Hello Kitty

Welcome to Whipped Up Wednesday!

Today I am sharing a few things that my daughter whipped up!

She is spoiled rotten and her grandma gave her this sewing machine for her 8th birthday.  Not only has her love of Hello Kitty appeared from nowhere, but her passion for sewing is out of control! 

Luckily grandma is super smart and also purchased some super cute little girly fat quarters for her to start some simple projects with!

Her birthday landed on a Sunday.  My grandma used to say, "A stitch sewn on Sunday is a stitch through your nose in heaven!"  But how could I tell her she couldn't play with her new toy right away! I have no problem sewing on Sunday.  To me it's not work it's fun.

So Aurora got set right to work.  I showed her how to lay out a pillow case and measure and in no time...

 she was sewing away!

Warning...  I am normally not a freak about washing fabric before sewing.  I do was after the project is done.  She was so excited to sleep with her new pillow case that we didn't wash it.  Yup... rash in the morning on her poor little face!  Went away in like 30 minutes, but still wash your fabrics before actual use.  Lesson learned!

To start her out learning we did lots of pillow cases.  When Grandma came to visit she showed of her skills to make pillow cases to take back to girly cousins whose birthdays were coming up!  I find it amazing how quickly she is learning to sew.

From there she made a bag for the headrest of the car.  She ended up making one for each of her brothers too.  I put on the buttons. and helped her line it up.  

Grandma would be so proud.  She asks to go to the fabric store all the time.  On our last trip she insisted that she needed a keeper for all her bobbins like me!  Funny girl.

On our last trip we went to Joann's Fabric to get something completely unsewing and fabric related, but I let her walk among the fabrics anyways.  She spotted a fluffy neon teal with black and hot pink cheetah spots and fell in love!  

"Oh mommy!  I need this!  I can sew that cute black and colorful fabric and make a quilt.  I would look so cute with this mommy.  Please, please?  I promise to sew right away when I get home!"

Now...  I am not a spender and have no problem saying NO to my kids for things in the store that we don't need, but...  She was way to cute! 

Above she is sewing the edging around her quilt.  She worked almost tirelessly until it was done.  And by this project I no longer need to sit right by her.  It was a little weird.  She understood my sewing directions and just went to town.  She came and got me when she needed something!

Here is her very first quilt all done!  She sat and helped me pin the top, batting and back together for over an hour!  I did the quilting on my sewing machine and I did the binding.  She sat and watched me the whole time to be sure I did it right.  LOL

See this face!  Remember it!  She just might be a famous seamstress one day!

I can't imagine what she will be sewing in year!

Universal Studios Butterbeer Recipe

It's Tummy Tickled Tuesday Time!

Today I want to share with you a recipe for Butterbeer from Universal Studios!

Last year we went to Disney World as our last hurrah before moving... and then we didn't move.  So this year, when again we thought we were moving, we decided to hit Universal Studios for Harry Potter World!

I am a bit of a Harry nut.  I was so excited I could hardly stop to take pictures!  It was super cool, even if you aren't a Harry Fan.

The kids have just reached that age where they can really appreciate Harry Potter!  The three year old loves it cause...  Big Bro and Sis love it.  They cast spells on each other all the time!  "Eat Slugs" is a family favorite.  They love to make me vomit invisible slugs.

I am gunna say that we went at an absolutely perfect time.  February in Florida can be warm, but not hot and there is a slight chance of rain, but bring ponchos and you should be fine.   Harry Potter World was easily the most crowded portion of Universal Adventures Theme Park.  It seems that everyone was there.  And it is easy to see why!  But... still.  The longest line we waited in the whole time was The Forbidden Journey.  The sign said 30 minutes, but it didn't seem that long.  Perhaps it was because the line was constantly moving and 90% of that wait was inside Hogwarts Castle!  We do a rider swap cause we have a little one, but.... It was so cool we did it again!  (If you don't want to wait in line for this and aren't a die hard Harry fan...  do the Spiderman ride in the Marvel Hero section of the park.  It is similar and 3D AND it was my favorite simply because our 3 year old could ride it!)  The Forbidden Journey was a little scary for our very sensitive 6 year old boy.  He has a bit of an issue with Monsters.

We just happened to me some friends while we were there and we all headed to The Leaky Cauldron for lunch!  We all decided we could get ONE cool souvenir while at Universal.  And my hubby is a big butterscotch lover so...  He ended up buying Butterbeer after Butterbeer for his prize!  

They are pretty YUMMY!

He actually became a bit of a snob about them.  He swears the frozen ones INSIDE the Leaky Cauldron are more frozen and therefore more yummy than the ones at the little shops outside.  

There are two different Butterbeers.  One is regular cold soda and the other is Frozen.  Just different textures.  Frozen was about a buck more.  The food was pretty good but the Butterbeer was something I could wait to try at home!

First I google searched and then Pinterest searched.  First, nothing I could find was really EXACTLY what I imagined the original recipe would be.  I have a Butterbeer Expert in the house so I  knew I had to get it just right!  And... I came pretty stinkin close if you ask me!  Second, every recipe I could find was for one serving or... had ice and you had to serve it right away.  Seriously, if you have had Butterbeer and like it you don't want one little serving!

So, after many trial and error recipes with the "expert", here is MY recipe for

Universal Studios Butterbeer!

Stuff You Need to Start

1 Big Bowl

2 2 Liter Bottles of Cream Soda

1 Jar of Butterscotch Topping

1 Tub of Cool Whip

The some Light Karo Syrup

and a little Rum Extract

First - The Frozen Butter Beer

In large bowl dump 1 bottle for Cream Soda and stir in about 1/2 - 3/4 Cup of Butterscotch Topping.

Stir that slowly till slightly blended and then place the whole bowl in the freezer.  I go back every half hour or so and stir it, just cause... then it's slightly easier to break it up at the end.  Plus...  I want to make sure it isn't magically done early so we can drink it!

Second - The Froth

Open up your tub of Cool Whip.

ADD 3 Tablespoons of Butterscotch Topping

2 Tablespoons Light Karo Syrup

1 Teaspoon Rum Extract

Then whip all that together until it's blended well, place the lid back on and stick it in the fridge to await your frozen Butterbeer.

Third - The Consumption of Yumminess

To serve you will want to chop up your froze stuff from the freezer and fill your cup lightly about 3/4 the way full with the slush.  Then pour some cream soda from the none frozen bottle, over the the stuff until your slush is at least covered.  I like the slush to be floating about and inch from the bottom.  Then plop a heavy spoonful of the Froth over the top.  It seems to expand a little as time goes by.

There!  A bulk recipe that can be froze and kept for a while and enjoyed at any meal or... just because it's yummy!  The only way I can get closer would be to go drink another and then try mine right away OR find the stingy person who created the one at Universal and won't share.  Believe me it asked.  But... take that!  Mine is pretty stinkin close!

Fabric Scripture Cover and Nerf Bandoleer

Hello to all my fabulous readers!  Today I though I would share with you two projects I worked on a little bit ago.  And by a little bit ago I mean... over the Christmas break.  Both were made with scraps from my momma's stash.  Gotta love the stash, especially my momma's!

First up is a scripture case for my daughter.  She had just turned 8 and got baptized while we visited my parents over Christmas break.   It was nice to have family around.  As tradition, in my family and many others, we purchased her very first set of nice scriptures.  It is a Quadruple Combination with the King James version of the Bible, The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price.  She was so excited!  Along with this I decided to make her a very special scripture case so she could show them off even more.  I didn't have a pattern.  I just kinda went for it but I think it turned out super cute!  She gets lots of comments on them!  I am so proud of her choice to get baptized and to be such an example to her little brothers.

My parents got my three year old nerf crossbow for christmas.  The packaging says "For 12 years and up" so naturally we let him practice when ever he wants.  We did learn early on that he should aim from a few feet away cause... this baby smarts when he sneaks up behind you!  LOL

Of course with such a fun toy comes a storm of hidden nerf darts behind the couch, under chairs, in the dogs fur, I found one in the fridge?  Anyways, there is also the added frustration that a 3 year old is expected to run back to his ammo stash on the couch every time he wants to unload!  How horrible!

I made this simple Nerf Bandoleer by measuring around his shoulder and hip at an angle.  Then I folded over long strip of fabric and sewed it shut.  The "bullet" holders I made using a super long piece of stripped fabric!  The strips made it easy to measure how far apart I needed to sew the little bumps the nerf darts went into.  

You know... I should do an actual tutorial on this!  Give me a bit.  The move to NORTH DAKOTA is making a few things difficult.  Sewing is one of them!

Anyways.  Thought I would share!

Oh The Places You'll Stand

It's been a while since we've had a

Sundae Served Saturday!

 This week I wanted to share with you my Mom's fantastic New Beginnings!  This is where the girls coming into our churches girly youth program, Young Women, come to learn a little more about the program and begin to feel welcomed by their leaders and new friends.

Most importantly the Young Women have a theme in which they strive to Live the Young Women Values.  Those values are Faith, Divine Nature, Choice and Accountability, Knowledge, Good Works, Integrity and Virtue.  Each value has a color to associate it.

Mom found her idea HERE on Sugardoodle.com for a Seuss Themed New Beginnings.  She used most of the ideas she found from there.

She wanted to start the night by reading the book Oh The Places You'll Go! by Dr Seuss.  But, she asked me to rewrite the book so that it would match there theme Stand in Holy Places. I was super excited to do this for her!  And thus Oh The Places You'll Stand was born!  THEN... the very next sunday a lady in our ward handed me a copy of Green Eggs and Ham (The Missionary Version).  Hilarious!  So then I had to make sure mine would be able to fit the pictures in the book so you could cut out the poem and paste it in like hers!

Tada!!!  It looks awesome right?
The book ends up talking about Young Women Values, what each of them stand for, and a lot about the different places you will stand.  It's meant to be uplifting and remind you that when you stand somewhere scary all you need to do is remember the values YOU stand for and you will be okay!

 I created a printable which you can get BY CLICKING HERE!

 

You just cut it out and paste it into the book!  I tried to match the font perfectly, but I am no Dr Seuss.  So be sure to cut a little extra room around the letters and trim down if you need too.

Awesome Sauce right?

I love it!

Click HERE if you didn't click the printable the first time!
The font I used for the cover is HERE.  It's called Doctor Soos Bold.

I can't wait to show my friend on Sunday!  

So first my mom read the story.  The gym behind them was closed off by curtains.  When she finished reading they opened them so the girls could see Dr. Seuss Valueland!

 The truffula trees are made from pipe covers and tissue paper.  She wanted pool noodles but couldn't find them at this time of the year.  My brother downloaded some Seuss music which was playing in the background (Mommy was good at enlisting help!)

Tables were set up around the area and each value had a colored table.
Each value also had a Suess book assigned to it.
Faith (White) - Horton Hears A Who
Divine Nature - The Sneetches
Good Works - The Kings Stilts
 Individual Worth - I Wish I Had Duck Feet
Knowledge - I Can Read With My Eyes Wide Shut
Choice and Accountability - The Lorax
Integrity - Horton Hatches An Egg
Virtue - I Had Trouble Getting To Solla Sollew
Beforehand Mom had the girls make mini Truffula trees out of pom poms and pixi sticks as a wednesday night activity.  When people came to visit their table the girls would read a little something they wrote about how the value pertained to the Dr. Suess book.

Doesn't it look great!

The girls also spent the activity making these awesome paper lanterns!

After walking around the Seuss room the girls were all invited to another area for a surprise performance!  My mom had the young men act out "If Dr. Seuss Wrote the Book of Mormon!"

Click HERE for that printable.

Afterwards they played a game where the girls were asked questions about values.  If they had done something in the scenario they had to stand up.  If they stood up they got a gum-ball of that value color.  At the end she asked them which color they had the least of and then challenged them to work on that value all year.  The link where she found that idea is HERE.  They have great instructions.

Then they all drank Pink Ink and ate cake!

I can just imagine how amazing it all looked in person.  I am sure my words don't do it justice. Mom said when the girls turned around for the Seuss room everyone gasped!   Don't the girls look so happy!  See their tiny Truffula Trees?  I guess tons of them wanted to take home the giantic truffula trees!  What a great reminder of the evening.  What an amazing thing they all pulled off together!  Makes me miss being in Young Women!