Project Make Kiddo Smile

My nephew and godson Kayden celebrated his 8th birthday on February 1st and I can hardly believe it's been eight years.

I still remember the day he was born and rushing to the hospital to meet him...I had been waiting for his arrival for so long! I adored him from the moment I laid eyes on him...he was such an adorable baby and all I wanted to do was spoil him rotten.

We've had so many great memories the past 8 years and he has grown into such a great little man. He is an awesome athlete, very handsome, has such a sweet heart and still gives the best hugs...even if they aren't the cool thing to do anymore.  Isn't he such a good looking kid?

Operation Birthday Gift:

For his birthday this year I wanted to come up with a cool gift that would be different than just a video game or clothes (the kid has more clothes than I do!).  Enter Pinterest and an idea I pinned months ago. Ship a box full of balloons to his house...and when he opens it he would realize the balloons are filled with money (or notes, but I figured the notes would be big losers). This way he can buy whatever he doesn't get for his birthday, but also has a cool experience opening the gift!  So I filled a bunch of balloons with different denoms from dollars to $20s - and threw in a pair of the Nike Elite socks he likes for good measure - shoved the balloons and some colorful tissue paper into a box, went to UPS and sent it off. It was waiting for him when he got home from school on his birthday. 

So, this may make more sense if you live in different cities than the kiddo you're sending it to - because the UPS guy sure looked at me funny when I told him I was shipping it within the same city - but this was fun all the same. I recommend being proactive and sending it sooner than the day before - damn procrastination! - because when they mentioned shipping it air (huh? air? it's going a few miles away) I about had a heart attack....and pulled a couple of those $20s out of the balloons!

I got this pic of him opening it and a call not soon after. I loved listening to his excited voice as he thanked me and said when he opened it and saw the balloons he thought that it was cool, but THEN he realized there was money in the balloons...and thought it was REALLY cool. 

I would say this little idea was a winner.

Getting Artsy

I discovered this amazing blog - The Winthrop Chronicles - with this super crafty and creative mama and decided to try out some of her ideas.

The first one I dove into was the subway art documenting little man's birth details. I've been admiring many different Etsy shops that sell something similar and had good intentions of ordering one, UNTIL I realized I could make it myself and add my own special touches. Plus, I wanted to try out making my first one for Cruz because I have good intentions to whip a couple up for some friends who've recently popped out some kiddos.

I was going to document the details, but figured since TWC already did, you can use her original and much more detailed instructions to make your own.  (Tutorial here.)

Trip to Home Depot to get some common board. 

Loud saw = ears covered for Cruz!

In addition to the white spray paint and a brush, these are the only other tools I needed!

(If I could cut straight I could do without the paper cutter, but I can't, plus I had 

it in my craft closet from my days pretending I was going to start scrapbooking.)

 Used PowerPoint to create this and printed it on card stock

 This is after the mod podge and glue - see the air bubbles - ugh

I sanded down the edges of the common board and lightly sanded

the words on card stock to give it a worn look.

I had taken these pics not long after I finished it and was a bit disappointed with the air bubbles in the paper...but since these have gone down and the project looks awesome (patting self on back....). =)

Be prepared - if you are having a kiddo and I'm invited to see your kid, you just may see one of these bad boys accompanying your present!

Crafty Crafterson's

Well, even though we haven't put our Christmas tree up, - yes, I realize it's the 10th of the month and Christmas is like 2 weeks away - the little mister and I decided it was a great time to make some holiday crafts!

We waited until he was good and dirty from a filling dinner of green beans, beef ravioli and mandarin oranges  (whoever told me their kiddo loved mandarin oranges prompting me to buy some today...thank you!....he loved them) and then stripped down and got to work.

I had found some ideas on Pinterest (doesn't everybody??) for footprint reindeer, handprint Christmas trees and fingerprint ornaments...and while I'm the first to admit that I don't have much of an artsy bone in my body, I have to say that I'm pleased with the way they turned out. I mean they definitely aren't perfect, but they were made with laughter and my cute little guy's hands and feet...can that be any cuter?

Painting our piggies & giggles!
(These overhead pics really prove I need to get my hair did)

Making footprints for our reindeer

We didn't get an "after" pic, but there was more than just a little bit of brown paint on his face!
Apparently paint "tastes" good

Footprint Christmas tree
(see we don't even need to put ours up now!)

Footprint Rudolph & what looks like Mrs. Rudolph

Handprint Christmas tree

Fingerprint snowman ornament\

'Tis the season!