I came across this adorable owl craft kit at our local Dollar Tree store. Just had to share it with you! 🙂
This is a great, simple craft kit that you can do with the kiddos. All you need to complete it is some glue.
There are no written instructions, but you can easily make this owl just by looking at the picture on the package.
These are the pieces inside the package. There are a few pieces you will need to punch out of the felt and then you’re ready to create!
I started with the eyes, first putting the white felt piece in place and then adding the 2 black eyes. You can aim the eyes in the direction you like best. 😉
Next I added the headband, feathers and the beak.
Then I added the tummy and 2 wings.
And your cute little owl is finished! 🙂 Super simple and super cute! And the best part is, it only cost $1.25! (plus tax) Great little project for fall! 🙂
I just wanted to share with you another quick butterfly update! The Monarch butterflies have been popping right and left today! At least 6 of them emerged from their chrysalis today! I caught pictures of 4 of them, but some of them were sneaky and flew away before I saw them. 😉
You might notice that you can see the empty chrysalis beside each butterfly.
This one was hanging on our decorative windmill. There are 2 other chrysalis still on the windmill and you can see one of them in this picture.
This little one was sneaky enough that I didn’t even notice there was a chrysalis on this flower until it emerged today. 😉
That’s all for today! Just wanted to share more butterfly news! 🙂 I get excited when they emerge and fly off on their own!
Hello again! 🙂 Sorry I’ve been away from my blog a lot this summer! It’s good to be back! I think it’s way past time to give you an update on our Monarch butterfly raising this year. It’s been a pretty good year for us. In previous posts, I showed you the teeny tiny Monarch butterfly eggs and then the tiny caterpillars and then how they were growing. We were able to raise and release 25 butterflies inside our home in their private little “hotels”. Yay! Here’s a few pictures of butterflies that emerged from that bunch of caterpillars.
This one is still hanging on the empty chrysalis that it emerged from. Isn’t that amazing?! How did that butterfly fit inside there? Wow, isn’t nature impressive?!
Here is one butterfly being released into the wild.
This one was taking a rest on some Swamp Milkweed.
Here’s another one checking out our orange Coneflowers.
One more picture of a butterfly almost ready to take flight from these Black-eyed Susan flowers.
After the first 25 butterflies were raised and flew off on their own, we started finding new eggs and caterpillars. But it was almost time for us to be gone for most of 2 weeks so I didn’t bring any caterpillars inside since I wouldn’t be home to care for them. BUT they did a great job on their own! 🙂
Our milkweed plants were literally crawling with Monarch caterpillars! Check this out…there are at least 4 of them in this picture!
Here’s some more! They look like little fat sausages, don’t they? 😉
We came home to find their chrysalis all over the place outside our house! Under the edge of the deck…
On the stairs…
On the downspout…
On the siding on our house…can you find 3 in this picture?
And 2 on the handrailing on the deck…
Altogether we found 22 chrysalis! Wow! Now look what is happening… 😉
Yep, the butterflies are starting to emerge! 🙂 So far, 4 of them have emerged and flown away. But wait! There was one more surprise today!! 🙂 While I was outside checking the chrysalis this afternoon, I found this!
Ha! 4 more “little fat sausages”! They were on a milkweed plant that is almost done for this year, so I brought them inside to a “hotel” so I can keep them supplied with fresh milkweed until they go into their chrysalis too. 🙂
Raising and helping to preserve Monarch butterflies is such a fun project for kids AND adults! Maybe you can grow some milkweed plants too and you just might be visited by some beautiful Monarch butterflies! 🙂
Wow! Summer is speeding by soooo fast! We have been so busy! We plant our own vegetable garden every spring and we have been super busy processing all the veggies we’ve grown. But now I want to take a minute and share a quick snack idea with you. 🙂 Let’s call them Banana Pops!
The main ingredients you’ll need to make them are a banana, peanut butter, assorted toppings and cookie sticks. You might like to also use some strawberry jam and yogurt.
Slice the banana into chunks and place on a plate.
Spread some peanut butter on the top of several pieces of banana.
You can put peanut butter on all the banana chunks or spread some pieces with strawberry jam or your favorite yogurt.
Put a cookie stick in each banana chunk. I cut my sticks in half.
Add your favorite toppings to each banana pop and they are ready to eat! I used multi colored sprinkles, raisins and Teddy Graham cookies. You could also use chopped nuts, chopped dried fruit or chocolate chips.
These are great for a quick and easy snack or even for breakfast! Enjoy! 🙂
Do you love s’mores? That yummy dessert that is made around a campfire with a fire toasted marshmallow and a piece of chocolate candy bar sandwiched between 2 pieces of graham crackers? Yea….that one! 🙂 But do you sometimes get hungry for s’mores when you aren’t by a campfire to toast a marshmallow? Well, here’s the next best thing – the Walking S’mores Dessert! You will need the following items: individual packets of Teddy Grahams bear shaped snacks, chocolate pudding, miniature marshmallows and whipped cream.
Note: To make this dessert the original way means you open the little packets of Teddy Grahams and put the other ingredients inside the packet and thus you can walk around while you eat them. Buuuut I can only imagine the mess that might make, so while we had 4 grandkids staying with us last week, we opened the Teddy Grahams and poured them into a bowl. 😉 So you can buy a box of Teddy Grahams instead of the individual packets.
Another side note: Have you ever noticed that the Teddy Grahams teddy bears are not all the same? Pretty cool, right? 😉
Back to our s’mores…next add a dollop or two of chocolate pudding on top of the Teddy Grahams.
Add a few miniature marshmallows…
Top with whipped cream…
Grab a spoon and dig in! 🙂 That’s how simple this Walking S’mores dessert is to make! Our grandkids gave it a thumbs up! 🙂
Greetings, butterfly lovers! I don’t have much time for blogging today (company is coming!) but I wanted to give you a quick update on the Monarch caterpillars I showed you. Remember these tiny guys?
I took that picture 5 days ago, but here is a picture I took just this morning. Do they look different to you?
Wow! They grow so fast that it’s hard to believe! 🙂 They are still quite little, but are you surprised at how much bigger they are? It’s so fun watching them grow! 🙂 Check back later for more Monarch caterpillar updates!
I’m so excited to tell you that we are now finding Monarch butterfly eggs and caterpillars on our milkweed plants! 🙂 Each year for several years now, I try to help the endangered Monarch caterpillars survive until they turn into butterflies and then I release them back into the wild. It’s sooo interesting and fun! Monarch caterpillars will only eat the milkweed plant, so that is where you will find their eggs and caterpillars. They are just now starting to show up here in our part of Ohio. I currently have 14 teeny tiny caterpillars and they can be pretty sneaky and a bit hard to keep track of since they are so tiny! Here’s a close-up picture of one…notice how small it is in comparison to my thumb and finger.
Now let’s test out your powers of observation. Can you find 4 caterpillars in this picture?
There is one caterpillar on each piece of the milkweed leaves. In case you are having trouble seeing them, here’s a bigger picture.
I bet you found them all now! 🙂 Can you believe how small they are?? Wow! Remember that I said they can be sneaky little guys? Look at this guy I caught escaping from his “hotel”!
Luckily I saw him before he got any farther and I offered him a fresh piece of milkweed and he decided he liked that and crawled aboard. I put him safely back in his hotel. 😉
Stay tuned for more Monarch caterpillar updates coming soon! 🙂
Yep, today is National Kitten Day! (Who knew?) Baby animals just don’t come any cuter than sweet adorable little kittens! Here are a few that I got to play with recently. 🙂
I grew up having kittens and our kids grew up having kittens, but I’m sad to say we don’t currently have any. But occasionally I get to enjoy kittens that someone else owns. 🙂 Just look at this little face!
I also believe having a pet is good for children. Yes, it teaches them responsibility when caring for a pet, but its also so wonderful to have a pet to love that loves you back.
And yes, there are lots of kittens looking for a loving home or even a foster home and perhaps you can help out in that department. But this post is mostly just to say Happy National Kitten Day and I hope you can hold a kitten today! 🙂
The Kids Niche 