Baby Shower Games

The time seems to be getting ahead of me again because I can't seem to keep up.  I have a million and one things going on from crafts, to decorating, organizing, potty training and the list goes on.  For those of you anxiously and patiently waiting for the baby doll bed tutorial, it should be up by Black Friday.  And of course, following that will be a heap load of Christmas goodies we have been brewing the past few days.

But to back track a little, I didn't fully get to share all I wanted to about the baby shower.  I really really wanted to share this fun and easy game my friend Jen put together.  I have never played this one, but it was a big hit!   It is your basic matching memory game.  You go in a circle one person after the other, to try to match two pregnancy related words.  The fun part for everyone was trying to guess the prize for the word.  For example, when someone found water breaking they were rewarded Gushers [gross I know].  Or breastfeeding was the Milka bar.  This was also a neat little game because I think everyone walked away with a little gift.  

And of course we played the dirty diaper game where you melt candy into the diapers and you try to guess what candy is inside.  It grosses me out but it was a hoot. 

And thanks to Pinterest for providing this fun little activity.  We set out some diapers for everyone to write on and people got pretty creative.  This would have made changing diapers so much more fun at 2am.  

And instead of a guest book, I screen printed Nadia's name onto a onsie and everyone signed it.  To get the name on the onsie, use the Freezer Paper Stencil tutorial.   I thought this was a little more special and if she ever decided to make a Baby Clothes quilt, this would be a perfect addition. 

So it was an afternoon full of food, fun, and games!  You can find more games and ideas on our pinspiration board HERE.  

Review of Mpix Prints

I was just telling you all about Mpix a week ago, about how I gave them the hefty responsibility to print my Christmas cards.  What I didn't mention was I also order prints for a frame I am filling and both packages are already here!!  Actually they have been here for a few days, but I have been slacking on posting.  Processing and shipping in less than a week [and we are overseas].   That is impressive.   

The prints came out gorgeous!!  No weird tints.  The colors and vibrancy are very true to the original pictures thanks to an option which allows you to choose to have auto color correct.  I had to get a bunch of different sizes because of the matte that came with the frame.  So glad Mpix prints 4x4's because they fit those awkward smaller than 4x6 slots perfectly!  I also have to mention, the wallets came out so pretty and they even die cut them so they look professional.  Will for sure be mailing those extras to my sisters.  

I know you can't fully see the quality of the prints because it is a picture of a picture, but I am really impressed with Mpix and dare I say I love their prints better than my leading printing place.  These two were probably my favorite of the bunch.  They really look professionally printed.  The price of the prints are slightly more expensive [than Costco, Walmart, or Target] but for the quality, it is totally worth it.  Seriously. 

 I compared them with other pictures in my house and you can see and feel the difference.  I chose the E-surface [matte paper] because I didn't want the shine of gloss and I wanted the prints to be fingerprint proof.  The paper quality and weight is as close to professional that I have seen.  I was so excited about the photo paper quality I have to oooh and ahhh about it here.  It's not a great picture of the texture but you can actually feel the texture of the print like in professional printing.  I can't wait to try printing in their true black and white photo paper.  Very impressive Mpix.  

Guess I will be a frequent flyer at Mpix because I am the most indecisive person.  I have a few more slots and a few more frames to fill....  After all, why have professional pictures if you are going to print on bad quality photo paper?  Now I know why professional photographers always encourage clients to print the pictures with them.  Professional quality is just not the same as those regular store prints. 

If you think I am excited about a few prints, wait until you see our Christmas cards!!  Oh me oh my, they are so cute!  I really want to share them, but want to make sure family and friends see them first.  But you won't have to wait too long because they are going in the mail this week.  

Tutorial: Little Ballerina Bag

This is very long overdue.  I kept putting it off and putting it off and now, we are almost to our winter recital and I haven't even posted this tutorial!  Shame on me.  Better late then never I guess.  Please excuse my pictures, I had to finish the project at night and changed the design of the bag while I was making it.  I can tell you it has been a god bag and now little miss wants to carry it even though it is as big as her!  It's adorable!

 You will need

 canvas

lightweight interfacing [optional]

fabric for lining

fabric for pockets

and ribbon of your choice

You are going to start with four pieces.  The size of the bag is really up to you.  You can make it wider or longer than mine.  It is just preference.  Two shorter pieces for the top and two longer pieces for the bottom. 

Kids Art T-Shirts with Sand Paper and Crayons

We made these darling shirts for the kids at pre school today that I just couldn't wait to share it.  They are so stinking cute!  The idea came from Pinterest of course and it was so easy to do I will be making them in the future.  My friend Natalie is the clever one who came up with this hand print tree design.

All you need is sand paper, crayons, and an iron.  We all sat around and traced the kiddos hands on the  rough side of the sandpaper, one for each shirt.  We let them color it until they couldn't stand sitting any longer.  Natalie colored strips of brown for the trunks of the tree.

Then, we cut out the hand prints.  Place a piece of paper towel inside the shirt to prevent any transfer to the backside.  Put the design on the shirt, put a piece of fabric or paper towel on top and iron it on.  You will have to leave the iron on for a little bit so the crayon design will stick really well.   

After the shirts are made you want to heat set the design by tossing them in the dryer for about 20 minutes so it doesn't wash off when the shirts are washed.  They came out so stinkin cute and even more cute on the little ones!