Marcelle Medallion Quilt Top


marcellequilttop

I finally finished my Marcelle Medallion quilt top, and I’m so glad I did!  Full of happy colors and fabrics I love, it’s now ready for basting.

marcellecorner

One of the things I liked most about the pattern was the plus border surrounded by lots of low volume fabrics – especially text prints.  I really enjoyed piecing it and the results do not disappoint.

marcelleback

I had something else to use for a backing but decided instead to piece a large scrappy log cabin block.  Simple but fun.

marcelletree

I’m hoping to baste it today if I can get through my very long to-do list quickly enough.  Finishing a quilt is on my list of things to do before my birthday so I need to get rolling on it!

marcellequilttop2

Have a great day!

Jennifer Linking to Freshly Pieced

Taste The Rainbow Game


tasterainbow

My five year old daughter and I are planning a birthday party and the first game she requested is Taste the Rainbow.  It’s a really simple game which can be easily used at any kind of party.  We first tried it at one of the parties I hosted in May for a 10 year old soccer team.

Here’s how you play:  Each person will need two small cups, a straw, and enough Skittles candies to fill one of the cups.  Leave the second cup empty.  The cups I used are little condiment size cups like you find at restaurants.  I bought a huge box of them years ago at Costco and we still haven’t run out!  They measure about 2 inches across and are only about an inch deep, so they’re quite small.  If you can’t find something like it you could use little ice cream cups, nut cups, or even sturdy cupcake liners might work.  You should have at least 20-25 candies in the cup so the players are less likely to run out mid-game.  I bought two 14 ounce bags of candy for a group of 12 girls and had about 2/3 of one bag left after the game.  I think you could safely plan on one 14 ounce bag per every 10 players.

The goal of the game is to see how many skittles you can move to the empty cup using your straw in 30 seconds.  Someone needs to be the timer who calls out go and stop.  I’ll never forget the first time we played it hearing one sweet girl exclaim, “Oh!  You’re supposed to suck in!  I was blowing.”  So funny.  We ended up playing it over and over again as the girls wanted to beat each other’s best number.   When you’re done everyone gets to eat their candy (another good reason to keep the cups small).

tasterainbow2

At our soccer party I used this for the last activity of the night.  It kept the girls gathered around my kitchen table while parents arrived to pick up their daughters and made ending the party a little less chaotic.  Those whose parents hadn’t arrived yet simply played another round.

One more thing I like about this game is that it works for groups of people who aren’t the same age.  It would be fun to use for family night, a reunion, a classroom party… anything you want!

Have fun!
Jennifer

Father’s Day Superhero Gift


superhero

I was on the hunt for a simple, creative and fun idea for Father’s Day this year, and I found just the thing.   I used these printables from AlphaMom to put together a superhero box for the superhero of a Dad that lives at our house.

superhero2

It was a lot of fun picking items to go with each label.  I ended up making a few of these gifts for different people and it was fun to customize it for each person.  I couldn’t find a wood box that worked, so had to settle for a plastic box instead.  I lined it with white tissue paper so you couldn’t see what was inside it, and it worked out just fine.

This is what it looked like when it was “delivered” to our superhero:

superhero3

How was it received?

superhero4

The kids loved watching their Dad open the gift, and gratefully he was funny as could be as he went through each item.  What made the whole thing really amusing was that I thought he knew all along that we had put it together, but it wasn’t until he got to the very last item in the box, a cold can of Hero Juice (Dad’s root beer) that he realized I didn’t just order the box from somewhere.  What tipped him off?  The can was cold.  We all laughed and the group hug he finished with brought a smile to my heart.

superhero5

One thing I like about these printables is that they don’t actually say anything about Father’s Day on them, so you could use them for a birthday or anytime you need a little thank you gift or pick-me-up for the superhero at your house.  It wasn’t a fancy gift, but it did put a smile on our faces, and the snacks were much enjoyed by my husband.  It was a great gift!

Jennifer

1 107 108 109 110 111 213