Having a Good Time

It's finally Friday and time to party! We have another lyric-based project today. We used the song "Good Time" by Owl City. This is one of those songs I could listen to a couple of times a day.

I used the main part of the refrain on the front of the card and the inside says, "Hands up if you're down to get down tonight." I think it's perfect for someone celebrating their 21st birthday. Or really for any party.

Thanks for stopping by!

What Makes You Beautiful

Hi there! Today's project is a scrapbook layout, perfect for any special occasion. I used the title from One Direction's song, "What Makes You Beautiful."

There are 2 spots for 3x5 photos, and the larger one is 4x8. I had originally set it up for prom pictures, and then realized that I didn't have any of them with me to put on it. (The long one is for a group picture.) Maybe one day I'll find them and put them on the layout. Better late than never, right?

Here's a close up of the title.

Wouldn't it be nice to have someone write a song about you? Just saying...

Thanks for stopping by!

We Are Young

It's Wednesday, having F.U.N. yet?? Well, that's the band that we used for today's card. Their song, "We Are Young" is all about partying late at night. But we took some of the lyrics for this birthday card.

I wanted to use the "we are young" for a birthday card, and figured an "Over the Hill" card would be perfect! I took a little liberty with the words, and the inside says, "...we are (still) young." The metallic black paper use for the background adds some class to the card.
 Let's just say that I am glad I'm not anywhere near being on the other side of that hill.

Thanks for stopping by!

Ripped Jeans, Skin was Showin'

Hi there! We hope everyone is having a great week so far! We are continuing our lyrical week with a card based off of Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me, Maybe?" Since the same words are repeated over and over, this is one of the catchiest songs out there this summer. Even the US Swim Team made a youtube video of it!

It's a great card to send to a long-distance friend who you haven't talked to in a while.

Thanks for stopping by!

Not Doing Anything

Everyone knows Mondays are terrible. And usually you don't want to get out of bed. So today's project is based off of Bruno Mars' lyrics from "The Lazy Song."

Now I just need a picture of a lazy day to go on the layout... which is probably the hardest part since there aren't many opportunities to just sit in bed all day, unfortunately...

We've added this to the SOUS sketch challenge here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Party Rock!

This week's project theme is "All Those Songs They Play on the Radio Over and Over and Over." I'm pretty sure this sums it up.

Starting us off is LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem." Not going to lie, this song IS NOT one of my favorites... but one of those that they play 15 times a day. Here's the layout that would be great for college kids to put their club pictures on.

But it does make for a great layout with Mr. Snuffleupagus from Sesame Street. Every day, he's snufflin', complete with neon colors, zebra print and party rock shades. It is kind of hard to look at, but if you look up pictures of the album cover, it "works," at least for this. It would actually be pretty funny to see some college club pictures on a layout with a Sesame Street character.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cupcake Saturday!

Happy Saturday! I hope you have some fun plans for the weekend, enjoying the last few days of summer vacation. Well, we have some cupcakes to share with you today for Cupcake Saturday! These are our Chalkboard Cupcakes.

They are just your regular ol' chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting and a fondant chalkboard on top. These would be great for a back to school party- you can even let the kids write on the chalkboards themselves!

Thanks for stopping by!

Your Math Skills are Terrible!

So we were looking for projects for next week and came across the lyrics of One Direction's song, "What Makes You Beautiful." But these weren't the ones you hear on the radio. Oh no, they did a parody called, "You're Math Skills are Terrible." Well, we thought this was appropriate for school week- not because math is terrible, but because we were horrible in math growing up. I bet our dad was glad when we went off to college and he didn't have to help us any more! Luckily I can do the math required of an elementary math teacher...

The jumbled number on the front?? That's pretty much what every math book ever looked like...So this card is just for fun. I'm pretty sure that if it as ever given to someone like me growing up, I would burst out crying, but looking back at those times, I just laugh now! But the shaker part might make it worth it (but probably not).

Thanks for stopping by today! Come back tomorrow for another edition of Cupcake Saturday!

Back to School Calendar

Happy Thursday! We hope everyone is having a good week. We are enjoying the start of fall (I know, so early here), after our week of summer! To get us in the mood, today's project is a back-to-school/fall-themed calendar we designed.What teacher doesn't love fun calendars to keep all of their important dates in one place?!

We alternated between apples and leaves- two things that we think of this time of year. Oh, and our two little birdies, ready to go to school! The picture below is an up-close view of some of the pieces. We even have a special piece for the first day of fall. I do have to make the Labor Day and Back to School one still... All of the pieces are on magnets, so we can redecorate the white board accordingly.

I don't know if you can tell, but there is a pattern. That's the kindergarten teacher's idea. Much simpler than the original plan. The last picture is of the little header:

 This is probably my favorite part of the calendar. I love the little owl in the corner, just chilling on his tree branch! And the leaves on the tree are starting to change! September hasn't even started yet and I'm already looking forward to our October/Halloween calendar!
Thanks for stopping by! Come back tomorrow for a fun little card for the mathematician in all of us!

Food for Thought

What do you call a fish with no eye?

A Fsh!

Who doesn't love a good "bad" joke, especially ones about food?! Today's post is of Lunch Box Notes. I think kids would love these little jokes in their lunch box. It sure would brighten my day if I got them! With all the bad jokes out there, you could definitely have one for each school day.

Thanks for stopping by!

Weather Heather

Ok,so I know it would be easier go out and buy a bulletin bard set for a morning meeting, but that's just not as much fun and not my style! Why buy when you can create? I had "Weather Bear" in my class last year (really only because it was left from a previous teacher) and he had no style. Sorry to say it. So this year I decided to take some time to make my own. I called my weather helper Heather. (Has anyone else noticed there are no girl ones? They're usually boys.) Here she is in her seasonal clothes, and her "holiday dress-up" outfits.

I also made these to show the weather for the day. Again, you can always buy them already made, but that's just not fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

Teacher Gift Ideas

We did some teacher gifts back in June, but we thought we might share some more with you. So these aren't really "gifts" since we made them for our own classrooms, but they could be!

We made two different name decorations. After making the summer yarn wreath, I couldn't help but want one for school, so this what I came up with. The other one is for a small space, so it needed to be flat, but will still add some color to the area. I think they will look great hanging up in our classrooms!

And we have some thank you notes for teachers. It's really nice to have thank you notes ready when you need to thank someone unexpectedly. So why not give your child's teacher a set? These were so easy to make with basic shapes, and a nice "thank you" on the front.

We've aded this to the Back to School challenges at CWC here and SOUS here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Back to School Already?

We hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. Since today is Sunday, that means we have another theme for this week. There are a whole bunch of kids out there who aren't very excited that the start of another school year is just around the corner. As teachers, it only seemed appropriate to have "back to school" as this week's theme. Hopefully we'll be able to go "back to school" soon, too...
So, for today's project, we decided to make a scrapbook layout commemorating the first day of school.

This is a little 8x8" layout, with just enough room for one of those infamous "First Day of School" pictures. Those that we look back at and cringe. The little piece of paper has a blank for the grade, so it could be used for any kiddo. I really like the look of the chalkboard- I think the embossing markers add a nice, somewhat realistic, touch!
We've linked it to the Back to School challenges at CWC here and SOUS here.

Thanks for stopping by today. Join us tomorrow for a "Welcome Back" gift for the teacher.

Cupcake Saturday!

Ah, Cupcake Saturday. My favorite day of the week! This week's cupcake, is of course, a s'more cupcake!! I don't know if there could be anything other than a s'more cupcake this week. Maybe a campfire cupcake, but s'mores taste so much better!

That's what they looked like before the "heat wave" we've been having. It's still weird that they think 90 is really hot. Feels like another summer day to us! But not so much for the cupcakes... This is what they look like in the heat a few hours later.

Our version has a graham cracker crust, a chocolate cupcake, and marshmallow frosting. It's all topped off with a graham cracker square. The only thing missing is the campfire!

Those cupcakes are for the kiddos. Here's something for the adults to enjoy!

S'more of the Day: Grasshopper S'mores (s'mores with a kick!)

What You Need:
Marshmallows
Graham Crackers
Chocolate Bars

Vanilla Frosting
Creme de Menthe
Creme de Cocoa


What You Do:
Before hand, add a shot of each alcohol to one cup of frosting. Mix until smooth.
Frost half of a graham cracker with frosting. Place chocolate bar in the middle of cracker. Toast your marshmallow and place on top of the filling. Sandwich together.

Thanks for stopping by!

Kid-Friendly Friday!

Good morning, everyone! It's finally Friday! Today's project is a Newspaper Sit-Upon for camping. I remember making these back in the day at Girl Scouts, for those times that we had to actually sit outside! (I think in all the years, we only went outdoor camping once. The rest of the times were in cabins, which I was definitely not complaining about!) Anyway, here it is:


Materials:
Newspaper (6 full-size sheets for each)

Duct Tape (preferably one of the fun patterns or colors. I don't know why no one thought of this before!)
Scissors (not really necessary, but just in case.)


Step One:
Working with a single open sheet, fold paper in half three times. It should be about 3"x28".

Step Two:
Make five more strips the same way.

Step Three:
Weave strips tightly in the middle, as shown. Make sure that #1 goes under-over-under so that it can be folded in.
(You don't need to add numbers, but it might make it easier for kids to see which ones to work with next.)

 

Step Four:
Fold end #1 up and over toward #9. Continue folding the rest of the odd numbers toward the middle. Use a small piece of tape to keep the ends down and pretty flat.

Step Five:
Turn it over and do the same thing with the remaining even number strips. This is what it will look like.

 Step Six:
Your sit-upon is technically done. However, since it is just newspaper, it's not waterproof, and if you're going to be outside, it probably should be. Here's where the tape comes in. Cover your sit-upon with long strips of tape to seal it tight.

This size is great for little kids' bottoms, but probably not so much for an adult. Use 8 strips of paper to make an adult-size mat. Make sure your newspaper has enough full-sized sheet. The first one I picked up only had 5! Sunday papers probably work best.

S'more of the Day: Birthday Cake S'mores

What You Need:

Marshmallows
Graham Crackers
Leftover Birthday Cake
Vanilla Frosting

What You Do:
Slice leftover cake into 2x1in pieces. Place cake on half a graham cracker and top with vanilla frosting. Toast your marshmallow and place on top of the filling. Sandwich together.

Thanks for stopping by!

Can I Have S'More?

Today's project is a fun little one. It's a great idea for gift giving or for any reason!

I'm sure you've seen the ornaments with s'more pieces doing different things (if you haven't, look up s'more ornaments- so cute!) Well, we thought this would be a fun take on the s'more. The best part is that you won't get sticky hands with this one! You can't see it so well in the picture, but the graham cracker and chocolate are detailed down to the ridges between sections.The snack mix inside is made up of mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, and graham cracker cereal. Not the healthiest of snacks, but it sure is tasty.

S'more of the Day: Turtle S'mores

What You Need:
Marshmallows
Graham Crackers
Mr. Goodbar
Caramel Sauce

What You Do:
Place the chocolate bar on a graham cracker half. Drizzle caramel over candy. Toast your marshmallow and place on top of the filling. Sandwich together.

Thanks for stopping by!

Lighting the Way

Today's project is another easy-peasy DIY project. Who doesn't love the endless possibilities of mason jars?? Vases, canning, food gifts, and now lanterns.

We went to Target and found the cheapest solar lights we could. The ones we chose were $2.00 a piece. We got a pack of 12 canning jars, much more than we needed, but it's never too early to start thinking about the holidays! All you need to do is unscrew the top part of the light and attach it to the top of the jar, either with a paper band or glue, depending on the jar. The tops to our jars are slightly bigger than the light itself, so we set it in a paper ring. Set it out in the sun and wait till it lights up at night! The best part is these cost less than $2.50 to make and they can be decorated to fit any decor. Now we just have to wait for the sun to reach our little corner!

S'more of the Day: Chocolate Chip Cookie S'mores (s'mores without the graham crackers...)

What You Need:
Marshmallows
Chocolate Chip Cookies

What You Do:
Toast your marshamllow and sandwich between two cookies. Or for choco-holics, sandwich marshamllow with chocolate pieces between cookies!

Doesn't get much easier than that! Except for the whole building fire thing...

Thanks for stopping by!

The Sun Goes Down

Today's project is a double page layout to keep those camping memories!

There are a ton of spots for pictures! There are 2-4x6 spots, and 10 spots for 2 1/2 inch pictures. The title comes from The Wanted's song, "Glad You Came." I don't know about where you are, but this song is played at least once an hour on the radio. And it's perfect for capturing a night under the stars! Now we'll have to go camping just to fill it up!


S'more of the Day: Cookies & Cream S'mores

What You Need:
Marshmallows
Graham Crackers
Crushed Oreo Cookies
Marshmallow Cream

What You Do:
Frost half of a graham cracker with marshmallow cream. Sprinkle cookie pieces onto cream. Toast your marshmallow and place on top of the filling. Sandwich together.

Thanks for stopping by!

Catch Those 'squitoes!

I know out here there are a ton of mosquitoes out at night. Once the sun goes down, they come out like crazy. The other night, I had at least 5 new itchy spots. Well, no one wants the bugs to ruin all the fun. So today's project is a mosquito catcher. It's more like a mosquito attractor, but as long as they go in and don't come out, it's all good with me.

They don't look like much. I took two empty plastic bottles and cut them about 1/3 of the way down. Then, filled it with a sugar/water/yeast mixture and poured it in. Apparently, mosquitoes are attracted to dark places (I guess that's why they attack at night) so I taped black paper onto them. Hopefully this will get some of those suckers. We'll see.

S'more of the Day: Strawberry Shortcake S'mores (s'mores without chocolate...)

What You Need:
Marshmallows
Graham Crackers
Strawberry Pie filling
Vanilla Frosting

What You Do:
Frost half of a graham cracker with vanilla frosting. Place a scoop of pie filling onto frosting. Toast your marshmallow and place on top of the filling. Sandwich together.

If you use chocolate frosting, I bet it would taste like a chocolate covered strawberry s'more...)

Thanks for stopping by!

Calling All Campers!

With all of this gorgeous weather we have been having out here in the northwest, we thought we would do an outdoor theme this week. Last summer, we spent A LOT of time camping out. It was actually the first time we really went camping (not like the camping we did when we were Girl Scouts in cabins) and it was quite the experience. Over time, we definitely got much better at it. Well, this week's theme is camping, and we have some pretty cool projects that will make "roughing it" a little easier, but not as many crafts.

Today, though, we do have a quick paper project to share. While we were coming up with a list of things to work on, we had our other projects, but couldn't really think of too many artsy ones. But we like to start off with an invitation or card of some sort, so here is one for a camping birthday party.

As I was making this up, I was thinking that it would be SO much fun to have a backyard camping birthday party! Campfire, s'mores, stories, the whole deal. The pillow pulls out to show all of the information about the party.

Oh, and since this week's theme is camping, we thought we would include a "S'more of the Day." Last summer at one of the National Parks we stopped at, we found a s'more cookbook by Becky Rasmussen called, "So Much S'more to Do." There are so many "recipes" in here, from simple, to gourmet, to adult. Yumm!

Today's s'more is a Peanut Butter Cup S'more. Nothing like a peanut butter, chocolate "fluffernutter" s'more!

What You Need:
Marshmallows
Graham Crackers
Peanut Butter Cups

What You Do:
Toast marshmallow to desired level. Place peanut butter cup on half of a graham cracker. Top with marshmallow and the other half of graham cracker.

Think of all of the possibilities with different candy bars!!

Thanks for stopping by!

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!