New Adventures! Good Things Utah Projects

So Yay! I am so happy to be able to announce my new adventure! I am going to be working with Imaginisce, which is a wonderful local scrapbooking company. I am going to be promoting their products on Good Things Utah twice a month. My first show is tomorrow, and I am so excited to share with you the projects that we highlighted.

I decided to do some quick and easy kids craft projects for New Years Eve. Every year my husbands side of the family has a huge get together, with the WHOLE family, kids included. Right now we are at about 17 kids, so to say that it is a little bit crazy is an understatement, but totally worth it! We love having the whole family around. I decided to come up with some crafts that they can do to help us ring in the New Year.


Paper Noisemaker

This is the project that I did on air. This is super easy and it is totally something a child can easily put together with a little adult help. Basically it is a noise maker. These are really easy to use, just grab them by the handle and shake! The paper pieces hitting together make sort of a clapping noise. Not super loud and obnoxious, but it makes just enough noise that the kids love them. Here are the instructions for it.

You will need:

Paper towel roll or you can even use an old Christmas wrapping paper roll and trim it down.
2 sheets of cardstock (2 different colors)
2 sheets of pattern paper (2 different patterns)
Double sided tape
Scissors
Instructions:
Step 1 - Cut the papers as follows:
Red cardstock 10 inches long 6 inches wide
Stripe pattern paper 8 inches long 6 inches wide
Teal cardstock 6 inches long and 6 inches wide
Dot pattern paper 4 inches long 6 inches wide

Step 2- Cut each piece of paper into fringe which is about 1/4 inch wide and about halfway down the length of the cardstock.

Step 3- Starting with the longest piece of paper, use double-sided tape and attach the paper to the towel roll, about 3/4ths of the way down. Add the next longest paper piece, overlapping the ends of the first paper you have previously glued down. Repeat until all four pieces of paper are attached.

Step 4- Gently curl the edges of the fringes down.

Super -duper simple!

Ribbon Roll Noise Maker
This is noise maker made out of the cardboad left over from a roll of ribbon. Just added a little bit of pattern papers to cover the center. I also cut 2 circles out from pattern paper and glued them to the top and bottom of the tube. I then added some ribbons and tied a few jingle bells to the tails of the ribbon.

Paper Plate Noise Maker

This one is made from 2 paper plates glued together. Maddie colored the outside rim with markers. I then decorated the middle with some pattern paper and a "Happy New Year" printout that is cut into a circle and glued to the pattern paper. I added 2 big stars and 2 little stars made out of punches and glued them on the white paper. Next I punched some circles all around the outside edge of the plate and tied some jingle bells with ribbon to the outside edge.

Times Square Ball Drop Necklace

Maddie is wearing a "Times Square Drop Ball" necklace. This is just a 3 inch styrofoam ball. I painted it with silver acrylic paint then added some clear pony beads. I attached the pony beads with some glitter pipe cleaners. You just snip off about a 1 1/2 inch section from the pipe cleaner and lace the pipe cleaner with the pony bead. I twisted the ends of the pipe cleaners together and stuck them into the styrofoam ball. Last I added some silver satin ribbon to one of the pipe cleaners to make the "chain" part of the necklace.





2011 New Years Resolution Banner
The last one is the 2011 banner. I did the numbers on my Sillhouette and backed them with gold and silver metallic paper. I added some jewels to the pattern papers with the I-Rock tool. I then tied the banner strings with various strips of ribbons and material. . I had each of the kids think of a resolution or a goal that they want to achieve this upcoming year and had them draw a picture of it and attach that to the banner. After New Years is over you can keep the papers with the resolutions on them and make them into a mini book that can be seen the next New Years Eve to see if they met their goals.

Thanks for checking in with me. Stay tuned for many more ideas and projects!

Snoopy Laughing

I love Snoopy's laugh! If I ever need a pick me up, I watch this and I can't help but laugh along

The Great Christmas Tree Hunt 2010
Every year we load up the kids and head up to the Uintah's to find the perfect Christmas Tree. The Packers and the Stones have started coming with us and it sincerely is one of my favorite days of the year. We head up early in the morning and stop for a quick breakfast of Krispy Kremes and Hot Chocolate and then we head out.
The adults hunt for the trees while the kids find the fastest and steepest sledding hill they can find. It really is a ball.



The kids look so cute all bundled up in their snow gear. Love the rosy red cheeks!



At the very end of the day -Brad hooks up the sleds behind the truck and we pull the kids around on the roads. This part is the kids favorite, you should see the wipeouts we get




Oh and we did end up with an awesome tree! I will post photos when we get it decorated! What a fun day! The holidays can officially begin now1

Back 2 School!

Do you remember the commercials where the Dad is taking the kids school shopping and the song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" is playing... Love that!

So here we are back to the grind of homework and A/R tests and bedtimes and I am glad. Don't get me wrong - I love me some sleepin' in and no schedueles to meet and playing in our swimsuits all day type of days - but it feels good to get back on a routine of sorts. The kids I think were just as ready as I was to go back to school.




So far for Ethan and Maddie, I have liked their teachers and the amount of Homework that they give is just right so horray for Mrs. Cox and Mrs Hugie/Mrs Christenson!



Ashlyn just started 8th grade yesterday. She seemed to enjoy her "A" Day classes.We'll see about today, her "B" day.

I am loving the peace and quiet around the house. It seems to stay a little bit cleaner too with the kids gone all day, but I do miss them. I really do have fun, and amazing kiddos. They make my life fun - but we all need a little break from each other so school is good for all of us. Happy New School Year everyone!