Fumpkin Characters

I want to share an activity we did at work this week that turned out to be pretty easy and super cute!
We have a volunteer group from BP that comes once a month to do activities with or for our patients. This month we put them to work decorating fumpkins (faux pumpkins- thank you KB for that word!)  to make them resemble popular children's book characters. Here's how it goes...
First choose your characters-

101 Dalmations Puppy

Toy Story Alien

                                                         

The Grouchy Ladybug

Buy craft pumpkins, tempera paint, Crayola model magic, pipe-cleaners, and googly eyes. You can get creative and add more embellishment, but those were our basic supplies for each character.

 Depending on your character choice, you may need to paint your fumpkins. We painted mini fumpkins green to make the Very Hungry Caterpillar's body.

Glue on some felt, pipe cleaners, and Model Magic to create the character! 

Set out with the book and enjoy! 

I might have made the caterpillar a little more curvy, but he's pretty cute in the window!

Hint- we attached his body with popsicle sticks

Kids will enjoy reading the book while hanging out with their fumpkin character! Our patients had a blast doing this, and we've put all of them on display in our library. In a few weeks we'll have story time and give away the characters to our patients!

I have to say, the Toy Story alien, and the dalmation in the left side of this picture were two of my favorites!!

Oh, and the best part is, they won't rot so you can keep your character all year!

And then there were two...

Today is a sad day in my home! As of this evening I will have only one roommate. Jenni is moving out as she starts nursing school, and although I hoped she'd never leave I'm excited for this new chapter of life she is starting! So long, farewell, come over as much as you can!! You've been the best roommate, and  we'll miss you and Harlow!!!

Pinterest

Thanks to my sister in law Jessica, I have a new obsession! It's replaced my Facebook habit, and I want everyone to join!
www.pinterest.com is a website that lets you 'pin' anything you like on the internet. Maybe a cute idea from a blog, a fun sweater to buy, a recipe for dinner, you name it!  Users create 'boards' to categorize their pins as they choose.
I've been on Pinterest two weeks now and have already found lots of crafty ideas for home, work and the holidays. Fun decorating ideas for when I start to decorate my guest bedroom, cute photography ideas for my someday wedding, inspirational messages and reminders about who I am etc etc etc!
This first thing I made didn't actually come from Pinterest, but from my SIL Jessica again. She is so crafty that girl, and every time I go to their house I come home with new decorating ideas! She made a 'What's for Dinner' board out of a large frame, a little burlap, some ribbon, and chunky pinboard scrapbooking letters.  Use a dry erase marker to write on the frame's glass and erase to change the next week!
Such a cute idea, and so helpful to stay on track with your menu planning!
Here's my copy-

This week I've also tried two new recipes from Pinterest. Such a yummy, inspiring, and better way to waste time online!

Blonde vs. Brunette

Every 2 or 3 years I decide that I'm tired of highlighting my hair and decide to go brown.

The first year I did this was in college. I went to a stylist in town I had never used before, and it went terribly wrong! Blonde turned Ashlee Simpson black!

so many things wrong here....

The next time I had better luck, two years later when my first niece was born!

Baby Emmy! And kind of red-ish brown.

A few years later I tried again...this time it went really red!

Finally! My hair color matches my brows!

At last perfect success from highlighted blonde to my natural color. Bravo!

Eventually I got bored, and went back to my hair frying, highlighting ways.....and started this cycle all over again! Now that it's fall I've decided to go darker, and had hopes of achieving my natural hair color again...

The things us girls do...

This time, I'm somewhere in between. It's not so dark I hate it, but it's definitely darker than my natural color I showed my stylist. Every time I pass a mirror I'm shocked by the reflection I see because it's not how my brain thinks I look...but I'm getting used to it!
I'll probably be back in the stylist's chair come spring ready for the return of the blonde!

NYC Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island

Tuesday July 12, 2011

Our final day of vacation didn't actually take place in New York City.
We had tried earlier in the trip to go to Ellis Island and to see the Statue of Liberty, but the ferry lines were crazy long and we thought we'd try boarding from the New Jersey side and make a day of it on Tuesday.
So we had one final breakfast with Aunt Martha and she kindly drove us to Liberty State Park where we boarded the ferry to Ellis Island. Before boarding the ferry we walked around the Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal where immigrants used to board trains to their new homes around the country!

The train tracks are covered with greenery now
but you can still see the signs for each track

Boarding Miss New Jersey to go to Ellis Island!

Leaving Liberty State Park

View of NYC from New Jersey

Arriving at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum
Jenni was really excited to look up the names of her ancestors
who came to America as immigrants. 

Great Hall- immigrants were lined up here to be processed

We were able to walk through several of the check points that
immigrants were forced to pass through before being allowed to enter America.

After a quick lunch we boarded the ferry again and headed over to Liberty Island to see the statue.

I bought a little light up torch for work and had to strike a pose like the lady!

Jenni at Liberty Island

Me and Lady Liberty

Fun benches on the island.

When we had seen all we came to see we rode the ferry back to Liberty State park where my cousin picked us up and drove us to the airport to fly home. It was such a fun trip! We saw everything on our list and even a few places we hadn't planned on. It's safe to say we heart NY!

And that's what I did on my summer vacation...