Conversation Hearts Pancakes!

Now, I've got to warn you on this one...I think the idea is great, but the execution could be a little better :) I decided to share it anyways, hopefully someone more artistic than me could take it to the next level! ;)

Ever since I discovered putting your pancake batter in a condiment bottle to make shapes, I have been looking forward to a fun Valentines Breakfast! I decided to whip up some colored hearts and make our very own Conversation Heart Pancakes.

All I did for these was to make one batch of pancakes. I split the batter into 5 seperate bowls and added 2 drops of food coloring in each (a little bit goes a long way!) Then once it was mixed up I poured them in the condiment bottles and made up a bunch of different colored hearts.

Once they were completely cooled, I took some red frosting and wrote some little sayings on each pancake. This is where they get a little sketchy...but you get the idea!

All in all...I don't think my kids will notice that my frosting work isn't perfect or that the hearts aren't perfectly symmetrical (at least I hope they won't!!:) I think they are going to flip when they see these, hopefully its a great way to kick off our Valentines Day.

Chocolate Playdough Valentines

Here is one more cute Valentine idea we came up with. I love this idea because its NOT a treat, and you can make large quantities for pretty cheap with stuff you probably already have in your pantry.

Remember at Christmas time we made Holiday Scented Playdough as gifts?

Well what would be more perfect at Valentines than Chocolate Playdough?!

One of my MOST favorite blogs to find fun craft ideas for kids, The Imagination Tree, has a great Chocolate Playdough recipe. It takes less than 5 minutes and one batch made enough for 8 valentines. You can check out her link for the playdough recipe, it is super easy and the kids love to help make it.

Once the playdough had cooled I simply rolled baseball sized portions in a ball and put them in some cute cupcake liners I had on hand.

I whipped up this printable on Picnik, feel free to print it off if you want it! I like that is makes sure the kids know its NOT to eat...because this stuff smells seriously good! :)

And there you have another fun, unique idea for your kids Valentines!!

Thank you so much for coming by Blue Skies Ahead today! I have had a few people that are interested in doing blog swaps...if you would like to as well please email me! If I get enough interest I would love to start doing it weekly. It is a great way to find new blogs with more great ideas :)

Have a wonderful day!

It's a good life

All week I have been thinking about a conversation I had with some family one day when we were leaving Disneyland just a few weeks ago. We had spent all day trying to make precious memories with our kids. It was a wonderful day, but by the end the kids were hungry, tired and grumpy! My little Skylar was especially upset when I told her no more soda for the day and said something to the effect of "this is such a hard day!!"

Seriously?

I was discussing this with my aunt and uncle and they said something that really struck a chord with me. They said, "It's 99% yes all day long, and then 1% no...and thats all they remember!" I remember thinking this was SO true! As we continued to discuss/vent/laugh about how dramatic kids can be I had a very interesting thought.

Isn't it possible (even probable!) that our Heavenly Father may feel the same way in regards to His children?

So often in our lives we focus on the ONE thing in our life that is not going the way we would like.
I will be happy when I can lose the rest of this weight.

I will be happy when we can get into a home.

I will be happy when my kids are all in school.

You get the idea :)

Is it possible, that just like my children, I am guilty of forgetting the 99% "Yes", and dwelling on the 1% "No"? And in reality, often times Heavenly Father's "No's" are really "Not Now's" or "Not this way".

I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. This is a good life. It can be a hard life, but its a life full of love, growth, challenges and mercy. Heavenly Father has given me so much, things that may not seem like much to others, but that add to my 99% "Yes".

I am vowing to live my life with gratitude and realization of that 99%. It doesn't mean the challenges and trials aren't real, and that they are not hard. It simply means trusting in a loving Heavenly Father that knows me better than I know myself. A Heavenly Father that WILL give me that 1% "No"...because He knows it will help me become the woman I need to be. It means trying to live every day concious of the fact that this TRULY is a good life.

I loved this thought so much I made up a little printable I'm going to hang in my loft surrounded by pics of my family. Sometimes we all need this simple reminder :)

Have a wonderful Sunday everyone!

My attempt at Valentines Decor :)

Oh my goodnes...I have crafted ALL day long. Well, as much of the day that you CAN craft when you have 4 little ones :) And if you don't believe me, come look at the disaster that is my home :) Although its rare, most of my projects turned out alright and I thought I would share.

I was inspired by a lot of different bloggers. I patterned my LOVE frame after the one at Crap I've Made...hers is absolutly adorable!

I also was inspired by the darling garland from A Pumpkin and a Princess, it is just precious.

With those credits given, here is my take on Valentine Decor. I have a few more finishing touches for tomorrow and then I'll post a complete finished photo.

As you can tell my colors are turquoise, hot pink and light pink. I wanted to have different textures so I added a bunch of burlap and yarn...their not popular or anything, are they?! ;)

I simply wrapped some styrafoam balls with yarn and glued the end on and then wrapped a styrafoam wreath form with burlap strips and topped it off with some hot pink tulle. SO easy...all of it took me about 45 minutes.

I blogged my Kind Words printable earlier this week, next to that I just wrapped some more yarn around a glass vase I had in my basement. I actually LOVE how it turned out.

It adds a modern, funky look to our decor...I am loving the yarn!

For my LOVE frame I just spraypainted a large black frame white. Then I covered the cardboard with burlap and hotglued it on the back. Then I ModPodged the chipboard letters with some fun coordinating fabric and it was finished. I LOVE this big, eye-catching piece!!

Finally for our garland I just glued two doilies together, laced a piece of yarn through them and had myself a cute little garland to tie it all together.

It all came together quite nicely, I must say!! I guess that is the upside to being a VERY inconsistent crafter...you are thrilled when something actually works out! :)

Snowflake Ice Cube Fun!

We did a really fun activity that my kids absolutely loved! It was inspired once again by the fantastic blog, Meet the Dubiens. Seriously...she is so cool! If you want to see some amazing photography and even better ideas...check out her blog ASAP!

I loved the idea of making colored ice cubes and playing with them in the snow, and was even more excited when I realized I had a way to make it go along with our theme (seriously, I LOVE a theme!:)

I had some snowflake-shaped silicone baking trays and thought they would be perfect! This really is as simple as it sounds. Mix some water with food coloring and pour it into your molds.

Let them freeze completely and then these cute little guys pop right out! Sidenote: make sure your kids know they are NOT popsicles...Britton may or may not have eaten half of one :)

First of all I gave my kids some old mittens I had, the food coloring WILL get on their hands and takes forever to come off! Then I gave them some big sheets of white paper and let them "paint" with their snowflake cubes.

Yes, Britton refused to wear mittens...what can I say? He's 2 :)

When we finished painting we decided to take the rest of the cubes outside for some fun in the snow! It was cool to see the cubes melt and leave the different colors in the snow...the kids loved it!

Of course if you play outside in the snow, you know snow angels are just inevitable.

And then its just a matter of time until the snowballs start flying!! :)

Thank you so much for stopping by today! This was a great activity that took little preperation and filled an afternoon with fun...total success in my book! :) And you KNOW we enjoyed some Snowflake Soup when we were all done :) Have a great day!