Best Homemade Bubbles

Last summer, I tried out three different recipes for homemade bubbles, and I posted about our experiences here. This year, I had hoped to do a similar experiment and try out several more recipes for bubble solutions. However, I only tried this one. In part, time slipped away from me, but the main reason for not trying other recipes is that I really like this one! Recently, a few people have asked me for the recipe, so I decided it was time to share my current favorite bubble recipe.

This one has made the rounds on Pinterest and Facebook so you may have seen it before. When I saw it, people were claiming that it makes super industrial-strength, indestructible bubbles, so naturally I was curious to give it a go. The original recipe said to use JOY dish detergent, which I have been unable to find. So, I used Palmolive instead. I am not sure if the brand makes a significant difference, but our bubbles were pretty run-of-the-mill as far as pop-ability goes. With the right tools, however, this did create very large bubbles, and quite easily, I might add. Combine this with the fact that the recipe does NOT call for ingredients that are terribly expensive or more difficult to find (glycerin, for instance, which I used for last year's recipes) and it is a sure-fire winner.

So, far I've made a couple of batches, and we've had lots of fun with these bubbles throughout the spring and summer months. It was a hit at Logan's recent shark-themed birthday party. We have even  packaged this in small peanut butter jars along with homemade pipe cleaner wands and given it for birthday gifts along with some other homemade goodies, so this also makes a nice gift.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups water
• 1 cup light corn syrup (I used Karo.)
• 2 cups dish soap* (I used Palmolive.)

* If using ultra concentrated dish soap, reduce to 1 1/3 cups.

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, add water and corn syrup. Stir until combined. Note: It is difficult to completely dissolve the corn syrup, so just do the best that you can.
2. Add dish soap. Sand gently until well mixed, avoiding creating bubbles as best as possible.
3. Dip wands into bubble solution and blow or wave to create bubbles. Tip: To make it easier, pour the solution into containers such as cake pans and pie tins. Set these on the ground (or any flat surface) and let kids dip their wands into the solution.
4. To store bubble solution, pour it into a container with a lid. This should keep for many weeks. As mentioned above, I like peanut butter jars for this. They are unbreakable, but secure.

Note: Any bubble "wand" will work, whether it is something you have saved from commercial solutions or homemade wands made from twisted pipe cleaners, which are a favorite of mine.

Plastic bottles with the bottom cut off work very well for young children who are just learning to how to blow bubbles.

We've also had lots of fun this year with a couple of fly swatters that I got in a 2-pack at Dollar Tree, which can be used two different ways: first you can blow bubbles, or you can wave them around to create lots of tiny bubbles. We have found that swatting up and down works better than side to side.

Also, don't forget to check your kitchen for possible "wands!" Slotted spoons and spatulas are two that we have found to work well. I've even had success with old glow necklaces, which make quite large bubbles!

So, don't be afraid to think outside of the box (or commercial bubble container) here! It's very easy and affordable to make your own bubbles at home.

{Tiny bubbles... make me happy!}

Water Balloon Painting!

This activity is definitely messy fun! You have been duly warned. It was an idea that I found here. While it sounds a bit kooky, I am always up for new ways of painting, so we had to try it out. The hardest part was getting them to be patient while I filled all the balloons, but once we were ready to go, the kids had a blast! If you're not afraid of getting of a bit messy, this is a great summer activity.

{Finished Painting by Mia, Age 6}

{Finished Painting by Logan, Age 3}

Materials:

• water balloons (Ours were from Dollar Tree.)
• paint (Ours was powdered tempera that I mixed up in small batches.)
• plastic dosing syringe (like the ones you get for administering oral antibiotics to little ones)
• paper (Ours was a roll of craft paper I got from a garage sale. I've also seen it at Dollar Tree. If you happen to have a roll of butcher block paper, that would work, too.)
• scissors
• masking tape
• bowl to hold the filled balloons (Nice, but not necessary, this came in handy as well when it was time to pick up the pieces of popped balloons.)
• towels, washcloths, wipes, or paper towel (for clean-ups!)

Directions:

1. I strongly recommend having everyone change into old clothing before starting. I asked my kids to go barefoot, but the pavement was hot, so we compromised and they wore their Crocs (easily cleaned up, so no worries).
2. Mix up your paints. I have 4 colors of powdered tempera paints: red, yellow, blue, and green, so I just mixed a small bit of water with each of those in my plastic paint cups. Then, I mixed red and yellow to get orange and red and blue to get purple, so we had a total of 6 colors to use. (Tip: If you have ready-made tempera paints, you can skip this step, but I think that powdered temperas are a good investment. You can make up as little or as much as you need for each use and it's easy to adjust the consistency to accommodate the type of paint project you are doing. In the end, I think they are cheaper, plus you don't have to worry about them drying out and being ruined.)
3. Add some paint to each water balloon, using a plastic dosing syringe. I think we filled about 20 balloons in total.
4. Next, add some water to each water balloon so that they are inflated more. Don't add too much water, though. They don't need to be as big as possible. (Tip: Honestly, I am wondering if this step since we had trouble getting them to pop, anyway, and this just diluted the paint. We tried only one balloon without the water, and while it was much smaller, it popped just the same -- with being stomped -- and the paint remained vivid and undiluted.)
5. Cut some paper off of your roll of craft paper (or butcher block paper) and adhere to a flat, smooth surface using masking tape. We did this in the driveway. Alternatively, you could weight the paper down with rocks, or skip this altogether if you are not concerned about it getting blown or moved in any way. (Tip: I recommend one piece of paper for EACH child. It's just easier this way.)
6. Now that you are all prepped, start making some art. Sadly, we found that the balloons did not pop when thrown at the paper. Rather, they bounced off and rolled away. So, I just suggested that Mia and Logan stomp on them, which they found to be great fun!

{Photos taken mid-pop!}

{See the splash? Messy fun!}

7.  Let your paintings air-dry. (Ours took about an hour on a bright, sunny day.) Then, remove them and display, if desired. Personally, I was thinking of this as a process-based project rather than a product-based one, but the results were pretty cool, so I found a place to hang each of the finished art projects. (Tip: Our finished paintings fit nicely on two different doors. I just made sure to place them above the doorknobs.)

A Sweet Strawberry Season

Last Friday was the first day of strawberry season, so the kids and I headed out that morning to do some picking. I knew this would be our only opportunity to go picking during the short season since we have VBS every morning this week, and I definitely did not want to go out to the fields in the heat of the afternoon. Plus, very, very soon we will be leaving for our vacation. (Tropical island! No children! Eeeeeee!)

{Riding the wagon out to the fields is a favorite!}

Things went very smoothly this year, and I decided to ask for another big box so we could continue picking after we filled the first one. By the time they were tired, we had 16 pounds of sweet, juicy strawberries! This is probably twice the amount we picked last year, and it is fair to say that we have gone a bit overboard. (It helped that I had remembered the check book this time around, so I wasn't worried about going over my limited amount of cash.)

In general, I was more prepared than last year. We had quarters for the animal feed stations since there is a petting farm at this berry patch. (I didn't know that before...) Other essentials that we know to bring besides sunscreen and the camera included: our hats, our rain boots (good thing, too, because it was very muddy!), our dark-colored shirts (old clothes are crucial, here; I was surprised to see what nice clothing some other families dressed their little ones in!), and our very helpful, hands-free, belted berry buckets (just some old milk jugs -- half gallon for the kids and a gallon-size for me; I wrote about how to make them here).

{I always caught him eating...}

The only downside to picking all of those berries was that I had to do something with them, and very quickly before they spoiled. The upside, of course, was that we were able to make LOTS of delicious things! The first thing we made was 4 jars of strawberry jelly using this easy recipe for any-berry jelly. Next, we made 4 jars of strawberry jam using this recipe, which is as the name implies, quite simple:

Easy Berry Jam

• 1 cup cold water
• 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
• 2 pints fresh sliced strawberries, raspberries, boysenberries, or a combination (about 4 cups)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (1 lemon)

1. Pour the water into a large saucepan and add the gelatin packets. Let stand 1 minute. Stir over low heat until completely dissolved, about 5 minutes.
2. Kids can help by juicing 2 halves of a lemon. (Fortunately, mine knew how to do this from our lemonade stand experience.) They can also sort and rinse berries.
3. Add the strawberries (or other berries), sugar, and lemon juice to the pan. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and crushing berries slightly with potato masher. (This is a step that I allowed Mia to help with, but not Logan because he is kind of young to be that close to the stove, in my opinion.)
4. Spoon into jars (mine had been washed and sterilized in the hot water bath while we were doing the other steps to prepared the jam). Cool slightly before refrigerating. Chill until set, about 3 hours. This will keep for up to 4 weeks in the refrigerator or up to 1 year in the freezer.

{Well, it's not as pretty as can be, but I am improving...}

I also made a strawberry pie to serve for Father's Day dessert since it is one of Brett's favorites. I used this recipe for Shimmering Strawberry Pie, but cheated and used a store-bought graham cracker crust in place of the oil pastry. (I really do need to learn to do that, but it's been kinda crazy 'round here.) I did step up my game a little bit, though, by making some whipped cream using my new stand mixer. This was actually my first time making homemade whipped cream (although, it is so simple, I am not sure why I never did it before) and I tried this recipe:

Basic Whipped Cream

• 1 cup heavy cream (This is the smallest package available at the store, in case you're wondering.)
• 1 Tbs. granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Chill the bowl and whisk attachment to a stand mixer in the freezer for 10 minutes.
2. Add ingredients to bowl and whip on high speed for 1 minute, until medium peaks form.
3. That's it. Be sure not to do it for too long, or you will end up with something more the consistency of butter. I stuck the whipped cream in the refrigerator to let it chill before putting it in my pastry bag and using it the garnish the pie. (Is this the best way? Who knows? It's just what I tried.)

Next up, I made some strawberry topping, which I served over waffles for our very tasty dinner. I later made a triple batch, put it into 3 different half-pint canning jars and froze them to use for ice cream topping or topping for more waffles or pancakes. So good! I found the recipe here last year, pinned it, and finally tried it out this summer. Some people had commented on the site that the recipe was not very clear, but it seemed difficult to mess it up, in my opinion.

Supreme Strawberry Topping

• 1 pint berries (about 2 cups)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla

1. Wash and hull strawberries. Halve large berries or roughly chop them. 
2. Combine strawberries, sugar, and vanilla in a saucepan. (After reading another person's suggestion, I reserved about 1/3 of the berries for later.) Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Mash a few strawberries with a wooden spoon or heat-proof spatula to help produce the syrup. (I used a whisk.) Cook until sauce thickens, about 15 minutes. 
3. Remove from heat. In a blender, puree about 1/3 of the sauce, then mix back into remaining topping. (This was the reserved berries. I cooked it a bit longer, and just skipped the pureeing step, which seemed unnecessary.) Store in refrigerator. (Again, I froze mine, so hopefully, this will thaw and still be delicious when we are ready to eat it.) 

For another quintessential taste-of-summer treat (at least this is one we always had when I was younger, often times in place of dinner, although I always serve it as dessert because I'm not as cool as my mom!), Mia and Logan helped me make strawberry shortcake. This is the healthier version that I have been using for the past couple of years:

Strawberry Shortcake 

• 3 cups sliced fresh strawberries
• 2 Tbs. sugar
• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbs. sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 3 Tbs. butter (recipe says "or margarine," but obviously, there is no substitute for real butter)
• 1 beaten egg
• 1/2 cup buttermilk* (see below for how I make this)
• whipped cream (homemade or store-bought)

1. In a medium bowl, stir together strawberries and 2 tablespoons sugar. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour. 
2. In another bowl, stir together flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. (Kids can help measure and pour dry ingredients.) Using a pastry blender, but in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (My kids loved helping with this step.) Combine beaten egg and buttermilk* and add to the flour mixture. Stir until moistened and drop by rounded tablespoon into 8 mounds on an ungreased baking sheet. (I lined mine with parchment paper.) 
3. Bake at 450 degrees for 7-8 minutes or until golden. (I find this takes an additional minute or two, but oven vary.) Transfer to a wire rack and cool for about 10 minutes. 
4. Serve with strawberries and whipped cream. 

To Make *Buttermilk* These are my reduced measurements from the amounts that are called for here. I just don't need a full cup for this recipe, so I have altered the measurements.

• 1/2 cup milk (I used whole milk.)
• 3/4 tsp. distilled white vinegar (Can also use lemon juice) 

1. Place 3/4 tsp. vinegar into a 1 cup measuring cup. 
2. Add enough milk to fill the measuring cup. 
3. Let set for 5 minutes before using.

{Helping make shortcake}

{Finished shortcake}

Okay, here's the grand finale, folks. After the kiddos were in bed, I served up some really tasty, adult-only Father's Day strawberry goodness in the form of frozen daiquiris. Mmmmmmmmm! This is a simple, but insanely brilliant idea for make-ahead drinks. Brett and I each enjoyed a cocktail that evening, and now we have 4 more waiting in the freezer for whenever the mood to chillax strikes. This is one I saw on Pinterest last summer and just now have gotten around to trying. So glad I did! It was a very satisfying ending to a sweet strawberry season.

Frozen Fruit Daiquiris

• 6 oz. (3/4 cup) frozen lemonade or limeade concentrate (I used lemonade.)
• 6 oz. (3/4 cup) rum (I used Bacardi.)
• 4 cups frozen fruit (her recommendation -- I used fresh strawberries, obviously)
• 2 cups ice cubes
• sweetener (optional -- I skipped this)
• fresh fruit for garnish (optional -- yeah, skipped this too, but maybe if we are ever entertaining...)

1. In a blender, combine lemonade or limeade concentrate, rum, and fruit. (I used whole strawberries.)
2. Blend until smooth. Add ice and blend again until smooth, with no remaining chunks of ice.
3. Taste and add sweetener if desired. (Brett and I thought these were perfect.)
4. To freeze and save for later, add daiquiris to clean, half-pint mason jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Then, screw on lids and freeze. They will keep for up to a month. 
5. To serve, remove from the freezer and allow to warm up for 5-15 minutes. Then use a fork to break the frozen daiquiri. Easy, and so tasty! I think we will have to try this with some other fruits, too.

{Brett asked, "You added exclamation points to the labels?" Yes, sir! I was that excited!}

Lessons from a Lemonade Stand

Last Thursday I let the kids try their hand at running their very first business: a lemonade stand. While this is not something I ever had the opportunity to do, it seems like something every kid should do at least once during childhood. Mia really wanted to do this at some point in the summer, and I for reasons that I can't really explain given how busy we are preparing for our vacation, (Tropical island! No kids!! Ring any bells?) decided to try to cram that into our already bursting-at-the-seams schedule.

Before agreeing to this venture, I had Mia brainstorm a list of items that we would need to buy or make before setting up shop. She came up with: table, chairs, sign, pitcher, cups, balloons, and of course, lemonade. For that, I had an interesting recipe I wanted to try: watermelon lemonade (which I found in the June 21, 2013 issue of All You magazine, page 4). And, I happened to have lemons and watermelon on hand, which meant that this was as good a time as any to test the recipe and run a lemonade stand. Two birds, one stone.

Sweet Pink Lemonade (makes 12 servings)

• 6 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 cups watermelon, chopped 
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups lemon juice (from about 8 lemons)
• ice

1. Bring 6 cups water, 1 1/2 cups sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt to a boil, stirring occasionally.
2. Remove pan from heat, cover, and let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Puree 4 cups chopped watermelon in a blender (I used my food processor for this.) along with 1 cup of water.
4. Pour syrup and watermelon puree through a strainer into a pitcher. (This step was really messy!)
5. Stir in 2 cups fresh lemon juice. (The kids helped with the squeezing, but this was mostly a job for Mama.)
6. Serve over ice. (Hard to do when you're sitting outside for a couple of hours...)

Sounds pretty good, right? It is! However, this is a fair bit of work to put into a kids' lemonade stand endeavor. So, lesson #1 I learned is that when making a lemonade stand, don't knock yourself out making fresh squeezed lemonade from organic lemons and pureed watermelon. Seriously, I doubt that our customers knew or cared how much effort went into making the stuff. *If* we do this again, I will probably just use frozen lemonade concentrate or perhaps, more lazily, a powdered drink mix. For some reason it seemed important to keep it real, but in retrospect, I don't think it mattered.

Setting up a table and chairs was easy. Getting balloons blown up was trickier. I don't have that much hot air, it seems, and the kids are a bit young to be much help in this arena. Making a sign shouldn't have been as time-consuming as it was, but being perfectionistic, I decided to do it myself using my Cricut and some yellow and pink card stock. (I am not sure if this was the right choice or not. Mia could have done the lettering herself, of course, but I didn't think it would be as legible, so I wanted the cut-out letters to hopefully get more attention.) One thing I made sure to highlight on the sign was the word "fresh" because after all that effort, I wanted people to know they were buying a quality product! Is there a lesson here? I'm not sure, but I think it is still related to #1: don't overdo things; Keep it simple.

Now, came one of the more difficult decisions: what price to assign to a small paper cup of fresh squeezed lemonade? Initially, I was thinking only a quarter because the cups were small kitchen cups, but after all of the work invested in my kids' lemonade stand, (and thinking about having to hand wash my lemon juicer, large pot, and assorted food processor pieces...), I made the executive decision to charge 50 cents per cup. I figured $1 was too steep, and 50 cents was the next logical choice. Lesson #2 is that everything has value, including Mom's time. (However, Mom is also the person who makes sacrifices, so I decided not to charge the kids for my time or for the materials we used to make their lemonade. I'm still debating whether or not that was the right decision. I wanted them to see some "profits" but I also wanted them to recognize that everything came at a cost. Tough stuff, when you really think about it, and I thought it was just lemonade!) I think that *if* we run another lemonade stand, I really should let them have the true lesson in economics. This was just the intro course, and I omitted some of the critical learning.

Lesson #3 was more of a lesson for the children with regards to persistence. About half an hour into the waiting game, Mia announced that this was boring. (Shocker, I know!) I tried to remain optimistic even though I didn't think we would get many customers. We live on a paved road off of a dirt road, so we're kind of isolated. Our only hope was the neighborhood people and given that it was the middle of the afternoon on a weekday, it didn't seem like we would get too much business. I reminded the kids that they had to be friendly and wave to all of the cars that passed by. Logan jumped on this idea immediately, and waved enthusiastically while yelling out out to each passerby, "Hi! We have a lemonade stand!!" Amazingly, we started getting customers right after this, so there is power in positive thinking.

There really are good people in the world. I think this lesson #4 hit home for me, perhaps, more than it did for Mia and Logan. Once the neighbors started showing up, they would buy more than one cup, so that meant $1 instead of 50 cents. I honestly did not expect that, because, again, I was worried that I was overcharging in the first place. Then, we had two people who made donations/tips to the lemonade stand, just because they were supportive. One neighbor said, "Here's a tip just for being an entrepreneur." Isn't that nice? (It made me feel like I should do a better job of supporting lemonade stands...) But the one thing that really impressed me was when the UPS delivery man stopped his truck just so he could buy two (again, not one but two!) cups of our by-then lukewarm lemonade. While I was a teensy bit upset over the people who promised to "come back later" and never did, in the end they sold 13 cups and got paid for more than that, which exceeded my expectations of what we could achieve in a two-and-one-half-hour window on a Thursday afternoon in our neighborhood, where people pretty much keep to themselves.

Mia learned a lesson in responsibility (#5). Our neighbors across the street actually set up a bouncy house while we were working at the lemonade stand. (We had been invited over to bounce earlier in the day, and had taken advantage of their hospitality for about a half hour.) This was a very tough decision for her, but ultimately, she decided to keep manning the stand instead of going off to do the thing that would have been immediately gratifying. I was, admittedly, shocked that she made this choice, especially after watching her weigh the choices in her mind, and seeing how hard it was for her to decide to stick with her business plan!

Lesson #6 is one on being prepared. Lemonade stands are a sticky, messy business so have lots of towels on hand for cleaning up all the spills. The drink dispenser may go haywire at some point from too many little hands fiddling with it, so make sure your extra cups are easily within reach because you may find yourself filling cup after cup, trying to keep up with the gushing. (Must not waste any of that fresh squeezed organic lemonade with pureed watermelon!) Oh, and don't forget a bag to hold all of the used cups, like I did. Sunscreen seemed like an obvious choice (check!), but little did I know, we would actually need an umbrella before the afternoon was over! Make sure your kids have their own water bottles so they are not tempted to drink up the lemonade supply. I made sure that we had change before heading outside, not knowing that we wouldn't really need it. (Nice people!) And I figured having hand sanitizer available couldn't hurt.

Once the rain got too hard, we shut down the lemonade stand, and headed inside, where I counted the money. When all was said and done, I gave each of the kids $3.50. As Brett pointed out, this wasn't the profits, it was the revenue. I had decided not to charge them the $3 for the lemons or the $2.50 for half of a watermelon that was used. Sugar and cups were such small amounts that I didn't know how to calculate the cost for those, and then there was the issue of my time. Undoubtedly, it is valuable, but it was all a gift, because I wanted them to have the experience. Lesson #7 was to just plain enjoy life! We had a good/exhausting/sticky afternoon, and we may have come out ahead by a dollar of so, but the real lessons had more to do with earning money. (This is fortunate, since there wasn't much money actually made when you do the math.) It was more rewarding for me just to let them enjoy the feeling of success, while we kicked back and finally enjoyed some of that sweet pink lemonade. I think we all earned it.

Homemade Sidewalk Chalk Experiment #3

The third time's a charm, right? I think that I did, in fact, nail it this time. My first sidewalk chalk experiment was successful, but time-consuming due to the large size of the chalk. Also, I was concerned that the cost of the powdered tempera was a deterrent for some people. I wanted to find a more cost-effective solution that would also allow me to mix colors as I pleased. Then, I thought about the second experiment, and how it was good for color mixing, just not setting up as "chalk." I realized there must be a way to combine the Plaster of Paris from experiment #1 with the food colors from experiment #2 in order to get the best of both worlds. So, I looked online to see if anyone had done this before. Bingo! I found directions from this blogger, who also happened to share my dream of making shaped sidewalk chalks.

I used approximately 2 1/2 bags of Plaster of Paris mix. The box contained 4 bags and cost about $4 at Wal-mart. After two go-rounds, I made a total of 22 egg-shaped chalks, which works out to under 12 cents apiece if you are only taking into account the cost of Plaster of Paris. (I did not try to figure in the cost of food coloring. If you don't have some, get it because it is a super craft investment. Today, I saw that it was on sale at Kroger and 2 boxes were only $4.) This is comparable to the cost of store-bought sidewalk chalk, and this gives you the bonus of making it whatever shape you like! You can see that my egg-shaped chalks nest very nicely in a re-used egg carton. Wouldn't that make a cute gift for some of your favorite little people? So, now that I know how to make chalk with this method, I am way more excited by homemade chalk, and I can actually see myself doing this again and again.

{Homemade egg-shaped sidewalk chalk! Just in time for Easter!}

Materials:

• molds (I used 2 Jell-o Jiggler egg-shaped molds.)
• 1 cup Plaster of Paris
• 3/4 cup water
• container to mix in
• spoon
• funnel
• food coloring
• cake pan (optional)

Directions:

1. In a container (preferably something you aren't worried about "ruining"), mix 1 cup Plaster of Paris with 3/4 cup water. Tip: I used an old margarine tub.
2. Add several drops of food coloring. You can use any color or combination of colors that you like. For my first batch I used 15 drops of yellow. Stir until color is well blended.
3. Snap together your egg-shaped molds (or whatever molds you have -- I have not tried it, but I am sure you could do this in muffin tins, cake pop pans, or even Dixie cups. Or try toilet paper tubes as I did in experiment #1.) Tip: If desired, set the molds in a cake pan or on a cookie sheet to help catch the inevitable drips and dribbles.
4. Using a funnel, pour your Plaster mixture into the egg molds (or whatever mold you are using). Once filled, tap to get rid of air bubbles. I found that one batch filled about 3 and 1/2 of my egg cups. Tip: A skewer was occasionally helpful for getting some of the lumpier bits to pass through the funnel.
5. Set aside to firm up. You can remove from the molds after 24 hours. Tip: I used a butter knife to help loosen up the edges of the molds in order to get them open. Then, let them continue to air-dry for about another 48 hours before using the sidewalk chalk.
6. Repeat as desired. The first time I made these sidewalk chalks, I did three batches: yellow (15 drops), blue (15 drops), and green (15 drops). Once the molds were emptied and cleaned out, I made 3 more batches: orange (8 drops yellow + 7 drops red), red (20 drops), and neon purple (10 drops).
7. Enjoy your shaped sidewalk chalk! Note: In the photo, you can sort of see how my original batches have some color that has sort of risen to the tops as they dried. I am not sure why, but I don't think if affects how well the chalk work. The colors appear to be distributed throughout the whole chalks, and more importantly, I tested these out and they work beautifully! Plus, they are not dusty.

Homemade Sidewalk Chalk Experiment #2 (FAIL)

Update: I see that this post is getting a lot of traffic, so I want everyone to know that this recipe does NOT work for making sidewalk chalk. It will produce sidewalk paint. If you are looking for a sidewalk chalk recipe that does work, I have found two: this one and this one. Thanks for visiting! I hope you find what you are looking for.

A few days ago, my sister-in-law, Kristin asked me if I had ever made homemade sidewalk chalk. Ironically, I was in the midst of waiting for my first batch to harden up, when she gave me a new recipe to try out. It sounded a lot like the sidewalk paint that we had made last spring so I was a bit skeptical that it would harden up and produce actual, usable chalk. Regardless, I figured it was worth a try. If it was successful, it would be a bit cheaper than my first recipe for sidewalk chalk, and it would be simpler to get more variety of colors with food coloring instead of powdered tempera paint. Plus, if it didn't work out, I would only be out a few cents and some time, so it wasn't a big deal.

When I tried it out, I first lined the tins with circles of wax paper that I had cut with scissors because I was afraid the chalk would stick. This turned out to be unnecessary I think. I had to wait a total of 5 days for it to dry out. On the second day, there was about 1/4" colored liquid on top of an "oobleck" type pseudo-solid. My skepticism continued. The day after that, there was less liquid, and it the stuff beneath it seemed firmer to the touch. So, my hopes were raised that this experiment would work. Then, the day after that, some of the "chalks" looked almost dry. After two more days, they all appeared to be dry, and they were starting to separate from the sides of the tins. The weird thing that my husband pointed out is that they appeared to be growing patches of green mold on top. Gross, right? However, I was cautiously optimistic that if I could just get them out unscathed, this could actually work. That was the dilemma. I decided to put an inch or so of hot water in my sink and then let the pan soak in it for 1 minute. Then, I used a butter knife to gently remove the chalks from the muffin tin. All but two made it through this process without disintegrating. However, the "chalk" felt very, very soft, so I doubted it would be usable.

{Homemade Sidewalk Paint -- BEFORE it dried into useless dust!}

I tentatively tried one or two "chalks" on a piece of paper and it immediately crumbled to bits. Figuring this for a lost cause, and a messy one at that, I gave Mia a cookie sheet and a piece of paper, so she could give the "chalk" a go. She ended up with a pile of pink "chalk" dust, which she enjoyed playing with, piling up, and smooshing back down, dragging it around the cookie sheet with her fingers until I decided enough was enough. She had pink "chalk" dust on her face and in her hair. I say "chalk" because it had turned out to be essentially colored corn starch after the water evaporated, not at all what I was hoping for, but truthfully, not an unexpected result. In the end, I don't feel that this is a failure because it didn't produce the desired effect. Really, I know that this will make perfectly good sidewalk paints, plus now I have the idea to do them in muffin tins instead of the glass jars we previously used, and this is definitely safer to do with kids.

{AFTER: Nothing more than colored cornstarch -- utterly useless as"sidewalk chalk!"}

The Bottom Line: If you decide to do this, choose a nice sunny day, and please know that you will be making sidewalk paints that need to be used immediately, NOT some sidewalk chalks. You will likely want to mix up your paints while you are outside, to keep spillage to a minimum. You will also need paintbrushes or sponging for painting the sidewalk.

{Here is my craft FAIL -- just in case you thought it never happens.}

Materials Needed to Make Sidewalk Paint (not chalk):

• 12 cup muffin tin
• 1 1/2 cups cornstarch
• 1 1/2 cups water
• container for mixing
• spoon/s for mixing
• food coloring
• paint brushes or sponges
• funnel (optional)

Directions:

1. In a container, mix equal parts cornstarch and water. I used 1 1/2 cups of each, which will fill 12 muffin cups approximately half full. Divide into the muffin cups. Tip: A funnel is helpful for pouring.
2. Add a few drops of food coloring to each muffin cup to get desired colors. I used no more than 3 drops per muffin cup. Tip: Food coloring may stain skin and clothing, so be mindful of this when using it.
3. Mix up each color, and have kids paint on the sidewalk or driveway using paintbrushes or sponges. Tip: When we did this last year, we kept the paints in jars with lids, shook them up as needed, and re-used the paints.
4. That's it. Enjoy your sidewalk paint. Don't bother waiting around for this recipe to harden up and produce "sidewalk chalk." You will just be disappointed.

Bubbles, Bubbles, Everywhere!

Earlier this month, I decided we should have a bubble day. We tried out three different recipes for homemade bubble solutions and we also experimented with homemade (and other unconventional) bubble wands. Some ideas worked out better than others.

{This first picture is from the "Bouncing Bubble Solution." That is why they are wearing mittens. Unfortunately, this not only did not make "bouncing" bubbles, it didn't even make bubbles. I don't know this is because it was supposed to "set" for 24 hours and our batch "set" for 48, or if our distilled water was too old -- if that is even possible, or if it just doesn't work.}

{I made each of the kids their own plastic bottle bubble blower using Gatorade bottles from the recycling bin. I cut off the bottoms along the indentation (see photo) because the plastic was too tough to simply cut off the bottom portion. Water bottles are made of thinner plastic and would have worked better, I think, but we don't buy those.}

{I poured out some bubble solution on a baking sheet, and it worked well for the kids to dip their new bottle bubble blowers into the solution. I don't know if it shows up in the picture, but these blowers make nice big bubbles and are very simple for the kids to use.}

{This was another easy to make DIY bubble blower. I just twisted some pipe cleaners into big wands. I made circles and hearts, but in the end, bubbles are all the same shape so it doesn't matter what shape you make. They work nicely, which is really what is important to know.}

{We played with other kitchen utensils as bubble blowers. Cookie cutters were not the best we tried, but they do work. I found some of the ideas here.}

{Slotted spoons and slotted spatulas make good bubble wands. Wire whisks do not, unfortunately. It seemed like it would, but I was wrong.}

The other two recipes for bubble solution came from here. The one called "Fancy Homemade Bubbles" I won't share because I don't think it is worth sharing. I am not sure what makes them fancy other than the sugar, perhaps? And more importantly, it wasn't the best solution, so we won't be making it again. I was very tempted to make colored bubbles, but I really felt that it would turn out badly, and I didn't want to stain clothing or anything else. Ultimately, I think this is the best recipe (or at least the best we have tried). The name says it all I think. We made it with glycerin which I got in the Wilton section of Jo-Ann, which I am sure is not the cheapest way to buy it, but it came in a small bottle and I knew we would only need a small amount. Since I had a half-off coupon, it only cost me $1.50, which is about what I was willing to spend on what might have only been one day's worth of fun. I do have about 1/3 of the glycerin left, so we will get to make more bubbles later in the summer. I will have to try it with Karo syrup sometime, too.

Best Homemade Bubble Solution

1 cup water
2 tablespoons light Karo syrup or 2 tablespoons glycerin
4 tablespoons dishwashing liquid (We used blue Dawn.)
Mix together and have fun!

A Fish Tale

Cheap Entertainment
Our most recent family trip to visit Grandma and Grandpa happened to coincide with the 7th Annual Kids Free Fishing Day in Traverse City. This past Saturday was what seemed to be the perfect day for fishing (at least to this amateur fisher who admittedly knows next to nothing about the sport). I heard that they had stocked 1000 rainbow trout, and the event was totally free including bait, a borrowed fishing pole, and food. I figured we had nothing to lose. We would for sure leave with at least one trout (the limit was 2 per child so we could have ended up with a total of 4 if luck had been on our side), and I wasn't completely looking forward to this since I had no idea what we were going to do with a dead fish -- certainly not eat it, anyway. So even though we didn't really know how to fish or what in the world we would do if we caught a fish, we headed out for a family adventure. Both kids were thrilled at the thought of fishing and I was happy to have some form of cheap family entertainment.

The Waiting is the Hardest Part
They were a bit less enchanted when they learned more about what fishing really entails. As we waited in line to get our gear, one family was just leaving, and I overheard the mom announce to nobody in particular, "We got skunked. We fished for an hour and caught nothing." I realized that this was an important point that I had overlooked in prepping the kids (and myself, it turns out) and took the opportunity to tell them that we might not catch anything.

Once we got our Dixie cup of worms and a pole, we found a spot that wasn't too crowded and I asked Brett if he wanted to put the worm on the hook or if he wanted me to do it. I can't remember why I even asked that. He told me I should do. That should have been my first clue that he was not fond of fishing. Despite the worm's squirming protestation, I got it on the hook. I double stabbed it, too, just to make sure it stayed on. We were ready to go. Brett cast the line and let Mia reel it in, then he repeated this process to give Logan a chance. Over on the other side (where it was pretty crowded), people were reeling in fish left and right and after a few minutes of waiting, I convinced him that we had to move the the other side where the fish were obviously biting.

{Logan reels in the line.}

{Mia was excited to go fishing for the first time.}

{This is the spot where the fish were not biting.}

The only difference there, it turns out, is that we got a closer view of everyone else catching fish. And occasionally, someone's line would get tangled with ours. Plus, there were the crazy folks who wildly cast their lines backward with total disregard to the tons of people, mainly children (hello, it's kids free fishing day) who may have gotten hit. I kept seeing mothers snapping photos of little kids holding up their fish while standing next to their proud fathers. I was getting a bit disheartened. When was I going to get a chance to take a similar picture? More casting, more reeling in, more waiting. Logan got antsy, so I took him off to get plates of hot dogs and chips for both kids.

{And here we are at the spot where I was sure we would catch a fish...}

{Logan decided that eating a hot dog was better than fishing.}

"The One that Got Away"
I brought him back as quickly as possible, because I didn't want to miss that moment when Mia got her first fish. And, of course, I would finally get to take that all-important photo. Then, the grandfather next to us helped his grandson reel in fish number two, and I noticed that his hands were totally covered in blood. Eewwww. Even knowing that they had a station with volunteers waiting to clean the fish couldn't make me get excited about the idea of actually catching a fish. Mia wasn't ready to give up, though. Brett told me they had a fish nibble on the worm while we were off getting food. Logan was content for a bit since he had food. Like that other family, we kept on trying for an hour when Logan was really, truly fed up with the waiting and we had to call it quits. There would be no bloody fish to deal with (whew, dodged a bullet there) and unfortunately, there would be no proud family photo. However, I mentally patted myself on the back for hooking that worm so well that it stayed on for a full hour, nibble and all. Trying not to think about "getting skunked," we headed off to find more fun...

{Such concentration. Too bad luck wasn't on her side.}

Catch of the Day
What we found called for more waiting. After about 1/2 hour we made it to the front of the Great Lakes Children's Museum booth. (Brett took the kids one at a time off to get their free tee-shirts from another booth while we waited in line.) Fortunately, we didn't have to leave completely empty handed. Mia made this pretty print using some sort of rubber fish and printmaking ink pressed onto cotton cloth. (Logan had decided that he was done just as we made it to the front of the line, so Brett had taken him to the van to wait.) With Mia's pink and purple fish print, we left the free fishing day, and one of the Rotary volunteers told her, "What a pretty fish" as we passed. I laughed about how it was the only one we had caught.

{This is a cool project, and I have to say I prefer fish art to real fish any day.}

{Detail of the fish print}

In the end, I was a bit surprised that we didn't catch a live fish. I thought it would actually be easier, which just shows you how little I know about fishing. I had to remind myself that the goal was to have fun as a family and I think we managed that. I get the sense that Brett would prefer not to do any more fishing. Logan may have been a bit too young, so there is always next year. Mia handled the disappointment about not catching any fish well, so I was pleased by her attitude. And I decided that we have to try again next year. I told my parents how well planned out this event was. It really was nice to get a chance to try out something that Mia has wanted to do for quite awhile without the hassle of investing any money. This definitely met my expectations as far as cheap family entertainment goes. Admittedly, I wanted that photo with Mia looking thrilled with her catch. I am sure that day will come, so I will just need to wait.

After our fishing foray, we made our way over to the Grand Traverse Library to check out the children's garden. It was also very nice (and free), which I loved. The kids' favorite part was the wooden train. I enjoyed all of the sculptures and the sun dial that told us where to stand in order to get our shadow to tell us the time.

{Logan as conductor}

{Mia in the "dining car"}

{And peeking out the window}

{I think the look on his face says it all: a great day of family adventures!}

Fruits of Our Labor

Why does it seem like the world has started spinning faster this summer? Here I am posting about something that happened nearly 2 weeks ago: our first trip to the strawberry patch, which was way back on June 6. I was hoping to make it back again, but I fear the season has passed us by. At least the kids and I had a good time while we could. Logan probably ate more white strawberries that he should have, but then again, he probably ate more strawberries than he should have, period. And eating them right after you have picked the berries is just about as close to Heaven as we can get, so I don't blame him. So many, many tasty things can be made with strawberries, but we managed just a few with our 5+ pounds. (And I had high hopes and dreams of becoming someone who knows how to can... Guess I will have to wait for the next season.) I am not complaining. Every bite was worth it.

{Logan was excited about the tractor-pulled wagon ride, so he didn't mind the wait.}

{So sweet! These are the Early Glow variety. Definitely getting them again!}

{One for Logan....}

{This one looks good to me.}

{Here they are actually picking berries.}

{It was a beautiful day, but I was glad we went in the morning. The sun was hot.}

{Rain boots + old clothes = good idea. I only wish they had agreed to wear hats.}

{Even though he had his own container, he kept sampling from our haul of berries.}

{Note: I don't know whose stroller that is in the background, but I don't recommend taking one with you if you are berry picking. We did that once at the apple orchard, at it's more trouble than it's worth. Just my two cents.}

{A sign of a good time: berry-stained face!}

{This strawberry jelly is easy to make and really yummy. The first jar is already gone!}

{These strawberry white chocolate muffins were ah-ma-zing! Must make them again and again and again... not overly sweet, just perfect.}

{I kind of wish that I had piped whipped cream around the outside edges. It would look so pretty, but truthfully, it tastes good, so I don't care too much about the presentation.}


Shimmering Strawberry Pie 

6 cups strawberries, halved

1 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons corn starch

1 recipe Oil Pastry for Single-Crust Pie (or if you're like me and want simple, a ready-made graham cracker crust)

1. Prepare Oil Pastry for Single-Crust Pie*. Prick bottom and sides of pastry generously with tines of a fork. Bake in 450 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until pastry is golden. Cool on a wire rack.
2. In a blender or food processor, combine 1 cup of strawberries and the water. Cover and blend or process until smooth. Transfer to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 2 minutes.
3. In a medium saucepan, stir together sugar and cornstarch; stir in berry mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature.
4. Fold remaining strawberries into cooled syrup mixture; transfer to pastry shell. Cover; chill for 3-4 hours.                                                                                                                        * Oil Pastry for Single-Crust Pie: In a medium bowl stir together 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Combine 1/4 cup fat-free milk and 3 tablespoons cooking oil. Add milk mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir lightly with a fork until dough forms; form into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, slightly flatten dough. Roll dough into a 12-inch circle. Ease pastry into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim pastry to 1/2 inch beyond edge of plate. Fold extra pastry; crimp edge as desired.