Pinterest Party: {Extreme} Awesomeness Edition

If you want to know how to host a
Pinterest Party: {Extreme} Awesomeness Edition,
then you need to consult this lady right here.

(It was Kara Noel's birthday that week. So we had to celebrate her!)

No joke.
She is LEGIT.
I have this super awesome group of crafty friends:

Aimee
Andrea
Bev
Jaime
Kara Noel

and we had a grand idea after the Mindy Gledhill concert
at the Queen Bee Market back in November,
while chatting well into the chilly night out in the parking lot,
where all great ideas occur,
to start having a Pinterest Party each month.

Wow, that was a run on sentence if I ever did see one!

If you're not familiar with what a Pinterest Party is . . .
The host picks 2-3 crafts that can be completed in a few
hours that she has theoretically "pinned" on Pinterest.
The guests each bring $20 to cover the cost of the crafts
and a yummy dish to share that they have pinned from Pinterest.
And Pins become reality.

Due to bad luck, vacations, and my terrible bout with diverticulitis,
Kara Noel's party in July was the first party I've actually been able to attend.

It was so much fun!

Kara Noel is a fantastic hostess
and she had different stations where we could
do lots of different crafts and projects.

My favorite was this "You Are My Sunshine" canvas.


And I {ADORE} my little succulent garden complete with a Hot Pink frog :)


There was also a chevron cork board project going on
that I didn't get to finish, but you should check out what
Julie accomplished with it.
Think rainbow awesomeness.
I wish.

It was so fun to meet some other bloggers in real life,
make new friends, and chat about random topics
with friends.


And the swag!
Oh the swag!!
Kara Noel totally outdid herself.
The kids were chomping at the bit
to get their hands on the basket when I got home.


It was filled to the brim with RoseArt goodness.
Things I would never buy, not because they aren't awesome,
but because I fear the mess and the chaos.
Think paint, glitter, glue . . . all the good stuff.

What? - you say.
A crafter that doesn't like a mess? - you say.
That's crazy talk. - you say
Oh, there's more out there than you think.

But you know who adores messes?
This girl.
And I'm super grateful to RoseArt for making her messy dreams come true.


I can't wait to make use of this other rad swag from
Burke Williams, Juice It Up, Farfaria, Pretend City,
the Discovery Science Center, and the OC Zoo.

It was a fabulous day full of lots of delicious food -

seriously all of the guests made AMAZING dishes -

fun crafts and fabulous conversations with friends.

I highly recommend hosting a Pinterest Party of your own.

In fact, next month it's my turn!

Eeek!

You can read more about the party on Kara Noel's blog

and Julie's blog.
And check out Bev & Aimee's party from February HERE and HERE!

Knott's Berry Farm: Camp Spooky!

The family and I were invited this past weekend

to attend a VIP experience in Campy Spooky at Knott's Berry Farm.
The kids were super excited because they'd never been.
And it was fun for me, because it brought back memories
of visiting the park with my parents when I was young.


Me and my mom circa March 1981



Since it was all about Camp Spooky,
the kids got to dress up.
JT was a "Hawaii Guy" and loved posing with all the characters.



Isabella was a "Hula Girl" and she had no interest in going near
any of the characters.


We started the day with a yummy breakfast at Lucy's Lunchbox.
I loved how they served the kids' breakfast in keep-able containers.


After visiting with some bloggy friends - like Kara Noel -
we hit the rides with Jaime and clan.
It was a lot of fun watching the kids having so much fun.
I loved being in the park before the crowds and enjoying everything with no lines!

I even did some some!


What was I thinking???


Isabella was all smiles starting Woodstock's Airmail,
but her feelings at the end were another story.
Hee, hee


The kids even got to do some trick or treating!


The Boys - big and little - did some of the Big Rides!
Ghost Rider, Montezooma's Revenge and Sierra Sidewinder to name a few.
JT was crazy excited to conquer the Big Rides.


The Girls kicked it together and had some fun of their own.


The Dentzel Carousel is a classic!


Why is my girl so crazy?!




We had a fantastic time at Knott's Berry Farm.
The staff was awesome, the rides were fun,
and there was something for each of us to do.



Thank you Knott's and Camp Spooky for having us!
Bye!
We look forward to coming back!


And since a season pass is SUPER AFFORDABLE - it might just be soon!

And a special thanks to Jaime for taking awesome pictures for me!

Camp Spooky runs weekend in October at Knott's Berry Farm.

Disclosure: We were invited to Knott's Berry Farm by GigaSavvy to attend the VIP Camp Spooky Event. I attended because I was wanted to create fun memories with my family. I received parking, breakfast and park admission for free. I blogged about it because I wanted to and not because Snoopy & the Gang told me I had to. All the thoughts & opinions are mine.

Craft Night: Par-tay at my house!

A couple of weeks ago I hosted a craft night at my house.

I merely hosted.
Kara Noel did all the work.
For reals.
At 38 weeks pregnant she planned & prepped all the crafts.
My friend Jaime and Natalie joined us, along with Nicole from Olive Blue.
It was my first time meeting Nicole and she is DAH-ling!

We started with spray painting some cute patootie pumpkins.
Then we were going to crackle paint them and make the awesome.

While the spray paint dried -
OH! by the way.
This was my first time spray painting a craft.
FOR REALS.

Ok, while the paint dried,
Kara Noel taught us to make some great Halloween embroidery
hoop wall hangings.







They were so fun and Nicole and Kara Noel got all
fancy with the embroidery thread.


And where there is crafting, there is food!


I made my friend's yummy spinach artichoke dip.
(recipe coming soon!)



And of course these EVIL things made their appearance.
I experimented with the strawberry milkshake Oreos,
but I didn't like them as much.


And I had to make homemade kettle corn for
my pregnant craft genius :)


Nicole brought a yummy dessert that everyone gobbled up.


I tried making cranberry spritzers,
they were ok, not fabulous.
So any tips - I'd love!

We crafted late into the night,
and I sent the girls home a little lovely :)


I sent Kara Noel home with some extras
to match their coming home outfits . . .


My crackle pumpkin was a craft FAIL!!!!


The crackle paint hated me and my pumpkin.
I'm glad 99 cent store had a replacement :)


My embroidery hoops are still unfinished,
but I think they are cute and I can't decide whether or not
to do anything else to them.


What do you think?


Should I add something?


Or leave them as they are?


Kara Noel also brought us some RAD wooden earrings from the 99 cent store.
I am obsessed with wooden earrings,
especially ones that cost 99 cents and not $15!


Craft nights with friends rule.
I can't wait to have another one soon!

TOO Cute Tuesday: Linky Par-tay! and RAD Ladies

So, as I mentioned yesterday,

this weekend was totally awesomespice
because I got to meet three fantastic ladies.

Have you heard of Julie from Joy's Hope?
She makes me laugh.
She makes me cry.
She obsesses, makes toffee crack and loves Chick*fil*A.
So if you haven't, get comfortable, and read
her blog from beginning to end.
You'll thank me.

I harassed politely asked Julie on Twitter and on her blog
to PLEASE make some Holla signs.

Imagine my extreme joy when I got this tweet on Friday night:

JoysHope @mormishmom I am making a holla sign just for you! See you tomorrow. 5:09 PM Nov 5th via Echofon in reply to mormishmom

So now my pretty little Holla sign
greets me at the top of the stairs.
Happy day!

I also needed this rad chalk board countdown board.

And a happy little thankful sign.Thank you, Julie!
You too can meet Julie at Queen Bee Market this weekend!

I was pleasantly ecstatic surprised to see that Kara-Noel of Eli's Lids and She's Crafty.
I felt like a giddy school girl when I tapped her on the should
and said, "Are you Kara-Noel?"
Luckily, she didn't think I was too much of stalker and chatted with me
for a little while about such topics as how we love NieNie,
how to avoid double chins in photos,
and how we adore blogging.

She is such an awesome lady and she gifted JT with a Lid of his own!
Yeah, she's cool like that.(I had the windows open, he sad he was cold, and dressed himself.)

And finally, I got to meet Kristin of Lu Bird Baby.
I forgot to take a picture with her!
But I did get her info and hopefully we'll get together soon.

And now onto
TOO Cute Tuesday!

There were such CUTE costumes linked up, that I had to share them!

thing 1 and thing 2 over at Pirates & Pigtails!
Mario & Luigi at Cute As a Fox
Barbie Muskateers at One Happy Family

And these turkey place card holders by Houseful of Handmade are AWESOME!
Love these stuffed pumpkins over at Creation Corner.Grab a button if you were featured!

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This week I made this pretty little felt flower Fall centerpiece.

(I'll be linking up HERE! And because she makes me mention her all by herself - TCB)

I love it!
Do you?
Want to know how I made it?
Go HERE!

What did yo make this week that is TOO Cute??

Come link up!
Rules:

• Must be made by you.
• Link up to the specific post - not your main blog.
• Please post the button so more people can join in the fun.
• Visit some of the other participants and leave them some LOVE!

NEW RULE:
TOO Cute Tuesday will be open Tuesday-Friday.
On Saturday I'll highlight some of my favorites
and then we'll start over on Tuesday!


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