Rainy Day Entertainment

The easiest and cheapest way to keep a child entertained while you do the dishes (or drink some coffee while procrastinating):
Use a plastic grocery bag as a parachute.

He lasted almost an hour by himself. Adding a cape and superhero gloves may have gotten me past an hour. Especially if I had given him a stuffed animal to rescue from a burning building.

Cutest Soccer Snacks

Cucumbers and cheese biscuits aren't usually the most exciting snack, but packed up this cute they sure are! I used cellophane bags, blank business cards and stamps to package the biscuits and press-n-seal wrap to pack up the cucumbers. Our U6 team definitely seemed to enjoy.

Magic Mud with Daddy

If you're feeling little stir crazy with all the snow, this is a great way to entertain your children and husband for at least an hour!

Magic Mud
3 Parts Cornstarch
1 Part Water
Optional Food Coloring

It's so much fun because it's liquid until you squish it, at which point it becomes solid, until you let it drip through your fingers. The in-between state of this magic mud is called a 'colloid'. Somewhere in between a solid and liquid. Just a little tip...wait for the mess to dry and it's much easier to sweep up.

Daniel's 4th Birthday Carnival!

Some photos from Daniel's party. Such fun! My favorite touches are the popcorn boxes, the prize table and the ridiculous attempt I made at turning our shed into a big top with vinyl tablecloths.

We had face painting, tattoos, a prize table, cupcakes, and carnival music. A friend of our juggled for us (so grateful for you Rochelle, Ben, Mom, Natasha and Anna!) and played juggling games with the kids.

Game Ideas:

Squirt n' Win: Set 3 gold tees up on a foam block and top with ping pong balls. Squirt off with water guns (or in our case, squirt animals!)

Bowling: We set one of my mini bowling sets up on a long desk top (removed from the base) and let the kids go nuts.

Fishing: I bought a plastic fishing set from the dollar store (I wanted to make a felt or wooden one, but I'm not Martha...) and put them in a bucket of water.

Beanbag Toss: Always a favorite!

We gave out one ticket for trying and two for winning. The prizes ranged from 1-6 tickets.

I wanted to play a a basketball game (since we already have a little hoop) and a sidewalk chalk target with wet sponge type game, but it was SO busy! The biggest hit of all was definitely the prize table though! It was packed with all kinds of prizes (shopping for a few weeks in clearance sections made for a fun selection of great toys).

Delightful Summer Cupcakes

I was on cupcake duty for my dear friends wedding shower last month and I decided to try some fun flavors. Party guests were raving about these tiny little gems, and I thought they were just being polite. That is, until I tasted one. And another. And then I thought...I guess I should try all of them. Genius! Here's the gist of how I made them (sometimes I wish I used real recipes!!!)

Cake:

My Grandma always tells me that if you want the icing to be pretty and perfect, to forget about making the cake from scratch and focus on the icing. So I used Superstore's Organic Chocolate and Vanilla cake mix. I substituted full fat sour cream for the oil and it made them taste homemade and really moist.

I split the vanilla batter in half and added 2-3 Tbsp of lemon flavoring. You can add food coloring or lemon zest so you can tell them apart from the plain vanilla. Taste the batter to make sure they're really lemony! Bake the lemon and vanilla in mini muffin tins.

Bake the chocolate cupcakes in mini muffin tins, adding 3 or 4 chocolate chips to the tops of half.

Icing:

Whip up the base icing (make it nice and thick) and divide into 4 bowls.

Classic Buttercream Icing (Base):
5 cups icing sugar
1 Cup soft butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2-4 Tbsp Water or Milk

Classic Lemon Cupcakes:
Base Icing plus 3-4 tsp lemon flavoring on a vanilla cupcake. Garnish with lemon zest if desired.

Raspberry Lemonade Cupcakes:
Base icing plus 2-3 Tbsp raspberry jam or raspberry puree on a lemon cupcake. You may need to add more icing sugar if it thins out too much. Garnish with a fresh raspberry if desired.

Mocha Chip Frappuccino Cupcakes:
Base Icing plus two packages of Decaf Starbucks Via (you can substitute instant coffee, but it's really not the same!!!) on the chocolate cupcakes with the added chocolate chips. A chocolate chip or chocolate espresso bean are perfect garnishes.

Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes:
Base Icing plus 2-3 tsp of coconut flavoring on a plain chocolate cupcake. Garnish with shredded coconut before icing sets. This was the #1 hit of the night. DELISH!

Tips:
-This little tool is so amazing (and inexpensive) that I've thrown away my piping bag!
-Use mini tins. The icing to cake ratio is perfect for these combos.
-Taste everything as you go and add bits of flavoring as you taste to make sure it comes out right.
-Make sure the icing is quite thick so it holds it shape. If you add any liquid to the base, that means you'll likely have to add more icing sugar to get the right consistency.

Fastest DIY Playset Yet!

I was having a moment the other day, where there was something I had to sew up, but Daniel was having none of it, so I whipped up this simple toy to keep him busy for a few minutes.

All you need are a few simple supplies:
 -Tin Craft Mailbox (I found ours at Walmart but you can find them at craft stores or by snooping around the net)
-Stamps and ink of any kind
-Little envelopes, blank business cards, index cards, card stock, stiff felt or whatever you have on hand
-Stickers or embellishments and crayons

Just stamp away, pass the cards to your little one and let them decorate!

Playsilk Fun!

Playsilks make dress-up games so entertaining! Daniel was very proud of his long blue hair.

We spent a whole afternoon making everyone into princesses (oh, son....) and dancing at the ball.

Silk Playground has lots of great ideas for putting your playsilks to work, including using one to line an Easter basket (what a great gift!) and for playing peek-a-boo.