Rainbow Jello

Just before St. Patrick's Day, I found this on Pinterest ... I thought it looked easy and fun, and something I could make, especially since my little girls Love to make Jello...

Above is how the ones on Pinterest looked. Below is how mine turned out...

 I know, there's a big difference...

It was trickier than I thought, and sometimes my Cool-whip layer in between didn't set up, even on the last layer when I thought I had figured it all out...

 I did so something to mine to make them fun, though... I took gold chocolate coins, sealed them in small plastic baggies, and put them in the bottom layer. That way, the kids could find a pot of gold when they got to the end of their rainbow...

it was pretty fun...

And the kids had fun helping me.

I think I about have the kinks worked out, and maybe next time they will turn out exactly like I want them.... This would also be fun to do in a party color scheme.

Linked to:
http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/2013/03/frugal-friday_28.html

Your Home Based Mom

Best White Elephant/Gag Gift Ever!

I gave this at a White Elephant Christmas party (life was too crazy that time of year to blog about it), but this would make a great April Fools day gift, or anytime you need a gag gift.
I actually got the idea from my friend, Paula. She had posted it on her blog about 2 years before, and I had been waiting to go to another white Elephant gift exchange party all that time so I could give this!
Finally got my chance last Christmas!

 So, here's all you do: you buy a Barbie doll. Preferable one wearing a swimsuit, and with brown hair. A blond would not show up the hair as well. Then trim off the ends of her hair, so you have a little pile of hair to work with! (These hairs do NOT need to be very long, I could have made mine a little bit shorter)

 Then you just glue it all over her legs and feet. I just used clear gel Tacky Glue. It did get a little messy on my fingers, but it just washes right off.

 You also need to glue some clumps of it under her armpits, and a little bit around her belly button.

 Yep, gross it what you're going for! I bought some disposable razors, and used some small hair elastics to attach it to her hand/arm. She's not a Barbie, without an accessory!

 I even carefully cut out the picture of the Razor from the package of razors, and attached it the Barbie package.

 Oh ya, don't forget to print off "Shave With Me" in a matching font and color on your computer, and glue it onto the package.

 When my friend made hers, she had a plastic package, which showed more of the Barbie. Since mine was a cardboard box, more of her legs were covered, so I carefully cut it away to show the feet and legs.

 I even cut the side of the box so you could get a good view (and also made it easier to attach the hair to her legs, without removing the doll from the box) I covered the "Choking Hazard" warning so it said, "Cutting Hazard"... can't remember the other thing I changed... it's hard to read, but I'm sure it's funny...
I also embellished the picture on the package by drawing hair on her legs, and armpits....

 Although I don't have any pictures from the party of the girl who opened it (and everyone else watching) the reaction was great. You want a total groan...

So, if you end up making one, email me or leave a picture in the comments.

Linked to:
The Shabby Nest
Your Home Based Mom

Another Valentine's Wreath?!? (#52)

 Some of you might remember my post about a year ago, when I cleaned out my fabric closet. I made a list of all my unfinished projects, which I taped to the inside of the closet. Then each unfinished project was put in a big bag and neatly stored. This year, in January, I decided to finish all of the Valentine's projects on that list.
So, I used the fabric to make this Valentine's table runner, as well as a small Valentine's quilt (post coming soon)
I was looking at the list, and it said: Red Felt Valentine's Wreath/topiary's

Hmmm.... I thought that was talking about the pink ones that I finished this year:

But it very clearly said RED... then I looked up on the very top shelf, and sure enough, there was a big bag of red felt.
I then remembered that I had all this red felt from when I made poodle skirts for all the girls, and mis-cut one, which left me with a plethora of red felt. Perfect for making these topiary's and wreaths.
I got it down. Bought a styrofoam heart wreath (only $3.47 at Hobby Lobby, less if you use a coupon) and some straight pins.
There is a tutorial for this at The Idea Room... it was a few years ago, so you'll have to search for it. All you do is cut the felt into circles, fold it into quarters, and pin it into the styrofoam. Simple, easy, and don't ask me why I didn't finished it years ago!

 I thought it turned out beautiful, and really looked pretty with all my other Valentine's decorations.

 Confession: Even though I was quite proud of myself for finishing this, I actually have enough felt to make 2-3 more wreaths, or a bunch of topiary's... so my dilemma has been that I don't want to stick it back into the closet unfinished... but who wants to be making Valentine's stuff during Easter season?!?

Red Brick Store Activity

Last April I was asked to serve in our Relief Society Presidency. My main responsibility would be activities. When I was trained, I was told that this year we needed to have an activity commemorating the 170 years since the founding of the Relief Society in Nauvoo, Illinois in 1842. 

Well, this spoke right to me. I had been there several times. It was a special place to me. The Red Brick store holds special memories for me from my college days. 

So, I decided to try to recreate that atmosphere for our activity.

Here is the poster I made to announce it:

(So glad I saved all the brick paper from after our first Hogwart's party)

Someone from my committee found this picture. We decided to use it for the invitations. I didn't look too closely, and after I had printed off 70 copies, I realized that it was flipped- so the writing was backwards. Oh well.

We encouraged the ladies to wear pioneer (1840's) clothing if they had it. We did a bunch of door prizes, and everyone who dressed up got to enter their name for that.

We started off in the kitchen with homemade root beer (some of it even bottled in the bottles we brought back this summer from the Red Brick Store) and I made a whole bunch of mini corn muffins so everyone could try the Damson Plum jam I also brought back. It was Emma Smith's (1st President of the Relief Society's) favorite. We also had a few hard candies, like horehound, and someone thought to bring some sugar free lemonaide. That is so thoughtful. I never think of that unless I'm the one on the diet.

Here's some pictures of people eating and mingling:

After the ladies got to eat and visit for a little bit, we led them up the stairs to the stage (the RS was founded and held their 1st meeting in the upstairs room of the RBS)

Here's my friend Lesa, in front of the split drop cloth that was the entrance to the stairs.

 It was tight in there, but I think the coziness of it added to the atmosphere, and was probably more realistic to the size of the actual room.. 

We had set up more of the red brick (this was worth all the work of making them. You can see how we did that here, and the 2nd Hogwarts party here) up on the stage. It really gave it the feel we wanted.
 I'm so glad I've hung onto those drop cloths, we've gotten a lot of use out of them. The youth had a big Christmas gala at our church and used them again for that with a fireplace, tree, etc. set up. It looked beautiful.

Anyway... We had set up the tables with things that we thought you'd be able to find in an 1840's store. I brought my set of dishes, and I hate to admit it, but most of that stuff is mine. I have a lot of stuff.

Some bricks from Nauvoo and an old hurricane lantern of my mom's

some replications of early church books- hymns, Book of Mormon, Book of Commandments, Doctrine and Covenants





Here's a few more pictures: I guess I took a lot...

We had also set up 2 quilts, one for hand quilting, and one for tying. The ladies who put those together did a beautiful job on them. 

The baby quilt was hand quilted.. I love hand quilting!

The women could sit and work on the quilts during our short program

This was one of the ladies who put the quilts together

This was the other lady who put together the quilts.
This denim zig-zag quilt was really cool looking. Good thing my son didn't see it, he would want one!

We had an opening song, the Spirit of God, which was the same song sung at the opening of the first meeting, and then an opening prayer. Then I talked for about 10 minutes about the historical part of the Relief Society.

(I was a history major...don't get to use my degree too often...)

Then our newly called Relief Society president spoke about the purpose of Relief Society today

If you are wondering why I had so many of my dishes there, it wasn't just for display...

After our program was over, we had homemade pie and milk, but just using the real plates... more authentic that way, don't you think?

Well, I know what you're thinking... didn't we start out with refreshments? Rootbeer and corn muffins and candies?
Well, ya, but did you forget that a pregnant lady was in charge? Food is such a great mingler, too. Great way to start, great way to end.

This was our door prize table:

We tried to cover that plywood, but our old building didn't have enough black curtains to go around the stage, and with 4 wards sharing the same building, there was so much other "stuff" being stored up there that we had already had to move... wow.

(Confession: these were all things we found in the RS closet, so didn't even have to spend money on them, even the ribbon to wrap it with!)

Singing Hymns with my friend, Cobie. Good thing my Grandma's pioneer dress had a high waist. Guess those pioneer women had to make sure their regular clothes were also maternity clothes...