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!

Love It!

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!