Book Character Pumpkin Decorating Contest

At my son's school they announced a contest to decorate a pumpkin like your favorite book character. What a fun literary project! He picked to decorate his pumpkin like Elmer the Elephant. We were very last minute, and completed it last night. It took an hour for the whole project. I searched pinterest and google and found tons of other great ideas. We picked a character we didn't see in hopes of not duplicating another child's pumpkin.

 

 

We dropped Elmer the pumpkin off in the library this morning. (The instructions to make him are at the bottom of this post). Let me share a few other characters we saw there...

 

The Gruffalo pumpkin

 

 

Mrs. Piggle Wiggle pumpkin

 

The Lorax pumpkin

 

Black Lagoon themed pumpkin

 

 

 

Lyle the Crocodile pumpkin and Frosty the Snowman

 

Pete the Cat pumpkin

 

And here are a few more ideas I found in my initial search to create a book character pumpkin. Many of the following were uploaded to Pinterest by Elanco Library.

 

Skippy Jones pumpkin

 

 

Laydbug Girl pumpkin

 

 

Bob the Builder pumpkin

 

 

Olivia pumpkin

 

Wimpy Kid pumpkin

 

 

Mr. Popper's Penguins pumpkin

 

 

 

Madeline pumpkinT

Thomas the Train pumpkin

 

 

Little Critter pumpkin

 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar pumpkin

 

 

 

 

Dora pumpkin

 

Horton pumpkin

 

 

Cat in the Hat pumpkin

 

 

Alice in Wonderland pumpkin

 

 

Captain Underpants pumpkin

 

 

Charlotte's Web pumpkin

 

Bad Case of Stripes pumpkin

 

 

 

Grouchy Ladybug pumpkin

 

Fly Guy Pumpkin

 

Junie B. Jones pumpkin

 

Click Clack Moo pumpkin

 

Pigeon pumpkin

 

I hope this helps you design a pumpkin for your contest. I think it is such a clever idea. Here is how we made our Elmer the elephant pumpkin.

 

Supplies:

Modge podge

Colored paper (regular paper...not card stock or construction)

Paper towel holder

Googly eyes

 

1. We started by cutting a variety of different colored squares.

 

2. We heavily modge podged them to the pumpkin. My son was great at this part. (Such a last minute project that we used a toothbrush instead of a paint brush to modge podge!!)

 



 

3. Next, we modge podged a paper towel holder with squares. (See it drying on the Elmer's glue bottle)

 

4. We hot glued the ears, eyes, and trunk on Elmer. If you look closely I added a few small nails to make sure the trunk and ears stayed.

 

5. Here is my son's masterpiece!

 

 

 

Arby's New Smokehouse Brisket Sandwich

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Arby's for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Our daughter arrived three weeks ago today. I will post her newborn photo shoot I did very soon. I am trying to get out announcements first, before the photos come out on my blog. My problem was trying to find a birth announcement that could fit all the photos I wanted to use. I had to pick my four favorites and just go with it. I am trying to hard not to skip anything I did for the first two kiddos, but it sure is hard! Now I know why I have heard the third child say so many times that they hardly have any pictures of themselves. Life with three kids is busy!!  I promise to get back to crafting, blogging,and cooking sometime soon. We might have to just survive on more fast food for a while.

Growing up my parents rarely took us to fast food restaraunts. We were lucky if we ate out twice a month. My mom cooked almost every night growing up. I'm not sure how she did it. I get very burned out on cooking sometimes, and I am very appreciative of fast food. One of the places my mom was willing to pick up food from, on the rare occasion we ate fast food was Arby's. She often just picked up sandwiches for the family, and then made the rest of the meal to go with it at home.

         

 

   

Whether you pick up a full meal, or just some of their delicious sandwiches, Arby's has a great selection of food. Arby's has now added a Smokehouse Brisket sandwich to their menu. The new smokehouse brisket sandwich is smoked low and slow for a minimum of 13 hours! Then it is topped with smoked Gouda cheese, crispy onions, mayo, and BBQ sauce. Do I have your attention now? It sounds delicious. Time to find an Arby's near you and try out their latest and greatest smokehouse brisket sandwich on a toasted bakery style bun. You can find an Arby's location here by clicking on the link . Find an Arby’s  Watch this great commercial and see why Arby's can be your go to choice for lunch or dinner.

  

 

Let me know why you are excited to try the new Smokehouse Brisket sandwich.                                                                                                                                                                                       

Our Baby Girl Newborn Photo Shoot

Our precious baby girl has arrived! We are so in love. After having two boys, dressing a girl is a real treat. I was inspired to take some newborn photos when she was a week old. I searched for unique, creative, and original newborn photo ideas and was inspired to come up with some of my own as well. My little one was surprisingly cooperative, but it still took quite a while to capture some of these pictures. I am so appreciative of digital cameras, because I vividly remember the days before we had them. and all the film I used to develop!!

 

I squeezed Miss Anabelle in a bucket and she was pleasantly comfortable after a few minutes. I think she just enjoyed being on her tummy.

 

I am doing the nursery with a vintage theme and I snagged this old baby scale for photographs at a garage sale.

 

Look who just arrived! I am thinking it would have been much easier and less complicated if she truly had arrived by express mail.

 

This is the photograph I took in the hospital when she was 3 days old. The hospital photographers never made it around, so I took this picture a few minutes before I was taken out.

 

Daddy is in love with his little princess. This photo was at the hospital too.

 

Now on to the proud big brothers.

 

Welcome baby girl. Our family is complete!

 

Mr. and Mrs. Rustic Wedding Ring Bearer Box

One of my husband's oldest and dearest friends, John, is getting married next month. He and his fiancé are planning a lovely wedding with a rustic western theme. I have seen several unique western twists on the traditional ring bearer pillow. I loved the idea of a small wooden box for the wedding rings instead. I felt like it fit them perfectly. I received my invitation recently, and I decided to return my reply with a gift wrapped in a box with burlap.

 

 

You may remember their fun engagement photos I took last year. Click here for the full post on their country style engagement photos full of boots and tractors!

 

 

Supplies:

Wooden  box

Wood stain

White paint pen

Burlap

Stuffing

 

Directions:

 

1. I started out with a small wooden box from Michael's Craft Store.

 

 

2. Stain your wooden box. I stained the outside and a small portion of the inside.

 

3. Use a white paint pen to decorate the front and inside.

 

4. I hand sewed a small piece of burlap with stuffing inside.

 

 

I hope they enjoy their little rustic ring bearer box!

 

P.S. 38 weeks and counting still for my little baby girl to arrive!

 

Need some more rustic country wedding ideas? Check out this post...with all the instructions on how to throw the party pictured below!