Homemade Hawaiian Lei

Aloha!! :)

Right now me and the hubbs are vacationing, but I wanted to share some fun Hawaiian-themed activities we did last week.

The kids kept asking me where Hawaii was, and what it was like there, so I thought it would be fun to forget the cold and winter for a week and teach them all about Hawaii! They had a great time and I LOVED this craft. It is a combo of a few different ideas I had seen, and it came together just as I had hoped. Here are our Homemade Hawaiian Leis!

I LOVE how they turned out! I'll walk you through how we made these...starting with the funky colored noodles!

I found on THIS blog a post about dying pasta to use for beads. I have had it pinned for a while and was excited to finally give it a go! I used penne pasta for the spacers inbetween the flowers and opted to dye the noodles and then just have white flowers...I love the effect!

It was super easy to color the pasta, all you do is mix 2 TBSP rubbing alcohol in a plastic bag. Then add your food coloring...I doubled what she recommends :) I wanted those colors to POP :) Then you add 1 C of pasta to your bag and shake until completely coated. After that you spread your pasta out on a cookie sheet to try and then you have your own hand-dyed beads! Seriously...people are SO smart! I am never buying beads for kids crafts again!

Once our noodles were all ready to go I simply used a large flower punch to create the white flowers, hole punched them in the center, and then we started stringing!

Here is a close-up of the first one we made together. I love activities like this because you have something usable to play with after, its great to work on colors and patterns with your kids, and its just plain fun! :)

Here's Kendall rocking her lei...they were so cute in them! You could make bracelets or anklets as well.

These would be fun party favors or crafts to do at any type of Luau or Hawaiian-themed party, and after a little bit of prep they are actually quite simple :)

Thanks for checking out our Homemade Leis, I hope your having a wonderful week and check back soon for more Hawaiian themed fun! :)

Candy Heart Earrings

Okay, are you sick of Valentines stuff yet?! :)

I am usually so behind on stuff like this, but knowing we aren't going to be back to normal life til the end of January has motivated me to get some project done I've had on the brain.

Do you guys read Delightfully Noted? If not...you need to! Jennifer is hilarious, has great ideas and is incredibly talented! She had a post HERE about making some simple earrings and I thought I was brilliant! It inspired me to make these SUPER easy Candy Heart Earrings!

Lets see...all you need for these are some Candy Hearts, Flat Earring Posts, some Mod Podge and some glue! Easy, right?!

I did a light coat of Mod Podge on the candy hearts...just so they would be shiny and to act as a shellac of some sort :) I'm sure theres a better way...but thats what I had on hand :) Once they were dry I glued the posts on the back and had myself a couple of pairs of earrings:)

My girls LOVE these! They want to wear them every day, but I am mean and am making them wait until at LEAST February :) These would be fun little gifts for friends or party favors.

Thanks for checking out Blue Skies Ahead today! I am going to be posting some really fun Hawaiian-themed crafts next week, so make sure you check back!

Mini-Chalkboard Valentine

Ok, this one was super fun, easy and has a TON of possibilities!

This cute little valentine is a fun way to give a small, inexpensive gift that is NOT candy. Don't get me wrong...I love candy as much as the next person, but sometimes I think its nice to have other options :)

To make our Mini-Chalkboard Valentine I needed the following supplies:

Small Wooden Hearts

Pink Chalkboard Paint

Chalk

All you do is paint the hearts with the chalkboard paint and let it try overnight. Then once it has dried you cover the whole thing in chalk and wipe off with a damp cloth. This helps is set in...or something like that :) Once they were painted I let Skylar write a short message on them and then placed the heart in a cellophane bag with a piece of chalk.

Finally I made up a tag that says "I hope your day is "CHALK" full of love!", tied it up with a ribbon, and DONE! :)

If you didn't feel like painting the hearts with the chalkboard paint, this would be super cute with some sidewalk chalk as well! I'm also thinking there's got to be some sort of cute way to tie this into a teacher gift...I'll get back to you on that one! :)

Have a great day everyone!!

Outer Space Valentines

I warned you I had Valentines on the brain! :)

Skylar and I put these Outer Space Valentines together yesterday and I think they turned out pretty cute. My daughter is at the age where she is VERY silly about boys...so this was a great valentine for her to give to her little boy friends that is not too mushy :)

These valentines are made up of Glowsticks, Pop Rocks and a little Astronaut eraser. I got all of the items at my local dollar store and they call came in packs of 3 or 12...so its not too spendy either!

I made this simple tag on my Sihouette, attached it with some ribbon, and there you have it!

I always have great intentions for doing cute Valentines with my kids, then before I know it its February 13th and I have done nothing! :) Hopefully this year I'll be a little more on top of it! Have a great day everyone!

Out of Town Activity Bags

My husband and I have a big milestone coming up in our lives.

We are going on a trip...without the kids.

In almost 10 years of marriage we have only been away from them for a night here or there...and most of those were nights I was in the hospital having a baby! :)

My great hubby won a trip from his work to HAWAII...oh yeah...I am excited! And my amazing mom is watching our kids for 6 days. She has 3 little boys of her own so she is definitely going to have her hands full :)

One of my friends from high school did THE cutest thing on her blog a while back, and I totally copied her! :) You can check out her original post HERE

She created little kits to give to her kids each day she was gone. I thought this was brilliant. I am hoping by giving my kids these kits it will give them some entertainment, and take the pressure off my mom...even if its just for a little bit! :)

I did 4 different themed bags for each of the days my mom will have the kids that my little brothers will be in school.

First up we have the Spring Bag! It includes:

Bubbles

Yo-yo's

Suckers

Mini-Frisbees

Sidewalk Chalk

My mom lives in sunny Cali so this all works :)

The second bag is the Outer Space Bag. This bag has:

Glow Sticks

Astronaut erasers

Pop Rocks

Glow in the dark Stickers

Mini Milky Way Bars

Next up is the Circus Bag. It has:

Clown noses

Circus stencil kit

Circus animal crackers

Silly glasses

Cotton Candy

Finally we have the Cowboy Bag. This includes:

Western Stickers

Cowtail treats

Bandanas

Growing horses

Licorice Ropes

Sheriffs Badge

I am so excited for the kids to open up these little bags while we are away. I know they'll be fine, I know its good for us...but I'm gonna miss them like crazy and I want them to know I am thinking of them!

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by today! For some reason I totally have Valentines Day on the brain so I will have some cute ideas throughout the week if you want to get a headstart :) We are also doing some cute Hawaiian themed crafts so make sure you check back! Have a great day!

Top Posts of 2011!!

I have absolutely LOVED looking at everyones Top Posts of 2011! Its so cool to see so many great ideas in one post...I just had to do one myself! :) These are the most viewed posts of the year and it was really fun looking back and remembering some of the things we did this year. It was also quite funny to see how much better my pictures looked after I got a new camera and discovered Picnik ;)

So sit back, relax, and enjoy the Top 11 posts of 2011 at Blue Skies Ahead!!

Summer Bucket List

My attempt to make sure summer didn't go by without us doing everything we wanted too, and using a cute dollar store bucket to make it happen!

Tangled Family Home Evening

This to date is still my families favorite FHE...I wish I could come up with good ones like this more often ;)

Welcome to the neigh"BOO"hood Service Project

Our monthly service project in October, we took these fun treats and a packet of local info to all our new neighbors.

Yo-yo covered Initial

This is the focal point of my sweet baby Avrie's room, super simple and easy way to use up some of your smaller fabric pieces, plus a little different than just spelling out baby's name :)

Candy Corn Cupcakes in a Jar

I couldn't belive how many views this project got, I guess candy corn anything was all the rage this year!

The Parable of the Pumpkins Family Home Evening

This one had such a huge impact on our family, I am SO glad others viewed it and used it in their homes as well.

School's Out Jar

Jar filled with all sorts of activities the kids could pick out to beat summer boredom. The only catch was...some of them were chores! :)

Back to School Family Home Evening

Fun way to give your kids new school supplies while teaching them valuable lessons you want them to remember while they are at school...with printables!!

Chic Fabric-Covered Pumpkins

Ha!! One of my few crafts that actually turned out better than I imagined...that never happens!

Lost Library Books No More!

Little nook I set up in my house with a place for library books, cards and reciepts to make sure you don't pay any more of those pesky fines!

Santa Pancakes

Such an easy, fun way to celebrate Christmas. We always kick off the first day of December with our Santa Pancakes!

Finally, my most viewed post of 2011...

Conference Socks Tradition

I love that this was the most popular post of the year. It is such a special little tradition for my family, I love to think that some others have adopted it into their homes as well.

What a great year it has been! Thank you so much for sharing it with me. I try really hard to be an authentic blogger. Some weeks you won't see much here...but that's my reality. I don't always do elaborate family home evenings, super cute handmade crafts or delicious desserts. When I do get a chance to do some of those things, I love to share them. I feel like its my way of giving back for all the amazing ideas I have found on blogs over the years.

So thanks for stopping by today, I hope you found something worthwhile, and I am SO looking forward to a wonderful 2012!!

My 2012 Word of the Year

Happy New Year's Everyone!

We had such a wonderful day yesterday, it was the perfect way to end one year, and start another.

I love all the possibilities of a new year. I love a fresh start and the feeling that anything is possible. I also LOVE choosing one word to keep in my mind all year long, something I hope to focus on to help me become closer to the person I want to be.

This year the word I have chosen is CHERISH.

My life is such a beautiful gift, but am I truly cherishing it?!

I have a wonderful husband that provides for our family, not only supports my choice in staying home with my children, but LOVES that I do, and tells me everyday how much he loves me....do I truly show him how much I cherish him?

I have 4 fantastic, loud, wacky, dramatic, precious children. They have given my life purpose that I had never known, they have made me better and each has stolen a piece of my heart. Do I show them daily how much I truly cherish being their mother?

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Do I cherish the opportunity I have to serve? Do I cherish the chance I have to listen to a modern day prophet, read sacred scripture and commune daily with my Heavenly Father? Do I cherish the covenants I made in the temple and attend regularly to serve there?

There are so many more things in my life to cherish. I think we get in a rut sometimes of thinking "I will just be happy when...." I don't want to waste a minute of 2012 waiting for "when...."! I also tend to get a little nervous when things are going well. Anyone else? Almost like I'm waiting for something bad to happen, because really, isn't that how life can sometimes be? But really, how can you cherish your life if you are just waiting for something bad to happen??

Life can be SO hard! Some days I feel completely overwhelmed, inadequate and underappreciated! But on those days all it takes is to look around, see all the things I have been blessed with, to see there is truly SO much to cherish.

So if you are picking a word this year, I wish you luck!! I am excited to begin my year of recognizing, appreciating and CHERISHING all that my life has to offer. Life is not perfect, but it was never intented to be. Without the trials and tribulations there would be no growth, no progression. And looking back on my life and thinking I didn't learn a thing is scarier to me than those inevitable twists and turns anyway :)

A very Happy New Year's to you all and may we all have a very cherished 2012!!