Mission Trip Crafts

I have wanted to go on a mission trip for soooo long.  I just want to do it as a family.  Our church offers several mission opportunities each year, but the youngest participants are in their teens.  This past June, my neighbor (Stacy) went on a mission trip with her church to Mexico.  It was a family mission trip.  Kids as young as 6 went!!  I couldn't believe it.  She said that the kids were active participants in hammering nails and painting (they built 2 houses) as well as playing with the local children.  She said , "Y'all should go with me next year."  I made sure I understood her correctly....we could go, even if we weren't members of her church??  "Absolutely!" was her reply.  Can I just say my heart flipped over a zillion times!! 

Our church has fundraisers to help defray the cost of mission trips.  Well, we won't have that help as we aren't going with our church.  So, I am making some crafts to sell to help raise the money.  I know it may take us a couple of years, but I believe that if we are obedient to the call to go, God WILL bless! 

Here are a few of the things I've made.  I really hope to get a new vinyl machine before long and I can do much more!  In the meantime, everything here is able to be personalized to your preference (name, initials, colors, sayings, scripture, etc).  These are just examples.  Please share with your friends and help send our family to Mexico!!

12x12 decorative tile $22

12x12 decorative tile $20

12x12 decorative tile $20

6x6 desktop tile $10

8x14 floating frame $25

Post it note holder $7

Santa cookie plate $13

Christmas decorative plate $13

Etched glass Christmas ornament $8.50

Etched glass candle holder or vase $10

Name tumbler $12

Initial tumbler $12

Auburn tumbler $13 (would be cute with a paw print too)

Alabama tumbler $12

Peanut butter fudge tray $20

Chocolate chocolate chip cake $22

Almond cream cheese pound cake $20

Sock-it-to-me cake $20

Learning to Sew

I have been wanting to learn to sew for quite some time.  A friend gave me a sewing machine a LONG time ago that has sat in my attic for years.  Finally, a sweet friend at church is giving me lessons.  My first project was a dress to send to Nicaragua with one of our mission teams.  I was soooo excited.  I think it turned out well.  Here is a picture of Ella modeling it :)

 

I got so excited I found a self-tutorial on a drawstring bag and made this:

 

Now I've bought some fabric to try and make a totebag.....so fun :)

Summer Wreath

This is a wreath I made for this summer.  I started it last year and tried the trick I saw on Pinterest where you use a pool noodle for the foam part of the wreath.  Disaster.  The yarn and letter were too heavy and it just couldn't hold it's shape.  So after hours of wrapping yarn, I was aggravated and just put it in the closet.  I pulled it out a few months ago and unwrapped all of the yarn.  Then I did what I should have done at first, and bought a styrofoam wreath from Hobby Lobby.  I spent forever wrapping yarn but was so much happier this time because it was strong and looked so much better.  I painted the wooden letter and attached a cute butterfly. 

Mother's Day Craft

This is what I made for my mom for Mother's Day.  Well, actually my neighbor Stacy mostly made it :)  I had seen similar things on Pinterest and knew I wanted to do something for my mom with this saying on it.  So, it is on a tile and I bought her a plate stand to use.  It now sits on her kitchen counter :)

Homemade Christmas Ornaments

I love making homemade gifts.  To me, they are just so much more special than going to the store and buying something.  It takes thought and time to make something and that makes it special.  This past Christmas I knew I wanted to make ornaments but I didn't know which ones.  Then I saw these glitter ornaments and decided they were the ones...I LOVE glitter :)  I would really have loved to make them all a different color, but I was a little surprised at how quickly the cost of glitter adds up!  So, I had to settle for one. 

They are pretty easy to make once I figured out that I needed to use a good amount of glitter.  First, buy clear ornaments from the craft store.  Next, put in a little bit of liquid floor cleaner and swirl it all around.  Empty the excess.  Then, put in a good bit of glitter and swirl it all around.  Again, empty the excess.  Allow to dry overnight.  I used my Cricut to cut out names in different fonts.  Finally, I added a small piece of ribbon to the hook to give it some added detail. 

Here are a few examples.  I made about 14, so I'll just share a few :)

Alabama Cake Carriers

These are a couple of cake carriers that I decorated for my mom and Shelia for their birthdays.

Happy Fall, Y'all !!!!

This is very out of character for me, but I am excited about fall.  Normally, summer is my favorite time of year.  Yes, it's hot, but I LOVE summer.  Well, today is the last day of my favorite season, but surprisingly, I'm not sad.  Normally I pout, but not today.  I think I am really beginning to enjoy the uniqueness of every season.  Is this a sign of aging maturity?  :)  Either way, in anticipation of fall's arrival tomorrow, I have changed out my table centerpiece of one with sand and seashells to one with candy corn;  I have put up the ocean breeze candle and replaced it with Paula Dean's mystery pecan pie candle; I have replaced the floral air fresheners with cinnamon spice;  and, I made a new wreath for the front door!  It definitely feels like fall in our home now.  And the scents make me excited about the baking and cooking of the holidays.  Here is a picture of the new wreath I made.  It is not exactly what my mind had envisioned, but it's pretty close :)

Hope you are excited about fall too!!

Dolphin Tale Party

I can't believe it, but my baby is 5 !!!!!  She wanted to have a Dolphin Tale party.  If you haven't seen the movie, you need to....(this movie started Leah's love of dolphin everything).

The Invitations

The invitations were not my idea.  I must give credit to my neighbor, Stacy, and her creative brain :)  She came up with the idea and helped me put them together.  We made them with my Cricut.  I especially loved that they were unique and not like any I've seen.  You pull the dolphin up and it has the party information on that card.

The Decorations

This is a balloon wreath that I made for the front door.  I found inspiration on Pinterest, of course ;) and wanted to have it done for Ella's birthday but didn't make it.  There is a number 5 with her name on it that I can take off and replace with whoevers age/name.  

The centerpieces of the table were hurricane vases filled with green crinkle paper packing filler and then dolphins and a number 5.

Ok, so sandwiches are food and not decorations, but I just wanted to show that we made ham sandwiches in the shape of dolphins.  I found a sandwich cutter at Wal-Mart and when you use it to cut the sandwich you get two dolphins and a heart.  Cute, huh?

I also had blue Hawaiian Punch in a drink dispenser that had a chalkboard tag around it that said "Ocean Water" and I had decorated around the bottom with sand and seashells.  I know I took a picture but perhaps I dreamed it as I can't seem to find it now.  Big sigh.......

The Cake

We had a cake tragedy this morning.  Oh my.  I can laugh now, but was on the verge of tears this morning.  The story goes like this.....Ella and Leah had their friends Eva and JB spend the night last night.  I got up at 6am and started cleaning and getting ready for the 10am party.  I asked Charles to go get Leah's dolphin balloon filled with helium.  He said he would rather me do it so I asked him to get the kids breakfast started (I had bought Pillsbury cinnamon rolls).  I always put my finished cakes in the oven to keep them from little fingers in the icing or some sort of accident or something.  I always do this.  See where this is going??  He didn't think about it until he went to put the cinnamon rolls in the preheated oven.  You've heard of twice baked potatoes??  Now we had twice baked cupcakes!!  Luckily, the cupcakes themselves were fine, but the icing was a different story.  It had changed colors and gotten so hard and cracked I couldn't even get candles to go through it.  When I got home and found out, panic ensued.  I took a shower and prayed.......prayed that God would help me be loving and forgiving to Charles because I know he didn't ruin them on purpose and that He would help me to salvage Leah's cake.  So, I scraped off the hard, crusty icing and made a new batch.  I re-decorated the dolphin (though this rush job did not end up as cute as yesterdays).  The cupcakes, thankfully, we just as good and moist as they should have been :)

The cupcakes in dolphin formation.

The re-decorated dolphin.  See the waves (how crusty and hard) that's how the whole dolphin was!  Eek!  This rush version wasn't as cute as the first one.

I wan't sure I'd have enough cupcakes with just the dolphin (though  I did) and so these are decorated  with teal icing, sprinkled with brown sugar for sand, and fondant sea shells, starfish, coral, and sand dollar toppers.

The Games

They played three games:  (1) pin the tail on the dolphin (again, if you haven't seen the movie, you might not understand)   (2) water balloon fights   (3) dolphin pinata.  

Pin the Tail on the Dolphin

The pin the tail on the dolphin, I again have to give thanks to Stacy.  She drew him out and painted him as well as all of the individual tails.  I think she did a great job!!  The kids had fun.  We blindfolded them, made them spin around five times (since it was Leah's fifth birthday) and then pin.  I think Leah actually came the closest but pretty much tied with Annalee and Matthew.

Water Balloon Fights

I had in mind a couple of games to play with the water balloons but the kids just wanted to throw them at each other.  It was so hot I didn't even care :)  It will kind of hurt your feelings though that you spend hours filling up 110 water balloons and they were confetti in the yard within a matter of minutes!!!

(No pictures of the actual fights.  I was actually using the camcorder during that.)

Dolphin Pinata

I had the pinata filled with Skittles, Twizzlers, DumDums, dolphin stickers, dolphin necklaces, and gum.  As soon as it was open, chaos erupted.  The sweet children turned into little vultures.  Seriously.

My Sweet Baby Leah

Here are a couple pictures of Leah.  The first is her blowing out her candles and the second is her opening her presents.  

I am so grateful and thankful to the Lord for all of the great family and friends that He has blessed us with.  Those who don't mind enduring the Alabama July heat for a couple of hours to bring a smile and a sweet memory to my sweet baby's heart.  We are so very blessed!!