Car Birthday - The Drivers License Favor

The second "take home" of the car birthday party were the Drivers Licenses!They turned out super cute if I say so myself :)

On the invitation, I asked parents to email me a picture of their child. Of course, I did have to track down some pictures from facebook from unresponsive parents, but that's ok!

Then, with the Florida drivers license in hand and working in photoshop, I threw together a couple of designs for our licenses.

Like my green florida outline with "The Sunshine State" next to it? Looks kinda similar to this don't ya think?

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To make it cuter, I did add my fun little stoplight dots all around it that I used for all my food signs.
Then I got the pictures printed and cut to size and glued them onto the paper before laminating.

Once dried (er... well I let most dry, the ones that I didn't let dry had a smear of white glue from the picture to the edge where the laminator squished the wet glue out... woops), I laminated the licenses, punched some holes and threaded the ribbon.

The kids really got a kick out of their drivers licenses.

Click here for other Car Birthday posts.

Linking up: CRAFT , Creating my way to success , Keeing it Simple , The Girl Creative , DIY Showoff , 

Making the World Cuter  , Under the Table Dreaming , Marvelously Messy , Our Delightful Home , Blackberry Vine , Shwin and Shwin  , Christy's Cuties , Romance on a Dime , Homework , Not Just a Housewife , Vintage Wanna Bee , A Bowl Full of Lemons , DIY By Design  , Raegun Wear , Sarahndipities , Trendy Treehouse , My Girlish Whims , Sew Much Ado , Dragonfly Designs , Handyman Crafty Woman ,  Someday Crafts , Vintage Gwen , Momnivores Dilemma , Live Laugh Rowe , Delightful Order , Crafty Blog Stalker , Between U & Me , Happy Go Lucky , BaconTime , 

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35 weeks down, 5 (or less) to go!

I am 35, nearly 36 weeks into pregnancy #3! Not gonna lie, it's been flying by.

35 weeks

 I'm hanging in there; keeping super busy running around after the 3.5 and 2 year olds and still managing to "work out" (ie, my daughter is at the YMCA for ballet, so I drop the other off at the kidzone and I walk the treadmill at 11% incline going 3MPH - not much but I'm good). We also take the dog (and kids) out for a nightly walk too. My doc has been pretty impressed with my weight gain and I am still wearing my rings... although at times they get a touch snug. Speaking of my doctor, our visits are a joke. They go like this:
Doc - how are you doing?
Me - good, hanging in there
Doc - so #3, you are in great shape. [feeling ankles] No swelling, [measuring belly] yup looks good... and no stretch marks..
Me - You've got to quit saying that, you are going to jinx me...
Doc - Your stomach has already stretched this far twice without stretch marks, I think you are good.... so any questions?
Me - Nope
Doc - See you next week.

15 minutes in and out!

On another note, I started packing my hospital bag last night... but didn't get very far. So far I have my nursing tanks and some fleecy socks that I used last delivery hospital stay. I did manage to wrap and set aside baby's gifts for the girls, so we are good there! Not much but it's a start; at least I have my list now.

I was 10 days early with Charlotte and 4 days early with Jillie.... lets see how this one goes!

 

Car Birthday - Crayon Favors

Back to the Car Birthday party series of posts...

The favors, which the party goers were told to "Take one for the road" were car crayons! These were a pinterest find inspired by Homemade By Jill.

I followed Jill's instructions to a T, and completed the favors a week ahead of time (go me!!).

I found that running a razor along the length of the crayon made the paper come off quite easily.

I then sorted the crayons by color.

Like Jill, I used a tin can setting in a pot of boiling water to melt my crayons while stirring with a wooden dowel.

I then used my pot holders and tongs to pour the wax from the super-duper hot tin can into the plastic car molds.

Once all the crayons were completed, I bagged and tagged them.

The favor bags say, "Thanks for Zooming By my 2nd birthday party! Love Jillie". Then on the back, per my moms suggestion, I wrote "Please enjoy some car crayons". According to mom, people would have confusion over what these were, I of course laughed it off, however... we did have one child eat part of the crayon (she spit it out though).

All my girlfriends were super impressed with the fact that I made the favors; so easy!!

Click here for other Car Birthday posts.

Linking up: Peas and crayons  , Dragonfly Designs ,  Handyman Crafty Woman , Sew Much Ado , Someday Crafts , Between U & Me  ,Trendy Treehouse , Vintage Gwen , Momnivores Dilemma , Live Laugh Rowe , Crafty Blog Stalker , Happy Go Lucky ,  ladyBird Ln
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Socks for Sandy

I may no longer live in New Jersey, but after spending the first 18 years of my life there... I will always be a Jersey girl at heart! That is one of the reasons that the destruction of Sandy has hit so close to home.

Belmar Beach, where we would go to for day trips, was flooded and many homes and businesses destroyed. LBI, where close family friends had a beach house where we would visit every summer, had houses ripped from their foundations. And who can forget Seaside, where just about everyone from my high school would spend their Prom Weekend (oh the memories); now destroyed! Further in from the shore, I had many friends affected by Sandy in Hoboken and other inland towns.

For those reasons, I wanted to write up a quick post on Socks for Sandy, which was started by Laura, a blogger located in Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey. (Read her story here.) She volunteered at a local shelter set up in a middle school and saw the need for socks with her own eyes. The temperature dropped (and is still dropping) after Sandy subsided, and people are left walking barefoot in pop up shelters. Putting socks on cold feet signifies warmth and comfort.

 

Let's all get together and give a little warmth to those affected by Sandy!

 

Socks for Sandy

P.O. Box 520

Little Egg Harbor, NJ  08087

Please mail by Friday, November 9, since the need is urgent. 

Laura will receive all packages and immediately take these to the local hurricane shelter for distribution. Any excess will be given to the other hurricane shelters up and down New Jersey's coastline. 

Another option... 

Donating directly to the Red Cross is still the fastest way to get your money into the hands of those who need it the most.

 

Halloween Playdate

Happy Halloween! 

I started off the season with trying a new look for the front door (obviously inspired from pinterest).







 Next up was a playdate for my daughters little friends complete with Mandarin orange jack o' lanterns, mummy dogs, jack o' lantern veggie tray, pumpkin poop (cheese balls), and marshmallow ghosts.



 

AND lastly I made some Corn candy Jello desserts. Lemon jello, orange jello, and whipped cream. However, do not put the whipped cream on too early or it melts (even in the fridge)

 

 

Our craft was marshmallow ghosts. Mommies helped the kids make a glue outline of a ghost on paper and then the kids put marshmallows on to make their ghost.

 

Weekly Meal Plan #49

Sunday was...
Mushroom Chicken Bake

Monday was...
a cool night so CHILI!

Tuesday
Andoulli Sausage Red Beans & Rice

Wednesday
HALLOWEEN! So off to a friends party for dinner and trick or treating

Thursday
Panko Crusted Tilapia

Friday
Pizza Night

Saturday
Pork Tenderloin

Feta Topped Chicken

Tilapia with Spinach and Tomatoes



Grilled Steak

Car Birthday - Pinata

The 3rd post in my Car Birthday series is to show off the car pull-pinata that I made. The inspiration for the pull-pinata was from Young House Love. How adorable is that pinata by the way?

Anyway, for my first pinata, I figured I'd go easy and use what I had around the house.
Boxes, Tape, and ribbon.

Priority Mail box and 2 car fruit snack boxes

I made a few holes in the top for hanging the pinata and then flipping the box over I made a "door" and hole punches in the door to thread the pulling ribbon through.

Door on the bottom of the pinata

I started decorating the top of the car with crepe paper. Initially I followed some tips to tear small squares of crepe paper and glue them on the box. BUT that was WAY too time consuming so what I ended up doing was running a strip of glue across the box in a line, and then pressing and scrunching a long strip of crepe paper on the glue until the end point. Then I tore it. MUCH EASIER and quicker (let me know if you have questions on this step. Clearly, I did not take pictures)

 Before decorating the bottom I filled it with the stash. What I didn't picture was how I closed the door. I taped pieces of cardboard over the door with flaps hanging over. It was strong enough to keep the candy and stuff in while hanging there, but once the kids got a hold of the ribbon, it opened easy enough.

The stash of goodies

Final product!

Passing out the pull ribbons

The aftermath :)

Click here for other Car Birthday posts.

Linking up: Keeping it Simple , Under the Table Dreaming , Marvelously Messy , Creating my way to Success , The Girl Creative , Making the World Cuter, My Girlish Whims , Raegun Wear , Gingersnap Crafts , Our Delightful Home , Blackberry Vine , Romance on a Dime , Homework , Our Delightful Home , Chef in Training , Shwin and Shwin , Elizabeth and Co , Vintage Wanna Bee , A Bowl Full of Lemons , Christy's Cuties , Vintage Gwen ,  Someday Crafts , Dragonfly Designs , Trendy Treehouse , Sew Much Ado , Crafty Blog Stalker ,  Delightful Order , Live Laugh Rowe , Between U and Me , Happy Go Lucky , Ladybird Ln , 
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