Heart Wreath

Here is a simple and fun project for Valentine's Day. I got the cute idea and instructions from my friend Rochelle's Blog. Here is the link for the instructions. The project was simple enough the kids were able to help with it and loved it!

Retro Apron

Now that Christmas is over I can post about the apron I made for my sister-in-law. I made one for my Mom too for her birthday last month with some Amy Butler fabric which I forgot to take a picture of. The pattern is pretty easy to follow. I have also made two kids aprons which are the same style as this one. The same person who wrote this book has a book full of kid apron patterns which are  super cute.

Ornament Wreath

Yesterday I went over to my friend Rochelle's house and the kids were able to play while the Moms made these wreaths. It was surprisingly simple. It required barely any prep work and went together great. Rochelle found out how to make them here. I did have to hot glue a couple of small ornaments in places where you could still see the hanger after I was done stringing them all on. 

Mad Scientists at Work

Today we decided to do some experiments on some of the kid's halloween candy. I got this idea from an article in Family Fun magazine. The kids each picked out some candy and we covered each candy with either water or vinegar in separate glasses. We looked to see if they floated or sank, and just what they looked like after soaking. One of my favorites was seeing how the "S" on each skittle would come off and float to the top of the water. The kids got really into it and we had to keep pulling out more and more glasses so they could try just one more. I think this might just become a tradition! 

My little mad scientists.

Costumes

My daughter wanted to be a banana this year so I kinda winged it. I used felt and first sewed some batting to the wrong side (or would become the wrong side) of the fabric. I used an oblong piece for the front and kind of a crescent shaped piece for each side. I stuffed the top and bottom and left room in the back for her to be able to just slip it on.

My son this year wanted to be an eyeball this year so I sewed his out of felt as well. I cut four panels the shape of what a globe would look like if it was taken apart. On the front panel I sewed the iris and pupil which I made by making a compass with a string and a pencil to make each circle. The string was the length of the radius of the size circle which I wanted. I held the string down on the fabric and with my other hand held the pencil and string together and went around and it made my circle. Then I sewed each panel together. On the inside of the eyeball I sewed a tube which was attached to the bottom and then went over his shoulders. Then we stuffed the costume with grocery sacks which were crumpled up in between the eyeball layer of fabric and the tube layer.

Here are all the kiddos. My youngest two are wearing costumes I made for the older ones when they were that little. I used a pattern for those but I can't remember who puts it out. The felt costumes helped keep my little ones warm considering we had a chill Halloween night.

Halloween Treats

Our Girl Scout Troop had our annual Halloween party. We love spooky treats!

These creepy spiders are made of a marshmallow with chow-mien noodles stuck in the sides for legs. Next I melted some chocolate in a ziploc baggie and cut off the corner of the bag once the chocolate was all melted. (I put the chocolate in a bag, put it in the microwave for 20 seconds at a time and repeat until all the chocolate is melted) I drizzled chocolate over the marshmallows and then put mini m&m's on for eyes. 

My co-leader made these. The Eyeballs are made just like buckeye candies and then she put a mini m&m on top and made the blood vessels out of frosting.

These gruesome fingers are made from my regular roll recipe. Then I rolled the dough like when you made snakes out of play dough. Next I took a sharp knife to make a couple of slits in the middle for knuckle marks. Then I brushed the dough with an egg wash and put a slivered almond on the end to look like a fingernail.

These worms were definitely my favorite. I got the idea and recipe here.

We had regular fruit punch but we had a brain in it. The brain was made out of pink lemonade in a mold.

Columbus Day Dinner

This was our super last minute lets celebrate the day idea. We had chips that were the waves, hoagie sandwich and a straw with a paper sail taped to it. It was a big hit with the kids!