Lemonade for sale

I ran across Alex's Lemonade Stand sometime last year and thought it would be a wonderful project to do with your children.

Alex's Lemonade stand was started by 4 year old Alex Scott. Alex had cancer and wanted to raise money so that doctors could find a cure to help others battling cancer. You can read about her story HERE. Sadly, Alex passed away in 2004 but her dream is still going strong. Alex's Lemonade Stand has raised over 19 million dollars!

So, get to squeezing those lemons and help your children start their own lemonade stand to raise money for a cure! Be sure to CLICK HERE for all the details.

Blowin' Bubbles

If your kids are anything like mine then they LOVE blowing bubbles.

Well, here are some creative ways to blow bubbles along with a recipe to make your own bubble mixture.

Want to make GIGANTIC bubbles? Grab a hoola hoop.....DOUBLE THE FUN!

Tiny bubbles? Drinking Straws work well for those!

*potato masher

*Strainer

*Fly Swatter

*Strawberry baskets

*Cookie Cutters

*slotted spoon

These all make great "Bubble" wands!

Homemade bubble mixtures

Basic Bubble Solution
One cup of water
Two tablespoons liquid dishwashing detergent
One tablespoon glycerin
One-half teaspoon sugar
Mix and use.

Giant Bubbles
6 cups water
3/4 cup corn syrup
2 cups liquid dishwashing detergent
Mix the ingredients together. Wait 4 hours before using.

Colored Bubble Recipe
One cup soap powder (Ivory Flakes Detergent)
One quart warm water
Food coloring or small amounts of tempra paint
Dissolve the soap flakes in the warm water. Add coloring. Blow bubbles onto construction paper for colorful affects!

Strawberry Umbrellas

Here's a cute little recipe to keep your kiddos cool this summer.

(courtesy of Parents magazine)

1/4 cup Simple Syrup (see below)2 cups sliced strawberries1/2 cup nonfat yogurtAssorted sprinkles (optional)
Prepare Simple Syrup according to directions.
In blender, combine strawberries with syrup and process until smooth. Transfer to large bowl, and stir in yogurt until well combined.
Divide mixture among fluted tart molds. Insert wooden pop stick into each mold. Freeze 3 hours, or until frozen through. Just before serving, roll umbrellas in sprinkles, if using.

Simple Syrup: In small saucepan, combine and simmer 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar until sugar is dissolved, about 4 mins. Set saucepan in bowl of ice water until syrup is cool. Makes 1 1/3 cups.

Memorial Day

I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day and a SAFE ONE!

Creative Crayons

Our children's director at church usually does this with the crayons at the end of each year. She gathers all the broken ones (Which are a lot) and then melts them in muffin tins. The kids love coloring with them.

Here is a great tutorial for making your own: (Courtesy of Crafty Daisies)

Baby Showers

Ok, It's no secret that I love showers and birthday parties especially BABY SHOWERS! I love playing games and mingling with the expectant momma. I love to see her face beam with joy as she opens each gift and rubs her tummy. You can always guarantee a lot of oooohing and ahhhing from the guests. Well, leading up to the shower there is always a baby shower invitation. There are some great invites on the market today and most of them come from babyshowerinvitations.cc. Oh.MY! Have you seen some of them? The colors are absolutely wonderful and the illustrations are so DARN CUTE. Cute little babies and baby carriages .....Who wouldn't love to stare at one of those for awhile. (The artists are simply amazing!)

I promise that you will never want to look at another store bought invitation after viewing some of these cute creations.

The prices are reasonable and of course the selection is amazing. Below are a couple of my favorites:

If you know an expectant mom be sure to pass along this great baby shower invitation information.

~Little Painted Polka Dots~

Whimsical....fun....POLKA DOTS!

Little Painted Polka dots is a great little site with all sorts of products. The site definately invites you in and makes you want more. It's very easy to navigate your way through all the goodies and believe me....You will definately want to break the bank account here!

I instantly fell in love with the monogram wall plaques

and the cute little girl's tutus. (Aren't they just adorable?)

You will also find items for baby like these beautiful crosses

Or you may just want to buy something for yourself...

Whatever you are looking for you can guarantee that each piece will have a unique and personal touch. If you are not sure what you want right now then why not just pick up POLKA DOT DOLLARS (Unique gift certificates). They would also make great gifts!

So visit Little Painted Polka Dots today and be sure to tell them My Trendy Tykes sent ya!

If you shop soon you can enjoy a 10% discount and a FREE gift just by entering the code TRENDY at checkout.