Bird Feeders

9 May

This is a project that so many people know about, but if you have not done it I highly suggest it, it was so much fun…  All you need is some sort of sticky food (peanut butter, sun butter, almond butter, honey etc..) some birdseed, string or twine and some time to get messy…

Step 1:  Tie string or twine to a pine cone and/or a bagel (through the middle)…

Step 2:  Spread peanut butter, sun butter, almond butter or honey on a pine cone or bagel.  Make sure to take a few “licks” for yourself…

Step 3:  Sprinkle the bagel/pine cone with birdseed and hang it in your favorite tree…

Step 4:  Stand back and watch for birds…

Spread a Little Sunshine

1 May

These are our 2014 May Day Baskets! We made them exactly like our bug baskets, just making a sunshine instead! Click HERE for directions on making a cone shaped basket! Bring on spring!

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May Day Baskets!

30 Apr

Tomorrow is May Day.  I’m not sure about you, but I can hardly believe it’s May.  I’m not sure if it’s because the weather has been rather dreary or if it’s just because time flies, but whatever the case, tomorrow is May!!!  Why not bring a little sunshine to a friend or neighbor!  Here are my favorite May Day Baskets…

 

You’ll Need

Construction Paper

Scissors

Glue

Stapler/Tape

Markers

Treats

Directions:

To Make the cone shaped basket you will need to cut a 9.5×11 sheet of paper into a half circle shape.  Depending on the insect you choose to make you might need to use two colors….

Once you’ve made your half circle shape you will just “roll” the paper into a cone shape and staple, tape or glue it into place…

Then you will need to trace a circle for the head (I used a one cup measuring cup)…  Draw some wings, antenna, eyes, etc.. We used glue stick to attach the head, antenna and eyes.  I stapled the wings to the back of each of the cones just to make sure they would stay!  We drew the spots and faces on with markers, but you could use google eyes and stickers too if you wanted.   I cut a one inch thick/11 inch long piece of paper for the handle of the basket.   The boys had a lot of fun with this!  You can really make them your own!   Add treats and gifts and TADA!

Beer Bread Recipe

22 Apr

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This is one of the easiest “quick bread” recipes I’ve found!  You can definitely replace the beer with soda and yeast or even water and yeast!  The most important part of this recipe is that you sift the flour!  You can do this using a flour sifter, metal strainer or even a slotted spoon!  If you do not sift the flour your bread will be very dense and heavy!  The other option with this bread is to mix the butter into the batter which creates a softer bread.  Pouring the butter over the top creates a buttery crispy crust.  I made this for some guests this past weekend and it was a huge hit.  It honestly took me 5 minutes to toss together!  ENJOY!

Ingredients

    • 3 cups flour ( sifted- very important)
    • 3 teaspoons baking powder
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1/4 cup sugar
    • 1 (12 ounce) can beer (see directions for other options)
    • 1/4 cup melted butter

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Sift the flour through a sifter or even a metal strainer- even a slotted spoon!  This is very important so that your bread is not too dense!
  3. Mix dry ingredients and beer.
  4. Pour into a greased loaf pan.
  5. Pour melted butter over mixture. (If you’d like softer bread versus a crispy crust, mix the butter into the batter)
  6. Bake 1 hour, remove from pan and cool for at least 15 minutes.
  7. If you do not have or want to use BEER you can use 2 teaspoons yeast and a can of soda or other liquid 🙂
  8. If your bread tastes like a heavy brick, most likely it’s because the flour wasn’t sifted correctly!

 

Easter Sun Catchers

14 Apr

All three boys and I whipped these up this morning to start decorating for Easter.  We also made some EGG shaped sun catchers and if you’re handy with the scissors you could even make BUNNIES…  For us, this was a great opportunity to talk about the meaning of Easter and the symbolism of the cross, eggs, bunnies, etc..

Here’s The Scoop:

You’ll need just a few things:  Clear contact paper, tissue paper cut into squares, scissors, a hole punch, and ribbon…

Directions:

1.  Cut two identical sized rectangles out of contact paper.  I cut a large one and let my kids all use it as one canvas, but you could also cut separate ones for each child.  You will need TWO identical size pieces per project.

2.  Lay one of the pieces of contact paper in front of your child sticky side up and let them stick tissue paper all over it.  If they are young you may need to fill in the empty spots when they are finished.

3.  Once the contact paper is covered with tissue take the identical sized piece of contact paper and lay it on the top of the tissue sticky side down.  You now have made a tissue sandwich!

4.  At this point you can cut out any shape you want.  Like I said we made two large crosses, two mini crosses and 4 eggs.

5.  Punch a hole in the top of each shape, tie it with a ribbon and hang it on your nearest window.

**  I think these are cute gifts for a Sunday School Teacher, neighbor, daycare provider etc…  Have fun!

Vacation Bible School

19 Mar

I have a special love for VBS.. Not only is it part of my job to organize and run VBS at our local church, I really think it’s a fun week for my kiddos…  They play games, do crafts, enjoy fun snacks, and learn about God…  What a fun combination!  Check out your local churches for their VBS programs!  They are usually free or require a small fee and you can often times VBS hop to several different camps in your area!  They really are a ton of fun and what’s better than summer camp :).

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St. Patrick’s Day Crafts

17 Mar

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Easy Homemade Bread

11 Mar

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We have turned into bread snobs at our house… Homemade bread or Nottin’. Well, that’s not entirely true, I still buy loaf after loaf of bread for school lunches and grilled cheese, but we sure do love this recipe! It’s awesome toasted, plain, french toasted, or made into croutons… It’s super easy and even works here in high altitude! I’ve made it with both white and wheat flour and even tried a few spices in it (roasted garlic, rosemary, etc..). Give it a try, you are sure to love it! Here’s the scoop:

Easy Homemade Bread

4 Tbsps Sugar

2 Tbsps Butter (melted)

3 tsps Salt

1 1/2 C hot water

2 Tbsps of rapid rise yeast

5 Cups of flour

Mix all ingredients together by hand or with an electric mixer. Remove & place in a bowl that has been greased & let dough rise until double in size (about 30 min). Punch down & divide in half into 2 rounds and place on a greased cookie sheet. Cut decorative slits on top. Let dough rise again. Rub an egg white wash (1 egg white + 1 tbsp water) over the top and sprinkle with kosher salt or other spices as desired. Bake at 400 degrees for 17-20 minutes or until golden brown…

OR

Place all ingredients in the bread machine liquids first, yeast last… Put machine on the dough cycle, remove from the bread maker and split into two loaves (if desired). Cut slits in the top- let rise… bake at 400’ for 20 minutes…

Fruit Rainbow

4 Mar

I love making snacks that are healthy… Isn’t it funny that the cuter a snack the more likely your kids are to eat it. This one is so easy and really a lot of fun! We make a fruit rainbow each year for St. Patrick’s Day, but it would also be fun for a rainbow party or quite frankly for any gathering or family dinner you have planned :). No directions needed (that’s the best kind of craft)…

 

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Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

25 Feb

March 2nd is Dr. Seuss’ Birthday!  This is one of my favorite days to celebrate!  Here are some fun things we’ve done in the past…

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What’s a party without some fun snacks!  Here are a few quick and easy treats to make for the big birthday bash :).  DR. SEUSS SNACKS LINK

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This Thing One and Thing Two craft is still hanging up in our play room, it’s one of my favorites!  Here is the link to the directions:  THING 1 & THING 2 CRAFT

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We love to make Green Eggs and Ham for one of our meals on March 2nd!  Here’s How we’ve done this in the past…   GREEN EGGS AND HAM LINK

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This One Fish Two Fish craft was made easily using paper plates and paint…  Here is the link…  ONE FISH TWO FISH RED FISH BLUE FISH

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