Fourth of July Family Fun

Fourth of July means, picnics, barbecues, pool or beach fun, enjoy the fireworks and just all around great family time. Here are some great ideas for things to do with your children to celebrate the fourth.

Children’s Crafts:



Every barbecue could use some great 4th of July napkin rings! This is a great project for a patriotic holiday picnic. Have kids sit at the table and make the napkin rings while you man the barbecue grill!

What you'll need:

• 24" elastic cord, cut into 3 even pieces
• 20 red pony beads
• 12 white pony beads
• 8 miniature white pony beads
• 4 red miniature pony beads
• 5 blue star pony beads
• White craft glue

How to make it:



1. Thread one white pony bead onto a piece of elastic cord. Run the other two pieces of elastic cord through the bead as well. With all three elastic cords lined up evenly, thread them around and back through the bead a second time.



2. Pull ends to tighten so the beads don't fall off. You will remove this knot later.



3. Thread five red pony beads onto one of the elastic cords. Thread four white pony beads onto the middle piece of elastic, and five red pony beads onto the last elastic cord.

4. Add two miniature white pony beads to the cord that has the red pony beads. Repeat for the other cord with red beads. Add two miniature red pony beads to the cord with the white beads.

5. Add a blue star bead to each of the three elastic cords.

6. Next, reverse the pattern. Thread two miniature white beads, then five red regular beads. On the center cord, thread on two miniature red beads and four white beads. Finally, add two miniature white beads and five red beads to the last cord.

7. To complete, thread all 3 elastic cords through two white beads.

8. Carefully undo the temporary knot you created in step one. Add one more white bead.



9. Gather both ends of the cords together and tie them into a knot.

10. Thread a blue star bead on each end of the knot and loop the ends back through each bead as you did in step one.

11. Add some white glue to the holes of the blue star beads and let dry.

12. When dry, trim the ends of the elastic.

Tips:

1. You can purchase specialty packs of "patriotic" colored beads that include everything needed here, including the miniature beads and the star beads.

2. Convert this project into a bracelet by simply using longer pieces of elastic and more beads.

3. Elastic cord is available in the sewing department.



Another great decoration for your table this Fourth of July are these adorable treat holders made to look like Uncle Sam’s hat. Fill with your favorite treats and give away as party favors at the end of the party!

What you'll need:

• Styrofoam cup
• Red and blue felt
• Red paint
• Paintbrush
• Silver chenille stem
• Scissors
• White craft glue
• Black marker

How to make it:

1. Place cup, open end down, on top of the red felt and trace with a marker.

2. Cut around the traced circle leaving a ¾” border around it.

3. Fold the circle and cut a slit in the center of the circle to allow your scissors to get in. Cut out the inside circle, leaving about a ¼” border around the inside of the trace line. Set felt circle aside.

4. Paint red stripes all the way around the outside of the cup, stripes should run up and down. Let dry completely.

5. Cut a strip of blue felt about 1.5” wide. It should be long enough to wrap around the brim of the cup.

6. Glue felt strip around the outside of the top of the cup.

7. Lay red felt circle on to work surface, black trace line should be facing up.

8. Line the lip of the cup with white glue and press down onto black trace line. Let dry.

9. Turn cup over and place on work surface.

10. Use silver chenille to bend into star shapes, trim where needed. Glue onto the blue hat band.

11. When everything is dry, fill with treats.

Tips:

• To make our treat cups sturdier, especially if using outside, glue a heavy washer to the bottom of the cup.
• You can add handles to your cup by twisting to chenille stems together and poking through the sides of the cup and running over the top. This step should be done before adding the blue brim.
• You may also use white paper or plastic cups for this project.

*the above activities and photos are from Kaboose

Fun Recipes:



Red, White and Blue Salad

Tossed in fresh lime juice and garnished with mint, this combination of juicy strawberries, diced apples, and fresh blueberries makes a refreshing treat on its own. Spoon it over vanilla ice cream, and you've got an instant and irresistible dessert.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
• 3 cups fresh blueberries
• 1 quart fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
• 3 medium apples, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the lime juice, honey, and mint. Add all of the fruit and toss to combine. Let the fruit salad set for 15 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. Serves about 8.



Flavored Ice:

One way to make a splash this Fourth of July is by treating your kids to tall glasses of Patriot's Punch. Simply fill an ice cube tray with a red or blue fruit-flavored beverage (such as Powerade, Gatorade, or Kool-Aid) and let the cubes freeze solid. Then drop three or four colored cubes into each glass, pour in flavored seltzer water or clear soda, and watch the special effects. As the cubes melt, colored bubbles will swirl through the seltzer.

Ingredients

• Red or blue fruit-flavored beverage



Summer Berry Triffle:
This is heaven in a a dish!

Serving this traditional English dessert in a glass pedestal bowl shows off its impressive layers of ladyfingers, pudding, and colorful fruits. If you don't have one, a regular glass bowl will also do the trick.

Ingredients

• 1 package (3.4-ounce) instant vanilla pudding
• 4 cups fresh berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, or blackberries), washed and hulled, plus extra for garnish
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 24 to 36 ladyfingers

Instructions:

1. To make the fillings, prepare the pudding according to the package directions and chill it.

2. Slice the strawberries, if you're using them, then toss all of the berries with the lemon juice and the 1/4 cup of sugar. Set aside for 30 minutes to allow the berries to release their juices.

3. In a medium mixing bowl, whip the cream, vanilla extract, and remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar until soft peaks form. Set aside.

4. To make the layers, set a layer of ladyfingers (around 7 or 8) on the bottom of a large, clear serving bowl (ours was 4 quarts). Top with the berries with half of the pudding.

5. Add another layer of ladyfingers, another third of the berries and juice, and the rest of the pudding. Add a final layer of ladyfingers and berries. Top with the whipped cream and a berry garnish.

6. Refrigerate until you're ready to serve. Serves 8 to 10.

*the above recipes and photos are from Family Fun



Fruited Cheesecake Flag

Strategically placed berries make this rich, creamy, and indulgent dessert even more memorable. Cut into diminutive squares, the patriotic cake affords guests equal opportunity in their pursuit of the perfect summer sweet.

Ingredients
Makes 48 squares

• Vegetable-oil cooking spray
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• Coarse salt
• 12 ounces (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons light-brown sugar
• 32 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 6 ounces (1 1/2 cups) blackberries
• 8 3/4 ounces (2 cups) blueberries
• 1 pound strawberries, hulled and sliced lengthwise into thirds (optional)
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
• 12 ounces (3 cups) raspberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Coat a 13-by-18-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on the long sides. Coat parchment with spray.

2. Sift flour and 1 3/4 teaspoons salt into a bowl. Cream butter with a mixer on medium-high speed, occasionally scraping bowl, until fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. With the mixer running, slowly add light-brown sugar, beating until very pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture all at once, and beat on low speed until just incorporated.

3. Transfer dough to sheet. Use a large piece of plastic wrap to press dough into an even layer that covers the bottom of the sheet. Cover and refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes.

4. Bake dough until entire surface is golden brown, about 40 minutes. Let cool completely in sheet on a wire rack. Raise oven temperature to 350.

5. In a clean bowl, beat cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed, occasionally scraping bowl, until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and add granulated sugar in a slow, steady stream. Scrape bowl, then mix in lemon zest, vanilla and almond extracts, and a pinch of salt until well combined. Scrape bowl, then beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until incorporated. The mixture should be very smooth; scrape bowl as necessary. Pour over crust, and spread into an even layer.

6. Bake until filling is set, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely in sheet on rack. Refrigerate until firm and cold, about 4 hours (or overnight).

7. Run a sharp knife along short sides of sheet, and use parchment to lift out cheesecake. Run knife under hot water and dry well. Use it to cut cheesecake into 48 squares, wiping knife clean between cuts.

8. Transfer squares to a serving platter, reforming the rectangle. Decorate top left squares (3 down and 4 across), placing a blackberry in the center of each square and mounding blueberries around it. Using a long offset spatula, slide out 4 squares from bottom row. Top each square with 3 strawberry slices, dust with confectioners' sugar, and return to rectangle. Repeat with remaining 4 squares on bottom row and then squares on alternating rows. Alternatively, omit strawberries and dust alternating rows generously with confectioners' sugar. Place raspberries on every unadorned row, beginning with top row. Serve immediately (or refrigerate overnight).

*the above recipe and photo from martha stewart

Great Etsy finds:


Fourth of July Pinwheels



Fourth of July tutu


Fourth of July Wreath


And for those who were born on the 4th of July a great gift

So how did you and yours celebrate the holiday? Hope it was great! Now go out and PLAY!

It's time for a Cinco de Mayo fiesta!

So it’s almost that festive time of the year: Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican victory festival observed by Mexican-American communities and primarily in Puebla, Mexico. This day celebrates patriotism, unity and Mexican heritage.

Why not have a little celebration with your kids, they will love it! Here are some of our family favorites!

Guacamole

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe Haas avocados
• 1/2 bunch fresh cilantro,leaves chopped
• 1/4 medium red onion, diced
• 2 jalapeño peppers, stemmed, seeded and finely diced (optional)
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
• salt and pepper freshly ground, to taste

Instructions:

1. Cut the avocados into halves and remove the seeds. Peel the fruit and place in a mixing bowl.

2. Have kids mash avocados with a potato masher or fork until chunky. (Good luck stopping them from mashing into a thin paste!) They can add the remaining ingredients (after grown-ups have chopped the jalapeños) and mix with a fork

Photo credit above:american feast dot com

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo crudités

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo and get your kids to eat their veggies with healthy crudités in the colors of the Mexican bandera nacional, or national flag.

Ingredients

• Pea pods or green beans
• Jicama, cut into strips
• Red pepper
• Green pepper
• Orange pepper

Instructions

1. Arrange pea pods, jicama sticks, and red pepper strips on a platter as shown, then center a green pepper ring and the bottom of an orange pepper on top.

2. Set out your snack with dips in the same festive colors: green guacamole, white ranch dressing, and red salsa.

above photo credit from: Family fun

In Seattle WA there is a wonderful bakery called Trophy's and in the past they created a cupcake in honor of the holiday it's the Margarita Cupcake, a Lime Cupcake made with lime zest, fresh lime juice and lime oil topped with tequila and lime Buttercream and finished with candied lime zest and salt.Yum! I wonder if Trophy ships to DC...

above photo credit from: trophy cupcakes

For your Cinco de Mayo celebration, why not make your own pinata to add to your festive decor? Making a pinata is a great craft to do with the whole family. With just a few simple supplies and a little imagination, you’ll have a beautiful pinata in no time. Hang it up in the backyard or the park for your Cinco de Mayo celebration. The kids will love it! Here’s how to make it:

Materials:

2 cups flour
3 cups water
1 balloon
Newspaper, cut into long inch strips
Paint, crayons, or markers
Colored crepe paper
String

Directions:

1. Blow up a large balloon and tie the end

2. Mix the flour and water together until it makes a smooth paste

3. Dip the newspaper strips into the flour and water mixture

4. Carefully place the strips on the balloon until it is covered, leaving a hole at the top

5. Set aside and let the balloon dry

6. After the it feels pretty dry, place another layer of newspaper dipped in the mixture over the balloon and let dry again

7. Put one more layer of paper on the balloon – be sure you still leave the hole at the top

8. Now the fun part- when it’s completely dry, pop and remove the balloon

9. Get your creativity going and paint your pinata with different designs and colors

10. Traditional pinatas are made in a pointed star shape and have colored crepe paper from the sides and bottom so feel free to add some colored crepe paper to your pinata.

11. Punch 2 small holes in the top near the opening and string a large piece of string through the two holes

12. Fill your pinata (through the hole you left at the top) with candy, toys, or any other fun surprises. In order to keep the prizes/candy inside from pooling in one area, also fill the pinata with leftover newspaper strips or crepe paper.

13. Your done! Now you need a good place to tie pinata and a stick and and a blindfold.

If you are an advanced pinata creator, use your imagination to create a fun design like a flower or an animal shape. Try using thick colored paper filled with scrunched up newspaper and glue or tape to add any details to your basic pinata structure.

idea and photo from:Purple trail

Cactus ring toss

How To Play The Game:

1. Player stands behind the starting line and gets 3 large rings.

2. Player throws the rings at the cactus and needs to hook one of the arms to win.

3. If the player is not successful they go to the back of the line and lets someone else have a turn.

4. Take a picture of your guests with the big cactus

above photo credit: ultimate party shop dot com

How do you celebrate? Any ideas we'd love you to share them with us.

Spend Earth Day with your kids

photo credit: blog dot music notes dot com

Tomorrow is Earth Day --and it's the 40th Anniversary of the holiday. It's a great time to learn about our planet and how to take care of it! Here are a few great ways to share this day with your children.


Egg Carton Buggy Mobile
photo credit and idea: Amanda Formaro

This cute little egg carton buggy mobile is a time consuming project, but the results are well worth the time invested! You can shorten the time of this craft by making it a group project. Let each child make one bug to hang on the mobile and it’ll come together in no time.

Materials:

• 18 place cardboard egg carton
• Scraps of colorful patterned papers (wallpaper samples, old greeting cards) or construction paper
• Acrylic paints: red, orange, brown, light blue, green, purple, yellow, white and pink
• Scissors
• 2 black skinny chenille stems
• 9 flat-backed heavy pebbles, marbles, or other object
• White yarn
• 2 heavy twigs or craft dowels
• 9 medium black pom poms
• 18 small wiggle eyes
• White craft glue
• Acrylic sealer spray
• Paintbrush
• Hot glue gun

Instructions:

1. Remove the lid of the cardboard egg carton and save for another project. Place bottom of egg carton upside down and paint two sections with each color noted above (i.e. 2 red, 2 orange, 2 brown, etc). Repeat for a second coat and let dry. Spray all painted cups with acrylic sealer spray.

2. Cut the egg carton sections apart. Trim around the sections so that all you have left are colored cups.

3. If using patterned paper, most likely the backside of the paper is blank. If this is the case, fold the patterned paper in half, pattern on the outside. Put a layer of glue in between and stick together. This will create a piece of patterned paper that is patterned on both sides. If using construction paper this step is not necessary.

4. Cut leaf-shaped wings from the paper.

5. Separate the colored egg cups so that you have two groups of nine cups, one of each color.

6. Turn one group of colored cups over, set the other group aside.

7. Squeeze some white glue into each of the cups that are turned upward. Place a flat-backed marble into each cup and allow time for the glue to dry. This will give each bug enough weight that they will hang nicely on your mobile and will cut down on the lines tangling together. It will also help the bugs to “look” downward so that they are seen from the ground.

8. Cut 9 pieces of yarn about 18” long each.

9. Onto each of the egg cup halves with the marble in them, glue a black pom pom to the closed (bottom) end. Now pair up your colored egg cups.

10. To assemble each bug body you will need a pair of the same colored egg cups, a set of paper wings, an 18” piece of yarn and your hot glue gun. Pipe a layer of hot glue onto the outer open edge of the egg cup with the marble in it, place the wings onto the glue, the yarn in the middle of the open cup at the top, and then the other egg cup goes on last. Repeat these steps for each bug.

11. Now that the bodies are assembled you can glue the wiggle eyes onto the black pom poms.

12. Cut the black chenille stems into 2” pieces. Bend the ends or twist them around a thin handled paintbrush. Put a dot of hot glue on the straight end and push into the top of the pom pom. Repeat for the other antenna.

13. Cut another piece of yarn about 12” in length. Crisscross the two dowels and wrap with yarn to secure, add a dot of glue to reinforce. Be sure there is enough yarn left over to tie a loop at the top to hang your mobile from.

14. Tie each bug onto the dowels, two on each ‘arm” and one in the middle. Stagger the lengths and tie in place. When you have them where you want them, trim the excess


Friendly Robots
Photo credit and idea: family fun

These friendly robots are more than just good-looking; magnets hold their features in place, making the 'bots the metallic equivalent of a Mr. Potato Head.

Materials
• Tin can
• Electrical tape (optional)
• Hardware, and various recyclables such as bottle caps, keys, etc.
• Hot-glue gun
• Strong disk magnets

Instructions

1. Open a tin can with a safety can opener so there are no sharp edges. (If you only have a regular opener, line the inside of the can's rim with electrical tape.)
2. Empty, wash, and dry the can.

3. For facial features, arms, propulsion devices, and communication arrays, look for items around the house and at the hardware store. We used bolts, brackets, hinges, keys, wing nuts, switches, bottle caps, washers, knobs, and more.

4. Hot-glue the items to strong disk magnets.


Magazine Holder
photo credit and idea: Amanda Formaro

Don't throw away your kids' old cereal boxes! Turn them into attractive magazine holders with this handy Earth Day craft.

Materials:
• Empty cereal box
• Scissors
• White acrylic paint or spray paint
• Light green and dark green acrylic paint
• Sponge or leaf shaped foam stamp
• Thin paint brush
• Sand paper or gesso/craft medium (we used Liquitex Basics Gesso)

Instructions:

1. Cut off top of cereal box. Halfway across top of box, cut at a 45 degree angle down to front of your magazine holder, cut straight across then back up other side at the same angle.

2. Lightly sandpaper outside of cereal box. (They are usually shiny, coated paper.) Alternatively you can paint a layer of gesso all over the box. Either one of these methods will help the paint adhere to the box.

3. Spray paint the box white, or paint on with inexpensive sponge brush. Let dry.

4. Cut out leaf shape from sponge or use a leaf shaped foam stamp.

5. Pour out small amount of green paints.

6. Use thin paint brush to add a swirled line all over the box, this is the vine.

7. Sponge paint (or use foam stamp) green leaves on front of box leading to sides of box. First the darker, for background leaves, then lighter for foreground leaves.

8. If painting more than one box, try to connect vines on each box so when set together they will match.


Mom’s Memo Board
Photo credit and idea: family fun

Get the message across with a repurposed cookie sheet.

Materials:
• Non-aluminum cookie sheet
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Self-adhesive shelf liner
• Scrap of wood
• Hammer
• Large nail
• Empty can
• Glue (we used Crafter's Pick The Ultimate)
• Supermagnets
• Bottle caps
• Card stock
• Markers

Instructions:

1. Measure the back of your cookie sheet and cut a piece of shelf liner that's an inch wider and an inch taller. Stick the shelf liner to the back of the cookie sheet by peeling off one corner of the liner and laying it down on a corner of the cookie sheet. Slowly pull the backing away as you smooth the liner onto the sheet. Cut off the excess shelf liner.

2. To make a hole for hanging, place the cookie sheet over a piece of scrap wood and use a hammer to punch a nail through the center of the rim.

3. For the pencil holder, cut a piece of shelf liner that's about an inch taller than the can. Wrap the liner around the can so that the ends overlap a bit, then cut off the excess liner. Glue two magnets to the side of the can.

4. For the bottle-cap magnets, glue a magnet inside of each cap. Cut a piece of card stock to fit the cap, write a name on it, and glue it on top of the magnet.


Cooking with kids for earthday:


Photo credit and recipe: family fun
Earth Day Snack Bars

Chocolate: Africa's Ivory Coast is the largest producer of cocoa beans, the ingredient that gives chocolate its unique, irresistible flavor.

Coconut: The Philippines and Indonesia are the world's leading producers of copra, or coconut meat.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups baking mix (we used Bisquick)
• 1 1/2 cups instant oats
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• ADD-INS:
• Coconut flakes
• Chocolate chips
• Chopped dried pineapple
• Raisins
• Chopped Brazil nuts

Instructions:

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine the baking mix, oats, brown sugar, butter, egg, and cinnamon.

2. Stir the mix with a wooden spoon until you have a crumbly dough. Next, customize your international treats by folding in 1 cup total of the add-ins of your choice.

3. Press the dough into an ungreased 9- by 13-inch pan and bake for 17 minutes or until the center is set and the bars are slightly brown. Allow them to cool for 10 minutes before cutting. Makes 1-1/2 dozen 2- by 3-inch bars

Remember getting kids into the garden is a great way to introduce them to green living!

A fun thing to do on Earth Day is to go see Disney’s new Movie “Oceans!”

Disney's Oceans - opening Earth Day 2010

How are you going to spend your Earth Day?

Spring into Passover and Easter with your children

Spring has always been a fun time in our home. It's a time of celebrating the new and remembering the traditions of our families.


photo credit: martha stewart dot com

This adorable candy decoration is perfect for your families Easter holiday celebration.

Tools and Materials

• One 12-inch round Styrofoam wreath form
• Five 6-inch round Styrofoam wreath forms
• 28-inch dowel, 1/2-inch diameter
• Sharpened pencil
• 1/2-inch-wide green ribbon, seam binding and twill tape
• Glue
• Flathead pins
• Floral pins
• About 25 Marshmallow Peeps of one color for flower center
• About 60 Marshmallow Peeps of one color for flower petals
• Royal Icing
• Toothpicks
• Clear vessel filled with jelly beans or other candy

Directions

1. Using a sharpened pencil, bore a hole through one side of a 12-inch round Styrofoam wreath form.

2. Insert a 28-inch dowel, piercing through to the opposite side.

3. Wrap the Styrofoam wreath form and dowel in green ribbon, securing every few inches with a dab of glue.

4. Attach a 1/2-inch-wide piece of ribbon around the outer rim of a 6-inch Styrofoam "petal" form and secure with a flathead pin. Repeat to make five petal bases.

5. Secure petals to 12-inch Styrofoam base with 2 floral pins each, creating a flower shape.

6. Decorate petals with Marshmallow Peeps, using a combination of royal icing and toothpicks to secure.

7. "Plant" finished flower creation in a clear vessel filled with candy.


photo credit: Dylan's Candy Bar

Colorful Tower of Peeps

You can't have Easter without Peeps! This colorful tower of everyone's favorite marshmallow candy is perfect for sharing on Easter morning. You can make your own or hop over to Dylan's Candy Bar and order one for your favorite little bunny!


photo credit: family fun magazine

This bee won’t sting

Tools and Materials:

• eggs
• newsprint
• egg dye
• paper towels
• birthday candles or crayons
• red and black acrylic or tempera paint
• brushes
• white tissue
• glue

Instructions

1. Blow the Egg: Wash and dry the raw egg. Cover your table with newsprint and set out bowls, pushpins, and paper towels. Shake the egg to break the yolk. Next, pierce the top and bottom with a pushpin, making the hole on the wider end a bit larger. Position the egg over the bowl and blow through the small hole, allowing the inside of the egg to seep into the bowl. Set the empty egg, with the large hole down, in an egg carton to dry. Be sure children wash their hands after handling raw egg.

2. Degg-orate the Egg: Let the kids paint half of the egg, stand it atop a bottle cap to dry (use a hair dryer to speed things up), then paint the other half. Centering the face on either hole, paint on features with contrasting colors. Paint your bee bright yellow, then paint on a red smile, black eyes, and black stripes. Glue on white tissue paper wings.

3. Take Flight: Tape a long length of fishing line to the end of an unfolded paper clip. Starting at the small hole, thread the line through the decorated egg and out the large hole. To keep your flying critter upright, tape the fishing line just above the hole in the critter's back. Hang it from the ceiling or an egg tree.


photo credit: family fun

Jelly Bean Carrots: I used to make these every spring for my girls and our company, I know your children will love them!

Tools and Materials:

• Orange jelly beans
• Scissors
• Green tissue paper
• Twist ties

Instructions

1. Fill an icing bag with orange jelly beans, leaving at least 3 inches unfilled at the top.

2. Cut out two 8-inch squares of green tissue paper and lay one atop the other. Pick up the squares from the center and give them a little twist so you have a cone-shaped carrot top.

3. Place the tissue, twisted end down, into the bag. Gather the bag at the top of the jelly beans and secure with a twist tie.


photo credit: a taste of home

Italian Easter Bread

Ingredients

• 3 to 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup warm milk (120° to 130°)
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 7 eggs
• 1/2 cup chopped mixed candied fruit
• 1/4 cup chopped blanched almonds
• 1/2 teaspoon aniseed
• Canola oil

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine 1 cup flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Add milk and butter; beat 2minutes on medium. Add 2 eggs and 1/2 cup flour; beat 2 minutes on high. Stir in fruit, nuts and aniseed; mix well. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

2. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl; turn once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

3. If desired, dye remaining eggs (leave them uncooked); lightly rub with oil. Punch dough down. Divide in half; roll each piece into a 24-in. rope. Loosely twist ropes and tuck eggs into openings. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan; cool on a wire rack. Yield: 1 bread.


photo credit: Martha Stewart

The Tastiest Matzo House for your Seder table

Tools and Materials

• 6-by-6-by-6-inch cube cardboard box
• Scissors or utility knife
• Tape
• Matzo
• Melted chocolate
• Kosher foods for decoration

Directions

1. Begin by folding the cardboard box into the form of a house: trim 2 of the top flaps into triangles and tape the 2 uncut flaps onto it along the cut angles to create a support for the pitched roof.

2. Squeeze melted chocolate onto form. Tip: Keep melted chocolate liquefied by resting a container of it in warm water.

3. Attach pieces of matzo to chocolate-covered house form.

4. Decorate the matzo house with kosher food items of your choice, using the melted chocolate to attach the decorations to the house.


photo credit: kaboose dot com

Child Designed Passover Seder Place Mat

Tools and Materials:

• White poster board or craft foam, big enough for a place mat
• Construction paper: green, white, brown, red
• White paper
• Pencil
• Markers: yellow, orange, red and blue
• Black thin tipped marker
• Clear self-adhesive paper (recommended: Con-Tact paper)
• Scissors
• White craft glue

Directions:

1. You will need something round to trace to create the Seder plate. Trace it with a pencil in the center of the place mat.

2. Use a smaller cylindrical item (can, cup, etc) to trace circles for each place on the Seder plate. One in the center, and five going around the center circle.

3. Cut the Seder items from the construction paper. Use brown to cut out a chicken leg (shank bone), white and green for the horseradish (bitter herb), green for the romaine lettuce (bitter vegetable), green for the parsley (green vegetable), red and white for apple and nut salad (charoset) and use plain white paper for the egg(roasted egg).

4. Trace the penciled circles with black marker.

5. Glue the construction paper food items to the plate, horseradish in the center, chicken leg in the upper right, then clockwise from there the charoset, lettuce, parsley and egg.

6. Draw an outline around the plate. Decorate the inside of this outline with yellow and orange markers.

7. Decorate the other circles by dotting around their outlines with orange marker.

8. Use a red marker to write the word “Passover” on the left side of the placemat and the blue marker to write “Pesach” (the Jewish term for the Passover festival) on the right side.

9. Cover both sides of the place mat with clear adhesive paper.

The Seder Plate Background:

The Seder plate is a plate of specific foods that tell the story of the Israelites suffering and deliverance. On your plate, which is in the centre of the table you will need:

1. Haroseth – a mixture of chopped nuts, wine, cinnamon and apples to represent the mortar that the Israelites used to make bricks in slavery in Egypt.

2. Parsley (dipped in salt water) – Symbolizing spring but dipped in salt water to remember the tears shed in slavery.
3. Roasted egg – another symbol of spring

4. Shank Bone – The lamb was offered as a sacrifice and then eaten on the night of Passover before the Israelites left Egypt.

5. Bitter herbs – Horseradish to reflect the bitterness of slavery

At the table there are also 4 glasses of wine . 4 of the glasses are shared by all at different stages in the meal. Each cup also represents an aspect of the walk from Slavery to Freedom:

1st cup – Freedom
2nd cup – Deliverance
3rd cup – Redemption
4th cup – Release
5th cup – Elijah’s cup – set side for the prophet Elijah


photo credit: family fun

Matzo Haystacks

Instructions

1. Coconut-Almond Haystacks: Melt the chocolate chips according to the directions on the package, and stir until smooth.

2. Combine the crushed matzos, the coconut, and the almonds in a large mixing bowl. Pour the melted chocolate over the dry mixture and stir until all of the pieces are coated.

3. Use a teaspoon to dollop haystacks onto a sheet of parchment or waxed paper, or into paper muffin cups. Allow the treats to cool (about 10 minutes). Makes about 60 pieces.

4. Variations:

Dried Fruit Haystacks: Follow the recipe above but reduce the amount of chocolate chips to 2 cups and substitute 1 cup of dried fruit for the coconut and almonds. We used a mix of chopped apricots and sweetened cranberries.

Enjoy your families holidays! What kinds of crafts to you do with your children for Easter or Passover?

My 5 favorite blog posts of 2009

As I start the new year off, it is my new year’s resolution, yes, I am trying something “new” and going to try and do one I really think I can do, not lose the extra 25 pounds I gained over the past few years, but I will “try” to shed a few of those, not take up something new like “sky diving” which I could possibly never do because I am afraid of heights so much that when I’m on a plane I really try and forget there is really “nothing” between my feet and the ground. But rather I am going to try and post on this blog at least once a week!

I started this blog as a spin off so to speak of my main blog but I don’t want it to turn out as some of the old TV shows spin off did; as a bust. I’m really going to try and keep this one cranking.

I began this blog with high hopes of continuing my path of helping others create fully inclusive playgrounds and building on whatever dreams you may have. But what I have found is I also have a passion for passing on fun things to do with children; adventures and recipes. So I’m going to be using this blog to write about all things children with a bit of nonprofit dreaming thrown in there. If you have a dream you’d like to get help beginning please feel free at anytime to drop me a line, or if you have an accessible playground your family uses in your area I’d love to highlight it. In any event, I’d love to hear from you via email the1playgroundprincess@gmail.com or twitter.

My favorites from 2009

1. Some kids Dream about flying while others just dream about playing in the park.

2. Why worry about accessibility?

3. Building of a dream

4. Playground Picnic

5. Ghoulish delights for your little monsters

• Just a little extra because it’s the beginning of the year and I think everyone should take a moment to make sure you have this one “covered.” What’s in your first aid kit?

Happy New Year to you all and here’s to a year of new dreams!

“a tree of thanks…”

Fall is a beautiful time to take a walk with your children. Playgrounds are often in some type of “park like” setting. After having a few hours of running and jumping it is sometimes fun to take a short stroll and look at the beautiful colored leaves. My girls loved picking up the most colorful and bringing them home to make some type of arrangement or an “indoor” tree, usually on our wall.

Over time, I thought I became a bit more creative and we preserved our “leaves” by pressing them between book pages, and then taking a piece of clear sticky sheets and sealing them so to speak and adhering them to the wall with a 3-m product that was easy to remove when the time came.

One day one of my friends came over and commented on our “annual tree” at how beautiful the leaves were and what a great seasonal display it was. She then shared an idea, “why not use the leaves, and write something on them about the year, what was the best memory of that year? Or perhaps there was a milestone and a date.” This was a great idea, now the beautiful leaves had a “purpose."



My oldest daughter loved the book “the giving tree” by Shel Silverstein. She loved the story of the tree who gave so much to his “friend” the boy. And she dubbed this “our giving tree.”

Now every year we add to our “giving tree” and look back as we assemble it at all the wonderful things we have to be “thankful” for…

A Pumpkin, a Pumpkin, so many things to do with a Pumpkin

Our friends at Martha Stewart always have some wonderful ideas for pumpkins that you can do with your kids, so we thought we would take a few minutes and share a few with you.


image from our friends at Martha Stewart

Take two miniature pumpkins to become a hoot of an owl! Secure the two pumpkins together with a toothpick or kabob skewer. To give your little owl eyes to see take 2 toothpicks and attach pumpkin seeds thru, add a few more and fan them out; repeat several times so it makes a complete circle and top the end with a pearberry. To give your little guy feathers on top of his head take a chrysanthemum bloom and toothpick or hot glue it to the top. And to complete your little friend, hollow out his beak area and insert an almond. Isn’t he cute?


image from our friends at Martha Stewart

Every little girl loves creating jewelry. Why not make a pumpkin necklace? Take your seeds from inside your scooped out pumpkin and put them in a bowl of water. The seeds will separate and float to the top when they do take them and put them on a towel or pan to dry out for a few hours (at least 6). Then take a needle and thread it with silk beaded cord and pierce each seed and create a pattern, you can also add candy corn to make it a bit more colorful!


image from our friends at Martha Stewart

A pumpkin birdhouse has to be one of my favorite ideas! Take a small pumpkin, cut it in half, scoop it out leaving about ½” thick wall all of the way around. In the rim take a knife and slit a ½” rim around to make a “rim” for pumpkin seeds to sit on (really wedged in) To make cute perches, poke a hole with a twig branch and insert. Add some berries. To hang take 2 pieces of twine, knot the ends, secure (where the knot is) on the bottom of the pumpkin. And then fill with birdseed, I know the birds will love visiting here! And in my case, so will the pesty squirrels!

Do you have any cute ideas of pumpkins? Share them! Hope you have a wonderfully sweet and fun Halloween!