A Day In My Life

I found instructions to make a pinata on Familyfun.com . We decided to do the same design as the website had. I just used pages out of a phone book instead of newspaper - it was super easy. Messy - yes, but easy. We did three layers and let each one dry for about an hour in the sun and breeze. Then we used tissue paper to decorate it. I cut a hole in the top and punched holes for yarn to hang it. We think ours is cuter than the one on the website! So.. in hindsight I would have put more than 3 layers of phone book on our pinata. It wouldn't hang because the yarn just ripped through once candy was inside so I had to hold it while the kids took turns. Yeah. That sounds like a recipe for disaster. I didn't blindfold them for that reason. Each girl only got one turn, and by the last turn the pinata was broken. But they didn't care - all the girls wanted was the candy. And all Harvey wanted was the tissue paper.

So, I had a "great" recipe for homemade bubble solution. It said to include glycerin (I'm not even sure what that is exactly) and that I could find it for relatively cheap in a pharmacy. Well, I went to Smith's and Walmart, and the only glycerin they have is in capsule form as a LAXATIVE! Imagine the employee's faces when I asked if I could get 2 cups or more of it in liquid form. :) Anyway, someone told me to just add sugar (to help make the bubbles more "unpoppable") so I did. And it made bubble gel. Seriously. It barely poured out into the flat pan! I added more water and we made do. This contraption was a hit! It's called a Foamerator. All you do is cut off the end of a waterbottle, and attach an old rag (I cut mine into 4 squares) with a rubberband. Then just get the washcloth wet, dip it in the bubble solution and blow in the other end. It actually makes TONS of bubbles, but we all got so soapy I had to put the camera away. Try it!

I found this great idea from my friend, Rachel: Make a summertime advent calendar. I loved the idea, and decided to make my own now so I can entertain the girls this year and use it year after year for my own kids someday (when Harvey can actually say "I'm bored..."). For a novice seamstress like me - it was a pretty involved project to say the least. If you really want to make you own, you can follow a tutorial here . However - I'd like to add one thing: Buy Heat N' Bond LITE! The tutorial didn't specify, and I didn't know there was a difference, but if you use the regular Heat N' Bond your sewing machine needle gets all sticky every few seconds and skips stitches unless you clean it off. Let's just say that this project took WAY longer (and was more frustrating) than it should have! Each cone is labeled with the numbers of the month (I used glitter puffy paint), and is a pocket. You write a surprise activity that is planned for the...