Summer Diary 2011

If you're a WhiMSy love facebook fan, then you've already heard the news: I have officially decided to conquer another summer packed full of projects with the girls!! Remember the Summer Break Diary on the blog last year? Well, I'm already planning our fun-filled days for Summer 2011!!!

I looked through last year's Summer Break Diary & it was so fun to see it all again. It really got me pumped for this summer. You can find the button on the right side of the blog to view all the 2010 Diary entries.

The girls get out of school fairly soon: May 20th! That means they have exactly 22 days until summer break, which include only 16 days of actual school. Crazy, huh? And that means I've got to get my tushy in gear if I want to get a head start on planning ideas.

We'd love if you followed along! (I'll be creating another blog button for 2011 in the next few weeks.) AND, if you have a craft or activity you'd like to suggest, we'd be happy to take a peek & possibly give it a go.

♥

New in the shop!

Postcard sets available in the shop!!

(Featuring photos taken by yours truly.)

Yay for happy mail!

♥

Week in Reivew: April 18-24

Some weeks I feel like I didn't do a whole lot. And then I put together my "Week in Review" & I change my mind. Like this week...

I had another super fantastic evening with my Knit Witz group. Three friends & I have formed a knitting/crochet posse. And I officially started my first big project: a blanket! I am just knitting squares & squares & more squares. And I'll eventually stitch them all together into a giant blanket. I decided on 20 squares (4 squares with 5 different stitches). 1 1/2 squares down. 18 1/2 to go. Right now I'm just at the point where I want to knit this stitch & that stitch, oh! & that one too....but I can't decipher the knitting codes. And I've decided: knitting IS brain surgery. But, oh, how awesome it feels to be conquering one of my crafty intimidations!! The Knit Witz also had a fun little celebration in honor of my birthday & the lovely awards I recently won. I was even surprised with a cake that said "Happy Birthday Award Winning Nikki". It made me laugh & smile real big. (It even had an owl on it!) There were prezzies too: My first self-healing cutting mat (It was pink!) & 12 cans of 'Think Pink' salmon! (There was a theme...)

There were also the Easter projects to make: chocolate lollipops & felt bunny finger puppets & little goodie bags to assemble & pass out to the kidlets on Easter morning at church.

And, of course, the traditional painting of the Easter eggs. Last year I started dyeing eggs with the girls on the actual day OF Easter. I love doing it this way so much more. I always grew up dyeing them with my siblings a day or two before Easter. And this year was our 2nd annual Flashlight Easter Egg Hunt. SO. MUCH. FUN. I also fill a basket with little toys & trinkets for the girls every year. This year I spied adorable butterfly nets & dainty wooden Chinese fans at Pier 1 Imports. (Among other things...)

Mr. WhiMSy love bought the first package of sidewalk chalk of the season... I was gifted with a tiny bouquet, plucked by tiny hands. (Around here that means Spring has officially begun.)... I created a "first" while crafting: wire/bead nest pendants. (SO excited to show the Bayard MOPS group how to make them!)...

I had a VERY relaxing Easter weekend. The girls had playdates aplenty. Daddy worked on his sermon. Mommy worked & played & crafted. There were egg hunts (4 total between all of us). And on Easter Sunday we enjoyed a BBQ at a friend's house, where I eventually fell asleep on the couch with a full belly & a happy heart.

(P.S. Thank you Jesus for what you did for me...)

Click HERE for a photo play-by-play.

♥

Me? A guest speaker? *Squeee!*

I'll be speaking at the Bayard MOPS (Mothers Of Pre Schoolers) group on Monday, May 2nd. If you're in the area & are a mommy of a preschooler (or younger wee one), come join us!

6:00-8:30 p.m.

Community Bible Church

900 Main Street • Bayard, NE

It's their last meeting of the 2010-2011 MOPS year, complete with bbq for you & the kiddos, cake for dessert (Wheeeee!), a drawing for a $50 Walmart gift card, other door prizes, & lots more fun!

I'll also be teaching the craft that night: how to make a wire & bead nest pendant. (I'm crossing my fingers that the gold ball chain I ordered arrives in time.) Perfect for Mother's Day!! Dontcha think?

Yay for "mommy" time!

(Childcare provided.)

Click HERE for the facebook MOPS invitation page, to see all the other deets & to RSVP.

♥

Cheep Goodie Bags

I recently assembled 20 Easter themed goodie bags for my friend to give away at her Easter photo sessions. There were several left over, so I have been giving them away to my kidlet friends & even as prizes for the last Crafty Night.

Not only did I scour Etsy to find appropriately themed goodies, but I made two of the items myself- the chocolate lollies & the felt finger puppets.

 Each goodie bag included 3 stickers, a stick of carrot soap, a felt bunny finger puppet, a lambie pin, a chocolate lollipop, & a fuzzy yellow chick.I added blue crinkle shredded paper to each bag & topped them with a handcrafted paper embellishment & sticker.

After the items were totaled, I realized that I had spent less than $2.00 per bag. That was rather inspiring, thinking of all the party favors I like to make for special occasions. And practically everything was handmade! (Minus the fuzzy yellow chicks.) When planning or buying take-home favors for parties, it doesn't have to be overwhelming or expensive. It can be special, handmade AND affordable.

Click HERE for the photo deets, & to view the shops I purchased from!

♥

The Birds & the Bees

 With the leftover Crafty Night favors I had on hand--(Mini Lawn in a Can)--, the girls & I decided to give them as Easter/Spring gifts to their teachers this week. I found these adorable little plant stakes in the dollar section of Target to dress up the cans even more.

BUUUUUT, when I came home, I realized that I hadn't purchased enough. So, I scrambled to come up with another cute grass accessory.

Polymer clay to the rescue!

These abstract chubby bees did the trick. I simply twisted black & yellow clay & molded it into an oval shape & attached white wings. I baked them in the oven per the directions on the clay WITH the bamboo skewer attached.

 Snip the skewer to desired height & you're done! I do think I may use a little hot glue to permanently attach the clay bee to its wooden mate though.

There you have it. The birds & the bees.

(And no awkward explanations required!)

♥

Spring on my Sill

♥



Week in Review: April 11-17

What a week!

Almost half my week was spent away from home, where I accompanied my co-workers/co-horts/boss peoples to the 137th Annual Nebrask Press Association (NPA) Convention in Lincoln. First of all, we drove there through a crazy winter-like blizzard!! In the middle of April? It was insane! We had to resort to dining at a gas station/convenience store due to the fact that the on-ramp we had hoped to hop over was block by a semi-truck sliding backwards!! Yikes. So, I munched on a 4-course meal of cheesy nachos, mini Nutter Butter cookies, wasabi & soy sauce almonds & an ice cream bar. Blizzard Schmlizzard. Two days later I was shedding my sweatshirt & getting sunburned while attending the Huskers Red & White game at UNL. I just don't get this Nebraska weather.

Anyway, the convention was pretty cool---we attended workshops where we learned about all sortsa stuff beneficial to our jobs. Even how to do slideshows, which I'm pretty stoked to get into.

Miss America also spoke (she's from a small town just an hour away from here) & I also got my pic taken with Olympic gold medalist Curt Tomesevicz, who won in the bobsled event in Vancouver 2010. I think I mighta got a bit too giddy with his medal though.

Susan & I walked around downtown Lincoln & had an awesome time snapping photos & laughing & freezing our bums off. We finally found a rad coffeehouse at 10:30 at night, where we popped in & sipped on hot mint cocoa & cinnamon lattes. 10:30?? Ah, I sometimes miss the perks of a big city. We played "no-rules" Scrabble where words like "zorf" & "weet" & "ipeiduiz" & "xie" TOTALLY count for points. And, even though we didn't keep score, I'm sure I won.

I was kidless & spouseless all weekend. I stayed at the Cornhusker Marriott. I ate really well. There were plenty of jumpy photos. Did you know that in a recent Gallup poll, Lincoln was declared the 2nd happiest city in the nation?? I tried on vintage clothes for an hour straight at Ruby Begonia's.

But, but, but....the HIGHLIGHT of the weekend was the recognition of various newspapers, journalists, photographers, columnists, etc. from around the state. I am SO PROUD to be the 1st place winner of the Sports Feature Photo (class C), where I took a picture last summer of a turtle race at Camp Clarke Days. The judges comments said that they debated long & hard about the "sportiness" of the photo, but decided it was "too good to ignore."

And, and, and...my column "WhiMSy love (in print)" won 2nd place in its class for Best Personal Column!!!! I submitted a column about the wheat harvest & also one about my personal adoption story in the form of a kid's tale. The judges said that "Whimsy" is "a good description of Mans style."

I am SO excited!!

Click HERE for a photo play-by-play.

♥

Passin' The Time CREATIVELY

After church on Sunday, the fam & I, with some friends, hopped on over to the Diner for some grub. Zoey immediately grabbed some crayons from inside her hot pink faux leather purse (where she totes along all sorts of "things to do") & some paper napkins from the table, then proceeded to play THIS game we learned last summer as part of our Summer Diary Series.

I thought it was a GENIUS way to pass the time while waiting at a restaurant. Everyone at the table got involved & we laughed real loud at all our silly creations, while all the other diner guests stared at us.

♥



Crafty Night: April 2011

I cannot tell you how giddy I feel when I see this banner hanging up each month for Crafty Night. Right on Main Street. Swaying in the breeze.

 And this month I was especially giddy because it was our biggest night yet: There were 18 of us crafty folk that gathered to get all creative-like! (And 7 of those were newbies to the Crafty Night scene!)

This month we embellished Chinese paper lanterns.

I couldn't decide between painting them with watercolors or using a decoupage technique with colored tissue papers. So I chose to have both options available.

I painted a sample with large flowers & small polka dots.

 

Supplies even included magazines for design or color inspiration & paper-n-pencils for sketching ideas. I found the small squares of tissue paper at Michael's, & the 14" paper lanterns & light kits online.

 

 

I already knew, beforehand, what my favorite part of the night would be: getting to see all the ideas everyone came up with!

 

Guests all left with a 'Can of Spring'. Unfortunately I didn't plant the grass seeds soon enough--so there was no green to show. But the little buggers will sprout. (I'm crossing my non-green thumbs.)

I wrapped emptied cans of food with woodgrain contact paper & then wound several feet of colored yarn 'round the middle. I made the plant picks with bamboo skewers, a 2" round punch of cardstock, a sticker & a gem.
(At a loss for gathering all the cans I needed for this projects, let's just say there's a lot of corn & beans in plastic bins in my fridge...)

To view all the pictures from our night of crafty fun, click HERE!
To view the Crafty Night facebook page, click {& like!} HERE.

Next Crafty Night is...

Tuesday, May 10th

6-8 p.m.

ON3 Photography

Main Street, Bridgeport

**Reserve your spot! Limited Seating!**

♥

Foil Dinners

I recently made foil dinners for my birthday. The first time I made them was when Tia & I grilled some around a campfire a couple summers ago--on one of the hottest days of the year. I think it was 105 degrees or something?? We were dorks.

Foil dinners are so easy to make! And fun, too! The kids can get involved making their own---choosing whichever meat & veggies they prefer.

I used hamburger, but you can use whatever meat you want--cooking times will just vary. All you do is grab 2 pieces of foil, about 12 inches, & double them up. Shape a burger patty--salt & pepper it up--& place it (uncooked) in the middle of the foil. I would use a burger that doesn't have a lot of fat in it. 85/15 is what I used. Next, chop up all sorts of veggies. I used carrots, little red potatoes, & celery. What about asparagus? Zucchini? Onions? Etc. I cut them no bigger than 1". I also opened a can of green beans & sprinkled some of those on. What about canned corn? Canned peas? Etc.

I plopped all the veggies on top of the patty.

Now you'll open a can of cream-of-chicken soup & place 3 heaping spoonfulls on top of the veggies. Cream of mushroom soup would work too. (But I hate mushrooms! BLECK.)

Sprinkle everything with your favorite seasoning. I have a seasoning salt I like to use to flavor food. And also a mesquite burger seasoning which is quite yummy.

Meet two sides of the foil in half & fold down tightly. Fold the remaining ends up tigtly as well. Make sure the juices won't leak out.

Place the foil packets in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Check after 45 minutes & see if the meat is cooked & the veggies are tender. It will be REALLY juicy & VERY hot!

I fit 8 packets in my oven--these make GREAT leftovers for lunch!

Try making foil dinners with strips of steak. Or, chicken tenders with veggies---sprinkled with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, & herbs. Mmmm...

Click HERE for some foil dinner recipes from Cooks.com

Happy Foiling & Munching!!

♥



Week in Review: April 4-10

I felt so loved this week! What an awesome feeling. It was really great to be spoiled & pampered after a previous week of hard work & prepping & planning & late nights. But now it's back to a more normal routine. (Normal?? Who am I kidding.)

I'm excited for Crafty Night tomorrow night! *But I get so nervous beforehand.* (Just hoping everyone likes the projects I come up with.) It's gonna be the biggest Crafty Night yet too! I've set up a limited number of seating this month & all the spots have almost filled up. So, basically, all that means I'm gonna have a busy morning & afternoon tomorrow setting up. I really couldn't do these every month without the help of a few awesome friends. I love my Crafty Night crew. I look forward to it every month!! And I can't wait to take pictures & share the night with you all too.

Happy Monday!

Click HERE for a photo play-by-play.

♥

MORE birthday fun!

♥ from Tia ♥

 

*SQUEEE!!* I got a Fuji Instax 210 (polaroid cam!!!)

Pedi's with the Mr. (He was such a good sport!) My nail polish color was: "That's Hot! Pink"

Lunch at my favorite Chinese restaurant

Roses from the Mr.-- He spoiled me!!

I made foil dinners. (This looks gross--but it's not!! This was before they were cooked in the oven.)

Firepit fun! Marshallows & S'mores. Mmmmm...

Happy birthday girl.
♥

Celebratory Light Drawing

Down in the basement, in the complete darkness, I sat with a blacklight pen. It's from my 8 year old's mystery detective kit. I was all alone, until hubby walked by & saw a strange flickering light in the corner. He flipped the light on for a brief moment. But quickly turned it off after I screamed. Light was the enemy. And it's a shame because I was completing a cupcake masterpiece. Bummer...

 ♥

I like birthdays.

I am literally exhausted by my day of pampering & being spoiled rotten with prezzies & birthday wishes. The only sadness that entered my day was the dumb wind that prevented me from eating my dessert---s'mores 'round the campfire with Mr. WhiMSy love & my 2 sweet kidlets. But, alas, tomorrow is another day. And I plan on celebrating all month long anyway. So, you know...

More pics in another post. Right now I'm laying my little birthday head on the pillow...

♥ 

Crafty Night Encyclopedia

Hand-painted Crafty Night banner

I have had a lot of people ask me about Crafty Night. I'm hoping this GIANT blog post will answer your questions. I've spoken with several crafty peeps who are interested in starting a craft group of their own & I thought maybe this would help motivate or inspire you. If anyone has other questions, PLEASE let me know & I'll update with more answers.

January 2011 Crafty Night "Embellished Gloves"

When did you start Crafty Night?

I LOVE making stuff & getting all creative-like. I thought it'd be fun to get together with other people & share that. So, in early 2010 I started meeting with a few people in the activity room of my church. After several months, I decided that, being in a small-town, I wanted to shy away from the "church" setting & hold Crafty Night in a more centralized locale instead. I knew some people might be turned away from coming to Crafty Night simply because it was held in a church. And I want EVERYONE to feel welcome. It is, afterall, an event open to the community. So, in January 2011 we started meeting at ON3 Photography. It's on Main Street & it's perfect! You just have to do what works for you. In a different setting, I might meet at a church---churches often have large meeting rooms with LOTS of space & even kitchen facilities. 

UPDATE: September 2011 I moved Crafty Night back to our original location in the church activity room. I found that it was really hard to set up by myself & kinda stressful. The activity room is right next door to my house. ALSO, we have painted the walls, added some furniture & it looks much more inviting! It's really a great space!


View of postcard & center of crafty tables (January 2011)



How do you get the word out about Crafty Night?

Every month, about a week before Crafty Night, I mail out postcards I designed. So far I have just a small contact list of crafters. Word of mouth has prolly brought most of my Crafty Night guests. I also have a Crafty Night facebook page---which is a fun place to post pictures of each month's crafty happenings & to send reminders or updates.



Our big celebration after moving to a new location!



Walk me through a typical Crafty Night...

Guests arrive at 6 p.m. & fill out a name tag. First-time guests also fill out an information card. (I use the info to mail out the postcard reminders each month.) For the first 15-20 minutes we have a light dinner buffet. (Soup, bread & dessert or something simple. I'm lucky enough to have a couple friends who take care of that part for me!) Then, I teach a craft. Sometimes I have drawings for prizes, but not every month. And everyone always leaves with a little handmade favor.

 Every craft group is different. Some groups have more of a "bring your own craft to work on" setting & everyone gets together to hang out & craft.(This is the most simple craft group to get started. No cost. No fuss.) Other groups have several different craft instructors set up at different tables teaching a different craft. When crafters arrive, they hop from table to table (in no particular order) learning a new craft.

Some groups meet a couple times a year. Others meet quarterly. It all really depends on how much you have to plan & prep, how much help you have in doing the planning & prepping, & how much time you want (or have) to put into your craft group.
UPDATE: The specific friend that helped with the meals has since moved. Bummer. And doing dinner AND crafts is too much for my little plate. So, we no longer have a light supper before crafting. Instead, everyone can bring a snack to share if they want!

What is the cost of attending Crafty Night?

Crafty Night is free. I don't require people to pay. BUT, I do ask for donations. I won't turn you away if you don't donate though. (I have a donation bowl set out.) The cost of running Crafty Night comes out of my pocket & then I use the donations to offset the money I've spent--& to pay for the next month's crafty supplies. I don't make a penny off of Crafty Night. Crafty Night started with a gathering of 6 people & is nearing 20 now. If Crafty Night gets much bigger, or I find that the financial burden is  too much for me, I may have to start charging a fee to attend. And that's not a bad thing at all. Most crafty groups that provide this sort of service DO charge for attending.
UPDATE: I have started charging $5. per person for Crafty Night. The donations weren't enough to cover the supplies. It also helps me budget within a specific amount, which is nice. I continue to make zero profit from this, which is exactly what I want for now.

Susan teaches Randy how to knit

Where do you get your ideas for Crafty Night?

I scour the internet, peek at my favorite blogs, flip through library books, look through my crafty mags, etc. Sometimes I simply make a craft because it's something I've always wanted to try. I have also made it a goal to have AT LEAST 2 months of crafts planned out. This helps prevent me from doing things last minute & getting all crazy hectic about it.

One month I had a friend teach knitting. I plan on bringing in other talented crafters or artists to teach as well. Another month I plan on having a "hang out & bring your own craft to work on" night too. I want to mix it up. I've even toyed with the idea of doing some yarn bombing (a.k.a. "graffiti knitting"). I also have an upcoming night planned in the summer where we will do something similar to The Toy Society: secretly dropping off our handmade goodies all over the town with a simple note attached that says "Take me home." I think it'd be a great way to creatively give back to our community.

Laura & Sarah gluing it up at the March 2011 Crafty Night "Book Wreaths"

Do you have any Crafty Night pet peeves?

YES. I ask that guests please reserve a seat by letting me know if they're gonna come. It's really frustrating as I'm buying supplies, not knowing if 5 people are going to show up, or 25. This month (April) I did something a little bit different. I purchased supplies online. And I decided to buy enough for 20 people. I got the word out that I only had 20 spots available---& people have been signing up quicker than they ever have. More new people too! It's so much easier to buy supplies this way! So, I'm thinking I might start organizing Crafty Night with limited seating. See, I'm still working out kinks--I don't have everything figured out. I'm sorta learning as I go along. And that's the main thing: just do what works for you & your craft group. The hardest part of Crafty Night for me is not knowing the exact number of people that will be there every month. So, having a limited number of seats just might be the answer!

Have you ever taught a craft group before?

For 4 years I was the Creative Activites Leader at my MOPS group in Richland, WA. So, I got practice in purchasing supplies for a large-ish group (30-35) & teaching once a month.

Any other tips or advice??

•Crafty Night is about creating & getting crafty. But it's also about hanging out & being together & having fun. I try to find crafts that are fairly simple to explain in just a few minutes time. That way, once the group knows their mission, they can start crafting on their own--- & chat & giggle all at the same time. (Of course I'm always hopping around helping those that need help. I basically don't plan on making a craft of my own on Crafty Night because I'm either helping people or taking photos.) If I were to lead a step-by-step craft each month, it would just be me at the front of the group talking, going through each step, while everyone else quietly listened. My group would lose out on my favorite part: building friendships (& being loud & giggly)! 

 •I have tossed around the idea about whether or not to announce what the craft will be each month. I, personally, would rather know what craft was being concocted before I decided to go to a craft group. But I get more feedback from my crafty peeps that they enjoy NOT knowing & they love the surprise of showing up & finding out then. So, I've decided to keep the topic of each Crafty Night on the down low. I do have a few people that always ask "What are we going to be making?" & I don't mind sharing. Again, I may change my mind & start announcing the craft each month if I keep getting more & more people asking.

Marble magnets---first Crafty Night, March 2010

To view the Crafty Night photo collection, click HERE.

March of 2011, Crafty Night celebrated it's 1-year anniversary! Thanks for crafting with me all you creative peoples!
♥