Our Family Travels

So this is a craft I have wanted to do since I saw it on Pinterest. We don't travel A LOT with C, but I think a pretty decent amount since he's only 2...He's been to 5 states (including the one he was born in). And I know we want to go to more so this is the perfect way to capture it all in one place.

Anyways here is where I got the inspiration. I want to give credit where credit is due, but the link only leads to a picture...no directions or anything.

Just the picture



I am not sure about you, but that's the only part of pinning things that frustrates me sometimes. I love finding a pin where there is a lot of content and directions on how to make something instead of just an awesome picture. So that's what I am hoping to provide here.

Ok so the picture above served as the inspiration and I pretty much had to come up with the rest on my own.

Materials
* US Map (more details about the map below) at least 16 x 20 in.
* pictures from various states (more details below)
* tape
* glue
* tracing paper or velum
* pencil
* scissors

Map Info
So I searched the internet high and low for a map I wanted to buy. I really didn't find anything that "spoke" to me online plus the maps were either HUGE or they were really colorful and I just didn't really want that for this project. I decided to make my own. I used a popular chalkboard font for the words "Our Travels" and just really decided the gray would not take away from the pictures that would eventually be on the map.

Map printed 16 x 20

The best part is that I was able to send this to Staples and pick it up in store. The 16 x 20 print only cost $10 which was either comparable or cheaper to the maps I saw online that I would have bought. 

Picture Info
This is the part that took a little bit of time. From the example, the person may have used a bigger map and so this part may not apply, but for the 16 x 20 in. map, some of the states are really small (luckily we haven't visited those yet and so I will figure out to do with those, once I get to that point). The hardest part was finding pictures where my family "fits" in the states. So I tried to measure the states and then formatted my pictures to fit the measurements. For example, Michigan was about 2 in. x 2 in. so I shrunk the picture of us to fit that. I ended up printing the pictures with as high quality as possible from my computer onto regular printer paper. If you are looking for the photo quality pictures, I would recommend trying wallet sized photos or printing a 4 x 6 photo where you haven't zoomed in a lot/there is a lot of background.

Re-size pictures so they fit in the states

Directions
Ok so now that you have all of your supplies, you want to start tracing the states where you have been on tracing paper. I used vellum (more expensive, but I had it at the house).

Trace the state

 The flip it over so it's backwards. Tape it to the back of the picture. Hold the picture up to the light to make sure it's centered how you would like it (having the picture on printer paper made this step easier).

Flip state over so it's backwards and tape or even glue to the back side of the picture

Then all you have to do is cut it out, flip it over so the picture side is up and glue it onto the map. There were a few pictures that didn't turn out as "small" as I needed them to so I just improvised (like the picture I chose for Michigan). The husband was supposed to be included in the picture, but that wouldn't have worked, but he's in the picture for Florida without me so that's fair....right?

Here's how it has turned out thus far.

I think this is a great keepsake for our family. It also just inspires us to travel more and make great memories as a family.

Spaghetti Squash - a tasty side turned main course

I love Spaghetti Squash. It's such a fun food and pretty delicious too. Plus it's a nice change from mashed potatoes. So I was looking for some different recipes for it and came across this fun one from Half Baked Harvest, The pictures make you want to make this too, right?




I made a few modifications. I did not make the sauce listed in the recipe. I used my own homemade sauce. Plus, I only had 1 larger squash. I did use the full recipe for that large squash though and it seemed to work just fine. Note the time it will take to make this dish. You have to cook the squash first and then layer it up, finally, baking it again. It does take time. Overall, I liked it, but because of the time it took, I don't know how often I would make it. It did serve up nicely for leftovers too.

Have a Bee-Doo Halloween

So my son calls Minions "Bee-Doos" because of the sound one of them makes in the movie Despicable Me 2. He told me that's what he wanted to be for Halloween and so I went on a mission to find a good costume. We couldn't really find what we were looking for so I thought I could make it. Pictures to come later (hopefully). What I did want to post about was what all of his little friends at daycare are going to walk away with on Halloween...their very own twinkie minion. Pinterest is full of cute ones and the ones that sit on cupcakes are ADORABLE! But honestly, 'aint no one got time for that. So I am doing the next best thing (or at least I think so).

Here is an example of the cupcakes for you adventurous folks from mylitter.com



I found a printable for cupcakes on pinterest at tonyastaab.

I added my own message to the end of it and taped it around the twinkie.Way easier than the cupcakes :).

Here's how mine turned out:

Hope they enjoy eating these "Bee-Doos"

Celebrating Elmo's Way

Well...we did it! We celebrated Charlie's bday and it was a huge success. I probably did go overboard just a bit, but really, who wouldn't when you look at this face all the time :)

At the zoo

 

So I thought I would share some of the stuff we did.

 

 

First was Pin the Nose on Elmo. This I did find on Pinterest...from Stell and Livi

 

And this is how mine turned out.

I used foam for all of the letters, background, and Elmo's face. It really wasn't too hard to create. I was able to find a printable template for Elmo's face online which I also used as my stencil for the t-shirt I made.

 

Charlie loved the game

ingnore the rusty shed :)

with Elmo's nose

 

I also found a cookie toss game from Smile Like you Mean it

 

And here's how mine turned out

 

 

Again, I made the letters out of the foam - I bought 5 pieces of foam and used them throughout for decorating...super inexpensive. I also bought tan felt and cut out circles. I stuffed them with rice and hot glued them together - I only made 3 cookies. Don't forget the chocolate chips made with black puff paint.

 

I then found a great idea for a guest book. This photo was found on Catch My Party. I was able to find a Sesame Street customizable book on Shutterfly. Everybody LOVED it! Here's how it looked displayed.

 

 

 

Here are the centerpieces and photo booth

There are foot steps leading up to the characters

 

 

Using the same technique to make the envelopes, I also made this banner. It turned out quite cute!

 

 

 

I was trying to find different ways to incorporate the Elmo/Sesame Street Theme. My suggestions would be to use what you have...if you have an Elmo toy, use it as part of the decorations! I also was able to make our food Elmo themed including:

 

Appetizers -

Gold Fish -  Elmo Loves His Goldfish

Spinach Dip - Oscar's Sloppy Spinach Dip

Taco Dip - Rosita's Raging Taco Dip

 

Main Course -

Chicken - Clucky Luciano's Chicken

Pasta - Mr. Noodle's Noodles

Beef Sandwhiches - Gladys' Beef Sandwhiches

Salad - Count's 5 Ingredient Salad

Fruit Salad - Zoe's Rainbow Fruit Salad

 

Dessert -

Cake - C is for Cake

Cookies - Cookie Monster's Cookies

Brownies - Abby Cadabby's Brownies

 

 

 

Thank you to all of our friends and family that were able to celebrate with us! He had such a great time!

 

It's a Sesame Street kind of Day

My little monkey is turning 2! I know...I can't believe it either. Our Carnival themed birthday from last year was a huge success so I needed to find a theme that was just as fun. Now, of course, I did ask my little man and even with his limited vocabulary, we were able to settle on Elmo!

I am so excited about the Elmo theme and there is so much on Pinterest to help me with this that I couldn't contain myself. So my next few posts will certainly be Elmo-rific.

So let's start with the invitations. Now normally, I would just use normal envelopes, maybe color coordinating, but look at these. How precious, right!
You can buy these on Etsy from the Mom2Aiden store. I didn't know how much time I would have to get these ordered and delivered so I tried my hand at making them.

So first, I tried to find red envelopes and realized that wasn't as easy as I thought it would be (or inexpensive). So I found cheap white ones at Michaels...plus used my 40% off coupon (don't leave home without it). I also bought a pack of the primary color cardstock since I knew I was going to be using the paper for other projects.

So here's what you need for this project:
* Red Cardstock
* White envelopes
* White Cardstock
* Orange Cardstock
* Black Cardstock
* 2 circle punches (one bigger than the other)

So since I am using white envelopes, I still wanted to add red for Elmo's face. So I measured the envelope flap and cut it out with red cardstock.

 

I was using 5x7 envelopes and was able to get 4 of these shapes from 1 8x11 piece of paper.

Once I cut out enough of those, I moved on to making Elmo's eyes. For this, I was lucky enough to have a circle punch. I used a 1" circle punch for the white of the eyes and a 1/2" circle punch for the pupils.

 

Then based on the size of the eyes, I cut out an oval in orange paper. I didn't have a punch for that.

Now, glue them all together for this fun piece.

It really didn't take too much time and it was pretty inexpensive.

Then I was able to insert these cute invitations.

  I was able to create these and then printed them at Best Value Copy. If I haven't bragged about them before, then shame on me. These guys print super fast and super cheap. I would highly recommend using them if you need to print anything in color.

Sunshiny Day

Happy Mother's day to all of you Motha's out there. My day was wonderful, but I actually liked the days leading up to it better because that's when my creative juices were flowin.' As I was brainstorming what to get my mother for the big day, it hit me...she is so thoughtful to create a play space for C in her house...that I thought I could make her something for that room. It's styled right now in Yellow and Gray (very hip...my mom...very hip).

Anyways, so I began searching Pinterest and found some great printables that fit the theme I was looking at...You are my Sunshine - a song that my mom always sang to me.

I found these at Alderberryhill.com
http://www.alderberryhill.com/you-are-my-sunshine-free-printables-its-overflowing-guest-post/




I was feeling creative and thought that I could paint something. So I got out my supplies.

Supplies include:
* Paint - yellow, red, orange, gray, white
* Scissors
* Paint brushes (the thinner the better)
* Print out of the outlines of the words
* Chalk - yes chalk


I was curious if there was any better way to paint the words onto the canvas versus just free-styling the words. I found this blog that had some great tips. http://www.discountqueens.com/paint-text-canvas/

And this is where the chalk comes in. Once you print the outline of the words on the computer, you rub chalk on the back of it.

 

Then you put the chalk face down on the canvas where you want to have the word. I tried to use yellow chalk and it didn't show up on the canvas. Use a pen and trace the letter. The chalk comes off onto the canvas.

 

 

Can you see the outline?

 

Then you can go ahead and paint it. I would recommend not painting on the inside of the lines, but the outside of the lines to make sure it's all covered. 

 

After doing a bit of this, I wasn't sure if it was the best way since I could still see some of the chalk on the parts I wasn't going to paint. I then tried to use pencil...paint doesn't totally cover the gray of the pencil. So honestly, I free-painted the rest, but I think if I had more patience...this would have been a good method.

 

Here's how it turned out:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





Fishy Fishy

I have been searching and searching for quiet books and quiet activities for C to start playing with when we are out. Quiet books are online for $50. I am not spending that much on something that I could make. But I continue to struggle to find the exact activities that I want as well as ones that don't require a sewing machine. I may be crafty...but I have limited sewing skills.

Anyways, I found this adorable activity on Doodle Craft

So I went to work...and here's what I came up with. Honestly, it probably cost $5 to make 1 whole game. Make sure to use your crafting coupons :). My one suggestion would be to pick felt pieces that are a little darker in shade because you can see the magnets through the yellow and light orange felt.

Materials needed:
* Felt - Various colors
* Magnets (enough for two magnets per fish, plus some for the fishing pole)
* Scissors
* Glue gun
* Dowel rods
* String
* Glitter Glue (optional)

 Cut out 2 fish per color and glue the magnets in the head and tail of the fish. Glue the other side of the fish to make little fishy magnets.

 Add some glitter glue to add some scales to your fish.

I then took string and attached it to the dowel rod and glued the magnets to the end of the string and ta-da...a cute little game. I showed it to him today and he loved it. Now, I have to tuck it away for our trips so that he doesn't get bored with it.