Category: Uncategorized

Turkey Headbands

Yep, you read that right…turkey headbands! It seems like a lot of folks have gone from celebrating Halloween straight to Christmas preparations, but I think we should enjoy Thanksgiving first! So here’s a Thanksgiving craft to do with the kiddos that will also make for a cute photo op on Thanksgiving Day. 😉

You will need a piece of brown or black construction paper, some scraps of different colored construction paper, a small piece of cardboard or cardstock, scissors, a black marker or crayon and glue or double sided tape.

Cut 2 strips about 1 1/2″ wide the length of the brown construction paper. Make sure that 2 pieces put together will fit around the head of the child making this. You can cut more strips if needed.

Tape or glue 2 narrow ends together to make a longer strip for the headband.

Wrap the strips around your child’s head so the headband is snug enough to stay in place. Tape or glue the other 2 ends together too. Your headband will now look like a circle.

Now let’s make the turkey parts! Using the piece of cardboard or cardstock, make a pattern in the shape of a narrow leaf or feather.

Use the pattern to trace around the feather on each scrap piece of colored construction paper.

Cut out each feather.

You know the red thing that hangs down by the turkey’s beak? It’s called a snood. You can draw one on a piece of red construction paper. Don’t worry about being exact here. Just draw something similar to this:

Cut it out using your scissors. Next, draw 2 fairly big circles on white paper for the turkey’s eyes. You might have a tiny glass you can use to trace around to make your circles.

Using a black marker or crayon, color 1 dot on each white circle for the eye pupil.

Cut a nice sized triangle out of orange paper for the turkey’s beak.

Ok, we have all the pieces ready so let’s put the turkey headband together! You can use glue or double sided tape. I went with the tape. First glue/tape the orange triangle on for the beak.

Put the snood on next, right at the corner of the beak.

It’s time to add the eyes! You can put them on in any direction you like. I put the black dots close together, but you can experiment with the eyes to see how you want your turkey to look.

Apply the feathers to the inside of the back of the headband. You can put on as many feathers as you like.

Once the feathers are attached, your turkey headband is ready to wear! (Unless the glue needs to dry first.)

If you have more than one child making a turkey headband, you can customize them so each child’s look a bit different from the others. I tried to get Rusty (our dog) and my husband to model my headband for you, but both said they would rather not. 😉 Have fun and don’t forget to take some pictures!

Easy Nilla Wafer Banana Pudding

Do you look for easy dessert or snack recipes to make with your kids? Here’s a great one that’s been around for a long time and has many different versions. There are ways to make this dessert from scratch, but this way is quicker and easier because it uses instant pudding. Doesn’t it look delicious? 🙂

You will need a box of Nilla wafers, 1 box of instant vanilla pudding, milk and bananas.

Begin by making a layer of Nilla wafers in the bottom of your dish.

You can use the Nilla wafers whole or you can break them in half. I prefer to break them because it’s easier for little mouths to eat them in smaller pieces.

Take a handful of Nilla wafers and put them in a ziploc bag and crush them into very small pieces.

Set the crumbs aside for a later step.

Next add a layer of sliced bananas on top of the Nilla wafer layer. I prefer to also cut the banana slices in half for little mouths.

Prepare the instant pudding with milk according to the package directions.

Pour the prepared pudding on top of the banana slices immediately after mixing, before it sets up.

Sprinkle some Nilla wafer crumbs on top to make it look nice.

Pop your bowl of yumminess into the refrigerator and let the pudding chill and set up. Then it’s time to enjoy! You can add whipped cream or sprinkles on top. You can also make 2 layers of each item or prepare it in individual bowls. But this dessert is super quick and easy and great fun for the kids to help make! 🙂

Happy National Deviled Eggs Day!

Did you know there is a National Deviled Eggs Day? Nope, I didn’t either. But “luckily” Facebook informed me today so I made deviled eggs to help “celebrate”. 😉 I’m sharing the way we make deviled eggs at our house and it might be different from the way you make them. But they are very yummy and I’ve gotten lots of compliments on them.

The main ingredient you will need is, of course, eggs. Hard boil some eggs using your preferred method.

After the eggs are done cooking, get them into cold water to stop the cooking process.

After the eggs have cooled, peel the shell from them.

Rinse each egg to make sure all the shell pieces have been removed.

Using a sharp knife, cut each egg in half lengthwise.

Carefully remove the yellow yolks and put them together in a small bowl.

Smash the yolks with a fork until they are fine pieces.

Now for my secret ingredient! 😉 Add a dollop of Miracle Whip salad dressing. I prefer to use this over other mayonnaise as it has an extra little tang to it. Add a dash of salt too.

Stir together and add enough Miracle Whip so that the mixture is creamy.

Refill the egg whites using the egg yolk mixture.

Add a sprinkle of Paprika on top of the deviled eggs to add a little flavor and make them look nice.

And they are ready to enjoy! Be sure to refrigerate the deviled eggs until you are ready to serve them and also if you have any leftovers. I hope you enjoy our way of making deviled eggs and that you have a Happy National Deviled Eggs Day! 😉

More Toy Clearance Including LEGO!

I made a run to Walmart yesterday and saw some really great prices on some clearance toys! Check your local store to see if they have the same deals, but here are a few things I saw at our store here.

#1.) LEGO City Hospital #60330 Sale price of $79.00, normal price $120.00.

#2.) LEGO Friends Canal Houseboat #41702. Sale price $49.00, regular price $80.00.

#3.) LEGO MARVEL ETERNALS Rise of the Domo #76156. Sale price $49.00, regular price $90.00.

#4.) LEGO SUPER MARIO Big Urchin Beach Ride #71400. (Expansion set) Sale price $45.00, regular price $60.00.

#5.) LEGO City Wildlife Rescue Off-Roader #60301. Sale price $30.00, regular price $49.97.

I just want to mention a couple of other toys that are not LEGO related.

#6.) Care Bears Birthday Bear. Sale price $11.00, regular price $19.97.

#7.) Nickelodeon Paw Patrol City Tower. Sale price $15.00, regular price $26.44.

#8.) Mini Brands balls Series 3. Sale price $2.50, regular price $6.97.

Happy shopping! 🙂

Nutter Butter Mummy Yummies!

Two very special people did a Halloween food craft and were sweet enough to share their pictures with us! Our daughter and granddaughter made some very yummy looking mummies out of Nutter Butter Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies. Don’t these look great?! 🙂

You will need some Nutter Butter cookies, some white chocolate or white candy melts and some candy eyes. Begin by melting the white chocolate. Then dip each cookie into the melted chocolate.

Lay the dipped cookies on a flat surface that is covered with wax paper.

Add 2 candy eyes to each cookie while the chocolate is still soft.

I guess they could be ghosts if you stopped here! Lol Wow, it looks like they made a whole army! 😉

To finish making your mummies, run thin “strings” of chocolate back and forth across each cookie. You can do this by adding the melted chocolate to a pastry bag with a thin round tip on it and piping it across the cookies. Or use a ziploc bag and cut a tiny hole in one corner and use it in the same way.

That’s it! Now you have some very yummy mummies to share for Halloween! I believe this batch of mummies went to a school Halloween party!

We’re sending a special thank-you (and some hugs!) to our amazing crafters for today’s post! 🙂

Hotdog Mummies for Halloween

If you are looking for a fun food idea for a Halloween meal or a Halloween party, may I suggest you try hotdog mummies? This is a straightforward simple way to make a cute treat that will bring smiles all around.

You will need a pack of hotdogs (wieners), a package of crescent roll dough and some mustard.

Open the package of crescent roll dough and lay out 2 crescent roll dough pieces together to form a rectangle.

Press the dough together in the middle where the dotted cut is. You want one solid piece of dough.

Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into thin lengthwise strips.

Take 1 strip of dough and begin wrapping it around 1 hotdog.

Continue adding strips of dough until you have wrapped dough the entire length of the hotdog. Leave some space between each wrapping as the dough will swell as it bakes. Press the ends of the dough strips together so you have a continuous piece of dough wrapping the hotdog.

I used bunsize hotdogs because that is the kind that were available at my store. Regular size hotdogs are fine. Once you have wrapped all the hotdogs, you are ready to bake them.

Bake according to the time and temperature listed on the crescent roll package. Bake until the dough has lightly browned and hotdogs are heated.

The mummies eyes are made with mustard. I suggest you put a little mustard on a piece of waxed paper or a plate and use a toothpick to put the little dabs of mustard on the mummy.

And that’s all there is to making hotdog mummies!

A word of caution for feeding hotdogs to young children…hotdogs are one of the foods that are easy for kids to choke on. So please cut these into smaller pieces before giving them to your kids. A half of a slice of a hotdog is a good idea. We love kids and don’t want to see anyone hurt. 🙂

Enjoy some yummy mummies this Halloween!

Dessert Tacos #2 – Banana Split!

We had so much fun last week making Dessert Tacos with apples, that we tried another version of Dessert Tacos. They are very yummy too, but also messy so keep a plate handy when you eat these! 😉 This version of Dessert Tacos is like making a banana split in a taco shell! Let’s go!

Start with heating/baking your taco shells.

Once your shells are heated, allow them a few minutes to cool enough to handle them comfortably. Meanwhile, grab a bag of your favorite chocolate chips. I used milk chocolate.

Add some chocolate chips to a microwave safe container along with a little bit of coconut oil and microwave for 30 seconds and then stir. Microwave for additional time until the chocolate chips are completely melted. Be careful and only microwave for 15-30 second intervals at one time before stirring again.

Take a taco shell and dip it into the melted chocolate.

You can dip the shell in the melted chocolate to suit your preference. Maybe you only want one end dipped in the chocolate or maybe just the top middle area or you can coat the entire taco shell with chocolate. I might have gotten a little carried away and completely covered my shells with chocolate. 😉 Place your chocolate tacos on foil or waxed paper covered tray or cookie sheet.

Place your tray of chocolate covered shells into the refrigerator until the chocolate completely hardens. When the shells are ready, gather your favorite banana split ingredients and get ready to stuff those shells!

I started by putting banana slices in the shells first. I found that leaning the shell on the side of my tray made it easier to put the ingredients inside.

Next came the ice cream…

Then some strawberry and pineapple toppings.

I topped it off with some whipped cream! Mmmm!

Doesn’t that look yummy?!

There is something quite satisfying about the crunch of the taco shell along with the sweetness of the ice cream! 🙂 Now, if that seemed like way too much chocolate for your taste, try this way instead. Bake the taco shells as before, but skip the chocolate dipping part. Start with adding the banana first… (If you noticed the cardboard around the shell, that is the piece of cardboard that comes with the taco shells and keeps the first taco in the line from closing up. It worked nicely to help support the shell while filling it.)

Then the ice cream…

Maybe some tiny marshmallows are next…

Drizzle some delicious chocolate syrup over the top.

And don’t forgot a nice big squirt of whipped cream to finish it off!

In this version, you still get the taste of chocolate, but it’s not completely overwhelming. It just depends on how much chocolate you think your banana split needs! 😉 I hope you’ll give these Dessert Tacos a whirl! 🙂

Super Easy and Fast Jack O’Lanterns

Hope you all had a good weekend! We’re back with a super fun and super easy way to make a Jack O’Lantern! (And cheap!) All you need is an orange balloon and a black permanent marker.

Step #1.) Blow up the balloon and tie it off.

Step #2.) Draw a Jack O’Lantern face on the balloon.

And you’re done! 🙂 You can tie a string to your Jack O’Lantern and hang it in a door way. Or find some place silly to put him. Like in your mom’s Autumn decorations… 😉

This is such a fast way to make Jack O’Lanterns that you can make a whole bunch of them! You can make a happy face or a scary one or a mean looking one. It’s a fun craft for a Halloween party too! 🙂