Boowling

 Halloween is right around the corner! So what else do you have to do with your time besides make a game for kids. Okay, there are truthfully a million things I should be doing, but as an assistant room mom in my kindergartner's class, I figured this is a much better use of my time.

I used the tutorial found here. It's super detailed and given the amount of time I spent making this project, I will spare you from my own interpretation. Just don't judge my pictures against their professional spread. Ain't no body got time for that!

One thing I did do differently is texturized the blocks with paint. This idea arose from the necessity to avoid a Pintrest fail. I decided to "Save Money" and only purchase black and white spray paint. This was a bad idea because the paint I had on hands did not cover the blocks. . . . So I had to take some alternative measures to complete the project.

I spray painted the ghost white and the mummy black. Then I spray painted the remaining four blocks with Krylon Cream Indoor/Outdoor spray paint (I happened to have a can in my craft closet). Then I painted each block with a mixture of water-base and acrylic paint. The Krylon spray paint caused a cool waterproofing effect with the water-based paint. Then the acrylic paint helped it stay.To achieve the textures, I used different paint brush techniques.

Frankenstein/Jack-o-lantern: I used a straight up and down stroke. With the spray paint base this gave these blocks a streaky appearance.
Pink Monster: I smashed the brush on its side to create a fan like stamp. I jazzed up the mouth with some jewels. (Who doesn't love a little sparkle?)
Purple monster: I painted the block with straight up and down strokes. Then I globed paint on the brush and tdrug it in squiggly lines to create a hairlike texture. I also used yarn for some hair.

Now we are ready for some Boowling with Kindergartners on Halloween! I'm also planning on displaying these bad boys when they're not in use as pins for our game. So it's a win-win. Game and decorations all in one!

Candy Cane Lane

So cute. I adore hand, foot, thumb print art. It makes me so happy to dip my little girls hands in paint to make a cute creations. They are getting older and so daring to take the steps for themselves. We made these cute little candy canes in like thirty minutes.

All you need is red and white paint, construction paper, green ribbon.

I drew an outline of a candy cane for my girls to follow. I squeezed the paint into two blob and let my three-year-old trace the line with alternating red and white thumb prints. She did really well! It got a little mixed at the end, but I attribute that to her excitement for art. My little one year old needed a little more help ;)!

Easy Peasy Christmas Pleasy

I know I'm not the only one who gets super stressed out at Christmas time. So I'm always on the look out for quick little crafts that can curb the stress level. These little snowflakes were so easy to throw together.

All you need are big craft sticks, hot glue and gun, and paint. That's it! Just glue these suckers together in a pretty little pattern and you've got yourself winter holiday decorations. They are super cute. I even considered adding some bling, but decided against it this time around. Maybe later.

Neighbor Gifts

Let it Snow Charger

Dollar store find! I purchased these awesome red chargers and pack of six snowflakes at the dollar store. I happened to have a gold Sharpie on hand, which I used to scroll the words, "Let it Snow" on the top of the Charger. Then I glued the snowflake to the center of the plate. Done and done! Ready to give to my friends.

Princesses in the House

 We had two rainy days here, so we got all sorts of crafty and made us some princess crowns. This is for real. We made these bad boys in like 30 minutes. (If you don't count the mess up mom had with the sewing machine. I do not profess to be seamstress, but I'm trying.)

Need: fabric glue, felt squares, scissors, pencil (if you want to trace out a pattern on the felt), sewing machine, thread, and elastic. 

1) Use the pencil to trace an outline of your crown on the felt.

2) Fold the felt square in half and cut out the crow shape. (I was only able to get one crown out of one square of felt. Maybe if you do some fancy finagling or make the crowns smaller you can get two out of one square.)

3) Measure the elastic around your child's head without stretching it. You will need the elastic to run behind the child's head to a little above her ears. (You can see the elastic in on the white crown below.)

4) Then added some bling! I couldn't find my fabric glue, so I let the girls use regular glue to place their gems. I then removed them and used hot glue to really fix them on the crowns. It would have been easier if I had my fabric glue.

 But I think they turned out really good for the little time I put into them! My princesses must agree because they have been wearing them for two days in a row.

 

 Aren't they cute?

Frozen Yogurt

Do you like frozen yogurt? I do. I really like it because I don't feel guilty when I eat it. (Well, unless I add like two cups of peanut butter cups as a topping.) But seriously frozen yogurt is a deceptive dessert because it contains probiotics, calcium, vitamins, and depending on where you go, real fruit or other flavors. The best part: it's not as fattening as ice cream and it still taste like it should be! So I pitched it to my editor as a story, and she let me write up some reviews about local frozen yogurt places here in St. George, Utah.

What's your favorite place to go for a sweet treat? Do you like frozen yogurt or ice cream?

Sorting Game

I'm always on the look out for ways to entertain (and secretly teach) my kids. During the summer months it's pretty easy to keep them occupied outside, at the splash pad, but we are getting into some cooler weather, and I need to be prepared! I found this cute sorting game on Pintrest. I didn't have the nifty tray, so naturally I adpated it to what I had on hand. (Also don't mind the pictures. They are always an after thought, usually after I've already started the process, and I'm too lazy to go back and do it again. Luckily this is easy enough that you don't need pictures, but who wants a pictureless post, right?)

You'll Need:

A box or tray
Assorted construction paper
Colored popsicle sticks (From the Dollar Store)
Glue
Toilet paper rolls
scissors

Step one: Cut the construction paper.
Step two: Cover each toilet paper roll in a color that corresponds with the popsicle sticks.
(On the left you see some covered and non covered rolls.) I rolled the paper all the way around the toilet paper roll so I wouldn't have to see the brown. The technique: cover the paper with glue, place the roll on the paper, and roll the paper around the roll.

Step two: Glue the toilet paper rolls to the box or if you're using a try glue them to a stray piece of card board. At this stage I used hot glue to speed up the process.

Step three: Drop some colored sticks around the rolls and let the kiddos sort to their hearts content. My little princesses loved it. Yes, at one point they did start fighting over the sticks, but then I put my three-year-old in charge of teaching the 17 month old and all was harmonious! Enjoy!