Disney Countdown....it's on!

Our trip is officially booked, along with our airfare.  Now....we wait, ugh!  I went through our calendar and wrote all the days left till the trip on each day and when I realized it was 200+, I knew for sure I was losing it.  But, then inspiration struck.  Why just look at a boring calendar each day, when you can look at something like this?

I won the Mickey block on the top (and the Minnie block as you will later see below) on an online auction at Crafty Moms 'R' Us.  I bid on them when the trip was in the works, but, not officially planned.  I had no clue what I was going to do with them.  But low and behold, I won them, and then it hit me....I can turn them into little countdowns by painting over the Mickey and Minnie heads with chalkboard paint.  "Brilliant, Tricia", I thought to myself.  But then I decided that was not enough.  So I went to the maker of the mouse block, Around the Block, and asked if I could buy unfinished blocks from them.  They said they never had anyone ask (go figure) but were willing to do it for me.  Score!  So I got four unfinished blocks in the mail and painted them with black paint.

 

For the "Days Til" block, I glued black cardstock to the block and then using my Cricut and the Mickey Font cartridge, cut out the letters and glued them on with glue dots.

 

For the "Disney" block, I glued scrapbook paper to the block and then used my Cricut and the Mickey Font cartridge to cut out the word and layered and glued to the scrapbook paper.

 

And then that was it.  I have two sets of block...one for us and then one that I'll be giving to my parents as a surprise this Thursday when they come to visit.  L loves to point at the blocks and say "Did-ney"....wonder if he knows what is in store for him!!!

 



St. Patrick's Day

I'm pretty sure I am one of the rare ones that actually decorates for St. Patrick's Day.  This month, with Easter being just 2 weeks after, I am finding myself quite busy with getting decor made and displayed, just to take it down.  But, at least it'll be ready for next year!!

First up was some festive table toppers.  This seems to be a recurring event as each holiday nears.  I have big toppers made for pretty much all the major holidays for my kitchen table, so now I'm tasked with making smaller ones for the living room.  I'm also trying to be a little more creative with the patterns, so for these, I found a quilt that I liked and just made a small portion of it to make it end table sized.

Next, was the mantel.  Ever since last month, I've been obsessed with making a fabulous mantel display.  I have to admit, most of the St. Patty's Day decorations out there are pretty hideous (like the ginormous green shamrock below), but, I think my selections worked.

I made the banner across the front with fabric and my Cricut machine.  I cut 7 triangles out of fabric and then spaced, pinned, and sewed them into a piece of 2" fabric folded in half.  I then used my Cricut to cut out the letters and shamrock from cardstock, and adhered them to the fabric with Mod Podge.  For winging this one, I am quite pleased with the outcome and I'm sure you'll be seeing many more banners following this pattern in the future ;-)

Finally, I made the cute little danglies like I did last month, for the playroom.  Again, I hit up the paint section, took a bunch of green paint swatches, and used my Cricut to cut out the shamrock shapes.  I placed them back to back and stuck them together with glue dots.  Then, fed them through the string I used previously and voila, instant decor.

So that's it!  We are ready for St. Patrick's Day!  Hope you have fun celebrating this fun, Irish holiday.  And just know that next Sunday, it's ok to have your favorite beer or Irish Coffee for breakfast!!

My Special Valentine

I had so much fun making L's Valentine's for his preschool pals this year.  As usual, I saw the idea on Pinterest and made it happen.  One of these days I will be creative enough to come up with an original idea :-)

I started off cutting brown cardstock 3"x4" and punched a small hole in the top corner.  With my Cricut, I cut out 1" red and pink hearts.

I used glue dots to attach the hearts to the card stock...

...and a silver Sharpie to write the message on each card.

Then, we filled mini snack bags with Valentine's M&Ms and Teddy Grahams and attached the cards to the bags with ribbon.  So easy!

We also gave goodies to L's teachers and preschool mommy friends.  For this, I used two bags of Valentine Hershey Hugs, a bag of Snyder's Pretzel Snaps, and a bag of Valentine M&Ms.

First, the tedious chore of unwrapping all those Hugs.

Then, placing pretzels in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Place a hug on each pretzel and bake at 200 degrees for about 4 minutes (the Hugs will become shiny but should still look like their original shape).

Take them out of the oven immediately and press an M&M into the center of each hug.

When done, pop them in the fridge until they set.  I had to get creative on how to fit the two baking sheets in my fridge :-)

Then, put them in cute Valentine's Day bags (found at Dollar Tree) and attach this adorable printable with ribbon.  We also put conversation hearts and Hershey Kisses in the bags.  These were so easy to make and can be customized to match just about any holiday.  And, they are the perfect blend of sweet and salty...which in my world usually leads to danger.

And with that, I was also Snack Mom at school this week.  SO, after Tuesday's sugary delicious Strawberry Cookies, I opted for a semi-healthier snack today...Valentine's Trail Mix.

Pretzels, Cheerios, Chocolate Teddy Grahams, M&Ms, Yogurt Covered Raisins, Dried Cranberries, and Dried Cherries make up this sweet and salty snack.  The recipe makes a lot.  We still have half a Ziploc bag (the gallon size!) leftover, and that was after making 7- 1 cup serving bags yesterday, along with L and I both snacking on it.

 

Hope you are all enjoying this Valentine's Day!!  Instead of chocolate, here is what I am indulging in...



Valentine's Day Mantel Banner

This mantel was my inspiration for Valentine's Day. Honestly, I wish I could just somehow magically get all those things to appear on mine.  But, I know that's not possible so I am trying my darndest to recreate them.  My next attempt was the cute banner across the front of the mantel.  I love the chevron and lace.  So...I headed out shopping and didn't think to reference the photo before picking up supplies.  I mean, I have to make this project my own, right?!?!

Basic supplies included fabric (found on etsy), scrapbook paper, cardstock, yarn, glue dots, and dollar store doilies.

Using my Cricut, I found this fun font that had dots all through it.  So, I cut out my letters and stitched white yarn through the holes.

And then took a second pass through the holes because I didn't like the gaps.  I also took grey yarn and stitched it though the pink cardstock to create a framed border.

Then, I glue dotted a doilie to the fabric to serve as a background...

...and layered my cardstock and letter on top.

To make sure everything lined up, I placed the next piece of fabric on top and lined up the edges.

I hole punched holes in each end of the fabric at the top and ran twine through the holes to make the banner.  In the end, I decided I didn't like the doilies, so I took them off.  I also wish I would have done more of a contrast, so the BE MINE popped out.  But, it's done and it looks good (in my opinion).  Ah, another project down.  I still have to start that second topiary.  That might be done in time for Valentine's Day 2014 :-)