~Halloween is here!~

Avery - The Paperbag Princess

Madison - A Ginger Cat

Caleb - Harry Potter

Click on the pic above to see it bigger

The kids are excited to get into their costumes. And so am I!

~Halloween Treats~

I had wanted to break up the Halloween posts but didn't get a chance to post last night and likely won't tomorrow as well, so here they are all in one.

This year, I went a little overboard on the treats for the kids classes so this is going to be a long post!

First up, the treat bags for Caleb's class. With some home-printed tags, staples and cellophane bags, I made some cute little treats for Caleb's classmates.

Then for the class party, Caleb was one of the first chosen to bring in a snack. I made some cupcake toppers and wrappers for the cupcakes.

Caleb tells me later that he did not eat any of the cupcakes but the gingerbread cookies one of his classmates brought in were so yummy that he ate 2 of those!

Next up, treats for Avery's class. We made these candy spoons. She thought these were great!

With some orange chocolate wafers, plastic spoons, sprinkles and cellophane wraps and ribbons, these were so easy to make.

Avery then gave out these cute candy-filled bags to a few of her closest friends.

Last up, are the treat bags that Madi made for her friends. Madison loves anything that looks vintage. When I found these Martha Stewart stickers at Michaels, I just had to buy them for her. Here she has affixed them to small boxes of Mike & Ike candies. They were the perfect size.

With some more home-printed and cut tags we made candy corn treat bags.

When I saw the matching bags to the stickers I just had to get them!

Madison then requested that we make candy apples for the whole class.

We had a very busy evening of creating! The kids loved every minute of it! Of course, I stayed up a bit later to add some of the finishing touches.

Today was also orange and black day at the school (our school does not allow the kids to wear costumes), I have to say that the kids looked so cute in their orange and black outfits. Unfortunately we were rushing this morning to get all these treats to the school and didn't have time for a pic!

Now all I have to do is still buy some pumpkins and carve them, halloween candy for the door and make a few finishing touches to the kids costumes. Not to mention that the girls have separate Halloween parties tomorrow and the boy is going to a Birthday party, which I still need to get a gift for. Guess I should get to bed!

~more name plates~

Below is the name plate that I made for Madison. She picked the colour for the background and the ribbon and I designed it.

Here is Avery's name plate, she made this at her party, I meant to take a pic of all of the kids creations and forgot :-(

Halloween treats are well underway. I will post pics when we are done!

~Avery's Party & Birthday~

Loot bags for her party, she put all the loot bags together herself

KitKat cake that I made for her
close-up of the cake
Making a wish :-)
Waiting to open her presents

Avery's gifts wrapped and waiting for her, for when she wakes up on her Birthday

The kids always get to open one present before school, the rest wait until we are all together,

Avery picked Caleb's present to open

Avery had a wonderful birthday! She loved every minute of her party and then tonight we had a small family party for her, which she also loved. I can't believe that she is 10!

~A Craft to share~

Avery's birthday party is this upcoming Saturday and I have been looking for a craft for her and her guests to make.
I finally found one that both her and I loved. We decided to make name plates for the kids bedroom doors. We made one out of Caleb's name, to see how it would turn out and to have a sample to show the kids.
It turned out great! Avery was very impressed and is anxious to make these with her friends.
See below to see how I turned a $0.37 white ceramic subway tile into a very cute name plate for Caleb.

$0.37 basic white subway tile from Home Depot

~BEFORE~

~AFTER!~

I can't believe how well this turned out!

So cute!

Caleb picked the scrapbook paper to use for the background, I then applied a thin layer of Mod Podge to the tile and affixed the paper

We added his name with some letters that already had adhesive

I then gave the whole thing a few thin coats of Mod Podge.

I was happy with the result but then remembered that I had some of this stuff below.

I applied 1 coat only of this and it made the name plate very glossy and shiny. It made it look 10x better! I originally bought this to gloss some Christmas ornaments that the kids painted last year and never got around to it.

I will definately be using this again!

Look at the glossiness!

For the 2 little cutouts, Caleb pick these and I cut them out with my Slice machine.

One other touch that I added was ribbon all around the edges to smooth it out.

Just forgot to take a pic of the sides.

Next up is to make one for Madison. I will share the pics when I do.

Avery can't wait to make these with her friends!

~Thanksgiving Weekend~

The weather was beautiful for this Thanksgiving weekend.
Yesterday we all ventured out for a hike at Heber Downs
I got so many great shots of the family!

Daddy, Caleb and Avery

Avery and Caleb wore their rubber boots and wanted to walk in the creek.
Daddy lends a helping hand as Caleb stands on a wet rock.

Madison striking a pose

Caleb with the stick he wouldn't put down

Avery posing

Madi and Dad

Daddy and his boy

Daddy helps Caleb the Adventurer!

Me and my girls

Siblings

I got so many more great pics, it was hard to chose which ones to share. We had our Thanksgiving dinner today and then ended the evening playing board games. We all had a wonderful day!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!