Polyjuice Potion

I've mentioned before I'm kind of a nerd.

I think this post may provide proof of my nerdiness. 

I love the Harry Potter books.   

No seriously… LOVE them.  

Don't you worry, I've got my tickets for this weekend!  I can't wait. 

So it turns out it's also genetic, because my siblings are huge fans themselves.  

I'm sure we could argue for days about who is the bigger fan, who actually loves the books more and ultimately no one would be crowned king or queen of Harry Potter nerdiness because we are all extremely stubborn so no one would surrender the glory of that title.  

And that was a huge run on sentence.  

Anyway…

So back in November we got together for a party.  It was in celebration of the upcoming Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows part 1.  (Although the movies in no way replace the book, how could they?  We do enjoy the movies).  Naturally I saw it as another chance to decorate something, and I set up a potions table. 

Complete with a potions book!

These photo's don't include the food.  Everyone brought potluck Harry Potter style (treacle tarts, pumpkin pasties etc…)  And we set it up around the decor.  I was busy stuffing my face and attempting to destroy my siblings in a game of "Harry Potter Scene It."  I couldn't be bothered with photos;).

Now I hope you are all forgiving.   Sometimes I spend so much time making sure something visually looks right that I totally mess up.  For example… I SPELLED INGREDIENTS WRONG.  Honestly!    Even better... it's large text and very noticeable.  Unfortunately I'm not a witch, so I can't just wave my wand and say Reparo.  So "ingredents" will stay.  Oh well.
(Shhhh... don't tell, but I goofed somewhere else too. I don't know where my brain was at when I was making it). 

I did some research for this one.  Piecing together what I could from both the book and the movie to get the polyjuice potion as correct as possible.  With the exception of the word ingredients… gggrrrrrrrr… I think I'm pretty spot on.  I purchased a medical book from the thrift store.  After roughing it up (getting it wet, taking sand paper to the edges and just beating the snot out of it), I ran black and brown ink pads over the edges.  Then I added a little yellow and brown paint to a cup of water and painted with it all over the edges.  I created and printed out the polyjuice potion recipe and glued it into the book.  For the final touch I splashed a bit of that yellow/brown water onto it as well.  I wanted it to look like a little of the potion from the caldron had splattered on it.   I didn't forget the outside either.  I painted it and titled it Most Potente Potions.  

It will make a fun addition to my halloween decor.

I labeled a bunch of thrift store find bottles with Harry Potter potions and ingredients.  I also grabbed a couple of extra old looking books at the thrift store and gave them titles of books from Harry Potter.  Then I added a bunch of my halloween stuff and there you have it!

I think the half blood prince would be proud! 

Just incase you're wanting to create your own... here are the fonts I used.

VTKS Black Label (normal)

Ligeia

Cardinal

Picnic Easter Baskets

I was at Target the other day… childless!  It was awesome!  I actually had a minute to browse without yelling various threats at my son.  I think I even caught myself skipping now and again. 

So this is what I came home with…

Kitchen towels, melamine salad plates, a pack of 4 cloth napkins and placemats… that all match!

And this is what I made with all of it…

Last year for Easter instead of getting regular baskets for easter I bought my girls baskets to go on their bikes.  

At the time I had high hopes of making cute basket liners but ran out of time.  

So this year, after my Target treasure hunt, they became not only fabulous bike baskets, but picnic baskets as well!  They will be so thrilled to pack up a little picnic in their basket and ride down to the park.

    I can't wait until easter! 

I'm so excited to strap these onto their bikes!  

I turned the placemats I found into picnic caddy's.

They are a piece of cake to make!  Here's how…

Press your placemat,  then fold one end up… you can pick how high you'd like to go.  Press again.

Now I can't leave it as is… I had to add a little eyelet trim (I adore eyelet).  Simply cut a piece a bit longer than the width of your placemat.  You want to attach it along the top of your folded edge.  Wrap the trim around the corner, tuck it in a bit to keep the raw edge from showing.  Pin… and then pin it all along the top of the fold.  Then wrap it around the next corner the same way and pin again.  Sew it on.

Now to add a ribbon, this will tie your caddy together.  Cut a long piece of ribbon.  Fold it in half.  Decide where you'd like it to go (I recommend middleish) and pin.  

Now you'll sew around the entire lower fold of your placemat.  Start by lifting the trim up, so you start sewing underneath it.  But also make sure where it wraps around stays tucked under your fold, sandwiched between the top and bottom folds of your placemat.  

Sew all along the bottom fold.  Finished it will look like this…

Right now it's just one big pocket.  Now to make little compartments for each of your picnic necessities. 

Lay them out on your placemat in the order you'd like them in.  

I'm using a... 

*Napkin

*Straw

*Small Garbage Bag 

(I know, it sounds random, but I just had these visions of my girls coming home from a picnic and leaving a half eaten sandwich, orange peels, chocolate bars etc... in the bottom of their bike basket to mold and rot in the hot garage.  I'd at least like to have it in a garbage or plastic baggie). 

*Flatware

(I got these darling disposable forks and spoons from Amazon.  I didn't get the knives, but now I think I'm going to snag some).

After laying them out you'll want to make marks on our placemat to determine how big each compartment will be.  Using a tape measure, determine how big of a space you need for the napkin.  For me it was 5.5 inches.  (Then I placed a pin… don't do this.  I realized after doing this it was silly… because I'd have a tough time sewing through pins going lengthwise).  Instead make a mark.  I just used a pencil.  Make a few marks of your desired length (again 5.5 for me) over from the edge down the front.  Then I repeated the process with the straw and the trash bag.  

Then with the remaining space make three compartments for the flatware.  Measure what space is left, divided it by three to make these compartments even steven.  Then make marks accordingly.  So at the end it should look like this…

(The marks are light… but they are there). 

Then pin your trim up and out of the way.

Then simply sew along each line of marks.

Your end product will look like this.  

Then fill your caddy with your picnic essentials.

Roll it up, tie the ribbon around, make a bow.  Trim the ribbon down to the length you are happy with and add fray check to the edges.

And you are done!

You could add some cute picnic stuff to the basket for easter.  Sunglasses, sunhat, sandwich holder, fabric lunch bag, water bottle, sunscreen.  For younger kids felt food would be darling for pretend picnics!  If you go to etsy and search for felt food, you will find a bunch of yummy collections.  If you are feeling super ambitious and want to make your own, do your search for felt food patterns.  There are some seriously out of control oh-so-cute options!  Another ambitious project would be a picnic blanket.  

Simply Adorbs!

The fabulous Lindi from Love The Day has designed absolutely gorgeous easter printables.  And they would sooooo match these baskets.  Check her blog out here

LOVE THE DAY and find her printable here…  Easter Party Printables. 

Linking up to...
Tatertots & Jello
Flamingo Toes-Think Pink
I Heart Nap Time
The Creative Create

Last Minute Easter Inspiration

I was going to post this thursday... but life had it's own ideas.  What I've got planned is fairly simple and maybe someone could get some inspiration from it.  For me I can take what someone else has done and alter it to suit me.  Build on or take away from what someone else creates.   So maybe this will give someone some last minute Easter inspiration.

Easter is special to me.  

I've got easter bunny issues (seriously, who invented the easter bunny).  We do baskets and everything, but I don't want my kids to loose sight of what we are really celebrating.  I was talking to my gorgeous red haired cousin yesterday and she feels the same way.  Her statement was that Easter "is the last real christian holiday."

To emphasize this here are my plans for the day...

Morning... of course we'll do easter baskets.  No big gifts just a few little things and candy.  This year for baskets I'm doing something different.  I like to use holidays as an excuse to accomplish or give something I already wanted to.  So instead of easter baskets I found these...

They are bike baskets (from amazon).  I'm planing on making liners out of fabric for them.  Time is tight  (easter is tomorrow... do you think I can do it)?  If I run out of time I'll embellish them with ribbons and trims.

Easter time is family time.  We are having an extended family dinner in the evening so for just my little family I'm planning a breakfast.
(I set up my table early so you could see my plans)...

I use wrapping paper as chargers or placemats.  It's cheap and adds color and pattern.  I take whatever left over fabric I have hanging around and make napkins.  I just cut a square out of fabric and hem.  You could add ric rac or other embellishments if you wanted.  I'm always keeping my eyes open for cute plastic plates to add on top of my white plates.  These are from walmart ($2.00 each).  For valentines I used heart shaped plates (also walmart, but only $1.00 each).  Target always has a darling selection too.   They usually run about .50 to 1.00 more.

Martha Stewart has loads of Easter dessert ideas.  They are so cute (seriously those spring chick cakes are to dye for).  But I don't need dessert... we are doing breakfast.  After viewing these Flowerpot Cakes  a light bulb went on.  What if I just put a chocolate muffin inside the pot.  Costco chocolate muffins. (These are actually from Winco).  Then I made a flower lollie for each one.

You could totally do this for a birthday, shower or other spring party.  I'm thinking you could use the Costco cupcakes instead of muffins.  And it is soooo much easier than cooking cake in the pots. (Oh Martha Martha Martha. While I love her ideas I don't have a team at my disposal to do whatever I need whenever I need it, my time is limited, so I take her ideas and alter them to suit me).

Tomorrows breakfast menu...

German pancake

Bacon

Fruit Parfiat

O.J.

Chocolate Muffins ;)

and if time allows I may throw some hash browns in too.

I need to mention how much my daughters LOVE helping me set up the holiday table.  They get giddy as we decide which fabric to use.  And even more excited as they see it coming together. I have a cheering section.  "Oh mom... that is soooo cute." It really is precious time with them.  I hope by starting this now that years in the future we will gather together, with grand daughters in tow, and set up thanksgiving, christmas or easter together.

After breakfast we will spend our day soaking in the good word listening to general conference.  In between sessions we will drive past the Temple.  I wanted to get all gussied up in our easter duds and take pictures at the temple.  But right now I hear the weather isn't going to be friendly. (I have this vision of taking a little family pic infront of the temple every easter.  Hmmm...). After this we'll take a little trip to the cemetery to visit Evie's grave.  There is no better time to explain the gift Christ gave us than on easter day.  Having our little family gathered together, standing above where her little body rests, teaching of the resurrection and concluding in a family prayer.  Precious moments like this far outweigh the easter bunny.

BLOOM❀

Aaaaahhhhhhh.... spring...

Awake, thou wintry earth -
Fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth
Your ancient gladness!
~Thomas Blackburn, "An Easter Hymn"

Learn how to make lollies here.

I placed them into different sized pots mod podged with the dictonary paper.

So now the lollies look like funky flowers.

My old door looked sad without the L*O*V*E letters hung onto it.

So I stapled strips of scrap fabric behind the window. Added a paper wreath.  Glued triangles cut out of the two dollar dictionary onto ribbon. And my door is happy again!

Linked to Tatertots and Jello

There's always money in the Lemonade Stand

The whole thing started when Scooter announced that she wanted a Snow Cone machine for christmas.  I was a slightly shocked at the request.  However I was tickled that it wasn't one of the million trinkets being advertised on the telly.  I was quite proud of her for resisting the persuasiveness of marketing. (Although she is convinced that I need to get the Your Baby Can Read program.  That Momo, with this product, will be able to release his inner baby genius). 

Additionally I can't stand toys.  I remember when I was young and Naïve (Scooter is our oldest), Christmas meant I was helping Toys R Us hit their yearly sales goals.  I observed a week following the holiday nearly all of the pieces of the plethora of toys were lost or broken.  Furthermore her interest in them had perished .  It seemed foreordained that when spring cleaning rolled around, we'd end up throwing out most everything the big red man brought. Urrgggh. Stupid toys.

So I started looking into snow cone machines.  Wow... not cheap.  As I stared at my computer, searching through amazon, a question arose.  What in the devil is she going to do with a snow cone machine?  And in my mind an answer came and it looked a little something like this...

I drew up plans of what I wanted the snow cone/lemonade stand to look like.  My handy neighbor Adam put it together for me.  And then I painted it all pretty.

I also made aprons and head scarves.

It was so rewarding.  Actually making their christmas present.

And then their faces Christmas morning... pure glee.

And no... this gift was not from Mr. Claus.  He is not getting the credit for this one.

Side note: See Rides glasses.  I mentioned them here.  She had to wear them christmas morning.

So the lemonade stand is going to be stored in the garage.  It's on wheels, so the girls can scoot their little enterprise out onto the driveway and push their chilled refreshments.  And if J's new occupational adventure doesn't pan out...we now have a plan B.

Oh and as far as the snow cone machine goes... I found this little beauty. (We let Santa take credit for this one).

It's the Hamilton Beach Icy Treats maker. (I got it for 30 bucks).  If only I had known earlier! Those that know me well, also know that I would take a popsicle, snow cone or slushy anything over a baked goodie. HEAVEN. I have a snow cone (or two) everyday.  All thanks to Scooters christmas petition and the gallon of Tigers Blood in my pantry.

Cheers!


Frames Jennifer Pepples

A Retro Halloween

Ride

Sock Hop Sweetie

Scooter

Car hop Dolly

J & Momo

Rusty circa 1962 & Elvis

Me

Rosie the Riveter

The Retro Family

Hail to the king, baby.