Fall Fun

This girl loves crafts.

Every day when Noni naps she asks to make a craft so I am constantly thinking of fun, quick and inexpensive things that we can make.

Fall has been a great season for crafts!

We started out with a book that taught Ruby (and us) all of the chemicals that make the leaves change color.

Chlorophyll is green

Xanthophyll is yellow

Annin is brown

Anthocyanin is purple/red

Carotene is orange.

(in case you were all wondering)

She was so interested in the colors and the chemicals that we thought we needed to go out and collect all the colors and shapes of leaves that we could find.

So we headed out for FHE one day and collected TONS of leaves.  

 So what to do with them?

Well I brought out the wax paper first and thought that we could iron the leaves in between them and then hang them.  Well that was an epic fail- it didn't work and just looked terrible.  So I pulled out the trusty mod podge and we went to work.

Ruby mod podged some onto a duotang....

 And with the rest we just modpodged them separately and hung them to dry.  I had gotten to packages of clothes pins from a lady at church and was glad to find a use for them!

We decided that we would hang them in our window as garland and decoration.  Ruby liked to hit them with a ruler- she thought it was fun- and of course Myers wanted to join in on the fun too!

 That did not satisfy Ruby's craving however, so we moved onto the next craft the next FHE.  Painting glass pumpkins.  It was really fun.  Look at how serious Ruby's face is- isn't that just precious?  I love her.

 Myers even got to paint his own- 

 Until he decided to eat it.  He was so fast there was no way to even stop him!

 They turned out great and we put a candle in each of them and lit them up for halloween...

The far left is Noni's- we gave him a second chance with the paint- that also did not last very long.  Then there is Justin's- he calls him chompers.  Then our carved pumpkin (it has a mustache and a round mouth...  I know it doesn't look quite right, Justin did it for me...).  Then there is mine- I like to call him evil chompers (I have a small obsession with mustache crafts.  I think they are cool but they never turn out quite right... If I am going to be honest then I must tell you that I painted another face on the back of my jar and on the back of Justin's, all with mustaches, ALL UGLY.  I thought maybe I would be lucky enough to inherit some of my mom's painting skills- turns out I didn't...)  and then Ruby's- she was doing great but then got carried away with the black- painting is just too much fun!  I still think it is great and it looks a little bit like a spider...

And now for our last fall craft of the season- for it will now be thanksgiving and Christmas oriented crafts- an acorn covered hanging ball.

As well as the mustache obsession I have a decorative ball obsession.  I think they look cool.  So when we were out walking one day and we came across a gold mine of acorns I just knew I could find a use for them!  Ruby, Myers and I gathered up as many as we could and filled our pockets and then headed home.  A couple days later I got a Styrofoam ball and my trusty glue gun and the acorn ball was born.  Ruby even got in on the fun.  I still haven't decided if I am going to spray paint it or not- but a part of me really loves it.  Another part of me- not so much.  I'm still torn.

Fall has been good to us.  I love the falls out here they just seem more real....slower.  You can really take the time to enjoy the weather and the leaves and the smells.  I fear winter is coming too soon....

Monster Shirts

I love Target.  I don't think I can say that enough.  I love Target.  I especially love it when they are having their crazy clearance.

This time I snagged some Monster shirt decals for $1.00.  You iron them on in any design you want anywhere you want.  Just what Ruby loves.  It is quick and easy and really fun!  Just what I love!

Ruby picked out the fairy monster.  Though she really hates it when i call it a monster. 

Here are the pieces she chose to add to her shirt.  (there are LOTS of different options)

I let her decide where to put them and I did the ironing.

Here is her perfect placement....

 I love it.

I got to make Myers shirt.  We went with the pirate monster.  I think it is so cute!

 There was a little broken heart that came with it.  For some reason Ruby was really disturbed by it.  She did NOT like the broken heart- so I got out my fabric paint and covered up the heart and added Mom into the center.  Every pirate should have an 'I heart mom' tatoo, right?  It seems necessary.

 Myers loved it.  He has never been one to care too much about what he wears (the opposite of Ruby) but he will hunt down this shirt and ask me to put it on him.  I love it.

After many washes the iron on has cracked and come off in a few places- but it doesn't matter- it was only $1 and I am pretty sure we got our money's worth!

Ain't Nothin' But Sunshine and Tea Pots....

While it has been snowing and storming in Calgary we 'Medicine Hatters' (which I am allowed to call myself while we are homeless drifters...wherever we reside at the moment we become.) have really been enjoying the sunshine.
Now, it isn't quite like the bahamas but there is no snow- and let's face it- I'll take that any day.
Remember when I said that Justin was done school- and then I amended it and said that he had to write the last of the boards.  Well he went and did that this weekend, now it seems a little anticlimactic to say- HE IS DONE!  Because I already said that- but HE IS NOW DONE!
He came back from a three day trip which included 38 hours of car time, one ear infection (not his), a snow storm, about 100 deer (his estimation), a board exam, some target shopping (a little jealous) and did I mention a lot of driving in a very short amount of time?
He left at 5am on friday and was back by 7 am on Monday- and they went all the way to PORTLAND.  At least he had Clark to keep him company....
He came back looking a little tired, a little haggard, and a little stressed.  (The relief and joy will come soon)
But now all we have lined up is a bunch of visiting (family and friend), relaxation, travelling, and fun times.
We are still working on Visas but hopefully everything will be worked out soon and we can start planning our move to Ohio....
Ahhhh- let the good times begin.

While Justin was gone we did our best to have fun and enjoy ourselves.  We took a little trip to the downtown core of Medicine Hat and enjoyed some easter egg hunting and some easter bunny spotting.  It was fun!  In fact- everyone should come to the Hat and I can show you all the great sites!  I am sure the Hat was on your list anyway- I mean we do have to World's Largest Tepee....
And to conclude our weekend we painted a teapot.  Grammy's house is full of fun and excitement and cousins (most of the time) and one thing we love about grammy's house are the hot chocolate parties.  Ruby has been asking for a hot chocolate teapot of her own for a while and when I found a white one at winners for $2 I picked it up.  My mom had these porcelain writers that she has kept from when I graduated (10 years ago) and we had made everyone a personalized a mug with school colors- and they were perfect!  Ruby preferred the purple and we have a perfectly personalized tea pot of her very own...



The cousins are headed over today for a sleep over for a few days so we will get our chance to try it out...

Happy Easter! (and easter bucket tutorial)

Happy Easter to all!!!
We had a great Easter watching conference and spending time with each other and friends...
Justin and Ruby wore their easter shirts today.... Myers and I are still looking for our own versions- but I had to post this picture for Addy- I knew she would love it...

Now on to the tutorial

Easter Buckets-
I wanted to make Ruby and Myers some sort of basket to put their easter goodies in and I came up with this-
I love the way this bucket turned out so I thought I would share with all of you how to make them and some interesting pieces of information I learned along the way.
First- gather all of your materials...
Paint, brushes, buckets (I got mine at home depot in the wallpaper aisle... you could also use paint buckets or something like that), acrylic spray (if you are using acrylic paint)- this one says matte but I changed my mind and went with the glossy...

Paint the buckets and be patient. I decided to use acrylic paint so that I would have more choices in color. If I were to ever do this again I would go the spray paint route- it would be much less work. If you do go the acrylic route you have to be VERY patient and VERY careful. Anything will scratch this paint- and it takes ALOT of coats. The green one took about 4 coats and the yellow 6, and then I still had to spray it with the clear coat. Like I said- go with spray paint... save yourself the headache...
Cut out whatever you want in vinyl to decorate your buckets- be sure to do some practice rounds with cardstock first to get the correct sizing. If you don't have access to a cricut or vinyl you could also use paint and decorate with stencils or free hand. The possibilities are endless.
Spray with the topcoat. Be sure to follow the directions and be safe- it is super stinky- even the low odor. I sprayed it outside and it was SO STINKY- but it really works and we haven't had issues with chipping yet. And enjoy!
Here are the end results...

I really love them- and so does Ruby... she is already using it to aid in her hoarding habit...