Month: October 2012

A Blog Award

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I love awards, and it made my day to receive a nomination from one of my new blogger friends, Cafe Casey. I have a whole lot of respect for Casey because she teaches high school students and seems to do it with humor!

There are some rules that go with the nomination:

  1. Thank the blogger who nominated you with a link to the site. (see above)
  2. Write seven things about yourself that other bloggers don’t know.
  3. Nominate fifteen other deserving blogs.

Seven things about myself:

  1. I learned to sew just so I could make a Jedi robe for my son that I saw on Pinterest.
  2. I love party dips of any kind and am happy to treat them like a meal.
  3. Even though I like cooking, snacks, etc., I do not like to pack school lunches.
  4. I think everything looks better with a monogram on it.
  5. I only do laundry on Sundays.
  6. I have a subscription to US magazine and am disappointed when it is not in my mailbox on Thursdays.
  7. I spend months thinking about my Christmas cards. Receiving Christmas cards (with family photos) is my favorite part of the holidays.

15 Blog Nominations

New favorites:

365 Daybook — A year in book titles

Second Career Teacher — Adventures of a first year teacher at age 40 something

Pillows a la Mode — Inspiration for sewing projects

The Renegade Seamstress — More ideas for a sewing newbie

Keeping it Real — Mom stories and other reflections

Life in the 50’s and Beyond — Love her 6-word Saturday posts!

An Education in Books — Must-read books for kids

The Deployment Diatribes — Written by a grade school friend about the life of a military wife.

 

Old Favorites:

Oh Yes They Did! — Hilarious.  I always laugh when reading this and LOVE this blogger’s writing style.

Nerdy Book Club — Great source for juvenile book ideas.

Popcorntheblog — Tips and inspiration about writing.

The Joy of Teaching — Good comments about education.

Running in Mommyland — Written by a friend from my 8th grade class about life as a mom and trying to keep up with it all.  This blog semi-inspired me to get my blog going.

Village Connection — Keeps me updated on new and fun things in my neighborhood.

Hot Mess Mom — If you feel down about your parenting skills, read this.

Then I Bought a Group Gift (Day 6)

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If I can think of a gift that can be given to an entire family unit, I buy it. I shop for my two sisters (married with kids), my brother (married with kids), and my parents. Last year each family received a mini crock pot with a recipe for my favorite crock pot dip. I love mini things, and these little crock pots are really fun. When my whole extended family was together at Christmas, we got them all out one night and set up a chocolate fondue buffet with everyone’s crock pots. Yum!

I tied a recipe card with the classic Velveeta queso dip recipe on top of everyone’s wrapped crock pot.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. Velveeta cheese, cut into 1-inch dice
  • 1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes (I like mild)
  • 1/2 to 3/4 lb. browned ground beef

Directions

  • Add Velveeta to crock pot with Ro-Tel tomatoes and browned ground beef. Heat until melted, stirring occasionally. Serve with Fritos Scoops or tortilla chips.
  • May need to half the recipe to fit in the mini sized crock pot.

Alternate Idea: See below for the triple crock pot that I saw on the Target website. I think the triple crock pots might be even smaller than the single mini! Maybe somebody will get this for me this year (hint, hint Sewing Sister and Aunt B).

pARTy!

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There is a happy disappointment when one of my children requests an outsourced birthday party. I am happy that I do not have to clean my house, set up a party, and clean my house again. I am disappointed because when I book a party at an outside location, it limits how much I am allowed to do. I am a little Type A, so it is hard for me to let someone else have control over the party activities. This year my daughter wanted an art party (art = really big mess). This turned out to be a GREAT choice for an away from home birthday. What are other good places to book a party?

The Invitation: Often kid party locations (like a bounce party, children’s museum, Little Gym…) will give you pre-printed invitations with blank lines to fill in the name, date, and time. That is way too generic for me, and since I was already worried about the party not being personal enough, I had to order my own invitations. I ordered a printed card from MyExpression.com. Once I approved the proof, the invitations arrived within 2 business days, and I did not even select rush shipping!

The Location: My basic criteria for an away from home party is to have an area dedicated to my group only. It is hard for the birthday child to see friends if you book a party at a location where you mix with the general population for the main activity and then come together at a table for cake at the end. Chuck E. Cheese anyone? I encourage (and by encourage, I mean tell) my kids to choose party locations where we are the only group there, or we get our own room for the whole event. If you have a 4Cats Arts Studio in your area, I highly recommend booking a party there. At 4Cats, the standard party group is ~10 kids. You are in an area with only your group for the entire event.

    

The Activity: My daughter chose from a variety of themes for her party. We chose the Fairy Party. The party guests made a sculpey clay fairy, then painted a background on a 5×7 canvas board.

The Snacks and Cake: I ordered 2 dozen cupcakes from the grocery store and had them iced in 6 different colors. We set 6 of the cupcakes on a painter’s palette (Yeah, Pinterest!). We stuck one candle in each cupcake and treated the whole palette like a cake. For snacks, I served a new Chex mix in little mini paint pails. I also made my favorite kid sandwiches. Click here for the Chex Mix and Party Sandwich Recipes.

The Party Favors: While guests were waiting for parent pick-up, we gave each child a mini wooden easel to color with Sharpie pens. It was the perfect size to hold their sculpey paintings (and I think it may be the perfect size for American Girl too– FYI). The kids took home their fairy sculpey art piece, the mini wooden easel, and the mini paint pail.

On the Fifth Day, I Shopped for Man Gifts

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And on the fifth day of gift shopping, I had to buy something for my dad. He can be challenging. There are only so many pictures of the grandchildren I can give him. There are a few staple interests that my siblings and I use as fallbacks– college basketball, grilling, and/or golf. When those fail, we pool our resources and buy electronics. I am stumped this year, so I am open to any new suggestions!

Man Gift #1: A few years ago I ordered Nike ID running shoes. You choose the color and design. You can even have lettering put on the back heel (I printed the granddad name our kids use). My dad is a huge Kansas fan. I ordered Kansas Jayhawk crimson and blue. Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of the real thing to share, but they are a showstopper at games.

Man Gift #2: I think my mom discovered the personalized steak branding iron. My husband and my dad received one of these bad boys. Since I love anything personalized, you know this is one of my favorites. FYI, the branding irons work very well on hot dogs.

As a sidebar to the grilling theme, another fun gift is to organize a guy’s weekend to a BBQ judging certification class. I contacted the wives of my husband’s best buddies, booked hotel rooms in nowhere Alabama, and reserved spots at a BBQ judging class. You can choose between Kansas City or Memphis judging circuits. It did not matter to me, but if you are arranging this gift for a real grill connoisseur, the type of judging certificate will make a difference.

Man Gift #3: My sisters and I have all given needlepoint belts (the ultimate preppy gift) to my dad, brother, and the husbands. My favorite are the hobby belts that are personalized with scenes that represent the giftee’s interests (my husband’s belt had soccer, running, skiing, golf, and Kentucky Derby/horses). These look great on the golf course. I order through The Sign of the Arrow in St. Louis, MO. They will take an order over the phone. This is a gift that involves time and money. If you have not planned for this one by July, save it for a birthday or anniversary. Not only do you have to build in time to needlepoint the belt, you also have to allow time to finish the belt with the leather backing and buckle. Needlepoint finishers really get backed up pre-holidays.

On the Fourth Day of Gift Ideas

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I love anything personalized! After seeing a designer on Project Runway wear monogrammed t-shirts a few seasons ago,  I purchased a stack of Gap t-shirts for all of the women on my holiday gift list. I stuck with basic colors (black and white) and had monograms added. I probably should have included my pre-teen niece too because she is a preppy girl, and this is a great gift for girls ages 10 and up. I will monogram just about anything. What would work well for my shopping list this year?

What to Do: Find cotton t-shirts that are a good weight. I like the Gap Essential Crewneck Ts because they are a little thicker and can hold the stitching of the monogram machine. I took my shirts to a local monogrammer. You may want to ask about having a fabric stabilizer added to the back of the shirt, so the monogram is stitched in evenly.

Styles: I chose 3 letter monograms for all of the shirts. Some shirts had the fancy cursive and some were more tailored. It just depended on the person receiving the shirt. I think 2 1/2 inches is a good height for the largest letter in the center.