cupcake liner snowflakes

This project is for yer kiddos that are a smidge older as attempting to snip, snip, snip away on a smallish cupcake liner can be a wee bit frustrating. Grab some liners and a few pairs of scissors and get to folding!

Fold in half.

Then half again.

Then fold one side in a third of the way.

Next fold the other side in overlapping the first side.

Snip a little here, and a little there, careful not to cut all the way through from one side to the other. Though you can cut the very tip a little and the very top can be cut to shape your snowflake. Have fun! 

pixy stix straws & a holiday potion

there is something quite delightful about paper straws. i have a box of happy red & white straws somewhere in the many, many boxes that contain the everyday contraptions of the a-go-gos...somewhere. so, to get my paper straw fix, pounced on some extra pixy stix that i had floating about. and since i was going to be drinking through such happy straws i needed something perfectly perfect to drink.

a few weeks ago, a couple of friends and i were hanging out in a los angeles coffee shop that offers all sorts of goodness. it was a perfect meeting space as it offered caffeine for us ladies and a play area for the birdie. when birdie got a wee bit tired of the play area, Mama Za procured her a most delightfully wonderful concoction called a princess potion. complete with whipped cream, rainbow sprinkles and a pink frosted animal cookie, miss birdie was in princess potion heaven. i'm not sure how they make their potion but here is a scrumdillyumptious take using sweet yummy things from your kitchen. chances are you won't have to hit the grocery for anything.

*1 Tablespoon of jam
*1 cup of milk drink of your choice
*jar with lid
*whipped cream
*rainbow sprinkles
*3 pixy stix sans candy

scrumdilly-do it!

begin by liberating the sugar candy from the inside of the pixy stix. with a pair of scissors, snip off both end and give a little blow through the new straw to remove any sugar residue. set aside

pour your milk drink into the jar and add a dollop of jam. screw lid on tight and give the jar all sorts of shakes. if you use a plastic jar, you can pass this part onto your kidlets to do. the longer you shake, the more foamy your milk. plus, it helps mix in that sweet jam.

one cup of milk shaken up can make three small cups of potion. gather your glasses and fill with ice. pour potion into iced glasses leaving room for a dollop of whipped cream. lookie all that foamy goodness!

add whipped cream and a shake or two of rainbow sprinkles, plop pixy straws into the whole concoction and enjoy! a fruity sweet holiday potion that is sure to delight your kidlets.

make a pixy stix garland

Make a holiday garland much like this one but instead of paper straws, use good old fashioned Pixy Stix (sans the sugary stuff)!

Materials:
*pixy stix
*sturdy thread
*pom-poms
*mini cupcake liners
*scissors
*fat needle optional (a tapestry needle works well)
*froot loops, cheerios, gumdrops and other soft candies also optional

With your scissors, snip off both ends of each Pixy Stix liberating the sugary sweetness inside. You may wish to dump the sugar before your kidlets get a whiff but you can also use it to "flavor" some fizz water or make some pictures using glue...draw with the glue, sprinkle powdery sugar on top and shake off.

With scissors, have your kidlet(s) cut each paper wrapper into two or three pieces and set aside.

Gather up your goodies and begin with a length of sturdy thread that has been doubled and knotted at the end with the needle at the other. A darning needle is fairly blunt and shouldn't poke your kidlet, never ever leave your child unattended when they are wielding a sharp object...I'm just saying.  Proceed to alternate cut straws, candy and/or cupcake liners until you have a garland that makes you want to dance. If you decide to use soft candies, you may wish to have a wee little capfull of oil handy to grease the needle to keep it from getting too sticky.

Make sure to leave your tail ends fairly long so you have some wiggle room for hanging your garland. Have fun!

i scrumdilly did it!

i have all kinds of fun giftos for the kiddos in my scrumdillydilly shop, check it out and stay tuned for some holiday crafting fun!

make a clothespin menorah

More as a learning and play kind of menorah...no hot fire involved!

Materials:
*nine wooden clothespins
*tempera or acrylic paint
*paintbrushes & water
*splash happy work area
*small cardboard box with the top flaps cut off
*yellow and/orange felt
*scissors
*needle & thread, glue or a sewing machine
*small ruler or tape measure
*paper & pencil optional

scrumdilly-do it:

Set out your supplies making sure to cover your area for easier clean-up.

Have your kidlets paint up each clothespin in the manner that they choose. Go with all one color across the board or have your tots mix up their own colors. You can start with one color and add a little white each go to further tint up the color or add a little black to shade em out. It's all up to you and your young ones.

Snuggle the paint happy clothespins over the edges of the box to dry.

Gather up your felt and measure across the top of an unpainted clothespin to see how wide you need to set your "flames". If you wish, eyeball and do it yourself or turn this into a lesson in measuring and ask your kidlet(s) to give it a try. Practice drawing out some flame shapes on paper that match the measurements you took. When in doubt, a simple triangle will work.

Cut out your flame shapes and then glue and/or stitch them up. You should have nine.

Create the menorah by gluing tissue paper to the outside surfaces of the box you used to dry your clothespins on. Arrange your clothespin candles on top of the boxes' edges and pop a flame on the center one if you choose and proceed to "light" one up each night of Hanukkah. If you find your clothespins slipping down and going all crooked, layer up a couple of pieces of tape to the inside of the box. It shouldn't take much to anchor your candles in place. When you are finished with the menorah play, your kiddos can use the box to store their candles.

**I have a very bad habit of coming up with ideas in the middle of the night which causes much rushing around to write them down. If I were a better planner I would have one notebook with all my notes but I have many and this has been a project floating about for a few years now. Back when I thought of it, I took a cruise round the web to make sure I hadn't appropriated it from anyone else and proceeded. Then, since I took so long to actually make the darn thing I stumbled across this version (also done a few years ago) earlier today. So there you have it. Serendipity and a couple of different takes on making a clothespin menorah.

new memory games in the shop

need a nifty gift for a wee one or two? why not pick up a memory game from my etsy shop scrumdillydilly. you can of course, make yer own but if yer in a hurry, i think this wee moo set is pretty awesome!

this one is for you to make for yer kidlets

turn your yo-yos into and advent calendar! your sew-savvy wee ones can definitely try their hand at this as well. for instructions, follow me over to craftzine.com and have a looksie! there are even three ways to display your advent...something for everyone!

Schooling for Sustainability

Smart by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability by Michael K Stone

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Here is the most inspirational book I have read all year. Whether you or a teacher, parent, or person who is simply concerned for the world around you this is a must read. You will learn from it and your children will learn from it. My head is spinning with all the new books and schools I need to research. Where do I start? I will start small and that will be okay.



View all my reviews

e-thanks for our vets, the 2010 version

• This year's Veteran's Day card-making session with Ander and Zaza over here.
• A super-cool-super-fast project in need of some scrumdilly-doing here.
• scrumdilly-do Veteran's Day 2008 post here.

scrumdilly-doodle-dandy:

Spread out the markers and pencils and pastels, tell those family stories, photograph or scan the artwork, and send your children's messages of love and gratitude zinging around the ether with a note saying "pass it on..."

Roll-up Pumpkin Rolls

Earlier this year, we busted out this delicious cream cheese roll recipe and it was so tasty we made it again and again. Now that it is fall here in the states, I thought adding a touch of fall flavor would delight us even more and I was right! This is quite tasty and you can make up your own batch of homemade pumpkin butter using yer own pumpkin or a handy dandy can of puree, it's up to you. To make your own pumpkin butter, hop on over to scrumdillydilly for the recipe.

Ingredents:

*1 can of crescent rounds
*pumpkin butter
*chocolate chips
*cookie sheet
*parchment paper

You can use any store bought or homemade dough, the rounds are used for convenience and they look really purty when baked. Here are the steps in pictures...enjoy!

Make Paper Plate Calaveras Masks!

Like many of my friends and fellow crafty folk, I absolutely adore Halloween but I think I lurve Dia de los Muertos even more! This is the first year in a great many that I was unable to visit Olvera Street in Los Angeles for their Day of the Dead festivities. Since all my stuff is tucked away in a zillion and half boxes I won't be able to make an altar this year but luckily for you, I have whipped up a nifty mask making project using a handful of items you may already have on hand.

Materials:
*paper plates or large round sheets of paper
*popsicle sticks, sticks or pencils
*markers
*black construction paper
*scissors
*tape
*glitter and other shiny bits (optional)

scrumdilly-do it!
Grab a plate and a pencil. Estimate the center of the plate and mark it with your pencil. Your children can do this part, it doesn't have to be EXACTLY center. Using the center dot as your guide, draw two lines intersecting at the center. One line should be vertical, while the other is horizontal, like a cross.
Next, draw two more line using all previous drawn lines as your guide. These two lines will mark an X on your plate and divide up the spaces between the first two lines.
This part sounds trickier than it is so stick with me. You are going to make your skellie cheeks. The first thing you will need to do is position the plate in front of you with the X lines looking like an X. Find the center points on other side of each diagonal line on the bottom half of the plate. Mark with your pencil and then draw an arc from point to point, these are your skellie cheeks!From the top point of each skellie cheek, follow the curve of the paper plate to draw the rest of your skull and cut out.Next up are the eyes and nose of your calavera. You can use a black marker or paint or you can have your wee ones cut shapes from black paper. The nose of your mask should be an upside down heart and the eyes should be large orbs. Use the paint or marker to mark the mouth of your calavera along the vertical ridges of the paper plate. Now it is time to decorate. You can have your kiddos decorate as they will but if you want to make your skull more of a calavera (as traditional as turning a paper plate into a calavera can be) and follow traditional ideas of decorating, chat up your kidlet about symmetry. If you follow any of the links up above you will find a couple of pictures of calaveras and calacas. If you look closely you will notice that most are evenly decorated aka symmetrical. Have your wee one do one side of their skull then have them repeat what they did to the other. Talk it out. See if they find it easy or hard to repeat the patterns. Which hand do they draw with? Have them switch hands for fun. The more color the better. Whatever you choose to do, have fun!Once your calavera is all decked out, you can add finishing touches with glitter and/or sequins. Set aside to dry and tape a popsicle stick or two to the back and you have a happy mask! I did not cut eyes in my mask as they are more decorative than useful but that doesn't mean you can't carefully punch out some eye holes for your kidlet.
Check out these nifty masks made by some scrumdilly-do readers. Thank you for playing along!

These are from Luzia Pimpinella and her kiddos, check out her blog post...And these are from Amber and her kiddos...Aren't they all absolutely fantastic?