Betsy McCall Magnetic Paper Dolls

I was looking for games that I could make that would travel well without having the girls drop the pieces all over in the van.  After searching a bit I saw this site that had this tutorial.  http://www.tealandlime.com/2011/07/magnetic-paper-dolls/ I really enjoyed reading this so I went to work to try and make our very own. 

You will need the following = home printer, magnetic paper (found mine for $7.99 for 3, 8.5 x 11 sheets at Michaels) I used my weekly coupon and got it for 40% off, sharp small craft scissors, and a tin ( got mine at Michaels) I choose a plain one to decorate, and a medium sized rectangle one so I can add to their collection,  foam stickers or ribbon etc. to decorate your tin.

I started by going to http://tpettit.best.vwh.net/dolls/pd_scans/betsy_mccall/index.html to print my dolls.  I choose the earlier years since I liked the vintage look and the frilly dresses.  I took my magnetic paper and loaded it into the printer and printed my dolls. I had it work great, but I also know that it depends on your printer too.  If for some reason it doesn't work you can always take regular paper to print the dolls and glue them to the magnet paper. This will produce less waste too, but I took the shorter route. 
Cut your dolls out, put in your tin and decorate!
 This is the second set I have made.  The first set I gave as a gift to Doodle Bug's best friend and she loved it :) 
Enjoy

Rainbow Fun

This year Avary asked me if she could have a Unicorn party for her 7th Birthday.  Sloan chimed in and said Rainbow! Rainbow!  Sooo... I brainstormed and thought hmmm... Unicorn Rainbow :) With Avary and Sloan's Birthdays so close together I thought joint party!  I know, I know, they won't let me get away with that forever :) I thought it would be so fun to try a rainbow cake.  I shared the idea with Aaron and he said he would help me :)  Yep, we were up until midnight baking and frosting :) What we do for our kiddos... Enjoy! You will be delighted with the looks on their faces as you cut their cake for the first time!

Here are the things you will need
* your favorite white or yellow boxed cake mix (easy to color)
* food coloring for each layer of "rainbow"
  purple (red and blue)
  blue
  green
  yellow
  orange
  red
* pie tins or round cake pans
* 2 cans of white frosting

Directions,

Prepare your cake batter as directed on the box
divide your batter equally into 6 bowls
color each bowl of batter one of the 6 colors
bake in each color of  batter in a pie tin (which we did) or a round cake pan
bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes depending on your oven and thickness of batter
let cool on baking rack
trim off domed top of each cooled cake so they stack nicely
start with a dab of frosting on a cake plate or cake cardboard
put your first layer purple on and frost a little on top, proceed with all the layers going from purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and red on top. (Which I would have done but my real life super hero husband didn't hand them to me in that order as I frosted) haha
 Frost entire cake in white.
I liked the white because when you cut it for the first time the layers and colors just POP! I did put a Skittle's Rainbow on top to decorate it and a small unicorn figurine and that turned out cute. Enjoy!

Avary Larie (7) Sloan Kamryn (4)