Teacher Gift --- Money Bouquet

I looked for something like this on Pinterest, but couldn't find it, so I made it up myself.  I'm the room mother for my son's class and he has an awesome teacher.  It was her birthday and I wanted to give her money collected from the parents, but I wanted to do it in a creative way.  So I thought I would make some sort of money tree or money bouquet.

I bought a vase and a foam floral ball from Hobby Lobby.  I pushed the ball into the vase so it wouldn't budge.  I bought little brightly-colored plastic appetizer forks and swords at the dollar store.  I collected $5 bills from the parents and twisted them around the base of the forks and swords before plunging them into the foam ball.  Some of the bills got punctured, but they are still usable.  Then I made double-sided flowers and butterflies out of card stock and wrote each child's name on it with a Sharpie.  Using my hot glue gun, I attached the card stock name card to the tops of the swords and forks.

I added the left over forks and swords to the bottom ⅓ of the foam ball to fill in the gaps.  I was running short of time or I would have tried to cover the foam with something - burlap, glued on leaves or floral moss would all work.  Since graduation season is just around the corner, I am going to use this idea again, but on a smaller scale and try to make it look a little more polished/finished.  I will either write nothing on the card stock or inspirational words like "Faith," "Blessings," etc.  

Kid's Handwritten Garden Marker Signs

I borrowed this picture from an awesome craft blog called "the blue basket."  I think these garden signs are so cute and they preserve your child's handwriting at this particular age.

See all the instructions here:
http://thebluebasket.blogspot.com/2012/05/mothers-day-gift-garden-markers.html

I looked into buying a wood burner - they are under $10 and I thought of a few other uses for it (my desire to create some more yard art included), so I'm going to get one.

Paintings with Initials

I also borrowed this idea from Pinterest.  Take a blank canvas and use masking tape to "write" the child's name or initials on it.  Then let them go to town with paints.  Make sure they paint over every white space and especially in the crevices around the letters.  Wait until its dry and then remove the tape to reveal the letters underneath.  You could get creative with the letters using glitter, ribbon or puffy paint.  I used a Sharpie to outline and define my child's letters afterwards, but I really like it better before I did that.

Here are the blank canvases with tape letters:

And the finished projects!  Aren't they great?

Blank Face Print Out

I saw these blank face print outs used in my son's preschool class.  They fashioned play dough for the features and hair, but we used crayons at home.  You could also get creative and bust out the googly eyes, yarn, buttons, etc.  I looked up "blank face" on Google image search to get these.


The print outs:

And the result:

Easter Thumbprint Signs (or Cards)

Full disclosure: yep, stole this one from Pinterest too.  Thumbprints, Sharpie, crayons, hole punch, ribbon… done!  Could also be made into a really cute Easter card for the grandparents.

Here were our inspiration print outs:

Here's how it looked with just the thumbprints.  These took about 30 minutes to dry and then we started applying the Sharpie and crayons.

And here are the results:

ABC Walking Game

Full disclosure: I stole this from Pinterest.  This is the back of a paper plate.  All you do is write the alphabet around the rim and cut between each letter.  Then you take your child for a walk and they have to spot things that start with the letters.  After they use the letter, they fold it back and go on to another one.

Mosaic Easter Egg

Here's a very easy craft for Easter!

You only need three things:

A piece of card stock (any color will do) cut in shape of an egg (I freehanded it)

Glue stick or school glue

strips of tissue paper

Then your child can glue the tissue paper strips to the egg.  It will be a little messy looking when they get done.

So I took it upon myself to trim up the edges so it would look like an Easter egg again. :)  

HOW TO DISPLAY IT: I might get my child to write "Happy Easter" on a strip of paper and glue that across the middle of the egg. Then I am going to punch a hole in it, put a ribbon through the hole and hang it on our door.  Happy Easter!

20 Things to Do with Your Children in Greater Atlanta

Do you live in Greater Atlanta and are you looking to have a "stay-cation" with your kids this year?  Here are some ideas for cool stuff to do:

Jaemor Farms in Alto, GA

1. Atlanta Botanical Gardens
2. Jaemor Farms - Hayride/Tour/Apple Cider - call for hours/dates
3. Suwanee Town Center - bring a ball to run in the huge grassy field, bring swimsuit to jump in fountain & walk to Yogli Mogli afterwards
4. World of Coke Museum
5. Aquarium 
6. Zoo & Cyclorama 
7. Imagine It!  Atlanta Children's Museum
8. INK (Interactive Neighborhood for Kids) Museum in Gainesville 
9. Day trip to Chattanooga for Children's Museum and/or Aquarium
10. Center for the Puppetry Arts
11. Braves Game 
12. Falcons Game 
13. Hawks Game 
14. Southeastern Train Museum in Duluth - absolutely awesome even for 2 yr olds; they have a Mom and Tot program 1/month on a Thurs
15. Georgia Renaissance Festival
16. Kennesaw Mountain/Visitors Center - really cool drive up the mountain
17. Explore a new town: Dahlonega, Marietta, Roswell, Lawrenceville, Decatur, Norcross, Duluth and Suwanee all have great town squares
18. Norcross train station restaurant
19. Stone Mountain for the Laser Show, a train ride and picnic by the lake
20. Atlantic Station movie, walk around, ice cream, Ikea

Apple Pancake Wheels

I saw this idea for Apple Pancake Wheels on Pinterest and decided to give it a try for breakfast this morning.  All you need is an apple and pancake mix.

First, core and peel an apple.  Then cut it into pinwheel shapes as shown.

Next, mix up the pancake batter.  Heat 1 Tbsp. of butter on a skillet to medium-high heat.  Coat apple slices in batter and throw in the skillet.  Cook each side for about 3 or 4 minutes (it takes longer than a regular pancake).

And there you have it - Apple Pancake Wheels.  I thought they were wonderful, but my son said he liked traditional pancakes better.  I had some batter left over and some overripe bananas on hand, so… I coated chunks of bananas in the batter and cooked them (results can be seen below).  The bananas got mushy, so they don't look too pretty, but they actually tasted great. I'm going to save and see if I can pass them off as a snack for later.

Etsy Store

I started an Etsy store  - http://www.etsy.com/shop/aseinga - with some original artwork and prints.  Maybe some jewelry in the future. :)

Sock Puppets

I was looking at the list I posted about a month ago - 40 Things to Do with Your Preschooler - and decided to do #25 - Make sock puppets.  It was fun and easy.  My preschooler mostly just picked out the eyes and the pom poms and decided where the fuzzy pipe cleaner should go.  I handled the hot glue gun and the puffy paint.  All in all, it took about 15 minutes.  The hard part is that we can't play with them until tomorrow because of the paint having to dry.  If I could do it over, I probably would just hot glue some fabric for the mouth, so it would be instantly finished.

Supplies Needed:
Puffy paint
Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks
Old socks
Pom poms
Googly eyes
Other odds and ends such as fuzzy pipe cleaners, scrap fabric, etc.

Talking with Kids

I found these conversation starter questions and tweaked them a little to apply to 3 year olds.  I added in red what my child answered for posterity:

1. What do you like to dream about? FOOD
2. What is your best memory? MY GAMES
3. Who is your hero? Why? ME, BECAUSE I'M FAST
4. Who is in your family? YOU, DADDY AND LARRY
5. Who is the kindest person you know? MS. NANCY
6. What job do you want to have when you grow up?
7. If you were an animal what one would you be? LARRY 
8. What is your favorite toy? LEGOS
9. What is your favorite game? HIDE AND SEEK
10. What makes you angry? GETTING AN X ON MY CHORE CHART
11. What makes you feel better when you are sad? CANDY
12. Where is the most fun place you have ever been? BEACH HOUSE
13. If you could have any animal for a pet, what would it be? LARRY
14. What is your favorite color? PURPLE

Toddler Chore/Good Habits Chart

This has worked well so far!  He gets a purple check mark for every chore/good habit he does and a red x mark for every one he fusses about (after a few warnings).  This is how it looked when I got it at the Dollar Store:

And this is how it looked after I added graphics and my toddler got some checks for good behavior.  I added pictures since he can't read yet. :)  I attached it to the refrigerator and we consult it several times daily (well, at least for the past 2 days).

Fruity Breakfast Cookies

Thank you to my friend Jennifer for turning me on to healthy breakfast cookies perfect for grabbing on the run.  I found two basic recipes online, combined them and added more healthy stuff (and more stuff for taste like butter and salt).  Here are the results, which are pretty tasty and, I think, healthy to boot:

Fruity Breakfast Cookies

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp. butter

½ c peanut butter

½ c unsweetened applesauce

3/4 c brown sugar

4 Tbsp. honey

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

3-4 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 c shredded carrots

1 3/4 c self-rising flour

1/4 c wheat germ

2 Tbsp. flax seeds

1 tsp. salt

2 c quick cooking oats

½ c raisins

½ c dried cranberries

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream butter, peanut butter, apple sauce, sugar and honey.  Mix in egg and vanilla.  Mix in all other ingredients until well blended.  To make large cookies suitable for grabbing for breakfast, drop 3 Tbsp. portions on lightly greased cookie sheet and press down slightly.  Bake for 15-18 minutes at 350 degrees.  Makes about 16 large cookies.

Mexican Lasagna

My husband doesn't love Mexican food, but he loved this.  I started off by calling it Chicken Enchilada Casserole, but he renamed it Mexican Lasagna.

MEXICAN LASAGNA

Ingredients:

5 tortillas, 

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

½ c salsa

1 can enchilada sauce

½ c sour cream

1 ½ c shredded cheese (I used Monterrey Jack)

Assorted spices to sprinkle on top (I used garlic powder, salt, black pepper, red pepper and cilantro)

Directions:

Mix chicken with salsa and ½ can enchilada sauce.  In square greased casserole dish, spread 1/4 can of enchilada sauce on bottom.  Then layer in this order: tortillas, sour cream, cheese, chicken mixture.  Repeat until dish is almost filled.  Top with rest of enchilada sauce and sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Sprinkle with assorted spices.  Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. 

How to Communicate with a Toddler…

… who can't quite read yet.

Love Me Some Clothespins

I love clothespins and use them all the time - for various things including bag clips, hanging my son's art work on a ribbon tacked to his playroom wall, and for a makeshift toy when he gets bored.  I found a great way to store them within easy reach in the pantry (please don't judge me for all the junk food!):

Pretty Chicken Salad Plate

Since I was making bug snacks for the little guy, I made a nice, non-buggy salad plate for my big guy.

Bug Snacks

We got a stuffed frog ("Mr. Ribbit") today and discussed a typical frog diet of bugs.  So, naturally, my preschooler wanted to eat bugs.  Here are our bug snacks:

 Orange slices, marshmallows, pretzels and chocolate chips.

Not a very pretty bug, but yummy nonetheless.  Apples, raisins attached with peanut butter, and carrot sticks. 

 Our colorful bugs getting ready to be eaten.

Preschooler eating the bugs with Mr. Ribbit sitting nearby.

Apple Marshmallow Lips

It was a good idea I found on Pinterest but my little guy only ate the marshmallows.  Foiled again!