Pudding Painting

I don't remember much from my pre-school class (hmm, I wonder why), but the one thing that always sticks out was pudding painting. I remember being outside, making handprints and footprints, and squishing the pudding in between my fingers and toes! Pudding painting is about he easiest "craft" you can do with your kids, namely toddlers. It is also a wonderful sensory activity. Besides that it is fun finger painting, the kids can eat it! The first time Ruthie did pudding painting, we used chocolate pudding. This time, I whipped up a batch of instant vanilla pudding, separated it into 4 containers, added food coloring, and shook them to mix. The colors were very bright, even with only a couple drops of food color. I thought it looked great. The kids really didn't care that much though, they just loved making a mess!

 

Simple instructions:

• Mix instant pudding according to package directions.
• Once mixed, separate into four* small tupperwares. I used Glad containers with twistable lids. The lids gave me piece of mind: no spilling while mixing!
• Add just a couple drops of food color, replace lid and shake.
• Take the kids outside and let them go to town!

*Note: you can obviously do more or less than 4, but I wanted to mix things up without going overboard!

 

My kids enjoyed it for a while, and then they started throwing pudding at each other. But oh well, we were outside, so the only thing to do was get out of their way!

Happy "painting!"

 

 

-Anne

Happy Spring Wreath

This is my new favorite little Spring decoration! The yellow and the daisies just brighten my day! Flowers are one of my favorite things to crochet, probably because they are quick and they turn out so cute. And what is even quicker? Tiny butterflies! These little cuties are fun to whip out, and they can be used everywhere! Side note: why isn't every little girl running around with crochet hair clips? I am absolutely obsessed with the flowers and the butterflies! They are the cutest hair clips around!



So to start off, I simply slip-stitched around a foam wreath form. I used a bulky yarn. Believe me, don't even waste your time trying to use a fine yarn, it would take you forever. The bulkier the better. I used the following tutorials for the flowers, leaves, and butterflies. I will not pretend that I made these patterns up myself. Hopefully someday I will be able to create my own patterns.

Two-layer flowers

Leaves

Butterflies

 

So here is my finished wreath. I don't want to ever take it down. I'm going to have to think of an adorable wreath to top this one before summer rolls around!

 

 

-Anne

 



Hello Spring!

Yesterday we had our first picnic of Spring! Ruthie, Tate and I love nothing more than to eat out in the sunshine when it is warm. Since we don't have a backyard yet, we hang out on the deck a lot. The kids often go out there in the morning and run around for hours! So we couldn't resist having a picnic. We even made cookies for the occasion!

We did have sandwiches and healthy foods, but let's be real here, the kids just wanted the cookies! So, the picnic was fun. I know it's really not that special, but I was in such a good mood yesterday due to the weather, that I just had to share! I know I can't be the only one who is delighted by this March weather! And I seriously love these kids to pieces - why else would I feed them cookies for lunch ;)

Happy happy Spring everyone!

 

-Anne

Puffy Oven Pancake: AKA the Deep-dish Pancake!

At our house, we lovingly refer to the puffy oven pancake as the breakfast pizza or the deep-dish pancake! It is very similar to a German pancake, and it is so delicious! I have tried this recipe many times, and it is always a big hit. Although not as quick as regular pancakes, I think  it is easier (and great if you are not a pro at flipping pancakes! I'm not...).

This recipe comes from my Betty Crocker cookbook

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter (use salted, it is SO much better that way!)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup flour (not self rising)
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping Ideas
Lemon juice and powdered sugar
Cut up fruit
Syrup
Cinnamon Syrup (recipe from the Idea Room)
Jam

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F. In a 9-inch pie plate, melt butter in oven; brush butter over bottom and sides of pie plate.
2. In a medium bowl, beat eggs slightly. Beat in flour, milk and salt just until mixed (do not overbeat or pancake my not puff). Pour into pie plate.
3. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until puffy and deep golden brown. Serve immediately with toppings of choice. This Cinnamon Syrup recipe has become my all time favorite. It is easy, and no yucky ingredients like store bought syrup. Oh yeah, and it's totally delicious!

Ruthie loves to cook, so she always helps me. Get your kids to help you pour and mix and they will feel like they made the whole meal!

 

Here is the pancake right out of the oven, it is all puffed up! Serve it immediately, before it sinks. The insides are soft and fluffy, but the outside is crispy and tastes like the salted butter. Oh so good!

 

There are many topping choices, this time I went for the cinnamon syrup. Enjoy!

-Anne

Tutorial: Valentine Foam Heart Frame

 

In February, it is my month to host our neighborhood music/play group, so I have been trying to decide what the crafts will be. We tested this one today to make a sample. It is the cutest little Valentine frame that is so easy and fun! Ruthie loved it, and now I have a handmade frame that I love too!

Here are the supplies I gathered:

• Foam hearts (this box cost about $5 at Walmart, and I'm sure there will be plenty of hearts for all the kids in playgroup)
• Cardboard or foam core
• Craft knife
• Picture
• Thick book for cutting on
• Pen

The first part of this activity must be done by you, the adult. You need to make the structure of the frame, and then the kids can attach the foam hearts.

First I traced the picture onto the foam core to make the structure of the frame. You can use the photo you plan to place in your frame, or a sample photo. I used a 4x6, but any size will work. Trace it so that the board is about 1/2 inch thick. There is not a perfect size, it just needs to be thick enough to hold the picture, but thin enough that it is easy to cover will foam hearts.

Then place the board on top of your thick book and use the craft knife to cut out the rectangle.

 

Next, cut out the inside of the frame. IMPORTANT: don't cut it exactly over the traced line, cut a little bit inside the line. Remember that you are putting a photo behind it, so there needs to be an edge to sick the photo to. It is not crucial to get the lines perfect though, they will be covered by the hearts and won't be seen anyway. - This is good for me because my cutout was less than beautiful! I couldn't find my X-acto knife to save my life, so I had to use a box cutter.

These are foam stickers, so this project is super easy! And the hearts are 4 different sizes.

After you have made the frame structure, let the kids go to town with the foam hearts! And I mean go to town! Ruthie wanted to load her frame up with hearts! I eventually had to stop her, but I gave her the piece that was cut out of the middle of the frame and let her continue sticking hearts!

 

Here is her finished plaque! She said she made the frame for herself, and the plaque for me! We put the frame on the wall in her room, and the plaque on he wall in my room! She was so thrilled with herself!

 

Here is the frame Ruthie made. I did help to keep her from putting all of the hearts in the same place, but she had a blast and I love it!

 

 

We put our frame and plaque up on the wall. I use Command Velcro strips a lot, especially for things that don't weigh a lot. They work perfectly for these Valentine frames.

 

I think this activity will work well with a bunch of 3 year olds, what do you think? They would also make great grandparent gifts.

 

-Anne

 

 

Spin Art

I saw some "spin art" a while back on Pinterest. One of those posts that has a million toddler crafts etc. So, since then,  I've seen different types of spin art all over the place, all of which looked fun and really easy. Easy is good, because Little Miss Ruthie gets distracted easily, so when we do crafts it's best to just get it over with!

 What you need:
paint
paper or paper plates
salad spinner
dropper (optional)
water (we used a spray bottle)
tape

 

Basic Instructions: cut your paper or paper plate to fit inside the salad spinner. You may want to tape it down to keep it secure. Drip multiple colors of paint onto the middle of the plate. The picture will look the best if you make sure to drop it right in the middle. It also helps a lot to use quite a lot of paint. Put on the lid and spin!

 

 

We did a little trial and error and came up with a way that worked great for us. We used Crayola washable paints. I ALWAYS use washable paint with my kids, because they ALWAYS manage to get it somewhere, even if they are covered up. This is why:

I let her paint, ran upstairs, came back to
this! But it all came off in the bath. Thank
you washable paint!

So, after giving it a try, our paint seemed a little too thick to really spin out well. So I sprayed the paper plate with water, and we used the dropper to drop globs of paint onto the paper. We also used the dropper to drop extra water over the paint, this seemed to help get it nice and runny. When we spun the salad spinner this time, we got some great results! Another tip: when I made my own, I actually spun the paint, then I dropped on more paint and spun it again. I liked it that way. I must admit, I was probably more excited about the finished product than Ruthie was, but she had a great time with the process, which is the important part!

 

The blue and red one was he first one we tried, before we
started using the water. As you can see, the paint was just
too thick, and it didn't move.

-Anne

Happy New Year!

It is 30 minutes till midnight on January 1st. I was just about to hit the sack when I said to myself, "Self, is it a good time to start writing a blog?" And myself replied, "It's January 1st. This is the perfect time to start writing a blog!"

So here we go. I'm not one for setting resolutions. Mainly because I'm terrible at following through with them. But I might as well set a resolution for my blog, and that is simply to write it! :) I think I can manage that! My goal is to occasionally post about projects that I finish. The wheels in my head are constantly turning, but I have too many wheels. Too many interests, and I get distracted and I can't finish projects I start. So if I make it a goal to post projects on this blog, hopefully it will encourage me to follow through with them. (And as part of another resolution - to spend less money - my husband kindly suggested I use up some of the crafting materials I already have hoarded stashed away in my "collections")

So let's see what I can accomplish this week, shall we? :) Wish me luck, and I wish you all luck on your New Years resolutions!  

-Anne