We have a toilet monster

I spent years teaching my kids not to be afraid of the toilet.  Well, now that they are teenagers and we have no danger of set backs, I have decided to put a little fun into our fall decor.  I pinned this from Crafts Unleashed with hopes of trying my own version of it and tonight I did it.

I cut it out of vinyl using my Silhouette Cameo using a simple triangle and then added some monster parts from the Silhouette store.  Now that is not a phrase I ever thought I would type out.  You can get monster eyes, hands, feet, etc.

Let's see who notices our new little friend first...LOL!

<^..^> Lori

More ideas for Pastor Appreciation Month

You don't need to be elaborate with your gifts of appreciation.  This bag contains a package of fall napkins and some cookies.  I got the napkins on clearance from my local IGA.  I got the cookies from Target.

I decorated the bags but you don't have to do that bit.  I just love creating those little crafty extras.  I cut their names out of tags using my Silhouette.  I backed the tag with some green card stock then filled in the letters with Stickles.  I embossed some fall stamps with gold embossing powder then put on some distress inks.  I added some ribbon that says grateful to each tag.  The rosettes were left over from a project I did last year with Bazzill textured card stock and some great fall fabric brads.

We really don't have 6 pastors serving in our church.  I may have mentioned this in years past, we have several retired pastors as well active pastors.  I like to include them all in my gifts of appreciation for their faithfulness.  They certainly are leaving good legacies from the lives they lead.

Do a little something for the pastors in your life this month.

<^..^> Lori

October is Pastor appreciation month pumpkin tin

It's that time of year again.  I love October as Pastor appreciation month.  I was inspired by this Oriental Trading ad to make my own version.  I had a package of Wilton 15 ct. favors that I purchased on clearance from Michael's for $3.  I don't know when I bought them but it was a few years ago.  I always check out the wedding aisle there for clearance favor tins and boxes.  They can be customized for any occasion.  I also had gotten some Halloween bling on clearance for $1 last year.  I used scrap black vinyl and my Silhouette Designer Studio to cut out the pumpkin face features from Samantha Walker's 3 jack-o-lanterns.

Here is my take on how to put it together.

I didn't have enough orange M&M's to fill the tins today.  My kids often raid the stash.  ;)  I will need to get more but you get the idea.

I hope it puts a smile on the pastors in my life.

<^..^> Lori

Customize the back of your cell phone with vinyl scraps

I was inspired by a Jeana's post on the Silhouette blog.  I get so much inspiration from this blog that I check it a couple of times per week!

I may change it out to something else but for now my phone looks like this...

The cut is from Lori Whitlock but I had to stretch it a bit to fit my phone.  Easy peasy with Silhouette Designer Studio software.

<^..^> Lori

October Awana Treat to encourage the kids to invite a friend

I am working on a project for Awana.  Last year Halloween fell on our normal Wednesday meeting night so we had a special Trunk or Treat night for the kids.  Halloween falls on a Thursday this year so we will change things up. 

The kids will get loads of candy on Halloween so we will give the kids a smaller candy treat of three Hershey kisses inside a 3-D pumpkin.  They will also get a glassine bag.

The bag will have an orange marker we got through NAEIR and a two sided card.  One side of the card is for the kids to color.  The other side has an invitation for the kids to give a friend.   If they get a friend to come with them, they will both get a special out of this world treat.  I am going to get large Milky Way bars for each of them with a flag on it that says "Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

The 3-D pumpkin idea was from my partner in teaching 1st graders at Awana.  She had a pattern but I wanted to be able to make it a little larger and to cut it with the Silhouette.  I found this pumpkin with free pdf download.

I altered it just a bit in my Silhouette Design Studio to make it large enough to hold 3 Hershey kisses and have holes to threat the twine through the top for tying.

Because I cut them out of 12 x 12 orange and fall colored paper, I had space on the sides that I didn't want to waste.  I added "toothy pumpkin" by Sarah Bailey in those spaces.  I glued the toothy pumpkins on the outside of the glassine bags.  You can see a couple of the glassine bags in the photo.

The kids will get to pick a pumpkin treat from a table set up as a pumpkin patch.  Each pumpkin was cut from paper on my Silhoutte Cameo.  Three Hershey kisses are inside each pumpkin and the top is held together with twine.

If the kids have friends attending Awana they are more likely to come each week.  It isn't about numbers.  It's about having fun as we learn about God's truth.  I pray the Lord will bless our efforts.

The Ladies Missionary Fellowship group will help to put this all together at next month's meeting.  I am so grateful for the willing hands on projects like this one. 

<^..^> Lori

Slow cooker party beans

At the same church Classics event where I took the Easy Ice-Cream Sandwich dessert that I posted, I took a slow cooker full of beans.  The basic recipe came from The Shady Porch blog.

slow cooker party beans

I did double the beans as she suggested.  I used a full bottle 20 oz. of Famous Dave's Sweet and Zesty BBQ sauce.  I also browned about 1 lb.  of ground sirloin and 1 lb. of sausage.  And my last twist on this recipe was to add to add 5 fresh blanched peaches for last 30-45 minutes of cooking time.  After blanching, they were peeled and chopped.  Added just the right sweetness in the end.  

My son even ate them as leftovers the next day.  I was in shock!  He doesn't go for beans but he ate these.  I will make them again!

<^..^> Lori

Redfly Easy Ice-cream sandwich dessert

I found this recipe on Redfly and made it for a church Classics event.  It was a yummy and a hit!

I used Mrs. Richard hot fudge and Mrs. Richard caramel topping.  I used crushed Heath bars for my candy.  It was a very easy recipe to make.  

<^..^> Lori