St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes - Adults Only!

When I saw these cupcakes I knew I had to make them!  Superdad is a HUGE fan of Guinness, and add some Bailey's icing to them?  Irish Car Bomb in a cupcake!  Being that I am Irish, I try to fulfill my duties as a good lass and host a proper St. Patrick's Day party - this cupcake was a perfect addition.  Here is the original pin linking back to her page with the recipe - they are amazing!

Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey's Cream Cheese Icing

 I also finally got to use my awesome cupcake holder that my mom got me for Christmas from Crate & Barrel.  VERY easy to put together, and super sturdy - I would highly recommend one if you like to bake cupcakes.

If you feel the need to own one too - here is the link :)

My cupcakes sure didn't turn out as pretty as the ones above, but mine did at least have a fun beer on the top!  We needed a way to make sure that everyone knew they were adults only, and it was the best I could come up with in my time crunch.  They are Royal Icing Beer Mugs made by Wilton and I got them at Party City.  Everyone thought the cupcakes were delicious, and will definitely be on the menu again next year. Here are a couple of pics of how they turned out:

and a close up

Valentine's Day Craft

I was browsing Pinterest in search of a cute Valentine's Day idea for Abby to give out at preschool this year.  I found really cute silicon muffin tins in the Dollar Spot at Target, not to mention she loves coloring, so I thought that this craft would be a great idea:

Valentine's Day Heart Crayon via Pinterest

Here are the silicon molds that I got at Target - I believe they were acutally $2.50 for the set, but still very cheap none the less.  They worked great, and cleaned up very well!

First I bought some cheaper crayons, but I will say that they are VERY hard to peel the paper off of, and that I quickly gave up on them.  I had to go to Target anyway, so I bought some boxes of Crayola, and man I love those crayons.  The paper slid off very easily - so Crayola is my recommendation for brand. 

Once I got them all 'naked' as Abby says, I chopped them up into about 1/4" size pieces.  They actually cut up surprisingly well!  Now, this is where it gets sad - somewhere between camera and computer the rest of the pics were lost!  I followed the rest of the directions, and they turned out very well.  I used my Cricut to cut heart shapes and then I wrote the words "Happy Valentine's Day for CRAYON out loud" on them.  Abby signed the back side, and then I just used double sided tape to affix the crayon to the heart.  We were in Disney World for her school party, but I got a ton of compliments on them when we returned - I would highly recommend for an easy do-it-yourself Valentine's project!

Holiday Bucket List??

Yes, please!!!

I can't tell you how many times Superdad and I always say "Oh, we should.....", and never do.  It isn't because we don't want to, or can't.  We just plain and simply forget.  Well, the kids are getting older, and it is much easier for them to tolerate the cold of winter.  Some things I have wanted to do prior to kids, but just never have.  So, it is my mission this year: DO THEM.  While perusing Pinterest yet again, I came across this little gem of brilliance.  A winter bucket list!!  Check it out:

I don't know what genius came up with this, but I love it.  With the exception of shucking oysters (ewwww) all sound like an amazing way to celebrate the holiday season.  My personal favorite is the volunteer together.  It is never too early to teach your children about helping others.  They are too small still to actually go and volunteer, but there is no reason we can't sponser a family or something.  After all, that is the best part of  Christmas - the giving.  I hope that you can find some things to choose to do with your family off this list!  The only thing that I will add is Festival of Lights, and the Duke Energy train display at the Museum Center.

I always like to find creative ways of counting down the days....  Abby is always asking for a visual of days left until something, it makes it easier for her to grasp.  So, I found this on Pinterest also.  It is a great idea!  It is a calendar that you make and when Santa's beard is full of cotton balls, it means it is Christmas. So cute:

Finally, I found this one that I love!  It is so easy to customize and make it your own.  Baiscally it is made with 2x4's, scrapbook paper, and chalboard paint.  I found this amazing tutorial on how to make your own homemade chalkboard paint from Martha Stewart.  The best part of this tutorial is that it is super cheap - supplies can be bought at your local home store for under $5!  You can customize it any way you want by choosing ANY paint color.  There are so many more uses for it, this is just one:

I would love to do one of these for all holidays!  You just write the days left with chalk, and erase the next day writing the new number in.  It would be a great gift idea also. 

So, get to planning friends!  Make this holiday season one to remember and make your own bucket list for your family.  Thanks for reading as always, and check back to see how we are doing on our bucket list!

Rapunzel Bow Holder

As I have mentioned before, I love Pinterest.  That is where I got the idea to make this Rapunzel hair bow holder.  Abby has a ton of bows, as do most girls - so I thought that it would be fun to make.  I have had the stuff for over two months, so I was glad to get it finished and the stuff finally used up!  I took some pictures to show you how I did it along the way, but the original directions that I used were here :

Source: littlepageturners.blogspot.com via Kati on Pinterest

Here are some pics of my attempt - had I thought about it, I would have used a softer fabric instead of canvas for the face such as a t-shirt, but it worked out ok.

HERE IS MY PHOTO DISCLAIMER - MY CAMERA NEEDS TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL.  MY PICTURES LOOK AWFUL, SORRY!

Here are the supplies that you will need for this project: 

** I used a styrofoam disc, but I think that cardboard would work fine. 

** Polyfill

**Glue Gun and Sticks

** Scissors

** I used a cheap canvas bag instead of paying for canvas bty (by the yard), or a t-shirt would be ok

** Yarn - I chose to do brown to mimmick the color of Abby's hair.

First, I cut the polyfill to be the same size as the disc, I used 4 layers.....I think it was a good amount.

Next I cut the canvas about 2" or so bigger than the disc so I could wrap it and glue it.

Then I started to just cinch the fabric around and glue it to the styrofoam disc until it was secure all the way around.

This is what the finished product will look like.  I also glued a piece of cardstock to the back to keep everything looking neat.

Next I made three sets of twenty strands of yarn that were 4 feet long.  Yes, it is a lot of yarn, but it does not turn out quite that long by the time you are finished. Finally, you will need to braid all three sets together to get one long thick braid.  Here are a few pics of that.

I didn't get any pictures of the next steps because my fingers were so burn from trying to glue all the yarn on, but you can pretty much figure it out how I did it.  I just used some yarn pieces and made the rest of the hair.  I am not the most artistic person, so the face is still faceless - and Abby doesn't mind.  So, here is what the finished product looks like:

November Already?!?

Well, it is hard to believe that we are already three days into November. That means that we will have a new niece/nephew in about 2 months, Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the bend, and it's getting cold. I love hoodie weather! I have some big plans for the month, some personal, some family related, and some just plain fun. Make sure to keep reading to see what is going on!

Now, since it is November and all, I can finally post one of my favorite things about the season.....

That is right - I am crazy, and talking about Christmas music!!!!  I don't know why, but it motivates me to no end to get things done.....I will post tomorrow about the project that I completed today - I forgot to take a final pic and it is hanging in a sweet little girls room, that is currently occupied for bedtime.  I have had the stuff to make it for two months, but for some reason - today, put on the music - it is done in an hour.  Why?  Who knows - Christmas is magic.....

It also means that it is time for me to get Buddy (that is the name that Abby gave our Elf on the Shelf) out soon.  In a couple of weeks, we can expect better than usual behavior - because he is watching and reporting to Santa every night!!  I will talk about Pinterest 100x over on here, because it is amazing.  I highly suggest you check it out.  That is where I saw this: 

It is a breakfast celebrating the arrival of our elf!  It is set up the night before as to appear that your elf did it.  Abby is soooo getting into this kind of thing, that this is an absolute must for us.  The only thing that I would need is to get mugs and socks....I have plenty of fun dishes and decor to make sure to keep it on the cheap!  I will make sure to post when this goes down.....  I will also make sure to let you all know where Buddy can be found hiding around our house - he is a sneaky little elf!