Bunny Fun

I saw this cute little Easter Bunny Pouch and had to recreate a few for myself. I'm just in love with them! Here is a link for a free printable template. You're going to love this project, I know I did!


Here's what you need:

1 piece of felt
2 colors of embroidery floss
1 scrap of fabric for inside of bunny ears
Candy to fill
Ribbon to tie bunny closed
Bunny Template

1. Start by printing your bunny template and cut it out.
2. Fold your felt in half and place the template on top. Cut out 2 bunny pieces out of felt.

3. Embroider the top bunny piece with eyes and a nose.
4. Cut ears out of scraps of colored fabric making them just slightly smaller than the ears on the template. Top stitch colored ears onto the felt.
5. Stitch the two layers of bunnies together leaving an opening in between the ears to fit candy in.

6. Fill with candy and tie a bow around the top.

7. Enjoy! :)

These will be great for all the little ones at our little Easter gathering!

I also created this easy peasy marshmallow treat bag

For more bunny fun Click Here!
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Carnival Fundraiser

For our yearly fundraiser this year we decided to do a carnival and silent auction. I think it went fantastic and was so fun to see all the families and couples come out to support the Young Women! We let the girls decide what kind of booths they wanted to run and let them work them in groups. Some of the leaders owned things like the popcorn machine, but we rented other things like the cotton candy machine from a party supply store. Some of the Booths included: A Face Painting Booth, Wack a Mole, Fish Pond, Nerf Attack, Fish Bounce, Ice Cream Stand, Cotton Candy, Popcorn. We also served a meal as part of the entrance fee. It came with a hot dog, chips, and a bottle of water. The silent auction included both services and finished goods (and was really where we cleaned up in terms of fund raising). We also included a Cheesecake room for people not interested in playing games. We sold family passes, couple's passes, and single passes which included a meal ticket, and several tickets for play. We set up just one ticket booth where families could buy their passes and extra tickets and put the young women in charge of collecting tickets at their booths. Based on my own children's experiences and the many families I saw enjoying themselves I think it was a huge success and so very fun! Congratulations girls on an excellent evening!

For more camp fun Click Here

Lavender and Lace

I really regret not getting some pictures of the finished dress! We ended up being so busy around the time of the wedding, but I was able to snag a few pictures taken at the wedding.

 

Chad created her beautiful bouquet using White Roses, Chrysanthemums, Queen Anne's Lace, Ranunculus, and bits of greenery. I think he did an amazing job!

Chad and I were also in charge of the food and decorations (Chad had lots of help with the food from his siblings, he couldn't have done it without them!).

We were going for a rustic, garden party sort of feel for the reception. Here are just a few pictures. We created the tablecloth runners using burlap and lace. We also added an antique mercury glass look to the taller center vases.  Here's a tutorial.

We served Boursin sandwiches with ham and pears, a salad, lavender lemonade, tres leches, and chocolate mousse. The cake was a carrot cake (grooms favorite) with a cream cheese frosting and some purple peonies made out of sugar.

Here is a picture of my sweet Madelaine (in lace) and my cute little niece Halle (in blue) after getting ready for the reception. They had fun getting all done up together!

First fitting - A vintage Lace Dress
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Braided Hex Nut Bracelet Craft

 
 

I thought this would make for a really fun and inexpensive craft for the girls to make while at girls camp. It's super easy and if any mistakes are made starting over only takes a few moments. Ever since I created my first mock up my 13 yr old has been crazy to wear it. I'm taking that as a good sign :)

All you need is:
14-16 hex nuts depending on your wrist size from your local hardware store, Use an even amount
3 14 inch strands of leather cord (I found mine at Walmart on the beading isle)
Its also helpful to have a friend around to hold one end of the strands of leather so you can get a super tight braid OR
Tape to hold one end of the bracelet down

1. Start by tying a knot at one end of your 3 strands. 
2. Braid about an inch to an inch and a half depending on your wrist size. getting the braid tight is super important, otherwise the hex nuts will sit sloppy.
3. Now it is time to add a hexnut to each of your cords just like you would add a strand of hair when doing a french braid. Simply thread a hex nut onto one of the pieces of cord you are getting ready to move over. After you have moved the cord with the hex nut threaded onto it over thread another hex nut onto the next piece of cord to be moved over. 
4. Repeat this process until you have used all of your hex nuts.
5. Continue braiding another inch to an inch and a half making your bracelet symmetrical.
6. Wrap the bracelet around your wrist to make sure you have a good fit. Adjust if necessary.
7. Tie a knot at the end of the braiding.
8. Have someone help you tie your bracelet on using a simple knot.
9. If the leather stretches and the hex nuts become sloppy take a few minutes and rebraid your bracelet.
10. Congrats you are finished. Enjoy your beautiful new Hex Nut Bracelet!

For more camp fun Click Here 
For more crafting fun Click Here

Ordering Your Bees

I live in Utah close to SLC so rather than ordering my bees online I decided to get them from a local company so that I could go and pick them up. I also purchased my beekeeping supplies so that I could pump the owner for any information about beekeeping she was willing to give :) She was great about explaining and demonstrating exactly what to do with my bees once I got them home and how to assemble my hive. She also gave me lots of other useful info and demonstrations! The name of her shop is Jones Bee Co. located at 2586 West 500 South in SLC, Utah. At Jones Bee Co you can either order the Carnelian-Cross or the Italians. She recommends that 1st years order Italians because they don't need a lot of supplementation where as the Carnelian-Cross does.

Here are just a few online sources:

B & B Honey Farm
Draper's Super Bee Apiaries, Inc
BeeWeaver Apiaries

Helpful Links:
The Bees Knees
What You Need To Get Started

What You Need To Get Started

To get started as a bee keeper you will need:

A hive made up of (from bottom up):

Hive Stand - Supports the hive off the ground to keep the hive bottom dry and insulate the hive. This can be purchased when you buy your hive from your bee supplier and comes in many different shapes and sizes or you can create one using cinder blocks or pallets.

Bottom Board - Forms the floor of the hive.

An Entrance Reducer - Can be used when the hive is new to make it easier for the bees to protect the hive while they are still small in numbers. Can be removed as the hive size increases. You do not necessarily have to purchase an entrance reducer. You can as easily stuff parts of the entrance with pine straw or other materials to minimize the entrance.

Hive Bodies - Consists of Body, Frames and Beeswax Foundation. “Brood Chambers” are the bees’ living quarters. Queen lays eggs in these chambers and brood is raised. Honey is also stored for the bees’ food.

Queen Excluder - Keeps the queen bee in the brood chambers as she is too large to pass through the excluder. Prevents her from laying eggs and raising brood in honey supers placed above the excluder.

Supers - Consist of Super, Frames and Beeswax Foundation for “surplus” honey storage. Bees store their extra honey in the frames for the beekeeper to remove. 6-5/8' or , 5-11/16'' supers, or even hive bodies may be used.

Inner Cover - Creates a dead air space for insulation from heat and cold.

Hive Cover - Telescoping cover “telescopes” over the sides of the top super to protect the hive. Galvanized covering.

Some companies sell a top that includes both the inner cover and the hive cover in one.

When you very first get started you only need two supers. The bottom super is where the bees will begin their work. You can leave the top super empty of Frames until at least 7 of the lower frames are being used by the bees. You can add your honey super sometime around June after the hive numbers have increased and the bees are ready to start creating excess honey. 

Smoker: used to calm the bees anytime you are working in the hive, also a puff of smoke on a sting will keep other bees from attacking the site.

Bee Brush: used to brush bees aside when they are where you don't want them. It is soft and gentle so as not to hurt the bees.

Hive Tool: Used for just about anything. You can use this tool to uncork new bees, shuffle and loosen frames, really just about anything.

Gloves: Used to protect your hands from stings. Some beekeepers prefer not to work with gloves as they make it harder to feel what they are doing and claim that this causes clumsiness which aggravates the bees more.

Hat with Veil: Protects face and head from stings.

Don't forget your  beekeepers license!

Helpful Links:
The Bees Knees
Ordering Your Bees