Dare to Share #252

It's Friday night, and you know what that means.. 

It is time to Dare to Share!  

Are you staying healthy?  After last week's busy week at school filling in for others, this week I had caught what was going around. It seemed like everyone was fighting some kind of bug, and I ended up catching it.  I do feel better today, just in time for the weekend!  

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that my daughter was making a tutorial on How to DIY Unicorn Rainbow Eye Make Up .  It is now currently up on the blog. We still have a few more Unicorn themed crafts that will hopefully be up shortly. 

While this week's really warm weather made it seem like spring and not February, it is still officially winter.  I would love to try this White Hot Chocolate with Polar Bear Marshmallows by Gluesticks. I know several kids around here who would love it too.  

I have to admit I am still in a chocolate stupor from Valentine's Day, so I have yet to  start thinking about St. Patrick's Day.  Luckily my co-host Kim from Kandy Kreations is, and this week she shared a fun Leprachaun candy topper printable. 

Now it is time for this week's party.  You are welcome to share anything that would like to share. If you are chosen as a Dare to Share feature, your post will be featured on the blog and social media.  This party is also seen on Kandy Kreations for double the exposure.  Kim also chooses posts to feature on her blog and social media. 

Link up and HAVE FUN!! 

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

How to DIY Unicorn Rainbow Eye Make Up

My daughter loves make up.  She will most likely go to cosmetology school, and become a make up artist someday.  It does have some benefits for me, because she often likes to do my make up for me when I am going somewhere.  Recently, she was experimenting with

her eye shadows and decided to try Unicorn Rainbow Eyes. I posted it on my personal facebookpage, and she immediately got a lot of great comments.  I love the look, and may have her help next Halloween if I decide to be a Unicorn. 

This is her first time doing a tutorial video for the blog. I may be able to get her to do some more..  

Dare to Share #251

It's Friday night, and you know what that means.. 

It is time to Dare to Share! 

I did have a few posts planned for this week, but was called into work everyday. It's that time of year, when everyone is sick, and subs are really needed.  So while I am not getting as much done at home as I would like, it will be worth it come pay day. I did have the chance to finally post the Review of SmitCo Nail Art Sets, that the girls tried out the day we made the Valentines Day Crafts and had the Super Bowl Party. 

I LOVE these Candy Haystacks by Simply Stacie. The colors and sprinkles were based on the Trolls movie (which I took B and T too), but I can see them being perfect for other things like a Unicorn Party. No matter the them, these candy treats are a lot of fun to make and eat. 

My co-host Kim from Kandy Kreations has shared several love and Valentine themed post this week like this recipe for a Kid Friendly, Yummy Celebration Drink. 

Now it is time for this week's party. You are welcome to link up anything that you would like to share.  If you are chosen as a Dare to Share Feature, your post will be featured on the blog and social media. This party is also seen on Kandy Kreations for double the exposure. Kim also chooses posts to feature on her blog and social media.  

Link up and HAVE FUN! 

   

    http://www.inlinkz.com/new/view.php?id=698101" title="click to view in an external page.">An InLinkz Link-up

   
   

   

Review of SmitCo Nail Art Sets for girls

Do you remember a couple of weeks ago when I mentioned how you could Save 15% off of gift sets for girls by SmitCo.   I was sent two of the sets for my special tweens B and T to try out. All opinions of the sets are 100% ours.   We had the Sweet Crush nail set that glowed in the dark, and the Sparkling animal print stickers.  On the website, they are part of the same gift set.  

The girls were very excited to open the sets and get started while my daughter decided to join in as well.  

B was not wearing any nail polish, so she put the stickers on both her nails and her toes. T had polished her nails the day before, and did not want to remove it, so tried out the stickers on top of her polish. She also did her toes.    

The sets included stickers in two different sizes to fit both fingernails and toenails, several patches, nail files, nail sticks and top coat polish. 

B putting on her nail stickers on her toes with great flexibility.  

B's hand with the nail stickers on her hand before trimming and shaping. She loved the look of the longer nails, but found that the longer length got in the way and she really needed to trim them.  

Ts hand after trimming and shaping.  My daughter helped the girls take their pictures of their hands, and did not take one that was close up.  She also did not get any of their finished feet. 

The girls had a lot of fun working with these nail sets.  I asked them for their honest opinions, and this is what they said.    Since T already had nail polish on her fingers, they did not stay in place as well as they would have had she had clean, unpolished nails. (like it says to do in the directions)    Both B and T said that they had to trim some of the really cute designs off, because their nails were different sizes than some of the stickers.  If you have really big or really small hands and toes, the stickers may be harder to fit.  They would both use them again though, because they were a lot of fun to work with and they love being creative.   These sets were perfect for the tween age group.  If they are for girls who are younger than that, they may need some extra help while doing their nails.   

If you would like to check out the nails set we used, or any of the other gift sets for girls, you can find them here. 

Dare to Share #250

It's Friday night, and you know what that means... 

It's time to Dare to Share!

This week was a busy one! Between work, making crafts with T and B, and having a Super Bowl party the week seemed to fly by.  You can see what we make on Valentine's Day Crafts with Oriental Trading.  Their favorite craft were these Unicorn Bags. 

The same day we worked on the crafts, we also had a Super Bowl Party.  You can read more about it on the post Super Bowl Party Fun

Valentine's Day is just days away. I would love to have some Super Easy Strawberry Fudge by Dizzy, Busy and Hungry. It would make a yummy treat for your sweetheart. 

My co-host Kim from Kandy Kreations has several Mermaid themed posts this week like these Mermaid Tail Chocolate Oreos.  

Now it is time for this week's party.  You are welcome to share anything you would like to share. If you are chosen as a Dare to Share Feature your post will be featured on the blog and social media.  This party is also seen on Kandy Kreations for double the exposure.  Kim also chooses posts to feature on her blog and social media.  

Link up and HAVE FUN! 

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Super Bowl Party Fun

A few weeks ago I shared a post about Super Bowl Party Supplies I received from Oriental Trading Company. I also have mentioned a couple of times recently, that I would post what we did at our actual party.  Since the Super Bowl was on Sunday night, and none of us were super invested in the teams playing, it was on the casual side with a handful of friends. This time I am able to show a picture of  Inflatable Buffet Cooler, because we had an air pump on hand.  While it is designed to hold ice and more, we used it to hold some of our snacks and snack boxes. It is something we can use again for future parties.

The football pennant banner looked great on my friends bookcase. 

We decorated right before the party started, so we got a little creative to get everything in place quickly. The chandelier over the dining table was a great place to hang the football paper lanterns. 

The football utensil caddy held our silverware and napkins, and the football paper bowls were the perfect size for macaroni and cheese servings  

I brought cheesy tator tot skewers that I saw on Pinterest as my dish. They were super easy to make, and a big hit.  I will be making them again, but in/on a different pan. I had to stack them on top of each other to bake in a disposable pan, so some of the cheese made a few of the skewers stick together.   I thought I took pictures of all the food at the party, but once I got home I realized I hadn't.  The rest of the snacks were party main stays.. popcorn, chips and guacamole, a veggie tray and dessert. 

Even our pictures with the  props (photo prop sticks, mini fingers, and football necklaces) that night were pretty casual.  I took a couple on my camera, and a friend took some on hers. There was maybe only one or two pictures where there was not someone doing something goofy.  Most of our pictures looked like this, with people not ready, and not looking at the camera. I have no idea what we were looking at here. 

We got the kids involved with the pictures too, and still had some pretty funny shots.  

I have one friend who loves to take pictures of people when they are not ready or looking. I have no idea why she likes to do that, but she does. I know she got several shots of me eating.  In this picture at least she got us looking at the camera all at the same time. 😃 

My daughter's favorite part of the night was bonding with my friend's dog. She loves posing for the camera. She did really well having a house full of people, and loved hanging with my daughter just as much.   

Our Super Bowl Party was a lot of fun, and it turned out to be a really good game.  We are already planning our next get together..  I am not exactly sure what we will watch yet, but it looks like the theme is going to be a MOVIE NIGHT. 

Valentine's Day Crafts with Oriental Trading

A few weeks ago, I planned on having T and B over  to make Valentine's Day crafts. As you may have seen in previous posts.  I am an ambassador for Oriental Trading Company. They recently sent over several craft items for the girls and me to try out. Originally I thought I would have the room decorated, and some sweet treats made for the girls  Because of our crazy schedules that is not exactly what happened.  Instead our day was full of several activities.  After church, we went to Costco for the sample tour and lunch. By the time we made it back to my place, there were only a couple of hours to create, before heading off to our church group Super Bowl Party. (which will be posted shortly)  Nothing was decorated, and my dining room table turned into a full on craft explosion in the girls excitement. 

Their favorite craft were these Unicorn Valentine Bags. The purple flowers are NOT part of the craft. I had to add them to the picture when I realized the girls wrote their names on the horn. The pieces are self sticking, and really easy to put together.  Both of the girls made more than once since the kit came with 12 unicorns.  

I think their second favorite were the Monster Cupcake Boxes.  The girls put together craft foam monsters that stuck on to the side of a single cupcake box.  You would be able to see the cupcake in the mouth of the monster if it held one.  You may notice that it is on a different table. When we ran out of time we took some of the crafts to the Super Bowl party so they would have some things to make during the game.  

We had several different kinds of beads to work with, so each of the girls (including my daughter who also worked on the crafts) could make their own necklace. All three of the love the giant heart bead.

Here is one of the finished necklaces.  

These are candy hugging monsters you can give out as Valentines.  The arms wrap around the candy.  

The girls made some of the Emoticon Valentine Magnets but took them home before I realized I did not get a picture.  I have some left so I will have to make some more.  

I have a few decorations that I was not able to put up yet. Now I plan on using them to decorate for real Valentines Day.  When put together these are adorable Owl Paper Lanterns.  I also have a pink tablecloth and heart banner.  

I sent home a few of the Owl Lollipops with the girls. I will save the rest for Valentine's Day  

We did not have time to work on the Sequin Heart Boxes. This will have to wait until next time. The girls are very excited to make these as soon as they can.  

Do you want to check out Oriental Trading Company for your own Valentine party supplies and crafts?   They are currently having a 10 Days of Valentine Deals.  Each day is a new special deal through the end of the week. 

Dare to Share #249

It's Friday night, and you know what that means.. 

It is time to Dare to Share! 

Wow, it's already February?! There are many new things in the works over here. On Sunday I will be having a Super Bowl party with my friends.  I will be hopefully having a Valentine  crafting day with T and B in the next few days.   They will also be trying out one of the girls gift sets by SmitCo.  If you follow me on Facebook you may have seen my daughter with her Rainbow Unicorn Eyes  She is currently editing a tutorial that will be posted here shortly. 

Also this week, I shared pictures from when my kids were little, and when my daughter had her Purple Unicorn Party

I was debating on if I should feature a Valentine treat or a Super Bowl recipe. I then something that could be a bit of both, Football Oreo Treats by The Happy Scraps.  For both the big game, and Valentine's Day you can use this recipe for a treat most everyone will love. 

 If you are looking for something fun to celebrate Valentine's Day, my co-host Kim from Kandy Kreations share this post with Valentine iPhone Wall Papers and other Valentine's Day ideas. 

Now it is time for this week's party.  You are welcome to link up anything that you would like to share.  This party is also seen on Kandy Kreations for double the exposure. If you are chosen as a Dare to Share feature, your post will be featured on the blog and social media. Kim also chooses posts to share on her blog and social media.  

Link up and HAVE FUN! 

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Purple Unicorn Party

My daughter's and I have loved unicorns for a long time, way before they became the current sensation.  Thirteen years ago, my oldest daughter had an unicorn themed birthday party and invited all of the girls in her class.  It was her first birthday party in her new school, and she was quite excited to celebrate with her new friends.  My youngest was only two at the time, and was very excited about the party too. (though she may not look like it in this picture LOL!)  She was thrilled to hand out the unicorn horn headbands to the guests. Because this party was held way before I became a blogger, I don't have a lot of detail pictures, but I do have some that would be relevant to a present day Unicorn Party.  Purple was her absolute favorite color at this age, so she chose it as her main color for the party.  (her entire room was purple down to the walls and the carpet) 

Disclosure:  The links to the items I used at this party are affiliate links.

At the time I had trouble finding an unicorn cake pan, so I had to be creative in how I put together the cake.  If my memory serves me right, I used a dome cake pan kind of like this one here for the head, and a large circle cookie cutter to cut out the nose.  The unicorn's horn is an ice cream cone covered in frosting.  In the picture it looked like I used Wilton Ready to Decorate Icings with tips instead of making my own.  I can not tell what the eye was made from in the picture, but it looks like a circle piece of candy or a flattened gum drop. 

In this picture you can see a better view of the unicorn horn headband.  I bought pastel colored headbands from the dollar store.  The horn and ears were made from felt, and the mane of color coordinated yarn. I think we might still have their unicorn headbands around her somewhere. I should see if I can find them. 

I know this picture is kind of blurry, but it is the only one I have of the craft  We made unicorn picture frames out of craft foam. When the girls arrived I took a picture of them in front of the fireplace wearing their unicorn horns.  I then printed off all of the pictures before it was time to craft.  This may have been a craft kit, but it kind of looks like just improvised. Even though the unicorns kind of look like Grimace, the girls loved them at the time. 

I do remember giving the girls a small goody bag of candy and trinkets, but what they loved the most were the stuffed unicorns.  We found several unicorns on clearance and then made sure we had enough for each of the guests and each of my kids. Looking back at this picture, I just have to smile. Every single one of these little ones are now between the ages of 17 and 20!   Time really flies!   How we handed out the unicorns was by playing a game. Each unicorn was wrapped in pretty paper.  The kids sat in a large circle, and then we played a version of hot potato.  If you were holding the wrapped gift when the music stopped, you left the circle and opened your unicorn.  The kids felt like they were receiving presents too, and they had something they could keep as a memento from the party.  I found a few unicorns online very similar to the ones we handed out.  You and see them here, here, and here.

The party was a success and to this day, it is still one of my daughter's favorites. 

We have several new unicorn posts in the works so watch for them very soon!!