Weekend Show Off Party 12-29

Is it the Weekend Already?

Even though I have done NOTHING {fun} this week has flown by!  How was your Christmas?  Let me tell you about my Christmas dinner...

I decided, kind of at the last minute, to have a small Christmas dinner at my house, with some family who lives around.

Christmas Morning 4 am, my oldest daughter wakes up, throwing up.  So I spent all morning in the bathroom with her.  She felt a little better by 7:30ish, so we opened Christmas presents and had a good time, I mean really you have to be EXTREMELY sick to not want to open up Christmas presents!

So at this point, I think, should we have Christmas dinner?  I am pretty sure the sudden illness was induced by the over consumption of sugar, cookies, and egg nog.  SO I still host Christmas dinner.

It went really well, everyone seemed to be having a good time.  My oldest daughter still was not feeling great, but everything went as well as to be expected.

The day after Christmas I get sick, my youngest two get sick.  My husbands Aunt Lisa gets sick, my Uncle Joel gets sick, my brother... sick.   My brother-in-law had to be hospitilized because he was SO sick.  And this is not just a little sick, it is 18-24 hours of misery!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!  Aren't you sad I did not invite you to Christmas dinner?

So this past week, I have taken care of sick kids, being really sick myself.  I did manage to take all of the Christmas decorations down.  I have probably done 15 loads of laundry.  In fact, I did so much laundry a pipe burst that returns all of the dirty water, so my basement flooded with dirty laundry water, yum.  Additionally, we took my car to get a safety inspection, of course there was a bad ty-rod (sp), so I have been car-less for the past day, my trusty external hardrive is NOT working, which really puts a damper on all the graphic design stuff I am doing for other people... so it has not been the most fun Christmas break, but hey it could be worse....



Yes, things could always be worse!

So anyway, sorry I was absent on the blog this week!

I can't wait to see what you have been up to!

Drive In Movie Night

With in Winter in full swing, I know I am having trouble keeping my kids entertained!  Here is a fun idea that we have done several times as a family, and is always a hit!  This was also my post for Kids Can do week on SYTYC!

 

With the weather getting colder, we decided to have a Drive In Movie Night!  I taught my kids the delicate art of dumpster diving, and we found some boxes to make cars!  My kids drew plans of what they wanted their cars to look like, I was amazed by their creativity!

A garbage truck surely would make a statement at a drive-in movie, at least my son thinks so.  My daughter made a school bus, and we decided to make my littlest daughter a love bug!  I thought my hubby and I deserved a night out on the town in style, so I made a limo for us!  My kids helped with the whole process, I even let them spray paint.

For dinner, chili in a bread bowl... car shaped of course!

What would a drive in movie be without snacks?  The kids helped make traffic light graham crackers, and little car treats!

Drive In Movie Night was a huge success!  

Bonus, the treat mess stays in the car box, and no fighting over the couch! This project took little money, and a lot of imagination! My kids are so proud of the cars they created, and treats they made! 

It was fun doing a project kids can do!

We have used these 'cars' a few times, and it always take the monotony of just any old movie night!  It is a little more 'all out' then I usually go, but it was a lot of fun!

  I like to LINK at these parties, come join the fun!

Weekend Show Off Party 12-23

Merry Christmas!

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend, hopefully full of a lot of friends, family, and food!  I am so grateful for all of you, I have been blogging almost a year now, and it has fast become my favorite addiction hobby! It has been fun to get to know you through your projects!

Laura, a reader,  made a Christmas Card with the Truck and Tree from my header, isn't it fun?

 

A Couple weeks ago Kelly form Here Comes the Sun was my blog of the week.  Unfortunately she missed my email explaining how to guest post, and we had some miscommunication, and I received her post late.  This week, I did not do a blog of the week because I did not want someone to add writing a guest post to their Christmas agenda, so I thought I would share Kelly's post!  She is such a nice person, and has a great blog!

Hello, I am Kelly from Here Comes the Sun and I'm excited to be the Blog of the Week here at Ladybird Lane.  I am a mom to two wonderful children...a 5-year old girl and a 2-year old boy.  And I am the wife to the best husband EVER.  They all (husband included!) keep me pretty busy.  My husband and I have recently relocated to the beach and we call Wilmington, North Carolina home. I enjoy anything outdoors whether it be playing with my kids, hiking, or relaxing listening to the ocean waves.  But realistically, my trips to the beach are not very relaxing with a 2-year old.

I enjoy crafting and I dabble in photography.  My blog consists mostly of kid-friendly crafts and home decor projects.  I love taking old things and giving them new life.  I love it when I spend next to nothing on a project.  And I love it when my kid's faces light up when I break out the craft supplies.

Here are some of my favorite projects that I have done recently

I want to give a big Thank You to Carlee for featuring my blog.  Please stop by and see me sometime at Here Comes the Sun.

Now Let's see what you have been up to!

Danish Kleiner's, A family tradition!

I come from a Danish Heritage, a long standing family tradition in my home is that of making Danish Kleiners!  I can remember making these with my Great-Grandmother! A Kleiner is kind of a cross between a doughnut and a cookie, maybe a doughnookie?

A Kleiner is more of a process than a recipe!  It is better if you have a lot of people to help out!

  

Kleiners have a very unique flavor!  It mainly comes from the spice Cardamom.  In the United States, it can be hard to find, but you can usually find it at a whole foods store. 

 

Once you have made the dough you roll it out to about 1/2 an inch thick, and cut it into a diamond shape.  A ruler helped me make the diamond more precise, and consistant.  I made strips 1 1/2" and 3", to get the diamond.

 You make a slit in the center of each diamond.

 

 Then it is time to turn your Kleiner.  You basically put the top point of the Kleiner through the point. It makes a very unique design!

Now it is time to fry your Kleiner!  At my house we usually have two crews, the cutting crew and the frying crew so we can get a lot done at a time!  Fry your cookie until it is light brown.

 Unlike a doughnut, a Kleiner is delicious fresh, and it is also delicious stored for a while, some say they taste even better after a couple days!  After the Kleiners are fried and cooled we often save them in the freezer for later!

 Kleiner Recipe

• 6 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 8 Tbsp canned evaporated milk (or cream)
• 1 cup melted butter
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 6 to 8 cups flour
• 2 tsp vanilla
• grated rind of 1 lemon and a little juice
• 4 tsp. cardamom crushed
• Crisco Oil for frying.

Start melting 1/2 a can of Crisco in a heavy pan on the stove over medium heat. Beat eggs, sugar, cream, and melted butter. Add vanilla, lemon rind and juice. Mix baking powder with flour and add a little at a time to wet ingredients, until dough is stiff. Divide dough into small enough portions to be able to handle. Roll out on a floured counter about a 1/2 thick. Cut in a diamond shape, and cut a slit in the center of each diamond. Pull one point of a diamond through the slit. Fry in oil until light brown. Drain cookies on paper towels. Add more oil to pan as needed. Allow oil to reheat before frying cookies. Store cooled cookies in a covered container. May be stored for several weeks. Cookies taste even better after a few days.

You can top with powdered sugar, we usually don't.  But it is good and dresses it up a bit! 

 If someone gives you a Kleiner, take it as a HUGE compliment... they usually take so long to make we are a little greedy and eat them all ourselves!

I hope that someday my kids will decide to make Kleiners with their family, it has been such a fun tradition!

And the Winner is...

And the winner of the beautiful, Lost in Wonderland
Shabby Apple necklace is....

(DRUM ROLL PLEASE)

X/X/X/X/X/X/X/X/X/X/X/X/X//X//X//X/X/X////XXXX/////XXX

Lucky Comment number 82!

Congratulations Tiffany!  I hope you enjoy this beautiful necklace!

An a-MAZE-ing Gift {for the boys!}

In case you missed it last week, this is my guest post at Twin Dragon Fly Designs! Heather is a friend from SYTYC, she did a series this Christmas on Christmas presents for boys, go check out all of the fun boy posts HERE!

This is a great last minute Christmas gift using stuff that you have on hand!

My little man often feels left out because he is the only boy in our family, and has ONLY girl cousins... So I was excited for the challenge of making something for the boys! I saw a simple fabric maze on Pinterest, HERE, and I thought it looked like fun!  I wanted to make a larger more complicated maze, to keep my busy boy well... BUSY.  This is a fairly simple project that uses up some of your scraps, and costs PENNIES to make!  A little marble or decorative glass rock is sewn inside that you try to move from corner to corner... it is great to keep busy in the car or at a doctors office, etc! 


Items Needed:
Fabric Scraps for maze, add 3/4 inch to the long and short size of your maze.  For my printable, I cut out..
    2- 7 1/4" and 10 1/4" rectangles
    2- 2" squares
Contrasting thread, you do not want the thread to match the fabric.
Decorative flat glass stone, or marble (smaller size) (You can purchase a bag full at the dollar store)
Printed Maze
Ribbon, cut 5" length

Step 1: Prep
Print and cut out maze,  and measure the length and width of the maze itself.  This maze should be about 6 1/2" by 9 1/2".

 

Cut two rectangular pieces of fabric 3/4" longer then the long and short side of the maze.  It works out nicely if you do one solid colored fabric for the front, and a fun patterned for the back... (I learned that after I took these pictures)!

 

In addition cut two, two inch fabric squares for the corner piece. Fold the square down the diagonal of the square to make a triange, if using felt just cut the square in half, because you do not need a finished edge.

Step 2: Assembly

On the right side of the front fabric, sew fabric triangles to opposite corners, (this will denote the start and finish of the maze). Look at the maze and make sure you put them in the right corners.  Fold the ribbon in half and tack it to the edge of the fabric.  Your pieces should now look like the picture above.

With a 1/4" seam allowance, and right sides together,  sew around the perimeter of the front and back pieces, leaving a small opening.

Turn right side out, and press.

Pin the maze directly onto the front of the  fabric.

 

Sew on the paper (it will be ok), directly on the lines of the maze.  MAKE SURE YOU BACK STITCH, at every corner, and at the end of every line.  It is best if you use a contrasting thread, so that you can see the lines clearly, (I learned this by trial and error too!).  You do not need to sew the perimeter border of the maze.

Rip off the paper, my kids love helping with this part!

Place a flat glass stone, in the opening.

 

Close the opening up, and zig zag stitch around the outside, and you are ready to go!

This little maze is a huge hit with my little guy!  He likes to 'drive the rock' around he says!

In fact, he loves it so much, he wants me to make one for 

ALL OF THE KIDS IN HIS PRESCHOOL CLASS!!

He is so sweet and certain, his mom can do this, and that his friends will just love it, it is hard to say no!  So if you don't see me for a while, I will be making mazes for the masses!

I don't usually like solid colored things, but for the maze it really works well, you can see the maze better, and you can still have your fun patterned fabric on the back.  The front of this game is cream felt!

 

I like to party HERE!