonants, blends, and diagraphs
*34 cards that have the hole cut out
(I got a few extra, just in case.)
*1' punch (if you don't have a punch, you can just cut out a rectangle using scissors or exacto knife)
The "long cards" are the cards that have multiple blocks of color.
The cards you cut a hole out of are just one solid color.
I used my 1' punch on the solid colored cards, and punched a hole on the left side of each card.
Then, you just write the common word families on the cards to the right of the hole.
Here are the ones I used:

• ag
• ab
  
• ail
• ain
• ack
• ake
• am
• an
• ank
• ap
• all
• at
• ay
• eed
• ell
• est
• ew
• ick
• ight
• ill
• ine
• ing
• ink
• ip
• ob
• og
• ore
• ot
• out
• ow
• uck
• um
• unk
• y

Then I took the long cards with multiple blocks of color, and wrote consonants, blends, and diagraphs on them.

Consonants:

• b
• c
• d
• f
• g
• h
• j
• k
• l
• m
• n
• p
• q
• r
• s
• t
• v
• w
• x
• y
• z

Blends:

• bl
• cl
• fl
• gl
• pl
• sl
• br
• cr
• dr
• fr
• gr
• pr
• tr
• sc
• sk
• sp
• st
• sm
• sn
• sw
• spl
• spr
• str
• squ

Diagraphs:

• ch
• wh
• th
• sh
• ph
• thr
• shr

ps- I kept the same kind of diagraphs and blends on the same card to make it easier for Cash.

There are tons and tons of words you can make!

--ab cab, lab, blab, crab, flab, grab, scab, slab, stab

--ack back, pack, quack, rack, black, crack, shack, snack, stack, track

--ag bag, rag, tag, brag, flag

--ail fail, mail, jail, nail, pail, rail, sail, tail, snail, trail

--ain main, pain, rain, brain, chain, drain, grain, plain, Spain, sprain, stain, train

--ake bake, cake, fake, lake, make, quake, rake, take, wake, brake, flake, shake, snake

--am ham, Sam, clam, slam, swam

--an can, fan, man, pan, ran, tan, van, bran, plan, than

--ank bank, sank, yank, blank, crank, drank, thank

--ap cap, lap, map, nap, rap, tap, clap, flap, scrap, slap, snap, strap, trap, wrap

--at bat, cat, fat, hat, mat, rat, sat, brat, chat, flat, spat, that

--ay day, may, pay, say, clay, play, pray, spray, stay, tray

--eed feed, need, seed, weed, bleed, freed, greed, speed

--ell bell, fell, sell, tell, well, yell, shell, smell, spell, swell

--est best, guest, nest, pest, rest, test, vest, west, chest, crest

--ew dew, few, knew, new, blew, chew

--ick kick, lick, pick, quick, sick, brick, chick, click, stick, thick, trick

--ight knight, light, might, night, right, sight, tight, bright, flight, fright, slight

--ill fill, hill, pill, will, chill, drill, grill, skill, spill, thrill
--in bin, fin, pin, sin, win, chin, grin, shin, skin, spin, thin, twin

--ine fine, line, mine, nine, pine, vine, wine, shine, spine, whine

--ing king, ring, sing, wing, bring, cling, spring, sting, string, swing, thing

--ink link, pink, sink, wink, blink, drink, shrink, stink, think

--ip dip, hip, lip, rip, sip, tip, chip, clip, drip, flip, grip, ship, skip, strip, trip, whip

--ob knob, mob, rob, blob, slob, snob

--ock knock, lock, dock, rock, sock, block, clock, frock, shock, stock

--op cop, hop, mop, pop, top, chop, crop, drop, flop, plop, shop, stop

--ore bore, more, sore, tore, wore, chore, score, shore, snore, store

--ot got, dot, hot, knot, lot, not, plot, shot, spot

--out grout, scout, shout, spout, sprout

--ow cow, how, now, brow, chow, plow

--uck buck, duck, luck, cluck, stuck, truck

--um gum, hum, drum, plum, slum

--unk junk, chunk, drunk, shrunk, stunk, trunk

-y by, my, cry, dry, fly, fry, shy, sky, spy, try, why

(word list taken from http://www.literacyconnections.com/Phonograms.html)

**The Phonogram Page is a great site where you can hear the sounds. Also, All About Spelling has a list of Phonograms and how to teach them.**

Cash loves the game, and really likes the idea of "word families." It makes him laugh. :) This is super easy, so make one today for your little guys!

Tiny Easter Goodie Baskets

I almost forgot to post these little cuties! I made these for Cash's teachers at school. She's {kinda} Crafty via I [heart] Naptime gave me the idea and tutorial. Anything but Perfect is where I printed these particular tags for the front. Really easy and really really budget friendly. Peeeeeerrrrrrrrfect!