Brayden's Baseball Birthday Party

We celebrated Brayden's 4th birthday with a Baseball Birthday Party.  We had lots of fun with ballpark food...hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts and other fun treats.  The kids had fun in our game "Pin the Ball on the Bat" and then getting candy from the baseball pinata.  It was a fun day!

The cupcakes were topped with baseball whistles for everyone.

The night before his birthday, Jonathan put together Brayden's

first big-boy bike.  Thank goodness for internet tutorials to help

you at midnight!  Fun times being a dad!

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Oh the excitement while waiting for his birthday present!

Happy 4th Birthday, Brayden!

I Love You...THIS MUCH!

I made this Valentines card for Brayden to send to his grandparents who live far away. We always say, "I love you...THIS much" and stretch our arms out super wide.  When I saw this idea, it was perfect!  

First, I just traced his hands onto colored cardstock.

Then, I traced it with a Sharpie...

made it easy to cut out and defined it a bit more.

Then, I cut strips and folded them like an accordion. (One per card)

Glue the accordion (folded up) inside the hands.

So when you send the card...

...it lets them know just how much you love them!

Happy Valentines Day!

I Love You Because...

Recently, I printed this art that says, "I love you because: _________"  I framed it and use the glass just like a dry erase board.  Each day, Jonathan and I switch off writing reasons we love each other.  It sits on our bathroom counter, and I love each day seeing what it says.  It's been such a great way of remembering how amazing my husband is and telling him consistently how I appreciate and love him.

Source for printable: Eighteen 25

Christmas Creativity

Christmas makes me want to make fun things and be creative in my gifts.

This year, we made homemade salsa and banana bread

for our neighbors and made a fun label for it.

 For Brayden's preschool Christmas party, I made these cute reindeer

candy bars that I saw on Pinterest.  I wrapped the Hershey's bars 

in brown cardstock, made antlers with a dark brown cardstock 

and glued them on, then I glued on googly eyes and a reindeer nose.

Another thing I saw on Pinterest was a way to make

super easy "homemade marshmallows"...made from Cool Whip.

1. Spread the Cool Whip out on a cookie sheet or in a pie pan.

2. Freeze   3. Cut out with any shape cookie cutter

 Place in your hot chocolate!  It makes it super creamy and delicious!

Craft Day - Wood Photo Blocks

One of my favorite projects we did at Craft Day was "Picture Wood Blocks."  I found this tutorial via Apartment Therapy, and it is a MUST DO.  You actually transfer the ink from a picture onto a block of wood.  So cool!

The supplies you need for this project are...

Wood block (I got a 1"x6"x5' board that I got cut into 10" sections at Lowe's)

Gel Medium (I used Liquitex Matte Gel from Hobby Lobby)

Mod Podge

Picture printed on a regular piece of printer paper from your home printer

   (Tip: since you'll be laying the picture on the wood, 

    so it will be reversed, so before printing, flip it horizontally.)

Black craft paint

Paint brush or foam brush

Ribbon & staples/staple gun to hang wood block (optional)

Video tutorial here on Apartment Therapy.

Cut your picture the size of the wood block.  Coat one side of your wood with Gel Medium and lay your picture down.  Let dry overnight.  The next day, get a paper towel wet and squeeze the water out so it's just damp.  Wipe over entire board so picture is wet.  Begin using your fingers to wipe away the paper.  Your picture will be left!

After getting all the paper off, coat the wood in Mod Podge.  Let dry.

(Note: in the picture below, I didn't reverse the image on the picture.  It's not the same wood block as pictured above.)

If you want to hang your wood block, cut your ribbon to size,

and use a staple gun to attach ribbon.

One last detail to make it complete is to paint the edges in black craft paint.  

The edges don't have to be perfect.  Now it's ready to hang!