Friday, July 29, 2011

Handmade Gift Exchange!! Part 2

My gift arrived and I am so happy! My gift exchange partner and I had few bumps with the address swap not sure why, it all looks right to me, but let me tell you, my gift was TOTALLY worth the wait!

Now, she says this is her first time making a wreath, which I just cant believe because I just think its the cutest thing EVER! It has totally made my week with all the crappiness going on with my father in law.

She even sent this sweet little note with it!
I cannot wait until the next handmade gift exchange, I will definitely be signing up it was so much fun!!

Thanks Marianne  thanks Linda for hosting the exchange!!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Guest Post- Michelle @ Delicate Construction

Hi ladies, with all that is going on with my father in law, Michelle was awesome enough to let me post her tutorial NOW! Thanks so much Michelle! The project is the cutest and I am thinking I need one for my classroom for morning welcome time.
After you check out the tutorial make sure you head over to her blog Delicate Construction and check it out. I love all of her "10 New Uses" post they give me some of the greatest ideas!

So without further ado- Take it away Michelle!
~~~~~~~
Hello Warm & Fuzzy readers!!! I am so glad to be here today, my name is Michelle and my blog is Delicate Construction!! Lauren was so kind as to guest post on my blog and shared and awesome Homework Box HERE, so I thought I would come over and take over share a post on her blog!
Today I am sharing a photo message board tutorial made out of an embroidery hoop! I thought of this one when I was coming up with my 10 New Uses for Embroidery Hoops post but I saved the tutorial to share with all of you first!
 
I made this one for my daughters room with gray fabric, gray buttons and white and pink ribbons and I love the way it came out!
You will need:
Embroidery hoop
Two colors ribbon 
Fabric
9 buttons
Hot glue gun
Scissors
First you are going to want to put your fabric in your embroidery hoop, pull it tight and trim it up. Then to make sure it stays put, fold over the edge of the fabric around the back and hot glue it to the inside lip of the embroidery hoop. 
Next, lay out your ribbon until you get a design you think will work. 
Then, using the hot glue gun, attach one end of each of the ribbons to the side of the embroidery hoop. 
Then, pull each ribbon tight across the hoop and glue down the other side. 
Once they are all attached, turn the hoop over and hot glue the ribbon the rest of the way down.
Then, you are going to want to hot glue each of the "x's" down by adding a dot between the fabric and the ribbon and between the two pieces of ribbon. 
Now, you are ready to add your buttons, all of mine were gray but they weren't the same and I think it still looks nice. 
Lastly, you just add another color of ribbon around the edge to finish it off and you are done!
Time to hang up and add pictures!
Thanks for having me!! Hope you come visit soon!!

whats up

Well my father in law was admitted to the hospital on Monday for stoke like symptoms they have determined that it is NOT a stroke but they DO NOT know what it is. So I am taking a little break, dealing with the boys while Brian is going back and forth to the hospital. Thanks for understanding!!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Happy Sunday!!

I am so happy to be guest posting today over delicateCONSTRUCTION today!




Michelle is going to have a BIG announcement coming up Friday, July 29th, make sure you head on over and check it out. It is all going to revolve around "back to school." I started it off with this "Homework Box" that I made for Eli! Stop by and check it out!


Hope everyone is having a great weekend!!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

{Southern Saturday} The Audubon Zoo- behind the scenes

A few weeks ago we were able to get a look behind the scenes at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. We are members of the Audubon Nature Institute, and this was a special event for members only. It was in the afternoon from 4-8pm. It was really nice to be able to get up close to the animals and see the behind the scenes actions you don't usually see, like feedings, the animal hospital, where they bathe the elephants, even where they make the food for the animals. Eli was in "HEAVEN," as animals are his thing right now. 

The King of the Jungle was even out for the night...we hardly ever get to see the lions, they are always hiding.

Our first up-close and personal encounter was with the elephant.
 Eli was able to touch him. He said he felt like tires. 


A tortoise was just walking around with its handler.
 The kids were able to touch and ask questions, which was really cool.
{That is Claire, Eli's girlfriend in the picture with him}

Ben Henry was just taking it all in, he was relaxing in his stroller most of the time.
And you know I can't have a trip to the zoo with out seeing my friends the TIGERS!
These happen to be white tigers.

The coolest part of the night was behind the scenes in the SWAMP EXHIBIT!
Eli checking out termites
As you can see he is alone in this picture- its because he is looking at cockroaches! 
Yep, my boy is fascinated with them!
E & Claire checking out a baby skink.
Please don't ask me what a skink is, because I don't know but it does live in Louisiana. ;)
We were able to pet a baby alligator- Ben Henry wouldn't stop petting this alligator. 
Eli touched it and moved on, he wanted to see everything.
This was the highlight of the backdoor tour.
We were able to go to the top of the white alligator's tank and take pics while he was being fed.
I had to drag Eli out, I think he would have slept there if I would have let him.
This is an alligator figure outside the exhibit, he was pretending to wrestle the alligator.
My little alligator hunter 

Our last stop before leaving the zoo that night was the Animal Carousel.
Guess which animal Eli chose to ride?
An Alligator!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Vinyl Art for Eli Room

I have been wanting to make some artwork to match Eli's bedding for a while,
 since it was on our Summer Fun list we had to get it done.

So here is what "we" {Eli & I} came up with.

 I started with 2 blank canvases and some bright blue paint we had that matched the bedding.


Painted both of the canvases, gave them a double coat and let them dry.
While the canvases where drying, I headed over to my silhouette and got to work on my designs.


I chose this guitar, made it the size I wanted and then cut it out.

Then off to weed out the unwanted vinyl.

Cut my transfer paper to size using those trust new squares they now have.

Smoothed it all down and made sure it was all stuck.
Laid it out on my canvas, pulled it back, making sure it was stuck to the canvas
Looks like he likes it huh?

I also did this can design as well

Here they are on the wall in his room
 I am wishing I would have placed the drums a little lower on the canvas but live and learn I guess!

Easy project and Eli LOVES it!!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Cars Birthday Party



The birthday boy & his cake!

{Here is the long awaited birthday party recap. I am so excited with the way it turned out! All of the pictures are courtesy of my sister Nicole, because my camera is a piece of you know what, and it was not sunny at all that day. Thanks Nicole!!}





Close up of the cake, my friend Jenny & I made. Took 10 hours, yes you read that correctly and that does NOT include baking time. Decorating with marshmallow fondant it HARD WORK, but it was so worth it in the end. Eli LOVED his cake! And I personally think it looked AWESOME!


Ben Henry having a Jello Stoplight Push-Pop. These were a HUGE hit! The kids really loved them!


Maters Mountain O' Tires- Chocolate Covered Donuts- Yummy!


This is a table that a friend of Brian's was giving a way so we took it to use for the party! I think it was great to hold the goodie bags, & Filmore's Organic Fuel too!


I was so happy I bought this especially for Eli's party, on sale at Wal-Mart for only $9!!

That was the food and drinks- oh we ordered pizza to make it easier for us ;) Now on to the decorations!


Happy 4th Birthday Banner I made for Eli!
{if you ever need one made you know who to call :)}


The 4, I made from a pool noodle!


Streamers I hung across my french doors, in party colors.
{thank you pinterest for the how to}


This is my food table - it says "Start Your Engines" although you cant see the "s" and this is well into the party.

We had a water slide outside for the kids- here are a few pics of the kiddos playing-
Birthday Boy

Baby Brother Ben Henry
Cousin Anna Banana
Everyone having a good time!

Hope you enjoyed seeing the pics as much as we enjoyed the party.
 If you have questions about how I did something, or if you need a birthday banner,
 or any kind of banner for that matter please feel free to email me!!