Mickey and Minnie Mouse Banner

Isabella is turning 2 and her mom (Heather) asked me to make a Mickey and Minnie Mouse banner for her birthday celebration. I was told the colors (red, black, and yellow) and then to create. I do love those request!



I hope you have a blast at your Mickey and Minnie Mouse party sweet girl!

Jack's 2nd Birthday- Elmo's World/ Sesame Street

I know the first question will be "When did you start planning the 2nd birthday?" Well to be honest, I had picked theme and started work on a plan when Jack was 13 months old. I know, I know but it was so easy to decide. Jack LOVES Elmo's World. Just so you know I only contacted the cake lady (Kate Petronis) seven months in advance.

Like I had said before you need your date, location, and theme. Jack's birthday this year fell on a  Thursday so the date was easy; the Saturday following his birthday. Location was what needed to be decided on. We knew with the group of kids we had coming we needed to do it at a park. So we decided to rent a pavilion at Fowler Park. It's a beautiful park and the set up was prefect for the party. 

Let the fun begin. 

I have made a rule for myself that I can't start Jack's birthday stuff until after the 1st of the year. Well I broke the rule this year. (50% isn't that bad) Since I was off for Winter Break I decided to work on the invitations. I had to get my sample done so I could get sizes right. I include a picture of Jack on the invitation so this can make it hard to get the sizing right because I don't take the actual picture until the end of February. So it doesn't always fit the design of the card. That's what happen this year so I just moved things around on the front to make it work.

AJ and I had discussed different ideas for the front of the invitation. 1. Jack in his Elmo shirt in front of his Elmo's tent. 2. Jack running around the park in his Elmo shirt. Well we ended doing something different. I had asked Goose (my dad) to make a Sesame Street pole and sign that I could use for decoration to put outside the pavilion. He did an AMAZING job! He delivered it to us on the day we decided to Jack's pictures. Jack's Elmo tent was still at Carly's house so we couldn't use it. And It was raining so the park pictures were out. I decided to put him in his Elmo shirt at Bridge's and just start shooting pictures. The first shot he was hugging his Sesame Street pole. That's the one we used. It didn't matter that you couldn't see his Elmo shirt. 

Originally the theme was just Elmo's World but the Sesame Street characters crept in. Bridge loves Oscar so I had to figure out how to include him. So I decided on "For Our Friends" for the favor table. I made two centerpieces with all the characters. I had a banner with the characters  and a sign. Since "Elmo loves his goldfish and his crayons too" then what better favors for the kids then real goldfish and personalized crayon packs for each kid. AJ picked out the Sesame Street pinata for the kids. So when Target had book bags for $1, I bought each kid a Sesame Street one to hold their candy in and to take their crayon pack home.

I made a big sign for the front of the pavilion (but it was too windy so we used it as a tablecloth), a small banner for TV/Cake table, and a little Mr. Noodle poster.

For the food table, we had a "goldfish bar". We served five different kinds of goldfish and Swedish Fish. 

I made centerpieces for five of the tables that included Elmo, Mr. Noodle, Dorothy, the letter J and the number 2.

We have a cake/TV table. The TV was to show Jack's 2nd year video. I made a sign for the TV using a phrase from Elmo's World. Kate Petronis' cake speaks for itself.

I used vinyl to decorate buckets. I turned the two red buckets into Elmos for the drinks and ice. The green bucket I made into an Ocsar and the blue bucket I made into Cookie Monster. We used the green and blue buckets for holding the gifts and then for bringing them home.

Jack LOVES to dance so we had to have a dance center. We made a dance mix of all Jack's favorite songs.

And of course, I made a scrapbook page for everyone to leave Jack a message that I can put in his scrapbook.

The kids loved the Sesame Street pinata! AJ ended up cutting it open, The kids had more fun playing with the candy.

The Birthday Boy was a little upset when everyone sang Happy Birthday to him.

And of course, Bridge had to make an Elmo giftbag for the birthday boy!

What an Awesome Elmo's World/Sesame Street Birthday Party!!! 

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Today, March 2, 2012~ My class celebrated Dr. Seuss and all the wonderful books he wrote. We did a Dr. Seuss Reading Cafe. The students read and wrote description on four different Dr. Seuss books. They wrote each description in a menu. We invited the parents to come to our class so they could "order" a book to be read to them. It was a great activity.

Illy designed a template and we made each of our students a Dr. Seuss shirt. We made 44 shirts!

We (meaning Bridge and I) made the cat's hat and one fish two fish jello snacks for the kids and their parents. We used an oreo, red gummi lifesavers and white frosting to make the hats. We used swedish fish and blue jello to make the jello snack.

Everything turned out great! What an awesome way to end the week.

Historical Figures Scrapbook

In third grade, the students must learn nine historical figures.

Paul Revere

Frederick Douglass

Mary McLeod Bethune

Franklin Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt

Thurgood Marshall

Susan B. Anthony

Cesar Chavez

Lyndon B. Johnson

One of my wonderful team members (Illy) shared the idea of making a historical figures scrapbook. So of course, I had to do this project in my classroom. 

I gave my student a rubric/guidelines for what information needed to be included for each figure. 

Birth date and place

What they were known for

Obstacles or struggles they faced

What was going on in the world and what did they do

A Quote

They also needed to include 2 pictures a timeline (including three events + birth and death)

So after explaining the project, I decided to kick it off right by bringing in several of my scrapbooks so they could see how different each page can be. This got them really excited!! 

I showed the students how to research each person. We completed all the research in class and they completed the scrapbook pages at home. Illy and I are going to have two sessions after school so we can work with the kids using our own supplies. I am excited to bring two of my cricuts to school so I can show my kids how they work:)

I decided to picked one figure to make an example page for my class. I chose Cesar Chavez. Really it was just an excuse to be crafty, scrapbook, and use my cricut. 

Valentine's Day 2012

For Holidays,  I have my home/family projects and my work/school projects!!


Most holidays, I make my husband something "thoughtful". This Valentine's Day was no different. I made him an ABCs book of our story.

"ABCs of You and Me"
I cut out 28 "pages". One for each letter and a front and back cover. I cut out each letter and a word/ phrase that describes our relationship. Then I wrote a handwritten message on each.

All the "pages"

The cover

A page before the written message

I had to get the dictionary out to come up with words for some letters but I got a word/phrase for each one!

A couple finished pages

Completed ABCs book of You & Me



 For my students, I made them "love punch", Valentines, and cake pops! 


"Love Punch" for my students!

Items you need: bottle water, valentine 12 x 12 paper, red ribbon, straws (I used red and white), Hawaiian Punch drop ins, file folder labels and some tape.

AJ helped me by putting the paper around the water bottles while I tied the straws on the bottles. So this was a quick and easy way to add some fun to our Valentine's Day celebration.

Valentines for my students!

I made my students Valentine's Day cards. I made "love aliens" for the boys and "love bugs" for the girls. I cut the characters out on the cricut. I used Boys will be Boys and Stamping cartridge to make the "love aliens". I used Create a Critter cartridge and the left over hearts from the alien's heart chain. The message on the back of the cards I typed and printed off from my computer and just glued them on the back.

Cake Pops!

I love to cook and bake but decorating baked goods is not really my area. I don't have the patience to decorate cakes and other stuff but I can do basic stuff. I made my kiddos chocolate cake pops and used red and pink melts to decorate them. Bridge came to my rescue and helped with the pink drizzling!