Valentine Crafts

Valentines Day is now one of my new favorite holidays. I have the most incredible husband, I am head over heels for him, & there is a holiday to celebrate that!

I saw this in a local craft store and wanted to do this craft so bad, but the wood letters were $3 a piece and the scrap booking kit was $12 and I just couldn't afford it, but I also couldn't forget about it, and with a little creativity and time I figured out how to make it for

ONLY $2.50!

$1 foam board at the dollars store

$.25/paper in the discount section of my local craft store.

I came home picked a font on my computer, resized the letters, and printed them off.

Then, I used the letters to cut out the foam board with a razor, my husband helped me with this part, he did such a good job because he is so precise.

While he was doing that I used the letters he wasn't using to cut out the fancy discounted scrapbook paper.

Then we glued them on the foam board.

My next decoration idea was to buy this glass vase, also at the dollar store and fill it with those conversation hearts. It wasn't as cute as I thought it would be, but I sure loved snacking on those hearts. I also filled the center with newspaper so I didn't have to buy as many hearts to fill it.

Next year I want to make a special valentines frame to put along these two crafts, I want it to say "A Life without Love is no Life at all"

Ninja Turtle Date

We love making pizza, and wanted a fun themed date to go with it, so we all dressed up as characters of ninja turtles. Then we made and ate pizza together.

We decorated with pizza box's, and pizza slices made out of construction paper. We put man holes on the ground. When we were done we hoped on the old sega set we have and played a teenage turtle, ninja game, I am so lame at any type of video game so the pizza part was defiantly my favorite part.

The Best Pizza Crust Recipe

Heat oven 425 degrees

2 cup warm water (not hot)

2 TBS Honey

2 TBS yeast

I let that sit while I prep some of the toppings

Then I add

1TBS oil

3-5 cups flour

1 tsp salt

kneed that and let it rise for 5-10 minutes while I prep more toppings

Roll it out on a pizza dish or a PIZZA STONE (worth the investment if you love pizza, put mozzerella sticks around the edge and roll in to make stuff crust.

Throw it in the oven 5-10 minutes, pull it out put toppings on and put it in for another 10 minutes.

TOPPING IDEAS

BBQ- chicken, pineapple, purple onion with some mozzarella cheese

ALFRADO- chicken, bacon, onion, tomato, with a white cheese

PIZZA SAUCE- with all the classic combinations, Supreme is our favorite

BREAKFAST- whipped up eggs, with sausage, italian seasoning, cheddar cheese (make sure crust is thinner for this dish)

Sesame Street Party - 1st Birthday

 FIRST Birthday

So it started here with the announcements. I recreated the sesame street sign and customized it for my son, then printed all the information on the back.

I have the blank template I made that you can download for free here 

For Decorations we made our kitchen hallway into a street, which was my husbands idea, he is actually way more creative then I am, and usually gives me the best ideas.

Then I made characters out of construction paper and hung them up everywhere

The night before the birthday party, we made sesame cupcakes as a family. My husband and I had a blast, but I think it confused our son, because all night we wouldn't let him eat the cupcakes and then the next day we are begging him to smash it in his face! Poor kid.

I can't believe I am the mother of a one year old, and soon to be the mother of 2 BOYS! I have a feeling that the years are going to just start flying by faster and faster....

Matching Crochet Hats

Crochet is a hobby I picked up, because it gave me something to do while I watched TV, and I could try and justify that I wasn't wasting my time...TRY is the key word.

My first Crochet project was matching hats for the family, a complete necessity for family pictures for our christmas card!

The pattern is really easy for those who know crochet. (For those of you who have never crocheted before, this will be way to confusing...)

Chain 8 and then slip stitch into the first loop of the chain to make a circle

chain 2 and then fill the circle with double crochet's ending with a slip stitch

Next row chain two and double crochet 2 in every hole, with a slip stitch at the end

Next row chain two and double crochet 2 in the 1st hole, 1 in the next, then 2, then 1... end ss

" " dc 2 in the first hole, 1 in the next, then 1, 2,1,1,2,1,1,2,1,1 " "

so this row the pattern is 2,1,1,1,2,1,1,1 and every row you keep adding 1 until it is wide enough

Now to make in long, stitch 1 double crochet for the rest of the rows until it is long enough.

Then I just winged the ears, and finished it with a single crochet around the whole bottom, including the ears. At the end of the ears I strung some yarn through, braided it, and tied a knot in the bottom.

Our Christmas Cards turned out to be very cute, although I noticed we didn't pick any of the pictures with our matching hats! Don't worry it wasn't a complete waste, a winter hat never goes to waste during an Idaho Winter

The FATE Burger DATE- A Great Grilling Date Idea

the FATE BURGER

My husband and I love this group date, especially in the summer when we can use our grill.

It's easy

It's fun

and It's DELICIOUS

First find a group of friends (don't invite your picky eater friends to this party)

Then make a long list of burger toppings

Bacon

Different types of Chesse

Onions

Mushrooms

Tomato

and make sure to include some non traditional ones

Onion Rings

Avacado

French Fries

Cucumbers
Potato Salad
Baked Beans
Different sauces (A1, Ranch, BBQ, Peanut Butter & Jelly)
Fried Egg (don't judge until you try it, WOW)

Split the toppings up with your friends so everyone is contributing

When everyone shows up the girls usually prepare all the toppings, and bake some fries, while the MEN go and play with fire and GRILL and do all that MAN stuff (Grunt Grunt)

Then we take all of our toppings and put them on a dart board, but you could pull them out of a hat, or put them on a spinner, anything that makes choice random, and puts FATE in charge.

Here is the fun! We throw darts (but you could draw toppings out of a bowl) for 3-4 different toppings, we made a rule you can swap one of the toppings but we encourage everyone to stick with their FATE BURGER

I have had some of the most unique, yet incredibly delicious burgers EVER, from this DATE.

We give this date 5 Stars, 2 thumbs up, and an A+