snow day!

Last Wednesday was awesome... it was our first official snow day of the school year! Hubby and I both stayed home. He worked remotely from his laptop while I got to do crafty stuff and be lazy. Love it!

We got a lot of snow!

Hubby put his hand up just in time for me to miss his face.

Luckily for us, all the snow happened Tuesday night (when the district decided to close) and Wednesday dawned sunny and beautiful!

We went out for lunch, which is a special midweek treat (for me).

It was a nice break from school. I only had to go back for Thursday and now I'm on Spring Break! Woohoo!

sunday fun

Know what this is?

It's oobleck.

Know what oobleck is?

It's ooey.

It's gooey.

It's definitely fun to play with.

A friend and I are presenting recipes that parents can make at home with their kids at a Parent Social our school hosts every two weeks. She came over today so that we could test recipes before we make them with parents. We spent some time playing, too. We made a mess, but it was fun!

We also made purple playdough.

Here are the recipes, in case you're interested. I've tested all of them over the years with elementary and preschool kids. Enjoy!

Oobleck
2 cups cornstarch
3 drops green food coloring

Add enough water to the cornstarch (slowly) to make a thick mixture (about the consistency of pancake batter). Oobleck is fun because it's both a solid and a liquid. Watch this video of guys walking on a pool of oobleck!

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Playdough
4 cups flour
1 cup salt
3 tbsp oil
1 cup water
Food coloring (acrylic or tempera paint work well too and won't stain hands!)

Combine flour and salt. In a separate container, combine oil, water, and coloring. Add this slowly to flour mixture and combine. Knead the dough several times. Add more flour if dough is too sticky or more water/oil if too dry. Store in airtight container.

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Edible Playdough
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
1 cup instant nonfat dry milk

Combine ingredients until smooth.

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Gak
1 cup white glue
1 cup liquid starch
Food coloring or nontoxic paint

Combine in a bowl and knead for at least 10 minutes. Store in airtight container.

happy presidents' day!

I'm celebrating President's Day by sleeping in and being lazy. No school today! How are you celebrating?

I've been awarded the Sunshine Award by Alice of futuregirl! This is for bloggers who inspire positivity and creativity in others. Thanks, Alice! I'm honored. :)

There are a few rules that come with the award:

-Put the logo on your blog or within your post.

-Pass the award on to 12 bloggers.
-Link the nominees within your post.
-Let the nominees know by commenting on their blog.
-Share the love and link to the person from whom you received the award.

I'm gonna be a rule-breaker here... I don't know 12 bloggers! So I'll just direct you to a few sites I visit regularly for various forms of inspiration. Go visit them and be inspired, too!

1. Crap I've Made
2. Sutton Grace
3. UK Lass in US
4. One Pearl Button

Alice isn't on the list because she gave me the award, but she's definitely a source of inspiration, too!

helping haiti

I have a list of blogs I check out every day... mostly crafty. Through my bloggy travels today I came across The Rusted Chain. For every 'Blessed' necklace you buy from her Etsy store, she'll donate $10 of the purchase price to an organization that is helping people in Haiti.


I snapped one up! It's a beautiful piece and I love that part of the proceeds go to a great cause.

scrappy

I know I've talked about my sewing and crochet, but did you know I also scrapbook? Well... I have the supplies to scrapbook, anyway. I get around to using the stuff maybe once a year.

So, I needed to write some thank you notes for gifts I received at my birthday party... I whipped a couple up this morning. I like to keep my designs simple. The blue one is my favorite.

party!

We had a good time at my birthday party! People played Blackjack, Scattergories, Scene It, Sorry, and Apples to Apples. Everything went as planned! It seemed to go so fast, though... almost too fast. I went with a blue and white snowflake theme, so we hung snowflakes from the ceiling and had blue and white balloons at every table. The only thing I forgot to do was take a picture of my birthday cake before we ate it! Bummer.

Hubby had a good time playing the dealer for blackjack. That was the most popular game at the beginning of the party!

quick 'n dirty sewing

Well... it wasn't dirty, but it was definitely quick! I found this tutorial at about 8:15 tonight and by 11:00 (with breaks for TV and just plain laziness) I had a set of 5 letters. I printed out only the ones I needed to spell the name of a special little girl whose birthday is coming up soon. I used different fabrics for the tops, the same fabric for all of the backs, and sandwiched felt in between. I also trimmed them with pinking shears instead of regular scissors. This is my first official (completed) quilting project. Yay!

I still need to wash and dry them to get more of a "ragged" look. But that's for another day. Now I'm off to bed... tomorrow is our first day (with kids) back from Winter Break and I need to get some sleep.

Here's hoping my birthday tomorrow is better than last year's birthday!

cheese galore!

I'm riding the party planning train and nothing's gonna stop me! In the last two days, hubby and I have chosen decorations, worked on the menu, planned a playlist, and finished the invite. I found this cheesy poem on the internet and tweaked it a little, but I still roll my eyes every time I read it, haha.

Since I have a winter birthday, I went with a snowflake theme for decorations. There will be snowflakes hanging all over the place and, if I can find it, snowflake confetti on the tables.

happy new year and other fun stuff!

Happy New Year! Things in the real world have been hectic and weird and all kinds of emotions rolled up into December and Christmas. I'm ready for a fresh start in 2010! And on that note...

This is my 100th post! Yay! I'd like to celebrate with a crafty swap with any of you! Leave a comment with your email, or email me at seaschell AT gmail DOT com and we'll make it happen!

I did finish a few crafty gifts for Christmas. I've already posted about the coffee cozies I made for one of my sisters and a friend. I also painted a painting for my sis... we went to the Guggenheim in NYC in October and she loved all the abstract paintings with circles. I painted a circle painting just for her, as a gag. I negelected to take a picture of it, unfortunately.

I also finished the fabric dollhouse using the pattern from UK Lass in US. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the pattern was to follow and how cute it is! I bought a Fisher-Price King and Queen to go inside. I wanted to make little dolls but the recipient is barely two and I didn't want to present her with a choking hazard.

Sorry about the really bad photos. Make sure you ignore the garbage can in the first one and my snowflake pajama pant-clad knee in the second one, haha!

And finally... this week is my birthday! I'm having a fun party next Saturday and I'm super excited!

to my friend

I am so, so sorry for the loss of your daughter. She was a beautiful girl who was clearly full of love and laughter. I didn't know her, but I mourn for you.

The service yesterday was an emotional tribute, one that touched my heart and the hearts of all the people in attendance. Your lovely daughter obviously affected many people while alive and even more in her passing.

It is so unfair... to her, to you, your family, and the world. She would have made an impact on countless people.

You, my friend, are a wonderful woman. You are strong, caring, kind, generous, and selfless. I watched as you gave hug after hug following the service, trying to hold things together, knowing you were struggling but you knew that people needed to express their sorrow, too.

She's in heaven. She's by God's side, He's with her, and I'm praying for her, for you, for your family.