My Jack Skellington (Halloween and Christmas)

   

  I have always been a big fan of Tim Burton and Love the characters from The Nightmare before Christmas. So this year my wonderfully handy husband and I decided to make a big Jack Skellington for Halloween. Then I figured since I already had jack made I would do a Christmas version so he could stay out even longer.

JACK Skellington 
 We came up with the plan to use PVC Pipes, Connectors and a Styrofoam ball painted black. 

Halloween outfit I used my brother-in-laws Halloween costume (just the jacket) and mask from a previous year. (THANK YOU CHRIS)  I bought some cheap black leggings from Walmart. I also used my son's size 10 toddler shoes, and my husbands black dress socks.
 

Christmas Outfit I found a inexpensive red felt Santa costume at Joanns craft store. Originally $20.00 got it for $7.00 (i love a bargain!). I bought the jack skellington santa hat that has the beard attached to it from amazon. White fuzzy trim from joanns. Then I used the same black leggings, socks, shoes, mask, and white gloves from the halloween costume. 

 
 I made a diagram below of our sizes for the his body. After we made him we could have adjusted his sizes a bit but this is just an idea of size for you. 

My kids with jack.

 

 I thought I would be trustworthy this year and leave out the candy. Not sure if people were honest but the bowl was empty when we got home.

  

Here is my house with my Jack and Ghosts.

  CHRISTMAS (I thought I snapped more pictures of him in his big red suit but I guess not. here are two.)

I would LOVE to see if anyone else decideds to create one of these. Leave a comment below with a link to photos.     in the meantime....

Daisy Girl Scout Kaper Chart

 

It's happening! I have been recruited into the wonderful world of Girl Scouts! Along with my friend Michelle and I we will be leading 8 first graders! We are so excited to get started. So far I have created a  FREE Shutterfly share site that has a calendar with RSVP, roster, photos, and any news I need to share with parents. I also created a monthly newsletter in microsoft word. 

**Since our first meeting is this Sunday, I got working on our kaper chart.

Definition: Kaper Chart A kaper is a short-term job. A kaper chart is a useful tool used for Girl Scout meetings. It can be used to assign a girl or girls a specific jobs to be done at that meeting.   Here is my chart: This turned out to be a really fun project. 

I used my cricut cutter for most everything.   

I purchased a large folding foam core board.

On the left side: The Girl Scout Law
I created an outline of the daisy flower. We will replace the outline with a colored petal as we earn them. There is a pocket down on the bottom that holds our petals. And of course the Girls Scout Law. I put the text in the corresponding petal color so the girls will cross reference the petal with the Laws.

In the Middle:  Kaper Chart Duties
Here we have the Kaper chart. There is: Set Up, Attendance & Dues, Pledge and Promise, Snack (Drinks & Munchies), & Clean Up
The leaves are interchangeable. There is Velcro on the back. The flower pot down below also holds extra leaves for extra girls that are not in the chart rotation.

On the right side: The Girl Scout Promise
I created a hand and folded it to make the hand sign that the girls use when they say the Promise.

Here is a link to the Girl Scout Law and Promise.
http://www.girlscouts.org/program/basics/promise_law/

Hope this helps as an inspiration when you create your Kaper chart.

If you are looking for a Brownie Kaper Chart her is our newest one. http://creativelyquirkyathome.blogspot.com/search/label/Girl%20Scouts

My nephew Luke's Reptile Party

   

 My sister asked me to help plan my nephews 5th birthday, and seeing how I love planning parties I of course jumped at the chance!

My sister had already booked a great reptile show to come to the house. So I was in charge of all the rest. The name of the company for the reptile show is Cool Critters Animal Presentation. http://natureguy.net/Cool_Critters.asp  He was so great and the kids had a blast! 

<------------ (Luke the Birthday Boy)

Here are some pictures from the party. 

Dessert Table: I designed some really cute table signs. I sell them in my etsy shop.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lilbeansprout

I purchased these adorable cupcakes at cinnamon productions in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA. They were so delicious! 

The Party Favors:  I had a blast making these. I sell the tags and instructions on how to make these in my etsy shop. http://www.etsy.com/shop/lilbeansprout

 I tapped a note to the back of the favor boxes. They were similar to the note that was written inside the book. 

  Here is what we had inside: The alligator was a growing alligator. I purchased the books on Amazon and the alligators on Steve Spangler Science  http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/growing-alligators

Food: The food was kept rather simple. I just covered various size boxes with wrapping paper. Then we just placed some of my nephews little reptile toys around to decorate.

What a great family photo of my sister, her family, and a giant snake!

 Luke with all the girls and then with the boys .... and lets not forget about that snake!

MORE SNAKES!

 

Here is a collage photo to pin! :)

Thanks for stopping by....

Soccer! Bows, snacks and ways to stay cool!

 

  GO PURPLE THUNDER!

 

 GO GRAY HAWKS!

 Soccer Season has begun in the Walker house, and boy has it been hot! I thought I would share a few things we do during soccer season....

HOW TO MAKE.. Soccer Bows:

• First you want to pick out at least three main colors from the uniform.
• Buy several spools of ribbon. In various Sizes, Textures, Patterns and Colors.
• Buy the thick/ No metal hair ties. 
• Cut each ribbon into about 6 to 8" in length
• Then start tying the ribbon around your hair tie. Be sure to tie them in a pattern. (example purple, white, black, purple white black, purple white black etc.)

 And that's it! It really is that easy, and Oh SO CUTE! 

Here is a photo of my spools of ribbon: Check out the various Sizes, Colors, Patterns and Textures!

Also you can get ideas for ribbon patterns by the name of the team, like purple zebras you can find a zebra print, or blue dolphins... you may find a dolphin print.... etc

SNACKS
When ever I do snack I like to bring a fruit, a carb, and some Gatorade.
Aren't these cute! I think the kids will really like them. 

  
Some other snack choices I do are:
Sliced Oranges, Bananas, Watermelon wedges, Sliced Apples, Grapes
Pirates Booty, Gold Fish, Sun chips 

Here is a e-Book with GREAT Healthy snack ideas!
http://www.volunteerspot.com/ebooks/snacks

WAYS TO STAY COOL!

• Take a few wash cloths get them wet, ring them out, place in a baggy and Freeze. This is a great way to cool off during half time and after the game. 

• Bring a water Bottle with a fan. Hey it will even keep you as the parent cool while watching on the sidelines. Look at this cute soccer water bottle. Ive gotta get me one of these. Super cute!

• Bring a Umbrella, it's nice to have some shade while watching!! 
• and Always keep the kids Hydrated!!

 

 What are some of the snacks, and cooling off tips you do during sports?

 

We are Back in Scool!

 

 Well it's official we are BACK IN SCHOOL!  In some ways I am excited, but still very sad to see my little ones grow up so fast! Here are a few things I did this year to remember this occasion.

A few weeks ago I posted my Night before school check list. Here it is again. You can enlarge by clicking on  it and then right click on the image to save it to your computer.

I got some cute pictures of them with their lunch boxes and backpacks. Just so I can remember what they were into that year. 

The Balloon Idea: I thought it would be cute to have the kids hold a balloon every year to symbolize the grade level that they are going into. So by grade 12. They will be holding 12 balloons. 

We got Jude a balloon so he didn't feel left out. :)

Memory Keepsake... I LOVE this idea just so you can remember what they were like at that exact moment!  I sell these in my etsy shop.  http://www.etsy.com/shop/lilbeansprout?ref=seller_info

ENJOY THE SCHOOL YEAR!