Kids craft: pom pom animals

I am a big fan of simple, cheap kids crafts.

So here is another one we recently did!

The only ingredients needed:

• A bag of colorful pom poms (Dollar Store)
• A bag of googly Eyes (Dollar Store)
• Glue (washable!!)
  

My kids had SO much fun creating soft, furry creatures.

I started out by helping them, but realized I should let them do it.

The perfectionist in me often wants to 'help' and let them create something that lets pretty.
But I am trying to learn to let them do their thing, and not worry about it looking good.

They enjoy it, and it has been good for me to see that they can do it on their own, even if it looks a little (or a lot) different than I had in mind.

Kids craft: flower purse

Here is another quick craft that little girls will enjoy!

What girl doesn't 'need' a cute flower purse?

All you need is"

Small craft purses ($1 for 3 at JoAnn's)

Foam Daisy Stickers

Rhinestones

Use the flowers and rhinestones to embellish the purses!

My girls liked to stuff them with little books, notepads and crayons.

I have to say that they played with them much longer than it took to decorate the purses.

But I love to see how proud they are of their own creations!!

Fresh Strawberry Jam

I always thought making jam was very difficult and time consuming.
Then I learned about freezer jam. It's quick and simple and I love it!

We made a load of freezer jam.
It's so simple. I used Ball instant fruit pectin, strawberries and sugar.

I used my blender to crush the strawberries and followed the directions on the package.

Now we have our favorite jam for the months to come!

Easy Temporary Freezer Labeling

In order to temporarily label the containers I put in the freezer, I just use some clear tape and write on it with a permanent marker. It works great, and once we finish the contents, the tape comes right off.

Why I love my garden...

Flower t-shirt refashion

I made this t-shirt, using 2 t-shirts that I bought for less than $1 at Target.

I didn't take pictures of the process, but it's pretty simple, so I will give a description of the steps I took.

I kept one t-shirt in its original shape, and cut flower shapes out of the other one, using my BigShot. But you could do this easily cutting freehand flowers, since the shape of the flowers doesn't matter too much. I also cut flowers out of burgundy tulle.

I placed different sized flowers on top of one another, some of them layered with the tulle in between.

Then, I used my sewing machine to attach them to the t-shirt.
I am not so good at sewing fine pattern, so I just went back and forth, using a straight stitch. (See picture below.)

I really love the end result, it went from a simple, basic t-shirt to something special!

I linked up to:

Ice cream cake with graham cracker crust

At our house this is a favorite for summer birthdays:

an ice cream cake with graham cracker crust.

I love it too, it is easy, and if you use your favorite ice cream flavors, it's pretty much impossible to mess it up :)

Ingredients:

· 11 whole graham crackers

· 3 tablespoons sugar

· 1 stick butter

· 2 boxes of ice cream, soft

· 1 box whipped topping (defrosted ahead of time)

· Chocolate syrup/caramel syrup/nuts/crushed chocolate chips/etc. for decorating

Preheat the oven at 350 F. Crush the graham crackers in a Ziplock bag with a rolling pin. Melt the stick of butter in the microwave in a medium bowl. Put the graham cracker crumbs and sugar in the bowl and mix.

Put in the bottom of a springform pan, (I use my largest, diameter about 10.5 inches) and press. Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

Let the crust cool down and let the ice melt (shouldn’t be liquid, just soft). Scoop the 2 layers of ice cream in on the crust, starting at the edges and fill in. Press so make sure it is compacted. Spread whipped topping on top of the cake and decorate. Cover with saran wrap and freeze.

Take the cake out of the freezer just before serving. Let it sit on the counter for a few minutes, and then the springform should come right off.

Enjoy!