Lost: 1 Tooth

A one photo layout!  That doesn't happen very often around here.  

I started with two photos- this one and a picture of Trevor holding his lost tooth in his hand. When I put both the pictures on the page, the proportions were all off, making him look like he has a giant hand or a tiny head.  I experimented with resizing, but the angle of the photo meant it just didn't work. As soon as I decided to work with just one picture, everything fell into place.  I ended up using a sketch by Jill Sarginson for the title and embellishment placement.

I really like how this turned out.

Fun with Shrinky Dinks

When our neighbors came over for dinner and a crafty playdate, I set out Shrinky Dinks and let everyone create.  

 

The kids (and mommies) had lots of fun making our designs.  We used stamped with StazOn and colored with Sharpies.  Then we punched the holes.  As per the instructions on the package, we put the finished designs on a brown paper bag and slid the tray into the oven.

 

As we watched through the oven door, we saw R's pennant shrink to a perfect circle.  So cute!

C made matching BFF pendants.  Adorable!  

 

But this is how Trevor's and mine turned out.  

What the heck?!  Twisted, lumpy and distorted.  Usually you can press out folds with a spatula while they're still warm.  Not this time.  Apparently our oven has some major problems with even heating.  I haven't had any trouble the last dozen times I've used shrink plastic, like for my Fiskateer necklaces or when I tested what happens when you put rub-ons on the not-yet-shrunk plastic.  I suppose if anyone's projects got messed up due to our oven, it's best that it was ours and not our guests'.  Next time we do Shrinky Dinks I'm going to do a test shrink first!

The World's Strangest Luncheon

I hosted a luncheon yesterday. Six of my former coworkers joined me. We had a great time catching up, sharing stories and reminiscing. But the main event was the food. This is what we ate:

Probably the weirdest plate of food I've ever had. Or ever will have.

One of the items on my list of 40 Things was to try Miracle Berries (affiliate link). Only a few of my friends had heard of Miracle Berries when I invited them to join me in trying them. But they were all willing to give it a try.  

 

The package came with a list of suggested foods to try, which is how we ended up with that incredibly unusual collection of foods for lunch. The buffet looked so strange- essentially fruit, dairy products, condiments and alcohol.  

We chewed our Miracle Berry tablet and then started tasting. We each tasted the same thing at the same time so we could compare results. It was fascinating how we didn't all taste things the same way. The whole experience was so much fun and so bizarre. I love this picture of Rita drinking a shot of hot sauce.

So what were my results? I LOVED the citrus fruits, especially the lemon. The rhubarb was outstanding and the apples were divine. The cream cheese was yummy and tasted almost like cheesecake. The salt and vinegar chips tasted sweet like barbecue chips.  

Some of the foods tasted basically the same as they usually do. I didn't taste any difference in the feta or the watermelon. Some became totally tasteless, including the sour cream and the cottage cheese. The sourdough bread was disappointing - it's usually one of my favorite foods, but it was oddly flavorless ("Tastes like a pillow!" said Rita.)  

As for the foods I didn't like... for the most part, they were the same foods I usually don't like. I don't like dill pickles and didn't like them any more when they were sweet. Same with hot sauce. The beer wasn't good, though that might be because it was both warm and flat when we drank it. 

Thank you so much to Stephanie, JoAnn, Diana, Rita, Lesley and Marcia for helping me accomplish Goal 27!

Homemade Find It

Are you familiar with the Find It toys (affiliate link)? They are awesome. I first learned about them about 4 years ago when my nephew was in the hospital and someone gave him one to pass the time. They're also great for the car, airplane, or waiting for an appointment. Trevor got this one as a belated birthday gift and we've all had great fun playing with it. 

When Trevor asked if we could make our own version, I immediately said yes. I found a clear plastic container and then searched the house for something that would work as filler. We decided to use buttons, but there are lots of other things that would work if you don't have a huge button collection like I do. Dried beans, rice, gravel, and macaroni would all be fine.  

The next step was finding small items to hide amongst the buttons. Between Trevor's toys and stuff from my craft room, it was easy to find enough objects. As we added items, we wrote them down on piece of scrap paper. Here's our completed Find It.

 

Did you find the pom pom, star, truck or friendship pin in that picture?  How about a pom pom, pony bead, skateboard, snake, bow, and fire truck in the next picture?

 

The last thing we did was type up our list of all the items we put in our Find It, which Trevor titled "Cool Collections."

 

Trevor hovered over the printer waiting for the list, grabbed it, and ran to have Daddy try to solve the Find It. After about 20 minutes of work, Steve found everything except the googly eye.

 

Trevor is so proud of his homemade Find It that he's been bringing it just about everywhere he goes. Here are Grandma and Grandpa solving it.

 

This was such a fun thing to make and I can't believe how many hours of enjoyment Trevor has gotten from it so far! We'll definitely be making more homemade Find Its in the future.

A Year of Homework

I really love 'then and now' type layouts.  Even though I already scrapped Trevor completing his first-ever homework assignment, I used the same photo again with a picture of him 34 weeks later, completing the final kindergarten homework assignment. 

 

This isn't quite a Young-Me-Now-Me, but it is still fun to see the different a year makes!