Disneyland '12

Each year, my parents take our family and my sister's family on a trip to Disneyland.  Here's the layout from our 2012 visit:

There are a few details I'd like to point out.  First, the title.  The yellow part is stickers, but the black part is just pen.  I printed out the logo, taped it to the back of my patterned paper, put it on the light box and traced.  Then I transferred it to the desk and colored in the traced letters. Quick and easy.      

Next, the Mickey embellishment in the top right.  It's just a scrap of black cardstock that I punched 7 times (two small circles, one larger circle slightly overlapping them, and the corner rounder on all four corners).  I backed that with a scrap of yellow and added the '12 rub-ons.  

Finally, washi tape.  Two of the four strips of "patterned paper" are actually washi tape.  Can you tell which ones?  It's the black dot on the far left and the red dot under the embellishment. The yellow stripe and other red dot are paper.

Clergy Appreciation Month

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Did you know that October is Clergy Appreciation Month? Me neither, until I was assigned to write an article about it for Scrapjazz. Despite being a lifelong churchgoer, I hadn't even heard about Clergy Appreciation Month and had certainly never done anything special for the occasion. Time to remedy that. I definitely appreciate my pastor.  He's awesome.

Here's the card I made for Pastor Todd. I used the scraps from my goddaughters' baptism card to make the cross. I ran the base through a friend's Texture Boutique using the 'Swirls and Dots' folder, orienting it so that the dots were toward the top (in other words, upside down). I glued a cardstock butterfly in place, then added a line of glue just along the body and carefully placed a vellum butterfly on top. I gently folded up the wings to provide dimension and a sense of movement.  I'm happy with how it turned out: simple, elegant, and uplifting.    

 

If you have a religious leader in your life, I encourage you to take the time during Clergy Appreciation Month to show your thanks for all that he/she does!

Halloween Clotheslines

The best part about my job as Editorial Assistant for Fun Family Crafts is getting to see so many awesome and clever craft projects. When I'm reading through blogs, searching through websites, or scouring Pinterest and come across an excellent tutorial that I would like to feature at Fun Family Crafts, the first thing I have to do is search Fun Family Crafts to make sure it (or one just like it) isn't already there. As I scroll through all the projects with the same keywords, my mind is flooded with ideas. Here's one example.

A few weeks ago, I found this clothesline craft at Adventures of an Art Teacher.  It was so cute and each one was so different, which is something I value a lot. I really wanted to feature it. When I searched Fun Family Crafts to make sure we didn't already have something similar, I found this adorable Christmas-themed clothesline craft. I went ahead and submitted the clothesline craft I'd found since it was quite a bit different than the Santa one and now both are on the site.  

I was totally inspired to make a Halloween-themed clothesline craft. My friend Kelly was coming over for brunch and a craft morning, so I decided that we could each work on one when she was here. I dug out my scraps and we got to work. Here's what I made:  

This one is Kelly's:

 

I'd originally planned to have trees holding up my clothesline, but I made my five items first and then didn't have room for the trees I'd envisioned. So I left them out. Kelly took the tree idea and totally made it work. Interestingly, Kelly's turned out much more like I'd originally envisioned the project than mine did!

When he got home from school, Trevor saw my project on the wall and had to put his two cents in. He asked why the witch would hang her broom, why she left space for a spider to dangle down, and why a ghost would hang itself. He was polite, of course, but essentially told me that Kelly's was much better because it made more sense. That's my boy, always logical. 

I like them both. And it was really fun. Thanks to Kelly for playing along and allowing me to share her awesome (and logical) artwork!

Foil Packet Meals

Last week, our Cub Scout den leader taught the boys how to cook foil packet dinners (and desserts!) outdoors.  They started by layering a cabbage leaf on top of two pieces of foil, then placed a raw hamburger patty on that.  They added salt and pepper and their choice of onions, shredded carrots, shredded potatoes, and mixed vegetables on top.  (Trevor chose everything except onions.)  They carefully wrapped up their packets, sealing the edges, and then put them on the hot grill for about 30 minutes.  

Trevor was so excited to open his up.  It smelled amazing and looked great.  He dug right in and finished the whole thing.

 

After dinner, they made foil packet desserts.  Each boy put a tortilla on foil, then added either peanut butter or apple pie filling (Trevor chose the apple pie filling), chocolate chips and marshmallows.  They rolled up the tortillas, sealed them in foil, and put them on the grill for about 10 minutes.  They looked, smelled, and tasted fantastic.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a decent picture.  

Steve was on a business trip and missed the Outdoor Cooking den meeting.  Trevor begged me to let him teach Daddy how to make them, so right before Steve was due home, we headed to the store to buy our ingredients.  We used the oven to make our "Welcome Home Daddy" meal.  It was a success. 

Since Trevor had already tried the apple pie version of the dessert tortilla, he wanted to try the peanut butter version.  It was amazing.  Since then, we've experimented with some other variations.  This is raspberry jam, dark chocolate chips, and two large marshmallows broken into pieces.  

 

This is peanut butter, raspberry jam, and milk chocolate chips.  

 

Trevor tried grape jelly, white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, and fruit-flavored marshmallows.

 

Each was delicious... and so easy!  I've done a lot of foil packet cooking on camping trips, but this was a good reminder that foil packet cooking is just as great for cooking in the oven or on the backyard grill.  We're definitely going to be doing foil packet cooking more often now.  Do any of you have a favorite recipe for foil packet cooking?

Mrs. Forbes, Teacher Extraordinaire

Trevor's first grade teacher, Mrs. Forbes, was one of those teachers you wish every child could have.  She was endlessly patient, cared deeply about her students, and made each child feel loved.  She explained things clearly, made learning fun, and helped each student reach his or her potential.  Trevor really thrived in first grade and I know that Mrs. Forbes was a huge part of that.

Thank you to Mrs. Forbes and all the other wonderful teachers out there who truly make a difference in the lives of children.