The Polka Dot Penguin

Valentine's Day

2011-02-13T20:38:00.000-08:00

Austin needed to make some Valentine's for his school class as well as a Valentine mailbox to put his valentines in. Here is what we did!

We made a love monster mailbox out of an old kleenex box and some craft supplies. Easy, peasy and he loves it! Want to make your own? Here's what you do.

You need:
An old kleenex box
Wrapping paper of any kind
Valentine Stickers
Pipe Cleaners
Googly eyes
Felt for the teeth
Tape
Hot Glue

Trim the plastic off your kleenex box where the tissues come out. Wrap your box in the wrapping paper and trim an X in the hole where the tissues come out. Tape those down in the inside. Cut out teeth from the felt and hot glue on the inside as well. Decorate with stickers. Using a small screwdriver punch holes in the box for the googly eye stems and the arms. I rolled the googly eye stems in a swirl so I'd have something to glue the eyes to. And your monster is ready to eat some Valentines!

His valentines are just jewelry bags with hugs and kisses in it. We made simple bag toppers that said, "Hugs and Kisses from Austin" He did great signing all of them - all 23 of them! Anaya, Austin and I made an assembly line to make them all. Anaya filled the bags with hugs, Austin with kisses and closed them and I stapled all the toppers on. It was a great afternoon of crafting!

Skor Bar Cake

2010-11-18T12:52:00.000-08:00

MMMMMM! This cake is heavenly!!!

1 Chocolate cake mix
1 4 oz package chocolate pudding
1 tub of cool whip
Caramel topping
4-5 skor bars

Bake cake as directed. (I always bump up my oil to 1/2 C in all my cakes to add more moisture. It's worth it!)

Cool cake. Make pudding as directed and spread onto top of cooled cake. Top with a nice layer of cool whip. Hit your candy bars with a hammer to crumble them. Sprinkle on top of cool whip with drizzles of caramel! Easy Peasy!!!

Craft Fair #1!

2010-10-04T20:32:00.001-07:00

I survived my first craft fair this last weekend! A couple of my friends Jessica and Jen and I got together to combine our cute crafts and sign up for the fair. It wasn't technically a "craft fair". We were a booth at a large, very large consignment sale in the Phil Long Expo Center. For huge crowds shopping there for the sole purpose of buying clothes, we didn't do too bad at all. Everyone made their booth fees back which was our goal for this. We had a great time and were able to get our names out there! I sold about half of my inventory that I brought. And, we have signed up for two more this year! Whooo hoo!

This was a crazy awesome consignment sale! We bought a whole bunch of outfits for Anaya who needed clothes for about 20$. There were women who came with big old empty laundry baskets, took off their belts when they got there and attached them to the laundry baskets to pull them around. They would load up with stacks literally 3 feet tall. It was insane! See picture #2.

Thank you to everyone who helped with babysitting, dinners and the support! I appreciate it so much! A special shout out to my lovey Josh who took off of work so I could go. Thanks hon! I love you so much!

Summer Nights...and a baby bug net

2010-07-27T14:58:00.000-07:00

For the first time in 3 almost 4 years, we are experiencing mosquitoes in the evenings! Boy, are they a pain! Having a newborn makes it difficult to be outside when there are so many bugs to worry about. Try making a baby bug net for your little one! It fits snuggly over the top of your baby carrier making it easy for you to enjoy the cool evening air and not having to worry about your baby getting eaten alive. Here's how to make one.

You'll need at least 1 1/4 yards of netting, and round elastic.

I measured my baby carrier with the handle up head to to and side to side. Make sure you make all of your measurements over the handle as the handle is what keeps the bug net off of your baby.

My measurements were 44"x44". Once you have your square of netting cut out, go ahead and round off the corners. Cut a piece of elastic roughly 55" or so inches and tie the ends into a knot.

Now you are going to make a tube for your elastic to go into. I folded my netting over twice to make it extra secure and sewed a 1/4" seam. Rather than fight the netting afterwards trying to get the elastic in, I just sewed the elastic in as I was sewing the tube. You will have to scrunch your netting down the elastic towards the end since there is more netting than elastic.

(Ignore my crying baby) Trim your threads and you are done! Easy peasy and so worth it! Now, go and enjoy an evening outside! :)

Shopping Cart Handle

2010-07-19T11:18:00.001-07:00

Wow! I am now a mommy of THREE! I decided to try grocery shopping with three kids by myself. It really went way better than expected! My only problem was this: I was wearing Avery in the snugli so it was like I was pregnant again, and my other two have a lot of energy and sometimes didn't stay by the cart. There was no way I could lift them into the cart while wearing #3 (and my apparent lack of muscles also contributed). Solution? Cart handles! Check out this idea for all you moms who have more than one kid. Sorry the pics don't match up with the instructions. :( I don't know how to fix it.

Cut a 20x4 inch piece of fabric. Fold in half, right sides together and sew down the long side using a 1/2 inch seam.
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Iron open the seam, turn right side out and iron flat.

Fold both of your open ends about a 1/4" down, making a nice smooth end.

Fold one of your ends down 3" and the other end 5". You are making the loops - one for the cart and the other for the hand hold. Pin, and sew down.

Yay! You're finished. Stick the cart loop through one of the slots in the cart, and pull the handle through the cart loop attaching the handle to the cart. The great thing about this is that your kids aren't holding the germ infested carts and you can throw these in the wash when you get home!

Graduation!!! / Ice cream Sundae Candy Tutorial

2010-05-29T20:47:00.000-07:00

We have gotten a lot of graduation announcements this year from graduating high school students! Josh and I wanted to get all 6 of these cute seniors a little something. But with 6 gifts, that can get pricey. We found a solution! After scouring the internet for some fun ideas, I found a candy ice cream sundae looking craft. Perfect! It literally cost about $3.00 per person and turned out soooo stinking cute! I did tweak it a little to fit my budget and style. Here's what you do!

1.Start off with some ice cream sundae glasses from your local dollar store and fill it with a small candy of choice (I used starburst, hugs, kisses...)

2.Next cut a 4" diameter styrofoam ball in half. You'll be using one half of the ball per glass. I smushed it on the top of the glass to make a stencil in the foam and cut away the excess creating a "top". (exacto knives are great here!) Get a red tootsie pop to act as a cherry on top and twist into the styrofoam ball. Make sure it's snug.

3. Using stick pins, create rows of "whipped cream" using mint lifesavers. (hint - I found it created a prettier look if you made layers around rather than working in up and down sections.) Towards the top, you'll have to fold the wrapper down a bit and pin it.

4. Lastly, get some ribbon for your pizazz and tie it around the stick of the lollipop. Curl gently, as you want the pieces to fall down your sundae.

You're done! They turn out so cute and it is a fun gift to give to anyone, not just a graduating senior!

Baby's Sweet Ride!

2010-05-26T10:26:00.000-07:00

So, I had this brilliant idea to re-cover the baby car seat and have a not-so-generic looking carrier that looked like everyone else's. Whoa! This actually turned out to be a more frustrating, stressful project than I thought it was going to be. But, I have to say, I CONQUERED THE BATTLE OF THE CAR SEAT!!! I think it was worth it, because it turned out pretty cute!

Thank you to PukingPastilles on etsy for her pattern! Couldn't have done it without you!

Rojo party!

2010-05-22T18:35:00.001-07:00

My favorite little boy, my son Austin turned 5 this year. He has a best friend, a stuffed animal lobster named Rojo. Austin totes this lobster around EVERYWHERE!!! He also wanted a Rojo themed birthday party. A feat easier said than done. How many people do you know that have had a lobster themed birthday party? Especially a person that is 5?

Well, after a bit of research on how to make an ocean cake that has a "Rojo" on it and figuring out lobster themed games, we had a fun party! So if you are ever in need of lobster games check back here.

A fun game to play is "Lobster, lobster, crab", the equivalent to duck duck goose. (we didn't play this, because there weren't enough kids.) Another one was Lobster shuttle run. I picked out objects that small children could carry (ie. can of corn, a shoe, a small stuffed animal...). They also wore winter mittens - these were their "lobster claws" and they had to move all of their objects from the start line to bowls at the finish. That was a lot of fun!

We had a fun ocean scape cake with a Rojo on it. I used brown sugar for the sand on the ocean floor and jelly beans, fruit rolls (twisted) and ocean toys for the decor. Austin loved it.

The party favors, going with the whole ocean/lobster theme were bags of sweedish fish with a favor tag on it that said Happy Birthday Austin! and had a picture of a lobster on it.

It was a very simple yet effective ocean party! Thanks Austin for letting me spoil you!

Weekly Menu

2010-04-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

Monday - Navajo Tacos
Tuesday - Tilapia with veggie rice
Wednesday - Turkey and cheese sandwiches on hoagies, pasta salad
Thursday - Breakfast for dinner (we're having pancakes)
Friday - Chicken and rice soup

Weekly Menu

2010-04-26T10:36:00.001-07:00

This is what we had last week...like I said, I'm a bad blogger. Here's some more dinner ideas!

Monday - Beef Chimichangas (these are so good!)
Tuesday - Italian cream cheese chicken, green salad
Wednesday - Chicken Salad Pitas, baby carrots
Thursday - Chili and cornbread
Friday - Hamburgers

Weekends are hard to plan for - you never know if you're going to be home for dinner!

Finance

2010-04-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been posting!!! I do things everyday that would fit this blog and I never think to blog about them. I'm just a bad blogger, period. :(

Josh and I are seriously gung-ho about getting out of debt. Between his student loans and our car, that is a lot more debt than we'd like. So, we are embarking on our "get out of debt" adventure.

We looked at our budget and decided we could cut some costs here and there. We also decided on a sum of money that we could live off of for 2 weeks. I get that in cash and that cash covers our groceries for 2 weeks, gas for 2 weeks and any other misc. stuff that comes up. (ie. eating out, gifts, doctors appts...) Not to brag, but I'm really proud of this, we are living on $200 for 2 weeks and at the most 60$ of that is my gas. (Moby eats a lot!)

This is really a lifestyle change. A hard one. We've really been able to define "need" and "want". So there may not be a lot of new projects up...but I can still keep you semi-up to date on good deals or tips. Remember, I'm a bad blogger! If you have more questions about budgeting, I'd like to hear them!

Fabric Yo-Yo tutorial

2010-03-17T15:43:00.000-07:00

Well, here it is tutorial #1!!! Hopefully there will be many more to follow. These are darling little blobs of the easiest decor you will ever find! And you can make them in any size by adjusting the size of the beginning circle...so, here we go!

Find something circular and trace it onto your fabric and then cut out.

Next with a threaded needle, make a running stitch close to the edge of the circle

When you've made it all the way around the circle, pull tight and your circle will cinch. Flatten it out and tie off. Voila! You have a yo-yo!

Feel free to add buttons or little doo-dads to the middle like I did or sew right onto a project. They are super cute either way!

Little girl outfit

2010-03-16T10:32:00.000-07:00

I do most of my best sewing without a pattern. Strange, I know. If I have a picture in my mind of what I want to make, I can draw out the pieces needed for the project and then cut and sew. Last night, I went to Wal-Mart, had Anaya pick out some fabric for a new skirt and out came a new project. I have never made a skirt before so I wasn't sure what to do. (I am also cheap and didn't want to buy a pattern for $3.50) There was a bit of thinking involved since I had to include a lining. After about 1/2 an hour I had a skirt. I think it turned out pretty cute! I also sewed some yo-yos and added the cute flower buttons to a plain yellow t-shirt to spice it up and make it match the skirt. Anaya wanted to sleep in the outfit, so I think she likes it. :)

I'll have a tutorial up for the skirt and yo-yos soon!
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Craft Swap

2010-03-16T10:26:00.001-07:00

My friend Jen put together a craft swap on facebook and we all got paired up with someone else who loves to craft! It's fun because you can craft and make new friends at the same time. I got a girl this time who wants to explore the adventures of cooking, so I thought I'd whip up an apron for her. I have never in my life made a ruffle and it was a bit frustrating because my thread kept breaking as I gathered, but I made it. Check it out! I think it turned out pretty cute!

I'll have to post a tutorial for this later!

Who Knew??

2010-02-11T16:28:00.000-08:00

I was watching HSN today as I was trying to put one of our friend's baby to sleep. What was for sale was this cute little set of books called "Who Knew" by Jeanne Bossolina Lubin and Bruce Lubin...they said it was only for sale on HSN, but I think you could find it on ebay or maybe even a bookstore.

It was a charming little book set about how we can use things in our own homes without having to spend a lot of money to clean or end up buying high end brand name products to achieve something you can do for pennies by using what you have on hand. By reading this book you learn to recycle things you would have normally thrown out and become a little "greener" in the process!

One of my favorite examples of this is something I have been doing since I was married. Jewelry cleaner! All you need is a good sprinkle of baking soda, a flat baking dish, vinegar and an old toothbrush. Set your jewelry (I put my wedding ring in there)in a bowl or baking dish along with 1 or 2 Tablespoons of baking soda. Pour in some vinegar and watch it fizzle. The chemical reaction between the baking and soda and vinegar bubbles up and around your jewelry filling all the little holes and hard to clean places giving you sparkling jewelry for literally just pennies. How often do you really use vinegar???? Gently take your toothbrush and scrub. Voila!

This is cheaper than taking your rings in to get cleaned at a jewelry store and you don't have to worry about how people are treating your jewelry because you are the one handling it. So, now you know how to get that extra sparkle in your diamonds!

Fun Valentines!

2010-02-08T12:25:00.001-08:00

Here is such a cute idea that I found. I think we are going to make some.

Here's the link:
http://jas.familyfun.go.com/crafts/rock-candy-675037/
copy and paste into your browser...for some reason, I can't connect links on my blog. That's irritating. :S

Baby Shoes!

2010-02-04T18:21:00.000-08:00

I love to sew, and found such a cute project...perfect because I and like 5 of my friends are having BABIES!!! Baby shoes! They are so cute and literally you need just scraps of fabric, which I have a lot of. :) Have a look!

I got the pattern from http://www.stardustshoes.blogspot.com

If you are having a baby, maybe you'll get a pair. Lucky Duck!

Valentine Cake Pops

2010-02-02T09:30:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone! Yes, i took a long break, but i have a good excuse. I'm Pregnant!!! Yep, baby #3 is on it's way. So my husband got a new job and we wanted to leave a little something for his co-workers before he left. We decided to try out cake pops! Cake pops are a super clever invention make by Bakerella on Bakerella.com! They are so delicious and relatively easy to make. You just need time.

Since the next holiday is Valentine's day we decided to go with Valentine Cake Pops. They turned out so cute and i had sucker sticks and bags hanging out in my craft bin, so hardly any money was spent at all!

http://www.bakerella.com

Check out this link for instructions on how to make cake pops. The recipe makes about 50! (or 35 if you make them bigger!)

Firstly i drilled a 2x4 i had laying around my house with a 3/16 drill bit so my lollipops would stand upright to dry.

Here's what you'll need for the Valentine pops
1 cake mix - any flavor cooked in a 13x9 pan
1 cream cheese frosting - you'll use about 3/4 or so of the can
1 bag (1 lb) of melting chocolate - you can find these at any craft store...walmart sells them too.
Valentine sprinkles
Sucker Sticks - at least 4" long
sucker bags if you are going to bundle them up individually
Ribbon for tying bags shut

Enjoy! *Oh here's one more tip...the sprinkles will run off the cake pop if they are too heavy...i dipped about 3 and went back and decorated the 1st one. In trying to find a good waiting period i did waste a lot of pops because they hardened too quickly. (We all know they didn't go to waste...Austin and josh ate them!)

Christmas Truffles

2009-11-24T11:50:00.000-08:00

Here is a wonderful Recipe that I've been using for Christmas truffles! They are so good! They make great gifts for friends and neighbors!

1 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
8 squares of semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted

12 squares of semi-sweet baking chocolate melted for dipping
decorations

Melt the 8 squares of chocolate and soften cream cheese. Beat the cream cheese with a mixer and then add the chocolate in. Stir together and refrigerate until firm (about 1 hour)

Shape filling into 36 balls. Melt remaining squares of chocolate and use a fork to dip the truffles. Place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Decorate with chopped nuts, candy or Christmas sprinkles. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until hardened. You can also find the little foil cups - they look like mini cupcake liners at Wal-mart or a grocery store for about 1.50$ Enjoy!

Turkey Napkin Rings

2009-11-24T11:46:00.000-08:00

Here is a super cute craft for Thanksgiving! The kids can do it and that is what makes it fun. Sorry there is no pattern! I just cut everything out by hand and eyed it. In fact, a lot of the pieces are not symmetrical in any way. I cut turkey bodies, turkey heads, beaks, 6 feathers per turkey and gobbles. My kids put them together and i added eyes and names to make them double as place cards. I rolled up long strips of paper and stapled them into a tube and then glued the finished turkey on! Easy as pie!

Weekly Menu

2009-11-17T16:09:00.000-08:00

Monday - Spaghetti, garlic bread

Tuesday - Hawaiian Haystack

Wednesday - D.R. chicken, salad, Spanish Rice

Thursday - Brats, French Fries, Chips

Friday - Grilled Cheese, Tomato Soup

Saturday - we'll be gone all day at the blood drive!!!!

Sunday - Moo Shu Noodles

Pumpkin Bread

2009-11-06T17:08:00.000-08:00

I know, I know...you have yet to see a craft tutorial or something that I made. But if you want to get technical, making food is crafty...Try this one out, its great!

Ingredients

* 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
* 4 eggs
* 1 cup vegetable oil
* 2/3 cup water
* 3 cups white sugar
* 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
3. Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Weekly Menu

2009-11-05T13:31:00.000-08:00

Monday-Breakfast muffins
Tuesday - Chicken Quesedillas, Mexican Rice
Wednesday - Italian Chicken, Onion soup Potatoes
Thursday - Eggrolls, Baked Crab rangoon, Egg drop soup
Friday - Sammies (Josh is at school)
Sat - Leftovers
Sunday - Twice Baked Reuben Potatoes

Pumpkin Soup

2009-10-28T13:21:00.000-07:00

I have a great post for you!!! If you haven't gotten into the fall weather yet, this recipe is sure to get you there in a hurry. This soup is festive, its flavorful and it is full of taste that will make you crave more. Better double your recipe!

1 chopped onion
2 T butter, melted
2 cans of chicken broth (14.5 oz size)
1 can of pumpkin puree (15 oz size)
1 t salt
1/4 t cinnamon
1/8 t ground ginger
1/8 t pepper
1 C whipping cream (optional)

Chop the onion and saute it in the butter. Add 1 can of chicken broth. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 15 minutes. Blend in a blender or food processor until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients into the pot and simmer. Add cream just before serving.

*If you'd like to substitute the whipping cream and have less calories, use 1/3 C milk and 1/3 C butter. Whisk together and add to soup.

There you have it folks. The perfect fall pick me up! Enjoy!!!

Grilled Chicken and Lime Salad

2009-10-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

I love the Cheesecake Factory! Yum! It is one of my favorite restaurants! The first time I went I ordered the Santa Fe Salad. Oh, it is to die for! The flavor is incredible and it is such a colorful dish. But, the terrible thing is that I bought it for almost $14.00!!! I knew I could make a dish just as good as a restaurant and for a heck of a lot cheaper! Here's the recipe!

Mixed Greens (I use red and green lettuce and some spinach)
1 small chicken breast per person
1 Tomato diced
1 Can each of corn and black beans, rinsed and drained.
Newman's Own Lime Light vinaigrette
1 ripe avocado, diced
shredded cheese
tortilla chips crumbled
1 fresh lime.

Ok, just lay out all your greens on a plate. However much you want. I grill the chicken on the george foreman (it's quicker) but you can use a real grill. I also squeeze lime juice over the chicken about halfway through cooking. While your chicken is grilling up, add the rest of your salad toppings. Save the chips for last. When the chicken is done, cube and spread on salad. Top with some salad dressing and fresh lime juice. Add your chips for a little crunch and enjoy! It's such a good salad, you'll probably want more, so make a big salad!

Up and running!

2009-10-18T22:55:00.001-07:00

Hi! I've been meaning to start a new blog, just for me. One where I can share with you some of the crafts I've been working on or where the good deals are. If I really did post every craft I do, there wouldn't be room for my family on my other blog. This new blog of mine is to share good everything from recipes to crafting, parenting (should I really give advice on that?!) or even now and then a blurb about me.

I have to warn you, not all of my projects come from me. I don't have a lot of time to think up new crafts and I get a lot of my ideas from other crafty people out there. But I'll try and be sure to send out credit where credit is due. Thanks for looking! Stay tuned for fun stuff coming up! I have some good projects!