spy party recap

the secret agents ready to accomplish the mission.

spy id with finger print and a word search to find the first clue.

yep, stealthily running across the street to find the next clue.

aha, score.

time to use those notebooks to keep track of the clues.

in action.

in disguise.

the secret agents were actually a loud band of kids running around the block but...

spy dad.

hoisting a fellow spy up to locate another clue.

team work to accomplish the mission.

secret agent dog.

decoding.

to obtain a clue the secret agents had to "do spy things" to mission impossible music while making a video...this blurry action shot is the clue in action.

something's gotta give...i bought a cake from whole foods.

the 8 year old secret agent ktebi.

...

next year we are having a low key party...cake and balloons...that's it!

do you believe me?

nope...i am a big fat liar... i love parties.

check it.

check out this amazing giveaway.

how cool are those camera bags?

i like the epihan!e belle bag.

i love discovering new products and sites, don't you?

...

via bethany actually

secret agent man

pre-party info.

today is jude's 8th birthday party and if you have read this blog in the past year you know we like big celebrations...if you are a new read check out this party and this party to get an idea!

this year i was hoping for a "go take a hike" party for jude but he wanted a pokemon party so we settled on a "secret agent/spy " party.

the top secret invites went out last week and the mission is in about 1 hour.

the secret agent id badges are ready..there will be alias and fingerprinting.

the kids (8 in all) will then head out to accomplish a secret mission in which they must roam a block radius to find letter clues in order to open a padlock.

john and i collaborated on the clues...it should be rock'n

more details later.

i even made mustache disguises.

mustache on a stick...very vogue you know.

basically i cut out mustache shapes out of felt and hot glued them to long lollipop sticks. not quite the caliber of "somethings hiding there".

very secret agent.

here is my secret agent boy.

let's party!

craft class recap round 3

this week the project for craft class was freezer paper stencils on t-shirts.

i know there are about 18 million tutorials out there for freezer paper but the one i look to is from "the creative family" book by amanda soule.

great book by the by.

the gist of the project is to create (or copy) a simple design, trace it onto the dull side freezer paper and cut out the negative space.

rather than having the children trace designs i had them draw a simple shape.

turns out the drawing of a basic shape was a challenge for most of them...negative space is a difficult concept too.

kids are into drawing details...if it is a bird they add oodles of feathers, if it is a skull they add a lot of teeth details.

i wanted the design to be simple and thus successful.

after the design was drawn on freezer paper, we ironed (yes i let kids iron with supervision of course) the shiny side of the freezer paper to the tee shirt.

ta-da a stencil.

the tip is to be sure to place an additional piece of paper between the shirt layers to protect the tee from oozing paint.

the next step was to add fabric paint.

the t-shirts were bright colors and so was the paint.

i steered away from black...they are kids and color=happiness after all!

once they had completed a t-shirt they moved on to adding a design to a white napkin (not pictured).

the kids had a great time. more importantly they went home with a sense of accomplishment and a functional craft.

the results were stunning and hopefully i can get a photo of all of them wearing said shirts.

stay tuned for next weeks craft class...craft unknown!

happy bunting!

you know those last minute yet brilliant crafting projects.

the ideas but no time but squeeze it in anyhow craft projects?

...

for quite some time i wanted a fabric bunting for...you know celebrations!

somehow jude's b-day snuck up on me and last evening at 6 pm i decided (moments before date night) that i ought to make a bunting from my fabric stash for jude's birthday and party (friday).

i quickly sorted fabric, madly cut triangles with my horrible-terrible-no-good-very-bad rotary blade until it was time to go out.

today during a break at the library (where i volunteer) i put the pieces back to back.

although my to-do list for this afternoon is impossibly long, i thought i must have bunting...yes i must...i mean i am the self proclaimed queen of garland...

i have a club you know!

so, putting off, ahem delaying, folding laundry, shredding fat, prepping craft class (mostly done), making mustaches (for the b-day party tomorrow) and picking up donuts (to take into school), i decided to sew bunting.

if i had a serger i would have serged and if time was on my side i would have pinked the edges (perhaps before the next celebration) but not too bad for last minute and using what i had on hand...scary to think i have all this on hand.

actually my crafting stash is a bit out of control but you never know when the urge and time to craft might hit and it's better to be prepared...

right?

...

i'm off to pick up donuts, dash to the school, celebrate jude's birth with his classmates, pick up kids, have craft class (super cool freezer paper projects), clean up after said class and then decide what to do for dinner.

yikes.

march forth!

more about jude later!

garland of the month club

garland installment 2 shipped today.

bunting love.

if you are in the club, watch for it.

if you are not, you can still join in the fun.

give a friend, a sister, a neighbor or a coworker the gift of garland.

3 and 6 month subscriptions are available in my shoppe.

feb food budget

Looking back over February, I am proud to say I worked hard to budget our groceries.

The grand total was just under $400.

We ate well, just scroll back over Feb's posts to see, our eating habits were not compromised...maybe John's evening snacks were not as plentiful but...

We ate lentil soup, chicken pasta, casseroles, salads, bread, cookies, granola and so on and so forth...even had a chance to eat out and shared meals with friends and family in their homes.

Really sharing food is the way to go, isn't it?

Tonight we ate fresh greens from a local (friend) garden with mushrooms and peppers and served with roasted cod (and orzo).

Tasty.

I plan to aim for $400 for March too.

Can I do it? Can you?

how to spend a Sunday afternoon.

playing tennis,

riding scooters and

flipping over a high bars.

pull ups with help.

quasi pull up.

crazy pull ups.

you go girl.

go Kris!

Notice I did not do pull ups...because I can't.

Not yet...one day I will do a pull up.

Just wait and see.

...

ack.

my legs are killing me..cursed 30 day shred!

2 days down 28 days to go!

seeds on the brain

I have seeds, dirt and gardening on the brain.

I can't decide however where I should add a couple raised beds.

Last year Lucy, the dog ate all my tomatoes and I said I was through with vegetable gardening but here I am with the hankering.

I do grow flowers and the such year round...because I live in wonderful California!

I have gathered seed packet inspiration for around the web.

Be inspired.

a herb garden from the wishingfish

Lovely art packs from the Hudson Valley Seed Library.

I know I have said it before and I will say it again,

I want land, lots of land, okay not really, just an acre or so to grow my own food, raise chickens, keep bees and have a small orchard.

sigh.

Gorgeous seed packet design from lex piccione designs

Okay, now I want a field of wildflowers, so I will need another 1/2 acre, or so.

seed packet from American Meadows

kitazawa seed company...a lot of great seed offerings.

Found via fork&bottle

Seed Packet art work, which can be framed from seedart.

There are many great resources for making your own seed packets, just google.

I really do judge a seed packet by it's cover...like a book.

Renee's Garden is an all time favorite of mine.

I love the illustrations but the seeds are stellar too.

Botanical Interests is another all time fav.

There are many terrific seed savers out there, like

seed savers exchange and the seed bank in Petaluma CA.

The victory garden site is a great resource as is yougrowgirl.

I will leave with these charming seed packets...from the balcony gardener.

doesn't it make you want to go grow something.

Be inspired.

Dig in the dirt.

Go.

...

please note all photos are from respective websites.

this is not a paid review simply for interest sake.

winner of the giveaway!

and the winner is... as chosen by number by my kids.

ms please email me with your snail mail address and i'll send your prize off to you!

ms said...

christine

shredhead

i want to be a shredhead.

i am trying.

today was day 1 of jillian's 30 day shred.

i want to be shredded.

my body is strong but my mind is weak.

a 20 minute intense shred workout left my legs feeling like jelly but i am committed.

look out march...i'm gettin' shredded.

wanna join me...and others.

check out shredheads.

i even took before photos...not good.

i'll post them in 30 days.

let's do it together!