A Preschooler's Homemade Volcano

The kids and I experimented with science this weekend by making homemade volcanoes!

Here's what you'll need if you decide to fill your room with the delicious aroma of Play-Doh and vinegar. Mmm.

First, we made wells out of the Play-Doh.

Am I doing this right?

Take as may breaks as you need to watch your cat chase birds in the yard.

Get 'em, Jack.

Once your well is formed (and make it taller than wide, please! Don't be me ...), add baking soda and a drop or two of food coloring so the lava looks realistic.

I wish I'd measured how much I used of each, but I didn't. Use more than I did, though. The bubbles didn't poof as much as I wanted them to.

Ask your kids to stop running out of the room because of the vinegar smell when you open the bottle. Bribe them with candy, if necessary.

Pour the vinegar (again, I'm not sure how much I used ... maybe a tablespoon?) into each well and watch it ERUPT!*

The kids had a blast! More science experiments are definitely in our future. Especially since my daughter thinks vampires roar like lions and crawl on the ground. While not TECHNICALLY science, I think it's an important lesson she'll have to learn.

*slightly bubble

Christmas Ornament Wreath

So, we had the crafting day yesterday and it was a lot of fun! I meant to take pictures while I was there, but it didn't happen ... too much chicken salad dip and chickpeas.

My favorite thing we made was this:

A Christmas ornament wreath! I know technically I should have filled in the gaps with smaller ornaments, but I got frustrated with the glue gun and just stopped.

All you do is take a wire hanger and form it into a circle, then string the balls along the hanger until it's full and pretty -- and oh, so festive!

Also, I made a few more makeup bags:

So excited for Christmas!

Zippered Makeup Bag

Zippered makeup bags. Love. I first saw this here.These are so easy, and I'm obsessed with making them. Hello, Christmas presents.

Want to see?

Of course you do.

She made them with the intention of using them as pencil bags. Not being a student, I immediately saw travel makeup bag.

I talk so much about HobLob, you'd think I owned the place. If I did, I'd have a much bigger house.

BUT -- I got everything I needed for these gems at HobLob. I bought a $.25, 9"x12" piece of brown felt, and a 1/4 yard of this fabric (on sale for $1.22), which gave me enough for two of these bags with scraps left over. You could certainly use any scrap you have laying around in that size. Or patched pieces of scraps. Or an old skirt. These are just my ideas ... :)

For $1.99, I bought the zipper, and the charms came in a 2-pk for $1.47. Basically, these are cheap. Less than $5 for each one.

Hello, Tarte powder. I love you. Never leave me, OK?

Really, really easy. Check out her site for the full tutorial. I'm a fan.

Today I'm having a craft night with some of my favorite friends. We've got a whole host of ideas of things to make.

Wait until you see what I do with these beauties I picked up from our summer lake trip to eastern Oklahoma.

Get excited!

Christmas Ornaments!

So I posted this earlier, and promised to have more. Honestly? There isn't much more to tell!

I went to HobLob and bought a 9-pk of pink mini-tree ornaments for $2 (their Christmas decorations are discounted 50% off!). I found the candy cane and candy piece for $2/ea at Target. They have a lot of colors, so you can mix and match. I loved the blue and pink, though, so I went for it.

To the back of each of these ornaments, I hot glued one round (strength level 6) magnet I bought for $1.99 at HobLob. The pack had 8 magnets. I only ended up using 6 of the pink balls, so I'd have enough for the candy pieces.

I love them. They're really cute and strong, so they can actually hold things on the fridge. The kiddos loved helping me, and are both so excited to already have Christmas flair hanging up :)

Fridge Magnet Teaser ...

This is what the kiddos and I have been up to this weekend.

Just a cellphone shot. More to come!

It's Babies All the Way Down

This post brought to you by Puppies vs. Babies. All opinions are 100% mine.

If you've watched the Animal Planet at all lately, you've seen the trash-talking commercials for PUPPIES vs. BABIES.

If you have kids like mine, they sit transfixed at the TV, in love with both puppies AND babies.

So what's the deal? Puppies vs. Babies is a pretty cool contest where YOU get to vote on which is cuter -- newborns or zooborns.

My girl's vote is obviously for the babies. She's not a huge fan of dogs, anyway. In her words, "I like little puppies sometimes, but I never like big puppies. They're stinky like feet." My son, however? He's torn. But if push came to shove, I think he's on the puppy's side of the fence. Of course, this is the same kid who spent the second and third years of his life randomly crawling through stores and restaurants giving people and things "puppy kisses." Which, yes, meant he licked a lot of strangers.

As for me? Babies. Are you kidding? OF COURSE babies. Fortunately, you can cast your vote for one puppy and one baby that makes you smile. Check out the Puppies vs. Babies online contest now through November 23 and help some adorable punkin' or pooch win $5k. Wowza!

Have your kiddos check it out and see who they like! My kids voted for baby Jake :)

Glitter-Painted Vase!

Hello, Christmas planning!

I'm pinning things like crazy in preparation for Christmas. I'm hoping to get together with a few of my crafty friends to make a ton of excellent presents for the holiday, and am PUMPED!

I was a little too excited ... and started testing out a few ideas.

Here's one :)

I started with a $2 vase I bought from Goodwill. It was already painted white, but had several scratches.

From HobLob, I used a 40% off coupon to get this silver glitter spray paint for 1.99.

Then I took some yarn I had lying around the house and swirled it around the vase, and tucked/tied it in to secure it. Next time, I'm going to use rubber bands instead in varying thicknesses.

After it was wrapped, I spray painted it and set it outside to dry.

It's kind of hard to tell (excellent camera alert!), but the effect is really pretty. It looks frosted and snowy and perfect for winter!

Whee!