It seems every holiday, the Target Dollar Spot has adorable little 8 page photo albums for only a $1. So, for Valentines, I bought their albums and had Hannah put together a cute little picture book for her grandparents. I printed out photos, got her some stickers (for the Dollar Spot) and let her have at it. This is what she created and gave to her grandparents for Valentines Day. It was the perfect project and gift to say I love you!
I have to say, putting together this Candyland party was so much fun. The possibilities were endless. I had to stop coming up with ideas since I was running out of time. But here are the details of the party in all its fun and glory.
I created a "Welcome to Candyland" banner. I used my Cricut machine and then glittered the letters up with Martha Stewarts glitter. Which as a side note... I love. Her glitter is so fine and sparkly... i loved using it. I seriously want to glitter everything now.
For lunch I bought tupperware and put a napkin in and the kids had sandwiches, applesauce, cheese sticks and grapes. and of course a piece of chocolate.
For their Thank You favors. I got the giant pixie sticks and attached a toothbrush (from the dollar store) to it and again used my cricut to attached "thanks".
For the cupcakes I used the Sprinkles Strawberry Cupcake recipe. I frosted them and sprinkled them with nerds and made the "CL" (for CandlyLand) toppers and again used Martha's glitter on the CL.
I had my entry table all decked out in a Candyland theme. Giant Candy made out of paper lanterns and cellophane and ribbon. a little candy buffet in glass containers and our prizes and Candyland game.
I found on ebay a lady that makes Candyland wrappers for Hershey's miniature chocolate candy bars. I was able to personalize them with Ella's birthday information. They were so cute and helped add a personalized touch.
I already talked about the invites earlier last week... click here to see them.
The kids had a candy Walk. I used 12X12 paper (in various colors) and on about seven of them I put the Candyland characters on them. We had the walk and when the music stopped, I would pull out a candyland card and how every was on the card with that character won a prize. I handed out as prizes: the personalized chocolate bars, Candyland puzzles I found at Target and a Candyland game.
The kids made candy neckaces using Fruit Loops (but only because the were younger kids), but here are some other great Candy necklaces that older kids would have a blast making. Candy Necklace 1 and Candy Necklace 2.
And lastly, we went on a CandyLand Scavenger Hunt. The kids all got personalized bags (with "CL (again for CandyLand) on the front and a tag with their name. They took this bag with them as the clues took them around the house finding candy left by the Candyland characters. (I will post another entry with the details of the scavenger hunt soon).
That is it. As you can see, the ideas were plenty and it was really a great theme for this 2-4 year olds. They loved every minute of it as did I.
Ella had her third birthday party today. It was a candyland party and I am pretty sure the kids have a great time in candyland....oh yes. They kids walked in and went straight to the table of candy and ate for 10 minutes straight.
We had to pull the kids away to make candy necklaces. The kids strung Fruit Loops on licorice ropes.
Then the kids went on a candy walk (just like a cake walk) but instead of numbers we had Candyland characters (such as Mr. Mint, Princess Frostine or King Kandy). The kids loved this (such a great game for little kids) and they loved winning prizes (like more candy, candyland puzzles and one lucky winner won the Candyland game).
Then the kids went on a scavenger hunt as the Candyland characters gave them clues about themselves and took them around the house to find their goodies. Then of course, we sang "happy birthday" to the birthday girl and she blew out her candles. Ella loved that part as she had this huge smile on her face and couldn't wait to blow out her candles.
It was great birthday party. Ella (and all the kids) loved having free access to so much candy. It was great to spend time with friends and let the kids just have a ball eating, playing and having fun. Kids birthdays are the best!
PS -Scavenger hunt and details of the party to come soon.
I have to share this adorable vintage swimsuit. I am so in love with it. Mostly the back... how cute is it! Now, I think you would have to be a size 2 to pull it off and the price tag is a bit much... but if I were thinner and richer... I would be all over this little gem. But for now, I will just share this little bit of cuteness with you.
Picture and swimsuit from Ouma Clothing
I have another great photography logo to share with you. Nicole from Dorothy Nicole Photography asked me to create a new logo for her and I love the one we came up with. So simple, yet makes a strong statement. Love it. Thanks Nicole for letting me work with you!
For our Activities Day activity this week, we talked about the Day of Delight... keeping the sabbath day holy. I had the girls read this talk "Day of Delight" by Robert L. Backman. Then I wrote up a quiz for them to take (all answers are in the talk). For each answer they got right they would get a topping on their ice cream. (That was motivation for them to really take the test seriously :-).
Then I gave them another worksheet and we discussed different activities that were good or appropriate for Sundays. Then we had an object lesson. I told the girls that there are many things that are good to do (like reading Harry Potter, or practicing a sport you are good at or watching a specific TV show, etc), but they might not be the best thing to do on the sabbath. Then I pulled out some ice cream and said "ketchup is great on a hot dog, but it probably isn't the best thing to put on ice cream." and poured the ketchup on the ice cream. And mustard is great on a sandwich, but probably not the best on ice cream (poured it on). And relish is great on tuna fish but not so great on ice cream. And bacon bits are good on a salad, but not so good on ice cream. (you get the picture). Just like this ice cream sundae, certain things are good on other foods but not on ice cream.... certain activities are good during the week, but aren't good on the Sabbath day.
One girl dared another to eat the ice cream with the gross toppings. I said if she did it she could have all the toppings on their sunday regardless of how many answers they got right. The girls loved that she ate the ice cream! Then we went into the kitchen and made ice cream sundaes.
Ella's third birthday is coming up soon and I was struggling trying to come up with a party theme. Snow White was the obvious choice, but with most of the invitees being boys, I didn't think that would work to well. Then there was always the backup Dora theme, but I just wasn't feeling it. Then it hit me. Candyland. Ella loves candy. She got Candyland for Christmas and has been playing it daily and it is such a great theme, so BINGO that was it.
Here are the invitations I made for her party. I love the way they turned out. So, cute and life-like. I have been working daily to get ready for the party, so in a couple of weeks I will show you the end result. Wish me luck.
Okay, these are so cute. And if I didn't have a birthday party to plan the day before valentine's day I would probably be all making these. Although I can't make them, maybe you can. They are so cute and pretty darn easy. Here is the link to how to make them.
The picture I used came from Full of Bliss. Using cute paper makes them even cuter.
These are cute too!
For the last week, a girl in Hannah's class has been mean to Hannah telling her she doesn't like her. Well, after a
week of hearing about this on a daily basis I decided to email the teacher and see what was going on. Hannah isn't one that every says "mom, I don't want to go to school". In fact she cries when she can't go to school. But his last week, she has told me many times, she didn't want to go to school. But Hannah's teacher handled the situation great. She encouraged myself and Hannah to tell her when things like this happen so she can make the situation better and make the classroom a happy place.
The next day Hannah came home and said "Mom, your email worked. The girl apologized to me today." Then she said, "I prayed to Heavenly Father this morning that SHE would be nice and she was." I of course emphasized that Heavenly Father answered her prayer. Then she said she needed to tell Him "thank you". So, I said do you want to say a prayer to tell him thank you? So Hannah sat at the table and said a little prayer to Heavenly Father telling him "thank you" for answering her prayer and making "the girl" be nice.
This story is great for so many reasons. My daughter learned that Heavenly Father hears and answers her prayers. She thought all on her own to thank Heavenly Father for answer her prayer. I love that! And after the teacher talked to the girl (and I guess her mom and Hannah) Today Hannah came home with a homemade note from the girl apologizing for hurting Hannah's feelings. I thought that was so nice of the girl, her mom and the teacher to help Hannah feel good again.
I wanted to share my latest logo for Chelsie Renae Photography. I love this woman's work. She captures babies just beautifully and the way she photographs eyes is to die for. Each pictures captures the light in people's eye... I love that she does it in each picture she takes. She was a pleasure to work with and I love the logo she choose.
My in-laws are visiting for a few days and they love desserts in the evening (who doesn't right?) So, for our Sunday evening dessert I had a lot of sourdough bread that wasn't going to get used so instead of letting it go to waste I thought BREAD PUDDING! And to make it even more exciting, my in-laws brought with them my new Rachel Ray Bubble and Brown Bakeware. It is always more fun to cook with new things. but back to my baking endeavor.
I found a great recipe on this site but decided I needed a bit more "dessert" (which really means chocolate), so I threw in a bunch of other ingredients and came up with a very rich, decadent but oh so yummy bread pudding.
I wasn't sure if it was going to taste good, but i have to say this is a real keeper and will be used as one of my go-to desserts. It was that good.
Here is the recipe and what I did to alter it just a bit.
old fashioned bread pudding & vanilla-caramel sauce
pudding ingredients:
4 cups (8 slices) cubed white bread (although i used sourdough bread)
2 cups milk
1/2 can sweet condensed milk (I added this ingredient, anything was sweet condensed milk is ooh soo good).
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup chocolate chips (again added these)
1/2-1 cup shredded coconut (and added these)
sauce ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon vanilla
heat oven to 350°F. combine milk and 1/4 cup butter in 1-quart saucepan. cook over medium heat until butter is melted (4 to 7 minutes). pour milk mixture over bread; let stand 10 minutes.
stir in all remaining pudding ingredients. and then added chips and coconut. Pour into greased 1 1/2-quart casserole. bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until set in center.
combine all sauce ingredients except vanilla in 1-quart saucepan. cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture thickens and comes to a full boil (5 to 8 minutes). stir in vanilla.
to serve, spoon warm pudding into individual dessert dishes; serve with sauce (and even better add a little ice cream while hot). store refrigerated.
Again, this recipe originally came from Kelly. I just added a few more goodies to the mix. 
Last night we had an Etiquette Night for our activity. I printed out this cute place setting by Martha Stewart. I had the girl cut the pieces out and arrange them on a piece of paper the way they think you should set the table. Then we went over what each item was and how it was used. Then we placed in the right order and glued them to the piece of paper. The paper was 3-hole punched so they could put it in their binder.
While the girls were doing this, we went over the rules of dining etiquette. Asked them true and false questions and they learned what they should and shouldn't do at a restaurant or dining at someone's house.
Then I bought plates, napkins, utensils and cups at the Dollar Store and had the girls set their own table. We then served them a light meal, so they could practice what they had just learned. We gave them a salad, roll and Martinellis to start. Then we brought out a slice of pizza and had them eat it with a fork and knife. And then mini cheesecakes for dessert.
I think it was fun and the girls learned a lot, since they didn't know any of the etiquette rules.
I found this cute oven over at Creative Crate and was very impressed. I love it and think it is about the cutest kitchen around. Such imagination on the mom's part and endless days of playing imagination for her daughter. So so cute!
Before we headed up to SLC for Christmas, Hannah talked a lot about building a snowman while we were there. We told her if it snowed we would do it. So, when we arrived there was snow on the ground, but we had to inform her that it was old snow and hard and we wouldn't be able to make a snowman out of it. But the good news is that we got a lot of fresh snow while we were there, so Dad and girls headed out to build Hannah a snowman. Well actually a snow MInnie Mouse.
They made a snow man that quickly turned into Minnie Mouse. Hannah was so proud of it! Ella loved being out in the snow even though she refused to wear a coat (she always does). So, Ella was outside in 20 degree weather for about 45 mins without a coat. Only gloves and a hat to keep her warm (which she was not). When I went out to join them, she was shivering and blue. I was finally able to convince her to come inside. I swear that girl is such a kick. Honestly!
I do wish we had snow (only briefly), so Hannah could build more snowman. She talks about it all the time! She kept asking for coal and a button for the eyes and nose. We told her rocks would have to do.
A few years ago, my daughter received a wonderful christmas present from her aunt. It has been one of the best present we could have gotten to help my girls learn the names of their family members and it is just so much fun to look at too. It was her very own personal ABC book. The book had pictures of her family members and herself for each letter of the alphabet. She still loves to look at this book.
So, this year I decided to give my nieces and nephews the same book. We all live in different states and only see each other about twice a year (if we are lucky), so this book is perfect for them as they are learning/remembering the names of the aunts, uncles and cousins.
But what a task. To make five individual books for each kids, lets just say it was time consuming, but fun and not too hard. The hardest part was finding the pictures for each book. 250 photos total. I was glad when i was done and didn't miss a person or letter. Here are some ABC examples:
G - Granpda - a picture of the child with grandpa
X- Xtra Sweet - a picture of the child eating cake
I - Ice Cream - a picture of the child eating ice cream
Q - Quiet - a picture of the child sleeping
C - a picture of all the cousins together
K - a picture of the child being kissed by his/her mom or dad
you get the picture (no pun intended).
I finished several logo projects at the end of the year. I wanted to share some of my work with you. They were all such great clients and as always i had a blast working with them and creating their brand. And it looks like 2010 is going to be just as great. The start of a new year has brought many new clients already. I love it. This year is starting to look great when it comes to logos!
This client decided on three logos to brand her products individually. We went with the dress for her children line, the purse for her adult/mom line and the flower as a "catch all" logo for everything else, but yet it still ties everything together. I love the use of her logos and the whole comprehensive look!
I thought I would quickly share some of the projects I was up to this holiday season. 
To start out the year on the right foot, this week for Activity days, I decided to help the girls come up with some New Years goals. I decided to break it down into 5 categories.... physical, social, spiritual, mental and intellectual. I created this worksheet so we could write down a new year's goal in each category.
I love the quote I read from Pres. Harold B. Lee.... "a goal not written, is only a wish" Love that!
Another goal for the year is to help the girls write in a journal once a week. In their binders, they have a journal section and I printed out about 50 questions to but in a cute jar (I got at the Dollar Store). This will be their journal jar and each week they can pull out a question and write about the answer and any other interesting things that happened that week.
And I included a quote about journal writing for the girls to put in their binder.
What a way to start the year.... new goals and a fun activity!
Super Girl has visited our house several days in the past few weeks. Hannah dresses up in everything she can find and says "I'm super girl". My sister made her an apron and she uses that as a cape. I wish I had made Hannah a cape for Christmas had I known her alter ego would become SUPER GIRL!
I am trying to catch up on life, so the next several post will be of Christmas past. Christmas morning was wonderful. Hannah was so happy to see that Santa brought her an easel. Ella loved her Fairytopia Wings and Jake just loved being a part of it all. But Santa did bring him a stuffed moose.
The night before Hannah made sure that we left the reindeer food out on the lawn so that Santa's reindeer could find us. Also, it was just as important to have cookies and milk left for Santa, which we know he appreciated.
On Christmas morning, Ella opened about half of her presents and that was it, she wasn't opening anymore. We kept asking her if she wanted to open a present and she would have nothing to do with them. So, the next day we asked and we got one more present opened and that was it. About the third day after Christmas, we got her to open her remaining gifts. I am pretty sure things will be different next year.
Ella also has this horrible habit of twisting her hair. She twists it and twists it until it is in a huge knot. She has done thing since she was one years old. Well, Christmas morning she had a doozy of a knot in her hair. It took days to get it out (thanks to Nana's persistence and a fork). In the picture of Ella on Chris' back you can see the knot). 
About 6 month ago, I won a blog contest. I won a huge (254X36) canvas from Canvas on Demand. I have been waiting to redeem my prize so that I could use it for a picture of all three kids. But as time passes and Jake still was too small to be in a picture (without his sisters smoothering him or dropping him) I decided to use this picture and finally redeem my prize. It came the other day and I put it up in my den/playroom. I love it! It is so big, so cute and so much fun. I love canvas pictures! And the best part is they look better when they aren't framed. I can tell these will eventually fill my house!
PS - don't mind the mess on the table... kids live here!
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