I wanted them to be festive for her party. I stumbled upon this post of Shark and Beach Cupcakes from Martha Stewart. I thought they were super cute. Visit her page for specific instructions and to view my inspiration. I couldn’t find shark fins at the store, though, so I made mine simply sand and water cupcakes.

I promise these are easy enough for any baker. I’m not much of one, and I was able to whip them up in the middle of triplets. Make your cupcakes according to how you normally would- box mix, from scratch, etc. To create the sand effect, dip iced cupcakes into graham cracker crumbs. Use drink umbrellas as your beach umbrellas. I had to order mine from eBay.

Here are a few tips that I discovered to shorten my time in the kitchen even more:

• Pillsbury now has colored icing. One of the colors is a festive ocean blue. Use this as the water icing for that batch of cupcakes to save from having to dye your own.
• When Martha says to decorate the cupcakes right before serving, she’s serious. I dipped mine in the graham crackers the night before, and they lost some of the freshness overnight. The cupcakes were still good, just not as “fresh” sand looking.

Happy beach party!

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I’m so glad that you’ve stopped by to share your crafty project!

Have you entered to win a $40 CafePress credit yet? The winner will get to pick out a fun gift for themselves…or maybe a fun Father’s Day gift!

This week, I shared a bit into my personal life with some new photos of the triplets. I also shared where I got the pattern for those cute bowties!

Need a last minute idea for a Teacher Appreciation gift? Check out these Pencil Packages.

 Most Clicked

Apple Nachos from the Crafty Blog Stalker

• You can link up as many projects as you want.
• Unfortunately, I will not be able to come around and comment on everyone’s links every week. Please now that even though I may not be commenting, I am still looking at them all and excited to feature you in the coming week!
• By linking up, you are giving me your permission to use a photo from your post in the event that you are featured on the Things to Make This Weekend post in the unlikely event that the triplets give me time to actually post one!.

The post Things I’ve Done Thursday appeared first on It Happens in a Blink.

**Please note that I custom made these pencils for the body wash that I had. The body wash was in a tall, thin bottle. These instructions and pattern should fit any body wash that matches that description, but if you are making these for a large bottle then you may need to adjust some of the measurements (and the pencil top pattern) accordingly.

Supplies

• Yellow cardstock 12×12
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Hot glue gun/hot glue
• Red card stock (large scraps may be fine)
• Brown/tan card stock (large scraps may be fine)
• Pencil Top Pattern
• Fancy sticky washi tape (optional)

Begin by drawing lines on the yellow card stock with a pencil. Draw them about 1 inch apart.

 Flip paper to backside. From each side, make marks at 3.5″ and 7.5″. You will now have four small lines on the backside of the yellow paper. These are the fold lines.

Fold the paper on each of the fold lines.

Make a 1″ cut on the bottom on each of the fold lines.

Fold up each of these “cuts” to make the bottom of the pencil. After folding them up, form the pencil package shape. Use hot glue to secure the bottom tabs and the middle back flap.

Insert the body wash or lotion in the top of the pencil.

The rest of the steps are super easy!

Print off the pencil top pattern. Trace the pattern onto the brown/tan card stock. Make two copies.  Use a pencil to draw in the lead portion on each of the pencil tops.

Hot glue the pencil top onto the upper pencil part on each side. Then hot glue the top pencil portion together to close the package.

Cut two 3″ by 4″ rectangles of red card stock. Hot glue these to the bottom of both sides of the pencil as the eraser.

Optional: If you have fancy pants sticker washi tape stuff, cut a length of that and attach to each side above the eraser to resemble the metal portion on the pencil.

Now print off the free printable image, found below. Simply right click on the image, save to your computer, and print off the number of copies that you need.  Make a hole in the top with a hole punch and tie around the pencil using decorative yarn/twine.

I thought it was very cute that my little one’s teachers liked these so well that they didn’t want to ruin the package so they cut slits in the bottom to open them.

The post Pencil in Time for Yourself Teacher Appreciation Gifts appeared first on It Happens in a Blink.

I took these pics of my triplets a few weeks ago. I took these photos myself in my living room, so they’re not professionally done. But I’m pleased with how they turned out. Hopefully I can only get better. I think the bow ties really “make” the photos.

The bowties I made from a pattern that I won from Little Lizard King. The bowties were super easy to make. I consider myself an intermediate seamtress, and in my pre-triplet days I probably could have made these in a bout two hours or so.

The post Little Boy Bow Ties (& Triplet Pics!) appeared first on It Happens in a Blink.

My daughter’s thumb is greener than mine. About a month ago, she planted a packet of seeds in a planter. She’s watered them each day and has been pleased to see them grow into a lively arrangement. She’s much better at this than me. I love seeing her excitement over her beautiful flowers.

I have a difficult time keeping flowers alive, but I always want lovely flowers for my home and garden. Over the years, I’ve found that potted bulbs such as lilies , gladiolus, and irises make gorgeous, easy-to-care for plants. I’ve received potted bulbs as gifts in years past that I’ve then been able to plant in the ground as part of my flower bed. Many bulbs also come back year after year, making them ideal for a colorful accent to the flower garden.

As a crafty person, I adore the idea of planting bulbs in creative ways. Small cups, decorative vases, and reusable containers are just a few ideas of how bulbs can be gifted. And with minimal care, bulbs are wondersul gifts for busy moms. Bulbs are easy to find, too. Potted bulbs can be purchased at grocery stores, garden centers, and flower shops. Bulbs can be purchased already planted in cute planters, or save money by purchasing the bulbs in bulk and then come up with your own innovative planting ot gifting option. Locally, we even have a bulb field where growers sell bulbs during the blooming season so that buyers can hand pick the bulbs to purchase.

Need more ideas? Search Pinterest for bulb inspiration. There are so many ideas for unique color combinations and arrangements for special summer occasions, such as weddings, baby showers, and summer cook-outs. Perhaps I should buy a few bulbs for my little girl to plant. They are so easy, she would probably be able to assert her green thumb with them, as well.

Do you enjoy planting bulbs? I’d love to see some of your creative planting ideas.

The post Everyone Can Have A Green Thumb! appeared first on It Happens in a Blink.

We wanted something that was sturdy and would hold our three children. We purchased our Bounce House off Amazon. At a discount, mind you. As soon as it arrived the mail carrier stated how obnoxiously heavy the box was. HaHa. It weighs in at about 60 pounds. Which really isn’t that bad. I was surprised at how sturdy it was. I was able to carry our Air Walker Bounce Castle around back to set it up with ease.

 ”BLAST ZONE” are one of the best brands on the market. First off, they are American made. The second thing is, you need to decide is what features you want like Balls, slides, hoops or whatever features you think you want. We love that it is extremely vibrant and bright. You can tell by the look on my kids faces that they love it.

I would definitely recommend this castle to all families.

Buy It: Amazon for $199

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Disclosure: So Sew Mama and It Happens in a Blink are not responsible for sponsor prize fulfillment. I was not compensated for this post. So Sew Mama received a sample to try with her family. All opinions are 100% her own. Facebook, twitter, and Pinterest are not affiliated with this giveaway and are released of any obligations.

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CafePress is a neat website that lets buyers personalize products. Custom gifts are always the best! I always have trouble gift giving for people like my parents because they seem to have everything that they want or need. Custom gifts make excellent alternatives when you have no idea what to get Grandma!

Here’s a sampling of what CafePress offers:

Custom Coffee Mugs

Custom Shirts

Adorable Pajamas

Unique Sweatshirts

CafePress has so many unique items, it’s hard to showcase them all! The company ships out over 6 million products annually, and they often have deals on their website to make the savings even better.

Head over to CafePress and browse their products, and then come back here and enter to win a $4o credit to their site! CafePress is generously awarding one of my readers this fabulous prize! Wouldn’t this give-away be great to win with Father’s Day approaching?!!

Use the below Rafflecopter form to enter! Winner will be announced next Friday!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The post Easy gift-giving with CafePress (and $40 credit give-away!) appeared first on It Happens in a Blink.

I’m so glad that you’ve stopped by to share your crafty project!

There’s still one day left to enter to win a Magazines.com subscription credit!

This week I shared a weekly shopping list printable and a funny post!

• You can link up as many projects as you want.
• Unfortunately, I will not be able to come around and comment on everyone’s links every week. Please now that even though I may not be commenting, I am still looking at them all and excited to feature you in the coming week!
• By linking up, you are giving me your permission to use a photo from your post in the event that you are featured on the Things to Make This Weekend post in the unlikely event that the triplets give me time to actually post one!.

The post Things I’ve Done Thursday appeared first on It Happens in a Blink.

I hope that these are an encouragement to anyone hesitant to do their own pics to just get out in the yard and try. I’m not a professional by any means, but I love capturing milestones and moments with my kiddos, and they are inspiration to me to improve my photography skills. Enjoy these pics from lat year, and I’ll share this year’s photos with you soon (including a neat DIY Dance Photo prop!).

I like pictures from a unique angle. Something about my girlie’s little toe made me snap this one.

This picture and the next one are the same, but I played around with the layers for the top picture. I added a picture of some roses that she received after her recital as an overlay.

For this one, I just stuck her in a tree. You can’t tell here, but there were a few ants checking her out and making her squeal.

Dance recital season is upon us once again! If you have a little girl in your life who loves to dance, you may want to check out my Dance Recital Invitations and my DIY Drawstring Dance Bag.

The post DIY Dance Photos Part One appeared first on It Happens in a Blink.

Every year I enter to win one of these to no avail. So, this year, I’ve decided to participate in a group giveaway so hopefully one of my readers can win one!

The Bounce Castle Giveaway is coming! May 20- June 14.

The post Bounce Castle Giveaway coming soon appeared first on It Happens in a Blink.