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Saturday, March 30, 2013

Craft Time:Marbled Easter Eggs...

This was a super fun craft.  It kept my kids entertained for hours and now has my friends thinking I am a little crazy.  You see, it involves shaving cream and I let me kids go to town with that shaving cream as you will see in a bit, but first let's get down to crafting business!
You will need:
card stock
shaving cream (I bought the El cheapo kind at Wal-Mart)
acrylic paint
craft stick or something with a flat edge

First draw an egg shape on a piece of card stock... 
Next fill a disposable baking dish with shaving cream.... 
Next, squirt the paint onto the shaving cream and gently swirl together with a craft stick.  Be careful not to mix too much or you will get brown, yucky colored paint... 
Press your paper into the shaving cream with the egg shape facing up...


Allow the paint to dry for about 20 minutes then scrape off the shaving cream with the flat edge of a craft stick.  

Mel's... 
B's... 
Now came the best part of all!!  Once the girls were done, I squirted the remainder of the shaving cream in a big pile right on the kitchen table!!!!  I posted a picture on Facebook and one of my friends asked me if it was right on the table with nothing underneath.  She said I was crazy!:0)  I may be crazy, but I was awarded the Fun Mom award for this!!!  I have it hanging on my fridge for proof, but forgot to take a picture!
This summer I am going to let them loose outside then they can just hose themselves off when they are finished!!!  The shaving cream was pretty easy to clean up, but we were still finding it in various places throughout the house last night! 

Here is a random picture that doesn't go with this post at all other than it is Easter related.... 

We colored eggs on Thursday.  I am so thankful that Brad is usually willing to help with this project!  I always seem to break more eggs than I actually color!

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter!!!
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Thursday, March 21, 2013

Craft Time: Stained Glass Easter Eggs and Crosses...

We've had some gloomy days around here and when the sun does decide to shine, I love how these stained glass eggs and crosses brighten up our day!
For the stained glass eggs you will need:
tissue paper (various colors)
white paper
contact paper
scissors

Begin by cutting the tissue paper into small pieces... 
Next, cut an egg shape out of the white paper... 
Then fold the egg in half then half again, half again....until your paper looks like this... 
Then start cutting out shapes in the creases making sure not to cut the curved edge.  Unfold as you go along and make more cuts.

Lay your egg on a piece of contact paper (you can see in the one below that I cut the curved edge.  Oops! It adds character)!...
Now place the tissue paper over the holes... 
Lay another piece of contact paper on top of the egg and trim off the excess.

Love these!!!!... 
Up next are the stained glass crosses.

You will need:
construction paper
tissue paper (various colors)
contact paper
scissors
hole punch
ribbon

Begin by cutting a cross shape out of the construction paper... 
Fold the cross in half... 
and cut out the center of the cross... 
Lay the cross on the contact paper and add the tissue paper until the inside of the cross is covered... 

Lay a piece of contact paper over the top of the cross and trim off the excess and you are finished!

While we are busy making eggs, rabbits and other fun stuff, I love that these reflect the true meaning of Easter!

Mel's... 
B's... 
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Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Craft Time...Hand Print Bunny...

My most favorite types of crafts are ones that have a theme such as a holiday.  Maybe it's because it's easier to come up with ideas.?  Since the next holiday is Easter my mind has been reeling with ideas and sometimes Pinterest is very helpful!

I'm all about simplicity when it comes to crafts.  I found this cute little craft on Pinterest.  On this particular day I was babysitting my niece and nephew so that meant helping four little hands with paint and gently telling them to "only get paint on the paper!"

You will need:
white paint
construction paper (any color for the background)
pink construction paper
cotton ball
googly eyes
marker (we used pink an black)
glue

I didn't get any step by step pictures because, like I said, I had four tiny hands covered in paint!

Have your child dip their hand in the white paint.
Then have them stamp the paper with their hand while keeping their pointer finger and middle finger together and their ring finger and pinkie together.  Their thumb should stick out a little as this will be the tail.

Once the paint is dry, glue on pink construction paper for the ears, attach or draw on the eyes, draw on the nose, mouth and whiskers.  Then glue the cotton ball to the thumb.

Mel's...
B's...
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Friday, March 15, 2013

Buttermilk Coffee Cake...

This recipe came from Brad's grandma.  It might be one of Brad's favorite breakfast foods.  Whenever we visit her she usually has a coffee cake, if it's in the morning and cookies if it's in the afternoon!  This is her exact recipe and I follow it religiously however Brad still tells me that it isn't as good as hers.  It's okay.  Grandmas should always be better bakers:0)
First mix together the flour, sugars, butter and salt... 
Reserve one cup of this mixture for the topping... 

Next, add buttermilk, eggs and baking soda to the flour mixture and mix until thoroughly combined.  Pour into a greased pan... 

Then add cinnamon and chopped pecans to the remaining 1 cup flour mixture...
 
Mix it all up. I've found that using your hands works best!...
Spread the crumbled topping on the cake and bake! 
Yummo!!! 

Buttermilk Coffee Cake

3 Cups flour
1 Cup sugar
1 Cup brown sugar
1 Cup butter (melted)
1 teaspoon salt

Combine the above ingredients and reserve one cup for the topping.

Add 1 Cup buttermilk (if you don't have buttermilk, add 1 Tablespoon distilled white vinegar to just under 1 Cup milk), 2 eggs, and 1 teaspoon baking soda to the flour mixture and stir thoroughly to combine.  Pour into a greased 9x13 pan or two 8x8 pans.

Topping:
Remaining 1 Cup flour mixture
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 Cup chopped pecans

Mix the 1 Cup flour mixture, cinnamon, and pecans together until crumbly and spread evenly on top of cake.

Bake @ 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

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Wednesday, March 13, 2013

3rd Annual Dr. Seuss Birthday Celebration...

Dr. Seuss' birthday was Saturday, March 2nd.  I had so much planned for the girls to do that we began the celebration on Friday(plus I had a shopping trip planned on Saturday that I had to work around).  I baked a cake in the afternoon and when B got home from school I let her and Mel decorate it...
The hat looks so much better than my hat did on last years cake.  I am definitely not a cake decorator!!!!  Mel helped to by adding the red blob next to the hat and she also added the sprinkles.  B didn't have room for "birthday" so she left it out! :0)
Next, we made my version of green eggs.  They are mini nutter butters dipped in melted white chocolate with a green m&m on top.  So yummy!

Then it was time to make our Cat in the Hat pizza.  I simply rolled out dough and rolled up the bottom part to make the hat brim then shaped the sides and let the girls decorate it.  Since it was Friday and it is Lent and I'm Catholic, I got to enjoy the plain cheese portion of the pizza!
Then B informed me that my green eggs weren't the same as in the book, so we made green deviled eggs. 
We definitely had an interesting combination of food that night.  Pizza, green deviled eggs and salad!

After supper, the girls made their Fox in Socks puppets...

You can find the template here .
We also made Lorax mustaches and watched The Lorax....one of my favorite animated movies!  You  can find the template for the mustache here

Just so Miss Jo Jo isn't completely left out, here is a picture of her relaxing in her bouncy seat while we made supper!  Next year she will get to join in the fun!!
I love that this is becoming  a tradition for our family.  Some people think it is silly, but I enjoy doing all these things with my girls.  I know they will eventually outgrow craft time with mommy, so right now I am going to live it up!!!


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