Now Cut That Out

Look at this DIY Halloween Garland idea featured on Forty-Two Roads. We are handing this one over to Erin, our Halloween decorator. Let’s see what see will do with it?

Templates for the cut outs can be found at Paper Crave.

These Spooky Spider Deviled Eggs were a huge hit last year. You might want to try making them with the kiddos for a fun together cooking time.

Deviled Eggs, always for Halloween, but this year we’re laying (out) special spider eggs to creep out some friends.

Ingredients

• 3 slices bacon (3 oz.)
• 8 hard-cooked large eggs
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
• 1 teaspoon prepared mustard
• Salt and pepper

Preparation

1. In an 8- to 10-inch frying pan over medium-high heat, cook bacon, turning slices as needed, until browned on both sides and crisp. Transfer to paper towels to drain. When cool enough to handle, crumble bacon.
2. Cut each egg in half lengthwise; gently scoop out yolks and place in a bowl. Mash yolks with a fork, then stir in mayonnaise, green onions, mustard, and crumbled bacon until well blended. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Spoon about 1 tablespoon yolk mixture into the hollow of each egg-white half. Serve immediately or cover and chill up to 4 hours.

Cast a Spell on Your Kids This Summer

Schools out, now what do you do to keep your kids from falling into the frightening world of boredom?  Lisa, from Little Bird School of Stitchcraft can show you how to cast a spell on your kids (fingers) this summer. She has a super trick for keeping little hands entertained while learning an age old craft at the same time.

Thanks Lisa for sharing your Finger Knitting post with us.

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Finger knitting is a really good way of getting children interested in wool crafts, and it is very easy to learn.  It also helps to improve a child’s dexterity and ability to concentrate.  No extra implements are required,  just fingers, the best tools in the world!  I often carry balls of yarn in my bag to pass the time in the doctors surgery or similar.

Finger knitting produces a long thin strip of stocking stitch and there are many things you can do with these strips.  In this tutorial, which is suitable for children, I will show you how to finger knit.  You can use any weight of yarn for finger knitting but for this tutorial I used chunky which produces a nice stocking stitch.

To cast on, begin with the palm of your hand facing you with the tail end of the yarn between your thumb and index finger.  Weave the yarn over your index finger and behind the middle finger then over the ring finger.  Wrap the yarn around your smallest finger and weave back to your index finger:

Weave the yarn around the index finger again and continue in the same manner but above the first rows of stitches returning to your index finger again:

Try to keep the stitches fairly loose otherwise it will be difficult for you to make the following moves.

The first row, begins with the little finger, lift the bottom row of wrapped yarn up and over the tip of your finger (see below).  Ensure that you keep the top row of wrapped yarn on your finger as you go.

Continue the process of lifting the bottom row of stitches over the top row of stitches along your hand until you get back to your index finger:

For all subsequent rows, weave the yarn around the fingers again ending with the index finger. It should look like the image below:

Beginning with the little finger, lift the bottom row of yarn over the tips of your fingers.  Continue weaving and lifting the yarn over the fingers.  As you continue the process you will see a long strip of stocking stitch appearing behind you hand:

To cast off, do not weave the work around your fingers instead, lift the stitch off the little finger and pass it across to your ring finger:

Then lift the bottom stitch over the top stitch on your ring finger.  Continue to pass the stitches across and over until you get to the index finger with one stitch remaining.

Cut the yarn, lift the stitch off the index finger and pass the end of your yarn through the stitch and pull to secure the end:

Finger knitting is very addictive and children love it for its simplicity and ease.  I have loads of strips of finger knitting laying around the house and there are lots of things that you can do with them.

For more crafty ideas, be sure to visit Lisa’s blog  Little Bird School of Stitchcraft.

Thanks again for sharing Lisa!

Recipe for Fun

This week’s Recipe for Fun is one that you can not eat, but a sweet treat to give any Mother. Gather up the family and make a Family Fingerprint Ornament.

Mix up a salt dough of 2 cups flour, 1 cup salt, cold water until it has consistency of play dough. Flatten into a circle and then press each family members fingerprints into it.

Bake at 250 for 2 hours. Cool overnight then spray with metallic paint and you’ll have a treasured Mother’s Day gift in time for her special day this Sunday.

Another option is  bronze Custom Fingerprint Jewelry by Brent & Jessica Williams as pictured.

Recipe For Fun

Fishie Color Crayons DIY Do you have shoe boxes, tins or bags filled with with brightly colored broken nubs and stubs of color crayons?

You can transform those old crayons into little fish crayons like the ones pictured from make it and love it.

All you need is a silicone mold in a fish form or another favorite shape, plus a low temperature oven.

To begin, remove the paper wrappers from the crayon pieces. Making this step easier, you can place the crayons in a bowl of cool water. After about 20 minutes, the wrappers will loosen. Remove the crayons from the bowl and scrape off the remaining paper, or rub them off with paper towels.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F or lower.

Place the molds on a baking sheet and then stack the crayon pieces in the molds. You may have to break some of the crayons into smaller pieces so that you can fill the molds nearly to the top. Be sure to leave as little space between the crayons as you can.

Encourage kiddos to create color combinations; like a blue-and-white blend for drawing the sky or a mix of reds and oranges for coloring sunsets. Just close your eyes and let your kids choose colors that will go well together for new imaginative color combos.

Next, bake the crayons for 5 to 8 minutes, or just until they are melted enough to blend the colors and hold them together. Color caution: baking them until liquefied could create  just one dark color. Be sure the room is well ventilated whenever crayons are being melted. Overheating wax crayons during the melting process may release unpleasant fumes.

An adult should remove the molds from the oven placing them on a heat-resistant surface. Let them cool for 30 to 60 minutes depending on the size of the mold. Remove the crayons from the molds. If  they do not pop out easily, tap them gently on the counter.

Start coloring!

What’s Old Is New Again

How many of you have never used a typewriter? How many kids today have never ever seen one and would not know what it is if they did?

As an officially licensed Apple product, the Limited Edition Typescreen™ offers all the style and quality that you’d expect from Apple with the playful design and innovation expected from Spinning Hat.  Compatible with both the iPad and iPad 2, the Typescreen™.

You may not have to go take your memory so far back in time to remember the “brick” phone.

Hello….

Convert your iPhone into a retro 80′s brick with the new Thumbs Up iPhone case – because you can look as hip as Ferris Bueller, without taking the day off.

You not only protect your iPhone, but totally kick-it retro!

 

 

 

 

How about an Etch A Sketch cover for your iPad?

Smashed Peas and Carrots will show you how to make this retro crazy cute cover.

 

 

 

Put down your electronics for a while and have some doodle dialing fun with the real deal Etch A Sketch.

Happy Birthday Oliver

It’s Oliver’s First Birthday and we know what he’s getting; a special cake baked just for him by his Grandma Stitch.

Here is a pretend cake but this year there are a few too many candles on the cake, but they are attached with velcro, so we’ll save them for another year and just leave “one” in the center.

Any lucky little one can celebrate a  birthday or un-birthday every day of the year. Close your eyes, make a wish and blow out the pretend candles. Our fun wooden birthday cake
has candles, slices and toppings for all of your guests. Includes a 6-slice cake
on a serving plate, 19 toppings, 7 candles, a wooden spatula and convenient
storage box. Happy Birthday to You!

First Trampoline

You’ll  jump for joy with this trampoline adorned with polka dot padded bumpers. Ideal for developing balance and strength. The rubber handle and rubber feet provide a non-slip grip.

 

 

 

 

 

Oliver’s mom and dad will be surprising him with a Skuut, his very first bike.

Skuut is a wooden balance bike minus pedals and no training wheels. Children kick off the
ground as if running, thus pushing or “skuuting” themselves and the bike forward.
The Skuut is perfect for learning balance, steering, coordination and independence.
Having mastered balance on the Skuut, the transition to a traditional two wheeler
bike is easy.

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Liam is wearing a first birthday crown is made of felt especially for little birthday boys by The Munchkin & Me Boutique. If you’re looking for a  crown of a different color or number, yay, it’s available.

Professional photography done by Jena Davis Photography.

Become a Belieber

Relief for anyone suffering from, or enjoying Bieber Fever. Pop Party offers anyone their very own paint by number  8″x 10″ Justin Bieber masterpiece! This would make anyone a Belieber, right?

Your kit includes 13 hand-mixed, quick-drying acrylic paints in number-coded containers and 1 paintbrush.

 

Lucky Leaping Leprechauns

Happy St. Patrick’s Day from Totally Kids fun furniture & toys!

May Heaven take a liking to you but not too soon…

How to have your very own little Leprechaun on St. Patrick’s Day.

All who gaze into this magic St. Patrick’s Day mirror get transformed into a leprechaun, at least for a few seconds.

Materials

• Printable templates found here.
• Craft foam
• Small mirror (4 or 5 inches wide)
• Tacky glue

Instructions

1. Use a small mirror (4 or 5 inches wide) as a base.
2. Download the templates at the link above, trace and cut those shapes into the craft foam pieces. Use tacky glue to attach the pieces to the mirror as shown.

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Top o’ the morning to you!

Start your St. Patrick’s Day morning off with these Lucky Leprechaun Hats pancakes created by Kitchen Daily. May the luck of the Irish be with you too finding recipes as fun as these to make with the kiddos.

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What is it about rainbows, Leprechauns and kids?

If in my book easy is close to a pot of gold and this one’s a colorful, real easy shmeesy kid pleaser.

Recipe from: Super Healthy Kids

All you do is dye milk using natural food-base dyes the colors of the rainbow. Paint it on to your bread. Toast in toaster. Top with favorite toppings such as cinnamon sugar, honey, and jam!

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How cute is this?

Playin Hooky Designs will make this hat to fit any size little Leprechaun’s head.

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Irish I.Q. Test = Prizes for correct answers. (a random winner will receive a $15.oo Totally Kids fun furniture & toys Gift Card)

Why do people wear shamrocks on St. Patrick’s Day?

What’s Irish and stays out all night?

Why can’t you borrow money from a leprechaun?

Getting Stoned

I really meant “getting stones” to share with friends.

Skip to My Lou makes these perfect for St. Patrick’s Day,  little Blarney Stones complete with a hidden surprise.

She tells us : “Tradition says if you kiss the Blarney Stone you will be given the gift of gab. You will be able to talk eloquently and convincingly.”

If they don’t look appetizing to you, please realize that ingesting is not the intended end result. They do have a fun little surprise tucked inside.

We plan on making some Blarney Treasure Stones this weekend. It looks like another great project to do with little ones from Skip to My Lou.

You too must have some friends that would enjoy getting stones on St. Patrick’s Day.

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Thought that I caught the luck of the Irish when finding this easy to make treat. It will be a big hit at our house with out a doubt. Plus it is another perfect make together recipe for all hands, big and small.

Sun Scholars has the easy to follow directions with pretzels and white chocolate chips.

St. Patty’s Day Good Clean Fun

Rubber Ducky, you’re the one. You make St. Paddy’s bath time so much fun! Rubber Ducky, I’m awfully fond of you!

SpookyGrrl crafts the glycerin, oatmeal and shea butter soaps combination   giving you a gentle cleansing bar that should be good for most skin types.

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Share the luck of the Irish with  Paddy’s Beer Bar Soap by DirtyDeedsSoaps!

Handmade beer soap with Bay Rum and Lime. Ideal for your man or Leprechaun.

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Lucky Shamrock Needle Felted Soap.

Feltbug makes this felted soap was made using soft Merino wool roving and the wet felting process in a pickle color.

What is wool felted soap?
It functions with a built in washcloth. Just rub a little to get sudsy and use. The more you use it, the quicker it suds up. The felt casing will shrink with the soap extending the life of the soap.

The soap is a lovely unscented vegan soap from threeluckyducks.etsy.com. A very nice soap made of olive oil, water, coconut oil, shea butter, sodium hydrate, organic palm, soy oil, sunflower oil, vitamin E, and stearic acid.

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For each petal on the shamrock
This brings a wish your way
Good health, good luck, and happiness
For today and every day.

Begin transforming winter’s dreams into summer’s magic with these cute soaps from Bubblecitysoap.

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Limited Edition.

It’s the time of year
for green colored beer
so join your Irish kin
and drink with your skin
because St. Patrick’s Day is finally here!

Made with Guinness Beer and scented with Sage and Rosemary pure essential oil, this all natural soap truly smells like an Irish field.   So grab a bar of this soap now from oilandspice because after March 31, 2011 it will no longer be available.