Telescopes/Spy Glasses

I made these for the kids to play with at my son's Pirate Birthday Party!

SUPPLIES:
Empty Paper Towel Rolls
Black Paint
Gold Paint
Paint Brush


DIRECTIONS:
1. Paint each paper towel roll black. (I used Americana Acrylic Paint - Lamp (Ebony) Black)

2. Paint three gold stripes on each roll. (I used Americana Gloss Acrylic Paint - Antique Gold). I did two coats of the gold so the black wouldn't come through.

*If you don't have enough paper towel rolls you can also use toilet paper rolls; just use duct tape to connect two together before you paint!

Gender Reveal!

Today we found out Elijah is going to have a little sister! Here is the announcement we used for Facebook! I took the picture myself and edited it on PicMonkey.com.

Here is another photo I took...

And here is the photo I took before we found out...

Pregnancy Announcement

I placed our Mickey ears on the staircase. I used Picmonkey.com to add in the wording & border!

Cinnamon Ornaments

INGREDIENTS & SUPPLIES:
1 Cup Cinnamon Powder
1/4 Cup Applesauce
1/2 Cup White Glue
Mixing Bowl
Rubber Spatula
Measuring Cups
Rolling Pin
Cookie Cutters
Straw
Paint/Glitter
Paintbrush
Ribbon/Twine

DIRECTIONS:
1. Mix Cinnamon Powder, Applesauce, and White Glue in a bowl with the rubber spatula, then let stand for about an hour.

2. Roll out the dough.

3. Use cookie cutters to cut out different shapes or you could even do hand prints of your kids!

4. Lay them on a cookie sheet to dry.

5. Use the straw to poke holes at the top of each ornament.

6. Flip the ornaments every so often while they are drying.

7. Once completely dry decorate the ornaments with paint and glitter.

8. Tie a piece of ribbon or twine on the top and hang on your tree or attach to a gift!


*I did this with my 2 year old son. I mixed the dough and cut out all the trees. I painted them all green and let him put the "decorations" on each tree. We will be keeping one and giving the rest as gifts to family and friends!

**Original recipe from http://www.marthastewart.com/907577/cinnamon-bird-ornament

Cookie Dough Truffles

INGREDIENTS:
 1/2 Cup Butter
1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Sugar
2 Tablespoons Milk
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 1/4 Cups Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
White, Dark, or Milk Chocolate for coating.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix ingredients in bowl.

2. Place dough in refrigerator for 30 minutes or until firm enough to handle.

3. Form dough into balls about 1 inch big. Arrange on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

4. Place cookie dough balls in the freezer for 15 minutes.

4. Melt chocolate and coat entire cookie dough ball.

Thanksgiving Turkey Craft

SUPPLIES:
Paint (Brown, Orange, Red, Yellow, White, Black)
Cardstock Paper (any color but we usd off white)
Paint Brush


DIRCTIONS:

1. Paint toddlers hand and have them make hand prints on the cardstock using the yellow, orange, and red paint (2 hand prints in each color).

2. Paint toddlers foot brown and have them make a footprint in the middle of all the hand prints (feathers).

3. After all the paint is dry help your toddler draw a cute face on your turkey! You could also substitute the black and white paint for googly eyes!

Diaper Box Fire Truck

I made this because my son is going to be a Fireman for Halloween and I wanted to make him a truck to go along with his costume! This would be great for pretend play also!

SUPPLIES:

• 1 Large Diaper Box
• Red Spray Paint
• Black Spray Paint
• Yellow, Red,& Silver Cardstock or Construction Paper
• White Cardstock (optional)
• Scissors
• Extra cardboard (I used the cardboard that they stick under the frozen pizzas.)
• Glue (I like Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue because it works great on cardboard)
• Nut & Bolt
• Ribbon or Duct Tape

DIRECTIONS:

1. Remove all price tags/stickers from the diaper box. Open up the bottom and fold all flaps inside (even the top ones). Don't just cut these off because they help the box keep it's shape.

2. Use red spray paint and make sure to cover the entire box. It may take a lot to cover it especially if you use a purple Luvs box like I did.

3. Cut 5 medium circles from the extra cardboard for the tires and the steering wheel.

4. Paint tires and steering wheel black.

<-steering wheel

5. Cut circles from the red & silver cardstock paper then glue them to the ties.

<-tires

6. Use the yellow cardstock paper to make headlights.

7. (OPTIONAL) Use the white cardstock to put an engine number on the front of the truck (I used my cricut machine to cut out the letters but you could also use white paint or a paint pen and write it on).

8. Attach the steering wheel with a nut and bolt so it will actually turn!

9. Glue (and staple for extra security) the ribbon (or you can use duct tape)  so it can be worn over the child's shoulders (measure it on them before cutting so it sits where you want it to).

10. Attach the four tires using glue.

I used a Fire Truck from our city as 'inspiration".

**Project originally found on http://wholesomemommy.com/kid-craft-fun-with-a-cardboard-box-fire-truck/