Enjoy Life

Autumn. Right Now!

• 12 years old, 6th grade - 1st year Middle School.
• Often mistaken for older.
• Likes to see if she makes the kids menu cut-off.
• Recently learned about meditating and budha.
• Is a great help to me.
• Awesome Big Sister.
• Thinks she knows more than her parents (and often does)!
• Plays the Trumpet.
• Still loves to draw and do art.
• Would like a small white dog named "Snowball".
• Recently got braces.
• Does not like her food to touch.
• Is very emotional about everything.
• Wears her hair in a ponytail on most days.
• Hates to wear dresses.
• Favorite color is blue.
• Loves pancakes with hershey's syrup (no maple syrup).
• Dreams of touring Europe.
• LOVES to Read, currently reading Rick Rioridan books.
• Very Responsible with homework that she does at her desk in her room.
• Doesn't have a cell phone or facebook acct & doesn't see the point in either.
• Loves tradition.
• Likes to watch The Suzie Orman Show and wants a "Denied" T-shirt.
• Sits in the front seat of the car.
• Wakes up to her ipod at 6:45am.
• Has her own camera and enjoys taking pictures.
• Enjoys watching Wizards of Waverly Place, GoodLuck Charlie, Jessie.
• Likes Orange Crush.
• Would prefer to hang out at home.
• Loves her friends.
• Likes a good sandwich but eats all sandwiches dry (no sauces).
• Takes a lot to make her laugh but when she does she laughs until she cries.
• Moved by music: Taylor Swift, Adele, Carrie Underwood, 1D, Justin Bieber.

Project Life Weeks 5 & 6

Playing catch up in some respects.  I have most of my weeks complete with the exception of the journaling.  I'm keeping it simple and using journaling stickers here and there.  This is not my preferred style since I like to capture the little things and not tell the stories of the photos but the details of life.

That's what's so great about PL, you can always make it what you want or need it to be.  :)

Week 5

Week 6

 

I'm linking up today with The Mom Creative:

 

United States Auction Art

Recently I was requested to put together an art auction piece for Brooke's 3rd grade class.  I wanted to do something that culmulated their unit of study: The 50 states.  Each child will be researching a certain state and reporting on it.  The prior year they learned about famous americans and pieces of history.  

I decided to piece together the United States out of historical speeches, documents, songs, poems.

I used a Melissa & Doug 2x3 foot USA Floor Puzzle to trace the outline of the states onto pages of history.  In the above photo you can see The Gettysburg Address, some Amendments, etc.  I purchased 3 different books from Half price books and then tore out the pages and traced onto them.  After I traced them I tea stained each paper state to get an old look.  I let the pages dry over night in between papertowels with a cookie sheet on top so they would not curl up.

In this photo you can see that I was just laying it out to get an idea of how it was going to look and tweek it.  I purchased an open frame from Michaels and a canvas to adhere the states.

Now that I had the basis down of the states I needed to incorporate the kids into the art. I decided to use their handprints and fingerprints in the art.  I tea dyed the entire canvas and then went into the classroom and paint stamped their hands onto the canvas with acrylic paint.  To try and keep it even with the red/blue I drew a light pencil line down the center of the canvas.

On each state I planned to place a star with the child's name that was researching that state.  At first, I wanted them to write their name on the star but then realized that could get a bit ilegible so I decided that I would have them put their pinky finger print on the star and then I would write their name on the star.  I edged each of the stars with Tim Holtz's "Tea Dye" Distress Ink.  In the photo below you can see the different samples of what the stars would look like with/without different features.  The stars were cut out using my cricut machine.  I used 1" stars for the majority of the states but for the smaller states went with the 1/4" or 1/2".

Here you can see the stars on each state.  I used Matte Finish Modge Podge to adhere the stars to the states.  I covered the back of each star and then covered the top with a thinner coat.

Here you can see the final piece.  I used the Matte Modge Podge to adhere the states down (just like the stars) once they dried, I put a thin layer over the top.  

This is a photo of the final canvas framed behind glass.  I took this photo late at night so the lighting is off but I think you get the general idea.

When I took the piece in for the kids to see they loved it and wanted to buy it.  They liked finding their state and seeing what piece of historical literature it was made out of.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

Project Life Tuesday, 2013 Week 4

Thanks for stopping by.  This week in PL I used a monochramatic gray color scheme.  I really like how it turned out.  Some weeks are artistic, some simple, and some very uniform but all are captured memoires......

 

I did not use Cathy Zielske's week in review this week but instead went with simple cards to describe the details of the week.

Below is the left side.  I included a screenshot of my weather channel app to capture the low temp.  I love the photo of Ms. B's friends all lined up in a row; there has been a lot of this going on lately.

 

Right Side:  I was so excited to see Bella painting when I took one last glance back at her classroom.   Her teacher allowed me to come in and caputre this memory.  I am trying to capture more photos of myself by using the self timer and love the photo of our impromptu coloring party.

Lots of simplicity.  No extra special product.  Sticking to the basics of the Project Life kit and a couple of ali edwards digital pieces.  Simple is good.

I'm linking up today with 

20 things Right now

1.  Addicted to The Candy Factory App.

2.  Working on Moonlight Math.

3.  Loving Project Life and the process.

4.  Struggling to complete my art auction project.

5.  Planning lots of Girl Scout Trips.

6.  Thinking of Spring.

7.  Sorting Girl Scout Cookies.

8.  Contimplating our Summer Girl Trip.

9.  Worrying about Mexico and if we are making a good decision.

10.  Struggling to take control of my health.

11.  Wondering if I will find true happiness.

12.  Loving new friendships.

13.  Grateful for the smiles on my children's faces.

14.  Thinking of a new car soon.

15.  Counting the days until Spring Break.

16.  Grateful Bella is feeling better after having pneumonia.

17.  Wishing I could fix my Sonos (or more like find the time to fix).

18.  Happy to know my laundry is done.

19.  So ready to get rid of the stink bugs.

20.  Looking forward to moms night out.

Project Life Tuesday, 2013 Week 3

 

Week 3

Left Side:  Week in review, Photos with days of the week or little notes, loving the little prompt cards in the seafoam kit.  Trying to include myself in more of our pages.

Right:  The top left photo turned out perfect.  It's hard to tell but it's actually two photos that I captured of Ms. B outside of school refusing to come in because she couldn't walk.  The photo on the left you can see she is farther away and then she gets closer when she realizes that I'm not coming back.  :)  I used an Ali Edwards digital design.      

Lots of writing/typing on photos.  Loving using the week in review cards from Cathy Zielske as it allows me to include more photos.  When going through my stash of supplies I find these cute chipboard questions and plan to include them until they're gone.  Each one has a question that I can answer and will tell my kiddos a little more about their mommy.

I know this might be a little crazy but how cute is it that my 4 year old wanted a pink bandaid so my 9 year old used nail polish to paint it.  I couldn't resist including this story and the bandaid as a little momento.  

I'm linking up with: 

2013 Project Life, Week 2

The good news:  I'm up to date on my Project Life

The bad news:  I haven't been able to find the time to post my pages on my blog

The truth:  It's okay.  I'm letting go and finding the truth.  I'm living life and it's just not possible for me to be up to date all the time.  So my weeks that I post on my blog might not be for that week.  I't's all good.  It's creative.  It's me.  It's Life, my life, right now!

Week 2:  Loving, Loving, Loving the Sea Foam edition of Project Life.  It fits my style and personality and it's such a joy to include it in my pages.

Left Side:  I included the Week In Review from Cathy Zielske's set.  The little flag is from Bella Blvd.  Lots of printing right on photos this week utilizing lots of Ali Edward's designs.

This year I am including the week in my pages and love this concept.  I find myself enjoying finding a way to incorporate it somewhere.  Here I chose a simple card from the seafoam edition along with a flag from Bella Blvd. and some stickers.  Simple. Cute.

Above: Right Side.  Simple words and stories.  Love finding empty space in the photos to add text either printed or written.  

Below: Right Side, detail

Hope you enjoyed this snippet into my life and PL pages.  

What are you enjoying most about this project?  Do you have your system down to a science?  

See you soon! 

 

I'm linking up today with......

2013 Project Life, Week 1

I am extremely excited about continuing the process of capturing our daily life in stories and photos.  This year I will be changing how I approach the project in order to keep myself on target.  Getting behind frustrates me and I feel like I lose the stories I want to tell.  My concept is to tell a story and add photos but when I'm behind I feel like I'm telling the story from the photo.  I will post more on my 2013 approach and organization later in the week.  

I am super stoked about the new Becky Higgins products that are available and in the works.  I will be using the SeaFoam addition for 2013.  This is the first time that I LOVE the product design, it just speaks to me.  The colors, the designs, yum!  I typically use Design A but will occasionally slip some additional sleeves in when a story justifies, etc.

The Front Cover:

I like to keep the cover simple.  I used (2) 4x6 inserts from the Seafoam edition, Ali Edwards Memories of Home stamps by Technique Tuesday, an Alphabet Gallery letter from Bazzill, and this cute quote that I found on pinterest (I can't remember where and feel bad I can't give credit).  :(

Week 1

The left side.  SeaFoam edition, Cathy Zielske Week In Review template, Day of the week stams by Ali Edwards, misc.

Right Side:  Lots of digital embellishments and SeaFoam cards.

What are your plans for the PL?  Are you finding yourself gravitating to new ideas, design, keeping with the same?  Are you a first timer?

Thanks for stopping by......

I'm linking up today with The Mom Creative:

 

 

Rainbow Art Party

Hard to believe that my little Autumn turned 12 at the end of September. We had lots of fun planning a Rainbow Art party.

The invitations:  We hand cut a paint pallete out of white cardstock and then used a 1" circle punch to punch rainbow colors as paint.  I hand wrote in black ink the party information.

Food:

Rainbow Drinks were a huge hit with this age and it was fun to try new flavors that they otherwise wouldn't drink.

On this table I had chips/dip, Rainbow m&ms, Rainbow fruit, pretzel paint brushes, and Rice krispy paint brushes.  The bottom shelf is glass jars filled with left over plastic tablecloths.  

These wre so simple to make.  I had lots of other things to do so to simplify the process, I purchased premade rice krispy treats and cut them in half and then insered popsicle sticks and dipped into melted chocolate.

Rainbow fruit.  I orginally thought I would make a rainbow fruit kebob display but then thought it would be a waste if the kids didn't like some of the fruit.  I just cut up and displayed in rainbow order strawberries, cantalope, pineapple, kiwi, blueberries and grapes.

The Cake:

The Rainbow Cake was a lot easier to make than I thought it would be.  I am by far not a baker or cake decorator but I do like to make my kids cakes each year. I followed the recipe from someone elses blog. Unfortunately, I can't find the link or directions which really upsets me as it was the only time in my life I made a cake from scratch and it was to die for!

 I  made the cake batter and divided it into 6 bowls.  I did not measure but guessed on the amount. I added gel food coloring which I think is the key to vibrant colors. In between each layer I used white icing and then iced the entire cake in white.  Decorated with Rainbow Sour Tape, Rainbow stars and topped with rainbow candles.

Autumn had never seen a cake like this and was quite surprised.  She actually requested a chocolate cake with chocolate icing so I made another cake for her family dinner.  

Decorations:

This rainbow ceiling made from plastic dollar store table cloths was the main decorations.  I had other rainbow things throughout that tied the theme together but this was the major decoration.  I was really worried about this at first but once I got the hang of how to hang each piece it was not bad at all and it really made the party.

I realized that the other really cool decoration that I put up I did not take a photo of.  :(  I found large clear plastic christmas bulbs at Michaels and filled them with left over plastic table cloth and hung from the ceiling with clear fishing twine.  This was in our entry way and over the island in our kitchen.  

 

The Activities:

Crayon Melt Art, this is all over pinterest and was the main activity we did.  It was perfect for this age group (this is my 9 year old below) of 11/12 year olds.  I had a station of girls glueing the crayons on their boards and then another station of melting.  I set this all up in my kitchen and used a huge piece of cardboard to protect counters and walls.  The wax tends to fly and some did get on our walls/counter but once dried we were able to remove with either a razor blade and/or softscrub.

Decorative Bowls:  Decorated Bowls with Sharpies.  I totally misunderstood the directions for this project and was suppose to buy glass bowls so that I was able to bake the bowls which would set the marker.  These bowls melted in the oven.  Thankfully, I did a test bowl prior to the party.  We still did the project, I just told the girls that the marker would wash off but suggested using for hair tie's, jewelry, etc. 

Photo Booth:  I used white plastic tablecloths for a backdrop and found these awesome picture frames at HobbyLobby.  I gave the girls a digital camera and they took photos of each other.  We saved the photos and printed them out the next day and Autumn wrote her thank you notes on the back of each photo.  :)

Melted Bead Suncatchers:

The girls made suncatchers using a muffin tin and beads.  These were simple and fun to make.  I followed directions from this youtube video.  

All of the directions I read said to be cautious of fumes from the plastic beads.  To avoid fumes in my house, we set the grill to the desired temp and baked outside; this worked perfect!  

Playdoh Fun: I divided the girls up into teams.  Each team took turns picking a piece of paper with an item on it (i.e., birthday cake) and they had to make it and have the other team guess what it was.

Skittle Guessing Game:  I layered skittles in rainbow order and the girls guessed how many skittle were in the jar and then won the jar of skittles.

To make life easier I had large brown gift bags with each girls name in rainbow sticker letters.  As the girls completed a craft they put it right in there bag.

This turned out to be an awesome party for this age group.  They all seemed entertained and interested in every activity.  

Doc McStuffins Birthday Fun!

I have had several parties over the last couple of years that I have been wanting to share and theres no better time than now.......

My baby girl turned 4 last week and like most pre-schoolers is obsessed with Doc McStuffins.  I have to admit that I am quite smitten with Doc myself and enjoy watching the show with Bella.  :)  

For those of you who aren't familiar with this new Disney show; It's about a 6 year old little girl who turns her backyard playhouse into a doctors office.  She wears a special stethescope that magically makes toys turn to life when the Doc is alone with them.  Toys come to Doc for cures of toy ailments, doc gives them a diagnosis and fixes them.  

Stethescopes

I created felt Stethescopes for each child (girls pink/boys blue).  As the kids came Bella gave them each their own stethescope to wear at the party.  I also took a group photo of all the kids who attended wearing their stethescope.  It's kind of hard to see in the photo but I hung the Stethescopes on my banister to keep them from getting tangled and for convenience as the kids arrived.

The Doctor Kits

I created Doctor Kits for treat bags.  I had originally thought that I would give the kids a piece of the doctor kit at each activity (to sort of build their doctor kit along the way) but after much thought, reconsidered this since they were 3/4 year olds.  I didn't want pieces to get lost.  Instead I sat them all down in a circle (similiar to circle time at pre-school) and showed them everything they would receive in their doctors kits.

The kits included: 

White Doctor Bag (michaels crafts) with Purple Glitter Heart (scrapbook paper on hand)

Stethescope (head bands from Walmart; pattern from American Felt and Craft)

Big Book of Boo Boos (small composition books from Dollar Store, covered with scrapbook paper)

Sirenge (local pharmacy)

Smarties & BandAids

Doc Is in/out sign and Cuddle Card (DisneyJunior.com)

For the Doc sign, I found cardboard at the $1 bin at Michaels for photo books; 4 in a pack.  I painted them pink or blue and then used modge podge to adhere the disney print out.  Then used a hole punch to pucnh holes and string decorative ribbon to hang.

 Games/Activities

1) Pin the tail on Stuffee (My daughter, Autumn, drew Stuffee and cut out tails)

2) Musical Chairs 

3) Doc, Doc, Chilly (duck, duck, goose)

4) Pass Lambie (instead of hot potato we played with a push lambie before we started we passed her around so everyone could have a cuddle)

5) Hide n Seek Bandaids  (printed and laminated the bandaids from the Disney Website and hid them around a room and the kids found them)

6) Doc McStuffins coloring sheets were set out on the table with crayons for the kids as they arrived.

Decorations  

Birthday Banner:  I had a "Happy Birthday" pink banner from a prior party and removed the characters from it and replaced it with Doc McStuffins.  The picture is actually from the back of the toy packaging.  I just copied it on cardstock and cut to size.

Table Decorations:  I used these print outs from the Disney site and enlarged them 225% onto cardstock, cut them out, punched a hole and strung with ribbon.  We bought the plushed versions of Doc, stuffee, lambee, and chilly and placed them on the center of the table.  All the toys are exclusive to Toys R Us.  The Disney Store has yet to make any Doc Mcstuffins toys.  It would be nice to see a plastic set with all of the characters. 

Outside:  One of my recent favorite things to do before our party is to use sidewalk chalk and right messages, directions for our guests going up the front steps.  Each step is a different word so as you walk up you are reading the message.  For this party it read:  Happy Birthday Bella #4  Time for your check-up.  The Doc Is In.  Then on the front door at 3/4 year old eye level was a cut out of Doc.

Cake/Icecream

Cake: I picked up a decorated cake out of the case at Sams club that matched the decorations the best.  I placed a doc mcstuffins plastic toydoll and doctor kit on the cake.  I also laminated print outs from DisneyJunior and stuck them in the cake.  

(Note:  a couple years ago I found round discs at Hallmark which are specifically designed to set on a cake and then put things on them instead of directly on the icing. The disks were necessary for this cake since the Doc kit tools were glittered and I didn't want to stick doc in the cake as she was a toy. )  

To get doc to stand, I taped 2 candy sucker sticks to her back so that they were at an angle going into the cake and her feet were leaning on to the plastic disk.  

Ice cream - I prescooped ice cream into cupcake liners and left in my freezer until it was time to serve. This worked perfectly, especially for this age.  So glad I remembered to do this.  It saved lots of time.  

Bella had a great time and I had a great time organizing the party.  If you have any questions feel free to ask.  I'll be back tomorrow to share another party idea.  :)