Hippity Hop, Easter’s on its way!

Posted on March 19, 2013 by themercadoproject

Hello everybody! I hope you guys are well. Next week is spring recess (schools are closed), but before that happens my daughter’s class is going to have an Easter celebration this Friday coming. Her teacher asked for students to bring in a treat to share. I decided to do the same thing I did for Valentine’s Day. I just changed it to Easter. I went online and googled easter bunny coloring page and picked this image:

http://www.ikidspage.com/55-happy-easter-from-bunny

I printed out six bunnies to a page and cut them out. I inserted one bunny and a pack of mixed fruit gummies into a treat bag for my daughter’s classmates. Now they can enjoy a treat and color a cute bunny with an Easter egg. Simple and hopefully everyone will enjoy!

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Keep calm and bake!

Posted on March 3, 2013 by themercadoproject

Hello everybody! I hope you guys are well. Yesterday was my mother’s 61st birthday and it was fun spending time with her. My daughter’s couldn’t wait to get to grandma’s house and I wanted to spend as much time as I could so we got up, ate breakfast, got ready and went early to her house. I wanted to bake her a cake, but my dad insisted on buying it so my lazy booty agreed.

With enough time today, I decided to make the cake that I had been envisioning and I loved the end result. Also I wanted to kick myself for not making this for my mom. At least, I can make it for my dad who’s celebrating his 61st at the end of this month.

I love Betty Crocker’s Super Moist White cake mix and Dolci frutta hard chocolate shell, which you can easily melt in the microwave and it’s delicious. I also used strawberries and blueberries.

Once the cake was cool enough, I sliced up the strawberries, then melted the chocolate and poured some in the middle of the cake on top and placed the blueberries there. I drizzled some chocolate using the tip of a spoon and there you have it. Cake + chocolate + fruits = Yummy!

I also made cupcakes and put this together for my daughter. She couldn’t believe it was all hers!

I’m definitely going to make this for my dad’s birthday no matter how little time I have. No if’s, ands, or buts about it.

Take good care all.

Until next time…

A celebration for Dr. Seuss!

Posted on March 1, 2013 by themercadoproject

Hello everybody! I hope you guys are well.

Did you know that it’s Dr. Seuss’s birthday tomorrow? It’s also my mom’s! She’s going to be 61 years young, but she’s reversing things and saying she’s going to be 16! 🙂 More on that celebration later on. My daughter’s school is having a celebration today for Dr. Seuss and she was super excited. Last night, I gave her some time on my computer so she could explore www.seussville.com while secretly I was making her a little pin with the hat from the Cat in the Hat for her school shirt. I thought about this so last minute so I was hustling around the house trying to figure out how to make a pin. This is what I came up with.

I found this image of the hat on AOL search, then printed it out. I taped it onto card stock to make it sturdier and the tape gave it a laminated look. I found the smallest safety-pin I could find in my house and taped it to the back of the hat and pinned it onto the collar of her shirt. I surprised her in the morning by helping her into her shirt and saying, “go take a look in the mirror.” She instantly saw it and loved it.

I also printed out several of the hats because I wanted to tape them onto her lunch containers and give her another surprise when she had lunch at school.

I taped the hat onto her water bottle, fork, sandwich container (not shown), and veggie, fruit, and snack containers!

I found this coloring page also on AOL search, but it’s offered by twistynoodle.com. I printed out several pages for my daughter’s teacher to offer her students. Did I mention that my daughter was super excited? Super duper excited!

I’m hoping that my daughter is currently having a wonderful day at school celebrating a great author’s birthday. Here’s to you Dr. Seuss and thanks for all the lessons!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Germ City and a couple of Iron On transfers

Posted on February 27, 2013 by themercadoproject

Hello everyone! I hope you guys are well.

As for me, I’ve been to Germ City and back. I got sick again. Can you believe it? Back to back. I don’t even think I was finished being sick the first time before the second wave hit. It started with an itchy throat and then BAM!, my body and my head just wanted to curl up in bed and forget about the world, but I couldn’t do that because I have to take my oldest daughter to school in the morning and take care of my two-year old at home. I will admit to you all that it brought me to tears. Not having control of my body or the energy to fulfill my obligations as a mother really sucks. In one moment, my two-year old looked at me and said, “Its ok.” I love that little girl. I’m feeling much better now with the help of my wonderful husband (he took over when he came home from work and got me meds!) and my landlady/friend (she made us soup and looked after my youngest daughter while I took my oldest to school). My body is up and running again so enough about being sick.

Let’s talk about Iron-On transfers! Last week, I wanted to design a bag for my mother’s upcoming birthday. I also wanted to make my daughter a t-shirt with her latest obsession, Super Mario and friends. I found a cool clip art on AOL search, printed it out on iron on transfer paper and ironed it on a white youth t-shirt. I surprised her with the shirt and she absolutely loved it!

I have to do another one for my youngest because she wasn’t happy with the fact that I didn’t make her one. Oops!

For my mother’s bag I took a couple of pictures of her with my daughters as well as one with them striking a princess pose, printed and ironed it onto the bag, which I bought at A.C. Moore. These bags are awesome. I’m going to stock up on them. I think my mom is going to love this bag!

Let your creativity soar and make one-of-a-kind gifts for your loved ones!

Take good care all.

Until next time…

DIY Felt Gift Bow

Posted on February 7, 2013 by themercadoproject

Hello everybody! I hope you guys are well. I love wrapping gifts with unique wrapping paper that I either make myself, if the gift is small enough, or find at stores. Recently, I wrapped up this gift for my god-daughter’s birthday.

I found this polka dot wrapping paper in the dollar section at Target in Harrisburg, PA awhile back. My god-daughter loves Minnie Mouse so I found this clip art and glued it on top and then I found a Disney inspired font and printed out her name on an address label for her card.

She’s going to love it!

I also love gift bows and after finding that DIY magazine gift bow pin on Pinterest and attempting it with great results, I thought, “Let’s try using something else to make a bow.” HELLO FELT!

I’m definitely not a pro at sewing, but I do my best. I love the final result of this bow and I used a long piece of thread so I could attach all the felt pieces together without having to cut and start again. I only cut the thread for the last piece of felt, in which I sewed it separately and then tried to sew it on top of the bow without showing too much thread. I wasn’t that successful, but that was my first attempt and I’m definitely making more of these bows so hopefully practice makes perfect. I’m going to add a little bit of glue so it’ll stay on the gift, but hopefully still come off intact. The gift above is my husband’s Valentine’s Day gift 🙂 wrapped up in another gorgeous print found at Target’s dollar section. I can’t wait to show you what I got him. It’s too freaking cute! I also can’t wait to do more of these gift bows in different felt colors and designs. Happy gift wrapping and bow making!

Take good care all.

Until next time…

DIY Valentine Cards

Posted on February 5, 2013 by themercadoproject

Hello everybody! I hope you guys are well. I love sending mail to my family and friends. It’s almost Valentine’s Day and I’m going to be sending out valentines along with a couple of pictures of my daughters to them all. I could always go to Target and buy a set of valentines, but where’s the fun in that? Here’s what I came up with this year for my own Valentine cards:

Using Microsoft Word, I made a quick design with a heart and our well wishes for Valentine’s Day.

I made four to a page and printed it out on white cardstock.

Then using Anita’s All Purpose Acrylic Craft Paint in True Red and a little bit of water mixed in, I painted the hearts and let it dry. Then I outlined the hearts with studio g Glitter Glue (I couldn’t find the name of the color but it’s sort of yellow/gold).

I cut out the cards using my trusty cricut paper-cutter. It makes things so much easier and neater.

Here are my valentines! Ready to be accompanied by a picture and shipped off to my loved ones.

This craft project was quick and I can’t wait to ship them out.

Take good care all.

Until next time…

DIY VALENTINE DECORATIONS

Posted on January 31, 2013 by themercadoproject

Hello everybody! I hope you guys are well. I love decorating for Valentine’s Day especially for my girls. They love seeing all the hearts and pastel colors sprucing up our home.

Using my heart puncher, I like taping hearts in various places like my china cabinet, the TV unit, the door, etc. My daughters always seem to find all the little decorations I put up. It’s like a game for them and I love seeing their smiles when they discover hearts here and there.

I love decorating with banners and I made these two last year using felt and my heart puncher.

I purchased purple, hot pink, light, pink, and glitter red felt in order to do my banners.

I cut out the triangles (freehand) and then sewed them together right at the corner. For the heart banner, the glitter red felt was a bit thicker and I was able to punch out hearts and string them together.

I put the pennant banner outside my doorway with this cute little guy declaring his love for you!

I decorated my picture shelf in my living room with the heart banner. I want to make a couple more and overlap them, but I ran out of the glitter red felt so it’s off to the craft store. Yippee!

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Chicken Pot Pie Cupcakes/Muffins

Posted on January 22, 2013 by themercadoproject

Hello everybody! I hope you guys are well. We had a long, lazy weekend that was spent resting and recovering from being sick. It was great to snuggle up in my bed and watch some TV while my daughters played in the living room and my husband watched them. Oh, did I mention that he also cooked our meals as well? My husband is a great man and father (I know, my gushing is too much and you’re probably fake heaving, but I need to give my man a BIG SHOUT OUT). He’s absolutely wonderful and a superb chef! That’s why I wasn’t surprised when he was able to recreate a recipe pin that only had pictures with the ingredients. I came across this pin (www.pinterest.com) right before my husband was going to the supermarket. I showed it to him and he took a mental note of the ingredients and off he went.

With the exception of the cheese from the above pin, my husband made these mini chicken pot pies.

They looked amazing and tasted so good. You should all give it a try if you like pot pies.

My husband simply cooked the chicken, then mixed it with the cream of chicken soup and vegetables, turned the oven on to 375 degrees, placed the biscuits into the cupcake pan, poured mixture in and on top of the biscuits, and baked for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Take good care.

Until next time…

DIY CHOCOLATE LOLLIPOPS

Posted on January 14, 2013 by themercadoproject

Hello everybody! I hope you guys are well. I am pretty well-known in my family to do chocolate lollipops with the help of candy molds. I have a “small” collection of candy molds and I used to make them a lot for family and friends before I had kids. Now, I make them once and awhile. I decided to surprise my daughter with an after dinner treat. Check out my process, it’s pretty simple:

From my collection, I chose a heart-shaped lollipop mold with the word Love scripted in the middle, vanilla chocolate candy wafers, and a small bowl to melt the chocolate in.

I melt my chocolate in the microwave. Make sure you don’t put it on high or the chocolate will burn.

With a small spoon, pour the chocolate into the mold.

Pick up your mold and tap it against the counter until your chocolate spreads out evenly.

You can add lollipop sticks or not.

Put the candy mold in your freezer for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

You can buy candy wafers in different colors. I’m going to get them in red and using this candy mold make some lollipops for Valentine’s Day.

My sister and I are currently looking for a theme for our brother’s 30th birthday party. We’re leaning towards a mustache party and while browsing through Pinterest, of course, I came across this:

Isn’t that awesome? I’m definitely going to be on the lookout for this candy mold, just in case.

Take care all.

Until next time…

Birthdays and balloons

Posted on January 7, 2013 by themercadoproject

Hello everybody! I hope you guys are well. Yesterday was “putting-all-the-Christmas-decorations-away” day! It made me kinda sad, but they’re be back soon enough! 🙂 Now it’s time to focus on the new year and prepare for all the birthdays that are coming. I like celebrating birthdays. When I’m not able to see the person, I love sending birthday cards and gifts in the mail because it makes people HAPPY! One should feel appreciated and remembered, especially on their special day.

My youngest, Sophia, turns 3 in April and I’m already planning it (I tend to leave things for the last minute and then go completely crazy), but I’m going to keep things very simple (don’t laugh, it can happen). I haven’t decided on a theme yet, but I know I want to decorate with balloons and I’ve seen a couple of ideas on Pinterest that I want to try. They also have a couple of games with balloons that would be fun:

Thread a needle and sew balloons in a row!

Decorate balloons with paper and glitter! So much fun!

Balloon Ping Pong: Sophia loves playing with balloons so this game would be a lot of fun for her.

Balloon Catch!

All pins courtesy of Pinterest.com.

Take good care all and HAPPY BIRTHDAY if it’s your birthday today!

Until next time…

themercadoproject

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Category Archives: DIY

Hippity Hop, Easter’s on its way!

Keep calm and bake!

A celebration for Dr. Seuss!

Germ City and a couple of Iron On transfers

DIY Felt Gift Bow

DIY Valentine Cards

DIY VALENTINE DECORATIONS

Chicken Pot Pie Cupcakes/Muffins

DIY CHOCOLATE LOLLIPOPS

Birthdays and balloons