Showing posts with label family activities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family activities. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Happy 2009!

I know it's a bit into the New Year already, but the time is escaping me! We are busy revamping and reworking things- household items included in that- to bring you a new look! Exciting things are in the works, and I am researching "stuff" all the time. Can't wait to share with you. In a couple of weeks...

Anyway- our little paperwhite narcissus project. I hope you started one! After a mere 3+ weeks, it is well under way, and puts such a smile on my face. Keep watering!


Sunday, December 7, 2008

Christmas in Germany

Our family was lucky enough to "hop over the pond" at Thanksgiving time and spend a week with our family in Germany. The Christmas markets were just opening up on our last days, so I thought I would share some "Gemuetlichkeit" with you. The old fashioned ambience and Christmas feel was a real treat- a totally different experience from the hustle and bustle that Americans have during the holidays. Stroll through the picturesque town with me and enjoy the market while sipping your cocoa or Gluehwein ( a spiced wine that is served warm)!

Great architecture in Rothenberg:


Christmas Markets in Stuttgart:





Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Birthday Celebration

We celebrated a birthday yesterday, and enjoyed this homemade cheesecake- yes, I did actually bake it! Lemon curd and raspberries decorated it.

The best part of the day, right behind all of the hugs and kisses was watching our "tween" thoroughly enjoy her presents. It was an electronic birthday- camera and cell phone, and pure joy! The cell phone is a prepaid minute type and she just really just loves listening to the ring tone! When was the last time you really got excited for a new gadget? I can't remember truly enjoying my cell phone, instead of viewing it as a nuisance or a necessity. Oh, to be young again!

Happy, happy day!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Clutter Busting Tips from Real Simple

Real Simple magazine has your fall clutter busting tips at hand. This magazine really gets to the heart of the clutter issue with these 7 simple steps to beating clutter, once and for all! Fall cleaning has never looked so great! Here's a condensed version of the 7 steps for those who are going to start right away, or try this link to Real Simple for more in-depth!

Clutter Buster Tips:

1. Act like you are moving. There is nothing like a deadline to make you actually complete a job!

2. Assess your rooms. Make sure each room and item has a purpose in it's space.

3. Clean out for a worthy cause. In this day of economic chaos- your "stuff" is appreciated by many charities. Donate!

4. Edit your rooms. Simplify the space you live in.

5. Make organizing a team effort. Everyone in the family can help with this one! Remember the "one in, one out" rule, and use it!

6. Shop in your closet. try on items that you haven't worn in a while and update your look that way.

7. Put apples with apples and oranges with oranges. Group like items together and put them where they will actually be used.

Enjoy your fall clean-up!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

FlowerGirlz- Our Etsy Shop

Happy Tuesday morning!

We have been very busy this Labor Day weekend at GirlzDecorate. We opened an Etsy shop called FlowerGirlz!

I am very excited to announce FlowerGirlz, since it was a collaborative effort in my family. The best husband in the world is the technical side of it, and the creative side is the women in my life. My mom is the artist, I am the floral decor, and my daughter will soon be showing her creative touches as well! All of us love anything botanical and in nature, so that is the reoccurring theme in our wares. I will be posting a permanent link on the site (hopefully tonight), but you can check us out right now through this link!


Enjoy browsing, and we would love feedback- as well as purchases!

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Art Street Fest

One of the sure signs in our area that summer is ending- not Back to School stuff everywhere- but a festival called Art Street. Art Street encompasses everything that a festival should- good food, music, drink, and of course the Arts. Fine Art, Photography, Textiles, Jewelry, Woodworking, and Ceramics are all here in some form or another. It's a feast for the eyes, and a great place to buy unique pieces and be inspired to create your own.


Here's a taste of the atmosphere: (Unfortunately, one cannot really capture the artwork itself in photos!)







Love this guy!
Hope everyone has a great Monday!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Sailing Away

Images of a fleeting summer...

Shoreline and Lighthouse on a picturesque day along Lake Michigan.

Happy Weekend!





Monday, August 11, 2008

Glass Flowers

Happy Monday Morning!

A garden project to start the week off with- Glass Flowers!

You will need:
1. wine bottles (use the ones from this weekend's Sangria!)
2. wooden dowels
3. paint
4. clear glass plates and/or bowls
5. glass beads or marbles
6. glass adhesive (available at your local craft stores)

This is a relatively easy project that you can do with the kids! Paint a flower on the underside of a glass plate and allow to dry. Use marbles, gems, beads as the center of the flower- attaching with the glass adhesive on the top of the plate. Follow the directions on the glue itself for best results. Then attach the finished glass flower to an inverted wine bottle with glue (see picture). Stake it in the ground and watch your flowers grow!






Friday, August 8, 2008

The 2008 Olympics!

Happy Friday!

The opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing is tonight. Who is not excited? I am very anxious to see China- I know it will be glossed over, but an interesting venue anyway. Good luck to all of the athletes! Just a little history behind the symbol...
The Olympic symbol consists of five interlaced rings of equal dimensions (the Olympic rings), used alone, in one or in five different colours, which are, from left to right, blue, yellow, black, green and red. The rings are interlaced from left to right; the blue, black and red rings are situated at the top, the yellow and green rings at the bottom in accordance with the following graphic reproduction. The Olympic symbol expresses the activity of the Olympic Movement and represents the union of the five continents and the meeting of athletes from throughout the world at the Olympic Games.

Credit: IOC

Friday, July 11, 2008

Original Art I

While the craft room is being used, instead of designed, my creative family has been hard at work! Grandma is the artist, and my Little One is an aspiring artist so I thought I would share a project. I also paint- the laundry room is now a shiny bright white called Sea Salt from Behr!





Palm trees painted by Grandma.


Mexican Plates that I purchased in Mexico.

Pineapple painted by my Little One(10 years old- amazing!)

Sunday, June 15, 2008

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

As a family, we celebrate most major holidays with the deep frying of a turkey. The tradition is now being passed to my husband and the next holiday will be ours. Deep frying the turkey keeps it moist and succulent with a great crispy skin. I, myself, really like all of the fixings that go with the traditional turkey dinner- I am a glutton for dressing/stuffing, as my jeans tell me this morning!

Some pictures to highlight the event:






Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Summer Fun Kit

Another great idea from the people over at Real Simple:

Summer Fun Kit- my little one did this over the weekend and enjoyed making it as much as I am sure she will enjoy using it this summer.

Unless you're sending your children off to sleep-away camp for the entire summer, you may be worrying right now about what you're going to do to keep the "I'm bored!" chanting to a minimum when your kids are out of school. Day camps and swimming lessons can keep them entertained for a number of hours, but you will still be faced with many evenings and weekends full of warm weather and kids who want to take advantage of their free time.To stay ahead of the game, consider making a Summer Fun Kit. The purpose of the Summer Fun Kit is to have a book with a seemingly endless supply of ideas for summer fun. You'll need to do some brainstorming and decide how much you want to spend on possible activities, but it doesn't require much work after these decisions have been made.

To set up a Kit, you will need plastic sheet protectors, paper, and a three ring notebook. You can either print ideas on the top of each page with your computer's printer, or you can write them with a magic marker. Whatever is the easiest for you, go with that idea. You want to keep the majority of the page blank, however, so that your kids can write about when they completed the activity and provide pictures and reviews in the blank space. You'll want to use the sheet protectors so that you can put tickets and passes in the pages ahead of time and the kids can put mementos into the pages after an activity is completed. (For example, if you have a local pool, you can keep the pool passes in the sheet protector so you don't lose them.) At the end of the summer, your children will have a book full of memories and you'll have notes on what worked and didn't work when you're making plans for next summer.Except for planned vacations or theater productions, I would avoid scheduling when an activity takes place. This will leave the choosing up to your children and give them some control over their summer.

Here are more than 15 ideas to get you started:
Picnic in the park
See a movie on the big screen
Family bike ride to [X]
Sleepover at grandma's
Trip to local children's museum
Afternoon at the zoo
Painting piggy banks at the pottery center
Trip to the amusement park
Watch favorite movie at home complete with popcorn and soda
Create a sidewalk chalk art gallery
Rainy day board game tournament
Morning hike to [X]
Build sand castles at the beach
Paddle boats at the lake
Rainy day living room maze building
Create a puppet show
Family talent contest

Being organized and prepared with a Summer Fun Kit will reduce your stress and help keep your kids entertained. Please add more ideas in the comments section so that everyone can have the best Kits possible!

Friday, May 9, 2008

Mother's Day Gift


I have to share my Mother's Day gift with all! I received it a bit early, and thought what a great craft for all those Little Ones on a rainy day.

Simply fill a container- they used tins with foam and covered it with wax paper (green of course), or a moss would work. Assemble the button flowers out of bright colored buttons and wire.

Arrange them in the dirt (stryofoam), and voila- a Button Flower Arrangement.

These would also be darling as a favor for a garden party...