First Time Fondant

Tonight there is going to be a cake auction at our summer reading program party. I signed up to bring a cake and thought it would be fun to try fondant for the first time. This is what I ended up with. Not bad for my first time with the crazy stuff!
I really had fun making this. I can't wait until the next time I need to make a cake!

ps* Thanks Annette for helping me make the fondant and for all your great tips!

Yellowstone Park with Grandma and Grandpa

On Saturday, the boys and I went to Yellowstone Park with Grandma and Grandpa H. We had so much fun. It was the perfect day for a visit into the park! We went to watch Old Faithful erupt first thing.
How lucky are we to live so close to somewhere so amazing!

The natural beauty of this place still amazes me no matter how many times I visit!

We love to visit the Old Faithful Inn.

This is the Crows Nest. Bands used to play up here back in it's hayday! How awesome that would have been to experience!

Grandma, Kyler and Ryker taking a little stroll.

Corden couldn't stop talking about how thirsty he was. So Grandpa gave him a little talk on patience! Persistent little bugger!

With no nap, Ryker started getting a little bit sleepy!

So much fun hanging out at the Inn!

The fountain paint pots were always my favorite thing in Yellowstone Park. Corden says they're his favorite too! This was our last sop before heading back home. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for packing us up in your van and taking us with you on a Super Fun trip to the Park. You are the best, we love you guys!

Boise Baby!

This weekend Kyler, Corden, Ryker, and I got to go on a little trip to Boise.
We left Friday morning and came home Saturday evening.

Look at Jack with his beautiful blue eyes!

We ate lunch with Jefferey, Victoria, and Jack at The Cheesecake Factory on Saturday before heading home.

Saturday morning we went to the Discovery Center. The boys loved it.

This is a giant bubble toy. Corden LOVED it!

Kyler was really into this little invention. It is a rubber band spinning, powered by two C batteries. He just loves inventions!

They all got to make homemade Kazoos. They made the most beautiful music in the car on the way back home!

There was a Discovery Market for the kids to do their very own shopping. Cashiers checkstand and everything. Corden and Ryker had so much fun! (Kyler did other stuff with Jefferey while they shopped.)

The tornado maker!

This was pretty cool. They got to watch the twister form then they put their hands in it to make it disappear and then watched it form again.

Corden and Ryker loved playing with this little gadget. It blew air and kept the beach ball in the air.

If you bent the tube slowly, the ball would stay in the air to the side. But if you bent it quickly, the ball would drop. Corden took full advantage of this and dropped the ball right on Ryker's head! They both thought it was hysterical!

I think Jefferey and I liked the chair pull the most! You pull yourself up using the rope and when you get to the top, you let go of the rope and go back down, stopping before you hit the ground.

It was really fun! On Friday, we went to Roaring Springs Water Park. When we got there my camera batteries were dead- so no pictures of that to show. But it was a blast! Everyone should venture over to Boise and do that sometime. It is well worth it! So much fun for kids and adults! Thanks for hanging out with us Jefferey, Victoria and Jack! We had so much fun!!! Can't wait to see you again!

WHAT THE HAIL!!

We've been getting A LOT of RAIN lately. Well, today we got the added bonus of HAIL, pretty good sized HAIL!
This HAIL was not the soft squishy stuff either. It was balls of ICE!


And a lot of it! This is what was outside my front door after the HAIL storm was over. It was windy, so it piled up about three inches high right here! Crazy!

And if the HAIL wasn't bad enough, this is the view from my front yard about three hours later! I hope our neighbors mini van starts tomorrow! And I'm so glad our Jeep is safe in our garage!

I think we've had quite enough crazy weather wouldn't you say!

Notebook Giveaway WINNER!!

To everyone who left me comments and/or links: Thank you so much! I have so much fun doing giveaways. I think it's just as exciting for me as it is for you, so thank you!

And the Winner is:

Moss Family

Congratulations to Annette on winning the chick notebook! You will be receiving it soon!

NOTEBOOK GIVEAWAY!!

After finishing my chick notebook, I had left over pieces- enough to make another chick notebook! So I decided that I would throw it together and do a chick notebook giveaway on my blog! If you want to try to win it, all you have to do is leave me a comment telling me why you would like to win it! If you put a link on your blog telling people about it, you can leave me another comment letting me know that you have done this, and your name will be entered for this giveaway two times. I will be drawing names to see who wins on Tuesday, June 16th. (That only gives you one week.) So spread the word and make sure you check back in to see if you have won. I will be looking forward to your fabulous comments! Good luck everyone!

NOTEBOOK TUTORIAL

I have had a number of people ask me how to make these notebooks, so I decided to do a tutorial. If you want to make one, you can just print this off and use it as a guide. Supplies needed-

composition notebook (80 cents at Wally's), apx. 1 yd. ribbon, mini pens or pencils, sewing machine, 4 pieces of 12 x 12 scrapbook paper, scissors, paper cutter, mod podge, foam brush, sand paper, eyelet setting kit, pounding mat, eyelets (or you can use a crop-a-dile if you have one).

Step 1- Cut scrapbook paper

Cut pieces to fit where you want them. You will need a front piece, back piece, binding piece, and a rectangle piece. Use a pencil to trace the corners of the notebook and trim off with scissors.

Step 2- Mod podge front back and binding
When mod podging, place a piece of scrap paper between cover and inside pages so any extra that squeezes out will not stick the pages together.

Put mod podge on book front, then put paper on. Do the same for the back. Press all pieces down firmly making sure there aren't any bubbles, especially around the corners and edges to make sure they adhere well. Next, mod podge half of the binding piece of paper (lengthwise) and place it on the front as far in as you want it to go (overlapping the front piece of paper). Then, mod podge the other half of the binding piece, roll it around and stick to the back (overlapping the back piece of paper).




Step 3- Zig Zag stitch
Use a sewing machine to zig zag down the edge of the binding piece on the front and back sides. Tie knots in the loose ends 3 or 4 times and clip off the extra threads.

Step 4- Rectangle piece
Use a pice of sand paper and sand the edges of the rectangle piece. Then put a thin layer of mod podge on it and place it where you want on the front of the book.

Step 5- Ribbon placement and stitching
* this needs to be right the first time, so make sure you are as acurate as you can.

Adjust the ribbon around the book so you know where to make the first zig zag stitch where the pen (or pencil) will go. Then place the pen on the book and the ribbon around the pen so you know where to make the next zig zag stitch. (You can attatch more than one pen.) Remove the pen and stitch.

(Remember, this is not a straight stitch, it is a zig zag, so leave enough room for the whole stitch or your pen won't fit in the loop!) I recommend a practice loop on something else before doing this on your book- just to be on the safe side! After you have this done, you can use a tape roller, or double sided tape, to hold the ribbon in place around the book. Then do a zig zag stitch next to the edge on the back side over the ribbon to secure it there. (When I do these zig zags, I always go down and then back up, tie the loose ends, then clip the extra threads.)

Step 6- Eyelets
Put two eyelets in the corner of the front of the book with your eyelet setter or with a crop-a-dile. Then thread your ribbon through.

Step 7- Dangler
Using leftover scraps from your 12 x 12 papers, make a dangler to put a name on or whatever else you may want it to say. Attatch it to the ribbon with a cute paper clip or anything else you want to use. (Sand this so it will match the rest of the sanded book.)

Step 8- Sand edges of paper
Sand edges of paper until it becomes one with the book. Make sure you wait until the mod podge is dry or your paper will tear instead of sanding.

The Finished Product-
The Back.....

and The Front.

Good luck on your books everyone!