"Soup's On!"

"Normally, of course," Aunt Josephine said, "'soup's on' is an idiomatic expression that has nothing to so with soup. It simply means that dinner is ready. In this case, however, I've actually made soup."
(The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket, pg. 25)

In this case, I didn't actually make the soup. It would be courtesy of the wonderful people at Bear Creek Country Kitchens. (Creamy Wild Rice to be specific. Add water and boil. Top with bacon bits and cheese. Life is good.) What I did make are the bread bowls. (Recipe HERE) Too bad it isn't a nice, cold, winter evening. We are not going to discuss the toasty weather down here.

The ants at our picnic

We were getting together with friends for Memorial Day and in charge of a dessert. After much thought, I took my inspiration from What's New, Cupcake? and brought ants. My husband made the ants while I was putting grass on the cupcakes, and he didn't realize that the ants were suppose to be carrying the watermelon off. Oh, well. It turned out cute anyways.

The watermelons were assembled from fruit slices that were chopped and combined. It reminded me a lot of chopping up gumdrops for Dad's Fruitcake.

Mom's Mother's Day Card (among other things)

This is my Imaginary Humanoid art project. The

assignment was to complete the picture but make it

a fantasy object thingy-majig. I just put it up because it looked cool :)

This one was my midterm final. (I haven't figured out

how to rotate the pictures here so you'll just have

to tilt your head) You can't tell very well from the picture,

but every spot on this page that has pencil on it

was done in tiny circles. Ms. Ewell insists that the only way to do

values is in tiny circles. I really should have picked a picture

without a sky. You guessed it, the sky is all tiny circles. I was one of the

few that received full credit for the project.

Last but not least, this is Mom's Mother's Day

Present. I made the card and had everyone sign it.

80's Dance at School

There was an 80's dance at school for the Freshmen only. I don't usually dress up for these things but I was feeling very boring. It was a fun dance, but it was funner getting some of the funny looks I got! Let's just put it this way, no one expected me to do it (especially because I hardly ever wear makeup). I must give credit to Lexie Shephard for the eye shadow, she was the one who put it on. All in all, it was a fun day.

A two-year old and paint (not as scary as it sounds)

The middle small fry has been feeling artistic lately, as evidenced by the numerous crayon sketches around the house (including her bedroom window and all the hall doors). So being the brave mother I am, I thought I would see what she could do with some paint and a brush (and very close supervision). I got her a paint shirt and covered some surfaces and pulled out some little wooden cars that I had picked up from Jo-Ann's on clearance a while back. It ended up being an enjoyable afternoon activity, and the small fry had a lot of fun. I let her have two cars and I painted one (for the oldest fry who was taking a nap at the time and bound to be jealous when he woke up).

The finished projects. Bet you can't tell which one I painted. :)

I will make a proper girly momma yet!

Look! I made hair bows. It doesn't get much girlier than that. I usually feel like my feminine side is missing from my crafting side (trains, cars, etc.) but I admit, when I saw these flowers on another blog I felt an overwhelming desire to make some myself. I found a tutorial (and this one is good too)and started experimenting. You will note that my flowers match the "princess" dress (as it is still called by the big brother of the princess). Now I just need to get some of those hair bow clip things to glue these on. So many variations to try...

Super Saturday

My ward was having a Super Saturday event a few weeks back that I was unable to attend, but I wanted to do the craft anyways. Why? Because I like to write on my walls. And someday I aspire to have one of those cutely decorated homes. I know I lack the little flair that can really make the difference, but hopefully, by impersonating those I admire I will succeed anyways. For these projects I just painted the boards that were precut and routed, and put the vinyl on. This is the first time I have used the transfer tape. It does make everything line up much nicer and is easier to center. I might have to think about using that more often.

They invited the Young Women to join the activities, and wanted something for them. This board is based on the 13th Article of Faith, which is this year's YM/YW theme.

Now, where to hang them? This is where it would be nice to have that decorator's instinct.

Menu Board

As part of my on-going attempt to get organized, I have made a weekly menu board. I don't remember which blog I was reading for the inspiration, but here is my take on it. I just printed off a paper with the days of the week on it. Because the frame I had lying around was missing the glass I laminated my paper so I could write on it with a dry-erase marker. I painted my frame to match my kitchen (it use to be one of the cheap Wal-Mart frames). The dry erase marker I found had a holder attached to it (probably from a kid's $1 dry erase board that Target sells occasionally) so I hot glued that to my frame. The hardest part was deciding what to put on my menu.

Harry Potter Fun

A good friend was hosting a Harry Potter themed birthday for her son. I begged to help and she let me. The guest list included a range of children so we started off by sewing cloaks for all the kids.Years ago I found a pattern on-line for a chocolate frog box (google it today and there are even more options)

Amazon provided me with the perfect chocolate frog mold (it is the CK 2" toad). Isn't he cute. Somewhere I had also picked up various chocolate frog cards, so I printed off some and folded them and put them under the frogs.

I also got to help set up for the party. I used a lot of the props that I had collected for my husband's Harry Potter birthday party months earlier (I was busy getting things ready that day so I didn't take any pictures. Sorry)

The day before the party I discovered the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Jelly Bean Boxes (also a google search) and just had to make some. On the bottom there you can see the pumpkin pasties. (For most inspiration, google Britta Blvd Harry Potter and check out her party. It includes recipes and way more fun than one should be allowed. If I had more time and wasn't so cheap, I probably would have used her etsy site)

What Harry Potter party would be complete without Butterbeer and Pumpkin Juice. The butterbeer is a combination of the AP recipe and my mother-in-law's version. The pumpkin juice I made up from the ingredient list on the back of a pumpkin juice bottle from the park in Orlando (did I mention that my in-laws went and I am so very jealous?) Potions class was an ice cream sundae bar where the kids got to concoct their own ice cream potion using exciting ingredients like flobber worms and beozar stones. Salsa bowls that I found at Food City 3/$1 made the perfect "cauldrons".

When I get more time to do it properly, I will add the links and recipes. Until then, you can enjoy the few pictures. Most importantly, I think we accomplished the objective, which was to make a little boy feel very special on his birthday. Secondly, I got to have a lot of fun. I do love a Harry Potter party.

(Another blog with lots of Harry Potter stuff)
(Britta Blvd)
(yet another link)

Some more fun sites I have found since:
Spell Books (she also has several other HP posts)
Platform 9 3/4 idea plus more (love the pics)

Tribute to Mom's Crafting Influence

Mom may think that she doesn't have a crafty bone in her body, but she did teach me how to make a quick blanket. When the Thomas obsessed Small Fry had to get six immunization shots and was not feeling his usual rambunctious self, I made him this Mom-inspired blanket with fabric I had lying around. It is very easy to make. Take two pieces of fabric and sew together (right sides together, leave an opening to turn. Turn it right-side out and sew around the edges. Sew a circle in the middle to keep it together. Mom uses a plate to draw the circle. I grabbed a big bowl cause it was closer. Done)

Did I mention he likes Thomas?

Train Cozy

It is finally here! My pictures of the train cozy that I made for the small fry who is obsessed with trains- particularly Thomas Trains. It just took me a few weeks to find the camera and the camera cable at the same time.

It rolls up nicely to keep trains secured for travel. I made a scrunchy tie instead of ribbons because I didn't want to have to spend the rest of my life tying it back. The car one I made (perhaps someday I will post pictures of it) just tied. The small fry liked nothing more than to untie it and hand it to me to retie. This way he can do it himself.

The railroad ties are double fold bias tape that I used stitch witchery to fuse to the felt and then sewn around (yes, it took a while to sew around every single railroad tie). Ric Rac made a nice bendable track. The trees and pond were ideas I got from looking at pictures of car cozies.

Fortunately, GeoTracks and Thomas Trains play happily together.

Relay for Life

We have a little friend with a big heart. She was participating in the Relay for Life to help raise funds for the American Cancer Society. To show our support I made her this shirt. It didn't turn out quite how I imagined, but I have it on good authority that the girl it was for loved it- especially after her mom wrote the names of her team members inside the hearts in pink.

I know, it is difficult to read. I didn't have much time to find the perfect shirt. It says "Relay Princess" with a rhinestone crown. It is a very easy project. I didn't even get to use my Cricut. I just went to Wal-Mart and bought iron-on rhinestones and iron-on letters (check the craft section) and, you guessed it- ironed them on.