Winter Stars

Just For Fun

Here is something other than snowflakes to decorate with during the winter months.

What You'll Need:

- Tissue Paper

- Glue

- Scissors

- Tape

- Ruler

The How To:

-First, cut a squre out of tissue paper (For my large star I cut a 10x10 inch square, Medium star: 8x8, Small star: 6x6)

-Next, cut your square into 4 smaller squares. (You will need a total of 8 these smaller squares for one star)

-Then, take one of the smaller squares and fold it in half. And then fold it in half again (so you have a smaller square).

-Unfold it and you should have a square with fold marks on it ( these will be a guide in the next step).

- Now, fold each corner to the center of the square. Use the fold lines from the previous step as a guide as to where to fold the corner to.

-Then, lay your square in front of you so it looks like a diamond.

-Next, fold the point/corner on the left to the center fold to form a point and the top.

-Then do this with the point on the right also.

-Now your paper should remind you of a kite.

-Do this with the other 7 small squares.

-Now comes the time to glue them together.

-Put several drops of glue on half of one side of the back of your point (the side that is smooth and doesn't have all the folded pieces).

-Then, place one of the other points onto this one as shown in the picture. Making sure that the end points overlap each other.

-Continue to do this until you come to the last point of your star.

-Now instead of just laying this last point on top of the others, you want it to blend in with the rest of the star.

-So, to do this lift up the edge of the last point that is not glued down and the edge of your first point that is not glued down.

-Push the edge of your last point down/under the first point.

-Then put drops of glue on your last point and glue the first point on top of it. (see illustrations below)

And there you have it!

My kids love the design that you can see through the paper when they are hung on the window

Home Made Turkey Noodle Soup

This is a great recipe to for a cold day and to help use up that leftover turkey.

 What you'll need:

-10 Cups Water

-8  Chicken Bouillon Cubes

-2 Celery Stalks, Chopped

-2 Carrots, Sliced (1 can Carrots)

-Turkey

-8oz. Pasta

-Salt & Pepper to taste

The how to:

Bring Broth to a gentle boil.  Add turkey, carrots and celery, cook until veggies are slightly tender. Add noodles and cook until noodles, and veggies are tender.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Finger Print Turkey Place Cards

What you'll need:

-White card stock
-Yellow, Orange, Red & Brown Paint or Stamp pads
-Googly Eyes

The how to:

-First start with the color Yellow, dip your finger in the paint and press it repeatedly on the card stock making a fan.

-Next use the color Orange and press your print over half of the yellow print. Repeat with the color Red.

-With the brown press a print in the bottom center of the fan.

-Glue two googly eyes and a small orange triangle for the beak on the brown print.

-Draw the feet and add a name.

Braided Bread Napkin Rings

Here's a fresh idea for your napkin rings this Thanksgiving!

What you'll need:
-Cardboard tube (paper towel or toilet paper tubes)
-Tin Foil
-Bread dough (store bought or home made)
-Cooking Spray

The how to:

-Wrap your cardboard tubes in tin foil and spray with cooking spray.

-Take your dough and roll it into three long strips.
Pinch the ends together and start braiding it. Or two long strips and twist it.
(Make sure your strips are more on the thin side)

-Wrap your braid around your foil tube and pinch the ends together.

-Place the braids on a greased cookie sheet, pinched side down. Cover and let raise for 30 minutes to one hour. Don't let them rise too much. Then bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Or until golden brown. (Check on them after 10 minutes)

-Once out of the oven spread butter on the rings while still hot. Then let them cool.

Gently slide the rings off the foil tubes and slide your napkin inside.

Enjoy!

Thanksgiving Candy

So Simple

Here is an easy treat for the kids to help make.

What You'll Need:

-Oven

-Cookie Sheet

-Aluminum Foil

-Life Saver Hard Candy

-Green Fruit Leather

The How To:

-First heat the oven to 250.

-Then line your cookie sheet with aluminum foil.

-To make the Indian Corn, you need to break up several different colors of Life Savers.

-Then, make a pile of the pieces on the cookie sheet and shape them into a corn shape.

-Next put them it in the oven for 8-10 minutes.

-Take them out and let it cool.

- When it is cool, peel the aluminum foil off the bottom of the corn.

-Then cut 2 pieces off of your fruit leather to look like corn leaves/husks and place them on your corn.

Jellybean pumpkins

Food Friday

A yummy and cute decoration.

What You'll Need:

- Orange netting or Tulle

- Scissors

- Orange jellybeans

- Green Pipe cleaners

- Different sized bowls to trace

- Marker

The How To:

-First use the marker to trace the bowl onto the orange tulle. My bowls were approximately 5 inches and the other one 8 inches in diameter.

- Then cut out the circles.

- Put some jellybeans on to the tulle and then pull the edges of the tulle up around the jelly beans (so it is like they are in a bag)

- Next wrap the pipe cleaner around the edges of the top of your tulle 'bag.'

-Then, if you wanted to, you can take another pipe cleaner and wrap it around a pen or pencil to make a twirly tendril to come off the top of your pumpkin.

- After you wrap the pipe cleaner around the pencil, slide it off and wrap part of it around the stem of your pumpkin. Leave the other part of the twirl to stick off to the side of the stem.

These make a cute (and tasty) centerpiece for the kids table at Thanksgiving or just a fun treat to put in their lunchboxes.

Pumpkin Patch

Love it.

Another cute project that I fell in love with.

The other day I ran across these fun pumpkins that are made out of doorknobs.

You can find instructions on how to make them over at Under the Table and Dreaming by Stephanie Lynn.

Photo from www.bystephanielynn.com

Garland of Gratitude

Living Green

Here is a great way to remind your family what they are grateful for.

What You'll Need:

- Construction Paper (in fall colors)

- Leaf Template to Trace (I searched for a free one on the internet)

- Twine

- Tape

- Scissors

- Pen or Marker

The How To:

-First trace your leaf pattern on to your construction paper.

-Then cut them all out.

- Next crumple up all the leaves to give them a worn look.

- Now have each person in your family come up with at least one thing to be thankful for and have them write it on their leaf.

- To hang the leaves, fold the stem of the leaf over the twine and tape the stem to the back of the leaf.

- If you have children who are not old enought to write on their own, you can have them draw a picture on theirs instead.

This is a great way to help everyone to have an attitude of gratitude.

Felt Mushrooms

Just For Fun

I just fell in love with these cute felt mushrooms.

What You'll Need:

-Felt

-Glue gun

-Needle and Thread

-Batting

-Marker

-Cup or Bowl to Trace (optional)
-Cardboard

-Acrylic Paint (optional)

-Paintbrush (optional)

The How To:

-Before we get into the details of making it, I wanted to give the size of the felt that I cut out. These can be any size you want, but just so you get an idea of how big they will turn out I wanted to let you know how big I made mine. The biggest one has a stem that I cut 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches. The diameter of the circle was 4 1/2 inches. And the cardboard used inside the mushroom top was 1 1/4 inches in diameter.

-First cut a strip of felt for the stem. I used white.

-I then threaded my needle and tied a not in one end of the thread.

- Next pull the needle through one corner on the stem. This will be on the bottom of the stem.

-Now, starting with the end with the thread in it, tightly roll up the strip of felt. Be sure to keep the rest of the thread out side of the roll while doing this.

-After it is all rolled up, inseret the needle into the middle of the roll and out onto the side with the edge of the felt. (see picture below)

-Then use a whip stitch all the way down the side to secure the edge of the felt down. When you get to the last stitch on the stem, reinsert the needle into the felt and come out the middle of that end (just the opposite of the way you started stitching the stem).

-Next comes the top of the mushroom top. I used different sized bowls and cups to trace circles on to my other color of felt.

-Then I used my needle and thread to stitch loosely around the outter edge of my circle. And then I cut them out.

- When I stitched all the way around, I pulled the thread to cinch/pull the mushroom into a ball shape. Don't pull it all the way closed and don't tie the thread off yet.

- Next, stuff the top of the mushroom with the batting.

-Then, take your little cardboard circle and put it in the top.

-Now you can pull the thread tight. But don't tie it off until you have made sure that the opening of it is just a little bit smaller than the width of your stem.

- After you have made sure the stem fits, tie off your thread

- Next use your glue gun and put glue on the card board. Then stick your stem in the opening and onto the glue.

-I found that my mushroom had a little bit of trouble standing on its own, so I gently used my fingers to pinch/stretch the bottom out a little bit and that seemed to solve the problem.

-Then I used my paint and paint brush to add white circle to my mushroom top.

And there you have it!

A cute mushroom that can be used as a cute accent to a room or a great toy that my girls will love using with their fairy dolls.

Fall Alphabet

For the Family

Another great way to put those fall leaves to use....a leaf alphabet.

What You'll Need:

- White card stock or other stiff paper

-Glue

-Pressed leaves

-Black marker

The How to:

-Start by giving everyone a piece of card stock.

-Then spread your pressed fall leaves out on the table so you can see the shapes and colors of them.

-Next brainstorm about different things that start with the letters of the alphabet.

-After you have come up with a few different things, start piecing your ideas together on you paper.

- Then glue them into place when you are happy with what you have come up with.

-Next add details to your pictures. Eyes or mouth on the animals, etc.

-Finally you can add the letter of the alphabet that the picture represents or you can create a whole scene made out of leaf creatures.

Fall Leaf Hanger

So Simple

Here's a fun finger painting craft your children will love helping you make.

What you'll need:

-White Poster Board
-Red, Yellow and Green Finger Paints
-Raffia
-Stick
-Leaf Stencil

The how to:

-Drip the finger paint in different places all over the white poster board and have your
children spread it around with their fingers.

-Let it dry and then do the same thing to the other side.

Once the paint is dry take your leaf stencil and trace it onto the board.
(I used a leaf cookie cutter as a stencil.) Trace nine leafs.

-Cut out the leaves and punch holes in the tops and bottoms of each leave
except for the bottom row. (punch only one hole in the top of the leave)

-Use the raffia to tie the leaves together. (Three rows of three leaves.)
Then tie each row to the stick.

-Tie the raffia to each end of the stick to make the hanger.

For some personal charm, add some some pictures to each leaf.

Fall Leaf Cinnamon Crisps

What you'll need:
-Leaf Cookie Cutters (Metal cookie cutters work best)
-Flour Tortillas
-1 tsp. Cinnamon
-2 Tbs. Sugar
-6 Tbs. Butter (Melted)

The how to:
-Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

-Cut leaf shapes out of the flour tortillas using leaf shaped cookie cutters. (I found that metal cookie cutters cut work best.)

-Melt the 6 Tbs. butter in a bowl and mix the 1 tsp. cinnamon and 2 Tbs. sugar in another bowl.

-Brush the tortilla leaves with butter and then dip them in the cinnamon sugar mixture.

-Lay them on a cookie sheet (Not overlapping) and bake in the oven for 4-6 minutes or until crisp.

These sweet crisps are great with some sliced strawberries or fruit salsa on top!