Ice Wreath

It's been perfect weather for this next project! I've been wanting to make one of these for years! I was all set to head to the store for some supplies when it started to snow and I decided to go "shopping" in my own home! Good thing that I did, because I forgot completely about a beautiful wreath that I had gotten on clearance last year. The backside was decorated and I wanted to remove that anyway so that it wouldn't scratch the door.

The leftovers were perfect! I had greenery, red berries and pinecones galore!

You simply take a bundt pan and fill it with your decorative items, add water and freeze!

Once Frozen, run warm water around the outside edges of pan. Your wreath will pop free!

Add a ribbon and hang outside! This is the best pic that I could get because it is coooooold outside!

Bee Happy,

Snow Watch 2010 Chart

Last weekend we started "Snow Watch 2010" and had a blast measuring the snow, creating weather forecasts on the flip video camera (even bundling up and doing them "on location" from our front yard) and updating our Snow Watch 2010 chart! We used 11 cotton balls per page to represent about an inch of snow. Yes, that means that we had about 24 inches of snow! And we're expecting more tonight!

If the idea of cotton balls and glue makes you nervous - as it did me - simply use a strip of foam poster tape. It held the cotton balls and was mess free! Phew!

Don't forget to get a picture of your busy bee beside the chart to show just how high the snow is!

Bee Happy,

Crochet Heart Envelope

Grammy Bee surprised us yesterday with this adorable crochet heart envelope! It is too adorable not to share! Perfect for gift cards and small gift giving.

 Busy Bee will be using it as a purse/wallet to spend her Valentine's gift card at mommy's favorite store: Target!

The pattern is available free from this site (although you do have to register).
It is 81111AD Valentine Envelope.

Bee Happy,

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

Today Busy Bee and I whipped up a quick last minute gift for hubby - some homemade chocolate covered pretzels! We had all of the ingredients on hand and had them made in a matter of ten minutes!

Our secret ingredient was pink icing that we melted in the microwave for 20 seconds and then drizzled on top of the oh-so-sweet treats! Hubby raved about them and was nice enough to share!

Bee Happy,

Trail Of Hearts

Busy Bee woke up to a trail of craft foam hearts, each one with a special message detailing something that I LOVE about her! It was so easy to fill them up with sweet messages and Busy Bee enjoyed reading and rereading them all day long.

Along the trail we put some of her smaller treats and surprises and they all led to her larger ones!

I plan on binding the hearts into a book for Busy Bee- more on that later!

Bee Happy,

Doll Baby Tutu

This is one of my favorite crafts to do for big girls - and it struck me the other day that busy bee might love one for her favorite baby dolls to play dress up too!

For this project I took

Materials:
-a piece of ribbon trimmed to 2 feet
-tulle strips cut to 18 inches (about 40 of them - you'll have to adjust accordingly for the waist size of your doll)
*TIP* I used to buy the tulle by the yard at the fabric store and I would cut them... too much work! I finally thought of buying the tulle sold on the roll! It's already trimmed to the perfect width!

1. Lay your ribbon flat. Take one piece of tulle and fold it in half. Place behind your ribbon. You'll have a loop on top and two loose pieces on the bottom.

2. Take the two loose ends and pull through loop tightly. Repeat until all of the tulle is tied on to your ribbon.

If this isn't clear - check out this video for a great tutorial on tutu making!

You'll note that she uses the tulle sold in yards - it's so much easier to use the one on rolls! I found mine in the wedding department in assorted colors!

It's so simple! I created the doll baby one in less than 10 minutes!

Heart Hand Prints

If you are in a pinch for a cute Valentine's Day project, card or gift idea (this would be adorable framed!)... here's a perfect one for you!

Pick two complimentary colors and paint each of your busy bee's hands a different color. Have them place them on the paper in the shape of an upside down heart. Turn it rightside up and you have a heart made from your little one's handprints.

I defined the shape more by writing a special love note message around the edges!

Super simple, yet super sweet!

Bee Happy,

Potato Printing

With a simple heart cut from a potato we created three fun projects.

A Valentine's Day turtleneck.

Heart notecards to give as gifts.

Simple Valentines!

Bee Happy,

Snow Painting

Busy Bee had a few neighborhood kids down over the weekend and they had fun 'painting' the snow. I simply bought 4 spray bottles in the Target travel section and filled each one with some water dyed with food coloring.

This was a huge hit with big kids and little kids alike!

Bee Happy,

Heart Crayons

This is another oldie but goodie! Remember those trays that we used for our homemde gummy candies? Well, I got a second set so that we could whip up some heart shaped crayons.

The first time that I tried this project, I didn't think it was worth the hassle - but I've since learned a timesaving secret... soak the crayons in ice cold water first. Some of them peeled themselves!

Simply take your broken crayon pieces (I save restaurant ones for this purpose) and put them into a muffin tin or candy mold. Put into a 275 degree oven and remove when melted. Let cool and pop them out!

Stop back later for adorable bag toppers that you can print to share your crayon masterpieces with all of your busy bee's friends!

Bee Happy,

'Homemade'Lollipops

Ok, so these sweet lollipops are only semihomemade - but they turned out adorable! You can have these made and cooled in minutes!

Materials
-Jolly Rancher Candies
-Parchment Paper
-Cookie Sheet
-Lollipop sticks

Preheat your oven to 275. Line up 3 candies in a row. You'll probably be able to fit about 8-9 on a sheet and you'll want to stagger them to allow for the stick.

Pop them in the oven for about 5 minutes. They will start to melt and pool. Remove from the oven and insert stick. That's it!! Enjoy!

Look how adorable they look on top of a pretty package!

Bee Happy,

Felt Sweet Treats

One of my favorite crafts is making felt food! All you need is some inexpensive felt squares, embroidery floss, scissors and a needle! You don't even need a pattern! I just winged it on these projects and used some sparkly tshirt paint as icing for a little dimension and fun!

I also whipped up a super easy sandwich that I will be posting about soon!

They look yummy enough to eat and only took minutes to make...
next up on my felt food to do list is cupcakes. I'm totally intimidated by them but I'm anxious to give it a go!

Need some more inspiration, head on over to the
Flick'r felt food group!
Bee Happy,

Root Beer Floats

Hubby treated Busy Bee and me to root beer floats last night! This is an easy treat for Valentine's Day! We found the cute honeycomb straws at Target. So fun & yummy!

Shrinky Dink Heart Pendant

This is another oldie but goodie!

Materials:
-One sheet of poly shrink
-rubber stamps and inkpad *OR* permanent marker
-markers
-decorative scissors for edging (optional)
-hole punch

Busy Bee made shrinky dink heart pendants today and it was not only super fun, but also a blast in the past for me! We simply stamped a heart stamp with a black inkpad and then colored them in with markers. We used decorative scissors on the edges and finished it off with two holes with our adorable heart punch! Simply add string or ribbon for a fun necklace!

Note: Our designs shrunk to about a third of the original size and took about 7 minutes in a 270 degree oven.

Bee Happy,

Heart Shaped Brownies

Grammybee and Busy Bee whipped up some brownies today, so we decided to surprise Hubby with some heart shaped brownies. Sure, they aren't perfectly heart shaped - but Busy Bee is super proud because she did it herself. We plan to serve them up with hot chocolate for a perfect after dinner desert date with daddy.

Bee Happy,

Spa Day With A Brown Sugar Scrub

I thought that today would be a perfect day to treat my busy bee to a spa day! We whipped up some brown sugar foot scrub, soaked in a foot bubble bath and painted her fingers and toes cotton candy pink!


Brown Sugar Scrub Recipe
-1 cup of brown sugar
-1/3 cup of olive or vegetable oil
-a squirt of honey (optional)



Mix all of the ingredients together and there you have it! The perfect scrub to give your busy bee's tootsies the extra attention that they deserve!

Bee Happy,

Free Printable: Owl Treat Bag Topper

Here is an adorable treat bag topper that you can print yourself! It is sized to fit a sandwich bag and perfect for school treats! Contact me if you are interested in a personalized version!

Printable Owl Treat Bag Topper PDF

Bee Happy,

10 Things I Love About You Album

Materials:
-Shabby Shoppes Ten Things Piece Of Cake Album
-8 x 8 scrapbook album

I made this adorable album for my busy bee in under 45 minutes. It highlights 10 things that I love about her.

Simply purchase the album from the link above and then add your own photos and journaling. I printed my pages as 8 x 10s and had the photo lab trim them to size.

My busy bee loves to look through these albums made especially for her!

Bee Happy,

Create an I LOVE... Mini Scrapbook

Materials:
-Mini Scrapbook (we got this one for $1 at the Dollar Spot at Target)or as an alternative trim some scrapbook or construction paper to the same size and staple them together
-Crayons or markers
-Valentine's Stickers or letter stickers (optional)

Create a darling mini scrapbook of things that your busy bee loves! Create a cover with alphabet stickers or scrapbook embellishments. On each page, ask your busy bee to draw something that they love. Then create a title for that page with your alphabet stickers.

This is a quick and easy way to create a keepsake that you'll cherish forever! Be sure to inscribe a love note on the inside to your busy bee!

Bee Happy,

Make Your Own Gummi Candy

Ingredients
-2 boxes of flavored gelatin (we did Cherry for Valentine's Day)
-3 packets of unflavored gelatin (1/4 oz each)
-1/2 cup of water
-candy molds or silicone ice cube trays (we got ours at the $1 spot at Target for $2.50)

Pour 1/2 cup of water into a small saucepan. Add both the flavored & unflavored gelatin. Over medium heat, stir for about 5-7 minutes until you no longer hear the granules and it's become a soupy mixture. Pour into a pitcher, such as a pyrex. Pour into the candy molds. Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Pop them out of the trays!! You can stretch them to remove them and they will still keep their shape.

Enjoy!

Valentine's Day Crayon Shaving Hearts

This is an old school craft that will add some festive Valentine's Day decor to any window in your home!

Materials:
-Wax Paper
-Crayons (we chose Valentine's Day colors: red, pink, purple, white, gray)
-An iron

Create crayon shavings with a pencil sharpener or with a paring knife (be careful!)


Use a spoon to spread the crayon shavings on top of a piece of waxed paper. Put another piece of waxed paper on top. Place an iron (on the lowest setting) on the top sheet of waxed paper for a few seconds only.
This should melt the crayons and create a large puddle of color for you!

Allow to dry. Trim to heart shapes and attach a colorful ribbon. Hang in a window and enjoy!