I Spy Bottles

        I wanted to share something I made a few weeks ago for my neice's birthday. I made her an I-Spy Bottle. It's something I saw on Pinterest and on a daytime TV show called The View. My niece was turning 16 and she had asked for money this year. I hate giving gift cards or money, it just seems so impersonal.

As I was putting her money in her card it occurred to me that maybe this was something different I could include. She has always been my biggest fan on everything I create,giving me her opinion on what she likes, and what other kids might like. Lindsey is an awesome kid......kind of an old soul in away....grown up and very responsible. But what I love about her the most is she gets me....she really gets me!!

        So the hard part for me was narrowing it down to what items to include.I have seen several different versions on this so pretty much anything goes!

This is another version from a blog called Counting Coconuts

 Lindsey has always been an enormous movie fan and has lots of movie memorabilia in her room. Her main favorites so far have been, James Cameron's Avatar, Harry Potter, Twilight, Pirates, and most recently Hunger Games. We share the same favorites as a matter of fact! Yes I know I have proven over and over again on this blog that I am still a kid!

Can you see the tiny Harry Potter figure to the left of the purple stone?

So since I had trouble narrowing it all down I went a tad over board on her bottle. I probably could have made several with all the stuff I included. So consequently I had to up the size of the bottle. I ended up using a wide mouthed Gatorade bottle. My daughter-in-law Amy was my super shopper and boy did she find some great items.

We used some tiny erasers, some sparkly buttons, some little charms, even some doodads and some doohickeys......with glitter of course!
 On top of that we also included some flamingo stickers that we were able to stick back to back. We sprinkled in some bright colored sparkly confetti and of course a touch of glitter to make even more fun. It's amazing though what all you can gather up just from one household junk drawer. So look around your house you may have plenty of items stashed and saved that would be perfect for this.

Afterward I realized that these are just a modern day, handmade version of a kaleidoscope. Like the one in the photo below from Kaleidoscop Galaxy on Etsy.

I know I have always loved these? I use to think they were so magical and always wanted one. It could be how my addiction to sparkles started. If I have animal totem it has to be a crow since they are also attracted to sparkly things!

One very important tip to remember is be sure and glue the lid on your bottle. If you don't and it's opened..... well it could certainly make a huge, sparkly mess.

 
I had a thought after I finished my neices. What about and all black and white theme and add a few bright red items that your kids would have to find and keep track of. Maybe to win a special prize or treat at each rest stop along your car trip.

You could use any color variation or any items you want..... that's what makes this so much fun. We all know how hard it can be to keep kids happy and busy while your driving somewhere on vacation. So give it a try it is cheap, easy, and fun.....don't ya just love those three words!?!

You Are Never Too Old To Be Silly

         

               On Memorial weekend we had our annual family get together at our house. Every year I keep my fingers crossed that it doesn't rain and that it isn't blistering hot. Well I got one wish, it didn't rain but the temps were off the chart for southern Indiana. It actually broke all records at a ridiculous 97 degrees.

We found an American Flag floating in the creek and decided to save it

 

So I decided since we didn't have our pool set up yet (due to my husband having a minor knee surgery) I had better rent something fun for the kiddos, and it should have a water feature too.

The view from our deck.

I decided on a blow up water slide. It was a huge hit with the kids and the adults! Even though the sun was beating down all day on them they never seemed to notice. But boy did we go through the sun screen! The little ones barely left the slide to eat or drink. It was belly laughs and giggles all day. Plus moments we had wished we'd set up a hidden camera for some hysterical sliding moments that could never be re-created if they tried.

We rode go-carts, dirt bikes and 4 wheelers down to the creek and up the hill to the grave yard. The heat didn't stop our fun!

The kids love to hunt for fossils at the creek and thankfully there is never a shortage. Sadly though no one found any arrow heads. We have only found one since we've lived here and I can't believe that there aren't more in this area........oh well we will just have to keep searching.

Then later in the day we girls started our annual craft project. I had originally thought we would do a concrete craft,making a leaf bowl. But after further study I discovered that the leaf would have to sit for 24 hours to dry. On Pinterest I noticed a fun and easy re-do for cheap flip flops. The blog is called The Mother Huddle. The flips flops tutorial looked easy and was explained very well.....however this group just couldn't quite get the hang of it. Maybe it was the heat, it couldn't be from a lack of talent........could it!?!

So eventually my sons decided to come down and help us and thats when it all went so comically wrong.

Jason read the instructions and Will help aid the ladies when they couldn't quite understand the instructions.

Well in the end we may not have nailed this project but we all had a blast trying. I for one am not finished with this. I am determined to make a pair and actually wear them at the camp!

Another fun party item I had this year was a vase I set out of photo props. I found a fun little shop on Etsy who sells all sorts.  The shop is called PAPER and PANCAKES and they so many fun mustaches, glasses, hats and etc. Stop by their shop and check them out.

Old and young enjoyed these and I was able to capture some photos I will treasure forever.

This one took a group effort but after several attempts we finally got it!

I just wish I could wear glasses like this all the time! Glitter is my passion!!
Another fun family photo prop I used was an inexpensive card board matte. So many good pictures. Too many to share, but we all had so much fun using them.

Something happens when you set these out....even the quiet and shy will begin to strike a pose. It seriously can be a great ice breaker at any get together.

Not that our family needs any help being silly. I think we were all born this way actually. I just left them out and once one person does it before long everyone joins in.
Most everyone had their photos taken. However some of us couldn't quite master the whole matte pose. Or was it our photographer?

The kids have said we need even more photo props for the next family event. So now I'm on the look out for some new ideas.

At the end of the day our youngest grandson just couldn't leave the slide until he absolutely had too.

Oh and I forgot to mention it was also our sweet nieces 16th birthday. So we had to have just the right props for her. We have an on going joke with her about flamingos so that was this year's theme.

 So later in the day when the sun started to go down and we had to say goodbye to the blow up slide we brought out the glow in the dark balloons and glow in the dark straws. We walked out in the yard and looked at the stars and let our glow balloons go up into the air. We watched them for what seemed like forever. That was my favorite part of the day. That shared moment with my grandson watching the balloons float away.

                                                           Yes it was the best day!!!