NBA Cupcakes

David wanted an NBA party for his 6th birthday, complete with NBA cupcakes. I really didn't think I could draw every NBA logo on the cupcakes, so I improvised. I printed logos of all the teams (current and old logos) and cut them out. Make sure you print two copies of all the logos. 

Then I cut a party straw into thirds. I taped one of the logos to the party straw. Then I attached the other copy of the same logo to the other side. This way the logo showed up on both sides of the cupcake. 

I frosted the cupcakes with orange frosting and drew on black lines to make them resemble a basketball. The boys stuck in the party straws and divided the teams into the East and West divisions. 

We set them up on both sides of the basketball cake. (http://workingmomwonders.blogspot.com/2014/07/basketball-cake.html)

Basketball Cake

I used a Wilton ball cake pan to make this cake. I used one cake mix and split it between the two halves of the cake pan. I baked it at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. (To prepare the cake pan so the cake comes out cleanly from the pan, use Wilton cake release spray.) 

Frost the middles of the cakes and put one on top of the other. With black frosting, draw a line, dividing the ball in half. Then divide each half into four sections. Fill in the rest of the cake with orange frosting using a star tip. 

I created the platter out of a dollar store vase and platter and a basketball net I found at Wal-Mart. 

Basketball Hoop Serving Tray

We saw a picture of something similar on Pinterest, so we decided to make our own for David's NBA birthday party tomorrow.

I bought a plastic vase and tray from the Dollar Tree and a basketball net from Wal-Mart. Then I taped the neat to the top of the tray.

Detroit Tiger Clothespin Men

We went to the Tigers game last night for David's birthday. It was the first time we sat "front row" at any game. We sat right behind the Tigers Bullpen. We thought it would be cool to give some of the players their clothespins, so we dropped them off to the bullpen workers to give to the players. Here are the ones we made: 
Phil Coke, Miguel Cabrera, and Max Scherzer

This is one we made earlier with arms. (Made from pipe cleaners.)

I made the cap out of blue cardstock. I painted on a D with a toothpick and white paint. 

I put a little piece of blue cardstock around the neck part of the clothespin. I drew on a Nike swoosh sign with the toothpick and paint. The jersey and pants are white felt hot glued around the clothespin. The belt is a piece of black felt glued on. The lines down the jersey and pants are strips of cardstock glued on. I cut out a D from the cardstock as well.

I wrote their names on a piece of contact paper and glued it on the felt. Phil Coke's goatee is made from crafting fur. 

We saw an incredible game! Tigers won 14-5! 

PVC Pipes for the Bathtub

Rachel loves to dump water from one cup to another. To add another level to her "dumping" play in the bathtub, we bought a sink replacement and held it into place with suction cups. She loved it! 

Statue of Liberty Craft

David has recently become very interested in the Statue of Liberty. So, we decided to do a craft around the statue and the 4th of July. 

I printed a picture of the Statue of Liberty and taped it to a piece of white cardstock. 

Then we sponge painted red, white, and blue paint over the picture. 

When it dried we removed the image. 

Natty Boh and Sally Utz Wedding Cakes

Today I completed my first wedding cake/cupcake job. The wedding theme revolved around Natty Boh and Sally Utz. (The couple resides in Baltimore.)

After frosting the cakes, I drew the image on with a toothpick. (I printed an image I wanted to use. Then traced the outside of the image on the cake. I freehand drew the inside features.)  Then I colored in the image with black Wilton frosting, using a thin writing tip. I accented with red and blue frosting. 

Toothpicks are a great tool to use when decorating cakes. Frosting can be maneuvered with the toothpick as well if it doesn't lay exactly the way you want it. 

Olaf Sight Word Game

We have been working on teaching my son how to read before he starts Kindergarten. He is definitely a kinesthetic learner, so I had to get creative when showing him some sight words. He loves games and competition, and most kids I know love Olaf from Frozen, so I tried to put those two things together to make learning a little more fun for him. 

I started with some large styrofoam cups. I drew my best Olaf on the cup with a Sharpie. Then I cut the bottom out of the cup. I covered the bottom of the cup with a white balloon. (I cut off the tie part of the balloon so it fit over the cup.) I drew on the balloon so it looked like Olaf's sticks that are on the top of his head. 

Next I wrote words on some ping pong balls. (I used 8 words from the list found here: http://www.education.com/magazine/article/prekindergartensightwords/

After he masters these words, I will add different word balls. 

He picked a ball and placed it inside the cup. We said the word a few times. We decided to "shoot" the ping pong balls into their little basketball hoop. You could use any bowl or other object to shoot the balls into. 

To get the ball to come out, he pushed the palm of his hand against the balloon. The ball came flying out of the cup. If he missed the basket, he picked up the ball, read the word, and then tried again. After he made that ball in the hoop, he put it in a "done" cup. Then he picked a new ball and repeated the process. 

In 15 minutes of playing the game, we had pretty much mastered these words. Much more exciting than flashcards!! 

4th of July Firecracker Treats

While looking for 4th of July snacks, we came across a picture resembling these firecrackers. 

I cut up a banana into four pieces and dipped the bottom of each banana piece in blue melting chocolate. I had some Christmas star sprinkles (green, red, and white), so I just took out the green stars and put the red and white ones on the blue chocolate. 

Then we added a squirt of Redi-Whip and added a Bing cherry on top. 

Duck Dynasty Clothespin Guys

Our next clothespin guys are Si, Phil, Willie, and Jase Robertson from Duck Dynasty. Our collection now consists of Duck Dynasty guys, Frozen characters, Bob Ross, and Max Scherzer clothespins.

I started using camo fabric for pants. (I hot glued everything on.) 

I cut black felt for the v-neck t-shirts. 

I found the "hair" at Michael's. It is called Felt Works 100% wool roving. 

I added bandannas made out of scrapbook paper to Phil and Willie. I added camo fabric for a hat on Si and black felt for a hat on Jase. 

I found the clothespin doll stands at Michael's as well.  

If you want the guys to have arms, attach pipe cleaners and cover the top of the pipe cleaner with black felt. 

NBA Ticket Invites

My son wanted an NBA-theme birthday party, so we decided to send out tickets for his birthday party. I did these on a photo publisher program. I found the NBA logos and barcode image online and inserted them on the invite. 

Italian Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

1 box pasta, cooked, drained, and cooled

About 3 cups of chopped veggies: I use peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

3 mozzarella cheese sticks cut up into bite-size pieces

a handful of pepperoni 

1 cup of Italian salad dressing

3 1/2 Tablespoons Salad Supreme seasoning

Cook your pasta. I like to use either the garden veggie trio pasta or ruffles. 

Cut up the veggies and place in a bowl. 

Add the pepperoni and mozzarella cheese. This is optional, but I like the added flavor it gives.

Add the pasta, the dressing, and seasoning. Stir and chill until serving. 

Easy Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

Ingredients:

1/3 cup (3/4 of a stick) butter, melted

1 cup brown sugar

1 20 oz. can pineapple slices, plus juice

1 yellow cake mix, plus oil and eggs required for the cake mix

maraschino cherries, optional 

Place the melted butter in the bottom of a 9x13 in. cake pan. Spread the brown sugar across the top of the butter.

Place the pineapple slices on top of the brown sugar. Reserve the juice in a measuring cup. 

Mix the cake according to the box directions, except use the reserved pineapple juice instead of the water. (You may have to add a little water to get the required amount of liquid. It just depends on the cake mix.)

Spread the cake over the pineapple. Bake according to the cake mix instructions, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Mine took about 5 minutes longer than what the box said.

Immediately spread a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it. Invert the cake on a sheet cake pan. Add cherries to the middle of the slices if you desire. 

Rainbow Kabobs

The kids had a rainbow party at daycare a couple of weeks ago. This was our contribution. On the kabob sticks are strawberries, mandarin oranges, pineapple, kiwi, blueberries, and grapes. 

Gift for Father's/Mother's/Grandparent's Day

This gift would really work for anyone you want to send a message to. We did this for Father's Day and as a birthday gift for the grandparents. I bought a picture frame that held four 4x6 pictures. I used a clipboard and a piece of white printer paper for the messages. In the picture of all the kids, I wrote: "We Love You Because...". Each kid then responded with their own response as to why they love the person we were talking about. (I have also used a small chalkboard to write messages.) 

I used puffy paint to write the message on the frame. 

Baseball Rice Krispies

We took treats for the t-ball players today. These were quick and easy. 

I made Rice Krispie treats (Melt 3 Tablespoons butter and 6 cups mini-marshmallows. Stir in 6 cups of cereal). Then I spread the treats in a shallow pan. I cut 12 circles with a cookie cutter. 

I added red cupcake icing to represent the baseball lines.

Max Scherzer Clothespin Man

After making the Frozen dolls (http://workingmomwonders.blogspot.com/2014/05/frozen-dolls-made-from-clothespins.html)  and Bob Ross out of clothespins, the boys have plenty of other ideas for clothespin men. Max Scherzer was on the top of their list of people to make. 

I made the cap out of blue cardstock. I painted on a D with a toothpick and white paint. 

I put a little piece of blue cardstock around the neck part of the clothespin. I drew on a Nike swoosh sign with the toothpick and paint. The jersey and pants are white felt hot glued around the clothespin. The arms are white pipe cleaners. (I covered the top of the pipe cleaner with white fleece.) The belt is a piece of black felt glued on. The lines down the jersey and pants are strips of cardstock glued on. I cut out a D from the cardstock as well.

Of course, there is one blue eye and one brown eye drawn on with a sharpie. 

For the back, I just cut out his number  (37) from the cardstock and glued it on. I used black sharpie to add shoes. 

Bob Ross Clothespin Man

After making the entire Frozen cast out of clothespins (http://workingmomwonders.blogspot.com/2014/05/frozen-dolls-made-from-clothespins.html), I decided to tackle some more...

A family friend learned how to paint the Bob Ross technique, so I created this display for her for her birthday today.  (I got the idea from Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/282812051575039572/).

For the pants, I used an old pair of stretchy jeans my daughter had grown out of. I hot glued pieces of the fabric around the two bottom halves. Then I added a piece of brown felt for the belt. The shirt is a piece of light blue felt that I hot glued on. 

For the arms, I covered a piece of white pipe cleaner with blue felt for each arm. Then I hot glued that to the clothespin. I cut a circle out of corkboard paper and added some puffy paint to attach to one of the arms. The paint brush is a piece of white pipe cleaner with a mini brown puffball glued to the end. I added a little bit of paint to the end of the brown puffball. 

The hair and beard are brown tulle glued to the top of the clothespin. The easel is created with three popsicle sticks that I hot glued together. I glued a small popsicle stick to create a ledge for the picture to sit on. The picture is an image I found online and glued to a piece of cardboard. 

The base is a piece of cardboard with blue felt glued to it. 

Triple Crown Cupcakes

My 5-year-old son is a sports fanatic. When he heard about the horse race on Sports Center, we knew we would have to watch it. And after hearing about the lives the owners live, it just makes me want to cheer on California Chrome even more. This horse really does represent America and all the hard-working, everyday Americans. So, I decided to make a little treat for the show. (I just used writing icing and sparkle food gel to write on the cupcakes.) 

Kids' Passport Scrapbook

My daughter has recently become interested in maps. And we go on a lot of random day trips during the summer, so I thought I would try to develop a summer activity that would help the kids document the fun things they did and learn a little bit about maps along the way.

I decided to create a "Passport" scrapbook for them. 

I started by gathering blue cardstock, white computer paper, fasteners, markers, stickers, paint swatches, and red/white/blue scrapbook paper.

I folded a piece of blue cardstock and 5 pieces of white paper in half. I trimmed a little section off of the white paper stack so it was smaller than the cardstock. I stapled the stack of white paper together with two staples at each end of the fold. 

Then I used a fastener to attach the cover to the white pages. 

I tried to just staple the cover, but every time I opened the passport, the staples would become loose. 

Next I made passport cards. I cut a rectangle out of blue and white star construction paper. Then I added a piece of red construction paper. I wrote all of the passport facts on the red paper. Then I added a picture of each kid over the star paper. 

To make the "stamps" for the passports, I cut rectangles out of paint swatches. (I used fancy edge scissors.) I also used some cake -pop sticker labels for some of the bigger trips we had gone on. 

I wrote Passport and United States of America on the front cover and added an American flag sticker. 

I added some stickers and some stamps of the places we have been most recently. 

On the back of the passport, I glued on a blank map of the United States. The kids will color in the states they have been to. 

For another map element, I glued on a world map in the back of the passport. 

Memorial Day/Flag Day/4th of July Craft

This craft will work for Memorial Day, Flag Day, or the 4th of July. We saw a similar picture on Pinterest, so we set out to create our version. We started by cutting a rectangle from a piece of blue construction paper. Then the kids cut strips from red construction paper. They painted white "stars" on the blue rectangle. 

We made the eagle from brown, white, and yellow felt. Then David used his hands and brown paint to put on the feathers. Matt chose to draw his eagle instead of using felt. We finished by adding google eyes.