Happy Independence Day!

Happy Friday! We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday yesterday. We were fortunate enough to be able to spend it family we haven’t seen in a while. Our brother and his crew came up from Virginia, so that put some pep into the party! A lot of food, some running around, and a few broken glasses later, everyone slept well last night! 

Today’s post is a round-up of projects and desserts we made for the party:

Our party kind of started the night before. We wanted to try something fun with sparklers and our camera. This is the middle picture on top. Although we were just fooling around, the picture does look pretty neat! The big picture here is of our tablescape. We had so many other ideas but ran out of time. Too many favors, not enough time… There are a few close-ups from the table, including the centerpiece we threw together with pieces on sale at Michaels, and the little Uncle Sam favor in the bottom corner. We included some glow sticks and bubbles. There were also the desserts, including the cupcakes (more tomorrow) and the s’more bar (absolutely delicious!) Who knew there were so many options for a s’more?? We only had a few options, like the favorite “peanut butter and jelly” ones (honey grahams, peanut butter cups, and strawberry marshmallows), or the mint ones (Andes mints), and the cookies and cream one. We have a book we got on our trip a few summers ago, but forgot it at home, unfortunately. (As I was writing this, I thought, “Ooh, mint chocolate chip”- an Andes mint and a marshmallow, layered between two chocolate chip cookies?? Yes, please!)

Thanks for stopping by! Join us again tomorrow for our holiday edition of Cupcake Saturday!

Cupcake Saturday!

It's another Cupcake Saturday! In keeping with our picnic theme, we thought, "What better cupcake to make than hamburger cupcakes?" You can't have a picnic without hamburgers. I'm sure you've seen something like this before. A few years back, we made a big hamburger cake for a picnic, and now we've just shrunk it down into sliders!

The cupcakes are vanilla cake with chocolate "burger patties" and colored vanilla frosting for the toppings. Although they look like a lot of time was spent working on them, they came together pretty quickly. I love how ooey-gooey the cheese looks!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!!

Today's Party Trivia:
- The first US military draft began in 1863. An exemption would cost $300.00
- The first loaf of sliced bread was sold in a Missouri bakery in 1928
- Construction of the Hoover Dam, originally the Boulder Dam, began in 1930.
- Today is both National Strawberry Sundae Day and Chocolate Day. Ice cream sundae, anyone?

Kid-Friendly Friday!

Welcome to another weekend! Since this week's theme is let's go on a picnic, I've decided that we need to make some friends for ours. These egg carton critters are much better picnic guests than real ants. They won't take your food!

Materials:
Egg carton
Scissors
Black paint
Paint brush
Pipe cleaners
Pokey tool
White out pen or white marker
Markers
Googly eyes (optional)
Glue (optional)

Step One:
Cut out a three cup section from the egg carton. Paint the carton black.

 

Step Two:

While the paint is drying, take 2 pipe cleaners. Cut them into quarters. We will use two pieces for the antennae and 6 for the legs. Once the paint is dry, use the pokey tool (totally the name of it... or a safety pin would work too) to make two holes on the top of the head, and three more on each side of the body.

Step Three:

Stick a pipe cleaner piece into each hole. On the inside of the carton, twist the cleaner to keep it in place.

Step Four:
Draw on the mouth and stick on the eyes. That's it!

 In case your little one doesn't want to make an ant, I have a monarch butterfly. He was made the same way, just switch the spots where the eyes are and the antennae are, and don't add legs. I used hands for the butterfly wings and decorated them to look like a monarch's wings. Finally, I glued them to the bottom of the carton.

 Here are our egg carton critters enjoying a sunny day outside!

Thanks for stopping by! Come back tomorrow for our picnic cupcakes!

Today's Party Trivia:
- The dollar was chosen as the currency of the US in 1785
- The first use of the rabies vaccine was in 1885. The same person who developed the pasteurization process for dairy products discovered the vaccine. It was used on a boy who was bit by a rabid dog.
- The Hartford Circus Fire happened in 1944 during a Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey show. 168 people were killed and the circus was banned in parts of Connecticut.

Who's Ready to Light the Grill?!

Today we have another box to share with you. This one can be used for different things, like most of our little boxes. It would be a cute place to put salt and pepper shakers at a picnic if you take out the grill rack, or as a gift box, or favor. I guess it doesn't have one specific use, which is great! I love how one cut can be used for so many different things. (The tool box for Father's Day week was the same.) I wonder what else it can be used for??
Anyway, here it is.

Thanks for stopping by!

Today's Party Trivia:
- Everyone's favorite lunch meat, Spam, was introduced in 1937. (I'm sure there's an original can somewhere...)
- The BBC broadcasted its first televised news bulletin in 1954.
- In 1996, Dolly the sheep was the first mammal to be cloned.
- Today is National Apple Turnover Day- yum!

Happy Birthday, America!

It's hard to believe that last summer we were only 10 days into our cross-country road trip and spending the 4th of July at Mount Rushmore, which was pretty cool (Day 9 and Day 10 from that trip). A lot of things have changed since then, but some things haven't, like our charcoal grilling. Ok, it's gotten a little bit better than that first hot dog experience, but still. (We are much better with a gas grill.)
Anyway, since it is July 4th and we are having a picnic later, we needed a little decoration for it! So here is our tablescape.

We wrapped the table with stars.

Our Firework Flowers

 Flag placemats with napkin rings and clothespin place cards.

Hope everyone enjoys their day off today!

Thanks for stopping by!

Today's Party Trivia:
- Unsurprisingly, today is also "National Barbeque Day" and "National Country Music Day". Sounds like a pretty good day!!
- The US Military Academy opened in 1802
- In 1862, Lewis Carroll told the story that would become Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The book was published three years later.
- Today's flag, with all 50 stars, was introduced in 1960, ten months after Hawaii became a state

Picnic Basket and Sandwich

We have two projects to share with you today. When you go on a picnic, you need a basket and food. Well, we have paper versions of both today!

The first one is the picnic basket. It opens up and everything! I'm very excited about it. The weaving was harder than I thought it would be, but definitely worth it!

The second part is the sandwich. This was a fun project to make and I think it came out really cute! I inked the edges around to make the box look like crust, filled it with cheese, lettuce, and tomato (paper of course), and "cut" it down the diagonal. The hardest part was making my cheese slices the right size, go figure! This box was cut out small, but if it was cut to to 4.5 or 8 in, it would make a great napkin holder!

 Thanks for stopping by!

Today's Party Trivia:
- Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec in 1608
- The US first savings bank opened in New York City in 1819
- Idaho became the country's 43rd state today in 1890. Ooh, we'll be there in a few days... 

You Light My Fire!!

Happy Monday! Thanks for stopping by today. Going along with our picnic theme for the week, we have a scrapbook layout, perfect for a backyard barbeque.

This layout features the "King of the Grill", who is taken aback, to say the least. All he can do is watch as the little ants take off with his lunch!! What's a guy to do?! They're getting away with everything! Here are some close-ups of each page:

If you click on the pictures, you can view a bigger picture. You can see the little ants getting away with all of the food! The grass on both pages are also embossed and the paper is trimmed- it was just mowed ;) The clouds and sun are also inked around the edges.

Thank you and have a great day!!

Today's Party Trivia:
- The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence today, in 1776, but it wasn't approved for another two days
- In 1937, during her attempt for the first round-the-world flight, Amelia Earhart lost contact with teh ground and was never heard from again.
- Wal-Mart's first store opened for business in 1962, one month after the first Target was opened.

Let's Have a Picnic!

Happy Sunday! We hope everyone is having a nice, relaxing weekend. Today is also the half-way point of 2012- how crazy is that?! Where did the time go?? Anyway, since today is the start of another week, that means we have a new theme. This week's projects, in (somewhat) conjunction with 4th of July, follow a picnic theme. Like most of our Sunday posts, today's post is an invitation. This invitation would work nicely for any sort of cooking/kitchen party. It is a little apron:

 It's a little hard to see, but there is a little pocket, where the ribbon meets the "waist" of the apron. There is a little piece of green paper peeking out.

And there is the information. It is a bit small, but that's OK. It  wouldn't be too hard to make it bigger. The nice thing about it is that it can be designed to fit any occasion. I'd love if this was a real apron... I love the colors together!!
Thanks for looking and enjoy!

Today's Party Trivia:
- In 1874, the first successful typewriter went on sale
- The international distress signal, SOS, was adopted in 1908
- The United States introduced zip codes in 1963.
- Today is "Build a Scarecrow" Day. Have to keep them away from the corn...