MHBC Fish Fry and a Birthday Party

This weekend the Lootens came to town for the MHBC fish fry…and to visit of course! 

Laney telling me that she called Sam Buster!

And telling me a story…

Audrey chowing down with Grandma and Grandpa Looten.

and hanging out with momma…

Apparently she is now a momma’s girl!

I think this was the most fun of Audrey’s evening…they had a swimming pool full of birdseed with cups in it.  She played in that birdseed for as long as we let her.

The end of the night…the light in the tent made it look so cozy!

Sunday after church we had a dual birthday party for Chuck and Laney.

Audrey was not impressed, Sam held her for a while and she was quiet.

Laney telling the big guys how to play Wii

This picture cracks me up!

Audrey fell asleep before she even ate!

Sweet baby feet!

Laney looks scared of all those candles on her Grandpa’s cake!

Grandma helping Laney blow out her candles.

It was definitely a princess sort of birthday…

Not sure why the princess is frowning here!

Ellen

Making Silent Auction Baskets and Other Things

This past weekend my church had their big annual fundraiser for the debt free building fund.  I always make several baskets to donate for the silent auction.  This next weekend is my family’s MDA fundraiser in southern Illinois.  I always donate a lot of things for that fundraiser too! Here’s a few things that I have been working on…

The Mizzou basket…set of four potholders, two badge reel clips, two decorated kitchen towels, 10 bean bags, two glasses case, a black and gold clutch purse…

The beach basket…all things blue and seashell-y!

I am still working on more baskets…a pumpkin basket, a patriotic basket, a fall fun basket, some felted wool acorns in a mason jar, wool mittens, a bride dress up basket, lots more! 

I am linking to these great parties!

Ellen

A Fall Basket

Another basket for the silent auctions...This is clearly a fall-ish assortment.  I didn't really have the right size basket, so had two of these fruit/vegetable baskets. They were a bit rough, but I dressed them up with some grosgrain ribbon from an assortment I got at The Ribbon Retreat about a month ago.

And of course with my newly discovered love of and creation of rosettes, I added a painters cloth rosette to each side of the basket...one happened to be small and one was pretty big.

Bigger and

littler.

I always try to make the basket so it looks good from both sides since people walk down both sides of the table while they are looking at all the baskets.

I added some wood shred filler in the bottom, a fall plate/dish, a slate wall decorating plaque, a golden pumpkin (yes, I spray painted it!), some fall colored towels, two pumpkin candles, a few small gourds. 

The basket was a bit rough, but I thought it added some charm to the whole thing!

I am going to get it all wrapped up with cello tonight and this one is off the to do list!

The Anatomy of a Basket

I have been working on getting baskets together for my fundraisers (my church fundraiser and my family's MDA fundraiser in Galatia, Illinois) which are 9/18 and 9/25. 

I love putting baskets together for those events for the silent auctions, so I thought I might show some of my handiwork.

The first thing I do to get ready is to find my willing assistant...here mine is meowing at me about how I won't let him in the house and how he doesn't want me to take pictures, he just wants me to hold him (or something similar!).

This basket is one of my favorites of the ones I have made...it is a spa type basket.  I had a basket that was just plain wicker color that I had gotten with some goodies in it.  And I had a can of spray paint in the garage that I had bought for half price at WalMart.

So, of course, I spray painted it and just love the color...a shade

lighter than robin egg

blue. 

I found a journal with a bird's nest full of robin eggs on the cover and so naturally the felted birds nest with eggs was the perfect addition. 

I usually start with an inspiration for theme and color...my inspiration for this basket was a set of washcloths (nice thick spa type washcloths that I found last summer at Kohl's) in shades of blues and white.  I used white paper shred for adding some fluff to the bottom of the basket and I added a pack of coastal blue glass marbly thingies to give it more coastal charm!

I found this little sea turtle at a yard sale for 25 cents. 

I found some tea light holders in shades of blue and clear at Dollar Tree. 

I added some Mary Kay Coconut Lime lotion, body spray and shower gel and a cute cosmetic bag that came with the Mary Kay things. (I am a MK consultant so these were half price for me).  That added a pop of green so I also added a green shower puff and then for good measure added two more in white and blue.

I don't use the puffs that come in gift sets I receive so I save them to use for basket building.  They help hold the items in place and they also provide some buffering in the event travel is involved.

I also added some tea light candles in waterfall scent and a large powder puff (it is the white chenille-looking item behind the lotion). 

And I will wrap it in cellophane to keep it all together and keep things from wandering off during the silent auction.

Some groupings I don't put in baskets...

This baby quilt that I made and the burp cloths, t shirts and socks would be lost in a basket, so I just used the quilt as a background and arranged the other items on top.

I slid the stack into a cello bag and folded the ends over and taped on the back of the package.

You can still see the quilt and it is flat, easy to transport and takes up little room.

I Spy Bags

Still Stashbusting!

These I Spy bags are so cute and great for kids for distraction.  We even use them in the hospital to distract children while they are undergoing painful experiences like blood draws or IV starts.

I have seen some of these commercially made and I thought I could make them fairly easily.

I use wild interesting fabrics and collect the tiny items to go inside them.  I find little toys at yard sales, the Target $1 section, kids meals toys, and lots of other places.

The little plastic clear-ish beads are available at Hobby Lobby, although right now that is the only place I can find them.

They cost less than $3 to make each one (the majority of the cost is the bead "stuffing").

I like the ladybug one, but it seems like the little toys are hiding inside!

I use a coordinating fabric for the back...these will both be donated to my church fundraiser and the MDA fundraiser my family hosts.

I will be linking this post to the blog buttons on my sidebar!