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Alternate title: @casualperfect paints a piece of @casualperfect pottery
On November 20th, I organized a get together with some friends at a local paint-your-own-pottery place. I’ve been there before, more than once, and they were going to have later hours in honor of Twilight’s New Moon movie on that particular Friday night. The later hours made it perfect for our monthly Moms Night Out event with my MOMS Club.
I’m not into Twilight, but I am into painting pottery. I love it. I could do it every day, if given a chance. I’m not into vampires, but I couldn’t make fun of the people who painted pottery in honor of Twilight…especially since I put my twitter name on my mug.
I mean, both Pot and Kettle were sitting at my table, so I had to be nice.
I love how it turned out!
I love the plate I painted there (it was the first piece I’ve done there!), and I wrote down the numbers of my glazes, because I knew I’d be adding to my collection eventually. There are so many colors to choose from, and I knew I’d never remember the exact numbers.
See? It matches! The differences in the backgrounds make them look slightly different, but the colors are the same. Trust me. The Perfectionist is SO glad I remembered my glaze numbers, and the Casual is SO glad she doesn’t have to listen to the Perfectionist complain. It’s a win-win situation!
I wonder what I’ll make next time?
It’s NaBloPoMo Day 29!
Today’s confession: I have a really cool process that combines a fun photo of the party with a Thank You Card. It works like a charm!
Yes, we already have Claire’s Party Thank You cards done, but it’s not really my fault. Don’t blame the perfectionist; blame Target Photo’s One-Hour service.
I’m a firm believer in Thank You Cards. I love writing them, and I love receiving them. I think it’s so important to remember to show our gratitude, and getting a real card in the mail makes me feel special, so I always try to reciprocate. (Yes, we thank people in person, but there is an added bonus to doing a “real” Thank You Card, in my humble opinion.)
We had Claire’s 4th Birthday Party with a few select friends at the local Build-a-Bear Place today. We took a cute photo of the group, and when we got home, I uploaded it and she helped me pick out a cute Thank You Photo Card from their online photo card selection.
I got it all arranged, and got it set to print, and I chose the “pickup at the store” option. It really was done in less than an hour, so I went to pick them up. I mean, once I’m on a roll, why stop?
They’re addressed, stamped, and beautifully artworked by Claire.
The Perfectionist Part is SO glad to have it done. The Casual Part is SO glad the process was easy and painless. Plus, now my friends will think I’m either super-organized or a touch insane or both.
Not that there’s anything wrong with either one of those diagnoses.
At the beginning of February, one of my favorite bloggers ran a little contest. Those who commented were put in a drawing to win an iPod shuffle™.
Well, imagine my surprise when I found out that I won!!
I know some may find this hard to believe, but previous to this, I didn’t have a portable mp3 player. Between the two of us, my hubby and I have thousands of songs that he painstakingly converted from our CDs to mp3s. He has our computer iTunes™ set up so that our music will play on the stereo system out in the living room. And, as hard as it is to believe that music lovers such as ourselves could go without, my hubby and I never jumped on the iPod bandwagon. We would have loved to have one, but it was always in the Want Column, and never in the Need one.
Last year, my hubby won an iPod Touch™ at a conference, and he was thrilled. And, now, with this stroke of good luck, I’m the proud owner of my very own iPod, too!
My iPod arrived on Friday!
Click to enlarge.
And, imagine my surprise when I saw that Nicole had it engraved! What an awesome idea! How cool is that?!
I could pick whatever color I wanted, and yes, I chose hot pink. It’s sassy, and I love it. Plus, this way, my hubby won’t be tempted to steal it. I hadn’t figured in how much Claire would love the color when I made my choice, so I’ll still have to keep an eye on it!
So, Nicole…thank you so much! Now, I have no excuse to not fully join this century when it comes to listening to my tunes! This totally made my day, and I can’t wait to fill it up with all my favorite songs.
Yesterday, Claire and I went to our MOMS’ Club Cookie Decorating and Exchange Extravaganza. I wasn’t sure what to make, and then it hit me. I could make the Easiest Fudge in the World! You see, a few years ago, one of my sisters gave me a nice Christmas Gift that included the following recipe and ingredients. It was an awesome gift idea and an even better recipe idea when you’re short on time!
I made four batches to bring to the Cookie Exchange (each of us brought four dozen cookies), and we ended up with a nice selection of cookies to give away or keep. (Claire and I made up two nice plates for a couple of friends of ours — they were thrilled with the gift, and I didn’t have to bring home [and avoid eating] 48 cookies…it was a win-win!)
The Cookie Exchange was a great idea, and Claire had a blast during the decorating portion of the festivities. It was nice to arrive with fudge and leave with at least six different types of cookies. It makes it look like I slaved away in the kitchen for hours! 
Needless to say, the fudge was a huge hit.
So, here is the recipe!
Easiest Fudge in the World
12 oz. bag of chocolate chips
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milkCombine ingredients in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave 2 to 3 minutes, stirring after each minute. Spread in lined (with waxed paper) 8 x 8 pan. Cool.
For real. That’s it!
And, here are some notes about the recipe:
For the Cookie Exchange, I did 2 batches at a time, and it only needed 2 minutes in my microwave. Be sure to stir after each minute, until all the chips are melted. I put 2 batches in one 9 x 13 pan. I just let it cool on the counter, no need to cool in the fridge. In one pan, I sprinkled M&Ms on the top of the fudge and pressed them lightly. (The other pan was plain.) You can keep it plain or add whatever toppings you want.
It’s seriously the Easiest Fudge in the World. The hardest part is not eating the whole pan yourself. 
Enjoy!
I’ve gotten such a great response from the Thank You Cards that Claire sent for her birthday presents that I just have to share!
This is a super-easy idea and I’ll be doing this (or a version of it) from now on.
During the party, I wanted to get a good group shot of the kids. (I mentioned the Party People on a Couch in this post.) I wanted to use that group photo in a Thank You Photo Card.
The funniest part was trying to find the best shot to use! In three of our five shots, at least one person was trying to escape. In four different shots, at least two people weren’t smiling. In most of them, at least one person was being a goofball.
I narrowed it down to this one.
- Click to enlarge: Thank You Photo Card
I think every person looks good enough…and when you’re dealing with kids of this age-range “good enough” is as good as it’s going to get!
So, after the party on Sunday (the 30th, Claire’s birthday), during Claire’s nap, I sorted through the digital photos and found the one I wanted to use. I then went online to the Target Photo place and found a Thank You Card I liked (I think the one I chose was actually a “blank” version. I can’t remember. I looked at roughly 53 different cards. Ha!). I wrote all of the kids’ names in order on the card and sent it to print. The only option I had, other than mail-delivery (which I didn’t want to do), was the one-hour option. Thinking that was just a generic message, I chose it. I’d go pick them up when they were done, on Monday, during Claire’s Young Preschooler Class.
Imagine my surprise when 30 minutes later I received an email telling me they were done! Already! I couldn’t believe it! I grabbed my purse, ran downstairs and told my hubby that I’d be back in a few minutes. Claire was still napping when I returned with the finished Thank You Cards.
On the back of each one, we (oh, who am I kidding…Claire is too little to really write out her Thank Yous yet, and her cursive is just not up to par!) wrote a personal message on a sticky note and attached it to the back of each photo card. I addressed the envelopes and they went out with the Holiday Cards on December 1st.
And, on Claire’s copy of the Thank You Photo Card, I wrote everyone’s full names on the back (for posterity’s sake), and we have a nice easily-made memento of the party and nice reminder of who helped her celebrate her birthday.
For the record, I did NOT expect to have the Thank Yous done and sealed the afternoon of the party, but I’m not one to poke around in the mouth of a gift horse, so I ran with it!
Now, my friends think I’m extremely organized and also a touch insane. I am organized, but not that organized. It was purely luck. For real. Honestly, please stop looking at me that way; it makes me uncomfortable.
“So, Claire…what do you want for Christmas this year?”
“A Christmas tree!”
And, this has been her answer consistently…and I can’t wait to see what she tells Santa when we see him in a couple of weeks, and I can’t wait to see his reaction.
After her birthday tomorrow, we’ll put the tree up, so maybe she’ll come up with a different gift idea then?
Either way, it looks like she’s going to be easy to please this year!
Today is Day 29 of 30 in the NaBloPoMo Challenge! One more day to go!
Momma and Daddy are getting Claire a real “big girl bed” for her room for her birthday. We found the one we wanted at a Major Retailer and then decided to peruse Craigslist to see what we could see.
Imagine our surprise at finding the exact bed for not even 1/3 of the cost, AND the sellers were including a bookshelf for free. Sweet!
My hubby went to check it out, and it was perfect. It was in excellent condition and really was the exact one we were looking at buying new. Needless to say, we were happy to take the pieces off their hands for less than we’d budgeted.
To get all the pieces home in his car, he had to dismantle the shelving unit, and the bed barely fit, but he made it! For the last few weeks, he’s been working on getting the bookshelf back together and making a bedrail (from our old crib parts) for the bed.
We found an awesome deal on a brand-new twin mattress, so we’re all set!
This last weekend, I helped him move the bed back out to the garage so that he can put the finishing touches on it. Claire knows that “Daddy’s project” is in the garage, which is why we’ve been parking in the driveway the last couple of days, but she has no idea what’s in store. I can’t wait to see her face.
Just seeing how excited she was about the bookshelf when we brought it up to Momma’s office on Sunday was awesome. She was thrilled.
Click to enlarge.
She likes to rearrange the occupants of the shelves.
And, with some adjustments, she likes to type her blog.
Those are her words. She uses, “I need to type my blog first!” as an excuse to not do things promptly. And, how can you argue with that? I mean, blogging is important…especially during NaBloPoMo!
Today is Day 26 of 30 in the NaBloPoMo Challenge! Check it out!
On Sunday, one of Claire’s little girl-friends had a birthday party. We were invited to a local Build-a-Bear Workshop to help her celebrate. It was a great idea for a party!
Claire was extremely excited to go to this store, as she’d never been inside one yet. (Years ago, I had gone with some friends, but I hadn’t been in one recently.) Before we got to the store, I’d tried to explain to Claire what we would be doing, but I could tell she didn’t really understand.
No worries.
She’ll figure it out when we get there.
Or so I thought…
As soon as we walked in, she was overwhelmed. Our friends had paid for a special birthday package that included stuffed animals for each attendee. And, with the birthday package, each child was able to choose from a ton of different stuffed creatures on the display wall. We weren’t going to be doing voice-boxes or clothing, which are features you can add on if you choose. Honestly, just the stuffed creature was a fabulous and generous treat!
So, we told Claire to pick which one she wanted to make, and we made our way down the display wall. She kept trying to grab the finished example off of the wall. “I want that one!” she’d shriek with joy as she grabbed a hold of whichever precious creature had her attention. She wanted nothing to do with its empty equivalent in the bin below it.
“Well, sweetie, that’s a great choice!” I’d say, as I tried to wrangle the stuffed example toy away from her and hand her the empty shell.
“Nooooooooo! I don’t want that!” she’d scream, shoving the limp, lifeless hide away from her. “I want that one!” she’d beg, pointing to the stuffing-filled finished product.
I tried explaining that we would be filling it with stuffing. It will look like the one on the wall when we were finished! Honest…it will!
She thought I was insane. How can that useless and boring piece of faux fur even compare to the wonderful, glorious stuffed toy on the wall? And, why are you pointing to those things and asking me to choose if you won’t let me take the one I want? What kind of trick is this?
*sigh*
Claire wasn’t the only one who didn’t get it. Other confused little girls in our party were distraught over the horribly inadequate choices we were forcing them to make.
But, it didn’t take long for the Party Coordinator to get the party started, and soon, things were on a roll.
If you’ve ever been to a Build-a-Bear Workshop, you know that you put a little heart into each animal. Well, for the Birthday Girl, they had an added bonus. Each child picked two hearts. The Party Coordinator then had the kids take one of their hearts, kiss it and make a Birthday Wish for the Birthday Girl. Then all of those hearts were sewn into her bear. The remaining heart was put into their own stuffed animal.
Then the lifeless shells were stuffed with fluff. Finally, the creatures started to take shape, and the party goers understood that we weren’t completely crazy.
In fact, they were ecstatic.
A little word of warning, though…the stuffing of the fluff machine nearly scared the stuffing right out of Claire! It’s rather loud, and as soon as that thing turned on, she shot over to me in a flash. When it was her turn to stuff her animal, she held my hand, and insisted that I be right there to help her, which wasn’t a problem, but it wasn’t something I’d expected to be an issue.
After the stuffing of the animals, the kids were able to “wash” their creatures at the Washing Station (no water is involved, but there is air that shoots out of “sprayers”)…pretty cool! Then, from there, the girls went to the Cardboard House Station and got to color houses for their new best friends.
So, what did Claire finally choose?
After manhandling practically each and every toy, she finally decided on a hot-pink leopard, which she named Jasper. Yes, we have a real Jasper here…and now he has a sister.
“This one is a girl-Jasper, Momma!”
Obviously.
Click photos to enlarge.
After the party, they were both ready for a nap! Here they are sound asleep.
Build-a-Bear-Jasper came with a printed Birth Certificate, a Cardboard House, Stickers, and a Coloring Book.
As you can see, Claire loves her new best friend.
All in all, it was a wonderful idea for a party. It is one that I may actually consider doing for one of Claire’s birthday parties in the future, because she had so much fun! Plus, the store handles the decorating, the clean-up, and how can you not have a good time?
Well…once you figure out that you won’t be forced to play with an empty shell of a creature, the more fun you’ll have!
Note: This is not an official review of the store. This is purely real life turning itself into blog fodder.
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