LOVEZILLA

Fall Thanks

Nov
02

Mod Podge, card stock and Mother Nature= Fall Thanks.  An easy, fun kid-adult creative outlet. We found this craft via Wild and Precious and knew we had to share it.  You’ll love this website and the articles written. They always lift us up and make us want to be better.

Fall Thanks.  Fall Leaf thank you cards

Lovely.

Fall Thanks.  Fall Leaf thank you cards

We love this idea. It would be such fun to make cute place cards for a Thanksgiving dinner, or stationary as a gift for someone you love.  My family had a blast making thank you cards. Go on one last ride up the canyon and bring back a fun family activity in the process.

Fall Thanks.  Fall Leaf thank you cards

“Plant” this one in your to-do pile, and don’t “leaf ” it sittin’ there.

No Effort Halloween Treat

Oct
26

Halloween Treat Donut

Whether you decide to lean on the healthy side, or not this Halloween, these little fangs will dress up the loneliest bagel or donut. You can go from a zero to a hero in a snap. Go to your local grocery or craft store and pick up some plastic fangs. We purchased 18 fangs for $1.50. It was perfect for a dozen and a half donuts or bagels. You could complicate it as much as you like adding eyes and a gummy tongue. The tongue is this picture is a gummy treat, the eyes are sixlets. Use anything you have. The possibilities are endless. The greatest part of this treat is after you have eaten it,voilà, you have part of a costume! These treats are great for school, office, church or family Halloween parties. So if you are a procrastinator sit back and enjoy yourself. You can use all the unwanted, picked over, undecorated donuts. But, if you’re an overachiever, get moving, you have a donut to dress up!

Halloween Treat BagelHalloween Treat Donut Face

Rock Star Party

Oct
12

Jammin Guitar

Future rock stars of America unite!

If you want  to have a fun, inexpensive and age adaptable party, a Rock Star party might be the way to go. These guitars are a cinch to make.

What you’ll need:

  • heavy tri-fold poster display boards (3 guitars per board)
  • large paint sticks (free at Home Depot )
  • large rubber bands (Office Depot has bright-colored giant rubber bands)
  • paint or stickers
  • scrapbook paper
  • Shrinky Dink paper to make a guitar pick (available at Micheal’s or any craft store.  *You can also use any plastic “to-g0” container with a #6 on the bottom.
  • golf tees

With these easily accessible items we made rubber band guitars that 3-6  year olds went nuts for.  With an hour or two of  pre- preparation you can put guitars together that are ready to be decorated by your guests. We purchased tri-fold display poster boards at Wal-Mart but any office supply carries them. They are the same boards used for displays for science projects etc. They cost between $2.00-$3.00. You can easily make 3 guitars with one poster board. Yes. They are more difficult to cut than cardstock or regular poster board.  Yes. You may curse us if you are making more than 10 but…whip out the good scissors and trudge on my friend.

The guitars are easy to freehand with different google images you may find on-line.  They don’t have to be perfect.

Trace a guitar on the  poster board and cut it out. Cut a 1×4″ piece of the same cardboard to glue near the bottom of the guitar.  This will lift the rubber band strings up a bit so they make more noise.  (see photo).  We used a glue gun to attach it.

Using a glue gun, secure the paint stick to the back of the guitar and pull 4-6 strings up and around it.

Cute scrapbook paper cut the width of the paint sticks will really sass up the neck of the guitar. Attach 4-6 golf tees as shown in the photo.

Decorate with paint or stickers.

Strumming home made guitar

“Rock it man”

Home made guitar ingredients

We also bought regular poster boards, folded them in half, stapled the edges and cut a handle to make a guitar case. You could use colored poster board or let the children decorate them.  Optional but cool.

Home made custom guitar pick

Shrinky Dink guitar picks are sooo fun to make and watch shrink in the oven.  If you buy the kit the instructions are simple and included.  If you are using a to-go container, cut a guitar pick shape out of the plastic (there must be a#6 embedded on the bottom).  The cut shape should be 4-5 times bigger than the actual size you’ll need in the end.  Decorate the picks with permanent markers and put them on a cookie sheet (ink side up). Cook them from 1-5 minutes in a  pre-heated 325 degree oven.  They will curl up first and then flatten so don’t panic.  Try a few first.

Home made custom guitar pick materials

Ideas:

  • Send invites announcing a “Reunion Tour”
  • Take pictures of the children jammin’ or video them for a while and let them watch their music video.
  • Play music and let the kids rock out with their guitars
  • Use dollar store note books as autograph books everyone can sign.
  • Musical chairs
  • Play music and have the kids “freeze” when the music turns off.
  • Make back stage passes out of a lanyard (available at party stores)

If the children are younger, decorating the guitars might be enough.  If they’re older, the music videos or playing Guitar Hero could be added. You have tons of options.

Have fun and rock on baby!

Things Are About To Get “Dirty”

Sep
26

I LOVE Diet Coke.  I know it’s not good for me. I know I shouldn’t drink it in place of my 8 glasses of water a day (ha ha).  I know all that, but I LOVE Diet Coke.  I love it with Mexican food, salad, pizza or at the movies.  I’m pathetic.  To make matters worse, my friend introduced me to a “dirty” Diet Coke last December.  Curse you Karalyn.  Curse you.

I told my sister about them one day after a meeting and we went to the burger joint to get one.  She went back the next day and the next.  (A twenty minute  plus drive). She made a few of those trips,which sealed the deal: They are worth the drive, AND she is more pathetic than me.

She decided that jumping in her not so tiny car and driving 20 minutes for a Coke made the drink…”fiscally unsound”.  I mean, who needs a $10.00 coke when you’re not at a broadway play?  She decided to make them at home.  (A perk when I’m visiting).

She came up with this recipe.  Tweak it as you see fit.

12 oz Diet Coke

1 slice fresh lime well squozen

1/2 teaspoon Torani Coconut syrup

* You can purchase coconut syrup at many distribution stores and grocery stores.  They are often in the coffee aisle or where other flavorings are found.  Torani is the brand we found that had more natural coconut and less artificial flavoring.

Well Isn’t That Just Peachy? Why Yes,Yes It Is!

Sep
12

I love fresh peach pie. I LOVE fresh peach pie, and so does my family. If I say the word, “peach pie”  into the phone, the next sound I hear will be car tires screeching into my drive way. 

Peaches are at their best now, and this recipe will bring you to your knees.  I’ve had my share of peach pies, but I’ve never had one like this.  A friend of mine brought this peach pie to work several years ago.  Her mother made it with peaches from their tree.  We cut the pie into pieces to share and then eyed the extra piece like jackals. It was shameful. I wasted no time getting the recipe and now I’m giddy when peach season rolls around.  If you love peach pie, RUN to your local farmer’s market or fruit stand. 

   LAUNA’S FAMOUS FRESH PEACH PIE *( makes 2 pies)

  • 2 pie crusts  baked according to package directions.

While the pie crusts are cooling, mix 8 ounces of cream cheese and  2/3 cups sugar with a hand mixer until smooth. Spread  the mixture on the bottom and sides of cooled pie shells. Next, fill each pie shell with approx. 3 cups of sliced/peeled fresh peaches.

Mix the following ingredients in a blender and bring them to a full boil in a sauce pan or microwave safe dish:
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2-3 peaches
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 Tb. (heaping) cornstarch

When mixture is cooled, add 2 Tb. lemon juice, stir to combine and pour mixture over peaches. Whip one pint of whip cream, add sugar and vanilla to taste and spread on top of the pies.

*If you want to make a pie crust from scratch, this is my favorite recipe:

With a pastry cutter, cut together:

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp.salt
  • 1 cup Crisco

Mix together:

  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 egg
  • 1 Tb. vinegar

Make a “trough” in the middle of the flour mixture, and pour water mixture inside.  With a fork, toss the flour to mix.  Gently finish mixing the crust with your hands. Do not over mix.  The crust will be flaky and delicious if you handle it as little as possible. Divide the dough in half into two “patties”.

Roll patties between two pieces of wax paper and roll out with a rolling-pin until they are the right size for your pie tins. Pull off one side of the wax paper and lay the pie crust over your tin.  Remove the other piece of wax paper and press into the pan. Pinch the edges along the rim or press down with a fork.  Prick the sides and bottom of the pan with a fork.  Bake at 425 degrees for about 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned

Thank you Launa! You’re a peach.

 

 

Marvelous Marshmallow Catapult

Sep
04

Do you have an extra 2×4 sittin’ around your garage? If you do, take a look at this super easy marshmallow catapult! It’s a blast to play with, and costs practically nothing to make. The piece of wood you use can be cut square or at an angle (see above). Best of all there is NO exact measuring required! This would be a fun family activity, Cub scout contest, or even a birthday party take- home if you whipped up a few before the party. It’s simple to do:

  • Cut a piece of wood about twice as long as a clothes pin and sand it a  bit.
  • Glue two clothes pins together on top of each other facing the same direction, and then glue them to the wood block. The back of the clothes pin should be even with the end of the wood.
    (Wood glue is best, but a quick drying epoxy that can be used on wood will also work).
  • Using wood glue again, attach a tongue depressor to the clothes pins about an inch behind the clothes pin’s opening.
  • Next, using a glue gun, glue a milk jug lid to the tongue depressor, to act as the bucket.  Be sure to leave about 1/2 inch at the
    end for easy flippin’.
  •  Decorate with stickers, markers or paint.

Now all you have to do is dig around your kitchen for some marshmallows. Soft marshmallows? Great. Stale? Better. Pom-poms? Sure. Cereal? Absolutely. Ideally, if you have a dog that can “bark-umme” up the remnants of battle…You, my friend, are good to go.
READY. AIM. FIRE!

Kickin’ It

Aug
20

Summer is almost over, but don’t put those swimming noodles in storage just yet.  Soccer season has just begun, why not make a obsticle course to practice all those fancy kicks and maneuvers?  This quick course took literally minutes to set up.  All you need are some high quality wire hangers and a few swimming noodles. (One wire hanger for each side of the noodle).

 With heavy wire cutters, cut the hook off of each hanger below the twist and discard it.  Next, straighten the remaining wire a bit, and fold it in half.  Push the hanger into the noodle with the rounded side in, leaving about 6-8 inches of the wire outside of the noodle. (Enough to push down into the grass to give it some support).

Voila! Fini!  Set up your course and let your kiddies kick a ball, run or belly-crawl their way through your noodle creation.

This activity is totally portable and could be moved from back yard to park.  It would be a great activity for your family, a children’s soccer coach, a birthday party game or even family olympics!

Have a ball “Kickin it”!

 

 

“Pitcher This” as a Thank You Idea

Aug
06

While snapping pictures for another post, my cute neighbor, Sarah was working on a thank you gift for a woman who had helped her with a girl’s camp. She gave us a “Yoo hoo” and handed it over the fence. Ahhh! Pre-made post, no waiting. Thank you, Sarah and check back with me in a few weeks please. (I’ll be waiting by the fence with my arms open).

Maybe every month or so we should write an idea for a “thank you”.  It seems I’m always in someone’s debt and a good thank you idea is never a bad idea.

This darling “thank you” is a pitcher full of fresh lemons, a wooden spoon, a cute dish towel and a recipe for homemade lemonade.  Who could resist? I’m puckering.

       Homemade Lemonade:

  • 1 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 8 cups water
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice

In a small sauce pan, combine sugar and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve sugar.  Allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate till chilled. Remove seeds from lemon juice but leave pulp.  In pitcher stir together chilled syrup, lemon juice and the remaining 7 cups of water.

AAHHHHHHHH! 

 

 

Super Tee Duper

Jul
28

Are you looking for a birthday theme, play group activity, Halloween costume, or even just a rainy day project? Look no further. Super heroes to the rescue!

You can make a “super cool” cape from an ordinary t-shirt!  Making a super hero cape is easy peasy:  Simply remove the sleeves and cut off the front of the t-shirt. Cut carefully around the neck hole, leaving it so it can be pulled over your child’s head. Easy on,easy “take off”!

We made these capes at preschool for a hero themed summer camp. You can make any design or word by carving it into green florists foam with a sharpened pencil and then painting over your design with acrylic paint.  After painting the foam, press the design onto the shirt. It can be reused over and over if you can keep the kiddos from poking their fingers into it. ( I was doing it….it’s fun!) 

If you are going to write words, don’t forget to write them backwards. I totally bombed that one the first time. POW! and BAM! make a lot more sense than !WOP and !MAB.  

Make a mask covered with stickers or paint for “incognito emergencies”.

Off to fight crime in the city, neighborhood backyard! 

*The photo opportunities are endless…

  1.  Come out of a refrigerator box “phone booth”
  2.  Lay on a table with arms out flying
  3. Lift cardboard dumbbells
  4. Wrap rope around a bad guy

 Use your imagination.  I know you have t-shirts just lying around, so if your children are too….You’re in business.

Mason Jar Watermelon Sorbet

Jul
17

Lime sherbet, pineapple sherbet, raspberry sorbet, and dark chocolate chips…Oh, if you insist. 

If you’re having a summer dinner party, bbq, girlie lunch or a summer birthday bash; this dessert will hit the spot and make you look like you worked all day. 

Fresh, light and super yummy this dessert can be made casual with mason jars or dressed up in a wine glass or cutesy bowl.

There are only a few ingredients but you do have to plan ahead a bit.  Each individual layer needs to be placed in its container and left to harden in the freezer for at least 15 minutes.  If you try to rush it, the sherbets might melt into each other and the layers won’t be as distinct.

It might be fun to make one big “watermelon” in a large bowl and scoop out individual servings. The pineapple sherbet layer can be replaced with vanilla ice cream and it’s just as delicious.

Made it.  Ate it.  Loved it. (As you should).