Halloween Wall!

One of my favorite traditions growing up was our family Christmas wall, where my mom would hang an assortment of our artwork and pictures from years past. 

This year I decide to do something similar for Halloween. I put up a bunch of my kids' artwork, along with pictures of them in their costumes throughout the years. I love looking back on my old favorites! I also hung a few of our Ghost Family Portraits, where I'd have my kids draw our family as a family of ghosts. This wall makes me happy every time I look at it!

Easy Homemade Lip Gloss Tutorial!

So yesterday my 7-year-old asked if we could start planning her birthday party, which is coming up in a few weeks, and I told her no, since I hadn't blogged my lip gloss recipe from her birthday party last year. Seems reasonable, right? Not to her, apparently. So I guess I'd better get going.

Need a simple, fun craft for a birthday party or a rainy day? Here is the absolute EASIEST way to make homemade lip gloss.

I was inspired by the most at Meet the Dubiens, but needed something easier for the format of a birthday party. My daughter was having a pajama party/spa night-themed party, and I wanted the girls to make the lip gloss themselves for a craft. Pretty much every recipe out there I've seen involves heating a bowl full of Vaseline. Hmmmm... sounded kind of unsafe to have around a bunch of sugared-out 6-year-olds, and also not as interactive as I'd like a birthday party craft to be.

So this was our solution....

We decided to spoon the Vaseline into little Ziplock baggies ahead of time. I got small containers, so we only did a little bit of Vaseline in each one (maybe two or three of these spoonfuls - see picture of filled bags below). I think we let each girl do two or three flavors.

Here we go.... all ready for the party guests!

First, the girls held their baggie in a bowl of warm water. They need to hold it there until the Vaseline melts. And, uh, this is my own daughter doing one of our practice rounds. I did not have all our party guests sit on the counter next to bowls of hot water. Only the best for my kids.

Then, open it up and sprinkle some powdered Kool-Aid in there. We had all the different flavors of Kool-Aid in little bowls, and just had the girls put a few pinches of the Kool-Aid in their bags.

We found that adding a little drop of water to the powder sort of "activated" the color and made the color of the lip gloss much more vibrant.

After that, have the kids squish the Kool-Aid and Vaseline together until they are well mixed.

Finally, cut a small piece off the corner of the Ziplock and squeeze the lip gloss into your container of choice (no mess!). We got these in the beading area of Michael's, and they had several sizes to choose from. We went with small ones so that the girls could make several. Let the girls decorate with stickers, if desired!

Here's how they looked in the gift bags with the other party favors - so cute!

The girls LOVED this craft, and the lip gloss actually tasted pretty good! And, after cleaning the Vaseline off of that one spoon, I was suuuuuuuuper glad I didn't have a big bowl of Vaseline to clean out. So, enjoy!

I guess I'll give up hope on Google Reader ever coming back. Have you done this yet? -->Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Easy Paper Plate Monsters

Sometimes I forget that even the simplest things are fun for kids.

My daughter wanted to do a Halloween craft today, and I searched through all the super-cute (and super labor-intensive) ideas online. I didn't have mason jars, I didn't have tulle or paint chips or anything.

Until I stumbled across a blog that had a paper plate ghost with streamers taped to the bottom. Ah, now I can rock a craft like that!

But my kids had other ideas... no ghosts were made after all. Here they are in full-on creation mode.

 And the finished product!

 My daughter's pirate.

 My son's Frankenstein guy.

 And then my 3-year-old made this portrait of her Grandpa Greg, complete with tissue paper hair only on the sides. But then she self-destructed and ripped that part off in a fit of rage and sobbing. No picture-perfect crafting at this house!

So, this isn't a please-Pin-me post. Just a little reminder to sit down and craft with your kids every once in a while. Even markers, tissue paper, paper plates, and tape can do the trick. Just let them create.

Fun and Easy Sewing Idea for Kids - Toy Pillows!

I love to let my kids sew with me, since I really wish I'd learned to sew when I was younger (not that stumbling through YouTube tutorials isn't effective and all, but....). But it's hard to find projects that are easy enough that they can truly do a large part of it themselves.

Last week we decided to make little pillows for the kids' dolls and stuffed animals. I brought down my box of scraps, and my kids sorted through to find what they wanted. My son chose two random flannel prints that totally clashed, but who cares? (That's me not being a control freak. I'm practicing.)

First, make a template out of cardboard. Mine was about 5 inches by 7 inches. Then your child can trace the template on the wrong side of your fabric(s). You'll need two of these. Cut out, or have your kids cut it out, and pin the two sides together if desired, right sides together.

Start on one of the long sides, and sew down the edge until you get about a quarter inch from the bottom. Make sure your needle is stabbed into the fabric (expert sewing terminology, thanks YouTube), and rotate the fabric 90 degrees. Sew down the short side. Repeat the pivot, and sew down the last long side. I let my kids sit on my lap and press the pedal, with my food under theirs for safety. They go when I say go and stop when I say stop. For my younger two (ages 4 & 2), I handle the fabric. My oldest (age 6) is learning to manipulate the fabric herself, with my supervision.

At this point, flip the pillow so it's right side out.

Let your child stuff it with some polyfill.

Then shove the polyfill down a little, tuck your ends in, and sew that last seam nice and close to the edge.

Because this was a project for dolls and stuffed animals, I didn't worry that the whole last seam was visible when none of the others were. Oddly enough, Poley the Polar Bear didn't complain either. But if that kind of thing matters to you, just stitch half the fourth side when you do the other three and then hand stitch it shut, I guess.

Loved this project so much. It literally takes about 5 minutes, and takes such a minimal amount of fabric. My kids loved seeing fabrics that had originally been used to make clothes for them, and using those same fabrics to make matching pillows for their toys. We made some with the cousins too, and this worked for both boys and girls, from ages 2-9. We will definitely be making more of these at our house! My daughter has plans for a matching patchwork quilt, so I guess at some point I'll have to break it to her that I don't know how to sew a doll quilt. But then again, there's always YouTube....

Santa Christmas Countdown

So when I saw this cute idea on Pinterest, I knew my kids would love it. Mine didn't turn out nearly as darling, but that's okay! I'm making a new goal here on the blog to just post what I'm doing, regardless of if my pictures turned out just right, or the craft turned out just as I planned.

Basically, we made Santa heads, then made some long beards. The kids numbered backward from 25 to 1, and then they cut off a number each day. When they get to the 25, it's Christmas! So, similar to a paper chain, but cuter, and with more personality!

This craft definitely did NOT turn out just as I'd imagined, but they're definitely entertaining to look at, and the kids love chopping Santa's beard off each night!

Fun Planting Activity!

We saw this activity in Family Fun magazine. Both the girls and the boys in our family loved it!

You take some seeds and plant them in baseball card sheet holders. Then attach them to your windows or sliding doors with little suction cups.

Water daily and watch them grow! The kids loved being able to see the seeds grow roots and spout!

Now we have these sunflowers and peas in the garden!

Valentine's Day Crafts/Traditions/Ideas?

I absolutely love Valentine's Day. And now that my kids are getting a little bit older, I'd like to start some fun traditions with them. I'm also always on the lookout for some fun craft ideas, either for the house, or to do with the kids. Does anyone have anything fabulous? Here's what I'm thinking about so far...

TRADITIONS

*Make heart-shaped pizza for dinner
*Eat dinner by candlelight

CRAFTS/PROJECTS
* Valentine Heart Garland
*Make a photo book of people who love the kids

That's all I have so far! Can you hear my pouting over the internet? Pretty please, share some ideas? I love hearing how other families celebrate the holidays!

How-Tuesday: How to Get Started Sewing

So I'm certainly no expert on sewing! But I did get a sewing machine for Christmas, and can't wait to get started using it. Someone pointed me toward this series of tutorials that has tons of pictures and is written in a way that's really easy to understand. She has tutorials on The Supplies You Need, Fabrics, Threading Your Machine, Winding and Threading a Bobbin, and more! You should have seen me scratching my head and staring at my owner's manual, not understanding one bit - these pictures help a TON for people who are new to sewing. She even has some tutorials on ruffles and shirring for those who are a little more advanced. That'll be me in a week, I'm sure!

So go check out Ruffles and Stuff! And then click around on her blog for some inspiration!

Awesome Easter Craft!

I wanted to quickly post a favorite activity that our family does at Easter time. It's really easy, but you need a collection of 100% silk ties. So it might be too late for this year, unless your husband has a bunch of old ties sitting around, or you're off to the thrift store sometime today. My kiddos are harassing me for breakfast, so I'll just give you the link, and a pic of the ones we did last year. Enjoy! By the way, this is from a cooking website that I LOVE, and every single thing I've made from there has been phenomenal. So spend some time perusing!

LINK to Silk-Dyed Easter Eggs Tutorial