Jule sysler - tag og kort

Jeg har efterhånden lavet en del, men ikke fået lagt det op, nu skal det være.

Jeg starter med et til og fra kort, som jeg har lavet til en konkurrence - Hobbyboden juletag konkurrence. Jeg har før lavet til og fra kort men det har mest været fordi jeg havde materialer til at lave dem selv og så virker det fjollet at købe dem.

Her er det jeg har lavet:

Jeg har brugt min nye big shot maskine og nogle dies fra både Nellies og sizzix og papir fra Authentique.

Julekortene i år har jeg også brugt big shot og nogle sæde billeder af børnene.

Carnival birthdayparty

Normally I ask the kids what they would like for their birthdays but this year I already had an idea; a carnival.

First of all I had already decided that having two birthdays with two different themes was out of the question when I had a little baby. Second; how cool would a carnival birthday be?

It was a blast - not just having it (for the kids) - but planning for it was also so much fun.

The overall plan was to have different booths with activities and not really a set time for anything - they could eat when they wanted to or play or try the booths. It worked out perfectly - with almost 20 kids they may not be hungry at the same time or want to do the same thing at the same time. In order for us to have enough adults for the activities we did have some helpers and a plan. Not all the activities was open for business at the same time nor was the food out for the entire time.

We rented a bouncy castle, a popcorn machine and a sluch-ice machine - got a great deal! Worth every penny!

Food
Danish kids don't know corn dogs and other american style carnival food. So instead we had pizza and nuggets. All the food I either made or bought. I found some paperplates and cut and stapled them so they became little bowls and used plastic shot glasses for dipping sauce.

They also had popcorn, slush-ice, watermelon, candy apples, cotton candy and cake (chocolatecake and donuts).

Decorations
I made laminated signs for the booths - with red stripes and a readable font. The invitation was made the same way.

I also made bunting flags to hang everywhere.

Activities
There was the following booths:
Fishing
Bopping for apples
Can toss
Wheel of fortune
Bite the bun
Cake toss
Photo

Apart from that there was also a bouncy castle, the food stand and the prize stand.

They could earn tickets at each booth and they could trade those tickets for prizes. I wanted to make sure that I had enough prizes and that they didn't eat tons of sugar, so each child got a little ticket-folder with a string on it so they could exchange tickets for activities and slush-ice and cake etc.

They kids said it was the best birthday party ever! And it was ... I will post more pictures later ..

New business?

I am always a sucker for a good deal so when I went to a babyfair last month I ended up spending money ... but when I came home I looked at my purchase and thought hey I can make that ... and better. Need I say cheaper too?

My mommygroup was jealous of my purchase so I said I'll just make you sone (sigh ...).

As I started assessing my fabric supply I realized that I have enough fabric for MANY sets.

I secretly always wanted to be able to sell my creations or at least have people admire them so I wasted no time and ordered a ribbon with what will be my business name: ByBee. (an old collegue used to call me Bee - it sort of stuck).

I can't just stop at a pillow and a sunscreen for the baby carriage so yesterday at the fabric store I also bought materials for the "bapron"  and a cushin for the highchair.

I already organized my fabric and have received my first order.

This may end up being nothing but I am having fun so far.

Broccoli salad

This salad has a long tradition in our family and can be found in many variants in danish cookbooks. This is how we make it.

Ingredients
300 g bacon
2 broccoli
1,5 dl raisins
1,5 dl sunflower seeds
1 red onion

Marinade:
1,5 dl miracle whip
3/4 dl sugar
3 tsp red wine vinegar
Salt

Cut the broccoli in bitsize pieces and steam for a few minutes. They should still be crunchy like they were fresh. Fry bacon bits and chop the onion fine.

Mix the marinade and mix it all together.

Raisins can be switched with cranberries.

7 year birthday

Alexander

Alexander requested a soccer themed birthday party. So I went online a bought a bunch of FC Barcelona plates, cups and table runners. I also bought balloons in red, blue and red.

I made some labels for waterbottles.

For the cake I made a soccer field with spectators - it was a chocolate cake with green frosting.

For activities Alexander had many ideas. We ended up with a treasurehunt where they had to perform certain tasks along the way:

Jumping on trampoline

Walking on a "thin line"

Tug of war

Throwing balls in basket

And of course a soccer game.

Emmeline

Emmeline wanted a Barbie party. Barbie decorations and balloons were bought and I also made labels for her water bottles

She wanted cupcakes so I made vanilla and chocolate cupcakes:

She does not have the same imagination as Alexander so her activites was a bit the same

But there were also time for more girly activities

Stop dance

Decorate a cupcake. I had made extra cupcakes and three or four different shades of frosting and tons of sprinkles in different shapes and sizes. The girls loved it and they got to take their cupcake home.

Diaper bag

Went shopping for a diaper bag about a month before my due date and OMG they are expensive!

I have a thing that if I can make it myself and I have the time to do so then I can't make myself buy stuff - the diaper bag fell into that category.

I found some black thick nylon fabric, some white and grey cotton fabric, velcro and other misc. items and started drawing and measuring.

I wanted it to be big so I only need one bag even for a weekend trip. I also wanted a portable changing mat and padded.

The only thing I had to buy was plastic fabric for the mat.

I love the end result. At first I thought I had made it too big but it can fit several outfits, tons of diapers, all you need for changing a baby and still have room for a blanket!

Mini projects

I went on maternity leave a month before my baby was due ... and she decided to take her sweet time arriving so I spent many hours on the couch. These are some of my projects.

I knit two hats (with twins I can never just make one).

I also crochet some Christmas egg cozys.

And one Santa coaster ... when I realized how many I had to make I gave up after just one.