Sleepover Party Printables!

 

So little P turned 9 this month... I know right!? 9 years old!

 

For her birthday she wanted a sleepover with all her friends... and she specifically asked that her brother and sister NOT be there. I figured it's good for her to have some time without them occasionally.

 

In searching for a theme we came up with "Night Owls"

It worked perfectly because I knew there wouldn't be a whole lot of sleeping going on at this party.

 

 

This party was such a blast to put together because I remember being this age so well and how fun it was. Right on the edge of growing up but still young enough for silliness and dolls and best friends. 9 is a great age for a girl!

 

 

Our big craft project for the night were these scrappy slippers.

 

 

Fabric scraps came in very handy for this project. I threw in some super soft pink minky and fleece to make them extra cozy. I found the flip flops at the dollar section at my local Target.

 

 

Ok so I'm not a baker-ella. It was made with love though! I'm actually a big fan of these sugar sheets from Wilton that help people like me who otherwise have very little skill in the kitchen.

 

 

Her big gift of the night from Mom and Dad, LEGO Friends. I'm such a sucker for anything LEGO! My kids have more than I care to admit. I just got news that they will finally be adding a LEGO store to our local mall. Oh, my poor pocket book!

 

I had plans to take tons of great pictures of this party for the blog but getting six little 8 and 9 year old girls to hold still long enough is completely impossible! Besides, we were just having too much FUN!

 

I do want to share a few printables with you though. I loved the Night Owl theme, it worked so perfectly.

 

Here's the invite I created. You can save it and add your own text in a photo editing program (time, place, all that good stuff)

 

 

Just some little owls to decorate the table...

 

 

 

We made these fun door hangers too and I didn't get a picture. They turned out cute though! I had the girls cut them out and glue them to THESE door hangers. Then we added some sticker flowers and other decoration.

 

We cut these little owls out and glued them to the girls goodie bags to take home. You could also use them as cupcake toppers or decorations at the party!

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a fun night. I didn't sleep much. Neither did the girls. I was worth it though. I think P will remember this party and how fun it is to be a 9 year old girl for a very long time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family

 

Wow! Too long since my last post! Sorry...

 

 

To be completely honest, it's the winter weather. I start singing the blues this time of year.

It's hard to find the motivation to do anything.

 

 

I guess I really don't belong in the Mountain West. For right now I'm stuck here though.

At least I have these little beauties to keep me company...

 

 

I'm feeling better. The sun is starting shine again. Spring has begun.

 

 

Spring here in Utah does mean occasional drops in temperature and sudden snow storms like we've had the past week.

 

 

But the worst is behind me. I'm ready to cheer up and get back to living.

 

 

 

All I can say is thank goodness for this wonderful family I belong to that keeps me on my feet and keeps me feeling loved!

Thanks to Camera Shy for these incredible family pictures!

 

Check up on me at Twitter and Pinterest. I'm there far more often than I am at the blog. (Apologies ahead of time for all theSherlock/Doctor Who love. These two shows got me through a particularly difficult winter. Anyone else reading a big fan?)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To Cheer Me Up

 

I need light, warmth... green stuff. January is so dark and cold, and a bit depressing after Christmas. This week we've had the worst air quality in the nation here in Salt Lake City, Utah. Every January we get a low pressure system, called inversion, that settles in the Salt Lake Valley and doesn't budge. It finally clears up some time in February, but until then there's really no going outside. It's too cold and too hard to breath. "cough, cough"

 

(Picture of Salt Lake City, Utah and the crummy air I'm breathing every day.)

 

 

Time to bring some cheer and warmth inside!

 

Target sells these great drum shades that are just begging to be covered. I've had a plain white lamp with a plain white shade sitting on my entry table that has been

calling out to me.

 

My lamp shade is nine inches tall. I purchased a half yard of the brightest, spring time fabric I could find at my local fabric store. This is from the line Simply Color by V and Co. 

  

 

Covering a lampshade is super easy, there are lots of tutorials out there, so I'll just give you an overview how it's done.

 

 

 

 

I basically just rolled the fabric on to the shade, smoothing and gluing as I went along. Easy.

 

 

At the end I folded my fabric over, overlapped it a bit, and glued it down into place.

 

 

Once my fabric was in place I carefully trimmed all the way around the lampshade and folded it over to the inside...

 

 

I was a little worried about making it look perfect on the inside, but it doesn't and no one has noticed. In fact, I've gotten TONS of compliments on it.

 

 

I used Aleene's Tacky Glue. It worked perfectly.

 

 

My little project brightened up my home and cheered me up quite a bit on an otherwise dark and dreary day.

 

 

Stay warm everyone! Spring is on its way.

Scouts

 

Have I mentioned before that we are a scouting family? I don't think I have. Which is strange since all 5 of us our involved in scouting. My husband is the leader for the 11 year old Boy Scouts in our area and my son started Cub Scouts at age 8 and now goes with his dad and all the other 11 year old's every week. Next weekend they are supposed to go a winter camp and spend the night in a cabin (thank goodness it's not a snowcave!) in these freezing temperatures. And I am the assistant Girl Scout leader for 2 troops, little C's Daisy troop and P's Brownie troop.

Today is the official day to start selling Girl Scout cookies. I was a little late on the draw and with 2 large troops in our area most of our neighborhood has been thoroughly combed already. I'm hoping to get a good response from coworkers and family. With 2 girls selling I'm already on the hook for 40$ worth of cookies, haha! I guess we'll be eating Girl Scout cookies for awhile. Actually, never mind that, they're so good I don't think they'll last long in this house!

If any locals would like to place an order, let me know! We'll be selling for the next 2 weeks and delivering cookies the last week in February. Yay Scouts!

A New Year

 

I made it through Christmas. I even had a little fun. Ok...we had a lot of fun this year, but I am glad to get back to our regularly scheduled program. That first day sending the kids back to school and cleaning up the mess felt SO GOOD. 

 

Christmas Eve I started to feel a little extra tired. By Christmas day I was sure I was coming down with something. The next 3 days were horrible. I spent most of my time doing this...

 

 

(Watching Doctor Who, my newest obsession.

 David Tennant is adorable!)

 

I had the flu. The real "couldn't breath, achy body, I think I'm dying" flu. I haven't experienced that in a while. It was shocking to say the least.

 

By the 3rd day after Christmas I felt well enough to don some jeans and head out for my birthday. The kids spent the night at grandma's and we had all sorts of grand plans. None of which happened because of how bad I felt. We got some Chinese and went to a local store to buy my gift...

 

 

Our family. I love it!

 

By New Year's I was feeling better, if maybe just a little extra tired. We stayed home and had a party with the kids.

 

 

The next day we headed to the ice skating rink. Only one out of the five of us can really skate, though The Boy tries really hard. My husband ended up taking turns towing us around the rink a few times before we left.

 

 

 She wouldn't let go of the wall.

 

 

We topped it off with a trip to the ice cream shop.

 

 

She's a little excited... I think there's more candy in that cup than ice cream.

 

 

Now it's 2013 and time for some New Year's resolutions, right? Well, here's what I'm going to do (or keep doing) this year...

 

I started a new quilt

 

 

I discovered at the mall that I fit into these size 4s! (haven't done that since high school)

They're even a bit baggy, but buying the 2s scared me.

 

 

And I'm going to keep this up.  

 

 

I still have a little way to go.

 

 

Merry Christmas and a free printable (The True Meaning of Christmas)

 

Merry Christmas blog readers!

 

First off I want to start out by saying how incredibly grateful I am and how blessed my family has been this year. I knew that this year would be a year of sacrifices. After quitting my job a year ago and deciding to spend more time at home with the kids while they were still so young, we had to make a few changes to our budget. My paychecks, though they weren't much, were a lot of our "fun" money. Date nights, lunches with daddy during the week, quilting supplies and even vacation money. There have been many times this year when I had to explain to the kids that we "just couldn't right now" and to be grateful for what they have (not a bad conversation to have, just a tiring one). As the holidays were getting closer we got a blow to our pocket books and sat down with the kids to explain that it would be a small Christmas this year.

 

Shortly after this conversation with the kids, my husband, who is an attorney, got an unexpected and very surprising offer from a law firm who wanted him to start work for them around the new year. My husband has always had a good job that we have been very grateful for, but there wasn't a whole lot of opportunity for growth and he was feeling pretty stuck. That was our first Christmas surprise.    

 

 

(The kids in the lobby of daddy's new office)

 

We were blessed with a second surprise by the way of a paycheck bonus that came just in time and was very much needed. It was enough to clear some debts and buy some Christmas gifts. We could have our typical large Christmas after all... but we're choosing not to.

 

 

(Moving into daddy's new office)

 

Ok I admit, I did run out and buy a couple things for the kids and I will be giving my husband a Christmas gift this year after all, but this holiday season I've listen to my children discuss amongst themselves  how Santa has a lot of needy children he has to get presents for and we have plenty. The other day my son (who doesn't really "believe" in Santa anymore, but likes to pretend anyway) was telling his little sisters that there are children who are only getting things like socks and shoes for Christmas because they need them, so we should be grateful we are getting a toy.

 

There is no way I'm going to ruin this Christmas of sacrifice and appreciation for my children!

 

 

(This years Christmas pajamas for the girls. A gown for them and one for their doll. I found the pattern in THIS BOOK. Check to see if your local library has it... that's what I did)

 

My husband has always had work these past 6 years, he has always brought home a steady paycheck, and I willing quit my job to spend more time with my children, knowing that it maybe a tight but we could make due. We have worked hard and prayed hard that he would find opportunities to advance in his career and now he finds himself working at a great new firm with lots of exciting things in store for 2013. We have been so blessed.

 

I sincerely hope that all of you can find the gratitude and blessing that I have this season. But I know from some of our past Christmas things can be particularly scary this time of year. For those of you out there who are also having a small Christmas this year I hope you find peace and faith knowing that it will not last forever, you do not know what the future holds and the most memorable blessing usually come in the darkest hour.  

 

This Christmas we will focus more on Christ as we talk to the kids about the true meaning of Christmas. To help them remember, I've made up these little candy bags to place in their stockings.

 

 

 

Each candy represents a reminder about Christ and his love for us. You can save and print off a copy of my bag toppers below...

 

 

 

Merry Christmas friends and a Happy and Hopeful New Year!

Kids Craft, Owl Pinecone Ornament

 

I first saw this idea HERE and thought it was so cute!

 

One afternoon while the kids were home from school we headed to the park and gathered pine cones. Most of the pine cones we found were still closed, but did you know you can force pine cones to open up for you in the oven? I placed my pine cones on a cookie sheet in a 200 degree oven and they slowly opened up. It took about 3 hours for them to fully open. It also drys the sap and gets rid of any bugs that might be hiding among your pine cones.

 

I created the little Santa hats with hot glue and fabric scraps and the owl eye from paper. Some large googly eyes would be super cute too.

 

 

I let the kids put the rest of the owl together themselves. A bit of ribbon hot glued to the back creates the hanger for the Christmas tree.