Hair Clip Holder

For Christmas I got my niece and Quinn a bunch of these really cute hair clips from a great etsy store, Tu Too Cute TuTu's.  I thought it would be really nice to give my niece a holder for all her clips.  She has lots of them to hold back her gorgeous hair.  And I did actually take lots of pictures of me making her holder and the finished product, and then they were  . . . gone.  So, this is the one I made for Quinn.

Puffy Paint

Snow Painting

I know, it looks like this post should be called snow peeing and I should be rushing Gavin to a urologist.  But . . . . SNOW PAINTING!!

Brewers Birthday Goodies Part 3: Racing Sausage T-shirts

(Can you believe that this was the best picture I could pull together???)

Gavin, Nathan, and I are obsessed with the Running Sausages.  Quinn is too, she just doesn't know it yet.  It's our favorite part of the Brewer's Game - The Sausage Race!!  We are always talking about who is what sausage, and who we are rooting for to win the race.  Well, I decided for Gavin's Brewer's party that I wanted the kids to really have a chance to be Running Sausages!

Breast Cancer Awareness

I'm going take to a break from my normally witty and humorous style to talk about something serious and really very personal.  (This is normally the part where I would say something like, "farting."  But for real.  I'm being serious).

Breast Cancer.

Mini Volcanos

This is a new fan favorite in our house.  I got the idea from this amazing mom blog - she does her own preschool, lesson plan and all, at home with her kids.  She does it around the alphabet, and V is for volcano.  She originally got the idea from here.  (I have this really strange need to make sure I give credit where it's due.)

Conversation Heart Cookies

I think when I was a kid, Conversation Hearts were my favorite part of Valentine's Day.  They are so delightfully dorky.  Remember giving them to your friends and crushes?  Tiny little candies that said things like, "You're Hot." So awesome.  (Ha!  Not that I ever gave them to anyone.  I was not that bold.  I'm just saying that someone, somewhere, probably did.)

This year I thought it would be fun to make Conversation Heart Cookies.  I used my tried and true sugar cookie recipe.  (Only this time I followed the America's Test Kitchen recipe and instructions to a tee.  And wouldn't you know, those geniuses do know how to make a perfect cookie!)  For the coloring, I was going to do royal icing and then use white chocolate for the writing.  But I was kind of nervous about how the white chocolate would sit on the the icing.    And my issue with a butter cream frosting is that it is difficult to make it smooth.  And I really thought they would look most like the Conversation Hearts if they were smooth.  So I decided that I am now a chocolatier! (Especially after my success making Gavin's Hat Cake.)

Cupcake Bites

Do you love cake pops but are super intimidated by the process of dipping the cake into the chocolate?  Do half of your pops end up in your mouth rather than securely at the end of the lollipop stick?  Then this might be the thing for you!!  (Okay, enough with the infomercial voice.)

Gluten Free Crackers (Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm)

It's not so much that Gavin is allergic to gluten.  He can certainly have it.  It's just that his little body is so much happier when he doesn't have too much of it.  (Am I sharing too much about him on the internet?  It's okay, I'm putting money away for him for college and therapy.  "And THEN she made a blog!!!")  So when I stumbled upon this recipe in Martha Stewert's Everyday Food, I decided we had to try it.  Even better, we already had all the ingredients (whenever that happens, I tend to jump up, run to the kitchen and start to cook, sometimes a problem with two small children . . . . ).  You only need four ingredients and water!  One cup gluten free flour (don't you just love Bob's Red Mill??), 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 1 tsp paprika, and 1 TBSP olive oil. 

Bouncy Ball Art

I learned this trick many many years ago before my kids were even a twinkle . . . . really anywhere.  I learned this from a very wise woman who should really publish a whole book on crafts for kids.  She throws a teddy bear picnic for kids and thinks to roll out some bread and cut it with a teddy bear cookie cutter to make teddy bear sandwiches.  She sees some board kids and whips up some peanut butter play dough that they can make and eat.  And she comes up with this.  All you need are a plastic container (I started collecting some from the salad bar at the grocery store each time I went to buy lettuce - a very economical way to get lettuce by the way), some crazy bouncy balls (though I think this would work great with a normal bouncy ball or even a crumpled up piece of paper), and some paint.

Octupus Dogs: The Coolest Lunch Ever

This might be the coolest lunch I've ever made for Gavin, and it could not be easier.  As a matter of fact, he pretty much can make them by himself.  I put on a pot of water to boil, slice up a turkey dog, and break a tiny handful of spaghetti in half.  Then I let Gavin make his octopus!!  (Octopi??  Yes, he makes more than one, so octopi.)  I got the original idea from here, but it seems like the idea originally was born in Russia.