Thursday, November 5, 2009

To be close to muno...

Ladies and gentleman...we have a climber.  Eek!

 
Yup, climbed up there all by her dangerous little self. God help me...

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

So I made some crayons...

My daughter's birthday is January 21,and so naturally I am already planning some of the details of her birthday party.
We will be doing a Yo Gabba Gabba theme, and I hope to accomplish a lot of the decorations, games, etc with DIY projects rather than going all store bought.  I have been researching the fine art of pinata making!  Also a good friend did her invites for the 1st bday, and I plan to have her work some photoshop magic again for this coming year as well. 
Today's project was just a rough draft, I was working on a party favor...homemade / repurposed crayons.

I used a silicone cupcake pan, this one was from Target's cheapo section in the front of the store and has snowflake shaped cups! Super cute to add to a child's holiday gift, but I am hoping to find something less seasonal when it comes time to do her actual favors (possibly a star, but open to suggestions).


Preheat your oven to 275.

Peel the crayons' paper wrappers off and discard. 

"Grease" the muffin cups..I used vegetable oil, but I have read that you can use nonstick cooking spray as well.  I would imagine the result would be the same, so just use what you have on hand!

Break the crayons into small pieces and put into muffin cups. I used 4 crayons per cup, however the finished product did come out a little thinner than I would like, so next time I am going to double the amount per cup.

Next pop the pan in the oven!  I always put my silicone bakeware on a metal cooking sheet to give it more stability, I think that is especially important for this project as you do not want melted wax flying all over you (or your kitchen) when you take out the wobbly muffin pan.

I baked my crayons for 8 minutes and then checked them and stirred the wax a big with a toothpick.  At 8 minutes, the wax was still lumpy but softening.  I then checked every couple minutes stirring out the lumps until the wax was completely smooth/liquid.  The entire baking process took less than 15 minutes, but your time may vary due to oven performance, so be sure to check often as you do not want to fill your home with the smell of burning crayons!

As you can see, the wax has liquified and they don't look too appealing in liquid form!  Don't think you have ruined your crayons, they look much different on the other side!

Let cool completely!!!! I cannot stress this one enough. I tried to remove one crayon too early and it did crumble.  Crayons should be solid, obviously, and cool to the touch before you attempt to remove them from the pan.

Carefully remove each crayon from the mold one at a time.  With a simple muffin pan you will probably be able to work more quickly, with this snowflake shape I did have to take more care as the pattern is more intricate.

Enjoy your finished product! (here's mine)












Any questions, please feel free to comment.  If anyone makes their own crayons, I would love to get a peek at them!

Sesame Street is 40

Happy 40th Sesame Street
Life just wouldn't be the same without BeeBurr, Gober, Ahmo, Uhneee, and all the rest of the gang (says Adison) :)

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

tumbling tot

Adison had a nice day today..you know, tantrums, less than an hour-long-nap, and falling face first on the floor and splitting her lip open. Good times! 
But, my mom & brother did come over to see her, so she enjoyed that of course.  I made homemade vegetable soup & she literally said "Mmmm mmmm good!" so I guess it was a hit!  Non-homemade apple crumb pie for dessert & bedtime followed shortly after..she went to sleep a happy camper.

Lesson learned: yummy soup trumps (yet another) mouth injury.  Hope my darling wakes up in a happier mood tomorrow and no more tumbles!!

Outfit of the day

I asked Adison what she wanted to wear today...of course she goes running to her closet shouting "wear today...wear today!" and she grabbed at this little tutu & leggings set, so I grabbed it.  The leggings are capri length, so good thing we aren't going out anywhere today as it is chilly! 
We paired it with this sweet "my heart belongs to daddy" tee from gymbo's Little Hearts line...love it! 

Of course no outfit is complete without a bow or little clippie..these were a springtime fave and I am happy I found another outfit to match them with!


Flower clippie made by Rachel of Perfectly Pink Cupcake Couture

Intro..eh.

Hi blogworld. I am Merideth.  I'm never good with introductions, I can't ever think of what to say so I end up rambling on...and on...and on....and...well you get the point.
My life is pretty simple...almost 30 years old, live with my almost 2 year old daughter & her father/my boyfriend.  And don't say baby daddy..it's tacky.
Day to day life right now is looking for a new job, watching the same Yo Gabba Gabba episode 50+ times in a row, and avoiding stepping on yet another toy (ouch). 
I've tried blogging before...I always get sidetracked after a day or two, so here's to second (or one-hundred-and-second) chances in the blog world :)