Finger painting is fun, plain and simple! Finger painting that you can lick your fingers and sample your art is even better! In the past we have used shaving cream, so I thought why not whip cream? What a thought! My girls had so much fun and really enjoyed the sweet treats that came along with "painting" no doubt about that!
All you need is:
Whip Cream
Food Coloring
Bowls
Wax Paper
Masking Tape or Painters Tape
Pretzels
Marshmallows
or Anything else you come up with!
I just taped a piece of wax paper to the table put globs of the whip cream on each paper and let the girl's imaginations soar! It was a great deal of fun watching how each one approached what was set before them. To see how each child created something totally different!
You can also use yogurt or pudding. Choosing vanilla would allow you to use food color or find yogurt/ pudding that is already flavored and colored.
You can really see the different personalities displayed! Such fun! Just wash in warm water and soap to rid their little hands of the oil in the Whip Cream. Pin It Now!
A room fit for a princess! My sweet princess Hailey Grace who happens to be my first born. In just a matter of days she will be celebrating her ninth Birthday. Gasp! I can hardly believe how quick time is going by! How grown up she is becoming.
When asked what she would like for her Birthday, not a single toy, doll, stuffed animal or anything falling in a similar category was mentioned. Gasp! Gasp again! What she wanted was new bedding! Something green, since as the years pass her love for the color is growing.
We searched the Internet for ideas and when we came across the below bedding (found at Pottery Barn Kids) she lit up and was instantly in love! To see the excitement on her face and hear the joy in her voice, I was SOLD! A call went into Grandma, who wanted to be the bearer of this wonderful gift and the purchase was made!
First, more of a look around the room.
Hailey Grace at age 7... once excited about the bedding pictured here.
A very happy Hailey Grace approaching age 9!
Now a future project, extra pillows and pizazz added to her bed! Oh how I love to keep myself busy with my "Hopes and To Do" list as I call it.
The sheets are polka dots and the duvet is paisley! Could there be a better combination! Super cute!
Such a loving, sweet big sister Hailey Grace is... she is having Christiana Hope spend the night with her! Intentionally there is not a picture of Grace sleeping... out of respect for her private personality!
I found this accordion hook at a thrift store for $.99 and what a steal of deal it turned out to be. I have been a fan of these fun hooks for awhile now. I saw one featured in The Land of Nod catalog awhile back and just was not willing to pay the price they wanted.
Amazing what a little paint can do to a not so attractive item. Here is how this accordion hook was transformed. According to me, a definite improvement was made
First I painted the hook white to act like a primer, covering that not so beautiful dark wood stain.
Then I painted it red in a water wash. Dipped my brush in water and then in the red paint. I wanted some of the white to show through just a tad.
I then painted the pegs a solid red. The same red as before, just not washed down.
I cut out a star template from card stock. Traced around my star, rotating the star each time. The star was then painted a light blue.
I wanted the star to wrap around just a bit. I did one coat of blue so some of the red would show through. Keeping the wash effect consistent.
I painted the tops of the pegs the same light blue. I decided to do half stars and half just red. Sometimes less is just best. So as you can see the top pieces of wood are stars and the underneath are red. According to me, this could not have been easier for a fun result!
I decided to make homemade play dough. I tried a recipe I have never used before and either the recipe just does not heed the results expected or something in my prep. went a miss.
As my girls sat down to create a masterpiece from their play dough they had a surprise. The masterpiece was about to take hold of them. Well this sticky mess ended up turning out to be great fun for them. This sticky situation was turned into a positive learning moment, they had a new sensory experience that is for sure.
Not your typical play dough experience! The life lesson here, not everything in life turns out the way you plan. When you find yourself in a sticky situation, dive in, you may get messy, but all washes off in the end!
Making food fun for kids is a great way to get them to eat what you set before them. Also it communicates I care about you... you are worth my extra effort. Here are two ways I "fun up" an ordinary meal.
First is to cut a sandwich into shapes. You could do a different shape each week for those of you who are at the stage of teaching your little one his/her shapes. A shape of the week theme.
The second way I add extra fun to a meal is a tip a friend shared with me years ago. Octopus hot dogs! Can you say FUN! Sometimes I serve them with tri-color pasta and we pretend it is seaweed. I have served it on top of buttered spaghetti noodles... really the options are up to your imagination. It is a sure way to put a smile on your little ones face.
How to make these octopus hot dogs is really simple. Before you cook them cut eight tentacles half way up the hot dog. Then make two slits for eyes and a slit for a smiling mouth. Place in a pan, bring to a boil, watch the tentacles curl and the smile appear.
Here is the recipe I have for the Crockpot Egg Casserole I referenced in my previous post (click the link Tea Party). I have made this in the crock pot and it turned out great. I let my older girls stay up late and had them help cook and layer in the ingredients. Then the next morning they served breakfast to rest of the family. From setting the table to clearing the table it was their opportunity to serve with joyful hearts. They loved doing this.
Most often I make this on the stove in a frying pan. When in the frying pan I do not use 12 eggs. I personally do not care for eggs so I make it less eggy if you will. I have also varied the recipe by using O'Brien Potatoes also found in the freezer section. I do not add the bell peppers and onions every time just depends if I have it on hand or not. Also when I do this in the frying pan I use butter not olive oil.
The following are not my words but that of the creator of this recipe. Hope you enjoy!
(You may also click the below link Crockpot Egg Casserole for where I found the recipe.)
Use your imagination when making this recipe. Try Canadian bacon instead of ham. Use Havarti or Swiss cheese instead of Cheddar. Add some minced jalapeno peppers if you like hot foods. Then enjoy!
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 9 hours
Total Time: 9 hours, 25 minutes
Ingredients:
32 oz. bag frozen hash brown potatoes
1 lb. cooked ham, cubed
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1-1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
12 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
Preparation:
Spray inside of slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. In small skillet, cook onion and green pepper in olive oil until crisp tender. Let cool about 10 minutes. Place one third of the frozen hash brown potatoes in the slow cooker. Add one third of the ham, onion, green pepper and cheese. Repeat layers, ending with the cheese. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, milk and seasonings until well mixed. Pour over the ingredients in the slow cooker, cover and turn on low. Cook for 8-10 hours, until casserole is set and eggs are thoroughly cooked. Serves 12
If you have a new hotter cooking crockpot, you'll need to check this after 6 hours. It will probably be done after 7 hours. The eggs should reach a temperature of 160 degrees F.
When each of my girls tun six years of age, for their Birthdays they will or have received a porcelain tea set from me. Two of my four have hit age six, so we have been enjoying tea from tiny cups for many years now. Pinkies up, napkin in your laps and sip don't slurp, you got that "darling?"
Our tea parties have varied over the years but one thing is always the same, smiling faces on little girls acting like ladies. Sometimes we dress in dress up clothes and adorn ourselves in jewels, other times we read those adorable Fancy Nancy books while snacking on treats and sipping tea. Sometimes we have afternoon tea, or a tea party for lunch, today we had a tea party for breakfast.
We enjoyed Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls topped with cream cheese frosting. White frosting is so ordinary and not tea party fancy at all so, we made the frosting purple. I also made a delicious egg, ham, hash brown casserole for lack of a better description, that I will share the recipe with you in a bit.
Each place was set with a teacup name tag holder, a fun paper plate, a cute napkin, and a teacup of course! Today we put to use our special tea party place mats made for a previous tea party (for how to make these place mats click here Homemade Child Made Place Mats).
Since this is a tea party and my girls are not big fans of tea, we substitute tea for juice. Usually apple juice is our choice, since it looks like real tea. Sometimes we trade back and forth between a couple of different varieties of juice, since at a real tea party a range of teas are offered. Today I decided to make our tea just a bit more of a special treat and we had sparkling apple cider. It was fabulous darling!
I take full advantage of our tea parties to talk to my girls about proper etiquette at the table. This is an opportunity to put our good manners we learn at the dinner table to use.
A perfectly purple pinkie up tea party! I hope you enjoyed drinking a spot of tea with us today! We sure enjoyed having you at our tea party.
