Twinkie Mummys - FAIL = PERFECT

I saw these adorable twinkie mummies in Women's Day and thought "Oh that will be so fun to make with Monkey!"  I even have things on hand so don't have to spend any money.  I'm really trying to come home from work and do things with her instead of cooking and cleaning all the time.  Besides, making messes means I'm making memories! 

So I gathered my items.

A Box of Twinkies that may or may not have had 10 twinkies to begin with but somehow I only had 5 to work with. 

Popsicle Sticks

Melting/Baking Chocolate

Butter Cream Icing (or store bought)

Candy for eyes

At this point I'm thinking, oh this will be easy, fun, and yummy!  Now the Women's Day recipe doesn't call for this step and I don't know why I have to try and be ambitious and change it up thinking I'll make it better cause history has proven I won't, I'll just mess it up but who learns from history these days?  Sure as heck not me.  So I insert the sticks and freeze the twinkies to make dipping them in chocolate a little easier and this is where FAIL begins to rear it's ugly little head. 

Maximus our "precious" Pomearanian is demanding to be let outside, Monkey is needing a diaper change, Poppa is studying, and I'm still trying to get supper in the oven ALL while I'm attempting to melt the chocolate.  So of course I end up burning the chocolate.  So I start a new batch take care of everyone's potty issues and forget to turn the oven down and am now burning potatoes.  AWESOME!

Open the door to let the smoke out, now Monkey wants to go outside instead of making  mess memories with Momma and the dog is running in and out in and out in and out in and out OMG can I get a glass of wine please! 

Ok wine in hand, much better, all is right with the world, now what was I doing? Oh yeah, burning supper and making something with twinkies.  Who the hell dresses up twinkies anyway, they are already a glob of goodness in your mouth, why mess with a good thing?!  Whatever, dipped the bastards twinkies and put in the freezer to set up quicker.

 

Go to pull out my ButterCream that I always have on hand and I don't have enough to cover 3 let alone 5 and I sure as heck don't have time or energy to make any so my Mummies ended up looking like they had Egyptian Mummy Wrappers (yeah I made that up, I don't know the official wrapping term) who got really lazy and said the hell with it and half wrapped their mummy booty's and threw them in their tomb and said SEE YA SUCKERS! 

Oh and the candy I had were Gobstoppers which were way too big to be considered "eyes" so now it looks like my mummies got squeazed to death prior to being mummified.  AWESOME!  (BTW word of the day today is AWESOME).

 

 

So I'm trying to take pictures of these horrible looking creatures and all the time Monkey is having a blast, loving it, talking to her mummies, and thanking me. So right then I realized I took a fun thing and made it stressful because it didn't look like the picture on a professional decorating website and was just ashamed of myself. I almost let myself steal the joy of spending time with Monkey. So I looked around, saw the huge mess, smoke still coming out of the oven, chocolate covered Monkey face, and soaked it all in. I was making memories.

I took her outside and gave her the little mummy she had been eye balling the whole time and captured shots of her holding her "precious."

So next time you're stressing out over the mess or the project that didn't come out "perfect" or "blog worthy" remember that to your child it is perfect and that's what is important!

She just kept starring at it and smiling!

I kept trying to get her to take a bit and she just would talk to it.

She Loves Him

Finally she takes a bite.

Enjoying her Mummy with her Poppa

She looks like her Poppa but in this picture she really looks like him!

Happy Friday Ya'll

Flying Bats Craft For Kids

So as a working mom I struggle with finding time in the envenings to spend "play" time with Monkey.  Usually when we get home, I start on supper and Poppa plays with her.  Then we eat, he cleans up, and it's bath, bed time routine, and then bed.  Do you see what is missing from this routine?  Yep, me playing with her.  So I'm trying to make more crock pot type meals or meals I can throw in the oven so that while supper is "cooking" I can play.  Last night I threw supper in the oven and then she and I sat down at the craft table and made these fun Flying Bats together then went outside and had Bat Races.  It was what we both needed.

Now you and your child can make these adorable Halloween creatures and have your own Bat Races. 
Supplies Needed:
Black Construction Paper
Wiggly Eyes
Scissors
Glue or Modge Podge
Bat Template

Step 1:
Cut Out Your Template
Step 2:
Fold you black paper and lay your template down and cut out.
Step 3:
Unfold your bat cutout and glue wiggly eyes on.
Step 4:
Cut a piece of paper to fit around your child's finger and glue the ends together to make a ring.
Step 5:
Glue the ring to the back of the bat.
Step 6:
Once the glue is dry enjoy flying your bats around.  The wings really do flap up and down to mimic the flying motion. 

Monkey wanted to race them down her slide. 

She was entertained, stimulated, and exhausted by the time we were done!  I'd say this craft was a success.

Happy Halloween Ya'll.

All About You Features and Winner

First things first, Congrats to Teresa who is the winner of the Corner Stork Baby Gifts Giveaway.   Weatherbee said:

Great giveaway! The Jo Jo Giraffe and Pig in a Blanket are so cute! But the monkeys still probably the cutest. :)Thanks for the giveaway!~Teresa  

I've emailed Teresa and if no response after 48 hours I will draw a new winner.  Come back next Monday for a really awesome giveawy, I'm so excited about this one, you will be too!


Monday's are quickly becoming a favorite day of the week for me thanks to all of you amazing and talented bloggers out there that link up and show off your latest and greatest!  Here are a few I wanted to show you but they all are great so go check out the Link Up and post up of you haven't already. 

First you have to go check out these awesome little witch shoes filled with goodies at Red Couch Recipes.  Don't they just scream Halloween!

And I think Ghost Poop is just about the cutest thing since being Boo'd by your neighbors.  I love this idea from Can't Stop Making Things and she even provides you with the download printable to make your own.

Need an inexpensive but awesome gift idea?  Then head to Sassy Sites for this great tutorial and make one for yourself.

Want or need an easy last minute idea to add Halloween color and decor to your home?  Then Muse Lodge has got the tutorial for you.  I love the bright colors of the background!

Ya'll know I love all things Monkey so of course I had to show you this adorable Toddler Monkey Wallet from Nancy's Couture.  I love it!

Remember the link up is open until Friday so keep posting all about you! 

Happy Tuesday Ya'll

All About You Monday Link Up

It's Time For All About You Monday!

<a href="http://www.texasmonkey.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x287/shaynamills1/FEATURE_BUTTONpng-1.png" border="0" alt="Texas Monkey" /></a>



This Week's Theme is Anything Goes!

This past weekend Poppa and I took Monkey to a little pumpkin patch/festival.  Usually we go to one of the biggest pumkin farms/patches in Texas but just did not have the time to make that drive this year so we went to one a little closer to home.  They had trunk or treating, hay rides, a small pumpkin patch, music, and food.  She is going to be a Dalmatian for Halloween but I don't have her costume finished yet so I made her a little Candy Corn Princess costume to wear to this.  Enjoy the pics and have fun linking up!

• Link up to your post, not to your main blog.
• Link up craft, DIY, project, recipe, party, or post about you.
• Grab the button and put on your post or sidebar.
• Enjoy visiting other post link ups and learning more about fellow bloggers and tell them you're visiting from All About You.
• I will choose the features from those that carry the button on their post or sidebar and that visit and comment on the other link ups.
• If you decide to follow me let me know so I can follow you back
• Come back next week!

Happy Monday Ya'll.
I myself am linking up to these fun parties.
 

Before & After China Cabinet

My grandparents had this beautiful China Hutch and Buffet set that my Papa bought my Nana for their 25th wedding anniversary.  It was big and heavy and solid wood.  When I think of family gatherings, parties, holiday meal in their dinning room growing up that piece of furniture is in every memory.  So when my Nana and Papa had to move to a smaller apartment because they were getting too old to take care of a big house they no longer had room for it.  I jumped at the opportunity to have it passed down to me, the only granddaughter.  Yep I played that card to get it.  But come to find out the buffet part was down in Houston at some cousins house for some still unknown reason to me and when we called to request MY GRANDPARENTS piece of furniture back, we were impolitely told no.  So I had this enormous hutch but no buffet/table to set it on.  So it just sat against the wall not looking right at all.

I spent nearly 3 years looking for a buffet that was in my budget and had the right dimensions to fit as well as it needed to be a solid piece of wood.  Then a few weeks ago I did a search on CL with just the dimensions and a dresser came up.  HMMM never thought about using a dresser for the buffet.  That day I found the piece I was looking for in the form of a dresser, Poppa went and picked it up and Momma got to work on putting it all together.

Now I learned a lot from working on this DIY project.  I opted out of sanding and went with 2 coats of primer instead.  Normally I'd sand but this saved me a lot of time and the primer covered well.  However next time I think I'll go with a spray primer as using a paint brush just took forever and made my arm very sore.  That's probably due more to the fact that I'm out of shape though. One thing good though about using a brush to paint is your little monkey can help. Boy we both are looking rough here!

Here she was so proud because she painted the letter C. 

I used a brush nickle spray paint to turn that brass into some sass! 

Black was the color of choice.  I've been collecting white dishes and serving platters for a few years and thought the black with the white would just pop.  Plus our walls are white in our rental home so need something to add contrast to it.  We took the doors off and once they were off we decided we liked the look of it and kept them off. (and please don't mind the red and turquoise squares still up from the Cat In The Hat Party, don't worry they are down now. )

I just love the way it turned out.  Sometimes I get home and just go and stand in front of it and stare it, I've even been caught hugging it. 
So once again here is the Before

And here is the After

My Papa died 2 years ago, 3 weeks after Monkey was born and so this piece has even more of a value to me.  I hope to pass it on to my grandchildren one day.  Until then though I will be showing it all my love! 


What do you think?  I was thinking of distressing it a bit and or glazing it but just haven't made up my mind.
I have a few more DIY projects I need to finish and get posted but they seem to keep getting put on the back burner.  You know cause a glass of wine or taking a nap always seems more fun. :)

Happy Friday Ya'll.