I love when Target reads my mind!

I found these goodies the other day at the Target dollar section. Candy and ice cream shaped lip glosses, little candy printed zipper boxes and ice cream bangle bracelets. Perfect for K's Six is Sweet party this summer! I didn't want to give a bunch of candy as favors, so these fit the bill! This is the advantage of planning way in advance! Now if they will just get a bunch of dog type stuff! :)

They've also got cute farm stuff, Hello Kitty and Batman right now. I also picked up a bunch of blue squishy balls for M's dog and blue party.

I'm excited to announce Deanna's Designs is finally open!

Here she is! My first listing over on etsy (check out the little etsy link on the left sidebar)! I've had this sweet set of overalls for a couple of years. I think I had them up on ebay originally. Then I've had to wait til spring to sell them, as obviously, they are a springy/Easter type item. I really loved these and never had the size fit at the right time for Maressa or I would have kept them!

Today I've got a rainbow of hoodie towels to list, some other baby goodies and eventually some simple toddler sets (size 2t).

Serger was dropped off this morning. Will do my twirly skirt tutorial when I get it back. I've got some others to do til then and more party talk. For now I'm gonna get sewing! :)

Trying to get back in the groove

We got back Sun night. So far it's been getting back into routine, extra homework for Z to make up and little nesting (I get into a cleaning/nesting kick when I get home from trips away from home). Finally last night I totally got into a sewing groove. I have decided to stock my etsy store for the first time ever this spring. I have one item ready to go...something I made a couple of years back. I started into all my blanks and fabric I had on hand. Came up with a sweet overall design...which I haven't done overalls since my ebay days. But I have some nice Old Navy's left over and thought I'd use them up. Well, unfortunately, my serger wasn't having it. :( I bent my upper looper. Really bummed now. So it's going to the shop. Til I get it back, I'm going to make up some simple skirts and embellished tees and other simple things.

And been working on a pile of bibs for a friend. She will take as many as I can sew for her precious daughter who because of special needs, needs to wear a bib constantly...and not baby ones and they need to be nice and thick and soft (and pretty of course).

Also, made up this yummy shortbread. It's from a package mix from Target. Vanilla bean shortbread I believe it's called and I mixed in milk choc chips and it's very yummy!

Anyway, back to my shop deal. I plan on making an assortment of simple outfits, toddler dresses, separates and some baby items and toys, maybe a mom item or 2. For those of you you might be interested in my stuff, I'd love to hear any suggestions of items the you'd like to see in my shop...anything you've seen on my blog or anything you think up and sizes you'd like to see as well. For clothes, as you may have noticed, I'm kinda a Dr. Jeckle and Mr Hyde...I like both fun and funky and sweet girlie. I may even pump out some toddler boys tees.

I'll be MIA this week

It is finally here.

Headed out this evening I hope and will be returning on Sunday.

Hope everyone has a happy craft week...I'm trying to think of some type of crafting I can do while traveling to pass the time...any ideas anyone?

Two at the Zoo toddler party

The invitation: made with Marcella K paper pad from Target. Elephant template found here.

The hat (that I completely forgot about til after the party): paper crown made using this felt crown template and added strip of paper in the back fastened with tape.

The decorations: I made reusable birthday signs with artist canvas. It was old artwork I made for a nursery for Z. I stitched the Happy Birthday cut from felt on a piece of pink felt and stretched it and stapled to the back. The '2nd' and name I just placed on the felt so they can be traded out for future birthdays, just like a felt board.

Zoo garland: I used a hole punch on the aforementioned papers and sewn side by side with a straight stitch on my machine to make a garland.

The cupcakes: chocolate box mix with homemade buttercream icing and dot sprinkles. Toothpicks have paper dots attached with double sided tape.

The activities: foam placemats...large sheets bought at Hobby Lobby and foam letter and zoo animal stickers. Also had blown up this animal park pool we already had and filled it with ball pit type balls.

The toddler food: raisins, cheese, sunflower kernels, whole wheat crackers and mini fruit salads served in silicone baking cups.

Paper zoo cups with lids: found at grocery store.

The zoo dress: tshirt dress made with Alexander Henry zoo fabric and gingham bias trim.

Favors 1: little name bracelets made from elastic string and plastic pony beads. BIG hit since all attendants were 2 year old girls. They all put them on right away.

Favors 2: small wire baskets, animal board book, stuffed elephant from Target dollar section, plus side walk chalk (in favor bag) and animal crackers.

4 months and counting til the next party......... :)

Dedicated to the one I love

I just love this song!

Happy Valentines Day!!

Baby no more :(

Today she's two. No more babies in the house. First time in over 7 years. Very strange feeling.
Happy Birthday sweet little girl!!

Oh and I guess I'm another year older. And Z loves to always put the year you are on the cards he makes. I haven't told him yet that adults don't generally flaunt their age. So I got a lovely card from him with not only a giant 36 on the front, but the back as well...in case I forget I guess! lol :)

Valentine princess and heart felt crown

Today was K's preschool Valentines party. It was a princess/knight theme. I was SO happy that K decided to participate. She NEVER does the dress up thing outside of the home even though there are plenty for preschool. Last summer she was diagnosed with social anxiety and selective mutism. Part of that is she is very sensitive to what she wears/hair. In an effort to gently push her to participate (and not actually be the different one) I asked her if I made her this felt crown, would she wear it, even with regular clothes. She said yes, she liked the idea. So I stayed up last night late making her this heart crown to wear to her party.
I was still skeptical. I even talked her into wearing her pettiskirt over some leggings to be princess like. She actually agreed, but I still was not going to get my heart set on having a pretty little princess to take to school this morning.

I laid it all out for her last night in the playroom. And sure enough when I got up she had it all on. No fussiness or self conscienceness at all! She wore it all at school all morning, crown and everything. Even the only one with a crown! She was happy and giddy! You guys with naturally outgoing children just don't know how you can take that for granted. To see her happy and participating and being a 'regular' little girl was so heart warming. Many times she's just a 'watcher'. Too afraid to join in.

I'm proud of you princess!! :)

Make some strawberry candy popcorn

Another yummy treat you can give someone on Valentines Day. This is pretty easy to make.

Just take 4 quarts of popcorn (I used microwave), put on a pan in oven at 200F to keep warm.

Now make your candy. Mix the following ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil stirring constantly.
1 1/2 C granulated sugar
1/2 C light corn syrup
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
Cook to 250F without stirring. Remove from heat. After boiling action ceases, add 1tsp strawberry flavoring and color. Add 1 tsp baking soda and stir in quickly, but thoroughly. Pour at once while foamy over popcorn and stir gently to coat. Spread onto cookie sheet til completely cooled. Break into bite sized pieces.

Enjoy or give to a friend/teacher!

You Warm my Heart Heating Pad

Here's a little tutorial on making a really quick rice heating pad. The long and skinny ones are really nice for sore shoulders and necks.

For this particular one (that went out in my giveaway) I made an inner pad with a washable slipcover. This slipcover is actually a women's knee high sock I cut the foot off of.

To make:
First cut the foot off your sock. Turn it inside out and hem the open, cut end with your machine and a ball point needle. Turn right side out again and put aside.

Now take a piece of fabric cut to 12.5" x 8". Turn right sides together and sew along one short side and down the long side. Turn right side out. Fill with dry long grain rice. I used a tall glass to put the fabric tube in and use a small measuring cup to fill it. Leave about 2-3 inches from the top. Fold in open end and sew with 2 straight stitches. Now pull sock over the rice pad and use or give as a gift.

Idea: Make some with gender neutral socks/fabric and give as a His and Hers pads.

To heat: 2 minutes in the microwave will make it nice and hot. You can also leave in freezer for cold therapy.

*Edited to add: if your sock has silver, shiny threads, be sure to remove sock portion before microwaving! :)

Now you don't have to make long skinny or sock ones. This rectangle one was made for my oldest son years ago (he gets tummy aches with his fevers). It is made with fleece (though I don't highly recommend due to it seems to 'sweat' when hot, but it works fine anyway). To make a rectangular one, just sew 2 rectangles right sides facing as making a pillow and leave a 'hole' on one side for filling. Then fill and sew up the open seam. This one has seen many upset tummies from all of us in our house. I really need to make a few more. :)

Make some strawberry marshmallow heart pops!

I made these yummy marshmallow pops at the end of last week. They were super easy to make.

Here's what I did. I used half of this recipe and instead of vanilla I added 1/4 tsp strawberry flavoring from Hobby Lobby. Then at the end one drop of red food coloring to make them a light pink.

After flipping the marshmallow out of the pan onto powdered sugar, I used a medium sized heart shaped cookie cutter to cut them out. Then dipped the sticky edges into more powdered sugar til they were completely coated.

Then I melted white chocolate bark and dipped the tops into that and then sprinkled them. To make them pops, I lightly greased the ends of popsicle sticks and twisted them up into the marshmallow. These would be good with regular chocolate too!

If you don't want to make pops, they look really pretty plain (or dipped) in these printed cupcake liners I found at Hobby Lobby. These would make for yummy Valentines party treats or a special teacher Valentines gift.

Target frames are up

Well here is what I ended up doing with those Target frames...for now. Not sure if I like it or not. But for now these hang in the playroom. All I did was put in a pic of one child when they were much younger, then one of some art they've done and a current pic. I hung the top pic on a nail, the art pic I attached the ribbon to the bottom metal flap that holds the picture in and the same for the bottom picture. I did it for each kid and hung them side by side in a random pattern.

Note that M's (the 'baby') pictures look almost identical, though over a year apart! And she STILL looks the same. We are hoping for hair this year! :) Oh and her 'art work' is from the famous purple marker incident.

I did go back and get some white ones. I'm going to have K draw art for their new room and hang them not by the ribbons, but use poster putty to hang them.

Another idea for these frames is remove the ribbon and attach adhesive magnet to the back and hang on your fridge.

Copycat Goodies...caution:this post may cause waist line expansion

I really need to stop perusing blogs with scrumptious goodies posted on them! Because I then need to make said scrumptious goodies, and further more eat them! So I am sharing the agony. ;)

I HAD to make these chocolate pretzel 'button's seen here via Crafty crow.

Mine are slightly different in that I couldn't find the round pretzels so I improvised with these round pretzel/peanut butter sandwiches. And boy oh boy! The peanut butter, pretzel and chocolate! Mmmmm! These are very addicting.

I tried these candy cane hearts seen here with leftover candy canes. I didn't have much luck making these look very neat. So I gave up.

These however were SO good! I saw them made here and went to try them myself. I never got around to making the icing/ganache but they are quite decadent just plain.

I made some of my own creations as well. Will share some strawberry white chocolate dipped marshmallow pops and strawberry candy popcorn next week. Will also do that rice heating pad tutorial, twirl skirt tutorial and Two at the Zoo party next week! That is if we aren't in at the NIH...still waiting for that fever!

Happy Weekend all! We will be enjoying 60+ degree whether here! Unfortunately we have basketball game, birthday party to take kid to and cubscout banquet to attend to instead of enjoying the sunshine....gonna try to squeeze in some if we can...even if it's eating at Chick fil a on their patio/play area for lunch in between all the rest!

And we have a winner! :)

I have really enjoyed reading everyone's stories! So many valentine babies (or almost)! My 'baby' was born 2 years ago the 13th...yep on my birthday! She was scheduled to be induced the 15th, but had other plans. My hubby and I had plans the 13th to go to dinner, in laws on the way and my water broke that morning at 5 am! So I got to spend that Valentines day in the hospital with a spinal headache (a complication from the epidural...which didn't EVEN work!) It was kinda a blur.....

This year we are spending Valentines day having a 2 year old birthday party. BUT we have a babysitter for the 13th and are going to dinner. Figured might as well while M doesn't have a clue and my oldest is going to his 'best friend's' slumber party that night.

Soooo.... this is what I've been doing this week. Painting M's room a light pink (hard to tell with the dark lighting in this pic).

This is what is looked like before. Handmade bumper, blankets, valance and pillow by me.

So you are probably wondering why I did such a thing! Well, we're moving the girls in together by K's request. And bought bunk beds (though M will stay in her crib for a while longer).

And I bought K all the beautiful shabby chic stuff a year and half ago and decided it would be cheaper to buy another bedding set to match that than buy 2 new bedding sets/accessories.

The room is actually completely painted now and bunk beds assembled, but it's still a work in progress trying to fit all of K's stuff in! I'm really loving the light, pale pink compared to the awful pepto pink I tried last time.

Anyway, enough about me, I know you want to know who won! I wrote everyone's names on slips of paper and drew a name....my comments aren't numbered and I was afraid of messing that up and there were a few double comments.

And the name I drew was........saraiwithani
Email me with your address at mattdeanna@bellsouth.net and I'll get it in the mail! Congrats!!

Thanks so much everybody for your comments!!!

PS, I'll post a tutorial on the rice heating pad this coming week!

Isn't it LOVEly... my first GIVEAWAY!

Valentines Day is one of my favorite holidays. AND my birthday is the day before (the 13th) so in honor of that I decided to do my first giveaway!

Here it is! This was SO fun to do! If there is decent response I will definitely have to do this again! So what is it?? A basket full of goodies!
The pink plastic tote basket is a Target dollar section find (I bought like 9 or so a month ago to save for future girly girl parties). In it is the following:

Lined zippered pouch made by me and cupcake key fob...made by me!

It wouldn't be Valentines without flowers and candy so included is a pot of daisy pens, made by me and my favorite truffles (don't worry I got myself some too!) I REALLY wanted to make a homemade sweet treat, but I felt it kinda risky to send such a thing through the mail and it make it there still edible and all.

And heart shaped strawberry shortcake soap, made by me and a rice heating pad. The heating pad is long enough to wrap around the back of your neck/on your shoulders, or use it for tummy aches or just to stick under the sheets for a toasty bed! Just microwave 2 minutes to heat. The inner pouch is removable to wash the cover. I actually made the liner with a knee high woman's sock. I originally planned to make leg warmers, but made the girl's different ones. So I though it would make a simple, cozy heating pad. :)

And lastly, I included the kids. Some homemade glitter playdough and a heart shaped cookie cutter. :)

So how do you enter?? Just leave a comment in this post about your most memorable (whether sweet, funny or horrible) Valentines gift. :)

Mine was a trip. Hubby took me to West Virginia for a ski weekend for my birthday and Valentines. This was pre kids, early marriage. One day maybe we'll go back.

I'll post the winner on Thursday. Ship on Friday. For my international readers, I will be happy to mail this to you, but note I can't guarantee it by Valentines Day. :)

While you guys talk amongst yourselves, I've got a room to paint and bunk beds to put together!

*****Drawing is closed! Winner posted in following post! :)*****