Monday, February 27, 2012

Re-post: St. Patty's Day printables!

One year ago today I posted some free printables for St. Patrick's Day. Well, it's almost that time again, and the printables are still free!



Check them out!

To download the postcards, click here: Happy St. Patrick's Day postcards

To download the poster, click here: Happy St. Patrick's Day poster

Saturday, February 25, 2012

New look for facebook!

I am so excited about the new image for my facebook page. Little Olivia is one of my favorite creations, so I am proud to feature her on the page! If you are on facebook, consider liking my page and becoming a fan. I often post to twitter and facebook new projects and ideas before they make it to the blog. I also love finding new people. If you have a page you would like me to check out, leave a comment on this post. Let's be friends!

facebook screenshot by E. Magee
facebook screenshot, a photo by E. Magee on Flickr.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Valentine's Day Craft for kids

Although I miss the baby times with my little nephew, where I got to hold him and kiss him for hours, I do like that the older he gets, the more excited he is for craft time! In preparation for Valentine's Day, we made some coffee filter butterflies. It's very simple and quick. We actually didn't even wait for the butterflies to dry before we added the pipe cleaners and clothespins. It was messy... but fun!

Coffee filter butterflies

He was very excited to show off the finished product!
Cheese!

Happy <3 Day!

But of course, it wouldn't be complete without a silly face!
Goofy

Sunday, February 12, 2012

The Walking Dead


Being that Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore both have connections to Kentucky, my boyfriend got hooked on "The Walking Dead" comics early on. Now that the series has become a hit show on AMC, he has me hooked as well! We are both excited for the return of season 2 tonight at 9:00PM EST! So, I thought tonight would be the perfect time to surprise J with a present, both for Valentine's Day and in celebration of tonight's episode of "The Walking Dead."

Meet Mr. Walker. He has been a member of the undead for 2 days now.
zombie stare

He enjoys long walks in the park and eating organs, especially hearts.
nom nom

zombie doll

Don't let his little smile and calm expression fool you. Like most of his kind, he is ferocious!
the dead walking


If you are a fan of the show, enjoy tonight's episode! And if not, maybe it's time for you to check it out!

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Valentine's Day Printables!

Happy Heart Day


One of my favorite things about the wide wonderful internet is the prevalence of printable cards, tags, posters, and other goodies-- especially for Holidays! Valentine's Day is no exception. I know that a lot of people dislike Valentine's Day, saying it's staged or created by card companies... but I think any day to celebrate and recognize the people you love is a wonderful day. Instead of gifts, try one of these printables to bring a little fun to the ones you love!

D.I.Y. Louisville has a great Valentine bingo game and some cute kawaii cards to share.

Love garlands


I loved the printables from My Paper Crane's etsy shop so much that I made a garland out of them to bring a little cheer to my office at work. Festive, huh?


I also made some little Valentine's Day cards last year that I think are fun. Feel free to print and share.

Happy Heart Day!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Harper & Iris

I had the pleasure of making some custom sibling dolls for one of the Creators of D.I.Y. Louisville. She wanted to give her children some cute little mini-me plush for Valentine's Day! They're names are Harper and Iris, and I hope that the owners will love them!

Harper & Iris

Harper is the first boy doll that I have made with yarn hair! I'm thrilled with the way that he turned out!
Harper

What do you think?
Sibling dolls

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Girl Scout Cookie Competition

Each year at work, we have a competition between staff to make desserts or appetizers using Girl Scout cookie flavors as the main ingredient. Last year I made Lemon cake pops. They were so good, but a lot of work. This year, I decided to make 2 desserts, but went for something a whole lot easier.

I have decided to share the steps here, and I hope you will try them. Girl Scout cookies fund a great cause--building girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place! PLUS, they taste good! Enjoy!

Thin Mint Chocolate Delight vs. Savannah Smiles Tangy Treats
Cookie vs. Cookie

Thin Mint Chocolate Delight
Thin Mint Chocolate Delight
You will need:
1 cup green starlight mints
1 lb. chocolate bark/candy coating
1/2 sleeve of Thin Mints

To make:
Pour mints into plastic zip bag. Cover with towel, and using a rolling pin, smash the mints. In a separate plastic bag, crush the Thin Mint cookies. Add mints to bag of cookie pieces and toss together. Heat candy coating per instructions on packaging. Cover cookie baking sheet with wax paper. Pour chocolate candy coating into baking sheet.

Thin Mint Chocolate Delight
Spread out in pan with spatula and top with starlight mint pieces and Thin Mint cookie pieces.

Thin Mint Chocolate Delight
Refrigerate for 1 hour. Once hardened, break up chocolate "bark." Store in refrigerator when not consuming (good for about 1 month).



Savannah Smiles Tangy Treat Bar
Savannah Smiles Tangy Treat Bars
You will need:
3/4 bag of Savannah Smiles cookies
1 cup of pistachios (de-shelled)
1 cup mixed (dried) fruit bits
1 lb. vanilla candy coating

To make:
Pour pistachios into plastic zip bag. Cover with towel, and using a rolling pin, smash the pistachios. In a separate plastic bag, crush the Savannah Smiles cookies.

Mixed ingredients
Add pistachios and fruit bits to bag of cookie pieces and toss together. Heat candy coating per instructions on packaging. Cover cookie baking sheet with wax paper. Pour vanilla candy coating into baking sheet.

Savannah Smiles Tangy Treat Bar
Spread out in pan with spatula and top with pistachios, cookie pieces, and fruit bits.

Savannah Smiles Tangy Treat Bar

Savannah Smiles Tangy Treat Bar
Refrigerate for 1 hour. Once hardened, break up chocolate "bark." Store in refrigerator when not consuming (good for about 1 month).

Store in fridge

After a round of family taste-testing, it was a toss up! I favored the Thin Mint Chocolate Delight. So did my dad, while my mom really enjoyed the Savannah Smiles Tangy Treat bars, although she liked both. We will have to wait and see what my co-workers think tomorrow!

Friday, February 3, 2012

Visiting the 'quarium

As much as I would LOVE to be able to be a crafty entrepreneur full-time, I do have a day job. Sometimes my day job pushes other activities and hobbies to the side, which is why I love vacation days! I took the day off today so that I could go to the Newport Aquarium (or the 'quarium as C calls it) with my Mom, my little nephew C, and J. It's about 2 hours from Louisville, so we got up early and took the day trip. The 4 of us always giggle and have fun, so it was a good day.

Fishy

Lorikeet

Shark

Shark bait

At the aquarium

Jellyfish

C actually requested that we take him on this trip. We went two years ago, and out of the blue this week, he had been asking to go back. Now that he's 4 years old, he likes to plan his own excursions. Plus, he has a fascination with water. He's such a big fan of Florida beaches and the Falls of the Ohio, locally. He will even eat fish, while he won't even try most other foods. It is definitely a shared passion of C and J!

It was certainly an excellent way to spend my day off! What did you do today?