late night crafting:: valentine's day gifts

I'm up late tonight trying to get the bulk of the boys' school Valentine's Day gifts finished, and I wanted to pop in and say HI! Nothing like a little proCRAFTination to get the creative juices flowin' at midnight!

 

I hope EWE have a great weekend!

mini icebox cakes

Yesterday, I shared one of my favorite quick and easy desserts from my childhood over at MADE as part of the Sweets & Treats event going on all month long. Icebox Cake.

This recipe is very rich, so a little goes a long way. I thought it would be fun to make mini icebox cakes.

One thing I love about this recipe is that it is SUPER easy to make and you can store the cakes in the freezer for two months!  

Mini Icebox Cakes:
Famous Chocolate Wafers (I was able to find them at my Safeway store)  
1 pint (2 cups) heavy whipping cream  
1T vanilla extract
2T sugar   

 10-12 - 1/2 pint wide Mouth Jar Canning Jars  
 

Whip the cream until almost stiff. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until cream holds soft peaks.

Scoop about 1/4 cup of whipped cream into the bottom of the jars. Add a wafer. Keep layering in this pattern until you have 5 scoops of whipped cream and 4 cookies.  Then pop them in the freezer (if you want to eat them the same day, then refrigerate for 4 hours before serving). 

When you are ready to eat your sweet little treats, remove them from the freezer and let them thaw for 1 hour. Then grab a spoon or fork and enjoy!

Share them with friends and neighbors, or maybe enjoy one while putting the finishing touches on those last minute gifts.  

Happy Holidays!

party favors: hot/cold packs

Just a quick post to share the party favors we handed out this year at my son's preschool Trunk-or-Treat party.

Last year I made hot/cold packs for the boys' Valentine's Day parties. Since then, several parents have mention how much their kids loved them - which inspired me to make them again.

They are a great candy-free gift for kids, and easy enough to crank out in an afternoon.

The tags were made using my tried and true method, and they turned out great.

 

To make 24 packs I used: 

 - one yard of fabric

 - scraps from an old orange t-shirt

 - long grain white rice

 - flaxseed

 - mint essential oil

...and I still have at least half of the rice/flaxseed mix leftover. Stocking suffers? Birthdays? Get well soon gift?

Thanks for stopping by!

halloween 2011

Well, it was a successful Halloween around here - no costume malfunctions, no meltdowns, and best of all, no rain!

 We ventured downtown for the second year in a row, and by the size of the crowd I'd say the entire city had the same idea.

Which, as it turns out, is great for people watching, but not so great for trick-or-treating.  Who needs all that candy anyway, right?

This last minute costume was made using freezer paper stencils, and came together just hours before the school Halloween party on Friday.  The first costume, Artzooka!, was great (and he loved it). Unfortunately, not many people around here know about the show, so they just thought he forgot to dress up (he was devastated). So, we put our heads together and came up with this skeleton costume. 

 

My favorite part is the profile of the skull. The idea came from this skeleton costume on Etsy. 

One day last week my youngest and I walked into a Halloween store to get some ideas and he saw spotted this viking helmet on the shelf, and he was SOLD.  Needless to say, the helmet came home with us, and I guess it was the right choice, because he really played the part well! 

The "boots" were made using this tutorial, and they turned out perfect!

 

Halloween 2011 was fun, and I can't wait to see what costumes they dream up for 2012!

happy halloween & a DIY halloween village

DIY Halloween Village

This Halloween village was a gift for my mother-in-law, and it turned out to be such a fun and simple project. 

Materials: 

 - scrap wood

 - paint

 - fine point pen for outlining (optional)

... I am dreaming of a little winter village for our mantel!

Happy Halloween! 

candy-free valentine's day gifts

This year, our candy-free Valentine's Day gifts were inspired by my boys. It seems that they are constantly suffering from bumps, bruises, owies, growing pains, you name it.  A bag of frozen pees, or a warm cloth is usually all they need to soothe the pain, and they are back playing in no time at all. 

So why not make a reusable hot/cold pack that was ready for just such occasions?!

I have seen many versions of the rice hot/cold packs around the web (this is a cute one) and thought they would be perfect for my two little bruisers - and all of their school friends!

 front

back

I purchased a large bag of long-grain rice, a bag of flax seed, and combined the two.  I also added mint essential oil, which my boys love.

Adding a loop on the side keeps your fingers from touching the hot pack when it comes out of the microwave.

I printed the tags on white paper, cut them out, and then folded and stapled them to the bags.

super easy, super inexpensive, and super useful!

Here are some of my favorite candy-free gifts from around the web:

this one is perfect for brushing away all the Valentine's Day sweets - from FamilyFun

simple & sweet pencil toppers - from alphamom

darling barrettes - from the Purl Bee

heart magnets - from red bird crafts

also available in her Etsy shop

love these friendship bracelets - from Design Mom

Do you have a favorite candy-free gift?

jack-o-lantern puzzle favors - TUTORIAL

 


Today I am sharing a fun, easy, inexpensive, AND sugar-free party favor that the kiddos can help make.
I know I have gone on, and on before about how grateful I am that my son's preschool encourages parents to hand out sugar free items as party favors, but really, I LOVE it.  Don't get me wrong, my kids have candy sometimes, but it just seems at Halloween they end up with way more than any kid needs.  And the funny thing is, my kids are way more excited to get pencils or fun band-aids anyway.  OK, enough ranting, on to the tutorial.
 

A few weeks ago, I made this Halloween concentration game games to hand out, but I really wanted the boys to be involved in making something to give away to their friends.
 
So, I searched the web and came across this Jack-O-Lantern Puzzle project (scroll down to the middle of the page to find it).  Using craft sticks, paint, and a marker, the kids create pumpkin puzzles.


To make them easy to hand out as party favors, I packaged them up in coordinating bags and tags.


 
Materials for the puzzle:

• large crafts sticks (6 for each puzzle)
• orange paint (I used tempera paint)
• paint brush
• marker
• tape (something that can be easily removed)
• overhead transparency & Exacto Knife - for making a pumpkin template (optional)

Materials for the bags: 

• 9.5" x 4.25"  orange fabric (I used rip-stop fabric)
• 15" piece of black ribbon/yarn (I used yarn because that is what I had on hand)
• safety pin

Materials for the tags: 

• printed tags - click on image to enlarge and save to your computer ( I printed these as 4"x6" photo at my local photo center)
• Scissors or paper cutter
• Hole punch

OK, lets get started...   Start by taping the craft sticks together. (I found that taping on the diagonal makes it easier to handle.)
Then flip over and paint (I taped as my boys painted) .
Sorry, I don't have any pictures of this... in the pictures below, just imagine the craft sticks are orange.

After the paint dries, draw the pumpkin with a marker.  Make sure all of the craft sticks have some portion of the pumpkin image on them.
Optional Step:  If you are making a number of these at a time,  a template is helpful in speeding up the process a little.  To make the template, place the sheet of overhead transparency on top of the craft sticks and draw your pumpkin. Then cut out the black areas with an Exacto knife (carefully).
Once you are done drawing all the pumpkin faces on the painted craft sticks, set them aside (don't remove the tape yet).

 The next step is to make the bags...




The first step is to create a finished edge for the casing.  Measure down at an angel 2" along both of the long sides and stitch in place (see photos above).




Fold the top down 1" and stitch in place, creating the casing.



Fold in half lengthwise and stitch all the way around to the bottom of the casing (don't sew the casing shut).


Using a safety pin, thread you ribbon/yarn though the casing, then turn the bag and press.

Now on to the tags...


Cut out and punch holes in each of the tags.



Now it is time to assemble the favors...

remove the tape from the back of the puzzle (assemble one at a time so the pieces don't get mixed up).



Insert the puzzle pieces into the bag, add the tag and secure with a bow - and repeat.

That's it - You're done!

...combine both games for a Halloween game bonanza!

Thanks for stopping by - Have a SUPER Halloween!