Buzz and Alien Pumpkins

We were very Toy Story themed this year for Halloween so I painted our pumpkins to go along with that. We like to paint our pumpkins down here since the weather is so hot if we cut them they tend to melt and mold very quickly. So the alien was pretty easy, I used lots of neon green. For both these pumpkins I used the little bottles of acrylic paint, makes for an inexpensive craft. The aliens' antenna was a pipe cleaner covered with green felt and some thread.

Buzz took several hours to do but he turned out pretty darn awesome. The black is a sparkly black which gave it a great outer space look to it.

And here is my tiny little buzz lightyear. Costume, themed bucket and matching pumpkins. We had another great Halloween. 

Deployment Box #8 - Happy Birthday

This is our last box for this deployment! My husband will of course be gone again for his this year so I put together a birthday box. It won't be the same as a party with cake and presents home with us, but hopefully some extra fun goodies will brighten his day. I had my son help do hand prints for a heart, and I did a happy birthday banner across the top. The tissue paper is green with sparkles, I was going to do wrapping paper but I found we were all out so I had to work with what we had in the wrapping bin. 

Included in this box was:

• Birthday cake M&Ms (Not pictured, and I've never tired them so hopefully they are yummy)
• Lays chips (I liked that these were a in plastic "pringles-like" container which hopefully will help them survive the journey)
• Capn' crunch snack mix (.99 store treasure, ha)
• Cashews
• Banana chips
• Jolly rancher green apple drink mix
• Gatorade energy chews
• Dried pineapple and papaya
• Redvines
• Protein powder (not pictured)
• Razors (not pictured)

Deployment Box #7 - Vitamin Me!

I thought I'd have some fun with this box. No neat designs, just lettering, but its a fun one that hopefully will get a smile out of my husband. Only one more box after this since it will take longer for boxes to get to him and he is almost home!

Included in this box:

• Dried fruit (again I know, but if you are eating MRE's any fruit is better than none)
• Oatmeal
• Peanut butter
• Tuna pouches
• Protein bars
• Razors
• Pistachios
• Funions (not pictured)
• Life Cereal (no pictured)

Deployment Box #6 - Goodnight and Goodmorning

Another fun deployment box. Since my husband is on the other side of the world we definitely have to deal with time differences and one of us being asleep while the other is awake. This one is just filled with normal goodies that he likes. 

Includes:

• Dried fruit
• Crunch munch
• Cookies
• Butterfinger bites
• Oatmeal
• Tuna (canned and salad kits)
• Razors

Deployment Box #5 - Viking

Viking Theme!

This box wasn't super detailed, but I'm sure my husband would say it was his favorite theme so far. He loves Norse mythology and so I did a Viking themed box. Also since I couldn't think of many treats (or any) that were Viking themed, the goodies I added were just a good selection of what I had on hand.

In this box I filled it with:

• Crunch 'n munch
• Redvines
• Jolly rancher flavored drink packets
• Cup of noodles
• Tuna salad kits
• Campbells soup pouch
• Yakisoba noodles

Deployment Box #4 - 4th of July

It is almost independence day so I put together this red, white, and blue themed box. Using my Silhouette I cut out lots of fireworks and stars. I also filled the box all red, white, and blue colored goodies. 

Included in this box is:

• Tuna salad kits and canned tuna
• Cookies
• Peanut butter
• Rice cups
• Flavored water drops
• Corn nuts
• Poptarts
• Oatmeal cups

All these items are not necessarily that red,white and blue, but their packaging worked. Hopefully he enjoys it as much as the others. 

Summer Fun #3 - Water beads

This was a fun and super simple activity to do. I ordered a bag of these little balls called Jelly Beadz. This is what came:

I added 3 teaspoons of them to a big container filled with about 4 quarts of water. They start out a little smaller than the size of a peppercorn, I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but they soak up the water and get big.

After about an hour they were already getting pretty big and looked like this. I'd compare them to the size of plump peas at this point. 

And after a full night of soaking in water...They are about the size of marble and they are super fun, bouncy and a great sensory play activity.

Summer Fun #2 - Slime!

For this craft I used:

• 1/3C - 1/2C Liquid Starch (I got some Sta-flow from Walmart).
• Clear glue (5oz bottle)
• Giant bowl
• Spoon and measuring cup
• Colored pigment (you could use liquid water colors or food coloring)

This was an easy activity. More for the parent to do then the kiddo gets to play. First I added the bottle of glue into the bowl and added some pigment. Stir till its all mixed in. Then SLOWLY add a little bit of the starch. About a tablespoon at a time, stirring super well after each addition. After awhile it might be easier to knead it with your hands. I didn't really need to use much of the starch either, it came together pretty quick.

Summer Fun #1 - Rainbow Rice

So this summer I am trying out lots of crafty, sensory play, fun things to keep us busy. First up we made rainbow rice. It was a total hit and super easy to make.
What I used:

• Pan, lined with foil
• Dry rice - (Dry beans are also in this picture we are going to try dying them too, I'll post about how that goes later)
• Rubbing Alcohol
• Paper bowl
• Spoon
• Gloves
• Rubber gloves
• Spoon
• Measuring spoon

Poor one cup of rice into the bowl. Add about 2-3 teaspoons of rubbing alcohol and a few drops of food coloring. Stir till all the rice is coated. Pour the rice onto the pan, then repeat with different colors. 

I was able to fit about 3 colors on a pan. 

I put each pan in the oven for about 10 min on the lowest temperature it would go to. I think 170 degrees. It helped dry the rice quickly. I then poured the rice into a big rubbermaid container. A couple little bowls and cups and my little one was having a blast!

Deployment Box #3 - Anniversary Box

Another year where my husband will be gone for our wedding anniversary. So using my new toy (A Silhouette Cameo!!) I was able to decorate a fun box. It's not going to be as themed as the previous boxes, rather it's just going to be filled with some goodies that I know he will enjoy.

Included in the box is:

• Redvines
• Green Apple drink mixes
• Caramel Corn
• Tuna pouches
• Dried banana and pineapple
• Protein Bars
• Gum
• Corn nuts 

Deployment Box #2 - Going Nuts!

I just finished up box number two. Need to finish filling out the customs form but then this one will be on its way. This one I felt like I had a lot more to put into it, a little bit of an easier theme I guess. This one was all nut themed. I had a lot of fun cutting out my little squirrel and acorns. I glued them all on but then also used packing tape over them because I know that this box has a long way to travel and they usually arrive in pretty sad condition.

Items included in this box were:

• Corn nuts (not really a nut but I was it was funny that it kinda fit with it)
• Peanut butter
• Roasted Peanuts
• Cashews
• Nature Valley bars (Almond and Peanut butter)
• Pistachios (Not pictured)
• Oatmeal (Berry and pecan, also not pictured)

Well box number 2 is done, I wish that the faster I put these together the faster time would move so he could come home soon, but I will just have to keep busy and eventually it will be homecoming. 

Deployment Box #1 Fiesta Time!

It is that time again where my husband has deployed. We are very thankful that he is in a fairly safe place and has access to the internet. Although he isn't stranded in a desert I still like to send him special boxes filled with goodies just to make our time apart a bit easier. So the first deployment box I put together was Mexican themed.

So I covered the flaps in yellow then cut out a sombrero from scrapbook paper as well as letters for Fiesta Time. The bottom flap I leave blank to write a note.
I filled the box with some themed items:

• Crystal Lite (I did appletini cause my husband likes green apple, but margarita would be a good themed item)
• Old El Paso Tortilla Stuffers
• Old El Paso Mexican Rice
• Old El Paso Flour Tortillas.
• Can of pinto beans (not pictured)
• Queso dip (not pictured)
• Tortilla chips (not pictured)

Wooden Wedding Blocks

My best friend got married the other week and although I couldn't go I wanted to make her a special wedding gift. After some Pinterest browsing I decided to do something with vinyl lettering on wooden blocks. Since I don't have a cutter (yet) I found a local friend who was able to help me out. I used the larger letter S for their last name then the other two blocks will have two rows of lettering each.

Next, I had my husband cut up a 6x2 board into 3 blocks. 1 was 5 1/2", 1 was 8" and the other was 10". I sanded the blocks down and here is what the blocks looked like.

Now the blocks were ready to be painted. I have a large growing stash of latex paint which I picked 3 colors that coordinated. A dark brown, white and a tan-ish grey, I promise they work. Once I painted them I gave them a little sanding to give them that vintage look, just around the edges. 

Finally I added the letters, then used I believe it was the red label mod podge. I noticed there was a bit of tackiness so I finished the blocks with a high-gloss sealer around the edges to get rid of that. And the finished product is below. Since we ended up using a larger piece of wood than I intended these are a bit wobbly when stacked up. However, I believe she is just having them lined up along their mantle instead which is also a great idea. I hope to do more gifts like this in the future, it was very fun.

Princess Party

Little girls love Princesses so for my step-daughters' birthday we did a princess party. This was almost 4 years ago, but I thought I'd blog it so that it was up with all the other birthday parties. This is when I was just starting doing fun themed parties. My big project, which I wish I had more time to do was a pink castle. I sent my husband to go search behind the local appliance store and he found me 2 washer/dryer boxes and a thinner one, not sure what when in it, but they all worked. Silly me I only got 1 can of pink spray paint so the paint job wasn't awesome, but they lil one's didn't seem to mind. I let the birthday girl help by decorating with some princess foam stickers. Overall the kids had fun climbing around in the castle.

We used the typical Disney princess decorations for around the house and some pink and purple balloons. Party favors were jewelry to dress up with. Snacks we had fruit and lil bagel donuts hole things. I went to Safeway (a.k.a. Vons) for her cake since I hadn't gotten into baking and cake decorating back then. She had been wanting this princess cake for the longest time so we got it.

At the end of her party we went out and blew bubbles for the girls to run around in. It was fun seeing all the girls dressed up in princess dresses chasing bubbles. 

Bubble Valentines

My son is finally old enough that he is in a Mommy and me Preschool class. So this year he will be exchanging Valentine's with his other little classmates. Browsing Pinterest I found these cute Valentine's we could make that included bubbles (and NO candy). I printed the template (Found off here) onto some light pink paper then cut those out with the wavy specialty scissors. I then used a glue stick and glued it to a sheet of dark pink paper so that it was a bit stiffer. Using some curling ribbon and a tiny piece of double sided tape I attached the bubbles (bought at Target $1.50 for 12) and this is how it turned out. I'm letting my son help add some heart stickers and he will be in charge of handing them out to his friends at school during their v-day party. He loves bubbles so I made an extra for him to keep.

Diaper cake

My friend Laura is pregnant and this weekend she is having a gender reveal baby shower. Instead of a gift off her registry I decided to make a diaper cake. Since she doesn't know if it is a boy or girl yet I went with blue and pink.

First I rolled all the diapers, I used a 50 pack of size one diapers from target. I tied them with some curling ribbon since I didn't have a ton of rubber bands just sitting around. Then I created the 3 layers. I used some random snacks to fill the center of the cake so that cake was a little bigger. Rubber bands kept them all together. I also cut out circles and covered them with tissue paper for the layers to sit on.

Then I stacked them all up and secured them with just a little bit of hot glue since it's not too sticky and can peel off when she disassembles it. I then used a wide pink ribbon and a blue giraffe print ribbon to go around each layer. (Her theme elephants and giraffes so the ribbon fit well). 

After it was all set up I added little toys, spoons, and mini bottles of baby soaps and creams. I finished it off with lots of curling ribbon and my finished cake came out so cute. I topped the diaper cake with a giraffe and elephant silhouette that I traced and cut out. I think I will be making diaper cakes as my shower gifts from now on. Oh and the best part, did this all for less than $20.

And she is having a baby boy!!

Train Toy Chest

Okay, so suddenly our 2 year old loves trains! He hasn't really showed a real interest in anything like Disney shows or any brand-name toys (We don't let him watch cable TV so we weren't too surprised at this) but, Thomas the train really makes him light up. So my husband and I decided we would like to add a few pieces of train-themed furniture to his room. Currently his room is pretty neutral, light woods, greens and browns.

For his toy chest we have this chest that we got and its a bit damaged on the corners and the bottom but I'm thinking some love, sandpaper, and paint we will have it looking gorgeous! It was given to us for free so we will work with what we got to make it just what we need.

After lots of work I finally turned this toy chest into a perfect Train toy chest. I went with Toby the train since he was square. I used my Silhouette to help with some of the design but I ended up painting most of him by hand. 

He fits in great in the play area in our living room with the car table I did for him last year.