Touch and Feel Book for Derrick and Mary

 I made this book for Derrick and Mary's new baby.  I think it turned out pretty cute.  I had throw in the last picture.  This is Jade this AM.  She is a character.

Caylee, Celebrating Kathy's Birthday

Little One...

Here's a few photos from last Sunday of the newest baby...

A pencil bag for Caylee

We bought Caylee a pencil bag at Target but it was too small for her needs so we made a new one.  It was a fun little project.

BBQ Recipes...

We had a new family in our ward over for a little BBQ on the 4th since there were no fireworks anywhere near us; and I used the opportunity to try a few new recipes.  We had steak (tri-tip) and also BBQ chicken kabobs (I also made the homemade bb-q sauce from this recipe-simple and tasty!)--Both were DELICIOUS!!!

The steak recipe is for a really simple (5 ingredients-no heating-just mix and marinade) and wonderful marinade found here.  (I have not tried the potatoes yet, but they look really good too!)

Both are from Mel's Kitchen Cafe.  She has some amazing recipes!

Quiet Book for boys

Apple tree and basket for collecting apples.  The apples are attached with metal snaps.

Mr. Potato head with a bucket an clothes line for accessories.

A car page with a garage and velcro stop light.

fishing page with velcro fishes/fishing pole and a boat to put the fish in.  Weave a tower page.

If you look closely, you can see the sails on the sail boat.

Noah's ark with animals.

Flower Quiet Book

Here is a touch and feel book I made for my friend's baby.  She just had her third girl and works at a child's clothing store.  So I decided to make her something unique.  The pages have stuffing in them to make them puffy.  The idea of the book is for the baby to be able to feel different textures and see lots of bright colors. I hand stitched everything because I am cursed on the sewing machine and really can't use it.  But I think overall the book turned out pretty well.

Elmo Cake

I made this Elmo cake for Jade's birthday.  I was a little short on frosting but it turned out alright.  The actual cake was fantastic.  I marbled the interior with white and chocolate cake.

A budding artist in our midst

Caylee came home on the last day of school with an envelope from her art teacher.  It contained $25 in cash and three pieces of paper, a letter from the art teacher, a certificate and a copy of Caylee's art work. Caylee's trout made with a "wet on wet and salt" technique was selected to be matted and framed and hung permanently in the school.  Way to go Caylee!  I think it is a beautiful picture and secretly wish we could mat and frame it and hang it at our own home!  

I scanned in the letter and posted it in the blog but it was too small to read so I transcribed it here.


May 23, 2012
West Woods Elementary School
Art Department: Ms. Wilson

Congratulations Outstanding Artist: Caylee Tarullo

Your art work was selected for this year's 2011-2012 Student Purchase Award.  This is a yearly award that goes to one student at West Woods Elementary School.  Your craftsmanship and creativity is outstanding.  It will be hung in the front lobby and will enhance the permanent display of student art work.

Please find enclosed a check for $25.00 for your art work.  In addition, I will be keeping your artwork over the summer so that I can get it professionally matted and framed.  Your piece will be hanging in the front lobby when you return to school in the fall.  I have also attached a photo of your piece.

Please call me if I can answer any questions for you.

Sincerely,
Ms. Wilson
Visual Art Teacher.

Flowers!

Just wanted to share my simple flower arrangement for my front step. Tin can flower pots, I saw this Martha Stewart idea on the Today Show. 

Bucket/Sun Hat

Great face J!

J needed a new hat this year for summer to protect his adorable little ears.  This was a very fun easy project!

Monster Pants...

I found this adorable fabric at JoAnns, and knew I needed to made something with it!  So, all three boys got new pj pants from me (and tee-shirts to match) in their Easter baskets this year.  I only got photos of Chubbs, but the other two have identical pants (in their own sizes, of course; and short-sleeved, solid color tee-shirts to match-one yellow, the other blue).  I was pleased with how they turned out!

His shirt is PERFECT to go with the pants...I wished I could have found more in the larger sizes!

Easter Goose...on the Loose!

There was an Easter Goose on the loose in Mom's backyard after the kids finished their Easter egg hunt.  I'm not exactly sure who goosed Callie (Mom, maybe???)  but Callie was the guilty goose for Cami...

Pinterest Creations

 I needed a treat for my Stake YW Auxiliary Training meeting.  I wanted something that was cute and portable.  The Sister typically do not stand around and eat so we have started giving them something to pick up on the way out.  Cara recommended this idea on pinterest.  I made the chocolate chip cookie recipe listed in this pin.  I put the YW theme  for 2012 on card stock to jazz up the cookie as well as putting it on the water bottle label.  They turned out delicious and cute.  I gave the extra ones to Standley Lake Ward to sell in their YW Fundraiser Bake Sale for Camp the next day.

For today's Sunday dinner, Caylee made these cute little acorn cookies, another pinterest idea.  She melted some of the mini chocolate chips in a snack sized zip lock bag to use as the "glue" to hold it all together.  We got that idea from Celeste.  That is what she used to keep the Thanksgiving turkeys together.  Rod  told her the hershey kisses were too pointy to look like acorns, so Caylee rounded the tips to make them more life like.  Jordan came in and saw them.  His eyes lit up as he asked if he was allowed to eat them.  He was and he did!  They were a hit.  Good work Caylee.  Pinterest is fun!

Quiet Books

Here are the quiet books I made for the girls for Easter.  The covers are a little too big.  The snap across is secured with velcro.  The button is just decorative.

This is the first page.  The little pouch has velcro eyes and lips in it.

The 2nd page is a memory game.  I actually haven't made the paper cards yet to be able to play memory.  The third page is a clock.  I am still debating on if I should write numbers on the clock.  I am worried the marker will bleed and it might look bad.

The fourth page is an owl where all the pieces can be taken off with snaps.  The owl is attached to the page with velcro.  The fifth page is movable beads they can count.

The 6th page is a blanket they can weave.  The 7th page has flowers that can be put on buttons.  This is a picture of Layla's book.  When I finished this page Jade saw me using a green permanent marker for the stems and leaves.  She colored all over her page in marker.

The 8th page is tic-tac-toe game.  The 9th page is Noah's Ark.  I need to find little animals to put in the pockets still.

The Last page is a girl with hair to braid.  The little purse can hold hair ties.

That is it!  I started this project to help me learn to use the sewing machine.  When it came time to sew the pages and book together the sewing machine broke!  I ended up hand stitching a lot.  But at least I got the books done.  All the pages are the same in Jade's book.