If not, stick around and see how we made loads of homemade taffy!

Here's our recipe

Homemade Taffy

2 1/2 cups white sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup light corn syrup

1 1/3 cups water

2 tablespoons butter (plus lots extra to butter hands, we probably used over 1/2 of stick of butter on our hands)

1 teaspoon salt

1 - .21oz (6g) package unsweetened, fruit-flavored drink mix (like Kool-Aid) (we used cherry)****however I used Great Value brand from Wal-mart and those were the measurements on the package and it said it made two quarts of drink. On the Kool-Aid packet that makes two quarts it has different amounts (far less) I would still only use 1 packet since it is still flavoring the same amount of water.

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Butter large jelly roll pan or a cookie sheet with sides really well.

In a medium saucepan, stir together the sugar and cornstarch.  Add corn syrup, water, butter and salt and stir well until butter is melted. Bring to a boil over medium heat and stop stirring. Cook mixture until candy thermometer read 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). This takes some time to get it to 250 degrees. Once it approaches 250 degrees watch very closely because it cooks quickly at the end.  Immediately remove from heat. Carefully stir in vanilla and drink mix. Stir well. We should have stirred ours more-- notice some bits of drink mix (dark spots) on our taffy. Pour mixture onto buttered baking pan. Allow to cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes.

Directions:

Once the taffy has cooled enough to handle, butter hands and begin pulling. (It starts kind of translucent)

Then pull...and pull...butter hands again...pull...

and stretch...pull...more hand buttering...pull...

It will become more opaque and lighten in color depending on the attention span of your workers! This takes about 10-15 minutes of pulling.

Pull into long ropes and cut with buttered scissors.

and cut!

Wrap pieces of taffy in pieces of waxed paper

and give it a good twist on each end.

Finished!

Sweet!!

A few pieces of felt, a 5 oz cup, wiggly eyes, thread (for whiskers), large Popsicle stick and glue is all you need.

I made groundhog finger puppets for my crafting partners.  To give the ears dimension, I folded the sides of the ears to the center and place them between the two body  pieces and machine sewed around the edge.

Add some facial details and you have a groundhog finger puppet.   To use the finger puppet for the hiding groundhog just place it over a large popsicle stick.

My crafting partners also made their own groundhog puppets. To make it simple for them they glued their groundhog pieces directly to the popsicle stick.

Then they added the face.

Cut a hole in the bottom of the cup for the popsickle stick to fit through.

Next they glued felt to the outside of the plastic cup.

Then they cut slits in the felt around the top edge.

Fit the groundhog through the hole. Now you see him.

Now you don't.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Just when you think you have thought of the most clever craft ever, you then find others have thought of it also.  I have seen similar groundhog puppets around the web. If you have a similar craft or fun idea to celebrate Groundhog Day please leave a link in the comments so everyone can check it out!

Can you believe this is a groundhog shaped meatloaf? It was made by Sommer, a Skip to my Lou reader.

Sommer said she was surprised at how easy and fun it is to shape meatloaf.  She says if you bake your normal meatloaf on a foil covered cookie sheet, you can pretty much shape it into whatever you want.  The eyes are olives and the whites of his eyes and teeth are mashed potatoes.  Her family calls it the Ground-Groundhog Meatloaf.  I think she should be a food sculptor. Sommer has some skills!

I have linked my hiding groundhog puppets to Today's Creative Blog's Get Your Craft On! Go check her out and be inspired. Don't forget link up a project and show her what you've got!

These masks are simple to make from recycled cereal boxes and a bit of paint.

First, download the template. This post is not meant to be questionable.  I have received so much grief from my family about the template (got to love teen boys) that I only gave you half a template. It doesn't help. It still looks like a ....

Mask Template Download

Make your template and cut out your mask from a cereal box. To make the witch we cut off the ears.

Lightly score the nose.

Fold the nose under and hook into bottom of mask.

For the witch we added a hat by cutting a large triangle shape with long rectangle shape at bottom. Lightly score the rectangle so it will fold.

Fold rectangle together and staple to make brim.

Staple hat to top of mask.

Paint.

And paint.

Staple a piece of elastic to each side of the mask. Make sure it fits snugly around the pumpkin.

We finished and then someone wanted to be a witch. So I cut out the eyes and now I have a witch! Check out those eyelashes!

Take an old sheet and rip it into a 9"  wide strip (as long as you like), fold in half, slip a long rectangle for the tongue (you can trim it later) inside the middle at the top, stitch an arc across the top and then stitch straight down the open side. Trim and turn right side out.

Using Fabric Markers color and color!

The folded 9"  of fabric makes it the perfect width for little arms to stuff. Sew the end closed and you have a silly snake.

This made a fun little craft for Sunday School. It is something simple and works for a variety of ages. I made up the snakes ahead of time and during Sunday School the children colored and stuffed. For ease we tied the end shut with a piece of yarn. We have been learning about creation, Adam and Eve and this worked perfect when we talked about the snake. So as my daughter said, "It is a sneaky snake. that tricked Eve."

Bear Front Download

Bear Back Download

How to make your own print and sew bear:

Download bear and print on fabric. You can buy fabric that is specifically made for the printer (If you are squeamish or can't take it when someone says, "you sent what through the printer"-- buy the proper paper.) If you like to live on the edge --- hang on and I will tell you how to make your own paper backed fabric.

Cut a piece of very light weight white cotton fabric (muslin) and Freezer Paper slightly larger than 8 1/2 X 11.  Iron the shiny side of the paper to the fabric. Use a dry iron and hold for about 5 seconds. start from the middle and work to edges. If you have wrinkles in the fabric press on fabric side until smooth.  I then cut out the now paper backed fabric to  8 1/2" X 11". Give it another press -- it needs to be really flat.  In fact, I think it works to give it a press right before you run it through your printer. It is best to use a simple ink jet printer -- not a fancy 4 in 1 copier that has an elaborate (and expensive) system on the inside (I speak from experience people). Simply send your paper backed fabric through the printer so it prints on the fabric side. **Use 'normal' color print mode and choose 'fit to page' on your printer settings.**

If you want to conserve ink you can use any cotton (a cute brown print would be fun) fabric for the back of the bear.

Peal paper from back of fabric. On the wrong side of the bear trace around the outside edge of the bear. A disappearing fabric marking pen would be great, but I only could find a pencil.

Pin and sew. We left our opening for turning at the top of the head.

Trim and clip all curves and corners. Slip stitch opening closed.

Turn and stuff!

Thanks Amanda for making us a cute bear to print and sew!

To make our custom pillowcase we used Crayola Fabric Markers (I found them at Michael's Arts & Crafts and used a coupon) and a plain white pillowcase.

These markers are great! Bella literally spent hours working on her pillowcase.  She is really into hearts as you can see!  She asked me to draw a heart shape. The pillowcase was thin enough that I slipped a paper with a heart drawn on it in the middle and she could see it well enough to trace.  It would be fun to use coloring book pictures as templates also.  A child could easily decorate anyway they like, but if they seem intimidated have them make a drawing first on paper and then they can trace it.

** Make  sure you place a piece of cardboard inside the pillowcase to keep the markers from bleeding through to the other side. Read package directions for setting the fabric.**

Really the possibilities are endless for this craft---- slumber party or birthday crafts, gifts, etc.. They could even be further embellished with bits of fabric, trims and embroidery.

Bella loves her new pillowcase!

If you would like to try out these awesome fabric markers please leave a comment on this post before Tuesday at midnight CST. Crayola is giving FIVE lucky readers a set of fabric markers!

Yes, you can make homemade lick and stick stickers. If you want to make some too you will need gelatin, light corn syrup and flavoring extract. We used LorAnn's flavoring (in apple) but you can also use the extract from the spice isle at the grocery store. You might try lemon.

Homemade Sticker Gum

1 envelope (1/4 oz)  unflavored gelatin

4 tablespoons boiling water

1 teaspoon light corn syrup

1/2 tsp flavoring extract

Add gelatin to the boiling water and stir until dissolved. Stir in corn syrup and flavoring.

Paint sticker gum on backs of pictures cut from magazines or pieces of wrapping paper.

After the backs of papers are coated allow to dry completely.

Once paper is dry use punches to cut out fun shapes from the wrapping paper. Once you have all of the shapes cut out ---- lick lick away!

Then stick!

These stickers really work and the possibilities are endless. They could decorate note cards, lunch sacks, favor bags or make adorable stickers for gift wrapping with matching gift tags. Around here one special four year old has requested an alphabet book. Finding all of the letters and items that begin with the letters in our magazines will keep us busy!

Note: If you have left over sticker gum it will harden into a gel. To re-use, heat until it becomes liquid again.

I crocheted some chains in different lengths (actually the girls told me what color and how long).  If they were older it would have been fun to have them crochet their own chains.

They put glue on the cardboard.

Then they expertly arranged the crochet chains on the glue.

Ta Da!

I think this activity would be great for older (Kate and Bella are 4 1/2) children  too! It would be easier for older children to fill in the whole space and it would also provide a fun way for them to practice crochet skills.

because we have been eating tons of these!

To make your own homemade syrup for snow cones you only need sugar, water and this

Snow Cone Syrup Recipe

2 cups sugar

1 cup water

1 .22 ounce unsweetened powder drink mix

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and then immediately remove from heat.  Allow to cool. We used a funnel to put syrup into a recycled bottle.

Pour syrup over shaved ice (our machine makes great soft shaved ice) and enjoy!

I know I know, this is not healthy and I am one of those moms that won't buy sugared cereal---- sorry I am a bit of a hypocrite (especially since I feed my kids this too)! Snow cones are definitely a treat, one we love! Making the snow cone syrup yourself is so much cheaper than buying the flavored syrup from the store and it tastes better.

Wouldn't these Reusable Silicone Snow Cone Cups be handy!

How to make homemade shrinky dinks (shrink plastic)

It is really an easy activity. All you need is:

• permanent markers
• regular hole punch
• #6 plastic
• oven
• cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil or parchment paper
• scissors to cut the plastic

Cut a shape out of the plastic (plastic shrinks about 1/3 of the original size). Our 2" circle became about 3/4" when shrunk.

Color one side of the shape with permanent marker.  The color becomes more intense once shrunk. If you are wanting to attach your shape to something don't forget to punch a hole before placing in the oven.

Place the plastic on a thin cookie sheet (not the insulated type) covered with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Bake plastic at 350 degrees for 2- 3 minutes. Each oven is different so watch closely. You will see the plastic curl up and then it will flatten back out. It does give off some fumes so we left a window open for ventilation!

We added a jump ring to some of our shapes and strung on cording along with beads to make necklaces.

Some of the small shapes we placed on id wire rings along with some beads to make beverage markers.

Ball started as a 2" circle, finished size was about 3/4"
Tag started 3" long by 1 3/4" wide, finished size was about 1 1/4" long by just under 3/4" wide

On a larger shaped tag (starting size 4" long by 2 3/4" wide) we placed a clip so it could be a zipper pull. Punch two holes side by side to make the finished hole big enough for the clip. I think these zipper pulls would  make the cutest Valentine's -attach a note that says "You pull at my heart!"

Then we really got rolling and made rings.  They are just too cool. For directions on how to make professional looking rings visit Planet June. She has a wonderful tutorial. (The links for the tutorial are currently unavailable I will keep checking) Ours are a bit sloppy but we are still wearing them. It took some trial and error to find the right size. For my size I started with a strip 5" long by about 1" to 1 1/2" wide. Pull it immediately from the oven and quickly while it is still very hot wrap it around a Chap-stick tube. My son needed to make his 5 1/2 inches long and I (an adult must do this part--it is hot and you must work fast!) wrapped it around a child's chunky marker. If you make a mistake and get a miss-shaped ring or it is too long just send it back into the oven. Once it is warm it can be trimmed with scissors, it will also flatten back out and you can give it another go.

After we had used every piece of plastic my son said ---------bracelets!  We could make bracelets. So we are now saving more plastic!

Notes:

• I was able to use a regular ink pad and stamp designs on the plain plastic with great results!

• Look for the #6 stamp on the bottom of the clear containers

• #6 - PS: polystyrene is used in takeout food containers. It has been found to leach styrene--a neurotoxin and possible human carcinogen--and has been banned in cities like Portland, Ore. and San Francisco.  Okay so there is a downside to the craft!

• I remember my grandmother melting  white Styrofoam cups in the oven enough to make them look like hats. I think she did something for Mother's Day with them!

• I did think the melting plastic left a lingering odor in my oven. Before using my oven for food I turned it on to 400 degrees and let it bake for about 20 minutes to get rid of the smell.