Soccer Banner Blue Dolphins

Here is another try at a soccer banner. Googled a dolphin silhouette and then practiced free hand drawing it. I added spots on the ball and made it a soccer ball. I made the girls names as the wave and simply used puffy paint. Best thing is my daughter loved it!

Lego Ninjago Piñata Party

I just celebrated my sons 7th birthday with a Lego party! Of all the parties I've thrown this is my favorite theme. The kids had a blast.

First I started off by making a Ninjago Piñata!
I used my old expired coupons and paper mached it. I used just flour, water and a pinch of salt and made the texture be like glue. I used a beach ball and covered it all up with the mixture. It was very messy and gooey but fun too! I put a bunch of layers on and I think it was too much because it was not dry in the morning. So I took my blow dryer and speeded it along.
When it was dry I stuffed it with candy and a lego build it pack for each child. Then I put a hanger inside duct taped the top, paper mached the green crepe paper around the whole piñata.
When that dried I then glue gunned the outside to have a neater appearance. I was a bit worried about the strength of piñata so I ended up having kids karate kick or hit it. It turned out great and lasted a while. The kids had a great time!

So I searched the web for many Lego Party ideas...

Here is a list of what we did at the party.

1. Dumped a bunch of legos on the floor so when the kids came in they could build.

2. Had a lego coloring sheet of a mini figure.

3. Guess the amount of legos in the jar.

4.Memory board, I put a bunch of my sons lego figures on a memory board and then had the kids look at it and then later try to tell me how many they remembered.

5. First group game was who could build the tallest tower in 1 min 30 sec

6. Next game was have a judge leave the room and have all the kids work on their own individual build. Display the legos and have the judge decide which one was best.

7.PINATA

8. Build time..... The kids got their candy and lego packs and spread out all over and started putting them together. took about 20 minutes of intense work. Put the legos into goody bags.

9. Made the lego cake and chocolate mini fugures and cupcakes.  The kids loved it!

10. Opened presents. 

11. Had the kids choose their colors of the crayons mini figures that I made. Another hit.

So the party was 2 hours long. Kids were super entertained. Reminded me of being a teacher again. The prizes were a simple baby food jar that I had painted yellow. I hung a picture of all the lego faces and told them to draw one on the jar with a sharpee. They really liked doing that too. I also had Ninjago books as prizes and of coarse a candy bar if I need an extra prize. 

****If you have extra money to spend on the party and you want a real thriller check out this real LEGO JEEP

If you live in the SF Bay area you can get this cool jeep to come to your party! Just imagine those kids faces!

Photo shoot turned video

My sister was having One Direction Babies styling withdraw... so lucky me. She styled my kids for a little photo shoot. The color scheme of gray, white, maroon, and navy blue makes a group of four look even more like they belong together. I made the bow tie and got great directions from my friends blog here!!!!With Easter coming up.... you just might find yourself making a bow tie too.
Consider doing a photo shoot with your kids and then adding music. It makes for a beautiful keepsake.

Here is the cute lil video. I only did the footage last minute with my iPhone. But I think it turned out pretty cute.

Live Chick Pics

Welcome to the world Baby Chicky!

So I always wanted my kids photographed with live chicks. But the studios in our area charge more than $150 for just a couple of pics. So I did it myself and got the baby chicks at a farm store. The experience and the pictures turned out great. To all those worried about the tender lives of the chicks, my sister lives on a small ranch and the chicks grew up to bless them with many eggs! 

Easter Basket with real grass and real bunny

So I decided to try to plant an Easter basket this year with grass seed. I got the cute basket lined with a plastic container at the goodwill for $5. Dirt from my empty garden and a cupful of seed from a friend. Thanks Karen! The grass took about 3 weeks to sprout and then it came up thick and strong. The bunny is our pet and I plan to have a beautiful photo shoot along with 4 darling kids dressed in their Easter best and some plastic eggs. I will post the pic when I get it all done!

Succulents!

I am crazy about succulents. I never thought I had a green thumb in my body but succulents have stolen my heart. Just the amazing way they grow with different geometrical shapes can keep me gazing forever. The greatest thing about them is you can't kill them. You can take a cutting off of one and then stick it in some soil and watch it grow. I have them lined up on my porch, by bathroom window sill, my backyard and my kitchen counter. Yes, I have the bug and I enjoy it!

Spring Time Family Picture with an Oak tree

Our Family Tree

This is my all time favorite family picture idea. I drove around one day to find the best oak tree spot.  I had my sister take the picture. She couldn't at the time see my vision. She thought I wanted close ups of the family but I insisted I wanted the family small and the whole tree in the picture.

I got the frames at Michaels and took the collage matting out.
I bought the picture at Costco 18x24 for around $10
I used the glass in the frame to help cut the picture just a tiny bit.

I love the coral and yellow shirts and the mustard seeds all around. Avery special picture to me and one that I am sure to do again but maybe in another season.

Another neat way to frame this picture would be on canvas with a landscape design. Costco has the option and you can have a canvas picture divided into 3 canvases.