awesome deals for father's day gifts

We hope all our US readers had a fabulous Memorial Day weekend! We are so thankful to all the men and women who have given their lives so that we can enjoy freedom and liberty in this great country. Next up is Father's Day here, another way to celebrate wonderful men in our lives, so here are a few great deals from our favorite affiliates that you won't want to miss!


Remember the awesome sale on Mother's Day cards we offered you from Tiny Prints last month? Until June 6, they're also offering free $.99 Father's Day cards! Don't forget your dad--spend a whopping buck and send him a sweet, funny, or personalized photo card. He'll love it. Just use code GC99. Oh, and if you sign up for a Tiny Prints membership (which gets you great discounts up to 50% on cards year round), you'll get three free cards. Cool.



Looking for a great Father's Day gift? One of our favorite shops, Flirty Aprons, has awesome men's aprons on sale for dad. They're classic grilling aprons with funny sentiments like "Grill Sergeant," "Caution: Extremely Hot," and "My Grill Is Hotter Than Yours." And for all the Ute fans out there, how about, "I Like Cougars. . .Medium Rare." Ha! Or like the one below: "I Turn Grills On." Fun gifts for dads with a sense of humor!




And if you're getting married this summer and just want to give dad the gift of saving money on your wedding, check out Wedding Paper Divas for 10% off any order of $75 or more. They have absolutely gorgeous invitations--so many to choose from it's almost overwhelming. You can also save 20% by bundling all your wedding paper items. Happy Father's Day, Dad!

 

hot lunch date winner

It's time to announce the winner of our Hot Lunch Date Box Giveaway! The lucky winner of a 30 kisses date box is...




Sims Family
who said,
"Mario and Luigi looks so fun!"


Congrats! I have passed your email address on to the sponsor, so she should be contacting you. Enjoy your hot lunch date!

buffalo chicken and blue cheese wraps

When I got my Woman's Day magazine and saw this recipe, I was pumped.  I love anything having to do with buffalo chicken. It's a simple recipe and you can make the chicken ahead of time or buy a rotisserie chicken to save time.  It's a great grab 'n go lunch. Enjoy!




Buffalo Chicken and Blue Cheese Wraps

• Kosher salt and pepper
• 2 6-oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 Tbsp lowfat Greek or plain yogurt
• 1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
• 3 stalks celery, thinly sliced on a diagonal
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 2 oz blue cheese
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 3 Tbsp buffalo wing sauce
• 4 medium flour tortillas or wraps
Recipe Preparation
1. Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water; bring to a boil and add 1 tsp salt. Add the chicken, reduce heat and gently simmer until cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a plate and, when cool enough to handle, shred into pieces.

2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together the yogurt, vinegar, and ¼ tsp each salt and pepper. Add the celery and scallions and toss to coat; fold in the blue cheese.

3. In a second bowl, whisk together the ketchup and wing sauce. Add the shredded chicken and toss to coat. Wrap up the chicken and celery salad in the tortillas.

sculpey clay pens for father's day {tutorial}

Dads are so hard to craft for! But I'm thinking most dads could use a ball point pen from time to time, so here's a simple father's day gift your kids can make for dad this year. I originally made these with our church youth group, and my kids also handed out a few of these for Teacher Appreciation week. They make a great inexpensive gift, and the kids had a blast making them. Here's the how-to. . .




Sculpey Clay Pen Tutorial

Supplies:
*Sculpey clay in various colors (I found a multi-color pack at Michael's for $10 and used my 40% off coupon)
*Ball point pens - must be the type you can remove the ball point/ink from. Also, try not to get the type with the soft grip like I accidentally did. They work, but there's less room for the clay.
*Brayer or rolling pin
*Razor blade or sharp craft knife
*Wax paper to protect your work surface
*Cookie sheet
*Oven heated to 250 degrees



1. First, remove the ink cartridge part of the pen from the plastic tube. It should pull out fairly easily, but use a pair of pliers if needed.

2. Choose two colors of Sculpey clay. Cut off a 1/4" piece of each color.




3. Roll out flat with a brayer tool or rolling pin (I don't recommend a wooden rolling pin--the clay will stain it. Yes, I know from experience.) Try to make them about the same length/width.



4. Lay one color on top of the other. Roll up tightly from one short end.


(color change!)


5. Using a razor blade or craft knife, cut the roll into thin slices.




6. Press the slices on the outside of the pen until it is completely covered.






7. Roll the pen on your work surface until the surface is smooth and there are no gaps between swirls.






8. Line the pens up on a baking sheet (I covered mine with parchment paper first) and bake at 250 degrees for 15 minutes. Allow to cool before handling.



9. Push the ink cartridge back inside the pen tube. A perfect gift for your favorite dad!

toddler summer dress with silhouette heat transfer border

I had a piece of white cotton that I'd accidentally spilled some hot pink powdered clothing dye on. Not enough to ruin it, but enough to make it's use very limited. Then I noticed that the hot pink heat transfer material I got from Silhouette was the exact same color. Problem solved.



I've been wanting to use this shape/border on something for a while, so I decided to make a little girls' sun dress and use this shape as a border along the bottom. To save heat transfer material, I duplicated my border and cut both pieces along side each other. Next I weeded, or removed the unwanted pieces, from my plastic sheet with a sharp tool. Then I cut them apart.


For the dress, I measured my toddler model for the length, width, armholes, and neck I'd need. Then I doubled and folded my fabric in half and cut a simple dress shape out of it, which gave me two identical pieces. For the back piece, I cut a slit in the middle of the neck about 4 inches long. Before I sewed the dress together, I laid my heat transfer pattern on the front of one piece. The nice thing about it is that it is sticky, so it stays in place. I laid the second piece on top of the first and matched up the second piece of the pattern so they'd match when I sew the side seams.This was easy because I could see the first shape through the light-colored fabric. Then I ironed it on each piece the same way I applied the heat transfer material to my t-shirts the other day.



 I finished my dress by finishing the arm and neck hole and slit seams, then sewed the pieces right-sides together. I did a wide hem along the bottom and voila, sweet sun dress in less than an hour!


 


Ooh, wouldn't this shape be cute on a pillow? Or burp cloths? Hmm, I might have to put one more project together before tomorrow when the Silhouette heat transfer material sale ends! If you love this shape, get the Silhouette heat transfer material bundle, which includes the most amazing digital cutting machine and three rolls of heat transfer material for $219 ($125 savings!). Or if you have a Silhouette, all their heat transfer material is 25% off through May 25, 2011. Just use code LITTLEBIRDIE.

hot lunch date box giveaway

We have a great giveaway for you today! I love this idea.  Who doesn't want a hot lunch date? Here is a little bit about the company...


"At Hot Lunch we've revolutionized dating as you know it. With our exlusive selection of themed date boxes, we've given you everything you need for a ridiculously fun time! When else have you and your date worn moustaches while making your own pizza pies, watched cartoons in your pajamas, or gone to a drive-in movie in your own garage? Our trend-savvy designers have found the hottest products and tastiest treats out there so you can be sure your date will be a huge hit!"




"At Hot Lunch we believe dating should be fun and easy! That's why we've created themed date boxes packed with all the ideas, activities, and accoutrements necessary for a ridiculously fun time!"

Today one lucky reader has the chance to win a  30 Kisses Date box!!





All you have to do to enter is visit Hot Lunch Dates and find your favorite date box.  Then come back and leave us a comment saying what it is. For an extra entry you can like Hot Lunch on Facebook. Good Luck! This giveaway will end Friday, May 27th at 11:59 pm PT.

brownie pops

Today brings another tutorial from my dear friend, Andrea. These brownie pops are super adorable.  We all fell in love with cake pops quite a while back, but I love all the variations you can make.  I love brownies just as much as I love cake, and sometimes it's so fun to eat it in little bite size morsels.  And besides being fun, let's just face it, it helps me keep some portion control.




So here's how to make these little treats...
They are extremely easy to do. You can either make some thick brownies and cut them with a cookie cutter and dip in chocolate or use this cute Wilton pan to make this cute shape.If you want to expend more effort you can also roll your brownies into actual balls and cover them completely in chocolate. You can find this pan at Michaels and with the 40% off coupon it wasn't bad at all. I can't remember exactly how much because it was a long time ago that I bought it, but probably around 8 dollars or something like that.




Make sure you grease your pan well. Mine stuck a bit so they weren't perfect, but you get the idea.



Melt your chocolate. I had some Wilton brand orange chocolate. When you use Wilton you need to add some shortening to it to thin it out and make it work for dipping.



Dip the stick in chocolate and insert it in the brownie. Let it sit for a couple minutes for the chocolate to set up (you can put it in the fridge or freezer to speed up the process) and then dip your brownie pop in the chocolate.



My boys love sanding sugar or any sprinkles so I added some orange sanding sugar.

easy sports team t-shirts with silhouette heat transfer material

I told you there were more heat transfer material projects coming! I pulled out the heat transfer material that Silhouette sent me and the kids went nuts. They're always asking me to cut shapes for them, and the thought of putting whatever they wanted on a t-shirt was like ice cream for dinner.  They could hardly stand it.


My oldest has been wanting a University of Utah t-shirt for some time, but I am kind of a cheapskate and team shirts are so expensive! But with Silhouette's heat transfer material and the Allstar font (get it free here or here), you can make school shirts for any team for just a few bucks! I used the white flocked heat transfer material and cut out a large "U" for the front and "Go Utes!" for the back.



 


Here's the quick and dirty how to for Silhouette's heat transfer material. 
1. Create your wording in the Silhouette Studio software. BE SURE TO FLIP HORIZONTALLY SO THE WORDS ARE BACKWARD! Select the appropriate heat transfer medium from the cut menu and cut your letters out of the heat transfer material with the shiny side down.


2. Use a sharp object (I used my Making Memories paper piercer) to remove the parts of the transfer material that you don't want to transfer (like the center of letters).










3. Place your image plastic-side-up on your fabric. 

 

4. Cover with a cloth. Heat your iron to the Cotton setting and press over each area of the image for 45-60 seconds. 

 


 

5. VERY IMPORTANT: Wait until your image has cooled before peeling off the plastic.

 
Root for your team! 


The other kids chose their own lettering/designs. Our friend Brooklyn wanted her last name with her favorite number, jersey-style.



And my youngest chose this "Go big or go home" design from the Silhouette shop. He's been saying that constantly ever since.

 


I am loving this heat transfer stuff! You can find it on sale now for 25% off, or if a Silhouette is on your wish list, get one with a 3-pack of heat transfer material for only $219 (over $125 savings) over at Silhouette.  Use code LITTLEBIRDIE. But only through May 25th!