"Upcycled" Crayons

My son loves crayons.  He loves breaking them, eating them, peeling them, and stabbing things with them.  He really doesn't care much about coloring with them, but he can certainly destroy them.  So I have ended up with an entire box of broken crayon bits.  I had been planning on melting the bits and making "new" crayons for a while but today we finally did it.  So, here's the steps:

Start with a non-stick muffin pan, preferably in a cute shape.  I had hearts.  Disregard the potatoes, they have nothing to do with the crayon project!

Liberally coat pan with cooking spray, unless using a flexible silicon pan.  It will help them come out easier.

Fill each cup in pan about 3/4 full with broken bits of crayon, paper removed.  Put those kids to work sorting the crayon bits!  I told you I had a lot!  It helps to use a variety of colors in each cup so that you come out with rainbow crayons. Heat oven to 225 degrees and about 15 minutes or until soft and partially melted.  Turn oven off and remove crayons.  They will continue to soften and cook on the counter.  I have made the mistake of over-cooking before and this will make the crayon solids separate from the oil, pretty much ruining your "easy" project.

Let crayons sit and cool for at least 30 minutes.  Be patient, taking them out too early will also ruin your project.  Clearly, I have some "trial and error" behind me here.

When crayons have fully cooled, slip a thin knife into the side and gently pop crayons out.  Arrange nicely on a plate and marvel that they actually turned out really well.  Or maybe that's just me...

Give to kids and watch them have an entire new set to maul.  Enjoy!

Here's a bonus tip:  I store the kids' crayons in an old wipes container.  It works really well because it allows the kids to reach their hands in to get the crayons without spilling easily.  Really, these little babies are great for storing all sort of stuff!

Dear Santa...

Today we stayed at home.  Fairly unusual for us but I do try to work in a lazy day sometimes and a cold Friday is just perfect for one!  We stayed in pjs until lunch, watched an entire Sesame Street...and wrote letters to Santa!  Or, to be more accurate, Mrs. Claus for my daughter (a budding feminist apparently).

A few months ago our neighbors "gifted" us with this holiday paper with matching envelopes.  While I appreciated the sentiment, I'm not really a "Christmas newsletter" type of gal (surprisingly) so it just went into a drawer somewhere.  However, today I remembered it and thought it was the perfect paper for our letters to Santa, er, Mrs. Claus.

I gave each child a sheet to draw their picture on while I carefully addressed the envelopes (1 Mistletoe Lane, North Pole, North Pole, 01225 if you need the big guy's address).  Then, they dictated their letters, with a few suggestions from mom of course.  I mean, I wanted to make sure they used their best manners, of course!

My daughter thought Mrs. Claus needed a picture of a tree and a rainbow.  Smart girl, she knows that's probably a rare sight at the North Pole!  My son of course, just did lots of scribbling, crayon "stabbing" and screaming at Sister for getting too close to his personal space.  Sigh...

We managed to get through our letters with minimal freak-outs, then it was time to decorate the envelopes with glitter (never good for the nerves of a Type A moms like me) and Snoopy stickers.  Then, it was off to the mailbox!

I love that the kids are big enough now to mail their own letters.  I have no idea why, I just think it's cute.  See???  I wonder what my neighbors sometimes think of me.  'Cuz trust me, they're watching!  The cross to bear of living on a street full of retired people.  Sorry for the tangent!

So, we mailed Santa and the Mrs. their letters requesting princesses and footballs and now it's just two weeks of waiting to see if Santa delivers.  Stay tuned for the dramatic conclusion...

Thankful Turkey...or As Crafty as I Get!

This year a friend gave me a great idea: make a turkey craft where you write things you are thankful for on the feathers.  What an awesome lesson in a house where we often have to discuss gratitude and graciousness!  My friend found a turkey template on the Internet.  Done!  Then she had her kids decorate him.  Done!  Then she "free-handed" some really great looking feathers for the kiddos to write all the things that they were thankful for.  Um...roadblock!  I'm a terrible artist and even worse with scissors.  Once my daughter asked me to draw Santa Claus and when I was finished she said "Mommy, why did you draw a dog?"  I blame it on being a "lefty."  But, I can trace and cut along the lines, so we made turkey feather hands.  This actually turned out to be pretty cool.

I traced each family member's hands and then we had forty "feathers" for us to write on.  Plus, it will be a nice keepsake of the kids' hands when they were ensy wensy little kiddos.  Sorry, had to throw that in!  So, here's what you need:

1 turkey template (or draw one if you are that skilled)
Crayons or markers for coloring and writing
Fall-colored construction or craft paper
1 pencil
Glue stick

Trace hands on construction paper and cut out.  Have each person write 10 things that they are thankful for on their finger/feathers.  My son was thankful for the dog that bit him, motorcycles, trains, God and Jesus, about in that order.  He was not thankful for his sister, no matter how many times I suggested it.

Glue hands to the back of the turkey.  It helps to start at the top with the smaller hands and fan out with the larger hands.  Tape finished product to coveted spot on refrigerator and admire its loveliness.

Not bad, right?  The kids had fun making it and I thought it was a good way to introduce the "real" concept of Thanksgiving to pre-schoolers.  Incidentally, if you are looking for a slightly more grown-up craft, check out this awesome fall wreath!  It looks so cute and simple that I'm actually considering giving it a shot.  Maybe...

Cookie Cutter Pumpkins

A couple of years ago, I had a newborn, a young toddler and a burning desire to do everything just right.  Can you say 4th trimester hormones???  So, one morning I suddenly decided that we just had to carve a pumpkin.  The problem was, I am not well blessed in knife skills myself and I couldn't figure out how to allow my daughter to carve a pumpkin without putting a death instrument into her chubby, clumsy little hand.
Suddenly, I had a moment of brillance!  For some reason I have a ton of cookie cutters.  It's doubly strange because I do NOT bake.  We leave that to Hubby in this house.  So I busted out some star cookie cutters in various sizes, strapped Baby in his bouncy seat and got myself set to "carve" a pumpkin.

Here were my supplies:

1 small to medium pie pumpkin
Paper, for the goo
1 large spoon, for scooping
Several metal cookie cutters
1 small, sharp knife, for touch-ups
1 meat mallet (In revisiting this idea again this year, I discovered that I did not invent the wheel on this.  Here is a great link with extra carving tips.  Note that they use a rubber mallet.  We will be trying this method this year as the metal mallet sometimes can damage the cookie cutters.)

Cut the top off of Mr. Pumpkin and hand the spoon over to your toddler.  They love this part, mucking around in all that stringy pumpkin goo.  Once pumpkin is clean, choose the cookie cutter shapes you like.  I used stars for the first time and it turned out really cute.  I have also used a candy cane as a crooked smile and small Easter eggs for eyes.  Really, you can use anything and see what you come up with.  Give your cookie cutters a good inspection and see what else you can "see" in their shapes.  Gently tap cookie cutter into the flesh of the pumpkin.  I used the cookie cutter to cut all of the way through the pumpkin but you can also use it just to make your outline and then finish up with a knife.  You may want to use the second method with a larger, thicker-fleshed pumpkin.  Either way, you should end up with a cookie cutter design on your pumpkin.  You can create "faces" with the cutters or just simple designs.  Here is an example of our first attempt:

 Not bad for a crazy sleep-deprived mom of "two under two!"  If I can do this, anyone can.  Break out those cookie cutters and carve yourself a pumpkin!  Happy Halloween!

Fancy Nancy Dinosaur Dig!

Grammie created Fancy Nancy!

Nope, that is NOT a typo!  This is what happens when you ask a 4 year old what kind of birthday party she wants.  Well, let's see...she's part girly-girl princess, part rough and tumble adventure girl.  Sooo, I should not at all be surprised when she asked for a Fancy Nancy dinosaur dig party.  Surprisingly, it came together fairly easily thanks to the help of some great friends and a lot of luck.

The first thing we needed were dinosaur bones.  You know, for the dig.  Our wonderful neighbor happens to work at the local Natural History Museum and was more than happy to start sending us a steady stream of not-quite-perfect museum replica bones.  We had vertebra, jawbones, and a lot of other miscellaneous bones courtesy of the upcoming baby apatosaur exhibit.  Just for extra fun, I bought the dollar store out of small plastic dinosaur skeletons as well.  I mean, I really thought the museum bones were a superb find, but I figured those tricky pre-schoolers might be more impressed with a dinosaur they could actually see.  Next up, we poured several bags of sand into an already-blank spot in our landscaping, buried the bones and waited a few days for them to develop a "weathered" look.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (ranch house that is), we had to work on the Fancy Nancy aspect of the party.  I sent out eVites this year with an image from Fancy Nancy Explorer Extraordinaire and lots of extra fancy language (one of my daughter's favorite parts of the books).

I did some research and found lots of wonderful ideas for activities like decorating your own purses or hats and other very "girly" things.  Problem was, half of our guests would be boys.  So instead of girly accessories, we made "explorer boxes."  Basically, they were cigar boxes (again, provided by my neighbor) painted with gold metallic paint.  Inside there was a paintbrush (for dusting bones), a magnifying glass, and a pack of flash cards for dinosaur identification.  I bought Hobby Lobby out of clearance stickers and each child decorated their own explorer boxes.  Then it was on to the dig!  What fun the kids had rummaging around in the sand pit and unearthing the bones.  My son spent pretty much the whole party in the sand, digging and re-burying the bones.

If the kids got tired of the dino dig, we had the handy bounce house running at full throttle.  Truly, there is nothing better for entertaining kids than a bounce house.  Next it was time for "refreshments" as Fancy Nancy would say.  Pink and purple cupcakes, with sprinkles of course.  Fancy Nancy would never dream of a cupcake without sprinkles!  We also had fruit salad, PB&J dinosaurs, and Fancy Nancy's extra pink, extra fancy pink lemonade (recipe to follow), with bendy flower straws of course.

Overall, it was a great time.  The activities went over very well and my daughter had a blast.  Plus, the entire thing probably cost less than $100.  Like I said, luck was on my side with the dinosaur bones and the free bounce house.  But it did take some creativity and tips from helpful friends on pulling off an extra fancy, girly-girl yet boy-friendly party!  I guess now I can rest easy for another year.

Extra Fancy, Extra Pink Lemonade (From Fancy Nancy, Explorer Extraodinaire):

1 Concentrated can pink lemonade
1 can water *
1 bottle cranberry juice
1 Cup fresh or frozen raspberries

Mix and sip, daintily, with pinkie up if you please!
* This recipe really needs more than one can of water.  I diluted it a little and it was much better that way.   The kids loved it both ways though!

Merci to everyone involved, my Fancy Nancy loves you all!

A visit to the Pumpkin Patch!

Recently, my mom came to spend the day with us.  I love Grammie day, and so do my kids.  On Grammie day, we go out to lunch, usually do some shopping, and play, play, play!  I'm pretty blessed with an amazing mom who is responsible enough to be a great mentor but kooky enough to be a small child's superhero.  Way to go mom!!!

So this last week, instead of hitting the mall, my mom and I took the kids to the pumpkin patch at a church in our hometown.  Rumor has it that there is a pumpkin shortage this year, so you'd better stock up while you can!  The McFarlin pumpkin patch is so cute and the perfect size for little ones to explore and chose a pumpkin for their very own.  I let each kiddo choose one decorative pumpkin and one carving pumpkin.  I don't know if I will be brave enough to allow carving this year or not, but we're prepared just in case.  My daughter chose a green pumpkin called a "Cinderella" pumpkin...surprise, surprise.  My son "chose" the one my daughter shoved at him and said "Here, this one is YOURS!"  Luckily, he seemed happy with it so I let it go.  Then, of course, we had to do the wagon rides!  I think they are suppose to be for the real pumpkins, but my little pumpkins loved it.

Pull, brother!

So, now we have a porch full of pumpkins that I have to try and keep is relatively good shape for another month or so.  Wish me luck!

Here's a side tip:  When my son was a newborn, I determined to carve a pumpkin.  With a newborn.  And a not-quite-two-year-old.  I just had to make sure that my daughter not miss out on fun holiday stuff just because there was a new baby in the house.  Can we say "4th trimester hormones?"  Anyway, I ended up discovering a a neat trick:  Using metal cookie cutters instead of knives.  Just use a meat mallet or something else heavy to pound them in.  Sweet and simple!

Awww, look at that face!