Snowman Soup links

My little Sister J was asking what Snowman Soup was so I did some looking so that I could send her some info.I haven't made this for a couple years so I don't have any pictures of my own but I did find some great links.


Snowman Soup1
Snowman Soup 2
Snowman Soup 3
Snowman Soup 4

Great Winter Holiday Crafts for Kids

I have been so bad about posting on here, there are a few projects the kiddos and I are going to be making in the next couple weeks so I thought I would go ahead and post the links here. And hopefully I will get some pictures when we make them and then get those on here.
First one is this-

I found them on this BLOG , and I have all the stuff for these and will be making them this weekend.

Also this-

Wreath picture frame ornament

And this-
Hand Print Wreath
Ginger Bread People Garland

I am also struggling to figure out what to do for teacher gifts this year, so after searching for ideas I am trying to decide which one of these would be best, or all of them?-

Snowman Soup
Pumpkin Latte Mix
Potato Soup Mix in a jar
Cinnamon Pancake mix
A Sweet Bookmark

I think I will pick one or two of those and make up a little basket.

Also if you want a fun place to look around with your kids go to The Northpole.com
The kids can write, send and receive a letter from Santa, there is also lots of other fun stuff there.

Jack o Lantern Smoothies

This was a fun treat that the kiddos helped me make for a snack the other day, we have a magic bullet that we love to use for this kind of thing but I bet a blender would work just as well :)

In your blender place-
1/4c. orange yogurt
1/2c. vanilla ice cream
1/2c. OJ

Blend on high, while that is blending melt 1/4c. chocolate chips in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Use this to make the face on the inside of your glass, set glasses in the freezer. Let set for a few minutes then pour the smoothie into your decorated glasses.

Mummy Dogs

These are very easy, Miss B and Miss K made these by themselves- which shows you how easy they are :)
The directions we got for them was a Pillsbury recipe, But once again their wording was a little confusing so we just went our own way because we couldn't decide which one of these ways-

They meant for us to cut the dough so we tried both, and settled on the long strips.

Mummy dogs
Ingred;
1 pkg hot dogs
1 pkg Pillsbury bread stick dough
ketchup

Spray a cookie sheet with Pam, open up your bread sticks and divide into the 12 pieces.

Cut each piece into 4 long strips.
Starting at the bottom of the hot dog wrap the dough around- using 4-6 strips for each dog.

Place on the cookie sheet, bake at 375 until the biscuits are golden brown- dot on your ketchup- or mustard eyes and enjoy :)

Tootsie Pop Spiders

You need-
Tootsie Pop Suckers- I used a small one here, but have used both sizes.
Black pipe cleaners
Googly eyes
hot glue gun

Cut 2 pipe cleaners in half so that you have 4 pieces, twist them one by one around the sucker stick and then bend them at the ends to form the spiders legs. Glue on the googly eyes using a hot glue gun.

We have handed these out at Halloween as treats and also have used these as a Halloween craft at school parties for the kids to make.

Creepy Spider Bread Sticks

My kiddos love this fun recipe from Pillsbury, it's something we have to make every year around Halloween. The instructions are a little confusing so bear with me here, or you can jump over to that link I gave you and read their confusing instructions :)
You need a package of Pillsbury bread stick dough. Unwrap and unroll ALL the bread sticks there are suppose to be 12. Take 4 of those and cut them in half so you have 8 short bread sticks. Roll those up to make your spider head/body (think simple 6 legged spiders here). Now cut the rest of the bread sticks in half and you will have 16 short bread sticks. Here is where is got me confused, cause I am easily confused :)
Cut each of those 16 LENGTHWISE into 3 strips. Now you have 48 spider legs, see how good my math is? Miss B only had to correct me once (note to parents it's only easy to impress children under 6 with such tricky math skills, doesn't work when they are older, and can correct you :)

Take 2 pieces of tinfoil and roll into 2 long sticks, you can see mine in the picture. Attach 3 legs together on one end and drape over the tin foil, spray tin foil before you put your legs on it, repeat 7 more times, then do the same on the other tinfoil roll. Scoot the two together so the legs are almost touching and place in the middle the Spider bodies/heads.

When you have all 8 done, if I have my math all right :) bake at 375 until spiders are light golden brown, let cool a few minutes before removing from the tinfoil. Serve with soup, or chili, or as a after school snack.

Fun with Jello

There are LOTS of fun Jello recipes on the Kraft.com site. My girls had a blast making this pretty layered dessert, it was quick and easy and I bet it would look beautiful in a trifle dish. I used peach jello, I bet orange would have been a better Halloween choice because the peach wasn't dark enough, or maybe grape?

Halloween Layered Jello Mousse

Ingred;
6 oz jello mix
3c. boiling water
16 oz cool whip

Pour the boiling water over the jello and stir until dissolved,
gently stir in the cool whip and pour into your serving bowl/dish.
We filled 8 serving sized bowls with this.
Let chill in the fridge for a few hours.

October 1st is Homemade Cookie Day!

Which is too cool, like we needed any more things to celebrate in October right?
But Homemade cookie day, I can get on that train :)
I am trying to post a Fall recipe or Craft everyday of October,
either on here (crafts) or on my other blog- One Step at a Time (cooking).
So since it's Homemade Cookie Day I found a October appropriate recipe of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies Sandwiches and posted about them
-> Here <- Enjoy! :) :) :)

Knifty Knitter

My girls love these tools, they are perfect for children, or for the knitting challenged like me.
Miss K age 7 and Miss B age 9 have both gotten really good at this, Miss M age 4 needs a little help but she loves doing it.

This is Miss K's second project, a scarf for her baby doll-

Her first project was a hat for her baby cousin.

Here is Miss B working on a scarf for a friend-

These little handy tools are called Knifty Knitter Looms, they are made by Provo Craft. Here is a link to Joann Fabric, that's where I got all mine so that I could use a 40% off coupon on them :)
And here a few links to sites with patterns for these wonderful tools-
#1
#2
#3
#4

I have made some scarfs for gifts using this, and there are so many fun patterns I would love to try...... if only I could get them away from the girls long enough to make one! Maybe I just need to go pick up a couple more ;)

Fairy Princess Bath Dust

This is a fun project that you can make for your kids, or if you have older ones they could make this them selves. This would make a great simple gift for a friend.


Fairy Princess Bath Dust
Ingred;
1/2c. baking soda
1/4c. epsom salts
5-10 drops vanilla, raspberry or any smell you like extract.

Place all ingred. in order listed into the bowl of a food processor, pulse until finely ground. Put into a container with a lid that it can be sprinkled out of, I found these at the Dollar Store. Then decorate your container.

Painting, Painting all day long-

Finger Paints
1/2c. cornstarch
3T. sugar
2c. water
food coloring
a few drops of dish soap

Put water & sugar into a saucepan. Add the water & dish soap slowly. Cook on med until barely thickening. Divide into small containers and stir in food coloring. Let it cool then get painting!

Silly Silly Putty

Silly Putty Recipe
1/2c. Elmers glue
1/2c. liquid starch

Mix together by hand, if it's to thick add more glue, too thin add more starch, until its combined.

Uncooked Playdough

Uncooked Playdough
2-1/2c. flour
1/2c. salt
1t. alum
2c. boiling water
3T. oil

Mix together the flour, salt & alum. Combine water and oil, now is the time to add food color, to the water, if you'd like. Combine with the flour mixture and knead until combined.

Favorite Playdough

This is my favorite homemade playdough recipe, it is nice & soft and if you keep it in an airtight container it lasts well for a long time.

Cooked Playdough
Ingred;
1c. cold water
1/2c. salt
1c. flour
2t. cream of tartar
1/2T. oil
food coloring or 1/2 a pkt Koolaid

Put water, oil and food color/Koolaid, in a med. saucepan. Stir together,add salt. Stir, slowly add in the flour & cream of tartar, whisking together. Heat on med heat, stirring until it comes together in a ball. Cool, knead it together. Do not store until it's completely cooled. Store in airtight container.

Rubba Dubba Dub, I was playin in the Tub

Soap Crayon Recipe
30-40 drops food coloring
1c. mild, like Dreft, powder laundry detergent
water
plastic molds

Fill a measuring cup with the 1c. detergent, add in the coloring & stir. Add water by the t. until mixture is a liquid. Stir well, pour into plastic molds, ice cube trays work well. Set in a warm dry place for up to 2 days until hard. Great for drawing in the tub at bath time.

Slippery Slime

Slime Recipe
1/2c. water
1/2c. glue- Elmers
1t. Borax
1/4c. water
a few drops food coloring

Stir together the 1/2c. water, glue and food colr. Mix together the borax and 1/4c. water, add this 1T. at a time, while stirring, into the glue mixture. Keep adding and stirring until this comes together in a slimy ball. Store in baggie or air tight container.

Bubbles Bubbles everywhere

Basic Bubbles Recipe
2c. cool water
1/8c. dishwashing liquid
1t. sugar
Gently mix together, and go blow some bubbles :)

Match Maker, Match Maker make me a Match

Here is a fun game you can make to keep your Toddler busy playing in the kitchen while you are making Dinner.

Matchmaker
Magnetic adhesive strips- 2" strips
4" squares of cardstock in varied colors (8-16)
4-8 photos of friends or family members trimmed down to 4x4 squares, yes pets count
glue
markers

Stick the magnetic strips onto the backs of all of your squares, if your toddler is older they might enjoy helping you make this. Glue the photos on to the front of the squares and write the name of the person in the photo on a matching square.

I coated these with contact paper to help them last longer. And I used some magnet squares I found at Staples for a couple dollars.

After they are dry you can stick all these onto the fridge or stove front, mix them all up and help/encourage child to match the names to the person.

This would also work with early reading kids, using pictures of Dog, Tree, Cat and such.

Puffy Paint

Puffy Paint
1c. each of flour, salt & water
empty plastic squeeze bottles
watercolor paints
a spoon & bowl for each color
cardboard squares or heavy paper

1- With your child, mix flour, slat and water in a bowl. Separate into however many bowls you have.
2- Stir in your colors and pour into squeeze bottles.
3- Let child use squeeze bottles to decorate their square of cardboard.
4- Let picture dry overnight.