First day of school survival kit!

Monday is the big day around here.  Another school year will begin.  Yesterday, we were demon dialing the school because they printed the list to let us know what teacher our children will be assigned to. 

Tonight, we go for "Meet the teacher".

The other day, I found a cute idea at Some Days You Gotta Dance.  Paige works in a school and found an "emergency kit" on her desk while preparing for her school year.

I thought this was such a fabulous idea and decided to go for it!

Here is what I came up with!

I got the little basket in the clearance section at Wal Mart.  They came in a set of 3 for $1.50, red, white and blue!  I put in some snacks, a note pad, water, hand wash and wipes, lotion and Tylenol!  Hopefully, she won't need the Tylenol!

The bow on the outside, I made in school colors.  It is actually a belt!  I am planning to make some more, so I will post a tutorial for it!  Hopefully, tomorrow.

Wish us luck for tonight.  I am hoping there will be some friends in my sweet girl's class so that anxiety levels will be low for Monday!  I am sure the teacher will be great.  I've heard great things about all of the second grade teachers!

Scraps and Scribbles giveaway winner!

First off, let me say, you have one more day to enter the hair bow giveaway that I am hosting over at Scraps and Scribbles.  Go check it out!

Courtney offered up one of her super cute rag bracelets to one of my readers.

The winner is...Lamb Around!

I'm sending you an email!

Thanks to all who entered!

Lots of fun and last day to enter the giveaway!

Today is the last day to enter the Scraps and Scribbles giveaway!

Also, I am hosting a hair bow giveaway on Scraps and Scribbles that ends tomorrow!  If you have a little girl or know one that you may need a gift for, head over and enter!  There is only one person entered so far and that is just sad!!!

Onto...Lots of Fun.  This is our last week of summer vacation and I have been trying to pack as much fun into it as possible for my sweet little girls!

Over the weekend, we had a blast.  We went to a pizza joint that has all of the fun stuff and road go karts and bumper cars, bowled, ice skated and played lots of games!  Then we headed out for lunch and then to the movies!  We saw Despicable Me.  I thought it was very cute.  Even cuter was when my little petunia was reaching out at some of the 3-D stuff trying to touch it!

Yesterday, we enjoyed some fun time at a museum.  My girls had never been to this butterfly habitat and it was awesome.  I can't believe we've never gone to it!!

We saw a couple of butterflies emerge from their chrysalises!  It was amazing.

Then you go into this big dome that is kind resembles rain forest, and there are butterflies flying around everywhere!  The girls loved it and the butterflies were gorgeous.

Then, of course, we had to have a little fun in the gift shop.

Hilarious, right?  I thought so anyway!

Gussy up that hat! (just in case ya missed it!)

Just in case you missed it...here is the tutorial from my guest post over at Scraps and Scribbles from

the other day!  There is a giveaway involved, so hop on over and check it out!

And if you haven't entered the giveaway here for the rag bracelet, what are you waiting for?

Lately, I have been working on sprucing up a plain cadet cap.  I've seen these hats everywhere with rhinestone designs on them, but thought they would be so cute with some flowers on them!

There are tutorials all over blogland for making all kinds of fabric flowers.  Here is one of my new favorites!

All you need is some fabric, a circle template (you can use a glass), needle and thread, a small piece of felt, and a button.

Start by making six circles and cutting them out.

Fold them in half once and then again.

Then take your needle and thread and run a long stitch across the raw edge.

Now pull it tight so that it gathers in the whole bottom of your petal!  Tie a knot in your thread and do the same for the next five circles.  I didn't even cut my thread in between petals.  That way they are all sewn together at the end.

This is what it will look like with all six petals done and sewn together.  Next glue your felt circle onto the back.

Find a cute button big enought to cover all of your raw edges and stitching and sew into place on the opposite side of your felt.

Next add a pin and/or hairclip to the back and you are done!  You could even sew this right onto a purse or hat if you didn't want it to be interchangeable.

Now go make some cute flowers! 

Guest Post with Scraps and Scribbles Plus A Giveaway!

Today, I will be swapping blogs and guest posting over at Scraps and Scribbles!  Come by and see what I've been up to and check out Courtney's great blog!

Hello Freckled Bug readers! I'm so happy to be visiting Andrea's awesome blog today.

I'm Courtney, author of Scraps and Scribbles. That's me with my goofball brother. I'm wife to my hunka-hunka hubby and a stay-at-home mom to one busy little 20-month-old boy. When I' not chasing after him, I love making beautiful things-be it crafts, food or photographs. I'm a bit of a fashion and make-up junkie-I just can't get enough of either! I started Scraps and Scribbles as the resting place for my projects and thoughts. Here are some of my projects:

Picture frame turned earring organizer

Scrabble tile pendant necklaces (I sell these in my Etsy shop)

Use your old mismatched silverware to make garden markers

This has to be my favorite-my Anthro-inspired Ruffle Tee

Today I'm going to share with you a delicious and easy cupcake recipe. It was one of my favorites as a little girl. Here we go!

Surprise Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. white vinegar
1 cup water
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar

Filling:

1 egg, unbeaten
1 cup chocolate chips
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all cupcake ingredients together and blend until smooth. In a separate bowl, blend filling ingredients together. Line or spray a muffin tray.

Fill muffin cups 1/3 full with cupcake batter,

drop in a large spoonful of filling

and cover with a spoonful of cupcake batter. Bake for 25 minutes. This recipe makes 24 cupcakes. Or you can do them in a mini muffin pan for parties!

And there you have it-a simple, delish desert! Thanks so much for letting me visit today, Andrea!! I hope you all come by Scraps and Scribbles to say hi! I'd love to meet you!

Courtney has graciously offered one of her super cute rag bracelets as a giveaway to one of my readers!

Here's how to enter the giveaway:

1. Go and visit Courtney's Etsy shop and come back and leave a comment to tell me your favorite item.

2.  Be a follower of The Freckled Bug.

3.  Be a follower of Scraps and Scribbles.

There are three chances for entry.  Please leave a separate comment for each entry.

The giveaway will remain open until Monday, August 16 and the winner will be announced on Tuesday!
(winner will be chosen randomly!)

Thank you Courtney, for stopping by for a visit!  I must go make those cupcakes now!!

My new kitchen!

Recently, we revamped our kitchen!  I've been wanting to share, but had to round up some photos!  We really got brave and made some drastic changes, but I love it!

Check it out.

I forgot to take before pictures!!!!  I can't believe it.  I was so excited and preoccupied with emptying out the entire kitchen, I forgot.  Sorry.  So look beyond my little chef and see the back splash and stained cabinets.

I am an equal opportunity mother, so here in this background, you can see the walls, cabinets and back splash.  I promise, this was not a shameful ploy to show you more pictures of my girls!!

So here is the new kitchen!  We are still working on some new decorations and replacing the little lights over the bar area.  But it's definitely colorful and fun!

My dining room is the same color red as the island, so it kind of ties it together since you can see through to that room.

Well, I am off to make some breakfast!  Have a great day!

Let's get serious for a minute

Did you hear about the six teenagers who recently drown in the Red River?

Oh my gracious.  It's so sad.  The newspaper said that this is an area frequented by people who don't know how to swim.  Apparently, this is a place to go and barbecue and wade in the river.

This group of people had really just arrived when this happened.  They didn't even have the barbecue pit out of the car yet.  The adults watched helplessly as the kids drown.  None of them could swim.

My older daughter started taking swim lessons when she was 6 months old.  She went once a week until she was 5 and is now a great swimmer.  When my youngest was around 6 months old, I wasn't sure how I could make it work.  The swim school was 45 minutes away and I always had my older daughter with me.  If I were in a pool in a Mommy/Baby class, what would I do with her?  When the older was 1, they took her into a semi-private class and I was no longer needed in the water.  I was hoping they'd do this with my little petunia, but they had changed the rules and said they wouldn't take her in the pool without me until she was around 2 or 3!!  Well, folks, we all know that the second child is usually a bit more outgoing the the first and I thought if we waited that long, it would be like playing with fire.  I wanted her to learn to swim sooner.

I was then sent an email with a video attached to it.  My heart nearly beat out of my chest as I watched.

All I knew, was that I needed this program for my baby.

We found an instructor and signed her up.

This is my 11 month old baby floating in a pool.  You can learn about this program by visiting the Infant Swim Resource site.  I am so grateful for the survival skills this course has taught my child.  She has been to a refresher class each year and has since learned to swim as well as float.  Luckily, she hasn't had to use her survival skills for any accidental falls into the pool.  She has however, had a great time playing in the pool, fully supervised by adults, and swimming to her heart's content.

Right now, Infant Swim Resource, is in the running for a grant from Pepsi.  This would allow them to teach survival skills to underprivileged children who may not have access to lessons otherwise.

I have a button at the top of my sidebar.  You can go and click once a day to vote for this program.  You can also vote by texting a number to Pepsi.  It is also listed when you click through.

(The video is also on that page for you to watch!)

I am a true believer in giving kids tools in life to keep them safe.  I think this is a great program for helping to keep them safe...and alive.

P.S.  Please don't tell me I am a bad parent by teaching my kids to swim early in life.  I am not using swimming lessons as a way out of being a good parent who supervises my children.  I just want them to have EVERY CHANCE TO SURVIVE SHOULD AN ACCIDENT OCCUR.
I just had to say this.  Believe it or not, there are people who don't believe in teaching their kids to swim.

A real sweet heart

Many of you have heard of Locks of Love.  An organization that makes hairpieces for children that who have lost their hair due to different medical conditions.  About 5 years ago, I donated my hair to Locks of Love.  It took me two years to grow it long enought to get the 10 inches needed for a donation!  I was inspired to do this because my oldest sister was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in 2003.  Today, she is a healthy SURVIVOR!

This brings me to my real sweetheart.  My older daughter decided a while back that she wanted to donate her hair when it got long enough.  She wanted to get it cut at the beginning of the summer, but it wasn't long enough yet.  Then a couple of weeks ago, I was going to get my hair done and she decided it was time.  We got out a ruler and started to measuring.  We were still short for Locks of Love.  I had heard about a program that Pantene was doing that made wigs for women with cancer.  So I checked it out.  It is called Beautiful Lengths and you only need 8 inches!  So my little girl with a really sweet heart decided to go for it!

Here she is!

Before

After

She looks completely adorable with this haircut and she makes me so proud!

Birthday outfit

Summer is filled

with birthdays for my family.  June and July are pretty heavy.

My great niece Raegan just turned two and I made a little outfit to send her way last week.

I made the Modkidboutique Julia skirt and embellished a little tank.

The pattern has an option to make the skirt "less full".  I thought for this little peanut, I would try that.

If you have or sew for little girls, I highly recommend Modkidboutique's patterns.  They are so cute and very easy  to follow.  They even have patterns for matching doll clothes! 

I had considered putting two ruffles on the top, but decided to do something a little different and made a bow out of the second piece of fabric.  I then covered a button with fabric and finished it off!

I hope she likes it!

Happy Birthday Raegan!