Snow Globes

It’s the first week of December! The weather is frightful, it’s snowing right now! The semester is coming to a close. The Christmas music is playing. And everyone is getting into the holiday spirit. I simply love this time of year. I love snow, Christmas cookies, buying presents, getting presents, spending time with my family, getting the tree, the glow of Christmas lights (done tastefully) and did I mention snow? To me, snow is one of the most magical and exciting things in the world. I act like a kid when it snows. This week I am going to be channeling my inner child to make the craft. Penny, Jude, and I are going to make snow globes!

I originally found this blog through pinterest and thought it would be perfect for this week. It works perfectly with the season we are going into and who doesn’t love a snow globe. This fun and cost effective craft came from the blog The Pink Doormat. It looks like it is a bit of a more time consuming and work intensive craft than we usually do but I think we are up to the challenge. They look really pretty and have the feeling of Frozen which will thrill Penny, and Jude he’s a big Kristoff fan. If we can pull off this craft they will look awesome! We will have to do it in parts because the glitter glue snowflakes need to dry before we can put the glitter and water into the jar. I’m think we will start them in the morning before Penny goes to school and then finish them after her nap. There are no ornaments in these globes but I am going to try to find something to glue on to the lid of the jar, and in the original post she says glycerine can be added to make the glitter settle slower so I might try to get some of that too. I am also adding super glue to the lip of the jar so that they can’t open up the jars once all the stuff is in them, cause that would be a mess!

These snow globes look so fun to make and play with, so what could go wrong? Glitter glue. Glitter glue is a staple in any house with crafty kids, the only problem is they’re kids. Glitter glue is messy. It could just as easily get everywhere but on the jar as it could get on the right spots on the jar. The same goes with glitter, I might be spending the whole day trying to extract glitter from every nook and cranny in the house. And then there is always the fear that we will successfully complete the craft and one of them will either drop their globe or open it before the super glue sets and all the glitter and water would go EVERYWHERE! I really don’t want one of them to break or open. It would be such a mess. And there would be so many tears. My goodness I don’t want one to break!

Wish me luck everyone. Finals are setting in, and all I want to do is sit on my computer looking through pinterest finding crafts for this blog. Plus this craft could end in disaster! To find out what happens with the craft come back Friday, hopefully I wouldn’t still be covered in glitter.

“The Fox Face”

There’s this thing that my sister does when she is around to hangout with me and the kids, she makes this fox face. Well she and the kids call it a fox face I don’t really see the resemblance but it’s funny no matter what. Anyway the kids love the “fox face” and try to make it themselves. Jude also loves all things animals, he has a huge fish tank in his room with fish named “Beautiful Fish” “Kissy Fish” “Handsome Fish” and more that I can’t remember. Penny doesn’t love animals as much, but they both LOVE the song “What does the Fox Say?” We have had many a dance party with this song making an appearance, they have often asked for it by name. And so this week the kids and I will be making fox masks.

From Handmade Charlotte

I originally found this diy craft on Pinterest, however the blog that it originated from, Handmade Charlotte, is really cute. The mask was part of a larger post on crafts that you could do using the fall theme, such as leaf crowns. The instructions are a little vague so I might be doing a little guess work while making this craft with the kids. Even though the instructions might be vague, I think that I will be able to figure out how to make these and if I am able to pull it off the result will be worth it. The mask are super cute and I feel like the kids will love playing with them. As Penny and Jude are incredibly imaginative I can see them putting these masks on and playing for a long time!

The items needed for this craft are almost all items I keep around my house, so that is convenient and I love being able to save on crafts. I’m going to need a brown paper bag or two, white and black markers, elastic cord (but I’m going to use yarn), glue stick, a mask template (I’ll either find one or make it up), and scissors. I love crafts that utilize household items because it makes them that much easier.

So what could go wrong? Hmmm well, last week I forgot the yellow gloves for my craft and that was almost a disaster, sorry I forgot to tell you about that, so I could forget a vital item at my house that I will need to make the mask like the brown paper bags and not be able to find one around the house. The kids could be uninterested like last week. Colds could persist. Tears and snot could rain down on the table. A fight could break out. Flesh could be sliced with the scissors while my back is turned, they maybe kiddie but that doesn’t mean they’re completely dull! I might not be able to find a mask template and completely botch the shape or eye holes.

However I am going to choose to believe that this craft is going to go off marvelously! I believe optimism is key to getting things done and being happy while it is getting done. That’s what being a nanny has taught me anyway. Well if you want to know how these fox mask turn out check back in on Friday. And since I mentioned it earlier enjoy the song!

Despicable Fingers

This is going to be a fun week! As you may have been able to gather from the title of this post this week Penny, Jude, and I will be making something that has to do with Despicable Me. What we will be doing is making finger puppets. They look super cute and fun. The kids LOVE Despicable Me and so I can only imagine that when I tell them what we will be doing they are going to freak out! But before I get into all of that let me give you a little of the back information for this craft. I, of course, originally found this craft on pinterist and followed it to the blog it originated from. The brilliant mom that came up with these little yellow trouble makers is Paging Fun Mums! Her blog is fantastic, I will definitely be trying out some of her other crafts in the future. Anyway I found this idea back in September while I was having a marathon pinterest session, immediately I thought that the kids would love doing this and I really hope that is the case.

The semester is coming to a close for me, I have about a month left, and so I am starting to work on all my final projects and I am getting exhausted. Winter break is looking really good right now. For these reasons I really need this craft to go over well with Penny and Jude. It’s not that they are incredibly difficult or anything it’s simply that my brain is tired and if these minion finger puppets don’t go over well I am going to have to figure something else to do on the fly and the thought of that makes me even more exhausted!

Ok so that was my moment of “poor me college studentness” thank you for bearing with me. Now let’s talk about these finger puppets! They look easy enough to prep for and make. The only supplies you need are yellow dishwashing gloves, scissors, and a black sharpie. You draw the faces on the fingers of the gloves, with the sharpie, and then cut the fingers off the gloves to fit the little fingers they will be going on. And that’s it! Simple right?! Or are they…

I’m going to be honest with you, I am not good at drawing, like sometimes stick figures are challenging. And so the first disaster that I thought could happen when considering this craft was that I myself without help from the kids would botch this one up royally! I mean honestly this is a real concern, I could totally not be up to the challenge of drawing minion faces on these gloves. They could end up looking awful! But there are also other things that could go wrong, Penny or Jude could grab the scissors, while I am focusing all my attention on not messing up the project, and cut themselves or each other. An eye could be gouged out for goodness sake! As always a fight could break out, resulting in privileges being taken away. Or so many more things could happen, but this is depressing me and so I’m going to end this post saying that everything is going to work out perfectly. Check in on Friday to see is my dream or nightmare comes to reality. Of and here’s a minion video to brighten up your day!

Flubber Again?!

Original recipes comes from Schelastic Education Center.

I believe that it is time to try and redeem myself from the flubber fiasco. If you haven’t read my post about the last time I tried to make flubber and are curious click here. This week I am going to try and make flubber with the kids, again. I feel like enough time has passed since my last failed attempt and this time I have done my research, I have a list of three stores that say that they have Borax in stock. If needed I will be traveling to multiple stores in search of the secret ingredient, and will not stop until I have acquired it! I am on a mission, I must redeem myself, and especially after last week’s almost disaster with the Spooky Bones I feel like now is the time to prove to myself and you faithful readers that flubber is something that I can make.

Alright so here’s the plan: today after I finish an acceptable amount of homework I am going to hit the pavement in search of the elusive secret ingredient to the success of making flubber. As I said before I am prepared to go to each of the three stores in my area that profess to have Borax in stock, and if need be get every shelf stocker and manager in each place search out its hiding place. Today I will not be taking no for an answer! And then come Thursday, with the magical Borax in hand, the kids and I will make the most perfect batch of borax that has ever been created.

I imagine that once I have obtained the box of powdered magic the rest of my week will go by without a hitch. Classes will be easy and enjoyable, homework will seemingly do itself, and all my other responsibilities will be a breeze. This perfect week of course includes when Penny, Jude, and I go to actually make the flubber. I see us having a lovely calm morning on Thursday culminating in when I announce that we will be making flubber. They will be filled with excitement but will still be able to control themselves and not start fighting over who can help me first, they will be the perfect little helpers. Pandora will playing only songs that the kids and I love while we precisely measure out the ingredients and mix them up. The chemical reaction will be magnificent! The ingredients will come together in a spectacular fashion and the result will be a bowl full of fluffy, squishy, colorful, and perfectly playful flubber. Penny and Jude will play with it for the rest of the morning and want to play with it again after nap, while the whole time I am doing a victory dance. The taste of victory will be so sweet, I will not even notice as the rest of the day flies by!

If you want to know exactly how magically my next attempt at making flubber with the kids will be check back in Friday afternoon. I promise to give a full account of the perfection that will be the day…

Spooky Bones Guest Post!

The Pinning Nanny’s special guest! Weekly Waves very own DAN PARK!!! *applause *clapping *laughter. Thank you thank you, you guys are all too kind. So this week, Rebecca told me her kids are going to be doing a very SPOOOKY project. This week Rebecca and the children will be making “Spooky Bones”. Now I have been given the opportunity to imagine this scenario and paint a picture of how I would imagine it to go. However, to remain faithful to my own blog I’m going to paint a picture with the song I think will accurately depict this scene.

The song I’m going to choose is Rather Be. I originally wanted to paint this picture in a way that was wild and hectic, but I am going to give Rebecca the benefit of the doubt and say that this project will be a success becoming a blissful and spooky memory that these children will hold forever. It overall seems like a fairly easy project. However, usually anything that involves food and sticky material, there will be a mess to follow, but I am going to say that it will be a cheerful memory.

But let’s see how it’ll turn out in my head, and I suggest the reader to turn on this song while we are going on this little adventure. Rebecca will come in and the kids will greet her with a warm hug telling her about all the candy they want to eat on the upcoming holiday. Rebecca will then ask if they want the best treat of all: SPOOKY BONES! Obviously the kids will rejoice and scream for the spooky bones. Being the caretaker she is, Rebecca will have all the ingredients and get out the melting pot. Melting the chocolate she and the kids will prepare the marshmallows and pretzels. However, Jude think’s that these are Q-tips and sticks one in his ear. Quickly reacting Rebecca pulls it out, but the marshmallow gets stuck. Even though she pulls out most of it, there is still marsh residue. During this time the white chocolate is burning up!

Calm and collected Rebecca switches off the melting pot, as she swiftly washes Jude up. Penny is also being extremely helpful, helping Rebecca retrieve all the necessary equipment. All the while the children are laughing. Making a new batch of chocolate…10 minutes pass, they’re finally ready to cover the “bones”. They get through a ribcage worth of bones when Penny accidentally knocks over her bowl of chocolate onto Jude’s face. Instead of crying Jude says… “Look I’m a ghost now”. Penny dabs a spooky bone on Jude’s face and eats it. Then Jude, Penny, and Rebecca begin to laugh. They continue laughing while eating the rest of the bones, while Jude and Penny are getting cleaned up, and while they clean the premises. Looking back twenty, thirty years from now they’ll both know what a great Nanny they had, and that there was no place else that they would rather be. The end.

 

The Idea of Hot Dog Mummies

I know I usually post the idea that I am going to try with the kids on Tuesdays but I had a paper to write and errands to run yesterday, among other things, and so it’s Wednesday. To anyone, if there is anyone, who was patiently waiting yesterday for my post I’m sorry. I thought about my post a couple times yesterday but that was mostly while I was trying not to get distracted from my paper and while I was out running errands. Ah, the life of a student!

Ok so now that I have bored you with my excuses, let’s talk about what I’m planning for this week. Keeping with the October theme of Halloween, this Thursday the kids and I will be making Mummy Dogs for lunch. As always I found the recipe idea on Pinterest and am now bringing it to you. It is originally a Pilsbury recipe and the Pilsbury website even has video tutorial on how to make them, for those that aren’t as familiar with the kitchen.

The recipe itself is simple, hot dogs, crescent rolls, and cheese. Depending on if we have cheese or not I maybe omitting the cheese. I don’t think that having cheese in them or not is really going to make or break this recipe, so I will let you know what my final decision and the outcome is on Friday. So yeah, this recipe is easy, you take the hot dogs and either slice them so that they have arms and legs or you leave them unscathed. Next you take little strips of crescent roll and wrap them around the hot dogs. Once you have finished your burial ritual on the hot dogs you pop them in the oven for about 15 minutes. And then voila you have perfectly wrapped and baked mummy dogs.

I think Penny and Jude are going to find this activity especially amusing. I believe the idea of making hot dog mummies is going to be really funny to them. Honestly think about it yourself it’s kinda funny. I can just see us making the mummies and laughing about how silly what we are doing actually is. My prediction is that this is going to be a fun and easy project…

There is always the chance that my prediction is not correct. For all I know this could be a complete disaster! (Think back to the flubber incident.) But what could go wrong? Fighting over who gets to do what could ensue. The crescent rolls could not be the right consistency, it’s happened to me in the past. The mummies could come out of the oven just looking like big blobs of crescent roll with a hot dog in the center and look nothing like a mummy. I could forget the mummies in the oven and burn them to a crisp. Burning them would be the true disaster. If I burn them I won’t have time to make another lunch for the kids before Penny needs to get to school and so she would be going to school hungry. That would make me the worst nanny ever! It’s ok I haven’t had a mess up since the flubber… I can do this! I hope I can do this.

To see what happens come back Friday. I’ll have all the yummy/burnt, disastrous/glorious results for you then.

 

BOO!

It’s Tuesday again and that means it’s time to talk about a new craft and predict the outcome of making it. I have decided this week to make a seasonal door decoration with Penny and Jude. I found this idea on Pinterest a few weeks ago and I think it is going to be really cute. It originally came from a young married blogger who got into the seasonal crafts and came up with this BOO sign.  I think the sign is really cute and I believe that the kids will really have a lot of fun making it.

I like doing activities like this with the kids because it is always good when you can send them home with something. The kids are so proud to show their parents what they have made and the parents usually are excited to be getting a gift/something they can put up and say their kid made that. Parents love bragging about their kids and crafts are a great way of allowing the parents to do that. Plus I mean come on decorating for the seasons can get a bit much so anytime I can help out I try to. This sign will add a little pop to the front door or wherever else in the house the mom decides to put it. I am even rolling around the idea of them each making their own sign so that they can go on their bedroom doors. We shall see how much the supplies are when I go to the store later today.

There are a few components to this craft; we are going to have to paint the letters, which the kids will LOVE. They love painting and not having any lines to stay in will make it even more fun! I’ll just cover the table with old news paper and let them go crazy. Then after the paint has dried we will have to attach the letters together with ribbon to create the sign. My thinking is that we will do the painting in the morning before Penny goes to school and then after she gets back and has her rest we will attach the letters.

So now comes the part when I imagine what could go wrong while making this craft and second-guess my desire to make it with the kids. Here we go! Paint is messy! The painting could get out of control, they could start flinging their paint brushes around in the air getting paint all over the room and windows, making me have to spend my nap time break scrubbing the room down. A paint fight could occur in which I would have to spend ample time cleaning them up and making Penny presentable for school and then go back and clean the room. They could not want to paint the letters in the colors I have. Paint could get on their clothes and their mom may not send clothes for them to change into.  And yeah, paint, paint is dangerous! Maybe this was a bad idea… I guess you will find out on Friday if this idea was a disaster or the perfect way to decorate a door. Until Friday then!

Pumpkin Butter in Theory

October has arrived and with it all things fall. Through my pinning I was able to find four activities that fit the theme of the month, fall and Halloween. In this first week of October I have chosen to make pumpkin butter with the kids. They love toast and so anything to put on top of it is sure to be a hit. The pin led me to a blog post by the blogger Recipes that Crock. A funny name I must admit.

The recipe appealed to me because it is made in a crock pot, which means the kids and I will do a little work in the morning and then we can go play while our pumpkin butter cooks. Crock pots are ideal to use when with kids, you can throw all the ingredients in and then practically forget about it until it is done. Like I said ideal! Crock pot cooking is also ideal when you have a lot to do and just don’t want to have think about cooking. Just don’t completely forget about what you have in the crock pot! Anyway back to pumpkin butter and the kids. Other than the recipe using a crock pot the ingredients and directions are really simple! In the morning the kids and I have to put all the ingredients into the crock pot and 3 hours later we will have a tasty treat. Now I have found a bunch of a bunch of pumpkin butter recipes that use an actual pumpkin to make the butter and as much as my little hipster heart would love to say I was going to use a fresh fall squash and not a can I can’t lie… I don’t have time for real pumpkin! When making butter from a fresh pumpkin you have to roast the pumpkin first and then cook it with the seasonings for on average 5 hours. That is between 3-4 hours of extra work that I just don’t have time for! And so this time I’m using canned pumpkin, judge me is you must.

Alright so here is the part of the post that I imagine what could go wrong while making this, hopefully, yummy fall themed spread. Can pumpkin is well stocked at my local food store so I don’t have to worry about another borax fiasco, thank God! However there are other things that could go awry. The kids could dump too much of any of the seasonings into the pot making it taste overly spiced or just plain gross. They could get in a fit that comes to shoving and then there goes the canned pumpkin flying across the kitchen and then SPLAT! on the ground. I could forget to turn off the crock pot after 3 hours and burn the what would have been tasty afternoon snack. I hope none of these things happen, cause I really want to eat some pumpkin butter!

So the stage is set; in 2 days I will arm myself with a mixing spoon and apron and attempt to flawlessly make pumpkin butter with Penny and Jude. Will it work? We don’t know but come Friday afternoon I will tell you. Stay tuned this adventure has just begun!

Flubber?

This week I have decided I am going to make homemade flubber with Penny and Jude. Penny doesn’t have school tomorrow thanks the the Jewish holiday and so I thought it would be a good idea to do a craft that would both take a little while to make but would also encourage independent hands on playing for a long time. This is where the idea of flubber came in. I was looking through my pin board at all the crafts and activities I have been pinnying of late and came across this link to Schelastic Education Center’s blog on how to make flubber.

The recipe looks simple enough: water, glue, food coloring, and borax. The directions also look fairly straight forward. My guess is I will have one kid help me mix the first bowl of ingredients and have the second kid help me with the second bowl. And once the ingredients have all come together to make the flubber I am hoping that they will be playing with it for a long time! I’m hoping for an hour or more but I don’t want to get my hopes up they could just as easily get bored the second we are done making it and want to go outside and play with the little girl that lives next door, she is a year older than Penny and they love playing Anna and Elsa together. However my hope is they do love it and are able to play with it all morning so that (cross my fingers) I can get some reading done. The life of an English major is filled with things to read!

This plan is in no way fool proof! I have never made flubber with the kids before. The closest thing we have ever made to this was play dough. Like every other recipe or craft found online there is always the chance that it won’t work. The recipe could be flawed, missing a step or ingredient, Penny or Jude might by accident spill something or cause one of the bowls to fall onto the floor making a huge mess, a melt down could occur forcing discipline instead of fun, or the kids could be totally uninterested in making it. (Scenarios like these run through my head on a daily bases.) However bad it could turn out to be I am still willing to take the chance and if nothing else be able to tell you to find a different recipe!

Even though I am preparing for the worst I think this activity will go off well. It has all the elements that Penny and Jude love: hands on, cooking (in a way), colors, and a rewarding end result. As I said above I am hoping for a good hour of independent play time with the stuff. Who knows this could work out great, or terribly…. If you want to know what happens with this recipe stay tuned for the results, coming Friday afternoon (while the kids are napping.) I’ll give you all the messy/funny details. Until then you can imagine me knee deep in a green flubber explosion.