Police Obstacle Course! Summer Fun!!

Good Morning!

Well, Friday I posted some fun, outdoor summer activities for the kiddos... you know, dulldrum busters?  Well, I was so inspired, that I combined some of the ideas to make a full out Police Obstacle Course for my two favorite little guys!  If you'd noticed, Lil' A is pretty gunhoe on becoming a Police Officer/ SWAT Team Member/ Game Warden/ Sherrif... and my nephew, Aidan, is planning out his super hero career day to day, so I thought a way to hone their skills would keep them happy and busy!

Here's your Mission, if you choose to accept it:

Complete each obstacle in order to reach and release the prisoners.

Obstacle 1:

Make your way through the hanging obstacles (pool noodles) without touching the obstacles.  Once through, run to...

Obstacle 2:

 

Test your coordination and balance by crossing the balance beam.  Keep'er steady, steady now!  Run to...

 

Obstacle 3:

 

Grab your squirt gun, NERF fun or sling shot and take aim!  Hit the ping pong balls off the golf tees and then move onto...

 

Obstacle 4:

 

Move through the tunnel as fast as possible, be ready to be on your feet in a flash and move onto...

 

Obstacle 5:

 

Watch your step!  Be ready to move under, over and all around the trip wires!  Don't let them touch you anywhere so you can climb on up the rock wall, slide down and run over to...

 

Obstacle 6:

 

Since you've already mastered shooting ping pong balls on the ground, lets change directions and shoot whiffle balls hanging from the tree - get all of them before running over to...

 

 

Your final obstacle!  Let's see if you're a Marksman by shooting and hitting all point sections on the bulls eye!  Don't move on until you hit the center circle!  And now run as fast as you can and...

 

RESCUE YOUR OBJECTIVES! 

 

Phew!  Greeny (Angels Mitt) and Goofy were imprisoned by some serious bad guys but you've proven that good triumphs over evil! 

 

 

And you've earned the Serious Police Face, my future Law Enforcer!

 

For anyone out there interested in creating a similar obstacle course, here's what you'll need:

 

(Dollar Tree Store)

Rope (2-3 rolls depending on the size you want your trip wire/laser course)

Ping Pong Balls (I got 3 packs of 8)

Pool Noodles

Sling Shot

Squirt Guns

 

(Target)

Golf Tee's

NERF guns

Whiffle Balls

 

Other Supplies:

Chairs

Twine

Tunnel (large box or something they can crawl through)

Paper for Bulls eyes

Prisoners/Cell

 

Just be creative... the kids will find a way to make 300 different games from this one course so don't worry too much about it.  I believe that the ping pongs were alligator eggs and the tunnel was a tree trunk home for the boys...  kids are so good at that! 

 

* course could be Olympic, Mountain Man, Super Hero theme - just think about what your Lil's like best!

 

Have a great day and give your best cop face a chance!

Andrea

 

 

 

Summertime Boredom Busters Round-up

Good Morning!

We're half-way through summer here in CA... which means we're half-way through "I'm bored" or "Mom, will you play with me??" and my favorite, "I don't have anything to do!" to which my normal response is "You have a bazillion toys, just play!" and to which I hear "But they're not the right toys!".  To which I have to tramp down my immediate response of "Well, then lets give all your toys to a boy or girl who will play with them!" and try to give a positive directive, like "Why don't you go out and build a construction site with your dump trucks?" or "How about you color/paint/play with play dough/help me bake/make dinner/do legos/etc etc etc."

My sweet nephew Aidan is coming over today and I decided to get a head start on avoiding the doldrums... so I went to my Pinterest "For the Kiddos's" board and started planning out a few projects we can do today... and I figured there's probably a few other parents out there who might be wanting to avoid the same thing, so why not share?

1.  Six Sisters Stuff:  There's actually 50(!) ideas in this one post!  Everything from an Art Show to Sponge Bulls Eye to Ice Cream in a bag... If you can't find anything here, then you're in trouble!

2.  Easy Home DIY: 20 Ways to Use a Pool Noodle... and you can get pool noodles at the Dollar Tree or 99Cent Store?  Sounds like a solid investment to me!

3. Live Craft Eat: Homemade Flubber!  Awesome!

4. Bright Star Kids:  Fun Canvas Art for Kids... I'd love to see what colors the boys would choose, they'd love the tape part and I'd love to have art for the playroom!

5. Word Playhouse:  Block Bowling... they describe this as an inside activity, but I think it could be either way... in fact, I think I'd prefer the loud crashing of blocks to be outside or in the garage at least!  Best part is the boys can help me make them and then play with them!

6. Planet of the Apels: My boys love a good squirt gun... why not amp it up a notch and have them actually work on their hand-eye coordination by trying to knock off a ping pong ball from a tee?  Genius!  And, if you don't have a wooden block to hold the tees, just stick the tees in the ground!  I'm thinking obstacle course!

And, if you need every more ideas, check out some KPS favorites from the past!

(KPS Bike PVC Car Wash Tutorial)

(Pinecone Peanut Butter & Seed Bird Seed Feeder)

 

(KPS Water Blob/Water Pillow)

 

Here's to hoping you avoid the doldrums today!  Have a great weekend!

Andrea

 

Lifestyle Crafts Announcement!

Good Morning!

BBIIIGGGG News...

I'm a proud member of the Lifestyle Crafts Studio Team!  I'm joining a HUGE group of other talented ladies who enjoy sharing their love the Lifestyle Crafts products in sewing, cooking, entertaining, scrapbooking, cardmaking and more!

Here's some of my past Lifestyle Crafts/QuicKutz projects...

You can see more of my paper crafting projects by clicking on the Paper Crafts tab at the top of the page...

Thanks for visiting!  And please check out the Lifestyle Crafts Blog for inspiration, project ideas and news!

Andrea

Upcycled Treat Container

Good Morning!

I really like reusing items (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is a constant slogan in my head thanks to my 5 year old)... in fact, I've gotten pretty good at looking past the actual item and seeing new ways to use the packaging... it's almost like getting two for the price of one!

Yesterday I shared the Welcome! Vinyl Door Phrase... and today's project started with the Silhouette Vinyl Packaging...

I've seen a lot of those push-up desert containers popping up lately... and when I saw the clear, long vinyl packaging, that's immediately what came to mind.

So I took out the label, washed it and grabbed some supplies to make it cute and festive so it could be a treat container... what else would you do with old packaging?

I started by cutting a piece of patterned paper so it was 4"x 6" wide and I adhered it to the container with glue dots.

I then wrapped Washi Tape around the container, slightly overlapping the printed paper so it would have a nice, clean edge.

I grabbed an extra scalloped circle that I had left over from another circle, inked the edges and, using glue dots, stuck it onto the center of the patterned paper.

Then I had fun... I gathered all kinds of left over supplies and started playing.  I had a few Silhouette Print and Cuts (the "Fun" and "Happy" are a print and cut from Echo Park via Silhouette), punches, flowers, bling and I just started laying out different patterns until I found one I liked.

I ended up punching out a banner with my Stamp'n Up pennant punch, added some more washi tape and called it good.

I added some washi tape to the cap just because I can!

Opps!  Don't forget to add your treats!

That's better! 

Hope you think outside the box package too! 

Have a great one!
Andrea

Welcome! Front Door Vinyl

Good Morning!

I've been in the nesting mood lately... so much so that you'd think I was pregnant but I'm NOT - this is not an announcement, no new Jessup's on the way (bummer) but after living in our home for 5 years, I guess it was time to start getting stuff on the walls, doors, floors... whatever will hold still long enough for me to paint/stick/hang/hammer something on/to it!

Our front door is pretty plain... sure, it's a nice midnight blue color but we haven't done much in the way of curb appeal to the small porch area.  I've been wanting to get some hanging baskets and pot some colorful flowers, but our porch is covered in shade all the time so I've been at a loss... until I decided to use vinyl to spruce things up a little!

I'm a pretty big fan of the Beatles... I've been singing their songs to Adam since he was a newborn and now he sings them with me, so when I was trying to think of a clever welcome for our front door, I went with the obvious.

HELLO GOODBYE!!!

Here's what I did...

I measured the space on my door where I wanted my vinyl to be.  I choose the bottom corner but you could easily center it on your door, at the top, along the side... wherever you like!

I then formatted my welcome sayings with my Silhouette software and once I was happy with everything, I cut my vinyl, peeled the negative vinyl away and had my greeting ready to be applied.

I prepped my door - wow, was that sucker dirty.  I grabbed Pledge first, but then thought that it might leave the door too slick so I went with a multi surface spray, microfiber rag and wiped down the door on BOTH sides (since I was sticking vinyl to the inside and outside).

I used my Silhouette Transfer paper to get my saying onto the door - this stuff is great when you're transferring a word/saying/design with numerous pieces - it helps keep your design together to you can stick it to whatever surface your using.

Using your smoothing tool, rub all over the transfer paper where your design is - this will help your vinyl stick to the transfer paper, not on the vinyl backing.

Now you'll want to pull up your transfer paper and your vinyl should stick to the paper exactly like you designed it.

Position your design on your door/surface - the transfer paper is opaque so you can line your design up and position it exactly where you want it.  Just remember, most of the time, once your design is down, it's DOWN.  Using your smoothing tool, rub on the transfer paper all over your design so that your vinyl will stick to your surface.  Rub hard and try to get the edges of your design well.

Now start peeling your transfer paper off your design.  I find it works best to peel/roll the transfer paper down or across the design instead of pulling out from your design, this seems to keep your vinyl stick to your surface better.

BAM! 

The inside of our door says:
"You say goodbye..."

The outside of our door says:
"I say hello"

{They'll sing to you if you click here... Hello Goodbye}

 

Why, hello and goodbye to you too, guys!

Have a great one!
Andrea

You Down with M.T.L.? Ya, you know me!

Good Morning!

I'm not sure why, but every time I think or say "MTL" I want to start singing M.T.L. to the  "O.P.P." by Naughty By Nature tune and jump around (Disclaimer - it's not a super nice song... it's the beat that goes so well with M.T.L.) 

"You down with M.T.L.?
Ya, you know me!
You down with M.T.L.?
Who down with M.T.L?

Eat it up!"

No?  Well, you may not be down with Naughty By Nature, but once you get those picky eaters to try M.T.L., you'll be jumping around and singing just like me!  What's M.T.L?  Why, it's Muffin Tin Lunch, of course! 

I can't claim this brilliant idea, I saw it over on 30 Handmade Days... I saw Mique's post and thought "Genius!  Brilliant!  Where the heck are my muffin tins?" and I filed it away for an "I'm not hungry, Mom" day.  Fortunately, I didn't have to file it for long, because a few days later my sweet nephew came over and I asked him "Are you hungry, Aidan?" to which came this standard response "No, I ate this morning, Auntie".

What to do, what to do?  How do I get 2 active, fun loving boys to stop playing and eat lunch?

M.T.L. to the rescue!

I made 2 PB&J sandwiches, rinsed grapes, cut up string cheeses, grabbed a handful of gold fish and animal crackers and threw them into the individual muffin tins and took it out to the boys... actually, I think they were pirates that day...

and what do you know?  They ran over to the table to see what I had and gobbled it all up!  I believe there were a few animals crackers left in the tin, but that was it!

Full tummies, easy clean up, portable, fun and nutritious!  So, I'm going to ask you...

"You down with M.T.L?"

Have a great, yummy day!
Andrea

Happy Fourth of July!

Good Morning!

From my family to yours, we hope you have a happy, fun and safe 4th of July!  Happy Birthday America!

Andrea
KPS