"Missionary" Gifts

Some dear friends are leaving to serve as "need-greaters" in Dominican Republic and in Thailand.  I wanted to make something special for them to remember where they've been and where they are going.

I found a cute idea on pinterest and figured I could make it small enough to fit in their suitcases.  I also left the glass out of the frame to avoid any breakage in flight.

After searching the Dollar Tree, we found a little picture frame with 4 photo holes.  I searched google for state outlines and country outlines and then shrunk them to fit into the holes.

Both girls have lived in Guatemala, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Georgia.  One of the girls lived in Florida and she is planning to travel to Thailand.  The other girl is traveling to D.R.   

Here's what they ended up looking like:

I used a stick pin and foam to poke holes on the outline onto linen style scrapbook paper.

Then I stitched in pretty colors for the outlines following the holes I punched through previously. (Thankfully my Momma used to be an avid cross-stitcher and has lots of different colored DMC floss to choose from.  Thanks Momma!)

Then you cut out little red hearts from felt and hot glue them onto the places they lived and served.

We also spent some time at Dollar Tree picking out essentials they might need for their trips.  We bought tylenol (off brand), ibuprofen (off brand), cold medicine (day time and night time formula in one), facial cleansing cloths, feminine wipes, wet wipes, alcohol wipes, baking soda & vinegar (to clean the bacteria off the fruit), travel bags (to fill with clothing and vacuum out the air), granola bars, peanut butter crackers, socks (for the friends in D.R.), pony tail holders, sunscreen.  Sissy made them each a card, complete with eyeglasses made out of fake silver wedding rings.

And guess what?  I didn't even take a picture of them going through the box or of the tea party or of them crying over the pictures...I was lame.   They took pictures so I'm hoping they'll email them to me before they leave. 

They really liked everything and thought it was the "kindest thing anyone has ever done for us"...Made me cry.  I'm gonna miss them girls!!!  Thankfully they left their eldest sister at home so we still have someone to come over and dance with us :) 

Enjoy!

Disney's Tangled Party

When we first saw Tangled, I knew it was a keeper.  It appeals to girls and boys of all ages.  Our family thoroughly enjoyed it.  I immediately started planning a party for Sissy and her friends.  But then life happened and it got put on the back burner.  Finally, we had the party over the weekend.  I pretty much cased (copied-and-stole-everything) from this blog post and this one.  They had fantastic ideas and I saw no reason to change it.  After all, isn't that why we blog?  To share ideas with others?

So this is what we did.

We kept the decorations pretty simple. 

Wooley and I created two long braids with a whole skein of yellow yarn.  I hung one on the front door and one over the table from the light fixture.

Then I cut out the sun template and used a metallic gold spray paint to paint some purple pennants.  Then we hung them around the rooms and around the front porch.

I tried to recreate the tower in cake form using this post.  I found the orchid candy melts at Hobby Lobby and the waffle cone from Aldi.  I couldn't find the oversized muffin and forgot to bring home a muffin from work so I just used a big muffin from Walmart.  I ended up covering part of the muffin with the candy melts to exaggerate the roof line to mimic the actual tower in the movie.  I also didn't like the idea of the pecan swirl things, because I was unsure of the nut allergies of the other girls attending the party.  And I wanted it to be a tower...really tall.  So I baked some mini cupcakes and peeled them out of their liners and stacked them using a dowel rod.  It worked pretty good.

After it was all together, I piped green ivy and leaves all over the sides.  I had some old flowers from my wedding {gasp - I told you I was a hoarder!} and pulled them off to use on the sides of the tower.  I also used the larger flowers to top the cupcakes.

As for the cupcakes, I made the cupcake picks by print screening paused scenes of the movie on youtube.  I'm sure there is some sort of copyright infringement here, but I'm not selling them and used them for the kids.

We made tower fruit kabobs.  Filling cast iron skillets with fruit and cheese.  A cast iron skillet is a big deal in the movie.

I made braided pizza bread {reminiscent of her hair}.  I found a cute picture on pinterest and figured it wouldn't be that hard.  I used crescent rolls, but wished I had used puff pastry.  It would've tasted much better.  I served this with meatballs and marinara and a salad.

Sissy requested 'purple punch'.  So I made up this crazy conglomeration of purple powerade, purple cool-aid, purple grape juice concentrate, seltzer water and ice cubes.  It tasted pretty good.  The girls drank the whole thing.

They colored paper lanterns with water colors and markers.

We helped them make wacky hair with pipe cleaners, tulle and silk flowers.

The girls had a great time.

Having these friends in our lives is a blessing.  I've been friends with the mothers for years.  And I mean literally years, like 20 years plus.  So to know them and have them in our lives is truly a special gift.  And I thank Jehovah God for having such true and great friends.  Okay, enough of the sappy stuff :)  But I really do mean it.

Hope you have a great week!

Are you planning any parties?  Do you "case" ideas from other blogs?  If you don't, you should.  :)

Wordless Wednesday: Barnyard Cake

I had a request from a repeat client for a barnyard cake.

This is what it ended up looking like:

I was so proud of it!

Here's a close up of the sheep:

and of the piggie:

But guess what?

Yes, I put the wrong monogram on the banner!!!  Thankfully, I texted a picture of the cake to her before she picked it up and she saw that the "J" should have been a "T".  So I scraped the "J" off and added the "T".  To fix the scraping, I added a little blue flower. 

Hope you have a great week!

Enjoy!

North Carolina Waterfall Trip 13th Anniversary

We spent the weekend near Hendersonville, North Carolina.  Transylvania County is noted for their many beautiful natural waterfalls.  We stayed at a little cabin and hiked Friday - Sunday.  My legs are so sore, but it's a good thing.  We hiked to  4 waterfalls on Friday, 3 waterfalls on Saturday and one on Sunday.  Here's some pictures of our trip.

 That tree is an example of perseverance!

 Do you see the heart?  So sweet!

  Do you see the face in the rock?

Have a great week!

Wordless Wednesday: A Bee!

The other day I was chopping some lettuce for a salad when I came across this "shadow" in my lettuce.

Upon further investigation, I found it was a bee!

It's a wonder I didn't chop him in half!

Have you ever found anything strange in your food?

Do tell!

Enjoy!

First Day of School Cake 2011-2012

This was our first time to have our first day of school cake for dinner.  Obviously I'm a little behind on sharing pictures.  Oh well, busy, busy.  

Do y'all have a first day of school tradition?

Enjoy!

Wordy Wednesday: 8/10/11

Last week was a whirlwind.  I feel like life is spiraling out of control lately!  I need to figure out how to take control of the wheel!

We took the little kids tubing in Helen on Saturday.  I tried to get pictures and video, but the camera batteries were completely dead.  UGH!  Here's a picture of us in the car on the way there.

Afterwards, we went to my cousin Brenda's house for a "movie under the stars".   The kids sat through the movie.  I'm not sure if it was because it was their first outdoor experience or if they were just plain exhausted from a fun day on the river.  

One of the sisters from their congregation had a popcorn machine, so the kids were happy to help get it ready.

We brought our blankets and laid on the grass in the side yard.  It was so fun!  We had a really great time!

 Lightning bugs came out just before the movie was starting and Sissy was so excited!  For some reason, we don't have any lightning bugs at our house.  I think it's because of the tree frogs.  I think they're eating them.  So you can imagine how excited she was to chase after them in the field!

 

Monday we went to a meeting at the Library in Douglasville to learn more about the K12 Georgia Cyber Academy for Wooley's 9th grade.  Thursday we are meeting Sissy's Kindergarten teacher.  Friday Wooley has an appointment at the doctor for a physical.  I need to make dental appointments for all the kids for check ups.  I'm not sure who's going to have cavities and who's going to need major work.  We'll see...

Have a great week!

Wordless Wednesday: Menchie's

Have you heard of Menchie's? 

It's a frozen yogurt shop.

It's so cute and fun!

I love all the flavors and the special toppings.

Everything from fresh fruit to candies.

The kids loved it!  "This is our mix"...

I got Margarita Tart with fresh strawberries and blueberries.

They got Chocolate with M&M candies.

So yummy!

Enjoy!

Have a great day and enjoy the Wordless Wednesday linky below:

This post has been linked to the following:

• Wordful Wednesday at parenting BY dummies
• Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom
• Wordless Wednesday at A Lot of Loves
• Wordless Wednesday at Newlyweds Blog 
• Wordless Wednesday at A Daily Dose of Toni
• Wordless Wednesday at A Beautiful Mess

Wordless Wednesday: Play-Doh

Last week, the kids wanted to play with the play-doh.  

Here's the aftermath:

They had fun!

Enjoy!

Have a great day and enjoy the Wordless Wednesday linky below:

This post has been linked to the following:

• Wordful Wednesday at parenting BY dummies
• Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom
• Wordless Wednesday at A Lot of Loves
• Wordless Wednesday at Newlyweds Blog 
• Wordless Wednesday at A Daily Dose of Toni
• Wordless Wednesday at A Beautiful Mess

Wordless Wednesday: Dance Recital Photos

Sissy has her first (and probably her last for a while) dance recital this weekend. Yesterday we went to the Portrait Innovations in Newnan to get pictures made. Her class is performing 101 Dalmatians.

Have a great day and enjoy the Wordless Wednesday linky below:

This post has been linked to the following:

• Wordful Wednesday at parenting BY dummies
• Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom
• Wordless Wednesday at A Lot of Loves
• Wordless Wednesday at Newlyweds Blog 
• Wordless Wednesday at A Daily Dose of Toni
• Wordless Wednesday at A Beautiful Mess