Soup Can Whisk Clock

jaren made me a clock and i love it!! we ordered the pendulum clock pieces and the fork and knife hands from joanns.com. the soup can we had in our pantry, obviously. and the whisk is from the dollar tree.

here it is in action...

Shower Curtain Ruffle

i love my dr seuss shower curtain i got last year. but it always bugged me that the top seemed not to be finished. i mean, they could have added clouds or a sun or something! so when i saw the tutorial for a ruffled shower curtain, i had to do it and spruce up my blah curtain. when i googled dr seuss fabric, robert kaufmans new collection popped up. but it said it wouldn't be ready until september!! so patiently i waited.... FOR 4 MONTHS! thankfully, when i finally ordered my fabric thru the fat quarter shop, they had very fast shipping and i got it 3 days later :) i love how it turned out!

this was also the first project i was brave enough to try my ruffler foot on. i BEGGED for months for it and finally got it for valentine's day and have yet to use it because it looks so intimidating! YIKES!

but it wasn't and i'm proud of myself :) ruffles everywhere, here i come!

Dump Truck Piggy Bank

saw the idea here and i loved it and just had to make one!

Trick or Treat Bags

for activity days this coming month, we're going to make trick or treat bags. tonight i tested the pattern i found online (for free)

2 down, 10 more to go!

Morro Bay Camping 2010

we went camping this year in morro bay (as usual). it's always nice to start the trip out with nathan falling asleep for most the drive. along the way, we stopped at a campground near atascadero to check it out and found a dead rattlesnake on the road.

nathan loved camping. he was everywhere and wouldn't stop moving. so i did cave in and have to put him in my parents car with a dvd a few times so i could relax.

tradition of course is to visit the aquarium and feed the sea lions. my mom said inflation has really taken its toll on the place. seal food use to be 5 cents and is now 50 cents!

after the aquarium, we headed north past hearst castle to check out the elephant seal sanctuary. it was pretty cool!

then we headed back to morro bay for lunch. you can always spot a few sea lions playing around the docks.

then we headed south towards montana de oro to check out the tide pools. we forgot nathans water shoes. so we only let him play on the smooth slimy rocks. the water was FREEZING! he didn't seem to mind.

and as always, the views are awesome!

recent crafts

picture frame for friends who recently blessed their 4th daughter at church :)

my new kitchen curtains

while camping a few weeks ago, my mom and i discovered the BEST cookie made by the brown butter cookie company in cayucos. when i came home, i just HAD to find the recipe and try my hand at it. no such luck on the exact recipe, so i compiled every recipe i found and used every review suggestion on how to better it and voila! i made them and they rock! the only thing they're missing that the originals had is sea salt.

i found this fleece baby blanket at the 99cent store. i love that place! but the blanket was BLAH! so i crocheted a simple stitch around the edge and appliqued words onto it. (original idea found here) and i love how it turned out!

we made tamales again for a "break the fast" we were having with a group of friends. it's getting to be that time of year soon!

(picture out of order) we recently went down to the LA temple with our ward. have you seen the new re-modeled visitor center? it's AWESOME!

for the break the fast, we also took a dessert. let me introduce you to my new favorite cupcake flavor, CINNABON! here's the recipe for the batter and frosting :) i also tried a new technique when i frosted them. watcha think?

here's what happened to a few cupcakes when i wasn't looking. he had a sand shovel and was scooping them closer to the edge so he could grab them! then he would take off with it!

to me, this is a good craft gone bad. i saw the idea here. and for me, it was much harder than it originally appeared. and i hate how mine turned out :( so good luck to anyone who's going to give this a try!

alterations

i bought this dress that always looked like i was wearing it crooked when i wore a cardigan over it (which was everytime).

so i chopped the top portion off. sewed up the armhole. cut apart my black tank top and made a "band" around my chest area. evened out the ruffles and cut off one tie and turned them into straps instead. it's not the greatest, but looks much better now when i wear my cardigan over it.

Boboli Pizza Party

it's been a month since i had the pizza party i "won". what i did was turn it into a competition amongst the guest and we all voted on which pizza we liked best. the flavors were... margherita (w/ DELICIOUS HOMEMADE PESTO), chicken lime cilanto, pepperoni, basil, taco and spicy ham and sausage. they were all soooo good!

it wouldn't have been a proper kathryn party without favors. jaren and i etched on "man cups" for the guys. and they also make smaller ones that we etched for the ladies.

i also made the house hostess an apron for always opening her door to me and my family :)

real blogging coming soon, i promise!

in the meantime, here's my latest challenge...

Nathan 18 month Update (journaling)

height: 34 3/4
weight: 29.11
head: 18 3/4

dx w/ slight lactose intolerance

Cabin Trip 2010

this past week we went to the cabin w/ friends and had lots of fun! 7 boys, 6 adults, lots of food and FANTASTIC weather. we roasted smores, played cards, and just relaxed. the dads and their older boys went to some natural rock waterslides and enjoyed themselves. once nathan can hike the 1 mile trail to get to them, we'll definitly be doing them!

1. side of the cabin
2. cooking breakfast
3. scenery
4. we slept under the stars and this was my view when i woke up
5. this was the view directly above my head.

1. i think they were playing who can shovel the most dirt on themselves
2. 2 sticks + a big rock = drums
3. 6am hike w/ dad
4. 2 year old, 18 month old, and a 2 1/2 year old. they'll crush many hearts someday i'm sure!
5. dirt glue
6. even more dirt glue
7. playing "BOO"
8. three amigos
9. running down the hill as fast as you can and hope not to run into the tree
10. the crew minus 1
11. tired of hiking, just wanted to play in the road
12. playing cards

the kid loves to dance!

Boboli/houseparty.com host!

i wish i remember what blog introduced me to houseparty.com, but i don't remember :( and i wish i did so i could tell them thank you for sharing!!

what is houseparty.com?
A House Party™ is thousands of parties across the country, hosted by people like you. Each event is sponsored by a leading brand and focuses on something cool that the sponsor wants its best fans to experience firsthand and share with their friends. As a registered member of House Party you have the opportunity to host a House Party for your friends and family while checking out some kind of new product. If you're selected as a host for a particular House Party, you can use our website to invite your friends and family over for your House Party, share your pictures and videos, and explore thousands of parties being held in homes across the country. Each host for any event receives a Party Package that contains items to help enhance the party for you and your guests – and YES, the Party Package is completely FREE!
*******************************************

so when i went to sign myself up, i immediately "applied" to be a host of the Boboli Beat BBQ Boredom house party. to be honest, i forgot all about it until 6 weeks later i got an email that i was in the running to be a host!! woot woot! they chose a certain amount of people and the first 2000 people that responded and filled out the info, got picked! and again, being honest here, i'm attached to my email! i get alerts on my phone :/ that's sad, i know. but anyways, after freaking out over a crashed website for about 30 minutes, i was finally able to submit my info and got an email a few minutes later that i was chosen!

so what happens next is my party supplies are sent to me and i start my planning. this party is sponsored by Boboli Pizza Crust and they want all the pizzas to be grilled on the bbq. they send coupons to purchase the crust, suggested recipes (not mandatory) and other "goodies" for my guest. kind of like a mini swag bag :) and i got my box today!

here's the enclosed letter...

picture frame magnets for my guest

recipe cards to send home with my guest

my coupons as well as coupons to send home with the guest

flyer with grilling tips

food tent (made me laugh because i had to invite 14 people, and there is no way this would cover all the pizzas)

and lastly, the reusable shopping bags. which i'm obsessed with collecting from nearly every store i go to!

i need to get going on the planning aspects of this! it's only 2 weeks away! i'm lucky enough to have a friend wendy (and her husband mark) who have an amazing house for parties and has offered hers up for this event. so far i know we want to turn it into a competition between our families as to who comes up with the best pizza. any other ideas? please share!