Munchkin Monday: Puffy Paint

 I saw this idea on Pinterest and had to try it out.  It was a lot of fun and my kids loved it =)  I even got in on the action and made a picture.  This is a great activity for rainy days

This is really cool and super quick/easy.  Combine the following in a little bowl:

1 tablespoon self-rising flour (For each cup of all-purpose flour, add 1 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt)

a few little drops of food coloring (feel free to mix colors too)

1 tablespoon salt

Then add some water to make a nice smooth paste.  I think it was bout 2-3 teaspoons of water.

Paint away on a nice thick sheet of cardboard (if you don't have enough paint brushes use cotton buds - they work really well). For the cardboard, you can cut up some cereal boxes and use those.  Make sure when they paint that they have globs of paint or else those parts won't puff up.

Microwave the design on high for 10 - 30 seconds until the paint puffs and it's all nice and dry.  We did ours for 30 seconds. 

(ignore the grease spots...it was from a cracker box.....)

I loved how they puffed up a bit and then hardened.  We didn't have to wait forever for them to dry and they hold pretty well for when kids like to carry them around and show off their artwork.

You can find this awesome post linked up to the following Fantastic Parties:

Foodie Friday: Pierogies Au Gratin

Hey Ya'll!  Come hop on over to The Terrace Housewife....

Where I'm sharing this yummy dinner!

Please, come stop by & say "Hi!"

You can find this awesome post linked up to the following Fantastic Parties:

DIY Thursday: Flowerpot Frog

I saw this idea in a magazine a little while back and wanted to do it. This is very easy and makes for a cute outdoor decoration!

What you will need:

Green, light green, pink, and black paint, 3 teracotta pots-two 2 inch and one a 6 or 8 inch depending on how big you want your frog, a pair of wiggle eyes, glue gun, and some clear acrylic finishing spray.

Step 1;

Paint the outside of your pots greeen. I did two coats. The lighting makes the paint look turquoise but it is a solid green color I promise!

Step 2:

Paint the inside of your big pot pink and the light green in the small ones. I did two coats of pink and three of the green.

Step 3:

Paint on two black lines on the rim of the big pot to create the "nose"

Step 4 and 5:

Spray your pots with the finishing spray and let dry. Once completely dry glue the eyes into the small pots and then glue the small pots onto the big pots and wahlah! You now have a cute decoration to put outside in your garden or flower bed!

You can find this awesome post linked up to the following Fantastic Parties:

Wild Card Wednesday: The Very Hungry Caterpillar Baby Shower

 My friend Brittany is having a cute little baby boy soon and I wanted to throw her a baby shower!  We work at the elementary school and so I did one for the faculty and it was a hit!  I did the theme "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," which has proven to be very popular on Pinterest.

One big bummer...we both forgot our cameras and so I had to take these with my phone.  They turned out HORRIBLE!  But this is what I got...

 I made it a book themed shower, because teachers LOVE books!

The invite reads:

"Please join us for a book themed baby shower in honor of...

Bring a favorite childhood book and help build baby ----- library!"

I used pipe cleaners for the cute caterpillar!  Love it!!!

These are the thank yous I made....I just filled the bags with "bugs and kisses."

 The faculty helped provide the food, which was fruits & vegetables, and cheese & crackers.  I wanted something light, and also wanted to incorporate fruit from the book.

HUNGRY?  I used fruit patterned scrapbook paper to make the hungry banner.

The lovely Teresa so kindly made cupcakes for me at a very reasonable price.  You should have her make you some, totally worth the price (which is pretty reasonable).

Brittany chose Raspberry Lemonade cupcakes and they were D-LISH-US!

I made the diaper cake and used leaves to decorate it.  Again, I wish I had a better picture for you!

 Anyone care for a pom-pom caterpillar???

This was huge and worked well in the massive school library!  He turned out SO SO cute!  So much better in person!  You should totally make one, so easy and so cute!

 I did not get a good shot of the centerpieces....BOO!!!!

I did taffy skewers to look like caterpillars and the guests took them home.  I filled a star shaped bowl (hooray for the $ store!) with the swirly Trix to imitate the dots in the book.  I also copied the fruit and cut them out and scattered them on the tables.  Each table was a different day from the book.  This picture shows Friday where he ate through oranges. 

My little boy and I also made coffee filter butterflies.  Just color on the coffee filter with regular markers, spritz with some water, hang to dry and you have a cool watercolor butterfly!  Oh and don't forget to tie the middle with a pipe cleaner and use the ends to make antenna.

This is the present area.  It looks sad right now, but this was before guests arrived!

I made another banner with baby's name and found these cool marbleized balloons that totally match the dots in the book too!

 Here is beautiful Britt!  I just love her tons and tons!!!

We are keeping our fingers crossed that her baby has red hair....SO cute!

It was SO much fun and I can't wait to meet her cute baby and smother him with kisses!!!!

You can find this awesome post linked up to the following Fantastic Parties: