"Owl" Be Your Valentine

I love making crafts! So when I can do one together with my kids, it is even more enjoyable (well, most of the time!) Henry, and even Lucy, and I worked together to make these cute owl crayons for Henry's preschool class!

 First, we took the wrappings off of the crayons. This was not as easy as it sounds! I got out a small kitchen knife, made a cut the full length of the wrapper, then peeled off the wrapper. Cutting it first made it much simpler. 

 Even Lucy enjoyed helping! We also sorted the crayons by color. I thought this would make a better crayon rather than one big dark blob of colors.

 Next, we broke the crayons up and put them into the owl mold. 

 We placed them in the oven and baked them for about 5 minutes at 350. After they had melted quite a bit, we added more crayons to make the mold completely full. After all the crayons had melted, we put them in the freezer to cool. When they were completely cool, we popped them out of the mold! We had a great time doing these!

Lastly, I made a card on Microsoft Publisher, printed it on cardstock, and cut it out. Don't you love the cute graphics and background from mycutegraphics.com! Love their clip art and backgrounds!! And best of all, they are all free! 

Henry signed his name on the "from" spot. We placed two crayons in each bag and stapled on the folded in half paper.

  Copy and paste this picture into Microsoft Word or Publisher and make this cute Valentine's Day project with your little ones!

The BEST Hot Chocolate EVER

When I was at my friend Jenny's house about a month or so ago, she made the best hot chocolate that both of my kids just inhaled!! I asked her for the recipe, and she told me that it was on the box of the Hershey's Cocoa. (Did any of you know that there was a fabulous recipe on there??) I followed the recipe, and my kids are now asking for it all the time!

I am not a chocolate fan, but the rest of my family sure is! Hershey's refers to this recipe as "Perfectly Chocolate Hot Cocoa". My family agrees!

Here is what you need:

1/2 cup of sugar

1/4 cup of Hershey's Cocoa (yes, the unsweetened kind)

Dash of salt

1/3 cup of hot water

4 cups of milk (I used almond milk)

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Marshmallows for topping (optional - well not in my family!)

Mix sugar, cocoa, and salt in saucepan. Stir in water. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture boils. Boil and stir 2 minutes. Stir in milk and heat. DO NOT BOIL. Remove from heat; add vanilla. Top with marshmallows and enjoy!

This is a perfect treat after playing in the snow.

Heart Banner

I love (no pun intended!) decorating for the different seasons and holidays of the year. So when I saw this adorable heart banner on Pinterest, I knew that it would be the perfect addition to my Valentine's Day decorations. 

On Pinterest, they took pages out of an old book and cut out hearts for the banner. I know that I may be crazy, but I just couldn't cut up pages of a book. Maybe it's the teacher in me?? So I found 1 Corinthians 13 online then copied and pasted it into Microsoft Publisher. I wanted an "antiqued" look to the page, so I searched for a marbled background on Google images. After I had the page looking like I had envisioned, I printed the page on cardstock paper. 

Next, I traced hearts on the page. I was able to get 8 hearts on one sheet of paper. I probably could have gotten more, but I did not want any of the text to be upside down. 

Then I cut the burlap the size that I wanted for the banner and hot glued each heart on the burlap. 

After each heart was glued on, I hot glue twine to the back to connect all the pieces. I put one line of hot glue about one inch down and attached the twine, then I added another line of hot glue and folded the top down. 

Lastly, I hung the banner on my old mirror on our dining room buffet. 

I LOVED the way it turned out! I paired it with my Scrabble "LOVE" letters. I used my planter once again this month and filled it with blue Ball jars and some silk peonies. 

Three Ingredient Healthy Ice Cream

My family is addicted to this ice cream! Every night my kids (and husband) get very excited when I ask if anyone would like some ice cream! This healthy version is a great alternative! And.... it only has three ingredients - frozen ripe bananas, almond milk (or any other milk of your choice), and Agave nectar.

First, fill the blender with 12 ounces of almond milk. Then add two frozen bananas and a squirt of Agave nectar. Blend until smooth and creamy. Top with your choice of toppings! This recipe feeds four people. Just remember.... 6 ounces of milk to 1 frozen banana. 

Enjoy this guilt-free dessert!!1em;">

Winter Decorations

I just love changing the house up a bit to reflect the beauty of the winter wonderland around us! I used things I already had in my house to decorate for this time of the year!

One of the things I love to do every month is redo my big chalkboard in the kitchen!

When I saw that my sweet neighbor had put her Christmas tree on the curb to be picked up, I texted her and asked if it would be alright if I stole a few branches!! I used the planter that I created in the spring and added five small glass filled with water. Next, I used the branches from the tree to fill the planter. I love how this looks on my dining room table. Click here to see how I made the planter.

I may or may not have become obsessed with mercury glass candle sticks and pillars! I used all that I had to make the display on my buffet in the dining room. Topped with off white candles and set in front of my garage sale mirror, I love how it turned out. I also hung some glitter snowflakes from the mirror to add a little more of a winter feel.

The kids' sweet little table in the corner was the perfect place for these snowmen!

After I saw how cute my planter turned out with the Christmas tree branches, I marched over to my neighbor's house again to get some branches for my window boxes outside.

Merry "Kiss"mas and a "Chappy" New Year

 Make this adorable gift tag to add cheer to any present! 

 First, purchase some of the EOS lip balm. This is perfect for Rudolph's nose! :)

 Copy and paste the picture below in Microsoft Word or Publisher and print on cardstock. Then cut out and use a glue dot to secure the lip balm to the paper! So cute!!

The adorable reindeer is free clip art from mycutegraphics.com!

Thanks a Latte

Henry and I did one more gift tonight for two of his specials teachers! This one is super easy too!!

 We started by getting some supplies we would need!! This morning I went to Starbucks and asked for a few kids' sized cups and lids. They graciously gave them to me! (And of course, while I was there I also picked up my favorite Soy No Water Chai Tea Latte!! But that's another story......) We had some leftover green Easter grass that was the perfect color and some red ribbon too! I used a clear bag (that I purchased in a pack at Wal-Mart in their party aisle). I put the Starbucks card in the cup, put the lid on, put the cup in the bag on top of the grass, put on a twisty tie, and added the ribbon and cute card that I made!

Use this to make your own! Copy and paste this picture into Microsoft Word or Publisher, print on cardstock, cut out, and you are done!! Simple and cute!!