Halloween Bat Treats.

First of all I want to give credit to the blog where I got this idea from. I had pinned it to my Holiday Ideas board on Pinterest and decided to try it. Here's the link to the original post: http://www.tonyastaab.com/2012/09/easy-halloween-treats-for-kids.html

 

I did do things a little different so here's my version:

 

This person actually went out and bought black pillow cases. I didn't, I collected all my empty paper towel and toilet rolls. Almost didn't get enough, so I recommend getting a head start collecting them if you need a lot. I then painted them black. I did notice that certain rolls became a little bit hard to work with once the paint dried but nothing too major.

I then enlisted the help from my hubby to make me some bat wings.

I then folded in one of the sides on the toilet roll and then stappled on the wings.

Added some candy to the inside of the tube and then folded the opening up. I didn't need any glue or anything to the folds. The tube actually is thick enough that the openings stay close on their own.

I then added some googly eyes. I wish I had a white gel pen to add some fangs to my little bat, maybe next time.

And Ta-da! Aren't they cute! I really hope they like them. Love that I actually made something I've pinned!

My first try at making a HOLIDAY WREATH!

Okay so after seeing so many different DIY wreaths on Pinterest I decided to finally try making my own. Believe it or not Pinterest can be intimidating. You see so many pins from so many talented and crafty people that it puts pressure on yourself to try to even replicate a little bit of their work. Especially when you're knew to all of this. But it's fun to finally start to make things and not just wish to make them.

 

I had a white foam wreath laying around since summer so I decided to work on a Fall/Thanksgiving wreath for my apartment door. I got some pretty ribbon at Dollar Tree, my favorite dollar store cause everything is actually a dollar. It was too see throughy (i know not a real word) so I worked my little brain and decided to kind of fold it as I went to double up on it so it would have more color.

 

Like so.

                                                     I used my handy dandy glue gun.

And ta da! Not too bad right? Well I almost ran out of ribbon. And since I didn't buy two, (don't ask me why) I didn't have enough to do the backside so yes if you look from the sides you can still see a little white, but it's okay.

I finished it off by gluing on some flowers I had bought. I was loving the sunflowers. I also added a tiny pumkin to the mix, so cute and tiney. Then I busted out my stamps and embossed the phrase "Give Thanks" and hung it on the wreath. I think it added a little something extra. I finished it off with some orange ribbon to hang it from and finish!

 

Not bad for my first wreath right? I actually liked it. It's nothing compared to some wreaths out there in the pinterest world but for little old me I think it was a great start! This is how it'll be looking on my red door!

 

I also had a vase that I had bought at a yard sale that I decided to make festive. I added some rocks I had bought at the dollar store too to the bottom of the vase. Then I added a mixture of acorns and tiny pumkins I had bought at Walmart. I then wrapped the little bit of ribbon that I had left from the wreath and added some sunflowers and this is what I got.

Can't wait til November to bust these out! So proud of my crafty self! Hahahahaha!

Golden Birthday!

This past October 10th was my Natalie's Golden Birthday! 10-10 and she turned 10. I can't believe she's two years away from joining Young Woman's.

 

The morning started off early. She woke up to a living room ceiling covered in balloons. (sorry no picture)

 

We got her a birthday card and a new pair of pjs for her slumber party later that week.

Then she ate her birthday pancakes. She actually let me do her hair, she always wants to wear it loose. My mom calls her "her little hippie girl" cause she always has her crazy hair down. I just love that smile!

Later that week on Friday we had her sleepover party. She invited two girls from school and her cousin Briahna. I have to say that I felt like such a "MOM" hosting this party for her. It's hard to explain but the MOM in me really felt like she came out to play. Entertaining them, seeing them having so much fun. Realizing that I'm old!!!! :) I even got Martha Stewart on them and had them make a charm necklace to take home.

Here they're showing off the final results of their crafting.

I ended up not having enough time to frost the cake. But it all worked out because they enjoyed it so much to get to frost it themselves. They all took turns frosting it and getting frosting on eachother.

Then the dancing began. I love this picture, look at their moves! Thank goodness we have no tenants below us because if we did I'm sure they would've complained about the noise!!

 

And no sleepover is complete without a PILLOW FIGHT! Jaimito ofcourse got in on all the action. A little too much sometimes. We had to control his excitement a couple of times because he would drive the girls nuts.

All in all, I think it was a great Golden Birthday. I know the girls had fun and I had so much fun watching Natalie still enjoy the simple things of being a kid even though according to her friend she is now a pre-teen. Yeah okay, I had to shoot that one down fast!

Knowledge

Well I have continued working on my Y.W. Personal Progress and I decided to complete the first goal in the value Knowledge.

And like every goal, after reading the scriptures they ask you to read, they ask you to write in your journal what you learned. In this case what I learned about knowledge and the importance of obtaining it.

As I thought about the scriptures I read, I kept going back to the scripture Proverbs 4:7, "Wisdom is the principal; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding." A lot of the other scriptures also emphasized the understanding part.

It came to me that lots of times we think we are very learned. We think that we know the gospel inside and out. We read and read and think that we learn, but with all this "learning" are we actually understanding anything of it? Are we actually pondering what we are reading? Are we praying about it? Are we really trying to understand it so that we can live it?

It made me think about myself in the past. Especially the time in my youth and the time right before I became inactive. I had always considered myself a good Young Woman, who was very active in church and who knew a lot about the gospel. As I grew up, I took on that title of being a "good mormon girl". Everyone told me so and I considered myself to be one. But as I think back I noticed somethings. Yes I always went to church and was reverant and payed "attention" and participated but did I ever go home and pondered about what I learned? Did I ever go home and read my scriptures? Did I ever really try to understand the teachings of the gospel? As I got older things didn't change. Yes I opened my scriptures once in awhile, and in church classes I felt the spirit and knew things were true but I never on my own looked to understand all this wisdom that was being given to me. So because I never looked to get knowledge or especially understanding of all this knowledge on my own I wasn't truly getting it. Things weren't making sense in my life, yes I knew these things were or had to be true, but why weren't they making sense in my life. And that's why a veil of darkness fell over my eyes.

Now as I sit here and look at where my life is now I can see the value of not only looking to receive knowledge but of actually understanding it, pondering, and then acting on it. I have a long way to go but I can see the proof of the blessings of obtaining these things. Some of my life circunstances may still be the same as before, yet I'm happy. It's totally different now. Because I have tried harder to understand the teachings I learned of the gospel and to live them, my life is different, it's better. That dark veil that had come over my eyes is gone and I'm able to see things with hope and faith. I know that as I strive to continue to receive more knoweldge, in faith and in temporal things, I will be able to be better prepared to encounter life's trials and to be better prepared to guide my family and myself.

Joy Journal

I got a really cute idea from Parents magazine the other day. It's called a joy journal or smile diary and it said to ask your child what makes him or her happy and jot it down with the date. It said to ask them every so often the same question and as the entries add up it'll be a sweet read and nice memories. So I decided to try it with my kiddos.

Natalie Nicole
October 4, 2012
6 days before turning 10.

What makes you Happy? What makes you smile?

Church because it's God's house and I get to learn new stuff I never knew.
Being together as a family because we get to share our feelings and do stuff together.
My parents because I know that if I'm sad I can tell them what's wrong and trust them.
Ice cream especially chocolate ice cream.
The color green because it reminds me of nature.
Reading books cause it calms me down when I read them in my room.

Jaime David
October 4, 2012
3 1/2 years old.

What makes you HAPPY?

Pizza
Ghosts
Hot dogs they good.
Juevito (eggs)
Omi I like to play with him. (his cousin)
Ian (another cousin)
Toys like Spiderman and Avengers.
Baby in your belly.
School
Ms. Debbie my big teacher.
Doggies.


Disclaimer: This were exactly their own words! Might be too cute too handle.

Halloween Goodie Bags

 I decided to make some Halloween goodie bags for the sisters that I have assigned to visit. I really liked how they came out.

 

 

I busted out my Halloween stamp sets I had bought from Stampin Up! Not sure if you can still find these but you can try and check out if they still have them. Here are the sets I used.

 

 

 

 

I also digged out my Halloween theme paper. This is really a project that is open to your own creativity so I'll try to just give you the basic overview of what I used and what I did. I cut out these rectangles that measured the same as the baggie. I folded them in half to go over the opening of the bag.

I then used my embossing tools and materials to make the decorations with my stamps.



And these are the results. For this one I just embossed the images with black embossing powder on white paper. I then framed them with black paper and used a 3D sticky to put them on. I added a black bow to the bottom and tada!

 

With this one I did the same embossing technique but on orange paper with the same black background and added black ribbon behind them.

 

And lastly I embossed this cute kitty cat and then colored the image in. Simple but cute I think.

Then I filled the bag with candy and stapled the tops on.

 

 

Easy, simple project but very fun. I'm sure the sisters will enjoy receiving these. Let me know what you guys think.

Dollar Store Tie Organization

After many compliments on the way I organize my hubby's ties I decided to share how it is that I organize them. It really isn't anything out of this world.

 

I bought a set of these black plastic small bins at my local dollar store. You really can use anything that looks similar to this.

 

I then take his ties and roll them up as nicely as I can.

I then place them one after the other in the bin as so.

This is the result. It helps us keep his ties neat and clean.

 

My hubby really liked the idea. It kept them in sight and easy for him to pick which one he likes. And suprisingly he has kept up with putting them back nicely after he uses them. But when he does forget it's pretty easy to just roll them up and put them back.

 

I like this much better than any other hanging option because with those they would always end up on the floor.

 

What do you guys think? What forms of organization do you guys use for ties.