Lovely Central Jersey

During the long weekend hubby, Baby Chuck, and I visited Princeton, NJ.  We had a really nice time.  The college campus and surrounding towns were beautiful.  Here are a couple of photos from our trip:

Hungry caterpillar party prep- Crepe paper caterpillar

Ok, ok, I know what you're thinking.  This post looks like a Hungry Caterpillar craft and didn't I announce in my last post that I was no longer going to do anymore caterpillar crafts?  Well, yes, that's true.  But in my defense, I just wanted to post up this photo of a welcome sign that Tita Tina made  for the party.  Isn't it adorable?  I love his little feet.  I just want to tickle them. 

I have no idea how she made it (and if anyone out there wants to know, just leave a comment below and I'm sure she would explain everything.) 

(By the way, she isn't just a sign maker.  She also makes a-mazing cakes.)

I love how a child's birthday party can encourage us to create and craft things.    

Hungry Caterpillar party prep: DIY birthday banner

Ok, this will be the last of the party DIYs, I promise!  With the party only a couple of days away, we round off our DIY series with a Hungry Caterpillar birthday banner:

It was really simple and fun to make.  I cut out various shapes from cereal boxes.  Then, I just painted them with craft paint "Eric Carle" style and used Sharpie markers to write the letters.    

To see all the items we made for the party, click here

Up, up, and away

I'm so glad it's Friday.  

Hope you have a fun long weekend.

Hungry Caterpillar party prep: DIY multicolor crayons

I struggled with what to put in the children's goodie bags.  At first I was going to give them lollipops because that went along with the theme of the book.  But then I remembered that they were already going to get candy after bashing the pinata.  Images of screaming children on candy highs filled my mind, so I went another route:  DIY multicolor crayons.  (It sort of goes with the theme, right?  Colorful crayons.... colorful Eric Carle artwork? Ok...maybe it's a stretch...  Alright, you got me.  I just wanted to try this DIY out and I needed an excuse... )

Anywhoo... here's what I did:

(1)  I found a bunch of old crayons, ripped off their paper covers, and broke them up.

• Note 1:  My mom actually found these crayons at home...so that means they're at least 20 years old... ehhhh.... I think they're still good)  
• Note 2:  I had a tough time ripping off the covers.  So hubby and I ended up using a scissor to slice the paper right off.  Be careful!  I sliced my finger. 
• Note 3:  It was tough breaking crayons.  (Hmm, I sense a theme here.  I should probably go to the gym and work out my arms).  I ended up using my trusty pair of scissors and cutting the crayons up.  You could probably chop the crayons up too.  But I didn't want to get wax on my knives or cutting board.  

(2)  I put the broken crayons into some silicone candy molds.   (I've seen other people using cute ice-cube trays or cupcake trays.)

• Note 1:  You probably don't want to do this with a beloved tray.  The wax stains the silicone.
• Note 2:  I placed the silicone molds on top of a baking dish because I was afraid of spilling melted wax.  I spilled wax anyway...but at least it didn't get onto my floor.

(3)  Place the crayons into a 250 degree oven.  Bake for about 10-15 minutes (depending on how big  your crayon chunks are).  Watch them as they bake.  Take them out when the top layer is liquidy.

(4)  Once melted, take the tray out and let your melted wax cool and harden. (Mine took about 15 minutes to solidify.) 

• Note:  Melted crayons smell bad.  Really bad.  Open a window.  Wear a gas mask.  Do whatever you need to feel ok with this.... I kept reminding myself that crayons are non-toxic....*cough cough*

(5) Once cool, pop those babies out and admire your colorful handiwork.

• Note:  I placed mine in the  freezer for a bit before popping them out.  Some other blogger said to do that, but I don't think I really had to.

Voila!  An army of rainbow crayons ready to color the world!  Muah ha ha ha.

To see other things that we made for the party, click  here