Noah's Ark Watermelon

My Kyra girl celebrated her 5th birthday in class this past Friday.  Instead of the usual cupcakes, I wanted to do something healthy...so the pressure was on for it to be extra special so the cupcakes wouldn't be missed.  Her teacher gave me the idea for a fruit salad, so I decided to go with a Noah's Ark watermelon!  I looked up a few pics on the internet of what the ark should look like & went to work.

I marked my major cut lines & cut away the top parts of the watermelon very carefully.  I cut out a big square in the middle for the entrance to the ark and smaller squares in pairs for windows around the whole thing.

Kyra had the idea to use the animal crackers...that was a great idea!  We glued seven popsicle sticks on top of another one that was cut in half to make the bridge which the animals used to board the ark.

I drained out as much of the excess watermelon juice as possible...didn't want it flooded inside the ark, ya know!  Then I used some "scrap" watermelon rind to construct a mini rooftop, secured with toothpicks.  We put the cut up fruit around the watermelon...just love how this looks all put together!

I carefully placed the animals in the windows, 2 of each kind next to each other & filled another plate with more animal crackers...all set!

Here it is in the classroom before the kiddos had at it...and there is a model Noah's Ark behind it!  =)

My Kyra girl was very happy & had a super special day celebrating her birthday at school.  She gave me the biggest thank you hug for making the special Noah's Ark watermelon & took this picture for me.  =)  

Happy Birthday Kyra, you are such a blessing to my life & so many others.  You are bright, thoughtful & very affectionate...I love you my Kyra girl!

For more watermelon fun & ideas, check out the pics & links I found below...enjoy!!

http://www.thevirtualvine.com/watermelons.html

http://www.creative-baby-shower-ideas.com/watermelon-baby-carriage.html

I found many of the pics I posted here: 

http://shadowshark29.wordpress.com/2010/09/13/25-awesome-watermelon-carvings/

Wallets, Fun Tote & Sneak Peeks

I've been doing a LOT of sewing lately! I finally got a good stack of wallets made - 5 for my sister's friend & co-worker Geneva. Here they are, along with a few others I recently finished.

Yaaay for finished projects!!! =) It feels GREAT to see all these wallets together. Woo-hoo!

Here's one that resembles Susan's wallet...minus the dragon on the front! (This is one of Geneva's.)

I call this one "Bright & Funky Dragon." (Another one of Geneva's.)

Here's a little more detail for you...yes, I freehand the signature "V" myself. This is FUN!

Another Asian Inspired wallet with Asian Eyes inside. (maybe for Mary or Conchi?)

I like to wrap the wallets in a simple brown paper bag & tie it with coordinating scrappy strips of fabric. It's like a sneak peek into the package...who doesn't like to unwrap a package anyhow?! Tuck in my business card & it's ready to roll!

Here's a fun little tote bag I whipped up last week. It was a take on the log cabin blocks I recently made for Project Improv. I love these prints together...it's bright & funky & fun. I'm calling it the little "Zebra Lemonade" tote. It's about 7" square & quilted.

Did some freemotion doodling here, repeating the pattern from the yellow fabric.

Zebra lining...and on the handles too!

Here's the back...quilted with love. I have 4 more log cabins like this, so I could make 4 more similar to this...or something else???? Matchy little pouch?

Kyra trying out the little "Zebra Lemonade" tote bag. She put this on her shoulder & carried it all over the place. When I asked for it back, she didn't want to give it back to me! She decided to carry her chapstick, gum & water bottle in the bag...too cute!

***SNEAK PEEKS!!!***

Here is an Asian Inspired wallet that is in progrss. Working that decorative stitching again...and some more echo type quilting in the red.

Here's another new quilt top...this will be a new SIZE...BIGGER and with a ZIPPER! It will be much like a clutch & the front will be bigger to showcase the Asian faces.

More decorative & freemotion quilting...I used veriegated thread for both. The scallops remind me of dragon scales!

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We've been keeping busy with other things too...like painting! Here's Kyra's new art...fun, fun, fun! It's always fun to see what my little ones will create.

Kyra...the newest gamer in the family. She just got this Nintendo DS from her auntie. Too bad daddy keeps jacking it from her!!!

I've been putting the girls to work! Everyone gets a sponge & cleans SOMEthing! =) This is helping our "ant" situation...they like to invade our house this time of the year. I've been forced into "Spring Cleaning" against my will thanks to the ants! They find every crumb and attack. It's not easy to keep up with my girls & their messes, so I've enlisted their help! I just love this picture of Ava & Kyra cleaning their little table. Kyra is a champ is does a great job cleaning for me. Ava...I'm lucky if she doesn't make a new mess while we clean! LOL, oh well!

Ready for juicing!!! Peaches, carrots, apples, oranges, ginger, lemon, mango, cilantro, garlic, beets, cantalope, watermelon, red cabbage and the kitchen sink! I've been juicing for my dad, hence the ginger, cilantro, garlic & red cabbage. Today I pulled a bunch of stuff out of the fridge to rinse & prepare for juicing. I have a kick butt Breville juicer that I am so very happy with. I purchased it refurbished on eBay last year. Saved a $100 that way! =)

More Wallets...and Chaos

Here is the wallet I made last week for Vanessa. She requested the Bright & Funky wallet with skulls.

Here are the four (of many) wallets I worked on this past week...sending my girls to the in-laws for some serious sewing time! They have since been finished & look oh-so-sassy! I use binder clips to hold everything in place before I slipstitch the bottom closed.

I tried out some of the decorative stitches on my machine...and I LOVE how it turned out with the verigated thread...I see more of this in my future.

I have 3 more (potential) wallets coming out of the black/red/white geometric pieced top that I posted earlier and a few more Asian Inspired & Funky Fresh (bright w/animal print, etc) wallets too. I started on another black/red/white pieced top...they are so fun to put together! I also picked up some cute Michael Miller fabric with mermaids on it...super cute!

With all this sewing going on, my girls aren't getting as much fun mommy time as they are used to...which sometimes causes sudden outbursts of craziness. They had fun having a naked bead throwing party after their bath yesterday...I was on the phone with my dad & they took advantage of my distraction!!!! I just sighed & scampered off to grab my camera...figured I might as well get a picture! I did manage to get Kyra to sweep most of them into a big pile...now THAT was Victorious! lol!

Pics, Pics...and more Pics!

We’ve been on a park craze this past week, going almost every day! It sure has been a lot of fun and good exercise since I walk there (and lately I’ve been having Kyra walk too). One of our highlights was playing ball with the girls before my softball game on Sunday. We packed up the waffle balls & bats, loaded up some sandwiches & snacks & headed for the park!

Ava likes to pick up the cones & stack them up, despite my efforts to keep them in place! She’s here in this pic, trying to hit the ball off the tee.

Daddy & Kyra are having a blast in the background!

Kyra is a natural athlete & really enjoys hitting the ball. I just love how this pic turned out with the sun peeking through, her swinging pigtail braids & the twist of her shoes on the grass. Plus as a bonus, Ava made it in the shot! This was my pick for the Project 365 pic of the day last Sunday.

After a while, Ava kinda lost interest in the ball, and wanted to try on my shades. She loves to try on hats of all sorts, eyeglasses, shoes or any other accessories! She’s getting so big and is now putting 2 words together.

I have seen a couple tutorials on how to make your own dress form using duct tape & wanted to try it out. So I picked up some purple duct tape from Jo-Anns the last time I was there & asked my hubby to tape me up!

Believe it or not…there IS a method to this madness! You start with an old t-shirt & cut up the side seams. I sewed another 12” to the bottom (like a skirt) using another old t-shirt. Then you start taping the spine up & down in rows, then the waist. Then you tape from the back to the front in a v-shaped taper. It goes on and on…

Here are a few pics I just had to have my hubby take of me!

I felt like a samurai warrior or something in this deal! HI-YAH!!!!!

And here it is after we cut it off me & re-taped the back…now just to stuff it!

I was so excited when both of the packages I was waiting for arrived on Wednesday! The first was a big box filled with fabric!!!! Thanks so much to materialshoppegirl.etsy.com for awesome customer service & quick shipping. I am in heaven here with all this beautiful fabric! Take a peek at all this goodness!

Heather Bailey, Joel Dewberry, Amy Butler, Anna Marie Horner and more!

My business cards came in as well. I got 100 free from my favorite place, OvernightPrints.com . They have awesome quality, quick turnaround & good prices. I use them for all my postcards, business cards, birth announcements & nice invitations. They have a nice (and free) UV coating which adds strength & thickness to them…not to mention a nice glossy look. I added the rounded corners for just $2 more…keeps them from getting bent & messy looking.

I designed these myself!

Wednesday was more exciting than I had hoped. Ava took a header off our little slide on to the concrete driveway! I almost caught her, but she fell forward off the slide, hit her head on the ground & flipped all the way around into my arms. Luckily, she didn’t have much of a bump (we had a hard time finding it until it showed itself) and not even a scratch! You can hardly see her red mark on her forehead by her hairline. This was taken a couple hours after impact!

I was trying to get some pics of the girls on the slide (before the incident) & managed to get this one of Kyra, telling me, “no pictures!” It reminds me of a celebrity with a case of paparazzi paranoia! I chose it for my P365 pic.

It was certainly an exhausting day, and even Kyra was wiped out! Here I snapped this shot of her in her bed with several books strewn about! There are three on her left, at least one under her pillow & the mini Horton book on the floor next to her! My little bookworm…I LOVE YOU!

Thursday brought our little friend, Jordan! We had fun reading stories, dancing, playing ball & exploring the “river” in the backyard. Here they are, all lined up on the couch watching Dora & Diego! Talk about a captive audience!

Out of nowhere, Kyra wasn’t feeling well & had a little fever. I should have known something was wrong when she didn’t eat any graham crackers! She’s feeling better but now Ava has a runny nose…sheesh!

Here she is in my P365 pic of the day for Thursday with Arthur, getting some good face time. She’s talking to him about the cool Barbie fishing pole she carried around at Target the day before. She wants it and she wants to go fishing! This reminded me of my experiences fishing with my dad & sister at El Dorado park. I couldn’t stand to see the fish flopping around & gasping for air! It was so sad! I liked hanging out & being outside in the (somewhat) fresh air. Good times nonetheless.

Today I got a great little shot of Kyra getting her hug on Ava. She told me she just wanted to give her a hug. Ava wasn’t so thrilled, but that’s okay. I appreciate what a loving sister Kyra is & she certainly is affectionate as well! This is my P365 pic for today…“holding on.”

Another walk…more stops to smell the flowers & check out the bugs. We had a nice conversation with a crow…he squawked, we squawked, etcetera, etc.! It was actually really cool but I had no idea what he was saying. The girls got a kick out of it and enjoyed the back and forth bantering.

I have been talking to my girls about everything and anything…counting at every opportunity, pointing out colors & talking about the differences between things. It’s a conscience effort to teach all the time. I am putting an emphasis on reading, arts & crafts, physical fun & sign language. I actually enjoy all of those things! I’m hoping hubby will pick up the slack in the math department. Kyra is coming along with her writing skills & can sound out many words. I haven’t done any aggressive reading programs with her; just instilling a love for books is the main thing. Thankfully, it is paying off with both of my girls. Ava can often be seen curling up with a couple books by herself! She is extremely vocal & is saying new words everyday.

I know that I am very blessed to be able to stay at home with my girls.
It’s worth more than any amount of money that anyone could pay me for the time I have with them now.