Toddler Time Thursday! stART Project

Over at A Mommy's Adventures they do a weekly project link that I've been so excited to join. A Story + Art = A Great stART. You combine a story you read with a fun art project.

This week we read, Clifford's The Big Leaf Pile. ( I can't for the life of me figure out how to add underline on here?) Molly loves this Clifford book, and the leaves in our backyard are piling up so this was the perfect week to focus on it.

After we read the book, we headed outside to gather up a bag of leaves, which as you can see are not hard to find in our yard.

Then I traced a picture of a tree onto white paper and Molly got busy coloring it brown.

And then we simply glued our leaves to the top of the tree. This went really well, we have been working on gluing. She always wants to glue something on, and then take it back off. But we managed to keep the leaves on the tree today. :)

And Ta Da! Here is the tree Molly made.

To celebrate we decided to play in a pile of leaves just like Clifford.

I know it may not be the most creative art project, but we had a blast making it. For some great creative stART projects, head over to A Mommy's Adventures.

Wordless Wednesday!

Molly's Halloween's....

This is her first Halloween 2007, only 1 month old!

1st Halloween, Molly was a penguin and cousin Maisy is a pea pod.

Halloween 2008, Molly just turned 1.

This Halloween. She picked the Ducky costume herself.
I was hoping for a Ladybug, but apparently the days of mom choosing are already over at 2.

For more great "Wordless Wednesday" pictures, visit 5minutesformom.

Menu Monday!

Here is our dinner menu for the week. I'm getting brave again, and trying out some new recipes. Wish me luck. :)

Monday- Chicken Broccoli Casserole (mom's recipe, SO good)
Tuesday- Beef Taquitos (new one)
Wednesday- Taco Soup (all time favorite)
Thursday- Cheesy Baked Ziti (new one)
Friday- Cheeseburger Bread (new one)
Saturday- Dinner at my parents, I'm bringing this spider cake.

For more great "Menu Planning" ideas, visit orgjunkie.com

Muffin Tin Monday! Halloween Theme!

This weeks "Muffin Tin" theme was Fall Harvest/Halloween. I was so fun to try out some of the cute Halloween ideas out there for food.

Back Row: Grape Eyes, Candy Corn Cheese Quesadilla, SF Green Jello Frankenstein
Front Row: Ghost Toast, String Cheese Fingers, Halloween Little Debbie Snack

And ghost milk to drink! Such a fun tin, Molly loved it!

I got my ideas for Ghost Toast, Cheese Fingers and Jello Frankenstein from Family Fun.
And the great idea for Ghost Milk from this Flicker Photo.

For more great "Muffin Tin Monday" ideas, visit Her Cup Overfloweth.

Sew Something Sunday! Halloween Pillow Cover Tutorial

I know I'm a day late in posting my "Sew Something Saturday" project, but I'm hoping I'll make up for it by giving you this great tutorial on how to make slipcovers for your pillows.

I was at Hobby Lobby and picked up these Halloween Bandanas for .60 cents a piece! I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them, and for once, the idea in my head actually turned out just like I wanted it to! This is a SUPER easy way to make a cover with a zipper, and is great for switching to other covers for different seasons, or for washing.

Here are the Halloween Pillow covers I made. I LOVE the spider web print.

You will need:
Two Bandanas for each pillow you want to make
Zippers to match about 1-2 inches longer than the pillow you are making
Black Thread and Bobbin
Scissors
Sewing Machine

Cut the bandanas to the size needed to cover your pillow with seam allowance.
My pillows were 16" x 16", so I cut my bandanas into 16 1/2" x 16 1/2" squares, so I can use a 1/4 inch seam on each edge.

A tip that I used was when cutting my bandana I left the top edge the way it was. It is already finished, so I used that edge to sew to the zipper so I wouldn't have to worry about fraying.

Next, pin the right side of the zipper to the right side of the fabric at the top, so it looks like the photo above. ( I use my zipper a little longer than the fabric so it is easier to work with, I just trim off the excess later at it's sewn into the seam, as shown below)

Sew zipper to bandana, and then unfold to look like this. Now just repeat for the other side (pin right side of other side of zipper to the right side of the second bandana and sew together).

When unfolded it will look like this. With the zipper between the two bandanas and should be able to zip and unzip.

Now pin the sides of the two fabrics together with right sides together. And pin the sides together. Then you just need to sew both sides. Have the zipper unzipped about 2 inches so you don't accidentally sew it shut. Make sure to backstitch a few times over the top where the zipper is.

This is what it will look like with the zipper on top and both sides stitched together.

Now open the bottom of the cover, and reach in and unzip the zipper all the way across the top.

This is what the top will look like unzipped.

Now pin the bottom two layers together and sew it up.

Trim up the excess zipper and thread.

Turn your cover right side out and your almost finished.

And stuff the pillow into your cover and zip it up.

Ta Da!!! Easy Peasy!!!

Toddler Time Thursday!

As soon as I read about this great idea over at Funny Days with Mommy and Maddie, I immediately new I had to copy it! This is SO cute, and such a great way to make paper dolls work for toddlers, just some contact paper and magnets! I headed out to the dollar store and found this cute like metal tray and got to work. Head over and see how she made these.

Molly LOVES playing with these. She is always asking to, "Play Paper Dolls Now Please!" She really surprised me with how good she could do them on her own. I thought she would need more help to line up the clothes and hats where they are supposed to go, but she loves doing it on her own.
For the most part, she keeps everything on the tray. Except when she decided to try the little paper doll costumes on her stuffed animal dogs. :)

Wordless Wednesday!

My husband said he was going to start a "little" bonfire...


For more great "Wordless Wednesday" pictures, visit 5minutesformom

Tip Tuesday! Halloween Decoration!

I can not believe how much I love, love, love my bat lights! I saw this idea over at Ramblings of a Crazy Woman, and immediately got out a piece of my daughters black construction paper and my scissors and got to work. I mean... seriously... how cute are these! This woman is a genius, not only did I not have to buy anything to make this decoration, it was so easy, and turned out fantastic!!! Head over and see how easy they are to make for yourself!

I just used a small piece of tape rolled up, and they are sticking to the lamps great.

Yep, I did every single lamp in my entire house!

Menu Monday!

This week is going to be a crazy week around our household, so I'm planning some super easy meals. It turns out Molly has the chicken pox! Crazy! So she needs to stay home for the next 7 days, and also my husband is going to Chicago for a few days for work. So not a normal meal week, but here is what I'm planning...

Monday- Chicken Nuggets
Tuesday- Easy Grands Pepperoni Pizzas
Wednesday- Chicken Caesar Wraps
Thursday- Bean Quesadillas
Friday- Order Pizza

For more great menu planning ideas, visit orgjunkie.com

Sew Something Saturday!

I've been dying to try this super cute fabric flower tutorial over at Sew Ritzy-Titzy. It is turns out so adorable, and hardly takes up any fabric. I made this one to pin to Molly's book bag. But now I'm thinking I'm going to need to make some for my own purses and coats.

Head on over to her great tutorial, and give it a try. I'm sure you'll love how it turns out as much as me. Happy Sewing!

For more fun "Sew Something Saturday" projects, click on Sew Something Saturday at the bottom of my blog. :)

Frugal Friday Fun!

Molly got a gift certificate to Build-A-Bear for her birthday, so we decided to take her to pick out her bear, she had SO much fun, and is still so proud of "her" baby panda.

Here is a link for $5 off a $10 purchase at Build-A-Bear, which really is a good deal since you can get quite a few bears for only $10-$12.
And me being a proud mom, I have to share a whole bunch of pictures of the fun...

Getting him stuffed

Stuffing in his heart

Bath Time

Getting to take baby panda home!

Wordless Wednesday!

My little ducky is all ready for Halloween!

For more great Wordless Wednesday pictures, visit 5minutesformom.

Muffin Tin Monday!

The theme this week over at Muffin Tip Monday was kebabs! I thought this was such a fun idea, Molly LOVED not having to use a fork. :) Here is our muffin tin. (I only have a 12 cup tin, so we just used the bottom half)Back Row: String cheese, Bananas, Chicken Nuggets
Front Row: Grapes, Mini Marshmallows, Ketchup

Here is Molly Cakes enjoying her Muffin Tin and eating with toothpicks instead of forks. And yes, the cat is patiently waiting for her to finish, so he can have what's left. :) Embarrassing, but that's how we roll at this house. he he

For more great Muffin Tin Meals, head over to Her Cup Overfloweth.

Sunday's Spotlight

I love carving pumpkins, and I thought this was so fun. Give virtual pumpkin carving a try here:

Virtual Pumpkin Carving!


I found this idea from, Sprinkled With Blessing From Above, she has many more great sites for giving virtual pumpkin carving a try.
This a super fun activity I've been playing with all afternoon, and I'm sure kids would love too. :) Hope everyone is enjoying the fun fall activities!!!

Tip Tuesday!

This week I needed to find a way to organize Molly's crayons, colored pencils, and scrap paper in an easy to use place. She is very into coloring on the little scrap paper that I use for notes and such, so I put this little "tool box" as Molly calls it together.

It is actually a fork, spoon, knife and napkin holder for picnics. I don't think I've ever actually used it for it's intended purpose, so this was a perfect way to put it to good use. It is working so good as her "tool box" that she even doesn't mind helping clean it up!

Menu Monday!

I'm pretty excited for our meal this week. They all sound good, and easy, and I'm finally able to eat dinner almost every night! Yeah!

Monday- Easy Grands Pepperoni Pizzas
Tuesday- Crockpot Chili, not exactly recipe, but close to mine
Wednesday- Easy Cheesy Bake
Thursday- Grandpa's 80th birthday dinner at parents
Friday- Pizza/Movie night

For more great menu planning ideas, visit orgjunkie.com

Halloween Decoration Craft!

I saw this great idea to make BOO letters for decoration over at one of my favorite blogs, The Idea Room. Head over and check them out. They are so easy; just letters, paper and Modge Podge.

Here are my BOO letters, I found my letters at Michaels but they were white, so I spray painted them black before I Modge Podged the paper on. I am IN LOVE with them, and can't wait to make some Thanksgiving and Christmas words the same way.

Sew Something Saturday!

This weeks Sew Something Saturday project was a blast to make. It really hardly has any sewing at all, only the elastic, but I think it still qualities.

Going on my daughters crazy need to dress up all the time, I made her this adorable tutu! I found a great tutorial over at Tea Rose Home. It is so fun and simple to make and turns our fantastic.

I used black and purple for my tutu because I only had black elastic in the house, I love the colors, but now I can't wait to make a pink and white one. :) I had a bunch of tulle by the yard in my fabric stash, so I used that, and it really didn't take as much as I thought.

Happy Sewing!

Frugal Friday

Hudsonville Ice Cream Sale!

Tomorrow, the Hudsonville Ice Cream Plant in West Michigan, is having it's first factory sale from 9am-1pm. They are selling 1/2 gallons, gallons, and three-gallon tubs. This is cash only, but the prices are great. There is a order form to show you what is available and how much it is.

I can't wait to stock up on Peppermint stick for the Christmas season!