B is for Baby...Blocks!

Good morning! I hope everyone is having a fantastic day! It's actually been a little cold and wet here this weekend (I know, I'm a complainer!) Or, maybe it's just my apartment...my heater just went on by itself for the first time in awhile! Anyway, as I'm sitting wrapped in my blankets, trying to find the gumption to get up and start working on (the tons of) things on my list of to-do's, I was looking through all of the pictures of projects I've been working on and decided that maybe I should start sharing some of them. (That, and who would rather clean up than look at cute things?!)
The project I wanted to share today was one I worked on for a shower gift for our friend back home. It is a set of blocks that can be used to document the baby's age, etc. It's similar to a perpetual wood block calendar, so I guess it can sort of be used for that, as well. Since they are both gym teachers, and they're having a little boy, I went with the sports theme here. There are quite a few pictures, and I thought I did a good job of getting pictures of all of the numbers, but I didn't, so there are a few missing.

I tried to include a wide range of sports, or at least those that could be easily cut out of the vinyl. Since we were teammates on the track team, and she's a coach, I had to include the winged foot. He is also a basketball and football coach, so I included those sports, as well:

I also included some references to their favorite sports teams (I conveniently  placed the Patriots logo on the four for a reason ;) one that would be frowned upon out here. Oh well!!)

 

Hopefully they enjoy using it and take lots of pictures of the little guy! (And that they don't mind that it was like a month late...sorry!!) Thanks for stopping by!! Have a great day!

Cupcake Saturday!

Good morning! We hope everyone is having a super weekend and getting excited for the big game tomorrow. We had actually been planing on doing a whole week on the Super Bowl, or at least football-related projects, but decided Valentine's Day was more our thing. Or, maybe we would have if the Seahawks or the Patriots were in it. OK, or the Giants, because I feel the need they should be mentioned. However, today's cupcake is sure to please everyone, no matter what team you're rooting for.

These are our rendition of a chicken wing cupcake. It is a cornbread muffin with a fluffy mashed potato frosting. To top it off, we added a little buffalo chicken wing on top. (Serving 'cupcakes' with veggies makes them healthy, right?!) Our favorite part of the cupcake is the chicken wing, but the ranch potatoes were a close second! They would be a great addition to any tailgate!
Now, we can't take all the credit for this idea. They were somewhat popular last year during football season. We were watching the news the other morning and there was a quick report on a cupcake baker in New York City who has done a small line of manly, football cupcakes, including some (possibly) tasty ones like a chocolate pretzel, or a not-so-sweet pepperoni pizza cupcake. Those would be two fun ones to try some time!
Um, so before we sign off for today, we would like to wish our track team back at home good luck today at their meet! It's their conference meet, and it's the biggest of the season for most of them. We, meaning they, should have some good performances today, and we wish we could be there with them! Good luck, kids!
Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend!

Cupcake Saturday!

Before we get to today's cupcake post, we'd like to say Happy Anniversary to our parents! They have been happily married for 33 years!! That's a really long time! Here's to 33 more years!

I am really excited to share these cupcakes with you today. They would be a great addition to the Closing Ceremonies tomorrow. I know they aren't quite as exciting as the Opening ones, but cupcakes can make everything better!
These are our Olympic torch cupcakes. They aren't really cupcakes in the sense that they weren't baked in a cupcake pan, or in wrappers, but they are still mini-cakes, so we'll go with the cupcake title.

We baked our regular yellow cake. When it was done, we cooled, then crumbled it. Then, we took the crumbs and stuffed them into the ice cream cones. Don't worry if they don't look great. The frosting flames will cover up any that look so great. We chose this type of cone because they look more torch-like, but you could definitely use the type with the flat bottom and bake the cakes right in there.

Thanks for stopping by!

Kid-Friendly Friday!

Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a great week so far and has some great plans for the weekend. We're going to be doing some furniture shopping, so we can *hopefully* have a couch! So far, we've been sitting on big floor cushions, which have been fine for us, but I'm not sure everyone else will appreciate them...

We'd also like to say Happy Anniversary to our brother and sister-in-law! August is a pretty busy month for anniversaries in our family, just like May is a busy birthday month. Everyone's anniversaries are this month.

Anyway, we have another Kid-Friendly project to share today: Olympic Ring Prints.This is a really easy one, for both parents and kids, especially the cleanup!

Materials:
Paint- red, yellow, green, blue and black
Cardboard paper towel roll (and some paper towels for cleanup)
Scissors
White paper
Something to put paints into
Paintbrush- optional

Step One:
Cut roll into 5 small pieces (or 3 and use each end for a color) to use as your circle.

Step Two:
Squirt the paint onto holder. Use the edge of the cardboard as your stamp. Stamp away!

First three colors

I made three different "prints." On the first one, I went for it and covered the page. On the second, I made five of each color, which you can see the different colors much better on. And on the last one, I made the Olympic rings in the middle (I hope I don't get in trouble for copyright infringement), and then went to town around it. The nice thing about this project is that kids can get a little messy, but it cleans up really easily when you just gather up everything and throw it away! As for those little hands, well, nothing works like soap and water!!
 

Thanks for stopping by! Come back tomorrow for some great themed cupcakes!

Keeping Track

Doesn't it sometimes seem that there is so much going on that you can't keep track of everything? OK, so our lives are very exciting right now, but when we were coaching, there were weeks when there was something to do every day. We usually made a calendar on the computer and wrote everything on that. Sometimes it would just get too messy and confusing. Today's project would have been nice for those times!

So, this is a weekly calendar we made. If you're a fan of pinterest, there are quite a few versions of this project out there. Some of them are pretty big, so we thought this size would be perfect. It fits nicely on a table or counter, which makes it convenient, instead of taking up a lot of room. We went with a soccer theme, complete with the colors of the Seattle Sounders (they're the professional soccer team here)! This one would be perfect for a little boy's or girl's bedroom. The beauty of something like this is that it is completely personalize-able. It can be any color, sport, or activity. Or holiday-themed. I really want to make one for the holidays! This is what makes it so great:

It is like a wet-erase board! So, if you haven't guessed yet, this is actually made from a picture frame. The days of the week and decorations are on the inside of the frame. With a washable marker, you can write on the frame. It only takes a little water to clean it off, too! (I tried erasing with a dry paper towel and it smudged. The water works better, but I recommend wiping it down and drying it completely before writing again.)
That's all for today! Come back tomorrow for another kid-friendly Olympic-themed project!

Out of the Ball Park!

Good morning, everyone! Today's post is a cute gift bag and card for an all-star birthday kid.

This was a really easy project to put together, with the hardest thing being picking the colors to use! Not going to lie, one of the ways I pick which team to root for is based off of their uniforms. And Seattle sure has some nice uniforms to chose from. I really like the blue, teal, and white color combinations... Of course, whatever color uniforms your team has could be used instead. Add their name and age, and you have probably the only personalized gift-bag at the party!

I like the shape card, too. When it comes to kid's birthday cards, you don't want to make them too fancy, since chances are they won't be keeping them. So I chose to keep it simple and with the theme. I think this would be a great gift bag to give to a kid who is having a sports-themed party or an kid-lete in general.

Thanks for stopping by!

"On Your Mark, Set, Go!"

I don't know about everyone else, but this week is kind of going slow. I keep thinking it's a day later. But, it's only Tuesday. Just a thought...
Anyway, as we continue with this week full of sporting adventures, today's project is something I'm (actually) really proud of. Not that I don't love all of the other projects we do, which is why we share them. This project shows off one of my biggest accomplishments.

This is a quick, two-page scrapbook layout that is dedicated to last year's Vermont City Marathon. And boy, was it an experience! The day started rainy and cool, which is perfect running weather over 26.2 miles. All of a sudden, the clouds disappeared and the sun came out. It was a long, hot afternoon. It didn't go so well (which is why I didn't include my time!) Fortunately, we had two friends run this one with us, which always makes it better! We have finished four of them, and we are running the Seattle Marathon in November. Hopefully we'll do better, and have better weather, than this one.
Thanks for stopping by!

Sports Ball Notecards

Happy Monday! Ok, so Mondays are hardly ever happy...Although today is turning out to be a good one. As quickly as summer came here, it has gone. Fortunately, the sun hasn't, so it'll be 70 and sun this week! (Couldn't be much happier!!) We have had 3,000 page views on our little blog here, which isn't too shabby. And we're "guest bloggers" on our sister's blog (http://www.mspininteresting.blogspot.com/). It's a cool concept- take projects you find on pinterest, make them, and see how it comes out. Our post is for a French Toast muffin (yum!)
Anyway, continuing on with our sports theme, we have some sports ball note cards to share. It’s amazing what changing the color of some circles can do!

 

Each card is a 4in welded circle with two smaller ones on top. I have to say, I was surprised at how well the soccer ball turned out. I know that they don’t look exactly like that, but it was the closest I could make it. I think they came out really well. They would make great invitations for a sports party, or thank you notes for a little boy to give out.

You can make even more, like bowling balls or volleyballs. I tried footballs, but that didn't work out so well, maybe another time.

Thanks for stopping by! Join us tomorrow for a project inspired by our favorite sport!

Hey Now, You're an All-Star!

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few days, the Olympics are going on! That means that we needed to create some sports-themed projects this week.
Today’s project is a word book for your little All-Star.

It would be a great place to put some pictures of your athlete. Each page has either a spot for journaling or pictures. I’ve never been really any good with word books, no matter how much I try. Between making the letters match and all that, mine don’t come out that great, but I think this one came out good enough to share.

Thanks for stopping by!