Baking Soda Clay

Last summer Tanner made the cutest little clay pot at an art camp.  I keep it at the sink and I put my rings in it.  I just LOVE it!  I had seen some pins on Pinterest for making baking soda clay pots so I decided to do it with the kids.

Here is the link for where I got the recipe and instructions.  And here is the link to the recipe right on the Argo website.  I did read some other ones and I remember reading that you can put the clay in a sealed container or bag and it will keep for a few days, so no need to hurry and rush and get it made before it dries out, most especially if you live on the east coast where it is so humid!

Jayden was my big helper!  He measured everything and put it in the pot.  And if you can see the white stuff in his hair, the one time I told him to tap down the measuring cup and he did it a little too hard and baking soda (or corn starch, I forget which one it was) went everywhere and I just busted up laughing.  Jayden's face when it happened was really funny!!!!

Here's the recipe I used...

1 cup corn starch

2 cups baking soda

1.25 cups cold water

Non-stick pot

Wooden spoon

Med-large bowl

Damp cloth, lid or plate

I didn't use a non stick pot or a wooden spoon, and I doubled the recipe.

Combine all ingredients in the pot and mix until smooth.  Cook on low-medium heat, stirring constantly until it starts to look like mashed potatoes and sort forms a ball.  Put it in a separate bowl to cool and cover it partially with a lid or a damp towel.  

I didn't let it cool for very long because the kids were so excited to play with it.

You should knead it a little bit too.

Then divide it up and let the kids have fun!

If you want to stick pieces together use a little bit of water, not too much or it'll get mushy.

Jayden

 I really did not need to double it!  I only wanted a the kids to make a small little pot.  But there was a lot of clay!

Mackenzie

 We used candles to help make the pots.  We basically molded it around the candle then wiggled the candle out.  This way they can also be candle holders.

Tanner

Kolin

You can see the little brown pot Tanner made last year in the pictures above with Kolin.  I had it there for an example.  Tanner had used real clay, but I didn't feel like buying any clay, that's why we made it.  Plus it was fun for the kids to make the clay.

This is how much we got out of doubling it.

To dry it put it on a cooling rack to air dry so the air flows evenly around it.  OR preheat oven to 350 then turn it OFF. Place items on wire rack on a cookie sheet in the oven.  Repeat as necessary.

I did not put it on the wire rack right away because I didn't want those lines on the bottom.  But it took forever to air dry!!!  And I did the oven several times too!  However, it is the middle of summer and very, very humid and we do NOT have central air at our house.  But my husband said they cracked a little because I didn't put them on the wire rack right away.

After they are dry if you want to you can sand them, I did not.  Then paint them and spray them with acrylic spray paint to protect them from water.

Here are the finished pieces, after I sprayed them with clear acrylic, except Kolin's because he took his home.

Egg Carton Caterpillars

We save our egg cartons and then give them to my sister in-law, who has chickens.  There was a huge pile and I just thought we'd make a craft with them.  So we made caterpillars!  The kids just LOVE them!!!  Such a simple thing and they love it!!!

I had them color with markers because I didn't want to wait for the paint to dry.

Father's Day Super Hero

For Father's Day my kids made their dad a Super Hero Mask and Cuffs...

"Daddy, you are my super hero!"

Teacher GIft

For my first grader, the PTO gave the teachers a fancy cup with "SV Staff" on it so I didn't want to giver her a water bottle.  Instead I bought a glass container that she'd be able to re-use for left overs or whatever, and I filled it with glue sticks.  It says "Mrs. Coulehan, You're the Glue that held our class together... Thanks for sticking with the job! Have a great summer!!!" and I had my son sign it.

She had mailed a thank you note to the house and said that she just loved the gift!  She's such a great teacher and I will miss her!!!!

Here's the Jpeg... Sorry his teacher's name is on it.  Just paint over it with white and insert your own teacher's name.

FHE Board

I was called back into Young Womens in March and am very sad about leaving Activity Days.  Most especially because I had planned the whole year and most of the things I really wanted to do  myself.  I wasn't released yet and got to make the FHE assignment board!  I had really wanted to do this, so I was glad to still be in.

I made this ahead of time to show the girls what it's supposed to look like.

It's a piece of foam board I cut to 15'x15".  I used a foam brush and mod podge to glue the scrapbooking paper on, that way there are less bumps and air bubbles that can occur when you use just regular Elmer's glue.

I used hot glue to glue the ribbon pieces around on the back.

I cut the rectangles out of memory foam and glued the stuff on them, and then hot glued the "song", "Opening Prayer", etc. on to the close pin.

And all you do is clip the close pin to the ribbon and persons name.  We only have 5 people in our family so we have 2 blanks that we can use for company that comes over or we can just keep them in baggie that I taped to the back.  And then 1 person will get 2 things, like song and opening prayer.  

After I took this picture I did glue on some gems and juiced it up a little bit.

I just set mine on top of the piano leaning against the wall.  But you can put it in a plate stand of hot glue ribbon to the back to hang it.

We have a page on facebook for our ward and I posted it there for the girls parents to see what we would be making.  And I took it into to church the Sunday before our activity to show the girls what it looked it to encourage them to come.  And it was the Sunday that I took it in that I was told I would be released from Activity Days... So sad!  I've enjoyed the short year and a couple of months I was in activity days!

Teacher and Classmate End of Year Gifts

This is what I put together for Tanner to take to his Teachers on his last day of preschool...

 They are my favorite water bottles with lots of Crystal Light and Walmart brand of Crystal Light drink mixes.  With a tag that says "Thank you for Quenching my thirst for knowledge".  and I had Tanner sign his name on the back of the tag.  My printer must be running our of ink, so the tags printed 2 different colors, oh well.

Here is the tag if you'd like to use.  I printed it on card stock.  Just right click and save it to your computer.  Then open it in whatever picture editing program you use.  Or you can right click, copy it and paste it into a word document.

And this is what I put together for Tanner to give to each of his classmates...

A small bag of cookies that says "you're one smart cookie!  Good luck in Kindergarten!"

Here is the tag if you'd like to use.  I printed it on card stock.  Just right click and save it to your computer.  Then open it in whatever picture editing program you use.  Or you can right click, copy it and paste it into a word document.

My older son also took the cookies in for his classmates.  So his said "good luck in 2nd grade"

There is room on the one above for your child to sign his name.  Sorry I didn't do that on the other one.

If you have an editing program like PhotoShop you can paint over "2nd grade" and "kindergarten" with white and then put in whatever you'd like.

Egg Carton Flowers

Here are the Egg Carton Flowers Tanner made for mother's day.  He gave his to my mom.  And Mackenzie gave hers to Dave's mom.

Kolin's mom told me that Kolin gave it to her right away on Friday, he just couldn't wait.  He was so excited!
You just cut slits or petals from an egg carton, have the kids paint them, put a pipe cleaner in for a stem and glue some beads or gems in the middle.

I Made Matching Easter Outfits

I wanted to make Mackenzie a dress and the boys matching ties last year but I never did.  However, I did this year!  And I made Dave a tie and myself a matching skirt!

I think they turned out great!  Unfortunately it was drizzling so we couldn't go outside to get a better picture.  Oh well, we're still cute!  :)

Here is everything I made...

I made Mackenzie an easy peasant dress and I added some silk flowers I made, to fancy it up a bit.  Here is the link to the pattern for the dress that I used.

A friend of mine, Jessica, had made one and it was so cute, she gave me the pattern to make one for Mackenzie and I went from there.  I decided to make myself a skirt and the boys matching ties.

 Close up of the silk flowers I made.  All hand sewn together of course.  For a little girls dress or just for a little girl, I really don't trust it the flowers to be glues together.  One for when you wash the dress and two if the girl pulls on it or something.  It's just safer to be hand sewn.

 Here is the back.  I sewed the sash onto the front of the dress and left it hang at the side seams to be tied in the back. 

Here are the ties.  I sort of used a pattern for in.  Looking at the picture below the tie on the right hand side (-->) is the tie I used following this pattern.  Then Dave tied the knot and decided that it got fatter too soon and part of the fat part was in the knot.  And they have you putting the seam right in the knot as well, which doesn't really work out.  I also wanted to make it longer for Jayden.  I made Jayden's one long piece with no seam.  And I had the tie get skinner sooner.  Also, I kept it one width from that point on.  The pattern has it tapering again at the end.  But none of Dave's ties do that.  They are all the same width from that one point on.

So I printed this pattern for Daves tie, same site just the mens tie.  And the bottom part was as wide as the boys ties... that doesn't work!  So I drew up another one.  And I made Dave's tie much longer!  He needs a tall tie.  I measured one of his current ties to draw up another pattern.

Also with the ties I only folded the middle (in the back) part over once and I used pinking shears to cut it so it wouldn't fray.  I found if I doubled folded it it was too thick in the middle of the tie.  I couldn't find the interfacing they talked about.  However I fold a fleece interfacing that you could iron on.  I thought that worked real nice!

 Here is the back of the tie!  It looks like a real tie!  Unlike all the other tutorials I've seen that have you sew it and turn it inside out, leaving a seam right along the edge.  Some people may think hand sewing is more work, but that is how the ties are that you buy.  And I enjoy a little hand sewing!  And I love that it looks like a real tie!

One thing I forgot and I didn't realize till it was too late... I didn't put that tag on the back so they could tuck the back of the tie through it.  I meant to sew a little piece of ribbon there.  So I will have to go back and do it.

 Here is the skirt I made myself!  I even lined the skirt so I didn't have to wear a slip with it.

I read and read all these pins on making skirts.  Really, I spent so many hours reading all these different patterns!  And I finally just took my favorite skirt and traced it!  I guessed about how long I wanted the ruffle based how long I did it on the apron I made.  And I doubled the width of the skirt for the ruffle.  and I know how to sew an invisible zipper in.  I used a twin needle for the hem in the ruffle, top stitching down the ruffle at the top of it and at the top of the skirt to keep the lining down and stuff.  It gives it a nice detailed finish!  Sorry I didn't take a closer picture of the that!

Sorry I can't be more helpful with how to make a skirt.  If you know how to sew, you can trace a skirt and sew this one up in your size.  But if not, there are thousands of tutorials out there on to make a skirt!!!

Banana Swirl

On Sprout (a kids TV channel) they made Banana swirl and I've heard of doing it before, but this time Tanner watched them do it on TV.  The kids go through phases of eating bananas and we happened to have a lot of ripe bananas because they stopped eating them, so I froze them.  And while JJ was at a baseball clinic I made some banana swirl for Tanner.   He was so excited to try it!  But... he did not like it.  Oh well, it was still fun for him to make and try.

Oh, all you do is freeze ripe bananas and put them in a blender to make and ice cream constancy.  That's all!  So it's banana ice cream.

Nerf Gun Vest

My kids LOVE Nerf guns!  We (my husband and I, yes I like to get rough and play with the kids too) often run around our house with our 7 year old having Nerf guns battles.  I had seen on Pinterest someone made her son a Nerf Gun vest, but didn't have instructions, just pictures.  So I sat down and and studied the picture of the one you can buy and made one for my boys.  I plan on making a second one so they can each have one, but thought I'd just make one since I was figuring it all out.  And I have thought of something different to do when I make the next one. 

I did take pictures along the way, so I will remember how to do the next one so it will go quicker.  And so I can make a tutorial.  So eventually I will have a tutorial to post.

But for now here are the pictures of it...

Jayden, who the vest made for, was not feeling so good and so there are no pictures of his face, because he was not happy in the pictures.

But my younger son loved it and smiled cute... 

I still need to add a strap to put around the handle of the gun to hold it in place better.  The boys have 2 different guns that can fit here, so I will make the strap with snaps to fit the 2 different sized guns.  And I want to add a little clip thing so they can attach smaller hand guns if say the Easter bunny gives them one or something.  But all that I can do later.

A cargo pocket...

 Inside pockets... Yup I used some small scraps from cutting out the vest for the pockets.  It's inside, who cares and I don't like waste...

 Elastic to hold darts...

 And pockets in the side seam of the vest, you know like pockets in a coat...

Also later I want to add a sleeve in the back for a sword, like the real Nerf Gun vest has.

Apron

I have been wanting to make myself an apron for well over 2 years.  And I finally sat down and did it!

I found a pattern called "Spice it Up Apron" by Pat Bravo.  Click here to get the free pattern.  It's 3 pages of a PDF.  If you know how to sew, it's very easy to follow.

I made the top part of mine 12 inches wide and the waist of the top ended up being 21 inches, I wanted 16 but it stretched out as I sewed it.  My chest area is where I need the coverage, that's where all the grease splatters when I'm cooking.  So I made it bigger.

Also, note they never tell you to fold in your edges of the bias tape you sew at the top.  And also the ends of your ruffle you sew on the skirt, in mine it's green.  I think I would have like to do the sash in the green, but oh well, it's still nice the way it is.

The big reason it took me so long was I always look at a pattern and see things I want to try and do differently, so I have to sit there and figure it out.  I'm a nut about that!  So I just sat down and followed the pattern, except making the top wider to cover more.

And I bought sliders for the strap around the neck, you have to order those online.  They are like 40 cents and shipping is really cheap.  I ordered mine at strapworks.com

I didn't want to tie it behind my neck and I wanted it adjustable but I didn't want D rings with an end hanging down.  The sliders work great!

Another note, if I make this pattern again... you ruffle the whole width for that 12 inches for the top piece... that's a lot fabric up there.  I don't think I think I really like all that fabric up top.  I may not ruffle so much next time, maybe even just put a few pleats in instead of ruffling it... just a thought.

Vanilla Almond Butter

I go through a lot of almond butter!  So tonight when I made some more I decided to try adding some stuff and roasting the almonds... mmmmmmm!!!!  It's so good!!!!!!  I LOVE it!!!!

Here's the recipe...

Vanilla Almond Butter

2 1/2 Cups  Raw Almonds

2 TBL coconut oil

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 TBL organic Vanilla extract

(if you want you can also add a TBL of cinnamon...yum!)

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Spread almonds out on a baking sheet and bake for about 18 minutes, turning halfway through.
2. Let the almonds cool for a few minutes when they are done baking.
3. Then put everything in a food processor for about 20-30 minutes until it's the smooth constancy that you want.  You will have to stop and scrap down the sides during the process.
4. Transfer to a glass jar or Tupperware container.  I store mine in the fridge, but I think it might be okay to store it at room temperature.

Note: make sure your vanilla extract does not have sugar or corn syrup added to it, that is why I use organic.  It cost more, a lot more, but there is NO sugar or corn syrup added to it and I think it has more flavor to it!

Another Note: I actually do 3-4 cups of almonds and keep the rest the same.  Add a Tablespoon of cinnamon if you want a cinnamon flavor... it's wonderful!!!   And sometimes, depending on the almonds, it takes awhile in the food processor.  Just be patient and it will get smooth.  Once your past the point where you have to keep stopping and scrapping down the edges you can let it go and walk away.  As long as the stuff is moving it will get there.  Sometimes a big ball forms and goes around for awhile before it turns into soft smooth almond butter.

Valentine's Heart Butterfly Magnet Craft

Tanner loves making crafts and doing papers.  So today we made some butterflies with hearts.  I printed out the hearts in 3 different sizes and they colored them.  Tanner cut his out but I cut Kolin's and Mackenzie's out.  And I glued them together and put a magnet on the back.  Tanner and Mackenzie really like them.  They will take them off the fridge and play with it, then put it back on.  It's cute to see how proud they are of it!

You can totally just cut out different hearts in construction paper too!  And use pipe cleaners for antenna's as well.

Valentine's Day Plaque

I saw a cute card on Pinterest with a foot print and hand prints in the shape a heart and it said "From the bottom of my heart, to the tips of my toes, I love you!"  So I decided to make a plaque out of it and also do the feet in a heart shape.

Dave cut and spray painted some extra wood for me and I did the rest.  I did the kids feet and hand prints in the shape of hearts on card stock with washable poster ink and I printed the poem on card stock.  I also had Kolin and Tanner sign their names on card stock and I scanned it into the computer and put it at the bottom of their card.  I first had Tanner try to sign the card, but it must have intimated him because it was a small space.  So I just had him write it on the paper like I had Kolin do.  I actually had Kolin trace his name (he's only 3) and then I erased the pencil before scanning.

 Oh and of course I mod podged the pieces to the board and mod podged over the whole thing and the sides 3 times, letting it dry in between layers.

Mackenzie wouldn't let me do her hand prints.  The whole time I was painting her feet she was saying "ouch, ouch, ouch!" It was really funny!  And she did it again when I was washing her feet.  When I asked her if I could do her hands she said "no!" So I just stopped there.  And I turned hers the other direction and put a piece of Scrapbooking paper behind it.

 I didn't get a picture of Tanner's finished because he gave it to his Granny and she stopped by right after it had dried so I just let her take it then, well Tanner gave it to her then.

But I did take this picture of all 3 of them last night, before I mod podged the top and at this point I had only mod podged Kolin's papers down, not Mackenzie or Tanner's (I just placed them there for the picture.)  I had to go and buy more mod podge the following day.

I think they turned out pretty cute!!!  What do you think?

Heart Attack Kids Lunch Box

This year I decided to "heart attack" Jayden's lunch.  I cut out all these hearts and wrote messages on some of them.  Dave folded pieces of paper and taped them to a heart and his sandwich container and some snacks so the would pop out at him when he opened his bag.  After school I asked him how his lunch was and he said "it went poof all over!"  He said he liked it but put them all back so the other kids wouldn't say "no fair."

Lego Coloring Book Party Favors

My son was having a small bowling birthday party with some friends from school.  He's really into Legos these days and I saw a pin on Pinterest with these cute Lego coloring books.  However you had to pay to download them.  I didn't want to do that, so I found some free images that you could download and created my own coloring books.  

I only need 10 but accidentally printed 20, I forgot there were 2 per page!  Oops!  That's what happens when I try to multitask.  So we gave some to cousins and other friends.

 You print the cover page on card stock, I used colored card stock.  And the inside pages I printed double sided.  Then you cut them in half, arrange your book and sew it down the middle!!!  How cool!!!!  You sew it!  So genius!  I love it!  I'm sure you could staple it, but I love that it's sewn!

 Now how easy is that?

We also bought each kid a little Lego figure and put them in a sandwich bag then I made that cute little topper to staple to the top of the bag.  It says "Thank you for building me up on my birthday!"  How cute, cuz you build with Lego's... get it?

Here's what they looked like all put together...

 Here is the jpeg if you want to right click and save this image.  I accidentally printed the first page too small, as you can see in the image above, 3 of them all smaller.  But I think it still looks fine.

Here is a close look at the inside of some of the pages.  I wanted that plain Lego to be last so the kids can create their own figure.

I think they are super cute and so I wanted to share them with everyone.  I don't know how to create them so you go to a website and download them, but you can right click and "save as" them.  Hopefully that works for you.  If anyone wants to tell me how to create them so you can download them in one click that would be great!  Please just leave a comment.

Here are the pages...