Building a Swing Set

Three years ago we recruited our family to spend Monkey's 1st birthday weekend building a swing set and clubhouse.  My husband was the only one with any prior building experience but everyone was excited to pitch in.  

Over the years we have added finishing touches.  A shingled roof.  Paint and trim.  Window boxes that used to have flowers (a little girl picked them...)  A homemade bird house.  A turtle habitat.  The girls have spent countless hours playing in the clubhouse, digging in the sandbox, sliding, and swinging.  

And most recently, sliding into a kiddie pool.  The foam tiles keep the grass off their wet feet.  (The kiddie pool safely hangs upside-down over a fence when not in use.)

Swing Set Clubhouse

I made this fun little video of the first few days of construction.  :)

Side note:  The big blue pool was retired after that summer three years ago.  It was a safety risk I wasn't willing to take.  RIP big blue pool.  We sure had some fun times.

A Baker's Dozen

Today is my father-in-law's birthday!  Happy Birthday Jan!  We are also planning and preparing for Monkey's 4th birthday which is coming up in a few days.  So I've got cakes on the brain.  Won't you join me on a walk down memory lane?

Once upon a time I took a couple of Wilton cake decorating classes and learned a few things about icing and fondant.  I also watched Ace of Cakes religiously hoping to soak up some new techniques.  How's that for a resume?  ;)

This is the cake I made for Jan a few years ago when he was in town celebrating with us. 

This duck was Monkey's 1st birthday cake.  We had about two dozen rubber duckies floating in our pool for her party.

Fast forward one year.  This time I made one cake for Jan and Monkey to share.  This was my first attempt at marshmallow fondant.  Hey, ya gotta start somewhere.   

Here's a falcon cake for my hunky falconer husband.  I used the Wilton 3D duck pan but re-positioned the head and propped it on a cake perch.

The sandcastle cake was Lil Bean's 1st birthday cake.  The graham cracker crumbs looked so much like sand that she wouldn't eat it.  Whoops.

Sand Castle Cake

The castle turrets were baked in coffee cans.

This was Ryan's most recent birthday cake.  I experimented with the filling rather than the design this time.  Inside is a layer of peanut-butter filling.  It was delish.  I used a Paula Dean recipe, and really, how can you go wrong there?

Peanut Butter Filling Cake

Then there's Dora's Backpack for Lil Bean's 2nd birthday.  She still gets excited when she sees pictures.  The kids ate every bit of it, including the marshmallow fondant map. You can see how much my fondant skills have improved!

Dora's Backpack Cake

Here are some cakes I made for class.  My hubby surprised me by enrolling me and a friend for the class as a birthday gift so the first cake was dedicated to him.  If you've taken the class these cakes will look very familiar.  :)

Wilton Rainbow Cake

Wilton Rose Cake

Rose Cake

This cake was for our volunteer luncheon at school on St. Patty's day.  I used some of my newly learned skills. 

Shamrock Cake

These are my Wilton fondant class cakes.

Wilton Fondant Bow Cake

I love this one.  I don't think we even ate it.  There is only so much cake we can handle in a short period of time.  But it sure was pretty.

Fondant Flower Layered Cake

Now I'm gearing up for a Rapunzel cake.  Hopefully I'll have some amazing pictures to post next week!  {fingers crossed} 

Preparing for a Princess Party

In less than a week my little monkey is turning 4!  I still can't believe it.  The past four years have gone way. too. fast.

 The day of her birth.

 One Year

Two Years

 Three Years

Almost Four Years!

To celebrate Monkey's birthday we are throwing a princess party.

Can you guess which princess we're focusing on?

I found these super cute Rapunzel invites here.  I had to adjust the design a little because I couldn't find the same materials from the link and I was a little short on time.  Short on time meaning these invites should have been mailed yesterday.  

 These are the materials I started with.  Unfortunately, when I opened the glitter markers they were all dried up and crusty.  Guess that's why they were on sale.

I started with blank cardstock cards and cut off the fold.

Then I used my stamp punch to cut out Rapunzel's window.

Yellow embroidery floss (9 strands) made a braid.  A purple ribbon finished it nicely.

I glued the top of the braid on the back of the card.

Here's my attempt to simplify.  I cut 9 long pieces of floss and clipped them to the top cabinet.  After braiding the entire thing I tied on the purple bows and cut into short braids for each invitation.  

After gluing the back I glued the braid in place with one dot of glue above the purple bow.  I hand wrote all of them.  It was late and I didn't want to wrestle with the printer.  The next morning they were mailed!  {sigh of relief}

Monkey loved them.  But then she told me she wants to have an ice skating party.  Sorry honey, this is August in Oklahoma.  Save that thought for January.

The Princess Bedroom Project!

Last month we had a magical time at Walt Disney World in Orlando.  The girls were in awe seeing the castle and meeting characters.  We waved at Cinderella in the parade, watched Tinkerbell fly from the castle, and met many, many characters.  One of the highlights of the trip was meeting Tinkerbell and Princess Ariel on the streets of Epcot.

After returning home my husband got it in his head that the girls need a princess bedroom.  So we spent many late nights creating cut-outs to decorate their room.  We started with Cinderella's castle and Rapunzel's tower from Tangled.  Then we added various "side-kicks" from other Disney princess movies. 

So, down came the Dr. Seuss characters.  Boy am I glad they are painted on plywood and not right on the wall!

Don't worry.  I've already found a new home for them.  They will look great in my classroom.

There was lots of cutting (thanks hubby).

And sanding.  And painting.

And more painting.

I have never been so happy to finish a project!

The girls love their new princess room!  They dressed up just for the occasion. As soon as I catch up on my sleep I have a few more additions in mind.  I mean, what princess room is complete without a mirror, mirror on the wall??  

Now I think I'll go eat a poisoned apple and slip into a deep sleep.  Zzzzzzz...

Check out the updated Dress-Up Closet!