A Rant and a Craft

Can I just say that I am not a fan of Night Terrors! My two year old wakes up almost nightly in a complete frenzy! We are talking screaming, crying, saying strange things, moving spastic, hitting himself in the head....those are just to name a few. If you try to touch and comfort him it seems to make matters worse. All you can do is just watch these horrid events...over..and over again each night until he outgrows them. If we try to hold him to soothe him it makes it worse.  What I know for sure is sleep has a factor in the oncoming of night terrors. I have heard this from my doctor and other parents who have experienced the same.  First hand I can definitely anticipate a BAD night terror if he doesn't take a nap. Guess what????? He doesn't always want to take a nap and when you sit in the bed with him for an hour or longer begging him (At that point) to take a nap and he still refuses...well the towel goes in. Especially when another child is in need of your services. You pick and choose your battles. Other battles you are just forced to partake in as an outsider looking in....like helplessly watching your child go through a bad dream, nightmare or whatever inner turmoil actually brings on night terrors!

Another Craft courtesy of Target Dollar Section

With Christmas quickly come to the forefront we still have a long agenda list. Pretty much all of the ones I previously listed on my last post. We still have no tree, lights, or gifts ready. Still have to finish our Christmas Salt Dough Ornaments, and about a bucket load more to do! I feel that every year I have the best intentions to be "ahead of the game," yet fall further and further behind every year.

Yesterday Starr and Grayson had quite the bonding experience with some Dollar Tree Christmas hats I bought awhile back. It was much fun! Grayson got a kick out of his head being too big! Starr immediately wanted the hat off. It was good times!

Grayson wanted to make a snowman today....so that's what we did..."A Not So Crafty Craft," Style:

What We Used:

3 Paper Plates

1 Piece Felt

Glue

Double sided tape

Googly Eyes

Scissors

Crayons & Markers

Cotton Balls

 What We Did:

I cut out the 3 circles from the paper plates for bottom , middle, and top of  Snowman

Grayson and I added the glue to the circles and he attached the Cotton Ball pieces to each circle

We then glued on the googly eyes, nose (a cut piece of paper plate that Grayson colored orange)

Grayson drew the mouth with a brown marker and I attached all three circles together with double sided tape

I also used double sided tape to attach the scarf which was just a strip of felt paper that I cut

I had pipe cleaners to use as arms but Grayson protested that he didn't want his Snowman to have arms....or a hat for that matter

So, I give you our Snowman!

Salt Dough Ornaments

Here we go again. I am a gluten for punishment because I just cant help but try to attempt crafty projects that have an ending much better if I were to keep my hands off.

Your Wonderful Salty Dough Ball

In keeping with the Christmas spirit Grayson, Starr and I embarked on the very popular and "easy" Salt Dough ornaments this year. It was NOT as Easy as everyone states. Maybe I am just craft impaired.....Those of you who have seen my craft projects know first hand. Below are the easy steps:

What We Used:

4 Cups Flour

1 Cup Salt

2 - 2 1/2 Cups Water

Flower Vase

Cookie Cutters

Wax Paper

Cookie Sheets

Pen

Some computer screw driver thing (?)

Grayson so excited to cut out his ornaments

Couldn't even wait for me to roll the dough out

What We Did:

Mixed all ingredients and knead, knead, knead

I used the Vase to roll the dough because I don't own a rolling pin and then to cut circles out

use cookie cutters for shape ornaments

Take your Little Kiddies hands and/or feet and press firmly

use the cap end of the pen to push holes in each ornament for ribbon or string threading later

Use a sharp...something to initial and date ornaments if desire - We used a little computer screw driver thing that my hubby had lying around and started to carve out the initials and date but later realized that doing tiny dots worked better

Place all ornaments on wax paper and cookie sheets and bake at 170 - 175 for 3 hours

* I tried to bake at 300 for 25 minutes and 10 minutes in my house was clouded with smoke. Not sure if a fire would have engaged but didn't want to test that out so I just turned down the heat.

My Handy Dandy Dough Pin

My perfect circle cuts..LOL

Hole for hanging ornament - Pen

Initial and Year

Little Holes Worked Better

Baked and ready for Cooling!

****** Once Cool you can paint and attach ribbon or string - I will show photos of the finishing touches in a later post when we finish them******

The Mess We Left Behind...and Remains From Snack Time (Pretzels and Applesauce)

Thankful Turkey

I noticed that I tend to circuit train G-Man with daily activities as though he were Rocky Balboa! Just not with the intensity. We tend to do an array of things throughout the day in oh 30 minute to  hour segments. While being involved with Starr too! My days often jumble into one another. I forget important dates all the time or plans that I should have put in my calendar...thus making me slightly come off as Flaky. Although...I am a little flaky at times and have learned to embrace this about myself.

We always start with breakfast...sometimes... who am I kidding..MOST of the time G-man will eat his cereal early and then by the time mommy is finished cooking her breakfast, will want some of that as well.  He plays independently while I do the dishes. Then, we will go thru a series of circuits:
free play with mommy, independent play, arts and crafts, computer time, imaginative play, exercise, etc. It isn't planned this way, it just sort of happens. So, today for arts and crafts we did a Thankful Turkey. As most, if not all of my crafts..this was not planned ahead of time. I just go with it as each day presents itself.  I recently asked some great mommy bloggers for some craft ideas for this Thanksgiving season. I got my idea from a project posted on Crafty Moms Share blog. She did a Thankful Tree as a thanksgiving craft....Thank You!

What You Will Need:

Cardboard - An empty cereal box (where would I be without all the cardboard in my life - definitely have less paper cuts for sure)

scissors

adhesive - all types - we used super glue, glue dots, fabric glue, double sided tape, regular tape and glitter glue...oh and a glue stick

construction paper

paint

paint brush

piece of craft felt

googly eyes - a G-Man favorite

permanent marker

What We Did:

First drew a Turkey on on half of the cereal box...or at least my vision of a turkey and drew the feathers on the other half - 8 total

Cut everything out and let g-man paint the feathers

Remains of cereal box

Looks like a Turkey...right?

My Little Picaso

while he was painting I was fighting with the piece of tan craft felt paper I had. Not so easy to cut with scissors!!! I attached the felt over my cardboard cut out with tape and cut with scissors. So frustrating to cut...UGH!!!

While G-Man's feathers were drying, I cut out a turkey body using yellow construction paper - G-man picked the color. Then, I used the fabric glue to glue the felt onto the cardboard cut out and the yellow body onto the felt.

once dried g-man picked out his googly eyes ( 1 pink and 1 yellow ) and i attached with super glue because those suckers always fall off! I cut out a triangular nose out of construction paper and glued to turkey body with a glue stick.

Pain in the Ass Felt!

Getting there

Once the feathers were dry I asked G-Man what he was thankful for and in this order he replied: Daddy, Mommy, Baby Starr, Nana, Bad Kitty (Fun Book that goes thru the alphabet), Friends, School, & Grayson.

I wrote each of these on each feather with glitter glue, then attached each feather with double sided tape to the back of the turkey. We also went back and fourth between adding hair or a hat to the turkey, As you see G-man picked the hat, which I just cut out of green construction paper and taped using the double sided tape. For the grand finale I drew turkey feet with a permanent marker because what would a turkey be without it's feet? A Butterball...BA DUM DUM! (bad joke, I know. It just came to me and I had to roll with it.) Drum role please..........................................we present to you our Thankful Turkey!

Thankful Turkey - 2013

On the Day before Halloween......

G-Man and I get down and dirty with glue dots (my new crafty love, yeah I know..Where have I been) paint, glitter, toilet paper and googly eyes galore.Again this Halloween season has almost come to an end.My hubby and I still have no costumes. We always have great intentions, but never usually follow thru. Mostly because of lack of funds. Those freaking costumes are pricey!!! Last Year the whole idea was to be Betty, Barney and Bam Bam from the Flintstones. I found this really cute Etsy shop that made the Bam Bam costume for G-Man. Then my husband and I went on our quest searching high and low for our costumes. I even looked on Wiki How to figure out how to make them myself. Let's be real though....I don't have a clue how to sew and clearly am not very crafty..though recently for the sake of G-Man make do. After store after store after Halloween blowout sale we were without costumes. So we decided to dress in our clothes and do our make-up as rag dolls.
This year...well, let's just see..maybe just maybe we can pull something off last minute!???

G-Man and I continued yesterday and today with our Halloween crafties. We made a paper plate pumpkin mask, super hero mask, a Mummy on a Stick, and a pet spider. We attempted to watch Curious George's Halloween movie but of course my child got scared. All the ghost and scarecrow without a head got to him. He went into the kitchen and told me Curious George was scary and he wanted to watch the Cars movies we have seen ...I don't know....A Trillion Times! I guess we will see how tomorrow night goes.

Easy Pumpkin Mask

What You Will Need:

Paper Plate

Scissors

Orange Paint

Green Construction Paper

Glue

Large Popsicle Stick

What We Did:

G-Man painted the paper plate orange first. Once dry I cut out eyes, nose and mouth. Final touches were to add a green steam out of construction paper and adhered to the paper plate with glue. Then, attached a large Popsicle stick with glue. 

Our Version of a Super Hero Mask

What You Will Need:

Piece of foam paper

paint

scissors

two pieces of ribbon

What We Did:

I simply cut out a mask shape from left over pink foam paper I had lying around in our craft bin. G-man loves to paint so I let him paint it. Once dried I punctured a tiny slit on both outer sides of the masks. Then I pushed a piece of leftover black ribbon I had lying around and tied a knot on both sides of the mask. Once G-man wanted to wear it I simply placed on his face and tied a bow behind his head with the ribbon. Voila! Super G-Man at your service!

A Mummy....On a Stick

What You Will Need:

a large Popsicle stick

cardboard

pen

glue

paint

tape

toilet paper

googly eyes

glue dots

What We Did:

This one was the most fun. I took a piece of cardboard from a box in our recycling bin and drew a body. I cut out the body and mixed purple paint with glue. G-Man painted both sides of his mummy. Once my little artist was finished I ripped long thin strips of toilet paper and we simply wrapped our Mummy. Once wrapped G-man just repeated the painting and wrapping. When he was satisfied he picked two yellow googly eyes that we adhered to our Mummy with glue dots. Then I used a double sided tape and attached the Popsicle stick. G-man really had fun with this one.

 G-Man's pet Spider

What You Will Need:

A empty ribbon spool roll or something similar

paint

glitter

googly eyes

glue dots

super glue

ribbon or string of some sort

pen

pipe cleaners

What We Did:

Let them Paint! I used the roll that the black ribbon I used for my diaper cake came on. I first took a pen and punctured 4 holes on each side of the roll for the legs to later bee inserted in to. I mixed several colors of finger paints and let G-man have at it. He painted all around the roll and on both sides. Once finished I gave him free reign of the black glitter. He added it all over his Spider. Once  dried I had G-man stick his Pipe Cleaners (cut in Half) into each of the 8 holes (4 on each side) Then let the googly eyes begin. G-man chose 6 googly eyes to attach to his spider. I used glue dots on the backs to make it easier for G-man to stick onto the roll. Then, I took over with the Super Glue and the "Leash." I took an old belt that came with a shirt I had in my closet. I never wear the belt so it served it's purpose well for this craft. I attached an end of the belt to the middle portion of the roll with super glue. 

Once glue was dry G-man had a field day walking, jerking, rolling and tossing his pet spider around the house. Before his nap this afternoon I was urging him to put his spider down for a nap in an old shoe box we had around. He played some more with that , opening and closing the box, talking to his spider, telling him to "be quiet...Shhh, and are you awake? " He even insisted that his spider sleep with him when he finally went down for his nap. This project was G-Man's favorite by far!!

Cute as a Ladybug

This past Saturday came and went with a blink of an eye. I had so much to do in one day and so very little time. I co-hosted a Ladybug themed baby shower with a friend for a friend. With some much needed reinforcements, I think it went off pretty well. My duties were as followed:

Make Diaper Cake, Prepare Games, Get Prizes for Games, Get Cake/Cupcakes (YUM!) , and get the pin, and memorabilia book. Check, check, check, check and check.

The baby shower was a ladybug themed Tea Party...I Know! So cute! The Tea Party is always a hit in my opinion. What better way to celebrate the oncoming arrival of a baby girl?? The ladybugs are a FAV for the guest of honor and not to mention Good Luck. I am so happy to help and contribute to a friend's happiness in any way that I am able to. For these projects though, I would need my reinforcements.
 A diaper cake...Easy Peasy, right? UH.....Nope, not for this not so crafty chick! After watching several you Tube videos with males and females making the most amazing Diaper Cakes I have ever seen, I thought, hey I can do this. After stopping by the store on 3 different occasions to buy the materials I would need, asking employees and strangers in the aisles for advice, I began my eh, masterpiece. I rolled 96 size 3 diapers and rubber banded them accordingly. Then, I began my tiers. I desperately wanted to use all of the diapers I rolled, but after a few attempts realized it just wasn't happening. It was too large to fit on the pretty base I bought, so I had to re-vamp the initial visual I had in mind. I think I ended up with about 60ish. Everything was banded together and my 3 tiers were set to be decorated. Oh crap...I forgot the spindle thingy that goes in the middle of the entire cake to hold the 3 tiers together. Had to improvise and use a paper towel roll I had on hand. It worked, success!
Next was the fun part....decorating, until I came to the realization that tape, although the next best thing to food in my opinion, does not work for everything. I was attempting to wrap my nice diaper tiers with black ribbon but the tape was not holding the ends together. So off to the store..AGAIN. This trip I purchased glue dots, super glue, and double sided adhesive tape of some sort. (suitable for fabric) I enlisted in the help of a friend who helped hold the ribbons for me and helped me affix the rest of the goodies onto the cake. She even sewed the topper and socks onto the cake so that they wouldn't come off. Those who know me KNOW I can not sew. I even got out of that "Betty Crocker", "Susie Homemaker" class in High School. You know, the one where you learn how to cook and sew and carry around a baby doll with a special key to make it stop crying. Well, I somehow managed to elect out of that elective class. The Aftermath...A pretty awesome Diaper Cake ..If I do say so myself. I have just proven to myself that I too can make a "acceptable" version of a diaper cake.

Rolling..Rolling...Rolling

3 tiers

Finally Finished!

On Display and looking pretty good

For the games I did the following:

1) The Price is right...Or close enough

I attached 10 items bought from Walmart onto the Diaper Cake. I told all the guests what the items were. They had to guess the price of each item and total it. Whoever came closest without going over won a prize - I recently attended a baby shower where they did this but put all 10 items into a basket and showed each one. You could always do this as well.

2) Drawing Teapots or Babies...or something like that

Each guest received a paper plate and a pen. They had to place the paper plate on top of their heads. They had 2 minutes to draw either a Teapot or a baby (the ladies actually did pretty darn well) We even had one lady who drew both!

3) Tea Words

Each guest had 2 minutes to write down as many words with the word "Tea" in them as possible

4) Guess that Tea Bag

I placed 6 Tea bags without labels into a bowl. Each of them were numbered 1-6. I told the guest which flavors of tea were in the bowl and they had to sniff the bags and figure out which flavor each tea bag was.
*I, clearly not thinking...went in order 1-6 and told them what flavors were in the bowl in the exact order that i numbered them! Duh Duh...Next time I'll mix it up!

Drawing Teapots

What I did for the prizes:

I purchased 3 coffee mugs from Wally World (WalMart), honey, tea cookies, a bottle of bubbly, and a Lindt chili chocolate bar for prizes. I filled each of the 3 coffee mugs with several assorted Tea Bags, one with honey, and two with the Lemon Tea cookies. The last prize was the bubbly and Lindt Chocolate bar. (I almost kept this one for myself) I took cellophane wrap , black and red tissue paper, red thin ribbon and wrapped and tied each prize. To coincide with the ladybug theme I attached 3 tiny lady bugs to each ribbon.

The last and most exciting part of my duties as co-host was to provide the cake/cupcakes. Of course I chose CUPCAKES. I do not bake..I mean I can follow box directions and even tweak them a little but baking from scratch, real baking..I still have not mastered this skill. I enlisted the help of my friend, Iris Alexander. She made me the cutest chocolate ladybug cupcakes ever! She has made us cupcakes, and some really delicious oatmeal chocolate chip cookies before, so I had to ask for her help. They ended up going home with each guest as a favor.

Iris posing next to her cute little critters

It was Iris's first time working with fondant.

All in all the baby shower was a success. The host, Christina, opened up her home and killed it with the decorations, food and beverages. She was equipped with cucumber sandwiches, scones, petit fours, fruit with whipped cream, Tea (hot and cold) and flavored water choices. The 2 hours flew by and the guest of honor Christine, had a great time. She left feeling loved and with some great new items for her newest edition to come.

When in doubt...You Tube it..You too can make a diaper cake!  

Tea anyone?

Food Fit for a Tea Party

Scones and Preserves..Lemon Curd too!

Christina and Guest of Honor Christine

Little Mini, Christine, & I

The Hostess and Co-Hostess