You're a Firecracker Project

While blog hopping I landed at 2 of my latest blog obsessions ~ Shindig and Lil' Luna ~ I check out their fun new ideas daily! I had to try to make these Firecracker Gifts for Merritt and since I was making one... why not 2 :) You can find more specific directions on how to make the Firecrackers on their blogs but I will give a brief description of how I did it.

I hopes of finding all the supplies at one store, I headed to the Dollar Tree. They didn't have Pringles chip cans there so I went with Doritos cans instead. It was a good thing too because I went a little crazy with the surprises I put inside and I am not sure everything would have fit in a Pringles can {I had a long list of places I was going that day and seemed to pick up a little something from each place I went!}.

Step One: Turn the can over and with a knife, cut the silver bottom off. Then empty the chips into a plastic baggie {or into a bowl for a snack while you work - just watch out for orange fingers if you are eating Doritos}. Using a damp paper towel wipe the inside of the can and the silver bottom clean.

Step Two: Put all the goodies inside the can. Some of the treats I put in my cans were Patriotic Sticker Sheets, Silly String, Red White and Blue Lei, Paper Chinese Firework, American Flags, Stars and Stripes beach ball, Paper Di-Cuts ofAmerican symbols, and Red & White Pinwheels.

Step Three: Reattach the bottom of the can with hot glue. This will ensure that when the Firecracker is opened, they can hear the 'pop' of the top!

Step Four: Decorate! If you use Pringle cans, there are FREE printables that will cover the can perfectly at Shindig and Lil' Luna! I bought a package of patriotic scrapbook paper at Tuesday Morning for $3 that covered the Dorito cans. For the lid, I cut 2 slits in the plastic and threaded ribbon, tinsel garland, and pipe cleaners through. Since I couldn't fit the fabulous 4th glasses into the can, I used them as part of the decoration for the lid. Use your finger to wind the pipe cleaners and garland around to create a spiral so it looks like the lid is exploding. I also added some glitter stars, American flags, and an initial of the person receiving the Firecracker and...

BOOM! You're ready to set off the perfect Fourth of July Firecracker for the Holiday!

July Fourth Fun!

This week we started our Fourth of July fun in June at our friend Leah's Meme and Papa's pool! They were so nice to let our playgroup come visit, cool off, and have red, white, and blue fun! Merritt and I brought a little 4th of July firecracker, since we can't set off the real thing, as thanks for inviting us!

The pool was amazing! It had the perfect shallow lounge area for Merritt to walk in {and of course line things up}. I think the hit of the pool party was the fishing set, everyone loved using the fishing poles to catch all the pool toys!

Also notice my little firecracker's bathing suit - Merritt's first 2 piece- very patriotic!

Everyone had such a great time playing and snacking. Check out Trenton's orange hands - I think he enjoyed his Cheetoes! Too bad he wouldn't share with Kat, she had to get her own bag :)

Instead of three men in a tub... check out the three girls in a float! Love this picture of the girls floating in the pool!

After a yummy lunch of mini burgers, hot dogs, fruit, and chips {during which all Merritt could talk about was the 'blue cake'} we sang Happy Birthday to Scarlett, who turns one today and ate cupcakes.

We are thankful for so many things during this time of year... Our brave soldiers that keep us free, our new home that keeps us safe, and our friends and family that make us feel so loved!

Merritt's Big Girl Room!

I have been working on Merritt's 'Big Sister' room for almost a month now. I found a pink, black, and white pattern that I found at Target that I love :) My mom was sweet enough to order Merritt's 'I am a Big Girl Now!' bedding to go with the Big Girl bed that Beau's mom got her for her birthday.

My Dad came to help with a 'To-Do' list that was getting way to long and repainted all the furniture white {I added the different pinks to the dresser and black knobs to complete the look}.

I also repainted Merritt's shelves and letters to match her new bedding. I am still going back and forth on whether I want to repaint the flowers because they have zebra print on them and there isn't any other zebra in the room. Thoughts....

I have found some really great deals for the room too at Ross, Home Goods, and Hobby Lobby! Those cute rugs were on clearance at Hobby Lobby for $5!!

Merritt loves her new room {although she sneaks into Ross' room daily to sneak toys and make sure he isn't in there yet!}.

All-Star Scoreboard

Funny story when I began thinking of Ross' room and how I wanted it to look...

I began looking at different bedding sites and I couldn't find anything I liked. Then a friend suggested a site where you could design your own bedding, you could even put the fabric in specific places. I started playing around with some fabrics, saved my choices, and then showed Beau the bedding later that night.

He looked at the bedding and tried his best to answer the 'What do you think?' question without hurting my feelings. While he was looking he commented, 'I thought we would do some kind of sports theme.'

Honestly, the thought had never crossed my mind... I don't know how it didn't but I began to think about the possibilities. I didn't want an over-the-top sports theme or no characters playing sports. Then I found a simple all-star theme that I could add baseball accents to the room.

While I was flippping through Pottery Barn catalog, I saw the above room and feel in love with the scoreboard idea.

I knew I could make it but how??

I started with a 4x6 piece of plywood, primer, green paint, and the best paint tape I could find.

I primed and then put two coats of white paint on the board. I used construction paper to di-cut the letters for the scoreboard at school. Then I used my painter's tape to outline the board, making sure the boxes would fit all the lettering.

Next, I painted the board with 2 coats of 'Field Time' green {how perfect is that!}. The most exciting {and scariest!} part was the untaping... I was nervous about the lines, I have never been patient enough to let the paint dry and let the tape do its work!

Then, I modpodged the letters to the board and schlacked the whole thing to give it a nice sheen.

Hooray! The final scoreboard! Instead of putting 'runs' in each inning for the vistors and home teams, I plan on taking Ross's pictures each month and hanging them on the scoreboard. My friend Lisa gave me the best present for this project - a package of monthly stickers that can be put on white onesies! I am currently looking for old baseballs to add to Ross' room, let me know if you know of a good place to find used baseballs!

We All Scream for Ice Cream

We went over to our friend Leah's house {Oh, and her mom and dad live there too} last week for VERY COOL playdate! The playdate's theme was ice cream and there were all kinds of yummy activities for the kids to do.

I love that the teacher in all of us {especially Katie, aka super-hostess} always has fun educational activities for the kids to play with :)

Merritt is adding her favorite kind of ice cream on the pictograph above - even though she doesn't really eat ice cream - she picked her favorite color, Pink!

Katie went to the Blue Bell Creamery the week before with Leah and brought back ice cream hats for everyone to decorate. There were also ice cream shapes for the kids to make their very own paper treat!

At the Play-Doh table there were containers with 'ice cream play-doh' that Merritt used the ice cream scooper to make a sundae. About 5 minutes after this picture was taken, I heard a gagging noise coming from the table.... I turned around and saw that Merritt had tried to eat the 'vanilla ice-cream play-doh'! After rinsing out her mouth, she walked away from the table and went back upstairs to play with toys that didn't look like food.

Life lesson learned.

As we were leaving, Leah offered all the guests ice cream bubbles {Merritt picked mint chocolate chip which smell so good!} and a recipe for home made ice cream. I think Merritt would have fun making some, as long as there is no play-doh in the recipe!

New House... New Projects

Since moving into our new house, I have been trying to make it feel like home before Ross gets here and I have no time or energy. We have so many pictures {from my dear friend Jen} that didn't have a home at our old house. So I asked Jen for some help and ideas... Actually what I asked her to do was to come visit and tell me where to put everything. Instead she sent me lots of creative mural ideas, so I got to work.

Jen made sure I used construction paper to plan where the pictures would go on the wall. Normally I would put hundreds of nail holes in the wall and then wouldn't be able to move any pictures around. Her next tip was to keep at least one thing consistant, I choose simple black frames, and then used color and black & white photos and some with white mats and some without.

Here is my finished project with room to add photos of Ross {our house is a shrine of my daugther Merritt}. I kept it simple and even, because if you know me.... I like things even and balanced.

I added some 4th of July decorations to celebrate the holiday under the photo mural. I love that my first project is complete - now on to the rest of the project list..

More to come soon!!

Here Comes the Flower Girl {Part 1}

Merritt and I arrived at the Hilton Hotel for her day of pampering before she walked down the aisle as the Princess Flower Girl. Here is the 'Future' Mrs. Sarah Randall on her wedding day!

Sarah and Merritt got their hair done at the same time. I joked around that this was Merritt's 'Toddlers and Tiaras' moment. Unfortunately I didn't have time to get Merritt fitted for a flipper or get her spray tanned :0

For Merritt's Birthday, Sarah gave Merritt bloomers with Flower Girl monogrammed. Had to take one of those, 'Mom, I can't believe you took a picture of my butt!' pictures that I am sure will embarrass her greatly when she grows up.

Once we were dressed and ready to go, everyone got into the limo headed to the church!!