Puffy Tuesday

 

Yesterday, we celebrated Fat Tuesday with some Mardi Gras recipes and activities.  It's the only day of the year that we toss the word "fat" around so carelessly.  We usually go with "puffy", as in, I can't button my jeans today because I'm too puffy from the three Paczski and two slices of King Cake I ate yesterday.

We made these fun "Muffuletta Roll-Ups".  I also made some with just ham and cream cheese that were a bit more kid-friendly.  They were a big hit!

The girls and I colored Mardi Gras masks and pictures of bead necklaces.  Aidan couldn't be convinced to join in.  We found all kinds of great printables on Pinterest.  You can find my Mardi Gras page here.

For dinner, we had Red Beans & Rice and our Muffuletta Roll-Ups, along with some "Alligator Juice" that was just light-colored juice mixed with green food coloring.

For dessert, we had our annual King Cake from Sunflour Bakehaus.  They make awesome cakes and we get one every year!  The baby popped up in Annalise's slice so she's looking forward to a year of good luck!

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Conversation Hearts Get Personal

We were feeling pretty crafty this year for Valentine's Day so for the next few Tuesdays, I'll share some of our Valentine crafts... at least until you can't stand all the love anymore.  First up...these fun personalized "Conversation Hearts" for the kids.

I found these wooden hearts at Michaels for .99 and I just couldn't resist!    I just gave them each two coats of acrylic paint.

When the paint was nice and dry, I lightly traced a straight line so that I could line my letters up neatly.  (Note:  I should have also measured so that I could center things... thank goodness there were some exclamation points I could tack on the end!)

Next, I applied these fun, puffy white sticker letters to spell out each of their names.  I had to spring for two packs since we need about five hundred A's.

I sprayed them with a thin coat of clear lacquer to shine them up and help seal the stickers on more permanently.

When they were totally dry, I hot glued a ribbon loop to the back of each one.

I think they turned out super cute. They were cheap, fun and easy to make! They were certainly less time-consuming than our homemade conversation hearts a few years ago!

I hung them on the kids' chairs after they went to bed as a surprise for Valentine's Day.  We usually try to have a fun Valentine's Day morning every year.  I always set the table with lots of pink and red dishes and decorate it with ribbon and flowers and little treats!  I'll share more of that later this week!

My plan is to use these as decorations on their bedroom doors every year.  I'd like to do something similar for them for each of the holidays and just hang little hooks on the doors that we can use to rotate decorations... guess I better start hunting for shamrocks!

Craftin' in the D

This week, we decided to head to the Detroit Institute of Arts for a little crafty fun!  They have tons of fun, free drop-in workshops on the weekends, as well as many other family-friendly activities.

First, we made a quick stop  in the education wing for Snowflake Making.  They had coffee filters and muffin papers and the kids got busy folding, cutting and coloring snowflakes.  

Next, we headed to the Native American Gallery for some sketching.  We tried to do this last weekend; but, they had closed the program early because of the snowstorm.  So, this was our first experience and it was REALLY awesome!  They provide everything you need:  pencils, papers, easels and even these fun little drawing benches in kid and adult sizes.  I knew that Addie would LOVE this.  She is definitely the artist in the family and I thought this would be a fun opportunity for her.  She would have stayed for hours.

Annalise had fun drawing her usual smiley faces; but, she didn't last too long.

Aidan sat and contemplated for a while.  I didn't think he would want to participate; but, then I looked over and he was hard at work sketching a kachina doll!

We walked around a few galleries and then headed over to enjoy a concert with the Detroit Children's Choir.  It was a packed house and the kids really enjoyed the music, especially singing along at the end.

Last weekend, we enjoyed a great puppet show produced by Toybox Theater from Asheville, called Billy the Liar.   It was fun for kids and parents alike!  It was  an absurdist puppet show of sorts and I know that all my theater peeps would love it!  Everything had a very fun old-fashioned, handmade vibe and we loved the the accordion accompaniment!  The kids got to spend some time with the puppeteers afterwards in the cafe, drawing pictures, talking about the show and just hanging out.  They told us they were making a trip to good old Marvins, another one of our favorite spots, before  they headed back to North Carolina.  If you ever have the opportunity to see one of their shows, you should jump on it!  

Family Sundays at the DIA are quickly becoming one of our family's favorites! They offer really awesome, family-friendly, free activities every week!  You should totally "let yourself go"!