holidays Archives - Page 2 of 7

Mosaic Corn Art with Kids!

November 16, 2016 By Taylor 3 Comments

Today I have a super fun Thanksgiving craft to share with you guys. I can hardy believe that I am typing the word “Thanksgiving”! It’s still back-to-school time in my head. I guess I need to catch up… and this craft will help :) I found this kids craft for Mosaic Corn Art on the Imperial Sugar website and fell in love! I remember doing something similar when I was little… it’s a little old school and a little modern. If you had everything ready ahead of time this could be something fun to have on the kids table on Thanksgiving Day. Imperial Sugar has a ton of kid crafts and recipes on their site and the best part is they are organized by holiday (look at how many Thanksgiving crafts they have!). We made the Salt Dough Leaves a few years ago and I’m thinking about trying the Glitter Leaf Votive Holders next!

For this craft you need:

-gel food coloring
-popcorn kernels
-white vinegar
-sugar
-flour
-water
-cardstock

My kids loved this project because it was almost three different mini projects in one. First, you make the sugar paste (that will be your glue for the final project).

Mix the following ingredients together in a mixing bowl:

1 cup flour, 3 tablespoons Imperial Granulated Sugar, 1 cup cold water and 1 cup boiling water.

Mix until smooth, bring to room temp, then store in an air-tight container.

Second… time to dye the popcorn kernels, which also happens to be our personal favorite. My kids LOVED doing this for some reason. Actually I did too haha. We used clear plastic cups for this step which I think made it even more fun. Add 1/2 cup water and 1 tbsp white vinegar to some small cups. My two year old measured all the water and my 5 year old got to do the vinegar :)

Next add a few drops of gel food coloring to each cup. They gel is really fun to watch… we had clapping and shrieking! Then add 1/2 cup of popcorn kernels to the cups. Let them sit for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

The next morning I took the kernels out and placed them on a pan to dry, that also takes a few hours.

After they were completely dry I got some cardstock and the kids started planning. I showed them the original Mosaic design that I saw on the Imperial Sugar website but they went rogue haha. I put some sugar paste in a baggie and trimmed the end to make it easier to handle. You could also use a paintbrush to apply the sugar paste.

We had a sun, dots, stripes and an abstract scene. After we finished we had some colorful kernels left over and now I’m thinking about placards for the Thanksgiving Day Table??

Imperial is having a Holiday Baking kit contest so check that out HERE! And be sure to also visit them for so many more Thanksgiving crafts, recipes and even printables! Check them out HERE.

Vampire’s Blood White Hot Chocolate

October 16, 2016 By Taylor Leave a Comment

It’s mid-October… my favorite time of the year. Apparently I’m not the only one. My son was bouncing off the walls a few days ago and I asked him why he was acting so wild… he said he can’t help it because all of this favorite holidays are coming up and he is just so excited :) I don’t blame him. We are getting very festive around here, we decorated the mantle, visited the pumpkin patch and have started watching Halloween Movies! When I came across this recipe for Vampire’s Blood White Hot Chocolate from Imperial Sugar I knew I had to make some! I love to browse Imperial Sugar’s site around the holidays because they have a ton of crafts, printables and recipes that you can make WITH your kids. This one was super fun and easy!

They have the recipe on their site (with exact amounts HERE) but this is pretty much all you need:

Half and Half
Imperial Sugar Extra Fine Granulated Sugar
Vanilla
Whipped Cream
Strawberries
White Chocolate
Red Food collating (optional)
Salt

The Strawberry Syrup is made from strawberries, sugar, water and red food coloring. I added a squeeze of lemon juice because I like to add lemons to everything :)

Then you bring that to a boil and let it simmer for a few minutes, until the strawberries break down. Strain the strawberries out and pour the syrup into an airtight container. This was the kids favorite part! Then they started listing all of the things they would put this on haha!

The White Hot Chocolate is so simple… white chocolate, sugar, vanilla, half and half and a pinch of salt. This took no time at all to melt together, make sure not to let it boil! Once it’s smooth just pour it into your mug!

Top with whipped cream and drizzle with strawberry sauce! This would be the hit of any party! Be sure to check out Imperial Sugar for more recipes and festive ideas. They are also having a giveaway for KitchenAid Stand Mixer so go check it out! Happy Halloween everyone :)

DIY Roach Costume

November 3, 2015 By Taylor 5 Comments

Yes, you read that right! My son wanted to be a roach for Halloween and I said yes :)

A few months ago I was throwing around group costume ideas for the three kids. Nothing was sticking then my oldest said, “what about bugs”? I immediately liked the idea because my daughters name is Bee so naturally she could dress as a Bee. Then my four year old got super excited cause he wanted to be a lizard. Who am I to crush his dreams and tell him that a lizard isn’t actually a bug? A Bee and a Lizard, done. But then my oldest son said he wanted to dress up as a roach?! I tried to talk him out of it because how does one even go about sewing a roach suit?? But he was determined and I like a good sewing challenge so I said let’s go for it!

There is very little roach costume inspiration out there, which is good and bad haha. I didn’t have anything to live up to in the era of Pinterest expectations but I also didn’t have a clue how to make it! After a good ol’ google search, I did find one awesome “cape” that a legit costume designer made and I pinned it HERE. After I saw that I knew a cape was the way to go. I found some brown jeans and a brown tee from the mens section so I just cut it down and sewed up the sides) for the body and got to work on the roach cape.

I bought brown suiting for the legs and ironed a very stiff fusible interfacing to the wrong side so they would be extra stiff. I used hot glue to attach a thin strip of brown faux fur to each leg… creepy right? For the antenna I used the suiting with some jewelry wire inside and a little brown pom-pom glued at the end.

Then I freehanded roach-shape-wings on to some brown satin. I used quilt batting inside them and sandwiched it between. I also sandwiched the legs between the wing layers before sewing right sides together. Then I flipped them right side out and top-stitched. The wings are two separate pieces but sewn together at the top where they connect. Then I added a neck hood/cape part with double batting and a layer of felt in between so it would stand up a little more. It was so thick that I really would have liked to hand-sew it so there wasn’t a huge line down the middle but, it was the day before Halloween and mama only has so much time.

I added a neck piece made from the suiting and used velcro to attach it.

Overall I’m really happy with the way it turned out, and he was super excited about it! I also learned that some people have quite the aversion to roaches… even when the model is a cute six year old haha! Stay tuned for the lizard and bee later this week :)

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.