Christmas Ornaments equal Holiday Gifts

  Tis the season to break the bank or get creative.  Depending how many supplies you have on hand will depend on how many trips to the store but these trips still shouldn't break the bank.

  Over the last few days I have made items for my daughter to give as gifts.  A few trips to the dollar store and items I have had on hand have aided in some nice gestures of thoughtfulness and kindness.

  My two main items for gifts inspired by Pinterest:

A wine cork.  Which is really easy to find even if you don't drink.  Stop at a local restaurant, check with neighbors or even grocery stores that have wine tasting.

These plastic ornaments came from the dollar tree.  I like that you get two to a package.

Pinterest is great for any and everything.  You just need to have a plan in mind or risk the chance of losing time over searching for something and getting distracted and looking at something else.

  I have been on there looking at all things Christmas.  My daughter wanted somethings to give out and I wanted it to be unique.  I have no shame in that they are cheap gifts because they are homemade and unique.  The teacher will probably get tons of cookies, mugs and coffee gift certificates and when the air clears the food and drink will be gone!  

Cork Mouse!  For the mouse I used two corks.  1 for the whole body then I cut two circular pieces off for the ears. Face was applied with a marker.  Scarf was scrap ribbon. Arms, legs and tail were wire I picked up at the dollar store and twisted into limbs and after making an initial hole with a paperclip I pushed them in and secured them with hot glue. You could add a eyelet on top to make it an ornament.

Santa cork!  I deviated from the directions of painting him and just covered him in red felt.  Hat is also red felt with a cotton ball pulled apart for the trim and a white pompom.  Eyes are drawn on and his nose is loose felt rolled up.  His beard is pulled off a cotton table runner (dollar store purchase) but you could use a cotton ball pulled apart for this too.  Everything hot glued together.

The last two items made my daughter and I were like elves.  I made one and see made the other.  

  

We shredded a sheet of brown paper and she had the task of stuffing the ball.  The eyes and nose were hot glued down.  The antlers are one pipe cleaner.  I didn't have brown so it is black for this deer.  One piece of pipe cleaner wrapped around the top, then cut in half on each side and wrapped around again.

I loved this idea when I saw it and had to make it.  I didn't know a pig could be so cute.  He couldn't have been easier to make!  I didn't have pink paint so I went about it a little harder by adding drops of red and white and shaking it around the inside.  I was amazed and grateful to have found a pink button nose.  I drew in some little black beady eyes and cut out pink ears that I hot glued on.

There you have it folks! If you even have only a half hour you have time to make 4 cute, unique, homemade, handmade gifts!  

I'm glad I had glue sticks in bulk but after this season I may need to stock up on some more.

Have you made any unique gifts?  Have you gotten stuck on Pinterest for hours?  What's your favorite holiday item?

Beans in the Brownies (pinterest challenge day 13)

  First off if your following me on Instagram you should have already seen my video if not jump over there for a short interrogation by my child.  She knew we were going to have brownies today but was not too sure about the use of beans.  I tried to tell her we had them before and all was well but she didn't remember probably because I didn't tell her about them.

  My challenge today was bean brownies!  Why not!  Do you think the more I actually let them know what's in their food the more likely they are to actually try it outside of what I cook it in?  Hmm, your probably right, probably not.  So until then I will randomly feed them goodies with veggies.  I look forward to the day one of them wakes up and says hey mom I'm feeling really healthy today what happened.

  There are so many options you can choose on Pinterest.  You can search just brownies but I selected bean brownies.  That was the easy part after that you have to scroll through dozens of option until your content with one.  Sometimes this is easy based on ingredients I have on hand, 3 ingredient recipes, no bake, or quick preps.  So many choices.  Lucky for you, you can always add them to a board or just like it so that it's saved for another day.

  Todays recipe was brownies with beans.
 

I added the batter to the pan and let the kids smell it before I put it in the oven.  I asked what it smelled like.  They could identify chocolate as they searched to see the beans.  Everything was run through the food processor so there was very little proof of them in the batter.

Brownies done and cooling.  They spent 18 minutes cooking and making the air smell delicious so when they were done, you couldn't help but want one.

Brownies are served better with a glass of milk

Supper easy recipe.  Everything goes in the food processor then poured in the pan.  The texture was the same as a traditional brownie.  The flavor was high in chocolate and no bean flavor at all.  The kids saw the whole process and still couldn't be stopped or slowed down with the beans. Chocolate trumps beans.  10 minutes of resting and I served up a piece to everyone.  The chocolate was still gooey and melted on your fingers.  2 kids loved these brownies and wanted more so you know what that means? #Pinterestwin!

  All my pinterest challenges can be found on my pinterest challenge board.

Healthy Muffins (pinterest challenge)

  So you know how your having a good day until your kids have plucked your last nerve.  Well I got them back today!  It seemed like I had to tell them multiple times to do several things today.  All of this during our celebratory dress like a cow at Chick Fil A and even after.  I even let them play on the playground.  

  Todays dinner was an easy one.  Hotdogs, mac and cheese and a side of carrots.  Only one of those is acceptable by the children.  However due to lack of time to eat ice cream at lunchtime the negotiation was all dinner had to be eaten before the ice cream was consumed.  One point for mom for that plan.  One poor child was compliant!

  Enter my devious plan to get those children.  Pinterest Challenge for day 12.  Muffins!

 Spinach muffins!  I'll show those kids.  The green I was concerned about but they are always trying to steal my pistachio muffins so I thought I was ok there.

  While they were napping I made this batch and worked quickly to get them in the oven before my plan was blown.  I had to make the dry ingredients bowl was complete before I turned on the blender.

Look what else gets thrown in! Bananas!

  All the dry ingredients got mixed with the wet mix from the blender then scooped into the muffin tray.

  They smelled amazing when they were cooking.  I m not sure if it was the bananas or the cinnamon.  Even when one child came down she said how good something smelled.

  Can I have a muffin, momma?  Yes, yes you can honey!  Can I just saw that was the first thing she took a bite of too.  She even let me know it smelled better up close.  However I did get multiple questions.  Why's it this color? Are there chocolate chips in here? What kind of muffin is it?  A good one that's what kind it is, lol.

  Who cares if it's a pea green unattractive color! This momma just fed her kids a muffin with bananas and spinach in it.  Hehe I feel almost evil.

  I would like to reduce the sugar (3/4 cups) and maybe up the spinach and bananas to make it a wee bit healthier.  The recipe was really easy to make.  Blending everything in a blender makes the mixing easier.  The recipe did have a quick prep time too.  I would have to say with 2 kids (other child ate one and tried several times to try and steal another) wanting second muffins this is a #pinterestwin!

Multiple Elmer (Pinterest Challenge)

  Have you read Elmer?  It is a book about an elephant, a multi colored elephant.  One who gets tired of feeling different.  He wants to be the same as everyone else. His present state of a patchwork of all colors makes him feel self conscience.  He decides to paint himself gray like his friends.  He eventually figures out what happens when you try to act like something you are not.

 The story of Elmer tries to teach us that we are the way we are and sometimes when we try to change who we are and it's really not necessary.  The people you have in your life accept you and like you for who you are.  Kids need reinforcement to know that their differences are no excuse to change and certainly no reason to make fun of people.

  To emphasize the beauty of Elmer we made some crafts to go along with the book.  We started with a color by number sheet.  My daughter had to follow directions to color the appropriate numbers.  However you could just skip the directions and color Elmer whatever colors you want.  That's the true fun of this book.

The second craft we did was to recycle good old toilet paper rolls.  She selected a color of her choice and we constructed an elephant.

Lastly we pulled out the Legos.  My daughter is getting better with directions.  Legos make it easy to assemble their projects.  Step by step she followed the instructions to build her very own Elmer.

  Reading a book and following it up with a craft or two helps your child in multiple ways.  A child is able to recreate a scene, reflect on a important point or summarize the overall story.  Creating a project is not only fun, the child is making a lasting memory of a story as well as bringing it to life.  We found all our projects on Pinterest.

  Pinterest is a great resource to tie books together.  With a little research you can find projects including  crafts, food, coloring sheets, lesson plans as well as other theme related books.

  We had fun with this project and I can't wait to read and craft another book with the kids.

Stars without stripes (Day 3 Pinterest Challenge)

   Ok, so I am almost caught up!  I have all the projects done it's just a matter of writing up the posts.

  In keeping with the red, white and blue theme for Independence Day I made this project of stars.  This project could partially be done by kids but I did this one by myself.

    First off everyone has a box of crayons like this right?

Well, you will still have your box when your done.  I only used 2 crayons.  1 red and 1 blue and it made 11 stars!  Depending on where your going to use them and how many you need will determine how many more crayons you will need.

  Peel the wrapper off and shred the crayon.

  Place it in wax paper sealed around all the ends and cover with parchment paper.  Iron the crayon filled papers.

Draw your desired shape and cut them out.

I punched holes in mine and tied string to them.

The stars can be hung anywhere and made in any color.  Make some for a birthday or special occasion.  I hung mine up in between two rooms.

I love how these turned out.  They look really cute.  I can almost see a different shape seasonally.  Dangling down a mantel, as fringe or a banner.

Older kids could probably help with this craft if not using the iron they could cut the shapes.

  Can you see yourself making these in your future?  I would say this is a #pinterestwin!

Challenge number 2 (pinterest)

  Fireworks!  Everyone will see them whether it's for one holiday or another.  Young and old will have experienced it at least once in their life.  So what is more fun then painting some.

  Again the easiest way to accomplish a craft even if it's not from Pinterest is to have the necessary items readily available.  I almost think as a parent you would have all these supplies but if not you can grab some for less than a dollar.

We used toilet paper rolls but other options I have seen are bent forks, straws, q-tips and koosh balls.  You also need construction paper, and paint.  I choose black paper to signify the night sky.

That's it!

  Deep the tubes into the paint and apply it to the paper.  The more colors available the more colorful your fireworks will be!

This is a great project for any age.  The tube makes it easy for young hands to hold while the older kids can focus on a more defined firework with multiple colors and rays.

  Go ahead and get busy.  Caution as always paint can get messy but think of the indoor forever lasting firework display you will have to last you all year!

#pinterestwin

Pinterest Challenge Day 1

 

  Each day I will try a new a new pinterest project.  Since today is day 3 I should catch you up and the last two days.  I thought of this idea because it's a new month and it's so easy to start something new on day 1 of the month.

  Why pinterest?  Not just because I want to be part of the popular pinterest win or fail but, because it is one platform that offers so many ideas in one spot.  I am able to go here for new recipes, craft ideas, schooling ideas, home decor or improvements, games and more.  Lucky for us that the ideas vary from simple to very extreme on there.  Some people have tried to replicate creations seen only to fail.  However these people have embraced the failure by still sharing this with the public usually with the #pinterestfail.  I will share the good, bad and ugly and hope everything leans more towards the positive side.

  My first project involved lunch for the kids.  After see Finding Dory the other day why not bring a "sea" theme to the table.  This first item I choose was a hotdog and noodles.  Two items I had at home and two items my kids ate.  That in itself makes it a win win.

Behold the octopus and bed of seaweed.

8 legs (trust they are all there) and a face!

This project was very easy to make.  Although I didn't cook the hotdog (I guess if you boil it for a few minutes the legs curl up) it still came out resembling an octopus and was easily identified by my kids.  The only complaint I received was the mustard I used for his face.  Oh well next time he may be faceless, what a shame.

The seaweed was made up of Ramen noodles with green food coloring!  You can get much easier than that.  When I made it I envisioned multiple ideas not just with noodles but with food coloring as well!

  For this challenge I will pick various areas because afterall what fun would it be if I just stuck in one!

  I hope you enjoy my pinterest journey and are inspired to step out of your comfort zone and maybe try something new.  It doesn't matter the results because sometimes we just have to try again!

Christmas Kids Crafts

  Taking it slow with kids and pain meds has finally slowed me down to do some crafts with my kids.  I have a ever growing board on pinterest.  Jump over there and see what projects  caught my eye or that I would like to make.  My Christmas pins are a collection of kid friendly crafts, decorations and DIY projects.

  Of course I have more than just a Christmas board.  You can find a DIY board, beautiful nail art, science projects for kids and more crafty things for different seasons and holidays.

  I will try to share the fails and wins with you.  I think it makes it easier to see real people accomplishing things rather than pretty, proper, perfect pictures.


  Today we worked on 2 crafts on my Christmas board and they came out pretty well.  The kids are satisfied with them.  A great preschool project.  Discuss colors, shapes, numbers with the Santa craft.  The stained glass project I was pleased with!  I think my daughter enjoyed seeing the end result too.  We will hang this up on the wall.  She showed great patience when coloring it and took her time.

supplies: tin foil, sharpie markers, coloring page, gallon baggie

supplies: red, white and black paper, red pompom, cottonball, paper plate, crayon to color face, glue

  My kids that made these are 3 and 5.  Supplies were very basic. Use what you have on hand improvise if you have to! My kids would give up TV and video games if they could make crafts.