TOTALLY last minute valentines treats

sometimes i like to live life on the edge....and by "the edge", i mean that SOMETIMES i don't even THINK about what we are having for dinner until 5:30, and SOMETIMES i wait until the day before valentines day to pull together a treat for my kids classmates. ok, ok...who am i kidding? this happens kinda, sometimes, maybe, perhaps  a LOT.
but it all manages to work out.
we always end up eating dinner, (even if it is pancakes and scrambled eggs), and i always manage to have something for my kids to give out to their friends on valentines day.

this year, i decided to go with something a little easier and more "grown-up"....a pack of breath-freshening sugar-free gum with a customized peel and stick label. yes! no glue sticks or tape involved. so refreshing.

(i bought the bulk pack of extra  gum at costco)


these can be printed out in about 5 seconds and slapped on a pack of gum or just about anything else, and you are GOOD TO GO!



these are  meant to be printed on avery name badge labels :

i designed them so that the left side lines up with the pack of gum, and the right side folds over a bit.

here is what the label looks like printed out:

and here is a jpg version...you should just be able to import it into a document and print!
(make sure you set your page said as 4 x 6)

happy LAST MINUTE valentines day!

my post about halloween

halloween always seems to sneak up on me. one minute, school starts, and the next...it's halloween! if you are a mom, then you know how busy this time of year can be--costumes, treats, parties...it all adds up to a lot!

here is my simple halloween door this year:

 i have had the witches brooms forever---i bought them at big lots for $4 about 10 years ago, and it is a miracle that they have lasted through our many moves. they are one of those bulky items that i *almost donate every time we move, but i love them SO much, and i always manage to talk myself into keeping them.
(yep. our exterior door has still not been painted. it's on the short list of things to get done!)


and, in the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" category, i am still using this  this easy and very affordable wreath that i made 5 years ago. i love it because it only looks better the more battered and worn it gets!
you can get the low down of how i made the wreath here.

i love halloween!
i try to make the treat we give away at least a little special.

 this year, i made some cute, simple labels to wrap around Hershey's bars.
(i bought the full size bars at costco---they come in a pack of 24)



if you like these wrappers, feel free to grab them and use them!

these would also be great to bring to a halloween party or to give away to your childs classmates!

here is a peek at some gift bags i gave away a few years ago:

seeing these always makes me happy!


you can also get these wrappers that i made two years ago for an assortment of candy bars:




oh, and take a look at the buddy the elf costume that i whipped up from some thrift store finds and a little fake fur and fabric paint!

we started with a sleeveless green mock turtleneck, a black t-shirt, and a black belt, all from the thrift store.

i cut the collar and cuffs from some fake fur (made templates from paper first) and hot glued them in place, and then embellished the green tunic with some gold fabric paint. the leggings were found on ebay.

i made the hat out of three pieces of felt. (i made a paper template and then traced it)

i never actually sew my kids halloween costumes from scratch, but i am pretty darn good at taking a dress or shirt or whatever from the thrift store and transforming it into a costume!  (it always seems like my kids want to be something that is impossible to BUY...!)
here is a look at some of my kids costumes from the past few years:


vicious gladiator + two goddesses.


medusa, a pirate + cleopatra.

medusa make-up closeup.

mummy bride + gangnam style guy. (sigh. my son changed his costume about 5 times last year. this was what he settled on. the night BEFORE halloween!)

teen wolf.


teen wolf (close-up) talking on the phone and WAAAAAAY too busy to take a picture....
(wish you could get the full effect of the creepy red contact lenses! they were expensive, but made all the difference!)

be sure to check out my HALLOWEEN pinterest board--i have all of the goodies from years past, including some scanned images that are some of the most pinned images from my blog!

PS---i have been having some HUGE issues with my pinterest account. about 5 months ago, there was some glitch that stopped the counter going up on my followers, and would not allow certain people to follow me. i kept waiting for them to resolve the issue, and they finally did! so---if you *thought you were following me, and then for some reason you weren't, that is why! try again--all is finally well!
CLICK HERE to follow me. (again.)

my award winning butterbeer recipe

i hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!
the fourth of july is my second favorite holiday (right behind thanksgiving and christmas---a tie)
our week was filled with good food, swimming, friends, lacrosse games, plenty of sunshine and fireworks. it was pretty darn amazing.

anyway, last week, my husband was nestled into the couch, on his iphone and announced-- "hey---did you know that your butter beer recipe won the "best simple butterbeer recipe" according to the the orlando informer blog?"



uh. no...
i did NOT know that.
but YAY for me!


two summers ago, i wrote a post for design dazzle on a fun summer activity for kids. i chose the theme of "wizard for a day"--inspired, of course, by harry potter.
we had recently returned from a trip to universal studios, and had tasted the butterbeer there, and i tried my best to recreate an easy recipe for it. most of the recipes that i came across required cooking, and since i wanted this to be an easy summer activity that my 3 kids could easily help me with.

the post also included some printables for fun (tasteful) happy potter t-shirts:

here is an except from the article:

you can see the recipe, as posted on my blog here, and grab the images to make your own t-shirts here.

have a magical day!

birds of a feather tween party

my oldest daughter olivia just turned 12.
AND, she is almost as tall as me...where in the WORLD does the time go?
*sigh...
in our family, we alternate "friend" birthday parties and "family" birthday parties.
since we only have a "big" party every other year, i like to make it really special.
when olivia turned 10, we had a "safari pool party" and invited over 20 girls. it
was a fun party, but making 20+ party favors and 20+ invitations was a little
overwhelming. this year, she opted to invite only her 6 best friends.
olivia is an animal lover through and through, and wanted the "theme" to
have something to do with animals...i searched and searched for inspiration...
i wanted something with an interesting color theme, and that was just
a little grown up and suitable for tweens. i was shopping at michaels when i spotted
the perfect inspiration in the wedding section! for those of you that don't know, most
craft stores carry a beautiful assortment of printable wedding invitations.
i knew with a few minor additions, these invites would be perfect for her party.

the inside of the envelope was pretty plain, so i lined them with metallic patterned paper.

 i also added the "flight itinerary"card.

 we decided to have the entire party "out", which is perfect for a group of young ladies.

 

since i only had 6 girls (versus 20+) AND i didn't have any food or decorations to

worry about, i really went all out on the party favors.

each girl got a wooden box filled with goodies.

(the boxes were also found at michaels.)

as each girl came to the car, we gave them a cute flower to wear in their hair.

i made the flowers with a floral garland that i  found at walmart and some barrettes and felt 

picked up at a craft store.

 each girl received:

a monogrammed bookmark (made from scrapbook paper and a letter cut with my cricut)

a stretchable mood ring

some m+m's and chocolate covered sunflower seeds in a hinged tin. 

(found in the wedding section at michaels craft store)

blue nail polish,

some vanilla body spray

a homemade hair clip

and some chocolate!

 for just a couple dollars more than it would have cost to buy paper bags, i was able to get these wooden boxes. i think they give a very "grown up" feel and will be something that each girl can use

 for years to come.

 my daughter wrote each one of her friends a poem and a note and attached it to the inside of the box.

these notes were the "response cards" that came with the wedding invitations.

a quick look at the cake...i am NOT good at making birthday cakes, so this

is something that i usually have a bakery do. i have also ordered plain cakes from

grocery stores and add somthing to dress them up. i did that here and here.

when ordering from a bakery, i always come armed with color swatches,

some sketches of what i want and a print out of the font that i want matched for the writing.

yeah, i'm a little crazy when it comes to things coordinating for a party...

party was a success and the party favors were a big hit! 

the girls all had a great  time, and so did my birthday girl.

i love you olivia!

happy 12th.