Homemade Slime!

OK, I know that after being gone for a while this is an odd first post but the kids had so much fun that I just had to share!

If you're kids love getting their hands dirty (we have many pictures of our playing with worms for fishing), seeing how stuff works or helping you measure out ingredients for recipes, they will LOVE making this homemade slime!

I found a kit for this at a Generations at Play, a wonderful indoor play area with coffee shop and gift store in Bayside, WI. It is my favorite spot for play dates during our long, cold winters in Wisconsin!

Here's what you do:

In a first bowl, stir together 1 medium size glue bottle (she said the cheaper the brand, the better) and 2/3 cup water. Then a few drops food coloring until desired color is attained.

In a second bowl, add one teaspoon borax to 2/3 cup warm water.

Slowly pour borax mixture into glue mixture and stir with hands and watch slime transform almost immediately! The longer you play with the slime, the more firm it becomes. 

Enjoy your slime making!!!

Amy

Apple Stamping Tutorial

I while ago I was thinking about what project I wanted the kiddos to do for our Harvestfest and I remembered coming across a picture of someone using an apple as a stamp and decided that's what they would do. I recently looked up apple stamping figuring that you can find anything online and came across another picture of an apple tree on Family Fun online (I love their magazine for ideas too!)

Start by pre-washing all items that you want to stamp (do not use fabric softener.) Next, cut a piece of cardboard to put inside the garments so the paint won't bleed through the other side. Try to make the cardboard large enough to fill most of the shirt so you have plenty of work space, especially if you are doing this project with young children.

You will need to purchase special fabric paint for this. I'm pretty sure they sell it at all craft stores.


I used a small, cheap brush to paint a trunk and some branches on each item. If you have older children, they can do this step themselves but I figured that my 2 & 4 year olds wouldn't do so well with this step. Let the shirt dry either by air if you have time or use a hairdryer.

Cut an apple in half, trying to get a nice apple seed design. I also cut some small wedges out of the back of the apple to give small fingers a place to hold onto (sorry the picture isn't very clear once I cropped it.)Place a good amount of green fabric paint on a paper plate and dip the apple half and simply stamp it on the shirt. It helps to hold it in place and push down for a few seconds to give the fabric paint a chance to soak in.

Remember to have everyone involved wear old clothing and art smocks since you are working with fabric paint!

My daughter's work in progress...

My son's work in progress...

My work in progress... I purposefully left "holes" in the tree to leave spots to stamp the red apples. My kids obviously did not do that and theirs turned out fine.

 I didn't photograph the last step but when the green paint is dry, go back and fill in the tree with the red apples! When stamping the red apples I used the half of the apple which had the stem and tried to get some of it on the shirt when I stamped.

The Finished Projects:

This is just one of those plain canvas shopping bags that I painted.

This is going to be a gift for someone special (no, it's not for me!) I plan to make a pair of matching knit pants to go with it. What is more comfy for a newborn than a onesie and pants? Maybe being naked but this little one will be born when it's still cool so it will have to wear something!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and have fun with your own apple stamping!

Amy

Fire Starters Tutorial

A number of years ago one of our friend's mother told me how to make homemade fire starters. We enjoy spending many summer weekends around the campfire at the cottage and at my parents' who live up north in Wisconsin. My husband prides himself on being an awesome fire builder and when we made these he was pleasantly surprised how much easier they made starting the fire. I know this comes at the end of summer but it could also be used in fireplaces or make great homemade Christmas gifts for the children to give!

Start with egg cartons and remove the two flaps

 You will need to save dryer lint for a few weeks until you have enough to stuff the egg cartons. It actually takes more than you would think once you really pack it in there. At this point you can tell we have a dog by all the hair in the lint!

 Just take the lint and pack it in the egg spots. If giving as gifts, it would be neat to save fun colors, maybe from the first time you wash new towel, etc.

 Next you will need paraffin wax. A few years ago these paraffin " melting pots" were really popular so if you have one, pull it out. Otherwise, just warm it in a bag in some hot water. It really is ideal to use the paraffin because it is the lowest temperature melting wax. When you use this to start a fire you don't want a wax that needs to get very hot before it melts. Also, if you have young helpers, this means that if by accident the wax would spill or drip on their hand it will just feel hot but not burn them (we use this wax on clients' hands during facials.)

 With a disposable cup, pour just enough paraffin over the lint to cover and seal it. You want to try to use as little as possible to do this and not soak the egg carton.

 The fire starters always turn out better if you have an adorable helper!

When you're ready to use them, just place the fire starters on top of the kindling and under the wood tepee.

Light the fire starter....

Sit back...

And wait for it to slowly turn into a beautiful fire!

Be sure to finish the evening enjoying your fire with...

A gorgeous sunset...

And hotdogs and marshmallows!