Gluesticks Halloween Round-Up {Part 1: Crafts}

 

Thank you for the sweet comments with the passing of my Grandmother. I really appreciate the thoughts and time you took to share your consonances.
Brandy

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With October fast approaching I thought I would re-visit a few past projects.

Here are a few fun craft projects that our family made last year!

 

 

Halloween Lollipop Trees

 

These trees were so easy to make! My piano students loved them and looked forward to taking suckers off of the trees after their lessons each week! My kids loved them too. It was a shame when the lollipops started to disappear and the trees began looking bare!

 

 

 

Little Vampire Pumpkins

 

I laughed every time I walked past these guys...

 

 

 

Halloween Subway Canvas

 

This project was so fun to come up with. Click the link to go directly to the tutorial!

A Legacy of Love & Service

 

Today my heart aches.  At 87 years of age, and after a life filled with service and love, my Grandma Eva returned to our Heavenly Father to be with her parents, sweet husband, and daughter. I knew it was coming and that she was ready, but I wasn't ready.

 

My grandma was my hero. I aspired to be like her in every way. I created a post awhile ago about her and the book that I was working on for her. Here and here.

 

Whether it was cleaning my house, cooking a meal for my family, making a grocery list, or working on a sewing project, I'd find myself remembering the way she used to do it, the things she taught me, and her never ending work ethic. To me, this entire blog is a culmination of the things I have learned and I have tried to be like her.

 

Grandma (along with my own mother) taught me to sew, she taught me to bake, how to be a homemaker and a housewife. She was perfect (in my eyes) in each of those categories. She taught her daughters, and they, in turn, shared it with their children.

 

And she was loved by her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, family, and her friends. The tributes to her on sites like Facebook have been astounding. The out pouring of love and photos is incredible.

 

 

 

Grandma was born in Boulder, Utah. The oldest daughter of 15 children. She worked hard helping her mother in the home and her father on the farm.

 

She served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Northern California which is where she met her future husband, Eugene.

 

They were married in the Salt Lake City, Utah Temple and had 7 daughters. My mother is the second to the youngest.

 

 

 (With my sister and I)

 

We lived just an hour away from Grandma when I was young so we spent almost every school vacation with her. Some of my fondest memories were in her home in Grass Valley, California. She'd always greet us with a smile and a huge hug. She'd buy our favorite foods before we'd get there. She'd include us in her every day activities and we loved helping her. I remember the little things like turning the key for her to start her car, getting her mail, going on a walk, starting laundry, playing games, making dinner, or stopping by our favorite store Ben Franklin. She made bread every week. If we were lucky enough to be there while she was doing it, she'd give us a little piece of dough to make our own tiny loaf.

 

 

 

She and grandpa were married over 50 years when he passed. She lived on her own, but then moved to Sacramento to be closer to family. There, my wonderful Aunt and Uncle took care of her for the rest of her years. She lived next door and had the independence of being on her own, but they would look after her, and in the last few years, they went above and beyond to assist her, and still give her the comfort of living in her own home.

 

 (Grandma with my son, Dallin, 7 years ago when we flew down from Alaska for a visit)

 

When we found out that we were moving from Ohio to California this last year I knew it was nothing short of guidance from Heavenly Father. She was declining more and more and Sacramento wasn't a place that we thought we'd transfer to this time around, but the Coast Guard sent us there. I do not believe it was a coincidence. I also do not believe that our house being a month behind schedule was a coincidence either. We ended up staying next door to Grandma for a month before moving to temporary lodging at the Air Force Base and have seen her on a daily basis, and more recently, several times a week, for the last 3 months. My children made memories with her. They got to know her and her sweet spirit.

 

I was able to spend her final day on earth, next to her. Talking to her even though she was unresponsive. I hope she heard me and felt me holding her hand. I knew it was time for her to go. I hoped I would feel relieved when the time came. I received a phone call just 2 hours after I left her side saying that she had slipped away. The feeling of relief came. She lived such a FULL life. One to aspire to, but the heartache immediately followed. So much more than I thought I would feel. Even though she wasn't the same as the Grandma who I remembered years ago when she had full strength and abilities, I loved who she became in the later years as well. I enjoyed our visits and will miss her so very much.

(Grandma with my youngest, Ruby. July 2012)

 

Families are forever. This I know. I will think of her often while I raise my children. I'll remember her example and the things she taught me as I sew in her honor. I'll always remember how she and Grandpa would stand on the driveway and wave us off as we would head back to our house. They'd say, "Come Again!" as they'd watch us drive out of view. This isn't good-bye, and I look forward to seeing her again.

 

I hope everyone has been fortunate to have someone in their life who has meant as much to them as this sweet lady has meant to me.

Our Identity Theft Story

This post brought to you by LifeLock Facebook. All opinions are 100% mine.

This post does not have to do with crafts, cooking, or sewing, but it is a subject that I feel is very important to discuss.

Early this year one of our credit card companies called us inquiring about a large purchase at Best Buy in Michigan and the request for a new card to be sent to a new address. What? Derrick promptly told them that he did NOT make any purchases at Best Buy recently and that we lived in Ohio and not Michigan. That sick feeling, knowing you're privacy has been violated, came upon us. We worked things out with them and hoped that it was an isolated incident.

Derrick had signed up for Lifelock last year after hearing about it on the radio. He thought it might be beneficial with all of the scams that people are dealing with. Lifelock is an identity protection company that notifies you of fraud and when companies run credit checks on you.

Since the Best Buy purchases were on an existing credit card, nothing was flagged from Lifelock, but we knew it was only a matter of time since someone had hacked our information. The criminals were smart. They used credit cards that were open, but ones that we hadn't used in at least a year. No credit checks were needed so nothing was flagged. So we didn't notice things racking up as fast. When we looked into that card we noticed that there were a number of charges on that account in the past couple of days.

Fast forward 5 days...

Lifelock called and emailed us letting us know that our credit report had been run for a new account. Immediately after that notification, two more came through for two more accounts! It was getting out of hand. Derrick called them back and told them that those were NOT from us.

That was it. Lifelock took over and contacted the credit card companies and canceled the accounts. They worked things out with the financial companies and within a month or so the issues were resolved and our credit report was clean.,

If they hadn't notified us of the credit checks, we wouldn't have known about the new accounts until we were receiving bills for them. The customer service was fabulous. They started to get to know Derrick very well.

We had at least 10 new credit cards/accounts opened. Shopping sprees at Lowe's, American Eagle, Best Buy, etc. Then they'd ditch the card and open a new one, creating a whole new mess for us. We'd then alert Lifelock after they let us know that our credit had yet been run again, and they'd take it from there.

We had checking accounts opened under Derrick's name. They had his social, mother's maiden name, our home address an our account passwords. It made me sick. We had returned checks coming to our house with Derrick's "signature" signing them. It was not his signature. Again, I felt sick.

He filed a police report and filed every case away.

We went through this for months. $20,000 in fraud against Derrick's name. At this time we were also applying for a home loan. Perfect timing right? So our credit needed to stay CLEAN!

I don't know what we would have done without Lifelock. They covered us up to $1,000,000 in damage against our name. If they couldn't work it out with the financial companies, they'd pay it off. To date, not a dime has been spent to pay it off. They've resolved EACH and EVERY issue against Derrick's name.

Our credit report is clean. We have our home loan.

Is it the end? Nope. Now that his info is viral, it will never be over. We closed credit cards that we haven't used in a year and only have a couple now. We monitor those very well and Lifelock does the rest as far as new accounts.

When Lifelock approached me about discussing their services with my readers, I jumped at the opportunity. We've lived it, we are customers. Our children are signed up with them as well. Criminals use minor's social security numbers and it goes un-noticed until the child reaches 16 and goes to apply for a job. We didn't want that happen so Lifelock is monitoring all activity under our children's names.

We signed up for the whole package and let me tell you, the peace of mind that gives us is a wonderful thing.

Here are a few statistics:

Households earning $100k+/year have the highest identity fraud rate at 7.4%.

The average cost of having your identity stolen :$1,513. 11.6 million adults were victims of identity fraud in 2011 and a total of $18 billion was lost.

Social Media/Smart Phone Fraud: 6.6% of victims own smart phones. 6.8% are social media users who click on applications. 8.2% are social media users who have "checked in" using their smart phone GPS.

10.1% are LinkedIn users.

One thing that you can do right away is ask your self How hack friendly is your password? If you only have 6 characters in your password with no symbol, it only takes a hacker .000224 seconds to hack it. WOW. If you have 10 characters and 1 symbol, it takes 20 days for a professional break in. After this happened, we vamped up our passwords so much so that it took me forever to memorize them.

Become a fan of LifeLock on Facebook for more tips.

Fighting Hunger Together

This post brought to you by Walmart. All opinions are 100% mine.

One of the fondest memories I have from working with the youth at our church was a canned food drive that we did a few years ago. We split up the girls/boys and spread through the neighborhood, asking folks if they could possibly spare a can or two to donate to the local food pantry. After 45 minutes, we had a truckload of food from our generous neighbors to bring, over 200 items, and some pretty full hearts. It never ceases to amaze me how a community can come together to do good for others. And this was on such a small scale. My thoughts go to the KATRINA victims who needed so much, and the out pouring of love and service that were administered to them through the Red Cross and groups like The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints with their yellow "Helping Hands" shirts. In a world as corrupt as this, it brings hope to see such love towards others.

In support of Hunger Action Month this September, Walmart will work with suppliers, customers, and associates nationwide to donate up to 53 million meals to Feeding America and give $2.5 million for hunger relief.

50 million Americans won't know where their next meal will come from at some point this year. That is 1 in 6. I had no idea. Through October 12, customers can generate donations for Feeding America by purchasing select products from participating food suppliers.

I buy a lot of cereals that are made by General Mills. So when I go to Walmart and find the "Fighting Hunger Together" signs or going to the "give meals" section of http://www.walmart.com/hunger I can take one product and turn it into 7 meals.

Also, participate in the Golden Spark promotion for a chance to win $50,000 for your community!

 

Walmart will randomly select 40 "Golden Sparks" valued at $50,000 each to consumers who participate in the Fighting Hunger Together Golden Spark promotion.

Get involved in the fight and go to http://www.walmart.com/hunger to get started! If you have a personal story of how experienced hunger or helped someone who has, I would love to hear about it. Leave a comment!

Water Marbles

 

Have you heard of water marbles before? We finally got around to growing some of our own and they are really fun! You can find them at craft stores in a variety of bag sizes. I've even seen them at the dollar store. Ours were tiny mini bags. We used several for our jar. They are used in vases for fillers and are very inexpensive. When they start to dry out, you just add more water and they expand right back again...these are going to last forever!  They come in a variety of colors and look so pretty in a plain jar. I told Kaylee that we were making a rainbow in a jar.

 

 

We emptied several little packets into a pitcher and filled with luke warm water. And waited....

 

 

15 minutes later they started looking a bit slimy. 1 hour and they had expanded a lot! 2 hours and they were done. The package said to soak them up to 4 hours. They squish and feel like gummies and pop right back into shape.

 

 

We loved the colors that we ended up with!

 

 

Soon our patio was the envy of the neighborhood children. They came to see what we were up to. We had to dump the jar into a bowl so that they could all have a feel. One of the little girls said, "They feel like a spa for my hands!" And she was right. We couldn't stop picking them up, dropping them, running our fingers through them. Myself included.

 

 

Simple wonders.

Disclaimer: Parents, of course, should use caution and supervise as the marbles are small and a choking hazard.

 

 

 

Planting Bulbs in the Fall

This post brought to you by Bulbs. Dig, Drop, Done.. All opinions are 100% mine.

It's fall! And a great time to plant bulbs for springtime! And not just outside either. Bulbs can grow indoors as well. They are so beautiful and bright and I'd love to try my hand at growing some soon. So I checked out  Curbside Chaos and found a few fun things to share.

 I've been on the site a few time and always love the helpful ideas and tips that they offer! Especially the fun family activities and projects with step by step instructions.

 They recently had a $5,000 yard makeover giveaway on there and the results were amazing! Very inspiring to us since we are being challenged right now with finishing the landscaping (ok, not even finishing it, but starting from scratch from NOTHING and creating a backyard). Check out the video here.

I think if I won a giveaway like that I'd love to use it towards a nice walkway, sod, planter boxes, flowers (bulbs especially), and trees for starters. My boys want a koi pond and would probably encourage us to put one of those in as well ;)

I also checked out the Garden Guru while I was there. This is a great little tool to help you know what bulbs to plant in your neck of the woods. Climate, seasons, etc. Bulbs aren't just for gardeners, they are easy to plant and keep coming back! Oh I can't wait to move into our home and get started!

I'm dying to plant bulbs and wanted to know when the perfect time to do so would be. So I picked the area of the country that I am living in (California), chose what month I want my bulbs to bloom in (March), and they gave me some suggestions.

Here is one:

And shared the following tips:

• Start with firm, plump chionodoxa bulbs, free from cuts, bruises or mold. Plant in Fall (Sept 23-Dec 22), when soil has cooled off.
• Using a spade, dig a hole 3-6 inches deep and place the bulb pointed end up.
• Cover and lightly pack soil, then water thoroughly- and you’re done!

Tips: In areas with mild winters, plant later and chill your bulbs up to 8 weeks prior to planting. Plant in a sunny or partially shaded area. Space your bulbs 2-4 inches apart.

Your Checklist

• Chionodoxa Bulbs
• Spade or Trowel
• Garden Gloves
• Water

I then decided to visit www.digdropdone.com to learn more and watch some entertaining videos about planting bulbs. I related the most with Marcy who had great tips on storing bulbs in the refrigerator and planting them in pots on the window sill in the fall.

I related the most with Marcy (NOT because she thinks she’s super Mom, but for her advice on gardening without a lot of time)who had great tips on storing bulbs in the refrigerator and planting them in pots on the window sill in the fall.

I would love to grow bulbs indoors! I also related to her busy life, being a mother, and finding ways to simplify gardening. Bulbs do that! Plant once, enjoy for years.

So be sure to visit www.digdropdone.com to learn more!

For every share on Twitter, "Bulbs. Dig, Drop, Done." will donate $1.00 to Rebuilding Together

Elegant Strawberry Layered Pound Cake {No Bake}

 

A sweet little girl recently had a birthday. We were so excited to celebrate the special day that she joined our family, just 4 short years ago. What a blessing and gift she has been to our family, as all of our children have been.

 

I wanted to make her something pretty and feminine, just like her. And since she loves all things Strawberry Shortcake right now...I decided to make her one.

 

 

This cake was incredible easy to make {NO BAKE!} since I used a few pre-made helps. It turned out beautiful on the outside as well as on the inside.

 

 

 

Elegant Strawberry Layered Pound Cake

 

2 (16 oz.) Frozen Sara Lee Pound Cakes

2 large tubs Cool Whip

2 containers fresh strawberries

 

Frozen pound cake is SO easy to work with and is very delicious. It hardly crumbs up at all and is easy to slice. Let frozen cakes thaw in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Slice both of the cakes in half, creating 4 thin rectangles to stack on top of eachother.

 

Wash and dice the strawberries  and fold into 1 tub of cool whip. Spread over one layer of cake, add the next layer, spread more cool whip mixture, then keep layering up to the top.

 

Frost cake with the other tub of cool whip. I used a butter knife and covered the entire cake, then put some in a piping bag (ziploc bag with a cut corner works too!) and added some details on the top and along the bottom.**

 

 

**Cool whip makes a great frosting/icing, but needs to stay cold. If you pipe it on and notice that the warmth of your hand is making it run a bit, just put your icing bag in the freezer for a few minutes, along with the cake and continue in short intervals like that.

 

Keep cake refrigerated (or in the freezer) until ready to serve.

 Here is a pic of the cake to make it easier to find at the grocery store freezer section. No compensation for this post, I just really like these pound cakes.

...The fun candles were found at Target...

No Leftovers Scalloped Cheesy Potatoes

My husband made this for us when we were first married. It's been one of my favorite side dishes ever since. We had a ton of left over cheeses and meats from our wedding reception in our freezer so it was easy to slice up potatoes and use up the leftovers that way.

These cheesy potatoes are so good. You'll use up leftovers to make them, but won't end up with any leftovers.

Basically, you'll spray whatever casserole dish you are going to use with some non stick spray. Then slice your potatoes (any kind will do) thinly, and layer them all across the bottom. Over-lapping is good. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Cover with a single layer of American Cheese and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Again, any kind will do. I used a 3 cheese mixture here.

Repeat several times. When you get to the last layer sprinkle with green onions and bacon. I used turkey bacon crumbles here, but bacon bits or diced ham is really good too.

Cover with foil and bake @ 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Check potatoes to make sure they are fork tender. Remove foil and broil for 3-5 minutes, watching closely as to not burn, but long enough to brown the top.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we do!

"Get Your Brag On!" Link Party + Gluesticks is on FACEBOOK now!

Hey girls! Welcome to the "Get Your Brag On!" Link party!

Before we get started, just a couple of things....

First up a couple of highlights from last week's party!


Under The Sea Party: Just Us Four
I have a little gal who would flip for a party like this one!



Lunch Box Notes: Mommy in Suburbia
I LOVE these! I have a box of little notes that was given to me as a gift and I add them to the kids' lunches. I asked Aaron what he thought about his note the other day and he said he saw it, but didn't read it. I guess he was in a hurry. Boys! ;)

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Secondly, Gluesticks is now on FACEBOOK! I invite you to take 2 seconds and click here to become a fan. I have some pretty fun giveaways and projects coming up and this is a great way to be informed! Thanks!

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Please grab a button to display somewhere on your blog (I don't care where)

Please only share projects that are new to Gluesticks.

 

<a href="http://www.brandyscrafts.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src=" http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af177/alaskanfam/newbutton-1.jpg " /></a>

Contemplating the Gift Giving Season

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Kmart for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

My son's birthday is a week from Christmas. So when we get his countdown as to how many days until his birthday, it is easy to add another 7 days to figure out how far away Christmas is...and folks, it is just around the corner! So exciting! I love the decorating, the sweet spirit of giving, the family time, the food, the smells, the Savior, and the time off with the kids. But along with the wonderful things about the Christmas season can come a bit of stress. And I hate that. It is not what the season is about!

In a way to ease the stress of last minute planning, I enjoy picking out special gifts for me children well before the month of December rolls around. Not the ones from Santa. They pick those when they write their letters, but the gifts from Derrick and I. Things that we've noted that they would enjoy or need as we spend time with our children throughout the year.

One thing that we've been contemplating is a .....drum roll please....trampoline.

I swore I'd never own one of those monsters, but 3 out of 4 of our kids are at perfect ages for one and our new backyard will have a perfect nook just the right size for one. Another bonus is that since we live in California, they can use it for most of the year without cold, snowy days.

Kmart is already prepping for the season of giving and to coincide with this time they are launching Kmart's Big Layaway Giveaway! Meaning there is one layaway giveaway per store per week every week from 9/9/12 through 11/17/12 . So if I choose, I could put a trampoline or other holiday gifts on free layaway and also earn other prizes.

Kmart's free layaway program is much more user-friendly and accessible to some of their competitors as you can see below:

I like that it is year around, no service fee, you can shop in one state and pick it up in another, as well as no minimum purchase price. So as the big season of giving nears, if you find yourself in need of a store with a great layaway program give Kmart a second thought!

 

 

Pepperoni Pizza Birthday Cake/Cookie!

 

Another birthday has come and gone for Dallin! It was a great day! And to make it extra special, I turned his FAVORITE food into a sweet treat. Since all of my cake decorating supplies are in storage, I had to work with what I had with us here in lodging. And I had a pizza pan. So instead of baking a cake, I just made a HUGE sugar cookie for the crust!

 

He had been eyeing the brand new pizza box that we picked up at the parlour the other day and couldn't figure out why I would stop by there and ask to buy a box. After a week of wondering, it all made sense and he thought it was pretty awesome.

 

 

Here's how I did it!

 

I made a 14" sugar cookie by pressing the dough onto the pan and poking holes in it with a fork to prevent bubbling. It took an entire batch of cookie dough. I then baked it at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. It had just started to look golden on the edges and looked like it was set. Soft in the center, set up on the edges.

 

I spread red frosting across the cooled cookie for the sauce and used white frosting for the cheese. Again, I didn't have my supplies like frosting bags, so I used ziploc baggies and filled 2 of them with white icing. Then I trimmed off one corner from each baggie. 1 corner was a VERY tiny hole and the other was a little bigger. That way it would look like shredded cheese in different stages of being melted. I drizzled and dropped the icing all over the place randomly.

 

The pepperoni? Fruit roll ups! It took 5 of them (strawberry flavored) to cut out enough circles. Some of them didn't turn out and stuck to the wax paper too much so it's a good idea to make extra circles of roll ups just in case.

That's it! I think it is one of the easier birthday treats I've made and super fun too!

Welcoming Fall

This post brought to you by Scotts Miracle-Gro. All opinions are 100% mine.

Fall is quickly approaching and while many people feel that it is the end of the growing season, I disagree! There are so many wonderful ways to Find beauty in the Fall  with vegetables to still grow as well as flowers! When we lived in Ohio, I planted mums in our flower beds. I looked forward to seeing them bloom each fall in the warm colors of orange, magenta, and ivory. I'd add a few pumpking dispersed throughout my beds and it transformed them instantly to a welcoming site for the coming season.

Our landscaping is a bit different in our new place than it was in our last home, but I'd still like to incorporate the mums into my Fall gardening. This time instead of planting them in the ground, I think I'd like to plant them in pumpkins! I've seen many images for this on pinterest and it seems very straightforward and fun!

I found the following two photos on Pinterest and plan to use them as my inspiration. I have links back to pinterest and the actual websites below.

Pinterest source

via Martha Stewart

 

This one is also beautiful. The flower selection and colors are stunning!

Pinterest source

via About.com Container Gardening

This would be a perfect project for the pumpkins that are inexpensive and looked over because of their abnormalities!

Here is how I would do it:

Cut  off the top 1/3 of the pumpkin and scoop out the insides. I would also spray it with something like bleach mixed with water to keep the mold down.

photo source

I'd place my  mums (or other fall foliage) pot and all inside of the pumpkin.

And use  Miracle-Gro Liquafeed that feeds plants through leaves and roots and makes feeding them as easy as watering! 

Inexpensive and so full of fall color!

To connect and talk with other gardeners be sure to check out the Miracle-Gro Facebook page!