Let them eat red, white & blue cupcakes!

Only 3 days after being back to work and I’m ready to be back on vacation. I love my faculty, but supporting technology/software that doesn’t always behave, makes me want to be at the beach. So, in the spirit of needing something “fun”, my girls and I made red, white and blue cupcakes. We even ate them BEFORE dinner this evening.

1. Mix up a batch of traditional white cake mix and divide the mix into three bowls.


2. Mix blue food coloring into one bowl and red food coloring into a second bowl. Keep white cake mix in the third bowl.

3. Scoop one color of each cake mix into muffin tin.

4. Swirl cake mix with a spoon or drink stirrer.

5. Bake and decorate.

YUMMY!

July 4th Crafting Ideas Part 1

Where did June go? Can you believe the 4th of July is this Sunday? I've been collecting Independence day crafting ideas for a few weeks. If you remember from this post, I've had my patriotic tree assembled in my sunroom since Memorial weekend (hee hee). If you are looking for vintage images, Country Living magazine has all kinds of lovely Americana decorations and images available on their website here.




Family Fun Magazine has 21 4th of July craft ideas found here. This magazine is still one of my favorite go-to resources for kid-friendly crafts.

Isn't this wreath festive?

You can find family fun wreath instructions here.

Their paper fans are cute too.
Be sure to grab some paint stir sticks the next time you're out.

Skip to my Lou posted a nifty 4th of July snack printable on their blog.

I love the graphics.
They'd be cute for salty snacks or snow cones!!

Can you tell I went through a teeny tiny bit of crafting/blogging withdrawal while on vacation? I'm just getting warmed up with ideas. Happy crafting!

Our 2010 Lake MI Vacation

Our week on Lake MI was quiet, peaceful, relaxing...just fabulous! We couldn't have asked for better weather. It rained nearly every night, but cleared out each morning so that we could enjoy the beach.

The cottage has many cherry orchards around it and we enjoyed all kinds of special homemade desserts all week.

Although we spent most of our time on the beach, we also took short day trips.

Petting farm.

Tourist attractions at Silver Lake Sand Dunes.

I even squeezed in some shopping.
Aren't the vintage graphics on this sand pail darling!!

Chris took the girls fishing at an inland lake near the cottage and they caught all kinds of bluegill, sunfish and perch. I believe we have two fishergirls in the family now.



Because it's early in the rental/vacation season for Lake MI, we had the beach to ourselves everyday.

Our view each evening...just lovely.

We had cozy evenings in the cottage playing board games, reading, and taking walks in the woods. Without internet (aka blogging access) I actually read 8 paperbacks. I have a couple of Chinese women's history books I'm going to post about later, and will be willing to lend.

We look forward to this vacation every year and it didn't disappoint. So we are back, refreshed and ready to start into a summer routine. I'll be heading to work on Monday (it's a new summer semester at my university and my schedule is packed). The rest of the family will be enjoying their summer vacation and digging out from laundry. I'm anxious to catch up on my favorite blogs and find out what you've all been up to. I even have a few fourth of July crafts to share. Missed you!

Having fun! Wishing you were here!

We're home long enough to drop off Emma's best friend and check on the flowers and our vegetable gardens. It's been an amazing week so far. We've had great weather. We're spending lots of wonderful time at the beach every day. Here are a few pictures.









The cottage doesn't have a single bit of cell phone coverage or internet access because of the dunes. I'm going through a bit of blogging withdrawal, but I've managed to finish reading four paperbacks. I'll be back. I promise.

Sneaking off for a little beach time...

In 48 hours, we will be heading here....

and lounging here...

and playing with these...

and making new family memories...

It doesn’t have internet access or cell phone coverage, so I’ll be offline for awhile. We'll be coming home half way though the week to return Emma's best friend, so I might be able to sneak in a post and a few pics (no promises though).

Be good.
Don't have too much fun without me.

Another excuse to use chalkboard paint...

When I saw this post on making personalized beach buckets/sand pails with chalkboard paint, I knew I had to try it for Josie's party.

The trick to this craft is to make sure you use lots of tape so that the paint doesn't leak under the edges and to give it enough coats of of chalkboard paint (hint hint).

I used Josie's birthday bucket to hold our rainbow birthday napkins/silverware, but it's going to be re-purposed to hold hair ribbons and barrettes in her bedroom.

Aside from the beach, it could even be used to hold crayons and art supplies. Right now, you can easily find sand pails at the Dollar Store. How cute would this be for a fourth of July party to have red and blue sand pails! The options are endless.

Happy Crafting!
PS. Only 4 more days until our annual Lake MI cottage vacation!
I can hardly stand to be at work! Come on Saturday!