Ladybugs and Lattes

Homemade Chocolate Chip Granola Bars (no bake)

2013-05-02T15:45:00.000-07:00

**UPDATE** I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post and more here

One of my current goals is healthy eating, and for three reasons. 1) I want to drop some lbs. 2) I want to feel better. 3) I want my family to be healthy.

Upon my quest of healthy eating, I have been making a lot more homemade foods and a lot less boxed, canned, frozen, and packaged foods. Have I lost any pounds? No, not really, because I'm so excited about how good all of our new foods taste that I tend to overindulge. Oops. But have I been feeling better? Absolutely!! My husband and I used to need so many Tums for our heartburn that we should've considered stock in it to make some of our money back. Since we've cut so many extra additives and chemicals, we've considerably reduced our Tums intake! It is amazing how much better we've been feeling just by cutting some of the junk out of our diets.

With that being said, I am a granola bar fanatic! They're so easy to grab and go when we're racing out the door with coats unzipped and shoes half on and I didn't have time to sit and eat a real breakfast because the-baby-pooped-twice-in-an-hour-and-I-had-to-empty-the-dishwasher-so-that-I-could-refill-it-with-the-pile-of-dirty-dishes-on-the-counter-and-the-cat-just-spilled-her-water-all-over-the-floor-and-I-better-clean-it-before-baby-slips-in-it-and-I-have-to-change-her-for-a-third-time. Yes, I am as exhausted as that sentence.

Anyway, I also ate granola bars when I wanted a healthy snack in between meals (or when the hunger set in around 8pm). I used to buy boxes and boxes of generic brand granola bars.

Eating healthy, I thought. Saving money, I thought. Wrong! As our family makes the (slow and steady) movement towards healthier eating, we've been eating a lot more homemade and a lot less pre-packaged.

But I just can't deny my love for granola bars, so when I found this recipe, I had to try it.

Our lives will never be the same. Less junk, ingredients that I can pronounce, and they taste amazing.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup honey

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 cups quick cooking oats

1 cup crispy rice cereal

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Step 1

2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips (I just take a handful and eyeball it)

1. Mix oats and rice cereal in a large bowl and set aside.

2. Lightly grease a small pan and set aside.

Step 3

3. In a small pot, melt butter, honey, and brown sugar over medium heat until it bubbles.

4. Reduce the heat to low and cook for about 2 minutes.

5. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Then pour mixture over the cereal/oat mix.

Step 6

6. Mix well so that all of the cereal/oats are coated.

7. Pour the mixture into the pan and press it down with the spoon until it's about an inch thick. Make sure it's pressed well so that it sticks together and won't fall apart when you cut it.

Step 8

8. Spread a handful of miniature chocolate chips across the top and lightly press them down so that they stick on the granola.

9. Let it cool at room temperature for about 2 hours.

10. Slice into bars. Store covered at room temperature. (The original directions say you can put it in the fridge for a few minutes to help it set if it seems crumbly upon cutting it.)

The first time I made these, I had too little for the size pan I used. I had to squish it to make it about an inch thick and then left the rest of the pan empty. It stays in place, so no problem.

The second time I made these, my pan was too little so I had extra. Again, no problem because it was a good little snack to just eat as plain granola. In fact, I may do that again next time so that I have extra to mix in with my yogurt...if I get the chance to sit down and actually eat breakfast.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

2013-05-02T15:44:00.000-07:00

**UPDATE** I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post and more here

Is there anything more comforting than warm homemade bread? Not in this house.

I found this recipe some time ago for honey whole wheat bread and finally decided to try it. The whole process takes about 3-4 hours, but most of that time is waiting for the dough to rise and baking.

To make 2 loaves, you will need...

6 cups whole wheat flour, divided
1 ¾ cups warm water, divided

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/3 cup honey

3 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon sea salt

flour and water

~In a large glass bowl, mix 3 cups of the flour with 1 ½ cups of warm water. Set aside for 30 minutes.

~In a small bowl, combine yeast, honey and 1/4 cup warm water. Set aside for about 10 minutes so that the yeast can activate and bubbles form.

~While you wait on the dough and the yeast, melt the butter and set aside to allow it to cool.

yeast mixture

~Add the salt, melted butter, and yeast mixture to the flour/water mixture.

~Gradually add the rest of the flour.

~Once it becomes difficult to stir the dough, lay it on some wax paper and knead with your hands.

kneaded dough ready to rise

~Put the kneaded dough back in the glass bowl and cover it with a cloth to allow it to rise for about an hour.

~Meanwhile, get two bread pans buttered or lightly greased.

~After the dough has risen to about double its size, give it a good punch and then knead it for a few minutes.

~Shape the dough into 2 loaves. Then cover and allow them to rise for at least 30 more minutes.

~After they have risen to about double their size again, bake uncovered for about 40 minutes at 350*.

And there you have it - homemade honey whole wheat bread! We like to eat it warm and buttered with our dinner, but my all time favorite way to enjoy this bread -

Avocado Grilled Cheese Sandwiches!!

ingredients:
2 slices honey whole wheat bread
spreadable butter
3 slices avocado
2 types of cheese (I used American and provolone)

I've Moved

2013-05-02T15:28:00.001-07:00

It's official. I've moved.

Come check out my new stuff here!

Whole Wheat Pepperoni Pizza Hot Pockets...sort of

2013-03-29T12:51:00.000-07:00

**UPDATE**
I've Moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post here

Since I started reading food labels more carefully, my husband has been woefully missing his Hot Pockets. They were quick and easy lunch fixes, which is something he treasures since he wakes up 6 1/2 minutes before he has to leave for work and somehow manages to get dressed, brush his teeth, grab breakfast, and make a lunch in that time.

How in the world does he do this? He has an awesome wife (*cough* me) who usually preps lunch foods into individual containers. But on the off chance that I just didn't feel like prepping a whole lot (okay, this happens more than I'd like to admit), he scours the freezer for fast foods to zap in the microwave.

Hot pockets used to be that last minute meal...until I started reading labels and began avoiding foods with too many ingredients I didn't know how to pronounce. But I just can't help feeling bad for that sad face at 7:38am as he searches the freezer.

A little googlin' and pinterestin' later...homemade hot pockets!

I didn't go by the original recipe totally, but it sparked some ideas for me to create the best hot pocket flavor of all: Pepperoni Pizza. And nothing says "Happy Friday" quite like pepperoni pizza for lunch.

Ingredients:
* Pizza dough (I made homemade dough using half whole wheat flour and half bread flour)
* tomato sauce (I used a few spoonfuls of leftover spaghetti sauce from when I made Easy Spinach Lasagna)
* shredded mozzarella cheese (I used about 1 cup)
* pepperoni (I used turkey pepperoni because I like how it's leaner and less greasy)
* an egg and some garlic powder and Italian seasonings (optional)

Don't be intimidated by the idea of making your own pizza dough. It is so easy and had I realized how simple it was before, I never would have purchased the frozen kind. You can try my recipe here.

Step 1) Make your pizza dough (or use the frozen kind, after it has defrosted and risen). After it has risen, roll it out and cut into even pieces. I made 4 but they're on the bigger side so maybe 6 would be better? Roll each piece into a ball.

Step 2) Take a dough ball and roll it out into a circle. Spread on some sauce, cheese, and pepperoni.

Step 3) Fold up the ends and pinch the dough together really well. I didn't do this so well and had sauce ooze out a little. (See picture below)

Oops. The sauce oozed.

Step 4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 with the rest of the dough balls.

Step 5) Whisk an egg with some Italian seasonings and garlic powder. Brush it onto the tops of the hot pockets. This is optional because it's really just to give it a golden brown color plus some extra flavor. Now, if you're a pro in the kitchen (or less lazy than me), you could use a brush to spread the egg on top. If you do it my way (with the fork that was used to whisk it), you may end up with an eggy mess like I did.

Oops. Eggy mess due to laziness.

Step 6) Bake for 20 minutes at 375*

Cady approved

Is it gorgeous? Not really. I need to practice my shaping and "brushing".

But does it taste awesome? Yes!

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

2013-03-29T12:16:00.000-07:00

**UPDATE**
I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post here

This is my new go-to pizza dough recipe! Had I known about this before, I never would have purchased the frozen kind. Also, this dough takes about 2 hours max to be ready, whereas the frozen kind takes all day.

This recipe makes enough for 1 pizza, but I usually double it to make 2 (because is 1 delicious homemade pizza ever enough?).

Ingredients:
* 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast
* 1 Tablespoon brown sugar

* 1 Cup warm water

* 1 1/4 Cups whole wheat flour

* 1 1/4 Cups bread flour

* 3/4 Teaspoon sea salt

* 1 Tablespoon olive oil

In a large bowl, whisk the yeast, brown sugar, and warm water (warm, NOT hot). Then let it sit for about 10 minutes. It will become bubbly.

Then add the remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix.

Lay it out on a clean counter or wax paper and knead it for about 5 minutes.

Pat it into a ball and put it back in the bowl. Cover it with cling wrap and let it rise 1-2 hours.

Once it has risen, use floured hands to flatten it out onto your pizza pan and you're ready to make your pizza!

Learning Colors with Easter Eggs

2013-03-25T14:10:00.000-07:00

**UPDATE**
I've Moved!
You can find this post here.

My little Cady is fascinated with shapes, colors and letters right now. It's so fun to watch this little person soak up new knowledge every day.

Well, Easter is coming up and I want to encourage her interest in learning colors, so I created these simple felt activities for her.

2 Colored Egg Matching Activities

1) Using scrap felt, I cut out egg shapes in as many colors as I had available. Then I cut each in half (with a zig-zag) and put the tops of the eggs on the flannel board. The idea is that she finds the matching bottom half and completes each egg. She was more interested in putting the pieces wherever she wanted, but eventually she'll get it.

2) Another project I created for her is felt eggs that have matching plastic eggs. I sat down and cut out the felt while getting in my afternoon Restaurant Impossible fix, then I hot glued the "yolks" onto the "whites".

With this activity, she can find the matching color and stuff it inside the plastic egg. This activity develops fine motor skills, cognitive development, and imaginative play.

I stuffed all of the eggs and put them in her Easter basket. I'm going to casually leave it out on the floor so when she wakes up from nap, she'll spend a good 20-30 minutes exploring the eggs. It's a sure way to keep her out of trouble long enough for me to prep dinner.

Banana Berry Yogurt Smoothie

2013-03-20T14:57:00.000-07:00

**UPDATE**
I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post here

It may still be freezing outside, but I have sweet dreams about the approach of spring and summer.

I made these yummy smoothies for breakfast, turned up the heat, and walked around in bare feet, pretending we had decent weather.

Ingredients:
*1 cup of frozen blueberries
*1/2 of a large banana
*1/2 cup of vanilla flavored yogurt
*2 teaspoons honey
*1/4 cup orange juice

Blend well and devour immediately.

Again, I used my Baby Bullet because I love it and it's so easy to clean. It's also the perfect size to make one really big smoothie (or two medium sized smoothies).

What was the best part? After every sip, Cady made a satisfied "ahh" sigh.

Avocado Hummus

2013-03-20T12:12:00.000-07:00

**UPDATE**
I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post and more here

I am totally addicted to hummus. It is a delicious mid-morning (or afternoon or evening or whenever the craving hits) snack that Cady and I like to share. Yes, even the 1 year old loves hummus! She also loves (and I mean loves) avocado. Could I combine both flavors and be the best mom ever (according to my hungry child)? Yes. Yes I could.

I found this recipe.

I altered the recipe slightly to our liking and - Success!

Ingredients:
15 oz cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 avocado, peeled and cut up into chunks
1/4 cup lime juice
2 garlic cloves (I ran out, so I ended up using some garlic powder)
1/4 cup cilantro (original recipe calls for 1/2 cup, but it was too much for us)
3/8 tsp salt
crushed red pepper, to taste (I wanted it to have a little kick)
1 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil

(*Original recipe calls for 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper. I substituted with crushed red pepper.)

Blend all of the ingredients except the olive oil. Once well blended, slowly pour in the olive oil while it is still blending. That's it!

The recipe gives instructions for garnish, but I knew we were about to devour it so I did not even consider a garnish beyond the handful of grape tomatoes I threw on there.

I mixed it all up in the Baby Bullet - because once the baby-food-making stage was over, I was determined to justify this purchase and its shelf space. Also, it's easy clean up. And by easy, I mean it "soaks" in the sink until the hubby gets home. Well, sometimes.

The hubby didn't like the hummus, but he doesn't like prepackaged hummus either and the baby and I didn't mind that he didn't want to partake in our healthy snacking. More for us.

This recipe is incredibly easy to make and cheaper than the prepackaged kind. And since my one year old thoroughly enjoys this healthy snack, I will be making it weekly.

4 St. Patrick's Day Crafts

2013-03-19T12:07:00.000-07:00

**UPDATE**
I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post and more here

I'm a little late posting this because our St. Patrick's Day weekend was packed full of activities and events. It was the hubby's birthday, and although his birthday is the day before St. Patrick's Day, I'm the lucky one for finding such a great husband and father of my child. But it isn't Valentine's Day, so that's all the mushy-gushing I'm going to do right now.

The hubs had to go in to work (I know, on his birthday), so little Cady and I kept busy and festive with these simple activities.

1. Shamrock Tissue Paper Stained Glass Window

I traced around the outside of a large heart-shaped cookie cutter (because free-hand drawing? Um, no, not here) to create a shamrock shape. Then I cut out the center and cut a piece of contact paper slightly larger than the opening. I tried so hard, but I still ended up cutting the contact paper so that it faced the wrong way. I do this every.single.time. Fail.

It's not a big deal, though - it just looks cleaner if the sticky side is facing the window.

Even on a cloudy day, it still looks nice with natural light shining through the tissue paper...

2. Handprint Leprechaun Beard

The picture is self-explanatory. Just don't screw up like I did and leave the printer on "Fast Print" and think that the picture will turn out with any kind of quality. Oops. Oh well. I still love that little leprechaun face.

3. Shamrock Necklace
This is one that I did mostly myself because I don't trust a 1 year old with scissors and a laminating machine. Kids may be learning how to use technology at younger and younger ages, but I think for now, I'll be in charge of laminating.

I traced a small heart cookie cutter onto green card stock. Cady helped glue stick them together to look like shamrocks. Then I punched small holes in them, laminated them, and then strung them together to make a necklace. The shamrocks don't need to be laminated. However, if your child is like mine and enjoys crumpling paper/putting it in her mouth/stepping on it/etc., laminating allows the necklace to survive the weekend.

4. Shamrock Wand

Cady painted three hearts on white card stock and then I cut them out, glued together, and laminated (not necessary, but I wanted it to last the rest of the weekend). I simply used packing tape to attach it to a popsicle stick and it held up really well.

I tried to get a cute picture of little Cady enjoying all of her St. Patrick's Day stuff, but when I actually try to get her to sit still and smile, this is what I get...

I promise, she did love it all...and so will your little one.

Cleaning Make Up Brushes

2013-03-06T14:35:00.000-08:00

**UPDATE** I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post and more here

Confession: my make up brushes were disgusting. I haven't cleaned them in...too long. In fact, it's been at the top of my to-do list for so long that it's up there with "check into new lawnmower prices". It's now March and there is over a foot of snow in my yard...so...yeah...

I found these easy directions on Pinterest last night and the simplicity of it all encouraged me to finally check off that item on my to-do list. Extra motivation: my skin has been breaking out like a teenager and although I appreciate the "you don't look your age" compliments, looking 15 isn't exactly my goal.

How to Easily Remove the Funk from Your Make Up Brushes

~ Mix 3 parts of Antibacterial Hand or Dish Soap and 1 part EVO Oil (it replenishes the brush's moisture) on a plate. I used 3 teaspoons soap and 1 teaspoon oil and it was plenty for my 5 brushes.

~ Dip your brush in the mixture.

~ Brush it back and forth on your hand. It becomes very soapy and if your brushes are as dirty as mine, you will start to see some of the make up come off on your hand. See all that purple eye shadow? Gross. No wonder my eyes have been feeling irritated.

~ Rinse the brush under running water, gently squeezing from the base and down to squeeze out even more make up.
*Side note: I had to repeat the cleaning process for my bigger brushes 3 times each until I couldn't see any more make up (and shame) come off.

~ Lay the brushes on a paper towel to dry. The original website says it takes a few hours to dry, but I cleaned my brushes, then spent 4+ hours baking bread, making granola bars, preparing dinner, shoveling the driveway, reading several books to my daughter...and they're still pretty damp. So my suggestion is to clean them and give yourself plenty of time to allow them to dry.

Soup and Bread, and not from Panera for once

2013-02-27T15:53:00.001-08:00

**UPDATE** I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post and more here

With about 12 inches of snow in driveway, all I wanted to do with cuddle up in my fleece pajamas and eat some warm comfort food. I'm usually not much of a soup person, unless it is made by someone named Panera and comes in a bread bowl. However, I've made this recipe for Broccoli Cheese and Potato Soup once before.
It was so good that I've had a taste for it ever since.

I changed it slightly for our family's taste...

Ingredients
1 small onion, chopped

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

2 1/2 cups fat free chicken (or vegetable) broth

1 cup milk

2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced small

5 cups (about 2 heads) broccoli florets, chopped into small pieces (about 2 heads fresh or 1 bag frozen)

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 slices American cheese

1 tbsp parmesan cheese

salt and pepper, to taste

-Chop the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic and set aside. I love my Chopper. It saves so much time!

-In a large soup pot, melt the butter. Add the vegetables you just chopped and sauté on low heat until they're soft (5 minutes-ish). Meanwhile, I suggest getting the potatoes ready. Again, the chopper saves so much time. If I didn't have one, I would definitely be less inclined to cook. I'm that lazy.

-Add flour, salt and pepper to the pot and stir until smooth.

-Add chicken broth, milk and potatoes and cook on high heat until it comes to a boil, then cover and cook on low until the potatoes are soft (10 minutes-ish). Meanwhile, get your broccoli ready.

-Once the potatoes are soft, add the broccoli and parmesan cheese.

-Stir and then cook uncovered until the broccoli is cooked. I used frozen broccoli and I chopped it when it was partially thawed. If using fresh broccoli, this step will take closer to 5 minutes. If partially frozen, add a couple minutes.

-Add the cheddar and American cheese. Stir well and remove from heat.

-The original instructions say to use an immersion blender. Instead, I used my handy dandy Baby Bullet (yes, there are still uses for it once you're done with the baby-food-making stage!!). Scoop a cup or 2 of the potatoes and broccoli into the blender/processor and blend it up a little bit. Then scoop it back into the soup and stir. This thickens up the soup. Don't skip this step because it really does help.

That's it! It kind of seems like a lot of work but it's so good and even my 18 month old gobbled it up in between "mmm's".

As I was cooking up this soup, I kept thinking about Panera soup and their bread and how great would it be to have a thick delicious bread to dip in my soup. (We're dippers, here.)

So I made some! Honey Whole Wheat Bread - fairly simple and very delicious (especially to make avocado grilled cheese sandwiches with).

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

2 Ingredient, Guilt-Free Cookies

2013-02-15T18:35:00.000-08:00

**UPDATE** I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post and more here

Ohmygosh!! I found this recipe for 2 ingredient cookies and had to try them. These cookies are so good and only need 2-5 ingredients. They remind me a lot of chocolate chip banana bread, so if you like that (or love it, like me), you will love love LOVE these cookies. (On the other hand, if you're a 'nana-hater like my mom, you absolutely will not like these.)

Required Ingredients:
2 large bananas
1 cup quick oats

Mix these two ingredients together. We used a fork to get the bananas really mashed up. This will take some elbow grease and a few minutes of really good mashing.

Mix in your choice of extras...but I highly recommend:
cinnamon
chocolate chips
walnuts

Plop spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. I used my fingers to help the cookie dough form into blobs.
Very delicious blobs.

Cook at 350* for 10-15 minutes. Mine came out perfectly at 12 minutes.

These are best served warm.

But what is the absolute best part?? Even if you eat the entire batch, you only ate 2 bananas, a cup of oats, and a handful of whatever other ingredients you put in. Guilt free.

Valentine's Activities with a Toddler

2013-02-15T14:51:00.001-08:00

**UPDATE** I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post and more here

Whoa, whoa, whoa. It's the middle of February?

The last few weeks have really flown by. I must have been keeping busy because I. am. so. tired.

Amidst all of the cray-cray that has been my life lately, Cady and I have managed to do a few cute Valentine projects. Mostly, we made Valentines for grandparents.

Fortunately, we have heart shaped cookie cutters in various sizes, which made this project much easier for me (and much cuter for everyone else because my free-hand hearts would not have been so precise). Cady loved that she had the freedom of holding and using the glue stick all by herself! I just showed her where to glue and she went to town. And then when it was time to press the paper together, she used every muscle in her hand and arm (and made large groans to prove to me that she was pushing them together as hard as she could). What a good little worker bee.

Homemade Monkey Valentine

Homemade Valentines

We made a dog, lion, owl, elephant, penguin, bumble bee...and this morning, we made a monkey valentine for Cady's aunt in New York.


Heart Stencils

On my lazier days, I use theme-based cookie cutters as stencils and let her color over them.

Heart Prints

On slightly less lazy days, I let her dip the same cookie cutters in paint and make prints on paper. First, she explored independently with the cookie cutters, paint, and a paint brush. Then when she was about done, I helped her make a few heart prints on top of the rest of her painting.

Pipe Cleaner Heart Ring

It's Valentine's Day. Every girl needs a little jewelry on Valentine's Day, right? I made this out of a pipe cleaner. Check out that lopsided heart. That's why I use stencils whenever possible.

And don't forget the chocolate...Girls must have chocolate on Valentine's Day! :)

I (used to) Hate Carrots

2013-01-30T16:56:00.001-08:00

**UPDATE** I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post and more here

After an unfortunate incident as a child involving me, carrots, and a late night upset stomach, I tend to steer clear of carrots. Especially raw carrots. Yuck.

However, I promised my waist line that I'd start cooking more from scratch and serving more nutritious meals for my family. Oh carrots, why do you have to be so healthy?

Amidst my research for a tolerable way to cook these orange nuggets, I found a recipe for baking sweet potato fries and I altered it for carrots. My recipe is quick (because I hated that I had to eat them, let alone focus any of my time on them) and actually.....they were delicious!!

* Wash and peel some carrots (I used 8 to feed my family of 3).
* Then chop them up into small pieces...which I haven't done by hand since I've owned a Chopper.
* Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Place the carrots on it.
* Drizzle some olive oil over the carrots, and then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix it all around with your hand to make sure the carrots are coated evenly.
* Bake at 400* for about 25 minutes.

Enjoy, because these little orange beauties tasted magnificent. Bonus: they're small and soft and perfect for babies learning to self-feed.

Looks like we'll be eating more carrots around here...and hopefully my fear of late night orange-splattered furniture will lessen. Too much? Yeah, it was...sorry.

Valentine's Day Wreath

2013-01-28T17:09:00.008-08:00

**UPDATE** I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post and more here

We had our second Pinterest party over the weekend. This is a day free of husbands and children where we make interesting things we find on Pinterest. Our first party was just before Christmas, so we made stocking stuffers: chocolate bars wrapped up in paper, ribbon and socks to look like snowmen or reindeer.

Rumchata Cupcakes

We also made Rumchata cupcakes just because...and man, were they good!

It was time to plan another party because the first one was a hit, and we chose to make a Valentine's themed wreath that I found on Pinterest.

All we did was pop in a couple movies (because this is a simple craft, but fairly time consuming), wrap a wreath in yarn, cut out and glue on felt hearts, and wrap the yarn around again over the hearts in a criss-cross pattern.

You Will Need:
1 wreath (I used a 12-inch wreath)
1 skein of yarn (actually, more like half of one - I used gray)
2 pieces of felt (1 of each color - I used pink and white)
some glue to hold down the hearts while you wrap
a piece of ribbon to hang your wreath

I hung mine on our hallway mirror and I love it!

Winter-Themed Activities for Toddlers

2013-01-15T19:56:00.000-08:00

**UPDATE** I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post and more here

There are tons of adorable winter crafts all over the internet. My challenge was to adapt ideas (or create my own) for my 1 year old and not spend a lot of money. Everything we are doing this month is either free or very cheap (because Christmas was only a month ago and my bank account is still recovering from that beating). I used many items that I always have around (paint, paper, cotton balls, etc.) and checked out many books and movies from the library. I'm more of an indoor person, so most of our activities will be inside, but I did include a few outdoor activities (weather permitting). Here is what we have planned for the month of January and I'll add more pictures as we do the projects:

Books:

The Snowy Day by Anna Milbourne

Little Mo by Martin Waddell

That's Not My Polar Bear by Fiona Watt

The Mitten by Jan Brett

That's Not My Snowman by Fiona Watt

That's Not My Penguin by Fiona Watt

I See Winter by Charles Ghigna

Snow Angels by Angel Randall

Totally Polar by Marty Crisp

Footprints in the Snow by Cynthia Benjamin

Ebb & Flo and the Baby Seal by Jane Simmons

Penguins! Strange and Wonderful by Laurence Pringle

I am Pangoo the Penguin by Satomi Ichikawa

Mouse's First Snow by Lauren Thompson

Snow Dude by Daniel Kirk

Bella Gets Her Skates On by Ian Whybrow

Under My Hat I Have a Hood by Karla Kuskin

Flannel Kisses by Linda Crotta Brennan

Dinos in the Snow! by Karma Wilson

Three Little Kittens by Jerry Pinkney

Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner

Finger-Plays/Music and Movement: (many of these ideas were gathered during my Early Childhood Education days...so I'm uncertain of their original sources...)

Finger-Plays

NOTE: I use a glove and print, laminate, and attach velcro to individual pieces to make the finger-plays more visually appealing. I also make larger pieces (like big white snowballs) and use a felt board.

*Finger-Play: 5 Little Penguins
5 little penguins swimming to shore, 1 stopped at an iceberg and then there were 4
4 little penguins fishing in the sea, 1 swam away and then there were 3
3 little penguins didn't know what to do, 1 waddled up the shore and then there were 2
2 little penguins playing in the sun, one jumped in the water and then there was 1
1 little penguin looking for her friend, she swam out to find her and that's the end.

*Song: Polar Bear, Polar Bear (tune of "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear")
Polar Bear, Polar Bear turn around,
Polar Bear, Polar Bear touch the ground.
Polar Bear, Polar Bear growl real loud,
Polar Bear, Polar Bear sit on the ground...

*Finger-Play: 5 Little Snowmen
5 little snowmen, each with a funny hat
Out came the sun and melted one just like that (slowly put 1 snowman down)
(repeat with 4, 3, 2, 1)

*Poem: Chubby Little Snowman
A chubby little snowman had a carrot for a nose. (point to nose)
Along came a bunny and what do you suppose? (hands out like asking question)
That hungry little bunny was looking for his lunch... (hand above eyes as if looking)
And he ate that snowman's carrot nose - nibble nibble CRUNCH (use hand to pretend to eat nose)

*Felt Board Story: 10 Little Snowballs (cut out 10 white felt circles)
Snow fell last night and it fell so hard, when I looked out my window, it covered up my yard.
I made 10 little snowballs and I put them in a line. One fell off the wall, and then there were 9.
9 little snowballs, I put them on the gate. 1 fell off and then there were 8.
8 little snowballs, I hit 1 up towards heaven. It came down splat!...and then there were 7.
7 little snowballs, I hit 1 with a stick. It broke in little pieces and then there were 6.
6 little snowballs, lined up side by side. My dog stole 1 and then there were 5.
5 little snowballs, I took them to the store. 1 fell off my sled, so then there were 4.
4 little snowballs, underneath a tree. I threw 1 at a mailbox, then there were 3.
3 little snowballs, I'll share them with you. You have 1 and I have 2.
2 little snowballs, left out in the sun. 1 melted away and then there was 1.
1 little snowball left all alone. I'll put it in my pocket and take it home.

*Song: "Winter Winter Wonderland" (tune of "Ring Around the Rosie")
Winter Winter Wonderland (hold hands and walk in a circle)
Pockets Full of Mittens
Snowflakes, Snowflakes
We All Fall Down! (fall down together)

*Song: "Make a Snowball" (tune of "Frere Jacques")
Make a snowball, make a snowball. (pat hands like forming a snowball)
Throw it now, throw it now. (pretend to throw it)
Make a snowball, make a snowball. (pat hands again)
Throw it now, throw it now! (throw it again)

*Song: Winter Wear Hokey Pokey (tune of "Hokey Pokey")
You put your right mitten in,
You take your right mitten out.
You put your right mitten in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the winter pokey, [shiver]
And you turn yourself around.
That's what it's all about!
Other Verses:
left mitten...
right boot...
left boot...
winter hat...
snowsuit (whole body)...

*Melting Snowmen: For a quick stretch and movement exercise, stand up tall and then pretend to melt like snowmen

*Freeze Dance: Turn on some kid-friendly music (we like to listen to some CCR or The Band Perry) and randomly pause it and freeze. Then start it back up and keep dancing.

Arts and Crafts:

Puffy Snowman

*Puffy Snowman: Mix equal parts of shaving cream and glue. Paint it onto paper and when it dries, it will be puffy like snow! Either pre-cut a snowman shape or do it after the paint dries.

*Play Dough Snowmen: Roll white play dough into balls and make (and smash) snowmen. Try my favorite play dough recipe here.

*Finger Skate Painting: Use pointer and middle fingers as if they are "ice skates" gliding on the ice and finger paint on paper.

Hand Print Tree and Glitter Snow

*Hand Print Tree and Glitter Snow: On blue paper, glue a piece of white paper on the bottom to look like a snow-covered ground. Then put a brown hand print on the paper and paint a brown tree trunk attached to the hand print. Paint glue dots all around the paper. Shake glitter (or you can use salt like we did) over the glue and tap off over the garbage can. It will look like glittery snow and a winter tree. I added the words to one of our winter songs on the bottom of the picture.

*Bubble Wrap Painting: Brush white paint on bubble wrap and make imprints on blue paper. It looks like a snow scene.

*Plow the Roads: Put a few blobs of white paint on blue or black paper. Then use a small plastic car to "drive through and plow the snow".

*Cotton Ball Igloos: Glue cotton balls or pieces onto pre-cut igloos.

Shape Snowman

*Shape Snowman: With a glue stick, place 3 white circles, an orange triangle (nose), a square and a rectangle (for the hat) onto a piece of paper to make a shape snowman. Develop shape and color recognition and fine motor skills!

*Pasta Snowflakes: First, paint pasta wheels white (add glitter if desired). Then either stick them directly onto paper or let them dry and glue them onto paper. Do this on blue or black paper or on a pre-cut snowman.

Pasta Snowflakes

*Sock Snowman: Fill a sock with polyfil. Tie it in 1 or 2 places with ribbon to make a snowman. Then use puffy paint or felt to decorate the face. I folded the top over and tied it down to make a little hat, but you could glue on a felt hat or be creative! This simple snowman is Cady's current favorite stuffed toy. She brings it all over the house with her...if only she knew how attached she is to her dad's sock.

Sock Snowman

*Ice Cube Painting: Mix a packet of Kool Aid with water and let set in ice cube trays overnight. Once they start hardening a little, stick popsicle sticks in the centers to allow for easier (and less messy) painting. Paint on white paper. Once it dries, it's like a "scratch and sniff" painting...and it smells delicious! You could also do this with food coloring, but I like the sensory development that goes along with using a fruity smelling Kool Aid.

Snowflake Painting

*Snowflake Painting: Cut up and attach pipe cleaner pieces together to look like snowflake. Make sure to add a loop handle for easy holding. Dip it in paint and make snowflake imprints.

Snowman Feet

*Snowman Feet: Press white-painted feet onto paper so that the toes are facing down. Draw on snowman features. We did this last January and saved it to be a part of our footprint calendar.

Penguin Finger Painting

*Penguin Feet: Press black-painted feet onto paper with the toes facing down. Cut out a white belly and eyes and an orange beak to glue on. Draw on any additional features (maybe ear muffs, scarf, hat...).

*Penguin Finger Painting: Finger paint with black and/or white paint on a cut out penguin. I glued on some penguin features to make it look more like a penguin.

*Cotton Ball Polar Bears: Glue white cotton balls or pieces onto cut out polar bear shapes.

Paper Plate Penguin

*Paper Plate Penguin: Cut out white circles (eyes) and an orange triangle (beak) and glue onto a small black plate. Develop shape recognition and fine motor skills (picking up pieces/using a glue stick).

*Baby Seal Sock: Fill a small white sock with polyfil and close off with a rubber band or ribbon. Draw on eyes, nose, and whiskers to make it look like a baby seal. Use a short sock because it has just the right amount of stretchy elastic part to look like the seal's flipper.

Colored Snowflakes

*Colored Snowflakes: Color on plain computer paper and then when done, fold up and snip pieces off to make a paper snowflake.

Science/Imaginary Play/Other:
*Winter Sensory Bucket: Fill a bucket with cotton balls, jingle bells, paper snowflakes, etc.

*Mitten Matching: Cut out felt in the shape of a mitten. Use as many colors as you like but make sure there are 2 of each color. This can be a matching or counting activity.

*Inside Snow Fort: Build a snow fort with folding tables or other furniture and blankets

*Shoveling: Shovel snow with a sand shovel

Sledding

*Felt Snowman: Cut out felt pieces (large white circles, smaller black circles, orange triangle, etc.) to build your own snowman and store in a large ziploc bag.

*Sledding: Go sled outside

*Snow Drawing: Use sticks to draw in the snow

*Snowman Bowling: Cover recycled pop bottles (or something similar) with white paper and decorate to look like snowmen. Roll a ball into them to go "bowling".

*Sled Blanket: Sit on a blanket and have an adult pull the blanket around the house to go "sledding"

*Snowman in a Bag: Cut black and orange foam pieces (circles and a triangle) and put inside bag with shaving cream and glitter. Mush the bag to try to move the pieces so they look like a snowman.

*Indoor Skating: Go "ice skating" with wax paper attached to feet. Use a rubber band to keep it on.

Snow!

*Snow!: Go play in the snow

*Indoor Snowball Fight: Throw cotton balls to have a snowball fight

*Ice Melting Experiment: Fill a balloon with water and freeze it – watch it shrink and melt as the day goes on.

*Blubber Bags: While learning about arctic animals, discuss how blubber keeps them warm. Put some crisco in a baggie and squish it around to get an idea of what blubber is like.

*Penguin Walk: Waddle around the room and walk like a penguin

*Penguin Movie: Watch "March of the Penguins"

*Daddy Penguin Walk: I read somewhere that male emperor penguins carry their eggs on their feet. Put a beanbag on top of your feet and try walking around the room without it falling off.

*Arctic Animal Movie: Watch "Ice Age"

Easy Spinach Lasagna

2013-01-11T09:14:00.000-08:00

**UPDATE** I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post and more here

Before I started making this dish, my husband rarely ate spinach...and I loved it, so this was a problem.

Lasagna is so delicious, but the word "lasagna" alone sends a feeling of oh-man-I'm-going-to-be-cooking-all-afternoon dread through my body. But wait, this recipe takes a fraction of the normal lasagna-making time! Mix up a few ingredients for the filling, spread the layers in a baking dish, and bake. That's it. The best part? You don't need to cook the noodles first! Seriously.

What You Need:

-10 oz fresh or frozen chopped spinach (if frozen, thaw first)

-15oz ricotta cheese

-2 cups shredded cheese, divided (I like to use mozzarella or a 4 cheese blend)

-3 cups spaghetti sauce

-6-7 uncooked lasagna noodles

-1/4-1/3 cup water

* In a large mixing bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, spinach, and 1 cup shredded cheese

* Grease a 2-qt baking dish.

* Spread 1 cup of the spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the dish.

* Then lay 3 uncooked noodles on top. You may have to break some of the noodles to cover as much of the bottom of the dish as possible.

* Next, spread half of the spinach-cheese mixture on top of the noodles.

* Repeat the layers: sauce, noodles, mixture.

* Spread the rest of the sauce on top.

* Then pour the water around the edges of the dish. This water + the water from the spinach will allow the noodles to soften while baking.

* Bake, covered, at 400* for about 40 minutes.

* Uncover, sprinkle the rest of the shredded cheese on top and bake for another 10 minutes.

My husband and daughter love to devour this recipe and if I'm lucky enough to have leftovers, it's great reheated (or freeze individual servings for quick and easy lunches for another day).

Snowman Winter Wreath

2013-01-02T19:32:00.001-08:00

**UPDATE** I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post and more here

Often, I like to be crafty. And sometimes, I actually complete my projects. This is one that I completed...probably because I was giving it as a gift instead of making it for myself. I love it because it can be hung up for Christmas time and then kept up for the next few months.

What You Will Need:
1 wreath
1 ball of yarn
1 styrofoam ball
1 piece of white fleece
1 rubber band
1 piece of material (enough to make a hat and scarf)
1 small piece of felt
small amount of polyfil
2 googly eyes
black and orange pipe cleaner pieces
1 piece of white felt
ribbon
hot glue

I purchased a sturdy wreath from Michael's and some soft baby blue yarn...

and a styrofoam ball and a piece of white fleece. I wrapped the wreath with yarn and wrapped the fleece around the ball.

I took a spare (decent-sized) piece of material, glued some gray felt onto it to make the brim of the hat, and wrapped it around the fleece ball to make a snowman head with a hat. I also added a little bit of polyfil to keep it looking fluffy and full. Using the scraps from the hat, I made a quick scarf to match.

I folded over the end of the "hat" and tied it off with a ribbon. Then I hot glued a face on the snowman using googly eyes and pipe cleaner pieces. Then I hot glued the snowman to the wreath.

It was missing something, though. I whipped up some felt flowers and hot glued them onto the wreath, as well.

I attached a ribbon to hang the wreath...and done (only 2 mild hot glue burns and several hours later)!

Colored Deviled Eggs

2012-12-27T11:16:00.001-08:00

**UPDATE**
I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post and more here

I wanted to bring some kind of food with us to my Aunt and Uncle's house. For Easter, we made colored deviled eggs and they were a huge hit, so I thought of Christmas Deviled Eggs as a variation of the same idea. Should the words "Christmas" and "Deviled" go together? Yes they should when you want to make a crowd-pleasing appetizer for a Christmas party.

They are easy and quick (I mean, it took us an hour from start to finish as we realized we were running short on time before the party...oops).

Step 1: Hard boil the eggs. This was the most time consuming part because we had to wait while the eggs cooked.

Step 2: Prepare two bowls with the dye. In each bowl, place 6-7 drops of food coloring, 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, and 1 cup of cold water. Stir.

Step 3: When the eggs are done, cool them with cold water and peel them.

Step 4: Slice the eggs in half and set aside the yolks to make the filling.

Step 5: Place the egg halves in the dye bowls and let them stay in there until they are the desired color. Mine turned out a little more pastel than I wanted, but we were short on time.

Step 6: Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Use whatever favorite recipe you like for deviled eggs.

Step 7: Let the dyed eggs dry on a paper towel.

Step 8: Once dried, stuff the dyed egg halves with the filling and sprinkle with parsley.

To make Easter colored eggs, I used pastel food coloring to get the results I wanted. They turned out great!

Christmas Squish Sacks

2012-12-24T21:06:00.001-08:00

**UPDATE**
I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post and more here

Low on time and funds (Black Friday shopping hurt my bank account this year - ouch!), I needed a gift that my little girl could give to her cousins for Christmas.

I made a trip to the dollar store for balloons, stopped at mom's to borrow her many different colored sharpies, and came home to make some playdough. What in the world did I make? Meet the Christmas Squish Sacks.

I used my homemade playdough recipe to whip up a quick batch of playdough. I say "quick" because the real time suck of making playdough is kneading in the food coloring. Since no one was going to actually see the playdough, much time was saved by leaving it plain.

Then I slyly asked my husband if he could help me with something in the kitchen. He had no idea what he was in for, but he helped me anyway because he's a good guy like that. I had him hold open each balloon while I shoved playdough inside them. Then he let out as much air as he could and tied them off.

These are awesome! They're little homemade stress balls and very addicting to absentmindedly play with.

Then I grabbed the markers and decorated the red and green balloons to look like ornaments and the white balloons to look like snowmen.

Then I tied ribbon so that the "ornaments" could be hung and the "snowmen" have scarves.

These make great stocking stuffers - and you can use any leftover dough as regular playdough. Just add some food coloring first to try to avoid any "this looks edible" incidents like I had with my little one.

Homemade Playdough

2012-12-24T20:44:00.000-08:00

**UPDATE**
I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post and more here

One of my little Cadybug's favorite activities is Playdough. Of course I sit and play with her to make sure none of it enters any of the holes in her face, but she has been sneaky in the past and tasted it anyway. Was I at all worried? No, because I made it myself and knew exactly what was in it.

It is so simple and takes only about 20 minutes for 4 decent-sized pieces!

Here is what you will need:
* 1 pot
* 1 spoon
* wax paper
* 1 cup flour
* 1 teaspoon oil
* 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
* 1/4 cup salt
* 1 cup water
* food coloring

1. Combine the flour, oil, cream of tartar, salt, and water in the pot over medium heat.

2. Stir constantly until it becomes a ball of dough.

3. Remove from heat.

4. When the dough cools, knead it with your hands to make a big, smooth, round ball.

5. Divide it into four equal pieces (or more or less, depending on how many different colors you want to make).

6. Take an individual piece of dough and flatten it out. Place 3-4 drops of food coloring on it and knead the dough in your hands until the color starts to show. Add more food coloring until you get the desired color. Repeat with the 3 other balls of dough.

7. Put each color in its own container. You can use small, air-tight containers. I typically wrap the dough in wax paper and store in a plastic baggie. It stays soft for several weeks.

8. Play and enjoy!

PS Yes, my hands have food coloring all over them, too.

Pepperoni Pizza Crescents

2012-12-19T13:25:00.000-08:00

**UPDATE**
I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post and more here

One staple in our home at all times: string cheese. It is an easy snack to grab and go, and when I was pregnant, it cured those 1am hunger pains without making me feel like I ate too much. I mean, the baby ate too much.

Over the last few months, I have been experimenting with different uses for plain ol' string cheese.

Today's experiment was a success!

What You Will Need:
3 (4oz) packages of refrigerated crescent rolls (enough to make 12 rolls)
4 string cheese sticks, cut into thirds
1 package of pepperoni (72 pieces - I used turkey pepperoni because I like that it's leaner and not so greasy)
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon Italian seasonings
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Lay each triangle of crescent roll dough flat on a baking sheet.
Put 5-6 pepperoni slices and a piece of cheese on the bottom of the triangle and roll it up.
Place the seam side down on the baking sheet.

Bake at 350* for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Mine cooked for 10 minutes on the dot and were perfect.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a bowl.
Mix in the Italian seasonings, garlic powder, and Parmesan cheese.
Once the crescent rolls are done, spread the garlic butter sauce over each roll. I used a small spoon, but a brush would work, too. I just really hate washing those brushes.
Serve these warm. You could use marinara for dipping, but honestly, they tasted really good without any dipping sauce for me.

These smelled and looked so delicious that I had to taste one...and then another.
Then I took a picture and texted it to my husband to make him jealous.

I set enough aside for his lunch tomorrow and then individually wrapped the rest and put them in a large ziplock and into the freezer for another day.

This recipe was slightly modified from The Girl Who Ate Everything.

3 Ingredient Apple Crumb Dessert

2012-12-17T11:30:00.000-08:00

**UPDATE**
I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post and more here

Looking for some inspiration, I was on Pinterest to find dinner ideas. Instead, that led to about an hour of searching through all of the great "pins" in my Following feed, and I happened to find this recipe for fresh apple cake. Only 3 ingredients? I was sold.

5 Apples (we used 2 red and 3 green), cored and sliced
1 box of yellow cake mix
1 stick of butter, melted

Place sliced apples in a greased baking dish.
Shake the boxed cake mix on top of the apples.
Drizzle melted butter over the cake mix.

Bake at 350* for 35-40 minutes, checking about half way through. If the cake mix looks powdery after cooking for a while, drizzle a little bit of water to help those spots cook.

Serve warm and with vanilla ice cream. It is absolutely delicious! I didn't even have a chance to take a picture of it with the ice cream on top - it was gone that fast!

This recipe makes about 10 servings and is very affordable. It cost me $4.21 (using store brand butter and getting the cake mix and apples on sale), which is only $.42 per serving!

Now...what to make for dinner? Back to my Pinterest page...

Busy Book Activities

2012-12-16T20:13:00.000-08:00

**UPDATE**
I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post and more here
***

I have the sweetest little girl and she does so well sitting quietly and playing with her toys by herself when I need a few minutes to get things done (i.e. the ever-growing pile of dirty dishes on the counter).

And then there are the other times when no matter how many toys she has at her fingertips, she wants whatever is in my hands. I have lost count how many times my laptop has been "accidentally" turned off by little fingers. So I created an activity for her that she can mostly do by herself, but I can sit and play with her (and still have a hand free to finish working on whatever I am doing).

This is Cady's Busy Book. I often create felt activities individually and then seal them in large ziplock bags. This time, I used ribbon to attach 6 unique activities so that it's easy to carry around and bring wherever we need it (the car, a restaurant, grandparents' houses, etc.).

1. Gumball Machine
The gumballs have velcro stuck on the backs. Cady pulls them off of the felt one by one and puts them at the bottom of the page. As she does this, I count with her 1-10. Thinking about this project now, I should've put "10 cents" on the gumball machine instead of "5 cents". Baby girl doesn't care, though, and she is happily learning how to count and developing fine motor skills.

2. Mr./Mrs. Potato Head
I glued the potato body to a piece of felt and then created a pocket on another page to hold all of the pieces. This is a picture of what it looks like "put away" and the other picture is at the top. Cady loves this activity because she can proudly show me that she knows what the "nose", "eyes", "arms", etc. are when I ask her to pick it up so we can put it on the potato head body.

3. Hen with Hidden Chicks
There's not much to actually do on this page, but she likes to lift the wing and then open the eggs to find the chicks.

4. Stop Light
We practice color recognition with this activity. I say "find the red circle", and as she picks it up (or picks up the other circles until I say "there it is!"), I tell her what they mean on the stop light (stop, slow down, or go). Then I show her where it goes on the stop light and she uses her fine motor skills to place it there. I used velcro for this activity, but it really isn't needed.

5. Ice Cream Cone
Cady loves this activity. She picks ice cream flavors and toppings and stacks them to make a tall ice cream cone and then we pretend to eat it. She's learning color recognition and hand-eye coordination. And the joy of ice cream.

6. Pizza
I cut out shapes to look like pizza crust, sauce, cheese, peppers, mushrooms, and pepperoni (not pictured). We like to put all of the pieces on the pizza crust in order and then pretend to eat it. She is learning sequencing and imaginary play.

I guess I did a good enough job for my busy little girl because when I had to put this away so we could eat dinner, she was so upset that she cried.

3 Christmas Crafts for Toddlers

2012-12-12T20:51:00.000-08:00

**UPDATE**
I've moved to ladybugsandlattes.com
You can find this post and more here
***

My little girl loves art. If it involves paint, crayons, glue, and/or paper, she is all over it.

I have seen so many adorable Christmas crafts spreading all over Pinterest, but many of them are too advanced for her little, uncoordinated hands.

I was inspired, however, to dig through my Christmas lesson plans from when I used to teach at a daycare. Here's what we have done in the last week.

1. Hand Print Reindeer with a thumb print nose and thumb print Christmas lights
I added the final details after it dried.

2. Candy Cane Rolling Ball Art

I (very poorly) cut out a candy cane and a few other holiday-themed shapes and taped them inside an old baking pan. I added a few blobs of red paint and helped Cady hold onto the outside of the pan and roll the ball back and forth. This works better with marbles, but I have a 1 year old, so marbles aren't exactly lying around here. We used a medium sized plastic ball from one of her toys.

Pro tip: Have a back up activity available while you clean up the mess. Rolling a ball through paint inside a pan is fun and all, but it won't be satisfactory for a toddler who is expecting to get messy. I taped down the leftover paper scraps and let her use her hands and the ball to paint on them while I cleaned up the rest.

3. Puffy Snowman

Mix equal parts shaving cream and Elmer's glue. It dries puffy and textured. I let Cady paint and then added the finishing touches once it dried.
Here is a close up of how puffy it looks. It looks much better in person, and this is one of my favorite projects to do with little ones.

Christmas and winter are my favorite themes when it comes to creating fun activities and projects for kids. There are some great adult projects, too, but my crafting abilities peaked in middle school. So for now, I will gladly shine while doing art projects with a toddler.