A Crafty Soiree #44

With the Fourth of July next Monday, I couldn't think of a better theme for this week's features!  To all my readers Stateside, I hope you all have a safe and happy weekend!  Happy Early Independence Day!

Made by Meech turned three pieces of wood into wooden fireworks, a cute decoration you can enjoy for years!

 One treat you'll find at most Fourth of July celebrations is ice cream, and She's {Kinda} Crafty has a free printable to make yours festive!

Chevrons continue to pop up everywhere, I really like this patriotic twist on them at Kitty Cats and Airplanes.
<a href="http://www.katiesnestingspot.com/" target="_blank"><img width="150" border="0" alt="A Crafty Soiree" src="http://i679.photobucket.com/albums/vv157/KTnestingspot/Blog%20Buttons/FeaturedOnBlueButtoncopy.jpg" /></a>Ladies, for being our features this week, we're happy to offer you our special Crafty Soiree Ribbon! It's yours to proudly display! Don't forget to check out today's Crafty Soiree post at Yesterday on Tuesday, we both pick three participants to feature each week so you might have been featured by Malia. But you'll have to visit her to find out! <a href="http://www.katiesnestingspot.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img width="150" border="0" alt="Katie's Nesting Spot" src="http://i679.photobucket.com/albums/vv157/KTnestingspot/Blog%20Buttons/KatiesNestingSpotButtoncopy.jpg" /></a>Now it's your turn to link up! The linky will be open for a week, so you have plenty of time to join us! Here are some guidelines for our guests:

• Link up to 4 creative projects!
• Add your links to the specific posts and not your blog's homepage.
• Add my Crafty Soiree button above or link back to me in your posts, so others can find us and join in!
• Please comment on the post linked up in front of you. All partygoers love meeting new friends... don't just stop there...if you see something that catches your fancy-- stop by and say hi!
• Please consider following the hostesses, me and Malia, we want to get to know our guests
• Most importantly... enjoy yourself and have fun!

Don't forget, A Crafty Soiree is hosted on two blogs, so when you link up on one your link will automatically show up on the other one too! Please note, by linking up to A Crafty Soiree, you're giving permission to feature your project and photos in the future, with proper credit of course☺

CAT 8" Tough Tracks Review

It's summer time and that means on any given afternoon, we can found playing in our sand table!  New to our toys selection this year is a CAT 8" Tough Tracks Excavator from Toy Slate.  This sturdy plastic toy is sized right for preschoolers aged 2 and up and will withstand years of creative play.  The entire top of the toy swivels smoothly and it's easy to extend the arm to scoop up sand.  You can see it in action, as my daughter plays with it in the video below.
I mentioned the beach in the video.  That would be an ideal place to take our CAT 8" Tough Tracks Excavator, because we spend most of our time there pretending to build sand castles.   Now we'll have the perfect toy to help with the construction of our dream water front home.  Since CAT 8" Tough Tracks are made out of plastic, with no metal parts, you don't have to worry about sharp edges or things getting rusty over time.  Those features combined with it's compact size, makes it a good toy to bring along to many different places.  I am excited to play with along one of Michigan's many beautiful lakes, this summer.

Along with the CAT 8" Tough Track vehicle, we got a cool construction hat that really set the mood for play time. Listening to her make pretend vehicle noises while she "builds" and wears the hat is really cute!   I can't tell you how many times I've seen kids just stopped in their tracks watching construction vehicles at work.  My friend's son calls all of them "diggers", the CAT lines of toys from Toy Slate is perfect for all the little "digger" enthusiasts!

CAT 8" Tough Tracks are by Toy Slate and besides the CAT Excavator, they're also available in CAT Dump Truck, CAT Bulldozer, and CAT Wheel Loader at the following retailers: Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, and Target.  The suggest retail price is $10.00.  No batteries are required, just a your imagination.



Disclaimer: I received the complimentary samples through Team Mom from Toy Slate.  The experiences and opinions related within are personal and unbaised.  No other compensation was received.

A Baby Celebration

Last week Brad's coworkers threw us a little baby party and I finally got my very first diaper cake!!!  I've seen these all over the web and even contemplated making one as a gift before.  I think they are such a fun idea!  It was made out of  full box of diapers, burp cloths, crinkle elephant, linky toys, and a soft blanket.  They also gave us a gift card, a big thank you to everyone at his office. 

We also enjoyed cake, which unfortunately I didn't think to take a picture of.  I was so impressed by the fondant baby decoration on it, that I think all rational thought left my mind.  Here's a picture of it on our leftovers:

Matchbox Gift Container

Several years ago I bought a kit that included some paper templates for gift boxes.  I never used them because I didn't care for the paper designs, but recently I rediscovered them while organizing supplies.  They were worth hanging onto as templates. 

The oversized matchbox gift container came in handy when we went to an end of the school year celebration.  We wanted to take a little gift to the girls there and needed to fancy it up a bit.  The inner compartment slides out and were perfect for the lady bug mirrors.  A little ribbon and a die cut first initial attached with a jump ring completed the boxes.  Pretty darn cute I think.  Don't you love making something a little bit more special?

Shared At: Skip to my Lou, Embellishing Life, Craft-O-Manic, Sew Can Do, and Keeping It Simple

Zhu Zhu Pets Movie: Quest for Zhu Trailer

Kids fans of Zhu Zhu Pets?  Get ready for their first feature length animated film starring the four original ZhuZhu Pets® characters Pipsqueak, Mr. Squiggles, NumNums and Chunk.  The "Quest for Zhu" is an adventurous, heartwarming and heroic tale that Zhu-natics of all ages are sure to love.  Check out the extended trailer above, and then get ready for it's release this fall.


Disclosure: Sharing this information will earn me a chance to win a copy of the "Quest for Zhu" DVD when it's released.

Cars 2 Races into Theaters Today

Earlier this week my family attended a prescreening of the new Cars movie and had a great time at the event!  Radio Disney was there to entertain us with quizzes & prizes beforehand and ER got a copy of the cool poster, shown below, while we waited in line for our 3D glasses.  We had awesome seats and the 3D really enhances the enjoyment of the film, adding a lot of depth to the animation.  It was ER's second time at a theater ever, and she was so excited!

I was probably the only person in the theater who hadn't seen the first Cars movie and was worried it would be an issue.  Happily that didn't matter at all, because as my husband told me afterward, Cars 2 has new settings and characters that make it easy to quickly get into the action.  Speaking of action, there's a lot of it going on in Cars 2.  It's fun spy thriller type movie for kids, that also has an underlying message of the importance of being true to yourself and valuing friendship. 




Here's a brief plot description:

Star racecar Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) and the incomparable tow truck Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy) take their friendship to exciting new places in “Cars 2” when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world’s fastest car. But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and hilarious surprises when Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage. Mater finds himself torn between assisting Lightning McQueen in the high-profile race and towing the line in a top-secret mission orchestrated by master British super spy Finn McMissile (voice of Michael Caine) and the stunning rookie field spy Holley Shiftwell (voice of Emily Mortimer). Mater’s action-packed journey leads him on an explosive chase through the streets of Japan and Europe, trailed by his friends and watched by the whole world. The fast-paced fun includes a colorful new all-car cast, complete with menacing villains and international racing competitors.

The only note of caution for parents I'd give is to expect some cartoon violence with the international espionage theme.  It's done well, not gratuitous or graphic but there were some indications of car injury and some very unfortunate things do happen to captured good guy type car agents...that seemed to indicate they were done away with.  The action level is closer to the Incredibles than say a Toy Story. 

Cars 2 is rated G and as to be expected from a Disney Pixar project, the animation is spectacular and the storyline captivating.  There's a Toy Story short, "Hawaiian Vacation" that opens the movie that's a very entertaining bonus; one fans of Woody & Buzz will as excited to see as the movie itself.  Cars 2 is sure to be  popular with families.  As soon as it finished my daughter turned to me and asked when we could buy it on DVD.    I think that pretty much confirms it's hit status!

"Like" Cars 2 on Facebook to learn more and connect with other fans.



Disclosure: Complimentary tickets were provided to a pre-screening.  Opinions and experiences related within are personal and unbiased.  No other compensation was provided.

A Crafty Soiree #43

Hi Crafty Friends!  Welcome to another week of sharing and inspiration!  Before you link up or hop around the links, I wanted to let you know I've got a new giveaway perfect for all the creative little girls.  Two winners will each win an awesome kit from Creativity for Kids, the Fashion Headbands Kit that includes everything you need to make ten cute headbands...all the ribbons, accessories, and even the glue come with it!  Check it out and enter:)  Now onto this week's features!

Last week I noticed several pretty bags, all featuring blue, my daughter's favorite color:)  The first is a simply beautiful curvy clutch from A Winding Road.

Then I spied this Jordan bag by Jamie at I'm a Mom not a Professional.  The bright blue & white pattern reminds me of my daughter's current favorite Vera Bradley pattern.

The last on Pink Stitches, is a pretty pink print on the outside, with a bit of a surprise pop aqua inside.  It's so fun and summery! <a href="http://www.katiesnestingspot.com/" target="_blank"><img width="150" border="0" alt="A Crafty Soiree" src="http://i679.photobucket.com/albums/vv157/KTnestingspot/Blog%20Buttons/FeaturedOnBlueButtoncopy.jpg" /></a>Ladies, for being our features this week, we're happy to offer you our special Crafty Soiree Ribbon! It's yours to proudly display! Don't forget to check out today's Crafty Soiree post at Yesterday on Tuesday, we both pick three participants to feature each week so you might have been featured by Malia. But you'll have to visit her to find out! <a href="http://www.katiesnestingspot.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img width="150" border="0" alt="Katie's Nesting Spot" src="http://i679.photobucket.com/albums/vv157/KTnestingspot/Blog%20Buttons/KatiesNestingSpotButtoncopy.jpg" /></a>Now it's your turn to link up! The linky will be open for a week, so you have plenty of time to join us! Here are some guidelines for our guests:

• Link up to 4 creative projects!
• Add your links to the specific posts and not your blog's homepage.
• Add my Crafty Soiree button above or link back to me in your posts, so others can find us and join in!
• Please comment on the post linked up in front of you. All partygoers love meeting new friends... don't just stop there...if you see something that catches your fancy-- stop by and say hi!
• Please consider following the hostesses, me and Malia, we want to get to know our guests
• Most importantly... enjoy yourself and have fun!

Don't forget, A Crafty Soiree is hosted on two blogs, so when you link up on one your link will automatically show up on the other one too! Please note, by linking up to A Crafty Soiree, you're giving permission to feature your project and photos in the future, with proper credit of course☺

Creativity For Kids Giveaway - 2 Winners: Fashion Headbands Kit

This giveaway is now closed, thank you to everyone who entered!  Your participation helps me get more great giveaway opportunities for readers like you.  Congratulations to Ess, comment #3, who said, "I get your emails! :D" AND Mommyof2girlz, comment #8, who said,"Follow on twitter and tweeted.  https://twitter.com/#!/sewfierce/status/83635016411779072"  Both winners have been contacted and have 48 hours to respond. 

I have been making my daughter hair accessories for years, from the time she first had any hairs on her head!  Now that she's getting older, she isn't content to let me have all the creative fun.  She wants to join in, and Creativity for Kids has the perfect kit for her. 

Fashion Headbands makes it easy to create your very own super cute hair accessories.  It has everything your kiddo needs, even the glue!  I craft all the time, and know how the supplies can add up, making a project expensive.  If you want to create several looks you have to buy a lot of different types of supplies, things that you often use a little of and then have a lot left over.  Stuff you might not ever use again.  

One of my favorite parts about the Fashion Headbands Kit, is you get lots of variety!  Included are several lengths of ribbons in different colors, textures, and widths.  There are fun rhinestones in several colors, feathers, a pretty pink flower, and even a sparkily butterfly.  You can  use and combine the supplies in lots of different ways and end up with ten different looks.

My soon to be five year old was so excited when we got the kit.  She wanted to start using it immediately.  I let her choose one of the examples shown on the box and we got started recreating it.  It was fun to see how she was inspired by their ideas and how she interpreted it.  We put our own spin on it, adding extra feathers and more rhinestones.   The day she after made the headband with a orange ribbon, she wore it to a party and proudly told everyone she made it. She was so proud and it was cute to see her showing it off.

She did a great job working independently and I was surprised how carefully she used the glue and attached things.  The fine tip of the glue bottle helped with precision application.  We also found the tips included, such as to save the headband holder as somewhere to dry and to use small dots of glue to prevent excess showing on the satin headbands helpful.  It very well designed for little hands.

Her favorite design is the ribbon wrapped headband with the butterfly, which is really cute but also the only portion of the kit I'd warn parents to be careful with.  It's pretty but very, very fragile.  Just keep that in mind when working with and attaching it.  With so many colors of headbands and ribbons it's fun and easy to make one that matches every outfit you have.

The kit retails for $19.99, or around $2 per headband. Take a look at any store and you know that it's hard to find a cute headband for less than that! Plus with Fashion Headbands you also get something to keep the kids occupied! The kit makes ten headbands so it's also a great to have on hand for play dates and groups.   It's a fantastic kit; I really liked the assortment and amount of supplies and think a lot of creative kids will love it!

 Giveaway! 2 Winners!!!

Two winners will each win a Fashion Headbands Kit from Creativity for Kids!

To Enter:

Leave me a comment on this post.  I'd love to know your favorite kit from Creativity for Kids or what type of crafts you like to do with your kids.

Extra Entires: Leave a seperate comment for each additional method of entry

• Publically follow my blog using Google Friends Connect.
• Subscribe to my blog via EMAIL.
• Post about this giveaway or provide a text link on your blog, tell me where I can find it to verify.
• Follow me on Twitter, share this giveaway and include @KTnestingspot and @Creativity4Kids in your tweet.
• Leave me a comment on a non-giveaway post and then tell me the post title in your comment.

Giveaway open to US residents now through July 6th midnight EST.  Winners will be chosen by random.org,  notified by email, and have 48 hours to respond before a new one is chosen.  Good Luck!

Disclosure: A complimentary review kit and the giveaway kits were provided.  The experiences and opinions related in this post are personal and unbiased.  No other compensation was received. 

Going on Five

I can't believe that in one month from today my baby girl will be turning FIVE and is heading off to kindergarten in the fall.  When I took our annual photos by the lilac bushes a couple of weeks ago, it really struck me how fast time has gone by.  She looks so grown up and mature, no more sweet baby pudginess to her face.  She'll even be leaving the "T" sizes behind soon and we'll have to transition over to the big girl section.  I am sure every parent out there wishes like I do, that we could slow down the clock, if only for a moment or two.

33 Weeks

Last Friday we were official 33 weeks along and we had our first non stress test at the hospital.  I'll be going twice a week for them from now on.  I was worried about what I'd do with ER for all those appointments, but thought I'd try bringing her along to see how she was.  She was so good, that I'm planning on having her accompany me unless I also have an OB/Endocrinology appointment first because those can add another two hours. She sat and colored, snacked, and chatted with me while we listened to the heart beat; waiting for the 20-40 minutes pass and proof that baby is active inside to show on the tape roll.  It was actually kind of relaxing.

As you can see, I am now giant sized!  I thought that black and white dress looked cute until I saw the picture and saw a bovine connection!  My friends say I don't really look like a heifer but I certainly feel very unweildy and awkward.  I finally broke down and got some more support and was shocked to find out other areas have grown significantly as well.  Last time I didn't change sizes at all, but this time I went in and measured two sizes bigger!!!

That was our second trip to the hospital last week, on Tuesday I had my 32 week ultrasound.  Brad and I brought ER, and she got to see the baby for the second time.  Baby weighed in at 4 lbs 12 ounces and is in the 60th percentile so his growth is up a bit from last time.  We should have at least one more full measurement ultrasound before he's born, in about four weeks and will get to glimpse him at least once a week when they do a quick fluid level check before the non stress tests. 

June Template Challenge & Free Kit - Say Cheese

Have you joined me at The DigiScrap Nation yet?  If not, what are you waiting for?  There are fun events like June's Template Challenge.  To participate, you use the free template, that's provided, and a kit of your choice to create a layout.  I used Adorible Digital Design's latest release, Every Woman to create mine. 

FREE KIT with Membership!!!  Say Cheese

As a special treat for DigiScrap Nation members you get a FREE collaborative kit courtesy of the designers at Adorible Digital Designs when you join and make a minimum of five posts in the forum.

Aren't the previews cute?  There are so many uses for the kit and it's good for both girls and boys.  The primary colors are so versatile and I love how they are each in three different styles, the whimsical doodles at the top are my personal favorite.  Which one is yours?

So a kit for free, plus new friendships with fellow digiscrappers and support...how cool is that?  Five posts are really easy to get, and all you need to do get started is click below and request a membership.  Can't wait to see you around!

Disclosure: I'm a Creative Team Member for Adorible Digital Designs.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there!  You all deserve recognition today...

• For all the love and support you give your kids,
• For all the countless times you've spent the day helping them follow their dreams and interests,
• For all the time and attention you give them,
• and so much more! 

Hope you celebrate this special day with your favorite Dads and let them know how appreciated they are!  We'll be on fun family outing, the destination chosen by Brad.  It seems he spends so much time taking us where we want to go and do what we want to, that it's nice for him to pick for once!

I'd especially like to wish my husband Brad and my Dad, aka known as Papa on the blog, Happy Father's Day and recognize them for the wonderful parents they both are☺

Scrapbook Layout: You Heart Reading

Isn't it fun when you see your kids trying to be mini me versions of yourself?  I like to read and eat with meals.  Most times you'll find me with a book or magazine at breakfast and lunch.  As ER started being more independent, she'd usually finish eating before me and then head off to play in the family room adjacent to our kitchen. 

I hadn't realized how much she was watching me until the day she started climbing up onto the chairs at our table to sit beside me while I finished.   She'd bring along her own reading material too, the current book order sheet and Build A Bear mailers being among the top in importance.  There we'd sit, together both of us quietly reading, a case of like mother like daughter. 

On this layout I used themed products for another topic.  In this case, Valentine papers and stickers work just as well to convey the love of reading theme nicely.  Stretching your scrapping dollars is always a good thing!

Shared At: Tatertots and Jello, Scrappy Gifts,