The Mooning Scarecrow

I  saw a Mooning Scarecrow on Canyon Road in Cedar Hills last weekend, and I fell in love with him! I instantly had to have my very own, so he turned into this week's project.

Farmer Steve

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

For the Legs: (this is what I did to easily stake them in the ground, you could stake the 2X4's into the ground another way too)

• A 2x4 (I got one 8 foot 2x4 and my husband cut it into 2 "legs")
• Two -1/2 inch PVC pipes
• Four -1/2 inch galvanized steel pipe strap
• Two -2 foot rebar
• Drill and screws

For the rest of him:

• Two pumpkins (I used fake craft pumpkins because I'm keeping him out through Thanksgiving)
• Old pair of pants
• Old pair of shoes
• Old shirt
• Stuffing for shirt (I used a clear, plastic tote/bin, no lid. Last year I used paper bags, crumbled up)
• Some sort of farm tool for him to "rest on"
• 2 safety pins

HOW TO MAKE HIM:

For the Legs:

• Using a drill and some screws, attach the pipe to each 2X4 like the picture below.

• The you can easy hammer the rebar into the ground and then slide 2X4 onto the rebar.

(I used this same technique to stake my Harvest Moon sign in next to the Mooning Scarecrow.)

For the rest of him:

• Slide pants over 2X4's.
• We cut holes in the bottom of the pumpkins and slide them onto the tops of the 2X4's.
• Adjust pants around the pumpkins
• Stuff shirt and attach it: we have him "leaning" on a farm tool, that's what's holding his "shoulders" up, but there a few different ways you can do it.
• I safety pinned the end of the sleeves, to the pants, and the bottom of the shirt on each side to hold in place.

I staked my Harvest Moon sign in right next to Farmer Steve. I'm in love.

I feel like Farmer Steve doubles as a Halloween and a Thanksgiving decoration too.

For some more Halloween fun, check out these other posts:

Halloween Water Bottle Jack o'Lanterns:

http://berriesofwisdom.blogspot.com/2014/10/halloween-water-bottle-pumpkin.html

Clementine "Pumpkins:

http://berriesofwisdom.blogspot.com/2015/03/cinderella-bridal-shower.html

Hallo-Weinie Mummies:

http://berriesofwisdom.blogspot.com/2015/10/hallo-weinie-mummies.html

Hallo-Weinie Mummies

Every year during October I try to make a few Halloween inspired meals. Last night I made Hallo-Weinie Mummies. Its basically Weinies (Hot Dogs) wrapped up like Mummies.

Super Easy! All you will need:

• Hot Dogs
• Crescent rolls
• Candy Eyes (or mustard, or anything)
• A pizza cutter (will make it easier to cut strips into the dough)

How To:

• To make the Mummy have arms and legs, I just cut some little slits for "arms" and then cut a slit at the bottom for the "legs". (Half-way through I just wrap the whole hot dog, its easier than doing arms and legs)

• Use the pizza cutter to cut the dough into strips, and wrap up the mummies. Leave a little space for the "eyes" later.
• Place on greased baking sheet and bake according to directions on crescent rolls.
• After they cool a minute, insert candy eyes on the "face". (My kids LOVE that they get to eat candy with their dinner....)

For some more Halloween fun, check out these other posts:

Mooning Scarecrow:

http://berriesofwisdom.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-mooning-scarecrow.html

Halloween Water Bottle Jack o'Lanterns:

http://berriesofwisdom.blogspot.com/2014/10/halloween-water-bottle-pumpkin.html

Clementine "Pumpkins:

http://berriesofwisdom.blogspot.com/2015/03/cinderella-bridal-shower.html

Pancakes and Pajamas Birthday Party

My oldest daughter just turned 4-years-old and she wanted a Pajama Party with her friends to celebrate her birthday. It turned out sooooo cute and was so fun! And there is something to say about about having a party for little ones early in the day... they are well-rested (from the night before), I could decorate and set-up while she was still asleep, and then we had the whole rest of the day to ourselves (and to clean up...). I now think all parties for toddlers and pre-schoolers should definitely start before 11:00am.

Also, I wore my pajamas to the party too, so I never had to get dressed :)


I made this cute Birthday Balloon Wreath for my youngest daughter's birthday in July and have decided it is now the official the Birthday Wreath. I have changed out the hanging sign and the things pinned into it based on the party. I just pinned some of my extra "cupcake toppers" into this wreath to welcome guests.

For a full Birthday Balloon Wreath tutorial, follow this link: http://berriesofwisdom.blogspot.com/2015/08/birthday-balloon-wreath.html

One of my favorite things I did at this party was put a smaller, kid-sized table next to my big dessert/treat. I had a bunch of cereals and little cups and scoops so the kids could fill up their own cup with cereals to snack on. I was a little worried at first that it would be a big mess and the kids couldn't do it, but even my barely 2-year-old could do it and thought it was the most fun thing ever!

My main dessert/treat was filled with all sorts of goodies too! Mainly donuts though....

 Cupcakes in little plastic wine glasses with Fruity Pebbles on top and in the cup. (Plastic cups from the dollar store)

 Our "cake" was made of big donuts on my cake plate

This cute Sucker Centerpiece was leftover from a big Minnie Mouse Sucker Centerpiece http://berriesofwisdom.blogspot.com/2015/08/minnie-mouse-sucker-centerpiece.html that I made for a Minnie's Bow-tique party . I displayed it on a vase filled with Fruit Loops.

This ones on a mason jar filled with Fruit Loops.

 Rice Kripsy Treats

The Donut "Cake"

Mini-donuts, in every flavor

And more donuts on my counter, already cut up for the kids....

  

 Breakfast Beverages

Milk, Chocolate Milk, Orange Juice, and bottles of water

 My water bottle labels, cupcake toppers, invites, and a few signs were printables that I purchased off an Etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/sugarandspiceprintz?ref=l2-shopheader-name. They were all part of one package and were an AMAZING deal! Check her out, Sugar and Spice Printz.

And of course, PANCAKES!

 I put my cupcake toppers into the little stacks of mini-pancakes

These are microwavable pancakes, it took like 30 seconds to heat up 9 of them at a time. It was easy and quick, even if I made them during the party.

And my next favorite thing I did was, these outside tables.

They looked like a bed! 

 I got cheap sheet sets from Wal-mart (literally $2.88 for a flat sheet, pillow case, and fitted sheet-which I did not use). I spend more than that on tablecloths for parties sometimes. I added a themed book and stuffed animal to eat "bed" too. And we read the books later while we were waiting for parents to come pick up their kids.

Soooooo Cute!

And then after I fed 14 little kids, I needed to entertain them! I had lots of fun things planned though.

First thing we did as the kids arrived was color a placemat.

 I downloaded this printable placemat for free from another blog: http://www.thoughtfullysimple.com/a-birthday-breakfast-party/

I also printed some of the other signs that were on my tables from her too. 

 Then we made Fruit Loop Necklaces and Bracelets

 And then each kid colored their own pillowcase with fabric markers and fabric crayons. I put out some stencils too. I got plain white pillow cases from Wal-mart also for $1.48/case, cheaper than I could find anywhere else (and I looked EVERYWHERE!)

Then we had a Pancake Race!

 Each kid put on pancake on their head and raced without it dropping

 These kids thought it was hilarious!And didn't quite get the no touching the pancake part.

I always make my own banners. For this party I made a donut banner, hung in front of the treat table.

 And I made an "R" for my daughter's first name and "4", to match my donut banner. I hung them up behind my treat tables. 

And I reused my Happy Birthday banner that I made for the Minnie'S Bow-tique Party http://berriesofwisdom.blogspot.com/2015/08/minnie-mouse-bow-tique-party.html

The Donut "Cake" was awesome too. No baking or frosting, and after we sang I just handed out donuts. No cutting.

 Happy 4th Birthday !!!

*Photos: My best friend Amy took over 900 amazing photos!

*Helpers: My amazing husband, my mom, my mother-in-law and Amy all helped chaperone all the kids and helped feed them and entertain them. The kids had soooo much fun!

*Free Placemats and Printables: http://www.thoughtfullysimple.com/a-birthday-breakfast-party/

*Printable Invites, Signs, Pancake and Donut Toppers, Water Bottle Labels, etc: Sugar and Spice Printz on Etsy https://www.etsy.com/shop/sugarandspiceprintz?ref=l2-shopheader-name