Use the molds for making hard candy, the white ones NOT the clear.

Place a few chopped crayons into molds .

My daughter is really into writing letters. She wants to write all by herself  and told me that I could just say each letter and then she would be able to write her own thank yous. Well... I worried that process might take a very LONG time so I came up with this...

I found this great font called Quicksand. It can be downloaded for free here.

I printed two thank yous on a page. On the inside she dictated what she wanted to say and I printed the cards again with the messages on the inside and then cut the cards in half and folded.

She was busy and felt so good!

Here is a round-up of printable thank yous from around the web.

All we needed was 1 -3 oz box of flavored gelatin and 2 - 1/4 oz  packages of unflavored gelatin, water and candy molds. (we used two candy molds)

Place 1/3 cup water in a small sauce pan. Sprinkle the Jello and  unflavored gelatin over the water. Let sit 5 - 10 minutes. (If you like chewier gummi candy add in another packet of unflavored gelatin.)

Place sauce pan over medium heat and stir until gelatin is dissolved, about 2-5 minutes. When mixture is liquid and all gelatin has dissolved, remove from heat.  Let cool a minute and then pour into a container that is easy to pour from.  I use a small ceramic creamer pitcher.

Fill molds. If you save the inside of the advent calendar for  projects like do, it works perfect! The sheet of star molds worked a bit better than the bears because they are a bit deeper. However, I must say we were just needing an activity so our standards were pretty low--- we thought they all turned out great!

Allow to cool completely, about 20 minutes. They may be placed in a refrigerator for about 10 minutes if the kids are eager.

Once cool, the backs can be lightly dusted with corn starch, if desired.

Peel the gummi candy out of the molds. Don't be shy, you won't hurt them when peeling them from the molds. No need to oil the molds!

Enjoy!

Make homemade stickers with the unused unflavored gelatin packets.

Notes: My son felt the blue ones weren't flavorful enough. Next time we will try 2 boxes Jello, 3 packages of unflavored gelatin and 1/2 cup water.

Blow up balloons and tape together in desired shape.

Mix up a thick soupy mixture of flour and water.

Cut or tear pieces of newspaper and begin covering balloons. The balloons will need 2-3 layers depending on the strength of the party attendees. Older children might need more layers.

Before final layer add a strong string for hanging the pinata. The string went all the way around the snowman to keep the head from being knocked off. Pieces of tape kept the string in place around the snowman until final layer was put on and dry. When paper is completely dry, cut a hole somewhere on the pinata (we cut the hole in the top of the head). Fill with goodies.

Fold strips of crepe paper in half. Make a slits on the folded sided 1/4" - 1/2" apart.

Glue uncut edges of the strips of crepe paper.  spiraling around entire pinata, cutting more strips as needed. Slightly pull crepe paper as gluing to allow the cut edges to pop out.

Allow pinata to dry and then add details. Hot glue construction paper buttons, eyes and a cone shape for the nose to the pinata. The scarf is made of felt (one piece cut in thirds lengthwise, sewn end to end, with slits cut on the outside ends to make fringe).

See the pinata in action at Bella's breakfast with Santa birthday party.

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.

Sandy writes...

My daughter's soccer team came over last week for a swim party. I decided to make my Ice Cream Trough dessert for the girls, because it's easy, feeds a ton, and is always a big hit.

My friend had borrowed my trough (which is just a planter box!) the day before and returned it with leftover cake (perfect, I didn't have to bake a cake!).

After filling the bottom with ice, then plastic wrap, we cut the cake up into cubes.

Scooped out the ice cream (2 pints).

Added whipped cream and a few bananas. Sprinkled with M&Ms and  Wah Lah!  A trough ready for hungry kids!

My friend Cindy and I carried it out to the girls (best to eat outside where they can make a mess!) with plastic spoons and paper towels. And the girls dug in!  The other option is to scoop out individual servings.

a

The beauty of this dessert is it doesn't have to be perfect.

You can use what you have in your kitchen (cake mix, brownies, leftover cake), and even leftover ice creams from your freezer.  Look around for a topping (I happened to have M&Ms and a few bananas) and pile it on!

A

The kids don't care. They're just happy to have something yummy to eat.

Good friendships, sunshine, water, imaginations, laughter, and full tummies.

This kind of party just makes a mom feel good!

A

I'd love to hear if you've tried making an Ice Cream Trough?

Or what dessert do you make that can feed a ton of kids?

They live next door to our dear friend Brooke with whom we stayed. They all  became such a special part of our lives. Each one in their own way made our time in Denver better ----by helping us with our children, hugs, smiles, friendship and at the end of a long day---  sharing good company, a Brazilian Caipirinha and some amazing music.

How to make a Brazilian Caipirinha

For each Brazilian Caipirinha Sergio style you need 1 lime.

Remove the center part of the lime to keep the drink from becoming bitter.

Thinly slice the limes.

Place limes in a glass.

Add about 1 Tablespoon of sugar (you will have to adjust for your taste).

With a muddler mash the sugar and limes together. Work until you have started to disolve the sugar and have a good amount of juice.

Fill the entire glass with ice.

Fill the glass with Vodka. Traditional recipes call for a shot of alcohol but I have to say these have slightly shy of a  1/2 cup of vodka. To be authentic use Cachaca.

Stir.

Cheers!

Best enjoyed with good friends and this

I hope you all will take the time to visit Sergio's Webisite and learn more about this talented man!

Last year we came home to the invitation all aglow on our front porch. Yes, my friend Missy made these. I know unbelievable!  We laid on our front porch in the dark admiring how wonderful it was. It is simply amazing and is now a treasured Halloween decoration.

Complete with a little old lady

The theme for the party was "Grandmother's Graveyard" The invitation sat along side the house.

The inside of the invitation held a poem and a graveyard

Missy's house was decorated with many graveyard touches

Her chandelier was complete with a skeleton head and bones

The placecards were "dead" flowers. The napkin rings were adorned with "silver" roaches.

Special detail is also paid to the children's table, with a large spider and spider web hanging overhead.

A skeleton in a coffin served as the centerpiece. Handmade tombstones were the children's placecards.

Hanging on the back of each chair was a coffin filled with treats.  She found these at Oriental Trading and then embellished them with glitter.

We have an idea of what we would like to go as this year -----if we can talk the kids into it.  We will have to see. You know we have a reputation to uphold.