Panda Valentines

I adore Valentines Day!  

And oh how I loved it in elementary school!

 Making pretty boxes. Selecting She-Ra valentines. Carefully picking out which valentine pun on the cards best suited the boy I had a crush on.  Making sure I took extra time to write his name on it and sign mine with an extra heart or two.  Yup… loved it all!  

When Scooter, my oldest,  first started school I had both her box and Valentines thought out a month in advance.  And then came child two… and then three.  After multiple kids needing boxes and Valentines year after year the magic was a bit um… lost.   Last year Scooter used the same box she had used for the two years previous.  Yep, three years in a row with the same box.  Every year we would dust it off and perform a little light surgery and reattachment to a few hearts.    However this summer while cleaning out the basement my husband came across our immortal Valentine box and said "No more".  

It was thrashed.  

Poor… sad …valentine box .  

It was time we parted ways.  

This morning my girls reminded me that they would need boxes on Valentines (ahem… in two days).  So I pulled out a couple boxes and stared at them.  I kept hoping some fabulous idea would come.  5, 10, 15 minutes later…I then looked at the boxes and said "Nope …I've got nothing."  (I have no issues talking to inanimate objects).     I then thought "This box thing is not doing it for me."  They are hard to decorate (only so many things come in rectangle).  And they can be a pain for little hands and arms to cart around.  

What if we used a bag?  

Now a little something about me… when I change the rules of the game, even just an itsy bit, the creative problem solving side of me comes out.  Light bulbs tend to come on.  Then I get all giddy.  

And that is exactly what happened.  

So Momo and I ran to the store and got supplies, and when the girls got home this is what we made…

 We used the reusable grocery bags.  These are from Target (I wanted red for obvious holiday color coordinating).  We glued furry fabric to the front and back of the bags.  Then I made a template of the panda pieces on card stock.  We cut and glued away.

I forgot to take a photo of the back, but we put a little heart for a tail. 

You really could do this for any furry animal.  Monkeys, bears, kitties, dogs, foxes, monsters.  

(I can think of valentine play on words to go along with everyone of those…. 'Cause I'm Bananas over you).  

Now everyone knows that when you take what should be an oval shape and cut it as a heart it immediately becomes valentineized. 

Do you remember in elementary school cutting hearts out of construction paper and putting them together to make an animal?  I clearly recall a valentine elephant I made.  Small heart for the head, large heart for the body and I used Red Hots for his eyes.  

Same general idea.  

Now here is the ironic part.  I was all excited to be using something different… not a box.  But the weight of everything made it so the bag wouldn't stand upright.  So I had to put a box in it to get it to stand up.  (I used cereal boxes, the big type from Costco.  I keep them around for projects).  Here is another ironic part… you wouldn't have to use a bag to make these.  A box would do just fine. I sure do like the panda bags though.

And the nice thing is they could use them for other things too.  Even if it's just to pack some toys for long car rides.  

Well I'm off.  It's late and apparently it's crazy hair day at school tomorrow.  Nothin' like packing in as much as they can in one week.

I hope you have a beary happy valentines, 'cause your the cat's meow, you're so doggone cute, and I like you so much it's scary!

xoxo

anj.


Update… 
Here is a photo of my girlies on Valentine morning with their bags.   They were pretty excited!  Do you see the photo bomb in the window?  LOL.  Momo mopes every morning when they head to school.  He is crushed again.

Hap~PEA Birthday "PEA" J Party

A confession… Scooters actual birthday was months ago.  I had the party planned.  Most of the goodies purchased but I starting feeling sick.   Really sick.  I got up everyday, put a smile on my face and got through by a hair.  I couldn't quite get the energy I needed to put the party together.  Then we discovered the problem.  It was nothing major, but it did require a couple of surgeries to fix.  Finally after the surgeries and recuperation I felt like me again.  At this time it was the beginning of August and I decided to spend more quality, not sick anymore, time with my littles before they headed back to school.  As well it appears a small tornado had dropped right into the middle of my home.  It's amazing what happens to a home when Mom is sick.  So as soon as school started up again, and we could see the floor again, I jumped into party planning mode.  And finally… we had her birthday party.  I'm so grateful she is patient with her mommy.  I'm also glad I didn't shy away from finishing it just because time had passed.  We had so much fun!

A while back I posted my daughters 

Night Owl P.J. Party.

My oldest daughter expressed how much she wanted a P.J. party for a birthday.  She also wanted to use the Bed Table.  That's when this idea was born.  I secretly love the idea too.  Simply because she turned 10, and I know pretty soon the days of princesses will be gone.  They will be replaced with boy bands, fashion, head phones and text messages.  Sniff.   

I want to keep her young as long as I can.

Ahem... no I don't live on "Happy Lane".  My daughters name isn't really Scooter either, that's a nickname. :)  I changed this one for blogging purposes.

The inside read

Hear ye Hear ye

You are cordially invited to attend a...

Hap"Pea" Birthday

"Pea" J Party

Honoring

Princess Scooter

Your presence is requested at the 

Snow Castle

1234 Happy Lane

Saturday the 22nd of September

From 6:00 until 8:30 p.m.

R.S.V.P.

Pretty "Peas"

Wear your "Pea"J's!

So this is literally 5 twin mattresses/box springs stacked on top of each other.  (We raided all of the beds in the house).  I made sure the bottom mattress was a heavy box spring. The top mattress is a box spring as well, but it was pretty light weight.  We added a piece of particle board on top of it.  It gave it a solid flat surface for the plates and such. It was actually quite stable.  We didn't let the kids go climbing on it or anything.  I was a little worried that the girls wouldn't like standing around the table as opposed to sitting.  But they loved it. I think they enjoyed it because it was so different from the norm.  Standing to eat, their food on a bed!  Cute girls.

It's nice to be able to use something I've already made in another party.  Who knows where else the headboard will show up.

My husband is such a good sport.  I'm so grateful for a guy that just smiles when I say 

"So, ummm, I have this idea…"  

He was so helpful in moving all of the furniture for me.  Thanks hun.

I hung Martha Stewart Green accordion lanterns as a fun detail above the bed.

 

The Cake  

I made a little cake topper that say's "Pea"ce of cake on it.  And of course the inside had to be filled with "peas."  I used my polka dot cake technique to get the affect. Here is a link to the tutorial.

Polka Dot Cake.

It was hilarious.  The girls literally gasped when I cut it open.  One little girl said "Oh no, I forgot my phone, can you take a photo for my mom."  She loves to bake, and was pretty impressed with it. 

 

We also had "Sugar Peas"! Cake balls dipped in green candy melts.  Topped with sanding sugar.

The Stewarts key lime sodas were labeled Slee-"Pea" Potion.  

I trimmed the edges with this Martha Stewart scallop edger punch. 

The straws had Zzzzz flags attached to  them.

Then for the ice cream… I made these little crown wraps to fit around these little dessert cups.  I picked mine up from walmart for $1.98 a piece.  Here is a link to purchase them on Amazon.  Then we filled them with lime sherbet.  I used a melon baller before hand to make the sherbet into "peas" (I stored them in ziplock baggies and then poured them into the dishes when it was serving time).  And p.s. pouring the Stewarts key lime soda on top (the Slee"Pea" potion) of the sherbet was a hit.  

They were like little lime floats.  Yummers.

Hap~Pea Birthday Banner

 Shhhhh Banner on the door to welcome the guests. 

I wrote a little poem and had it printed up.

Tuck me in and turn out the light.

Sing songs, then kiss me goodnight.

Another glass of water, a trip to the loo.

Sadly none of these attempts will do.

I'll toss and squirm and kick and fight.

It really isn't that late tonight.

For try as I will, I can't sleep you see.

It's not my fault, it's the princess in me!

It looked sweet on the party favor display.

Our activities…

I divided the girls into three groups.  

Then we rotated each group from activity to activity.

Twinkle Toes~ Painted glitter toes on the girls

Princess Slippers~  We decorated flip flops with fabric strips.

Sleeping Queens~ A cute card game we played.  You can find it here… Sleeping Queens.

I snagged these green ball favor containers from Party City.  

Here is a link Green Party Favor Balls.

I sprayed (the green side) with spray adhesive, added green glitter, and sealed it with a clear gloss top coat (to keep the glitter from getting everywhere).

 Then I filled them with all sorts of round green candies, added ribbon and a "Sweet Pea" tag. 

I made each girl a small pillow & sleeping mask.  

I was going to make blankets… but honestly I found these at Ikea and it was worth it to just purchase them.  I added a paper crown that wrapped around each blanket.  

The girls were over the moon with their favors.  They were talking about putting the blanket and pillow on their bed, picking out the pillow that would best match their room decor.  Honestly, Scooter has such cutie pie friends.  I loved having them over. 

 I learned my lesson from the night owl party.  This time I have everything available as printable downloads in my etsy shop now.  Last time I kept you waiting… oops.  

Here is the link…  

HapPea Birthday Party Printables

Sweet Dreams!

anj.

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

I've been planning our Halloween costumes this year.  We always try to have a matching theme as a family.  We've done Alice in Wonderland, Nightmare Before Christmas, The Snow Carny, The 50's and I'm sure there are more (my brain is shot, I've had 2 kids and a husband with strep throat, and I can feel myself getting sick as I type.  

Who knew fingers could weigh 5 pounds each).  

It's funny how much my kids love dressing up as a family.  I know the year will come when one of them will finally protest.  But a couple weeks back my girls both came to me asking what "WE" were going to be for halloween this year.  

I love it.

So if you're looking for a costume idea here is what we did last year…

K… I'm going to admit something.  Most young girls have crushes on the Justin Beiber's of their day.  I had a crush on… I'm almost embarrassed to admit this, but it's the truth. 

Dick Van Dyke. 

Yep.

No lie.  

My dad owned a video store, one of the first in our town.  Back then you had to rent the movie and then the 50 pound VCR just so you could watch the video.  

It was called Video Express.

I still remember adding the "be kind rewind" stickers onto the tapes, (most of the stickers made it onto my clothing and face rather than the videos) and helping myself to the candy and soda pop in the store.   I also remember thinking the teenage employees were soooo cool.  There was particular girl with long gorgeous blond hair who would wear it in a side pony tail that twisted.  

I felt "like, oh my gosh, so totally rad" when my mom would do my hair like hers.

(I still remember when she came to our house and taught my mom how to do this hairstyle on me.  I felt so special).

One of the first "kid" videos he purchased was 

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  

We would watch it over and over.  Perhaps that's where it all started.  But man, I thought (and still think) Mr. Van Dyke was darling.  Now the funny thing is… I kind of married him.  

People who know J will laugh in agreement.  

J walking around dressed as Bert, interpreting his gait and attempting that cockney english accent was perfection. 

He honestly could have gotten a job at disneyland.  

Then we have…

A bit of a stretch, but it works.

I found this pattern for the wings 

At llevoelinvierno.blogspot.com

The skirts & masks I just made up on my own. And then there is me as...

 I had the coat.  The hat is a bowler hat (from a costume store).  I beat it up, added a few staples here and there and then glued on the flowers and cherries.  The umbrella was the only big halloween costume purchase of the lot.  I got it at the Disney store.

Now if only I could snap my fingers to clean the house.  (Although I don't know if I could manage to snap… remember, they feel like they weigh 5 pounds each).

Halloween… such a jolly holiday! 

Mr. Copperpot

There is a chill in the air! 

I have to slip on socks first thing out of bed to warm my froze toes.   We open our windows on friday nights to listen to the high school kids cheering at the football games.  (We know if they are winning or not just by how loud they get).  The kids are back in school, wearing sweaters and jackets that are clearly not needed yet… but they like to layer as much as their mommy does. Night is creeping up earlier and earlier.  And I get all giddy.  

Fall is here!

I debate it every year… how early is too early to set up halloween?  I seriously can't help myself.  

This post is a halloween decoration I've had for a couple years now.  Don't worry, these photo's are from last year…. I have not set him up yet.  

Soon though… very soon.

In the two times I've been to Disneyland in the last decade I've made sure that we go when the Nightmare Before Christmas is set up at The Haunted Mansion.  If you know me, you know I'm a fan of Mr. Burton and his crazy dark artsy-ness.  I wish I could just magically decorate my house like the mansion for halloween.  Alas I have not the funds or enough waking hours to attempt it. :)

On the outside of the mansion it's decorated with all of these fabulous cartoony skulls.  They are both a tad creepy and a bit comical & dopy at the same time.  I know, it sounds weird, but it works.

I wanted to add my own.  Instead of making several small skulls (as they have on the Haunted Mansion) I made one very large skull.  

Here is Momo next to him.  He's not small, he measures about 4.5 x 3 feet. My husband often states that my motto is "Go big or go home".  As much as I'd like to say it's not true, 

I think he might be very very correct. 

I painted him on masonite.  My neighbor who is always coming to my… "help me I need to build something" rescue cut him out with his jigsaw.  

(For the love, I need to finally just purchase a jigsaw). 

After the skull was painted and dry I added a coat of matte varnish (just from a spray can).  I think this will be the third year (maybe forth) we've put him up.  

He has made it through wind, rain & snow.  

He still looks good as new.

I love putting him up every year.  He makes me smile every time I pull into the driveway.

Perhaps I should name him.  

Any thoughts on a good name????

Maybe I'll call him Chester Copperpot.

K, before the skull was drawn and painted onto the masonite, I first sketched him out on paper.  Here is the drawing… you're welcome to use it if you'd like.  If you have a projector you could shine him up on your own board and make your own. :)  I can't give painting lessons though… that would be a bit too intense of a tutorial. 

Again… it's just the rough sketch, not a masterpiece or anything.  Be forgiving, at least I cut off the grocery list I had written on the bottom of the paper. 

Although, I believe it still carries the creases from where I sat on this grocery list because I left it on the front seat of the car.  Ooops.

And yes… I'm listening to my Halloween soundtrack while I write this post.  

Here is what's on  my soundtrack (incase your looking for some music to add to your own)…

✭Corpse Bride Soundtrack✭

✭Coraline Soundtrack✭

(End Credits & The Supper)

✭Nightmare Before Christmas Soundtrack✭

✭A few Harry Potter Favorites✭

 Dementors in the Underpass (Order of the Phoenix), Double Trouble (Azkaban), 

Story Continues (Goblet of Fire) & Finale (Azkaban)

✭Beetlejuice Soundtrack✭ 

(a few select songs)

✭Edward Scissorhands✭

(Ice Dance, The Cookie Factory & The End)

✭Tales from the Crypt✭ 

Danny Elfman is 90% of my soundtrack.  

Sure beats listening to The Monster Mash… (although it was a graveyard smash).  

Just thinking about that song gives me a headache.  

Happy Fall All!