Holidays Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Small Things Are Big Things

July 5, 2012 by: Kara Noel Lawson

Happy 5th of July! {with a little DIY}

This was the first 4th of July in our new house. It was alright. Usually it’s “my” hosting holiday in the family but everyone was out of town and my hubby had to work. We stayed in our jammies all day and I worked a bit (on something really cool that could be happening THIS weekend – details if it goes through). We ate dinner but the only cute thing I did was raspberries and black berries in those little white bowls I used for the back to school feast. And I didn’t even take a picture. My holiday loving self was feeling like a failure.

I did make brownies.

As I was getting the brownies out of the oven it dawned on me that while my kiddos love when I do cute-sie things for them, the cute-sie things aren’t what makes whatever we are doing fun. I reminded myself that being ‘fun’ doesn’t always mean decorations and a fancy meal. It means something… anything… different that’s F-U-N. Make sense? So we ate our brownies.

Outside on a picnic blanket.

Out of the baking dish.

As much as anyone wanted to eat.

And it was FUN!

Just a reminder that making the everyday magical is as simple as making brownies from a mix.

As in very simple.

Maybe a reminder for you too?

I’ll tell you what’s not simple. Taking a family picture after the fireworks.

Here’s the best one… of me…

And the kid picture. Oh my…

Lets try them on the couch…

Geesh. All I wanted to do was show off the tees my mom made for the girls.

You’ll need: a tee, ric rac, blue polkadot ribbon and fabric glue.

Decide how wide you want the flag to be on the tee and cut 3 pieces of ric rac to that length. Cut 2 more pieces (or 3 for the bigger tee) a bit smaller. Tie a bow with the blue ribbon. Place on the tee and glue everything on. Done. I’m not sure if my mom or my Aunt Patti made up this craft or if they found it on Pinterest. I searched and couldn’t find it. I do know that it’s adorable…

If you are looking for other fun 4th of July crafts to pin, how about a few I did last year?

Mini flag canvas, American flag out of ribbon, 4th of July wreath.

June 29, 2011 by: Kara Noel Lawson

How to make a 4th of July Wreath

I love a lil’ something something on my front door.

Who doesn’t?

Make these wreaths for the 4th of July in a jiff!

(Pictures are a little fuzzy because they are from my phone. I was too lazy to get couldn’t find the good camera so had to make due.)

You’ll Need (for two wreaths):

~2 – 12” wreath forms

~3/4 yard of red fabric

~1/2 yard of blue fabric (you may need more if you use bigger wreaths)

~1/8 yard of white fabric

~About 12” of red, white OR blue ribbon for hanging. (I did white)

~Hot glue gun

1. Rip your blue fabric (the long way) into 2 inch strips.

2. Use your hot glue gun to secure one end to the wreath. Then wrap fabric around the wreath slightly overlapping each layer. When a strip runs out hot glue the end and repeat the same thing with the new strip starting where you left off. Cover the whole wreath.

Tip: I bought the straw wreath forms because they were cheaper than the Styrofoam ones. Just leave the plastic wrapper on to prevent straw from getting everywhere!

(how much do you {heart} my rug??)

3. To make the flowers I found this easy-peazy tutorial in a google search over at My Sparkle. The only thing I would add is the more you twist the flatter your flower will be. Since I wanted some “meat” on the back for easier mounting on the wreath, I twisted less on every other turn or so. Gluing often kept the bigger flowers from falling apart. I did 7 small flowers with 1” strips (per the suggestion of the tutorial), and 7 big red flowers with 4” strips. Tear the strips on the long side of the fabric and stop when you like the size of the flower. You really can’t mess these things up because of their messy look but the more I did the better it got!

Tip: Leave a bit of extra fabric length to create leaf shapes for added fun-ness in the final wreath.

4. Arrange your flowers and secure with hot glue.

This part killed me! For some reason I thought a perfect arrangement would save the economy or something. After many tweets and days of different patterns sitting on the counter with double stick tape I ending up winging it, and this is what I came up with. I love that they are slightly different from each other!

5. Hot glue the ribbon to the back at the desired length for hanging.

6. Admire the awesomeness!!

Here is what one looks like on the door. Hot Hubby still needs to add another nail to our other door for the second one. It will get done by 4th of July…maybe. Right now it’s on my mantel and I’m OK with that.

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Cy update:

The nurse called today to tell me the Dr would call later with test results. He didn’t call. Which makes me think it’s bad news. Like he didn’t have time to for the long conversation of the horrible disease Cy may have. Or that that test results were super strange so he is having to research some crazy unknown thing. I know it’s totally unfounded but it’s the way moms think, right????

March 22, 2011 by: Kara Noel Lawson

Mommy, what’s a leprechaun?

Even though it was last minute I feel like Saint Patty’s Day ended up pretty fun for the family. BUT later in the evening any mommy points I earned were null and void!!

After all our dinner talk of leprechauns turning things green, Eli asks, “Mommy, whats a leprechaun?” Guess I should have explained that before talking up their sneaky ways!

Like any 21st century mom who gets asked a question from her tots, I be-bopped over to the computer, typed in “leprechaun,” and clicked search on Google images. Up pops dozens of these pictures…

What the ????

Oh yeah, that cheesy horror flick with Jennifer Aniston in her pre-iconic days.

I don’t think they saw much before I whisked the computer away, explaining loudly that I wanted the leprechauns to be a surprise.

Be sure to type “leprechaun cartoons” when you Google at home!! Then you’ll come across this funny lil’ ditty…

March 18, 2011 by: Kara Noel Lawson

Saint Patrick’s Day Follies – Last Minute St Patricks Day

How to totally forget about Saint Patrick’s Day but still pull off something… aka Last Minute St Patricks Day

I cannot believe I forgot about Saint Patrick’s Day! Usually I would have sent Brad to work in a green shirt (perhaps with a green lunch!) and we would all be decked out in green from bow to toe (with a dash of orange)! I also couldn’t wait to use some of the tips my friend Andrea (from BYOG) shared with me last year about the mischief leprechauns cause around the house in the morning.

None of that changes the fact we started out the day in non-green attire and without green eggs… sigh. I did have corn beef so I thought I would redeem myself after naps and with dinner. The idea of leprechauns mixing things up around the house was nixed because my house looks like this at the moment… (REALLY!)

So the children would have no clue what the leprechauns messed up. The thought crossed my mind to have the leprechauns clean up the house during naps – but that was also nixed for obvious reasons.

Instead the lil’ fellows turned the potty water green. The kiddos thought that was pretty silly but at that point my Mom-holiday-awesomeness was, well, in the toilet.

Brownies!

When you’re feeling blue, bake brownies!! (last stitch effort)

We got the brownies in the oven and I started with dinner searching for for green food to serve, all the while hyping up how leprechauns sneak around and turn things green. Two snap peas are now leprechaun legs (morbid?) and celery with peanut butter a leprechaun boat (stretching it, I know). I slipped a drop of green food coloring on the bottom of their cups so when they got their water it magically turned green. The water was a HUGE hit! Whew! I had them help me with the potatoes and then while they were playing, leprechauns turned them green! AND when I took the brownies out of the oven the leprechauns had covered them with green sprinkles.

The kiddos were smitten and when Eli noticed some green on my cheek (stray food coloring smear… oops) he said it must be a leprechaun kiss!!

I know St. Patty’s Day isn’t a big deal as far as holidays go. It’s not like I forgot a birthday or Christmas. But the reality is I only have 18 St. Patrick’s Days out of 6,570 normal days (6,570 = the small amount of days we have w/ our kiddos in 18 years!) to make memories with these awesome lil’ humans!! I want to make the best of it… it’s my job.

Next year I’ll (hopefully) be ready with leprechaun mischief and this awesome Leprechaun Trap Cake I fell in love with!! (Check out not martha for how to make it here. All the details are adorable and the rainbow technique looks like so much fun!!) I think the inside of the cake would be a lot of fun to make anytime.

March 17, 2010 by: Kara Noel Lawson

From my lil’ Leprechauns

If leprechauns come to your house on St. Patty’s Day they may…
…Flip things in the house upsidedown
…Make all the potty water green (thanks for that tip Andrea!)
…Make the morning eggs to turn green
See (vaguely in the background):

My point is, you don’t have to make an elaborate Leprechaun trap to make special memories for your kiddos! Make it a Simple St Patricks Day!

Will you be wearing green or orange today?
We do green for the American tradition and sprigs of orange for our religious views!

Have no clue what I’m talking about? Read this and this.

Happy Birthday Katie B!!

March 16, 2010 by: Kara Noel Lawson

Get some Green in your house… quick! {How to make a Shamrock Garland }

In case you didn’t get the memo, tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day.

If you haven’t adorned you home is shamrocks there is still time 🙂

Make this adorable shamrock garland in minutes:

She’s Crafty – Shamrock Garland from Kara Noel Lawson on Vimeo.

(you can see my belly getting bigger!! I’m 24 weeks preggers!)

I’ll be making the traditional corn beef for dinner and I’ll do a drop of green food coloring in our Martinelli’s. Dessert = green cupcakes.

One of my friend’s family traditions is to have green pancakes!

Any other fun family traditions?

Please share!

November 25, 2009 by: Kara Noel Lawson

Thanksgiving Crafts… and all that jazz

Are you looking for something fun and Thanksgivingy to do tonight!?!
You’ve found it!
Check out what my alter ego She’s Crafty has been making:

Make these adorable Turkeys here… Spice up your Thanksgiving table with these awesome napkin rings here…
Or if you are feeling super silly, make your family into Indians 🙂 Just like we did last year…You’ll need…
~Printed pictures of each family member
~Feathers
~Indian coloring sheets. Click here, here, here, here and here for the ones I used above.
~Crayons or markers
~Cardboard
1. Print out pictures of your family and enough Indian bodies for everybody.
2. Cut out faces of family members and glue them on the bodies where the face should be. Note: It doesn’t have to be true to size… it’s funnier if the face is a bit bigger!
3. Color
4. Glue picture onto cardboard
5. Cut out around body and face
5. Glue feathers to the top
6. To make them stand on their own glue a scrap of cardboard in a T shape on the back.

Found this craft last year here.