Hide Those Chords

As I was trying to organize my entertainment center I found a few loose chords/plugs. I wanted to keep them near the TV since that is what they plug into.

This beautiful box opens like a book, but is hollow for storage. I purchased it from Michael's for less than $5

 There's plenty of room for more chords, which I'm sure we'll accumulate.

 It looks very nice on the top of the entertainment center. No unsightly plugs hanging around.

Watermelon Popsicles for Kids & Watermelon Ice Cubes for the Grown Ups

I wanted to make some watermelon popsicles for my daughter so when I made a trip to Sam's Club I bought a gigantic watermelon. Seriously, this thing was a beast. These are so easy to make and they are healthy treats for the kids. If you are looking for something with more flavor you can add orange juice or other fruits to this. I like making the simple watermelon pops because they are very healthy - no added sugars. My toddler loves them.

All you have to do is chop up some watermelon and toss it in your food processor.

It only takes a minute to get it nice and smooth.

Once it's smooth, pour it into something more manageable for pouring into small popsicle molds.

Once you have your molds filled, place it in the freezer. Viola! Healthy snacks your tot will love, CHECK!

I got these cute crayon popsicle molds at Walmart for about $3.

 I had so much watermelon I decided to freeze some in an ice cube tray. These would be great in a fruity drink or a cocktail for the grown ups. Instead of watering down a drink, these cubes will flavor up a drink.

I even had all this watermelon after I was done with the popsicles. It was seriously a HUGE watermelon. Well worth the money. I made a watermelon delivery to my family when I was done cutting it all.

 

Meat Cake. You can't win em' all.

I got home late one afternoon and realized I should've started the meatloaf some time ago. Instead of thinking of something else for dinner I moved ahead with the meatloaf since my mind was made up. I though if I just flattened completely like a cake it would cook fast enough to be done in time for dinner. I was right, it cooked in time, but it was no bueno. I didn't think about the fact that since I flattened the meat there was nowhere for the grease to go. It just sat on the top. Almost floating on the top if you will. It was gross. I had to scrape the fat and grease off before we ate it. So if you're thinking about making a meat cake to save time DON'T DO IT! Just make mini meat loaves or burgers instead. This is what you call a dinner FAIL. Hey, you can't win them all.

Stickers!

Lets face it. Kids love stickers. However, they can be a parents worst nightmare. Playing with stickers can be fun as long as your child know where it is ok and where it is not ok to stick them. As young as my daughter is she was able to understand and follow the rules. I bought a huge pack of stickers at the Dollar Tree for a buck. When my niece came over, I gave her and my daughter each a sheet of stickers and let them decorate their toy cars with them. The smaller the stickers the better because it keeps them busy longer. You also don't want any that are too sticky. They should be easy to get off. This kept them busy for a while and they had fun trickin' out their rides!

Chalk it up in the house

If you live somewhere that is as hot and humid as Florida then you'll understand why we do alot of outdoor activities inside. My daughter seems to be very sensitive to the sun and the heat. Even if she has tons of sunblock on and we are in the shade her face gets bright pink from the heat.

So this may seem crazy to some people, but we like to occasionally chalk it up in the house!

It's a great learning tool too. Have them sort the colors. Ask them to put all the green on one side, pink on this side, etc.

You can teach them shapes and colors.   Go over emotions like happy and sad.

You can always use a chalkboard if you have one, but it doesn't have the same fun factor as drawing all over the floor. Its just a little extra work for mommy, but I think it's worth it.

If you're child is a little older try playing hopscotch. That's always fun.

Election Time Prank / Practical Joke

Oh yes, it is that time again. Elections. We see it all over TV, the radio, and in everyone's front yards. Here is a fun joke to play. Just make sure you do it to someone you know. Don't go into strangers yards and mess with their signs because I don't think they will find it funny.

Simply swap signs. If they have a Romney sign, swap it with an Obama sign. If they have an Obama sign, swap it with Romney. It doesn't matter who you have chosen to vote for. This is just for fun.

We pulled this prank on both my father and my neighbor. It really got a raise out of them! Once you get a good rise out of them, tell them not to worry and that you will get their signs back to them. Trust me, you will all get a good laugh!

 This is our neighbors front yard. They have two Romney signs. We switched them with Obama signs when they left the house. They were in for a shock when they got home!

Halloween Candy Corn or Ghost Footprints

Halloween is over, but that doesn't mean you have to pack up the decorations yet. Since Halloween was on Wednesday this year, we have decided to continue celebrating probably till the weekend. I'll probaby pack everything up Sunday or Monday.

If you haven't already made something like this with the kids hand or footprints there's still time. My sister-in-law is making one of these today. It's a great decoration and keepsake. It's also very easy to make.

You will need:
yellow, orange, and white paint
construction paper
scrabook paper
Halloween die cut pieces
glue
frame

1. Sit your child down and apply paint to their foot. I had to use my finger to apply it because the paintbrush was tickling my daughters feet.

2. Gently press their foot onto the paper. This can be tricky especially if they are wiggling. As you can see my footprint on the left is a little bigger than the right because she moved. Don't worry about imperfections. It will still be cute and amazing. I then let this dry overnight.

3. For the other supplies: I purchased this 8x10 frame from Walmart for about $3. The scrapbook paper can be purchased in single sheets from Michaels for $0.59. If you go today you can probably get killer post holiday deals. I also purchased the die-cut from Michaels. I used K&Company Kelly Panacci Halloween Glitter Die-Cut.

4. I used a photo cutter to make the scrapbook paper exactly 8x10 to fit the frame.

5. Cut out your footprints.

6. Arrange the footprints and die cut on the paper then glue them into place.

7. For the year: I didn't have die cut pieces or stickers for that, but I sure wish I did. I printed that on the computer and cut it out. It was a pain doing it that way, but it looks great.

8. Clean the glass of the picture frame with windex so its nice and clean. Once the glass and your paper is completely dry you can put it in the frame.

You're done! Time to show it off.

You can also make Ghosts with their footprints. Just wait untill the white paint dries then paint eyes and a mouth on to make it look like a ghost.

Halloween Fabric Banner

I found this craft from a site called Craftaholics Anonymous. The link is right here below.

Craftaholics Anonymous - Halloween Fabric Banner

You can subscribe to their wonderful site. You can purchase the material for this craft from the site which I wanted to do, but unfortunately they were out of stock. Check em' out, they have great stuff. I really loved the look of this so even though I couldn't get the materials from them I did it anyway. I purchased a small lot of fat quarters from ebay. I got some great material for less than $10 and I still have plenty left over.

According to the tutorial, you need about a yard total of Halloween fabric and 90" of rope. I used kitchen string since that's all the "rope" I had on hand and it worked out great. If you have a specific place in the house you want this (doorway, entertainment center, etc) I suggest you measure it out first in case you want to make it longer. If you do make it longer, keep in mind you'll need more material.

Cut your fabric into 1″x 9″ strips which will be approximately 140 strips. Since I wasn't lucky enough to get some from craftaholics I had to do this all myself. It took quite some time because Sabrina wanted to "help" by sitting on the fabric as I measured with a yard stick. I gave her a pencil like mommy had and had her draw on the yardstick for me. She had fun because she thought she was really helping me measure. Just make sure you do all the cutting on a counter top so they don't try to help with the dangerous part (if you have kids as small as mine).

If you're a little nutty like me, you can lay out a pattern. This isn't a must. You can just tie pieces as you go if you want, but I like to have a nice pattern to follow. Black, orange, green, purple, orange, green.....yeah, I'm nuts. I know some repeat themselves, but I wanted the stars and polka dots to stand out.

How to knot each strip: fold your fabric strip in half so it measures 1″ x 4.5". Put your finger in the loop that is created and place under the rope. You will then fold the 2 ends of the strip over the rope (towards you) and through the loop, on the right side, that your finger is in. Pull the ends through the loop and pull it tight. Push the knots together so that you cannot see the rope between the knots. Repeat the knotting process until you're just about to the end of the rope.

Since I used kitchen string instead of rope with fray glue, I tied a knot next to the last piece of fabric and another know at the very end of the string.

 Then I simply hung it up. I LOVE the way it looks and Sabrina totally thinks she made it. Fun fun fun. Thanks Craftaholics Anonymous!

Candy Corn Tissue Paper

If your child loves to rip paper they will enjoy this one.

You'll need:

construction paper
scissors
glue
white, yellow, and orange tissue paper

I found out that not all stores carry single packs of every tissue paper color, specifically orange. I bought a pack of red, orange, and yellow tissue paper at Walmart then also bought a single pack of white. To make just one of these you only need about half a sheet of each color. I so much left over I gave some to my sister-in-law so her and my niece could make one.

1. Have those little hands start ripping away at the paper. If they aren't interested in that, you do the ripping. I got out 3 plastic containters and had my little one seperate the colors in the bowls for me which she enjoyed.

2. Cut out a candy corn shape out of constuction paper. You can use yellow, orange, or white. I used yellow.

3. Once your pieces are ripped and ready, cover the construction paper with elmers glue. Quickly begin sticking your tissue paper pieces.

4. Let it dry for a bit then hang it on the wall for your tot to be proud of.


Happy Halloween!!!

Pumpkin for tots

This is so simple I can't believe I'm posting this, but if you're trying to think of a craft for the day here it is:

Cut out a pumpkin out of orange construction paper. I did it freehand since it doesn't have to be perfect. Give your tot a washable black marker and ask them to draw eyes, a nose, and a mouth. I showed my daughter a picture so she could see what I mean since she is still only 1. It's funny to see them scribble for a while and tell I DONE! We used a hole punch and kitchen string to hand it from a ceiling fan. She is very proud of her artwork and there isn't a Halloween decoration in the world better than a homemade one. Have fun!

Kids Hands Halloween Spider

This is a craft that is super cute and easy.

You'll need:

black construction paper
scissors
glue (bottle or stick)
googly eyes
black wool yarn (if you don't have it you can try using black sewing thread)


1. Have your child place their hands on the constuction paper. Trace around their entire hand.

2.Cut the hands out and glue it together.

3. Glue on the eyes. I put a dot of glue and had my daughter place the eyes on so she could lend a hand.

4. Use a hole punch to make a hole at the top.

5. Add your string and hang it up so your child can show it off to everyone!