{4th of July Suncatchers}

Suncatchers are a pretty way to dress up any window.

They also let your neighbors know you love crafts!
 The first time I met a teacher neighbor down the street was when she knocked on my door with a ton of leftover school crafts. She said she always sees projects on my doors and windows and thought that I would appreciate it. Um...heck ya I did!

 
Grab some clear contact paper and any leftover craft supplies you can find.

These have red crepe paper, glitter, red/white/blue button, star stickers and flag stickers.

Cut your contact paper any shape that you want, make sure to leave the bottoms attached to fold over like a card. Fill one side with all your goodies on the sticky part. Fold the other piece on top.

Put a hole punch on the top and string some cute ribbon in. I love this ribbon...too bad you can't see it well.

Happy Independence Day...!

Spruce Up Your Cupcakes...!

4th of July is one of my favorite holidays to make food. The fruit and veggies in the summer are too die for. The BBQing .....and icecreams....yum!

Decorating your favorite desserts can make them look even more special to your guests.

I {my husband too!} love to work with chocolate. It can spruce up a dessert and make it look oh so cute...! I wanted to add some chocolate stars on top of these Jello Poke Cupcakes we made.

I just got my mold {Michaels or online}, a microwavable bowl, colored chocolate melts from Michaels {can also use Almond Bark which I prefer and color it with food coloring}, and a spoon.

 Melt your chocolate in the microwave {you can use a double boiler...instructions are on bag of candy melts} for 1 minute. Stir the chocolate around and melt for another 30 seconds until all the way melted through {if you need another 30 seconds...keep going}.

If you want to add liquid flavoring, you can during this step. Peppermint, strawberry...etc.

Put the chocolate in the mold. I just used the spoon. You can also put it in a candy bottle {looks like a ketchup/mustard bottle} and squeeze into the mold.

Refrigerate for 5-10 minutes. It gets hard fast.

Pop them out carefully. If they are stuck, run the plastic side under warm water...but they usually just come right out. When you use the spoon like I did, you get the chocolate around the star as well. It comes right off. Just go around each star with your fingers and pull off.

Super fast and easy...!

Grab your cupcakes.

These were Jello Poke Cupcakes. Really easy to make as well. It's too hot to be cooking all day in the summer...!

Get white cake mix and make your cake or cupcakes {I used yellow in these...didn't want to venture to the store in this 100 degree plus heat}. When cooled, poke with a stick or fork to make holes pretty far down. Make strawberry jello {the liquid, not set yet} and pour onto each cupcake or cake. Put clear plastic wrap over the plate or dish and refrigerate for 2 hours. They stay moist.

Decorate....!

Cool whip is so refreshing in the summer. I beat whipping cream and put on top. Cream cheese frosting is delicious or....Cool Whip with vanilla pudding folded in...!

Add your star and it is complete.

The only thing about the chocolate in the summer is that it melts. We always have our food inside though, just because Cool Whip and fruit and potato salad...that stuff doesn't take heat well and hot mayo....yuck! So, I like to make chocolate decorations still.

My oldest daughter made these decorations. She loves to help...and I love to let her.

Fresh blueberries....!

I'll leave you with another super simple dessert. If you want to try another Jello type cake. This time the gelatin is actually mixed into the batter. Am I a baker or what? {haha} The simplest things are best!

Watermelon Cake
1 package White Cake Mix
1 package {3 oz.} Watermelon Gelatin
2 Eggs
1 1/4 cup Water
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
Cream Cheese Frosting

• Mix dry cake, gelatin, eggs, water and oil.
• Beat for 2 minutes.
• Pour into greased and floured pan.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Handprint Fireworks...!

The little ones always ask to "make a project with you Mama."

I needed some pretty 4th of July decorations around the house....to make it festive.

They love handprint projects so I had them make some Handprint Fireworks...!

 
 
They just put their red and blue painted hands onto a white paper. When it was wet, they added their glitter. I cut them out when dried. When I hung them up, I kind of crumbled the edges so they stick out alot {hard to tell from picture.}
This project was so much fun..!

 

Muffin Tin Monday Breakfast...!

It's Monday...!

The kids are all out of school and we had a Muffin Tin Breakfast.

Last week, we did our tin {but didn't post} and the big kids were so upset that I didn't put their food into muffin cups. So, I had to do this for all of them. Kids?! It doesn't matter what age they are....they're still kids.

Our breakfast was...... Cantalope, Yogurt with Blueberries and an Egg Sandwich on a Croissant.
Delicious...! I want some for dinner too.

Women Be Craftin....#2

Last weekend, us gals created our second Craft Project...here alone...without kiddos...!

All the projects that we are making this summer are based on a Birthday Theme. We made this Birthday Board featured here on How Does She.

Everything is ready and set-up waiting to be created....with coffee brewing.

This was my end result of the Birthday Board....!

The vinyl is from My Talking Walls. She is a gem...!

{The back of the Board}

I used colors that could be used for a Boy Birthday or Girl Birthday.

I had leftover wood and have been craftin away ever since.

Here is another Birthday Project that I made.

I make alot of cookie pops {sugar cookies shaped like a theme with sticks in them} for parties. This would hold them perfectly or lollipops or even the balloons that are featured in the Birthday Board tutorial.

{The back of the holder}

Isn't it amazing what you can do with 2 X 4's?!

Mantel Wreath....!

There is a cute wreath I have been lusting over on etsy.com for a few months now. The wall over my mantel has been bare waiting for that beauty. It's $65 though.....and out of my budget for now. So, I decided to try to do my own thang. I had none of the materials that were on that cute wreath and I had to use what I had. There are a million tutorials on creating wreaths out there. I just mixed up like 3 or 4 wreaths that I had seen before.

I started with a straw wreath and left the plastic part on it. Using burlap, that I cut into strips....I wrapped it around the wreath form. I secured it with floral greening pins.

Next, I crumbled coffee filters and secured them onto the burlap sporadically. The greening pins were how I secured the coffee filters as well.

Using some scraps of fabric, I made some fabric flowers and hot glued them all together on to the coffee filters.

Easy Peasy...! I haven't quite decided if it's too plain for the wall....for the mantel...the center of the room.

I might add some pearls in the center or buttons or little flowers or maybe some ribbon? I just wanted my eyes to get used to it up on the wall first before I decide.
A non-bare wall is a good thing...!

{This is the updated version with a C in the middle...!}

Lovin it..!

Bucket List Check-Off...!

Remember our Summer Bucket List?

Things are actually getting checked off...yay! Well, slower than usual because we are functioning on one car in our family now. It's not fun. I'm still trying to keep the kiddos busy at home the days we can't go out.

*Same picture..not updated*

Angela at The Creative Homemaker posted this Activity Plan printout.

It is a must-have next to the Bucket List...!

I totally recommend going and printing this list, so much so that I didn't even post what I was going to post today! Now, I know what each of the kids thought about the activities and was able to write the dates that we are expected to do the project.

It's a win-win printout. Mama is organized and making sure things get done....and the kids are having fun doing the things...!

{Moon} Rocks

We continued on our Space Theme and learned a little about the Moon.

Before we went over pictures and facts about the Moon, I decided to have them make some Moon Rocks...! I did this before just because I know after they see the actual photos...all of them will have the same exact color and try to make them exact. I just wanted to see what they thought the Moon looks like first. This is an easy class project as well.

Just gather some rocks and have the kids paint them whatever color they think the Moon looks like. When dried, add some glue and glitter.

Imagine if we could really go to space and get rocks. Remember back in the days, when people thought by the year 2010 we would have flying cars and anyone could go to space?! I really wish I had the robot maid from the Jetsons...!

Busy fantasizing here.....where was I....oh ya...Moon Rocks....ROCK!

To All You Fathers...!

Happy Father's Day to all you wonderful Dad's out there....!

Now, I'm just messing with you guys...!

Happy Father's Day!

Men are leaders, examples and hard workers.

I am so glad to have a special man in my life.

God truly knew what He was doing when he created people.

Enjoy your day Dad's. You deserve it...!

Sandwich Challenge...!

From time to time, my husband and I challenge each other to a Food Contest. We love watching the Food Network together...! Cooking together is a bonding experience for us. This week we had a Sandwich Cookoff...!

The kids each had judging score sheets. They had to circle a happy face, a face with a straight mouth for it being ok, or a sad face. The categories were Taste, Creativity and Plating. They know what each of these mean because we watch Iron Chef all the time.

This was my Spaghetti Sandwich...!

For the sourdough bread, I mixed together minced garlic and butter and cheese. It got nice and toasty in the oven. I used linguine noodles just so they were a little thicker. The sauce also had petite diced tomatoes. When the bread came out of the oven...I added the spaghetti and sprinkled Parmesan cheese on top of the pasta and added Spinach leaves. After I closed the bread to make a sandwich, I brushed the tops with olive oil. Using a foil covered cookie sheet, I put it on top of all the sandwiches. I didn't have a brick so I used a heavy ceramic pan to put weight onto the tops...then toasted it for a few more minutes. It was supposed to be Panini Style. It was nice and crunchy and flavorful. It was a delicious sandwich!

Noe made a Mexican Style Sandwich. First, he cooked some diced chicken with a red sauce of tomato sauce and El Pato sauce. He then boiled diced potatoes in the same sauce and added garlic salt. They thickened. To assemble the sandwich, he used some Mexican style rolls and put cheese on top. The chicken and potatoes came next. He ended the sandwich with avocados and sour cream and spinach leaves. This was a tasty sandwich as well...! We have lots of leftovers for breakfast.

I tried to bribe the judges with a little chocolate when I served them my plate.
After much deliberation, the Chairman announced that my crunchy sandwich had taken the title this time...!
Battle Sandwich was over...!

Space Theme..!

The Camacho Kiddos are starting off the summer doing a few Space Themed Activities.

Each summer we choose a theme or two and do some activities around it. Last summer we did a Camping Theme and Ocean Theme. We're so loosey goosey with it though. Whatever we get done we get done...whatever we don't, we don't..!

What better way to start off a theme than eating?!

We ordered some Astronaut Food for each of us to try...!

Wow....my cooking isn't that bad after all {haha!} The kids really appreciated dinner that night.

Noah did not like the Space Strawberries at all. To be honest, I almost spit them out...but I was trying to set an example, even fighting tears in my eyes.

Their favorite was the Mint and Chip Ice Cream.

Patience just nibbled here and there...!

It was an Out Of This World way to start our theme.

Stay tuned for whatever projects we get done...!

Theme of the Week {Chicka Chicka Boom Boom}

We had a fun Chicka Chicka Boom Boom week...!

Chicka Boom Book made out of Die-Cuts.

File Folder Game I made where the girls use the numbers or letters to put on the Coconut Tree.

Alphabet Soup for lunch.

Beach Bucket Game with letters inside. They pull a letter out at a time and say what sound it makes.

Coconut Shrimp for dinner.

Chicka Boom Projects. Both trees were made from tearing the brown paper. Alphabets on one are stickers and Die-Cuts on the other. Buttons were used as coconuts on one project.

Coconut Tree Snack. I saw a similar one on ABC and 123.

Real Coconuts.

My children also made these Counting Books that you can download here.

There is also a coloring sheet you can also download here.