A lifebook goes a step beyond scrapbooking.  With a scrapbook you document all of the big occasions–first tooth, first word, first haircut, etc.   A lifebook documents all of the small moments that you don’t really notice at the time.  Essentially a lifebook is a journal about your baby, to your baby.  You can write entries daily, weekly or even monthly about your experiences that you have had during that period.  This can include little tidbits like the song he couldn’t get enough of or how he giggled when you washed his feet at bath time. You can also include photos or even do photo documentation of things you want to jot down during the day.  If you are more inclined to do things in cyberspace, you can use lil grams–a website that helps you create virtual babybooks.

Traditionally, lifebooks were created for adopted and foster children to remind them of where they have been in their lives. But more and more biological parents are adopting this trend for similar reasons. As children get older, often a communication gap develops between them and their parents because they don’t understand each other.  When a teenager reads through their lifebook they can see how their mom(or dad) grew as a parent and perhaps get a better perspective of them. If nothing else, it will remind them how much you love them.  And when they are much older and having children of their own, they can read your baby experiences as they are going through the same thing.

It’s the simplest of ideas, yet it never fails to induce a little Thanksgiving spirit and a few laughs. 

I give you, KidGlue readers: 

Hand Turkeys!

Materials:

• A hand (if you don’t have one, you can borrow your child’s or a friend’s)
• Paper
• Scissors
• Crayons, Markers, or Finger Paints (If you’re feeling adventurous)
• Some idea of what a turkey might look like

Trace somebody’s hand on a piece paper.  Draw on a beak, legs, feet, and whatever that red dangly thing is that we simply call a “gobbler” in my family.  Color on feathers, eyes, gunshot wounds and whatever other detailing you would like your turkey to have.

Cut around the outside of the turkey if you would like to hang it in your window to scare your neighbors.

Name your turkey.  My turkey is called “NBC.“

My daughter’s is called “I Wish You Didn’t Have to Die.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tissue Paper Autumn Wreaths

This craft is great for kids of all ages, but can get a little messy with the little ones, so while safe, I would recommend saving it for kids ages 6+.

You will need:

A big ol’ pile for 1 in. x 1in. tissue paper squares in autumn colors (red, orange, yellow, and brown)

1 piece sturdy paper, like card stock ,poster board or cardboard

Scissors

1 ball point pen

1 bottle Elmer’s glue

A hole punch

Yarn

Directions

1.  Take your card stock paper and scissors, and cut the paper into a wreath shape, as big or small as you want it.  (Just remember: the bigger your wreath, the more tissue paper you will need.)

2.  Punch a hole in the top of the wreath and tie the yard in a loop through the hole to make a hanger.

3.  Put a little puddle of Elmer’s glue on some of the scratch card stock.

4.  Now the fun begins. Show your child how to do this a few times, and they’ll pick it up, no problem.  Take the butt of the ballpoint pen, (non-writing side) and place it in the center of a square of tissue paper.  Peel back the corners of the tissue paper and hold then in place against the pen with your fingers.  Don’t pull too hard or you will tear the paper.

5.  Dip the tissue paper covered end of the pen in the puddle of glue and then press to the wreath.  Hold for a 3 seconds, and pull the pen away.  The tissue paper should stay secured to the wreath with the corners sticking straight up.

6.  Continue all over the wreath, covering entire thing with tissue paper.  Hint: the closer together you put the tissue paper, the fuller your wreath will be and the more texture it will have.

7.  Optional:  Your child can decorate their wreath even further with more autumn supplies.  Have your child collect acorns to glue to the finished wreath, glue dried or fake berries all around, or even cover with glitter to give it some sparkle.

You can hang your child’s Autumn wreaths in windows to catch sunlight, on the back of doors, or on door knobs.  These wreaths are a great way to keep your kids entertained for hours and bring a little splash of Fall into your home.

Never fear, I’ve got a solution for bored kids and abundant candy:  Candy Mosaics!

Materials:

• Heavy white paper or poster board
• Glue
• Candy (anything but Reese’s, which you’ve already eaten anyway)

Separate the candy into piles or small bowls by color.  Help your child think of an idea of what to create.  For younger children, assist them by making small dots of glue in the shape of a design on their page.  Then, allow them to place the candy on the paper.

Remind your kids that it’s okay to eat a few pieces of candy with your permission BEFORE they have glued them to the paper, but afterwards, they are inedible.

Celebrate your love for the creamy stuff with these great peanut butter recipes!

Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Ingredients

* 1 large egg white
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1/2 cup light brown sugar
* 1/2 cup natural-style peanut butter
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup sliced almonds
* 1/2 cup dried cranberries
* 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
* 1 tablespoon water

Directions

1)  Preheat oven to 300 degrees and line an 8 inch square baking pan with two criss-crossed rectangles of parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang at opposite ends.

3)  In a large bowl, combine oats, almonds and cranberries.

4)  In a small saucepan, whisk together oil, brown sugar, peanut butter, cinnamon, salt and water over low heat until the sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes.

5)  Let cool slightly; whisk in egg white.

6)  Pour over oat mixture; stir until moistened.

7)  Spread evenly in bottom of pan; smooth top.

8)  Bake until top is firm, about 30 minutes. Note: The firm top is your best indicator that it’s ready – if it’s too soft the granola will be crumbly, if it’s too hard it will be too brittle.

9)  Let cool 10 minutes. Lift out of pan, using paper as handles. Let cool completely, cut into bars with a serrated knife.

Peanut Butter Bars

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup butter or regular margarine
* 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 egg, large
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1/3 cup peanut butter, crunchy style
* 1 cup unbleached flour, sifted
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup oats, quick cooking
* 1 cup chocolate chips, semi-sweet

***VANILLA GLAZE***
* 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
* 1/4 cup peanut butter
* 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
* 1/4 cup milk, hot
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degree F. Cream the butter, brown sugar, and sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, using an electric mixer at medium speed.

2) Beat in the egg and vanilla and blend in the peanut butter.

3) Sift the flour, baking soda and salt together and stir the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture, blending well.

4) Stir in the oats.

5) Spread the mixture in a greased 13 X 9 X 2-inch baking pan and sprinkle with the chocolate chips.

6) Bake in oven for 25 minutes or until done. Cool in the pan on a rack.

7)While still warm drizzle with the vanilla glaze. When cooled, cut into 48 (2 X 1 1/2-inch) bars.

VANILLA GLAZE: Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and beat, with an electric mixer set to high speed, until smooth.

Peanut Butter and Ginger Chicken

Ingredients

* 3 1/2 lbs chicken pieces
* 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
* 2 tablespoons soy sauce
* 1 teaspoon grated gingerroot
* 1/2 teaspoon grated orange rind
* 2 tablespoons orange juice
* 1/8 teaspoon hot sauce
* 2 green onions, include some green, sliced
* cooked rice

Directions

1) Clean and dry chicken.

2) Place in slow cooker.

3) In a small bowl, whisk together rest of ingredients.

4) Spoon over the chicken.

5) Cover and cook on low about 5 hours or until chicken is tender.
Serve over cooked rice.

(Recipes originally posted at RecipeZaar.com)

The United Nations named Disney’s Tinker Bell an “Honorary Ambassador of Green” on October 25, 2009 to help promote environmental awareness among children.

Your kids can help Tink keep the Earth green by pitching in themselves.  Here are some great ways your children can lend their favorite fairy a helping hand.

Teach your child how to recycle: Show them how newspapers, magazines, glass and plastic bottles go in different containers and must be sorted accordingly. You can even make a game of it where your child earns points for correctly sorting.

Walk with a purpose: Walk whenever possible, but make sure your child knows you are doing it not only for your health, but to cut down on pollution. Plan a special trip each week with your child where you walk to run your errands instead of drive.

Turn it off: Make a deal with your child that everyone in the house will turn off the lights when they leave a room. If anyone catches someone leaving without flipping the switch, they have to put a quarter in a jar. Once the jar is full, donated the collected money to your favorite green charity.

Get crafty with recycled paper: Make notebooks for homework or doodling out of cereal boxes and recycled paper. Have your kids save their favorite cereal boxes and cut the front cover into a 9 x 12 square. Collect 50 sheets of used paper with one clean side; flip the stack over and punch 3 holes down one side of the stack. Slip metal rings through the holes to hold it all together.

There are so many ways kids can get involved in saving the Earth each and every day. Let your kids know it is up to them to do their part. Tink would be proud.

Trick or Treat?  This smoothie recipe is both.  It is a frosty sweet treat that rivals anything you’d find at Jamba Juice, but is also a tricky way to get some extra fruits AND veggies.  Its green slimy appearance is perfect for a Halloween party or even just a special breakfast on the Day of the Dead.  With no added sugar, your little ghouls and goblins won’t even know that it’s good for them.  Don’t worry, I won’t tell if you won’t.

Slimy Green Smoothies (serves 1 or 2)

1 banana, sliced and frozen

1/2 c. frozen pineapple

1/2 c. apple, pineapple or orange juice

1/2 c. milk (almond, soy or regular)

1 large handful of spinach

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Pour into glass, and serve with a smile and a witch-like cackle.

My daughter is all about recycling lately…well, recycling and HALLOWEEN.  Someone should tell her she should recycle one of her 24 dress-up costumes into a new getup for Halloween night, instead of having us drop another $30 on whichever angel/unicorn/Cleopatra/fairy/Dorothy/Batgirl she decides on.  All complaints aside, I’ve found that the more crafts I give the girls to do for Halloween, the less pleas I have to hear for costumes and candy.

Here’s a craft idea that will satisfy your little goblins and make use of your recyclables.

Materials:

Black and white tempera paint
3 cups for mixing paint
Paintbrush
Empty cardboard cereal boxes
2 sponges
Thick black permanent marker

Mix the paints to make three different shades of gray.  Paint cereal boxes with the middle shade of gray and allow to dry.  Using sponges, dab on the two other shades of gray to give the “tombstones” a textured, mottled effect.  Once dry, use the thick black permanent marker to write on the tombstone.  Some ideas are: “Jon & Kate’s Marriage, Died 2009” or “Miley Cyrus’s Twitter Account, RIP.”

You can even use the cereal boxes as yard decorations.  Simply weigh down the boxes by placing a large rock or paperweight inside.

Triangle eyes, an oval nose and a toothy smile just won’t cut it anymore these days when it comes to Jack-O-Lanterns.  That’s just too boring and with the tools we have available these days there is no reason why your Jack-O-Lantern can’t be the coolest in the neighborhood.  This project can be great fun for the entire family.  From going to the pumpkin patch, to putting them out and seeing them at night for the first time, these pumpkins are a holiday tradition.  Always remember to be safe though, carving does involve sharp instruments and adults should always be present no matter how old the carvers are.

Stencils

Every good pumpkin starts with a good plan.  Using a stencil can keep your pumpkin even and centered along with providing designs you wouldn’t normally think of.  Here are some links to sites with cool free stencils to use on yours.

• Faces of some of your favorite Disney characters can be found here
• ExtremePumpkins.com has a few stencils but plenty of tips on how to really make your pumpkin stand out.
• StarWars.com has some really cool Star Wars themed designs and instructions here
• PumpkinLady.com has more than 200 stencils you can browse through here
• CarvingPumpkins.com has many stencils including stuff from The Simpsons, Family Guy, Addams Family, Lord of the Rings and more.
• Even you “Twilight” fans can find stencils to make that pumpkin extra delicious.

How To

Once you’ve picked out the stencil it is time to prepare your pumpkin and cut away.  The people over at Howdini.com have prepared a very good video showing the process from start to finish (check it out above).  Great instructions and tips!

Here are some tips from experts in designing and producing some of the most original Jack-O-Lanterns you will ever see.

• Picking the right one – Hit up your local pumpkin patch with the whole family and find pumpkins that aren’t too big but will still give you room to design.  Have a design idea in mind while picking out is always a help.  Keep younger kid’s pumpkins smaller to not give them too much room to work with.
• Dry-erase makers make hand design easier – These markers wipe off the pumpkin shell so designing and redesigning is a snap.
• Scoop the seeds - Use an ice cream scoop or a big “lunch lady” spoon to get out the guts and seeds of the pumpkin
• Power tools – Using compact power tools like a jigsaw or router can speed things up.  Use only if familiar with the tools and how to use!

So pack up the family, head to the pumpkin patch and get that perfect pumpkin.  Find your stencil and start carving your amazing pumpkin.  Post pictures of yours and of any tips you may have.  Happy and safe carving!

Mama’s Recipe Box is a weekly column in which KidGlue authors give hints on recipes that either your kids will love to eat or kids can help cook. This week, Sarah Matheny makes kettle corn.

I have a serious addiction problem.  There’s something about the combination of sweet and salty in a bag of kettle corn that is irresistible to me.  I can easily throw down a whole bag by myself.  My drug of choice is only available at Major League Baseball games, county fairs and farmer’s markets.  Lucky for me, there is usually some form of face painting at one of those events, so I have a good excuse for going:  it’s for the kids.  Until now.

Yes, I’ve perfected my own at home kettle corn, just in time for Halloween.  There are several methods out there for making kettle corn, and if you are like me you’d rather save your money for your kids’ college educations, or at the very least a new pair of ankle boots for fall, than blowing a couple grand on your own backyard kettle.  I prescribe to the school of thought that you first make the corn, and then the topping.  The few times I tried to make it on the stove and crystalize the sugar on the popping kernels, well…let’s just say I quickly learned that my smoke detectors are in perfect working order.

Here’s my fool proof recipe:

8 cups airpopped popcorn

2 T. canola oil

2 T. water

1-2 t. salt (depending on how salty you like it)

2/3 c. sugar

Pop your corn and put it in a large bowl.  Put the oil, water, sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Once the syrup comes to a boil, allow to simmer for three minutes.  Remove syrup from heat and pour over popped corn, tossing in salt while stirring.  Allow popcorn to cool and enjoy!

Now if only I could find some way to avoid sharing.

Grapes

Buy an all purple sweat suit.  Pin on tons of purple balloons with small safety pins.  Be careful not to puncture the balloons when attaching them.  Finish off the ensemble with a brown cap.  You can also cut leaf patterns out of green felt and attach to the cap for a complete outfit.

Crayon

Choose any color crayon you would like.  Buy sweats in that color.  Attach a wrapper made of paper, craft foam or felt.  To form a hat, find a like-colored plastic planter (or paint one to match).  The face can also be painted to match the crayon color.  Very cute!

Domino

Take all black sweats and place a piece of white duct tape around the waist.  This will be the middle portion of the domino.  Pin white circles made of either thick paper, craft foam or felt to create the amount of dots you would like.  Black shoes and a black painted face finish off the complete outfit.

Care Bear:

Take a pair of sweats, with a hooded sweat shirt to match your favorite Care Bear.  Add ears made of matching felt to the sweatshirt hood.   Using felt or white fabric, create a white circle and decorate with your Care Bear symbol.  To complete the look, add mittens in a matching color.  If you want to be a little more creative, follow this tutorial by Craftster user TravTrav.

Dalmatian

Use a white hooded sweatsuit and pin black felt spots all over.  Add felt ears to the hood, tail on the pants along with a dog collar and your ready to go.

There are lots of ideas for a simple sweatsuit.  Most any animal or round fruits or vegetable can be easily made with just a few alterations.  Buy some sweats, get some felt and you are able to create most anything you can imagine.

Making a really great haunted house takes a lot of time, but can be a great family project that everyone can get excited about. If you want to lead your friends and neighbors on a terrifying tour of your haunted home this Halloween, here are some tips to have your house giving them nightmares for weeks.

Set the Spooky Atmosphere

Make a tape of scary sounds to play on loop to create the illusion there is a lot more going on than is seen.  Have your kids record themselves groaning like ghosts, howling like wolves, laughing like witches, shaking chains and screaming.

Lighting is important, so make sure it is dark.  Use red, or blue light bulbs for spooky visibility, or use a strobe light to limit it.  Get a fog machine to make it feel like your guests are walking through a graveyard.

Make Petrifying Props

Dummies- This is a great way to get kids to rake the leaves. Find some old clothes, fill them with leaves and tie off the ends. Prop the “body parts” together in chairs, corners or hang them from the ceiling. Use pumpkins, hats or masks as scary faces.

Garbage Bag Spiders- Again, use your raked leaves, or some newspaper to fill small black garbage bags. Tie them closed, then use black construction paper to make the legs. Hang the spiders from the ceiling, or have them posted up in the corners of the room covered in spider webs. (You can purchase bags of webbing at the store.)

Tombstones- Use old cardboard boxes, or for you craftier folk, use wood, and cut it into the shape of a tombstone. Let the kids go wild painting them with fake names and dates. Put them in the yard, or prop them up in your home.

Ghoulish Ghosts- Take some old white bed sheets, or scrap white fabric, and hang it from the ceiling. Add a balloon underneath to provide shape to your “ghost.” Have the kids draw on scary faces, or for more fun, hang the ghost with the string through a hoop, so when someone pulls the string the ghosts bobs up and down like it’s floating.

Terrifying Touches

This one is great, especially for the younger ones. Have a table with a few bowls on it and ask the tourists if they want to feel some monster guts. Try these: monster eyeballs (peeled grapes), monster brains (cold, cooked spaghetti noodles), monster fingers (whole carrots), monster fat (jell-o), or think of your own. Do this in a dark room- the less they can see, the easier it is to pull off.

Recruit Friends

It’s not a haunted house if there aren’t monsters and ghosts there to pop out and scare your guests. Have your friends dress up and hide amongst the dummies to scare the tourists as they pass through. You can also have them hide and slam doors, scream, moan and maniacally laugh to add more believability.

Some words of caution:

• Some parents might not be too keen on your bringing their kids into your home, so be sure to ask for permission first.  Or, if the kids are alone, it’s probably best to give them candy and have them go on their way.  Or still yet, you could go even safer and turn your haunted house into a haunted graveyard and set everything up on the lawn.
• Warn your “actors” not to touch anyone- period.
• Have some treats handy incase some little kid starts screaming.  Then remove your mask and explain to them you are just a person.  Kids are unpredictable, and have been known to burst into tears at the sight of Mickey Mouse, so just be ready.

Halloween is about one thing to kids: candy.  A distant second is their costume, but that’s just to make it socially acceptable to go around to strangers’ houses and ask for candy.  Trick or treat is one night only, so let the kids stock up but, of course, we all know it doesn’t stop there.  There are school parties, friend’s parties, family parties, all of which are coated in sugar.

So, save the candy for Halloween and instead of bringing the same old unhealthy cookies and cupcakes, bring not only the coolest snacks at the party, but the healthiest ones, too.

Dirt and Bugs: Take sugar-free chocolate pudding cups and sprinkle them with crumbled graham crackers, or granola.  Place a few gummy worms into the “dirt”, or for even less sugar, use raisins and tell the kiddies they are ants.

Eyeballs: Peel a bowl full of grapes and place raisins in the hole where the grape attaches to the stem to make a pupil.  You may have to cut a small slit to get the raisin to stay.  Mix some light colored Jell-O (green or yellow works best, so you can see through it) and place the “eyeballs” in the bowl.  Chill Jell-O according to package directions. Cut Jell-O into squares so each child gets at least a few eye balls per square.

Popcorn Severed Hands: Pop a bowl of popcorn.  Place 1 candy corn (optional, for the fingernail) in the end of each finger of a rubber glove. Poke popcorn down each finger and into the palm of the glove to make a “hand”. Twist tie shut, or tie with a ribbon.

Puking Jack-o-lantern Dip: Take a small pumpkin and hollow it out.  Place healthy dip, like hummus, in the pumpkin like a bowl and serve with cut up veggies and pretzels.  Paint or draw a face on the pumpkin for the little ones, or for an older crowd, carve out a face and let the dip spill out of the mouth for a puking effect.

Halloween season doesn’t need to rot your child’s teeth, or blow your diet when they bring home the left overs.  After all, that’s what Halloween night is for, right?

Still, once October hits, pretty much every day between the 1st and the 31st I get asked 8 times if it is time to “do pumpkins” yet.  Why yes, my pretties, it certainly is.  Here’s a mess-free, EASY and fun craft to keep your kids happy until you actually do get around to carving pumpkins.

Materials:

• orange, black and green construction paper
• washable markers
• glue
• stickers
• safety scissors

Directions:

Draw a pumpkin shape on a piece of orange construction paper.  Cut a stem out of green construction paper and glue on top.  Using a marker, draw curved lines down the front of the pumpkin to show depth and shape.

Using black construction paper, cut out triangles, circles, hearts, stars, eye brows, mouth shapes, etc. and help your child arrange and glue the shapes on their pumpkin to make a face.  Let your child draw with markers, add stickers and any other trim to decorate their pumpkin.  Hang your pumpkin in your window to greet trick-or-treaters.

Sometimes a little imagination is all it takes to procrastinate on your less desirable parental duties.  Trust me, I’m an expert.

One afternoon, when I couldn’t stand another episode of Blue’s Clues and my daughters were excitedly discussing their Halloween costumes, we came up with this idea for Masquerade Masks.

Supplies you’ll need:

• Construction paper
• glue
• safety scissors
• thin cardboard for backing (think cereal boxes or other packaging materials)
• markers, crayons or colored pencils
• feathers, sequins, fabric scraps or any other decor
• bamboo skewers or chop sticks
• Scotch tape

On the color of construction paper desired, draw a mask shape.  Hold the paper up to your child’s eyes to determine where eye cutouts should be placed.  Cut paper out, including eye holes.  Trace shape onto thin cardboard and cut that mask shape out as well.  Glue construction paper to cardboard to provide a sturdy back to your child’s mask.

Encourage your child to decorate the mask as desired, coloring on designs and gluing on sequins and feathers for trim.

When the glue is dry, secure a chop stick or bamboo skewer (with sharp end removed) to the side of the mask with Scotch tape.  Obviously use supervision when your child is handling the stick and never allow your child to run with a sharp object.

It’s no trip to the park, but this indoor craft can keep you busy for a good hour and get you in the Halloween spirit.  Then if your kids want to watch another episode of Blue’s Clues, at least you’ll have a sharp stick to poke your eyes out with.

My son loves painting, but being a 3-year-old always seems to make a mess and get it all over himself.  I found a way that makes painting a little more fun and he can lick the paint from his hands.

Colored pudding makes the best finger paints and is fun for kids of all ages.  You can paint on paper or even paint your body, as you might have seen on “Jon & Kate Plus 8″.  Kate allows the children to paint with chocolate pudding on several episodes, but I like using colored pudding because it is so much fun.

Here’s what you need:

• Vanilla Pudding, either made from a box or pre-made pudding cups
• food coloring

1. Mix pudding with food coloring.  Remember the more food coloring you put in the pudding, the deeper and brighter your colors will be.

2. Allow your child to paint paper or himself with your bright, pretty and fun pudding paints.

This is one of the easiest crafts that I do with my kids, and they love it.  They all like getting their hands covered so they can eat the pudding.  If you’d like you can use paintbrushes, spoons or whatever to paint with, but my family prefers using their hands, arms and elbows.

When the paint dries it will lightly shiny and makes a nice piece of artwork to display.  I have had pudding paintings for years and never had a problem with it having any type of strange smell or anything of that nature.  Some of my friends were worried it would mold, but no worries, I have never had that problem.  Dig in and enjoy!

Another summer has come and is now almost gone.  The kids are gearing up for school and your mind is turning towards towards the facets of fall.  Gone are the lazy days of lounging in the sun while the kids play in the sand and the sea.  As you pack up the bathing suits and life jackets and sand toys, you may come across some of the many mementos that your kids brought home to remember the beach by.  For example, my son had a baggie of sand in his pail marked “Santa Monica sand”.

My kids, like many, are notoriously nostalgic.  They won’t let me discard any of their things, even if they are worn out, broken or forgotten.  For this reason I try to reuse all that I can.  When I came across these baggies of sand and buckets of seashells, I hesitated about putting them in our memento box.  I knew the sand would spill and the shells would break making a mess of everything in there.  Instead, I thought it would be nice to preserve them through one last fun summer day of arts and crafts.

Sand Candles

Get creative with your sand by making these sand candles.  You can use the very bucket that your child collected the sand in as a mold for these candles.

Tools and Materials:

• Beeswax, 1 pound per candle
• Candle dye
• Candy thermometer
• Scissors
• Wooden spoon
• Assorted molds with flat bottoms
• Sand
• Paintbrush
• Wooden craft sticks
• Large plastic container or bucket
• Square-braided cotton wicking, number 4

Directions

1. Place beeswax in a double boiler over medium heat.  Each 1-pound piece will yield a 4-inch-tall, 3-inch-wide pillar candle.  Monitoring with a candy thermometer, heat beeswax to 175 degrees.  For a heavier coat of sand, heat the wax to 190 degrees.
2. Add about 1/8 of a cake of dye per 1 pound of wax.  Blend with a wooden spoon.  To test the color, dip a wooden craft stick into the wax, and allow to dry.  Add more dye in small pieces until you achieve desired color, remembering the finished color will be slightly darker than the stick.
3. Combine sand with water by mixing with your hands until sand packs firmly enough to hold an imprint. Cover bottom of container with several inches of sand. Set mold on top, and pack additional sand tightly around it, making sure mold stays upright. Grip mold firmly, and carefully ease it straight up and out of the sand.  If the sand wall crumbles, mix in a little more water, and begin again.
4. Cut a piece of cotton wicking to several inches longer than the height of the candle, and dip it into the melted wax to stiffen it.  Use a pencil to make a hole in the bottom of the mold.  Place one end of the dry wick in the hole, and bury it, using the pencil.
5. Making sure the wick stands upright and centered, pour the wax into the mold in a slow, steady stream.  Don’t pour too fast, as the wax will make a dent in the sand.  If you are making more then one candle, return the wax to the stove between pours. Let the candle set until completely cool (overnight, if possible), and remove it.  Dust off excess sand with a paintbrush, and use scissors to cut off the excess wick and wax at the base.

Sea Shell Wind Chimes

This is a fun way to reuse sea shells of all shapes and sizes and any drift wood your child may have found as well.  You can hang it on your patio or decorate your child’s room with it.

Directions

Find two sticks 6 and 3 inches long. Use cotton string of varying lengths; tie one end around a shell or piece of sea glass and the other end to one of the sticks. Use two same-size pieces of string to connect the sticks. Tie a 24-inch string to the top one to hang.

Here is what you need:

• 1/2 Cup Tempera paint
• 1/2 Cup Liquid Dish Detergent
• Straw
• Paper
• Water
• Shallow Pan

1.

To make your solution correctly, mix the night before you plan to do this project.  It works better after it has been sitting for a little bit of time.  Mix paint, detergent and add 1/4 cup water and stir.  Allow to sit over night.

2.

. When you are ready to create, pour your mixture in the shallow pan.

3.

Place paper a straw into the mixture.  Blow through the straw to make bubbles in the mixture.  This works much like the bubbles you would make in your milk as a child, creating bubbles on top of bubbles, on top of bubbles.

**NOTE: Watch children closely to ensure they do not suck in and drink the paint mixture!!

4.

While there are bubbles, place paper over them.

5.

As the bubbles break, they will make designs on the paper.  Try different colors to see a neat effect appear.

In celebration of Chic-fil-A’s fifth annual Cow Appreciation Day, the tasty fast food chain is now offering free combo meals for today, and today only, to all participating customers. The catch? You and your family will have to show up to your local Chic-fil-A dressed up as, wait for it, a cow. You know, Cow Appreciation Day and all. Because, as we all know, cows like nothing better than to eat delicious chicken sandwiches. Or at least that’s how I would imagine it.

Now before you start digging for old Halloween costumes, remember, you don’t have to look exactly like a cow. Trust me they’re not too picky. Rather, you’d be just fine wearing a plain white t-shirt, cutting out black construction paper spots, and pinning them to the shirt. And if you were feeling real ambitious, maybe make some ears out of paper too. You could attach them to a headband for extra style points. Maybe even a cut out cow bell?

Or if you’re looking for a sure thing, Chic-fil-A has some costume suggestions on their website.

Here’s what you need:

• Black construction paper
• Straw
• Paint (Tempera works best, but acrylic also works good)
• Glitter (optional)

1. Layout your construction paper and drop pools of paint randomly all over it.

2. Use the straw to blow the paint all over the place.  Try blowing from different angles and with different amounts of force to create different effects.

3. While the paint is still dry you can sprinkle with glitter if you would like.

4. Let dry fully and hang up to showcase a beautiful night sky full of gorgeous fireworks!

Gather your supplies:

• Yarn (the thicker the better)
• a small book (as large as you would like your pal)
• Glue (I used hot glue because I hate waiting and know my kids won’t wait for any other to dry)
• Scissors
• Google eyes, feathers, buttons, any extra craft supplies you have around your house!

1. Wrap yarn around your book about 100 times.

2. Cut a piece of yarn about six inches in length

Carefully slide the yarn off of the book and tie in the middle with the smaller length of yarn.

3. Carefully cut each loop, watching your poofy pal emerge

4. Decorate and let your pal take on its own persona

You can use anything from pom-poms, beads, pipe cleaners, craft foam, whatever!

Father’s day is less than a week away and if you haven’t already started making crafts with your children don’t worry, it’s not too late. Whether your making family printed t-shirts or creative desk accessories, dad will appreciate any heartfelt gift.

If you don’t have time for any well thought out gifts, I suggest homemade breakfast in bed with a card from your little one(s). Waking up in the morning to a nice breakfast and smiley faces on a card always works. You could also do some fun clean up activities with your kids, including washing the car, painting a room or cleaning dads golf clubs.

For those of you interested in buying recession proof gifts I recommend the all important Lego cuff links. Or a custom designed tie with pictures of your kids on it.

My kids LOVE to play outside.  I think they would live out there if I let them.  And even though we are blessed to live in an area that has mostly beautiful weather, there are the occasional gloomy days that keep up inside.  When you find yourself in this predicament try these ideas to keep your kids busy inside without propping them down in front of the television.

Create A Dress Up Box

To stock your child’s box, start with old Halloween Costumes.  Then check your closet for any unused items.  You can also hit up thrift stores and yard sales.  If you are looking for accessories, check out Ebay.  They have large lots of fake jewelry for great prices.

Go On A Dinosaur Hunt

Ever since they saw Jurassic Park, my kids love to hunt and run away from pretend dinosaurs.  Of course it is always more fun if I am there to lead the hunt and protect them.  Sometimes they like me to pretend to be the dinosaur and hide from them.  No matter how we play we always end up rolling on the floor and laughing by the end.

Get Creative

Nothing thrills my kids more than an afternoon of arts and crafts.  Just prep an area with some old newspaper or a painters tarp.  I usually set out some construction paper, finger paints, safety scissors, glue and lots fun things like feathers and google eyes to glue to their masterpieces.  Sometimes I will look up specifics crafts and walk them through it.  Other times we just do free draw where they make whatever they want.

My kids hate when it rains, they can’t jump on the trampoline, they can’t do bubbles, they can’t use sidewalk chalk!  I found one thing that my kids love doing every time it rains though.  They love making rain pictures.  These are easy to make and turn out cute.

Supplies:

• Paper
• Blue Tempera Paint (this is found in the craft section at almost every store, very cheap and easy to clean up!)
• Colored Pencils, markers or crayons

1. Allow your child to create a scenic picture.  I usually tell them to make a picture of all the things rain helps to grow.  In doing this, I get pictures of lots of flowers and grass.  If your little one is still too small to draw, go ahead and help them by drawing something for them.

2. Give them a small dish of blue paint and allow them to use their finger tips to create rain drops all over the place.

This project is so simple, but my kids still love to show off their rain pictures.  This can also help in teaching them about rain and how is helps plants to grow.  As your children are creating the rain drops, explain how rain helps the environment and how plants are only able to grow when they are watered.

Easter always brings back vivid memories of getting dressed up for church in poofy pastel dresses and shiny white shoes, waking up bright and early with my siblings to check out our baskets and hunting for plastic eggs all over the front lawn.  And as much as I loved all of these things, I think my very favorite part of Easter was the night before when we all gathered around to dye Easter eggs.  Back then we used the PAAS dye kits with the plastic shrink wrappers and dozens of tiny stickers.   Egg dying has come a long way since then.  Here are a few distinctive techniques that you can try now.

Marbleized Eggs

Materials:

• Mixing bowls
• Measuring cup and spoons
• White vinegar
• Food coloring
• Eggs
• Olive oil
• Fork
• Paper towels

Directions:

1. Prepare a dye bath in a small heatproof mixing bowl by mixing 1 teaspoon of vinegar and 20 drops of food coloring (use more to intensify color) with 1 cup of hot water.  Add an egg, and submerge it until it turns the desired hue. R emove the egg and let it dry, about 15 minutes.
2. In a shallow, wide bowl prepare another batch of dye in a darker or different shade; this will provide the swirls.  The liquid should be 1/2 inch deep.  Add about 1 tablespoon olive oil (you may need more depending on the size of the container). Run a fork through this mixture, creating swirls of oil on the surface.  Place the dyed egg in the marbleizing mixture and roll it once around the bowl to pick up the oil streaks; remove, and blot gently with a paper towel. Let the egg dry, about 30 minutes.
3. Try various color combinations. Vary the base tints and the swirls to achieve contrasts both striking and subtle.

Silk Tie Eggs

Materials:

•  Raw eggs
• Glass or enamel pot
• Silk from ties, blouses, or boxers, cut into pieces large enough to cover an egg
• White sheets (or pillowcases or old tablecloths), cut into pieces to cover silk-wrapped eggs
• Twist ties
• 3 tablespoons of white vinegar
• Warm water
• Vegetable oil
• Paper towels
• Tongs or spoon

Directions:

1. Cut a piece of silk large enough to wrap around a raw egg.
2.  Wrap a raw egg with a piece of silk, making sure the printed side of the material is facing the egg.  Silk can still be used if it doesn’t fit perfectly around egg.
3. Place the silk-wrapped egg in a piece of white sheet, pillowcase, or old tablecloth and secure tightly with a twist-tie.
4. Place the egg(s) in an enamel or glass pot.  Fill pot with enough water to cover eggs completely.  Then add three tablespoons of white vinegar.
5. Bring the water to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer for 20 minutes (longer if you plan on eating the eggs).
6. Remove the eggs from water with tongs or spoon and let cool.
7. Remove silk from cooled egg.
8. For shiny eggs, wipe with vegetable oil after completing step 7.

Wax Pattern Eggs

Materials:

• Food coloring
• Beeswax
• Hard- boiled eggs
• Pot (for melting beeswax)
• Bowls and spoons (for dyes)
• Cookie sheet
• Wax paper
• Paper towels

Directions:

1. To make a striped egg, dye an egg pale yellow (for richer colors, increase the proportion of coloring to water). Remove and let dry.
2. Melt beeswax in a pot. Dip both ends of the egg in wax.  This will prevent that area from absorbing the next color.
3. Place the egg in the green dye for about one minute.  Then remove it and let it dry.  Dip both ends of the egg deeper in the wax than before, leaving a narrow unwaxed band around the middle of the egg.
4. Place the egg in dark blue dye to color the middle stripe. When finished, place the egg in a 250-degree oven on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper for about 5 minutes. Take the egg out and wipe off melted wax with a paper towel.  To make a half-colored egg, hold an egg partially submerged in a strong dye for about a minute.  To create eggs with bands of white, dip-dye both ends, then dip each end in the wax to cover the dyed area plus a stripe of white beyond them, then proceed as above.  Feel free to experiment with different colors too.

(Photos By: Amy and Tienvijftien)