Cupcake Creations, Piping Cupcakes with Kids!

The kids have had a really good week and frankly, I was craving chocolate cake.  To make it fun for everyone, I made cupcakes and let the kids decorate with piped frosting from zip lock bags.  We used some leftover treats from our gingerbread kits too.

I made 2 dozen cupcakes and lightly frosted them with some Pillsbury light blue Vanilla icing.

After icing all the cupcakes, I added more blue food coloring and confectioners sugar to thicken up the frosting.

We placed the icing into ziplock bags and let the children be creative.  While I was baking, my boys were intrigued with some how to videos on Youtube.com.  We particularly LOVE howtocookthat.net.  Ann Reardon can pipe really pretty flowers using zip lock bags... you should check it out!

Even the princess got into the action... she enjoyed the candy pieces.

In the end, you can't tell who did what... they are so pretty!

If you are looking for some toddler fun... check out Ann Reardon's channel on youtube.  All you need is some plastic bags, icing, food coloring, confectioners sugar, scissors and cake mix... then have some fun!  We did.  Some cupcakes disappeared while decorating, but that is half the fun!  ENJOY!

Fun Thrift finds for a Tea Party and Decorating Projects

Cruising my favorite thrift stores and I found these great treasures perfect for my dd's 3rd birthday tea party.  Vintage lamp from Germany... $10

Czechoslovakia tea pot (purchased specifically for the pink and purple) $10

pink tea cup and saucer $4

and cute little mini tea cup $2.

Post tea party... what will I do with all the tea cups and pots? I plan on creating a floor lamp... I've seen so many cute ones on Pinterest for inspiration, like the one below, or even the curtain tie back from Better Homes and Gardens.

These cute ideas are from a cute blog called the silly old suitcase! Check it out, what a cheery place to visit for ideas and DIY's!

Master Bedroom Transformations... Time for a Change... Again

In all its splendor... this is our home when we purchased it in July of 2009!  A 70's fixer upper, right down to the multi colored shag carpeting... the decor hadn't changed since the home was built, and we loved the opportunities it presented us... most of all square footage! Lots of room for a future family.  We're maxing it out with the 4th baby on the way, and I am itching to redecorate... we can call it "nesting".

A major bummer is that our digital camera was running out of battery power when taking all the BEFORE shots, so we just jumped into working and don't have many original photos.   A MAJOR regret.  This was before picture cell phones... otherwise we would have been in the clear and you would have seen this room in it's glory with wallpaper  and bright royal blue shag carpeting.

Decked with my husband's bachelor pad furniture, we painted the room a tan color with a dark brown accent wall... my husband hated the brown wall... I didn't mind it, but we ended up just painting the room a Ben Moore Manchester Tan. My hubby busted his butt putting wood flooring throughout the entire home.

This is the current state the bedroom is in.  2 Christmas' ago, I painted over that boring tan... and it is this caramel color.  I like it, but am not in LOVE with the color... so off to the hardware store to get paint swatches... I want a GRAY.

How to get this look...

Ethan Allen Armoire: craigslist... $250

Pottery Barn King Pine Bed: craigslist... $100

8x10 Pottery Barn rug: clearance + discount... $180

Home Depot ceiling fan... $40

left dresser/nightstand: craigslist... $10

right dresser/nightstand: goodwill... $20

long navy Thomasville dresser (as seen in son's bedroom): craigslist... $FREE

pair of chairs: goodwill...$20 for set

Pottery Barn Bedding: king cream velvet comforter $60, Bettina duvet and shams $120

lamps from GW: $20

shades are from Target donations at GW: $10

TOTAL is less than $1000, not bad.

today I changed out the rug... got GRAY paint swatches, and bought an antique desk that might go under the left window for $20 at GW!  Good-bye caramel brown. I don't know what I was thinking... So this is the BEFORE... stay tuned for the AFTER!

Act out your Favorite Books, great kids activity... We love David Shannon!

One of our favorite children's authors is David Shannon!  My children love the character, David, and all his mischief!  For a summer activity, we decided to recreate the book, No, David.  If you are familiar with the book, I have shared just a FEW of our splendid pages with you because we had fun and shamelessly recreated the book in its entirety!  My 5, 4 and 2 year old had a blast!  My dd, who is the youngest can now read the book on her own.  She has it memorized.  We recreated the scenes with our own personal flair, adding personal touches like the Pillsbury Dough Boy cookie jar, and we created scenes of our own.  For example, our son, Matthew painted his 8x10 Pottery Barn rug with cobalt blue acrylic paint... we have a scene that represents that fine day.  First, we took all the pictures.  Secondly, I put them into a word program to add the text in a specific font.  Then we saved the document as a pdf.  Once we completed the book, we sent it off for publishing.  There are many photo book publishing companies out there, but we used viovio.com because they published 2 page spread books in portrait view, rather than landscape and were very reasonable.  The softcovers were $15 for a 40+ page book... I love that my kiddos have this to share with their children some day.   We had a blast making it, and it was a surprise gift for daddy who got the biggest chuckle out of it!

Go figure... they all wanted to do this scene!

We even have #4 in this one... Being a mommy is  such a blessing. 

Special Thrift Shop Story and Sweet Goodwill Finds worth Sharing!

With a busy holiday season, I haven't had time to hunt my favorite thrift stores.  Thrift shopping is an addiction (that is a major understatement)... so my oldest and I headed to the nearest shop yesterday evening, and I immediately spotted a delightful navy blue pram!  I could picture our dd pushing it at the park with her baby dolls and my camera wrapped around my neck.  HOW MUCH?  $6.00!  WOW!  My oldest was excited too, he says, "Mommy, I'll push it so no one else takes it!" Sometimes once you find one a treasure it is hard to focus on anything else... so I tried to refocus...while in the housewares aisle, an older man was approaching me... "Ma'm, ma'm..." He wants the pram, I thought.  I wanted to avoid the conversation but there wasn't anywhere to hide.  He had a $20 bill in his hand... I really wanted the pram... I wasn't giving it up, HOWEVER much to my surprise, he said he had such a blessed Christmas and wanted to give me the $20 to enjoy in the store.  I was sweetly surprised.  This was beyond my expectations.  "Thank you, but are you sure? I can't take this from you..." before I could add another word, he reached for my hand, and placed the bill in my hand, and told me to enjoy it as a blessing.  I thanked him again and could feel my face blushing.  I was embarrassed to be the recipient of such kindness.  What a blessing it was.  It made me think of how could I be a blessing to others during Christmas and all year round.  I am grateful that God is out there touching others and reminding me that I am loved too.  I don't know who the sweet older man was, but I am grateful he was the one that treated us to a few special treasures.  Last night, we purchased the pram for $6, and a few things for Brooke's Tea party... $3 daisy pitcher, $1 porcelain hold, $6 new crystal votive holder (will be a beautiful cake plate) and .50 cent tea pot.  They all go nicely with some of my previous thrift finds.

Speaking of blessings, I hope that this story is a blessing to you.  The thought of that evening tickles my heart.  The time with my son, that sweet, thoughtful man... our little treasures.  All of it!

Royal Tea Party Table Settings for a Birthday

I am completely fixated and compulsively addicted to the idea of throwing a royal tea party for my dd's 3rd birthday!  Being the thrifter that I am... I have a small collection of plates, tea cups and saucers.  The best rule for thrift shopping is to BUY IT if it speaks to you.  Many of the plates you see only cost me .50 cents!  As a matter of fact, many of my serving pieces are used endlessly for dessert tables and entertaining are thrift finds.  I am toying with table settings, napkins and table cloths... it is so much fun and keeps my mind busy.  My dd helps out too... "I wike tha... so peety, mommy... good job, I wike pink and pah-ple!" she says.  These small things make my heart sing.

How can you not love flowers?  This Christmas clearance, I stocked up on holiday trimmings to help with the decor and those $2 dollar grab bags from Michaels are the BEST investment I have ever made.

Join us on our tea party journey.  Check our our inspiration board on Pinterest! Can't wait to get sewing for her special pink and purple tea party dress, let alone a tiara.

Baby Countdown Craft for the waiting siblings... a paper chain

We are anxiously awaiting baby number four... nearing the due date deadline... it was time to countdown with a paper chain.  I have seen the idea for Disney vacation countdowns... reminds me of an advent calendar counting down the days until Christmas, especially with the holidays coming to a close... it will be exciting to see the chain get smaller.  I did find a cute pin on pinterest, so the idea is not completely original, but fun just the same.  Are you counting down to something special? a vacation? moving homes? starting a new endeavor?

We cut 8 big fat paper links to represent weekly markers... and 6 little links to represent the days in between.

Everyone helped put the chain together.

Here is the countdown to their new baby brother!

Our boys have it hanging in their room.  They can take turns until the little man is here!