Spring Candy Nest

Here is a fun and super easy way to celebrate the coming of Spring!

What you'll need:
-1 bag Chow Mein Noodles (Crispy)
-1 bag Butterscotch chocolate chips
- Robin Egg Candy (I used Cadbury-mini-eggs) 
Optional - (I added 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, for a darker color)
-Cupcake pan

The how to: 
-Pour butterscotch chips into a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave chocolate 1-2 minutes, checking every 30 seconds until melted!

-Pour the whole bag of Chow Mein Noodles into the melted chocolate and mix until evenly coated.

-In a greased muffin pan spoon chocolate covered noodles into each muffin cup and shape as a nest, leaving a little indentation in the middle.

-Place the candy robin eggs into center of nest.  Let the chocolate harden.

-Use a knife to pop nest out of the muffin pan.

-You can place each nest in a paper muffin liner if desired. 

If you don't want to use a muffin pan you can can shape each nest on wax paper.  This method creates more of a realistic look and it allows you to make the nest as large or as small as you want.

-

 I wanted to take these to some friends so I filled the bottom of a plastic cup 

(Short & wide, Elegant style cup)  with some candy, then dropped my cute paper lined nest into the cup and wrapped it with plastic wrap and ribbon.

Easter Egg Lunch Hunt

After an Easter Egg hunt I find myself telling my Children, 

"You can choose three eggs.  If you eat too much candy you could get sick!"

With this special egg hunt you can surprise your Children by saying,

 "Go ahead and eat everything in all your eggs!"

You'll need Jumbo size Easter Eggs & an assortment of finger foods.  Be creative!  What ever you can think of that will fit in your eggs.

Some of the things we put in our eggs were: Carrots, Cheese sticks (cut & folded in half), Grapes, Goldfish crackers, Peanut butter and Jelly Sandwiches (cut in half then cut in thirds), and Cookies. 

Go outside and hide your eggs... let the hunt begin!

To make sure all our children got one of each food variety we had them hunt for their very own color.  If you have a large group you can have them search for one of each color.  (Just make sure you fill each color with the same food.  Example: All yellow eggs have grapes, all blue eggs have crackers...)

After all the eggs are found sit down together for a picnic lunch!

As we ate our Easter egg lunch we talked of all the kinds of foods we could put in our eggs next year.  We were even thinking of breakfast foods! 

Have fun!

Sugar Cubes

My youngest and I were a little bored today so we decided to make our own sugar cubes.

They are SO easy to make!  My 5 year old did pretty much everything on her own.

What You'll Need:

- A bowl

- A fork and spoon

- 1 Cup of sugar

- 1 Tablespoon of water

- An ice cube tray

The How To:

- First pour your cup of sugar into the bowl

- Then make an indentation in the middle of the sugar and pour your Table spoon of water into it.

- Next, use your fork to mix the sugar and water. It should have the consistency of wet sand....like the kind used to make sand castles.

- Now, take your spoon and fill up the spots on the ice cube tray.

- Be sure to use the back of your spoon to really compact the sugar in each mold (that's where I had to help out).

- Then we let them sit out for about an hour to dry out and harden(if you live in a humid place you will need to let them sit out longer)

-When they were ready we turned the ice cube tray upside down and gently tapped the sugar cubes out.

And now they are ready to eat!

IHOP Buttermilk Pancakes

Finally a homemade pancake that tastes like an IHOP pancake!

What you'll need:

2 1/2 cups of Flour

2 tsp. Baking Powder

2 tsp. Baking Soda

1/4 tsp. Salt

2 eggs Beaten

2 1/2 cups Buttermilk  (Buttermilk substitute:  2 1/2 Tbs. Vinegar or Lemon Juice + 2 1/2 cups milk.) 

4 Tbs. Melted Butter                                                                     

1/2 cup Sugar

(If you are using the Buttermilk substitute make it first and let it sit for 5 minutes.)
Stir Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda and Salt together.   In another bowl mix the eggs with the buttermilk and whisk until frothy.  Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and stir just until smooth.  Add the melted butter and sugar.    Fry on a greased griddle.  Enjoy!  (Serves 8 people, makes about 3-4 medium size pancakes each.)

Valentine Gift

This can be made for anyone....a spouse, child, grandparent, etc.

This one I made for my husband.

It was fairly easy to do and took a couple of hours to make.

I made mine pretty simple but you could really embellish it if you wanted to.

What You'll Need:

- A deck of playing cards

- Hole puncher

- Card stock or construction paper.

- Glue Stick

- Pen/marker

- Scissors

- Ribbon, twine, or something similar.

The How To:

- First punch two holes in each of the 52 playing cards and in one of the joker cards.

-Then cut rectangles from your card stock or construction paper that will fit on each card.

- Write a different thing that you like or love about that person on each rectangle.

- Next glue one rectangle onto each of the 52 playing card

- Then take the joker and glue your 'title' onto the back side of this card.

-Put this card on top of all of the others and then thread your ribbon through the cards and tie it together.

Valentines Decor

Here is a pretty easy way to add some 'love' to your home decor.

What You'll Need:

- Fabric (I used an old curtain)

- Black paint

- Red felt or fabric

-Lace or material to hang pennants from

-Hot glue gun

The How To:

- First decide how large you want your pennants to be.

- Then cut out a pennant for each of the letters and spaces in your valentine saying.

- Next paint the letters on them.

- Trace some hearts on the red fabric and then cut them out.

- Then hot glue the hearts where you want them on the pennants/banner.

-Next hot glue the pennants on to your lace.

For added fun I strung the banner across an old frame empty frame that I had laying around.

I also added a silhouette in the corner of the frame to add to the fun of it.

Oreo Truffes

I couldn't believe how yummy these truffles were!! An added bonus is that they are pretty easy to make too and only need 3 ingredients. Woohoo!

What You'll Need:

- 1 8oz package of softened light cream cheese

- 1 16 oz package of Oreo cookies (store brand Oreos taste just as good in this recipe)

- 16 oz of milk-chocolate baking chocolates

The How To:

- First you will need to crush up all the cookies into fine crumbs. You can do this in a blender, food processor, or you can crush in a resealable plastic bag using a rolling pin.

- Set aside a 1/2 cup of the crumbs for later use.

- Next you will mix together the cream cheese and cookie crumbs.

- Now roll them into 2 inch balls.

- After they are all rolled out, melt the chocolate according to the directions on the package.

- Then dip each ball into the melted chocolate and set aside on a cookie sheet.

- Sprinkle the balls with the cookie crumbs that you set aside.

- Now refrigerate them for about 1 hour or until they are firm.

-Enjoy! But remember, if there are any left overs they need to be stored in the refrigerator. =)

Paper Bag Fall Tree

Help your Children decorate for fall with this easy craft.

What you'll need:
-Brown paper lunch bags
-Scissors
-Glue
-Paper (Fall colors)

 The how to:

1- Cut lunch bag into half inch strips.  Start at the opening and cut half way down the bag.






2- Open bag and stand it up.

3- Hold base of bag with one hand and twist the middle of bag to create the trunk of the tree.





4- (example of finished trunk)


5- Twist two of the bag strips together to create branches.





6- (example of finished branches)

7- Rip strips of colored paper into tiny pieces and glue them all over the branches of the tree.

Done.

Halloween Food - Mummies and Eyeballs!

Do you want to make Halloween dinner even more spooky than usual?  :)  

Then try these fun and silly foods.  Your Family will love them!

What you'll need for the Mummies!
-Hot dogs
-Tube of biscuit dough.
-Mustard

What you'll need for the Eyeballs!
-Mashed potatoes
-Ketchup
-Olive slices (Green olives would work too!)
-Something for the eye center. (I used green frosting gel)

 How to make the Mummies:

-Cut biscuit dough into thin strips.
-Stretch dough into long strips.







-Wrap dough strips around the hot dog leaving an opening at the top for the eyes.







-Cook the dough wrapped hot dog in the oven according to biscuit dough instructions.

-Add two dots of Mustard in the opening for the eyes.

Done!


How to make the Eyeballs:
-Make your mashed potatoes and scoop them onto a plate using an ice cream scoop.
-Place a sliced olive on top and fill the center.  (I used green frosting gel.  But you could use Mustard or a pickle slice.  Use your imagination!)
-Last, use ketchup to squiggle the blood veins down the sides.
-Done

Hope you enjoy this creepy fun Halloween dinner!

Barefoot Booties

Here are some super cute baby sandals made from a T-shirt.

What You'll Need:

- 1 t-shirt

- piece of felt in the same color as t-shirt

-needle and thread

- glue gun

- fabric scissors

The How To:

- First trim off the hem of the t-shirt. Be sure to cut as close to the stitching as possible.

- Cut the hem into 3 strips. Mine were about 2.5 - 3 inches long. To be sure what size you need measure around the babies foot. ( I cut one strip to the measurement that I got around the ankle, and 2 from the measurement from the top of the foot)

- Next I stitched together the 2 that will go across the top of the foot. Just a couple of stitches will work....to make the straps look like an X.

- Then, I stitched together the ends of the straps to make circles. See the photo below.

- Next i cut 2 small circles ( that arn't bigger than the top of the babies foot) from the felt.

- Then glue the 2 straps onto the felt. Make sure that the stitching that makes the straps look like an X is not glued to the felt.

- Next glue the 3rd strap on (this is the one that will go around the ankle) at an angle as shown in the picture below.

- Glue the other small circle of felt on.....sandwiching the straps in between the 2 felt circles.

- Next comes the flower...it is also made from the t-shirt.

You can make you favorite flower to add or you can make this one.

- Cut out 4 flower shapes in different sizes from the t-shirt.

- I did a loose stitch in the middle of each flower and then pulled it tight to gather the flower. I did this to each flower and then I glued them together...one on top of the other.

- The I glued the flower on to the top of the felt circle.

Next make one for the other foot and then your done!

Now put them on those cute little baby feet!

Chocolate Banana Pops

Yummy CHOCOLATE BANANA POPS

This is a great treat for the kids to make....and for everyone to eat.

What You'll Need:

- 1 ripe banana

- 2 cups of milk

- 1 box of chocolate fudge instant pudding mix

- 1 container of vanilla yogurt

- 9 waxed cups (the small 5 oz size)

- 9 craft/popcicle sticks

- 1 small baking dish

The How To:

-First, put the cups in the baking dish. This is to help them stay up while freezing and make easier to move them.

- Next in a bowl mix the pudding mix and the milk in a bowl for about 2 minutes. Let it sit in the fridge for about 5 minutes.

- Then in a different small bowl mush the banana up with a fork and then add the yogurt to it. And mix it up.

- Now, put a couple of spoon-full's of pudding in each little cup.

- Then put a couple of spoon-full's of the yogurt in each little cup.

-And if there is any extra pudding and extra room in your cups fill with the remaining pudding.

- Be sure to gently tap the baking dish with all the cups in it on the counter to help level out the pudding/yogurt mixture.

- Then put one of the craft/popcicle sticks in the center of each cup.

- Pop the banana pops in the freezer for about 2 hours or until they are frozen/firm.

- To eat, just peel the paper cup off of the banana pop and then enjoy!

A drink of many colors

To make this fun drink you will need:

- A cup

- Ice cubes

- Diet 7-up or Sprite

- Wild berry gatorade Fierce

- Lite CranGrape Juice

But really you can use any kind of juice/soda....they just need to have different amounts of sugar in them.

The How to:

- First fill your cup to the top with ice.

- Next pour in the drink that has the MOST sugar in it. In this case it is the Wildberry gatorade.

-Then VERY gently pour the drink with the 2nd most sugar (the lite crangrape juice) slowly onto an ice cube. Doing this will help keep the flavors/colors from mixing together.

- Now comes the last drink (Diet 7-up). Do the same with it as the last one....pouring slowly over the ice.

And there you have it. A drink of many colors.

Seed Paper Card

For Spring I thought that it would be fun for the kids (with some adult help) to make some cards with seed paper as part of them.

What You’ll Need:

- Scraps of construction paper

- Blender

- Packet of flower seeds

- Wooden spoon

- Water

- Dish rag

- Colander/strainer

- 3 towels

- Pieces of felt (optional)

- Scissors

- Blank card or a piece of card stock

- Glue

- Pen/pencil

The How To:

- First tear your construction paper into small pieces and put them in your blender.

- Then add enough water to cover the paper and then blend it up.

I was really hesitant to do this in my blender, but it didn’t hurt my blender at all.

- If needed you can add a little more water to it.

It should look something like this:

-  Next, unplug your blender.

- Now add some seeds to your paper mixture.

- Then gently mix the seeds into the mixture.  Be sure to use your wooden spoon for this!

- Next I put my dish rag in the bottom of the colander/strainer and then poured the mixture out of the blender onto the dish rag.
This is to help drain some of the water off of the paper and keep it from falling through the holes in the colander/strainer.
I usually let it sit like this for 5-10 minutes to help drain as much water as possible.

-  Then I place a towel down on the counter (mine is the black one)
- On top of the towel I put the piece of felt (optional)
- Next comes the pouring of the paper mixture out of the colander and onto the felt.
- Now, using your hands, gently spread the paper mixture out on the felt.


- Then I take one of my other towels and put it on top of the paper and gently press on it to help absorb water off of the paper.  When that towel is wet I change it out for my other towel.  I do this a few times through out the day to help speed up the drying process.  And then I let it  sit out over night uncovered.

- Another way to help speed it up is by using a hair dryer on it.

- When it is dry it will be like stiff paper.  Decided what design you want to create with it then draw or trace it on to the seed paper.
- Next cut it out.

- Lightly glue the seed paper on to your card/card stock.
- Then draw (or have your children draw) the rest of your picture with markers, crayons, colored pencils, etc.
- On the inside be sure to put a note in it that the seed paper can be planted and they can grow their own flowers with some TLC.