Messy Fun

Yesterday a good friend of mine hosted a play date for our mommy group.  She called it Messy Fun and had arranged messy outdoor crafts and even a messy snack.  Everyone wore play clothes and had a blast making a huge mess.  The kids had such a great time, I thought I'd share! 

The first messy craft was sidewalk painting!  My friend had even made her own paint!  Both the big kids and the littles had so much fun with the paint.  This seems so easy and fun, I can't wait to try it myself.  Here is the recipe.

Sidewalk Paint
 
Supplies:
1/2 Cup Water per color
1/2 Cup Cornstarch per color
10 Drops of Food Coloring (more if needed)
Jar With Lid
Paint brushes or Foam Brushes

 
Method:
Measure the water, cornstarch, and food coloring into a jar. Place the lid on the jar tightly. Shake the jar until the paint is completely mixed. Do this for every color you want to make.

The second messy craft was a huge painting on butcher paper.  My friend rolled paper down the driveway, set out cups of paint, and let the kids create a masterpiece.  

Everyone ended up making hand prints, foot prints, even a few leg prints ;)



 Exhausted, hot, and happy the kids enjoyed a messy rainbow Popsicle!  A huge hanks to my friend for a very fun, very messy, very memorable play date!  

Please let me know if you have any more ideas for messy play.  Perhaps we'll make a tradition out of it!

Happy summer!

Banana Bread

Tomorrow the kids and I are going to a play date with several of our close friends.  I generally try to bring something for the host and for the kids to enjoy, so tonight I made a quick batch of banana bread.  The kids always love it and so do the mamas. 

In my version of the classic bread, I replace half the oil with applesauce, reduce the sugar, and add in a little yogurt for a wonderful moist texture.  You could also substitute half of the flour with whole wheat flour. 

Banana Bread

Yields 2 loaves

Ingredients:

½ C vegetable oil

½ C applesauce

1 ¼ C sugar

1 t salt

1 ½ t cinnamon

4 eggs

¼ C vanilla yogurt

2 t vanilla extract

3 C flour

2 t baking soda

2 t baking powder

7 ripe bananas mashed

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease two 9 x 5 inch loaf pans or line with parchment paper.  In a mixing bowl, combine oil, applesauce, and sugar, mix well.  Add the salt, cinnamon, eggs, yogurt, vanilla, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and bananas, mix well.  Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean.

Tip:  Store over ripe bananas in the freezer.  When you want to make banana bread, pop them out and let them thaw a bit on the counter.  In a pinch you can defrost them in the microwave.  Then simply pull the top off by the stem, and squeeze out the ripe banana.

I hope you enjoy the recipe.

Happy summer!

Criss Cross Cover Up

Modeling her Criss Cross Coverup

Last week I made DIY t-shirt re-fashions as gifts for my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and my niece.  I didn't want to post them here for fear of ruining the surprise, but I liked several of them enough to warrant a tutorial.  

So, today I decided to make a swim suit cover up for Sissy.  This re-fashion is a variation on the No Sew, Criss Cross t-shirt from the amazing blog WobiSobi.  The original instructions can be found here.  

For Sissy's cover up, I started with a women's size medium v-neck t-shirt from Target.  The only other tools you need are a pair of scissors and chalk or a washable marker.  Well, unless you make this a "little sewing required" DIY, but we'll get to that in a moment.

1.  Lay the t-shirt out flat, and mark where you will cut off the sleeves with chalk or washable marker.  Cut along the lines to remove sleeves.  (If you are using a crew neck shirt or plan to use the no sew method, you will need to cut around the neckline too.  If so, see the original tutorial.  Confusing I know, it will make more sense in a minute, I promise).

2.Turn the shirt over and mark a line down the center of the back.  Cut along the line taking care not to cut the front of the t-shirt.

3.  Trim off a triangle of fabric from the edge of the collar, to the center cut, to a point roughly even with the bottom of the arm holes. 

It will look like this.  Notice that the shirt isn't perfectly symetrical right now.  Don't worry, you can trim things up as needed later on.
 

4.  Cut open the seams at each corner.  Trim the seam off of both sides, so both sides are clean.   


You will be left with a top that looks something like this.  

5.  Lay the shirt on its front, cross the back straps and line them up with the front straps.  The original tutorial says to tie the straps together to create the shoulder seam.  I tried this and ended up with this cute little top on the right.






















 Here is the cover up on Sissy.  I thought it was cute, but very short and a little high at the neck line.

 

6.  So, I decided to sew the straps together so I wouldn't lose any length.  Pin the straps together inside out and sew them together.  Trim the seam allowance to 1/4 of an inch.

 

 7.  Cut two small rectangles of fabric from the sleeve you cut off earlier.  Mine were about 1/2 inch by 3 inches.  Gently stretch the fabric until it curls as shown in the picture below.

 

8.  Gather the straps at the seam, tucking the sides under, and tie with the fabric curls.

9.  Try it on your cutie!

I also made this sweet little ankle bracelet to match.  Maybe I'll do a tutorial for that later in the week!

In the meantime, enjoy the Criss Cross Cover Up.  Let me know if you make one!

Happy summer!

Splatter Paint Trees

Fall Art

I had seen these really beautiful splatter paintings around Pinterest, but the instructions are not in English.  I still found them inspiring and had the idea to recreate the artwork each season until we have a matching set... winter, spring, summer, and fall.

Today we started with the summer trees.
I had to wing it a bit on this project since there were no usable instructions, but here is how we did it.


 
Supplies:

• Watercolors or poster paint
• Paint brushes
• Art paper
• Straws

Method:

Painting palm tree trunks

We started by painting the trunks with watercolor.  Sissy painted hers, but the twins got a little help from their Gigi.  
  
Once the trunks were done we began experimenting with different splatter methods.  The twins smashed their brushes over the paper creating a lovely leafy effect I hadn't anticipated ;)  

Blowing on splatter leaves

Sissy and I tried slightly more sophisticated methods.  We dipped our brushes in the paint and tapped them to create splatter.  We also dipped the end of a straw into the paint and firmly blew onto the paper to create splatter.  

At this point we ran into a bit of a problem.  It was very difficult to get enough watercolor paint on the end of straw to coat the bottom and create a bubble.  Without the bubble, there was nothing to splatter.  So then we tried with poster paints.  It certainly coated the straw fine, but would just blow out in one big blob.  After that we tried mixing the poster paints half and half with water, and finally started to get some nice splatter.  
Unfortunately, it was difficult for Sissy to blow hard enough to get a good effect.  We  didn't ever find the right paint consistency to achieve the perfect light even looking splatter in the original. 

Sissy's palm trees

Results:

We had a wonderful time experimenting with a new way to paint.  Despite all of our difficulties, the kids were able to create some really beautiful art.  I'm going to do a bit more research and try a few more methods to get it just right for our fall paintings though.

The twins trees!

Happy summer! 

UPDATE:  Thanks to the suggestion of a childhood friend, Sissy and I tried again today with old toothbrushes!  Simply dip the bristles in very wet watercolors, and run your finger along the bristles to splatter.  It is super messy and amazing fun!  Here are a few samples of the trees we made today!

Breakfast for Dad

The week before Father's Day is busy in our house as we plan gifts, a fabulous menu, and activities to make Daddy feel really special.  Frankly, we haven't had time for too much else.  We still want to share a quick but hearty breakfast that is sure to fill up any Dad on his special day!

Chipotle Breakfast Bake

Ingredients:

• 3 large sweet potatoes shredded (you could also use frozen hashbrowns)
• 1 package Taco Bell Chipotle Flavor Taco Seasoning
• 1 lb. turkey breakfast sausage
• 12 eggs
• 1/2 C milk
• 2 C shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 t. pepper
• Salsa for serving
• Sour cream for serving

Method:

1. Heat oven to 350°F.  Spray 13x9x2-inch (3-quart) baking dish with cooking spray.  Place shredded sweet potatoes evenly in the baking dish.
2. Cook breakfast sausage over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly cooked; drain if necessary.
3. Meanwhile, beat eggs, cheese, milk, salt, pepper and taco seasoning mix with whisk until well mixed. Stir in sausage. Carefully pour over hash browns in baking dish.
4. Bake uncovered for 45-55 minutes or until eggs are set in center. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Results: 

Daddy loved his special breakfast!  The flavor is sweet from the potatoes, smoky from the chipotle, savory from the sausage, and as spicy or mild as you want with salsa.  This is a dish we will certainly make again!!

 

Happy Father's Day weekend!

*Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker's recipe Mexican Breakfast Casserole

Father's Day Craft

For the last several days the kids and I have been working on a Father's Day gift for Daddy. We combined a couple different art projects to come up with a really special present.  It is a framed art collage with a watercolor painting that says "we", a picture of the kids holding a painting they made that says "love" and a final watercolor that says "you".   

We liked it so much we also made one for each of the grandfather's. 

 

Supplies:

-    Sketch paper or watercolor paper

-    Painter's tape

-    Poster paints

-    Watercolors

-    Paint brushes

-    Frame to hold 3 4x6 images

-    White Crayon

-    Scissors

Method:

Use the painter's tape to spell out the word love on art paper.  Paint all the rest of the paper with poster paints.  We mostly just painted colors, but added a few flowers.  When the paint is dry, remove the tape to reveal the white word.   

 

Have the kids hold this painting and take a picture.  Of course my three wouldn’t look at the camera, but they are cute anyway.  Order a print of this image.

 

For the next part of the craft, cut 2 4x6 inch pieces of art paper.  Using the white crayon, write either “we” or “I” on one sheet and “you” on the other.  I wrote over my lines several times to make sure it was nice and thick.  Now, paint over the words with watercolors.  The white crayon will repel the paint revealing the word.   

 

 You may need to try this a few times for it to work perfect.  Our yellow paint dissolved the crayon and ruined the word.  For us, blue and purple worked the best.  Allow your paintings to dry.

Frame all three images together!

Sick Day

Everyone woke up today a little crabby, a little feverish, and more than a little out of sorts.  We muddled through the morning routine, but by early afternoon I had officially thrown in the towel and declared a sick day.  In our house, sick days require a very specific set of actions…movie, snack, and cuddle.

Cuddles and snacks

  

I set up a big bed of blankets and pillows on the living room floor, and got all the kids snuggled in.  I turned on Rescuers Down Under (one of my favorites), and served the perfect sick day snack, Muddy Buddies!  The kids loved picking through and tasting each different ingredient.  Sissy was so excited to discover Sweethearts had made an appearance. 

 It was nice to see everyone smile for a bit, on a day when smiles were hard to come by.  So, it only seems fair that I share my smile recipe.

Sick Day Muddy Buddies:

Ingredients:

-  2 squares vanilla candy coating

-  3 C cereal, pretzels, candy, etc

-  ¼ C powdered sugar

Method:

Melt the candy coating in the microwave in 20 second intervals until melted, stirring after each.  I like my muddy buddies light on coating, especially for the kids, so you could easily double the amount if you like more. Combine three cups of whatever cereal mix you prefer in a plastic container with a lid.  I used about 1 C Honey Nut Cherrios, 1 C mini pretzels, ¼ C raisins, ¼ C mini marshmallows, ¼ C La Choy Chow Mein Noodles, and ¼ C Sweethearts candy.  

Pour the melted candy coating over the cereal mix and stir to coat.   Pour in the powdered sugar, seal the container, and shake to coat.  Let it sit for a moment to firm up, and serve. 

Enjoy!