Kettle Corn

I decided to try my hand at making my own kettle corn. We love Kettle Corn! It is really easy & pretty tasty. You may want to change the salt to sugar ratio depending on your taste. Give it a try!



You will need:

1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup popcorn kernels
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup salt

In a large pot with a lid, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the popcorn. When the oils sizzles, sprinkle the sugar over the kernels. Cover and shake the pan until the popping slows down, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and toss with the salt.

Simplify

There will be no more pirate party posts. We had a change in plans & ended up in Arizona over little man's birthday. We had a swimming party instead. I still have a few things up my sleeve for a pirate party...maybe next year!

Kiddie Neck Pillows

If you googled Procrastination..I think you will see my picture! I have had the stuff to make the kids' neck pillows for 3 months. Of course I put it off until the night before our 12 hour road trip. Luckily..they were VERY easy to whip up, even for me!

I started to do a tutorial, but realized that I didn't have time. It is probably the easiest thing to sew. I let the boys each pick out a fleece material. I had them cut to 1/2 yard each, but had a bit left over! I drew a "U" shape on a piece of paper. I like to use paper from the kiddos easel.



I pinned the pattern piece to my fabric & cut it out. Make sure you leave some extra for your seam.



Once you have your two pieces...place right sides together. Sew around leaving a big enough opening to fill your pillow. Once sewn...turn right sides out. I filled the pillows with stuffing from an old pillow. I worked perfect & was FREEEE!!!

In no time..I had little neck pillows ready for the road trip ahead. Whip stitch your pillow opening closed & there you have it!

They LOVED their neck pillows & used them the whole ride!

It's raining...

I finished the pirate banner, but it is too rainy to take a picture outside...maybe tomorrow!!!

Last Minute Teacher Gift

This school year is coming to an end. I can't believe it! My boys have both had really great teachers...so I wanted to get them something to say thank you! I had every intention of buying flowers, but I was out voted...two against one. Plus, I had to give in because it is their gift to their teacher.



We bought the fun little pails on sale for $1.00 at Hobby Lobby. They had a ton of different colors to choose from. The boys LOVED choosing their own pail.

We bought potting soil & Blue Enchantment. We HAD to get Blue Enchantment per Kaden's request. The boys couldn't wait to plant their seeds. It was a fun activity.

I came across a tag with an adorable saying to tie everything together. Skip to my Lou posted a FUN free printable tag to add to your flowers. You can open up the file & edit the name. We changed the name to "me" because it is from the boys. She used a scalloped circle punch, but I didn't have one. I decided to use some pinking shears to cut out my tags...but you could also just cut out the circle. I made two for each flower pot.

I used double sided tape to attach the tags to craft sticks. Poke the stick into the dirt & there you have your gift.

Aargh!!!

I took a break from sewing & crafting to get some scrapbooking done. If you want to see the pages that I have done, go to our family blog.

Preston is having a pirate party next month. I like to prepare a little ahead of time. Plus, we are heading out of town for a little over a week in June, so I want to be ready. Today, I made his party invitation. I wanted something cheap & easy. So, here is what I came up with.



I made up the wording in Photoshop Elements 7. You could use Word also. I made mine to a 4x6 size. I used the font Missed Your Exit. It is a free font from Kevin & Amanda! They have the most amazing fonts. If you haven't checked them out...DO!

I printed out the invitations on brown masking paper that we had left over from painting our house. You could also use brown craft paper from the roll. I like the masking paper because it is thinner & gives it a good feel, but it was really difficult with the printer. The paper was so fine that it jammed up a few times.
Masking paper & kraft paper are both super cheap. Look at Walmart or the Dollar Store in the shipping section for the Kraft Paper. The masking paper will be in the painting section of any store that sells painting supplies.

After the invite was printed, I took a candle & burnt the edges. I recommend doing this outside on the cement or something. I started in the house & it was stinky & I was worried about the smoke alarm going off. Burn small areas at a time. If you do too big of a spot...it could get out of control.

We crinkled up one of the invitations to see which we liked better & it was unanimous that we all like the invites that were not crinkled.

Walla! Awesome pirate invitation that cost me NOTHING!!!

**Stay tuned. I will post pirate party projects as I get them done. Tomorrow...I should be able to post the banner that I made!

Memaw...Don't Read This

Ok...a while back I made some camera strap slip covers for my camera. My Mom loves the straps, but only has a point & shoot. She keeps joking that she needs one for her little wristlet camera strap.

Then, I came across an adorable camera case wristlet pattern. I knew that it would PERFECT for her for Mother's Day. I got the fabric at Hobby Lobby. I LOVE it! My Mom LOVES Vera Bradley & I thought this looked a little like her stuff.





I have never made 'darts' in any of my sewing projects. It was a new experience, but I love how it turned out. I think that my Mom is going to LOVE this.