Seeing Spots - Polka Dot Eggs!

This year we tried something new with our egg dying - dots!

I'm sure it's been done before, but I had the idea to stick circle stickers on our eggs, hoping that the sticker would block the dye from seeping underneath & create polka dots once we peeled them off.  I kind of worked.

The stickers blocked the dye for the most part, although some of them did fall off once they were in the colored water/vinegar mixture.  The biggest issue was in taking the stickers off the eggs.  A couple of tips: f you did it too soon, the sticky backs of the stickers stayed on the egg instead of peeling off.  If you left the stickers on too long, they were really hard to peel off.  If we waited a few minutes (so the sticker was still a little damp) it seemed like they still came off easily enough, but didn't leave much sticky goo on the egg. 

It was super simple, Grady had fun with it, & I think they turned out pretty darn cute - winner!

Start with prep: I laid down some paper on our table, and set out the stickers, eggs, & dye first.

Next, we "dotted" all of our eggs, dunked them in the dye for a couple of minutes, dried them with a paper towel, waited a few minutes, & peeled all of the stickers off.

Some of us "accidentally" cracked the eggs so they could eat them.  I won't name any names, but you know who you are...& I have a feeling it wasn't 100% accidental.

Pretty darn cute, no?!

I have a feeling we'll be doing this again!!!

Holy Hearts! Our unfussy Valentine's Day craft.

Grandma, Grady & I whipped up a quick little Valentine's Day project this week.

I had a bunch of leftover canvas (duck cloth) from my Pinterest Challenge chalkboard map, so I put my mom & Grady to work painting it in shades of teal, coral, & red.  I didn't give them much direction - just told my mom to have Grady go for it.

After the paint dried, I doodled different sized hearts on it with Sharpies, cut them out, & strung them up with my sewing machine.  I think they turned out pretty darn cute & add a little love-ly charm & color to the house!

{Make sure to scroll to the bottom to see Grady's Valentines too!  He's so proud of them!}

 

 {glow-stick light saber card inspired by this}

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday spent with the people you love most!

Don't forget to check out my Etsy store for more Valentine's goodness!  XOXO

Christmas Morning Fun

I was so excited for this Christmas for a few reasons.  First, it was Grady's first time waking up on Christmas morning at our house.  I couldn't wait to have him wake up to discover that Santa had been to our house, had eaten the cookies & milk we had set out for him, & had left a few gifts in our stockings!  Second, Grady is 3.5 now, & TOTALLY gets the whole Christmas thing.  He was old enough this year to feel the magic & really enjoy everything about it.  Lastly, we got to have our extended family Christmas at my parents' house right here in town!  Not everyone made it, but the crew that came was super fun.

A couple of quick pictures of Christmas morning at the Starzl house...

We really try to limit the amount of gifts we get him as he really doesn't need anything at all.  We don't ever really have a budget either...instead we just try to find a few things that we know he'll really love.  There's nothing super unique as he's a pretty easy kid to please!  Here's a breakdown of what we bought this year:

1. Michaelangelo Ninja Turtle action figure (Did you know that we couldn't find Leo at any of our local stores, or anywhere in the whole city of Omaha...crazy!)
2. Cars 2 Diecast Cars (he's got quite the collection going!)
3. Mini Marshmallow Shooter (Doesn't work real well - kind of a disappointment.  We'll have to try stale or frozen mallows as the "chute" gets too sticky!)
4. Art Lab book (I've heard great things...can't wait to try some projects!)
5. Ninja Turtles movie 4-pack (so funny that these guys are back.)
6. Lego Batcave (he'd been asking for this since September.)

All of my links are from Amazon, but we found a lot of the stuff at Target, Walmart, & Toys 'R Us.

Christmas Cookies!

Only a couple more Christmas posts left...I promise!

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is making cutout sugar cookies.  I remember making them every year growing up...& how fun it was decorating each shape.  The candlesticks were my favorite!  Now my favorites are the Christmas lights & the doves as well as making mini cookies for Santa's elves.  :)

Grady really got into it this year.  He poured all of the ingredients into the mixer himself (except for the egg), & mixed up the powdered sugar frosting too!  He went for more of the abstract/tie-dyed look on his cookies which turned out pretty awesome.  I tried to keep things simple by only doing 4 basic colors of frosting with a few sprinkles, although if it were just me frosting them I'd probably have had every color in the rainbow!  :)

Grady's special request was that I make him a "cock robin" cookie...from one of his favorite obscure nursery rhymes.  See his tie-dyed candy cane back there?!  He's such an artist!  ;)

There was just enough dough left over to make a special cookie just for Grady.  His new favorite Christmas book this year was "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", so I frosted a little Grinch head for him.  Loved it!

Maybe I should have made more than one...

Letters from Santa & Other Christmas Cheer

I know it still feels a little early to think about Christmas, it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but it'll be here before we know it.

I just finished up the 2012 edition of my "Letter from Santa" last night & as of this afternoon it's officially available on my Etsy store!  Woohoo!  Last year Grady was SO thrilled to get his in the mail...he ended up sleeping with it the first few nights & kept it safe in his nightstand the rest of the year.  Crazy kid!

(This year's edition even has a short note from Rudolph!)

I've also got a handful of other holiday prints in stock with more coming soon!

12 Days of Christmas Print

Fa La La Print

Tis the Season Print

Happy Holidays!

Lumberjacks & Jack-O-Lanterns

How can you not love Halloween?  Especially if you're a parent.  It's seriously the best thing ever watching your child/children have such a great time dressing up, getting free candy (a LOT of it), & seeing friends in their costumes...

Last night was perfect out.  A little chilly, but not so cold that you had to cover up those spooky costumes with winter coats.  I remember a couple of Halloweens when I was little that there was even snow on the ground...brr!

Our little lumberjack had a blast!  Dad had to work late (life of a college coach...sigh), so I took off work early so we could get our costumes on, pick up grandma, & head over to the ECFE Halloween party for a little while before trick-or-treating.  We had fun with the crafts, but I think Grady will probably be too old to attend next year...he just wanted to get to the candy part!

Those little teeth peeking out of the beard kill me...haha!

He's a natural!  Great form, kid!

After the party, we walked a couple of streets in our neighborhood & even found Santa's house...as in the Santa that comes to our mall each year!  He totally commits to the role...year round, real beard & long white hair & all!  It was hilarious to hear all of the kids yelling, "thanks, Santa!" after they got their candy...I think they wanted to make sure he knew that they had good manners!  :)  (Side note: Notice Santa's tattoo...he usually shows up to his mall duty in his biker jacket...did you guys know that Santa rides a Harley?!)

So stoic & manly!

We hope you all had as much fun as we did last night!  :)

A little Labor...goes a long way.

This Labor Day weekend I found a little bit of time to roll up my sleeves & finish a project I've been waiting for inspiration on for a little over a year.  Last summer I picked up this little booster chair at a garage sale for $5.  It was sturdy, unique, cheap, and kind of cute (in a country/vintage/well-worn way).  I have been debating for a year whether to paint it AND reupholster the seat cover, or leave the wood as-is and just re-do the seat.  My indecisiveness had to come to an end...soooo...I asked the three year old what I should do!  He said, "paint it orange".  We compromised, and ended up deciding on Rustoleum's Satin Lagoon...a dark teal color.  For the seat, I used a scrap of green and white fabric left over from a pillow I sewed for Grady's room.  Grady loves his new chair...I love it...Grandma loves it...Eli rolled his eyes at me.  You just can't impress some people.  Haha!

I especially LOVE how it looks sitting at the table in the dining room...a happy burst of blue!

Stain, sun, & sparklers...

Somewhere amidst the pool, beach, cruises in the Jeep, fireworks, sparklers, & all of the good food in the last couple of days I was able to squeeze in a little bit of time to finish the bar top on the porch & eat our first official meal out there.  What's the 4th of July without a backyard BBQ?!?  I'm pretty sure it'll become a nightly thing...holiday or not!

Here's what I started with - dad built the table out of a bunch of scrap (ripped) 2x4's that we had left over from framing up the porch. He screwed a couple of supports to the bottom & it's attached to the porch railing with three shelf brackets.

I used the same dark walnut stain that we did my dining room table in last spring.  (I couldn't resist setting the table...just to see what it looked like!)

Last but not least...a few shots of our 4th of July festivities.  We were pretty low-key this year compared to years past, but it was way too hot to do much of anything but be in the lake anyway!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday & got to spend some time with great friends & family!