Card Club: June

For this month's card, I made an orange popsicle card!  I got the idea from a card I'd seen many, many years ago.  I used some craft sticks I had laying around for the popsicle stick, and a scalloped punch for the bite out of the popsicle.  The white paper inside makes it look like it's a creamsicle; yum!  :)

I don't stamp, so I just found a cute font for my summery message and printed it on my cardstock (it took a little bit of measuring to get it in the right spot).  I think it's a cute, summery card!

The 40s Dress

We love going to the 1940s WWII Era Ball every year. We've gone to three of the events (two summer, one winter), and I've now made three dresses for them. I can't be making a new 40s dress every year...this trend has got to stop. :) But, I did make a new one this year. Last year I wore this:

At the White Christmas Ball, I wore this one:

This summer, I decided to go a little Hawaiian. Hawaiian prints were very popular during the 1940s, as was rayon, so the Hawaiian print rayon fabric I picked out was perfect.  I used Vintage Vogue 2787, a reprint from 1948.   

The pattern runs bigger than you'd expect.  I went a size smaller than my measurements indicated, but it was still looser than the pictures showed (the photographs, not the drawings you see above--those are always deceiving, so I don't put a lot of stock in the illustrations on patterns.  I always check out the photographs of actual models, if there are any, and the line drawings on the back.) 

Of course, it made for a very comfortable dress.  And, being rayon, it was a very comfy, light dress. Great for dancing on a warm summer night!

The event was a lot of fun!  There were reenactors, like this MP:

Or "Frank Sinatra" and "The Andrews Sisters."

And, there were WWII planes and military vehicles:

It was fun to put my hair in victory rolls, get dolled up, and go back in time for an evening! 

Book Club: The Devil in the White City

Have you read The Devil in the White City? My book club read it this month and I thought it was great. Very interesting, especially if you're at all interested in history.

It was my turn to host this month, so I was in charge of the treats (can't have a book club without yummy food to eat, right?). Usually we try to make the treats have something to do with the book we read, if we can at all manage it (some are harder than others). This book lended itself perfectly to a fun food theme. Since the book is all about happenings at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, of course I had to make some Fair Food!

Here's the spread.  It was a low-key affair, so no real decorations, but I did print out a few pictures of the fair to display on the table. 

I made homemade funnel cakes:

Lemonade:

Gotta have some cotton candy!

And, watermelon:

Plus, we had some soft pretzels (not homemade, just SuperPretzels).

I did make some homemade CrackerJack, though.  And, I used these adorable labels from Tried and True. Love them!

It was a fun night of book discussion, and a lot of fun putting together all the fun fair food!

The Bored Board

I always have some sort of schedule for my kids during the summer. Otherwise, things delve pretty quickly into spending the entire day in pjs. Everyday.

This year, I jazzed it up a bit and decided to make a fun board to put our schedule and fun activities on.  Of course, the minute I decide to do it, the craft blog world explodes with a zillion summer board ideas!  :)  So, I'm sure you've seen similar things around lately, but this is my take on the summer activity board. 

I found a big frame at Salvation Army for cheap and painted it yellow.  I have a thing for yellow.  :)  I framed a piece of regular poster board.  Then, I used a cute font to make a title (my kids think the title is funny and fun to say--success!) and printed it out and taped it to the posterboard.

I then made some library card pockets (though I made them just a little bigger than the template I found--which I can't seem to find anymore to link to.  Just google them.  There are a ton out there.).  I went through my scrapbook paper stash to find some paper that coordinated with the frame and the colors I used for the title.

Then, I made little "tickets" to go in the pockets.  I started out making elaborate circus-ticket themed "tickets."  Yeah, that went out the window real quick.  Not enough time.  So, we have a circus font printed on plain white cardstock.
The green ones are ones my boys can choose any time they're bored.  They don't need any permission, they can just go do it.  I have fun ones and chore ones.  (Didn't your mom ever tell you, "Well, if you're so bored you can help do the work?"  Mine did.) 

The yellow ones are pretty much for anytime, too, but they have to ask permission first.  The red ones are bigger activities (ones that require more advanced planning on my part than pulling out the craft supplies or something).   

In case you're interested, here are the rest of the activities on our list--the ones that didn't get photographed:

Stargaze

Make popsicles

Play Twister

Play with Playdough

Build a fort

Play Frisbee

Play with bubbles
Have a lemonade stand

Play charades

Sing a song

Play I Spy

Camp in the backyard

Go to the zoo

Go to the museum

Have a picnic

Go on a hike

Have a movie night

Wash the car

Make dinner

And, of course, we have the daily schedule.  No times, though in the past I have sometimes scheduled a little more strictly (up and dressed by 8!).  This year's rule is that they can sleep in as late as they want (unless we have an appointment or something), but once they're up, they have to get dressed and make their beds. 

It's been a busy beginning of summer, so there hasn't been much chance to get bored yet, but my boys think The Bored Board is super-cool and can't wait to do all the activities in it!  Me neither! 

Wedding Gift Idea: Family Home Evening in a Box

Are you tired of hearing about the wedding yet?  Just one last wedding-related post...  My brother-in-law and his bride were pretty well set up with household items, so I had an opportunity to get a little creative with their wedding gift.

My church encourages families to have an evening at home with their family each Monday, where they learn and have fun with their families.  It's called Family Home Evening, and usually includes a lesson, music, activity, prayer, and a treat. 

When my husband and I got married, I found it a little hard to do Family Home Evening with just the two of us.  One usually thinks of Family Home Evening as something you do with kids.  But, all families (even newlyweds or retired couples) are supposed to do it.  Years later, I came across this book:

It's called Family Home Evening For Newlyweds, and has a bunch of lessons that work for just two people, specifically a newly married couple.  It was exactly what I had needed as a newlywed.  But, of course, by the time I found it, as a mom of twins, I no longer needed it.  But, I thought it was a great idea and started occasionally giving it as a wedding gift. 

This time around, when giving this book as a gift, I made it into a little kit of sorts, a Family Home Evening in a box. 

I got a cute sweater box from Target and filled it with the Family Home Evening for Newlyweds book (the lesson), a board game (the activity), and a mix to make a treat with.  Then, I tied it up with a pretty bow.  The box was so pretty, I didn't even need to wrap it!

Pink Linen Skirt

My brother-in-law got married last weekend.  My new sister-in-law had all of her sisters and sisters-in-law make skirts out of the same pink linen fabric to wear for the wedding pictures; sort of a bridesmaid-esque deal. Here's mine:

I used McCalls 5591 for the skirt. I think the box pleats worked well with the drape of the linen, giving the skirt a little life.

We were supposed to wear it with a white top.  I fudged it a little and wore this white cardigan over a gray undershirt.  I thought the necklace was perfect for tying the whole look together!  

Teacher Gifts

Where are these mythical lazy summer days I keep hearing about?  They're certainly not at my house.  It's busy busy busy over here.  With last day of school festivities, houseguests, a wedding, making what feels like zillions of scripture totes for Girl's Camp, hosting book club, as well as normal daily life, I could use a breather!  So, it's no surprise that posting has been a little light here on Jengerbread Creations. 

But, I have a little craft to hold you over until things settle down a bit over here: This year's teachers gifts for my kids' teachers.  I usually just do the gift card thing, but with so many cute ideas out there, I wanted to jazz it up just a little bit. 

 

Isn't this pencil bundle cute?!  I love buying school supplies.  The adorable little notes are from No Fuss Fabulous.  And, I still included the Target gift cards I usually do (the gift card is strung on the ribbon right behind the notecard), since I know how much teachers appreciate gift cards!