Fun Kids Valentine

I saw these cute kids valentines on Martha's website, and decided to make some with Jayna for her to take to her play group on Valentines Day. They turned out super cute. 

On the 9th Day of Christmas...

*i love tilt shift photography it is so fun to play with*

On the 9th Day of Christmas... Santa's elves are just about done making Jayna's present. We have been trying to squeeze in time to work on it in here and there in-between shopping, making neighbor gifts, mailing gifts out, going to a live nativity, visiting friends, and trying to catch the Christmas mouse that decided to join our family this week. But tonight all we have to do is cut the bead-board and attach it to the back of each kitchen piece. Friends and family keep asking for a sneak-peek though so here are some pictures to hold you over until I can take pictures of the finished kitchen tonight. 

Play with Your Food

Even though the play kitchen still needs to be finished, and the hour glass to Christmas Day is quickly running out of sand I couldn't help but make these for Jayna's Kitchen.

Santa's Workshop is Now Open

It's official Santa's little elves are hard at work at the Hutchings home. Jayna loves little play kitchens and since she does not have one of her own to play with at home we decided that is what we would get her for Christmas this year. Shhhh!


Of course you know me I couldn't just go out and buy one...So this is post one of the home-made play kitchen we are making Jayna for Christmas.

Princess Perfect Gift Bags

We have a trip to the Magic Kingdom coming up soon and we are going with my husbands whole family. I am super excited to take Jayna for the first time, and know she will have a blast since she has two cousins about her same age. One that is four months older, and one that is 4 months younger. So when I came across a cute little tank top with three Disney princesses on it at Walmart it seemed like a no brainer times 3. From there I kept finding cute little things for the girls and finally had to just stop myself and package them all up. These would be really cute gift bags for a Princess party though.

Daddy O Ideas: Video Flip Book Tutorial

Fathers Day is coming up soon so I wanted to share some fun gift ideas I found via Martha. I added my own little twist to some of them and a tutorial so 
"Read On".

Semiprecious Candies

I am gearing up for next weekends Bake Sale and have one more item to sell checked off my list. 

I made these cute bags of candy jewels with custom labels to match my Bake Sale flyers. 

Cowgirl Cookie Mix

I am busy working on making these wonderful cowgirl cookie mixes from Bakerella for my Bake Sale coming up next month. I am trying to make it easy on myself since I will be the only on baking for it. I thought these would make a great Mother Day treat too, since the Bake Sale will be right before Mothers Day. Now I just need to print her labels out and slap them on the jars and I am done. So fun and easy! See you tomorrow!

Bakerella has full instructions on how to assemble and make this cookie mix if you are interested in making them yourself.

Knock Off Wood

If you have not heard of the Blog Knock Off Wood you need to get with it. In my opinion it is the biggest thing to hit the DIY Blogging world in a long time.

Ana of Knock Off Wood an Alaskan mommy and wife to a carpenter handy-man took things into her own hands one day when her husband wasn't getting around to fixing some porch steps, and just fixed them herself. Ana has been doing woodworking ever since and now her passion for knocking off high end furniture lines (hmm hmm Pottery Barn hmm hmm) has spilled over into the blog world and is inspiring everyone. Ana has full how to plans for beds, dressers, dining-room tables, office systems and more available on her blog, for get this... FREE!

My list of things to build off her site is a mile long. Starting with all the furniture for my soon to be craft-room of my dreams. However I did see this cute little kids picnic bench on her site and had to build it for Jayna.

It was a great starter project to get my feet wet, and went fairly well. I only needed the Husbands help to cute four pieces, and am sure that what I learned while doing this project will just make me better on the next. It is all about not underestimating yourself or your abilities, and that could be the single reason why Ana's blog is so popular.

I have already ordered my Milk Paint and Exterior Top-Coat in Buttermilk Yellow for the picnic bench, and with the help of Jayna have already distressed it a little. I didn't know a two year old could do such damage banging an old hinge on wood. Oh-well.

I encourage you to check out her blog, but only if you are ready to triple your to do list.

Birthday Month

This month is Jayna and I's birthday month! Almost two years ago she surprised me and came into this world on my Birthday. I love sharing my birthday with her! It has made the 14th that much more special for me. I know in the future she may not like the idea of sharing her birthday with her Mom, but I am willing to give mine up. After all I love to host and plan for parties! So as long as I can plan a party for her I am happy and that can be my birthday present. So I think it will work out well for both of us.

For our present this year the husband got us family pictures. This will be the first professional photo session we have done as a family. Crazy to think about since I have always been really into photography. We have not yet taken them and I have been searching for a photographer that will not charge and arm and a leg, but edits pictures in the style I like. I think I have found one, so hopefully by the end of the month I can show you pictures and do a post on the photographer.

Next year Jayna will be 3 and I will be 30. This will be the only time our birthday ages will match up number wise, so I am planning on celebrating big. I want to have a 3 ring circus theme and go all out. The weather here in Utah during March is still sketchy, but I am really wanting to do it outside. I have already started researching what I want to do and will most likely spend the next year planning it. Unfortunately we will not be having a big party this year since we had our Hip Hop party last year. The husband has put a party limit on things to keep us girls in check. I think it may end up back-firing on him though, because it makes me want to do even more the next year. Here are some fun inspirations I have found so far for next years party.

Vinyl Framed Letters

I ordered these vinyl letters for family presents this Christmas. They were super easy to do and really cheap. I think all together with the vinyl and frame it only cost me about $10 for each of them. I got the frames at Walmart and then just centered and laid the vinyl down on-to the glass. I thought they would look even cuter if you put scrapbook paper behind the glass. I of course made one for myself and now I just need to get decorating and find a place for it.

Side Note: Lets not talk about how I tripped and stepped on the one for my parents the day after Christmas and shattered it. Oh, well I will just have to get them another one.

Sorry for the lack of posts. I have company until after New Years.

Ableskeivers

What are they? They are like a waffle or pancake formed like a tennis ball in a special ableskeiver cast iron pan. In Denmark, æbleskiver are common before Christmas. In December, they are often served with gløgg, Scandinavian mulled wine. For our family they are a fun way for us to remember our heritage at breakfast time. When we were young kids we would have wars in the backyard with the leftover ableskeivers. As-well as a tasty treat to eat they make for a great object to throw at siblings. My little family has made it a tradition to have them for Christmas brunch along with hotcocoa, fresh orange juice, and our favorite quiches. Our favorite things to smother them in are hot syrup, powdered sugar, and homemade blackberry jam. This recipe was obtained from my great-great-grandmother on my Mom's side and was passed down from our ancestors in Denmark. So from my family to yours God jul "Good Yule" Ingredients: 3 eggs, separated 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 cups flour 2 tablespoons sugar 2 cups buttermilk Directions: In small mixing bowl beat egg whites to soft peak and set aside. In separate mixing bowl beat yolks slightly then add dry ingredients and milk. Fold in beaten egg whites. Fry in buttered ableskeiver pan. If you would like to make these yourself you can purchase an Ableskeiver pan at just about any specialty kitchen store, or I know Williams-Sonoma sells them and has recipes and how-to videos on their website. These little pans make for the perfect unique Christmas gift too.

Christmas Bells are Ringing

I made these simple bells last year for our ward to hand out to the elderly at a retirement community while caroling. They were bells from the Dollar Tree that came in a pack of four for a dollar of course (which I did see that they had again this year). I swapped out the cheap silver thread they had on the bells for a thin blue ribbon. Then I made these little tags with a verse from a Christmas song and a warm holiday wish from the ward to attach to the bells. You could make a much cuter tag to go on the bells with die-cuts etc. I had to make over a hundred of them so I kept it very simple.

I will probably skip posting tomorrow since we will be out of town. We are going up to Park City for the night to enjoy the snowy mountains. We may possibly get to go on a real "one horse open sleigh" ride too. I hope we do because I think little Jayna would love it.

13 Ounces or Less

Did you know that you can mail things through the U.S Postal system unpackaged if they are 13 ounces or less? The Giverslog has been experimenting with this little fact for awhile now, and this Christmas I decided to join in on the fun when I found the perfect thing at the dollar store.

Holiday Guest Favors

I am going to be holding a Christmas open house party since both Ryan's side of the family and my side of the family will be in-town for Christmas. We think it will be a good opportunity to have both families together and will allow us to see everyone at the same time so we do not have to be running from place to place Christmas week.

I saw these felt corsages in my recent Martha Stewart magazine and I thought they looked so festive and would be fun to make for all my guests to wear the night of the open house. So hopefully between making the playhouse, and painting the playroom I will be able to make these cute little guys.

Pottery Barn Kids Playhouse Lookalike

This last Saturday Ryan, Jayna, and I all went to Pottery Barn Kids to buy two red Everyday chairs for her Dr. Seuss playroom, that hopefully will be "mostly" done by Christmas (cross my fingers). While there Jayna loved playing with the different toys and kitchens, but she especially loved this little playhouse. She loved looking out the windows and playing pica boo with the door. I was talking to Ryan about how much she liked it and he said we should make her one for the playroom. I was surprised he wanted to do another project for that room, but I was not going to pass up the offer. I said regarding the frame "you think you can make that?", his response was "I can make that in two seconds!" So I challenged him to make it that night...

Instructions on This Project:

1. We figured out all of our measurements. Pottery Barn Kids had most of them listed on their website so that was a good starting point for us.



2. Ryan went to the hardware store and picked up several PVC pipes and lots of PVC joints.

3. We cut all of our PVC pipe down to the right lengths using a pipe cutter. Your husband may have one if he has ever worked on the sprinklers. It is a lot easier then using a hack saw and there is no mess with the pipe cutter.


4. We started putting our frame together with all of our joints we purchased.


5. The pitched roof took some additional calculating of which I can not re-explain to you since square roots were involved.


6. Then with-in less then twenty minutes (almost = to two seconds) We had the frame of our playhouse.

So Pottery Barn can keep it's $200 playhouse. Although now it is up to me to sew the fabric for it and add all the little touches and details to it. I am going to do the house out of felt and it will be a Dr. Seuss house of course. I just have to find time to fit it in before Christmas.

I will have more details on this project later, and depending on how easy it is to sew I will think about selling kits if anyone is interested. This playhouse is a lot like the card table playhouses if you have seen those. I love the pitched roof though and it allows taller older kids to play in it as-well. So your kids will not grow out of it as fast.

So, thank you awesome husband!

Holiday Neighbor Gifts

If you are thinking about what to do for neighbor gifts this year here is an idea. I did these fortune cookies dipped in colored chocolates and sprinkles last year and they turned out really great. We placed them in fortune cookie boxes with colored tissue paper. Then made custom labels to go on the front of the boxes. We made a lot of them and I was worried it was going to take forever to do, but the dipping of the fortune cookies went surprisingly easy and fast.

Birthday Party Favor Bags

These may look like little kid birthday favors, but they were actually for my husbands 29th birthday party that we had on Saturday. He is married to Miss party planner, but every year he does the same thing on his birthday. We go to the nickel arcade with his closest friends (and every 7 year old that has their birthday on the same day as him), get hot wings, and play at the house for the rest of the night. So each year I sneak a little cuteness into the boy event by making them party favor bags that have fun treats in them that they can snack on while they play video games. The boys, I mean men really like them and look forward to what will be in the bag each year.



This year I made these cute little labels that can be printed out and cut to fit plain brown paper lunch sacks. I thought they looked fun, and fit in with the nights activities.

Halloween Freebie!

It may be to late for most of you to sneak in one more Halloween project, but here is the best Halloween freebie around from Love. Obsess. Inspire. So for those of you who are feeling ambitious or are already thinking of how you can make your Halloween decor even better next year, these would be a perfect addition to your bag-o-treats. Don't miss out on these free printables. Enjoy and Happy Halloween from the Bird and the Berry!

You Have Been Booed

I remember as a kid packaging up plates of pumpkin cookies to go ditch on neighbors doors. We would leave a cute little note that explained that they had been booed and were to pass it on to other neighbors.We also would leave directions for them to place a boo sign we had left them in their window. Then we would beg are parents each night to drive us around the neighbor hood so that we could see how far are booing had spread. This year my mom booed me by mail, so I had to pass it on. Here is my new take on an old favorite halloween tradition. I hope no-one I booed sees this post!




I made the boo sign and tags on the computer, and bought the cute little buckets at Walmart. The pumpkin cookie recipe is my mom's. She created it by combining several recipes years ago, and now it is a family staple and favorite during October. They are the best pumpkin cookies by far.