Gettin' Crafty (And A Couple Of Great Recipes)

Grace's birthday is less than a week away and she is getting really excited. She has been excited for months. Since coming home, she has witnesses all three of her siblings celebrate their birthdays. She is SO ready for it to be her turn. She keeps asking "is today my birthday?" To help her understand when her special day will be, I made a little count down of sorts.
I used little paper sacks and stickers (thank you Target) and dug up my old scrap booking punches. It took less than fifteen minutes, and yet the smile on Grace's face today when she saw these on her dresser was priceless. I put a little gift in each bag and she is allowed to open one each day leading up to her birthday. They are filled with silly little things, but she is so happy with them. So far she has gotten a stretchy glow-in-the-dark ball and a tiny pot with daisy seeds (again, thank you Target dollar area).

My other little crafty project has been my new black board for the kids' bathroom. I know it seems strange to have a chalkboard in a bathroom, but as my new friend Jane pointed out to me, they are bound to read it - they are in there every day. I was also inspired by a fellow blogger (Jen) who painted her whole bathroom with chalkboard paint. So, I
headed to Hobby Lobby, got a frame that had an ugly picture and broken glass in it (thus marked 80% off), and I used black board paint to finish it off. I love how it turned out!

The first day, I told the kids that I would be writing them little messages on it. They thought it was fun (even though I told them they are not allowed to write on it -nice mom). Maybe some day I will let them write messages to each other, but who knows how positive those would be :)

This is what the board says right now. I thought it would be a good verse for all of us. It seems to be sinking in a little too. Last night at dinner I asked if anyone knew what the black board said. My eight year old was able to tell me the verse (for the most part)! I was excited because I hadn't really told them to memorize the verse or anything.
Hopefully I will keep up with writing nice notes and positive messages to the kids, although I could see myself getting frustrating with them and just writing "AIM" as a message to my boys (just keeping it real).

One of my other fun creative adventures involves food. I absolutely love the Beantown Baker blog. I have mentioned it before. She posted a recipe for Cookies N Cream Cupcakes and they looked so darn cute...

I've made them twice already. They are really good. The first time I followed her recipe and the second time I used a white cake mix and used her homemade butter cream frosting recipe (awesome). They turned out really well. Check it out if you have a sweet tooth like me.

I love how you put an Oreo cookie in the bottom of the cupcake liner before you fill it up with batter. It is a great surprise when you take a bite.

I also love Beantown Baker's recipe for Sweet and Spicy Snack Mix. It has just the right amount of sweet and spicy. It is super easy to make. I used a little bit more Cayenne pepper than it called for.

Today Grace was feeling crafty too. She got the Color Wonder Magic Light Brush set. The jury is still out on this one. It's alright, but I still prefer good old fashioned water color paints :) The brush does light up the clear colored paint and "magically" make the paint appear on the paper...I guess it is sort of neat- and NO messes of any sort (everything is clear except for what appears on the special paper).

Hope you have a great Tuesday!!!