Summer Fun Goals

Summer will be short for us this year since Dakota starts Kindergarten then end of July, but I don't want the short time we have to be wasted, so I have decided to put together a list of things I want to accomplish and activities we should try.

Goals:

1. Pick back up with the preschool stuff--finish the alphabet before school starts.
2. Get new books from library once a week. (Dang it!  That means I have to get over there and pay our fines!)
3. READ the library books with the kids.  At least one book per day.
4. Get outside at least once a day.
5. Keep up with the garden.
6. Do at least one craft with the kids per week.
7. Do at least one "Mommy" craft a week.
8. {Mumble, Grumble!}  KEEP UP WITH THE LAUNDRY! {Mumble, Grumble!}

And now on to the FUN stuff!

• Camping--if you know my kids, you know this is a MUST!
• Ride a Horse
• Picnic
• Swimming
• Zoo
• Dinosaur Museum
• Hiking
• Weekly Treasure Hunt
• Fishing
• Bug Hunt
• Library Reading Time
• Backyard Camp Out
• Water Games
• Family Pictures in the Canyon
• Bowling
• Nature Walks
• BBQ with Friends

Summer Sign

Here in Utah, Spring has been struggling to show it's beautiful face, so I decided to give it a nudge by getting started on some Summer decor.

So easy and SO cheap

All I used was

Some old cereal boxes (to back the letters for sturdiness)

Scraps of Paper

Cricut & Cartridges

Hole Punch

Jute bought at Home Depot

Too bad this one is for my Sister-in-law!

Now to make one for ME!

Then, onto a few projects involving all my tin cans!

Unicorn Appliquéd Shirt for the Birthday Girl

Remember when I told you that I had another birthday coming up and she wanted a My Little Pony theme?

She changed her mind.

She decided she wanted to go to Farm Country (the local petting zoo) and have a Unicorn theme.

So here's what I came up with:

Sorry it's not a great photo.  It was the best one I got of the actual shirt.  There were tons of adorable ones of her, but you couldn't see much of her shirt in them.

Here's how I did it:

What you'll need:

Cricut Machine

Cricut Cartridge

Sharp blade for Cricut (works better when cutting out small details)

Cartridges for Cricut.  I used Dress up Paper Dolls, Mickey Mouse Font, and the Home Essentials

Fabric

Coordinating thread

Heat n Bond Lite

Tear Away Stabilizer if you will be sewing on with a sewing machine

Cut your Heat n Bond to fit your fabric, then iron onto the wrong side of your fabric according to package directions.

Place on Cricut mat and insert into machine.

Cut out each layer of desired image.

Iron the shirt where you want your applique, then position your bottom layer.

Iron the image on the shirt, following package instructions.

I wanted the mane and tail to be yellow, so I made this my base layer.

I then cut out the unicorn again in pink fabric and cut off the mane and tail so that the yellow would show through.

Position your second layer and iron on.

I decided the shirt needed a little more and I wanted to personalize it, so I cut out a "C" for Charly, and some flowers in purple, pink, and yellow to tie it all together.

 Once you iron it all on, you can either hand sew them on, or use your sewing machine.

At this point, I was a little rushed (and sleep deprived from a teething one year old keeping me up all night) so I forgot to take pictures.

I decided to hand stitch the flowers, and machine sew the unicorn and C.

I did the flowers by hand so that they could fray up a little on the edges.

I also did some pants.

This is before I have actually sewn them on.  I didn't get a chance to take pictures of the final product,

but what do you think?  Not bad for a first attempt, huh?

And the Birthday Girl absolutely loved it!
Which makes for a happy Mommy, even if I did feel like I was going to pull my hair out, trying to get it done in time!

Next time, No procrastinating!

P.S.  Thanks to TaDa! Creations

for the amazing tips and tutorial on appliquéing.

You can find it here.

P.S.S.

If you want the cute look without having to take the time to sew the pieces on, buy the Heat n Bond in the Red package.

I was featured!

It's FUN to craft featured  my Kitchen Bridal Shower!
Go Check it out:

Kitchen Bridal Shower

I "Whipped up a Kitchen Shower" 

for my soon-to-be sister-in-law, Megan.

I bet you can't guess what her colors will be for her kitchen!

Okay, so I may go a little overboard with a theme!

But I can't help it when red is my favorite color and this is the color scheme I want to use next time I decorate my own kitchen!

I got the idea for the tea towel cake here.

Aly&Ash is a cute blog with some great ideas.

Go check them out when you are done here!

(Aren't those mugs adorable!  My mom found them at a local trophy shop.  The black one has my brother's name on the other side, and her's has the date on the other side.)

It's kind of hard to see, but we kept the theme going with all of the decorations.

There were three kitchen gadgets strung up above each window.

These three are a grater, peeler, and cutting board.

Slotted spoon, can strainer, large spoon

Spatula, colander, ladel

Double ended rubber scraper, whisk, rubber scraper

Whisk, oven mitt, whisk

Silicone basting brush, kitchen scissors, spoon rest

And you want to know what I love about this?

We (my mom  and I) found most of it at the Dollar Store!

And it all doubles as the gift!

Measuring spoons and measuring cups

What's a party without food???

Chicken salad sandwiches and skewers with olives, cheese, and pickles

Strawberries for dipping in chocolate

Raspberry Lemonade

Another good deal:

This little cooler is only $19.97 at Sam's Club right now.

Costco has one similar, but I don't know how much it is.

My sister just filled the bottom with tulle and some leftover flowers from the decorations, and I tied the bow around it.  So cute and you can change it up for any occasion!

Thanks, Megan, for giving me a chance to go a little overboard!

(Sorry some of the pictures are hard to see.  I should have closed the blinds!)