Halloween Craft: Salt Dough Ghosts

For my birthday, last month, my awesome sister gave me all the ingredients to make some salt dough. With it she printed out this great idea from Family Fun for salt dough ghosts. I thought it would be a fun craft to do with my children on the day before Halloween.

It was a fun craft, unfortunately, I was the only one into actually making the ghosts.  Buddy decided that he wasn't interested in salt dough and Jellybean decided to work on her own projects. This included smashing two of my already created ghosts... Anyway, I had fun, Jellybean kept busy and I like my little "ghosties."

Here they are being created:

Jellybean working on her own project with some Halloween cookie cutters:

And then the ghosts after their short stint in the microwave, cooled and faces added:

While alive, two of these ghosts were sumo wrestlers. Can't you tell?

I don't know how these will hold up, but they will be adorable in my Halloween mantel next year if they are still in one piece. I love the additional craft idea my sister gave me for some spooky paper bag trees. Would be so cute with the ghosts in a Halloween table display.

If you are looking for a ridiculously easy Halloween craft today, this might be the ticket.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

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Artsy Play Wednesday

Wings- Halloween Costume Part 2

A little bit ago, I posted about the beginnings of my daughter's owl costume. Part 1 was the owl hat. It took me a while to get around to part 2, but I finally managed it. Wings! I pulled my inspiration from here (one of my favorite blogs). That link will take you to some other tutorials for this fun project.

I will say that while sewing the wings probably would have been the best method, I just could never find the time nor the gumption to sit down at my machine, so I pulled out my magic hot-glue gun and had at it. It seems to have done the trick with a whole lot less pinning.

The good news is that my little owl loves her wings! Plus, I accidentally made them just a little big, so she'll have plenty of time to grow into them. I made the top binding long so that I could tie it to her wrists, but because the wings are a bit large, she is just holding on to the ties for now. I'll probably attach a small loop of elastic that will slip over her thumbs until her arms are a little longer.

I'll be honest, I'm 14 weeks pregnant. I'm tired and I'm sick, so it makes me really proud to have actually accomplished this project. I'm hoping she'll get a lot of use out of her wings.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

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Artsy Play Wednesday
Show and Share Saturday

First Snow Day

The day after the first coat day came the first snow day of the season.  The snow has been slowly melting all weekend, but I had to share some of our snow fun from last week.

After the kids had their fun trying to pelt me with snowballs, Buddy and Jellybean decided to build a snow "ghost." It just seemed appropriate for Halloween.

They were pretty proud of their handiwork.  (Note that Jellybean does not have matching gloves. I emptied the entire contents of our coat closet looking for the snow gear and I could not find any gloves that matched! I think we'll have to remedy that for the next snow day.)

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Coat Weather

Yesterday was the first day that it was cold enough to put the winter coats on the kids. Thank goodness they both fit their coats from last year. Should I be concerned that they haven't grown out of their coats from last year? hmmm.
Anyway, I decided to commemorate the day by taking a (not so great quality) photo of my shopping buddy this morning. Seeing her in that coat makes me feel like winter is on its way.

Looks like it's time to purchase some hot cocoa.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Simple Craft: Halloween Silhouettes

With 7 days left before the holiday, I'm still making some additions to my Halloween decor. I've been wanting to add a little more decoration to our mantel, so I thought I'd create some Halloween silhouettes.  It turned out to be a really simple and fun craft. It was also a great project to do during nap time.

Materials:
Glass frames (I found mine for $5 a piece at Michael's)
Textured fabric like burlap or cross stitching material.
Hot glue gun
Sharpie
Printed image to copy for the silhouette.

 I found a couple of images online that I liked and printed them off.  There are tons of Halloween silhouettes available online.
I took the glass out of my frames, positioned it over the silhouette and then just copied the image straight to the glass using my sharpie.

When I was done copying the image, I hot glued the fabric to the backing in the frame, then laid the glass on top of the fabric. At that point, I could see if there were any spots I had missed and I filled them in.
I actually left the sharpied image facing out. It gives the impression of it floating away from the background a bit.

I really like the way they turned out. They are super simple, but give a fun Halloween flair to the mantel.

It will be fun to bring them out again year after year.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

A Little Announcement

Well, the cat is out of the bag now, so I thought I'd make our little announcement here as well. We'll be welcoming a new addition to our family Spring 2013. Official due date is May 1st, but since I've never been one to make it to the actual due date, I'm predicting the last week of April.

We couldn't be more excited (though perhaps overwhelmed) at the thought of three little ones.  Though, when your first two are as sweet as this:

It's hard not to be excited.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Rustic Chicken and Noodles

There is nothing better this time of year, when the weather is starting to cool, than simple, hearty, homemade recipes that really warm you up. Growing up, I loved it when my mother would make this simple, family recipe for homemade chicken stock and noodles made from scratch. Poured over some starchy, mashed potatoes and it's the very definition of comfort food. What a joy it is to make simple, delicious fare for my own family now that I'm all grown up.

This is a very straight forward recipe with few ingredients. It all starts with a stock-pot, salted water, chicken breasts (bone-in), some celery and an onion.

You bring the chicken to a boil and then simmer until fully cooked. While the chicken is simmering, you can roll out your noodles and allow them to dry. You can even prep the noodles earlier in the day.

Once the chicken is fully cooked, remove the onion and celery. Remove the chicken breasts and strip the meat from the chicken.  Bring the broth to a boil, add the noodles and cook for about 10 mins. Add back in the stripped meat and thicken with some water and flour. Sprinkle in some chicken granules to boost the flavor. We like to thicken it enough that it takes on more of a gravy consistency. It's really wonderful poured over some mashed potatoes. The texture of the potatoes is perfect with the noodles and tender chicken.

Homemade Chicken and Noodles

Broth: 

4-8 chicken breasts (bone-in) 4 chicken breasts feed 4 to 6 people.

4-6 Celery Stalks trimmed

1 Large Onion quartered.

Water

Salt

Chicken Granules

Place chicken in a stock pot. Pour in water just to cover the chicken breasts. Salt the water. Bring to a boil, add in celery and onion. Simmer for about 40 mins.  Set chicken aside to cool and remove pieces of celery and onion from broth.

Remove chicken from bones. Discard any skin and bones. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces & reserve.

Noodles:

3 Large Eggs

1 tsp. Salt

Flour 

While chicken is simmering beat together the eggs and salt. Then beat in flour until a very stiff dough is formed. Roll out on a floured board. Cut noodles with a pizza cutter to desired size. Allow to dry on the board.

Add noodles to the boiling broth and cook for about 10 minutes or until tender. Add in the chicken pieces and a mixture of flour and water to thicken to desired consistency. Sprinkle in some chicken granules for added chicken flavor.

Pour over mashed potatoes and enjoy.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

First Class Photo- Preschool

Buddy's preschool class had photo day last week. I can't believe this is his very first school photo. The first of so many to come.

Sure the Mater ride-on is a tad cheesy, but I love the look on Buddy's face. Of course, I wish I could post his class photo on here. My kid single-handedly highjacked his teacher's smile just as the photo was being taken. Luckily, I'm pretty sure that he's still her favorite. (I'm his mother, I can say things like that.)

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Be Kind Rewind-My Childhood Cassette Tapes

Part of me can't believe that the day and age of cassette tapes has pretty well passed. Sure they are still around, but I imagine that my children will probably never use them. That makes me sad. I remember recording my favorite songs from the radio on my boombox and making the most awesome mix tapes. I remember me and my siblings recording ourselves reading bedtime stories for each other or the fun of hiding the tape recorder under a table and capturing the, sometimes surprising, goings on in the house.

One of my favorite memories though, is that of sitting at the kitchen table listening to the Mr. Men books on tape and the Little Thinker series tapes. When I moved out of my parents' house, I took those two sets with me.  They have been sitting in storage ever since. I didn't even have a tape player to use.

Last week, I managed to find a cassette tape player to borrow (my parents still had one that works!)
One rainy afternoon later and I've got the kids hooked. It was really fun showing them something that they have never seen before. The Roger Hargreaves tapes are a real treasure. I'm not sure who the narrator is, but in this case, the narration actually makes the books better. I've been trying to find the tapes on CD. It doesn't look like it exists, so I guess I'll have to figure out how to record them myself. I would hate to lose this great collection.

The Little Thinker tapes were a little advanced for Jellybean. They take the listener on an adventure and ask you to draw the different places and people you visit. I love how they ask you to use your imagination and creativity. While Jellybean worked with her play dough, Buddy listened to one and made some great artwork. It was like reliving a little piece of my childhood...*sniff*  It was also a little piece of heaven having both children completely occupied.

Are you holding onto anything from your childhood that you plan to share with your kids? Do tell.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

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Artsy Play Wednesday

Barnyard Boo

My kids and I took a trip to Farm Country for the annual Barnyard Boo this last week. We thought opening day would be majorly crowded. It turned out that we were first in line.
Here's Buddy and Jellybean, don't they look excited?

We got the pony rides out of the way at the beginning. Look at my cowgirl and cowboy:

Jellybean is riding Chief and Buddy is riding Erica. They were good ponies. This was the first time in a saddle for both of my kids. They were a bit nervous about it.

We were at a barnyard, there were a lot of animals to look at, but there were also tons of games set up for the kids. So, the poor animals didn't get much love. Buddy and Jellybean enjoyed a game of croquet and an obstacle course instead.

They both had fantastic technique (we had to let all of the other kids play through while they figured things out).

The hurdles were a bit tricky, but look at that form.

My sister-in-law joined us with her two girls. Buddy's cousin, A, is his best friend.  We enjoyed some more games and a horse-drawn cart ride with them.

Then we decided it was time to put the kids in jail:

Only A was properly contrite.

It was a good time, one that Buddy has been waiting all year for. Looks like we'll be first in line next year as well.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

Painting Spider Webs

I've seen some great glass painting projects on the web lately. After a little research on how it is done, I decided that I wanted to give a spooky update to the lantern I bought last Spring.  I was going to be more ambitious and do our front windows, but I'm afraid that will have to wait until next year.

My poor little air plant bit the dust a few weeks ago. Turns out, that if you go a couple of days too long and forget to water it, it will shrivel up and die. Sad.

First, I cleaned the glass on the lantern. Then I got out some black, water-based, acrylic paint and a thin Golden Taklon brush and set to work.  Half way through my first web, I decided that I didn't like how it was going. So, I just used some glass cleaner and wiped the paint right off of the glass. Apparently, when the season is over, all that I'll need to do is soak the paint with water and then use a credit card to scrape it from the glass. I hope it works as well as it is supposed to.

It was a fun addition to our Halloween decor. I'm almost thinking of going overboard and painting our mirrors as well...

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

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Sundae Scoop

Destination Craft: Cutsey Monday

Wow Me Wednesday

Three Non-Spooky Halloween Book Picks

My son is obsessed with Halloween. It is his very favorite holiday. He loves spooky books, but those aren't always my speed or his sister's speed. Luckily, we have managed to find a few favorites that everyone can appreciate.  Here are my top three non-spooky Halloween book picks:

1. Ghosts in the House by Kazuno Kohara

The ghosts that live in this haunted house are easily tamed by the little witch that moves in. She makes quick work and uses these happy little ghosts for her own purposes. Ghosts make great drapes by the way.  The illustrations really set this cute, simple story line apart. The dramatic orange, black and white drawings are wonderful. It is a great read-aloud and both of my kids (2 1/2 and 4 1/2) have requested it over and over again.

2. H is for Haunted House by Tanya Lee Stone

A sweet alphabet book with a simple rhyme and cute illustrations.  I love how it uses potentially scary elements (neighbors dressed as scary things), but manages to make them light and fun. The costumes, trick-or-treating and the school party are all happy. This is a nice compromise for my kids. Buddy has preferred Y is for Yowl (another alphabet book, but decidedly scarier). Jellybean and I enjoy this one a bit more (I like reading it aloud a lot more) and Buddy still loves the alphabet element.

3. The Skeleton in the Closet by Alice Schertle

This is probably our all-time favorite non-spooky Halloween book. We read it all year round. The story is done beautifully in rhyme and makes a perfect read-aloud. The little boy in the story hears a knock at the door and discovers a skeleton has come to visit. He worries that the skeleton has sinister intentions, but then discovers that he is just in need of some clothes. My kids love the moment when the skeleton is fully revealed: completely non-threatening and even a bit silly looking. The author does a great job of building the tension and then releasing it so that my kids are all giggles by the end. I have read this enough times that I have the entire book memorized, yet I still want to pull it out and read it again. The bad news is that this title is out of print. The good news is that there are used copies for sale out there. Definitely snatch one up (or a few for gifts). You won't be sorry.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ

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Cozy Book Hop

Come Walk With Us...

I love Autumn afternoons when the weather is cool, but still warm enough for a walk around the neighborhood.

We take these walks almost daily this time of year. I love the little moments of learning that happen on a simple afternoon walk. This is what we learned today:

First lesson: It's really annoying when you want to tell your mother something and she keeps taking photos with her cell phone.

Second lesson: If you are looking for kitty cats, you have to look in all kinds of places.

Keep your eyes peeled, you'll find one when you least expect it. (Yes, my son does point at things with his middle finger. Why do you ask?)

Third lesson: The neighbors have some really awesome decorations up this time of year.  My kids were left wondering: What is up with our parents and their sad excuse for porch decor?

Fourth lesson: Bouncy balls bounce really well on the side walk, but they don't bounce on grass (for some undecipherable reason). Jellybean found it best to experiment on this lesson multiple times.

Fifth lesson: If you are letter obsessed, like Buddy, you will find many a crack in the side walk to contemplate and assign a likeness to.

Sixth lesson: Dandelions are fun to pick and are "soft like a kitty." It's also fun to blow their fluff, but not so fun to lick them. (Last part not pictured, as I was too busy digging dandelion fluff out of Jellybean's mouth. By the way, it's not the first time she has learned this lesson.)

Yep, we are looking forward to more walks and more lessons in the coming days before the weather gets too cold.

Have a Happy Day!

~MJ