This past spring, I bought an entertainment unit off of Kijiji for $15. The unit was custom-built by the previous owner and very sturdy. The unit itself rests on a base that has a decorative molding around the outside of it and the top molding piece can also be removed. You would never know it when you see the unit assembled, but it certainly makes the heavy piece easier to move when it can be somewhat dismantled.
Original T.V. Entertainment Unit:
As you know, these types of cabinets are virtually becoming obsolete with the influx of flat screen televisions. You can often find melamine or veneer type units on Kijiji for cheap, but it is rare to find one that is of such good quality for so little.
The is the original entertainment unit.
Project Preparation:
We dismantled the main pieces of the unit and then I:
used TSP to thoroughly clean the surface
rinsed the TSP off with a clean cloth and bucket of water
gave the entire surface a very light sand (220 grit) to scuff-up the surface for proper adhesion of paint
primed the entire surface
we replaced the glass shelf with two wood shelves in the “tower” part of the unit
we also cut a shelf and front molding for installation in the area where the television was kept
Original cabinet stripped down
Drawers and base
Primed unit
Final Touches:
I decided to paint the unit red with the intent on it becoming a major furniture piece in my son’s room. I had 2/3’s of a quart left over from when I originally painted his room. The original red I used was called Lyon’s Red (Benjamin Moore). I got one good coat done and most of a second, but being red, it really needed a third coat to get proper coverage. I was feeling that the original red was slightly pinkish and I wasn’t totally loving it. I needed to buy another quart to finish the unit properly and decided to go with a very slightly different red. You can hardly notice the difference b/w the stripe on his wall and the red unit, but the final project is exactly the hue I was looking for. I love, love, love this red ~ Benjamin Moore Caliente (AF-290). The colour in the photo looks a bit blotchy, but it is not ~ the paint coverage is very even. Originally, I had planned to cover the back, but decided to wait to see what it looked like with his wall behind. I think that once everything is inside it will be fine, but I can always go back and add a back if we find it a problem.
Finished Project
I purchased some canvas totes for the tower and plan to books in the shelves where the television used to sit. The total cost of this project was about $70 ($15 for unit,$30 for wood and $25 for paint). The prep work was a bit time intensive, but the actual modifications/building was minimal. Look for the cabinet in the upcoming post on my son’s completed Hockey Themed Room.
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When planning a birthday party, I work according to the following outline:
invitations
decorations
activities/games
food/snacks
cake(s) ~ plan, design and bake a cake/cupcakes (or save the hassle and order one)
loot bags
For a complete breakdown of party planning steps and organization, see my Birthday Party Planning post. We did a Pirate theme for my son’s 5th birthday. This was one of those over the top parties that took lots of time and energy to pull together, but it was great fun!
Invitations:
These invitations were so much fun to make. I wrote the invitation and then tried to “translate” it into pirate language. I Googled pirate words and even found examples of invitations others had made that I could use as a guide. After figuring out what I was going to write, I had to search the web for an appropriate font. I often pick a font that is specific to my party theme and this was no exception. Unfortunately, I can’t share the name of the font, as I now have a Mac and my computer doesn’t recognize the font in the original document. I have several places that I download fonts from, but dafont and fontspace are two that I often use. I can’t be sure by I think that Rapscallion and Treasure Map Dead hand look familiar from fontspace. I changed the fonts and then printed the invitations off on my computer. I then dipped them in tea to dye/age them and then set them out flat to dry completely. The mock treasure map was actually a map to our house, with the X marking our house.We rolled the map and invitation together, scroll style and added them to an old bottle with some sand and a seashell in the bottom. We corked the bottle and added a personalized tag to each bottle. My son and I delivered our “message in a bottle” to each guest.
Treasure Map and Pirate Party Invitation
Message in a Bottle
Decorations:
For this party, we had lots of decorations to pull the theme together. The guests were required to “walk the plank” on our front sidewalk before entering.
Walk the Plank Sign
Walking the Plank
As they stepped up on our front porch, they were welcomed by a skeleton and sign on the front door. The skeleton is one of those milk jug skeletons. I made it for the party and then kept it for a Halloween decoration, so it served a dual purpose. Click the picture for a tutorial on how to make them.
The big ship poster was on our front door.
I made my standard Happy Birthday Banner. The parrot was made with my son’s handprints for the wings.
I made a palm tree from an old cardboard carpet roll and set out an old trunk for the gifts. I wrapped the gifts from us in brown paper with raffia ties to go with the theme. I made several signs that were posted around the house. You can see this one says, “Loot Goes ‘ere!” You will also see some pineapples and a coconut next to the trunk. The coconut is real, but the pineapples were made for my daughter’s “Aloha” birthday party by applying paper maché over 2 litre pop bottles.
The buffet had a few decorations as well. I covered a small box with paper maché and made a custom lid that had the rounded top like a trunk. I used a heavy cardboard that had the flexibility to bend (not corrugated). I then filled it with treasure from the dollar store and around the house (brass wine glasses that we received as a wedding gift, fake gold coins, beads, shiny pennies (soaked in vinegar and salt), etc). I also spilled out one of the invitation bottles and covered the edges with two grass skirts from the dollar store (much cheaper than purchasing an actual table skirt).
There were several little “vignettes” set-up around our dining room and signs dispersed throughout the house and yard. We also purchased a pirated themed cd for background music. Here is a gallery showing more of the decorations.
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Games and Activities
Pin the Patch on the Pirate (I bought a commercial poster for this)
Pineapple Bowling with paper maché pineapples and a real coconut
Pass the Cannon (like Hot Potato) used a coconut as the cannon ball
Walk the Plank
Hook the Pretzel (How many pretzels can you hook? No hands!)
Swab the Deck (One on one contest to “swab” the balls across the deck with mops)
Treasure Hunt/Scramble (had to find the chocolate coins hidden around the yard/house)
Face Painting & Tattoos
Paper Bag Pirate Puppets (to fill time while some kids were getting their faces painted)
Dig for Treasure (We hid shells in a large sand box and had a contest to see who could find the most)
Shell Race (place a shell on your nose and race)
Pineapple Bowling
Swabbing the Deck
Pin the Patch on the Pirate
How Many Pretzels Can You Hook?
Food and Snack
This party was jam-packed with activities, so I did not put out much food. The only theme related food was Goldfish crackers. We also put out some watermelon, pretzels, chips and salsa. We also served a homemade punch.
Cake and Ice Cream
I don’t have specific tutorials to direct you to for the cakes. I tend to use Google images to get ideas and visit the sites connected to those images that interest me the most. I gather ideas from several sources to come up with my own versions. For the pirate ship cake, I was able to find little pirate action figures at the dollar store and the treasure chest originally held small candy. The pirate ship cake was sitting on a “treasure map” in the center of the table. The pirate cake and hat cake were basically fancy cutting. The stripes on the shirt are “fruit by the foot”. I often pre-cut ice cream to fit the theme. I bought vanilla cartons of ice cream and peeled the box off. This allowed me to cut the rectangular shape into 1″ slabs. I then used the skull and crossbones cookie cutter to cut the ice cream. I then lay the cut-out pieces on wax paper on a cookie sheet for quick and easy serving.
#1 Pirate Hat Cake
#2 Pirate Ship Cake
#3 Pirate Cake
Pre-cut Ice Cream
Loot Bags
When the guests arrived, they each received a bandana, eye patch, “pirate” face paint and a pirate style tattoo. Some of the loot was in their actual loot bags, some they received and wore for the duration of the party and other loot was received throughout the party. The birthday boy and his sister were in full costume and my husband and I sported bandanas and eye-patches.
Bandana
Eye Patch
Tattoos
Chocolate Coins (hidden in the yard)
Money (in the cake)
Skull and Cross Bones Cookies
“Ocean in a Bottle” with thank-you note attached (bottle with blue water/vinegar and a variety of ocean things like tiny plastic fish, shells, sand, etc. Place them in the bottle and kids and shake the bottle and watch the fish swim)
Package of Goldfish crackers
Glow Stick
Playdough
Dollar Store Pirate Action Figure and Boat Set
Skull & Cross Bone Cookies
This was one of the very best parties we did. The ideas were endless and it was so much fun! I would highly recommend a pirate theme party ~ it is guaranteed to be a big hit with both boys and girls!
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Several years ago, we bought a seasonal restaurant and although the days of “Bobby-Jo’s” are long gone, we still have several of those gigantic relish jars from buying bulk. I have used them as canisters for years, but my husband recently installed a shelf, so that we could have open storage and de-clutter our basement entrance/pantry.
Upcycled Jars
Basically, all I did was wash the jars and add a label. I had planned on spray painting the lids, but haven’t done so yet, and because they are so high up, you can’t see the tops. You can see the jars are quite large ~ 10″ high and 6″ wide.
The labels were made by taking regular white peel and stick Avery labels and painting them with homemade chalkboard paint. Click here for a tutorial. I then trimmed the ends with specialty scissors that made the scalloped edge.
Homemade Chalkboard Paint Recipe
I don’t use the spray paint as suggested in the label tutorial above. This is the recipe I use for chalkboard paint. I prefer to make my own as you can make it any colour you wish and it is dirt cheap. I bought the grout several years ago. I don’t remember how much it was, but I am thinking under $10. It lasts forever and has made many batches of paint. (One blogger said that she finds fresh grout works better as there are less lumps. I haven’t really had a problem with lumps.) However, I do find that the mixed paint does not keep well, so I tend to make smaller batches and re-mix for each coat. Depending on the surface, you may need to prime first (raw wood). I find that two coats works well for most projects, with a very light sanding in between coats (use high grit paper). If the surface is a memo board or menu (something that will be used often) I would recommend 3 to 4 coats for extra durability. Be sure to allow it to dry thoroughly between coats and at least 24 hours after the final coat. Once it has had time to cure properly, prime the board. Use the side of a piece of chalk to completely cover the painted surface and then erase it. Priming is an important step, so don’t forget to do it before you begin to write on the surface.
Open Storage Shelf
We purchased a piece of pine and I stained it dark and then gave the shelf 3 coats of urethane. I loved the idea of an industrial type look, so I asked my husband what he thought the cost of piping wood be. He didn’t think it would be expensive and so I sent him out to purchase the pipe we would need. We decided on three supports because of the weight of the full jars. My husband isn’t nearly as frugal as I am and I almost had a bird when he told me he spent almost $60 on the pipes. I would have bailed on the idea and came up with a less expensive alternative, but lucky for me he did the shopping and went ahead with the purchase. I absolutely love the look. Yay Tim!
Here is the finished look, with the jars nicely displayed on the open shelf in my kitchen. I am so pleased with the additional “pantry” space this has given me and love the outcome.
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I love the look of those triangle pennant banners. I have made paper ones before and they are so cute, but thought I would make a fabric one that I could use over and over again. This was super easy and I probably had the cutting and sewing done within an hour or so.
Pennant Banner Instructions:
Materials:
Coordinating fabric (or paper)
Ribbon to mount the triangles on
Sewing Machine/thread
Measuring tool and scissors or rotary cutter
I ended up with 5 different fabric patterns and purchased .2 of a meter of each, for this project. This enabled me to fit 2 double-sided triangles per piece of fabric (ie I would have 2 completed triangles from each fabric for a total of 10). To be honest I didn’t even measure these. I had a paper pennant banner from another occasion and just used one of the triangles as a guide. The originals were cut from 8 1/2 X 11″ paper with the top of the triangle extending the whole width of the paper and the point coming down to the middle of the bottom of the page at 4 1/4″. When making the fabric triangles, I set down the paper triangle guide and used my rotary fabric cutter to cut through the double thickness of fabric (with wrong sides together).
The photo makes this look a little lop-sided, but it actually isn’t.
I simply sewed a zigzag stitch down the sides of the triangles to the point, and left the top open. I was not concerned about the stitches showing, so I kept the wrong sides together and sewed on the “good” side. I wanted my triangles to have two “good” sides so that when they blew in the wind, there was no back or “bad” side.
After all 10 triangles had been sewn, I laid out my ribbon and pinned the triangles on about 6 inches apart. I then sewed the tops of the triangle to ribbon. (I did not sew the tops together before as I really didn’t see a need to double-stitch them.) My finished banner stretched about 12 feet or so, with some swag.
Finished Pennant Banner
The fabric banner was super easy to make and much more durable than paper. To be honest, the $8 cost (got the fabric and ribbon on sale) was not much more than fancy paper and it will obviously last for many years. I actually tried to pick colours that I thought were a bit more neutral, so they could serve different purposes and would look good with the strange colour of our house (not my pick). Happy sewing!
Pennant Banners Continued…
You can do some really cool things with these banners. When making paper banners, it is fun to add lettering and coordinate for a birthday party theme or other celebration. We used one at our teacher appreciation lunch this year. There is a great tutorial at Plucking Daisies.
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I am a very reflective person. I take pride in knowing myself well and am fortunate to have worked hard and developed some good skill areas. I am very committed to becoming good at anything I am interested in and passionate about. However, the opposite of this is also true. There are many things that interests me little and therefore I know little about and spend little time getting better at them. The list of my limitations is long, but three jump to the forefront of my mind at this moment.
Politics – I have zero interest and know nothing.
Gardening. Give me a plant and I will generally kill it. My husband continually reminds me that plants need water, but somehow I still don’t seem to get that concept. I do the planting in the spring and think I do an okay job at that, but my husband tends to the garden and waters regularly. I am not even very good at harvesting. We thought we’d try a few more veggies this year. Some have grown well, some have not. Few have been harvested at the right time. I guess it doesn’t really pay to grow your own if you don’t actually pick the lettuce when it is ready, and before the ends begin to turn curl and turn brown.
Music – I have no ear for music, can’t read a single note and get stressed out when I am asked to clap to the beat. I do like to sing and dance in the privacy of my home where I let my family’s eye rolls and criticism slide off my back. Fortunately for me, I teach 5 year olds and regardless of how bad you are ~ kindergartens generally love their teacher and think they walk on water, so we do lots of singing and dancing at school…. but you won’t catch me joining the choir!
Deviled Eggs ~ I actually didn’t know this was so close to the top of my list until yesterday. Let me explain….
The History Lesson
I love deviled eggs and my mom would often make them when I was growing up. Again, eggs were not expensive and she had all of the ingredients on hand, so they made a perfect pot-luck dish or extra side-dish when company was coming. I have made deviled eggs several times in the past and I think they tasted good. Not so good, that you won’t forget them, but good. However, I have only ever made them for my immediate family and have never really worried too much about the divots in the outsides or the presentation, it was much more about taste. Generally, I prefer to put my eggs in a pot, boil the “dickens” out of them (I think I am turning into my mom) and then mash them up for egg salad sandwiches. However, I decided that this year, I would make deviled eggs for our annual block party potluck dinner dish. I knew that peeling the eggs would be a challenge for me, so I did what any perfectionist would do, I Googled it.
Easy to Peel Hard Boiled Eggs
Evidently, I am not the only person who struggles with this task, as there were many posts about it. There were lots of tips, many of which I tried to follow. Here are some of the things I learned about boiling eggs (I seriously thought you just put them in a pot – who knew there was a specific way to do it). When I originally wrote this post, there were two sites I used as a reference: MOMables and Food.com. Since then, a more up to date and comprehensive blog post was written on My King Cook. This is a very informative article with many great references, video clips and suggestions. Everything you might want to know about eggs can be found here. I also love that they included some great egg recipes. I have recently been trying to drop a few pounds and must say….eggs are one of my best friends! Gotta love them!
Use eggs that have sat in your fridge for 2 weeks or longer (evidently older eggs peel much better)
Add salt to the water (I read any where from a pinch to 1 Tablespoon)
The salt won’t affect the flavor of your eggs; it helps solidify the proteins within the egg, helping create an easier to peel egg! I have used both iodized (table) salt and Himalayan rock salt (the pink salt in my photo) and both have worked perfectly.
Add 2 teaspoons of vinegar to the water to make peeling easier
Only cook the eggs for two minutes and then remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes.
Give the cooked eggs an ice bath right after cooking.
My Experience
I did my research and learned all the tips to make perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs. I knew what the experts had to say and began to take action.
We go through eggs like there is no tomorrow, often as many as 36 per week, so needless to say I would never have eggs sit in my fridge for 2 weeks or more. I immediately began phoning neighbors to see if they had older eggs. We began to exchange “expiration date” information and I managed to get 30 eggs that were much older than mine. I am not sure how old, but he expiration date was August 24th and mine expired September 18th, so I thought it was a good trade.
I gently set the eggs in the bottoms of two big pots because I wasn’t sure if layering was a no, no. I covered the eggs with lukewarm water, added 1 T. of salt (I knew I would need all the help I could get) and the 2 tsp. of vinegar and set the pots on the stove to boil.
I watched the pots like a hawk and when they reached a full boil (or at least what I determined to be a full boil), I turned my timer on for 2 minutes. Evidently, the greenish-gray ring around the yolk results from over cooking. Mine always looked like that, so I thought that was normal!! Go figure?
I removed the pots from the heat and covered them with a lid. I turned the timer on for another 10 minutes. (At this point, I was already feeling a little stressed about how my eggs were going to turn out, but I knew I was doing everything the experts told me).
After 10 minutes, I removed the eggs and rinsed them in very cold water and then transferred them to an ice bath which was made up of very cold water and several cups of ice cubes. You were to let them sit in the bath for 5 minutes.
Peel the eggs.
The 6th Step Nightmare
I must say, this was one of the hardest tasks I have had to endure. No kidding. It was like I was trying to win some kind of internal battle between two drastically different personality traits.
Although I have never been diagnosed, I believe that I have Attention Deficit Disorder and that I come by it honestly. If you have ever met my father, you would know what I am talking about. He has two speeds “go” and “sleep”. He is 77 and literally only stops to sleep (any time, any place). He can’t even stand still without jiggling the change in his pocket. For the most part, I have complete control over this and have strategies that help me cope. I do things like make lists to keep me organized and take notes when listening to a speaker (to keep me engaged). However, the battle that ensued between my ADD and my perfectionist trait was one for the record books.
Let’s just say peeling the perfect eggs takes PATIENCE beyond anything I could ever imagine. I am tensing up just thinking about what I endured peeling those 30 eggs last night. I am all about problem solving and strategy, so I wanted to try out one of the tips I learned on the first egg. The poster said to crack the egg and gently roll it on the counter to create breakage all around the egg. This would help you to get the holy grail of boiled eggs ~ the membrane. I tried it out on the first egg and immediately broke it right in half. Ugh! I guess she meant really gently.This was not the start I was hoping for. As I went through the eggs one by one, I tried different strategies ~ like did it work better when I started breaking off the shell on the side, top or bottom of the egg. Should I use the end of my thumb or the side? Do I try for the big piece or the little tiny time-consuming crumbles of shell? I set out determined to peel each and every egg to sheer perfection, but this was to no avail. For some eggs, I made a flaw in the white flesh with the first pull of the shell. Can you imagine the torment of having to continue to peel an egg slowly and carefully when I knew it is already damaged goods and less than perfect. By the second divot in an egg, my legs were squirming and I was tense all over. I was generally able to work slowly and carefully until the moment when the perfect exterior became flawed and I had to settle for less than perfect and yet continue to finish the task with a steady hand and patience. This was so beyond my scope of management. When creating a card or a project, I just scrap it and start over, but the reality was that there were no more old eggs to boil. I had to salvage and use what I had. No repair job, no re-do, no make-over. It was killing me. I was catching my self shifting my weight from one foot to the other, clearly agitated and using self-talk to make it through. “I can do this.” “How hard can this be?” “The next one will be better.” “Take your time.” “Careful now, just slow down.” I felt like some kind of a nut case on the brink of losing it. Never before have these two elements of my personality battled it out in such a way.
The Not-So “A-peeling” Results
Not one perfectly peeled egg. Despite my research, precision in following the directions and formidable attempt at peeling slowly and carefully not one egg survived unscathed. There were many that made it up until the final shell was being removed. The roller coaster of hope and failure was one I won’t be riding again for a long time. (And yet, deep down there is still a battle waiting to be won – someday, I will be able to peel an egg without error, but not today). I can’t say the tips didn’t work, I truly believe this is my own challenge, so don’t disregard the tips, they just didn’t help me.
The Devilled Egg Recipe
Whenever my mom made devilled eggs, she just tossed in some mayo and green onion, salt and pepper and sprinkled them with paprika. No recipe, she just went by eye and taste. I have always done the same, but because I am taking these eggs to the potluck. I decided to actually follow a recipe. I decided to go with a recipe that had a 5 star rating from 126 reviews. Pretty good odds, I think. It is called Kittencal’s Best Deviled Eggs from food.com. The recipe calls for mayo, milk, parsley, chives, mustard powder, dill, salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Sounds good and great reviews. This part of the dish is easy. Mix the egg mixture and pipe them into the whites. I am hoping to make them look good enough that people won’t even notice how I butchered the eggs when peeling. (By the way, the yolks did cook perfectly with no greenish-gray ring around the outside).
I don’t actually remember my mom ever fighting with boiled eggs. I don’t know if she had this little system licked and never had a problem, or if she was less of a perfectionist and really didn’t care if the eggs were perfect. Either way they always tasted great, and I guess the look really didn’t matter, as I for one don’t remember if the whites were perfect or not. I must say that this was a pretty humbling experience. In general, I produce a pretty good product. I am not saying that I have never had a desert that didn’t set properly or a roast that over cooked because I have, but in general, when I make or do something I do it pretty well. This result is so sub standard for me and the incredible stress it brought really caught me off guard. I have decorated cakes that have required supreme patience and a very steady hand. No problem! I would never have thought that peeling eggs would be so hard for me. What an eye-opener! The next time I eat someone else’s devilled eggs, I will have a new respect and appreciation for the chef that prepared them. It’s painful! I will take cake decorating over egg peeling any day!
I think the egg filling tastes okay, but the recipe says to let the flavours blend for several hours, so we’ll have to wait and see. From the top, they don’t look so bad ~ the deep dish helps hide the utter mess below. Over all this was somewhere between an epic fail and a slim pass. Hopefully they taste great!
Quick, cheap and easy ~ can’t beat this simple DIY project! My son used to have a tin piggy bank from the “Cars” movie in his room. We recently “upgraded” (ha! ha!) to a Winnipeg Jets one (same tin piggy bank from Dollarama). The great part about these piggy banks is that they can not be opened without a can opener. When we went to transfer Shay’s money to his new piggy bank, he was amazed to learn he had saved $142! On the contrary, my daughter’s piggy bank contains nothing and the little stopper from the bottom sits on the shelf beside her empty bank. We are trying to teach the kids the principle of saving 10% and tithing 10%, but our daughter spends money as fast as she gets it. Unfortunately, the tins don’t fit with her decor at all.
Original $1.25 Piggy Bank Tin
Purchase one of the piggy bank tins from the dollar store.
Upcycled Piggy Bank
Cut a piece of 12″ X 12″ scrapbooking paper to match the child’s decor. You will need the whole 12″ (plus a bit) to go around the tin and just over 5 1/2″ to cover the entire height. I measured carefully between the two silver lips at the top and bottom of the tin to ensure proper coverage.
Secure the paper to the tin a little at a time being careful to place it evenly around the outside, tight up against the lip. I have a tape gun that I use for scrapbooking, but you could use any kind of adhesive to do this.
You will notice that there is a small gap where the 12″ length does not quite make it around the tin. Instead of patching, I chose a 1″ strip of coordinating paper and covered the gap with a slight overlap on both sides of the strip, to sit just over the edges of the larger base paper.
Embellishments ~ I added a little strip of ribbon, a 3D flower sticker and lettering that I had on hand. All of this is optional, but I found it needed a little something to finish it off.
Project Summary
This project took me about 20 minutes to complete from start to finish. The tin was $1.25 and I had all of the other materials on hand. This is a simple Dollarama upgrade that anyone could do and you don’t need any special tools. Have fun designing your own piggy bank to fit your child’s room decor!
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Check out this viral video to see how this man uses his extreme couponing as a means to sow into the lives of the less fortunate. He understands the concept of sowing and reaping and is a great example for all of us. Too bad couponing is not nearly as big in Canada.
The Sowing & Reaping Principle at Work
2 Corinthians 9:6
…whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
The principle of sowing and reaping is a biblical teaching that many non-believers refer to as “karma”. Regardless of your beliefs, the principle is currently at work in your life. The basis of this principal is that whatever seeds you plant determine the harvest that you will get. Like a farmer who plants a crop in the spring and then harvests the “fruits” of that crop in the fall. The farmer knows that whatever seed is planted in the soil will grow and mature and develop into the same kind of plant come harvest time. The same is true with everything in our lives and does not just pertain to giving money or things away. It literally transcends all areas of our lives. As a parent, if you plant the seeds of anger by reacting with anger, what you will reap is anger in your children. If you are always willing to lend a helping hand, others will be there to lend you a hand when needed. If you want to have friends, you must make yourself friendly. What you put out, is what you get back.
I find this especially true with our attitudes. If you ever feel like life is a vicious circle and you are going from crisis to crisis, try to really limit the amount of time you spend thinking about the problems in your life. Take action and do what you need to do to solve situations, but don’t spend your time thinking and talking about what is not going well ~ health, finances, relationships, etc. What you focus on (plant in your mind and heart) is what you reap and you will just continue to get more of the same results as long as that is where your focus lies. A great example of this is demonstrated when you look at self-made millionaires. They say that one of the keys to financial success is to not focus on the lack or what you can’t afford, but rather create a concrete dream or vision for your life and spend your time focussing on that. Your mind will immediately begin to bring you creative ideas and ways to solve the little problems along the way to fulfilling the vision you have for your life. Think big and stay positive, even when things look grim and you are feeling down. Choose to change your focus and plant seeds that will reap you the harvest you want.
Remember,
Nothing changes, if nothing changes. ~ Earnie Larson
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results ~ Albert Einstein
What Kinds of Seeds are You Planting?
It is often really hard not to focus on what is not going well, but in every situation that is not as you wish, ask yourself “What seeds am I planting?” Perhaps you need to change the seed, if you want to reap a different harvest?
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My husband and I surprised our son with a homemade hockey stick coat rack and shelf on his 8th birthday (a Winnipeg Jets themed party). I had planned this months in advance and collected old sticks from various rinks, garage sales and Kijiji. The furniture was very inexpensive to make as most of the sticks were free (or very cheap) and I picked up a pail of old pucks from a garage sale for 50 cents each.
Materials Needed:
3 hockey sticks
3 pucks
3 coat hooks/screws
9 ~ 2″ screws
drill
Step One: Measuring
Line the hockey sticks up side by side with the blades tips touching. Stand the three sticks up and carefully measure from the blade (floor) up 12″ and mark all three sticks on the shaft. (Sticks will be standing vertically with a slight angle to rest against the wall and the measurement will go from the floor and extend 12″ up the shaft.) This will be where the bottom puck support will be attached in the middle of the three sticks. If it is easier, you can lay the sticks down for the other measurements, but be sure blades are lined up. The top puck support will be about 24″ from the tops of the sticks. I wanted mine to have a staggered, less uniform look, so my three sticks were all different heights. Just be sure to mark the spot where the puck will be drilled in on all three hockey sticks. The final puck will go midway between the bottom and top puck supports.
Pucks lay flat b/w the sticks
Step Two: Attaching the Pucks
Use the 2″ screws to attach the sticks to the puck supports. You will be screwing through the thickest part of the shaft, with the blade facing you. Use the marks as a guide. Begin by attaching all three pucks (at the pre-measured levels) onto one stick. The puck will be drilled to the back of the shaft at the three different heights. Once the first one is done, you will want to make sure that the other two sticks are evenly spaced around the pucks (at approximately 1/3 intervals). Secure all three sticks to the pucks in the middle.
Tip:
You may wish to pre-drill holes in the puck just to get the screws started more easily.
Step Three: Attach the Coat Hooks
Attach one coat hook on the front of each hockey stick shaft. Again, ours were purposely staggered at different heights.
Staggered tops
Finished coat/hat rack
Hockey Stick Coat Rack
Summary:
This project was simple to do and inexpensive to make. It is sturdy and makes a great addition to any hockey themed room.
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I must say, the birthday parties are getting much easier to plan as the kids get older, but I do miss those over-the-top theme parties from days gone by. This entry is going to give some rough guidelines for birthday party planning, but I won’t get into specific themes today. We have done several different theme parties over the years, that I will probably post about in the future. The girls themes we have done for my daughter include: butterfly, snowman, princess, spring, Hawaiian, sleepover and disco. The boys themes we’ve done have included: bowling, Star Wars, pirate, Winnipeg Jets, train and jungle. We have done a few less home theme parties for my son as I generally find it easier to take boys out and do a physical activity of some kind. I won’t post the themes in any particular order, but if you are planning a party and would like me to post on a particular theme, please leave a comment.
I have to give a bit of a disclaimer here….when my kids were small, I often felt creatively stifled being a full-time teacher, wife and mother of two little ones. I found that there was rarely time or energy left to get my creative juices flowing. For me, scrapbooking, card making, crafting or doing home projects seems to be very therapeutic and I really missed having them as an avenue to release my creativity. So, when life was too demanding to culture this area of my life, I found that birthday party planning provided that outlet. I didn’t have much time as I was working out of the home full-time, so plans for a theme party would often begin at least two months in advance. Some of the more elaborate parties took many hours to plan and prepare for, but for me it was all about the process and the details. I rarely spent much money on the party itself, as I pretty much made everything that was needed.
Party Planning 101
I have always limited the # of kids my children invite to their parties to the number equal to their age. So, for example, for my daughter’s 7th birthday party, she invited 7 guests. Generally, this has not been too difficult to stick to, but there have been a few exceptions depending on what we are doing. When planning, I work according to the following outline:
invitations
decorations
activities/games
food/snacks
cake(s) ~ plan, design and bake a cake/cupcakes (or save the hassle and order one)
loot bags
Details! Details! Details!
First off ~ Google is your best friend. There are lots of great party planning sites and blogs about birthday parties and themes. Once I decided a theme, I would begin to scour the net for images and sites that offered ideas that fit into the categories mentioned above. I also found, that many of the ideas I used for one theme could be modified for another (like Pin the Tail on the Donkey ~ has anyone actually pinned a tail on a donkey???)
Invitations – the invitations are a great way to set the stage for your party theme. I am a scrapbooker and pretty handy on the computer, so making invitations is quite easy for me, but that’s not to say I sometimes don’t spend hours labouring over the details of the “perfect” party invitation. I would also look for cool and unique invitation ideas ~ we’ve done everything from DVD’s to e-cards to a message in a bottle. Your invitations should include date, location, drop-off and pick-up times, and RSVP information. Also, be sure to include information such as: what to bring or wear to the party and mention if lunch or dinner will be served. The invitations should be sent out 2 to 3 weeks prior to the party.
Here is a Bowling Party invitation ~ closed.
Bowling ball slides open on a brad to reveal the details.
Decorations ~ again, I have some staples that I think about for every party ~ homemade birthday banner, center piece, table-cloth, plates and napkins and other accessories to build your theme. I also consider music when thinking about setting the stage for the party. Is there a particular type of music that fits well with the theme for background music and games? Here is an example of a birthday banner from my daughter’s disco party. I have access to an overhead projector, so I just found the images online and then made a transparency. I then enlarged the images on black paper and cut them out to create a silhouette effect. The banners are usually quite big ~ about 6 feet by 3 feet. I always try to copy a font that suits the theme (if applicable).
Activities and Games ~ I tend to have a few “go to” games that we used variations of at most parties, these include:
Pin the Tail on the Donkey ~ Pin the Patch on the Pirate, Pin the Spot on the Ladybug, etc.
Hot Potato ~ Pass the Canon, Pass the Asteroid, etc.
Pass the Present ~ I got this idea from my friend Michelle. Basically, you wrap a little gift/surprise item in a box. You then proceed to add layers of wrapping paper on the outside equal to the number of kids, so that each child will get a turn to unwrap the present. You pass the present around the circle to music and when the music stops, the person holding the present gets to unwrap a layer. The person to unwrap the final layer gets to keep the prize inside. The kids love this!
Musical Chairs ~ We’ve done musical pillows, beach towels, etc.
In addition to the above, I am usually able to either find or invent a game, activity or craft that is specific to the party theme. One of the keys to a successful party is to keep the kids busy and do not spend too much time on one activity. It is all about pacing.
Food and Snacks ~ As a rule of thumb, I generally do not serve a meal for a basic home based theme party. I try to serve a variety of healthy snacks as well as a few of my kids favourite munchies. I find that when you have lots planned, there really is very little time to eat or even munch. When possible, I do try to include some theme based food or snack items such as the “Yoda Soda” we served at my son’s Star Wars party.
Birthday Cake ~ I love baking a cake or cupcakes from scratch and then decorating them to match our theme. I have never taken a cake decorating course, so my cakes are far from perfect, but I have lots of fun looking at different theme cakes online and then coming up with my own variations. Obviously, some turn out better than others. We almost always serve ice cream with our cake.
Spring Party Cupcakes
More Spring Party Cupcakes
Loot Bags ~ I must admit, I am not a big fan of loot bags. I find that most loot bags are either full of junk food or little dollar store odds and ends that we don’t need. I am not saying that I never buy anything at the dollar store, because as a teacher, I can go in and spend $50 in a heart beat. However, when planning the loot bags, I often opt to put fewer items in the bag and give one or two more substantial items that fit with the theme or are at least usable items. That is not to say that I never add treats or dollar store items. In fact, for my son’s last birthday, he said to me, “Mom, you just don’t get it…all a 9 year old boy really wants in their loot bag is candy!” I threw my arms in the air, took him to the dollar store and said “Go to town.” For the first time ever, he picked-out all his favourite candies and we handed-out a bag of junk food. Yuck! So not my style, but man was it easy.
Timing for the Event
I generally keep home parties to 2 hours. We usually begin with an independent activity such as colouring or something that does not require much instruction. The purpose of this is just to keep the kids busy until everyone arrives. As soon as all of the guests arrive, we generally do a craft or sitting activity of some kind, followed by our more active games. I usually plan on getting started a bit late due to late arrivals. We then spend about 15 minutes for the craft (depending on age and interest), 30 to 45 minutes for the games and activities and then the last 45 minutes for cake, ice cream and gifts. It is jam-packed, but much easier to keep the kids on task if it is fast paced. As the kids get older, there is much less planning and they are often able to manage their own activities/entertainment. My daughter is now 11 and for the past two birthdays, she has really planned her own party and decided what she and her friends would do.
Little Extras
As I begin to post actual themes, you will see that for some parties there is way more than the “skeleton” of a plan mentioned above, but this does give a general guideline for how to pull a theme together. One thing that we often did when the kids were small (and would let me), was dress them up for the theme. You can see Eden dressed-up as a butterfly for her Spring Party in the photo above. Here are some links to other sites that may be helpful:
Again, if you are planning a party for one of the themes mentioned above, leave me a comment and request a theme as I will be posting in no particular order.
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My parents did not have much money when I was growing up, but my mom had the purist “servant” attitude around. She had no money to give, but instead offered her time and energy for helping others in need. Our most valuable non-renewable resource, time, is what she gave freely to others. She offered her time in many ways, and never as the “Chair” of a committee or the coach of a sports team. She was the one who was always behind the scenes doing the grunt work, with little or no recognition and of course, expecting none. She would be the one cleaning the old house or scouring the new home when a family member or friends were moving. No job was too dirty or disgusting for her and she could fix almost anything! (I don’t hold a candle to my mom in this department, but what I learned, I learned from her and my husband, not my dad. My mom taught him which end of the hammer to use!) Her “gifts” to others were often very subtle ~ listening to a friend in need for hours on end, helping others with house cleaning (seems funny as ours was usually a mess) or other home repairs and providing home-baked goods for any one going through a tough time. She volunteered many hours at church and loved to counsel those in need. She had a very giving spirit and gave with the only means she had ~ time and effort. When she died, we were flooded with stories of how my mom had touched the lives of others through her kindness and selflessness. There were many stories from people we didn’t even know and who were virtual strangers to my mom as well. Bottom line, she always made time for others. I so wish I could be more like her.
Sadly, 14 1/2 years ago, my mom passed away. She had been sick for a few months and although there is never enough time, I tried to think of all the questions I had and advice I might need. We spent many hours talking and we both tried to make sure that there was nothing left unsaid. I think we did a pretty good job, except for one thing ….. my mom’s Matrimonial Cake Recipe!!
Mission Impossible!
During the months that mom was sick, she walked me through the steps for making her delicious borscht and Christmas Cake (it is actually good too and I am not a big fan). I really tried to think of everything, but some how, her Matrimonial Cake Recipe did not come up in our conversations. I really can’t believe that I never thought of it as it was like her signature dish. She delivered more Matrimonial Cake to people in need and potluck dinners than I could venture to guess. It was kind of like “have cake will travel“. Her matrimonial cake was delicious and because it was inexpensive to make, this was a natural choice. Needless to say, dates were a staple in our pantry.
Since she passed, I have tasted many “date squares” trying to find a taste the replicated my mother’s. I scoured through the chicken scratch in her recipe books, but came up empty. I suppose that she made it so often, she never really needed a recipe and therefore I didn’t know its origin. I asked her sister, Lynn, shortly after she died, as I thought it might have been a family recipe, but she wasn’t sure what recipe mom had used. I did recall my mom saying something about the lemon juice being the key, but have never felt like I found the correct recipe. Last winter, I was in a local bakery and purchased some Matrimonial Cake, after sharing my story of how I was searching for this recipe. The owner of the bakery told me that her Matrimonial Cake was her mother’s recipe and was taken from an early edition (1946 or something) of the Five Roses Flour Cookbook. She also said that people travel across the city specifically for her date squares and that perhaps it was the same recipe. I bought the squares and they were indeed delicious and I was almost certain I had found the origin of the recipe, but was now on a hunt for an early edition of the cookbook. Several weeks later, my Grandma passed away and I got talking to another sister of my mom’s, my Auntie Joan. She lives in Alberta, so I had never asked her about the recipe before, but she said she did in fact have a family recipe that mom might have used. I had two great leads, but still no recipe in hand.
Mission Accomplished
Just before we left on holidays, I was able to find a 1938 edition of the Five Roses Flour Cookbook in a local antique store and it did in fact have a recipe for “Date Shortbread” (Matrimony Cake) and a separate recipe for the Date Filling. I read over the recipe and it called for lemon juice, so I was pretty sure I found the source of her delicious cake. I bought the book for $8 and returned home excited. I knew I wouldn’t have time to test the recipe out before we left for holidays, but was looking forward to giving it a try when we got home. When we arrived home from our vacation, I began the daunting task of going through the many emails in our “in box” and I was so excited to find an email from my Auntie Joan, complete with the recipe she had promised. Thanks Auntie!! I compared the two recipes and found that the only difference was that my Aunt’s called for a pinch of salt and the cookbook said to add 1/4 teaspoon. I organized the ingredients and made a batch last night.
My kids had never tried Matrimonial Cake before as they always thought it looked gross and would opt for something different on the dainty trays or at the bakery counter. I wasn’t sure if it would pass the kid test or if they would even try it. The recipe is simple and the cake turned out really well. It didn’t cut perfectly, but I am sure that I can take responsibility for that as I was unable to restrain myself long enough to let it cool completely. We each had a piece (or two), warm, shortly after being removed from the oven. Mmmm good! (When completely cooled it cut fine.) The whole family loved it and now “Grandma Ruth’s” recipe can be passed on for future generations to enjoy. My dad popped over for a visit this morning and luckily there were still a few (and I mean very few) pieces left and he got to try it out as well. He agreed it was as good as mom’s and took a copy of the recipe for himself.
Grandma Ruth’s Best Ever Matrimonial Cake
This recipe is my Aunt’s Recipe, but I am pretty sure it was originally taken from A Guide to Good Cooking Five Roses Flour (1938).
*Use a pan that is approximately 8 X 14″ in size. (I wouldn’t go larger, but smaller will just make the layers thicker!)
Grandma Ruth’s Matrimonial Cake
The Moral of the Story:
Never give up!
I hope you enjoy this cake as much as we have over the years!
Cindy
