Paper Plate Thanksgiving Pumpkins

This week the preschoolers and I made these adorable paper plate pumpkins for Thanksgiving. This was such a fun and easy craft to put together- very little prep and a whole lot of great discussion about the things that we're grateful for this year. If you're looking for an easy and sweet Thanksgiving craft to do with young kids, this is it!

Paper Plate Thanksgiving Pumpkins (A fun Preschool craft!)

Artsy Thanksgiving Banner Craft

Thanksgiving is almost here! Are you looking for an easy, last-minute Thanksgiving Craft that you can do with the kids? I don't know about you, but my life currently feels like it's moving at 100 miles per hour. This year Thanksgiving kind of popped up unexpectantly and I only had time to make this "Thanks" banner with my boys. I love the way this project turned out, so I thought I'd share the process here!

Artsy "Thanks" Banner for Thanksgiving

Cute Toilet Roll Turkeys

Looking for another easy Thanksgiving craft?  Grab your cardboard rolls and make these super simple turkeys using everyday materials:  toilet paper rolls and cereal boxes!  A great kids craft,  crafters of all ages from toddler to adult will certainly enjoy making and decorating these Fall fowl.

How to Make Cardboard Turkeys

(A gobble gobble great craft!)

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Easy Groovy Pumpkin Cheesecake Marbled Brownies

I've realized that I am a lazy baker.  That's the reason that I like kids crafts. They're easy and there's little pressure to make things perfect.  The act of making is the fun!  But baking?  Ugh. Completely other story. Exact measurements.  Specific ingredients.  And gluten-free baking?  (My eldest is allergic to wheat.)  Double ugh.  Forget about it.  It feels like I never have the right ingredients or flours...

So it's the holiday season and recently we were invited to Friendsgiving dinner.  I volunteered to bring a dessert... which seemed like a good idea because I wouldn't have to be in charge of the heavy cooking... But then I realized... eek! I only have 3 desserts in my current potluck repertoire- Rice Krispie treats, some variant of mochi cake, and boxed brownies.  Well, the brownies seemed to be the only viable option for this meal.  But I had just made my brownies a week ago so I figured I should at least jazz up my efforts somehow... and that's when I decided to try making something new:

Groovy Pumpkin Cheesecake Marbled Brownies

(They're so puuuuuurty?)

This post contains affiliate links.  This means I make a small portion off of any purchases made through the links at no additional cost to you.  Thank you for the grocery money!  For my full disclosure policy, click here.

Free Thanksgiving Acrostic and Word Hunt Printables

Looking for an easy, no-prep, last minute  Thanksgiving activity for the kiddos?  Well, look no further!  Here are 2 super fun printable sheets that will keep the kids entertained while the turkey bakes.

Two Free Thanksgiving Printables!

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Glittery and Gorgeous Fall Leaf Process Art

Today's fall art idea is simple, beautiful, and fun to make!  Tada! We're adding to our growing list of fall crafts with these glittery and gorgeous fall leaves!  

Glittery and Gorgeous Fall Leaf Process Art

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Easy Washi Tape Thanksgiving Banner

This colorful and beautiful Thanksgiving Banner is easy to make and will look beautiful hanging up this holiday season!  And guess what?  It's made from everyday materials like washi tape, paint chips, straws, and popsicle sticks!

Easy Washi Tape Thanksgiving Banner

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Thanksgiving photos

Hi everyone.

Hubby and I just finished watching Sound of Music.  Wow!   That was really a marathon of music.  I can't believe that the singers had the stamina to last three hours. I felt exhausted just watching them! 

(Did you watch it?  I completely melted when I heard the head nun singing "Climb every mountain."   Wow.  Voice  as like butter, I tell ya.)


Back to today's post.  Here are the promised Thanksgiving photos.  Ermm.... looking through them, I realize now that they're mostly of food.  I gave hubby the camera for the night while I hung out with the kids.  He came back with lots of food photos... so you could tell what he was mostly focused on. :)   Just imagine some people congregating around the food and then you've got the gist of  our Thanksgiving.

Happy Friday, friends!

I took this photo before the evening's events.  Chuck just looked too adorable and I knew that the outfit would be covered with food by the end of the night.

Yum.

*Drool*

I'm getting hungry again...

Yurmmm.... pie...... I wonder what we have in our fridge to snack on....

Give Thanks Poem (Illustrated)

So I took the plunge and tried creating illustrations to go with my "Give Thanks" poem.  Instead of taking the traditional paper and pen route that I used for my Tulip Time Book, this time I tried my hand at digital art.

Poem Book


Special thanks to hubby for helping me to figure out how to convert my .blah blah files to another set of .blah blah files so that I could ultimately compress them into .what-the-heck-is-happening-my-computer-is-freezing-again files.   (As you can tell, I'm quite computer savvy... ehhh... not really.)

Cakesgiving

Are you more of a sweet or savory person?

I've always been a savory type of gal.  I like eating sweets occasionally, but I always have room in my tummy for salty snacks.

(By the way, sorry hubby for devouring that bag of chips the other day.)

Anyway, back to this post.  This Thanksgiving (which shall hereafter be called "Cakesgiving"), everything changed.  Our aunt (yah, the same one that made Chuck's Hungry Caterpillar cake) fully embraced our new dietary restrictions and made a gluten-free triple layer carrot-cheesecake-carrot cake.

Oh.
My.
Goodness.

One bite and I felt myself leaving my body and floating away to sugar heaven.

Carrot cake?  Ooh yeah, it was delicious and moist.
Cheesecake center?  Um, yes please.  It's was creamy with just a bit of tang.
And that cream cheese frosting?  To.  Die.  For.

(Just thinking about that cake now makes my toes curl.)

I never got a chance to get the recipe.  Rats.  But fortunately, I did take tons of photos of her making it.  (This was me "helping" out with Thanksgiving preparations.)  So, dear reader, I present to you some delicious cake photos.

(Warning- If you're on a diet or thinking about going on a diet, please avert your eyes.  Read another post.  Take a walk.  Eat a rice cake.  Just turn away and don't look at the photos.)
  

Ooh, mix it!

Yeah, crack those eggs...

Ooh, sugar...

Softened cream cheese... yuuuuuuuum....

Take a whiff.  Can you smell it?  Yup, that's warm carrot cake fresh from the oven...

I'm totally drooling.  Oh baby, whisk that icing!

Oh. My.  Goodness.   My pulse just quickened...

Ack.  My toes are curling. 

If only they I had taste-o-vision.  Then I could reach in and take one more delicious bite. 

It was really the best cake I've ever had.
Ever.
Ever ever.


Phew.

I don't know about you, but it's time for me to cool myself off with a nice cold glass of milk.

Happy (yummy) Monday!

Happy Thanksgiving

A couple of days ago hubby and I finally opened up our Thankfulness Jar.  The slips of paper point out that we were thankful for three things in life:

(1)  Friends and family

(2)  Sleep

(3)  Heat and food

Hmmm...

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with friends, family, good food, and long turkey-induced naps. I'll be stuffing my face and snapping lots of photos to upload next week.  To keep the Thanksgiving spirit rolling, here are some photos from our Toddler Time Thanksgiving party.  Once again the teachers were super sweet and threw a great bash for the kids.

 Happy Thanksgiving!

Countdown to Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is tomorrow!  Eeek.  I know you're probably busy with plans and preparations.  But, on the off chance that you have some free moments to spare (or children to entertain), here are some last minute Thanksgiving themed crafts and recipes:

(1)  You could make a turkey paper plate hat

(2)  Or, whip up a batch of cranberry mochi cakes  (I'm making some later tonight to bring to a party.)

(3) You could record the things you're thankful for

(4)  Or, cut up an egg carton and put together this wreath to welcome guests

And, if you have even more moments to spare, would you mind voting for my reindeer head craft (number 4) in the Totally Green Crafts contest?  Their polls will be open until Sunday.

Hope your Thanksgiving Day preparations aren't too hectic!

Crapty Fridays- DIY cardboard roll kaleidoscope

Last night I finally succeeded in crapting a cardboard roll kaleidoscope.  Yes!

Please excuse me while I do a happy dance.










My crapting dreams finally came true.  This was actually my fifth attempt at making a kaleidoscope. Yup, I tried four previous iterations and failed miserably.  So here's a big virtual thank you to Genuine Mudpie for her beautifully detailed and photographed set of directions.

Thank you!

Turkey Paper plate hat

Turkey Paper Plate Hat

This Friday, Baby Chuck (wait, should I call him Toddler Chuck since he's now older than one? Hmm...)

Back to what I was saying... this Friday our local library is holding a special Thanksgiving party for the babies and toddlers.  Last month they put together such a nice Halloween party, so we're really looking forward to seeing what surprises are in store.

I wanted to help contribute to the festivities.  After finding this great paper plate hat tutorial from Alphamom, I made a whole flock of turkey paper plate hats for the kids.

Note:  This was like the only good photo that we got of Baby Chuck wearing the hat.  It's a miracle that he sat still and din't rip it off.

Cranberry Mochi cake

Last month's mochi flavor was pumpkin.  This month I'm channeling the Thanksgiving spirit and made cranberry mochi cake.

What?  Are those sounds of disbelief I hear?  Hubby shared your similar fears, but after trying my first batch he ate his words (and nearly a fifth of my mochi cake!) I can't blame him.  The cake was chewy, sweet, and tangy.

(Note:  I'm a recipe copy-cat.  The mochi recipe is from the amazing Tiny Urban Kitchen.  I just swapped out red bean paste for cranberry sauce.)

Ingredients:
1 pound of sweet glutinous mochiko rice flour
3 eggs
1/3 C vegetable oil
2 C of water
1 1/4 C of sugar
1 14oz can of cranberry sauce (whole berry)

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease your pan well because the cake is super sticky.  I used a jelly roll pan, so my cake was pretty thin.
- Mix the first four ingredients together well.
- Mix in the whole can of cranberry sauce.
- Bake for approximately  45 minutes (or until the edges are slightly brown).
- Let cake cool.  Guard it from hungry husbands.

Enjoy!

DIY Egg carton wreath

Hi everyone.  Did you vote yesterday?  I took Baby Chuck into the voting booth.  He wasn't too sure about the candidates, but he was very excited about pushing the buttons.

As I sit here and watch the results coming out on tv, I thought I would post my adventures crapting this egg carton wreath.  Since this DIY involves crap (egg carton), it technically should be posted on Friday.  But, I was so happy with how it turned out that I just couldn't wait.  (I also took a bunch of photos of the flowers for my blog facelift.  Do you like it?)

I think this is my favorite crapt so far.  It's pretty, cheery, and colorful.  It's also super easy to make.

Materials:
- egg carton (<--crap)
- cereal box
- craft paint
- paintbrushes
- hot glue gun (or possibly any other strong glue)
- scissors

Directions:

Step 1:  Get yourself an egg carton.

Step 2:  Cut the lid up into leaves.

Step 3:  Cut the egg cups up into different flower shapes.

RIP Egg carton- This is all that's left

Step 4: Cut out a ring from a cereal box (I traced a bowl and plate to create the ring)

Step 5:  Paint and let everything dry (I also doodled "hello," cut it out, and painted it)

Step 6:  Glue everything onto the wreath (I glued the leaves first, then the "hello," then the big flowers, and then the small flowers)

Happy Wednesday!

 Let's keep in Contact!

Like kids crafts and activities?  Then you'll definitely want to check out this awesome craft ebook!  It contains 115 pages of unique crafts written by 18 kid craft loving moms!  And, it costs only $12.99!

   

And, you can always find  fun ideas on my Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts!  (Or subscribe to my email mailing list by filling out the pink bar at the top of your screen.)

Happy making, friends!

A poem

(Click here to see an  illustrated copy of this poem!)


Give thanks when a bright sun warms the sky,
and thanks for each gentle breeze that whispers by.

Give thanks when we have enough food to eat,
and thanks for the good earth beneath our feet.

Give thanks when we complete honest work with our hands,
and thanks for the blessing of family and friends.

Give thanks even though current times might be hard,
and thanks for the strength found in loved ones' arms.

Give thanks for each star that twinkles at night,
and thanks for the moon's soft comforting light.

Saying Thanks

So it's been about a week that we've been storing things that we're thankful for in our Jar of Thanks.  At first it was a bit strange to keep jotting down notes, but now I'm beginning to like it.  Each time I write and drop a note I'm acknowledging something good in our life.

Lately I've also been making it a point to thank others more.  "Thank you" is only two small words, but I think they will grow a spirit of gratitude in me. I've also been trying to explain why I appreciate what somebody did.  Then maybe the other person will feel loved and appreciated with my verbal acknowledgement.

Here's hoping that it works.

(Funny side note:  I told hubby that I was trying to say "Thank you" more, and he responded, "Is that why you've been saying thank you so much lately?" Oh dear.  Oh well, let's see how this all goes.)

(By the way, thank you, dear reader for visiting this blog.  Whether you're a first time or frequent visitor, I appreciate your interest and support.  It encourages me to keep on blogging and crafting.)

Crapty Fridays- Creating batik-style paper and a Jar of thanks

It's November! 

Since Thanksgiving is just around the corner, I thought I'd try something new.  This month, I'm working hard at being thankful for things.  I don't know about you, but it's so easy for me to start wishing I had more or wishing I was someone else doing something else. 

I really don't like feeling this way.  So this month I'm figuring out ways to shoot those thoughts down (Katniss Everdeen style, of course).

So let's begin this journey with a crapt that will (hopefully) help me to be more thankful.   This week's crapt is a container which will hold our daily record of things we're thankful for.  Inspired by this awesome post, I made my own batik-style paper and used it to cover the container.  

Materials:
- empty and clean oatmeal container <-- crap!
- scissors
- exacto knife
- crayons
- paper bag (or any paper)
- craft paint (black and other)
- sponge brush
- paper towel
- Mod Podge (or any other glue)


 Directions: 
Step 1:  Cut out an opening on the top of your container. 

 Step 2:  Measure and cut out two sheets of paper.  One sheet will cover the top of your container.  The other will cover the container's sides.  (Note:  I just used a paper bag.  For the most part this worked just fine.  But you'll notice that my final colors just aren't that bright.  I think using white paper probably would have worked better.)

Step 3:  Draw your design with crayon.  Be sure to press hard and cover your entire sheet with crayon. This process will take a long time and your fingers and wrists may get sore.  (Ok, I admit. I've got weak wrists and had to take several breaks.) 

Here I drew the design and then had to go back and color in the background too

Step 4:  Mix your black craft paint with a bit of water. 

Step 5:  Crumple your entire drawing.  (The crumpled bits will allow your black paint to adhere in interesting ways.)

Step 6:  Cover your work area with scrap paper.  It's going to get messy.

Step 7:  Begin batiking!  Using your foam brush, brush black paint over your drawing.  Then, before the paint dries, use a paper towel to wipe the paint off.  Repeat this painting and wiping process until you've painted and wiped your entire drawing.

As you can see, crumpling the paper added lovely black lines.  Also, I forgot to color in parts of the paper, resulting in black areas near the paper towel. 

Now I probably don't need to tell you this... but try your best to not touch the paint. Otherwise you'll end up with lovely hands like mine...

Does this make me a real artist?

Step 7:  Let your paper dry.  (It won't take very long.)

Step 8:  Glue your paper onto your container.  I found my design to be rather dark, so I painted a green heart to lighten everything up.  

Step 9:  Create mini "I'm thankful" sheets.

I've placed the container, sheets of paper, and a pencil near our television.  Every day hubby and I are going to record at least one thing that we're thankful for and place it in the container.  Hopefully this act of recording daily blessings will help grow a spirit of thankfulness in us.

Do you have any nice ways for living a contented life?