The Winter Woodlands Invite

This was one of the easiest invites I have made.  Mainly due to  the fact there was little fancy cutting :)   

Used Velum paper I already had, straight sticks from the real "winter woods" that Amelia and I had collected, and used string that I intended for  making birch baskets for my wedding years ago.  My big intention was to make 60 or so birch baskets...due to lack of time and not ambition...I bought them instead. hee hee.  

I used a small hole punch that I already had to punch holes along the top and bottom. Then used a needle and my birch basket "thread" to sew the stick on.  Once you got the swing of it ... it went pretty fast.  

Used brown packing that I already had and bought jewelry boxes for $1 each at Michaels (kinda pricey I thought!) Tied the scroll and then the box.

Printed the label on paper and wrapped as you would a gift...with double sided tape.

I had already visited the post office with materials in hand to find out how much and if all was ok to mail this way. 

 I  taped the length to cover the addresses with our shipping tape...careful to have no creases or glitches that would ruin my beautiful label!  The post office ladies (and I know them all well) said "errrr...where you mailing this one??"  I said "all locally".  Their faces changed and said "Oh! You will be fine then!".  I am assuming they meant it would get lost or something...not sure.   I made about 10 or so...mailed 6 or 7 and hand delivered the ones I knew I would see soon.  Cost to mail:  $2.34 each.  Well worth the beauty of opening a package like this I thought :)

I will post again this weekend with the Winter Woodlands Party Decorating...that has been going on since Christmas...seriously. 

Our Valentine's Day

She's up... 

Amelia made this card for Dad all by herself.  Well,  I stuck the candy on.

Amelia was quite fascinated by Dad's new magnifying glass.  He got this because of his failing eyesight :) :P

Yep, a mini Christmas.   

 Time for ice skating with a couple friends down at the Eagle River outdoor ice rink.

 Our friends called it a day...and everyone else that came to skate, but not my kid.  She skated til her ankles hurt and my feet were too cold to stand :)

Time for a picnic party in the playroom...

... ate our heart shaped pizza and dessert (we had heart shaped pancakes for breakfast) and enjoyed pony rides on our picnic blanket.  

Mom and Dad got to finish off a bottle of Apothic Red...

woo hoo.

Couldn't get much better than that.

Breaking News:  Birthday Invites ... DONE!  That, next time.

Making Valentine's and Valentine Pop Tarts

After much thought and Pinterest perusing, Amelia and I came up with these Valentine's for all her buddies at school.

and made 25 of them.

I had ordered a bunch of cards to send to family from Shutterfly and included our Valentine Hugs  with some of them.  However, I needed a lot more than that for her Pre-school and dance classes...and I needed them smaller.   

So, I took a photo of the card and retouched to read "Amelia" and tossed the jpg into Word and made a slew.  Used pearl white paper to give them a very nice sheen...that you really can't see in these pictures.

I had some white HEAVY watercolor paper that I hand cut and punched holes to fit the animals that we bought at Fred Meyers ...3 bags for $3 each.  Had to hand write "I'm Wild About You" as the paper would not work in the printer.  

We went to work one morning and Amelia's job was to put a sticker on each AND write her name on ALL.  You think I asked her to fly to the moon and back.

After much complaining ... she returned safely back to Earth.

We made different ones for her 3 dance friends.  They are all new friends and I had lots of extra nail files from last Valentine's Day, so assembled these goodies for the dancing girls :)

And we have a few very close friends we made extra special goody bags/buckets for.

Lastly...her teachers.  Five at preschool and one for dance.

WHEW!  Done.  Time for pop hearts.

Always have a few pie crusts in the freezer.   Rolled it out and cut Valentine hearts.  Plop a spoonful of any favorite jam or jelly.  We used Grape Jam.  We made them with Nutella last year ... sans the stick to make it a pop.

Then add the stick.

Add the top and seal with a fork.  

Make an egg wash of one egg and water and brush.  Add pink  sugar...lots.

And use as a bribe to get the Valentine Cards done :)

Will post on Valentine's Day Fun soon!

Alaska is an Unusual Place

We live in an unusual place.

We have been enjoying 20 degree days outside here on the mountain side.  

However, a preschool field trip to the Eagle River Nature Center yesterday, only 20 minutes from the house, went from +20 degrees to minus -11.   It was FROSTY!  

And my little Alaskan girl comes back to the center after our hike and says....she's sweaty.

Earlier in the week I snapped this pic with my phone while taking the trash to the landfill...eagles love trash.

Working diligently on Birthday invites AND Valentines....all that next time :)