Hello Summer Event: Pom-Pom Firecracker Cupcake Toppers

Hello Friends!  I just wanted to let you know that I am over at I Heart Naptime today sharing a fun summer craft tutorial for the Hello Summer Event that's going on over there right now.  Pom-Pom Firecracker Cupcake Toppers...just perfect for the 4th of July or really any party! 

This is seriously such a fun series with over 50 ideas for summer crafts and recipes being shared throughout the month of June.  You'll dig it, you will! There is truly something for everyone.

Head on over to check out my post HERE.  

XOXO,

Soup of the Day: Vegetarian Chili

Hey friends!  Today I'm over visiting the amazing Delia of DeliaCreates as one of 14 bloggers sharing warm soup ideas for a chilly fall day :-)

Come on over and say 'hello' and while you're there peruse the ever-growing selection of soups being shared at her 'Soup of the Day' series...mmmm, is it dinner yet?

XOXO,

Clorox Clean Up Guest Post by Meg Duerksen PLUS a Whole Lot of Visa Gift Cards Giveaway

This is a guest post written by meg duerksen from whatever.

when Clorox^Æ asked me to write about making messes with my kids and cleaning them up
i said, "YES! we are GREAT at making messes and coincidentally . . . CloroxClean-Up^Æ is my favorite cleaning product!"

they directed me to the Clorox Clean-Up Recipes for Fun--Where Mess Doesn't Matter!
have you been there?
it is FULL of ideas for crafts or cooking or even science experiments to get messy with kids!

i make crafts with my kids quite often and i LOVE to see them get really into their project no matter how messy it gets!
at the Recipe for Fun site i found an idea for using collage and color together to make a color wheel!
we got busy on the mess making.

i got out our stack of old magazines and began ripping out anything that was mostly one color.
we made a big pile of magazine pictures.
i cut a large circle from a piece of poster board and drew lines diving the circle into six equal sections.
i wrote the names of the colors in rainbow order on the wheel to know where to put each scrap.
then we started gluing down our pictures.



i came across rubber cement at the grocery store and wondered if my girls had ever used it.
i knew i had never purchased it, so i got some.
my daughter was very curious!
"WHAT is this?!" she asked in a doubtful tone.
then i showed her how it had a brush INSIDE, and she was excited to use it.



we also used a paint brush dipped in the glue bottle so we could all work at the same time.
it's just like painting but you paint with glue.





layering and layering . . . picture after picture . . . overlapping until there are no white spaces at all.





we almost always make our crafts at this table.
i painted it white almost 10 years ago.
my kids use everything on it!
and it always comes back to white with Clorox Clean-Up Cleaner.



i was out of town recently, and when i came home i noticed my 10 year old had organized this coca-cola crate
with our art supplies by color!
how cute is that?! i love it! we like to do lots of things around here in rainbow order.









it was coming along quite nicely at this point.
there was glue all over our hands and the table!

they finished their color wheel collage but the mess still remained.

well...every Recipe For Fun needs a Recipe For Clean.
Clorox Clean-Up Cleaner combines a cleaner and the disinfecting power of Clorox Bleach letting you spray away messy play. It removes tough stains as well as the germs you canít see, leaving your home sparkling clean and ready for the next recipe.

usually after craft time my kids quickly scatter leaving the mess for me to clean up.
but today my youngest surprised me by helping out!
she loves to use spray bottles and paper towels.



when she saw the marker and glue wipe right off she said, "this is going great!"


with my daughter's help, a trash bag & Clorox Clean-Up Cleaner, the room was cleaner than when we started!

find the perfect activity for you and your kids to live it up, mess it up and then clean it up at Clorox Clean-Up Recipes for Fun ñ Where Mess Doesnít Matter!

do you like getting messy and creative with your kids?

tell me about it in the comments and be entered to win one of ten $100 Visa gift cards!

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post

b) Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post*

c) Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post*

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

Entries from all participating blogs will be pooled for winner selection; only two entries per household. This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

*Entrant is receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for the tweet/blog post.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 5/30/2012-6/24/2012.

Clorox^Æ and Clean-Up^Æ are registered trademarks of The Clorox Company.


XOXO,

New Years ReSEWLution: Embroidered Hot & Cold Packs

Today I'm over at Me Sew Crazy guest posting as a part of Jess's January blog series called New Years ReSEWLutions, a series chock full of excellent sewing-related resolutions to get you moving in the new year!

I'm showing you how I made these fun hot/cold packs for my kiddies so they can get toasty warm once they come in from playing out in the cold.  It's either these or we gotta start buying stock in chocolate for all the hot chocolate they've been drinking to warm up this winter!  

Click here to read all about them!

XOXO,  

Santa Disguise Photo Booth Props {Tutorial}

Earlier this fall I was asked by the lovely Stephanie Lynn of Under the Table and Dreaming to participate in a series that ran on her blog in November called Handmade Holidays featuring STYROFOAM™ brand foam.  The series included 25 bloggers who were to create holiday projects using STYROFOAM™ brand foam products.  I was excited to be asked to participate to say the least!  I wanted to re-post my project for you today in case you wanted to make a few for the holidays.  

The project I chose to create is not only an easy dress up idea for your kids but it's also a great idea for picture-taking fun at your holiday parties. Santa Disguise Photo Booth Props are the perfect pairing to get everyone into the Christmas spirit!

Santa Disguise Photo Booth Props (Makes One Beard and One Santa Hat)

One sheet white card stock

One sheet stiff red felt

1 package 1 1/2" STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam Balls (12 count)

1 package 1" STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam Balls (16 count)

Hot glue gun with glue sticks

Scissors or x-acto knife

2 wooden dowels

First, lightly trace the shape of a beard and a mouth opening onto the white card stock. Cut out using a pair of scissors or and x-acto knife.

Heat up your hot glue gun and place just a dab of hot glue onto one 1 1/2" STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam ball at a time. 

Place each STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam ball onto the card stock and let cool and dry.  Try to fill up your card stock beard as much as possible!

Once cool, flip the beard over and place a few dabs of hot glue onto the backside.  Press one end of a wooden dowel into the glue, let cool and dry.  

For the Santa Hat, cut out a triangle from the sheet of stiffened red felt.  

Using the 1" STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam balls, place dabs of hot glue onto each and press onto the bottom edge of the hat forming the white brim.  Take one of the remaining 1 1/2" STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam balls and hot glue it to the tip of the hat forming the little white puff ball tip that is classic to Santa's hat.  Let the hot glue cool and dry and then flip the hat over to the backside to add the wooden dowel via a few dabs of hot glue.  Once the dowel is set, your Santa Disguise is ready to play with, hooray!

It's so much fun pretending to be Santa Clause!

Or playing peek-a-boo with his red hat!

I hope you make a few of these this holiday season.  They are sure to make your holiday party a hit!

XOXO,

Sweets and Treats and Stocking Stuffers

Hi all!  I just had two things I wanted to let you know about today...

I was super honored to be asked to be a guest over at Made yesterday to contribute to Dana's Sweets and Treats Christmas Advent!  If you haven't already heard, Dana is hosting 25 days of delicious Sweets and Treats every single day in December until Christmas, such a great idea as I love me some Christmas Advents :-)  If you head on over you will find my tried and true and most delicious recipe for my Maple Walnut Chocolates...

Mmm...if you haven't tried them you must, they are seriously like making your very own box of chocolates AND in your own house, holla for that!  Dana even created an archive for all the Christmas Countdown goodness here, so if you missed anything you can easily find it all in one handy dandy place, isn't she great?

The second thing I wanted to share with you is that I am contributing to another fun slideshow over at Kirtsy today.  This one is all about How to Create DIY Stocking Stuffers.  This crafty Christmas slideshow is curated once again by the lovely Sarah Bryden-Brown of Blogstar.  There are some great ideas in the slideshow so if you are always scratching your head on this one you must head over and check it out, only 20 days left!  You can find the slideshow HERE!

PS. I'll be back tomorrow to share our fun Christmas Advent with you, it's super easy and who says you can't start an advent a few days late anyways...stay tuned!

XOXO,

Summer Camp at Oopsey Daisy: Popcorn by Frank Asch

Happy Friday everyone!!  Today you'll find me over at the super fun blog Oopsey Daisy. Alison was so sweet to invite me to be a part of her series called Summer Camp!  I'm sharing one of my most favorite children's books of all time and a few fun activities you can do with the kids that go along with it...a perfect summer boredom buster!

Can you guess which book I chose?

Click Here to see!!

XOXO,

Thrifty Living at On the Laundry Line!

Hey friends!!  

Today I'm guest posting over at Laura's fun/funny blog, On the Laundry Line, where I'm sharing a round-up of some of my thrifty ideas from past blog posts...remember those?

Click Here to see what I'm a-talking about!

XOXO,

Fun in the Sun(Dress): The Lollipop Dress

Hey friends!!  Today I'm over at iCandy Handmade's super summer-y series, Fun in the Sun(dress)!!

I'm sharing a sugary-sweet tutorial for a little girl's sundress that looks a little something like this...

Go head on over and check it out if you will.  Click here to see the post!

XOXO,