Top 10 Posts of 2012

I wanted to celebrate 2012 with my top 10 blog posts. 

These were all picked by you. 

Thank you for your support this past year!

 

Art Party

 

 

Spring - New uses for Old Things

 

 

 

St. Patrick's Hanging Wreath Basket

 

 

 

 

 Woven In Love

 

 

Marinated Green Bean Salad

 

 

 

Rusty Red Inspiration - Guest Post

 

 

 

Patriotic Red Flower Pin

 

 

 

Awesome Apple Recipes and Snacks

 

 

 

Embellishing a Wire Dress Form

 

 

 

Sweet Inspiration - Built-in's with Color

 

 

 

Succulents and Shells Centerpiece

 

 

What is your favorite? I hope you will join me for 2013! 

 

 I plan on having many more inspirational

and informative posts.

 

Happy New Year!

 

Kari

 

 

Happy Holidays!

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! 

 

I hope you had time to relax, spend with family and

eat lots of goodies!

 

 

Our little saguaro in our front yard.

 

My goal is to be much more active this year. 

To provide informative and inspirational posts.  I

 am open to all suggestions! 

 

What would you like to see on my blog?

 

 

Still Fall in Arizona

It is still fall here in Arizona!  My girls were excited to feel the "nip" (okay 70's) in the air and play with some fallen leaves!

(they are planning on jumping in the pile when done gathering leaves!)

While people are out Christmas shopping, we can still wear shorts and short sleeve shirts.  It is a little strange it still being in the 70's and even 80's later in the week.

How is the weather where you live?  Are you ready for the winter and Christmas?

Sweet Shop - Curly Q Bowtique

Introducing my latest Sweet Shop -

Curly Q Bowtique!

Marlis owner of Curly Q Bowtique

Marlis and I went to college together, and spent lots of time in Interior Design studio.  She has always had an attention to detail, and is always extremely organized!  She would always finish her projects early.  As a bigtime procrastinator, I have always been envious!

Learn more about her and her business,
and check out the GIVEAWAY of a
$15.00 SHOP CREDIT. 
Just in time for Halloween or early
Christmas shopping where you can get a cape of your choice!

 1.    What products do you make/sell?
Hair bows & flowers, Super hero capes, masks and accessories.

2.    What inspired you to start creating? 
My daughter loves hair bows and I had free time, so I researched how to make them. I enjoy putting together different colors and patterns to create the bows.

I kind of fell into making capes. I made batman capes for my son's birthday party for favors. I had some extra's so I posted them on The Sweetest Memory as a guest artist. They sold so quickly, I made more and eventually opened my own etsy shop in May.  All of the other cape styles came in as style requests, so I offered those for sale also.

3.    What room do you do your creating?
My craft room and loft.

 4.    What is your favorite organization tip/ tool?
Regroup and reorganize your supplies once a week, so you don't loose track of what you have.

5.    What tip can you give others interested in making/selling similar items?
Have some stock of each item made before listing it so you can stay ahead of your orders. Especially capes and accessories before Halloween!

6.    What is your day job?
I am a stay at home mom.

7.    Describe your ideal weekend.
Having no activities planned so I can work in my yard and enjoy the fall weather or sit in front of the tv and catch up on shows.

8.  What other activities do you enjoy?
Gardening, golf, bargain shopping, hiking, camping, skiing, running, playing pool.

9.    What is your sweetest memory from childhood? 
Me and my 5 brothers and sisters sitting at our kitchen counter enjoying homemade rootbeer floats.

10.    What is your favorite item in your shop and why?
Batman cape...it's what got me started making capes.

Www.facebook.com/curlyqbowtique
Www.etsy.com/shops/marliscurlyqbowtique

CLOSED.  Thank you so much for participating! Entries close (EXTENDED) Thursday, November 1st at 11:59 pm. All entries will be verified. A winner will be announced by November 6th. Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**Would you like your shop featured in my Sweet Shop? It is a great way to get more exposure for free. Please contact me for more information at thesweetestmemory@cox.net.**

Fall Gardening!

 

FALL GARDENING!

 

My favorite thing in Fall is planting a garden!  In Arizona it is just too hot to grow a garden in the summer,

so I have withdrawls.

 

As the weather starts to cool, I can't wait to plant new plants.  This year the girls helped me plant (okay a little, and then they lost interest.)

 

I so enjoy seeing my plants popping up, it makes me so happy and calm to sit and enjoy the garden!

 

This year I planted lettuce, spinach, broccoli, radishes, carrots, onions, cilantro, dill, basil, parsley, lavender, and I am testing tomatoes and eggplant.  I am still planning on planting peas.

 

What are you Growing this year? 

Any tips?  I would love to hear!

 

 

 

 

 

Guest Post - Robot Party

Guest Featured Party - Robot Party

I am in party mode right now, planning my older daughter's birthday next month and wanted to share this amazing party!  My friend Marlis with Curly Q Bowtique throws amazing birthday parties for her son and daughter.  I asked her if she would share her latest, a Robot Party for her son.

Invitations:

 

Wording Read:

Greeting humans! I’m Bob the birthday bot…

I have come to deliver an urgent message to you.

All the party detail were listed on the circular piece that was attached with the Bob’s arms (accordion folded paper).

Made with Heritage Makers on-line card and scrapbooking program.

Kari Pieratt: Heritage Makers Consultant

www.freeyourphotos.com

480-390-9120

 

Food:

Pizza with pepperoni to keep in the theme of circular gear shape food

Chex Mix:  Nuts and bolts

Small Ritz crackers: Gears

Computer Chips: Chips

Food labels made using Heritage Makers and stands are IKEA place card holders/napkin rings

 

Drinks:

Juice boxes in small beverage bucket labeled Robot Fuel

 

Desserts:

Cupcakes: Robot cupcakes inspired from family fun magazine

http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/rad-robot-cupcakes-984990/

Marshmallows Pops: Very easy to make these treats. Frost the ends of the marshmallows with regular frosting and then dip into a bowl of sprinkles. Insert the stick and you’re done!

Activity:

Build your own robot using pretzel sticks and 3 different size marshmallows. The kids got the biggest kick over the oversize campfire marshmallows.

 

Punch Box:

As fun as piñatas are, they are always a stressful time for me during a party.  A lot of kids with blind folds and swinging bats dying to be the first to get their hands on candy…it’s an accident just waiting to happen.  I found instructions on how to make a punch box and adapted it to make a robot. Each child took a turn punching out one of the holes and getting a prize. This avoids swigging bats altogether and each child ends up with an equal prize.

Design Inspired by http://blog.celebratethebigandsmall.com/2011/09/29/all-about-the-packaging-candy-button-punch-box-tutorial/

Decorations:

I purchased vintage robots from www.robotisland.com to place around the tables.

The flag banners were from Dollar Tree and the paper pinwheel “gears” I ordered on-line. I found robot and gear pattern paper to use as table centerpieces with balloons tied to large nuts for weights. I created assorted tags with robots and the number 6 to place around on the tables.

I purchased robot napkins from www.bigdotofhappiness.com .


I purchased robot ribbon from Hobby Lobby to tie to the serving trays, drink bucket and other things around the party.

Party Favors:

Robot Containers inspired by Family Fun Magazine http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/can-do-robots-674831/ I roamed Home Depot for about an hour collecting random hardware pieces to create the robot faces.  A few weeks after the party I discovered the local swap meet had several vendors who sold many hardware parts that would have been great to use for very reasonable prices.

I filled each container with a individually wrapped Rice Krispy Treat, robot pencil and stretchy robot (Michael’s $ section) a few Hershey Kisses and crinkle paper. I made a tag for each container saying “thanks for coming to my party” using Heritage Makers.

Party Attire:

 

I purchased a robot T-shirt for my son from www.cafepress.com I had a hard time finding a girly robot shirt for my daughter, so created my own from a white t-shirt and an iron-on pink glitter kit that can be purchased from www.joanns.com .

What do you think?  I just love all of her creative ideas!

You can find Marlis on Etsy and Facebook where she creates awesome capes and dress up clothes.  Perfect for Halloween!