My Little Pilgrims

 

One more year of the pilgrims...whew! I was so worried that my big boy would not be up for dressing up for a photo shoot this year. I had actually kind of resigned myself to the idea that I wouldn't get one this year. I tried to bring it up tactfully..."Hey guys we are going to do pilgrim pictures this weekend!" Big A was all "Mooooommmm, That is SO dorky, I can't let anyone see me like that!" "We are going to Gardner Village when they are closed, there wont be ANYONE around." Really Mom? Really?" and he gives me the raised eyebrow that he is working a lot lately. Then he says the golden phrase "I'll do it for $5!" Little a chimes in "I want $5 too!"

I am not proud to admit it but I am NOT above bribing my children. $10 in the piggy banks and I have one more year of AMAZING pics of A and A in full on Pilgrim mode!

 

A-Maze-ing times at the Crazy Corn Maze!

We decided that this was the year that we would venture into the fall fun of a Corn Maze. We thought A and a were both old enough to have a fun time in a maze. Having watched “survivor” since birth they are both totally familiar with the idea of a maze and were totally excited about tackling the challenge.

We decided to give the “Crazy Corn Maze” in West Jordan (8800 South 4000 West) a try for our first maze. It seemed like a good size. Big enough to be a challenge but not crazy huge like some in the valley. The Maze was done in the shape of a jester this year and you were given a basic map at the start as well as a “corn” trivia sheet. The trivia was numbered 1-10 and coincided with markers throughout the maze. The trivia was a true/false that gave you hints on going left or right as you went along. A took immediate control of the map and was our unofficial leader. It was great though he and little a conferred on which way to go, working as a great team (no fights!) The size was perfect, it took us a little over an hour to complete the maze; long enough to make it worthwhile but not overly long and complicated to bore or frustrate the kids.

It was a fantastic family outing that A and a gave “ten thumbs up” (highest marks in our house!)

You can score a coupon for the Crazy Corn Maze here:

http://www.utahmaze.com/coupon.html

 

Top 5 Family Fun Halloween Activities 2015 in Utah

I Love Halloween and all the spooky fun times that come with it. As the mom of two little monsters most of my favorite Halloween past times aren't appropriate... Haunted Houses, Horror Movies, but I don't want to let that stop me from celebrating the holiday with some family friendly Halloween fun!

Here's a list of the top 5 Utah Halloween adventures that are fun for the whole family. I searched out all the info and want to share, save you some googling time! So here they are (in no particular order!)

Crazy Corn Maze

Location: 8800 South 4000 West, West Jordan, UT 84088

Attractions: Pumpkin patch, Corn Maze, Haunted Corn Maze

Schedule: Maze Sept 24-Oct 31. Haunt Oct 2-Oct 30

Hours of operation
Mon-Thu 6:00pm - 10:00pm
Fri 6:00pm - 11:30pm
Sat 12:00 noon - 11:30pm
Sun Closed

Prices: Maze $7.50 ages 10+
Maze $4.50 child ages 5-9 (4 & under FREE)
Haunt $14.00 (No waiting in line VIP $18.50)
Combo (maze & haunt) $15.50  (VIP $20.00)

Website: http://www.utahmaze.com/visit.html

 

Gardner Village Witchfest

Location: 1100 W. 7800 S., West Jordan, UT 84088

Schedule: Mon – Thur 11am – 7pm Fri & Sat 11am – 8pm, Sunday closed

Attractions: Witch Scavenger Hunt, Witch Displays, 6 Hags Witches adventure

Prices: Scavenger hunt and displays Free, 6hags $6 ages 1 and up includes all activities

Website: http://www.gardnervillage.com/witchfest-calendar-of-events

 

Cornbelly’s at Thanksgiving Point

Location: Thanksgiving Point
3003 North Thanksgiving Way
Lehi, UT 84043

Schedule: Grand Opening Oct 2nd Ticket Booth Hours
Monday-Thursday: 4-9 pm
Friday-Saturday 10 am - 11 pm
Sunday Closed

Attractions: TONS! Corn Maze, Climbing Wall, Corn Cannons, Giant Slide, Pumpkin Patch, Cow Train, Insanity Point Haunts, Hayrides, Inflatable and much more!

Prices: Attraction Passes Ranging from $11.95 - $24.95

Website: http://www.cornbellys.com/

 

Pumpkin Point Farms

Location: 11900 S 3600 W

Riverton, UT 84065

Schedule: Tractor Rides (Mon, Fri & Sat 5pm-7pm) 

Attractions: Pumpkin Patch with 35 different varieties, Childrens Corn Maze and Tractor rides

Prices: Pumpkins from $.50 - $12.00 Maze and tractor rides Free with pumpkin purchase

Website: http://pumpkinpointfarms.com/index.html

Black Island Farms

Location: 3178 S. 3000 W, Syracuse, UT 84075

Schedule: Sept 25 – 31

Mon-Thurs 4pm – 10pm

Fri 4pm – Midnight

Sat 10am – Midnight

Sun 11am – 5pm

Attractions: Utah’s Largest Corn Maze, Animal Alley, Bonfires, Cow Train, Grain Shoot Slide, Straw Mountain, Pig Races, Corn Box, Bounce House, Pumpkin Patch, Farm Hayrides   

Prices: Corn Maze and Courtyard

Adults $11 Kids (Ages 12-2)$9

 Combos

Corn Maze and Courtyard + Hayride

Adults $16 Kids (Ages 12-2) $11

Corn Maze and Courtyard + Nightmare Acres

Adults $20 Kids $20

Website: http://www.blackislandfarms.com/

My feelings on asking for giftcards.......

Just Saying.....


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Easy DIY Photo Ornaments

 

One of my favorite things we do for the holidays is have a mini photo session of the kids with Santa at one of our local photography studios (FotoFly … AMAZING!) The pictures are priceless and I have probably gone overboard using them in my Christmas décor. One thing that I have loved doing is making ornaments out of them to hang on the tree. At first I had them made at some of the photo sites but the deals kept getting lesser and lesser and the prices kept rising and rising. So I figured, hey I should totally be able to do this myself! So off to Joanns I went and about $2 later I had created several photo ornaments that looked awesome and totally got the job done!

Photo Ornaments

 Supplies:

Bare Wooden Shapes or “frames” ($.29 - $1.29 at Joanns or Michaels)

Paint (I prefer spray paint)

Mod Podge (or other adhesive)

Drill w/ small bit

photos

optional: Glitter

 

Get your supplies together



Paint your bare wood (I think spray paint is the easiest!)



Cut your photo out to either cover the shape or to fit in the open "frame" area.

Drill a small hole in the wood to put ribbon or thread through


**If you are wanting to "glitter your frame or shape apply Mod Podge to your wood ornament and then cover with glitter, let dry. Knock off excess glitter and spray with clear spray paint to set the glitter

 

**adhere the photo to the wood shape or into the open "frame" area 

 

**Thread ribbon or Thread through the hole to create a "hanger" for your ornament.

 

***Voila!***

 

 

Turkey Tie Tee

 

I love Thanksgiving time. The Wonderful Food, Being with family, warm festive feelings of love and thanks, what more could you ask for in a holiday?

Well I have one think… a cute “thanksgiving” themed shirt for big A. For girls you can find dressed, tutu’s, embellished tees and accessories all adorned with turkeys and such in all girl sizes. For boys they have cute baby things, and Carters sometimes has holiday things up to 5T but if you’re a boy and bigger than that you’re outta luck. This stinks for a fun holiday loving little guys like Big A who happens to be a size 7/8!

Crafty Mom to the rescue! I created a fun and festive Tee for him that is comfortable, festive and can count as “dressing up” for dinner.

Turkey Tie Tee

1 Solid color tee, black or brown (I got one on super sale at JoAnn’s)

1/8 yard “fancy” thanksgiving fabric (I did a fun brown brocade print)

Felt (or fabric) Scraps in Orange, Red, Black and White

1/8 yard paper backed fusible webbing

Sewing items (Sewing machine or Needle and thread)

 

Cut out Tie (patterned material), whites of eyes (White), pupils (black) "Gobbler" red and beak (orange)
I just cut them out freehand, make sure your tie fits your tee 

Attach paper backed fusible webbing to all your cut pieces

Tack down the tie using paper backed fusible webbing
**Only do Tie at this point

Stitch around all seams (I used a sewing machine)
**Do each piece in order, tack down Tie and sew,
then tack down whites of eyes and "gobbler" and sew,
last tack down pupils and beak and sew.

The finished product

Big A wearing is Turkey Tee last year

 

Pilgrim Pattern Easy, No Sew, and SUPER cute!

 

I so love creating holiday themed things for A and a, I also love doing “fun” photo shoots for the holidays. I fear one day my kids will be featured on awkwardfamilyphotos.com…. But for now they are cool with it and I love it. When Big A was 3 and Little was a few months old I did a Pilgrim themed costume craft and photo shoot that I still LOVE. Those pics are the center of my Thanksgiving time mantle. Well now Little a is 3 and can fit in Big A’s hand-me-down cuffs and collar so I decided to bring it all back out. I had to do an apron for her and a whole new set for him but it was super easy and the results are SO cute!

What I ended up doing is making cuffs and a collar for each then an apron for her and a belt and a hat “belt” for him. I dressed them each in dark clothes (Him, Navy Sweats and long sleeved tee. Her, Black tights, skirt and long sleeved tee) with the few “pilgrim” pieces it created an adorable total Pilgrim vibe with minimal effort.

 

The pictures turned out really cute. I threw them into Photoshop to add the sepia tone. I thought it gave it a fun “1621” feel and made the under clothes color difference (blue and black) not really matter.

Below is a printable version of the pattern for the cuffs, collar, buckle and belt… It is sized for a three year old but it is VERY easy to scale it up for an older child (or even an adult,,, hey there’s an idea)

 

Basic Instructions:

 

Materials:

½ yard white felt or fleece

¼ yard brown felt or fleece

(I use anti-pill fleece. It doesn’t fray and holds up WAY better than felt)

Heavy cardboard

Gold paint or spray-paint

2 buttons

Fabric glue

(optional) needle and thread

If you use fleece or felt you don’t have to worry about any hemming as the material won’t fray. It’s an easy cut and go project!

Collar:

Fold your white fabric in half and then in half again (see diagram)

Follow pattern and cut. Make an addition small slit (1/2 to 1 inch) in the back or the neck hole to get it over the head more easily.

Cuffs:

Fold your white fabric in half and place pattern on the fold.

Cut. Use fabric glue or needle and thread and stitch (or glue) button onto the cuff where indicated (I sewed it… easy peasy).

Belt (and Hat belt):

Measure the circumference of your child’s waist and the circumference of the hat you are using (ours was a $5 cowboy hat from Wal-Marts toy department) add about an inch to that measurement. Cut your brown fabric about 2” wide to the length you measured.

 Cut out the buckle pattern from the cardboard and paint or spray-paint it gold.

Glue “buckles” onto your belts.

Glue “hat belt” together and slip onto your hat.

Safety pin your belt onto your child.

 

Bing Bam Boom… Done J

 

 

                                                   click HERE for free printable pattern

 

 

 

 

2 Little Pilgrims

 

When A and a were teeny tiny (little a was less than a year) I made these cute and easy pilgrim costumes and had a home "photo shoot." The resulting pictures are some of my very favorites. I've blown them up and they are currently the centerpiece of  my Thanksgiving mantle decorations.

Now that little a is 3 she fits into the cuffs and collar that I made for Big A back then so I decided to do an updated shoot. I created a bigger set of Pilgrim accessories for Big A and got the two of them all dressed up and ready to party like its "1621".

They thought it was fun dressing up and I gotta say they look really, really cute! Here's some shots from the new "photo shoot."

I'll share the Pilgrim pattern tomorrow. It's crazy easy and the results are so cute!