The Elf on the Shelf: Year 4

Admittedly, I wasn't really in the Christmas spirit this year, but I was determined to maintain one of my favorite family traditions! Thankfully, Brett helped me on more than one occasion, either reminding me to move our elf, Coconut E. Butterfly (Coco, for short), or else doing it for me. (Have I mentioned that he's awesome?)

Here's what Coco was up to in 2014. (Remember, he is not a naughty elf, so this is totally family-friendly.) Also, in case you're wondering, he usually makes his return right after Thanksgiving.

{Day 1: Sitting in the arm chair with a note.}

{Day 2: And he's already getting a bit carried away...}

{Day 3: Quick! Hide the elf. How about right here on top of the decoration boxes? }

{Day 4: Relaxing after folding all the towels}

{Day 5: I wonder what he was doing on the computer?}

{Day 6: This silverware drawer is just the right size.}

{Day 7: Toilet paper is cozier than you might think.}

{Day 8: Helping with the dishes}

{Day 9: Rock Star Elf!}

{Day 10: Coco is a Dolphins fan. Brett's idea, of course.}

{Day 11: Feeling a bit puzzled?}

{Day 12: Coco's on a roll... down the stairs!}

{Day 13: Splish splash, in the dollhouse bath}

{Day 14: Hanging out in the pantry with some elfin pals}

{Day 15: In Logan's room}

{Day 16: In the dog's stocking -- because we needed a quick hiding spot}

{Day 17: Hanging around outside Mia's room}

{Day 18: A friendly game of Uno}

{Day 19: Coco is a bit of a lightweight.}

{Day 20: Wheeee!}

{Day 21: A gentle reminder to brush those pearly whites!}

{Day 22: About to win a sack race!}

{Day 23: Buckled into Logan's car seat}

{Day 24: Coco loves a new Jamicure!}

{Day 25: Playing with Mama's jewelry -- the kids said he was hula hooping!}

{Day 26: Angry Birds has mass appeal.}

Natural Dyed Eggs Experiment

We've decorated Easter eggs in a variety of ways over the years, and for something new, I decided to make our own natural dyes this year. The results were not as great as they could have been, but I have figured out the basics for making homemade dyes, and I now know what to do differently next time. Up front, I should have prepared the dyes the day before we wanted to dye eggs since this was a time-consuming process. Since I felt the time crunch, I didn't let the dyes steep nearly as long as I could have (and probably should have) in order to get deeper color saturation. Also, I would have liked to try to make more variety of colors, but for my first attempt, 3 seemed like plenty!

{Left to right: spinach, beet root, carrot, plain white egg}

The first color that I tried was red/pink. I used my beet root powder that I've been using to make lip gloss, blush, and eye shadow. (And as an aside for anybody who is wondering, yes, I love all of these homemade makeup recipes and I wear them daily!) There may be another way to make dye, but I kept it super-simple. I just put a small amount of beet root powder in a bowl and then added some water. I stirred it until the beet root powder was dissolved and let it set until we were ready to use it. I thought that this would produce the most intense color on the eggs, and I was surprised that it wasn't the winner in that respect.

Next up, I wanted to make green out of some fresh spinach. I pureed the spinach (maybe two cups?) in my blender and then placed it in a pot on the stove top. I added a couple cups of water, and brought it to a boil. Then, I put a lid on it and simmered it for 1 1/2 hours. (This is one that most likely should have simmered longer, but again, I had that time crunch -- children who were ready to color eggs!) In retrospect, too, I wished that I had strained it because this dye left green flecks of spinach on the egg shells, which didn't look as interesting as it might sound -- more like they were kind of messy. So, note to self: have cheese cloth on hand for next time. The good news, however, is that this was the clear winner for most intense dye of the three that I made.

Lastly, I attempted to make orange dye using fresh carrots. This is another one that likely needed to simmer longer. It produced the faintest dye of the ones I tried. Most of the color came from the flecks of carrot that were left on the egg shells. (So, perhaps this one needed to be strained, too?) I chopped 4 medium size carrots and pureed them in my blender along with some water. Then, I placed them in a pot with more water, and brought it to a boil. After that, I simmered the pureed mixture with a lid on top for 1 1/2 hours.

{Natural Dyes from Beet Root, Spinach, & Carrots}

To dye the eggs, I put some of each homemade dye into a bowl, added about a teaspoon of vinegar to each (possibly unnecessary?), and let the kids put the eggs in to soak. We tried letting them sit in the dyes for 5 minutes and for 10 minutes, without noticeable differences in color saturation. (I can't even identify which is which for you in the above photo, but one row is the 5 minute-colored eggs and the other is the 10-minute colored eggs.) Anyway, the takeaway here is that you may want to leave eggs in the dyes for much longer if you want more vibrant colors! Also, we tried this on both white eggs and brown eggs, and it pretty much goes without saying that this worked better on the white eggs.

Just looking at the dyes, I thought that we would have better luck getting vibrant eggs. The good news, however, is that these dyes are completely safe -- if not all that intensely pigmented. I knew exactly what went into them. And, none of them -- beet root, spinach, or carrots -- flavored the eggs in any way. (Admit it, you were worried about that, right?) So, even though they weren't as bright as my kids and I hoped for, it was still a win and worth trying out.


P.S. Don't forget to check out my review and giveaway sponsored by Path Publishing! The giveaway continues through tomorrow, April 28th, so you still have time to enter to win your own blank book of your choice.

Easter Eggs for the Birds

I found this idea in the the April 2014 issue of FamilyFun magazine (page 36) and it reminded me of the hanging birdseed treats we had made over the winter. The recipe includes the same ingredients, but in slightly different proportions. I had the idea to make these eggs into hanging treats, but the embroidery floss didn't stick in them very well because when we opened the plastic eggs to take the treats out, the embroidery floss came out as well. Not a big deal, though. We just found places to set them and make an Easter egg hunt for our feathered visitors. (I can't help but wonder if this would have worked with the recipe used for the hanging birdseed treats? We may have to try it some other time.)

{An Egg Hunt for the Birds}

Materials:

• 2 packets of unflavored gelatin mix (We used Kroger brand.)
• 1/2 cup hot water (I used boiling water.)
• 2 1/2 cups birdseed
• cooking spray
• 12 plastic Easter eggs

Directions:

1. Dissolve the gelatin in hot water.
2. Mix in the birdseed. (Kids can help measure, pour, and stir.)
3. Spray the insides of plastic Easter eggs well with cooking spray.
4. Spoon the birdseed mixture into the eggs and press down firmly, filling both sides of the eggs. (Kids can do this step.)
5. Snap the eggs shut and let them set overnight. (We placed ours on a cookie sheet and left it in the refrigerator like we did with the cookie cutter birdseed treats mentioned above, but this may not be necessary.)
6. In the morning, remove the birdseed eggs and place outside where you can watch the birds enjoy them. (Kids will love helping with this step!)

{Happy Easter!}

Don't forget to head over to my review and giveaway to win a free blank book from Path Publishing. (One book that you can win is the Kidisms journal, where you can record all the cute and quirky things that the kids have to say.) The giveaway goes through April 28, 2014, so you still have time to enter!

April Fools' Dinner

On April Fools' Day, I served these meatloaf "cupcakes" with "brownies" for dessert. Mia, especially, enjoyed the silliness of it all, and I was pretty tickled myself that my experimental food -- I would not even call it a recipe -- was such a surprise hit! Even Logan, who is going through the ever fun I-won't-eat-that-meat-'cause-it's-not-a-chicken-nugget phase, enthused, "Tricky meatloaf is yummy!"

My inspiration was a friend, Jenifer, who had posted a pic of this a while back. I just happened to have purchased the Cheddar Jack and Bacon Fresh Take mix at the store that morning, and I decided it must make great meatloaf! I quickly found I this recipe and then modified it according to the family's tastes. (I'm really just writing this down here so that I remember how I made it for the next time.)

{Cupcakes for Dinner? Why not?}

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 pkg Kraft Fresh Take Cheddar Jack and Bacon 
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 Tbs ketchup
• 1 pkg instant garlic mashed potatoes (plus water, milk, and butter)
• carrot

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350*.
2. In a bowl, combine turkey, Fresh Take mix, an egg, and ketchup.
3. Line muffin tin with silicone baking liners (or spray well). Spoon meatloaf mixture into cups, pressing down firmly. Makes about 12 meatloaf "cupcakes."
4. Bake at 350* for about 35-40 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165*. Let rest for about 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, make a package of instant potatoes according to package directions. Place potatoes into a pastry bag and then pipe onto the meatloaf "cupcakes" to make frosting. (Note: You can mash your own potatoes if you prefer. I was doing it this way to save time.)
6. Garnish "cupcakes" with carrot curls and serve. (Green beans were a natural side dish for this meal.)

{Whaddya mean this "cupcake" is healthy?}

For dessert, I copied my friend Kim and served a pan of fresh-made "brownies." Mine were made from card stock weight kraft paper and cut using my Cricut machine. In retrospect, I didn't need to make nearly as many. A single brown E per person would have done the trick, but I felt it would be extra fun if I made an assortment of E's in different fonts and sizes. Then, I just put a few on each plate.

{"Brownies" for Dessert!}

Logan was less than thrilled. He whined, "I don't want to eat cardboard." (Although, that did not stopping him from taking a bite before I cut and served him an actual brownie.) Mia, however, was amused by this trick saying, "Brown E's... I get it! Good one, Mom!"

To make my real brownies, I used this recipe, which I have made only one small addition to: The frosting was very dry so I added some milk.

Ingredients for Brownies:                    

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder

Directions for Making Brownies:

1. Preheat oven to 350*. Grease the pan. Mine was 9" x 7".
2. Melt butter in microwave. (You can also do this over the stove, but microwave is obviously faster.) Place melted butter into the bowl of a stand mixer (or big mixing bowl, if mixing by hand) and beat in sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add cocoa, flour, salt, and baking powder. Beat until well-combined. Pour into the greased pan.
3. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
4. While baking, make frosting. (I just combined all the ingredients in my stand mixer and beat until they were well-mixed, stopping and scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.) Spread onto brownies while they are warm from the oven. Enjoy!

Ingredients for Frosting:

• 3 Tbs butter, softened
• 3 Tbs cocoa powder
• 1 Tbs honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 Tbs milk

{Would you like a brown E?}

17 Easter Lunchbox Jokes-of-the-Day

Continuing with the lunchbox jokes for the month of April, I rounded up some of my personal favorites from around the web. These are from the following sites: Activity Village, examiner.com, Kidspot, Story Soup Kids, and Squigly's Playhouse. Again, I typed these up, added free clip art and printed them. Then, I cut them apart and I'll place one into Mia's lunch each day that she has school this month.

Q: How does the Easter Bunny keep his fur neat?

A: With a hare brush!

Q: How many Easter eggs can you put in an empty basket?

A: Only one – after that it’s not empty anymore!

Q: Why did the Easter egg hide?

A: He was a little chicken!

Q: What do you call a rabbit who tells good jokes?

A: A funny bunny!

Q: How does the Easter Bunny stay in shape?

A: Lots of eggs-ercise!

Q: What kinds of stories does rabbits like best?

A: Ones with hoppy endings.

Q: What do you get when you cross a bee and a rabbit?

A: A honey bunny!

Q: What kind of music do rabbits like?

A: Hip hop.

Q: Why shouldn’t you tell an Easter egg a joke?

A: It might crack up!

Q: What’s the Easter Bunny’s favorite sport?

A: Basketball!

Q: How did the soggy Easter Bunny dry himself?

A: With a hare dryer!

Q: How do rabbits travel?

A: By hare plane!

Q: How can you tell which rabbits are the oldest?

A: Just look for the gray hares.

Q: Why can’t a rabbit’s nose be 12 inches long?

A: Because then it would be a foot!

Q: What kind of beans never grow in a garden?

A: Jelly beans!

Q: Why did the Easter Bunny cross the road?

A: To prove he wasn’t chicken!

Knock knock.

Who’s there?

Candy.

Candy who?

Candy Easter Bunny carry all those treats in one basket?

Luck under Pressure

Generally speaking, we don't make a big deal out of St. Patrick's Day. We have a few decorations that get put out at the beginning of the month. Most of the family will wear something green on St. Patrick's Day. Occasionally we do a craft or make a special treat, but nothing has become a tradition for us when it comes to March 17th.

So, you can imagine my surprise when one excited little girl clambered into my bed yesterday morning, inquiring whether or not the leprechauns had come. Huh? I didn't know this was something I needed to make happen. I've got the Santa act down pat (except for that one time) and I am becoming a pro at finding fun (not naughty!) new things for our Elf on the Shelf, Coconut E. Butterfly to do. The Easter Bunny always visits our home each year. Our newest special friend, the Tooth Fairy has even put in a couple of appearances.

But leprechauns? They're not really in my repertoire -- although I did make rainbow cupcakes for St. Patrick's Day a couple years back because Mia kept asking about leprechauns and wondering when they were going to bring her some gold. At least then she had given me some advance notice so I could come up with a plan! This time, she gave me no warning that she was expecting leprechauns. She simply believed that they would show up and cause mischief at our house because they had done that last year in her kindergarten classroom.

Well, one thing was for certain. There were not going to be any shenanigans! If some leprechauns did happen to come to our house, they were not going to make any big messes for me to clean up. (Remember, Coco doesn't do naughty things because that sets a bad example.) Why would I make my life unnecessarily harder?

I thought about this off and on throughout the day. I alternated feeling guilty for not making a bigger deal out of St. Patrick's Day and feeling like I shouldn't have to make a big deal of it and that maybe it was okay to let it slide because if I did make a big deal, then it would become an expectation to always make a big deal. (See, being a mom is so hard! There's always something to feel guilty about and blow completely out of proportion.)

At the end of the day (Think 5 minutes before we walked down to the bus stop!) guilt won out. Logan was busy eating a snack, so I grabbed the green paint and ducked into the bathroom where I dashed off two little "leprechaun foot prints," using my fist and finger tip. It didn't seem like quite enough, but I was not about to make a whole bunch of foot prints. I didn't have the time, and it would have violated my no-BIG-mess/no-shenanigans policy.

Then, I realized I had a couple small items set aside... that were probably meant for Easter baskets, but I'll deal with that later. Next to the leprechaun prints, I quickly set an Angelina Ballerina Uno game (from a garage sale) and a Lightning McQueen pencil pouch (clearance find). All that was left to do was wait for a lucky little lass and a lucky little lad to discover what the leprechaun left for them. And, speaking of luck, I was lucky that I was the only one who noticed the green paint on the cuff of my sweatshirt!

{Quick, simple, and cheap solution to an unusual problem.}

17 Lunchbox Jokes-of-the-Day for St. Patrick's Day

Mia loved the  Christmas and Valentine's Day lunchbox jokes, so I decided to continue this for March. This is a collection of my favorite kids' St. Patrick's Day jokes from the following web sites: hellokids.com, Kids Play and Create, examiner.com, and Enchanted Learning (some of which I have edited to make more sense, in my opinion). The last couple jokes are probably over Mia's head, but I included them anyway.

I typed these in Microsoft Word and and then pasted in free clip art images from around the web. (As an aside that I think is worth mentioning: I made sure that none of the leprechauns had mugs of beer or pipes, because really, I didn't want to go there. I don't feel like answering questions about what the leprechaun is holding. Plus, it keeps it appropriate for school.)

I included 17 jokes, one for each day leading up to St. Patrick's Day -- even though she doesn't have that many school days. This gives us extra to include throughout March, or I can pick and choose what I think will be funniest to Mia. We actually started them yesterday since she came home from school on Thursday and pouting, asked why there had been no joke in her lunch that day!

Q: What kind of music does a leprechaun band play?

A: Shamrock ‘n’ roll!

Q: How did the leprechaun beat the Irishman to the pot of gold?

A: He took a shortcut!

Q: What do you get if you cross poison ivy with a four leaf clover?

A: A rash of good luck.

Q: What position does a leprechaun play on a baseball team?

A: Shortstop!

Q: What did one Irish ghost say to the other?

A: Top o’ the moaning to you!

Q: Why do frogs like St. Patrick’s Day?

A: Because they’re always wearing green!

Q: What do you call a fake stone?

A: A shamrock.

Q: Why did St. Patrick drive all the snakes out of Ireland?

A: Because he couldn’t afford a plane ticket!

Q: What is Irish and stays on the lawn all summer?

A: Paddy O’ Furniture!

Q: When is an Irish potato not an Irish potato?

A: When it’s a French fry!

Q: Where can you always find gold?

A: In the dictionary!

Q: What kind of bow cannot be tied?

A: A rainbow!

Q: What happens when a leprechaun falls into a river?

A: He gets wet!

Q: Why do people wear shamrocks on St. Patrick’s Day?

A: Real rocks are too heavy!

Q: Why would you never iron a four leaf clover?                                                              

A: Because you shouldn’t press your luck!                                                           

                                                                                                                                                

Q: What job does a leprechaun have at a restaurant?                                    

A: Short-order cook!              

                                                                                        

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Irish.

Irish who?

Irish you a happy St. Patrick's Day!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Less Mess Finger Painting

I am not sure of the origin of this idea, but I am pretty sure it was floating around on Pinterest. The basic concept is to cut up a sponge into smaller pieces and let kids use them as ink pads for finger painting. Here is what I did for this less messy version of finger painting, which could also be considered printmaking or stamping of fingers, depending upon how the child uses the tools. No matter how you do it, this is a brilliant that gets two thumbs (or fingers) up from this crafty mama!

1. I originally cut my sponge (brand new) into six pieces, one per color of paint: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Then, I thought better of that idea and cut each section in half again so that each child would have a set! (Also, cutting it into twelve sections produced segments that were just the right size for fingers so there was little waste.)
2. After cutting the sponge, I began completely soaking each section in a color of tempera paint, before realizing that only the top section of the sponge needed to be saturated with paint. Once I realized that, I added less paint to each piece of sponge. As I soaked each section of sponge, I then set it on a Styrofoam tray which became the paint palette. 

   

   {Sponge Paint Palette}

3. I laid a cereal box liner on my table to protect it (like free wax paper!). Then, I set some finger paint paper on top.
4. Mia put on her paint shirt and dipped pressed a finger or two onto the paint-laden sponge and then applied the paint to the paper. (It turned out that Logan was not interested at this time, but I will have the sponges for another time, and can easily add more paint as needed.) When she was done, she had barely any paint on her fingers, so the clean-up was a breeze! As a bonus, I didn't have a messy tray to rinse off because the paint was contained in the small sponge pieces. Overall, this is brilliant, and gets two thumbs (or fingers) up from this crafty mama.

   

   {A Finger Painted Flower Garden}

Salt Writing Practice

While volunteering in Mia's first grade class, I noticed some small plastic tubs, each containing a small amount of sand. One child had written her name in the sand. This seemed like something I could easily "hack," and I was hoping it would get Logan interested in practicing his letters.

So I found one of many small wooden trays that we have scattered throughout the house (This one happened to come with something Melissa and Doug-related in it -- wooden beads, perhaps?) and added some salt. Why salt? Well, I don't normally have sand readily available, but salt I definitely have plenty of. (I usually buy the biggest carton I can find since we make so much play dough.)

Next, I scrounged through our alphabet magnets and pulled out one for each letter. I set them on the table and showed him how he use each magnet as a guide. I demonstrated writing the letter in the salt and then shaking the tray gently to clear it.

{He loves the tactile element.}

It worked great! He was excited and actually sat long enough to practice 21 out of 26 letters, which is darn good for someone with the attention span of a goldfish. (Note: I am not insulting my kid, here, merely pointing out what it is like to try to get a four-year-old boy to do anything that seems remotely educational.)

Once Mia got home from school, she seemed excited by the salt tray, too. She used it to practice her spelling words, which was great. The only downside was that left unattended for too long, Logan started playing in the salt the way he plays with rice and things got a bit messy. Fortunately, salt is easy to clean up. I can't say the same for sand in my dining room, though, so I am glad I went with salt!

Looking for more fun stuff to do with salt? You might like:

• DIY Colored "Sand" Art Jars
• Salty Snowman Scene
• DIY Oven Bake Clay
• "Salt Watercolor" Paintings
• DIY Puffy Paint
• DIY Finger Paint
• Kool-Aid* Play Dough
• Glitter Play Dough
• Kool-Aid* Finger Paint
• Homemade Bath Salts

14 Valentine Jokes-of-the-Day for Lunchboxes

The Christmas joke-of-the-day went well so I decided to make type up some jokes that I found for Valentine's Day. I included 14 of my favorites from around the web, although she will not have that many days of school this month before Valentine's Day. Plus, they don't even have school on Valentine's Day this year (and that's not even counting any more snow days that might crop up...)!

I just typed these in Microsoft Word and included some related clip art, printed them, and cut them out. (Decorative scissors are optional.) Each time I pack a lunch, I will tape a joke to her sandwich holder. P.S. If you prefer getting jokes without the DIY effort, just Google "printable Valentine's Day jokes for kids." The only problem is that you won't get to hand-pick the jokes, although most of these were repeated on various sites, so that may not be an issue for you. Enjoy!

Q: What did the stamp say to the envelope?                      

A: I’m stuck on you.

 

Q: What do you call a very small valentine?

A: A valentiny!

  

Q:  What did the chocolate syrup say to the ice cream?

A: I’m sweet on you!

Q: What is a vampire’s sweetheart called?

A: His ghoul-friend.

 

Q: What do farmers give their wives on Valentine’s Day?

A: Hogs and kisses!

 

Q: What did the boy octopus say to the girl octopus?

A: I wanna hold your hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand.

Q: What did the boy squirrel say to the girl squirrel?

A: I’m nuts about you!

Q: What did the boy cat say to the girl cat?

A: You’re purr-fect for me!

Q: What did the boy rabbit say to the girl rabbit?

A: Somebunny loves you!

Q: What did the boy elephant say to the girl elephant?

A: I love you a ton!

Q: What did the boy bat say to the girl bat?

A: You’re fun to hang around with!

Q: What do you call two birds in love?

A: Tweethearts!

 

Q: What kind of flowers do you never give on Valentine’s Day?

A: Cauliflowers!

 

Q: What did one monster say to the other on Valentine’s Day?

A: Be my valenslime!

Toilet Paper Tube Stamping

Today was snow day #3 and this was the second activity we tried since we were trapped indoors. The first one was science experiment. As another aside, just once I wish we would have a "snow day" during which the kids can actually be allowed to go outside and, you know, play in the snow! These insanely cold no-school days are getting quite old.

Happily, the kids were much more enthusiastic about this stamping project than yesterday's potato prints, which we tried kind of late in the afternoon when they were tired and crabby. I was smart enough to introduce this craft earlier in the day before they had a chance to get cranky. This idea (from Pinterest) is super simple and it's a perfect way to use up some of those toilet paper tubes that you have saved up (if you're anything like me you have a large stash of them -- They are such great craft items and they are completely free!) It reminds me a bit of the toilet paper tube octopuses that we made before, but I really love this one even more than those fellows. Plus, this one can be done with any age group from toddlers and up.

{Here are our stamps before paint was added...}

Materials:

• empty toilet paper tubes
• scissors
• paper (finger print paper works nicely)
• tempera paint
• paint trays (or bowls or plates)
• black Sharpie marker (optional)

Directions:

1. Cut notches along one end of a toilet paper tube. They can be any size or shape: rectangles, triangles, rounded "petals," or whatever else you can think of. My cuts were all around 3/4" to 1 1/2" long.
2. Protect kids' clothing and work surfaces, if desired. My children each have their own paint shirts, which are just old t-shirts that used to belong to me. I use a clothespin to secure Logan's at the back of his neck. For the table, they each had a vinyl place mat to work on.
3. Pour some paint onto trays. We used six colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple, with two colors on each Styrofoam tray. Note: In retrospect, I think this would have worked better if there was more room per color, meaning that I should have only used one color per tray.
4. Have kids dip the toilet paper tubes into the paint and then press them onto the paper to make impressions. Note: They can also invent their own techniques for painting. For example, Logan liked to swirl the tubes around on the paper and Mia discovered that she could used the tips of the cut-outs to make smaller designs. Both of them figured out that the paint was occasionally drippy so they used that in their paintings, as well.
   
5. Let paint dry completely before displaying their artwork. Note: I used a black Sharpie to write their names and ages before they were finished. This is mostly so I won't forget who made each one! Note: Kids may also wish to go back after paint has dried and add more details with markers. I know Mia mentioned adding green stems to the "flowers" and some faces to the ones that reminded her of a lion's mane.

Here are 10 more crafts to make with toilet paper tubes:

• Homemade Sidewalk Chalk
• Toilet Paper Tube Christmas Tree
• Holly-Day Wreath
• Indian Corn Craft
• Scarecrow
• Turkey
• Wind Sock
• Bunny
• Chick
• Advent Wreath

And, if you haven't done so already, please check out the Livingston Parent Journal's crowdfunding page! There are just a couple days left to contribute to a very worthy cause.