Saturday, February 24, 2018

Dare to Share #302



It is Saturday morning, and you know what that means.. 
It is time to Dare to Share!  




I am posting the party a few hours late, because yesterday was a pretty big day.  A friend's son had the opportunity to play with his HS basketball team in the area where the Pistons play.  She asked me to come along and cheer him on.  After their game, we stayed in the city to enjoy a Pistons game. If you have never been to a pro game, they are always quite exciting. I have been to several over the years.  I may share a post with some of the pictures I took, because we were able to save a lot of money without even trying. :) 


Since you have been waiting long enough...



   
   

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Saturday, February 17, 2018

Dare to Share #301



It is Friday night, and you know what that means... 
It is time to Dare to Share! 

I hope you had a Happy Valentine's Day! This week was much calmer at work but still a bit eventful. I was a para, taught 6th and on Valentine's Day taught 5th.  After trying to talk over 30+ kids on sugar at their Valentine's Day party, you tend to lose your voice.  My voice has been a bit hoarse the couple of days.  On top of that, I also have seemed to have injured my ankle.  I did not twist or sprain it, I tripped over a small metal safe at hit my ankle bone. Ouch!  The last two days I have been limping a bit. I still went out with my friends tonight to a local dance, only I was not able to do a lot of dancing.. Oh well, it was still a lot of fun! 

You have a Pizza my heart Valentine! Show your family how much you love them this Valentine's day with a fun and super simple Pizza Valentine dinner party.  With simple items you already own, you can throw together a fun and memorable dinner tonight.

My co-host Kim from Everyday Parties had some new posts this week.  I think my favorite one is of this Valentine's Day Dinner she had with her family.  Stop over and check it out. 

Now it is time for this week's party...

Link Up and HAVE FUN!! 

   
   
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Saturday, February 10, 2018

Unicorn Valentine Box

Valentine Box, Unicorn craft, class party ideas

I have been planning on making  a Unicorn Valentine Box since last Valentine's Day, and now with our frequent snow days lately, I have had the chance.    I consider this project to also be part of the Dollar Store Challenge, because all of the supplies came from the dollar store. 



You do not need to buy a box for you unicorn, but I found this really nice one  that was white with a big slot already in it.  I went ahead and bought it, since I did not have a good shoe box at home.   I found it on sale at Meijer for $2.39.  I have also seen these before at Target, and the craft store. You may also find a file box at the dollar store that will work as well. 




I painted four cardboard tubes white, since I decide to make my unicorn white to match the box I found.  I did almost make it purple though. :) 



In the wrapping and party aisles, I found several things that would work for the mane and tail.  My favorites were the pre-curled ribbon bows, and the Tissue Tassel Garland.  Because I loved the colors (they come in several others too) I chose to use the ribbon bows. I bought  two of them for this project. Each bow is made up on three smaller bows. 


I also found several options for the head. The plastic cup and floral foam were my two favorites in size and shape. 



This is what it would look like if you go with the floral foam.  TIP- Do not open the package of foam, leave it wrapped in plastic.  I found out the hard way that it is actually 5 smaller blocks that needed to be put back together with tape. 




I decided to go with the plastic water cup, because it looks more realistic to me. It would be ideal if I found a white cup but there are a variety of things that can be done to make it white.  I thought about painting it, but decided to wrap it with white paper that I found in the wrapping section. 




I hot glue the legs in place to the bottom of the box.  


I separate the ribbon bow into the smaller separate bows to have more control on where I wanted them to go.  


Valentine's Day, Class Party Ideas, Unicorn crafts

I used four of the small pieces for the mane, and two for the tail.  I really love the look of the curls! 




I had self adhesive craft foam on hand, but it was originally bought from the dollar store in the craft aisle.  I had considered using black for the snout but it was too dark next to the light colors of the unicorn.  Since it was Valentine's Day, I decided to cut out some pink hearts instead. 


I may need to go back and take a few more pictures, because I do not have a close up of the eyes. I used some of the pink craft foam to my her eyelashes as well. You can kind of see them under her mane.  The horn is a piece of pink card stock rolled into a cone shape, and then glued into place. 








You now have an unicorn that is ready for the class party, and to receive all of her Valentines.  (I am actually teaching a 5th grade class that day, so I might take mine to school with me.) 

Depending on the supplies you already have, the estimated cost for this unicorn is $5 or less. 

Happy Valentine's Day!! 
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Friday, February 9, 2018

Dare to Share #300



It is Friday night, and you know what that means.. 
It is time to Dare to Share!! 

Greetings from a very snowy location on the opening night of the winter Olympics.  This has been a crazy week here. (even more than normal)  I was schedule to work all week in special ed because two people on our team had deaths in their families. My job was changed from a scheduled para job to teacher, and we were then short two paras that are really needed. On top of that we had TWO snowstorms which turned into two snowdays.  Monday we had very icy roads and today we got almost A FOOT of snow. I am really hoping things will get back to normal next week. 

With today's snow day, I was able to finish a project I have had in the works in a long time. I have been trying to post it for the last few hours, but my internet is being extra slow (probably from the snow)  I will add the post here as soon as it is finished.  I am very happy how it turned out.  

**Added**

My Unicorn Valentine Box is now live.  


Now it is time for this week's party.


Link up and HAVE FUN!!

   

   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   
    
   
;


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Saturday, February 3, 2018

Dare to Share #299



It is Saturday morning, and you know what that means.. 
It is time to Dare to Share! 

Sorry the post is going up a bit late today. I have a good reason! I am not sure if I mentioned that I have been fighting a virus the last week. I finally started feeling better in the last couple of days and rejoined society.  I kind of had to jump back in with both feet.  Yesterday and for the next several days I am filling in for someone with a family emergency at work.  I am still sometimes needing a nap, but yesterday was on the go all day.  Then last night, one of my besties asked me to go to her son's winter Homecoming Basketball game. He is like a nephew to me so I said yes.  After the game, we went back to her house to eat some very yummy chicken tortilla soup she had made. (I will have to ask her for the recipe!) I was wrapped in a blanket since it is extremely cold where I live.  We turned on the movie Cinderella (one of my favorites!) and I promptly fell asleep.  I did wake up for the second half of the movie, but I was still fighting to stay awake. Since I would have had a 30 minute drive home, and I would have been driving while exhausted, I made the decision to sleep on her couch.  I woke up at almost 10 am! I guess I really needed the sleep.  I hope you are all well rested too, so let's get the party started. 


This week I had the chance to share several posts. If you are looking for a sweet and salty treat you will love this Unicorn Party Mix

recipe for cheesy broccoli dip

Are you having a Super Bowl party and need some recipe ideas? I shared my favorite appetizers that I have posted over the years in this Super Bowl Party Food Roundup


I shared another fun party post on How to Celebrate the Chinese New Year

This time of year is so exciting this year! We have so many reasons to party.  From this weekend's Super Bowl, to next week's start to the winter Olympics, and the Chinese New Year. Then right after that can you believe it is Valentine's Day?! 


My co-host Kim from Every Day Parties also has a fun post to share this week. If you are looking for cute Super Bowl Desserts, check out her printables for Football Push Pops

Now it is time for this week's party. 

Link up and HAVE FUN!! 

   
   





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Thursday, February 1, 2018

How to Celebrate the Chinese New Year



The Chinese New Year starts on Friday February 16 this year. It will be the year of the dog.  The Chinese follow a lunar calendar, and the year of the dog will run through Feb 4, 2019.   


I am an ambassador and affiliate for Oriental Trading.  While they do send me products to use in my party posts, all opinions about the products are 100% my own. 



You will notice that there is a lot of red and gold when celebrating the new year.  They are considered lucky colors.  Don't use the color white though, it is considered to be the color of death.  



While black is not considered a lucky color in Chinese tradition, I loved this black, red and gold tablecloth. It seemed thicker than most plastic party tablecloths, and had a pretty shine to it.  





I ordered the pack of chopsticks.  We use them frequently at our house, (sushi!) so I thought it would be fun to use them at this party too.  They were very nice quality, and had pretty designs on them. 



Every year is a different animal based on the Chinese Zodiac.  I thought these zodiac place mats were a lot fun, and also educational. What animal are you? It is based on the year you were born. 


Another tradition is to give gifts of money or coins in red envelopes




There were several different designs in the year of the dog goody bag pack.  I can't decide which one is my favorite. 




The year of the dog mini take out boxes are the perfect size to take home a few fortune cookies, or other small treats.



The centerpiece is in red and gold lucky colors, and each piece has a different symbol on it, like luck, and fortune. 


The garland I hung is called the good luck garland.  I thought that the paper lanterns (they light up) were very pretty.  Lanterns are very important when celebrating the new year. 



While we probably won't break ours, I really liked this dragon pinata




You may also notice a lot of dragons during the new year celebration.  The dragon is the symbol of the Emperor of China.  This particular dragon decoration has strings attached so it can be hung from the ceiling.  I had plans on hanging it that way.  The only problem was when I went to do it, I remembered I am just barely 5 feet tall, and can not reach the ceiling. 




Mandarins are considered to be very lucky, and served for the new year. 


Hopefully we will receive a good fortune! Mine actually came true pretty quickly.  Almost immediately after reading I would soon get good news, my son who has not had a hair cut in about 4 months, told me he was going to get one on Saturday. :) 










We love Chinese food in our house. Often we choose single size servings of our favorites for dinner.  One the menu today was sweet and sour chicken and egg rolls.  

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! 


Here are a few other Chinese New Years items that I did not use at my party, but you might also enjoy. 











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