This just so happens to be an all time favorite Christmas present and is one of my all time favorite projects I have done with my kids. It's really easy and turns out just adorable! Gather the following supplies from your craft store or craft closet: 1 piece of white paper (large) (or a canvas-which is what I used- you can get them for pretty cheap) Green, yellow and brown paint 1 kid willing to get ooey and gooey carefully paint your child's hand with the green paint- make one row of 4 hand prints Then paint your child's hand again and make a row of 3 hand prints Next you will make a row of 2 hand prints on top of that Finally, 1 hand print on the very top Brown paint makes a stump and the yellow to make a star on the top. (Have your child autograph the tree with the year to mark the date) These make GREAT presents and they are always adored by grandparents. While making the tree I thought to myself....hmmm, what if I traced a circle really lightly in pencil … [Read more...]
Archives for 2012
5 fun songs to sing with your kids (you might remember some)
Source Say, Say Oh Playmate Say, say oh playmate, Come out and play with me, And bring your dollies three, Climb up my apple tree. Slide down my rain barrel, Into my cellar door, And we'll be jolly friends, Forever more - more - more! Verse 2 Say, say oh playmate, I cannot play with you, My dolly has the flu, Boohoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo. Ain't got no rain barrel, Ain't got no cellar door, But we'll be jolly friends, Forever more,more, more,more,more. Miss Mary Mack Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack All dressed in black, black, black With silver buttons, buttons, buttons All down her back, back, back She asked her mother, mother, mother For fifty cents, cents, cents To see the elephants, elephants, elephants Jump over the fence, fence, fence They jumped so high, high, high They touched the sky, sky, sky And didn't come back, back, back Till the fourth of July, July, July Nobody Likes Me Nobody likes me Everybody hates me Guess I'll eat … [Read more...]
Easy, No-Freeze, Homemade Ice Cream
We've had yet another heat wave in Minnesota this week so I thought it was about time that I taught my girls how to make easy, no-freeze, homemade ice cream. Yes, this recipe is no-freeze so it's super quick, and because it's homemade, it's super yummy too! To make your own, you'll need: 1/2 cup of half & half 1 Tablespoon sugar 1/4 teaspoon vanilla 1 sandwich size Ziploc bag 1 gallon size Ziploc bag 3 cups crushed ice 1/3 cup rock salt (sometimes called ice cream salt) Step 1) Put the half & half, sugar, and vanilla in the sandwich size Ziploc bag. Seal it tight. Step 2) Make sure the sandwich size Ziploc bag is definitely sealed. Step 3) Put the ice and rock salt in the gallon size Ziploc bag. Step 4) Add the sandwich size bag to the gallon size bag. Seal it tight. Step 5) Make sure the gallon sized bag is sealed tight. Step 6) Shake the bags for about 10-15 minutes until the ice cream forms. We ended up using a towel to hold … [Read more...]
Chore Chart and Rewards
The other day as I frantically cleaned my house, pending the arrival of several guests, I desperately tried to get my kids to help me. After several FAILED attempts I realized where I had gone wrong. It all goes back to a few years ago. I always cleaned the house when they were down for naps. They never saw the work that went into keeping the house clean, thus they never had to help. Fail on my part, big time! My kids had no accountability for chores and certainly no consequences for not completing chores. This had to change! Introduction to chore charts. I found this awesome Etsy store, Abbies House, that sold great chore charts and some awesome magnets to boot. My husband I discussed which chores we thought were appropriate and also added some for the future as they got older. We comitted to a purchase and we are in LOVE with these charts! (Just an FYI- Abbies House didn't ask me to do a review, I am doing it simply because I am so pleased with the quality and the … [Read more...]
Pop Cap Necklaces
It all started when Nutty saw (and liked) some pop cap necklaces online and I got a hair-brained idea that we should make them for party favors for her birthday. I searched all over the internet on how to make them and found that in theory they'd be super easy for me us to make on our own! Hubby and I drank a few (ahem) beverages and we saved up enough caps to make the necklaces... The first problem was getting the plastic, rubbery thing out of the middle of the cap. Those buggers are harder to get out than they look! I (and when I say I, I mean Hubby) resorted to burning them off with his torch. It worked great except for the smell, but it created another problem. See the color? Never mind, I was going to paint them anyway...after all, the caps are from (cough) adult beverages. Next came flattening the caps. No problem right? We'd just take a hammer and flatten them. I saw plenty of people do it online... Ok, so they're a bit mis-shapen but that just adds … [Read more...]
Pogo.com Online Games #Poppit
ToysInTheDryer focuses on finding ways to spend quality time with your children. However, sometimes you need a break from them, and/or they need a break from you. It can be difficult to keep your children entertained (and quiet) while you get that much needed 15 minutes to yourself. It might also be hard for you to let go and relax for short periods of time. Playing games online solve both of those problems! Pogo.com offers 100+ FREE online games suitable for multiple ages and interests. They have everything from simple, relatively low thinking games such as Mahjong and Poppit, to Scrabble and card games that require some level of concentration, all the way up to Chess and casino games that require skill. Pogo.com even offers multi-player games! I prefer the low thinking games and some of the classic board games. Nutty (age almost 6) loves that she can play the low thinking games (Bejeweled and Poppit) just like her mom! We use online games from Pogo.com as rewards for Nutty and … [Read more...]
