People Puppy Chow

So, I have heard of making this recipe for years but always thought it looked gross.  People rave about it, but it looked too messy to make. 
However, today I got an itch to make a new snack for the kiddos and I had all the ingredients in my pantry.
So, what the heck!  Here goes...

What you'll need:
6 C Crispix cereal (I used corn chex cereal)
1/2 C peanut butter
1 C chocolate chips
1/4 C butter
1-2 C powdered sugar

The recipe I tried said to microwave the PB, Butter, and chocolate chips in the microwave for 2-3 minutes stirring once during microwaving(is that even a word?).  Other recipes said to melt the PB, butter, and chocolate chips all together on the stovetop.  I did the microwave b/c it was faster.  It seemed to work out fine with the microwave. 
While the microwave was going, I measured out the 6 Cups of chex into a large bowl and put the powdered sugar in a large gallon ziplock bag. 

I poured the melted PB, butter, and chocolate chips over the chex and gently stirred with a rubber spatula.  GENTLY stirring is the key and it actually took alot more stirring than I thought to get all the chex evenly coated. 

Then I scooped all the covered chex into the ziplock bag with the powdered sugar.  It fit perfectly!  Seal the bag and gently shake so they are all covered with white sugary goodness. 

Then pour the mixture onto wax paper or a cookie cooling rack. 

Wait till they dry and then serve.  Store in an airtight container.

It was suprisingly easy and really not messy at all.  I think I might actually make it again, that is if the kids like it.  They are still napping:)

DIY Kid's Felt Board

As a continuum of finding things to make for my 3 year old to do on cold winter days, I came up with making her a felt board.

I had a picture frame in the garage that my husband had kicked over and broken the glass out of.  I was going to throw the frame away, but held onto it in case I could find a good use for it and viola!

 

My mom was visiting and was kind enough to go to Walmart for me to pick up felt.  I told her any color, any kind since I didn't really have it all planned out in my head how the board was going to look yet.  I had just gotten home from my surgery a few days earlier and thought this would be a nice project since I was housebound for the next couple of weeks.

My mom came home with the felt, some of which already had sticky backing.  We used these to make the background of the board and it worked great. 

Then we spent the next 3 hours creating, cutting, and hot gluing all the little pieces that would go on the board to create little scenes for my daughter. We made things for a city, outdoor activities, camping, etc.

 I put all the little felt pieces we made into a zip lock baggie and when she woke up from her nap she was thrilled to play with it.  It turned out better than I expected, since I am usually a planner and prepper and had not pre-thought this project out.

 

Love it and she does too!

 

Advent Calendar

I've read for years about people making their own advent calendars and starting the 'countdown to Christmas' tradition with their kids. 

This year I decided to try my hand at making one and saw a cute  picture on Pinterest that made me think I could make one with stuff I already had in the house that would take me less than an hour. 

Yes, this was the kind of cold weather, Saturday morning I was having...half the motivation needed for a great advent calendar, so I decided to settle for making a good one.  Until next year of course, because that's when I'll have the energy.  At least that's what mom's always try to convince themselves of...having energy as our future super mother selves:)

 

 

Here is what I ended up needing:



paper cups
wax paper
rubber bands
sharpie marker
'treats' to put inside each cup
packing tape
cardboard for the backing

Get all 25 cups for the countdown and fill them with your selected 'treats'.  I have 2 kids, so of course I have to put 2 of the exact thing in each cup. 
Cut small squares of wax paper big enough to cover the tops of the paper cups(I used our bathroom paper cups my kids use when they brush their teeth).  Leave enough wax paper over the edge of the top of the cup to secure it taught with a rubber band.  (yes, glue is in the above picture, but I found glue to not work so well with this project in any manner)
Number the wax paper with a sharpie marker 1-25

Take the packaging tape and tape the bottom of the cups to the cardboard that you precut to the shape of a Christmas tree.  It's not gorgeous, but it's Done!

We have ours hanging up in our hallway outside the kids rooms so that they can 'punch' through the wax paper each night before going to bed. 
It's been alot of fun and I think I'll be making the 'great' version of this next year:)

Snowmen Milkjugs

So, it's wasn't even December and my kids were itching to get into the Christmas Spirit. 
I am loving this, because I am a Christmas gal...but even more, Christmas is totally my husband's holiday.  He loves decorating the second Thanksgiving is over.  For this, I AM THANKFULL.

Something I saw on Pinterest was a cute little idea for a lit up milk jug decorated like snowmen. 
I had 'pinned' this idea weeks ago so had already cleaned and dried out 2 milk jugs for my kiddos. 

I got out the glue, construction paper, and safety scissors and let them have at 'em.  My 3 year old little a little help with the cutting out of specific shapes, per her instruction:)

I put my OCD mommyness away and let my kids create their masterpieces anyway they wished.  They turned out super cute. (yes, I am biased)

Here is what you'll need:
glue
colored construction paper
one milk jug per child
one string of holiday lights per milk jug
scissors

-First get ahold of your empty milk jugs.  one per child.  clean and dry them. 
I just put a little dawn dish liquid in the empty milk jug, fill with a little hot water, put the top back on, and shake shake shake.  Then I empty the water down the drain and sit it upside down in my dish drying rack over night.  Done!

-Before starting the project, take some sharp scissors or a knife and cute a whole in the back of the milk jug big enough for the string of lights to be put through and into the jub.

-Lay out your supplies and let the kids cut and glue their shapes out of construction paper to reveal their 'faces' on the milk jugs. 

 

-Allow the glued faces to dry and then put your string of lights inside the milkjug.  Make sure to remember to leave the 'teeth' end of the plug out to be plugged in.  (you don't want to fish the string of lights into the jug and then go to plug it in and realize you put the 'teeth' end of the lights in first and now cannot plug the lights in.

 You can put these little guys anywhere you wish.  I've seen them as part of fronth porch and yard decorations for Christmas.  We decided to use then in the kid's rooms as additional festive night lights for the holidays. 

*My husband and I always unplug the lights before we go to bed in case of a fire.  The jugs do get warm but not necessarily hot.  We just unplug them as a preventative measure.

Happy Decorating!