Chocolate Covered Pretzels for our Basketball Tournament

Happy Friday, everyone! I've been waiting all week for it to roll around! :)

Today also begins the annual basketball tournament at my daughters' school. And the best part is that my older girl gets to play in it - SO exciting!!!

To add some school spirit and yumminess to the weekend, I covered some pretzel rods with chocolate and sprinkles to give to the team and to sell at the concession stand.

Yummy!!

The spread before I started assembling the bags . . .

I used Wilton melting wafers in

light cocoa, dark cocoa & white!

All 3 have a really good taste (I should know-

I was very messy so I got to try it just a little bit)!

Here's the basket I assembled to hold the pretzels. I also

printed the tournament logo as a sign to place in the front.

Here is a look at at an individual bag.

Again, I used the tournament logo and made tags.

I know! it was a Cricutless project-GASP!

A closer look at the pretzels in the basket . . .

Close up of the sign!

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be at the tournament all weekend so this is probably it for crafting for me. Maybe I can sneak in something on Sunday. Have a great weekend, my  fellow crafters!!

"They Say It's Your Birthday!"

"You say it's your birthday
It's my birthday too, yeah
They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have

a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you!"
                 ~ The Beatles

Do you have it in your head now? If so, GOOD!! Then I'm not the only one!! I had it in my head so much that I just had to listen to it on YouTube while assembling this post- LOL!


I wanted to jump in a few of the fun challenges that are going on right now, so here's my entry hot off the presses (well at least the Stickles are still wet):

 Rocker Girl!!

This card would fit in a business-sized envelope.

Here's a little side view giving a peek

into the greeting on the inside . . .

There's the fun Scrappy Moms sentiment!

Can you tell she's a wobblin'?

Maybe not, but she IS on an action wobble!!

Those things are so fun! I'm so glad

Scrappy Moms is carrying them now!

Supplies:

• Cricut Rock Princess cartridge for rocker girl cut at 5 inches using my Gypsy (There is a skull on this girl, but I deleted it out using my hide contour feature and added a star)
• Cricut Plantin Schoolbook cartridge for the quote label
• Black, white, yellow, light pink, medium pink and dark pink cardstock all from scraps in my stash
• Dreamlike Magic's Pink chevron digital paper freebie, tinted and printed to desired size using my PC and printer
• "They say it's your Birthday!" and "Have a Rockin' Birthday!" from Scrappy Moms' Hooray for Birthdays stamp set
• Action Wobble (I purchased mine elsewhere, but you can now get them through Scrappy Moms!)
• Stampin' Up Basic Black ink
• Sponge (to ink quote label edges)
• Stampin' Up Basic Black marker fine point to doodle the musical notes (P.S. Scrappy Moms- I need a musical note on a stamp set! I love those little mini stamps to accent a  little area!)
• Yellow, Cotton Candy, Fruit Punch and Silver Stickles

Here are the challenges I'm entering:

• Birthday Sundaes # 40 - Make a Birthday Card with Birthday Wording/Sentiment on it!
• Die Cuttin' Divas' Buttons, Bows and/or bling! -  I chose bling in the form of my favorite- Stickles!
• Fantabulous Cricut's "Label It!" challenge - My quote label!
• Scrappy Moms' Terrific Tuesday Challenge - Use Rock Princess!

Such fun challenges! Please visit them all and hop in on the fun! And thanks for visiting my happy place!

We are on the downward slope into the weekend my friends! Make it a crafty slope! :)

Life's A Beach!

Aloha, my fellow crafters!

As I said in my last post, I survived my 13-year old's beach party this past weekend! If you missed seeing the invitations, you can view the post for them HERE.

Here we go:

Here's the party crew in front of the

 fabulous Oriental Trading beachy backdrop!

(Ok, so it was basically a plastic tablecloth split in

3 parts which lead me to LOTS of photo-editing

to make it look like a real backdrop, but it worked!)

I picked up these cute wave-like mini cupcakes from Target

and decorated them with handmade toppers using

Scrappy Moms' Sun Kissed Stamp set - love that set!

Here's the powder room decorated in the beach theme!

My daughters made these Cricut creations using

the Life Is A Beach cartridge and Stickles.

They also made flowers for the party room

which you might spot in the party pics below.

We had a tropical hand soap, lotion and candle

all from Bath & Body Works to decorate the sink!

Also in the powder room is my Creative Memories

display frame. I decided last minute to add a photo of the

birthday girl when she was 1-year old at the beach!

Her friends really got a kick out of it!

The food served with shovels! And yes, those are

"Goldfish" swimming in that salsa- LOL!

The utensil caddy also had straws

and umbrellas for their drinks!

Here's the Goldfish Bar!

We had Pizza, Parmesan, Flavor Blast Cheddar,

Colored & Pretzel! The little trays were $1.50 for 12 of them

(6 fish 6 crabs) on clearance at Oriental Trading -Woot! Woot!

We usually have this Tiki bar on our enclosed

sun room, but the birthday girl talked her Dad into

carrying it down to the party room. Such a Daddy's Girl! 

I must say it made a nice addition to the decor! We also

had a light up palm tree in a corner (see tug pic below).

Here is the dessert and gift table!

How lucky was it that I found a tropical pattern

for a 13th birthday? TOTALLY lucky!!

The candy bar!

We had Swedish fish, sugary orange slices,

tropical-colored Sixlets & Starbursts in the reds!

The palm tree tray had mini sugar cookies from Target.

We also gave out Popsicles after the fast-paced games

and had ice cream cups to serve with the mini cupcakes.

I've found that so much gets wasted at parties like this,

so I think mini is the way to go! And the ice cream cups were

a convenience in not having to scoop ice cream and deal

with the mess. Would definitely go that route again. And to my

surprise, the girls really liked them and wanted the tiny

wooden spoons that came with the cups - LOL!

The large sand buckets on the left were prizes.

They were filled with full-sized tropical scented 

Bath & Body Works shower gel, lotion & lip gloss

all 75% off right after Christmas. I think it was seeing these

items at B&BW that gave me the beach party idea. The favors

are to the right in the photo. More pics & deets of those below.

Elimination beach volleyball!

Whoever made the beach ball drop to the ground,

either by a bad hit or not getting to it, was out. We eliminated

until we had a volley between 2 girls & then got a single winner.

The net was actually fish net purchased

in my order from Oriental Trading.

Musical Beach Towels!

This was just like musical chairs, but each player had to

"strike a pose" on the beach towel once they got to one.

Down to three contestants and just 2 towels!

Tug-Of-War!

We made a dolphin using the Cricut Life Is A Beach

cartridge and hooked it to the rope with a paper clip.

Each team was trying to land the dolphin on their towel.

The girls totally pulled their muscles out & got into this game!

The girls also did a round of limbo, but I video'd it and haven't

successfully extracted any stills from it yet. That was fun, too!

Here's the birthday girl opening gifts "at the beach"- LOL!

And we just had to send our guests off

with a remembrance of their beachy time together!

Where did I get the items for the favor?

Bath & Body Works of course!

The lotions, anti-bacs with tye-dye holders,

Daquiri lip glosses and nail files were all on sale pretty cheap

at B & BW. The "Icy Breeze"mints were in a package of 4

from the dollar store. I was going to go with bubble gum, but

at this age many of the girls have braces, so gum is a no-no.

The pails were from Oriental Trading, and came with little

sand tools. I used the shovels for decorations to the food.

When the pails first arrived, I didn't like how small they were,

but they ended up working out perfectly for what I put in them.

I used vinyl and the Cricut Life Is A Beach cartridge font

for the personalizing of the pails. The tags were printed on my

computer (back message) using Beach Type font downloaded

from the Internet & stamped with Scrappy Moms'

"Mahalo" stamp from their Sun Kissed set for the front.

The ribbons were in my stash,

but purchased from Michael's last year.

Here are all 12 in a colorful rainbow!

We did have 3 girls that were not able to attend, so I gave

pails to my non-bday daughter & her friend that was over.

And then that left one pail for me - LOL!

I have had lots of positive feedback from the girls' parents,

so I think I can officially consider it a successful event!

I am entering this in Decorate to Celebrate's "Anything Goes" Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by and getting through this very photo-heavy post! Have a great day!

Heart-y Hand Soap!

Hi all!

Well I'm happy to report that I survived my daughter's birthday beach party! It was actually a lot of fun! I still need to edit all of the photos, but once I do I will do a party post.

In the meantime, here is a quick post on the hand soap I decorated for the Valentine holiday season. I purchased this soap 50% off after Christmas from Bath & Body Works. I just checked, and they still have the Winter Candle Apple holiday scent that I used for this project. I just peeled off the label and voila! Soap ready to decorate!

Supplies:

• Cricut Lyrical letters cartridge (I did a search on my Gypsy and liked the heart on this cartridge the best out of what I had)
• Bath & Body Works Winter Candy Apple Moisturizing Antibacterial Soap
• Red Outdoor vinyl purchased from expressionsvinyl.com (I figured it will get wet a lot, so outdoor was the best choice)

As you can see, this was an easy peasy project, and is an inexpensive way to decorate for the holidays. Thanks for stopping by! I hope you all have a great week!

"Thanks For Noticing Me. " ~ Eeyore

At my new church, I noticed from my very first visit that Eeyore resides at every service . . . SOMEWHERE. Every week he is in a different place, but he is there. Here is a photo of him on Christmas Eve:

It took me a while, but I did end up asking my site pastor why Eeyore was there. He gave me a fantastic answer, but I can't word it like he did. The gist of it is that Eeyore is there to help members and staff be reminded that there are people everywhere, including in this church, that have an Eeyore outlook on life - whether it be temporary due to circumstances, or maybe a little more permanent. Our job as Christians is to help those Eeyores turn to God for everything. I sure have had the Eeyore mentality, but I'm really trying to work on that.

When I became a new member this past November, the senior pastor told me a story that involved someone who came in off the street in a unique situation. As she left, the pastor noticed that Eeyore was on the back of her jacket. After hearing that story, I knew I had to purchase the Disney Pooh and Friends Cricut cartridge to make a note card set for the pastors! I've always passed on the cartridge thinking my kids were too old to justify its purchase, but now I HAD to have it! I'm sure you can all relate to that NEED, not want- LOL!

Well, I did get that cartridge shortly after, but thanks to Scrappy Moms' Terrific Tuesday Cartoon Characters challenge, I finally got working on the note cards! Ahhh, nothing like a fitting challenge to push your to-do list through!

So here is my very simple Eeyore note card:

Supplies:

• Disney Pooh and Friends Cricut cartridge for Eeyore
• Black Recollections cardstock
• Georgia-Pacific white cardstock
• Pink, light pink, and grey-blue cardstock scraps from my stash
• "You are in my thoughts" sentiment from Scrappy Moms' Sweet Somethings stamp set
• Stampin' Up Basic Black ink
• Stone baker's twine purchased from Scrappy Moms
• Stampin' Up corner punch

It is about killing me not to bling it up with Stickles, but I didn't want to girl it up too much. Eeyore is whimsical enough. I added white cardstock to both sides of the inside so that the pastors can write something if they wish.

Sooo, I had fun creating tonight, I got to jump in a challenge, I knocked something off of my to-do list and I will feel good about giving these note cards to the pastors - these are the best kinds of projects!! It's a very good start to the week. :)

Well, thanks for "noticing" my blog today! Have a crafty week everyone!

Believe 2012

I did it! I chose my word for 2012 . . . Believe! I will explain it as I show you the projects I made to help remind me of my word all year along:

Today I've started an online bible study on the book, Made to Crave by Lysa Terkeurst of Proverbs 31 Ministries - "Satisfying your deepest desire with God, not food." I need to get healthier including dropping a few pounds, and also I've read that this book can relate to other "cravings" in life that I seem to yearn for instead of God. This bible study fits in with goals I want to accomplish this year. So of course I need a bookmark for it! What a perfect way to see my word every day!

Bookmark Supplies:

• Jeremy Camp's "I Still Believe" lyrics
• Cricut Indie Art digital download cartridge for cross - cut using my Gypsy
• Silver mirrored cardstock from Joann (sold in individual sheets)
• Stampin' Up Cool Caribbean cardstock (from In Color collection a few years back)
• Georgia-Pacific white cardstock
• "Believe In Yourself" sentiment (only Believe inked up) from My Pink Stamper's Encourage Me stamp set (this was borrowed, so I would LOVE to win it and own it myself, Robyn!!)
• Stampin' Up Basic Black ink
• Avery font for wording
• Caribbean baker's twin purchased from Scrappy Moms

Ok, so here's some explanation behind my word, believe. If you've followed me for a while, you'll know that my faith could use some "boosting up." I've been enduring some darker times for a while now, so last year I needed to TRUST God that He would lead me through. My trust has been strengthened largely due to my new church which I officially joined in 2011. That within itself was a large step in the right direction! My new church has already taught me so much. BUT (Ugh! There's always a but!), I'm still in this dark place and need to believe in God's faithfulness, believe in His truth, and believe in His Holy Word even when I just don't see it. Jeremy Camp eloquently sings this in his song, "I Still Believe."

I want to remember all of this on a daily basis, so in addition to the bookmark, I also etched a candle holder with the word believe, and also with some musical notes to remember Jeremy's song. The candle holder sits right in front of me at my home PC, the place I am at the most. And I do enjoy burning candles often. This may be a better reminder than the banner hanging in my home office from last year's word. That was nice, but it started blending into my office further into the year. Visitors to my house would notice it more than me after a while. But a candle will require more attention so that's a good thing!

I'm about to start back to my small group at church where we will be 40 Days in the Word!

Being in the Word is definitely something I need to do and goes well with my "Believe" resolution. I will most likely move the bookmark over to my bible after the Made to Crave online study.

Here are some more close-ups of the candle holder:

Glass-etchings are really hard to photograph!

Musical notes in the shadows!

Bird's eye view . . .

Here it is with the lit Bath & Body Works Marshmallow

Fireside mini candle in it. Their sale ended today, but I

stocked up on plenty of these mini candles with holders!

They were $1.50 for the last few weeks. Gotta love that!

Bird's eye view showing the musical note shadows!

Burned my Marshmallow Fireside mini candle to clear liquid!

Candle holder supplies:

• Cricut Quarter Note cartridge for believe and musical notes welded on my Gypsy
• Cricut white indoor vinyl to make etching stencils
• Armour Etch glass etching cream
• Foam brush to apply glass etching cream
• Glass candle holder and candle from Bath and Body Works
• Cricut white indoor vinyl to make etching stencils

I am entering this into My Pink Stamper's January challenge, "A Fresh Clean Start!"  Robyn often inspires me with her commitment to her faith in which she frequently blogs about, so I thought this project was perfect to make and enter into her challenge!

Soooo, have you picked a word yet for 2012? I've got mine now! Thanks for sticking with me during this very long post and letting me share my New Year goals and crafty projects with you! Have a wonderful week!