I also love fun tags!

Here is a little treat {just for you} , all you have to do is “like” Skip to my Lou on Facebook and these funky little tags are yours to download and print!

Facebook is the way to stay connected and all you have to do  is  Like Skip to my Lou  and you will be the first to hear about what’s going on over here  (posts, giveaways, and more).  It’s also a great place to interact with me and tell me what you think, I love hearing from you too!  So stop and by and be sure to say Hi; I just might be giving away more free printables there soon {hint hint}.

I love these  Natural ornaments shared by Quirky Momma.  The natural effect is really fun and different.

This little fondant penguin, shared by Fowl single file  is so cute and clever!

This darling little snowman spree, shared by like a pretty petunia, would be a great little treat to wrap up for your kids to give to their friends!

These adorable Christmas Candy Tree’s shared by my heart’s desire can be saved and used through the years!

These adorable Christmas Place Mat Pillows shared by Bubbly Nature Creation  turned out very fun!

Thank you {all of you} for linking up with me this week! Come back tomorrow for another Made by you Monday! I can’t wait to see what you have been doing!

Painted Santa Ornament

To make the Santa you will need one medium size round ornament, paint (flesh color, white, black and red),  Snow Tex by DecoArt, paintbrushes.

Paint a flesh color rectangle on the front of the ornament. It will need at least two coats.

With the end of the paint brush handle make dots for the eyes and nose.

Mix the Snow Tex with a little white paint (about 3:1 ratio) to make it a bit thinner consistency. Paint down the sides of the flesh rectangle and around the top of the ornament.

Paint a mustache, beard and add a small little dot for the mouth. Be very generous with the Snow Tex. It will shrink slightly as it dries.

{Drum Roll} you have a darling Santa Ornament.

If your looking for a Holiday Craft for younger kids you might enjoy this tutorial for these Christmas idea’s pictured below.

Pom pom ornaments

Paper candy canes

I promise you next year when you get the decorations out your child will grab for the decorations they created first; all while telling you exactly what you did together to create it. This is how I create memories while spreading holiday cheer.

Now I’d love to know, how do you spread real cheer with your holiday decorating? Show me with your photos! Click “Add me” in the Cheer Tree below to upload your holiday decorating photos and share them with your Twitter followers and Facebook friends. Be sure to click on “Special Offers” to unwrap the hidden coupons and deals exclusively from Sears. Keep checking throughout the holidays–new deals are unlocked every day! For all your holiday decorating needs and solutions, don’t forget to visit Sears and discover real deals, real cheer!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Sears. The opinions and text are all mine.

How to make Ice Cream In a Bag

For each individual you will need:

1/2 cup milk or half and half (I have seen where you can even use flavored coffee creamer)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon sugar
ice
1/4 cup rock salt
2 quart sized  Freezer Zip-loc bags (could use smaller bags)
1 gallon Freezer size Zip-loc  bag
a hand towel or winter gloves to keep little fingers from freezing

Mix the milk, sugar and vanilla together in one of the quart sized bags. Seal, removing as much air from the bag as possible. Place this bag inside the other quart sized bag, remove air and seal (double bagging to prevent leaking and insuring success).  Put the two bags inside the gallon sized bag along with the ice (we filled the bag with ice) and then about 1/4 cup rock salt. Remove air and seal tightly.  Wrap the bag in the towel or put your gloves on, and shake, shake, shake.

It was near 100 degrees today so it took about 15 minutes to freeze.  I would think if it had been cooler it would have frozen quicker. Since it took longer we had a bit of trouble keeping the kids interested ——so the moms were left holding the bag!

Rinse the small bag before eating or be careful when removing from the outside bag to keep it salt free. We added toppings (chocolate syrup, M&Ms, broken oreos, pretzels and peanut butter cups) right into the bag and began eating! Yum —-We had plenty of participation for this!

How to Make Ice Cream in a Coffee Can

Place the ice cream mixture in the smaller coffee can and seal lid with duct tape.  Place the smaller can in the center of the larger can. Pour the ice and salt around the smaller can.

Put the lid on the larger can and place a piece of duct tape around the lid to make sure it is really secure. Roll the can around outside for about 30 minutes.

Again it was so hot that we had to refill the ice and salt in the can about half way through! Our kids weren’t too crazy, so we did just fine leaving the duct tape off after we refilled the ice.  Rinse smaller can before serving.

Everyone agreed the chocolate ice cream was our favorite.

Now if you want to really have a ball at your party you  need the Mega Play and Freeze Ice Cream Ball!

How fun is this? You can make ice cream anywhere, with the Play and Freeze Ice Cream Maker!  Add cream and sugar in one end, and ice and rock salt in the other, then “play ball”, roll and shake (maybe a fun game of “hot potato”) with the ball. Thirty minutes later you will have delicious homemade ice cream.  This cool high tech ball makes 1 quart of ice cream.

After making our ice cream today I can say this ball would be great.  Even using freezer (Name Brand) bags we had some trouble with gallon bags leaking and leaving salt water everywhere.  Also the kids had the most fun kicking the can around.  Having a ball to play with would be perfect.

One  lucky reader will have the chance to be the proud owner. Leave a comment  by midnight on Sunday, August 3rd for a chance to win! (Only U.S. Shipping for this giveaway –sorry!)

We are “thinking” about getting back into our gluten free / dairy free diet, so these pancakes are at least dairy free! It’s a start anyway…

Dairy Free Pancakes

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 1/4 cups soy milk (you may use regular milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
3 Tablespoons melted butter

Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and then add the wet ingredients in the well and then mix.

I took a spoon and dripped a smiley face onto the hot skillet.  Allow this to cook until you see the bubbles popping and the top looks a little dry.

Next, cover the smiley face with more batter.  Cook just long enough for the batter to set so you can flip the pancake.  You might have to cook a little longer once you flip your pancake so it cooks through.

There you have it –smiles in the morning!

Have a happy day filled with lots of smiles everyone!

We used children’s straw purses from the dollar store as our baskets for our May Day flowers today

I hope your day was happy!

Download bunny-egg-holder.pdf

Print on colored card-stock and cut out on dotted line.

Bring legs up then wrap one arm in front of legs and then bring the other arm around and place on top of the first arm. Staple where claws on bunny should be.

Want more bunnies? Check out Bunny Napkin Rings

Download bunny-napkin-ring.pdf

Print on colored card-stock then cut out. Roll end toward back of bunny head.

Staple where claws on bunny should be

I wrapped silverware in an orange napkin then fastened with a green pipe cleaner and slipped the “carrot” into the bunny.  If you have a hard time with the bunny standing up, a cotton ball glued to the back would provide stability and be a cute addition.

You will find a matching Bunny Egg holder here.

You will need a roll of clear contact paper, paint brushes, paint (we used acrylic), fine sandpaper and masking tape.

First cut a piece of contact paper from the roll. I cut squares about 5″ x 5″ because that was about the size of shapes I knew I would be cutting.

Take a fine piece of sandpaper and lightly sand the shiny surface of the contact paper where you will be painting. Wipe off any dust. This step helps the paint adhere to the slick contact paper.

Since we are often VERY messy when we paint I taped a piece of wax paper to the table. Tape the piece of contact paper shiny(sanded) side up onto the wax paper.

Paint onto the contact paper square. Since my daughter is three I encouraged her to paint using lots of colors. I knew I would be cutting out Easter eggs so it really didn’t matter what or how she painted.

Allow the painting to dry completely. I think she painted about 10 of these squares.

Once the paint is completely dry take another square of contact paper the same size as your painting and peel off the paper backing. Cover your painting with the clear contact paper. Smooth out any bubbles.

Trace around any shape of your choosing. I used an egg and bunny for my template.

Cut out the shape

Carefully remove the paper backing. This takes some time —–make sure you are only removing the paper (the back of your painting should be sticky). If you use acrylic paint it is plastic enough that it has a tendency to peel away from the contact paper, so peel carefully! If it does peel away and it won’t stick back down just put a little glue stick between the layers.

Once you are finished stick your silhouettes to your window

from the outside looking in

from the inside looking out

I would encourage older kids to paint their own designs and then cut out. I can imagine huge flowers and birds! Nothing is sweeter than kid’s art!

Have fun!!