Dino Serving Plate Tutorial

OMG, ya'll. This is seriously the easiest thing to make...All you need is 15 minutes, a hot glue gun, melamine plate, and a figurine you can cut.

Step 1: Buy a melamine plate, one that is light enough to be held by a plastic toy. Buy the toy and mark where you are going to cut.

Step 2: Cut with a really sharp saw or knife (I used a knife for a cleaner cut.)

Step 3: Heat up the glue gun (preferably the high heat temp kind) and glue the "base" aka feet end of the toy to the bottom of your plate.

Step 4: Make sure the leg/base is glued really well before turning it over. When it's good and dry, glue the head or topper onto the top of the plate.

Voila! You now have a fabulous serving tray, custom to your party guests!


Party Recap- Boy Book Club: Dinosaurs Before Dark

We've gone and done it again. Another book club "discussion" in the books. This time, we tried to do less snacks and more talking, which worked really well! I asked a mama to lead the group in talking about the book and she did an excellent job!

The book we read this time was one of time travel and dinos. What's not to love? Since I kept this party a little more about the book, the food was pretty easy.

I purchased fruit punch for the "hot lava" and used my nifty round ice balls (found here) to freeze mini dino's in and drop into the dispenser. I used a green bucket for the dino toenails aka Bugles. The "something sweet" were super easy slice and bake sugar cookies, stamped with footprints from a plastic dinosaur toy. The cookie plate...I made! I'll share a tutorial on the next blog on how to make this super cute serving piece! And for the party favor (yes, of course I did one!), I spray painted mini dino's and baby jar tops and filled the glass jars with Sixlets...or dino eggs.

On the table, I scattered a few mini dino's and some temporary tattoos, another hit with these boys! The backdrop I used were felt circles sewn together with clear thread- thanks to my mom for this!

The boys had a blast reliving the tale from Mary Pope Osborne, author of the Magic Treehouse series. I cannot wait to find out what the next book is!


Party Recap- Boy Book Club: Mercy Watson Fights Crime

Ya'll. I hosted a seriously fun book club at my house last week with a bunch of Kindergarten and First grade boys...The goal: to make reading fun!

If you know me at all, you know that I can turn any event into a party. And that's exactly what I did! I put out a little snack spread, had a few fun decorations and voila- it was a party! Check out the pics below!

The boys came over at 7:00 in the evening, and I figured they had all eaten, so I had a few snacks set out. I made pigs in a blanket using Pillsbury Crescent Rolls and their easy recipe, cut up a few bunches of green grapes, offered up potato chips, and of course something sweet- red jelly beans! I sprinkled red coins (they were chocolate!) on the table and used my red and white pottery to serve the food in.

I had these adorable custom pig cookies made by a local gal and wow- they were delish! The boys really enjoyed them!

For decoration, I propped the book on a plate stand, used my son's stuffed piggy and brought in my red toaster. Did you know that Mercy's favorite food is toast?

Here's the group posing for a picture after the discussion. Their belly's were full and smiles were plastered on each kiddos face. It was so much fun!

A Book Club for Boys

A few months back, I was watching an vlog (blog but in video form) about the differences in behavior of boys and girls in elementary school. The article hit home for me, as my house is full of boys. (Like, I'm the only chick...Bless my heart, I know.) I'd love to hear your thoughts on the video- feel free to leave me a comment below or email me.

Anyway, while watching, there were a few staggering statistics that resonated with me and actually made me take action to make sure my boys got both the education they deserved, but also the treatment they should receive by teachers and other parents. I started a neighborhood boys only book club.

This week, I hosted the first book club "party" for interested boys going into Kindergarten and First Grade at the local elementary school. I say "party" and not "meeting," because, well...It was a party. There was not an agenda, assigned seats, homework, or even a mandate to answer any questions or get involved in the discussion. It was simply to get our kids reading.

The book we chose as our first read was, Mercy Watson Fights Crime. This book is a super cute book about a pig named Mercy and you guessed it- she fights some crime. There are other books in this series, but we wanted to start out with something that would get the boys excited about reading.

The last kiddo just left my house and I am so thrilled with the turnout. Here's a sneak peak at the mini party table I set for our first book club "party." Be on the lookout next week for the party pics!