Bubbles

After trying out several bubble recipes last summer—even getting glycerin… I think that this is the best concoction for homemade bubbles.

• 16 cups warm water
• 1 cup Dawn/ Palmolive
• 2 tablespoons baking powder    

This great mixture is from the label off of the back of this great item from Klutz.

Now check out the results.

                     

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The best things in life…

aren’t things.  That is a quote I have heard and it makes me think of my little ones.

This past weekend, Lillie went out of town for a family reunion with her cousin and grandparents .  Gosh the house was quiet!  I missed my girl and even the constant yammer-yammer-yammer.

Caleb and I did do something special—I had his pictures taken professionally.  I plan to do a full post on this later but thought I would share one picture from the event.

This card was given to Caleb on his birthday from his Godparents Melissa and John.  Melissa’s mother makes these amazing cards!  Can you imagine cutting out all of that detail?  This sweetness is going in a frame. 

And now I get to put this picture next to it.  I know…sqeeeeeeee!

Image from the wonderful Kerri Gibbs aka With Love Photography – stay tuned for more details on this great gal.

del.icio.us Tags: The best things in life aren't things,1st birthday,Kerri Gibbs,With Love Photography

And the winners are…

• Mallory has won the Vintage Chic
• Miss TM has won the Sweet Dreams
• and Elizabeth has won the Fridas!!!

Please contact me with your mailing address and I will get your earrings out in the mail tomorrow.   Woot woot!!

Thanks so much for playing along with my first giveaway.  Stay tuned as I plan to do more of these this summer.  I will also be featuring a new section on Tuesdays—called “Talk to me Tuesday” which highlights local artists, business people, friends…etc.  Hope you enjoy and thanks again so much.  It means the world that you all support my little business.  xoxo

Happy Day

Happy Day…That is what I used to call the big celebration my mom would have for the June birthdays in our household.  Emily (my sister) and I both have June birthdays which were always lumped together.  My aunt has a birthday on the 1st and mix it all together with Father’s Day and a few graduation parties and voila—you have “Happy Day”.

I was thrilled when Caleb arrived on May 31st.  He clearly wanted no part of “Happy Day”. 

Good boy.

Who can resist this face?  Seriously.

For his first birthday I was keeping it simple.  A little cookout at the house for family and a few friends.  My goal was to have the place clean and quasi presentable for guests.  Oh-- and food and drink in bellies-cause don’tcha just hate when you attend a function and they don’t feed you properly?

The party was on Sunday over the long  Memorial Day weekend. Jake had taken Friday off (thank goodness).  We managed to pull it all together between house, yard and shopping for the event.

Well, while I was at Costco (told ya—I was really just trying to keep it easy).  I picked up the burgers and dogs and I saw beautiful red, white and blue desserts.  Some were cheesecakes with berries others were white sheet cakes with berries but I thought… nahhhhh.  I really want to make the cake myself.

We have serious foreshadowing people.  I should have known I was doomed.

Over a year ago I found this website after a search  for red, white and blue desserts. 

I could pull this off.  Everyone would be so surprised when we sliced his first birthday cake and a flag was inside.

Well 4 cake mixes--yeah I know… why I thought I could make this cake when from the get go when I have to use a mix…okay, but really I can make good cookies!  I swear.  ha ha ha.

Well 4 cake mixes later and I am left with a 3 layer round cake that at best is maybe 1 inch high.

   I honestly think I should have just frosted this and called it a night.   Jake had to make me two G and Ts to calm my nerves and it was already midnight.  Awesome.  On a side note the red came out nicely.

Oh. Dear. God.  I am having a Bridgette Jones moment and my soup is blue.  Except is it red, white and blue and this sh** (sorry peeps normally I keep this G but I have to paint the picture…) is everywhere.  Except on my pretty cake stand with cover from Williams Sonoma. 

Let me go on record—I will never make another (round) birthday cake again.  Although my brother-in-law was sweet and said I did have other chances to try again with this cake.  4th of July, Labor Day, Veteran’s Day… 

As it turned out the next day I made cupcakes.  They were equally as bad but my little you know who could have cared less.  xoxo

del.icio.us Tags: 4th of July,1st birthday,cake mix,cake disasters,Memorial Day,Magillie,Happy Day

Preschool Graduation

The idea of a preschool graduation would have made me laugh a few years back.  But during Lil’s ceremony, I had to fight back the tears.

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It is Free Day Friday!

It is Free Day Friday!  My friends and I used to call Fridays—Freedays.  Free from work, school—whatever!  Finally, time to get ready for the weekend.  Hoorah!  What better a way to end the work week  by piddling away on a non-work related website and signing up for a giveaway?!  Yes!

Why haven’t I done this sooner?  I am gonna giveaway some bling! 

The Rules (why do there always have to be rules??—I know-eep)

• Like my FB page = 1 entry
• Follow my Blog = 1 entry
• Tweet this = 1 entry
• Post this giveaway on your FB page  = 1 entry

Then all you have to do is comment on the blog and tell me how many entries you “earned”.

Example as me:  Hi!  My name is Jackie.  I tweeted and liked your FB page so I have 2 entries.

Example as my husband: 3

ha ha ha.  He is a man of few words.

Okay.  On to the giveaway.  I have selected 3 of my most popular pairs of earrings to put up for grabs!

 

Sweet Dreams

Frida

Vintage Chic

You see something you like?  Go ahead and enter for a chance to win.  It is like playing the lotto.  Well.  Sorta.  After one week (I will close the contest on Sunday evening of the 19th) I will select a winner from the hat.  I know… old fashioned.  Don’t worry I will have my little one do the selections.

Take a chance and if only 3 people enter you are all set.  Ha ha ha.

xoxo

Jackie

Many thanks for playing along.

A Gift For The Perfect Teacher

What do you give the perfect teacher? 

Okay—this is my first year at home.  Prior to the glorious (and don’t forget glamorous) stay at home gig ,I was an art teacher at the local middle school.  I received my share of gifts(thank you parents and students! *hugs*) some of which were great and others…

Ha ha ha!  Just kiddin’.

But-- I find that this is a conundrum a lot of parents/kids face---What do I get my teacher? 

Well,you really don’t have to get us anything.  We do, what we do, cause we really love it.  Honestly.  Buuuuuuuuuuuut if I had to pick out my favorite teacher gifts (cause who doesn’t like a present?) —I have narrowed it down to two things.

1. The Starbucks gift card.  So simple and so easy.  $5 on a card and you have purchased a drink for your favorite teacher and honestly probably made his/her morning.  With a classroom full of 8th graders… before 8am—coffee is a must.
2. The gift of time.  When a parent can come in and be an extra pair of hands-wow!  What a treat.  Even parents who feel shy about helping in the room would still do great things by helping with  a spreadsheet on the computer or cutting out laminate.  All wonderful, cause the gift of time really is priceless.

Lillie’s preschool teacher is just so amazing and I feel blessed that Lil got to have her as part of her school experience.  So I thought what could I do that would be “a good” teacher gift. 

How ‘bout another Pink and Green Mama idea?  Yes.  That is what I will do.

Lil and her classmates start every morning with centers.  The centers change and rotate throughout the year and I thought—why not make a new center to add to the mix? 

The Goose and I got busy making a sensory box—we did a little each night and I am really proud of our first time results.

First we made some rainbow rice.  I highly recommend that you get your rice at Costco as this will probably be the most pricy part of your box.

A little food coloring and a little rubbing alcohol and shake up in a zip lock—voila some amazing results.

Miss MaryLea said she once used hand sanitizer in a pinch—wouldn’t it be great to use some vanilla or lavender scented sanitizer?  The alcohol smell took some time to evaporate but we just let the rice dry outside on cookie sheets and it was humid…

      Glass Globs for our Glass Glob Lake

 Fairies –another ideas from P and G Mama.  I have also made these for a playdate and it was well received by all the little ones.

12 little polymer clay ladybugs to represent the kids in the class and 3 to represent the teachers.

   

    A unicorn (okay really it is just a horse spray painted from the dollar store) and a Styrofoam dot pathway.

    The dinosaurs were guarding the evil rat king—rocks,beans and dinosaurs all from the $ store. 

The kids will have playing with this—rice will get mixed up and they will have fun making the box their own.  And Lil’s teacher was tickled pink with her new center for next school year.  xoxo

del.icio.us Tags: teacher gifts,sensory box,Pink and Green Mama,Magillie,Dollar Store,tactile,texture,feel,touch,preschool