pumpkin spice cookies

I'm in a baking mood (even though it's sticky and warm today), and when I saw this instructable for these cookies I wanted to give them a go.

the two ingredients are pumpkin puree and a spice cake mix. you can also add chocolate chips, but I did pecans and then drizzled the tops with leftover cream cheese frosting I made from Leo's birthday. yums.

most nights Matt has been disappointed if we don't have anything sweet to eat after dinner, and last night was one of them :( so he is in for a surprise tonight! :D

nutcracker 2011

as I was starting on my mom's nutcracker for this Christmas, I realized I never posted any pics of the one I did last year... and I remember why! I forgot to take the final pics!!! so, when my mom pulls all her Christmas stuff out I'll get a picture of it.

this year I'm doing 6 nutcrackers! but they're not really nutcrackers (not that nutcracker soldiers are really nutcrackers either...) they're nesting nutcracker soldiers. I wanted to do something like these.

I got the raw wood nesting dolls from Hobby Lobby - used a 40% off coupon and got them for less than $5. ya get what ya pay for. I had to do some sanding on them so they opened smoothly, the outsides were nice and flush at the seams, and most importantly that they fit inside each other once they had layers of paint on them. what's the point if they don't nest?

I did some sketching to get an idea of how to paint them

marked and drilled holes in the body of the main one to attach the arms that I made from dowel and pegs

made a nose and crown from polymer clay

painted the details and sprayed them all with a clear coat

added the rabbit fur for the hair and beard, glued the arms on and sanded down the dowel on the inside of the body

I'm happy with how they came out :)

the party & stuff

Leo's 1st birthday was so much fun :) it turned out great despite being just a few days after we got back from Galveston. that was very stressful! I gotta be more on top of things next year and give myself a whole 2 months to get everything solid. oh, and Leo hates the beach. maybe he'll be more excited about it next year when he can walk and isn't having to crawl through the sand.

for the invitations I made a photo mosaic on a magnet sheet that fit into a sleeve with the lettering cut out so the magnet peeked trough. (I thought I bookmarked the page I saw this on, but I guess I didn't :( sorry lady who's idea I used and can't give credit to!) I found some pocket magnifiers to send along with them from DealExtreme so the recipients could see all the tiny pictures of the mosaic.

Leo's birthday shirt is was one of my favorite things I did for his birthday. I used iron-on vinyl on a black shirt. I put big 1's on the front and back, and small 1's on the sleeves, added a Lion to the front, some stripes on the sleeves, and Charlson across the back. I even did his name, and birthday with the year inside where the tag goes. I love that detail!

I made carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, and an extra big one for Leo. I put them in an apple tree I borrowed from my mom and topped each one with a different party favor toy from Party City. I figured I could get away without colorful frosting that stains everyone's teeth and just bring color in through toys. I think it came out really cute :)
I made a fruit frog that I saw here, and made punch like the Ecto Cooler from my birthday, but without green food coloring. also tried infused water for the first time. Matt just cut up a cucumber and threw it in some water with ice. came out really well.

we had a slideshow running on the TV of all the best pictures from his first year, and I put all the monthly pictures labeled with the month on a digital photo frame.

Leo got a bunch of toys and clothes - this boy's loaded! I'm afraid to see what Christmas brings!! we're gonna need more room ;)

I completely forgot about the party favors I made and had to give half of them out the next day!
I put a cover on some small note pads and did a matching insert for some black BIC pens, put those in a cup with some goodies to eat on the car ride home... or just whenever the next day for those who didn't make it home with theirs!
and I finished off the pack of magnet sheets I got for the invitations and made more with a picture of us from the party in a black frame to send out with the thank you notes.

I think it was a wonderful 1st birthday and a good warm-up to the years to follow when he'll actually remember the party!

Leo's wall of fame

I wanted to get a bunch of Leo's pics on the wall in the living room before his birthday, but I ran short on time. a week late isn't too bad!

I tried to work around the thermostat, and it's not as noticeable, but I need to come up with something to cover it with.

I love that I got the bigger photos for free and didn't pay much for the frames. I paid less than $40 for this whole project!