Thanks for Nothing Goverment!

I  am not political at all by any stretch of the imagination.  I do know that the government shut down because congress can't come together on an agreement for a budget.  Just stop blaming each other, stop pointing fingers and work it out people!  Damn! 

What I also know is that the stupid government royally messed up Holden's Grandparents first birthday visit.  BOOOOO government!  BOOOO!  My Mom and Dad got their plane tickets in August to fly (they're in Virginia) down here to Texas on Oct 9th.  Well, my Dad's job is marked as "emergency essential" so he has to stay.  He will not be flying down as regularly scheduled, but my Mom will.  I cried, I was upset, then I got over it.  At least one Grandparent (from my side) will be at Holden's party.  Then Dad called, he WILL be coming down.....on Oct 30th.  I cried tears of joy, I was happy, I got excited!  So it will be nice to have both my parents here with me later this month.  It gives me more time to plan stuff for us to do, and get some photos scheduled for us to get taken when Dad gets here.  

So yeah, there is a silver lining.  And thanks goodness for Skype, so we can Skype Dad and my brother in for Holden's cake while we sing happy birthday to him.  :)  

Brightest Blessings,
Valerie

Throw Back Thursday!

I've seen people post on their Facebooks, Instagrams and Twitters these past few months a "Throw Back Thursday" photo.  If you've never heard of it, it's essentially you posting and old, as in old I mean a yew years ago, or 20+ years ago; to show the entire world either how cute you looked or how nerdy you looked.  I have yet to post an nerdy ones.....but whos to say I won't in the future.  That's the whole fun of it!  Well, so I'm gonna try and post a few #tbt photos on here, when I can remember.  lol It's kinda fun to reminice and what memeories come up when you post them. 

This photo is of Kenny and I back in 2005 at a friends wedding. We had only been dating for a year and a a half at the time.  He hung the moon then, and he still hangs the moon now.  Ahhh, true love! :)

 

Brightest Blessings,

Valerie

1 Year Photos done by Yours Truly!

Not wanting to pay and arm and a leg for photos, I decided to do them myself.  Yeah, yeah, I know that the professionals know what they're doing and they do a good job, sorry honey I just don't have the extra $300 for a 1hr photo session.  So I did it myself with help of my good friend Jen.  Sooooo here is a few of what we took.  Holden did exceptionally well! Such a good boy.  I wanna do a cake smash photo next week, so that will be coming soon....maybe.  lol  I have a busy week next week.

Oh, and to answer any questions about the props in the photos....here it goes.  My hubby made the mini Adirondack chair--I painted it (nautical blue), got the "ONE" letters form Michaels, I made the mustache name banner as well as the birthday stat board.  I will have some tutorials to follow soon!  :)

You talking to me?

Had to take one of the meltdown!  :)

Such a ham!

Can't expect an almost 1yr old to sit still

Always on the go!

I am in the love with this!  :)

I Mustache You A Question....Crayons Anyone?

So if you've been following me on this blog or know me personally, you know that I am planning Holden's 1st Birthday party as a Stashe Bash!  All things are mustache.  It's a little bit insane at my house, there is a mustache in almost every crack and crevice of my house....I digress.  Ok, so here is how I made my mustache crayons for the gift bags.

Materials:
Razor Blade
Crayons
Mustache Molds
Tin Can
Water
Saucepan
Disposable Spoon

Step One:  
Take the razor blade and lightly make a cut down the length of the crayon.  This is way easier than tearing the paper, I speak from experience.  :)

Step Two:
Take off all the paper, put crayon aside.  Put on the Pandora or an episode on Hulu you wanna catch up on, this is a tiny bit of a time suck.  whomp. whomp.

 

Step Three:  (Optional)
Divide all the crayons into their color family you wish to make colored molds out of.

 

Step Four:
Turn oven on medium heat with saucepan about 1/3 full of water.  Put tin can in water and bring to a rolling boil.  Put crayons you wish to melt in tin can--broken bits of crayons melt faster.


Step Five:
These crayons melt hella fast, so don't walk away.  Get a disposable spoon and stir a few times to get the big chunks melted.  All crayons should be melted within 3-5 minutes depending on how many crayons you put in tin. (this color turned out to be a pretty shimmery grey-tan)
  

Step Six: 
CAREFULLY pour melted crayons into the molds.  Don't overfill, just fill till it's almost to the top!  No one is paying attention to the back of the mold, we only care about the front, right?

 

Step Seven:
 Let crayons get a little bit firm; (I speak from experience, again) then put in freezer for 7-10 minutes.  If you take crayons straight to the freezer, you WILL i repeat WILL spill crayon wax all over the kitchen floor and counter.  So let them get a little bit firm before going to freezer.

 Step Eight:
Take molds out of freezer and flip upside down and crayon molds should pop right out!

Enjoy making these, I did!  Once you do your first batch, the rest is golden.  Have fun!

Brightest Blessings,
Valerie