Potato Stamps

One of FabDaughter’s favorite things to do is paint. I try to mix it up every once in a while by using different types of things to paint with, new paints, stamps, etc. I had an extra potato that I wasn’t going to use, so this morning I made heart stamps and both FabDaughter and I went to town stamping away.

Directions:

1. Cut your potato into chunks sized for toddler hands.
2. Use a sharpie or pen to draw the shape you want to stamp onto the potato.
3. Lightly trace over your pen with the tip of a paring knife. Then carve out about a half-inch around your design.
4. Dip stamp into paint and stamp away.

FabDaughter is potato stamping away. (She’s wearing my old art smock from the 80s!)

Update: Summer Fun List

We’ve been busy crossing off items on our 2012 Summer Fun List .  This week we crossed off #16: Make some sidewalk chalk paint and paint the driveway and #22: Plant some flowers / vegetables / herbs (plant anything really).

FabDaughter LOVED the sidewalk chalk paint and it was super easy to make.  There are various recipes are all over Pinterest.  The one I used called for equal parts of cornstarch and water (I used a half cup each).  Mix until the cornstarch is dissolved, divide the mixture into cups or a muffin tin, then add a few drops of food coloring and stir.  FabDaughter made the paint under my directions then all three of us went outside to work on our masterpiece.

This weekend I went to Michael’s to stock up on some of the cheap craft projects out of the $1 bins.  These are perfect to have on hand to entertain FabDaughter on a weeknight while I’m getting dinner ready.  I found a Good Luck Egg that grows shamrocks with the possibility of a four-leaf clover (probably only if you are lucky) and thought we could use that for #22.  It took all of 5 minutes for FabDaughter and I to set it up (which consisted of adding 2 tbsp of water to the planter and dropping the seeds in) but we did plant something:-)  FabHubby told me today that our seeds are starting to sprout.  Yay!

I had the best intentions to start a small vegetable and herb garden this year and possibly plant some flowers in our beds.  But the fact is that I have NO idea what I’m doing.  I never started and I ran out  of time to plant anything.  I’m hoping next year I can at least get vegetable garden started.  I will have to plan it in advance so I don’t miss out on the timing again and hopefully my Mom will help me get started (hint hint, wink wink)!  My grandpa, her dad, had quite the extensive garden.  I have very fond memories of helping him in the garden when I was a little girl and then taking our picks inside for Granny to wash and cut up.  Plus, fresh veggies from the garden are the best!

#19 Summer Fun List: Make a bird feeder and watch for birds

We got to cross something off of our 2012 Summer Fun List this weekend!  FabDaughter and I made a few bird feeders and watched for birds.  We haven’t seen any yet.  Originally, I was just going to use the old method of covering an empty toilet paper roll with peanut butter and rolling it in birdseed until I saw this fabulous method on eighteen25.  It was super easy and the bird feeders came out adorable!

I used 3 cookie cutters (heart, star & duck), a piece of wax paper, a package of Knox gelatin, 1/4 cup of water, 3/4 cup of birdseed and some left over white ribbon.

Step 1: Mix the water and gelatin in a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer.  Stir the gelatin until it dissolves.

Step 2: Remove sauce pan from the heat, let cool for a minute and stir in the birdseed.

Step 3: Lay your cookie cutters on wax paper and fill half way with the birdseed mixture.

Step 4: Loop your ribbon, tie the ends into a knot and push down into the birdseed.

Step 5: Finish filling the cookie cutters with the birdseed mixture and let dry overnight.

The dried birdseed was very easy to push out of the cookie cutter molds.  Here is our finished product:

FabDaughter and I went out this morning and hung them on the tree that FabHubby planted for her when I was pregnant:-)

2012 Summer Fun List

In honor of the summer solstice, I’ve put together a list of things that I want us to do as a family over the course of the summer.  I’ve noticed that some people are calling these their “Summer Bucket List.”  I’m not sure I like that name, since to me the expression “bucket list” has a bit of a morbid connotation.  So I am calling this our 2012 Summer Fun List!  We may make some additions to the list along the way.  We also may not accomplish everything on this list but we sure will have fun trying:-)

1. Catch lighting bugs
2. Have a water gun fight
3. Slip n slide!
4. Play in the sprinkler
5. Make a sand castle
6. Go to the zoo
7. Dance in the rain (thanks for the idea Jackie)
8. Make s’mores
9. Get ice cream at an ice cream stand
10. Make some sun catchers and display them proudly in a window
11. Have a picnic in a park
12. Make some fun homemade popsicles
13. Visit a farmer’s market
14. Pick some berries
15. Go to the wildlife safari
16. Make some sidewalk chalk paint and paint the driveway
17. Go to the splash park
18. Teach FabDaughter to ride a tricycle
19. Make a bird feeder and watch for birds
20. Feed the ducks at the pond
21. Go on a walk
22. Plant some flowers / vegetables / herbs (plant anything really)
23. Have a movie night
24. Paint some rocks
25. Go to a carnival
26. Let FabDaughter have a sleepover at Granny and Papa’s house so FabHubby and I can have a date night!

What are some things you and your family are looking forward to doing this summer?

Update:

We had a fun and hetic summer and still only managed to get through half of our list.   I can’t believe summer is over already but it’s time to switch gears and think about all the fun things we can do during fall.  I will definitely move #26 to our fall fun list.   Even though FabHubby and I have lunch dates and watch movies together after FabDaughter goes to bed, it is still very important to get in date nights out of the house!

Handmade Easter Cards

This morning FabDaughter and I made Easter cards. I saw this idea online and had to try it.

How cute are these?

What you need:

• Finger paints
• Paint brush
• Cardstock
• Fine tip black Sharpie pen
• Orange marker

I have the worst handwriting so I made a blank 4 x 6 file in Photoshop and added text saying “Some Bunny Loves You!” and “For Peep’s Sake… Have a Happy Easter!” using the Jenna Sue font and printed them out on cardstock. (Below are the files incase you have ugly handwriting too!) I painted FabDaughter’s thumb and let her press it onto the cardstock. For the bunny card, I painted her pinky finger too and had her press her finger above her thumb print to make the bunny’s head. Then I let her go to town on some blank paper while I waited for the cards to dry. After they were dry, I added in the details with the Sharpie pen and orange marker. We plan on handing them out at Easter. FabDaughter always is so proud of herself when she gives out her artwork. It makes my heart smile:-)

Fabulous Leprechauns

I saw this “Lepre-CUTIES” craft on Pinterest and thought it was so adorable FabDaughter and I had to make our own.  (She LOVES “helping Mommy!”)  Click here for the directions.

Instead of painting a paper plate orange and using that for the beards (as per in the directions link), I just cut circles out of a 12 x 12 piece of orange cardstock.  The only thing I would do different is to print out the faces on photopaper instead of cardstock.  When I glued the faces to the beards, the colors bled through the cardstock a tiny bit.

Valentine’s Craft

FabDaughter has really been into painting lately so when I saw this craft idea on Rust & Sunshine I knew we had to make handmade Valentine’s!  We used toilet paper rolls, tape, plain white cardstock and pink & red acrylic paints.  I squirted some paint on a plate, dipped the toilet paper roll into it, showed FabDaughter how to stamp the heart and then she took over.  She had lots of fun “painting hearts” and has already specified who gets each Valentine she made.  What a fabulous activity for a toddler!

Salt Dough Valentine’s Hearts

Since FabDaughter had such a good time making salt dough Christmas ornaments, I decided we should make salt dough hearts for Valentine’s Day. (I have a lot of cookie cutters so we are probably going to make something salt dough related for every holiday.) She has also really been into painting lately and painting little figurines is more fun than just painting on paper. This activity is perfect for a week night after work since the salt dough is super easy to make. We also break up the steps into a few nights. The first night we made the dough (and played with it too), cut out our hearts and baked them. The second night we painted one side of the hearts and the third night we painted the other side and varnished them.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with 30 hearts, so I strung some of them up and used it as garland over our sliding glass door for a Valentine’s Day decoration.

If you need the recipe for salt dough, check out my post: Salt Dough Christmas Ornaments.

Salt Dough Christmas Ornaments

This week FabDaughter and I made salt dough Christmas ornaments for the first time together.  It was so much fun that I think we will turn this into a yearly tradition!  The ornaments were very easy to make, and FabDaughter absolutely LOVED helping.

FabDaughter Hard at Work on Her Ornaments

We made three different kinds of ornaments out of one batch of dough.  First, we made six circles that have FabDaughter’s handprint in them.  Then we made a heart shape that has FabHubby, FabDaughter and my thumbprint in it.  Lastly, we made 6 tiny flower shaped ornaments and we still had a little bit of dough left over that I ended up tossing.  Here is what you need:

Ingredients

1 cup salt

2 cups flour

1 cup luke warm water

1 straw

Acrylic paints and paintbrushes

Clear glaze or varnish

Ribbon

Salt Dough Ornaments

Directions

1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine salt and flour.
2. Gradually stir in warm water and mix together until a doughy consistency is formed.
3. Using your hands, form the dough into a ball and knead it for 5-10 minutes.  I broke it into pieces and let FabDaughter squeeze some of it to help knead.
4. Roll out dough and cut out shapes using cookie cutters.  Or if you are making hand print ornaments, press hand into the center of cut out circles.
5. Using a straw, make a small hole in the top of the ornament to use as the hanger.
6. Transfer ornaments to a parchment lined cookie sheet.
7. Bake at 300^○F for 30 – 60 minutes, or until golden.  Baking time will depend on the thickness of your ornaments.
8. Paint ornaments with acrylic paints and let dry. We used red and green metallic acrylic paints that I bought at Michael’s.  I painted the backs of each ornament and when the paint was dry I used a paint pen to write FabDaughter’s name on the back with the year.
9. Seal ornaments with varnish or a glaze spray.  I used Krylon Triple Thick Crystal Clear Glaze.  It worked really well and made the ornaments look shiny.  Let dry.
10. Tie ribbon through hole and hang on your Christmas tree.  I used Martha Stewart gold ribbon that I purchased at JoAnn Fabrics.  You can use any color ribbon, rope or ornament hooks.

Finished Ornaments

Ornament on Tree