Mr. Scarecrow

Want a quick, easy, FREE, kid-directed Halloween decoration?  

Meet Mr. Scarecrow

This guy seriously kept my 3 children entertained (happily!!) for well over an hour.

I simply took a pair of my hubby's old jeans and one of his flannel shirts; closed the pant legs off with rubber bands, did up all the buttons on the shirt, handed the littles a huge stack of newspaper and told them to get busy!  They had a blast crumpling all the newspaper and stuffing their dad's clothing with it.

They seriously had SO much fun and they love seeing him outside our front door every day.  At least one of them sits on his lap everyday, they tell him secrets on their way in the door and frequently rearrange his pumpkin head.  

(He may or may not have scared the dickens out of me a couple of times already.)

This was a Halloween tradition each year when I was little and I'm so glad I can pass it on to my children too.  What are some of your favorite Halloween traditions you are carrying on to your children?

Oh, What do You do in the Summertime?

We were lucky enough to spend 75% of our first month of summer break traveling.  When we got home, my children were a tad high maintenance since they'd been over-stimulated with non-stop fun for a month.  I've been busy coming up with fun ideas to try to keep them busy while we're at home between days at the pool and other fun field trips.  Where do I go for ideas?  Pinterest, of course!

Just a few days ago, we made playdough.  I have posted my own recipe for glitter playdough HERE, and liquid playdough HERE. But this week we tried this no cream of tarter recipe found at To the Moon and Back.

The dough turned out perfect and is still in great condition several days later.  One batch is more than enough to split in two, though, so if you need multiple colors for multiple littles, one or two batches will suffice!


We also had fun with these robot prompts from Picklebums.  My oldest even ended up cutting his robot parts and pasting his new 'bots together.  The nice thing about this is that Picklebums was nice enough to offer it as a free printable, so we can go back for more anytime we want! ;)

Just before school let out for the year, some high schoolers came to my son's kindergarten class and did origami with them.  Since then, he's been obsessed.  So, we recently ordered this Origami Fun Kit for Beginners (Dover Fun Kits)from Amazon: (affiliate link)

It has been great for both my boys.  Obviously, I have to help them out a lot, but it is great for fine tuning their fine motor and critical thinking skills.  After they are done folding their origami, they color in the faces and any details they may want.  I currently have quite the zoo collection going on in my house.  Their imaginations have run wild...their cats have names and their pigeons now have nests...by far the best $8.00 I've spent all summer.

What about you?  How have you been keeping your little ones busy this summer?

Advent Calendar Countdown Ideas

When I was little, I loved, loved, LOVED those chocolate advent calendars that were filled with cheap chocolate. We rarely got them, but the years that we did, it was an amazing treat.

As an adult, I have always wanted one of the gorgeous, wood advent boxes. I did not, however, ever feel like forking over the money to purchase one. Imagine my surprise when, while cleaning out our garage last month, I stumbled across a brand new, never been opened, Christmas Advent Box!! (Evidently, my husband has had it for years, never used it and completely forgot about it. What?!?)

photo courtesy chinaberry.com

Of course, I have every intention of using that box this year. Instead of putting little treats in the boxes (because once my children realize there is candy in there, they will for sure bust in there and eat every last piece), I am putting activities in there. And probably a cute little "I love you" note for them too. I thought I'd share just a few ideas with you, in hopes that it can give you some good ideas for Holiday activities too!

Craft Ideas:

1. Make a snow globe (you can find that tutorial here)

2. Build a "snowman". No, we don't have snow in Phoenix. It will be in paper. On the sliding glass door. Perhaps we will also turn it into a "Pin the Nose on the Snowman" game.

3. I think these little milk jug snowmen are cute. You can find the tutorial here.

4. Make glitter "snow" dough (that recipe can be found here).

5. Make a wreath or Christmas tree out of your children's handprints.

Family Time:
1. Watch a Christmas movie of your choice, eat caramel corn and have a family slumber party.

2. Go to a Holiday event within your community (my neighborhood surrounds it's own lake, so we go to the annual Holiday Boat Parade every year. The boats/docks are totally decked out with Christmas lights!).

3. Read a new Christmas book. Obviously, books like The Polar Express and The Night Before Christmas are classics. However, I also like Auntie Claus, Moostache and Bear Stays Up For Christmas.

4. Have a hot cocoa bar and include all the possible fixin's: candy canes, marshmallows, chocolate sprinkles, whipped cream...go crazy!!

5. Read Luke 2. Or, you can watch a beautiful video of it here (I highly recommend this video. Gives me goosebumps every time!).

Just For Fun:

1. Write letters to Santa.

2. Make a gingerbread house/train/tree...whatever you want! If you have older children, turn it into a contest.

3. Make Reindeer Food to sprinkle on your lawn on Christmas Eve

Reindeer Food

1/2 c. oatmeal

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. colored sugar crystals

(I like using sugar crystals rather than the traditional glitter just

because I can't imagine that glitter sets so well in little birdies tummies)

4. Go sledding (or, if you live in warmer parts like we do, spend the afternoon at the park).

5. Spend an evening making cookies and Christmas goodies. Go out and deliver them to friends, neighbors, teachers and family the next evening. Make sure to discuss the importance of serving with your little ones!

And just a bit of advice? Keep a master list of all the activities planned. That way, if something comes up and you need (or want) to switch out an already planned activity, you can find it easily!

I hope this list provides some fun or inspires more holiday activities for you to do with your families. Happy Holidays!!

Halloween Bags

You may have noticed that the blog has been kind of  quiet as of late; that would be because I was super busy trying to get last minute costume orders done and in the mail; not to mention getting my own children's costumes ready in time for a big party this weekend.  Throw in there an unexpected sick day (or two), and there goes any and all time for blogging.  But.  I'm back.  And today?  I'm sharing the Trick or Treat bags I made with my kids.

Let me first say how excited I was when my son came to me and asked me if we could please make bags this year.  Yes!  Of course!!  And I immediately started making mental checklists and plans for these adorable Halloween bags for them.  That was my first mistake.

My son already knew exactly what he wanted.  (Which, I might add, was nothing I had even thought of).

He wanted to draw his own pictures on his bag.  AND he wanted to pick out his own fabric for this bag.

So, that's what we did.

 We went to Joanns and bought a few plain canvas bags, a set of fabric markers and the boys each picked out a Halloween fabric that they really wanted.  When we got home, I set everything out for them and let them have at it.  It kept them busy for quite a long time!

The spent so much time figuring out what they wanted to draw, what colors to use and how to make their bags just perfect.

 In the end, I ended up with 3, hand designed Trick or Treat bags for less than $15.00.  They're not the prettiest bags, but I love them because they are my children's very own bags.  So cute.  And something that we will hang onto forever.

OH!!  Our winners of The Great Paci Clip Giveaway!!

Congrats to:

Holly Mitowski

Laura Bustillo

Vicki Lesage

Cookie Friday: Scarecrow Cookies

Confession:  I hate making sugar cookies.

I feel like they're a 3 day long process.  One day to make the dough, one to roll and cut out and another to frost and decorate.  I'm much more of a drop and bake kind of gal.

So, when my son saw these adorable cookies on Pinterest, my heart sunk a little bit.  But.  It is scarecrow season, and it is close enough to a holiday to merit making sugar cookies, so I agreed.

Technically, there is supposed to be "hair" on that scarecrow, but it was just one too many steps for me.  He would be a cute Frosty for Christmas too, don't you think?

And, they're fun for little hands to design exactly how they wish!

Anyway.  You really could use any sugar cookie recipe to make these, or even get store bought cookie dough.  However, here is our favorite sugar cookie recipe:

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

6 c. flour (save 1 c. for the end)
1 t. basking soda
1 t. baking powder
1 c. butter (room temperature)
2 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 1/2 c. sour cream

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes).  Add eggs, vanilla and sour cream at low speed until combined.

Add dry ingredients at low speed just until combined.  Add remaining cup of flour as needed for correct consistency.  Roll out and cut into shapes as desired.  Bake at 425 for 7-8 minutes.

Cookie Friday: Butterscotch Krispies

I know these are nothing new (but, if you haven't managed to try these yet.  Be warned.  They are deliciously evil.  I may or may not have eaten an entire pan of these by myself.  On more than one occasion).  And technically, they're not even cookies.  But.  Kehlton asked to make these for Cookie Friday and there was no changing his mind.   Who I am try get in his way?

These are quick and simple to make.  And once you buy the ingredients to make one batch, you actually have enough to make two batches.  So when the first pan disappears too quickly, you have back up waiting.

You will need:

1 c. light corn syrup

1 c. sugar
1 c. peanut butter (chunky or creamy)
6-7 c. rice krispies cereal
1 c. chocolate chips
1 c. butterscotch chips

Combine sugar and syrup in large saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until mixture just begins to boil.  Remove from heat.  Stir in peanut butter and mix well.  Add rice krispies and stir until blended.  Press mixture into buttered 9x13 pan.

Melt chocolate and butterscotch chips together.  Stir until blended.  Spread evenly over rice krispie mixture.  Cool and then cut into bars.

A couple of notes?  I never put 6 cups of cereal in these just because I prefer them to be much gooier.  I usually only do 4-5 cups.  Also?  I never wait for them to cool.  In our house, the pan is usually half gone before they've cooled completely. They are equally delicious warm or cool.

Cookie Friday: Surprise Cookies

Kate Symmonds!!!
You won the jar of Triple Chip Cookie Mix from Mason Jar Mixes!
YAY!!!
Email me at kadydiddesigns(at)gmail.com to collect your yummy prize!


Alright.  So this week's version of Cookie Friday is a bit sloppy on my end.
Sorry.
 I totally forgot that I was planning on blogging about this until half way through,
and all I had handy was my cell phone to take photos.
So.  The photos are bleh.
My child is half naked,
and my counters are a mess.
But whatever.  That's my real life.
Doesn't everybody bake cookies in just their swim trunks?

This week we made Surprise Cookies (thanks to Martha Stewart), which I have pinned on my Cookie Monster board on Pinterest.
You can find the original recipe for these cookies HERE.
We followed everything as written, and the cookies turned out great.

Obviously.  Not my photo.  Martha Stewart's photo.  Again, the appropriate link...

Not only were they yummy, but they provided lots of helping opportunities for little hands.
These would be perfect for post-camping trip leftovers;
when you have half a bag of marshmallows left from making S'mores.
Or is that just our family?
Anyway.
Kehlton had a blast smooshing the marshmallows down on the cookies.

And he even helped make the frosting to go on top.
(The homemade frosting was delicious.
However, you could totally skip that step and just use store bought.
Sorry, Martha.)

Obviously, these were a huge hit!

If you decide to try these out, let me know how you liked them!

Cookie Friday: Mason Jar Mixes

Fridays around here have managed to turn themselves in to "Cookie Fridays".

My Kehlton doesn't have school on Fridays 

and he is so sad every Friday morning when his big brother goes off to school.

So...he and I have gotten into the routine of making cookies every Friday.  

(Not so good for my waist, but great for my mommy heart)

I decided that I would start sharing this tradition with you all too, 

in the form of new (and old!) cookie recipes and a photo or two.

Brittni, from Mason Jar Mixes, provided me one of their yummy cookie mixes for my son and I to try out.

We made the Triple Chip cookies.  

I seriously had a difficult time making myself open this adorable jar.

Kehlton and I had a blast baking 

along with a little help from sister, Jessa.

They were delicious!  And I loved how amazingly fragrant they were while they were baking in my oven.

Well.  As a fun surprise for the kick off of this new series, Brittni included a second jar of Triple Chip Cookie mix for me to share with you!  So, if you're interested in getting some fun mail that will turn into something delicious, simply follow the Rafflecopter prompts below.

I'll announce a winner next Friday over cookies!  :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tooth Fairy Pillow

Last night, my 5 year old discovered his first loose tooth. I am already struggling with the fact that he's getting ready to start Kindergarten in 3 weeks; I didn't need his first loose tooth on top of it!!  Anyway.  He was quite worried and obsessed about it last night; worried if it would hurt, worried if he could still eat, wondering if the Tooth Fairy was really real or just a story, and on and on and on.  Then at 5:30 this morning, it was the same conversation all over again.  I was trying to get out the door to work and left him with "Honey, you don't need to worry about it yet.  It will take a long time for your tooth to fall out.  It's okay".

Literally 10 minutes after I got to work this morning, my husband texted me telling me that Brychan's tooth had fallen out.  WHAT?!?! 

#1: I just found out last night it was loose!
#2: I missed it?!?
#3: My husband was still in bed when it happened, which means my son was all by himself when it happened.

So, I made a quick call to my son to get all the details, finished with work and hurried home.  As soon as we got home, we decided to make a tooth fairy pillow for him.

This is what we ended up with.

(Please excuse my cell phone photos!)

Here's how we did it!

First of all, I let him pick out his fabric from my ridiculous stash of extra fabric.  I then Googled a tooth pattern to print off and cut out.  I looked at so many different "teeth", but I think I ended up getting one from the Singer website.  Anyway.  I printed the picture, cut it out of white flannel and let my son decorate it the way he wanted (I just let him use permanent markers).  Obviously, there had to be blood; because that's what his real tooth looked like.  And then it needed a sweet smile.

Brychan then helped me sew the pillow together.  He chose some light blue minky and I cut 2 9" squares from it.  I sewed the tooth on the right side of one of my squares first; using a zig-zag stitch all the way around.  I left a little opening at the top for a pocket.

I then put the two right sides of the pillow fabric together and sewed all around the edges, leaving a small hole to a) turn it right side out and b) fill it with stuffing.

I then let him put all the stuffing in his pillow before I hand sewed the little opening up.

And there's my super happy boy with his new tooth fairy pillow!

When I first found out that Brychan had lost his tooth already, I was so sad that I didn't get a chance to order him a cute little tooth fairy pillow.  But now; I am so grateful that I didn't get that chance!  We had so much fun making his pillow together, he's proud of the fact that he made it, and he LOVES it.  He's been carrying it around with him all day.

Now if somebody could please just figure out how to make time stand still for a little while...

Monster Cookies

Today, it was super cloudy and cool outside (and when I say cool, I mean it was 95 outside); 

perfect weather for making cookies with my boys.  

So, we made Monster Cookies.

This recipe makes a TON of cookies.  I'm only giving you the 1/2 batch recipe, and I still got over 65 cookies with the 1/2 batch.  And not 65 small, bite size cookies.  I'm talking 65 - big enough to impress my son - cookies.

My advice?

Make 1/2 batch.

Bake half of that.

Freeze the rest of the dough for another day.

Unless you just really want a lot of cookies; and I wouldn't blame you.

So here you go:  

Monster Cookies

Mix together in the order given:

3 eggs

1 1/4 c. brown sugar, packed

1 c. sugar

1/2 T. vanilla

1/2 T. corn syrup

1/2 c. margarine, softened

2 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 c. peanut butter

4 1/2 c. oatmeal

1 1/2 c. M&Ms

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Drop by large teaspoonful on cookie sheet and flatten slightly with a fork.  Bake 10-12 minutes at 350.  Allow to cool almost completely before removing from cookie sheet and transferring to cooling rack (I learned this the hard way!  If you try to remove them from the cookie sheet too soon, they will crumble).

A word of advice?  Be sure to leave plenty of room for them on the cookie sheet.  They do grow quite a bit while in the oven.

I hope your kids enjoy them as much as mine!  Even my non-sweet eating child loves these!!

Summer Lovin'

I know I've been MIA for awhile...we've been busy enjoying our summer before my two oldest start school in another month.  Here's a quick recap on what we've been up to:

Spent a week in Utah visiting family

Stopped at Hoover Dam

We've been spending LOTS of hours at the pool

And exploring different parks

I can't believe we only have a month before school starts again! 

What have you been busy doing this summer?

Fizzy Fun!

Here's another super simple, super fun activity for your little ones!  All you need is baking soda, vinegar and food coloring!

Simply fill the bottom of a pan with baking soda, and give your children cups of vinegar with different colors of food coloring in them.

 Let them use eye droppers to drop the food coloring into the baking soda.  Great for hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills!  

They will have a blast watching the colors bubble and fizz in the baking soda! 

 My boys stayed outside with this for close to an hour, and they would have stayed longer if they hadn't run out of their materials!  I think vinegar and baking soda will be on my next Costco shopping list!  This activity was too much fun to not do many more times this summer!

Chalk Paint

I love Pinterest.  

And not just because I find so many fabulous new ideas, 

but because sometimes I stumble across ideas I already knew about but just forgot.  

This is one of them.

Chalk Paint

Equal parts of cornstarch and water, with food coloring (or liquid water colors) added. 

 I am out of red food coloring, so my colors are pretty boring...

But take it outside, give the kiddos some paint brushes, 

and you can enjoy quite a bit of quiet time while they are busy painting away!

I kind of wish I would have had some bigger paint brushes on hand, 

but they were happy with what they had.

And yes.  You may find that this paint is fun for fingers and toes too!

**PS?  Make sure all food coloring is safely tucked away before assuming your children are quietly having fun.  Otherwise you may be shocked to discover that your 2 year old was having fun...but in a way that dyed his skin green enough that he could be cast in Wicked as Elphaba's son.  Just sayin'. **

Spring Break Fun

We pulled out the swim trunks for the first time this season. I don't know if I should be happy about it or sad. It's so fun to have super nice weather to play in during Spring Break, but that also means that super hot days are not too far behind...

Anyway, the boys told me they wanted "this much" water:

Getting ready to run through!

It takes Brychan for-ev-er to decide to actually get in the water. 

He warms up slowly! :) 

However, once he's in full water play mode, he never wants to leave!

Sweet brothers.  I love that they are such good friends!!

What fun things did you do during your Spring Break?

Valentine's Day Crayon Art

I've been itching to get a little project on here lately, so after I came up with this idea earlier in the week, I had to hurry and get it on here!

This is a combination of a couple of different craft projects I've seen floating around on Pinterest.  I had seen somebody do this project using thumbprints (SO cute!), but I have also really been wanting to give crayon art a try.  So, this is what I came up with!

A crayon dripped heart on canvas.  It was super easy, super cheap and super quick.  Perfect!!

I started with:

• a 5x5 canvas (which was on sale for $2.49)
• a few old crayons (I used exactly 4. Purple, pink and 2 shades of red) 
• a bit of masking tape
• a lighter 
• my template (just google "heart template" you'll find something you love...)

Simply center your template to your canvas and then tape it down (I just used one tiny piece at the top of the heart). Then just start melting your crayons to drip on the canvas.

FYI? The cheap crayons drip the best!!  When you're done filling in your template (it took me maybe 20 minutes with plenty of interruptions from my 2 year old) simply peel it off. If you have any drips that fell inside the paper and outside of your heart, they easily peel off once they're dry.

There you have it!  I now want to get 2 more canvases to add an "I" and "U" to either side of the heart.