Photo of the Day 4/12/09 and a weekend recap

I did a little scavenging yesterday and got my hands on these old saris I already have a few ideas up my sleeve for some crafty fun! Do you have any suggestions? Our weekend was fairly low-key but we did manage to catch Fast Furious I'm not normally that into action movies but I loved this one! I also finished the second book in the Twilight series which I liked a lot better then the first one. Oh and what felt like endless amounts of laundry...Anyhow I hope all of you had a good Easter weekend and Happy Monday!

Sewing?

Considering I have such a wristlet obsession I thought it might be fun to try and stitch one...It can't be that hard right? Except for it seems the handy Simplicity pattern for Wristlets is nowhere to be found!


So now I'm pouting! I've looked at a few other patterns but since it's my first project I'd like detailed step by step instructions which I know Simplicity is the best at! Anyone out there good at sewing??

P.S. How sweet is the one with the bow???

Loving

This is a super easy project, that looks amazing and can add that little something special to a room! I LOVE the colors in this one and I simply adore butterflies!

Find the instructions here.

Baby it's Cold outside!

This is the latest weather report from NJ.com......Not fun for me at all and I most definitely have to layer up to make sure I stay warm! So I dragged out all my winter coats and thought I would share them with you guys...

I had to buy this brown one because I was going somewhere that required a jacket not black, blue, or gray. So late in the season this was all I could really find and while it's grown on me over time the hubby LOVES this coat and was the reason I kept it. I just don't like that it has no pockets!

This red one is my favorite and although it doesn't look quite as cute on the hanger it's a baby doll jacket and looks adorable when it's on.

This grey one is cropped and fits more like a riding jacket, I love that this one has a hood for keeping your head covered and your hair straight on a snowy day :) Both of the fun scarves were made by my mom! Yes she is super talented in all things knitting and these scarves are perfection! She uses the softest chenille like yarn mixed with a a furry one to keep you nice and warm. Not only that but she can make the length longer or shorter depending on your coat...The pastel one was actually made for a longer light blue coat but I donated that last year and I wear it with the grey coat now although it's a little longer. We were thinking of setting up an Etsy shop for her where people can order custom scarves (length and color) she also makes them for little girls! So what do you think?? Would you buy one for yourself or to give as a gift?

Party Favors

I love finding unique party favors to give out...Really it excites me to find something perfect and unique that I think everyone will love. If I have time then I try to do something crafty but for our get together a few weeks ago there was no time! We had such a busy week and the only option was store bought.....Since it was for Diwali (the festival of lights) I definitely wanted it to be something bright and colorful as well as relating back to the holiday....I didn't have much time to look but I fell in love with these:I loved the bright colors that reminded me of rangoli patterns and the fact that there was a wick inside to light, this way if you put it out on your porch the flame can't blow out because it's protected.

I also wanted to do something for the kiddies that helped them understand what Diwali was really about, again I didn't have much time so originally I thought I would buy a story book. The hubby however came up with a much better idea, I guess he knows how I am and until I found the perfect book I would have kept searching. He pulled a few links to some online resources, such as the story of Diwali and some coloring pages etc. This way I was able to put exactly what I wanted into the book. I created a simple cover page, started with the story of Diwali, a few ADORABLE coloring sheets...I mean really how cute are these?

a few rangoli patterns to color, and lastly a create your own elephant! ( I love elephants)

Everything was hole punched and put into a red three prong folder, we planned to give them out along with crayons but didn't get time to buy the crayons :(. I had also purchased labels to make cute stickers for the front but again no time. Although we gave them out at the end of the night these could easily be handed out at the beginning of the evening this could also be used to entertain kids during a party. If you are hosting or attending Thanksgiving/Christmas parties and know you there will be little ones in attendance this is a great way to keep them occupied while parents enjoy the festivities.

Here are some links for some Thanksgiving and Christmas printables.

http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/thanksgiving/short-stories/the-first-thanksgiving.html

http://www.apples4theteacher.com/coloring-pages/thanksgiving/

http://www.apples4theteacher.com/coloring-pages/christmas/

This gingerbread is SO cute but would need supervision since it requires scissors:

http://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/print/decorate-a-gingerbread-cookie-coloring-page/

http://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/celebrate/thanksgiving-coloring-pages/

http://www.crayola.com/free-coloring-pages/celebrate/christmas-coloring-pages/

Some Word Searches/Mazes that can be mixed in:

http://holidays.kaboose.com/thanksgiving/thanks-word.html

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/thanksgiving_puzzles.htm

http://holidays.kaboose.com/xmas-word.html

http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/christmas_puzzles.htm

It is so super easy to do and you can add what you like and think your group of kids would enjoy as well as focus on what you would like them to learn about the holiday! Also account for one or two extra, I had an exact count on kids and only made that many and we had a last minute friend come along. Luckily the mom was understanding though!

Oops! The Diwali coloring pages are thanks to www.ActivityVillage.co.uk for anyone tha tis interested :)

Quickie

What do you do with a bunch of leftover remote control playing cards? Make a fun matching game for your adorable nephews! This can actually be done with any playing cards (princess, winnie-the pooh, or just your classic deck) you might have and since we had already been playing the matching game with these particular cards as they were when they flipped them over and found the pictures on the other side they were thrilled! If you have never played the matching game before it is super easy just lay your cards face down and then each player gets to pick two in hopes of making a match.

All you have to do is print the pictures the size of the card (I re sized in photoshop and was able to fit 4 images on one 5X7). Make sure to get doubles of each picture, cut out, and glue onto the card. If you don't have playing cards you can just use a fun patterned paper on the back. Trust me they'll be thrilled when they flip them over and find mommy, daddy, grandma, grandpa etc. It's the perfect personalized stocking stuffer!

Trick or Treat...Something Sweet!

This was the second part of the present I did for one of our friends that just had a baby.....You can see the first part here. This was for their mommy, a mini brag book that she can carry in her purse. I had to cut out the faces because I am not sure about posting their pictures.

And here is the CUTE bag I found in the Target $1 bin to put it in....Funny I liked this better then and of the regular gift bags the had!

Hope you guys have a great Halloween :) After our dinner guests leave I will be making 3 batches of brownies (one with a Symphony layer, one with frosting and sprinkles, and one triple chunk) and three trays of mini cheesecakes in preparation for tomorrow! I hope everything goes well and will have updates on Monday!

Quickie

When we first moved into my mom's house a few years ago every wall, closet, bathroom, etc was an insane shade of peach!

That wasn't going to work for us and we poured over paint catalogues looking for just the right colors! Since the living room and the dining room were really more like one big room in order to create separation we thought we would paint the living room portion maroon and the dining room portion an olive green....this involved having to paint one wall two different colors! My cousins that were helping us did not let me hear the end of it when we spent the whole day painting! They made so much fun of me for wanting to paint one wall two different colors! It actually came out pretty cool after it was all done....you can kinda see it in this picture....

The day we were painting I wanted to take pictures to document our turn around and happened to get ones of my two cousins taken at two different times away from one another in the same pose....I found this clearance frame and as a "thank you" gift to them I painted it half green and half maroon!

Whenever they see it, it brings back memories from a fun, tiring day!

Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice

I saw these on Elizabeth Kartchner's blog awhile ago and was dying to try making them but couldn't think of any girls....our family and friend circle seems to be pretty dominated by BOYS!!! So when Jay's good friend just had a baby girl I knew exactly what part of her gift would be! I think they came out pretty cute and it was fun to make them! Thanks for the cute idea!!

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday to my uncle who spent our entire childhood terrorizing us! We definitely wouldn't be as wacky as we are if we didn't have your example to follow! Although I do take comfort in the fact that you terrorize your own kid just as much as you did us if not more!!

A few months ago around fathers day I found these playing card tins that looked like a remote control, the back of the playing cards inside also had the same remote control image. The first time I looked at it I thought it was cute but I couldn't think of anything to use it for. A day or two later inspiration struck. I decided it would be perfect for a mini book with the front being "Dad you can't control everything in life". I decided a photo strip would work better so without further ado....

The last two pics say "but at least you can control the remote" and "OK maybe NOT!!" right on a picture of my cousin holding the remote with a sneaky smile on his face! Here's a close up of some of the details....(I had to remove one of the closer up pictures)

And finally the cute little tin that held the photo strip...I figured this way he had the option of either keeping it in the tin or hanging it up. I thought it came out pretty cute and my cousin was thrilled to rub it in his dads face that he controls the remote!! So I'm sure this has started many more battles in their house!! I am sooooo glad it's Friday :)

Happy Tuesday :)

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend :) I got the chance to finish up a few projects as well as have a few mishaps that I will post about soon! I guess you learn as you go with all of these crafty endeavours.....

My grandfather loves having adding his personal touch to a house and making it stand out....He came up with the concept of this number plate for the mailbox at their new home and my mom and I put it together. He wasnted something gray to match the stone posts that the mailbox sits on....The bottom reads Pabari's which is their last name and the top reads Laxmi-Ganaga which pays respect to his parents. After everything was painted and glued he was too excited to pick it up! We were planning on adding a coat of glow in the dark paint over the letters and the 7 so that it could be spotted at night....Instead we just eneded up sealing it so he could put it up right away :)

Raksha Bandhan

Raksha Bandhan was this last Saturday so this post is a little late :) I did a little google search and found the following from Wikipedia for those of you who don't know what Raksha Bandhan is.

Raksha Bandhan (the bond of protection in Hindi) is a Hindu festival, which celebrates the relationship between brothers and sisters. It is celebrated on the full moon of the month of Shraavana.
The festival is marked by the tying of a rakhi, or holy thread by the sister on the wrist of her brother. The elder brother in return offers a gift to his sister and vows to look after her same as elder sister return offers to younger brother. The brother and sister traditionally feed each other sweets.

Since I learned to make friendship bracelets WAY back in middle school I thought it would be cool to make custom rakhi's for my brothers in their favorite colors. This has since been changed to a simple pattern with the traditional colors and my brothers won't wear any of the store bought ones just this one!

So to Aum, Saawan, Saajan, and Dillon all my best wishes for the next year. I love all four of you so much!

For more interesting information on Raksha Bhandan you can check Wikipedia.

Reception Table Names

I have a few little projects to share but unfortunately I haven't had a chance to upload the pictures from my camera....So for now I'll share these....Our focus for our wedding was to make sure everyone had a good time and that everything was very us. Instead of having regular table numbers we decided to do name the tables with things about us such as birth place, college, etc. To make a long story short we couldn't come up with enough for 30 tables so we decided to go with Hindi movie names specifically romantic movies. I had 10 different pictures and 3 of each one. We then had our photographer match our place cards to the same design I created in photo shop for these. The purple and gold color scheme matched the colors of the outfit I wore to our reception. Overall everyone thought they came out really cute and added a touch of us to each table :)

Wedding Things

Now that I am finally settling I am just getting back to scrapping....I have pictures of other things but that would require finding the wire to transfer them off my camera...moving is NO fun take it from someone who knows! Anyhow Indian weddings are known for all their ceremonies, it's a nice way to enjoy each and every step of your wedding with your family around you. My mom made these for the invitation ceremony where we all get together to address the invitation cards. My uncle did some of the free hand drawing and then she glitzed it up with glitter and gemstones. They came out gorgeous and very traditional looking which I loved! Thanks mom for all your hard work!

Mini Album in a Tin

This was the second part of my sister-in-laws birthday gift....It's a miniature mint tin that I stole from my brother to put this together.....
At first I thought about painting it or adding paper over it but then I just decided to go with the Las Vegas Theme.... The cover says "This family is always a sure bet" and the rest of the pictures fan out like a hand of cards with all the family on them....The back of the pictures are scanned in images of actual playing cards....I used the King, Queen, and Jack of hearts....I cut both sides out and glues them together and then used a round corner punch to make the edges....I used eyelets to make sure the holes in the corners were secure and then tied together with a fun ribbon....

I got so into it that I even decorated the inside of the box :) All the pictures and images were resized in photoshop...