Trick or Treat! A Monstrous Halloween!

I am one of those mommies that starts to think about Halloween at the beginning of August!  My kiddos enjoy being part of a theme.  Last year, they were all monsters! I couldn't do all 3 from scratch... so I hit my favorite stores!  At Once Upon a Child in Ballwin, MO... I found the butterfly costume for $6.50 and Sully was $10.00.  I had to have them!  If I were to buy the fabric it would cost way more than that!  We found Cookie Monster at the Thrift Store for $4.00... and there you have it 3 warm costumes for $20.00!

This was the first Halloween that Brooke really understood that she was getting candy at each door! Look at her patiently waiting for our neighbor to answer the door!

I added green claws to "cookie monster", a green striped belly, orange nose, purple horns, 2 white teeth, a puff of blue hair, and one eye!  For "sully" we covered the claws with purple fleece, striped the horns with purple and orange, added 3 teeth, orange nose, and the spikes in the back are purple too!

This one-eyed flower monster cracked me up!  I added blue fleece to the belly, made the pants from scratch and hand-sewed flowers on the pants and top!  The eye had black felt lashes and "blue eye shadow" with 3 rounded teeth!  It was warm on a cool night and tickled my heart. My 3 monsters!  Go find a costume and customize it to your child's liking.  My children had a lot of fun picking out the colors and designing the faces!

Baby Brooke's Princess Room, Perfect for a little Girls' Nursery

Brooke's nursery was so much fun to do. Once I chose the rug from Pottery Barn Teen, it was easy to choose fabrics from Bari J. Ackerman and Tanya Whelan! All the rest came from diy projects and repainting pieces from GW, Craigslist and garage sales.  Never doubt the potential a piece might have.  If you like the shape and style... it can be transformed into anything.  In the hopes of helping out another family, I entered our dream come true nursery into Posh Tots Design Dynamo Contest and became one of 10 fabulous finalists! What an honor! It was a close call to the end, and we came in 2nd place .

I am blessed to have an Aunt Jan that is extremely talented in the quilting department.  She sewed the pillows and quilt, and I sewed the bumper, crib skirt and curtains!

The ceiling medallion is from Lowe's. I hand-painted it with acrylics.

Aunt Jan even did a baby doll quilt!

DIY Cute Little Kitchen, a before and after Tutorial

It's been a while since I have posted... I have been back at work, and you can see the fun things we are doing in the classroom at http://willowbrookart.blogspot.com/.  I was trying to help raise money for a fundraiser that helped families burdened with pediatric medical bills.  I can not imagine praying for the health of your child and then face such debt.  So I picked up this nightstand at GW!

The boys got in the action and helped me sand it and take it apart.

Pulled the drawers out and saved the fronts.

My dad was very helpful in adding the backsplash, cute little shelf, hinges and priming it.  The sink bowl is a stainless steel bowl from GW.

I painted it pink.  Painted black circle burners onto the top, spray painted wooden dowels silver and glued them to the burners, added knobs and handles and the side is painted with chalkboard paint! I sewed the little curtain with Jennifer Paganelli and Amy Butler patterns in pink, orange, and yellow.

She approves! It is a winner even with matching apron!

Perfect for a Rainy day... Rainbow Sugar Cookie Dough

We love baking!  It brings us together, we get to be creative, it's fun and yummy.

When the weather makes you feel like you are on lockdown indoors... this is fun to do with the kids after they have eaten a healthy lunch! I make sugar cookie dough.  The best recipe can be found here.   The dough is easy to work with, it doesn't have to be chilled and the cutouts are always perfect.  I never have to add more flour.  We also enjoy Wilton icing colors in concentrated paste.  I have a rainbow of colors, but food coloring can work just as well!

We divide the dough up and color it.  The kids have fun tasting and building their cookies.

Our sweetness gets in on the action!

Matthew loves to mix the colors.

Joe loves eating his creations. Each one has a story. Take the time to listen and enjoy your children.  The house cleaning can wait, and they will be this young for a short time.  Make sugar cookie dough, color it and get in on the fun!

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/the-best-rolled-sugar-cookies/

This never gets old for us and it is really fun to see what the kiddos come up with.  I purchased some little cutters that can be used with fondant and we made owls and other little animals. Did I tell you that my little Joe is an amazing artist?!

Brooke and Matt's Monster Bash, A Joint Birthday Party

We have 2 March birthdays, and this year it was a great fit to have a joint Monster Bash for Brooke and  Matt.  Brooke loves Yo Gabba Gabba and Matthew wanted monsters!  Find all the inspiration on my Pinterest board.  There are tons of talented mommies out there that inspired me and this is the end result.   The goal is to transform the house or space so the children recognize it is a special day for them.  Transforming the space doesn't have to cost a lot of money, just some prep-time, and plan ahead.  I usually purchase a pad of scrapbook paper when they are 50% off and use it for all the paper decorations.  The folded pinwheel circles, drink box wraps, food label tents... everything and it costs $10.00 at the most! I always have Wilton candy melts and gel food colors on hand, as well as tons of cake tips and icing bags.  

Our dessert table.

I use fabric that I find at the thrift shop for my table cloths.  They end up costing between $2 and $3 for 3-4 yards of fabric.  You can't beat that!

At the end of the summer season, these  pinwheels were 80-90% off at Hobby Lobby, and they are great for any party!  When they are in the yard... our friends and neighbors know we are celebrating some one special!

The Wilton monster eyes were perfect for everything and purchased them at Wal-Mart for around $3.00.

This was originally a cowboy hat on a Wanted sign... can you tell? it was one of our  signs for Joe's Cowboy party.  We recycled it for Monsters!

These cupcakes were super easy to make.

so easy to make and create a great impact, we use and re-use these for everyone's party.

Matthew's birthday cake... love that grass tip.

these were inspired by And Everything Sweet and was submitted to Kara's Party ideas.

Here are my 2 monsters!

manipulated this and emailed the invites to friends and family.  Perfect for the Gabba/ Monster party!