Mommin' It Up!

September 24, 2012September 24, 2012

Who are you and what have you done with Jenny?

I really do not know WHAT has come over me, but when I was talking with my team from work about making Halloween costumes from some of our clients’ products, I was like, “You know, I think I could do a few of those.”

As you know if you’ve read this blog for awhile, I have not a crafty bone in my body. Emily’s the more crafty cousin and has made Kate’s costumes in the past. Anna, the third SuperCousin, practically LIVES at Hobby Lobby, but I am allergic to it. As a matter of fact, I recently went to Hobby Lobby to look for magnets for Sophie’s hair bow board (which I guess I also crafted, but not really) and I pretty much had a panic attack. I walked out with a sweaty brow, a racing heartbeat, and empty hands. Have you been in there? THAT PLACE is TERRIFYING! Seriously!! I hope I never have to go in there again.

But anyhoo, after a trip to the DOLLAR TREE (much more my speed), I realized I could easily accessorize some Girls Crochet Headands products and make Sophie a couple of costume options for Halloween.

And I FREAKING DID IT! Amazeballs, right??

Here is Sophie as a clown:

And here she is as an Angry Bird (which is the one she chose to actually wear for trick-or-treat):

Girls Crochet Headbands liked my efforts so much they dedicated two blog posts to the tutorials. I hope you’ll check them out; the clown one is here and the Angry Bird is here, or you can find them both on our Happy Halloween Pinterest board.

And to give credit where credit is due, Cortney made the Angry Birds mask; it was left over from her son’s birthday party, but I *do* think I could’ve done it myself.

Anycrap, after I finished these I proudly texted photos of them to Emily and Cortney, and wouldn’t you know, they both had the SAME reaction!

O she of little faith!

Clearly, I can’t get no respect! And also, the real me *may* have been abducted by aliens and replaced with this costume-crafting “fun mom”! But really, I surprised myself with these. They were just TOO easy. If I can do it, anyone can, fer the realz. So, head on over to the links above and check out the tutorials!

Now I just have to get Joshua’s costume figured out. He is definitely NOT wearing a tutu! Are your kids obsessed with Halloween yet? What are they planning to be for trick-or-treat?

February 24, 2012February 24, 2012

Leap Day Celebration Ideas

Leap Day is coming up this week! I’ve never celebrated it with my kiddos before, but now the older two are old enough that I think we can have some fun and learn a little bit about WHY we have Leap Day and Leap Year.

So…next Wednesday, I am going to DIG DEEP, put on my “fun mom” costume (because yo, it is a COSTUME), and do some fun activities with the kids! Here are some I’m thinking of:

“Leap” games inolving jumping – like a race where we have to do different kinds of jumps – long leaps, bunny hops, jumping on one leg, etc. Since we’ve been having a mild winter, I am hoping it will be warm enough to do outside and do this.
Leap play date so we can play a musical-chairs type game where we leap from lily pad to lily pad! Each child cuts out & decorates their lily pads and then we will stick them to the floor, turn on some music, and get leaping.
Since jumping and lily pads might factor into things, you may have guessed that I am thinking of a FROG theme for our Leap Day fun. Thanks once again to Pinterest, I may attempt these frog cupcakes:

Hmm, but now I’m thinking frog COOKIES might be easier…

One more thing I’m going to do on Leap Day is leap into a NEW RECIPE! I’ve been in a total recipe RUT recently. This one has nothing to do with frogs (thankfully, ’cause I am NOT eating frog legs!), just something I’ve been wanting to try, and Leap Day is as good a time as any! Since I am a Vicks Blogger, I’ve been following Curtis Stone’s Nature’s Kitchen series sponsored by Vicks Nature Fusion. There’s a recipe he calls a “One-Pot Wonder” – and I’m a one-pot cook! I’ve not tried one of Curtis’ recipes yet, even though I love watching his videos. But I am going to make this one – a potato-corn chowder, for our Leap Day meal.

(You can check out the rest of Curtis’ videos for the Vicks Nature Fusion Nature’s Kitchen here.)

Are you planning on celebrating Leap Day this year? If so, give me some more activity ideas!

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I am being compensated for this post as part of the Vicks Blogger program.

September 21, 2011

Dying to Tie Dye

As I’ve said before, Pinterest is a great place to find tons of things to ~~add to your to-do list and then to feel bad about when you never get around to actually doing them~~ do around the house, with the kids, etc. I heart Pinterest very much. (You can see all my boards here).

Last week, my fabulous friend Gina told me she was having her little sisters over for the weekend and she had tons of fun things planned – including one thing she found on Pinterest… tie-dying t-shirts with Sharpies. (You can see all of Gina’s boards here).

It just so happened that Kate’s friend and her sister were coming over to our house on Sunday, and I needed a way to entertain a three-year-old boy, and two seven- and one ten-year-old girls. Sharpie tie-dying sounded like the perfect activity – and it was.

Click the link above (or visit the Sharpie blog) for more in-depth instructions, but basically what you do is draw on a t-shirt with a Sharpie and then put drops of rubbing alcohol on it to make the colors spread (seriously, read the instructions, do not go by my lame description). (Incidentally, the master’s degree I haven’t managed to finish? It’s about writing instructions. Now it all makes sense, doesn’t it?)

Anyway, the kids had a blast (and frankly, so did the moms – we added to their little creations long after the kids forgot about them) and their t-shirts turned out quite cute.

Here’s Sam’s:

Give him a break, he’s three!

Here’s Kate’s:

In case the artistic talent of my kids isn’t enough to inspire you to try this project – check out the shirts Gina and her sisters made:

Clearly they are much craftier than we are!

Regardless, it was a fun activity for a wide age range, and we will definitely do it again.

And just for kicks – here’s the humongous bug we let into the house when we were outside decorating t-shirts.

It was quite an exciting evening!