This little girl turned 3 this weekend!

We incorporated a German tradition into our celebration, thanks to our lovely foreign exchange student.  In Germany, they set a special place at the table for the birthday girl or boy the night before.  The birthday person can’t see it until the day of the birthday.  They decorate it with candles to blow out, special dishes, flowers, streamers, balloons, whatever.  The presents are in place, ready to be opened.  Since Lydia was having a monster party that day, we used Halloween tableware for her special place.  She was thrilled.

And then, the party began.  She had requested a monster party, so we did our best to oblige.  But have you ever tried to plan a monster party in any month outside of October?  It’s not easy, my friends.  We had to stretch the imagination a bit.

The monster cake, made by my dashing and talented husband.

The monster drink: lime sherbet and 7 Up, an idea from Marie’s Monster Mania eBook

The monster party favors, a HUGE stretch.  The whoppers are “monster eyeballs,” the m&m’s are “monster polka-dots” (cuz, ya know, some monsters have polka dots on their bodies) and the twizzlers are “monster tongues.”  We also found some little monster toys and figurines at a party store and they were a huge hit.

The monster party craft: monster feet, an idea also taken from Marie’s Monster Mania ebook.

The monster activity: reading monster books.  See those smiles on the kiddos’ faces?  My hubby is a real crowd pleaser.

The monster game: “Don’t Eat Pete” with Halloween faces in the boxes.  Printable game cards and instructions are here.

All the little monsters behaved themselves and the Birthday Girl had a good time!  Happy birthday to my big, grown up girl (who informed me today that she is now big enough to drive).

Are you still looking for a fun 4th of July craft?  Check out Marie’s blog:  www.makeandtakes.com.  There are a gazillion.  And they’re good ones too.  Good for people like me who don’t know how to craft and good for people like my 2 year old daughter who gets so fantastically excited any time I mention an art project but is sadly dependent on me who doesn’t know how to craft.  I planned to do this one with my daughter but time got away from me.  Who cares?  I’m still going to do it after the 4th.  It’s cool to be patriotic any day of the year, right? 

Also, check out www.alwayssomethingtotalkabout.com.  We’re talking about our fathers and their good qualities.  (I know that Father’s Day was a while ago.  But it’s still timely since we’re celebrating the ‘fathers’ of our country this weekend!  Stretch much?)  We would love to hear what you love about your dad or other dads you know.  It’s so fun to see the important things that stick out to each person.  We’re all so different.

Here’s my daddy 27 years ago.  I was a much cuter baby than this picture portrays.

I’m always on the lookout for easy toddler crafts.  The less preparation, materials, and effort involved, the better.  Let’s face it.  I’m lazy when it comes to crafts. 

I saw this craft somewhere at some point in my life, but I don’t remember where.  It’s super easy.  It takes 3 materials and 3 minutes to prepare.

Materials:

Piece of paper
Cotton balls
Glue

Three minutes of preparation:

Cut out the shape of a fuzzy spring animal- a lamb or a bunny.  (I’m sure there are more fuzzy spring animals, but I’m drawing a blank.)

Now, before I show you the awesome picture of our lamb, I must warn you not to get jealous of my artistic abilities.  Jealousy isn’t very becoming.  Also, it won’t get you any closer to being as great of an artist as me.

See?  I’m amazing.

Now that those 3 minutes of preparation are up, gather your toddler and glue.  Help your toddler smear glue all over your fuzzy spring animal.

Give your toddler some cotton balls and instruct her to cover all the glue with the cotton balls.

Voila.

Set it aside in a special place to show to Daddy (or Mommy or Grandma or Grandpa or the neighbor) as soon as it dries.

We all know grandparents love getting cards from toddler grandchildren with scribbles and special stickers on them.  Even though toddlers don’t know what they’re doing, it’s still fun to receive a homemade card with the “signature” of that cute two year old.

Lydia loves scribbling away while chattering about Grandma Diamond or Grandma and Grandpa Brown.  She is even at a stage where she adamantly chooses which card goes to which grandparent.  Somehow, each scribble has meaning to her.

Until now, scribbles, stickers and glued on shapes have been the means of making cards for our family members. 

But we’ve come across an even cuter way to do personalized toddler cards.

This is a Valentine Lydia received from her almost 2 year old friend, Jack.

Making a card this way serves so many purposes.

1. You can see that all the letters of her name are used in the card, so it was made personally for Lydia. 

2. You can also see that it was made personally by little Jack because of the way the letters and hearts are arranged.

3. Jack got a lesson in letters and shapes while he applied his stickers.

4. Lydia loves picking out the letters of her name while she carries the card around the house. 

It’s cute, it’s creative, it’s personal, and it inspires learning.  It’s the perfect way for a toddler to make a card!

When I was seventeen, my church youth group did a time capsule activity.  I remember being very unenthusiastic about this activity.  Now, I can’t figure out why I wasn’t excited- this is exactly the type of thing I love to do!

Well, it’s been ten years since that activity took place.  While putting away the Christmas decorations in our Harry Potter closet under the stairs the other day, I found the time capsule.  My husband has been itching to open it up since we got married, but I’m a stickler for rules.

Since it is now 2010, we were finally allowed to open and reveal the great desires of my 17 year old self.

It was rather disappointing.  Remember- I was unenthusiastic at the time the capsule was sealed.  The things put in the capsule were mostly put in there by my dear friend Jill who wouldn’t let me seal it up without something interesting.  She made copies of pictures and cards for me.

And it looks like I grabbed a few things on my way out the door- the cover of a college application, a certificate for a judged piano performance, my senior picture.  These were interesting to see, but not exactly exciting.

There were two things in the capsule I was happy to see:

1. the pictures Jill copied.  Thank you Jill. 

and

2. a sealed letter from my mother to me.

So that you don’t make the same mistake as me, I have compiled a list of things to include in a time capsule.  At the start of a new year and decade, now is a great time for your family to make your own time capsule!

What to Put in a Time Capsule

1. Lots of pictures.  It made me happy to see a picture of myself with my high school friends.  I am still friends with each one of them today.

2. Letters.  If your children are making a time capsule, write them a letter and seal it up (BEFORE they have read it).  Tell them what you love about them and what you hope for them.  Tell them what you believe and why.  Mention something about what they are currently doing in life.

Have your child write a letter to herself.  Those are so fun to read years later.  If you are making a time capsule for yourself, write yourself a letter.  Think about how old you will be when you open the time capsule, and write about what you hope to have accomplished at that point.

Have siblings, friends and even neighbors write letters too.  Be sure to have them include last names.

3. Lists.  I would have loved to have read a list of what I loved at the age of seventeen.  Or a list of what I hated.  A list of my favorite things in my room.  A list and description of my favorite outfits.  A list of my favorite song artists.  A list of my top 3 college choices.  A list of my favorite books.  A list of my favorite movies.  A Top 10 of my year…you get the idea.

4. Wages and prices.  It would have been fun to find an old pay stub and receipt for something I saved to buy.

5. Labels.  I found a little pink birdhouse with my name on it.  I have no idea where it came from, who made it or why I would have included it in my time capsule.  If you do put an item in your capsule, be sure to include a description of it’s origin and meaning to you at the time.

6. Movie stubs

7. Gas receipts

8. Grocery receipts

9. Your favorite book, cd or movie. Be sure it’s not your only copy since you’re sealing this up for a period of time.

10. Children’s artwork-label label label!  You won’t remember what the scribbles were supposed to be 10 years later!

11. Outlines of hands and feet

12. A lock of hair Since hair color changes (naturally or chemically), it could be fun to compare when you open the capsule.

13. An outgrown but favorite outfit or pair of shoes

14. A calendar of your year- with all the appointments.  Doctor appointments, vacations and piano lessons can be interesting years later! 

15. Paint chips, carpet, fabric swatches from your house

Have you ever made a time capsule?  What did you include?

Welcome to my Halloween Blog Party! 

Vanessa Valencia at A Fanciful Twist is hosting this fantabulous blog party.  Here is what’s going on at Thrilled by the Thought!

To get into the spirit of Halloween, we went to a graveyard.

We practiced wearing our costumes.

And now, the day is here!  Join us as we craft and look at art (my favorite thing to do!!)

First, we will make these candle holders.  Very simple.  Buy a regular vase, get some heavy duty spray glue and some Haloweenish tissue paper.  Spray the paper with the heavy duty spray glue and paste the paper on how you like it!

Now, let’s look at some scary art. 

Francisco Goya, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters

Oh I’m so glad my dreams are not like this.

Caspar David Friedrich, Abbey in the Oak Forest

Even though this looks like a photograph, it is an oil painting!  Incredible!

Edvard Munch, The Scream

A psychological nightmare

Henry Fuseli, The Nightmare

Again, I’m so glad my dreams are not like this!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Grab a spider ring on your way out!

My baby got a super fun Halloween package in the mail from her cousin in California yesterday.  It was in such creative packaging that I had to share!

There was a big hole cut out on the side for the retrieval of the goodies.  Over the hole was taped the address label.

I knew my husband would want to participate in the opening, so I just let my baby play with the package until he got home.  10 month olds are so easy to please!

I was planning on making my baby’s costume since I am an incredible seamstress (laugh laugh), but then I saw THIS!  I didn’t know store bought baby costumes could be so stinkin cute!  Oh boy, what am I going to do now?

Since I became a stay-at-home mom 8 months ago, I’ve had a bit more time on my hands, something I have loved.  I never considered myself a crafty person, but I am finding myself enjoying crafts more and more.  I stumbled upon Erin Schlosser’s design craft site a while ago and became inspired to make my own cards.  Mine are nothing like hers, so please go visit her site for some real inspiration.  However, here’s what my husband and I came up with for some “Thinking of You” cards:

And here is one of her lovely concoctions.  (I purposely posted mine first, so you would think mine were good for at least a second)

I actually won a giveaway of some lovely cloth napkins on her site.  I’m going to embroider them with her stamp designs like shown here.  Click for more pictures and a tutorial.

When I opened up my package of lovely cloth napkins, there was a lovely “thank you” card, hand made of course, by Erin Schlosser! 

One thing I have always wanted to be supremely good at is sewing.  A neighbor mentioned to me that she sews, and before she even knew what had hit her, I had her commited to being my sewing instructor.  Poor girl. 

I am so obnoxiously proud of the dress I made for my baby girl.  I really have no valid reason to be so proud, since said neighbor coached me along every step of the sewing process. 

The dress took 7 (SEVEN- OY!) hours to make and I was so excited when it was done.  I put it on Baby Girl right away, only to discover that the guidelines for sizes are WAY off!  She’s swimming in the dress!

Yes, the dress is supposed to go to just below her knees.  It is also supposed to stay up without my husband holding the straps in the back.  It should fit something like this:

Now, for some ridiculous reason, I am attempting this pattern on my own:

Do you think I can do it?  I’m not so sure.  What craft have you always wanted to try?