Uncategorized Archives - Page 9 of 14

Boy and Girl Playroom

February 5, 2015 By Taylor 11 Comments

For almost two years now, the playroom was all about the boys! It’s been filled with super heroes, trucks and legos. It is still filled with all of those things but now we have a 7 month old baby girl who is making her way in there. The playroom is starting to see things that are pink :) We all love it but I wanted to give the room a little facelift! Now we have our new and improved Boy and Girl Playroom.

This room is one of our bedrooms that shares a bathroom with another room. Instead of the boys having their own rooms, they share a bedroom and then it leaves more room for toys in here :) It works out great right now because they are 4 and 5 so they love sleeping together.

The room was mainly red before but things were getting old and ruined, which seems to be what boys do to things :) Also our toy storage was a big problem because it didn’t exist. So the room always looked like this…

With a little organizing, some paint and a trip to IKEA, now it looks like this :)

I went with the Kallax 4×4 shelving unit from Ikea because I have the 5×5 in my Craftroom and I love it. I also Bought enough boxes to fill half of the squares then filled the other squares with toys and games. I used some fabric scraps and ruffled them then used hot glue to dress up the boxes a little. Then I used my silhouette to label each box. And yes I still have the VHS TV in there for their viewing pleasure :) I cant bring myself to throw away all of our Disney moves.

My oldest son helped me make the felt triangle bunting to go around the window, the curtains are white so I wanted a little pop. We also took down the little workbench because they were getting too old for it and I replaced it with the chalkboard/dry erase easel and a basket of our preschool stuff.

I changed the slipcover to a green one so I gave the play market a little facelift too.

Then my youngest son helped me repaint our Play Kitchen. It was scratched and dirty so we (not very perfectly) painted it aqua to match the blues and greens in the room. Don’t look too closely but while we were painting my son said “Mom… painting is BERY FUN!” :) I also added a new window pic, some curtains, a bunting and some fun paper jars. Hopefully little miss will love this as much as my boys did!

So far, its been way more picked up. I try to remind them to only take down one box at a time so that rule helps! Also because this is a bedroom, there is a nice sized closet that holds books, board games, costumes, trucks and those lovely VHS tapes.

In my perfect world we could tear up this carpet and have hardwoods but my husband says legos are more cozy on carpet ;) Let me know in the comments if you have any questions about anything!

Cider Beetles: A Teacher Gift

December 17, 2014 By Taylor 16 Comments

Before staying home with my kiddos I used to be a teacher. I was always very spoiled every holiday by my student’s parents and received so many gifts, too many to remember. But I will always remember one year when a student made me a Cider Beetle attached to Apple Cider. It was so stinking cute that I told everyone about it. I decided this year I would re-create this adorable little gift.

I was so happy to find the recipe on the Imperial Sugar website. Imperial has a great Christmas page full of recipes and craft ideas you can do with your kids! They are also running a Kids Cookbook Giveaway that runs through Dec. 19th.

The boys did almost all the work here and LOVED it! I love boys who love to cook :)

How to made your own Cider Beetles:

Supplies:

12 oranges
5 cups Imperial Sugar Light Brown Sugar, firmly packed
24 (1 1/2-inch) stick cinnamon
24 small whole nutmegs
48 large whole allspices
192 whole cloves (8 legs on each beetle)

Directions:

Slice oranges in half crosswise; scoop out the pulp, and reserve for other uses.
Place orange half shells, cut side up, on a wire rack on a baking sheet. Bake at 250°F for about 2 hours or until dry and hard. Let these cool completely before assembling the beetles.
Pack brown sugar firmly into each orange shell, mounding it slightly. Arrange spices in brown sugar to resemble a beetle, pressing slightly into the sugar. Use cinnamon sticks for bodies, nutmegs for heads, allspices for eyes, and cloves for legs. If not using immediately, cover tightly with plastic wrap secured with a ribbon. Store in the refrigerator.
To use, unwrap beetle and drop into 1 1/2 quarts apple cider or straight apple juice, simmer 30 minutes. Remove rind and spices to serve. Store the unused cider in the refrigerator.

We started with our oranges.

Remove all the “insides” of the orange.

Then place them on a baking sheet and bake at 250 degrees for about 2 hours.

Then for the fun part… making the beetles! Pack the orange full of Imperial Brown Sugar.

Then you arrange all of the beetle parts.

I wrapped them in plastic wrap as soon as we finished and tied them up with a rubber band.

Then I just attached some ribbon around the apple cider and attached the beetle to the top for a perfect little teacher gift! I also attached some directions on how to brew it but I forgot to attach that before I took this picture. Brewing them is the best part because of the smell :) I hope you guys love making these as much as we did!

Salt Dough Napkin Holders

November 18, 2014 By Taylor 3 Comments

It’s almost Thanksgiving here in the States so that means it’s time to fill your calendars with family, food and crafts :) These adorable Salt Dough Napkin Holders are not only a pretty way to set the table but also super fun to make! My boys are only 3 and 5 and they did almost everything here. I found the salt dough “recipe” at Imperial Sugar. They have a whole section of their site dedicated to holiday crafting and baking with your kids, not to mention a million great recipes. They also have free coloring and activity sheets for your kids to do over the break!

Ingredients:

2 cups salt
1 cup water, divided
1 cup cornstarch
Tin foil covered baking sheet
Red, yellow and orange food coloring
Leaf shaped cookie cutter

Directions:

Stir salt into 1/2 cup of water in a medium saucepan. The boys LOVE measuring so this craft is right up their alley! Cook over medium-low heat until hot then remove from heat.

In a bowl, mix the remaining 1/2 cup of water with the cornstarch until smooth.

Add the cornstarch mixture to the salt mixture. Return the saucepan to the stove and cook, stirring constantly over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens into the consistency of stiff mashed potatoes.

Turn mixture out onto a glass plate and cover with a damp towel.

Allow to cool, then divide dough into 3 equal parts. Add red food coloring to one, yellow to the second and orange (often a combination of red and yellow) to the third batch.

Flatten the dough with a rolling pin or with your hands. Use the leaf cookie cutter to cut out multiple shapes.

Bake the leaves on a tin foil lined baking sheet at 250 degrees for 2-3 hours until completely hard.

Let cool, then attach to cloth napkins with ribbon, twine, or tulle.

The boys and I had so much fun making these!! They even helped me set the table for our Friendsgiving that we are having this week. It will be a cute little favor to take home too! Hope you all have a fun and safe Thanksgiving!

This post was sponsored by Imperial Sugar, all thought and opinion are my own.

Macho Nachos

November 17, 2014 By Taylor 5 Comments

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of the Wolf® Brand Chili. All opinions are my own.

I don’t know what it’s like at your house during the week but we have a serious case of “what’s for dinner” over here. With the boys in school (and the addition of a third child) I love dinners that are easy to whip up. Wolf® Brand Chili is a delicious go-to for us because it’s quick and easy for busy week nights. I’m always a fan of one-dish meals so we usually make Corn Chip Pie with our chili but last week my mom reminded me of a meal she used to make us :) Macho Nachos!! They are so easy and a huge crowd pleaser. They are also super customizable if you have picky little eaters.

Ingredients:

Wolf® Brand Chili (which is definitely our favorite authentic Texas flavored chili)
shredded cheese
chopped tomatoes
green onions
tortilla chips
cilantro
any other favorite toppings like avocado, Greek yogurt or sour cream, jalapenos etc.

Start with a chip mountain. The best thing about this meal is you can load down a huge pan or make one small plate for an afternoon snack for hungry boys :) Is it just us or do your kids come home from school starving everyday?? What is that about?

Then add your bold Wolf® Brand Chili. I just heat mine in the microwave for about 2 minutes but my mom always heats hers up on the stove top.

Right after that add the cheese so it will melt then add all of your other toppings. This would also be fun for a “build your own” type dinner. I can’t live without cilantro. I also love them with shredded iceberg lettuce but my grocery store was out this week.

Bam! There you have a delicious and easy dinner that is ready in minutes but bursting with flavor!! Woo Hoo! What would be your go to toppings?

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of the Wolf® Brand Chili. All opinions are my own.

« Previous Page
1
…
7
8
9
10
11
…
14
Next Page »