Homemaking Fun

Summer Art Classes and Show

2011-08-31T11:53:00.000-07:00

This summer I hosted a weekly arts and crafts day for my kids and their friends.
Each week I set out enough art supplies for the kids to make 2-3 projects. Some of the kids chose to make one project and others wanted to make them all. I also provided a treat for them each week. We had snow cones, ice cream sundaes, cookies, brownies, ect. It ended up being a lot of fun and something the kids looked forward to each week. At the end of of the summer I hosted an art show for the kids to show off their artwork.

On the day of the art show I hung the art work up throughout the first floor of my home. Here are some close ups of the projects we made. The girls decorated paper flowers and I created a 8X10 picture collage of the featured artists. The kids thought it was fun to see their picture.

I had a jumbo watercolor paper pad. The kids were creative and enjoyed creating their own masterpieces with watercolors.

These tin foil paintings were fun. I wrapped and taped a piece of tin foil to the back of card stock sheets. I made sure the kids all had aprons for this project. We used bright colored acrylic paint and foam paint brushes.

I found a set of cutout bugs on colored card stock at the craft store. The kids had fun being creative and making them unique. :) They used glitter, markers, pipe cleaners, pom poms and googly eyes to decorate them.

I cut strips of colored paper out for this rolled paper art project. The kids rolled the paper tightly around small wooden dowels or pencils. Then they glued them to a piece of card stock to make a design.

I found a pattern for the rainbow fish online. The kids used watercolors to paint the fish and then glued on some glitter and a googly eye. I had them glue the fish to colored paper, if I was to do it again I would have them glue the fish to card stock.

For this project I set out colored beans, froot loops and noodles. I told the kids to draw a picture and then trace it with glue. Then they covered the glue with the beans, cereal and noodles.

This was a popular project. The kids all enjoyed painting these. Aprons were a must for this project as well.

I found a pack of 20 of these sheets at Target. The kit came with sticks and stencils. The kids used the sticks to scratch a design onto the paper. This was another favorite project.
For the refreshments I served chocolate chip cookies, pudding sugar cookies, brownies, cupcakes and lemonade.

Because it was an open house I wasn't able to get a pictures of all of the kids together at the same time.

Here are some of the other artists. The kids all had fun and I enjoyed visiting with my neighbors and friends.

A Lego Themed Birthday Party

2011-01-04T18:03:00.000-08:00

I threw this birthday party for my son last November right before we moved. My son loves Lego's and requested a Lego themed party. I had a lot of fun planning this party. I created this invitation in Paint Shop Pro.

For the place settings:

I bought square blue plates, yellow cups, white napkins, and green spoons. I found a Lego logo online and printed it to make the napkins rings. I ended up making cupcakes but HERE is a cute idea for a Lego block cake.

I filled the goodie bags with a Lego toy, candy blocks (I picked these up at the mall candy store), and a fun dip. I also gave them each a Lego magazine to take home.

For the goodie bags I bought a package of 13 small gift bags at Michael's for $5.99. I used a 1 1/2" circle punch to cut circles out of matching colored card stock. If the card stock is a shade or two lighter then the bag then the circles will stand out better. I also used double sided foam squares to attach the circles to the bags.

For the banner I printed the letters at size 500 using a Lego font. Then I colored a border around the letters with a yellow marker. I cut them out and used a double sided adhesive to attach them to 6X6 inch squares of poster board. You can get the Lego font for free from www.typenow.net, it is #268 Lego Font. Typenow is a great place to get free theme fonts.

I found these printable straw toppers online at a blog called My Party File. (The link I had to it won't work anymore) I just printed them on card stock, cut them out, and taped them to the straws.

We let the kids have some free play time with the Lego's until all of the guests arrived. Then we gave them each a Lego Racer car kit. After they all finished building their race cars we put down two of the table legs and had the kids race their cars down the table. The winner got a prize and all of the party guests got to keep their race cars.

The boys all loved putting together their own race cars.

After the races we spread out a bunch of small Lego pieces on the table and gave each party guest a straw. The object of the game was to put as many Lego pieces as they could on their plate in one minute. They could only pick up the Lego's using the straw.

We played Lego Creationary. It is a Lego game where the kids take turns trying to get the other players to guess what they are building out of Lego's. The game cards give them pictures of what to make.

I made this simple Lego toss game by taping poster board strips together. We ended up putting it on the carpet so that it wouldn't slide when the kids threw the Lego pieces. We gave each party guest 10 Lego pieces and had them stand behind a line to toss them. The guest with the most points won a prize.

I also filled a jar with Lego's. Each guest wrote their name and guessed how many Lego's were in the jar. The guest with the closest guess won a prize.

It was a fun party.

Cute Candy Cane Poem

2010-12-19T11:38:00.000-08:00

I am looking forward to blogging again after the beginning of the year. I recently went through a big move and it has taken me some time to get settled. I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the holidays!

My daughter's primary teacher gave this to her. I thought it was too cute not to share.

Here is the poem:

The candy cane turned
upside down,
is the letter J.
To remind us of
the baby Jesus
born of Christmas Day!

Oreo Suckers

2010-10-30T05:30:00.001-07:00

My friend Robin found this idea on www.howdoesshe.com. We decided to get together and try making some. These were really quick and easy to make. We ended up using two bags of Wilton white candy melts to make two dozen suckers. We also used Wilton tip #102. I think I will try using tips 103 or 104 if I make them again. My friend also ordered the candy eyes from this website www.sweetbakingsupply.com. You could also use M&M's for the eyes or make your own out of royal icing.

We handed these out to a few of my kid's friends and they all loved them!!

For Christmas I want to make some of these Oreo suckers. Click HERE to go to How Does She for the tutorial.

A Mario Brothers Birthday Party

2010-10-14T10:37:00.000-07:00

My good friend, Lily J (founder of the blog, I Love the Way She Blogs) recently threw a Mario Brothers party for her son's 6th birthday. I LOVED how it turned out and asked her if she would be willing to let me post about it. She was kind enough to send me pictures and detailed information about how she came up with the ideas, and even included some links. Here are the pictures and details in her words.

A few days before E's birthday I overheard him tell his friends that he was probably going to have another Spider-man party. Although he is only turning 6 he said, "It will be like my 10th Spider-man party!" I laughed out loud and secretly planned a Mario themed party for him instead. One Pretty Thing proved to be a very useful site when I searched "Mario".

The Yoshi loot bag template can be found here. I let the kids assemble their own Yoshi bag as one of our party activities.

My cupcakes were supposed to look like Toad, but the kids thought they looked more like Yoshi Eggs.

When I read about This party I was inspired to use lots of balloons to make the party bright. The paper stars were easy to make out of poster board and I hung them throughout the house.

I got my idea for Yoshi Eggs from here. After boiling the eggs I drew spots on with permanent markers. We used the eggs to play Egg Toss in the yard. I used a few bags of Rolos to represent "star coins". I pretended to read a note from Toad asking the children to find as many star coins as they could to help save Princess Peach. Then they went on a mad dash to collect the coins in their Yoshi bags.

E was very surprised by the theme and had a great time. Now if only there was a way to help the new 6 year-old avoid disappointment when the party ends and everyone goes home :)

Thanks for sharing the great party ideas, Lily J!! If you have never checked out, I Love the Way She Blogs then you should. It has all kinds of cool links and tutorials to help you customize your blog.

Hello Again and School Lunches

2010-10-07T05:44:00.000-07:00

It feels like it has been forever since I last updated this blog. I apologize for that. We had a really busy summer. We tried to get in as much sight seeing as we could and I ended up getting burned out. However, now that the kids are back in school I am starting to get my motivation back and I am looking forward to blogging again.

I wanted to share this simple but fun idea for school lunches. I saw a comment on one of my cousin's facebook pages. Her friend suggested putting character napkins in her son's lunches. I thought that was a fun idea and decided to buy some for my kids. Every time I go to the store I try to pick up a new set of napkins. I also put a sticker and love note in my daughter's lunches. Sometimes I will write a message on a treat wrapper in place of a love note. My daughter looks forward to seeing which napkin and sticker I put in her lunch. My son is too old and cool for the stickers and love notes but he loves the character napkins.

Please let me know if there is anything fun you do for your kids lunches.

Summer Pool Party

2010-06-17T19:17:00.001-07:00

We had a pool party to celebrate the last day of school and the beginning of summer.

I had a lot of fun planning this party.

I used gel food coloring to match the cupcake frosting colors to the party favors.

I found these napkins at Micheal's. I cut out 4" strips of paper and attached them into rings with double sided adhesive. I found a pool party themed sticker book at Micheal's for $1. I put a sticker on each of the paper rings and then slid a rolled up napkin and spoon into each paper ring.

I found these at the Dollar Tree. They were filled with candy fish and came with a squeeze n' squirt water toy. I loved how bright they were and thought they would make perfect party favors. I attached a tag with a ribbon to each one that said, "Have a fun summer!"

We had a rubber duck race. The kids had to get their rubber duck to the other side of the pool by nudging the duck with their nose.

We also played a water relay game. The first player of each team had to pass the sponge to the back of their line. The last person had to soak the sponge in the water and then pass it back to the front of the line. The first person in line had to ring out the water into the bucket. The team with the most water in their bucket when I called time won a prize.

These temporary tattoos were a big hit with the kids. I had dinosaurs for the boys and glittery ones for the girls. I found them at the Dollar Tree.

We had a popsicle eating contest. I gave each contestant half of a popsicle. Whoever finished eating all of their popsicle first won. The prize was a pool/water toy.

For dessert we had ice cream sundaes, brownies, and cupcakes. It was a fun day!

Pick-Your-Own Farm Markets

2010-06-12T12:32:00.001-07:00

If you have never been to a pick-your-own farm then you have been missing out. We recently went to a place called Larriland Farm in Woodbine, MD. They had strawberries, raspberries, peas, sweet cherries and spinach. We picked strawberries and raspberries this time. I think we had a little too much fun and ended up picking more then we needed. We ended up with 8 pounds of strawberries and 6 pounds of raspberries. We have already made several batches of freezer jam that we can't wait to eat. We are also in the process of making homemade strawberry ice cream and strawberry shortcake. We all had a ton of fun and can't wait to go back in the fall to pick apples.

You can find a pick-your-own farm near you by visiting www.pickyourown.org.

Free or Cheap Summer Activities for Kids

2010-06-05T10:35:00.000-07:00

I am getting so excited to have my kids home from school during the summer. I am working on planning out our summer schedule and thought some of you might be interested in some of these free or cheap activities that I found online or heard about from friends.

You can register your children online for the kids bowl free summer fun bowling pass. It is good for 2 free games of bowling a day all summer.

Here is a link to their website: www.kidsbowlfree.com

Regal Cinemas has a free family film festival program during the summer. They will be showing free movies during the day time two days a week.

Click Here to find a theater near you: http://www.regmovies.com/nowshowing/familyfilmfestivalschedule.aspx

Cinemark also has a family summer movie program. You can purchase coupon books to see 10 shows for $5 or just go to the shows you want to for $1 a show. Click HERE to go to Cinemark's website to find a theater near you and see the movie listings.

Barnes and Noble is offering a free summer reading program for kids. Kids can earn a free book when they read 8 books this summer.

Click here to go to Barnes and Noble's site to download a reading form: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/summerreading/index.asp

Depending on where you live you can sign your kids up for the Simon Kidgits Club for $5 a year. If you sign up at the mall customer service desk then each child will get a free t-shirt. They have several activities throughout the year that are free or super cheap. The location near me is offering the following activities this summer:

A sword fight demonstration at Medieval times (free with membership)
Bass Pro Shop wildlife tour that includes fish feeding (free with membership)
Make-your-own pizza day at Remono's restaurant ($2 a child fee)
Play Day at Dave & Busters ($12-$14 per child for a play card)
Storytime at Books-A-Million

Click here to go to their website: http://www.simon.com/kidgits/

The library also offers summer programs for kids and we usually spend a lot of time at the swimming pools. If you know of any other summer programs or activities please let me know!

Camping Crafts and Activities for Kids

2010-06-04T11:37:00.000-07:00

First of all, thank you for all of your nice comments! I love to read them and appreciate them all.

My kids both love to make crafts so I put together a few craft projects for our family camping trip. I thought I would share them in case any of you were planning a family camping trip this summer.

I wanted to buy t-shirts from the craft store but I ran out of time so I picked up these pillow cases from the Dollar Tree instead.

For this craft project you will need:

Foam paint brushes
Assorted colors of acrylic paint
Pillowcases or t-shirts
Assorted shapes and sizes of leafs

Paint the back side of a leaf. Carefully place the painted side of the leaf on the pillowcase or t-shirt where you want it and press down. Repeat with different leafs and paint colors. Lay on a flat surface to dry.

For this craft project you will need:

Clear contact paper (I bought a roll from the Dollar Tree)
small flowers, leafs, and leaf stems
Card stock cut out into the shape of a butterfly or any other shape you want

I found a pattern for a butterfly online. I traced it onto pink card stock and cut out the inside of the wings. To make the craft lay the butterfly on top of a piece of contact paper sticky side up. Let the kids place flowers and leaves on the inside of the wings. Next have them place leaf stems and flowers on the contact paper for the antennas. Then place another piece of clear contact paper over the top to seal the two pieces of contact paper together. The sticky sides should touch. Cut out around the butterfly leaving a little bit of contact paper around the outside of the butterfly to make it waterproof. Use a small hole punch to make a hole in the top and string some thin ribbon through the hole. Hang the butterfly up and watch it fly around in the wind.

I found these butterfly nets at the Dollar Tree. My kids loved them! They used them to catch frogs, minnows, butterflies and bubbles.

I also found these bug catchers at the Dollar Tree. My kids both loved walking around searching for pet bugs.

Depending on where you live or go camping you might not be near a beach but in case you are here is a cheap and fun souvenir idea.

Our last project was making beach in a jar souvenirs. We collected some sand from the beach and the kids picked out some of their favorite sea shells to place in their jars.

I would love to hear if you have any fun camping craft ideas or activities for kids!

A Tinkerbell Birthday Party

2010-05-15T20:10:00.001-07:00

My daughter just turned six. To celebrate we had a Tinkerbell party. I had so much fun preparing for this party. For the place settings I created Tinkerbell place cards in paint shop pro, placed a wand on each plate, and tied a ribbon around the handle of the cups and hot glued a silk flower to the ribbon.

When the girls arrived I gave them fairy make overs. I dusted their cheeks with fairy dust (body glitter), let them pick out a set of sticker ear rings, gave them a Tinkerbell ring, painted their fingernails with glittery nail polish, and gave them a set of fairy wings if they didn't already have some. They all LOVED this.

After they were turned into a fairy I had them color a canvas picture of Tinkerbell while they were waiting for the other guests to arrive. I found the canvas picture/crayon sets at Michael's for $1 a set.

We served pizza for dinner. After pizza we handed out Tinkerbell ribbon batons and took the girls on a walk to try them out. These were a big hit! They all LOVED them.

I set up a Tinkerbell prize shoppe and we played bingo for one of the games. I found some brown Tinkerbell paper bags at the Dollar Tree. I wrote their names on the bags and let them use them to collect their prizes in.

We also had to play Fairy, Fairy, Tinkerbell aka Duck, Duck, Goose because it is my daughter's favorite game.

We made edible fairy wands out of pretzel sticks, vanilla flavored candiquick, and sprinkles. After the candy coating dried I wrapped them in individual pretzel bags and tied them with a glittery ribbon.

I forgot to take a picture of the cake before the party. It was a flower with Tinkerbell on top. I also bought some cupcakes with flower rings.

After the cake and ice cream we opened the presents. My daughter wanted a sleepover so we made that part optional. A few of the girls stayed to sleepover. My husband put on some music and the girls had a dance party.

We played a Silly Spinner Tinkerbell game that you can print for free from Here. The girls are pulling silly fish faces. :)

We ended the night with a Tinkerbell movie.

For breakfast I bought mini boxes of cereal, packages of mini donuts, and I made these butterfly waffles.

I bought these bags on clearance after Halloween. I put their wands, ribbon batons, bingo prize bags, and edible fairy wands in these bags for them to take home.

Easter Treat Ideas

2010-03-21T06:51:00.001-07:00

I thought I would share some of my favorite Easter treat ideas in case any of you were looking for something fun to make this Easter.

1. Make this bunny cake with Pillsbury. I have made this cake several times. My kids always love to help decorate it.

2. Make this Easter basket cake with Family Fun. I have made this cake too. It was fun and easy to make.

3. Make these edible Easter basket cupcakes with Family Fun. You could also use red string licorice for the handles.

4. Make bunny cupcakes with Family Fun.

5. Make Pita Rabbits with Family Fun. You could also use the same idea with sugar cookies.

6. Make mini cheesecakes with Bright Ideas.

A St. Patrick's Day Party/Playdate

2010-03-18T06:33:00.000-07:00

I had promised both of my kids playdates this week. When I realized St. Patrick's Day was the same week I decided to combine their playdates and have a party. We started out our playdate with snacks. I served green grapes, sliced green apples, green frosted mini cupcakes, sun chips, sugar cookies, and green punch. I placed a sprite bottle at each place setting for the kids. I sprinkled Andes mints, Rolo candies, and shamrock confetti down the center of the table for decoration. The kids were excited to find out that they could eat the candies. I also found some green foiled shamrock dollies that I placed under the sprite bottles.

When the kids were done eating their snacks I had them decorate green bags with markers and stickers. The bags were to put their bingo and treasure hunt prizes in.

We played a St. Patrick's Day version of Bingo. You can download this game free from the Executive Homemaker, click HERE for the game. I printed it on white card stock and changed my print settings to print four sheets to a page, which saved me a lot of colored ink. The kids all had fun filling their bags with prizes.

After bingo I sent the kids on a treasure hunt. I cut shamrocks out of green paper and then wrote the clues on them.

At the end of the treasure hunt they found a black bucket (the closest thing I could find to resemble a pot of gold) filled with prize bags. Each prize bag had a bottle of bubbles, a mini squirt gun, a pack of gum, a lucky green coin, and a few candies.

St. Patrick's Day Ideas

2010-03-15T06:55:00.000-07:00

I know it has been a long time since I have posted to this blog. I have been really busy this last month but it looks like I am going to have a little more free time again, which I am excited about.

I have been promising my kids a play date and when I saw St. Patrick's Day was coming up I couldn't resist planning it for that day. I was looking for ideas online this morning and decided to share a few of them in case any of you were looking for last minute ideas too.

I also want to say thank you to those who gave me blog awards, I was very flattered!

Secrets of a Super Mommy shares 17 fun things to do for St. Patrick's Day.

You can download this Lucky Penny template for free from Pumpkin Petunia. I printed some on white card stock and thought they turned out cute. All you have to do is add a shiny penny!

You can download this free St. Patrick's Day bingo game over at the Executive Homemaker. I changed the print setting to print four sheets per page which ended up saving me a lot of colored ink. If you don't change your print setting then you will end up printing one card per page.

You can download free digital papers and these treat bag toppers to use from The Daily Digi.

Rice Krispy Kisses

2010-02-10T11:53:00.000-08:00

I saw this idea on Roots and Wings Co. and had to try it out. This was a fun activity to do with my kids. I let my son make the Rice Krispie mixture and then we greased some funnels and pressed the mixture into them. You can use the same funnel to make multiple kisses. Once the kisses set up we wrapped them in tin foil. I typed some messages in word perfect and then printed them and cut them out. We stuck these in the top of the tin foil. You could make these for any occasion. I typed I Love You!, XOXO, and Happy Valentine's Day!

Here is the original Rice Krispies treat recipe:

3 Tbsp butter or margarine
1o oz package of regular marshmallows or 4 cups mini marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies

In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Add Rice Krispies cereal. Stir until well coated.

Note: I bought a 3 pack of funnels from the Dollar Tree

Easy Valentine Pops

2010-02-09T07:19:00.000-08:00

These were super quick and easy to make. My kids both enjoyed this activity and couldn't wait to eat their masterpieces.

What you will need:

A bag of Wilton candy melts or chocolate chips (white, milk or dark chocolate)
lollipop sticks
Assorted Valentine's Day candies
Wax or freezer paper (use the shiny side of freezer paper)

Directions:

Pour candy melts or chocolate chips into a zip loc bag and microwave on half power for 30 second intervals until completely melted, squeezing bag inbetween 30 second intervals. Once completely melted cut a small hole in the corner of the zip loc bag and squeeze melted candy out over each lollipop stick in a circular motion. Smooth out the melted candy with the back of a spoon. Immediately decorate with assorted candies. The candy melts will set up within 5 minutes. If you are using chocolate chips then you will need to put the wax paper on a cookie sheet before starting and place the cookie sheet in the fridge for 15-20 minutes or until the melted chocolate is set.

Gift idea:
Wrap these in clear treat bags and tie them closed with ribbons.

Snow Ice Cream

2010-01-31T12:48:00.000-08:00

My friend Lisa shared this recipe on her blog. It sounded easy and I knew my kids would love the idea of making ice cream out of snow. It only took a few minutes to make and my kids loved it. I thought it was pretty tasty too. :) You should try it out the next time you get some snow.

Here is the recipe:

1 c. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. sugar
4-6 cups clean snow, unpacked

Mix all ingredients together and add more snow as needed. (We used about 6 cups total)
Top with chocolate chips, sprinkles or any other ice cream topping you desire.

Valentine's Day Food Ideas

2010-01-27T05:50:00.000-08:00

Here are some fun recipes to make for Valentine's Day. Just click on the links for the recipes and directions.

1. Chocolate Bowls from www.stephanieskitchen.com.

2. Oreo Kisses from Bakerella.

3. Heart pastries from www.tasteofhome.com.

4. Chocolate cups from www.brightideas.com.

5. Mini heart cakes from www.marthastewart.com.

6. Heart shaped pancakes from www.activityvillage.co.uk.

7. Cookie pops from www.ourbestbites.com.

8. Jello cups from www.kraftfoods.com.

9. Heart fruit kabobs from www.parents.com.
I couldn't find the link for this one but the picture is from parents.com.

Free Valentine's Day Printables

2010-01-22T11:37:00.001-08:00

Here are some free Valentine's Day printables that I found on line. Just click on the links to go to the websites for the directions and downloads.

1. You can download these cute Valentine's Day gift tags from the Rubber Punkin.

2. Tricia-Rennea shares this printable Valentine's Day banner. Don't you love it?!

3. Twig and Thistle shares this cute Valentine's Day goodie bag printable. For some reason I can't get the link to work on this one. Just search for Valentine's Day goodie bags on her site and it should pull it up.

4. This brownie bag printable is also from Twig and Thistle.

Family Home Evening Lessons for a Year

2010-01-06T06:31:00.000-08:00

Every Monday night our church encourages us to hold a Family Home Evening. My kids always look forward to Monday nights. We start out with a prayer and song and then have a short lesson, play a game and end with a treat.

One of my friends sent me this attachment in an email. I was so excited to get this! Each lesson includes a suggested opening song, scripture, lesson content and activity idea. It's geared for Junior Primary age children (using strictly Behold Your Little Ones, Primary Manuals 1, 2 and 3 and the Friend Magazine as resources). There are 48 lessons and they correspond to the weekly themes of the 2010 Outline for Sharing Time and the CSMP."

A few people were having trouble downloading the file. Once they downloaded the newest version of Adobe Reader they were able to download it without any problem. I was able to download it just fine.

You can download this file on www.sugardoodle.net . I love people that are willing to share their time and talents to help others.

A Snowman Themed Play Date

2009-12-30T20:44:00.000-08:00

I couldn't decide if I should post this or not. I know it is past Christmas but if I don't post it now I probably never will. I hosted a Snowman themed play date for my kids and a few of their friends from school. We watched Frosty the Snowman, had snowman themed treats and made a snowman craft. We also sent each of the kids home with a snowman soup mix.

For the treats I served hot cocoa, snowballs, stick arms, snowman noses, snowman hats and pieces of coal.

Powdered donut holes

Pretzel sticks

Carrot sticks

Fudge striped cookies with mini Reese's peanut butter cups on top

Mini Oreo's

For the craft I cut out 3", 3.5", and 4" circles with my cricut machine. I set out chocolate chips, pretzel sticks, glitter glue, Elmer's glue, markers and pom poms. I gave them each a 12X12 sheet of card stock. I also cut out the noses and hats for them.

They each got to take home a Snowman Soup Mix. (a hot cocoa packet, a bag of mini marshmallows, a few Hershey kisses and a candy cane) Here is the Snowman Soup poem that went along with it:

Snowman Soup

When the snowmen
get real chilly,
they make
a yummy brew.

Here's their secret
snowman soup mix.
You can make some too!

Pour the Cocoa.
Add hot water.
Stir
with the peppermint stick.

Toss in kisses
and marshmallows.
It's sure to do the trick.

-Gina Jane

Creative Place Card Ideas

2009-12-26T07:02:00.000-08:00

We had my husband's cousin and her family over for Christmas dinner this year. I wanted to do something different from the traditional place cards. I decided to wrap the plates with ribbon to look like presents. To make the name tags I printed the names onto card stock and then cut them out into a gift tag shape and punched a hole through the tops.

I didn't have a lot of room to work with on the kid's table so I decided to put their names on the straws. I printed their names on card stock, punched them out with a 2 inch craft punch, punched holes in the tops and bottoms with a regular sized hole punch and then slid them onto the straws. They also each got a chocolate Santa for dessert.

Christmas Ornament Cupcakes

2009-12-21T14:53:00.000-08:00

I saw this idea on Family Fun's website. My kids both had fun making these. We frosted the cupcakes and decorated them with mini M&M's. For the tops we broke off pieces of pretzels and stuck them into unwrapped mini Reese's peanut butter cups. I thought they turned out pretty cute for how simple they were to put together.

Super Cute Christmas Gift Idea

2009-12-19T08:22:00.001-08:00

This was a gift from my friend Krystal. She was kind enough to give me permission to share her idea. Unfortunately, I don't have the recipes to share with it. The treats were all delicious! On the front of the gift box it says, "Congratulations! You made it on our nice list!" She came up with the cutest sayings for each of the treats.

Here are the sayings:

Snow Cookies- 100% Yellow Snow Free, Guaranteed! Let it snow, let it snow, LET IT SNOW!

Candy Bar Brownies- The peanuts are nestled all snug in the caramel, while visions of fudge layered above their heads.

Cranberry Cheesecake Bars- It is a little known fact that these bars will actually help you lose wieght. Step 1: Eat a small bar. Step 2: Shop the 5 miles in the mall for all the gifts. Step 3: Climb the roof to put up the lights. Step 4: Assemble the tree and inside decorations. Step 5:...

Reindeer Droppings- Unlike Mistletoe, you don't want to be caught under the reindeer on Christmas Eve.

Santa's Favorite Cookie- (Neman Marcus)Being bad all year doesn't necessarily mean coal...if you leave the right cookies.

Bah-humbug mints- They hope your Christmas sucks!

Merry Cherry Bars- Our effort to recycle this year; made out of Rudolph's burnt out noses.

M&M Cookies- The elves take at least two each year to: Increase holiday cheer and Reduce holiday humbug.

Orange Carrot Cookies- Almost 20 snowman gave their noses for these cookies...Shhhh, don't tell our neighbors.

Cake Brownies- The anti fruitcake.

Snowball Cookies- They melt in your mouth not in your hands.

Banana Jumbos- Frosty's tropical delight. The closest thing the gets to a South American Cruise.

12 Days of Service Idea for Kids

2009-12-17T06:45:00.004-08:00

We bought small Christmas trees for each of our kids to put in their bedrooms. Each year we make different types of ornaments that they can decorate their trees with. This year I decided to have them decorate paper ornaments to go along with the 12 Days of Service idea that I came up with. Last Monday for family home evening we had a lesson on the true meaning of Christmas. We read Mosiah 2:17 from the Book of Mormon: “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” We discussed how doing kind acts of service for others is the best gift we can give to the Savior. After the kids finished decorating their ornaments we let them hang them on their trees. Each morning when they wake up the first thing they do is pick an ornament off of their tree. It has been fun to watch them get excited to serve. I think this will be a new tradition in our family.

To make the ornaments I used a 3" craft punch to cut out different colored card stock. I punched holes in the tops and strung ribbon through them. You could also use a cricut machine or trace cookie cutters for different shapes. I printed out a list of 12 service ideas, cut them out and used double sided tape to attach them to the back of the ornaments. I let them use foam Christmas stickers, glitter glue and markers to decorate them with.

Here is a list of the 12 service ideas that I came up with:

1- Make a Christmas card for your primary teacher.
2- Make a Christmas card for your school teacher.
3- Do something nice for your sister/brother
4- Find a chore to do without being asked.
5- Call a relative to tell them that you love them.
6- Write a letter or draw a picture for a cousin and mail it to them.
7- Make Christmas cards for your Grandparents.
8- Make a Christmas card for the Bishop.
9- Deliver a gift to a friend.
10- Deliver a gift to a neighbor.
11- Do something nice for your mom.
12- Do something nice for your dad.

Christmas Craft Ideas for Kids

2009-12-16T06:04:00.001-08:00

I saw this idea on http://kidscraftweekly.com. My kids both really enjoyed this craft and made several trees.

What you will need:

Heavy green cardstock or cardboard cut into triangles (If using cardboard have the kids paint the triangles green)
Clothespins
A package of sequins
Glitter glue
Markers
Foam or other Christmas stickers

After the trees have been decorated clip a clothespin on the bottom of each tree for the tree trunks.

I saw this idea on www.kraftykid.com. The shaving cream mixture dries puffy. My kids both enjoyed this craft as well. Here is what you will need:

Heavy blue card stock paper
Shaving Cream
White Elmer's glue
Black and orange card stock for the nose, eyes, hat, and pieces of coal
Markers

Directions:

Mix equal parts of the shaving cream and glue. Mix well. I had the kids draw an outline of a snowman with a pencil first and then gave them foam paint brushes to fill it in with the mixture. Then I cut out black hats and orange noses. I used a hole punch for the eyes and pieces of coal. After the mixture dried they glued on the hat, eyes, pieces of coal and nose. Then they decorated their pictures with markers.

A Few of My Favorite Christmas Treats

2009-12-11T20:09:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share a few of my favorite Christmas treat recipes. These recipes are all very simple to make and taste delicious!

My aunt Sue gave me this recipe for CHOCOLATE COVERED PEANUT BUTTER RITZ COOKIES. It is one of our favorite Christmas treats. These are so easy to make and they taste AMAZING!

Here is the recipe:

CHOCOLATE COVERED PEANUT BUTTER RITZ COOKIES

Peanut butter
Ritz crackers
Melting chocolate
About half as much white melting chocolate as the other
(You can also use milk chocolate and white chocolate chips melted with some shortening)

Spread peanut butter on crackers and top with more crackers to make cookie sandwiches. Melt chocolates together. Dip crackers in chocolate with fork and set on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. If using melted chocolate chips put in the fridge to set up. If using candy coating then they should set up at room temp. in just a few minutes. Sometimes I dip these in milk chocolate but I like them better dipped in both chocolates melted together. Enjoy!

My Friend Jody gave me this recipe for OREO BALLS. She said they were to die for so I had to try them out. She was RIGHT! If you haven't tried these you should.

Here is the recipe:
OREO BALLS

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 package of Oreos, crushed
23 oz bag of milk chocolate chips melted with 4 Tbsp. vegetable shortening or chocolate candy coating

Crush the Oreos (including the white filling) into fine crumbs with a food processor. Once they are all crushed then mix them with the cream cheese (do this in a mixer, not by hand). When it is well combined then you can start rolling the mixture into balls. Lay them on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper (and don't let the balls touch each other). Once you have all the balls made, put them in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes.
While they are hardening, melt the milk chocolate in a bowl.
Set out another big piece of wax paper to set the balls on once they are coated.
If dipping in melted chocolate chips then place dipped balls in the fridge to set up. If using candy coating they should harden at room temp in a few minutes.

My friend Lette gave me this recipe for CHOCOLATE COVERED RICE KRISPY PEANUT BUTTER BALLS. These always go over well! This recipe makes a lot so you may want to half it unless you are giving them out as gifts.

Here is the recipe:

CHOCOLATE COVERED RICE KRISPIE PEANUT BUTTER BALLS

2 cups creamy peanut butter

2 cups powdered sugar

4 Tbs. butter

4 cups rice krispies

Mix everything together and roll into balls and place on wax paper. Chill for 15-20 minutes.
While peanut butter mixture is chilling melt chocolate.

23 oz. bag of milk chocolate chips melted with 4 Tbsp. vegetable shortening or chocolate melting chips. If using chocolate chips then you will need place the balls in the fridge to set up. If using chocolate candy coating then they should set up at room temp.

Cover balls with chocolate. Makes approximately 4 dozen.

Creative Christmas Gift Ideas for Neighbors and Friends

2009-12-10T17:31:00.000-08:00

I put this list together as a handout for my Super Saturday class. These are all ideas I have seen over the years or found online. I am not taking credit for any of them. I just thought I would share them in case you were looking for a creative gift idea. I would love to collect more ideas so please share if you have any! Also, if you would like to share photos of your gift ideas please email them to me at homemakingfun@live.com.

1- Make some Chex Muddie Buddies or buy a bag of Chex mix and attach a tag that says, "Santa Chex his list twice to see whose been naughty or nice...so be good for goodness sake!"

2- Attach a tag to a roll of cookie dough that says, "Here is some extra dough for Christmas!"

3- Attach a tag to a box of popcorn that says, "Just popping by to wish you a Merry Christmas!"

4- Attach a tag to a 2-Liter bottle of sprite that says, "May your holidays be Merry and Sprite!"

5- Attach a tag to a scented candle that says, "We hope you have a SCENTsational Christmas!" or "May your Christmas be Merry and Bright!"

6- Attach a tag to a soup mix that says, "Wishing you a SOUPER holiday season!"

7- Put a sugar cookie mix in a hot pad pocket and tie a cookie cutter to the loop on the hot pad with a ribbon.

8- Put Hershey Kisses in a wire whisk and wrap cellophane around the whisk. Attach a tag that says, "We WHISK you a merry KISSmas and a happy new year!"

9- Attach a tag to a bag of Jolly Ranchers that says, "Have a Holly "Jolly" Christmas!"

10- Attach a tag to a measuring cup filled with a Christmas treat that says, "Wishing you joy beyond measure this holiday season!"

11- Attach a tag to a bottle of sparkling cider that says, "Wishing you a sparkling Holiday season!"

12- Put Hershey Kisses and Hugs in a jar and attach a tag that says, "Holiday Hugs and Kisses to you!"

13- Attach a tag to a plate of homemade goodies that says, "Wishing you a season filled with sweetness!"

14-Attach a tag to a jar of homemade salsa that says, "Here's to add a little spice to your holiday season!"

15- Attach a tag to a cheese grater and a block of cheese that says, "Wishing Grate neighbors a Merry Christmas!"

16- Attach a tag to a jar or box of cocoa mix that says, "Wishing you a warm and wonderful holiday season!"

17- Attach a tag to a bag of pasta that says, "Have a Pasta-tively Merry Christmas!"

18- Attach a tag to a brownie, cookie or soup mix that says, "Whip up this mix for a wonderful holiday mix!"

19- Attach a tag to a plate of fudge (or bottle of homemade fudge sauce) that says, "Fudge a little on the calories and enjoy the holiday season!"

20- Attach a tag to a plate of warm cinnamon rolls that says, "Here's a sweet treat "Rolled" up with warm holiday wishes!"

21- Attach a tag to a bag or jar of seasoning that says, "Hoping your holidays are "spiced" just right!"

22- Attach a tag to a bottle of jam that says, "Hope your holidays are jam packed with cheer!"

23- Attach the following poem to a hot pad stitched together into a cone and filled with candy:

Eat My Treats
And Cut My Stitches
Then Use Me When You
Hold Hot Dishes

24- Attach a tag to an Oven Mitt filled with a package of spaghetti and a jar of spaghetti sauce that says, "We know how hectic the holidays can be with all the Christmas rush and fuss, so relax a bit- Open this mitt, and have some Spaghetti on us!"

Click HERE for cheap neighbor gift ideas from the Tip Junkie.

Click HERE for several creative gift ideas from Mormon Share.

Creations made by Moi shares some creative ideas on her blog as well. Click HERE to go to her blog.

Cookies For Santa Tray

2009-12-08T16:59:00.001-08:00

My friend Robin is very crafty and talented. She is always making the cutest things. She made this cookies for Santa tray. I LOVE this idea! Click HERE to go to her blog for more photos and the directions.

Thanksgiving Ideas and Printables

2009-11-23T17:44:00.001-08:00

Family Fun has a lot of free Thanksgiving printables. Here are a few of my favorites. They also have printable activity sheets, coloring pages, napkin rings, place cards and food labels.

These activity place mats would be a quick and easy way to set up a children's table. You could tie 3-4 crayons together with raffia to go with each place mat. Click HERE to go to Family Fun's website to print these place mats.

Here is another idea from Family Fun. I did something similar last year. The kids all loved creating their own artwork on the table covering. I set out crayons for the kids. I think this turkey marker holder centerpiece is a clever idea.
A Family Fun reader submitted the second picture. They inserted different colored suckers instead of markers.

I found these free printable turkey napkin rings, place cards, table decorations, and cupcake toppers on www.kate.net. Click HERE to go to kate.net for the napkin rings, place cards and table decoration. Click HERE for the matching cupcake toppers.

Last year I found this cute acorn idea on No Fuss Fabulous. I wanted to use this idea but I couldn't find any acorns. Click HERE to go to No Fuss Fabulous for more pictures, the directions and printables.

You can print these napkin rings, crayon holders, place mats and a centerpiece from www.alphamom.com. Click HERE to go to www.alpahmom.com for these downloads.

I love these cute pilgrim hat cookies from Taste of Home. Click HERE to go to their site for the directions.

Snowman Soup Gift Idea

2009-11-13T10:46:00.000-08:00

Here is another gift idea I put together for my Super Saturday class. I wish I had more time to blog. Since it is just a hobby I have to find time for it when I can. I also just had my main computer crash. It had all of my files and pictures on it so it may be a little while longer before I can get everything posted.

What you will need:

Small white paper sack (I bought a 12 pack from Micheal's for $2.99)
8" long by 1" wide pieces of ribbon
A copy of the Snowman Soup poem from Gina Jane (Click HERE to buy the digital kit)
Small handful of Hershey Kisses
2 Hot cocoa packets
A snack size bag of mini marshmallows
1 Peppermint stick or candy cane

I bought the digital kit by Gina Jane from www.daisycompany.com. I put the label together in my paint shop pro program. Then I sized it to fit the bags. I folded the tops of the bags over about 1 1/2 inches and then punched a single hole with my hole punch in the center about 1/2 inch down from the top. I attached the label to the front of the bag, filled the bag with two hot cocoa packets, a small handful of Hershey Kisses, a peppermint stick, and a snack size bag of mini marshmallows. I finished it off by tying a piece of ribbon through the hole and over the top of the bag in a single knot and then pulled the ribbon into shape.

Another option would be to put the ingredients together in a mug.

Here is the poem:

Snowman Soup

When the snowmen
get real chilly,
they make
a yummy brew.

Here's their secret
snowman soup mix.
You can make some too!

Pour the Cocoa.
Add hot water.
Stir
with the peppermint stick.

Toss in kisses
and marshmallows.
It's sure to do the trick.

-Gina Jane

A Star Wars Birthday Party

2009-11-08T12:34:00.001-08:00

The reason I haven't been posting lately is because my mom has been in town visiting. I was also working on this birthday party and a baptism. I am hoping to find more time to blog in the next few weeks. For now I thought I would share my son's Star Wars birthday party. I had a lot of fun planning this.

Here is a copy of the birthday invitations that I made. I erased our address and personal info.

Here is picture of the Jedi's at the beginning of the party. About an hour and a half before the party I told my mom that I wanted to make Jedi uniforms for the kids but had ran out of time. I wanted to make them out of brown material and use ropes to tie them on. Since we were short on time and couldn't make it to the fabric store she came up with an idea to make the uniforms out of brown paper bags. We had to use leftover green duct tape to hold them on since we didn't have any rope on hand. The grocery store I shop at gave us the paper bags for free.

When the guests arrived we gave them a Jedi uniform and a homemade light saber. We let them run around outside and chase each other around until all of the guests had arrived. They all LOVED it and nobody got hurt! I bought foam insulation tubes from the hardware store. They were $1.27 each. I cut each piece in half and wrapped green duct tape (from Micheal's)around the ends for the handles and then hot glued a white foam sticker on for the power button. This was super cheap and easy and they were a big hit with the kids.

For the first game I had printed a bunch of star wars character masks on white card stock. I cut them out and taped them to craft sticks. I blindfolded one child at a time and handed them a mask to hold up. The other children had to give them clues without saying the name of the character. If they guessed who they were then they won a prize. They were all able to guess their characters and had fun giving clues to the others. Click HERE to go to www.starwars.com for the printable masks.

The second game we played was kind of a Star Wars version of pin the tail on the donkey. I blindfolded each child and gave them a sticker. There were several ships on the poster. Each ship had a different amount of points. The kids who got the highest amount of points won a bigger prize. The others won a smaller prize.

The third game was Star Wars picture bingo. The Executive Homemaker shares a free printable Star Wars bingo game. Click HERE to go to her site for the game. The prizes were punch balls, mini play dough conatainers, bubbles, and mini candy bars.

We made a Death Star pinata. I found instructions to make this pinata on www.starwars.com. Click HERE for the directions. I used a punch ball instead of a balloon. After the paper mache dried we sprayed it with silver spray paint, taped off a pattern with blue painters tape and then mixed blue and silver glitter glue to paint over all of the pinata. When the glitter glue dried we peeled off the painters tape. This was a fun project to work on as a family. It took 3-4 days to work on because you have to wait for one coat of the paper mache to dry before you can start the next one. I would suggest at least 3 coats of paper mache.

Here is a picture of the table and place settings. I bought the plates, cups, cupcake holders, sticker game, birthday banner, and mural from www.ezpartyzone.com. I bought a black plastic tablecloth and napkins from Walmart and the silver and black balloons from the Dollar Tree.

For dinner we served Galactic Pizza and Yoda Sodas. For the Yoda Sodas we poured sprite over a scoop of lime sherbet.

Towards the end of the party I had the kids pair up to practice their light saber skills. After they had all taken turns practicing their Jedi skills Darth Vader showed up. Each Jedi got a turn to fight Darth Vader.

After they all had individual turns fighting Darth Vader they teamed up to finished him off. :)

I think this was the highlight of the party.

Each guest took home a bag with an activity/sticker book, their mask, a party blower, their prizes from the games and their pinata candy.

Candy Corn Cone Favors from Skip to my Lou

2009-10-29T18:22:00.000-07:00

I LOVE these cute candy corn cone favors from Skip to my Lou. I am definitely going to be making these next year for Halloween! Click HERE to go to Skip to my Lou for the free download.

Halloween Treat and Craft Ideas

2009-10-26T06:34:00.000-07:00

I was blog hopping this morning and found some cute Halloween ideas. I decided to share them in case any of you were looking for some last minute Halloween ideas too.

I found these cute mousse-filled witches hats on the Taste of Home website. Click HERE to go to their site for the recipe.

I found these cute spider cupcakes on a website called Not Martha via Room Mom 101. Click HERE for more pictures and the directions.

Isn't this a cute way to serve homemade rootbeer? Click HERE to go to The Sisters' Cafe for their homemade rootbeer recipe and directions.

I think this is such a cute but simple idea from Martha Stewart. You could even just use a permanent black marker to draw the faces on the front of the cups. Click HERE to go to her site for the directions.

I love this candy corn dessert idea from Life Is A Banquet. Click HERE to go to her blog for the recipe.

I think this candy corn cupcake idea from I Heart cupcakes is so cute! Click HERE to go to her blog for the tutorial.

I think this would be a fun craft to make with kids. I found this on Kaboose. Click HERE to go to their site for the directions.

This treat bag is also from Kaboose. Click HERE to go to their site for the directions.

I found this cute witches broom treat bag over at Homemaking Honeys. Click HERE to go to their blog for the tutorial.

I have always loved the frozen hand floating in punch idea. This picture is from simplystated.realsimple.com. Click HERE for the directions.

Cookies For Santa Kit

2009-10-23T06:57:00.000-07:00

This is another idea I came up with for my Super Saturday class. I think this would be a fun gift to give to friends with little kids. I put this kit together in September. I had a hard time finding Christmas sprinkles or scrapbook papers so I just had to use what I could find. I am sure you will have a lot more options closer to Christmas time.

Here is what you will need:

1 large clear paint can (I bought mine at Micheal's for $4.99 and used a 40% off coupon)
Red or green shredded paper (I bought a bag at the Dollar Tree, it goes a long way)
1 sugar cookie mix
1 can of frosting
Some sprinkles (I used red and green sugar crystals)
1 or 2 cookie cutters
Ribbon
Scrapbook paper (optional)

Place some shredded paper in the bottom of the paint can. Cut out and wrap some scrapbook paper around the can of frosting and sprinkles. Place the sugar cookie mix, can of frosting, sprinkles, and cookie cutter into the paint can. The bag of sugar cookie mix will need to be folded over at the top to fit in. Secure the lid and cut out some matching scrapbook paper to attach to the top of the lid. Finish it off by tying some ribbon around the paint can.

I created a label in paint shop pro using some clip art from www.pccrafter.com. The clip art is from the Santa's Elfers collection.

Caramel Apple Kit

2009-10-20T06:35:00.000-07:00

I recently taught a Super Saturday class at my church. The class was on Gifts in a Jar and other Creative Gift Ideas. I came up with several ideas and recipes. I am planning on sharing them all on this blog. I have been super busy though so I am going to have to post a few at a time for now. I decided to share this one first because it seems fitting for this time of the year.

What you will need:

One small clear paint can (I bought mine at Micheal's for $2.99)
1 package of Kraft caramel bits (package will include 5 popsicle sticks) These are caramel balls that come unwrapped and ready to melt. I found them at Super Walmart.
1/2 package of Wilton chocolate candy melts
1/2 cup chopped nuts, mini M&M's, Mini chocolate chips or other topping of your choice

I put each of the ingredients into ziploc bags and then layered them in the paint can along with the popsicle sticks. I created a simple label that includes the directions. The label will stick to the inside of the paint can without adhesives. I finished it off by tying a ribbon around the paint can. I also tied ribbons around the stems of the apples.

Here are the directions:

Insert a wooden stick into the stem of each apple. Spray
wax paper with cooking spray and set aside. Place caramel
bits and 2 Tbsp. water in a medium microwavable safe bowl.
Microwave on high for 2 minutes; stir until caramel bits
are completely melted. Dip apples into caramel until evenly
coated, spooning caramel over the apples if necessary.
Allow excess caramel to drip off. Scrape bottoms of apples;
place on wax paper. Refrigerate at least one hour. Melt
chocolate candy melts in a microwavable safe bowl for
30 second intervals until melted; stirring in between
each interval. Dip the caramel apples in the chocolate until
evenly coated or drizzle over the tips of apples with a spoon.
Sprinkle with nuts. Let apples set up.

Makes 5 caramel apples

General Conference Kits for Kids

2009-10-01T08:12:00.001-07:00

I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Twice a year we get to hear the leaders of our church speak during General Conference. I always look forward to these conferences. I love the spirit that it brings into our home.

Did you know that you can print a free conference activity packet for kids online? I love these packets! I wish they would have made them when I was growing up. They are such a great way to get kids excited for and involved in General Conference. Click HERE for the current conference packet.

For my kids I printed the bingo game, coloring pages, mazes, and crossword puzzles. I put some skittles in a bag for the bingo game and added enough snacks and drinks for my kids to have one of each during every session. I got the baskets from the Dollar Tree. These were really quick and easy to put together. My kids are both excited to get them on Saturday.

If you are not a member of the church and would like to learn more about it then watching General Conference is a GREAT way to find out more! They are always uplifting and inspiring.

You can watch conference live online at lds.org, click HERE to go to the site. click HERE to see the broadcast schedule.

A "Favorite Things" Party

2009-09-23T13:45:00.001-07:00

I just hosted this party with my friend Kristin. We had a lot of fun planning and hosting it!

We sent the invitations out using evite. Here is what the invitation said, You are invited to a "Favorite Things" exchange party! We all have that special something that we just can't live without like a lotion, a must- have kitchen gadget, a scented candle, or a fabulous accessory. Please bring one of your favorite things to swap. There is a $10 limit. Refreshments will be served.

When our guests arrived we handed out these questionnaires. We asked them to secretly fill them out and return them to us. After we collected all of them my friend Kristin read them out loud. The guests had to guess whose card was being read. It was a fun way to find out more about each other. The questions we asked were:

What is your favorite movie?
What is your favorite season?
What is your favorite holiday?
What is your favorite book?
What is your favorite hobby?

Next we handed out these tins of M&M's. We told the guests not to eat the M&M's until the game was over. For each color of M&M we had them name some of their favorite things. For example if they had three blue M&M's then they had to name three of their favorite TV shows. Here are the colors and questions we used:

Red - favorite restaurants
Blue - favorite TV shows
Green - favorite foods
Brown - favorite stores

Next we put everyone's "Favorite Things" in the middle of the room. We had everyone draw a number. The person with number one got to choose first. They opened their bag and showed everyone what was inside. Then we had the person who brought it explain why it was one of their favorite things. I didn't get a picture of the favorite things but here is a list of what everyone brought:

A Pumpkin Patch scented candle
A Japanese Cherry Blossom scented candle
Three Bath and Body Works hand soaps
A big bottle of Aveeno lotion
Some gourmet hot cocoa
A night mask that you put in the freezer and a lip gloss
Some chocolates and a set of cards
Some treats, nail polish, and nail stickers

For the refreshments we had an ice cream sundae bar. Everyone was able to top their ice cream with their favorite toppings. I took this picture before the party. We also had brownies, bananas, and whip cream. YUM!!!

I made simple napkin rings out of the matching scrapbook paper. I cut the strips of paper 4" long by 1 1/2" wide.

I found some white take out boxes at Micheal's craft store. I filled them with some of my favorite chocolates. (The Bliss milk chocolate meltaways are the best!) I wrapped them with a strip of matching scrapbook paper. The strips I used were 12" long by 1 1/2" wide. I taped one side to the bottom and then tightly wrapped it around the box and taped the other end to the bottom. Then I made the tags in paint shop pro and tied them on with ribbon. These were super fast and easy to make.

The favor boxes wrapped in the matching scrapbook papers.

No Sew Fleece Baby Blankets

2009-09-03T07:44:00.000-07:00

The church I belong to recently had an enrichment activity where the women got together one evening to make these no sew fleece baby blankets. The completed blankets will be donated to a hospital to be given out to children. We made these blankets in another ward I was in to give out to families with new babies. These are really easy and they make great gifts. Each blanket will take approximately one hour, depending on how fast you are.

What you will need:

1 yard of fleece
1 pair of sharp scissors
Measuring tape (optional)
One 3"X3" square paper template (optional)

The super EASY directions:

1. Trim selvage (the edge of a fabric that is woven so that it will not fray or ravel) from sides of fabric.

2. Take your 3" square template and lay it on one corner of the fleece. Cut around the template and then proceed to do this for all four corners. (You could fold the fleece in half for this part so you will only have to cut two squares instead of four.

3. Cut 3” long pieces of fringe around the perimeter of the fabric. Each strip of fringe should be 3"X1" wide. (You can lay a tape measure from corner to corner to help you cut evenly)

4. Beginning at a corner, tie a simple knot with each piece of fringe. Pull knots gently to tighten. Pulling too hard may cause stretching or tearing. You can stretch the fleece gently to ease puckers or loosen individual knots if needed.

Gift Idea: Roll the finished blanket up and tie it with a coordinating ribbon. You could also wrap a baby outfit inside of the blanket and then tie a rattle and gift tag to the ribbon.

Back to School Bash

2009-08-25T06:23:00.000-07:00

Freezer paper works great for making banners. You can roll it out to the length you want and then use paint and paint brushes to quickly add your message. The back side is shiny and keeps the paint from soaking through. Whenever my kids want to paint I get this paper out. It works great for painting! You can use the shiny side to let your kids finger paint with pudding! It is messy but your kids will love it! :)

I found a game at Walmart called Splash Out. It is kind of like hot potato. You put a water balloon inside and then set the timer. When the timer goes off the balloon pops and water splashes on whoever is holding it at the time. This is a fun water game to play on a hot day. I let the kids choose a sucker or roll of smarties when they got splashed and then they had to sit out. The last player left won a candy bar.

We played the traditional balloon toss. Each team tosses a water balloon to each other. If they successfully catch it then they each take a step back and continue to toss it until there is one team left. If your water balloon pops then you are out.

I found a package of 20 rocket balloons at target for $2.50. It came with a little hand air pump. Kids always love to let go of them and watch them fly around. You can usually reuse them two or three times before they pop. They provide a lot of entertainment at a cheap price. :)

We had the kids bring squirt guns for a water fight. It was a perfect day for a water fight because it was very hot and humid.

We finished the party by going on a train ride through the woods. It was a fun day!

Homemade Bubbles

2009-08-11T09:45:00.001-07:00

My husband's aunt gave me this recipe. I thought it sounded fun and couldn't wait to try it out. I made this for a park play date we had with some of our friends. The kids all had a lot of fun making and popping bubbles. I had a bunch of bubble wands to choose from and some plastic hangers. The plastic hangers make BIG bubbles! The kids loved that. I doubled the recipe because I was making it for a lot of kids. I can't believe I haven't tried this before now. It was so easy and the kids had so much fun with it.

All you need to do is combine

1 gallon of water
1 cup of Dawn dishwashing liquid detergent
1/2 cup light corn syrup

Slowly stir all ingredients together. You want to avoid making too many suds. It's that EASY!

A Pinkalicious Play Date

2009-07-25T16:06:00.000-07:00

I was inspired by this book. I love the color pink and thought it would be fun to host a pink themed play date for my daughter and her friends. I started out by reading this book to the girls.

After I read the book the girls made necklaces out of pink beads and then colored pinkalicous pictures that I printed from Elizabeth Kann's website. Click HERE to go to her site to print the pictures and get other pinkalicious activity ideas. I also made pink play dough that I sent home with the girls. Click HERE for my favorite play dough recipe.

For the refreshments I served pink cupcakes, pink frosted sugar cookies, pink wafer cookies, pink whopper candies and pink lemonade. I also added some grapes and strawberries to have something healthy. :)

Here is a close up of the refreshments.

I hot glued paper cups to the bottom of paper plates to make pink serving platters for the refreshments. I saw this idea in a Martha Stewart magazine for kids parties. They suggested putting a big rock or something heavy inside of the cups to help keep the platters balanced.

I hung lots of balloons from the ceiling and tied white tulle to the tops of them for the decorations.

A picture of the guests dressed in pink.

The guests took home a pink bag with pink treats and a container of pink play dough.

Macaroni Necklaces

2009-07-16T15:29:00.000-07:00

Every once in awhile I color macaroni noodles to keep in my craft container for rainy days. To make necklaces I tape one end of a piece of yarn and tie the other end. Taping one end makes it easier for the kids to put the noodles on. My kids always enjoy making patterns out of the different colored noodles. This time I used gel food coloring in place of regular food coloring to make the colors more vibrant.

Here are the directions:

Pour 2 Tbsp of rubbing alcohol with 3-4 drops of food coloring into ziploc bag and mix the two together. Then pour approximately 1 cup of dry uncooked macaroni noodles into the bag. Seal the bag and shake until the noodles are evenly colored. Drain excess liquid and then pour the noodles out onto a cookie sheet covered with paper towels. Spread the noodles out with a fork and let them dry. This will take about 30-60 minutes. Store colored macaroni in small containers with lids.

Firecracker Candy Favors

2009-06-23T10:08:00.000-07:00

I saw this idea from An Altered State of Mind on UCreate. These firecracker favors are made from Life Saver candy rolls. She just removed the existing wrapper, wrapped ribbon around them and then re-wrapped them with digital papers that she printed.

Here is a similar idea from Family Fun. They pushed foil picks into the center of the candy rolls on theirs.

I think these would be fun and easy to make. I love cute and simple ideas like this!

If You Give a Cat a Cupcake Storytime

2009-06-19T10:27:00.000-07:00

I started out our storytime by reading my kids If You Give a Cat a Cupcake. Then I let them decorate cupcakes with frostings and toppings. For the toppings I had sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, and gumdrops. I tried to find mini M&M's but they were sold out at the grocery store by my house. The kids both had fun decorating the cupcakes. I turned around for a minute and when I looked back I noticed that my daughter had spooned more toppings onto the plate then the cupcake. Now we have a bag of mixed toppings. :)

I found some free printables for this story on www.harpercollinschildrens.com. Click HERE for the picture above. I set out markers, glittery pom poms, sequins, sprinkles, and glue for my kids to decorate the cupcakes. They both enjoyed this activity as well.

This is one our finished cupcakes. I had to use hot glue to get the pom poms to stick to the paper. I thought these turned out cute!

I printed off the activity sheets that went with this story. Then I printed a quick cover sheet in paint shop pro to create these little activity books. Click HERE for the printable activity sheets from Harper Collins. I have to admit I even had fun doing this activity.

Candy Bar Awards

2009-06-13T13:12:00.001-07:00

My daughter just graduated from preschool. One of my friends made graduation gowns out of black garbage bags and printed diplomas for the kids. Another one of my friends bought the kids graduation hats from a party supply store, and I put together the candy bar awards. I had a lot going on so instead of creating award certificates in Paint Shop Pro I just printed some off that I found on line and used double sided tape to attach them to card stock. Click HERE to go to DLTK to create and print certificates and awards.

Here is a list of the candy bar awards that I created for the kids. You could probably make up an award out of any candy bar. :)

Snickers Award- For always making us "Snicker"
Smarties Award- For being so "Smart" (I bought a roll of the big smarties)
Sweet Tarts Award- For always being so "Sweet"
Mr. Goodbar Award- For being so "Good"
Skittles Award- For creating colorful artwork
M&M's Award- For being Marvelous & Magnificent
The Three Musketeer's Award- For joining our group and creating the Three Musketeers (We had 5 girls and two boys until the third little boy joined our group)

A few others I thought of were:
The Almond Joy Award- For always being a "Joy" to be around
Mounds- For being "Mounds" of fun
Laffy Taffy- For always making us Laugh

Celebrating the Last Day of School

2009-06-13T13:11:00.000-07:00

To celebrate the last day of school I wrapped some summer toys in buckets with cellophane and ribbons. I bought beach balls, bubble toys and wands, swim goggles, otter pops, water balloons, and pin wheels. We also met some of our good friends at a fun park that offered a train ride through the woods, miniature golf, and carousel rides. It also had a farm, a large play ground, and a nature center. I brought popsicles, punch balls, and water balloons for the kids. The kids all brought their own squirt guns and had a blast running around soaking each other.

Please share if you have a fun idea or tradition to celebrate the last day of school!

Teacher Appreciation Gift

2009-06-10T18:33:00.000-07:00

I know most schools are already out for the summer. However, I still wanted to share this idea. My son's last day of school was today. I had a hard time thinking of a thank you gift for his teacher. I finally came up with this idea. It was quick and easy. I just wrapped a scented candle in cellophane and tied it with a ribbon. Then I printed the saying, "Thank you for being a Scent-sational teacher!" and attached it to the cellophane with double sided tape.

Ballet Cupcakes and Wands

2009-06-08T18:24:00.003-07:00

Last weekend was my daughter's ballet recital. The day before the recital I found a link on One Pretty Thing for these cupcake toppers. The idea came from a blog called Composing Hallelujah. Click HERE to go to Composing Hallelujah for the cupcake topper tutorial. She actually made her dresses out of tissue paper. It was a rainy day and I didn't want to go to the store so I just used what I had on hand. I used tulle instead of tissue paper and pink straws instead of sucker sticks. This is also the reason I didn't bake them in cuter paper cups. :) I followed the same directions though. I was surprised at how easy these were to make.You can also make matching invitations by following the same directions except don't add the back skirt and tape the bodice and front skirt to a blank card or folded piece of card stock. You could also attach these to gift bags.
Another think you could do is use white card stock for the bodice and white tulle for the skirt to make wedding dresses for a bridal shower.

My friend's sister-in-law made the wands for the girls. She cut wooden dowels into 12" pieces. Then she hot glued and twisted satin and sheer ribbons around the dowels. She tied jingle bells to some heavy strings and put the strings about 3 or 4 inches down the dowels before she finished twisting the ribbon around them. (To secure them) The three strings with bells were all different lengths about 1" apart. Then she hot glued a bow and jingle bell to the top. She also made some with small sea shells. The song the were dancing to was about shells and bells. I can't remember the name of the song but these wands went really cute with it and the girls loved them.

Watermelon Sugar Cookies

2009-06-03T06:03:00.000-07:00

I saw this idea at a grocery store. I thought my kids would have fun making these for our cooking class. They were super easy to make. We just added green gel food coloring to the sugar cookie dough and red gel food coloring to the frosting. Then I let the kids sprinkle mini chocolate chips on top of the frosting to make the watermelon seeds. I always save leftover cookie dough for my kids to play with when we make sugar cookies. I always have a big mess to clean up but they love it. I think these cookies would be fun to make for a picnic.

* To make these even easier you could buy a sugar cookie mix and canned frosting.

M&M Cookies

2009-05-28T18:50:00.001-07:00

I have been looking for a good M&M cookie recipe for awhile now. I finally found a recipe that I love! These cookies are crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. I made these with my kids for our cooking class today. They loved pushing the M&M's into the cookie dough. I also think these would be fun to make into cookie pops by placing sucker sticks or popsicle sticks under the dough before baking them. Then you could put them into clear bags and tie them with colorful ribbons or curling ribbons.

1 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cups M&M's

Blend shortening and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Stir in half of candies. drop by teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheet. Decorate cookies with remaining candies.
Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes. I cook mine until the edges are light brown and then let them sit on the cookie sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

A Princess Birthday Party

2009-05-17T08:23:00.001-07:00

I magically turned each one of the girls into a real princess by sprinkling magic princess dust on their heads, giving them a princess wand, and placing a princess tiara on their heads. I also gave them each a Royal Princess Certificate stating they had become a real princess.

Here is a picture of the birthday girl being turned into a real princess.

Here is a picture of the newest princesses.

I printed a label and taped it to a tube of glitter for the magic princess dust. Then I tied some curling ribbon to the top of the lid.

Here is a picture of the cupcakes. I forgot to take a picture after I filled the beverage jar with pink lemonade but it looked pretty.

I made magic wands for the cupcake toppers by cutting 2 1/2" stars out with my cricut machine, taping them to sucker sticks and tying curling ribbon to the sticks.

I ordered the Belle cake from a local grocery store.

I found the matching plates, napkins, cups and favor boxes at Walmart.

For the games we had a pinata, played pass the wand, pin the tiara to the princess, played a princess bean bag toss game, and I let the girls pick some jewels out of a treasure box. This was a fun party to plan and host.

An All Things Chocolate Recipe Exchange

2009-05-05T19:31:00.001-07:00

I recently hosted an All Things Chocolate recipe exchange for a Relief Society enrichment night. It was a fun girls night out and everyone went home with some great new recipes.

Here is a picture of the table before the party.

I used a 1 1/2" circle punch to punch out the Hershey kisses and then cut 2" circles out of brown card stock with my cricut machine. I glued the kisses to the brown circles and then cut out small brown strips of card stock and glued them to the back of the brown circles to make the napkin rings.

I filled small treat bags with Hershey kisses for the favors. I bought a 60 oz. bag of Hershey kisses at Costco for $8.89 and it went a long way. I still had leftovers after making the favors, filling the glass jar and the candy dish.

I filled a jar full of Hershey kisses and printed out little slips of paper for the guests to guess how many kisses were in the jar. The person who guessed the closest won the jar of Hershey kisses. I also glued some pictures of Hershey kisses to the bottom of three plates. The people who picked up those plates each won a chocolate candy bar. I found a Hershey kiss candy jar that opens up and plays songs about kissing when you press the button. :)

I am missing a few of the recipes however I have posted the ones I have on my recipe blog. Click on the names below for the recipes. I recommend them all!

Oreo Balls
Chocolate Peanut Butter Ritz Cookies
Cake Balls
Chocolate Carrot Cake
Fudgy Brownies
Robin's To Die For Turtles

Ice-Cream Cookie Cups

2009-04-27T09:29:00.000-07:00

I found this recipe on Family Fun's website. I made these last weekend and they were a big hit. We all LOVED them. These are delicious and easy to make. I will definitely be making these again. Here is the recipe. I got 6-7 cookie cups out of this recipe.

1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1. To make the cookie cups, beat together the shortening, butter, and sugar in a large bowl. Add the egg and vanilla extract, beating until combined.

2. In a separate bowl, sift together the salt, baking powder, and flour, then gradually stir them into the batter. Stir in the chocolate chips.

3. Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a flat disk, and wrap it in plastic. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

4. Heat the oven to 375°. Turn two 12-cup muffin tins bottom side up and cover 10 of the cup bottoms with squares of aluminum foil (use every other cup so there's some space between them). Grease the foil with shortening and set it aside.

5. Unwrap 1 disk of dough, place it between 2 sheets of waxed paper, and roll it out to a 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out 4-inch circles of dough and place each one over a cup bottom, smoothing out any cracks. Repeat with the other disk, rerolling and reusing any scraps.

6. Bake the cookie cups for 10 to 12 minutes or until light brown. Let them cool for 10 minutes, then remove the foil and cookies together from the muffin pan. Peel off the foil and let the cups cool completely on a rack. Just before serving, fill each cookie cup with a scoop of ice cream. Makes 10.

A Teddy Bear Picnic

2009-04-25T10:47:00.000-07:00

When I found out I was going to be watching my friend's daughters during lunch time I decided to put together a teddy bear picnic for the girls. I already had most everything on hand so it was pretty easy to put together. I checked out some teddy bear themed books from the library to read to the girls during the picnic.
I found a picture of a teddy bear under google images. I used it to create place cards, napkin rings and cupcake toppers. This was quick and easy.

I went the easy route and bought some cupcakes from the grocery store. For the cupcake toppers I used my cricut machine to cut the circles out and then taped them to toothpicks.

I cut teddy bear shapes out of bread with a cookie cutter for the sandwiches. I also served fruit, chips, mini teddy grahams, and lemonade.

After the picnic I took the girls on a bear hunt. They got lucky and found some teddy bears hiding under a tree. I put a little teddy bear and a lip gloss necklace in a bag for each of the girls. I bought the teddy bears on clearance after Valentine's Day. I already had the lip gloss necklaces and bags in my party supply drawer. I love to keep things on hand for last minute occasions like this!

In our play room I set up a table and covered it with blankets to make a bear cave for the girls to play in. I also printed some pictures of a teddy bear having a picnic for them to color. This was a fun afternoon.

A Bug Themed Evening

2009-04-18T06:09:00.000-07:00

I washed plastic bugs and placed them in the chip dip. I made ants on a log by spreading peanut butter on celery sticks and then topping them with raisins.

I made lady bug strawberries. I cut strawberries in half and then dipped the tips into melted chocolate. Then I spooned some of the melted chocolate into a zip loc bag and cut a small hole in one corner. I piped the chocolate out to make a line down the middle and the spots. These were quick and easy and the kids loved them!

I made a simple bug juice label on my computer and filled water bottles with Hawaiian punch packets to make bug juice.

I made worm hot dogs. These are easy to make. You just need to bring some water to a boil. Cut 4-6 slits along one half of each hot dog. Make the cuts about 1/4" apart and 1/2" deep. turn each hot dog over and make 4-6 cuts on the opposite side. Cook the hot dogs in the boiling water for about 5 minutes or until they become curvy. Remove from the water, and drain on paper towels. Place the hot dogs on open buns. I put a small amount of mustard in a zip loc bag, cut a small hole in the corner of the bag and piped eyes and a smile on the worms.

For dessert I served the kids worms in dirt. I filled the cups with chocolate pudding, topped them with Oreo crumbs and placed some gummy worms inside.

While I was getting dinner ready I let the kids create their own bugs. I put out different colored papers, glue, scissors, crayons, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, pom poms, and a few other craft supplies.

Here are their finished bugs! I thought they all did a great job. I printed off award ribbons from www.billybear4kids.com and attached them to Hershey candy bars. To get the template for the award ribbon click HERE.
The awards were for the most colorful bug, the most creative bug, the best named bug, the cutest bug, and the creepiest bug.

After dinner we went on a walk to a nearby park to look for bugs. Then we came home and watched The Ant Bully. We were going to watch A Bugs Life but we couldn't find it. The kids all had a lot of fun.

Easter Table Settings

2009-04-14T09:39:00.000-07:00

I decided to share what I did for my Easter dinner place settings this year.

For the adult table I filled mini baskets with candy and wrapped them with cellophane and ribbon. I was going to tie name tags on with the ribbon but I ran out of time.

For the children's table I filled small bags with candies and toys and tied name tags on with ribbon. My kids always like to go around the table looking for their name. I made carrot napkin holders out of orange card stock. I got the idea from Busy Bee Kids Crafts. Click HERE to go to Busy Bee Kids Crafts for the tutorial.

I always love to hear your ideas. So please share if you did anything fun for Easter!

Egg a Friend's Lawn

2009-04-09T13:07:00.000-07:00

I saw this idea on www.executivehomemaker.com. I let my kids help me fill the eggs and place them on our friend's front lawn. They loved being sneaky and had a lot of fun doing this. This is going to be a new family tradition.
You can print the sign for free. Click HERE to go to the Executive Homemaker to print the sign.

Easter Bunny Candy Bar Wrappers

2009-04-07T14:07:00.001-07:00

Katrina over at Katrina's Kreations has shared her templates for these cute Easter Bunny wrappers. All you have to do is print the template, cut it out, and glue on a bow if you want to. You can also glue a white pom pom on the back for the tail. What an easy and cute Easter favor! Click HERE to go to Katrina's site to download the templates.

Ideas for Decorating Easter Eggs

2009-04-04T17:50:00.000-07:00

How to make hard boiled eggs:

Place the eggs in a large saucepan. Add enough cold water to come 1 inch above the eggs. Bring to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat so water is just below simmering. Cover and cook for 15 minutes; drain. Run cold water over the eggs or place them in ice water until cool enough to handle; drain. The eggs must be completely cool and dry, to decorate successfully.

Crayon resist eggs-
Color a design on your white hard boiled egg and then dip it in the colored dye. The wax will resist the dye and your design will show through.

Painted eggs-
Use undiluted food coloring and a cotton swab or small paint brush to paint on hard boiled eggs. Let the eggs sit in egg cups until dry.

Rubber band design eggs-
Wrap rubber bands around hard boiled eggs, then drop them in the colored dye. Remove eggs, pat dry with paper towel and remove rubber bands. The parts of the egg covered with rubber bands will not be colored. Once the rubber bands are removed, you can drop the egg into a different color dye if you want to.

Sponge painted eggs-
Cut a sponge into small pieces Pour some acrylic paint onto wax paper. Clip the sponge pieces onto clothes pins, one for each color of paint. Dip the sponge into the paint and dab the egg with it. Put the egg in an egg cup to dry. You should not eat eggs that have been painted. You could save the painted eggs for egg rolling.

Sticker stencil eggs-
Place a sticker on the hard boiled egg, then place the egg in the colored dye. Remove the egg from the dye and let it dry before removing the sticker.

Glitter glue eggs-
Use glitter glue to decorate your hard boiled eggs. Let eggs sit in egg cups until the glue dries. You could also use white or craft glue and sprinkle glitter on the eggs.

Egg Heads-
Use markers, googly eyes, yarn, and small pom poms to create egg heads.

Pictures are from www.familyfun.go.com and www.amazingmoms.com

Please leave a comment if you have any other ideas!

Princess Wand Cupcake Toppers

2009-04-03T09:13:00.001-07:00

I made these cupcakes for my daughter's 5th birthday party. These were quick and easy to make. I just cut out 2 1/2" stars with my cricut machine, taped them to sucker sticks and tied curling ribbon under the stars.

Easter Treat Ideas from Betty Crocker

2009-04-03T08:57:00.000-07:00

Click HERE for directions to make the Easter basket cake.
Click HERE for directions to make the Easter bunny cake.
Click HERE for directions to make the rainbow egg cookies.
Click HERE for directions to make the bunny cupcakes.

Free Printables for a Child's Easter Table

2009-04-03T06:01:00.001-07:00

Skip to my Lou has some free printables for a child's Easter table. I think these are so cute!
I might be using these this year. Click HERE to go to her site and print these.

Shaped French Toast

2009-04-02T09:55:00.000-07:00

I love Wilton's comfort-grip cookie cutters. I use them all of the time. I always cut shapes out of sandwiches for my kid's lunches. For St. Patrick's Day my sister-in-law Haylee made french toast shaped like shamrocks. She even added green food coloring to make them green. I thought it was such a cute idea and wondered why I hadn't thought of it. The other day I made my kids butterfly and dinosaur shaped french toast for breakfast. My daughter is usually not a big breakfast eater but she loved the butterfly shaped french toast and ate it all gone. I found the dinosaur shaped sandwich cutter at the grocery store. I love how it uses most of the bread and just cuts off the crust.

Homemade Bag Giveaway from Deck the Halls of Home with Joy

2009-04-01T12:43:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite blogs is Deck the Halls of Home with Joy. She makes the cutest bags and just opened a shop on etsy. Visit her blog, become a follower, and leave a comment telling her which bag you like the most and you could win one of these adorable bags! I hope I win but if not I hope one of you will! :) Here is a link to her etsy shop.
One more thing, you only have until 10:00 pm tonight to enter.

A Spring Luncheon/Play Date

2009-03-27T11:29:00.000-07:00

I planned a Spring luncheon/play date for my daughter and a few of her friends.

The flower decorations/favors. Skip to my Lou made a printable template for her flower suckers that say "Happy Spring". I painted mini terra cotta pots pink and purple. I taped straws to the back of the flowers and hot glued the straws to the bottom of the pots. Then I filled them with green paper grass and chocolate candies. I also used double sided foam tape to attach a peanut butter cup to the center of the flowers. Click HERE for the template from Skip to my Lou.

I let each of the girls plant and take home a flower. They decorated their flower pots with spring foam stickers.

This was the only picture I got of the food. I served flower and butterfly shaped sandwiches, grapes, apples, bananas, fruit dip, cheese cubes, chips and lemonade. (I used Wilton cookie cutters to cut the shapes out of slices of bread)

We decorated flower and butterfly shaped sugar cookies for dessert.

Dinosaur Themed Storytime

2009-03-24T13:19:00.000-07:00

Dino Dig Cupcakes

I saw this idea on a blog called Fun Snacks 4 Kids. I thought this was a cute idea and had to try it out. I picked up a few dinosaur books from the library and turned it into a Storytime activity. My kids LOVED this! The books were cute too. The books are by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague.

DINO DIG CUPCAKES

You will need to buy small plastic dinosaurs and wash them. Then prepare a chocolate cake mix for cupcakes. You could also bake a cake and put several dinosaurs inside. I used a jumbo sized muffin pan and filled each muffin cup 1/3 full. Then I placed a plastic dinosaur in each cup and covered with more batter to about 3/4's full. Don't worry the dinosaurs won't melt. After the cupcakes have cooled give each child two popsicle sticks and let them pretend to be a paleontologist and dig the dinosaurs out.

Bunny Fold Napkins

2009-03-19T07:41:00.000-07:00

I love these bunny fold napkins. You can find directions on Martha Stewart's website to make these. Click HERE for the directions.

St. Patrick's Day Breakfast

2009-03-18T05:56:00.000-07:00

This year I decided to make a fun St. Patrick's Day breakfast for my family. I cut shamrock place mats out of green poster board. I also cut small shamrocks out of the leftover scraps and punched two holes in the middle of some for the straws and glued ribbons around the others to go around the napkins. I also used the scraps to make place cards.

I found some mini terra cotta pots at the Dollar Tree. (3 in a pack) I painted them black and filled them with Rollo's to make pots of gold.

For breakfast I served green shamrock waffles and Lucky Charms.

St. Patrick's Day Printables and Games

2009-03-15T13:02:00.000-07:00

We normally celebrate St. Patrick's Day by doing some activities together as a family after dinner. This year I have a church function I will be attending on St. Patrick's Day so we celebrated a few days early.

We will still be decorating a magic treasure box to leave in the moonlight for the Leprechauns the night before St. Patrick's Day. My kids talk about this all year long! Click HERE to get the details.

I printed a copy of this coloring page for both of my kids and told them to color everything in the picture except for the coins. When they were finished coloring we glued gold glitter on the coins. Click HERE for this picture.

My kids always love mazes so I printed them both a copy of this shamrock maze. Click HERE for this maze.

I found a link to this game on Room Mom 101's blog. She has a lot of fun ideas. My kids both enjoyed this game. To play this game you will need to print a page for each person playing and one die. The shamrock has different numbers on different sections of the picture. Each time you roll the die you get to color the section with that number on it. The first person to finish coloring their shamrock wins. Click HERE for this game.

Souvenir Boxes

2009-03-12T13:49:00.000-07:00

We love to travel and see new places. We always let our kids pick a small souvenir or postcard. I have been wanting to make these souvenir boxes for a long time and finally got around to it. Now they have a place to keep all of their souvenirs and postcards. I also bought some small photo books to store their postcards in. I used mod podge to glue scrapbook papers to the boxes and photo books. Then I brushed another layer of mod podge over the top and tied tags on with ribbon. This was a quick and easy project.

Cold Stone Tour

2009-03-12T13:48:00.000-07:00

I organized a Cold Stone Creamery tour for our preschool group. It was $8 a child (which included a waffle bowl with ice cream) and there was a 13 child minimum. The manager started out by teaching the kids an ice cream song. Then she took them in the back and showed them how they make ice cream. While the ice cream was being made (It took 9 minutes) she let them take turns going into the big freezer and helping her take inventory. After the ice cream was finished she gave each of the children a sample of it. Then they washed their hands and were able to go behind the counter and choose one flavor of ice cream and one topping to mix together. Then it was put into a waffle bowl for them to eat. The kids all had a blast! In my opinion it was definitely worth the $8. I think this would be a fun thing to do with my nieces and nephews.

St. Patrick's Day Party Games

2009-03-07T08:29:00.001-08:00

My friend Jody hosted our preschool St. Patrick's Day party. She did a great job and had a lot of cute ideas.

-She made green cupcakes and let the kids take turns mixing green food coloring into white frosting to make the frosting green.

-She had them play a game where the kids all had to put their hands behind their backs. She had one child close their eyes and then gave another child a gold coin to hide behind their back. Then the child who closed their eyes was allowed to open them and had to guess who was hiding the gold coin behind their back.

-She printed out and colored shamrock coloring pages. She had the kids place them all over her living room. When she played the music the kids were suppose to dance around. When she turned the music off they had to run and find a shamrock picture to stand on.

-She had them paint bananas green.

-She had them sit in a circle and pass a potato when she played music.

-She printed off and colored a picture of a Leprechaun. She wrote all of the kids names on small shamrocks and attached tape to the back of them. She used a scarf to tie around their eyes. They were suppose to stick the shamrocks to the Leprechauns hat.

She also put green food coloring in her milk and toilet water. The kids loved it all!

Snow Painting

2009-03-04T09:37:00.000-08:00

My kids had a lot of fun with this activity. All you need to do is fill spray bottles with water and add some food coloring.

A friend of mine recently told me that I had my blog settings set so that no one could comment. I quickly changed the setting. I have loved reading your comments and hearing about your ideas. Thanks to everyone who has commented!

Dr. Seuss Day

2009-03-03T08:04:00.001-08:00

March 2nd is Dr. Seuss' birthday. We love Dr. Seuss books so we had to celebrate this occasion! I made green eggs and ham for breakfast. There was a big snowstorm so I wasn't able to make it to the store to pick up cubed ham. My kids like cubed ham but had no interest in eating the sliced ham lunch meat. I will make sure to buy the ham in advance next year. :) I was also unable to make it to the craft store due to the weather so I had to make the hats out of the supplies I had on hand. Since I didn't have red paper I had to use red crepe paper for the stripes on the hats. I saw a link for the hat idea on Skip to my Lou's website. Click HERE for the directions. They are so easy to make! I also used makeup crayons that I got on clearance after Halloween to draw whiskers on their faces.

Throughout the day I read my kids Dr. Seuss books and let them watch Dr. Seuss movies that I had checked out from the library. That evening we read The Sneetches and then let the kids pick a cupcake for dessert. In the book there are Sneetches with green stars on their bellies and plain bellied Sneetches. My kids both picked a cupcake with a star.
I pressed a small star cookie cutter on top of the yellow frosting to get a star outline. Then I traced the star outline in green frosting with the Wilton tip #4 and then filled the stars in using the Wilton tip #17. I used Wilton's buttercream frosting. Click HERE for the recipe.

I printed off a dot to dot, a maze and a match the Dr. Seuss character to the name activity page. I punched a hole in the top corners and tied them together to make little activity books for my kids. They loved this activity. I printed these from www.seussville.com. Click HERE to go to www.seussville.com.

We played a game called There is a Wocket in my Pocket. I put 12 small items on a cookie sheet. I kept it covered with a dish towel until it was time to play. My kids loved this game and have continued to play it together several times since. :) One person puts an object in their pocket while the others turn around. The first person who can guess which item is missing gets a point. The person with the most points at the end of the game wins.

A Fancy Nancy Party

2009-02-27T15:22:00.000-08:00

A picture of the fancy girls modeling their new accessories on the stage.

Some of the party decorations.

Some accessories to help make the girls as fancy as Nancy.

Turning plain bags into fancy bags to hold their new fancy accessories.

I served parfaits for dessert which is the fancy word for ice cream sundaes.

The invitations.

If you have never read the Fancy Nancy books then you are missing out! They are adorable. I decided to have a Fancy Nancy party because the little girls in our preschool group love to dress up and be fancy. I had so much fun planning this party.

A friend of mine was kind enough to print the invitations off in color for me. I attached them to card stock and then tied little tiaras to them with ribbon and cellophane. You can print the same invitations from harpercollinschildrens.com. Click HERE to go to the link. If you scroll down you can also print off a Fancy Nancy coloring page. I printed those off for the girls to color after decorating their bags.

You can find directions to make the paper bag flowers on Martha Stewart's website. Click HERE to go to the link. I helped my friend put these together for a church activity. She was kind enough to let me borrow them for this party. These are easy to make and you can easily fold them up and save them to use again in the future.

I made the Fancy Nancy banner by cutting 12X12 card stock sheets into fourths. I cut the lettering and flowers out with my cricut machine. I punched two holes in the top corners of each sheet and strung white yarn through the holes.

I used hot glue to attach flowers to the straws and then tied white ribbons under the flowers. I also used hot glue to attach ribbon and bows to the cups. (I did this right before the guest arrived. I wish I would have had time to trim the bows) I found some white heart paper dollies on clearance from Valentine's Day and used them to place under the cups. I also glued flowers to ribbons and then tied them around the napkins. For the place cards I wrote the girls names in glitter.

When the girls first arrived I started the party by reading the original Fancy Nancy book. After reading the book I gave all of the girls accessories so they could help turn a plain mom into a fancy mom. My friend did a great job playing the part. Then I gave them each a cookie to practice eating with their pinkies out. After that I handed out the fancy accessories (glasses, necklaces and rings) and had the girls model their new fancy accessories on the stage (A table covered with a plastic tablecloth). My friend also brought a bag of cute butterfly hair clips for the girls. Then they decorated plain bags with crayons and foam stickers to turn them into fancy bags to take their new accessories home in. We ended our party by making parfaits. (Parfaits are fancy for ice cream sundaes) I bought a gallon of vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, caramel, strawberry and pineapple ice cream toppings, bananas, nuts, mini chocolate chips, sprinkles, mini marshmallows, whipped cream and maraschino cherries.

An Oobleck Themed Storytime

2009-02-23T10:38:00.000-08:00

I checked out a Bartholowmew and the Oobleck book from the library.

After I read my kids the story we made oobleck by mixing 1 cup of cornstarch with 1/2 cup of water and mixing in green food coloring. You can add more cornstarch to the mixture to make it thicker or more water to make it thinner. I gave them different sized containers, plastic frogs and army men to play with. It looks really messy but it washes up really quick and easy.

For the snack I mixed green food coloring with vanilla pudding to make an oobleck dessert. My kids loved this activity.

A Curious George Themed Storytime

2009-02-17T16:45:00.001-08:00

I bought a red plastic tablecloth from the dollar store and used my son's stuffed Curious George and some bananas for the decorations. We started out by reading a Curious George book.

I bought a pad of Crayola Giant Watercolor paper and some watercolor sets so my kids could paint like Curious George. Finger paints would also be fun.

My kids love dot to dots and mazes. I also found a Curious George mask template. I found some great websites where you can print these and other Curious George activities. Here are the links I used:

www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/cgsite/partykitpdfs/newcgpartykit_full.pdf
www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/cgsite/gamesandfun.shtml

Here are the finished masks. The kids had fun coloring and cutting out their masks. Then we taped them to craft sticks. I recommend using white card stock for the masks.

For the snack we made chocolate covered frozen bananas. I peeled the bananas, cut them in halves and inserted popsicle sticks into them. Then I covered them and placed them in the freezer for 2-3 hours. I melted half of a 11.5 oz bag of milk chocolate chips in the microwave and used a butter knife to spread the melted chocolate onto the bananas. Then we topped them with sprinkles and chopped nuts. The chocolate will harden fast so you have to be quick to get the sprinkles and nuts to stick. You can eat these right away or place them back into the freezer until you are ready to serve them. These were really good!!!
A 11.5 oz bag of chocolate chips will make approx. 8 banana halves.

You could also buy balloons and prepare a bubble activity to go with this theme. If you have any other ideas that would be fun to use with this theme please leave a comment!

Candy Bar Bouquet and Candy Bar Cards

2009-02-14T05:35:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day is all about flowers and chocolates right? :) I figured I couldn't go wrong with a candy bar bouquet for my husband.

These are so simple to make. I already had the vase on hand. I trimmed a floral piece of foam to fit in the vase, filled the vase with red shredded filler, taped the candy bars to bamboo skewers and then poked the sharp side of the bamboo skewer down into the foam. I finished it off with a Valentine's Day ribbon. You can make these candy bouquets for birthday presents, Father's Day gifts, or teacher appreciation gifts. Last year I made my husband one using a big Father's Day mug in place of the vase.

I made these for my kids. I cut big hearts out of red posters and taped candy bars on to write a Valentine's Day message. Then I taped a balloon on the heart. I wish I would have gone out sooner to look for the candy bars. I got them the night before and the store I went to didn't have a good variety to choose from. So this is what mine ended up saying:

Dear Kaden (Kaylee),

Thank you for your hugs and "Kisses". We love to hear you "Snicker". You always come through for us when we are in a "Crunch". We love you even when you act like an "Airhead".

Love,
Mom and Dad

Our kids LOVED these! I am sure you could make it cuter with different candy bars but that is all I could come up with at the last minute. :)

Flower Valentine Idea From Skip to My Lou

2009-02-13T06:41:00.000-08:00

If you haven't checked out the blog Skip to my Lou then you should. She has a lot of really cute ideas. My friend Kristin helped her son make these flower lollipop Valentine's for our preschool Valentine's Day party. They turned out really cute. You can download a free template for them on Skip to My Lou's blog. Click HERE to go to her blog to get the free templates.

Valentine's Day Ideas from Family Fun

2009-02-10T19:10:00.001-08:00

Family Fun is definitely my favorite website. It just seems to keep getting better and better! :) Here are some cute ideas I found on their site under their Valentine's Day section.

From red construction paper, cut out a heart that's just larger than the lollipop candy and glue it to the wrapper. For the leaves, fold the green paper in half and cut out a leaf shape, leaving the two sides attached at the seam. Unfold the double leaf shape, coat the entire inside surface with glue, and fold it back over the lollipop stem, pressing to secure.

Print the template onto card stock, or cut out the template and have your kids trace around it onto colored paper. Cut out the butterfly pattern and spots for the wings. Cut the slots for the candy-stick body. Open the wings and weave the candy stick down into one slit and up through the other. To make the antennae, wind the pipe cleaner tightly around one end of the candy stick so that two equal lengths extend upward and then curl the ends. Finally, decorate your butterfly with the dots and write your message on the back. Click HERE to get the butterfly template from Family Fun's website.

Use a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut heart shapes out of watermelon slices. Poke a bamboo kitchen skewer through each heart, then complete the arrow with an orange tip and tail.

Lightly coat a 10X15-inch baking sheet and set aside. Make the Rice Krispy treats recipe. Click HERE for the recipe. Smooth out the mixture, spreading it to an even thickness. Cut out hearts with a heart shaped cookie cutter and place in bags. Tie bags with ribbon.

You can also make heart shaped sandwiches, pizzas, brownies and cookie bars. Be creative!

Heart Shaped Play Dough

2009-02-09T10:15:00.001-08:00

My daughter helped me make these for her preschool group. This is my favorite recipe for play dough. We were able to make eight 1-inch thick hearts by doubling the recipe. We used a rolling pin to roll the dough out to a 1-inch thickness and then used a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut them out. We are going to use these for an activity during a preschool lesson but I think these would be fun to make to give out as Valentine's as well.

Here is the recipe:

2 cups flour
1/2 cup salt
1 Tbsp cream of tartar
1 3/4 cups boiling water
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
food coloring

Combine flour, salt, and cream of tartar; mix well. Stir in boiling water, oil and food coloring. Cool 10 minutes. Knead until smooth. Store in airtight container.

Heart Shaped Cinnamon Rolls

2009-02-09T09:26:00.003-08:00

It is so easy to make heart shaped cinnamon rolls. All you have to do is roll the dough from two sides towards the middle instead of rolling it all from one side. Like the picture below.

Next just slice the dough into rolls using dental floss or string as you would for regular cinnamon rolls. Then pinch the bottom of the dough to shape it into a heart.

I just baked four of these rolls and froze the rest to bake for Valentine's Day. To freeze the dough just place the cinnamon rolls (Right after you slice them, they will rise when you thaw them) on a cookie sheet and cover with plastic wrap until the dough is frozen. Then put the frozen cinnamon rolls in freezer bags until ready to bake. Take the frozen Cinnamon rolls out of the freezer the night before and let them thaw in a greased baking pan covered with plastic wrap in the fridge over night. In the morning take them out and let them sit at room temp. until about double in size. (1-2 hours) Then bake them according to the recipe. You can also make them the night before and let them rise in the fridge over night. Click HERE for my favorite Cinnamon roll recipe.

Homemade Candy Bars

2009-02-05T17:31:00.000-08:00

This is a fun activity for kids. Line a small cookie sheet or plates with wax paper. You will need one Hershey's chocolate bar per child. Let the kids break their candy bar into pieces. In a microwave safe bowl microwave the chocolate until melted. For about 20-30 seconds at a time on half power. Stir in between. Then let the kids pick toppings to stir into their chocolate. When they are done let them pour their chocolate mixture onto the cookie sheet lined with wax paper. They can pour the chocolate to make shapes if they want. My kids wanted to put more toppings on after they poured the mixture onto the wax paper. Put in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes or until the chocolate has set. My kids had a lot of fun making these and loved eating them.

Here are the finished products. My son made a cookie and my daughter made a butterfly.

Here are some mix-in ideas:

Chocolate chips (white, milk chocolate, peanut butter or butterscotch)
Mini-marshmallows
Peanuts, walnuts or almonds
Toffee bits
Rice Krispies
M&M's (regular size or minis)
Coconut

Krispy Kreme Heart Doughnuts

2009-02-02T14:20:00.000-08:00

Look at these cute heart shaped Valentine's Day doughnuts. At participating Krispy Kreme locations from January 19th-February 14th you can buy these doughnuts. I might be picking some of these up for my husband this Valentine's Day!
Also, if you purchase any dozen doughnuts you will receive 12 free Krispy Kreme Valentine's that each include a coupon for one free doughnut. Who doesn't LOVE Krispy Kreme doughnuts! :)

Chinese New Year "Lucky Money" Envelopes

2009-02-01T14:23:00.000-08:00

Chinese New Year in the most important of the Chinese Holidays. During Chinese New Year it is traditional for parents and elders to give gifts of "lucky money" to children. The money, which can vary from a small, new coin to a substantial sum, is always presented in a red envelope. I bought some envelopes at a little Chinese gift shop in Chinatown. You could easily make your own by printing a template on red paper. Click HERE for a link to an envelope template. I put these envelopes on my kid's pillows. Who doesn't like to get money? :)
I like to make Chinese food for dinner on this holiday and fortune cookies are a must have. :) I also try to play a game and make a craft with my kids.

Homemade Paper Lanterns

2009-02-01T13:37:00.000-08:00

Decorate with Homemade Paper Lanterns for Chinese New Year

This is a quick and easy craft for kids to make. My kids loved making these. Plus it is a cheap and easy way to decorate for Chinese New Year. We already had everything on hand.

What you will need:

Colored paper, card stock or standard printer paper
scissors
glue or stapler

Fold a rectangular piece of paper in half, making a long, thin rectangle. Make a series of cuts (about 10-12) along the fold line. Leave about 1-inch uncut at the edge of the paper. Unfold the paper. Glue or staple the short edges of the paper together. Cut a strip of paper 6 inches long and about 1/2-1 inch wide. Glue or staple the piece of paper across one end of the lantern to make the handle. You can make several lanterns and string them along string or yarn for decorations.

JELL-O Homemade Pudding Pops

2009-01-29T10:16:00.000-08:00

I LOVED JELL-O pudding pops when I was a little girl. I still do and so do my kids. This was an easy recipe for my kids to help make. They loved taking turns stirring the pudding mix into the milk and then stirring in the cool whip. I poured the mixture into the cups and then let my kids push the popsicle sticks in.
These are so YUMMY!!!

2 cups Cold Milk
1 pkg. (4 serving size) JELL-O Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding and Pie Filling
1 cup Cool Whip
5 (5-oz) Paper or Plastic Cups
5 Popsicle sticks

Pour milk into a medium bowl. Add dry pudding mix. Beat with a wire whisk 2 minutes. Stir in cool whip until blended.
Spoon evenly into 5 (5-oz) paper or plastic cups. Insert a wooden popsicle stick into the center of each cup for the handles. Place cups in a 8X8 pan, cover with plastic wrap and freeze 5 hours or until firm. To remove pops from cups, place bottoms of cups under warm running water for about 15 seconds. Press firmly on bottoms of cups to release pops. (Do not twist or pull popsicle sticks.) Store leftover pops in freezer.

Homemade Valentine's Day Cards

2009-01-27T10:23:00.000-08:00

My son was off of school today and we were stuck home due to the weather. To keep my kids busy I let them use pencil and crayon sharpeners to make crayon shavings. We put the crayon shavings between two pieces of wax paper. I put the iron on the lowest setting and placed the wax paper between two sheets of card stock. I ironed until the crayon shavings were melted. I cut two cards out of card stock, traced hearts on the front of them and then cut the hearts out. Then we cut squares out of the wax paper and melted crayon shavings and taped them behind the cut out hearts. You can use green crayon shavings to make shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day or multi-colors to make Easter eggs or Christmas ornaments. You can also cut the wax papers out in any shape and either tape them to a window or hang them from strings in front of windows.

Homemade Personal Size Pizzas

2009-01-22T17:36:00.001-08:00

This week for our cooking class I let my kids make their own personal size pizzas. I found a book at the library called The Pizza That We Made. After I read the book I let my kids help me make the pizza dough, toss it in the air and roll it out. Then they spread the pizza sauce on with spoons and topped them with pepperoni and cheese. They both loved making and eating their own pizzas. My son said it was the most fun he has ever had. :)

There was a pizza dough recipe in the back of the book but I wanted to try out a different recipe. It turned out really good. Here is the recipe if you want to try it. This made enough dough for six personal size pizzas, two medium sized round pizzas or one large rectangular pizza baked in a large jelly roll pan.

1 Tbsp. Yeast
1 1/2 C. warm water
1 tsp. Sugar
4 C. Flour
1 tsp. Salt
2 Tbsp. Oil

In a large mixing bowl, combine yeast, warm water and sugar. Let stand 5 minutes or until bubbly. Add 2 cups flour, salt and oil. Stir until well blended. Add remaining flour and knead until smooth and elastic. (I used my kitchen aid with the dough hook attachment) Let dough rise until double (30-60 minutes). Roll out dough and rub a thin layer of olive oil on top and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Spread on pizza sauce and top with your favorite toppings. Bake an additional 10 minutes.

A Drive-In Movie Night

2009-01-10T05:39:00.000-08:00

The concession Stand.

Decorating the cars.

Buying the treats and a ticket to the movie.

In their cars ready to watch the movie.

The other night we had a Drive-In movie party. We asked our guests to bring their pillows and blankets. When the kids arrived I gave them markers and let them decorate their cars made out of boxes. I used spray glue to attach postal paper (from the dollar store) to the boxes. I traced and cut out yellow circles for the head lights and glued blue paper plates on the sides for the tires.

I created a concession stand and gave the kids each an envelope with 7 pretend dollars. They had to purchase a movie ticket with one of the dollars and then were able to pick out 6 treats with the remaining money. I had them stand in line and welcomed each child. I tried to play the part. :) They loved it!

At our concession stand I offered:

Soda pop and Capri Suns
Popcorn
Red Vine licorice (2 for $1)
Fun sized Twix
Fun sized M&M's
Fun sized Reese's Cups
Fun sized Kit Kat's
Double Bubble Gum

I went with fun sized candy bars so that the kids could still have a variety of choices with out giving them a sugar high. Everything was $1 including the popcorn and drinks. They were only allowed to pick one of each item.

After they all had their refreshments I had them get into their cars and then went around the room and had them put their tickets in a ticket box. Then I welcomed them to the movie and told them to enjoy the show.

Froot Loop Necklaces

2009-01-04T16:43:00.000-08:00

My friend Angela gave me this simple and fun idea. All you need are long licorice strings and Froot Loops. After the kids finish stringing the Froot Loops on the licorice strings just tie the ends of the licorice together to make a necklace. We have also made bracelets. This is a great activity for rainy days or parties.

New Year's Eve Count Down Bags

2008-12-29T13:46:00.000-08:00

This year we are going to be staying home for New Year's Eve since our kids are sick. I found this count down idea on Family Fun's website. Every hour until midnight the kids get to open a bag. I am going to set an alarm clock each hour to make sure we don't forget. I went to Michael's craft store and found a bunch of craft projects for $1 a piece. I also filled a few of the bags with treats to eat during the movies. I put noise makers and confetti in the last bag.

Graham Cracker Gingerbread Houses

2008-12-22T07:41:00.000-08:00

I helped my son make this graham cracker gingerbread house at a school activity. The kids all enjoyed creating their own house. I was surprised to see how long it held their attention and how much detail they put into their houses.

This is such a simple and fun project for kids. I like how they can each make their own and be creative.

Here is what you need:

An empty milk carton (small school lunch size)
3 graham crackers cut in half to make 4 sides and 2 roof pieces
1 container of ready made white frosting
Heavy duty paper plates (like Chinete)
sugar ice cream cones for trees
plastic spoons or knifes for the frosting

Assorted candies like smarties, gum drops, marshmallows, skittles, M&M's, fruit loops, pretzel sticks, fruity pebbles, candy canes, starlite candies, and hershey kisses.

A Polar Express Party

2008-12-21T18:51:00.001-08:00

The Polar Express is one of our favorite Christmas movies. This year we decided to invite our kids to a Polar Express party. We served hot chocolate, cookies and popcorn.

I found a website that has free printable Polar Express invitations. I printed some off and punched a hole in the top corner. I tied ribbon around some tickets I had on hand. On the inside of the invitation I told them to wear their favorite pajamas, bring their blankets, pillows and the ticket on their invitation. Click HERE to get the free printable Polar Express invitations.

I made a ticket box out of a popcorn box that I glued red card stock to. I cut the ticket lettering out with my cricut machine. I had the kids put half of their ticket into the box before the movie and keep the other half. After the movie I pulled the tickets out of the box and read off the numbers on the tickets. They both won a Christmas bell.

After the movie we made Polar Express ornaments. I printed these ornaments from the same site that I got the invitations from. After the kids colored them I cut them out and then we glued them onto some card stock, glued glitter around them and tied some ribbon through the top.

Reindeer Cupcakes

2008-12-20T09:43:00.001-08:00

My kids had fun helping me make these cupcakes.
Here is what we used to decorate them:

Red peanut butter M&M's for the nose
Chocolate chips and blue mini M&M's for the eyes
Chocolate covered pretzels for the antlers
One container of ready made vanilla frosting mixed with brown food coloring

Christmas Bun Bread Wreath

2008-12-17T12:49:00.001-08:00

I made this with my kids. We always love to eat bun bread and especially at Christmas time. I just used my bun bread recipe and then rolled the dough into a rectangle approximately 30"X8". This made a big wreath. Next time I think I will try making two smaller ones out of the same recipe. This time I used red and green M&M's for my kids but you could also use red and green maraschino cherries. I also used a fruit roll up to make a bow. Click HERE for my bun bread recipe.

Hot Chocolate Bar

2008-12-15T09:33:00.000-08:00

My friend gave me the idea to make a hot chocolate bar. My kids thought it was fun to create their own hot chocolate creation. This is something we will be doing often at our house during the holidays!

Here is what I served for ours:

Cool whip with crushed candy canes stirred in
mini chocolate chips
miniature marshmallows
cinnamon sprinkles
candy canes dipped in white chocolate ( I think I will just use regular candy canes in the future if serving with the chocolate chips)

My friend said they stir coffee creamers into their hot chocolate. I didn't have any on hand but it is something I am going to have to try.

Fragrant Cinnamon Ornaments

2008-12-15T06:00:00.000-08:00

These are so easy to make and they smell wonderful. I love the scent that fills my home when I bake these. I buy cinnamon at the dollar store for these and double this recipe. My kids loved helping make these.

6 Tbsp. applesauce
10 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves

Mix together all ingredients to form a dough. If dough is dry, add more applesauce. Roll out dough to approximately 1/8" thick on a cinnamon sprinkled surface. Cut dough into desired holiday shapes using cookie cutters. Cut a hole in the top of each shape with a drinking straw or use a toothpick to make a hold large enough to thread a ribbon through for hanging.
Place shapes on a cookie sheet. Place in 150 degree oven or the lowest setting for two hours. Turn oven off and leave shapes in oven 5-6 hours or overnight. Tie ribbons through holes and use as ornaments or tie on packages.

Magical Reindeer Food

2008-12-11T14:18:00.000-08:00

To go along with the reindeer theme for preschool I made each of the kids some Magical Reindeer Food. I wish I could have printed the picture and poem in color but we are currently out of colored ink. You can download free reindeer clip art HERE.

To make the Magical Reindeer Food just mix 1/4 cup of oats with 1 Tbsp. red and green colored sprinkles. (used for decorating cakes and cookies)