Homeade Ice Cream Toy

Lately, my daughter has been playing Ice Cream Shoppe. A lot!  She is constantly asking me, "vanilla or chocolate?"  Then, with whatever toys are nearby, she'll serve me my ice cream.   That gave me an idea which came from a previous post (10 commandment craft) and some yogurt containers sitting around the kitchen (also used for the 10 commandment craft).

Why not make her a toy with ice cream and bowls?  Yes, I could buy a toy similar to this.  Yes, it may be easily destroyed in a matter of minutes.  However, I could spend some money on a toy like this that would get played with occasionally and then that toy will become another toy.  She is getting some other fun things for Christmas, as well.  Also, trying to make my idea and be crafty is too fun to pass up. 

Here is what I did:

1. Cut 4 pieces of egg carton apart. 

2.  Mix small amount of 1/2 water and 1/2 flour. 

3.  Set egg carton (point up), on top of a small paper plate and paper Mache around it.  Then let dry.

 

 

4.  Paint yogurt containers and decorate.

5.  Cover paint with a coat of Modpodge.  This will help prevent paint from chipping off.

6.  Decorate plastic spoons, if desired.

7.  Cut around bottom of egg carton till "scoop of ice cream" fits in chosen container.  ***Here is where I had trouble.  I had to cut it smaller than I intended to fit in the yogurt container.  By this time, the paper plate had separated from the egg carton in places.  I simply used  masking tape to hold the paper plate bottom to the egg carton and paper Mache.  Not ideal, but it worked.  The only advantage was, the amount of paper plate I had left would have given the scoop of ice cream a melted appearance.  One could also use a container with a larger bottom, like a chip dip container.  The only other disadvantage was that the egg carton bottom was not as round as you would get with an ice cream scoop, so I could have played around with different egg cartons or materials to make it more round in appearance, but did not.  It will still be fun to play with.

8.  Paint scoops of ice cream desired color or flavor :).  I choose chocolate (brown), strawberry (pink), mint chocolate ship (green and white mixed together or light green paint with spots of brown), and vanilla (I didn't have any color of paint besides white.  I wanted to mix a little yellow with the white, but didn't have any.  Instead  I put just a bit of yellow food coloring with the white paint.  It wasn't the best option, but enough that it wasn't bright white.

9.  I'm wrapping it up for Christmas in an empty ice cream bucket.  Perfect storage container.  On my Christmas list is a new ice cream scoop, so if I get it, my daughter can have the old one for play.

 

(This picture was before my second coat of paint)

10.  Have fun, but be sure not to sit on the ice cream.  It will melt (squash)!

*This would also have been a super fun craft for my daughter to have helped with and I'm sure many kids would enjoy!!!

 

 

 

****Updated Note:  The kids have loved playing with this.  Unfortunately, it didn't stand up as well as I hoped.  I thought the ice cream might get smashed, but that is intact.  However, the paint chipped off the bowls, despite my efforts to stop this from happening.  It was still worth it for the fun they had with it.  Had I not left it with the other toys,  (which I was planning not too )it may have lasted longer.  But, fine while it lasted. 

 

 

Love It!

    

Pop-up Christmas Tree Card

As a kid, I loved making Christmas cards or presents for my family members and friends.  A tradition I'm trying to pass on to my kids.  At the beginning of December, I set up our special "Advent House" with an activity to do each day.  One of the activities this year was to make Christmas cards.  Well, these turned out to be some pretty fancy cards - especially when made by children ages one and three, with yes, quite a bit of help from mom.  Here is how the idea unfolded....

I was busy one day making my own Christmas tree pattern for another craft I was making.  I took a piece of white card stock, folded it in half and proceeded to draw one half of the tree.  I ended up making a few different patterns until I got one exactly how I wanted it.  By this time, I had a few trees out of card stock lying around and held them all together in one hand.

Hmmm, I got to thinking.  If I glued half of each one together, they would stand up and make a very cute 3-D Christmas tree!

Lets see....that could make a very nice Christmas card!  White card stock?   Hmmmm.  Looks like snow.  All we need is some green and we'll have nice snow topped Christmas trees.

Here is how we started:

1. Lay out white card stock and brush strokes of green across the paper.  You will need four pieces of paper four each tree.  Let dry. (The kids did this part.)

2.  Fold each paper in half, hot dog style, so the green is to the inside.

3.  Draw or Trace your Christmas tree onto the paper.  You can choose to trace the entire tree or just trace half of the tree onto your folded paper and cut both sides at one time. 

4.  After each tree is cut out, begin by folding 1/2 of one tree to 1/2 of the other tree.  Then continue to add the rest of the tree shapes the same way.

5.  Lastly, I gave the oldest stickers and let her have a blast decorating the trees.  We used ornament stickers, snowmen, and snowflakes. 

We wrote a Christmas message on some of the "white space" and then folded the tree back up together and put it in a regular business envelope.  It is quite thick though, if it is done this way  - all braches together on one side.  It would work better to have a bigger envelope and just lay the tree flat.  Or, they can simply be decoration around the house, not a card. 

Merry Christmas!

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Quick Gift Card Holder

Do you like to give gift cards for Christmas or birthdays, etc?  Do you like to find fun ways of wrapping them up, but don't like spending your money on gift card holders?  I usually wrap them in a small box, at the very least.  But sometimes, I miss the "gift" when giving a gift card. 

While wrapping some presents today, a quick simple "Gift Card Holder" popped into my head.  I don't think there has ever been a year that my dad has not gotten peanuts for Christmas.  I was going to put his gift card in the box with his peanuts.  Then I decided the gift card would look cute under the plastic lid of the peanut can.

 I simply took off the "To/From" piece off the gift card, though not all gift cards come with that. Then put it under the lid and snapped it back on.

 

Then wrap your present and there you have it - a quick gift card holder with a little fun gift.  Now, will the recipient notice the gift card right away or simply eye the peanuts? It mas a fun extra surprise!

Allergy Awareness

I never expected to have a child with a food allergy.  I don't have any food allergies and my husband doesn't have any.  And yet, we have a child with a food allergy.  For whatever reason, food allergies are becoming more and more common.   I have two friends who have children with food allergies, as well. 

Our particular allergy is peanuts and tree nuts.  Our daughters worst reaction has been to pecans. 
We now carry an Epipen with us.  Thankfully, our daughters case has not been severe.  We are able to continue to eat peanut and nut products in our home.  We just make sure everything she has is peanut and nut free.  However, there are cases where even being in the same room as the allergen or touching the residue can cause a severe reaction. 

So, let's face it, this creates a certain amount of anxiety when eating outside of the home.  When going to a restaurant, we have to ask about nuts.  Potluck or family gatherings can even be more anxiety provoking.  It's sometimes hard to tell what may or may not contain peanuts, tree nuts or peanut butter.  Sometimes it's obvious; other times it is not.  And it's not limited to desserts.

At a small gathering, it's easy to ask others if a food item contains the given allergen.  At a big gathering, it is not.  At times its necessary to take your own food to prevent the exposure.   I also must give constant reminders to caregivers that she has the allergy.

I for one, am glad that more schools are taking precautions for children with allergies.  It gives me more peace as a parent when my child is out of my sight.  Take my word for it, a reaction is scary. 
But what about simple gatherings, like church for instance, might it not be a bad idea to simply share this awareness?  For me as a parent, it would give me a little more peace of mind. 

Now, I'm not talking about doing anything drastic like telling everyone to stop bringing things with nuts or peanut butter or anything.  Completely avoiding all the allergens out there would be impossible.  I know some people with more severe allergies may not be able to be around the specific allergen at all, but those situations would need to be dealt with on an individual basis.  I know those parents would take extreme precautions.  I would too if that were our case.

Now, I know I've only been talking about peanuts and tree nuts.  But say the allergy were eggs or dairy.  These are two more very common ingredients found in the kitchen.  I could also bring up celiac disease, where people are unable to tolerate gluten found in wheat products.  I'm only touching the tip of the iceberg here on possible allergens, albeit they are some of the most common.  This is why I say it's impossible to avoid all allergens.

But what I'm most interested in accomplishing and what I'm talking about is awareness.  The first of these is making others aware that these allergies exist.  The second, is simply placing the recipe with the food item you are taking to make the consumer aware of what is in it.  There are simple ways in which this could be done.  For example, just list the ingredients you included on an index card or tape your recipe card to a craft stick or toothpick and place in the food; or simply lay the recipe next to the dish.  I know some places divvy up desserts and such on too plates for each individual to take.  This is fine too.  Just leave one plate with the recipe attached with a stick near the food item  This will allow people to view the recipe and know what they can take.  And hey, and if someone asks you for the recipe - you've got it ready to share with them!

 

 

Here is my example of a dessert I made recently to take to church to share.  I've included the ingredients.  In this particular dessert, I did not add the nuts - you know why (yet my recipe card has it listed for my example).  If I saw this recipe attached to a food item, I would know to have my daughter avoid it. 

 

So, simply please be aware of those with allergies.  I'm not asking you to avoid making things with nuts or peanut butter.  Hey, it gives me a chance to enjoy these things.  Currently I avoid making desserts or foods with nuts or peanut butter so that I do not have to withhold them from my child.  She loves cookies and you have no idea how badly I want to make (and eat) peanut butter cookies.  But, until she's older at least, and understands the situation more - I won't.  I will occasionally make a peanut butter sandwich, but other food - no. For one, I don't want to make two meals. 

 

 

So, the next time you take a dish or dessert to share, please consider including the recipe for allergy awareness.  I and other mothers with children who have allergies, thank you.

 

 

** update - I learned something new from a friend on allergies.  She has a child allergic to egg.  He can not have the spray used to spray pans for baking.  Another thing I'm sure we all use often.  Something else to be aware of and how hidden then allergen can be.



Cute Christmas Cookie Walk Sign

The Advent season is upon us; and with that comes lots of Christmas preparations.  One of these is lots of baking.   Some of the most made items during the holidays are cookies and candies.  Where can you find a bunch of these goodies at one time?  A cookie walk, of course. 

I've been working with a wonderful group of people to help plan a cookie walk fundraiser for our church.  It's coming up in a week and a half.  The other night, during one of my sleepless hours, an idea popped into my head.  I had just acquired some boxes over the weekend, and rather than recycle them, I kept them thinking they'd come in handy.  Well, they didn't even get a chance to collect any dust on my shelving. 

Well, since cookies have been consuming my mind, I suddenly pictured a gingerbread man.  Hmmm.  Cardboard boxes would be the perfect color of a gingerbread man.  Hmmm.  Wouldn't that make a cute sign to place out in front of the church?  Cute, attractive, and sure to be an attention grabber.  Thus, my gingerbread men sign was born. 

 

 

I decided to make a total of three gingerbread men, with each one holding a sign - so all together it announces: "Cookie Walk Today".    I put much more time into it then planned.  Why?  I was having way too much fun.  I drew faces, made some cute squiggly lines with yarn and some with glitter glue.  I added some buttons and a bow tie, and even some strips of fabric for scarves. 

 

I even covered them with contact paper on the front, folded the contact paper over to the back, and then secured the entire back with packaging tape.  Why?  Just in case of rain.  The next step will be to tape them to metal garden stakes and put them up when cookie day comes. 

 

If I remember to take the camera, maybe I'll add another picture for ya!

 

And please, also remember the reason for the season:  the tiny babe, God's Son, born in a manger to grow up to live a perfect life and die on a cross for the sins of all, and rise again to give us the gift of eternal life.  Prepare your hearts and minds for Jesus' second coming. 

 

Blessings to you during this season!

 

 

 



Recycled Party Hat

So, this weekend I have a baby turning one!  I don't know where this last year went, but we are of course having a party.  Hmmm.  A party?  I don't have any party hats.  Well, not except for some Winnie the Pooh Ones that I'm already planning on using for a theme next year (courtesy of a garage sale find), and Princess hats left over from my daughters birthday.  Can't use princess for a boy and not going to use Pooh.  I just want one picture with a hat on his head since it's his first birthday. And I've made all the other decorations, so it doesn't make sense to go shopping for some Dino décor, just for a silly hat.

That's It!  I'll just recycle one of the old princess hats!

Well, there was no way I was going to come up with a cone shape to cover up the old hat.  And I still wanted the shape from the previously purchased hat.  I didn't have time to start something from scratch.  So, I just started ripping pieces of paper (I used three different colors), grabbed a glue stick, and stuck them on.  Then, I cut out my dinosaur and glued it to the front of the hat.  And, there we have it: a quick, inexpensive hat for the birthday boy!

 

 

Love It!

Toilet Paper Roll Cord Keepers

Imagine your decorating for Christmas.  The lights you hang won't quite reach to the nearest outlet.    You head to the box where you store extension cords, only to discover they are all tangled or knotted together.  After a few minutes of untangling them, you finally get it free.  Are you tired of these tangled cords? My mom got tired of this problem a long time ago.  We came up with a solution that became one of my favorite childhood crafts.  Just yesterday, I shared this craft with my daughter for the first time.

What You Need:
-empty toilet paper role, paper towel roll, or other cardboard tube
-crayons, markers, or paint

Instructions:
**Decorate any way you would like and HAVE FUN!

 

 

Pssst - Parents beware:  As a kid, I would sell these to my mom for money.

 

Now, fold extension cord in half a couple times (the number of times you can do this depends on how heavy duty your cord is).  Then stick the ends through the toilet paper roll and throw it in a box.  And Ta Da:  They're ORGANIZED!  No more knots!

 



 

 

 

Love It!

 

 

 

New Adventure Creative Card

Is someone you know getting ready to go on a new adventure or start a new chapter in their life?  Maybe they have just graduated college and are ready to step into their dream job.  Maybe someone is moving to a new state or our out on their own for the first time.  Maybe it's a new job after being employed at one place for many, many years.  Whatever the journey may be, why not send them a creative card to support them and let them know your thinking of them.  That's where this idea originated.  A family member of mine has finally landed her dream job and I want her to know how excited we are for her.

So, what image do you think of when consider a journey or heading out on a new path?  For me, it was footprints!  Hmmm, where can I find footprints?  I know!  I know!  My kids.  And let's face it, who doesn't get giddy anytime you see something made from the footprint or handprint of a special child in your life.  There just so cute!  Yep, we decided to make a mess.  We pulled out the finger paint and made footprints onto a card.  

I used stock paper folded in half, hamburger-style.  I put one set of footprints on the outside and one on the inside.  We did bigger footprints (my three-year-old) on the front cover of the card and smaller footprints (11 month old) on the inside.  The thought behind this was that the footprints would appear smaller as they got farther away.    Then we put a little saying with the prints, "Best Wishes On Your New Path."  And don't forget a message along with it and sign your names!  A reminder that God has great plans for them, would be wonderful too, of course!  Oh, and no worries.  If you don't have children around to use for your footprints, use your own!  You just might have to adjust the size of your paper!

 

 

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Homeade Taco Hamburger Helper

Again, I love the taste of Hamburger Helper, but I don't like to buy it because I don't think boxed stuff like that is very healthy.  So, I developed my own Taco version.  Now, I'm sure I'll will disappoint some of you - I don't have the exact measurements of the ingredients for you.  Why?  Because I follow a pinch of this and a dash of that method of cooking.  I will however, try to give you an idea of amounts.   Also, I will also share with you two versions of the same recipe.

 

This is the cheese sauce version.

To make, you will need:
1 pound of ground beef, browned with desired amount of onion, and then drained. 
Elbow macaroni, cooked and drained.  (I will guess I sue about 2 cups cooked). 
sweet peppers - variety of colors or whatever you have on hand
Ground spices: cilantro, cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, basil, and chili powder)
hot sauce
cheddar cheese

After the beef is browned and drained, add a few dashes of each spice.  I don't always add cayenne pepper.  It depends how hot I want it and who is eating it.  Then I add a few dashes of hot sauce.

Then, mix the macaroni and peppers in with the meat. Last stir in desired amount of shredded cheddar cheese.  Cover and let melt.

So, what's the other version, you ask?  It a cheesier version:

To make Cheesy Homemade Taco Hamburger Helper:

First, brown beef and onions, drain and add spices as in the first version.  Add macaroni and peppers.

Second, make a white sauce with cheese.  To do this:  Melt one tablespoon butter in a small sauce pan.  Next, add 1 tablespoon four, a dash of salt, and a dash of pepper.  Stir and cook for a minute or so.  The add the milk (not all at once).  Constantly stir until thick and bubbly.  Once it bubbles, stir for 1 to 2 minutes more.  Then add 1 cup of cubed cheese. I use Velveta.  Stir until melted.  Then add a few dashes of hot sauce to the cheese sauce.  Then add the cheese sauce to the browned beef and macaroni.  Yum!  Enjoy!


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Kid's Keepsake Craft Box

It's starting to pile up.  The cute craft projects made by my darling daughter who is three.  The ones I can't bear to throw away.  No, I don't keep every single colored picture or anything like that.  If I did that, my house would be stuffed by the time I am forty.  But there are certain ones I don't want to part with.  The ones that really get me are those that are made with a foot or hand print.    I especially enjoy those that she brings home from daycare, Sunday School, or VBS.  We also love to do crafts together.

I knew I needed to find a place to store these special keepsakes.  Many of them are displayed somewhere in the house, at least for a little while.  But eventually they must come down, to make room for something new.  I finally had an idea.  A craft that we could do together.

I emptied a shoe box. Unfortunately all of them were in use.  Then we gathered some of these "projects for saving" and used decoupage to glue them to the box.  We mainly used her handprint crafts and a simple craft project that she had done at daycare where she decorated her name.  I also traced her hands onto construction paper, cut those out, and put them on the box. 

 

Brylee loves to "use the scissors" to cut out paper.  She is very good at making confetti.  So, I let her cut paper while I put on her craft items.  When I was done with that, I let her decorate the box with the paper scraps.    Well, actually it was a combined effort!  I also cut out some shapes from some of her "painted" pictures from daycare and put those on, too.  Then we covered the entire box in a coat of decoupage.  It was a very fun mother/daughter project!   We would have painted the box first, but since it was already a nice, lovely orange color, we just broke out the decoupage and got our fingers sticky!!

 

 

 

I'm already saving a couple handprint/footprint pictures that daycare did with my baby boy.  Guess I better go shoe shopping so I can get another box!!!

 

I hope you enjoy making your Keepsake Craft Box with your special kid!

 

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A Mom Moment

Meal time had become super frustrating, as of late.  A bargaining table.  If you eat this, then you can have this.  Some of the bad habits started because we often just take one food item, eat it and then take the next when we are done with the first.   The consequences were that are three-year old would often eat a lot of what she liked best and little of the other, maybe, healthier food items. 

I'm not sure how it happened, but some how we were needing to find a way to encourage her to eat her food, or to at least try a food.  We would start off saying you need to eat 10 bites and after each bite she ate we would subtract one finger.   Hey - this worked great for helping her learn to count, and especially count backwards.  And then somehow along the way, it turned into her getting a reward for each 10 bites - maybe one chip or one of something else she really liked.  It worked o.k. at first, but eventually she learned how to use the system and do her own bargaining.  She bargained for only five bights and then three.

I eventually couldn't take it anymore.  Something had to change.  I started by correcting some of the bad habits....... and now things are much better, calmer, and more relaxing.

We began putting all food on her plate at the beginning of a meal.  If chips are part of the meal, they go on her plate.  If she wants to eat them first, she can.   In the past we always gave chips last.   It gives her some control back into meal time.  Yet at the same time, Mom and Dad still ultimately have control.  In order for her to get seconds of any of her favorite foods, she first has to clean everything off her plate.  This has helped her eat more of the good foods, and often, now she doesn't want seconds of her favorites (for example a hot dog), because she is already full.  It is working great! 

We also set a timer.  If the timer goes off and her food is not finished, we take it away.  This may seem harsh.  But we offer plenty of time.  We are slow eaters (I didn't used to be, but I've become like my husband).  Meal time is family time.  The reason behind this is that she will learn meal time is for eating, not playing.  She knows the rules.  If she doesn't clean her plate or her plate gets taken away (usually around 45 minutes), then she does not get any snacks or treats.  No food until the next meal time.   I think we have only taken away her food once. 

Most of the time she cleans her plate at every meal.  It has cut down on a lot of the playing at the table.  Often we no longer set the timer, but wait to set it if she is goofing off.  If it gets set, then she knows we are serious.  If she doesn't clean her plate, she is usually clear that she is done.  She knows then she doesn't get a treat - extra's of her favorites (lately this is blueberries!), candy, ice cream, or chips if they are on the table but were not on her plate, etc.  She does not get a treat after every meal, but she knows the eligibility requirements.  The only other rule is that she has to TRY everything on her plate.  Most often the things she doesn't want to try, she likes and eats all gone.

I only hope this works as well on our second child who is currently in the messy baby food stage.  That reminds me - it's time to make more baby food.  I post this only in hope it may give someone else an idea who is struggling through meal time.

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Ten Commandment VBS Craft!

I'm making it through VBS week, despite having had strep throat.  Yes, with God all things are possible!!!!  One more day!!

One of the first places I turn for craft ideas for VBS is the internet. 

So, I wanted to share one of the ideas I developed for this year with you.  I hope to help someone who is looking for ideas, like me. 

The story for the first day was Moses and the ten commandments.  Here is the craft we did:



 Mt. Sinai and 10 Commandments Sculpture

 

 

 

Instructions:

 

 

Day 1:

Supplies:  clay, 2 small paper plates, toothpick, yogurt container, egg carton piece (use corner pieces only from the egg carton), newspaper, paper Mache (1/2 flour 1/2 water or more), glue

1.      Begin by gluing the egg carton piece (point up) to the bottom of the yogurt container.

 

 

2.      Divide clay into two equal pieces and shape two stone tablets out of each

3.      Using the toothpick, write the numbers 1-5 on one tablet, 6-10 on the other.  Leave to dry overnight. 

4.      Set top of yogurt container on to paper plate. Tear strips of newspaper and dip in paper Mache, cover the entire yogurt container, egg carton piece, and part of paper play.  Work from top down.  Leave to dry overnight or two nights, maybe.

 

Day 2:

Supplies:  dark gray paint, lighter gray paint, paint brushes, dishes for paint, water to rinse brushes, cardboard circles, felt, markers to trace, scissors, glue, glue gun

1.      Paint mountain dark gray.

2.      Paint clay tablets with light gray paint. 

3.      Cut cardboard circle out (I used a Cool Whip container as a pattern).

4.      Trace cardboard circle onto felt (color of choice and cut out).

5.      Glue felt on to cardboard circle

*At this point you may choose to let the paint dry and finish later or the next day  OR you can be messy, like me (but not as bad as the paper Mache) and just get it done!

6.      Cut out mountain from paper plate and glue to felt.

7.      Glue tablets into standing position against mountain.

 

 

The kids loved it!!  It was messy and fun.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

Penguin Party Hats and Penguin Party Fun!!!!!

More penguin themed stuff from the birthday party!  Who doesn't love party hats for a birthday party?

We made our own and they turned out adorable!!!!!!!!!

 

 

How to Make:

 

1.  Cut out penguin shape from black construction paper. (a combined oval and circle)

 

2.  Cut out black strip about the width of a ruler and long enough to go around child's head. You will need two strips for each hat if using construction paper.  Tape or glue them together so they are long enough.  Then glue to the penguin near the bottom.

 

3.  Cut a slightly smaller penguin shape out of cardboard and glue to the back.  This will help it stand tall when the child is wearing it.

 

4.  Cut out a smaller white oval shape and glue on for belly.

 

5.  Using a one-hole punch, punch dots out of colored paper for eyes. 

 

6.  Cut a small orange triangle for the nose.

 

7.  Cut out flippers from black paper and glue to the back so they stick out to the side slightly.

 

8.  Cut feet out of orange paper and glue to bottom.  When the feet are dry, bend the feet up where feet meet the black paper as if the penguin were standing on them.

 

9.  Cut a triangle out of colored paper to make a party hat for the penguin.  Glue this to the (front) top of the penguins' head. 

 

10.  Decorate hat as you choose.  (polka dots, stripes, plain, etc.)

 

11.  To make tassel for the penguin hat: take a colored string about a foot long and fold it four times.  Tie a not in the middle.  On one side of the knot, cut the string just a little bit below the knot.  Now, trim the tassels to the length desired.  Glue knot to the back of the penguin hat.

 

12.  When children come to the party, fit a hat on them and have fun!!!!!!!

 

 

MORE PENGUIN FUN!

 

 

The kids got to play Pin the Tummy on the Penguin.

 

The adults played a game seeing how many words they could get out of "Penguin Birthday Party".  The prize for the winner was a can of sardines wrapped in white paper.   I drew little fish on the can and wrote "Penguin Food".   (forgot to take a picture). 

 

The children got Penguin Party Favors (see previous blog post).  These also worked great as a tie down for the helium balloons. 

 

I should mention, we had everything penguin.  Our lunch was even breaded fish sandwiches to complete the theme.  They were served on black plates with white and black polka dotted cups and napkins.

 

And, of course, no penguin party would be complete without a Penguin Cake!!!

 

This was my first attempt at decorating a cake.  Didn't go great; didn't go horrible, but turned out pretty cute and yummy, too!

 

 

 

I'm sure glad I used easy shapes for this cake.  I'm not sure I'll be able to do anything more advanced.  The head was a small Corningware pan and the body and oval pan.  The feet were two cupcakes.  I originally had planned to outline the wings with white (on just the body).  However, since I goofed up my first batch of cake, I had plenty cake to use as flippers.  In all my cake decorating nervousness I forgot to add vanilla.  As I was mixing up more batter for cupcakes (I was planning to make penguin cupcakes too. A friend had shown me an adorable picture of them from a book.  Let's just say I didn't read the directions very thoroughly, couldn't find all the supplies I needed, and my quite quick attempt at ten o'clock at night on a busy and exhausting day, didn't work.)

 

Anyways, after that tangent, ten minutes after the cake was in the oven was when I realized I had forgotten the vanilla, so I added it after it had been in the oven.  It actually turned out, too.  But the perfectionist in me, couldn't let it go.  Yep, I made another.  As you can see, one flipper turned out fine.  I cut it from the side of the first cake.  The second one broke and every attempt to cut from the cakes middle, failed.  It turned out the best it could with patchwork.  The nose was a starburst cut in half.  It pleased the birthday girl, but I'm requesting cake decorating classes.  I have lots of questions.

 

It was very yummy! And we ate it on specially painted Penguin Party Plates that the own birthday girl did!  She loved the craft!!!!!!  I know what you are thinking, "you ate cake and vanilla/chocolate combo ice cream on plates that were painted by a three-year-old?"  Yep!  I've got you curious, don't I?  Don't worry.  I wouldn't feed food on anything where the paint could chip off into food.  This has been one of me favorite craft ideas ever!!!!!  And I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not posting pictures or instructions, yet.  It's an idea I'm writing up as an article to submit to a magazine.  If I don't sell it, I'll post it hear.  I'll keep you posted!

 

 

Love It!

 

 

Penguin Party Favors!

I've been getting ready for my little girls third birthday.  We are doing a penguin theme.  Yes, even though it is a summer birthday.  I got the idea after watching Happy Feet with her.  I decided to do the penguin theme after I saw two pans in my cupboard - - if I make the cakes in them, I think I could put it together for a good penguin shape (I think).  I probably should pull the pans out and really take a look at them, before I set to work at making the cake.  So, I opened my mouth and asked if she wanted Mommy to make her a penguin cake for her birthday.  The answer was yes.  This was several months ago already and she hasn't let me forget it.  Now I'm stuck.  I'm not a cake decorator and have never done anything more than just slapping regular frosting on a regular cake - so this shall be interesting.  I've had my good friend, who is also my daughter's baptismal sponsor make them in the past.  She is a professional cake decorator.   But being a Mom, I want to make one for her.  Wish me luck.

Ok, after going off on a tangent about how this whole idea started....here is a fun craft that we put together for the party favors for the kids at the party - toilet paper penguins for Penguin Party Favors!

First, put black construction paper around the TP roll.  Then cut out a white oval for the penguin belly.  Next, cut out wings out of black construction paper.  I folded them in half lengthwise and also folded the tip where I wanted to glue them to the body of the penguin.  This helps the wings jut out a bit from the body. 

I first planned to just decorate The TP roll as a penguin, and put a cardboard base as the feet and fill it with candy.  While I was shopping for candy for the favors, I found the containers of mini M & M's and decided they would make cute feet.  I put the top down and put a strip of double-stick
 tape along the candy container and put the TP roll over the candy and stuck it in place.  For extra security, I put some tape over the bottom of the container inside the toilet paper roll and taped it to the inside of the TP roll. 

I then found some big suckers and wrapped black tissue paper around them for the head.  I placed the stick into the TP roll. That part was a bit difficult with the big candy container inside.  I did end up cutting out round circles and putting the penguins eyes and nose on the circle and gluing/taping them to the TP roll and sucker.  I probably could have just glued them to the tissue paper, but was in a hurry to get them done so this allowed me to just curve the paper over the sphere shape and not deal with perfecting the head with the tissue paper the way I had planned.  I was hurrying before the baby woke from a nap.  My little girl had lots of fun helping with the craft!!!!!  It's a great way to help them be involved.

Love It!

Outdoor Fun and Learning Fun!

I don't spray my yard for those beautiful flowered weeds.....Dandelions.  And probably never will.  I don't like chemicals and don't want to spend the money.  No, they are not my favorite and I'd rather them not be there, but they are and they will remain.  They are still part of God's creation.  The Bible does tell us that we will have thistles and stuff chocking out the good stuff in this sinful world.  So, I might as well make the most of them since they are there.

Admit it.  Don't you remember having some fun with those gold yellow flowers too when you were a kid?  I do.  Whether it was picking a beautiful Dandelion bouquet for my parents or holding the flower under my chin and saying, "I've been eating butter"... or something like that from the yellow glow.  I just remember my mom doing something like that based on a Norman Rockwell painting with a boy holding a flower up to a girl. (I think).  I tried to Google it but didn't find what I was looking for.  And at least I think that is where the idea came from.  I guess it's just a vague memory.

These first pictures come from an activity I remember my mom doing with me as a child on warm summer days.  I specifically remember sitting on our wraparound front porch curling dandelions stems.  It was fun.  We'd pick the dandelions, preferably the longer stemmed ones.  It didn't matter whether they were buds, blossoms, or the white seeded part.  We'd pick off the flowered part and discard, gather a bucket of water, and then tear the stem in half and drop in the bucket of water.........and fun little curly cues would appear.  However, not all will curl.

 

 

 

My three-year old and I enjoyed it!  The next thing I knew we were turning the curls into fun little rings on our fingers and toes!  LOVED IT!

A few days earlier, we had been making a game of who could pick the most dandelions the fastest.  I, of course, let her win.  Most of the time.  And, just maybe, by picking them we will prevent a few less Dandelions in the future since those poor flowered weeds won't get the opportunity to blow their white puffy seeds around.  Later we had some outdoor learning fun with the bouquets we'd gathered.  Since I've been trying to teach her letter recognition, I started forming letters with them and quizzing and teaching her the letters of the alphabet.  The letter's with loops and curls are a bit more tricky than ones with just straight points, but it was still fun and a learning opportunity!  Sometimes I'd just break of a flowered part to make the letter more cute!

You can use it for learning spelling words too!

Have fun playing and learning!

Love it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What's Up?

What's up as of recently?

I know it's been awhile since I've posted.  O.k., two months to be exact.  But, that's what comes with life and being a mom.  Also, I've been reading some good books and spending time on my writing projects.  And for the third spring now, something that has been consuming a lot of my time, organizing craft projects for our church's VBS program this summer for a 150 kids of all ages.  That's 750 craft projects.  Thankfully, I've got some great helpers.  I've got at least ten different projects planned for daily crafts and a few extras, too.  In the future, I may share some of those.  We'll see how the kids take to them.   I should mention, we come up with our own crafts.  We don't use what the publishing house sells.  I personally like to make it more fitting to the theme, lesson, or Bible verse. It makes me very thankful that blogs exist, because they can be a great place to find ideas.  But (sometimes), my mind actually comes up with a few ideas of it's own.  Oh, and I'm having the older kids do the pocket verses I posted a while back!  Fridays daily theme verse is, Jesus says, "You will be my witnesses....to the end of the earth."  Acts 1:8  (Concordia Publishing House VBS 2013 - Go Tell It On The Mountain Where Jesus Christ is Lord!) It may not be the most fun craft, but I chose it for the lesson in being a witness.  They will MAKE ONE for themselves and one to PASS IT ON.  And it's kind of nice to be able to let the kids creativity flow on there own some, too.  Sometimes, I think I'm crazy to take on this task, especially this year with having my second babe at home, but honestly I LOVE IT! and wouldn't have it any other way.

I still have some ideas that I've not had time to implement and post, but I've had a few other random creative thoughts that have occurred to me.  Kind of silly, but fun.  At least I think so.  Easy ones, and easy to post.  All I had to do was grab the camera and go.  Now, on the this three day holiday weekend and finding some time to relax out of town, I'm sitting down to do them.  Only to find, (though I was sure I remembered packing it in my purse) that I must not have brought my camera cord to upload my pictures.  So, here's to the typing and adding the pictures later...and then....posting (hopefully next week).  Unless, I find a camera cord that matches mine among our families stuff or find I packed it anyway in one of those "special" spots. 

Since, I don't have the camera cord, this is kind of the reason for today's more personal post.  And because I found in the beginning of typing my first post, that I just randomly started typing about the events of life.  I tend to do that now and again.  I guess it's the lengthy and winded writer in me.  I decided it was more fitting alone and by its self.  I also have some ideas I've wanted to post, but have decided to try them as "how to's" to publish in a magazine on my journey to try and become a published writer.  If I don't sell them, I'll come back to post here. :)



So...NEW POSTS AND CREATIVE THOUGHTS COMING SOON!

Love it!  and LOVING life :) 

Hoppy Easter Cupcakes

Ever wonder how the Easter Bunny carries all those eggs?  A wheelbarrow of course! 

 Let's have some yummy and tasty Easter fun!

 

This was my all time favorite Easter activity that my Mom did with me as a kid.  Today I had the fun of sharing it with my own daughter for the first time, and now all of you, too.

 

 

First, you will need your favorite cupcake recipe or mix. I always use my favortie chocolate cake recipe - Crazy Cake (no egg needed recipe.)  It's so yummy and moist (even great with out frosting).  For the sake of saving time this close to Easter, I'm not posting the recipe now.  If anyone would like it please leave a comment and I'll be sure to post it!

 

 

Supliess Needed:

Green colored frosting (I do the simple powdered sugar, butter and milk recipe)

Coconut colored with green food coloring - GRASS

Jelly Beans - EGGS

Lifesavers - WHEELS (I used gummy life savers this time for my 3 yr. old)

Gum Drops - HUB CAPS

Peeps Marshmallow Bunnies

Colored Toothpicks

(I forgot to buy colored toothpicks, so used regular, but colored is more fun.)

 

 

Begin by frosting the cupcake.  Then dip the cupcake in the cocunut.  Next, add the Jelly Beans to the top.  I dipped the Jelly Beans in a bit of frosting first to help them stick.  You can also leave the cocunut off and just put the "eggs" on the green frosting for someone who does not like cocunut. 

 

 

Next, cut the round tip off of the gum drop and stick a tooth pick into the flat end, then add a Lifesaver.  Note: The gummy candies I used for my hub caps this time around were not gumdrops.  They were some type of sour gummy candy that I thought looked cute, but they really ended up being too big and close to the same size as the lifesaver.  It was not as cute and next time I will buy gum drops again.  Stick the tooth pick with candy through the bottom of the cupcake.  Put another toothpick with candy on the other side of the cupcake accross form the first to make wheels.

 

 

Last, place two toothpicks into the side of the cupcake at about the middle or slightly higher.  Then slide on your Peeps Bunny.  I've also done it with other Peeps like the Chic, but the bunny is my favorite!  You could also if you want turn the bunny around and have him "pulling" a wagon. 

 

 

Show off! Share! Eat! Enjoy!  They are so cute!!!!!!

 

Happy Easter!

 

 

Love It!