Birthday Crafting

After all the photos, captions, and Pinning, I am THRILLED to start blogging about some of the crafting things I've been able to accomplish!

A friend's 2 yr old birthday party is coming up, having very limited funds, I wanted to create somethings I think the toddler will enjoy. After Pinning like crazy, buying some [very cheap] materials, crafting a bit, and finally testing with my toddler..... here we go!

      

magnet pieces

First was making a magnetic pom pom board. I used white school glue, clipped a magnet [got free in the mail, cut into teeny tiny pieces], glued to the pompoms and let dry, all on a new cookie sheet. This took about 20 minutes from start, cutting magnets and gluing to pompoms, plus dry time ~20 min. Super cute! I now need to craft one for my toddler too!

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Next, I made a push-thru for practicing fine motor skills. Upcycling a puff snack container, I cut slits into the lid, cut pipe cleaners in half [bending all ends over so they're not too pokey], and painted color coordinated dots over the cut clits on the lid to match the pipe cleaner colors (color matching will be for more advanced 2 yr old, I wanted the toddler to be able to grow into this toy).

 

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Third gift; a lacing activity. Using pipe cleaners [again, bending ends over to minimize pokeyness] and foam hair rollers cut various lengths. Super easy!

     

     

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This was an impromptu gift for a friend who crafts jewelry, she uses these tiny containers to hold the beads. I simply snipped a silk flower from a bundle, poked the stem through the plastic, attached a quick hand-written THANK YOU note, and delivered to her door! :)  (this was all done using dollar store finds, assembled while sitting in my vehicle)   What a quick and easy way to spruce up a gift, without a bag and tissue and card, etc!

I asked the clerk for a pair of scissors, clipped one for my toddler who was eyeing the pretty "fow-fer" (she thought she was the mac-daddy when I handed her the singular flower!), and another for my friend's package.

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I also made this push thru for my toddler to practice and play with. I upcycled a container that had split on the side... cut holes various sizes in the lid. Push pompoms through the holes!

ambidextrous! 

Maine Attractions

While living in Maine, I had the opportunity to tour some of the gorgeous lands and visit some attractions. I LOVE MAINE!

... more to come...

 Federal Jack's Pub and Brewery, Kennebunkport, ME

Peaks Island, ME

...  ... to be continued ...

Globe-Trotting

Oh the places I have been!

As I recently had a momentary 'ugh', feeling rather 'stuck at home' and the thought that I 'never do anything'... I was reminded.... one season of my life, I spent traveling the world! Literally! I hope to be able to also do travels with my new family, but for today, I'm thankful for memories of travels!

This is the beginning of what I hope to have multiple sequels. A post illustrating some of the amazing places I've been, and experiences I have had.


Growing up impoverished, we never had the fancy family vacation some have had; Disney, cruises, coast to coast, out of country, ocean, or even fancy hotels along the way. Instead, our family "vacation" was typically travel to and fro Michigan, (where 99%  of our family resides) visiting every possible person we could, running every day to a different location, non-stop-on-the-go. We also did tent-camping, graduating to an o.l.d. pop-up-camper (60's model with snap on canvas top and sides), and truck-top camper, then an o.l.d. RV. Needless to say, these trips were quite the experiences. I mostly recall the times we broke down along the highway, and when it seemed to down-pour every weekend we tried to go camping, lol, go figure. For an optimistic person, these were the events that seem to stand out the most as I type this.

I remember thinking that o.l.d. pop-up camper was the coolest thing ever, because we got to pack everything inside the camper, and merely had to 'pop-up' the top and viola!, our dwelling. That, and we had beds! Woohoo! No more pokey rocks and twigs, and wet sleeping bags! The RV had the most beautiful old wood cabinets. The truck-top camper was the coolest because we could ride in the above-cab bed, or sit at the table and play cards or games, WHILE WE TRAVELED (ohmigosh, as a parent I now think: I'm sure this was not very safe.... but outside of driving two vehicles- which we could not afford to do, remember i.m.p.o.v.e.r.i.s.h.e.d. - it was the best we could do just to go on an outing)!

I will have to keep an eye out for some photos of these travel vessels so I can post them.

Miner's Castle, U.P

There were a couple camping trips that stand out.
          Taking the truck-top camper (through Chicago and Green Bay, all riding in the cool camper, knocking on the thru-window to the truck when needing to communicate with parents) to the U.P. for a family reunion. How many of you know, without Googling it, what the U.P. is? Hehehehh.  Munising, Lake Superior, and a "dahg-wok" at the campground. Translation: dog walk according to the Upper's. Pronouced- yooper. Another one ya might have to Google ;-).

Red River Gorge
Slade, KY

          RVing to Natural Bridge, and the Red River Gorge, KY. Camping, hiking, blowing a tire on a Sunday afternoon along the highway, hungry, and with 3 teenagers... Gah! Thank God for Mercy, and good 'ole country fellas (and a semi towing truck) who were willing to do some work and get us back on the road.
 

Natural Bridge
 Slade, KY

Mackinac Bridge

Other Michigan adventures (been there too, Googling again, hehehh) included Traverse City for 4th of July, and cabin-dwelling while visiting Mackinac Island. Please, for the love of Mackinac, pronounce it right! "mack-in-aww"!

Mackinac Island

MI Adventure

The first non-Michigan family trip we took was to Washington D.C.  'Tis the trip in which I confirmed I suffer from motion sickness, driving at night, in the rain, through the mountains, plegh!  In D.C. we stood at the Lincoln Memorial and decided that the Washington Monument looked rather cool and we could walk over and see it (!). For those who have done this, it is incredibly deceiving. It is a rather long, long, long walk! Whew! I remember the walk. And the Hope diamond. It was gianormous. Also during that trip, we visited my first ever Aquarium in Baltimore. Impressive.

When I was 15, at the  *perfect*  age, I had an opportunity to travel with a boyfriend's family to Disney World!! A for-real vacation! We stayed at the Dolphin Resort, a for-real fancy hotel! We visited Disney for 5 days. Epcot was by far my favorite, which explains my later love for country-to-country travels.

Walt Disney World, Dolphin Resort

   

   



...  ... to be continued ...

Zebra Stripes

This is a test, can I post a photo, a link to source, and then Pin it all on Pinterest?... we shall see! Let the experiment begin!

Zebra cake tutorial found  HERE.





...update:  IT WORKED! HOOOORAY!!! The first of many to come!  Sweet!   ;')

Jump Start

The ever important beginning to my day... coffee! Or as a very dear friend says; coffee-flavored-syrup (just the way I like it)! And with that, my very first ever photo post   :'9

First. Ever.

So this is my first blog post.  Ever.  (I know, I know, I am sooo behind the times!) What has started this all for me, is one incredible website that I am falling ever so in-love with; Pinterest! Through that one singular website I have realized how many 'Pinteresting' things I do on a regular basis. Add to my daily doings, the newly pinned ideas, and Ah-Ha moments, and the desire to have a spot to post photos and tutorials of what I do-do, and am going-to-do, and viola!, my very own blog is born!

I'm just so thrilled to have this started, am at a loss for words (a rarity, rest assured). Eager to start posting photos and Pinning, Pinning, Pinning! Wooooo!