Craft Hope - Sock monkey

I created my first sock monkey to be donated to the Little Heroes Preschool burn camp. Craft Hope is a blog that works with different organizations and encourages crafters to make something to donate. This project was all about creating sock monkeys (firefighter monkeys - however, that would be pushing my luck). I had great plans to complete at least 4 monkeys and I was only able to finish one. I went ahead and packed him up and sent him anyways. I only hope he will be loved as much as I loved making him. I can't wait to see what the next project is.

EXTRA, EXTRA!

Meet ROCKY LOPEZ, our newest addition to our family. We adopted Rocky, a 6 year old pug from the Pug Rescue of San Diego shelter. He is the sweetest little guy. We are so blessed to have him join our family. Cassandra is really intrigued by him. She follows him everywhere.

Mrs. Librarian -clothespin doll

I have been meaning to post the clothespin doll that I made last month. It actually is my version of a mouse librarian (although my daughters think she looks a little scary)using a kit I purchased from http://Pretty-ditty.blogspot.com . I wanted to create something a little different. I sculpted her using paper mache. She is posing next to our mushroom ceramic planter (there are seeds inside that grow once your break the top). Found it at Walgreens.

Teacher Appreciation Day

Last week we celebrated Teacher Day at my children's school and my daughter and I decorated her teachers door. WE had a fun time glueing a picture of her teacher to the giant poster. All the kids signed the poster and were ecstatic when Mrs. McDevitt opened her door and saw the poster for the first time. She is truly a great teacher. My oldest daughter, who is now in 7th grade, had her in 2nd grade and really enjoyed being in her class. She is one of those sweet teachers with a BIG heart.

Happy May Day!

May is one of those months that so much is going on, I never seem to enjoy it. However, this year I planned a brunch with some of my girl friends and it turned out great. I really liked how the table setting looked and we had such a great time. If it wasn't for those darn kids to pick up after school, we would have probably been chit chatting until wee hours of the night. Who knows, this might be a yearly tradition.

Easter Desserts

I wanted to share some of our easter desserts that we made for our family get-together. We made handmade marshmallows dipped in chocolate (Barefoot Contessa recipe), pudding triffle with strawberries and girl scout cookies and egg shaped cake balls (Bakerella blog). So many calories in one table, but soooo delicious!

Easter vacation is over

We are back in school and I didn't do as much crafting as I would of liked. Having the kids and husband at home makes for a busy household. My oldest daughter had a fun time making a few clothespin dolls. (Sorry for the very bad picture. We are still learning how to take good indoor pictures). We also ordered a clothespin doll kit from Pretty Ditty blog and we can't wait to make some more dolls.

Washington D.C.

Meeting the President of the United States of America (not!).

Washington D.C. School field trip

In front of Capital Hill.

Washington D.C.

My husband and daughter in front of the Capital from their recent trip to Washington D.C. school field trip.

Clothespin Doll-spring

Finally, finished the clothespin doll that I started a few weeks ago. My girls have been on vacation for two weeks and I have not been able to get much done. It's not bad for the first one. My oldest daughter is inspired to make her own. Hopefully, she will not take as long as I did.

Baby Shower Gift

I did manage to whip up a diaper cake for a friend of mine that is having a baby shower later today. It was so simple to make. I didn't take any photos of the process but, you can find many tutorials out in blog land on how to make one. They are very easy to make. I also tucked in one of my infant fleece hats that I love to make.

Cookies, cookies and more cookies

The girls and I have been so busy with girl scout cookies that I haven't had much time to craft. We have also been eating way too many cookies (see the opened samoas cookie box, not much is left in there).

Pom pom critters

This week I managed to work on a little pom pom critter, a mouse to be exact. I still need to add the eyes and embellish the outfit to make it look cute. You might notice that she has three whiskers on one side and two on the other. I was going to add another but I decided "little Suzie" lost a whisker when she tried to get a piece of bread crumb from a mouse trap. Good thing for her she only lost a whisker and not her life.

I found a tutorial on www.marthastewart.com. Just search for pom pom bunny and you will get instructions on how to make pom pom critters.

National Crafting Month

There are so many wonderful websites with many fun projects that I can't seem to focus on one. I decided to work on two projects this week. I'm still not done, but here is a picture of my work in progress. I am working on clothespin dolls. This craft has been around for a long time, but it is so much fun dressing up the dolls with cute pieces of scrap fabrics. As soon as I'm done with it, I will post pictures.

Sewing machine cover

I finally made a slip cover for my sewing machine. I embroidered some cherries on it since it was so plain. I didn't have a pattern, as you can tell by the uneveness of it. I am not very good at sewing, but I was glad I was able to cover my new sewing machine (Christmas gift from hubby).

Tooth Fairy pillow

Made this cute tooth fairy pillow. I might still be able to use this with my youngest who still has a few more teeth left to fall (she is 8 years old). She really liked it and informed me about some loose teeth she has. I found the tutorial at www.mmmcrafts.blogspot.com. I still don't know how to make the site a link so until I figure it out, you will need to type it in.

More crafting

I made this doll for my daughter Cassandra. I stuffed the head with grocery bags so it would make funny noises when squeezed. My daughter is not much for dolls, but when she gets a hold of the doll she bursts out laughing from the sounds it makes. I found the doll tutorial in a very cute website called the blackapple.typepad.com. She actually appeared with Martha Stewart making the dolls.

Make your own stencil

I have been busy with a few projects here and there. I found this idea on making your own stencils and painting it on t-shirts. The link above has the stencil you can download. We are not quite done with the shirt. My daughter wants to stencil the words: PRAY FOR OBAMA on the shirt. It was a fun project to do.

New Valentine's Day tradition

Now that our girls are older, it is so much fun celebrating Valentine's Day. Although my honey declared early on in our relationship that he didn't like the idea of Valentine's Day (one day of year to show love), he seems to enjoy it more now that we have girls. Our weekend started with the Father-Daughter Dance sponsored by our church. The girls looked so cute ready to go to the dance with their papi. Unfortunately, he was only able to take two of the girls. Cassandra stayed home with me. She was recovering from a seizure that left her really exhausted.

We also started a new tradition (which we all totally loved) in which we placed kind, loving notes into little mail boxes addressed to each of us. The girls loved that idea and spent the whole day writing notes. These are the kind of memories I will cherish forever!

Oops, wrong link to free valentines cards

Sorry friends - I referenced the wrong website for the free valentines cards. The website is http://secret-agent-josephine.com/blog. Click on the above link and that should get you there.

Valentine gifts for teacher

This is our teacher gift for Valentine's Day that my daughter Isabelle and I did. The felt flower is actually a brooch kit from the Martha Stewart collection. I bought it at Walmart ($6.00 for 5 flowers). The project was fast and easy. I also printed a free valentine butterfly from www.skiptomylou.org and the cute card was also free from www.stephaniefizer.com.

Valentine Goodies

Although my honey and I don't "officially" celebrate Valentines day, we do try to go out on a date sometime during the valentine day's weekend. Having three girls (one with cerebral palsy), getting away is a big treat. Very early on in our relationship, my honey informed me that he didn't like anyone telling him when to tell me he loves me. He prefers to show his lovey dovey feelings 365 days a year, versus only one day. I agreed on the 365 days, but I must admit it is nice to get a little extra love on the 14th of February. Having three girls, we totally enjoy making valentines cookies, crafts and special coupons. This year, my youngest and I made brownies shaped like lips with red melted chocolate. We also printed out some very cute cards (free from stephaniefizer.com). One of my favorite websites also had some great ideas and free downloads for Valentines - www.skiptomylou.org.

I call myself crafty???

I'm seriously thinking of changing the name of this blog from "crafty mami" to "boring mami". I mean really. I have not posted any crafts or projects that I have done for a long time. I make things, but I either forget to take pictures or the pictures that I have taken are all stored in the camera. Anyways, here is a picture of a book my girls wrote and illustrated for me. It was the best Christmas present EVER! Sorry for the sideways picture - not exactly sure how that happened.

I also made the very delicious "dreamy lemon bars", yummy! I found the recipe at www.whimsy-girl.blogspot.com. Go check out her very cute blog. Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

It's hard to believe we are nearing the end of week three of January. I did make a resolution to exercise, make healthier meals, dedicate more time to my home, prioritize family first and of course, study the word of God daily. Well, I should have known that resolutions are meant to be broken. I will try not to be so hard on myself and just continue working towards my goals. On a fun note, my daughter Cassandra started her horse therapy lessons and it seemed like she enjoyed it. We definetely enjoyed watching her on the horse.