Linky Party # 3

Oops!  I thought today was Monday not Tuesday!  Here's Linky Party #3 (I obviously need to come up with a catchy party name!)  Feel free to add my button on the side bar if you wish.  I LOVE looking at the links and getting ideas.  Enjoy!

McDonald's Pumkin Faces

I'm sure everyone has seen the pumpkin jars by good ole Martha here.  I came across this blog which used acrylic paint which I happened to have to I got started.  I basically threw some paint in a jar and swirled it around until it was all covered.  I did it twice, the second time with the extra paint that accumulated on the bottom.  Mine didn't take too long to dry maybe 24 hours.  Once they were done I wasn't sure quite what to do with them.  I am SO not a fan of Halloween, never have been even as a kid.  I'd be perfectly happy skipping right over October 31st.  But I DO really like fall decorations, so my decor centers around scarecrows, pumpkins, leaves, acorns- things like that.  So I planned on leaving these jars as plain pumpkins- they may not have looked as nice as the ones with the faces but I was ok with that.  I never got around to putting the handles on, and the next day I took my three little ones to McDonalds for lunch while my hubby was climbing a mountain with my three older kiddos.  They are doing the trick or treat buckets and thankfully we got the pumpkin ones.  The kids were happily sticking faces on their basket and I noticed that two kids got the same stickers and little sister got different ones- much smaller ones.  So I decided that little sister didn't need her stickers after all and brought them home for my pumpkin jars!  They turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself.  So if you don't have a vinyl shape maker or something cool like that- take your kids, grandkids, yourself over  to McDonalds and get happy meals!  One sheet has 2-4 sets of eyes, noses, mouths.  Plus the kids inform me the stickers glow in the dark!

I got the cookie jar at Walmart for $10- I LOVE it!

This guy is my FAVORITE

Pumpkin trio

I also have my THIRD linky party here!  I'd LOVE to see what you've been working on!

This and that

This fall has been crazy busy.  My oldest turned 13, soccer, dance, karate and various other activities started back up.  Homeschooling activities have started again, plus just the day to day things that are involved having six children.  So here is a small preview of what I've been working on.

Yes- I know this picture makes it pretty obvious!

My second linky party is still going on and I'd LOVE to see what you've been working on. HERE'S the direct link

Adding sleeves to a summer dress

I LOVE dresses for my girlies.  They look so pretty and feminine.  They are more comfortable than pants or shorts, IMO.  Plus my girls are tall but very thin- so pants (even the ones with the adjustable waist) don't stay up.  Big sister didn't even own a pair of jeans until she was probably 4 or 5.  Little sister has been given a few pair and I had one on her yesterday and she kept taking them off since they didn't stay up.  I don't have a lot of winter clothes for little sister so I decided I need to improvise.  I had this cute long sleeved onsie with pink penguins on it on under this pretty purple summer dress last week and it was cute, but a bit bulky.

So I decided I'd cut the sleeves off the onsie (since it was a bit short anyway) and sew them onto the dress.  It's not the most professional job, but it's fine for a 20 month old.  Plus usually sleeves stay more stain free than the front of shirts so I could find stained shirts with good sleeves and  do this too.  And I can always cut the sleeves back off if the dress still fits next summer (this purple one will not fit next summer) Now I have the rest of the onsie material to figure out something to do with it- it's too sweet to waste.

I also have my 2nd linky party going on here and I'd LOVE you to join!

HERE are are the many places I link to

Linky Party # 2

I was gone all weekend with the family and yesterday we did my 13 year olds birthday party at a challenge course.  Which was a total blast with 11 teenage/almost teenage boys!  So I was a bit behind and didn't post this until today.  I need to figure out exactly how to go about featuring the most popular link so hopefully next week I'll have it figured out.  Especially since *I* was featured so I'm pretty excited about that.


Here's my button if you want to add it to your blog somewhere! Thanks!


<a border="0" href="http://4princes2princesses.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6221/6210518021_6b6b75c491_m.jpg" width="240" height="127" alt="princess2" /></a>

StubleUpon and Caramel Macchiato

My blog is relatively new so I tend to obsessively check my stats most days.  And I'm doing REALLY good if I get near 100- usually it's 60-70 hits per day, which I'm happy with.  Yesterday I checked it late morning and it was 43 (not bad!) and I checked it less than an hour later (obsessive- I know!) and it was 278!!  I was sure something was wrong so I looked around the stats and I saw StumbleUpon as the referring site.  I  had never heard of it before so I googled it a bit and came to the conclusion that it was a very good thing!  Very short-lived, but good none the less.  I think the frenzy was over in 15 minutes but my grand total of hits yesterday was 334.  There seems  to be no rhyme or reason to having StumbleUpon show your blog- and it's probably just a fluke that this newbie blogger had my few minutes of fame, but I'll take it!!

Now on to coffee- more specifically Caramel Macchiato's.  I bought the creamer from the store this summer and loved it!  Its sweet, slightly burnt taste was so delicious.  I heard about coffee syrups like they use at Starbucks and was googling to buy some.  I came across a few recipes- and my motto is "If it can be made I will do it!"  I found one from the joy of cooking that the reviews said tasted like caramel macchiato!  It was easy and I had all the ingredients so I decided at 9:30 that night to make it.

Caramel Macchiato Syrup

1 Cup sugar
3/4 C water, divided
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

1.  Mix 1/4 cup water and all sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat til sugar is dissolved. DO NOT BOIL UNTIL SUGAR IS DISSOLVED COMPLETELY.

2.  Turn heat to high, cover and let boil for two minutes.

3.  Uncover and stir gently while it continues to boil until it turns a nice deep amber color (it's pretty neat to watch it go from clear so brown). Remove from heat.

4.  CAUTION: READ CAREFULLY: Stand back to avoid scalding yourself as mixture will begin to bubble rapidly when you do the next step. (I meant to get a picture of this step, but it scared the crap out of me when it bubbled up so I got distracted!!)

 5.Add the rest of the water and then when the bubbles settle a bit the vanilla and salt and stir gently to mix. Let cool and it will keep in the fridge for up to six months.

Play food

My favorite- the banana!

For my baby girls first Christmas 2010- I crocheted her a bunch of play food.  It turned out so incredibly cute.  I made her a banana, donut with pink frosting, apple, pear, fried egg and ice cream cone.  The apple disappeared (which is too bad, it turned out adorable!)  They've gotten played with, chewed on, stepped on, etc and look slightly ragged but still in good shape overall.  I couldn't find the egg today when I went to photograph the food, but it seems to be everyone's favorite.  It didn't take to long to make each food, probably less than an hour for most of them.  It was a bit tedious being so small- and hard on the hands crocheting so tightly, but I was please with how they turned out.  Maybe this will give someone a good idea for that young child in your life.  My 3 old son enjoys them just as much as my 18 month old so they are very gender neutral!  I'm not sure where I got the patterns from- they were all online for free.  Ravlery.com is an amazing site for knit/crochet
I also have my SECOND linky party here.  I'd love for you to join!!  Feel free to add your links!

And I'm SO excited!!!  I've been featured over at Truly Lovely with the Laney sisters!! Thanks!