Halloween Past - Present

Happy Halloween!

In a few shorts hours the girls will begin their trek of going door-to-door for candy. I can't wait! *to pick out all their Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and freeze them for myself!*

While reading over some of my favorite blogs I came across a post by Katie as well as Mama King of Halloween past and present. It inspired me to do the same. Thanks ladies for such a great idea! I enjoyed the trip down memory lane!

2001 - Hawaii (1)

Pebbles. I cut up a dress and made it into a costume. I used the scraps to wrap around her flip flops and put a small raw hide bone in her hair.

2004 - Hawaii (2)

2005 - Hawaii (3)

Another fairy - with Mardi Gras accessories. :)

2006 - Maryland (4)

Tiger jumpsuit (at least one of us can wear it and look good it in!) Was fun to be able to trick-or-treat in cooler weather.

2007 - Virginia (5, 8 mo.)

Dragons

2008 - Virginia (6, 1)

Snow fairies. I made the skirts using a pattern from You Can Make This (filled tutus). Notice Momo's hair? While I can laugh about it now I still get a stinging pain when I see pictures. Here's the story in case you missed it!

2009 - Hawaii (7,2)

Cleopatra and Ariel. Would have loved to have hand made their costumes this year but it just wasn't happening. Kailani fell in love with the Cleopatra costume as soon as she saw it. I had planned on Momo being a bee but when I saw the Ariel costume for 1/4th the price Ariel won. That's okay. Ariel is Momo's favorite princess!

Have a fun night! :)

All Children's Furniture.com Giveaway Winner.....

Using Random.org the winner of the Melissa & Doug plush dragon is (drum roll please.....)

#13 Gretchen

Congratulations Gretchen! I will be sending you an email with instructions on how to claim your prize. Please be sure to check your spam box just in case it ends up there!

Thanks to all that entered! Everyone (okay, minus one who spammed me) followed the instructions exactly as stated which made it an easy giveaway to host. Thanks for checking out our host's website, choosing to become a new follower (blog or Twitter), and/or Tweeted or blogged about the giveaway! Thank you for taking the time! :)

And thanks again to All Children's Furniture.com and CSN Stores for allowing me to host this giveaway!

Spider Lollipops

Need a last minute idea for your kid's class or Halloween party? Check these out. It took me about an hour to make 30 of them - and that includes having to stop every other minute due to a two year old and 7 year old wanting to play with them! All you need are Tootsie Pops (or any other lollipops), googly eyes, black pipe cleaners and some glue!

You probably don't need instructions on how to make it but just in case you do you can find them on the Family Fun website here. Need more than written instructions? They even have a video demonstration!

Happy early Halloween!

Reversible Little Helper Apron

It's been awhile since I've been able to post about a project I've completed. Wait. It's actually been awhile since I've posted PERIOD! Where has the time gone?

Anyways! Yesterday I made a reversible apron for one of Momo's best friend's who recently turned three. I know that she loves to help her mom with chores with laundry being one of them. Using the reversible crayon apron pattern from You Can Make This I made the apron but instead of inserting crayons into the pockets I put in clothes pins. Had I more time I would've decorated the pins like this.

The pattern was very easy to follow - so all you beginner sewers out there don't be afraid to give it a try! The hardest part I had with it was choosing my fabric! :)

Taking a great risk of Momo claiming the apron to be hers I had her model it for me so I could take some pictures:

Here it is in reverse:

I love how it all turned out!

Breath of Fresh Air Award!

Forgive me as it is taking me a long time to catch up with my posts. It was bad enough before I had my surgery and now it's even worse after the fact! Speaking of which, thanks to those of you that have inquired about how I've been feeling. I'm actually doing pretty good but am not quite back to par yet!

Without further ado I want to thank Neva from Mostly Flummoxed for crowning me with the "Breath of Fresh Air" award! I am sincerely grateful! Thanks for thinking of me!

By the way - Neva does graphic design and created the award herself! Go check out her blog for more info! Thank you, Neva!

Postcard Exchange Update!

(Still need to connect the postcards to the state with some yarn...)

I wanted to take a moment to post about the status of our postcard exchange!

As of today we have received postcards from 12 of the 50 states (well, 49!) We have received multiple from California, Washington and Pennsylvania and that's great! You send us one we will send one to you in return! I have been working on a slide show to show each of the postcards received but have been having problems with it. Hopefully I can get the kinks out soon!

So what do we do with the posctards? After Kailani receives a postcard she:

1) Reads the postcard;

2) Writes a return postcard;

3) Fills out a state worksheet which includes the following info:

• Locate the state on a map;


• What is capital?


• What is the state nickname?


• What is the state bird?


• What is the state flower?


• What is the postal abbreviation?

3) I then have her do a worksheet from a book I purchased from Sam's Club called, "The Complete Book of Maps and Geography". It's chocked full of information but the pages are simple and quick to do.

4) While I haven't implemented it yet I found a great website called "Kidzone" that has coloring pages of each of the 50 states that includes the state bird and the state flower (as well as other things) that you can download and print. EdHelper also has activity sheets for each of the 50 states.

So what are my thoughts so far about the exchange?

LOADS OF FUN! Kailani gets so excited when a postcard comes in the mail and I swear she studies everything about it! Not only is she learning about the other states but she is also learning more about her home state of Hawaii as well. For each postcard she sends out I have asked her to write one fact about Hawaii.

I think the pros of doing this exchange outweigh the cons but there have been a few disappointments. The biggest con I have found is sending out a postcard and not getting one in return. The solution? For anyone planning on doing an exchange like this one I would encourage you to not send a postcard until one is received. I realize that people get busy and some just plain forget but it's disappointing if you're already sent one and am expecting one in return.

Also - while this is not a "con" I thought I would mention it - some people do not provide a return address when sending their postcard. It could be for several different reasons - simply forgetting; not enough room on the postcard; or some people just want to participate in the exchange by sending a postcard but want nothing in return. Like I said, not necessarily a "con" but I thought I was worth mentioning.

Anyways! We are still looking for postcards from 38 more states! I also want to welcome you to participate if you live outside of the United States! We will happily send you one in return! Let me know if you're interested! Thanks!

All Children's Furniture.com Giveaway!!!

How would you like to win THIS?!?

Melissa & Doug's Large Dragon Plush Animal
(17" tall x 34"long x 9.5" wide = that's pretty big! )

All Children's Furniture.com is giving one lucky reader of "Mama's a Mess!" one of these FABULOUS dragons! If you are like me and have a dragon/dinosaur loving kid at home you will be definitely be of ROCKSTAR status if you brought this home! And it's just in time for the holidays! (Do YOU know how many shopping days are left till Christmas?)

So let's cut the chit-chat and get to the point! How do you win?

MANDATORY Entry - you must do this before entering extra entries. If this step is not completed then all other entries will be void:

Check out All ChildrensFurniture.com - they carry a lot of your favorite brands such as Roadmaster, KidKraft, Little Tykes and more! Go to the website, browse around, come back and tell me something your kiddo would go absolutely ga-ga over! That's it! Please be sure to include your email address if it is not easily found on your Blogger profile.

Extra Entries: Once you have completed the mandatory entry you can earn more chances to win! Please leave a seperate comment for each:

1) Become a follower of my blog. Already a follower? Just let me know!

2) Follow me on Twitter AND Tweet about this giveaway. You can Tweet once a day. Leave me a link to your Tweet!

You can copy and paste the following (or create your own):

Mama's a Mess is hosting a giveaway! Win a Melissa & Doug large plush dragon! Enter at www.mamasamess.blogspot.com . Contest ends 10/30.

3) Earn FIVE extra entries by blogging about this giveaway! Post about it on your blog and link back to this thread. Let me know where to find it on your blog! Be sure to comment five extra times for five extra chances to win!

Contest is open to US residents only (sorry International friends!) One winner will be chosen at midnight E.S.T. on Friday, October 30th via Random.org. Winner will be announced here on this blog as well as be sent an email notification. Response is required within 48 hours or a new winner will be selected.

Thank you to All ChildrensFurniture.com and CSN Stores for allowing me to host this great giveaway!

GOOD LUCK!

Missing in Action....

It's been quiet around here - not that I haven't had much to say! It's been nearly two weeks since I last posted but for good reason. I've been MIA due to health reasons. Without boring you with all the details I had surgery this week and spent a few days in the hospital. I was finally able to return home yesterday.

A full recovery is expected to take between 4-6 weeks but I am doing everything I can to heal as quickly as possible. I'm already feeling better but I am definitely sore - getting up and sitting down is tough. I dropped my cell phone yesterday and it took 15 minutes to pick it up off the floor!


Lucky for us my father extended his stay to help take care of the girls. Some friends from The MOM'S Club have also volunteered to bring us some meals. I can't thank everyone enough for their generosity!


So....now that I'm back home and my activity is limited hopefully I can get caught up on some posting. Don't be surprised if I go into posting-overload! I've got a lot of catching up to do! We're received postcards for our postcard exchange; stickers for our sticker exchange; I've won TWO giveaways and am hosting my own in the next day or so! Be sure to come back for all the details! Can't wait to catch up on what you all have been doing!