pics of my newly turned four year old

Pin It Kirsten and I had a wonderful girls day yesterday for her birthday. We did a couple crafts at home, we did pictures at the park, we visited the greenhouse to see the flowers, we went out for lunch, and we went shopping where Kirsten got to pick out a new Barbie doll. It was quite the day. I really wanted to do her four year portraits on her birthday yesterday. The weather forecast was calling for rain and we just narrowly missed it. The ground was damp and the skies were gray and we got too many bug bites to count, but I got some pretty sweet pictures of my gorgeous girl. I would have liked more variety, but we had to leave the park because of the bugs. Here's a few of my favourites of the ones I did get:











There's a few more on my Flickr account if you want to see them. Just click on any of the pictures to get there.

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Happy 4th Birthday Kirsten!

Pin It My little girl is four today! I just can't believe it. Kirsten is just a delightful little girl who is full of happiness. She is kind, generous, and a wonderful big sister to her brother. I couldn't be more proud of her and it's so rewarding to watch her grow. We had a party for her on Saturday and she had so much fun. I'm not really sure what the theme of the party was. Maybe lollipop girly candylandish?? Regardless, it was a blast. I took a vacation day off work to spend the day with my little four year old. We have quite the day planned, just us girls. She's so excited. So, I'm going to post and run. Here's a few pics of her birthday party. Happy birthday my little love! We love you so much.



The invite was supposed to look like a lollipop. Looks like mama needs a circle cutter. I'm not so good at cutting circles free-hand. The other funny part is that I made these, and then never sent the majority of them out. Oops! I got the idea for the lollipop invite here .



My sweet little birthday girl. She had so much fun and I think it shows all over her face!



The gumball necklaces. This was a real hit with Kirsten. I was going to make one for all the girls, but time got the best of me. The necklace looked so sweet on Kirsten and totally fit the theme of her candy party. I'll share a tutorial later this week on how to make the necklaces. I got the idea for the gumball necklaces here .



And finally, some pics of the decorations. I made lemon raspberry cupcakes with raspberry sugar crystals. We also had pink lemonade with fresh sliced lemons. I made a couple lollipop trees which I'll also share a tutorial for later this week. The goodie bags were pink favour boxes with tags I made with lollipop clipart. I had glass vases filled with strawberry milkshake whoppers (yum!) and hung colourful chinese paper lanterns. It was a fun, girly, candy party and the birthday girl thoroughly enjoyed herself!

Come back next week for my tutorials on the gumball necklaces and the lollipop trees! I hope all my American friends have a wonderful Memorial Day!

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Kirsten 3-4

Pin It My sweet little girl turns four tomorrow! I almost can't believe those words myself. I put together a little collage of Kirsten with pictures over the last year. I tried to pick pictures that show her true personality and what a fun, sweet, playful little girl she is. We had a wonderful party for her yesterday and she had so much fun. I'll share those pictures, maybe tomorrow. For now, here's my little sweetie from 3-4.



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fun food friday: teddy bear picnic

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Today's fun food friday is a fun little teddy bear picnic. I have soooo many cookie cutters I sometimes forget about some of the cute ones that I've had forever. That's exactly what happened with this teddy bear cutter. It's so cute and I never think to use it. The kids really loved this lunch and ate up every single bite. We've got a busy weekend coming up because we're celebrating my little ladies 4th birthday. I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! Here's how I made this lunch:

Peanut butter sandwich cut into teddy bear shape. Sprinkles used for the buttons, nose and mouth, icing eyes.

Silicone muffin liners filled with blueberries and unsweetened applesauce with sprinkles.

Flower silicone muffin liner with a bear paw cookie.

By the way, something is up with blogger again and I can't comment on any of my posts. Please know that I have read and appreciate the lovely comments!



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handprint birthday cake

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My sweet little Kirsten is turning 4 in just one week. I can't believe it. I'm not going to lie, it makes me a little sad. Kirsten on the other hand is so excited. Every morning when she wakes up she asks me if her party is today. She's totally counting down the days now. Yesterday, in honour of her fourth birthday, we made handprint birthday cakes with 4 candles. I've had this idea floating around in my head for awhile, but wanted to wait until her fourth birthday to make it. I think it turned out super cute. You could make these with any number of candles from 1-4 by painting only the fingers you need. Here's how to make these:

What you'll need:

paper
paint
paintbrushes
glue
glitter
marker

Directions:

1. paint your child's palm 1 colour (we're not painting the thumb with these)
2. paint each finger a different colour - paint 1-4 fingers depending on how many candles you want on your cake
3. stamp your child's hand on the paper and allow to dry
4. take your glue and make cake designs
5. sprinkle glitter over the glue and allow to dry
6. using a marker, draw on the candle flames

It even looks adorable framed! Please ignore my reflection, lol!





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fun food friday: we're having a tea party!

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I made this lunch the same week I made the kids their tea party table. They're always pretending to eat stuff with the tea party set. Why can't they eat real food with it? Well, you can. I found a little teapot cookie cutter that is absolutely adorable. The rest of the "dishes" came from one of Kirsten's tea party sets. Yes, I said one, we have many. Pretend food and having tea parties is probably one of Kirsten's most favourite things. The girl loves food, both real and pretend. Anyway, here's how I made this weeks fun food friday:

Teapot peanut butter sandwich - I used chocolate covered sunflower seeds and sprinkles to make a design on it. Blueberries for the "tea".

A cup of blueberries for more tea, a cup of yogurt with sprinkles for the cream and a cup of applesauce with sprinkles for the sugar. 2 fancy little cookies for dessert. I mean what's a tea party without fancy cookies? And I LOVE these little cookies.







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tea party table

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This post is inspired by my dear blogging friend Lila over at Sweet and Lovely Crafts . If you haven't checked out her site, you simply must. She has so many fabulous ideas and wonderful crafts. A few months back she made a tea party table out of an old IKEA lack side table she had lying around. I have quite a few of these tables around my house too and I knew Kirsten would absolutely adore a tea party table. Kirsten's bedroom is all done up in the Pottery Barn Brooke collection which is a lovely mix of owls and trees. I had some fabric leftover from some projects in her room and I wanted to use the leftover fabric to make her tea party table. It would serve as a permanent table cloth on the table. It turned out so fabulous and she absolutely loves it. The table is the perfect size and height for preschoolers and I just love that it matches her bedroom. It was so easy to make too, which is always a bonus. The kids have had many tea parties so far and I see so many more in the future. If you've got any IKEA lack side tables hanging around and a little girl who loves tea parties, you should totally make one. Or, go to IKEA to buy one, I'm pretty sure they're super cheap. Here's how I made mine:

What you'll need:

IKEA lack side table - mine is black/brown
fabric of your choice
staple gun
scissors
tea party stuff!





How to make:

1. clean your table

2. unscrew the legs from the table top

3. lay your piece of fabric design side down and lay your table top side down on the fabric



4. fold the fabric like you would a present and staple all the edges. Make sure you are pulling tight so there are no wrinkles on the other side



5. after you've stapled down all the edges, trim off the excess fabric with your scissors



6. use your hammer to hammer down any staples that might not have gone all the way in. This will ensure all staples are flat to the table.

7. use your finger to find where the holes are on your paper and screw the legs back on. The screws will go right through the fabric no problem.



8. turn your table over and you're all set. Set up your table with little stools and tea party supplies and let the kiddos have fun!











Cam did eventually get bored of the tea party and invited his "guests"





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fun food friday: twinkle twinkle little star

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I think this lunch is really cute and it was pretty simple to make. I bought new cookie cutters for kids so Kirsten could help me out in the kitchen and I absolutely love them. They're bright, colorful and fun. I used one of the cutters to make her a star sandwich and I continued the star theme throughout the lunch. The kids really loved it and ate up every single bite. Here's how I made this weeks lunch:

Star shaped peanut butter sandwich. Nilla wafer face decorated with icing eyes and food safe markers.

Silicone muffin cups filled with blueberries, unsweetened strawberry kiwi applesauce with an apple star and star shaped cucumbers.

Blueberries and star shaped cheese around the plate. Here's some of the supplies I used:




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ducks

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As I was doing dishes after supper last night, I looked out my window and saw a couple of ducks walking past my driveway. I quickly grabbed my kids, my camera, and a bag of hamburger buns and went outside. It wasn't until I downloaded the pictures that I realized I took about a hundred pics of the ducks and only 3 pictures of my kids feeding the ducks (which didn't even turn out!). My bad. You can tell we don't normally get wildlife in our yard and I was just a tad excited. Regardless, the kids had a blast. Camden was throwing whole buns at them saying "thereyago duckies. EAT IT DUCKIES!" It was too funny. Hopefully they'll come back so I can be a better mommy photographer next time.

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fun with play-doh

Pin It I should start buying shares in play-doh. I buy so much of this stuff, it's insane. My kids play with it almost daily and absolutely adore it. Here's some fun pics of them:



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fun food friday: a simple flower lunch

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Hello! This weeks fun food friday was made after the kiddos had the stomach flu, so it was another light lunch. They're just starting to get their appetites back, poor little things. I think my kids lived on crackers for a few days. They really loved this lunch and it only took a few minutes to throw together. That's a winning combination if you ask me. Here's how I made it:

4 saltine cracker and peanut butter "sandwiches" with a slice of cucumber for a flower stem and flower kiwis with apple centre.

flower silicone cups filled with unsweetened strawberry kiwi applesauce with sprinkles and sliced kiwis.

Have a great weekend everyone!




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thumbprint heart rings

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I'm back with our second mother's day jewelry craft. It is the exact same concept as the necklaces below, but we just turned them into rings. Again, these were super easy and the kids had fun making them. Kirsten liked the rings so much she wanted to make some for herself too, so we did. They're pretty cute. Again, I love the look the nail polish gave instead of using paint. It gives it just a hint of shimmer that really is beautiful. I'm sure any mom would love to get one of these rings for mother's day. Here's how to make them:

What you'll need:

white crayola model magic
rolling pin
circle cutter (oops, not pictured again!)
nail polish - whatever colours you wish
glue
adjustable rings



Directions:

1. roll out your model magic so it's about 1/2 inch thick
2. using your circle cutter, cut circles for how many rings you'll be making
3. have your kiddos stamp their thumbs in a heart shape on the circle
4. allow to dry over night
5. using whatever shades of nail polish you wish, paint the heart and allow to dry - you may need to do multiple coats to get the desired colour/shade
6. glue an adjustable ring on the back and allow to dry







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thumbprint heart necklace

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Good morning everyone! I hope everyone had a great weekend. Since Mother's Day is this coming weekend, the kiddos and I made me some jewelry. Mother's (or at least me, lol) just seem to love anything that involves their little ones handprints, thumbprints or footprints. They make great keepsakes and are so precious. I decided the littles could make me some keepsake jewelry this year for Mother's Day (with my help, of course). These necklaces were so simple to make, and although I probably wouldn't wear them somewhere fancy, they turned out really cute and would make great everyday jewelry. I painted the inside with sparkly nail polish to give it that little extra that paint wouldn't have given. The nail polish was brilliant because the inside is a gorgeous colour with just a hint of shimmer. We also made some rings which I will share another day this week. Here's how we made them:

What you'll need:

white crayola model magic
rolling pin
small circle cutter (not pictured)
bamboo skewer
nail polish - in whatever colours you wish
necklace



Apparently I'm pretty terrible at photographing supplies! I ALWAYS leave one or more items out and don't realize it till I'm writing the blog post. Oops!

Directions:

1. roll out your white model magic so it's about 1/2 inch thick
2. using your circle cutter, cut out however many circles you want depending on how many necklaces you are making
3. get your kiddos to press their little thumbprints in a heart shape on mid bottom of the circles
4. slightly pinch the top of the circle and push a bamboo skewer through to make holes on each side. Take out the necklace you'll be using and make sure the holes are big enough for your necklace to go through.
5. allow to dry overnight
6. pick out your favourite shades of nail polish and paint the heart shape - you may have to do a few coats to get your desired colour - I think I did 3 coats each - allow to dry
7. thread your favourite necklace through the holes (I just picked one out of my jewellery box) and wear your little keepsakes with pride.

Kirsten's is the pink one and Cam's is the red one.





Me modelling my children's creations:



Come back this week to check out the rings we made too! Have a great day!





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