An adorable and SIMPLE snack to make with your kids this beautiful fall weekend!

 

What you'll need:

Directions:

1. Paint bag with festvie fall colors if you so choose and let dry. 
2. Place a leaf at the top of a twig and secure with a section of the pipe cleaner. Repeat with several twigs and leaves, both fresh and silk. You can also use tape instead of pipe cleaners
3. Trim three inches off the top of the bag. Place rice inside sandwich bag, place bag of rice into the brown paper bag. 
4. Place twigs into the bag. If twigs are too tall (leaves should touch the top of the bag), snap bottoms of twigs to shorten. 
5. Wrap twine around the bag twice. Tighten the twine and adjust leaves and twigs as you tighten. Tie twine in a bow and trim the ends.

 

 

An adorable cookie to make this weekend with your children! Just in time for Halloween!
Witchy Cookies from All Recipes
http://www.myrecipes.com/holidays-and-occasions/halloween-recipes/halloween-treat-recipes-10000001666990/page17.html

 

 

What’s not to love about pumpkins?  They are beautiful to look at, delicious to cook with, and fun to carve!  One of my favorite things to do with pumpkins (other than carve them, of course) is to roast the seeds!  There are so many different ways to r

oast seeds, from savory to sweet! Here are a few favorites among myself and friends.

Flavor Roasted Pumpkin Seeds:

Fresh pumpkin seeds out of hollowed out pumpkin
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon seasoning salt

Clean pumpkin seeds with water and pat dry. Let dry overnight. Mix ingredients together and toss pumpkin seeds to coat evenly. Place on a cookie sheet in an even layer and bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour or until seeds are browned. Stir once or twice during cooking time.

Sweet & Spicy Pumpkin Seeds:

1 egg white
1/4 cup natural cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grained sea salt
1 cup fresh pumpkin seeds

Preheat oven to 375. In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the egg white, sugar, cayenne and salt. Add the pumpkin seeds and toss well. Drain off any excess egg white (using a strainer) and place seeds in a single layer across a baking sheet. Bake for about 12 minutes or until seeds are golden. Sprinkle with a bit more sugar and cayenne pepper when they come out of the oven. Taste and season with more salt if needed.

 

Cinnasweet Pumpkin Seeds:

4 cups pumpkin seeds, rinsed and dried
1/2 cup margarine, melted
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup white sugar, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).  Combin

e the pumpkin seeds, margarine, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl; stir to coat the seeds. Spread the seeds on a baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes; stir and return to oven for 15 minutes more; remove from oven and sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over the seeds; stir to coat. Return to oven and bake another 15 minutes before removing again to sprinkle with remaining sugar and stirring. Bake another 15 minutes. Allow to cool before serving. Store leftover seeds in an airtight container.

 

Maryland Pumpkin Seeds:

4 cups raw pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay™
Vegetable oil cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Rinse pumpkin seeds in a colander. Spread out on paper towels and pat dry. Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray and spread the pumpkin seeds out in a single layer. Spray the tops of the seeds with additional cooking spray. Sprinkle the seafood seasoning evenly over the tops.  Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, stirring occasionally, until dry and toasted. Cool for a few minutes before serving.

 

Candy Corn Craft-looks good enough to eat!

 

What you'll need:

Directions:

1. Print and cut out the candy corn pattern 
2. Glue pattern to the center of the black paper
3. Line the top section of the candy corn pattern with white craft glue.
4. Place a square of scrunched up white tissue paper into the glue. Continue until all top area of candy corn is covered.
5. Repeat this process for orange in the middle section and yellow in the bottom section
6. Let dry completely.
   
   Attach a magnet to the back to hang on the fridge or punch a hole in the top, tie a string, and hang anywhere!

 

 

 

Top 10 Pumpkin Facts-courtesy of www.wcdish.com

1. Pumpkins are 90% water.

2. Pumpkins are fruit.

3. 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkins are produced each year.

4. A new world record for the largest pumpkin was recently recorded in Stillwater, Minnesota on October 9, 2010 with the pumpkin weighing in at 1,810.5lbs.

5. Pumpkins have been around for a long time.  Seeds found in Mexican caves date back to 7,000B.C.

6. Pumpkins grow on six out of the seven continents.  Poor Antarctica, it never can grow anything fun.

7. Pumpkins were once recommended as a cure for freckles and a remedy for snake bites.

8. Pumpkins are a good source of Vitamin A and Potassium.

9. Pumpkins originated in Central America.

10. In early colonial times, pumpkins were used as an ingredient for the crust of pies, not the filling.

 

A delicous, healthy, and simple fall treat that both you AND your kids will love!

Ingredients:
- instant vanilla pudding
-crushed graham crackers
-libby’s canned pumpkin
-candy corn (optional)

Directions:
-Make the pudding ahead of time according to the directions on the box
-Crush the graham crackers in a zip lock bag (kids will love helping with this…just make sure the bag is sealed well!)
-Stir in ½ can to 1 can of pumpkin into the vanilla pudding (amount of pumpkin will vary according to taste)
-Add the crushed graham cracker to the mixture and stir well.
-Serve in individual cups or ramekins. If you so choose, add a few pieces of candy corn to the top for a festive look!  

An Adorable recylcled craft from Kabose.com

How to make it:

1. Starting at the straw opening, carefully cut open the top of the juice box, but do not cut off the top.
2. Wash out the juice box and let it dry completely before moving on to the next step.
3. Cover the juice box container with construction paper using a glue stick. Try wrapping the box as if you were wrapping a birthday present! Tape both ends of the box if the glue stick will not hold.
4. Cut strips from construction paper for arms and legs, about 10” long for legs and 6” long for arms.
5. Fold strips accordion style then use glue stick to attach the arms to the sides of the container and legs to the bottom of the container.
6. Cut squares from black construction paper to make shoes and glue to the end of the legs.
7. Use white craft glue to attach the wiggle eyes to the front of the container.
8. For the girl dolls, cut yarn into 6” lengths. Put white glue all over the top of the container and center the strands across it.
9. Use small strips of scrap felt to gently tie (felt rips easily, be careful) sides of hair into pigtails. Trim ends of yarn so that they are even.
10. Cut ½” lengths of yarn for girl’s bangs and glue in place.
11. For the boy doll, cut yarn into short pieces about ¾” long. Put glue on the top of the container and add pieces to the glue, covering the container top.
12. Draw smiles on with black marker.

Tips:

• Instead of felt, you can use scraps of ribbon to tie the pigtails.
• Decorate dolls however you like. Attach buttons, bow ties, and flowers--let your imagination run wild!
• Place these adorable dolls on a shelf so that their legs hang over the edge.

 

Happy Autumn!

To celebrate the new season (and my favorite one!) I found an adorable craft from a “fall fun” book that becomes a bright and beautiful fall decoration!

Stained Glass Apples:

To begin fold a piece of red, yellow, or green construction paper in half. Cut out a half-apple shape; then cut out the center of the apple as shown. Pour a generous amount of glue onto a sheet of waxed paper.  Spread the glue over the paper using a paintbrush fingers. Press red, yellow and green tissue paper squares over the glue, covering a space slightly larger than the apple cutout. Place the apple cutout onto the waxed paper and tissue squares, adding glue around the edge of the cutout as necessary. Dry overnight; then peel off the waxed paper. Trim the excess tissue paper from around the apple shape. Consider laminating the apples as a finishing touch. Doing so, they will last through the years! Display the apples on windows for a look that will bring fall foliage into your home.

Here in the Northeast we have noticed the very first signs that fall is on the way. Being that fall is my FAVORITE season I just had to post a fun apple snack/craft! Enjoy!

What You’ll Need

2 red apples
1/4 cup raisins
1 tablespoon peanut butter
8 thin pretzel sticks

Directions:

Slice apples in half from top to bottom, and scoop out the cores using a knife or melon baller. If you have an apple corer, core them first, then slice. Place each apple half flat side down on a small plate

Put a bit of peanut butter on to the back of the 'lady bug', then stick raisins onto the peanut butter for spots. Use this method to make eyes too. Stick one end of each pretzel stick into a raisin then press the other end into the apples to make antennae.

 

How to Make a Doll Using a Clothespin

From About.com

Materials Needed:

• Old-Fashioned, One-Piece, Wooden Clothespin
• Pipe Cleaner
• Embroidery Floss
• Fine-Tip Marker
• Craft Glue
• Scissors

Instructions:
The round part on the top of the clothespin will be the dolls head and he two sides that clip onto the clothes will be the legs. When decorating the doll, make sure the legs are facing the right way (when you look at the front of your doll you should be able to see both legs).

Start out by making some arms for the doll. Cut a the pipe cleaner in half and find the center. Hold the center of thepipe cleaner against what will be the neck of the clothespin and wrap each end around it once, pulling each arm over to opposite sides. You can fold up the tips of the pipe cleaner arms to act as hands.

Give your doll some personality by drawing on a face using fine-tipped, permanent markers. You can draw on hair or glue on some embroidery floss. If you want extra details, you can draw on jewelry, shoes, or other details. Once you have those details done, you can dress your doll.

Select embroidery floss in the color or colors you want the doll's clothes to be. To make a shirt, secure floss with a dab of glue on the back of the doll near the neck. Wrap the embroidery floss tightly around the doll, stopping at where the waist would be, again securing with a dab of glue. If you want sleeves, start wrapping the floss near the neck and then wrap each arm before you wrap the lower portion of the shirt. Use this same technique to make pants or a skirt.

 

Creative Candy Art:

Rainy day? Too hot to play outside? This great activity will keep your child busy for hours! Using simple, inexpensive items your child will have a blast using their imagination to design their own unique candy art!

What you need:
Toothpicks
Popsicle Sticks
Frosting (for edible glue-if you think your child might want to eat their creation later on)
Glue (not to be eaten!)
Various Candy- some that can be poked through using toothpicks and popsicle sticks (licorice, gum drops, candy corn, etc) and some that can be glued (M&M’s, Skittles, etc.)
Construction paper to glue their art work to if they want.

Directions:
-Lay all of the materials out for your child and first talk about all of the different things you can make with the materials you have. For example, a tree out of gum drops, a house out of licorice, their name out of M&M’s, etc.
-Encourage your child to be creative and spend time with their art work (and of course not to eat all candy at once!)

Take pictures of the completed work, we would love to see what your child comes up with!

COLORED BAKERS CLAY

Are you looking for the perfect play food item or toy for your favorite 18 inch doll? Can’t seem to find it anywhere?  Then make it!  With a simple clay recipe, you can begin molding wonderful items for you and your doll to play with!  Make sure you get an adult’s permission before you begin, and of course never use the stove by yourself.

What you will need:

2 ½ c. flour
1 c. salt
1 c. water
Food coloring
Mixing Bowl
Baking Sheet

 

• Combine first 3 ingredients and stir until moistened.
• Put dough on a floured surface and knead until smooth for about 10 minutes.
• Divide dough into several parts. Use 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of food coloring per part of dough if you so desire (you may want to wear gloves for this part!) and knead in color.
• Make shapes 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick.
• Bake on greased sheet at 325 degrees for 1 hour. Makes 10 to 12 shapes.

Create A Summer Scrapbook and Never Forget the Adventures You and Your Doll Have!

Fill your scrapbook with diary entries, stories, photos and even pictures you draw yourself. Feature the things you do with your doll and the things you hope to be able to do, use your imagination and the possibilities will be endless! We'd love to hear what you come up with! Share your ideas at julie@mydollslife.com

Dress your doll in her favorite Sophia's® summer outfit and take her outside for a fun  afternoon of bubble making!

Homeade Bubbles and Bubble Blower

Materials for Bubbles:

• 1/2 cup dish soap
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• Medium sized mixing bowl or cup
• Spoon  
• Sealed container (jar with lid)

Materials for Bubble Blower:

• 1 drinking straw
  
• 1 six pack soda holder plastic rings
• Tape
• Bowl or pan (to pour bubbles into)
• Optional scissors

Instructions for bubbles:

• Mix all three ingredients together, don't stir or shake too much.
  
• Store in a sealed container, lasts forever!

Instructions for bubble blower:

• Tape the holder to the straw
• Pour bubbles into bowl or pan
• Dip into bubbles and twirl around. Makes LOTS of BIG bubbles!

Fun in the kitchen! Cooking for kids (with a little help from an adult!)

Morning S'mores- a simple and easy way to take yogurt and fruit to a whole new level! Yummy for breakfast, after school snack or dessert!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup low fat vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup graham cracker cereal (or crushed graham crackers)
1/2 a banana, sliced
1/8 cup chocolate chip

Directions:

Have your child spoon a big layer of yogurt into a plastic cup, then sprinkle a layer of graham cracker, banana slices, and chocolate chips over the yogurt. Repeat the layers until the cup is full. Enjoy!