My New Favorite Movie App

My kids and their endless imaginations never cease to amaze me. Here's my NEW favorite App for my iphone.  It's called "Silent Film Director". 
I love the grainy old time film, and the music just makes anything they do seem funny!

Gnome, Anyone?

My amazing cousisn made these Gnomes for a party recently.  What says spring better than a sweet, jovial, sometimes mischievous Gnome?

 Her daughter made the background "villiage" using heavy paper and crayons. Very fun.

So, here's how to make your own Gnomes at home:

You'll need:

Sugar cones, icing, twizzlers in various colors, jelly belly jelly beans, mini chocolate chips and 2 sizes of cupcakes (mini and regular), white chocolate discs for melting, colored sugar.

For the hats: cover the sugar cone in white chocolate and roll in colored sugar.

The body:  a mini cupcake set upside-down on top of the regular cupcake.

The arms: twizzlers the the end clipped enough to jam a jelly belly "hand".

The face: 2 mini chocolate chips for eyes and a jelly belly for the nose.

Lots of icing piped all over for the beard and hair.

I especially liked the tiny mushrooms sprinkled on the tray ( made from gum drops and tiny cake/cookie decorative balls).  The green "grass" is colored shreaded coconut.

They tasted good too!

Make A St. Patrick's Day Card

My Mom really loves 4 leaf clovers.  She used to "sell" them to a neighbor lady when she was little. She'd earn a penny for any genuine 4 leaf clover that was given to the neighbor, and the neighbor stuffed her bible with 4 leaf clovers.

My mom had 4 kids, and I have 4 kids.  My mom told me once that each leaf of a lucky 4 leaf represented one of her kids.  I thought it would be cute to have each of my kids hold a green heart shape and have them form a 4 leaf clover with them. 

If you want to make one:
cut heart shapes out of green construction paper
hold them together to form a clover shape
take a photo
upload to a site like Picnik and edit
You don't have to have 4 kids: have one kid hold 2, or include yourself or the dog
it's fun and easy!

I plan to make these into cards or postcards to mail our family.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

"Be True" Upcycled T-Shirt Scarf

 I made this easy scarf recently using an old t-shirt, some bleach, a sharpie and embrodery thread.

I have a friend who was a little blue.  She's been going through some difficult times lately, and we were just talking about how she is trying to live by the mantra: "To Thine Own Self Be True". 
We all know how easily we put ourselves last on the list for any attention, pampering, lunch.... (fill in the blank).

So, I made her this little lightweight t-Shirt scarf from a soft old shirt I came across.
 
Cut a long rectangle. (you can use a scarf you currently have as a guide) make it long or short depending on how you like it.

Cut strips of the fabric (6) to sew along the ends. 

Take a q-tip dipped in bleach and gently apply the bleach to the edges of the strips.  (The bleaching process takes awhile-don't get discouraged if the color seems a bit off at first).

Then take embroidery thread and stitch each strip to the ends of the scarf. I like the stitches chunky and uneven...handmade.

Lastly, add a personal message with sharpie along one of the stripes.  If you kind of "dab" on the sharpie, it gives a weathered charcoal type of look.

 Wrap yourself in the reminder to follow your dreams, and be true to yourself!

Easy Valentine Box

All of us parents are scrabling to come up with a Valentine Box this weekend. 
My child just did a diorama (?) depicting bears in their natural habitat with my very last shoe box. 

Now what?  I'm not buying a pair of shoes just for the box.  That is just plain silly. 

So what am I to do?  Naturally, I look in the trash and recycling bins. 
What I DO have are these great plastic grape boxes from Costco.

 Take some strips of tissue paper and apply elmers glue with a brush to the interior of the box.  The tissue paper will go on easily, just brush it flat.  Don't worry about using too much glue, the white will fade as the glue dries.

 Then the fun part: use little squares of tissue wrapped over the end of a pencil, dip them  in hot glue and then apply the frilly design to the outside of the box.  The hot glue is super child resistant, and the glue sticks instantly.  Please don't let the kids use hot glue-this is the parent part. (They can stick the poofs-you work the gun). 

Ah, the traslucence of the tissue paper and the frill of the poof makes the perfect valentine box.

Have a sweet day!

Fun Valentine Tutorial

I think Valentines Day is such a *sweet* day. 
I love coming up with crafty valentines and working on the kid's valentine boxes with them. 

My kids read their valentines over and over...they keep their cards year after year...even if they are just Star Wars store bought and the kids name was signed by their mom.

Here's what my kids are giving out this year:

You still have this weekend to make some super fun valentines with your kids:

Take your child's photo with their hand exended as if they are handing you something.

Edit your photo at a fun site like snapfish that allows you to add a border and text.

Then punch holes in your picture right at the edges of your child's fist. (the key to this is a long reach hole punch) 

Slip a lollipop through the holes, and have a fantastic, funny Valentines day!

Fantastic Fall Pumpkins With a Chalky Twist

These pumpkins are so much fun for the whole family! 

Start with a faux pumpkin from the craft store.  Tape off the stem if you like the color, then apply chalkboard spray paint in fine layers.  You may need to apply 3 or 4 fine layers of paint in order to avoid runs and drips.

Once you've painted your pumpkin, paint on leaves and curly vines with acrylic paint.

Then write "Happy Fall", or "Happy Halloween", or "Welcome", or how about: "Happy Birthday"!

Dessert Cups

I had a big family gathering a few weeks ago.  My (youngest) brother brought his girlfriend to meet the family.  It was sort of a big deal, but I didn't want it to be TOO much of a big deal.  I knew she was nervous to meet us all ( I served dinner for 28).

 I thought a fun dinner to lighten the mood would be better than a sit-down formal meal.  I decided on a Make-Your-Own Taco night.  It worked out really well.  I had big bowls full of condiments and sides, I made fresh corn, and used tomatoes from my Mom's garden.  We had planned several games to keep everyone engaged and talking. 

For dessert, I thought we may as well expand on the Make-Your-Own theme, and have a sundae bar.  We had hot fudge, caramel, sprinkles, candy, whipped cream, cherries, and all sorts of toppings.  I made these fun dessert cups to scoop the ice cream into. 

I took regular flour tortillias and used a cookie cutter to make smaller circles.  I slightly buttered both sides of the circle and then sprinkled on sugar and cinnamon. 

Then I pushed the circles into a muffin pan and baked them at 350 for 8 minutes.  They were perfectly crispy and just the perfect compliment to all of the dessert toppings.  The kids thought they were amazing.

An Observation at Mammoth Cave

Over the summer, we visited Mammoth Cave, in Kentucky.  

Mammoth Cave, as it's name suggests is giant.  It is with world's largest cave system by far, and they are still discovering other branches and making new maps to record recent discoveries. 

An interesting thing about the place is that it has been open for tours since the 1840's.  Hard to imagine.  Wealthy North Easterners  traveled  by stage coach for months to visit the place.  There was a small retreat type hotel, but the draw was the cave.  

The property above ground at the time was owned privately, and the property owners would have their slaves give tours.  Some of the slaves became known for their excellent tours and knowledge of the cave and it's many underground passageways.Some of these slaves earned enough money in tips to buy their freedom.

 Throughout the older part of the cave, there is "graffiti" left by these early explorers.  The slaves hoped to earn tips by allowing their guests to write on the walls and ceilings of the cave with candle smoke ( I think candles were made with fat at the time, so they were a bit smokier than ours today).

 What struck me most was the immaculate penmanship.  Beautifully formed letters in different fonts even!  The   skill of handwriting is truly lost.  I can tell you that my kids (all of them) can type better and faster than they can write.  This saddens me somehow.  It makes the writing from the 1800's look like art.

Here's the crew outside, peeling off their jackets.  It was 90 degrees that day, and it's always 60 something in the cave.

The Best Fresh Salsa

I know your gardens are all busting with fresh tomatoes and herbs.  Here's something fresh to do with your garden surplus.

Here's what you'll need:
4 limes, 2 tomatoes, and onion, a pepper, a dash of salt, cilantro (not pictured) and the "special sauce" Lizano salsa.

While we were away this summer in Costa Rica, Renzo, a chef, showed us how to make this excellent salsa.

My kids loved Renzo.  That's a story for another day.

Here's what you'll need to do:

Chop all of the ingedients finely, add about 2 tablespoons of Lizano Sauce (found in the Mexican food section of the grocery) and stir. Serve with thick tortilla chips.  The result is an excellent salsa that you and your family will crave!

Well, They are Gone

My kids are off to school today.
I'm feeling a bit lost as I do every year.  More sad for myself than for them...they are off with their friends on new adventures.  I'm left with what I forgot to do, (pack snacks for my youngest two), what I wanted to do (have an unhurried morning) and lots of chores and organization that require more effort than I'm capable of right now.

It doesn't help that I think I'm coming down with a head cold.  I had a cup of coffee, so I can't go back to bed.  I feel like watching TLC all day, but that's not very productive, is it?

I've got lots of exciting projects and catching up to do here.  Can't wait to share all that has been going on.  I hope you'll understand why I took the summer off once I get into the move, the renovation of my 100 year old house, our amazing trip, and so much more!

I'm seeing...DOTS....

My Kids just love the mystery and suspense of these Lego minifigures.  These little bags are sold for less than $3, and contain a mystery Lego minifigure.  Each series contain a mix of great characters. The only problem is that your son can get the figure skater with the pretty outfit including a blue skirt 3 times in a row.  That brings some frustration and tears, I happen to know first hand. 

Alas, but there is a way around repeatedly buying the same figure, and possibly choosing the one you'd really like.  It is no less frustrating, and it may bring tears, but they will be your tears, not your 6 year old's!  Lego apparently marks the packages with a dot system that must be an internal way for them to know whats what. 

These very hard to see dots are at the back of the package, on the bottom seal.  Arm yourself with the following dot codes, and you'll have a better chance at getting the hockey player, or whatever it is that your little one just can't live without!