Pony Bead Ornaments/Suncatchers

We were all set to make some more GLUE CATCHERS the other day when my oldest asked to put beads in hers.  Sure!  This is where it led us.  It's kinda a combination of our glue catchers and WINDOW ART  I was not sure how these were going to dry but they came out great!  DIY fuse beads!  

Materials:

Wax Paper

Pony beads (translucent if you want to use them as a sun catcher)

Glue

Cookie cutter shapes

Place pony beads inside the cookie cutter.  Fill up with glue and let dry!  To prevent the glue from leaking, you can place a heavier object on top of the cutter to hold it down in place.  We filled ours up just enough to cover the beads.  These took a little while longer to dry... I think 3 days??  After they were dry we flipped them over.  Before popping them out of the cookie cutter, we gave them a coat of modge podge just to make sure they would stick.  I'm not sure if we needed this or not but my daughter was so excited about these I really wanted them to work!  

My 21M old filling hers up with glue.  She could care less about the beads.  She just wanted to squeeze!  

My oldest filling hers up with beads

Pouring glue over top

Finished...  Still need to dry them.

Dried and up in the window!  It was not sunny today but you get the idea.  :-)  To hang them we just cleared out a hole in one of the glued pony beads.  I used floral wire to hang them because we will eventually transfer these to the tree when it's up!  

Close up

RL 

Chocolate Clouds

For me, a "Christmas cookie" doesn't have to be green or red or shaped like something "Christmasy"....it just has to be made with love.....and be delicious!  These cookies are sooooooo good.  My son and I made two batches today and each batch made around 35 cookies.  Not only are they good....they are so easy to make (which comes in handy when you have culinary challenges like me!).

Im not sure where the recipe is from....I know I got it from somewhere a few years ago, I just dont remember where.

• 3 egg whites
• 1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp. cocoa
• 1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a mixing bowl bowl beat egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and vanilla and continue beating until soft peaks hold, sugar is dissolved, and mixture is glossy. Sift cocoa into the bowl and gently fold until combined. Fold in chocolate chips.  Use a spoon to drop plops of mixture onto sprayed cookie sheets. Bake at 300 for 35-40 minutes or just until dry. Carefully peel off paper, cool completely.  (We baked our 30 minutes)

 using the mixer to beat the eggs

 licking the beaters is a must

 YUM!

 hee hee

(Im not sure what inspired the headband wearing but he's had it on for two days!  LOL LOL)

 ready to go in the oven

This is our second batch cooling....the first batch didnt crack like this, but no worries - the cookies were still intact and tasted just as good.

- AK

Polish Tea Cakes (Christmas Cookies)

These are by far my FAVORITE cookies.   Yum.  Again this is a family recipe that we've had forever.  It was a lot of fun making these in the kitchen tonight with my mom and daughter.  :-)  This is a great cookie for the little ones to help out with.  My oldest loved making the holes with her finger and filling them with jelly.

This makes about 50 cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten... save the egg whites
3 cups flour (It was hard to read the recipe... I think we ended up using 3 cups but if it feels too sticky add more flour.
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts (may need more)
1 cup jelly or fruit preserves... we used strawberry and red raspberry (we didn't measure... just scooped it from jar)

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add egg yolks and mix well.  Add vanilla.  Add flour and salt.  Mix.  Roll dough into small balls, dip in unbeaten egg white and roll in finely chopped nuts.  Place on a greased baking sheet and press down center of each with your finger.  Fill with jelly.  Bake at 325 for 15 minutes.

Chocolate Balls (Christmas Cookies)

We started making our Christmas cookies!  Here is a recipe that has been in my family for forever.  I have no clue what the source is or if there ever was a source.

2 Teaspoons Baking Soda
5 Cups flour
1 cup Coco
8 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Cup Sugar
1 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup chopped nuts (we use walnuts)
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup crisco
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cloves
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
5 eggs
1 package chocolate chips

Mix all the dry ingredients.  Melt margarine and crisco.  Cool off.  Mix together.  Add eggs, milk, orange juice, and vanilla.  Mix.  Add nuts and chocolate chips.  Spoon off onto greased cookie sheet (not too big).

Bake at 325 Degrees for 12-15 minutes

Do not overcook, or they will get dry.  May feel soft when you take them out.

Top off with some drizzled icing (We used confectioners sugar, warm milk, and vanilla to make the icing).

RL  

Glue Catchers

Materials:

Cookie Cutters (We purchased a pack of 6 at Walmart for 88 cents)

Glue (We used white Elmers glue)

Food coloring 

Squirt bottle (We used condiment bottles from Walmart.. 99 cents)

Wax Paper

Glitter (Optional) 

Mix glue and food coloring in squirt bottles.  Place your cookie cutters on a piece of wax paper and squeeze away!  

My 22 Month old is not one for arts and crafts and she loved this one.  Squeezing glue into cutters.

Shaking on some glitter

More glue.

She had a better angle from on top of the table.  :-)  As you can see here... my oldest was not yet ready to join this invitation.  

More glitter sprinkling.  

My oldest decided to join in.  Some intense glitter shaking!  

Finished.  

These were maybe 1/8th of an inch thick??  They took a day and a half to dry completely.  I just cut a small slit in them with a knife and hung them with fishing wire and sticky putty.  

After some people having problems with leaks I decided to try a different way to give you another option.... 

Place your design underneath the wax paper.

Take a hot glue gun, outline the design, and fill up with your white glue!  I used two layers of hot glue for the border.  You could probably put some hot glue around your cookie cutter to keep the glue from leaking as well.  We will have to try that one next time.  

Finished.

2013

Invitation to make Easter Egg Glue Catchers

We've learned a lot since first starting with these.  2 layers of hot glue works perfectly.  Also, instead of wax paper, use a piece of glass or pelxi glass.  This way it peels off smoothly and you can pick it up and move it where ever you like while they are drying.  

Filled eggs.  

Up in the window.

RL  

Candy Stores and Sledding

I have some glass candy that I put out as decoration during Christmas and my son has been exploring and playing with them every day.  As I was cleaning up the kitchen a bit he was upstairs in his playroom playing and I came up to this.....

• Wow, what did you make?
• Its a candy shop, Mommy....and it snowed outside so the people have to eat candy.  They all have one piece.  This one is blueberry, this one is...hmmmmm...maybe spicy, this one is strawberry, and this one is lemon.
• I see.  They sure are lucky to have that candy.
• Yeah....they are.  Mommy, would you like a piece of candy?
• I sure would.  [he hands me a piece]  Thank you.  That was very thoughtful.
• You're welcome, Mommy.

 [continues to play]

Building more of the "candy shop"

"Look, Mommy, she is sledding!"

 

 "She needs a snow hill so she can go super fast"

[out comes the rain gutter]

He added the poly pellets to the gutter to make it a snowy hill.  Then he had his playmobil people sledding on magna tiles.

 

 He put the boys arms up in the air as if he were on a roller coaster.  LOL  (love that detail)

 

 Then we made our own sled for the people.  I LOVE how he was being imaginative with the magna tiles at first and then asked if we could make a "real" sled.

 

 ...and they sledded down the hill

 

 After all of the sledding fun, he spent a good deal of time just playing in the snow bin making tracks with the sled.

**THE "SNOW" IS POLY-FIL PELLETS.  I BOUGHT THEM AT WALMART NEAR THE SEWING MATERIALS.  IT IS USED A FILLER FOR BEAN BAGS, DOLLS, ETC.**

- AK (MESE, MECD)

Candy Canes and Snowflakes

My students loved these when I taught pre-k.  Its a little more "guided" than some of our other activities...but there can be guidance without a right or wrong way, which is important to remember.  I presented the invitation, explained what it was, and then let my son take the lead.  This activity is a true test of fine motor skills for a toddler.....and patience, and persistence, and emotional regulation, etc etc etc.  Ha ha ha ha!

Things you need:

• beads
• wire OR pipe cleaners

CANDY CANES

 

Our BEADS

wire, pipe cleaners, beads

 My son ASKED me to help him with this one....just with the color part.  I asked him what colors he would like to use and he said red and white (which became clear because we didn't have white).  We had a lot of dialogue back and forth during this process.  A lot of "What color is next, Mommy?" and "Hmmm, let's see.  Can you tell me what colors you have already and maybe we can figure it out together".  GREAT for patterning!!

 stringing the beads - fine motor skills in action

 candy canes....all done and ready to hang on the tree

Another option is to super glue a pin like this on the back of the candy cane and give as a gift.  This is what most of my students would choose to do when I was teaching.

SNOWFLAKES

For the snowflakes my son cut a pipe cleaner into four pieces and then used 3 of those pieces to make the skeleton of the snowflake (sorry for the lack of pics).  I made the skeleton for him.

stringing beads onto snowflake....he chose whatever colors he wanted and didn't ask me for any help

 I used fishing line to hang, and wire cutters to turn in the tips of each arm of the snowflake

Finished product

[Another ornament or pin you can make with these materials - Christmas wreaths]

- AK (MESE, MECD)

Salt Dough Ornaments

We made salt dough ornaments a week or so ago and they are now complete....by toddler standards anyway.  :)  Here is the recipe we used:

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup salt
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
•  mix flour and salt and add water slowly as you stir....once mixed, knead the dough with your hands until soft and pliable...roll out the dough....cut with cookie cutters...use a toothpick to make a hole in each one for hanging (we skipped this part...keep reading to find out why)...place on a cookie sheet and bake at 325 about 1 hour.

I dont have any pics of the mixing/cutting process because it was kind of a spur of the moment activity and I was too lazy to go upstairs and get the camera.  LOL

We painted our with acrylic paint and then sealed them by spraying them with polycrylic.  I used fishing line to hang them. 

My newly turned 3 year old painting his ornament.  This was a process.  It took him a few days to do all of the ornaments he wanted to do.  I just left the materials out for him to revisit at his own pace.

 Finished product (the tree on the far left is mine).

 My son is a power tool fanatic.  I intentionally left out the "poke a hole in the ornaments with a toothpick" part because I KNEW he would love this part - drilling holes for hanging.

 drilling holes in the ornaments for hanging

hanging from the tree  

:)

- AK (MESE, MECD)