Steppin’ up my game

     Once you figure out that grease and cream-based paints are super gross, I guarantee your face painting will improve.  I prefer Snazaroo’s water-based paints.  Being a British company, their 18 ml tubs are hard to find.  Party City has a couple colors, but nothing to get excited about.  Ebay is probably your best bet.
     I’m still nowhere close to a professional- luckily kids are easily pleased, which pleases the parents.  : )  I’ve been painting at birthday parties, Halloween parties, Pump it Up, and an upcoming PTA event.  It’s fun, and anything people give me I split between supplies and Operation Smile- Lexi and I are trying to raise the $240 it costs to provide a surgery for one child.  If you have a charitable (non-profit) event coming up, let me know, and I’ll do it for free!

Can you tell who my most cooperative child is??  : )

Halloween cupcakes

     Having a daughter born in Oct. is truly a gift.  Now I have an excuse to make and distribute fun spooky edibles!  These are the cupcakes Madeline took to her preschool class. 
     Pretty straight up- the skeleton cupcakes have a mini marshmallow head, and the spider webs are actually melted chocolate chips, drawn on a frozen cookie sheet to set.  Easy peezy!

Trunk-or-Treat 2010

     On my weekly romp through Joann’s Fabric in mid-October, I came across this red velvety fabric in the clearance bin and thought ‘this kind of feels like a tongue.’  Good thing I was alone because the cartoony light bulb blinking over my head was blinding!  And thus came together the easiest (or simplest is a better word) trunk-or-treat set up ever because I’m NOT a seamstress.  The only setback was the fact that I couldn’t find the quartz doorknob I got at a yardsale for $2 to pierce the tongue with.  It’s probably somewhere with the other items labeled “to be used later in a fabulous project” pile somewhere.

Lexi’s Half Sleepover!

 
Kickin’ it off with her invitations I made from CTMH’s Cherry-O paper.  I hope you can tell they’re supposed to be sleeping bags.  The pillows are cut from white felt.  And you can’t see it well, but the cherry stem on the tag provides the backslash in the fraction for 1/2.  You pull her head and the party information comes out like a book mark.

So a half sleepover runs just like a regular sleepover….
1.  The girls show up in pajamas at 6:00

2.  Bring a sleeping bag for games like “piggy-piggy” and musical sleeping bags

3.  Decorate pillow cases

4.  Do the whole cake/presents bit

5.  Hunt for glo-sticks in the dark backyard

6.  Include glo-sticks in a rockin’ dance party

7.  And my favorite part-  THEY GO HOME AT 9 PM!! 

It also helps if you have an amazing sister to help put it all together.

My Creative Space

I guess I’m just following Virginia Woolf’s advice and claiming a room of my own.  The focus is scrapbooking, but really it’s more of an art studio/inspirational zen space/Johnny Depp shrine.  I wish I could spend more time here, but it’s tucked away at the back of the basement far from the cries of the lil’ ones (which actually makes it that much more desirable.)  To make it practical, I’ve dragged tables out to the common area  where my kids play.   God forbid I should block the Play Station 3!  (From the DH, not the kids!)  Thanks for looking…



(And I guess I should take new pics, because these are 6 months old, and I forgot I rearranged everything since then…heh.)

Just your every day face paint

The Rovang household has to start getting out the Halloween decor in Sept. to be completely ready for our favorite holiday.  So when you stumble across some face paint, you have to partake.  It’s good practice- you never know when your entertaining skills will come in handy.  (Just don’t ask me to do Dora!)


In honor of Buffett, and yes, she’s a fan.  She actually knows all the words to “Cheeseburger in Paradise.”  That’s my girl!

Chocolate pencils

As a nice little addition to the girls’ teachers’ schultuten, I made these cute pencils I saw in Creating Keepsakes magazine.

It’s our way of saying “thank you” for a great start to school.  The inside is a tube of rolos chocolate caramels, which are actually becoming pretty hard to find.  Thanks, 7-11!