What do Giants eat?

I had the Giant party yesterday. It was a giant pain and a giant success. When the kids arrived we secured their little feet inside file boxes. These were their giant shoes. Next they wore dish washing gloves for their giant hands. We played a few games in this getup then let them take them off to smash the giant present pinata. After eating a giant slice of pizza I revealed what giants eat.

A giant hamburger, fries and a drink. This was large version of Bakerella's mini burgers. Eat was so easy to make.

What a cake!

I am so glad the boy is 6 and the party is over.

Rock Star

This past Saturday I attended a baby shower for one of my little cousins. I say little, but of course that is just my perspective. Oh I am getting older and none the wiser. Anyhoo didly doo, it was great to see my cousins. While there my cousin (hmmm, I didn't ask to use her name) S, showed me a cute little rock covered in melted crayon. So cute, so fun and of course cheap and easy.

For this activity you will need to send your kids on a rock hunt. Just about any rock will do. However, a smooth rock looks better.

Place rocks on a baking sheet. Heat rocks in oven until they are hot. I just put them in while the oven was pre-heating to 375 degrees, then removed them when the oven had reached it's goal.
Give each child a piece of wax paper. After giving a lesson on not touching hot things, place the rock on the wax paper and give your little artist some crayons. This is a great way to use you broken crayons.

The crayons will melt as soon as they touch the hot rock. Caution: the rocks stay hot for a long time.

Even Baby Bug (2) was able to color a rock.

My kids had a blast and I hope yours will too. Thank you Cousin S!

By the way, if you do any of the crafts, activities or other idea's be sure to let me know. I would love to see what you have done.

Candy countdown

Wild Child received this cute candy countdown chain from her Pre-school teachers. It had five treat chambers on it when it was first given to her. She gets to eat one treat everyday until school starts. What a cute why to avoid the when does school start question.

This could be adapted for a Christmas Advent Calendar. It would be a great gift for friends with children.

Use your noodle

A couple of nights ago I was late getting dinner going and needed something quick. The kids were already disappointed that we were not going to be eating out, so I needed something fun. When we do go out they frequently order Mac and Cheese which really irritates me. I don't like paying $4.00 for half a box of something sitting in my cupboard at home. So, I decided to to take a cue from my children and serve Mac & Cheese, but make it a little fancier than normal.

I used the packet of cheese from the box.

I bagged the regular noodles. Replaced it with 1 1/4 cup mini bowtie noodles. (next time I will increase the bowties to 1 1/2 cups.)

Follow directions on box.

I served crystal light in fancy goblets.



There you have it. It's the same, but different.

So Smart

My four year old daughter is going to Pre-school in about 2 weeks. I wanted to give her wild locks a nice trim at a salon. I usually cut it myself, so this was a bit of a splurge. So we get there and she wont let go of me. She regressed into a baby, she wouldn't talk or cooperate at all. After about 15 minutes of bribing, threatening and almost giving up, we decide she can sit on my lap. It wasn't working well because she had gone limp and was pretending to sleep. I thought all was lost until this cute little hair dresser handed my Wild Child a mirror. She squirted a pile of moose onto it and showed her how to draw pictures with it. Wow!!! What a turn around. She sat by herself and drew pictures until 10 minutes later her hair was cut and we were ready to go. If you are taking a small child for a back to school haircut, be sure to mention this ingenious idea to your stylist.

Once S'more

Every summer I cover the inside of a shoe box with foil. The kids and I then make s'mores out in the sun. We talk about reflection, outside temp., solar power and such. We try it at different times of the day so the kids can get a feel for how the temperature rises and falls. Anyway, it's mostly just for fun now, but when they are older I will help them look up answers on the Internet.

Another sideways picture. Ahhhh, I swear it was fine 2 seconds ago.

So if it is still hot in your region of the world, find a shoe box and give it a try. It works better if you let the marshmallow sit a few minutes in the sun first. It doesn't take long for the chocolate to melt.

S'more ideas

I was inspired a long time go by Lisa @ OneGirlieGirl. She had posted about her gourmet s'more. Instead of chocolate she used Andies Candies. So of course I had to try. Except I used Dove Chocolates. Carmel and Peanut Butter. I think the Ghirardelli squares would be perfect. I am going to have to try the mint as soon as I can get a hold of some.

Why is it some pictures look completely normal in the file, but as soon as they are saved to a post they end up sideways?

I just used the broiler. I placed 4 Marshmallows on 4 crackers and broiled them for about 1 minute. (just until slightly toasted) The I added the crackers with chocolate on top. Next time I will use two chocolates per s'more. Broil with Marsh mellows 30 sec. or so.

Place the two halves together and well you know what to do.


I will be back later today with my Trash to Treasure for this fine Tuesday.

Bargin kid movies

My kids love movies. I can't spend $20 a movie very often. So, I take my chances on some of the generic type movies.

This princess collection was found at Wal Mart for $5. (It is 8.86 on Wal Mart online.) There are 2 discs with a total of 5 movies. Each movie runs for 44-47 minutes. My daughter (age 4) loves them. There not equal to Disney movies, but who cares when your kids like them. The collection was a bargain!

Curious buddies is Nickelodeons answer to the Baby Einstein craze. I might I say "Job well done!". I also found my copies at Wal Mart. I paid $5 dollars each for all but one copy. I paid 9.96 for our first one. They are not always $5 so keep a look out for them. However, I gladly paid full price for the first movie.

What is the best kid movie you have ever bought?

Restaurant bag

I recently posted about giving ordinary and somewhat tacky canvas bags a face lift. Just after that post more bags began to turn up. Click here for previous post.

This little beauty was transformed into.....

My new restaurant bag. Handy Andy and I rarely go out to eat without the kids. So it has become important to keep entertainment with us. The best toys for a restaurant are small and engaging. Match box cars, paper and pens, Polly pockets, Pet Shops etc. Our favorites are magnadoodles, play dough (there is a large assortment of travel packs), I found a little wooden tic tac toe board at Target, small puzzles and Legos (I love the small pack pictured below!).
Lego Creators make can be used to build more than one thing. Love it!!!!!

This Playdough set even comes with a play mat.

I like to keep our bag in the Van (oh yes, I am that cool, I drive a Minivan.) so we have it anytime we need it. The bag is also great for Doctor appointments.

I have a few more idea's for your bag. Keep a look out for future posts.

Be sure to scroll down to the frame post and sign up for the give-a-way. Today is the last day to get entered!!!!!

The Great Outdoors

We just got back from camping yesterday. Could you tell that I was gone? I hope not. I just love scheduling posts. It took me a while to get it right.

Every camping trip we look forward to the animal hunt. My MIL buys 100+ little plastic animals and stretchy frogs and hides them in our campground for the kids.

After finding them the kids play with them, wash them and sometimes hide them again. When we get home I hide them in our yard in the morning and let the kids go out and find them. They also love to play in the tub with them.

Both kinds of animals can be found at most Dollar Tree stores. The stretchy animals can also be found at Walmart in their dollar toy section. Wouldn't they be great in a Pinata!?!

Our last day in camp, my baby SIL, found a tiny container. Inside of it was a paper scroll about 2"x 1.5' long. It hand the signature of every camper that had found it. After you signed your name you re-hid it in the campground. We thought that was so clever.

After thinking about at home, I thought it would be fun to do the same thing inside my house. I am going to use a clear film container and hide it where my kids can find it. Maybe in a toy box or a sock drawer and so on. I hope that in years to come they will be excited to visit my house with their kids and find the container and write their names and date on it. What a fun tradition that will be.

A hunting we will go

Here is another quick and easy summer activity. On you of those days where you don't have time to plan, set up and execute a great activity, just get out a piece of paper and write a list of things your kids can find in your yard. Be creative for this scavenger hunt. A few examples are: something red (list many colors), something plastic, a flower, leaf, a bug, a stick (specify length), a circle, triangle, square, something from up high, something edible. You get the picture. Go ahead and make your kids as busy as you want them to be. You could even arrange a photo scavenger hunt with older kids. Consider having your older kids write a list for the little ones.

Without a trace

We are right in the middle of summer. I am sure many of you have already heard I'm bored or have seen the clear signs of little hands having too much time.

My mom had a stack of pictures that she would have us tape to our sliding glass door and we would trace the pictures onto plain typing paper.(oh yeah I said typing!) You can use a coloring book. You may have to help young children remove the pages. Tape the original first to the glass window or door.

Then tape a plain sheet of paper to the window.
Then let your little ones go! After they trace their picture with a pencil or pen, they can color in the rest. My brother and I usually skipped the coloring, but we would trace for at least an hour.

For new visitors to Bloggin' it be sure to check out past posts for activities found on the right side bar in the labels section. There are a couple of gems looming about this blog.

Beary good

It doesn't take much to turn a simple ball dough into a fun edible friend. I used Rhodes Roll dough, which is so easy, oh so easy! With just a few pinches and a little manipulation you can give your kids a tasty pal to eat with their dinner.

Hmmmm, reminds me of my own tummy, which oddly enough also rises on a warm day.

Now your little carnivores can bite the head off of their lovable friend.

Scrappy Paper Dolls

To celebrate going dot com the Tip Junkie featured a bunch of posts about parties. One of them had a link to this post on This Mama Makes Stuff. It was an American Girl themed party and she had Kit paper dolls. I couldn't find a pattern for them so I made my own. Get all of your ribbon, lace, fabric scraps and any beads, paper or embellishments you don't need anymore and let your girls have a blast designing clothes for their own paper dolls.

My oldest daughter is 4 and she was able to do a lot of it on her own. She and her friends, ages 5 and 7, played with the scraps and dolls for over an hour. I think had they all been 6+ they would have play even longer.



This is a great summer activity.

Cool Trick Cool Treat

I am loving food on a stick and it doesn't get better than chocolate. Don't let this summer go by without try this little trick. Push a lollipop stick into a large or small candy bar.

The wrapper will create a barrier between the chocolate and the kid. Hopefully reducing a melty mess.


For a even better cool summer treat. Place candy bar pops in the freezer and serve frozen.

At the kids next lemonade stand have them sell these frozen little cuties. To help make pushing in the stick, prick the wrapper and bar with a sterilized needle and use as a pilot hole.

Father's day

I don't have many idea's for Father's Day. I don't get men and won't even pretend to. Here is a quick and affordable gift for you kids to give good old Dad. Buy a book about dads. I bought the I Love You book from Wal Mart for $2.50. Then write in the cover the date and what your child likes to do with dad or a favorite memory from the past year. Give it to Dad, then update the book every year on Father's Day.

Topped with a bow

My girls don't have a whole lot of hair and what the little ones does have is in the shape of a mullet. So, girlifying them is very important and tricky. I gathered ribbons and elastics. (not pictured here is those little disposable back elastics, they work well for this.)

Cut a 3-5 inch length of ribbon...

or fabric of varying lengths.

Seal ends.

Tie in a knot around elastic.

Girlify like crazy.

Works with curly ribbon too.

Have a ribbon swap with friends and you just may end up with every color you will ever need. Because the ends are sealed, if an elastic breaks, just tie ribbon to a new elastic. I love these because they are small enough that they don't over power a little head and you can use several per hair style.

These are very cost effective and easy to make.