Cute Feet-Print Butterflies for Wall Art & Inside Family Fun!

Okay! I just want to let everyone know that Pinterest is wonderful! I have found so many really cool ideas on there! About a month ago I found this cute little feet-butterfly art work. It was cute as a button so I had to save it. Yesterday I decided to do something crafty with my girls and figured they would love getting their feet painted! They had a blast! The finished art would be a wonderful gift for grandparents if the prints are done on a canvas. I would do the prints on paper first so you know how big your child's feet are so you don't buy a canvas that is too small. This was our Round 1. Round 2 will be after I buy some canvas that are 8x8 squared like I probably would of bought!

Here is how our Mommy - Daughter time went... along with the original picture I found on Pinterest!

 The Original Photo that I found on Pinterest. I did not click on the picture to follow it to the link the photo came from so I can't tell you what site it's from :0( Sorry

My girls and their Feet Print Butterflies!!!

 

 I didn't realize how much my girls had grown until I looked at these butterflies! Their feet are almost the same size!

By the way - You can use any type of paint, we used Finger Paint, with a paint-brush!

My 5 yr old's painted foot!

She said it tickled when I painted her toes and middle of foot!

 My 6 yr old's painted foot.

Rainbow Colors!!!!

My youngest decided that she wanted to paint her sister's toes!!

I wasn't able to get pictures of my girls stamping their feet on the paper because I was keeping their feet still but you have to put the left foot on the right side and the right foot on the left side and leave a tiny space in between for the butterfly body. After they dry, draw the body in-between the feet prints. Add some twirls for antenna's along with a finger print on the end and YOUR DONE!!

Here are my daughters' finished products!

I hope you like our walk through of making Feet Print Butterflies!! We had alot of fun and laughs with this project and I hope you are your kids have alot of fun also!! I've been trying to get the Pinterest button in my blog but haven't been able to get it working yet but if you like what you see and read then please share with your friends!! :0) Have a wonderful night and tomorrow!!

*Blog Written By ~ Autumn Banks*

..::I'm a stay at home mom who loves DIY projects, finding freebies and playing with my gurlie gurls. I have a secret obsession with anything history that not many people know about. I try to stay out of politics along with anything causing trouble but sometimes, randomly, find myself in the middle of some stupid argument::..

*Comment all you like and please share if you enjoyed what you read.*

Was "Sex Parties" used by the Mafia to try and destroy The Kennedy Brothers? Did Sinatra know about the set up?

The So Called "Sex Parties"

Has everyone heard about the so called "Sex Parties" that were said to been going on between The Kennedy Brothers (John, Robert and Edward), Marilyn Monroe, Peter Lawford and his wife; Patricia Kennedy (a Kennedy sister and Marilyn Monroe's best-friend), Frank Sinatra and The Rat Pack, along with many others I'm sure.?

Anyone who is a Marilyn Monroe fan knows about her affairs with John and Robert/Bobby Kennedy along with Frank Sinatra. Marilyn dreamed of being both JFK and Frank Sinatra's wife during their separate affairs. But I don't know so much about sex parties!

Marilyn Monroe talks to Frank Sinatra at Cal Neva Lodge in Crystal Bay, Nevada, in the Sixties.

Rumor has it that those "parties" were held in JFK's suite at Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan aka "JFK's New York White House". According to a FBI report that got released in June 2010, the Mafia called for the "Sex Parties". They wanted girls, chosen by Franck Sinatra and his associates, to be "placed in compromising situations" with the Kennedy brothers. A Mafia informant told the FBI that the plan was to embarrass the Kennedy brothers. (I'd say that they either wanted to, or did, blackmail the brothers with pictures and recordings of the parties.) Apparently, the "trusted" informant said the Mafia wanted to destroy Robert Kennedy due to his war on organized crime when he was U.S. Attorney General, 1961 - 1964 (according to the declassified documents).

I, myself, don't think that pictures of John, Robert and Edward with beautiful bombshells like Marilyn Monroe and others, would ruin them. Everyone knows that it was rare for a Kennedy man to be faithful so I don't believe one bit that their wifes never knew if their husbands were cheating or not. Back then, the women mostly looked over it due to press, political, and family. They were expected to stand by their man, no matter what. The Kennedy's were famous! A divorce could of rocked their role in politics, back then. So maybe that was it. They wanted so much proof that the Kennedy women couldn't take it anymore and left anyways. I don't, we will never know the truth, but we can still question and wonder.... can't we?

John and Jackie Kennedy

The tip wasn't told until July 1965, which is almost 2 years after John F Kennedy's death. It is said that the FBI didn't investigate the tip due to not enough proof. (The question running through my brain is : Why wait so late to tell the agents if you knew about this the whole time and was talking to the FBI anyways? Maybe the informant wasn't an informant when the plans were made but still...!)

 The file popped up in the FBI's Milwaukee office along with a memo reading : 

'It was reported that Mrs Jacqueline Hammond, age 40, has considerable information concerning sex parties,' Mrs Hammond, said to have been divorced from her husband, who was a former U.S. Ambassador, and also allegedly kept a room at The Carlyle Hotel.

Even though  she was described as "credible" , the FBI didn't think that the information about the extortion attempt was detailed enough to launch an investigation. The documents were part of collection of over 2,000 FBI documents in Edward Kennedy's file. (Mainly a bunch of death threats)

Noone looked into the "Sex Party rumors". That's pretty much where the story ends.... With Rumors. But I have to say that I still believe that they had to be something else going on at these parties if this was the work of the Mafia.

John, Robert and Edward Kennedy

The Carlyle Hotel in the 1960's

The Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan, where the parties are said to be held.

John F Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy leaving The Carlyle Hotel.The facade looks a bit different in the photo above due to the hotel having an awning put up for the Kennedy visit.

 The Caryle Hotel now ~ 2012

The Exterior - 2012

The Entrance

The Lobby

The Lobby Sitting Area

The Carlyle Restaurant

There are lots of rumors of tunnels under The Carlyle, use to enter and exit the hotel without being seen by other guests and the press. It's said that JFK slipped Marilyn Monroe into his suite using these tunnels. None are in any of the photos, of course.

Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra and Peter Lawford

*Blog Written By ~ Autumn Banks*

..::I'm a stay at home mom who loves DIY projects, finding freebies and playing with my gurlie gurls. I have a secret obsession with anything history that not many people know about. I try to stay out of politics along with anything causing trouble but sometimes, randomly, find myself in the middle of some stupid argument::..

*I hope you like my post on the alleged Sex Parties, Comment all you like and please share if you enjoyed what you read. Have a wonderful day!*

Resources : Dailymail.co.uk, lisawallerrogers.wordpress.com, vintagesuburbia.blogspot.com, www.thecarlyle.com, www.jfklibrary.org 

Have Yourself a Homemade Halloween!

Pumpkins are already starting to pop up in grocery stores and creepy Halloween skulls are right around the corner! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays but having a party for the kids can get so pricy! So this year I have decided to have a Homemade Halloween! It's a somewhat new challenge for me. I normally always make atleast one thing for Halloween but this year I'm planning on making almost EVERYTHING! Food, decorations, Games, etc!

While searching online for DIY Halloween ideas, I found this wonderful blog post called 10 Cheap DIY Halloween Decorating Ideas, it has some really cool ideas from indoor and outdoor Halloween stuff! My favorite idea from that post is the Backyard Grave yard! It's very simple and creepy!! :0)

Just get some big pieces of cardboard (or for a waterproof version you can use scrap wood for instead of Cardboard)

Cut in the shape of tombstones

Paint to look like aged concrete

Place in your yard with pumpkins, skulls, hay and whatever you would like to make your graveyard spooky!

I found 2 different sites with Specimen Jars and they are pretty much the same thing but a tab different. Find small plastic/rubber bugs, rats, doll heads etc. and place in a cleaned mason jar (You can also use old sauce jars or even baby-food jars)

Add water and a few drops of food coloring to make it look like lap specimens.

These little jars just might make it to my party!! Aren't they Spooky Creepy?! My daughters are going to love all this Halloween stuff! Sometimes scary stuff freaks them out because they are still young but I'm thinking that if I let them help me make the scary stuff then they won't be so afraid of it. It will be great family fun time and there is no telling what kind of stuff will pop out of my daughter's mouths while making scary Halloween Party props! (My girls can be really silly sometimes!) 

I also found 2 cute props that are pretty much just for show but I fell inlove! One is a Book Pumpkin! That looks kinda simple and kinda hard...

And some really cool Potion Ingredient Bottles at squidoo! My fiance's mom gave me an old spice rack a few months ago with lots of spice jars in it so this project will be perfect for them!

Now that I found a few decoration ideas, it's off to food prep!

 I'm not really wanting to serve up a full dinner and meal for the party-goers so a few spooky snacks should do the trick. Maybe even a creepy juice!

 While soaring through some blogs I found the perfect blog post that is full of Halloween Style finger-foods and party treats! It even has the sites that the ideas came from!! The blog is called Cute Food For Kids?, the post is named "41 Cutest Halloween Food Ideas". The Spider Lollipop from Party Frosting blog is adorable and would be great for classrooms and I may make a few to pass out to the kiddo's at the party. Just pipe-cleaners, googlie eyes and a Blow Pop!

 I even like the idea of the spider lanterns, also from Party Frosting even though they ain't food :0)

I found some Marshmallow Zombies that are awesome!!! 

How cute and creepy are they?!?! I'm pretty sure that they are just jumbo white marshmallows with the smaller colored marshmallows and use some editable markers to draw the faces! SIMPLE AS PIE! (even though pie is NOT always so simple!) 

I found this next idea on Pintrest (Such a wonderful site!) It's a Creepy Cool floating hand Ice Cube!! Make some Red Kool-Aid or other red punch (red for blood) Turn a rubber glove inside-out (so you don't get the powder from the inside of gloves in your ice cube) Fill up with water and Freeze! Don't put it into your punch until your ready to serve because the fingers will melt faster than the palm due to them being smaller so you will slowly have a fingerless hand floating around in your punch!! :0)

Look how cute!!!!!!

Mummy Juice Boxes from Parents

From the looks of the picture, you can use the Waterproof Adhesive Tape and wrap up the whole juice box. Add the googlie eyes about half way through and over-lap a piece like a mummy :0) I LOVE IT!! (Once I read the directions it says that they used white electrical tape. I like the Adhesive Tape idea better, it's water-proof and will stay on longer.... atleast I think it would, but what would I know? I haven't tried it...yet!)

I think my daughters would enjoy making a Halloween paper Village for a center piece! I can always find scrap paper and small boxes! All I need to buy is paint.

I found this idea at claudinehellmuth.blogspot.com also!

And the Nutter Butter ghost from The Hob- bee Hive are adorable! Just add some iceing and a stick to some Nutter Butter cookies and your good to go!! WOW! All this Halloween searching is making me ober excited! I'll update with all the new things I find and the crazy ideas that fall out of my head!

If you have any ideas on how to make my Homemade Halloween please feel free to let me know in the comments! I'm hopping that this Halloween is the best one yet!

Here are a few of the sites that I found the above ideas at:

www.cutefoodforkids.com

www.claudinehellmuth.blogspot.com

 www.moneycrashers.com

www.diynetwork.com

Written on September 14, 2012 by a crazy stay at home mom of 2 beautiful little girls. With 2 step sons that come over every-now-and-then, and a pretty decent fiance! Very crafty and don't like to leave the house without a camera!

The Most Talked About & Memorable Performance in America's History

A Night to Remember

Marilyn Monroe's "Happy Birthday Mr. President"

It was beautiful, it was seductive, very quiet and the most memorable performance in America's history. Marilyn Monroe's personalized "Happy Birthday" song, sung to John F Kennedy. It was May 19, 1962 at the third Madison Square Garden in New York, 10 days before JFK's 45th birthday. A big celebration was held for the president and over 15,000 people showed up, including celebrities like Marilyn Monroe, Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald. (Peggy and Ella also sang for the president that night.)
Jackie Kennedy, JFK's wife, did not attend the celebration. 

When it was time for Marilyn to sing, she arrived fashionably late, of course. The announcer made a joke out of her being late since Marilyn was known for never being on-time for anything. The crowd roared as Marilyn appered on the stage wearing a rhinestone covered, skin-tone dress ,that made it hard for her to move. Photographer Bill Ray, found himself on a balcony right behind and above the bombshell and captured some of the best photos of Marilyn Monroe that night.

Photo from LIFE, Photographer - Bill Ray

Bill Ray describing, in his own words, what he remembers about Marilyn Monroe that night: 

“It was skin-colored, and it was skin-tight. It was sewn on, covered with brilliant crystals. There was this long, long pause … and finally, she comes out with this unbelievably breathy, ‘Happy biiiiirthday to youuuu,’ and everybody just went into a swoon. I was praying that I could get the shot because I had to guess at the exposure. It was a very long lens, and I had no tripod, so I had to rest the lens itself on the railing, and tried very, very hard not to breathe.”

The dress was simply beautiful, it's one of the main things that people remember about that night! A full length, flesh-colored gown, encrusted with rhinestones, that Marilyn had to be sewn onto before walking onto the stage. Over the dress, Marilyn was wearing a coat-like cover made out of white fur. When the cover came off... everyone Ooooed and Ahhhhhed! After a playful covered-eye look at the crowd, Marilyn sang!

*It is said that the dress was sold in an auction in 1999 for $1,150,000. (To learn more about the sale go to collectibles.about.com)

 Her voice was very seductive and quite and you could tell by the long silence that Marilyn was a bit nervous. But once she started singing, if was beautiful! She had re-written the traditional "Happy Birthday" song to be personalized for John F Kennedy. Some of her lyrics included: 

"Thanks, Mr. President

For all the things you've done

The battles that you've won

The way you deal with U.S. Steel

And our problems by the ton

We thank you so much"

 

Photo by Yale Joel/Life Magazine/Time & Life Pictures/

There is only one remaining picture known, of the lovely Marilyn Monroe, John F Kennedy and his brother Bobby Kennedy from the night of the celebration. It is also the only known photo of Marilyn and JFK, at all, even though of all the rumors of affairs between the two. Many photos were taken that night but due to the FBI demanding the negatives after JFK noticed the camera being aimed toward him and Marilyn, only one somehow manged not to get destroyed. It was kept a secret for many many years. Some think the photo was not released due to the photographer's friendship with Jackie Kennedy and him not wanting to hurt her in any way.
 

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1286752/Frank-Sinatra-Marilyn-Monroe-named-Mafia-plot-smear-Kennedys-FBI-file-reveals.html#ixzz26gd2jXt2

The only photo of Marilyn Monroe, John F Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy

This was one of Marilyn's last performances before her tragic death in the early morning hours of August 5, 1962. They're are lots of questions surrounding the death of Marilyn Monroe that point fingers at many people including the Kennedy brothers, the Mob, and the FBI.
I believe that no-one will ever know the whole truth about the affairs between Marilyn and the Kennedy brothers or the mystery behind the deaths of Marilyn Monroe, John F Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy.We will always have unanswered questions that tear at our soul. No matter what, Marilyn Monroe's legacy will live on in everyone's heart through her films,photos and music. She will never be forgotten.

*Rest In Peace Marilyn Monroe, you will always be a beautiful and classy woman in my eyes, that I love very much.*


Edit Update on Sept 16, 2012 ~~~~~~~~~~ Rumor has it that Marilyn and JFK spent the night in his hotel suit after she sang at this celebration in 1962 at Madison Square Garden.

*Blog Written By ~ Autumn Banks*

..::I'm a stay at home mom who loves DIY projects, finding freebies and playing with my gurlie gurls. I have a secret obsession with anything history that not many people know about. I try to stay out of politics along with anything causing trouble but sometimes, randomly, find myself in the middle of some stupid argument::..
*I hope you like my post on Marilyn Monroe's version of "Happy Birthday" Comment all you like and please share if you enjoyed what you read. Have a wonderful day!*

Resources - Wikipedia, YouTube, About.com, Dailymail.co.uk 

A 5 year old girl tragically loses her life by the hands of a 16 yr old family friend

 NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y.

A very tragic story has hit the news in the past couple weeks. A beautiful little girl has lost her life due to a 16 year old, family friend, in Niagara Falls, New York.

Isabella Tennant was dropped off at her grandmothers house on Sunday afternoon, while her mother, Crystal Walker, headed to work. Isabella's grandmother, Sharon Lascelle, has a big heart and has a tendency of letting a young teenage boy, who lives close by, to come stay in her house sometimes when his heat was turned off. Well this normal Sunday night just happen to be one of those nights where the 16 year old boy, John Freeman, decided to stay at Lascelle's house. "She's just so welcoming in her home and just trusts everyone," a heart-broken and tearful Walker said in an interview broadcast Tuesday.

Police say that John Freeman came over to the house sometime Sunday night, and after Lascelle went to bed, around 11 pm, Freeman killed Isabella with his own 2 hands! After killing the child, Freeman called up one of his friends, 18 year old Tyler Best, to help his depose of Isabella's body. They put the little girl in a trash bag and put her in a trash can a few blocks away.

Monday morning Tyler Best went to the police, told them what he knew and led them to the trash can that held 5 year old Isabella's body. Both boys were arrested and were sent to jail. Freeman pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder charges while Best pleaded not guilty to charges of tampering with evidence. They are both due to return to court on September 7th.

"I just don't want it to be real," Walker said. "I just want her back."

Isabella Tennant was only 5 years old and was all ready to start kindergarten in just 2 weeks. She had already finished school shopping. Isabella's backpack is all packed and ready to go, still sitting in her room. She even packed her lunch 2 weeks ahead because she was so excited to start school!

Over 1,000 people attended the funeral at St. Louis Church in Buffalo.

News Story from www.huffingtonpost.com

Police name 5-yr-old's suspected killer

Video From www.wivb.com

This is so heart breaking! I truly don't understand how anyone could hurt an innocent child! What could of she done that made him so mad that he wanted to hurt her? Then why put her in a trash can, down the road? Did he not think that someone would find her? another question I have running thru my mind is WHY did Freeman's friend help him that night to begin with? Why didn't he just call the cops right then? This story broke my heart and blew my mind!

What do you think about this tragic story?

Daddy's-To-Be need Presents too!!

Don't Leave out the Daddy!

When someone announces that they are having a baby, one of the first things people do is run out and buy the Mother-to-be or baby a gift. Not many people think about getting something for the Daddy-to-be. Some of the guys might get together and take the expectant dad out to get some drinks but that's bout it. How about buying the daddy a present also!! Baby showers are the perfect place to give the Daddy-to-be his present since the Mommy is already getting all of hers! Here are a few ideas that I have found.

"I'm The Daddy" Boxers from Daddyscrubs.com for $21.95

 A Pinstripe Dad-To-Be Set from Uncommongoods.com for $125.00

Or you can make this cute Bucket by yourself!

because its his baby too.

  This is a wonderful idea! I can't wait to try it out, I'm defiantly waiting to hear that someone is pregnant now! I agree that the Daddy's-To-Be are always left out of the whole excitement of the new baby! I bet my fiance would of loved to of gotten one of these little Daddy Kits! I may even make him one for the kids now...If I ever decided to have a Mommy's Night-Out! (I'll let you know what I come up with for that one!) The Daddy Doody Kit is cute but I'm not to sure about adding the gloves, goggles, face-mask, or the tongs. Daddy's may not be perfect "moms" but most of them do know how to take care of their baby. I like the joke of the clothes pin though! I remember that some of those diapers do get super stinky! Let me know if you try this out! I would LOVE to see pictures! 

Found at www.livingeventfully.com

my keen eye for detail has picked up on a trend.

the daddy to be always gets left out.

unless its a co-ed shower...but in 9 out of 10 cases, its not.

mommy to be gets showered with a lovely party, sentiments, gifts and delicious food.

daddy to be gets to pick her up at the end of her shower acting as a pack mule...

loading the car(s) up with the never ending pile of goods from babies r us.

then unloading it all at the house, usually by himself.

good times.

i wanted to create something fun so the awaiting father could be included!

i usually have the dad to be arrive at the tail end of the shower while gifts are still being opened.

then i hand them this.

"a daddy doody kit"

i purchased the clear paint pail at a craft store.
they are about $5.00.

for the "open in case of emergency" tag
i used an all cap font in red printed off my home printer.
I used a large round hole punch to cut it out.

its taped to the top with double sided foam dots.

for the "daddy doody kit" tag i just free hand tore
the paper around the words.

on the side of the pail with the seam,
i added a "contains:" list.
here is what was included in this one:

diapers
diaper rash cream
gloves
goggles (home depot, about $2.50)
face mask (home depot, about $2.00 for 1)
clothes pin for your nose
tongs for diaper disposal
hand sanitizer (travel size)
baby wash (travel size)
wash cloth
baby food
spoon
pacifier
bottle
baby sockies
wipes (travel size)
Tylenol...for daddy
get creative and personalize it for the guy you are giving it to.
pop the lid back on and its good to go!

*Blog Written By ~ Autumn Banks*

..::I'm a stay at home mom who loves DIY projects, finding freebies and playing with my gurlie gurls. I have a secret obsession with anything history that not many people know about. I try to stay out of politics along with anything causing trouble but sometimes, randomly, find myself in the middle of some stupid argument::..

 

Make Your Own Shrunken Heads this Halloween!

Halloween is right around the corner, creeping up on us slowly but surly. Last month I started searching for DIY Halloween ideas. Holidays can be so pricy if you let it. I do my best NOT to let it! So I have been searching for all kinds of ideas, like -  Spooky decorations, Creepy Recipes and Costume Ideas! While I was searching I came across this really neat Shrunken Head How-To! I haven't tried it yet but I will defiantly be doing this with my kids next month. I believe my step-son, AJ, will LOVE this!! If you try it out, take pictures and let me know how it works!

Shrunken Apple Heads

These shrunken heads are made from peeled, carved, and dried apples. They're as spooky as the scariest Halloween masks and I LOVE them!-- Thry can be lots of fun to make and can be a project for the whole family! You can transform an apple into a frightening lil'  fruit.

Any variety of apple will work, but Granny Smiths are perfect for this project due to their round shape.

You will need: 

• Firm, unbruised apple (Preferably Granny Smith)
• Knife
• Marker or pencil
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon salt
• Stick or branch

Shrunken Apple Head Directions:

1. Peel and core the apple.

2. Using a pencil/marker, draw facial features onto the apple. Including: eyes, a nose, and a mouth. Be sure to draw the features large enough so they won't disappear once the apple shrinks.

3. Using the outlines as your guide, carve the apple to resemble a skull.

4. Combine lemon juice and salt in bowl. Soak the apple for 30 seconds and then  dry.

5. Set the apple in a warm, dry spot. After several days, the apple will start to shrink, and the features will distort.

6. Insert a stick or branch into the bottom of the head and place it in a vase!!

SPOOKY!!! I love it!

Spooky Craft Found at www.marthastewart.com