Leap Day Frog Treats

It's my daughter's turn to bring snack for school on Monday and because Monday is Leap Day we just HAD to do something extra special! This is what we came up with:

Oatmeal Creme Pie Frog Treats! They are so cute and so easy to make that I am SURE you want to make some yourself! Here's how we did it:

Supplies:

A 2" x 3" piece of green cardstock, folded in half

Two 1 3/4" green cardstock circles

Two 1" white cardstock circles

Two 3/4" black cardstock circles

Two 1" x 4" strips of green cardstock, accordion folded

Two 2" green cardstock ovals

1 Oatmeal Creme Pie (I used Little Debbie brand)

hot glue gun and glue sticks (not pictured)

*note* I used various sizes of paper punches to cut the circles and ovals

First, glue the 2" x 3" piece of cardstock to the oatmeal creme pie. 

*Hint* I glued it along the seam on the wrapper to help ensure the hot glue didn't melt through the plastic.

Next, glue the black, white and green circles together to form eyes and then attach them to the front of the green cardstock.

Finally, glue an oval to the bottom of each accordion folded strip and then attach the top of the strips to the bottom of the pie. 

*Hint* I put the glue on the cardstock first and let it cool for just a second before attaching it to the wrapper.

And that's it! An adorable frog treat!

Don't you just want to eat it up!?!

We made them in several different shades of green.

I also added a little tag that says:

Hip Hop Hooray!

Happy Leap Day!

My daughter is so excited to take these to school on Monday! How about you? Do you have any fun Leap Day treats or activities planned?

Minion Valentine Boxes

My daughter needed to bring a decorated box to school to hold her Valentines and she requested that we decorate her box like a Minion. I only have one kid in school at this point, but the other kids were so excited about the Minion boxes that we had to make one for each of them as well. I think they turned out pretty cute.

This is Stewart. We started out with an empty box and covered it in yellow, blue, and black cardstock. We added some yellow arms, black hands, and blue overall straps with some white buttons.

This is Bob. His eyes are made from cardstock cut with varying sizes of circle paper punches. His teddy bear was cut with my Cricut using the Doodlecharms cartridge. The teddy bear's eyes are made of buttons. His heart was also cut with my Cricut using the Plantin SchoolBook cartridge.

This is Kevin. His hair and smile are made out of black pipe cleaners. I attached everything together using a glue gun.

These boxes were easy to put together and are 100% kid-approved!

Halloween Pumpkin Bowling

For my daughter's class Halloween party I volunteered to bring a game. A quick little search on Pinterest and I got the idea for Pumpkin Bowling! Because my daughter's Kindergarten class loved it and because it was quick and easy to make, I thought I would share the details here!

Supplies Needed:

10 tin cans

Felt in a variety of Halloween colors

Scissors

Glue gun and glue sticks

Small pumpkin

Directions:

1. Wash out your empty cans

2. Cut a strip of felt to wrap around each can (I cut mine long enough to overlap the felt a little in the back)

3. Glue the felt in place around the can

4. Cut a circle of felt to fit the bottom of the can

5. Glue the felt to the bottom of the can

4.  Turn the cans over so the felt circle is now on top and decorate each can to look like your favorite Halloween character! Really, with just a few simple shapes anyone - whether you are "crafty" or not - can make a variety of spook-tacular Halloween friends!

Two black ovals and one black circle on a white background make a simple and perfect ghost.

Didn't this Frankenstein turn out adorable? He's my favorite!

Just some circles and triangles plus a couple wings make this cute little bat!

Here's a close-up of the happy Jack-o'-Lantern.

This cat was my daughter's favorite. Triangles, circles, and some simple strips of felt for the whiskers.

You can set the cans up like traditional bowling pins or, for a more simple game, you can stack them on top of each other. Roll a small pumpkin towards them and see how many cans you can knock down!

Happy Bowling!

P.S. If you haven't been saving your tin cans and you need 10 of them fast, you can try out my recipe for 12-can Slow Cooker Taco Soup found here.

Easy, No-Sew Mickey and Minnie T-shirts

When my Preschooler asked if I could make her a green Mickey and Minnie shirt to wear to Preschool for St. Patrick's Day, I thought it over for a second and then agreed. I knew that it would probably be pretty easy . . . and it was!

So easy, in fact, that I made a shirt for each of my six children!

This is all you do:

1. Get some No-Sew Ultrahold Heat n Bond. They sell it at craft stores and you can also get it at Walmart. I got mine at Hobby Lobby.

2. Pick out your fabric. I used black for the Mickey and Minnie silhouette and a fun shamrock pattern for the Minnie bow and the Mickey bow tie. 

3. {Optional} I also got some black and green puffy paint to outline the shapes. You don't have to do this, but because the shamrock fabric had a white background, I wanted to outline it in green so you could see it better.

4. Iron the Heat n Bond to the back of the fabric by following the instructions on the packaging.

5. Cut out your shape. I used my Cricut Mickey and Friends cartridge to cut out the Mickey and Minnie and the bows. (I used the same shape for Minnie's bow and Mickey's bow tie. It was a silhouette of Minnie's bow that I just turned upside down for the tie). If you don't have a machine that will cut the shapes for you, you can always print a shape from the Internet, cut it out, trace it onto your fabric, and then cut out your fabric by hand.

6. After the shapes are cut, place them on the shirt and secure them by ironing them. Just follow the Heat n Bond package directions.

7. Finally, outline the shapes with puffy paint if you would like, otherwise you are done!

Quick, easy, and cute!

Here are my models.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Did you remember to wear green today?

Pot O' Gold Brownie Bites

I made these brownie bites a couple times last week and they were so easy and fun that I thought I would share!

For the pot I used a boxed brownie mix and baked up a bunch in a mini muffin tin. If you are feeling ambitious, you could also make the brownies from scratch! For the gold I used store-bought yellow frosting (again, you could also make your own). To add a little golden shimmer, I added some orange sugar sprinkles. Finally, to top it off, I added a candy rainbow. The rainbows are AirHeads Xtremes in Rainbow Berry flavor that I found in the candy aisle. I took one piece of the candy, cut it into thirds and it was the perfect size for the little brownie bite!

These are so easy and delicious, plus they're kid-approved!

Do you make any special treats for St. Patrick's Day?

Cup of Inspiration

I'm really excited to share one of my favorite lesson ideas I've used in awhile. Our Young Women lesson was on personal revelation. When I am planning my lessons I read through the outline and then start searching the Internet for inspiration on unique and interesting ways to present the topic. As I was looking up ideas for personal revelation, I found several "recipes" for personal revelation. I liked the idea, but all the recipes made full batches of different treats. As I was thinking about this, I thought it would fit more with the lesson if I could find a recipe for an individual treat, after all it is personal revelation. From there, ideas just flowed. I decided that I would make one of the popular "dessert in a mug" recipes because they make an individual serving and I thought it would be super cute to decorate the mugs with the words "cup of inspiration" to go along with the lesson theme. Everything came together perfectly!

I first picked up a bunch of plain white mugs at the dollar store, then I set out to decorate them. I searched all over the Internet and found a bunch of tutorials for DIY Sharpie mugs. After taking all the best tips, this is what I did:

I washed the mugs.

Next, I wiped the area to be drawn on with some rubbing alcohol.

Then I decorated the mug with regular Sharpies.

Next, I baked the mugs at 450 degrees for 30 minutes. I put the mugs in a cool oven, then turned it on to 450 and once it was heated set the timer. After 30 minutes, I turned off the oven and let the mugs cool over night. Some of the colors faded during the baking process, but there wasn't really any rhyme or reason to it. Sometimes it was light colors, sometimes it was dark colors, some colors faded on some mugs and not on others. They still all turned out pretty cute in the end.

*note* I did a trial run with one mug at 450 degrees and didn't have any problems other than a little fading. When I baked the rest of the mugs they ended up with a little brownish tint to them, kind of like a toasted marshmallow. I am not sure why this happened. Maybe overcrowding in the oven, or maybe the oven was too hot. Next time I would probably do two batches and bake at 425 degrees instead of 450.

After the mugs were cooled, I baked a special individual-sized cookie in each one. The recipe is super easy and meant to be made in a mug and cooked in the microwave. You can find the original recipe here. This picture was taken right after the cookie was baked. It was still warm and a little gooey. It tasted great!

After I had made all the cookies and they had cooled, I put the mugs in some little treat bags I found at Dollar Tree and attached a recipe to each one.

I assigned each ingredient in the recipe to a piece of counsel that is important for receiving personal inspiration. I found this counsel in the book True to the Faith found here.

Here is what I put on the recipe card:

For: Personal Promptings

The following recipe will prepare

an Individual cup of Inspiration.

           Ingredients: 1 Tablespoon Prayer (Butter)

                                     1 Tablespoon Reverence (Granulated White Sugar)

                                     1 Tablespoon Firmly Packed Humility (Dark Brown Sugar)

                                     3 Drops of Keeping the Commandments (Vanilla Extract)

                                     Small Pinch of Partaking of the Sacrament (Kosher Salt)

                                     1 Regular Scripture Study (Egg Yolk)

                                     Scant 1/4 Cup Time to Ponder (All Purpose Flour)

                                     2 Tablespoons Studying it Out in Your Mind (Chocolate Chips)                                         

Directions: Combine ingredients necessary for personal promptings. Start by melting your butter in the microwave. Add sugars, vanilla and salt. Stir to combine. Add the yolk. Stir to combine. Add flour, then stir again. Add the chocolate chips, and give a final stir. Now your mixture will look like cookie dough. Cook in microwave 40-60 seconds, start checking for doneness at 40 seconds. Do not cook past one minute. Remember to be patient as you seek God's will.

Recipe adapted from www.number-2-pencil.com

I handed the cookies and recipes out to the girls and we discussed the importance of each "ingredient" in the recipe.

There you have it! A recipe for personal revelation that makes a single-serving treat in a special "Cup of Inspiration". What do you think? I think the girls enjoyed it!

Minnie Mouse Birthday Banner

I recently made a Minnie Mouse Birthday Banner for my 4-year-old's birthday! She loves Minnie Mouse so that is the theme she chose for her party. The banner was pretty easy. I cut the banner with my Cricut. Here are the details if you have a Cricut and want to make your own:

I used the Accent Essentials cartridge, the Disney Mickey Font cartridge, and the Disney Mickey and Friends cartridge.

Accent Essentials:

"Accent 31 Shift" (scalloped circle), cut at 5", red cardstock

"Accent 1 Shift" (circle), cut at 4", white cardstock

Mickey Font Cartridge:

Capital letters, cut at 2.5", black cardstock

Mickey and Friends Cartridge:

"Mickey Icon", cut at 5", black cardstock

"Minnie 4 Icon" (bow), cut at 3", red and white polka dot cardstock (I found this at JoAnn's)

"Minnie 4 Icon Shadow" (bow shadow), cut at 3", black cardstock

After gluing everything together, I punched holes in each piece and added 5/32" silver eyelets. I tied each piece together with 3/8" red and white polka dot ribbon that I found at Hobby Lobby and 1/8" black ribbon that I had on hand.

I think it turned out pretty cute and my daughter loved it!

Do you have a Cricut or a similar machine? Have you ever created a banner with it?

The Lord's Lighthouse

I thought I would share an idea I am going to use for an upcoming Young Women lesson on following the Prophets.

This idea is based on President Monson's talk, "Believe, Obey, and Endure" (found here). In the talk President Monson talks about three signals from the Lord's lighthouse that will lead us back to live with Him. These three signals are believe, obey, and endure.

I knew right away that I wanted to make a little lighthouse to give to the girls to remind them of the lesson and President Monson's talk. It only took me a few minutes on the Internet before I found this cute idea that I thought would be perfect! The link gives instructions on how to make your own lighthouse, but I made a few changes.

First of all, the instructions ask for white plastic tape. I searched all over for plain, white tape and could not find any! No Washi tape, no mini Duck Tape, nothing. None were just plain white. Finally, I found Post-it Full Adhesive Roll (this is what it looks like) at Walmart and decided it would work. It was a little thick, so I cut it down the middle to make my stripes. 

As I wrapped the tape around the cup, I had to slowly angle it downward to keep it from wrinkling. This also made some interesting gaps so I covered them with some black cardstock and called them "windows" similar to the instructions, but not exactly.

Another couple changes I made: The instructions say to cut the bottom off the clear cup, but I just left it as is and started the stripes lower. I used a 1-3/4" punch to make my black circles for the top of the clear cup which fit perfectly and took a lot less time than tracing!

Finally, I added the words "Believe", "Obey", "Endure" to the stripes on the cup. It was really convenient that I used the Post-it tape because it was made to be written on. 

I plan to ask the girls to share something they believe in, a commandment they have been blessed for obeying, and something they have endured- or something that has taken courage to withstand (President Monson's definition).

I hope that the girls will keep this lighthouse in a place where they will see it often and that it reminds them of our lesson. I love this quote from President Monson's talk:

". . . there is no fog so dense, no night so dark, no gale so strong, no mariner so lost but what the lighthouse of the Lord can rescue. It beckons through the storms of life. It calls, "This way to safety. This way to home." It sends forth signals of light easily seen and never failing. If followed, those signals will guide you back to your heavenly home."

-President Thomas S. Monson

(source)

Are you teaching the Youth this month? How will you teach about following the Prophets?