Finger Ice Painting (A Confession)

Remember the finger painting post from a few weeks ago? And how I introduced it as a failure but it didn’t seem too bad in the pictures I posted? That’s because it wasn’t the whole story… See, when the first batch turned out lumpy due to being distracted by cute kiddos, I decided to make a second batch. This one was going to be PERFECT. I was going to do it while BooBoo Bear watched “Monkey George” (that Curious monkey is a favorite in our house) and while Goofy Girl was down for nap so that I could do it distraction free. It worked! I was able to mix all the ingredients in, get the paint poured into the ice cube tray, AND add the food dye with little to no distractions. BUT… while it was cooling I remembered that I’d only put 2 Tablespoons of sugar in instead of the 3. “Oh well” said I, “how big of a difference could that have made?” The answer: a HUGE difference. It had a really hard time sticking to the paper and when it dried, there was a greasy ring around it. 2 weeks later, the paint is chipping off the paper, while my original paintings are still in perfect shape.

There was another problem with this development- I’d set half of this second batch aside for the activity I’m posting about here. While I’d been looking for potential post ideas I’d come across this great idea for freezing paints and then using the paint cubes to make abstract paintings using salt to melt them. Since I have young children and I’m so good at spilling art supplies on things they might chew on later, I wanted it to be non-toxic paint. When I later found this finger paint recipe, I decided to freeze some, put it into a baggy, and try this out a couple of weeks later.

 When I messed up the batch, I was scared that it wouldn’t work out the way I’d hoped, but guess what, IT DID! It worked out fabulously! This is truly an unique and fun idea.

I pulled the paint out, got out the first paint cube, sprinkled some salt (just a tiny bit of table salt) on both sides and waited a bit. 

The color comes out a little faint, but I love the effect it has!

I did this a little too late in the day for BooBoo to join, but I can’t wait to try it out with him!

Recipe (as a refresher):

Recipe:

1/2 cup cornstarch
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups cold water
food coloring

Directions

In a medium pan, mix the ingredients together to make the finger paint. Then, turn the burner to low and cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Keep stirring the finger paint mixture until it is smooth and thick. (DO NOT LEAVE. Trust me.) After the finger paint has thickened take the pan off the stove and let the mixture cool.Then transfer into desired containers, in this case ice cube trays. Add food coloring (natural dyes would work well with this recipe too). Then pop into the freezer. Once frozen, you can use them right away or put into a zippered baggy for later. Once you're ready to use them, pull them out and put some table salt on either side. Wait a few minutes and then have fun! 

By the way- on this same craft day I came across a homemade glue recipe I am in love with! Ive now had it for 2 weeks and it still works! I will be posting that, as well as ways to use it, in just a couple of weeks. I want to try a few tweaks to see if it still works when you change out ingredients.

What do you think about ice painting? What would you do with it?

Heart Shaped Pancakes

Valentine's Day is tomorrow, and I know many of you are trying to find ways to make the day special without breaking the budget. I love making food! And, I love how food can make others happy. So why not start the day off with some love! My kiddo, Monkey, was so excited to see heart shaped pancakes for breakfast. He talked about them all day long. I think this is a great way to show your loved ones, especially your kiddos, how much you love them. You can serve these heart shaped pancakes with a special note. Your kiddos (and spouse) will leave the house knowing that they are loved.

 

 

Note: You can find pictures of the process of making the heart shaped pancakes after the recipe.

Christina's Family Pancake Recipe:

* makes ~6 large pancakes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons butter (optional)

Steps:

1. Preheat pans on stove.
2. Mix the dry ingredients together.
3. Pour the beaten egg, warm milk, and melted butter into the dry ingredients. (I usually heat the milk and butter together to make sure the butter doesn't solidify when it is added to the milk.).
4. Mix the batter.
5. If pancakes are thick, pour more milk or water into the mixture.
6. Oil the pans (can use: a spray, oil, or butter).
7. Pour the batter into the pans (this is where you attempt to make heart shapes or you can use a heart shaped mold!).
8. Let the pancake batter brown on one side. Once you see a lot of bubbles, flip the pancakes over and  brown on the other side. Once you obtain the desired color of the pancake, remove it from the pan.
9. Serve with jam and syrup

 Recipe with pictures

This is how I made my heart shaped pancakes.

I used a heart shaped mold. My husband picked this up at Micheals. I placed the mold into the frying pan, and then sprayed it with olive oil.

I then poured the pancake batter into the mold. I only covered the bottom of the mold because as the pancake cooks, it will rise up since it can't expand out.

Once there were a lot of bubbles that have risen to the surface, I removed the mold using tongs. I continued to cook the pancake until it was brown on both sides.

Here is a picture of my attempt at making a heart shaped pancakes by using a cup to pour the batter. The pancakes are not perfectly heart shaped, but they still look cute.

Using the mold, you will get fatter pancakes. And, don't get inpatient to get the pancakes cooked or you will slightly burn them. I rushed a bit because my husband had to go to work, and I wanted to make sure breakfast was done on time. Anyways, both ways yield yummy pancakes!

I hope you can make these heart shaped pancakes on Valentine's Day. If you do, then come back and let me know how well it was received!

Audrey Bunny Review

I recently had the privilege of getting a copy of Audrey Bunny. Because I have a pet bunny and I absolutely adore bunnies, I really wanted to read this book. And, I have to say that I am so glad that I did!

Audrey Bunny is about a bunny who has a mark on her chest. This bunny is very self conscious about the mark because it prevented her many times from being chosen by other other children. She feels that she will never be loved because she is not perfect. Until one day a sweet girl, Caroline, chooses her. Caroline names the bunny, Audrey, and Audrey does everything to hide her mark when Caroline and Audrey play together. Eventually, Audrey learns from Caroline that she was chosen because of her mark!

Audrey Bunny is based on the scripture found in Psalm 119:73 ("They hand have made me..."). At the end of the book, there are questions that you can discuss with your child and activities for you to do with your child. I think this such a great idea to get your children to apply what they learned in the book. Plus, the illustrations are simply beautiful, and I find myself just flipping through the book to stare at the pictures.

I have to admit that when I read this book, I cried. I was so touched by the beautiful message about how God created you and how He loves you! I feel this is a message I want my kids to learn because other sources tell them frequently that they aren't good enough, aren't pretty enough, etc. I want them to have confidence in who they are! My son who is only 2.5 years old looked at me a little confused when he saw my tears (didn't understand why I was crying) and patted me on the back. Even though he is not quite at the level to understand everything about the book, he did enjoy sitting on my lap while we read the book.

I love this book, and I think it is a great book to share with your family!

Book Trailer:
Audrey Bunny: Book Trailer can be found on youtube.

About the author:

Angie Smith is the wife of Todd Smith (lead singer of Dove Award winning group Selah), author of I Will Carry You, What Women Fear, and Mended. She is one of the most popular speakers and blog writers in the country. She holds a Master’s degree in Developmental Psychology from Vanderbilt University and lives with her husband and daughters in Nashville, TN.

Disclaimer: All opinions expressed in this post are mine.

Looking for more reviews of children's books? Check out my review of Polarity Bear Tours the Zoo!

Duh-Duh DEE!

This week BooBoo Bear and I worked on the letter ‘D’. He had a lot of fun pointing at the letter and saying “Duh duh DEEEEE!” Having worked in an elementary, it’s very important to me to focus on not only the letter but its basic letter sound as well. BooBoo thought it was fun to have the letter written out so he could point to it and put the various things we made that started with ‘D’ on it.

The first thing I thought of when I started brainstorming ‘D’ ideas was dough! I know Christina did an awesome activity using dough in her lesson plans here last week, but I wanted to put my own spin on it since I knew BooBoo would have fun. I quickly Googled “homemade play dough’ and found this gem. It has a very easy to follow recipe with detailed pictures and step by step instructions. Follow them carefully and I guarantee it will turn out great! When I initially pulled it off, it was still sticky, so I put it back on the heat as suggested and within 2 minutes it was perfect!

With our dough BooBoo and I made dogs, drums, dinosaurs, door, and rocks… the last one obviously being his addition. He just HAD to include rocks. He even kept saying “Duh-duh-duh ROCKS!” when I’d try to help him find a ‘D’ word instead. Oh well. At least he has a good imagination.

My Dog

Door

Dinosaur

'Duh duh ROCK!'

Then we broke out our matching game. 

Because this week is Valentine’s Week here at Howling Horn we matched hearts. Now, I am in NO WAY an artist, but I made simple drawings of things BooBoo has seen before and tried to clearly label them so he can start becoming familiar with their names.

 He was especially excited to see the ‘DinoSAURS!’ As we matched them BooBoo would say the name of each item we were currently matching… and then try to pile them all in one big pile. This was the first time we’ve done a game like this and by the third round he was pro…enough to have picked up on the fact that matching pairs were on similarly colored hearts so he didn’t even bother to turn them over and look at the pictures. He's too smart sometimes.

As we were driving in the car that night he had fun telling McGee all the ‘D’ words he’d learned “Dad! Dinosaur! Dog! Door! Optimus Prime!” “Um, bud… does Optimus Prime start with D?” “Uh…. No! Bumblebee!” In short- he gets it, but certain vehicular robots are a lot cooler.

I really enjoyed all our hands on learning this week. BooBoo loved being able to shape letters and objects in the dough, and I loved watching his imagination bloom. I highly recommend using this recipe if doing it with a younger child because, though it’s high in salt, it is OK if they eat a bit. BooBoo tried to scarf some down “Eat playdough Mama?” and while I was able to talk him out of it, it was a comfort to know that if he had he would have been OK. Also, don’t be afraid of your lack of drawing talent. Your toddler really won’t care if your drawings aren’t completely perfect and they’ll love being able to play with you. Booboo was only puzzled by my ‘dinosaurs’ and once I told him that’s what they were, he was totally OK with calling them that for the rest of the day.

What are some ways you’d teach the letter ‘D’?

Make sure to check out our previous weeks here:
A
B
C

Ultimate Baby Shower Event Giveaway

I know it isn't Wednesday yet, but I can't wait to tell all our followers the exciting news!

We are going to join the Baby Shower Event hosted by This Mama's Life and Andersons Angels. Amy from This Mama's Life is expecting and to celebrate this joyous occasion, they are doing this HUGE giveaway that right now is valued over $500!!

This wonderful giveaway will start March 1, 2014 and until March 22, 2014. If you have a blog and want to sign up to join the fun, then check out the Ultimate Baby Shower event sign up page. And, if you do sign up, then please say the Howling Horn referred you!

We are SO excited for this event, and excited to get to know some other great mommy bloggers!!

Valentine's Day Countdown Tree

A few weeks ago, I came across this cute idea of doing a countdown for Valentine's Day. I absolutely fell in love with the candy heart countdown tree. I loved how it made Valentine's Day special because too often the smaller holidays get forgotten because they aren't Christmas. So here is my Valentine's Day countdown tree I created using the concept found on the above link:

The post describes how to make a 16 day countdown for Valentine's Day based on 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8. These scripture verses talk about the attributes of charity, the pure love of Christ. Because there are 16 attributes, this countdown tree starts on January 30th. Each attribute of love is featured on a candy heart and comes with an activity card. The activity cards have scriptures you can read and activities to do as a family where you learn about love.

And, the best part of this post is that the author graciously provides all her materials!! Free Valentine printables!

Step 1:

Find a place to hang the hearts. I loved the idea of having a "tree" to hang the hearts on so I went outside and found some twigs. My husband wanted to help me out so he spray painted them white. I then arranged them in this container with red pebbles. If you don't want to do this, then get creative! You can make a clothespin line and hang the hearts up by clothespins.You can dangle them over a window. The options are endless!

Step 2:

Print and cut out the hearts and teaching cards Then hole punch each heart and use some form of string to hang them up.Because my family doesn't eat a lot of candy, I decided to not use the candy hearts printouts. Instead, I made my own printouts that had regular hearts. I printed the hearts (two of each day so a total of 32 hearts) on colorful card stock. I printed 32 so the backside of the hearts would also have the wording. After I cut the hearts out. I applied mod podge on them to make them sturdier. Once it dried, I hole punched the hearts. I did 9 hole punches on the edges of each heart (4 on each side of the heart and one in the middle, see picture below of a practice heart). I only had to hole punch 16 since I hole punched the identical ones together (make sure to have the words face on the outside when hole punching).

Step 3:

Make little packages for each countdown day.  Using grass twine, I stitched two hearts together to make a pocket where I could stuff the teaching card in (pictures below of when I was working on a practice heart). I did small notes on the top hole punches to provide stability. I did this by leaving about 4 to 5 inches of twine up at the top before making a knot. Then with the leftover twine on each side, I made a hanger by tying the twine together. I liked the idea of pocket hearts because I didn't want to have 16 jars or baggies full of goodies to make. But, I do have to say the author's way of doing the mason jars full of goodies with the activity card is way cute!

Step 4:

Enjoy the magic of the countdown tree and the cuteness of the hearts hanging up. 

Thoughts:

I would totally recommend doing this project. It is relatively simple and so versatile. You can easily adapt it to fit your family needs, and is quick to do since it comes with free printables! If you don't want to do scripture activity cards, then you can make your own activities to celebrate Valentine's Day. Like I said before, this project is so versatile. And, I just looking at my cute tree. I plan on doing more countdown trees for other holidays so be on the lookout for my printables!!!

Tortellini Alfredo Bake

You know those times you see something on Facebook that looks WAY too good to pass up and then realize you don’t half the ingredients? That happened to me last week when this showed up in my newsfeed :

Credit belongs to Life With the Crust Off. This is NOT my image. Link: http://www.lifewiththecrustcutoff.com/chicken-alfredo-ravioli-bake/

I instantly started drooling. Then I opened the link- I didn’t have half of what Life With the Crust Off (great blog, check them out!) listed. So, I made my own version and you’ll find that listed below. The Alfredo sauce is a riff off of a recipe I found at allrecipes.com which is linked here. I didn’t think to take step-by-step pictures, but look at the final product!

MMMMMMMM. (Please excuse my bad cell phone pic. I will add better pictures the next time I make this...)

Enjoy! If you make your own adjustments, let me know what you did and how it turned out! Thank you to Life With the Crust Off for the inspiration!

Chicken Alfredo Tortellini Bake

Ingredients

1 pound boneless skinless chicken diced
1 pound frozen cheese tortellini
1 recipe homemade alfredo sauce (see recipe below)
1 cup Monterey jack cheese
garlic powder (you can use just garlic salt, I tend to find the garlic flavor of the powder to be more potent andbetter)
salt
pepper

Directions

Make a batch of Alfredo sauce (below)
Meanwhile, brown the diced chicken in a skillet, sprinkle with pepper, salt, and garlic powder.
Sauté until cooked all the way through. Set aside.
Boil Tortellini and drain.
Mix ravioli, chicken into alfredo sauce
Place in 9x13 baking dish and cover in cheese
Bake at 350 till top is slightly browned (about 15 minutes).

Alfredo Sauce

Ingredients

 1/2 cup butter
 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
 2 teaspoons garlic powder
 2 cups milk
6 ounces grated Monterey Jack Cheese
 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Chop cream cheese into small pieces. Add cream cheese and garlic powder, stirring with wire whisk or wooden spoon until smooth. Add milk, a little at a time, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Stir in Monterey Jack Cheese and pepper. Remove from heat when sauce becomes slightly thick. It will thicken a little once off the heat and also while it's in the oven.