Blue or Pink?

For Baby #2 we decided on no baby shower as we were spoiled enough with Alexander. We will most likely do some sort of "meet the baby party" but because my friends like to host gatherings and parties so much we decided to do a "Gender Reveal". Once we found out the sex of the baby my friends put together a little party. Guests were to come to the party wearing the colour (blue or pink) of the sex they thought the baby was. To announce the gender I had a cake made (by a wonderful cake maker who always makes the best cakes for us) and the inside of the cake was coloured to correspond with the baby's sex.

And it's going to be a....

Before & After

BEFORE

AFTER

Al's room transformation from little peanut to big boy! 

Now that we are finished this it is time to move on to Baby #2's room. 

Surprise

A little surprise for my loyal blog followers. 

Check out this movie, hitting theatres next spring!

Halloween Mason Jar Lanterns

More Halloween crafts! As promised here are the instructions for the halloween mason jar lanterns. This is not my own original idea, so as usual I will post a link to the original source and you can either follow my guidelines or use theirs.

Painted Mason Jars

Supplies:

Mason Jars
Spray Paint
Black Sharpies
Ribbon
Glue Gun
Tea lights

Directions:

Step one Spray paint your mason jars and allow time to dry.
Step Two Draw your designs on each mason jar with your sharpie and fill in. I found the sharpie wasn't black enough so I ended up painting a coat of black acrylic paint over top.** 
Step Three Glue Ribbon around top of mason jar to jazz them up
Step Four Insert tea light and enjoy!

Super easy halloween craft, and super cute!

Completed Mason Jar Lanterns

*When I was finished painting over the sharpie I thought I would like to do a coat of clear finish but DO NOT do this. It will make your sharpie run and ruin your mason jar! Yes, I figured this out by trial and error :(

Halloween Crafts

Now that the weather has cooled off and we are home from Vancouver I have started working on Halloween Crafts. I just love crafting and why not make some of my own halloween decorations! My First Craft was the eyeball frame.

Supplies needed:

Cheap Frame ( I bought mine at Dollarama)
Green Paint (acrylic paint from Michaels)
Various sizes of googley eyes (Michaels)

How to Make:

Step 1  paint the outside of the frame green and allow time to dry
Step 2 Glue gun various sizes of eyes all over the frame
Step 3 print a picture or caption for inside your frame

My Inspiration 

My Halloween Frame

My inspiration came from this blog, which I of course found on pinterest. You can check out the blog for alternative instructions as well. I opted to do mine slightly differently, but I think both styles are cute!

My next craft project was potion bottles. I searched high and low for bottles that looked like potion bottles but didnt have much luck. Fortunately I remembered pinning something a long while back, about a site to order mason jars from. I decided to take a look at the site and sure enough there were all kinds of bottles you could order. I ended up getting 3 different shaped bottles and 3 viles. The total cost was $30.00 and beleive it or not 2/3 of the cost was shipping. Meaning the bottles were darn cheap! Anyway then I printed off free potion labels, again from pinterest found sites and used modge podge to adhesive them to the bottles. My last step is to fill the bottles with "potion" AKA colored water. Cute little halloween decor for super cheap! 

You can find the site to order bottles here: Potion Bottles

oh and I forgot to mention my order arrived super quick

You can find Potion labels here:

Drink labels

Harry Potter labels

My potion bottles

Harry Potter Potion labels
please visit the link above for
a free printable template

The minimal supplies you will need

The bottle with label
modge podge is dry

The completed potion bottles

Picnic table redo

Today was rather chilly august day (it's starting to feel like Fall) so we decided to work on a DIY, Pinterest inspired, project. I found this beauty a few months back but just haven't had a chance to get around to the project what with our events and summer holidays. The project is a children's Picnic table redo. Basically taking an old plastic picnic table and making it fabulous. The inspiration came from the blog Caroline's Crafty Corner. You can check out her blog or see my instructions below for a step by step guide on how to redo your old children's picnic table.  

This is Caroline's Picnic Table Redo,
and my source of inspiration

First thing I needed was a picnic table. Since Al is only a year old I don't have any old/used picnic tables hanging around. So I turned to Kijiji for a little help on this one. Upon my first search I found one 10 minutes from home and only $10.00. I paid for it with loonies (not relevant just a funny fact to show you how cheap this project was).

The picnic table BEFORE

From there we took the picnic table apart which was super easy as it was all plastic and snapped together. Maybe 10 minutes of effort.

Five pieces

After we had our five pieces we gave them a bath*. Being that it was used, it was a little worn and wearing spider webs. 

* be careful not to fully submerge the plastic pieces as they fill with water and are nearly impossible to drain. Try wiping it down or hosing it off instead. Unless of course you want to drill a hole in the underside of each piece to empty the water, but really thats an extra step. Save yourself the time. 

Next we went out to the fabric store and purchased 2 meters of a cotton fabric with a pattern of our choice as well as 1.5 meters of vinyl fabric. To my surprise your common Fabricland carries this vinyl stuff. With my membership the fabric came to $31.25 all together, however I'm sure you could do it cheaper by finding a cotton fabric that is on sale. Also as a side note, the reason I got less length of the vinyl than the cotton is that the width of the vinyl was greater than that of the cotton so in the end it all evened out. For our cotton patterned fabric we decided to go with comic book theme. I wanted something gender neutral and something that would fit in with our house (no mickey mouse or pooh bear but still kid friendly).

Now that we knew the theme of the table I was able to decide what color to spray paint the table legs. I decided to go with plain old black so as not to take away from the awesome comic book fabric. At this point I should probably explain why we didn't just spray paint the whole thing and be done with it. Well plastic does not take well to paint and once dried it will usually chip off with the scratch of a fingernail or wipe of a wet cloth. Kids are messy and wipe ups are often so we can't have a picnic table that falls apart upon first use. So that is why we opt for fabric with a vinyl covering. Makes for easy wipe ups for markers, paint and snacks. By putting a cotton fabric underneath the vinyl you get to choose fun and unique styles for your picnic table. Anyway we used just about a full can of black spray paint on the legs of our table.Probably a $5.00 value.

Next step, the last one, and probably most time consuming, stapling the fabric to the plastic pieces. First we stapled the comic book fabric to the table, and bench seats (because the seats get messy too we cant just spray paint those either) and then we followed that by stapling the vinyl to each of the three pieces. This probably took just over an hour and cost us a box of staples, again maybe a $5.00 value. It is handy if you have staples and spray paint kicking around your garage.

Stapling the fabric on. What an awesome hubby

Time for the vinyl

A finished tabletop

To recap the used table cost me $10.00, the fabric cost me $31.25 the spray paint was free (but at some point probably cost us $5.00) as well as the staples (add another $5.00). Grand total for the awesome picnic table = $51.25. Out of curiosity I looked up the cost of a new Little Tykes picnic table... $44.99.

Darn, this wasn't a money saver but on the bright side we have a very unique table that we are proud to say we made ourselves. As my husband says "we will not be making any more of these". I think he has an equal amount of disdain for Pinterest as I have love for it. I'm sure he shudders at the words "look what I found on Pinterest". Anyway here is our finished table, which by the way our son loves. He's still a little young for it but loves to climb all over it. He'll figure it out.

Tabletop and Benchtops

The finished product

Before and After

Since doing my picnic table project I have had a few friends create their very own! They shared their finished products with me so here is a little inspiration for you, if you are considering redoing a picnic table!

Brittney and Talia's Table

Krysta, Asher and Jaxon's table

Chelsey and Hudson's table before

Chelsey and Hudson's table after

Our table for Ejay

Chelsey's table for a friend

For more information on the picnic table redo, visit this updated blog page for measurements and paint  tips!

Toddler meal time

A few weeks ago I started to notice my son, the all time eater, was starting to get bored with meal time! And to be honest I was too. I used to think breast feeding was so much work, then I started making purées and was soon longing for the days when al could start eating the same food as us. I quickly figured out meal time is a lot of work no matter what. Especially when you are opting for healthy, homemade alternatives. So I decided to start investigating fun toddler meal ideas to spice up the dinner table and keep things fun, for both of us. The biggest challenge is usually deciding what to eat. I'm a big meal planner for sandy and I and usually have our meals planned out for each day, a month at a time. This is especially helpful for cutting costs on your grocery bill, avoiding wasted and spoiled food and helps with my freezer meal prep.  I discovered that having a meal plan for my  little guy also helps avoid frustration. I started making a few meals at the beginning of the week that are handy to grab on the go or in a rush. The rest I make fresh but can easily decide what to have my checking of my list of ideas. So here it is, a few ideas to help with your toddler mealtimes. Please feel free to comment or email me with more ideas, I also way love adding to the list! And since Al will eat anything it's great to try new foods. 

Breakfast ideas

Oatmeal

Pancakes

Eggs

Yogurt

Fruit

Applesauce

Cereal

Muffins

plain waffles 

Lunch combos

Crackers

Cheese

Ham

Pickles

Banana  peanut butter sandwich 

Applesauce 

PBJ sandwich 

egg avocado salad

Sweet potato fries

Cottage cheese

Grapes

Beans

Cheese cubes

Noodles

Peas

Chicken tenders

steamed carrots ticks and celery sticks

Pizza calzones (ground beef)

Cheese ham pilsbury crescents

Hard oiled eggs

Cooked broccoli

Yogurt

hummus crackers

Cheese string

Berries

Taco biscuits

Sausage

Cottage cheese

Grean Beans

Avocado 

Meatballs

Cheese strings

Corn

Gold fish

Mac and cheese

With ground beef

Tomato

Avocado

Rice 

Tuna salad

Corn and peas

Sensory Play

Now that Al is a growing and curious little boy we have been playing with a lot of sensory items! Above are some of the pictures of things we have been playing with. Sorting beans was definitely a fun one, obviously with close supervision. The small coloured and different shape beans are great for fine motor skills and a better alternative to dog food!

We also made cloud dough with is just flour and baby oil. It is a fun creation to play with as you can pack it tight like a solid or let it run loosely through your hands like soft white sand at the beach. Bonus: it smells great. We also made colourful ice cubes to put in our water table but we haven't had a chance to use them yet! Hopefully when we are home from holidays we can take them out and experiment with the feeling of cold and the sight of different colours. My last creation was home made play dough which is super easy and cheap. We've played with it only once so far but it was fun to squish (and throw) and attempt to eat until Mom said "No". Lastly I made playdough filled balloons (sand works too but poses a larger mess risk) for the car ride to Canmore. They are fun and squishy without the mess! We filled a balloon from every color in the rainbow.

We still have a few more sensory objects we'd like to try making and playing with and they include:

Goop

Puff Paint

Colored Rice

Giant snow marbles (for winter)

and many more ideas via pinterest! Stay tuned.

Resolutions and Goals 1/2 way

2012 Goals:

Run a 5km race

Run a 10 km race 

Run a half marathon (ran the distance but not an actual race)

Run leg 1 of the Sinister 7

Do 3 consecutive chin ups

Meet my Baker family in Toronto

Donate Blood (see list below)

Take more photography courses  (Finished my first course second course postponed)

Update my AFLCA certification 

Take another AFLCA course

Take a trip to Vegas (BOOKED!)

Start an RESP for Alexander

Save minimum $5000

Go for a psychic reading

Attend Church

Get Rid of my GDL 
Learn more about investments

2012 Resolutions:

Floss my teeth everyday 

Brush Bensons teeth everyday

Cuss less

Walk Chevy more than once a week (still going strong)

My list of good deeds is actually going to be fulfilled on my Birthday. I have decided it would be fun to do 25 random acts of kindness on my 25th birthday! Here is my list of kind acts so far:

Pay for someone behind me at a drive thru

Fill a parking meter for someone whose time has expired

deliver coffee and donuts to a working crew

donate blood (might have to wait if I am pregnant)

pay a strangers tab at a restaurant 

leave a gift tip for a server

Leave happy mail for an anonymous neighbour

hold the door for someone

shovel the walk for someone

donate diapers, formula and baby needs to the church

donate jackets and blankets to the homeless

leave a stack of books with a "pas-along" message in them at a coffee shop

donate money  to a charity someone is raising money for

drop off a bag of clothing donations

drop off treats and pet food at the animal shelter

Drop off yummy treats to a fire station

Leave a treat for the mailman in my mailbox

tape change to a vending machine for someone to enjoy a treat

drop off flowers at a seniors care centre

return grocery carts in a parking lot

leave a few toonies and loonies around for a lucky finder

buy a gift certificate for a grocery store and hand it to the person in line behind you

tuck happy notes  under windshield wipers of cars in a parking lot

I still need a few more ideas so if you have any good ones please feel free to comment and add to my list! I am getting really excited for my Birthday / random act of kindness day!

First Birthday

Well Alexander is officially a big boy. He turned one last Thursday and we had a super fun Birthday Party for him this weekend with friends and family. As usual I went to town on decorations since that is one of my true loves! I had planned to have the party outside since that is the point of having a summer baby right? But unfortunately the weather did not cooperate so we were forced inside. It still turned out great and the weather smartened up throughout the party so we had some people in and some people out! I wanted to keep it really simple for his first birthday so I stuck with a theme of blue and green. We did a hotdog and hamburger barbecue and had chips, pop, veggies and fruit! It was a big party in terms of the guest list but I think it will only be like that for his first birthday! Anyway here are some photos of the house all done up!

the candy and present table

On this table we had the treat bags, birthday cake, 

candy buffet and birthday presents underneath.

the food table

                                                          Chips, dip, buns and condiments

the drink table

Our drink table with pop, water and ice. 

As well as veggies and fruit

custom water bottles 

I made these water bottles myself and they were super easy! scrapbook paper and labels printed from Avery! I highly suggest making your own if you want to add a special look to your water bottles.

First Birthday Cake

Candy Buffet Sign

No party is complete without a candy buffet. 

As a party favour each guest was given a bag to fill with treats for after the party!

Treat Bags for Al's friends

Fun treat bags for Al's little friends. The bags were actually 

sand pails and included shovels, bubbles, chalk and a mini sun screen!

Ive been told by several mommies that no one likes

the dollar store crap in their loot bags, it just piles up in your house.

We started the party at 3:00 and left it up to everyone to decide when they were ready to leave! We wanted it to be fun and relaxed. Although we had intended on having outdoor games and a fire we didn't quite get to them as the rain and mosquito combination were a bit deadly. Sandy was glued to the BBQ all night and after burgers and weenies were finished we opened presents and followed up with cake. I had a beautiful cake made by Teresa's Custom Cakes (she had done Sandy's cake for his 30th as well) and bought litters of DairyQueen soft serve ice cream to go with the cake. It was delicious, Al definitely thought so as well!

The aunties

Family Picture with our one year old

Grandma

New tractor from Grandma and Grandpa

Al's Friends

Trying out some presents

Carharts from Daddy

Birthday Cake

Al and his Girlfriend

Thanks to all my friends and family for their help with during the party and cleaning up afterward! It was a great first Birthday party and we definitely had fun playing with all his new presents the next day.