Valentine's Day Prep

If you know me, you know I cannot settle for store bought Valentines that come in a box (not that there is anything wrong with that). I like to get my creative juices flowing and doing something unique every year. We've had airplanes made from candy, crayons melted into heart shapes (not an easy one), painted/glittered salt dough heart necklaces, Lego star wars photo valentines, and I'm sure there are more I just can't remember right now. Most of my ideas I've found online and adjusted them to make them my own. This year, I needed something fast, so when I found this idea, I fell in love with it. Cheap, easy, and the kids love them! They can't wait for school on Tuesday to pass them out. 

Here are some tips if you want to try:

Take a photo in front of a neutral background.  When they hold out their arm, have them aim it a little bit towards you.  This makes their hand bigger and you're not having to put the lollipop on the edge  of the photo (didn't do that in J's).

 I used Picnic in Picassa to edit my photos, add border, and print.   I did a pretty cruddy job taking off their names before I posted, but I was in a hurry.  I just blurred them.  I also go to fotoflexer.com to edit my photos a lot.  It's free and there are a lot of different options that you have to pay for with other sites.

Send them off early so you don't have to pay much for them. I used 1 hour but it wasn't the cheapest way to go.

Place good quality tape right behind the hand after you slide in the lollipop. It not only helps hold it in place but helps keep the photo from tearing.

It took me about 15 to 20 minutes to assemble around 50 of them.

So there's my Valentine prep so far.  Tomorrow, I'll be making cookies for teachers, neighbors, and coworkers.  I can't wait to show you what I've conjured up for the grands and great-grands, but that will have to wait since they read my blog too. :)

Got one word for ya...."Yum!"

Mudslide and Brownie Trifle

Stacking this multi-layered dessert are rich custard layers of chocolate pudding with Kahlua and vanilla pudding with Bailey’s Irish Cream. Cut between those rich layers is a welcoming interruption of tender crushed brownie bits and crunchy roasted almonds.

Bathroom inspiration

Love this bathroom.  I've been trying to figure out what to do with ours since we moved in this house.  We have the exact same cabinets (painted white) minus one sink and the cabinet under it.  We even have the same wall color and cabinet pulls...only problem....everything else in our bathroom is terrible.  We have hideous blue/grey swirly tile and a shell shaped sink.  Now that I'm inspired, I just need time.  Guess this will have to wait until summer vacation.

Child Labor 101: How to Motivate Kids to Do Yard Work

Check out these two willingly raking leaves.

Watch out for that little one!

Do you see where this is heading?

Slide #1 was a joint effort!

Love this action shot!

Love this one too.

They probably spent almost an hour sliding down, then raking the leaves back up so they could go again.  It was great fun!

And totally worth the effort according to the labor force.

Here's another...Epcot

Here's we are at Epcot (my favorite park). Alan is behind the camera.

Family Fun

Wow! I have no idea how to narrow down what I post. Until then, here's one of my favorites. This is us at Universal Studios (day 2 at Disney) during the celebration of lights. There are not words to describe how awesome the lights were.

Gramps and Me

This is my Gramps and me and this is one of my favorite pictures. This is a snap shot of one of my earliest memories. I remember being so scared but I knew Gramps wouldn't let me fall. I love you, Gramps, and thanks Granny for giving me this picture.