Donut Balloons

Everyone has their thing that they crave regularly. For me it's donuts. I don't even eat donuts that often, maybe once every two months, and I'm so particular about my donuts I'm often disappointed when I do get to eat donuts. And still, I often catch myself wishing desperately for warm glazed donuts. I think that's why I'm so smitten with these donut balloons.

Flowers in Waffle Cones | Friday Flowers

Thinking about Maria's fourth birthday that's coming up this month and possible decorations. She sure loves flowers and ice cream. I think if she saw these she would be delighted.

// DIY Paper Flower Cone Bouquets
// Flower Potlucks
// Flower in Cones

Reusing Popsicle Sticks

If I had kept every stick for every popsicle I ate in Brazil I would be able to do all of the crafts on this round-up times twenty! That first-trimester when Eliza was growing in my belly was a doozy. I don't buy popsicles all that much here because we have our Zoku quick pop maker. Exhibit A. Exhibit B. Exhibit C. But you know, when we're out and about or, when we're in Sacramento visiting great-grandma Mimi and auntie Karen (auntie Karen buys the best popsicles), we never pass up on the opportunity to eat my favorite frozen treat.

If you have been saving popsicle sticks you're in luck. If you haven't you still have time. Summer is not over yet, not by a long shot, so get yourself an ice pop (saying this with a British accent) and then get your Martha Stewart on and start crafting. 

1. Bow and Arrow 2. Magnets 3. Gift Tag 4. Summer Boredom Buster 5. Clock 6. Making Math Fun 7. Washi Tape Wooden Bracelets

Painted Wood Slice Tray

My kids are so obsessed with painting. Yesterday I picked up a paint brush and painted along with them. I was surprised how good it felt. Today I found this DIY for a painted wood slice tray at She Makes a Home and now I'm totally obsessed. I think this would make a great Christmas gift. Must find wood slice!

Image from She Makes a Home

Sugar Cookie Birthday Pops | Easy Party Favors

We were so excited to celebrate Maria's birthday today! Christian and I enjoy throwing parties. We like cooking for a crowd and we definitely enjoy our friends. Parties can be a lot of work, but honestly they don't have to be.

When planning a party there are things I don't prioritize, like piñatas (even though they are awesome) and paid entertainment (also awesome, most of the time). However, I am a huge fan of serving good food and making meaningful party favors. I try to get the kids involved in doing both. As far as food goes they can help plan a menu and even help us cook. As for party favors I try to make something with them that is meaningful to them.

When a guest leaves I like for them to leave with a little something. I have my kids stop what they're doing and hand the party favor to the guest as the guest is leaving and thank them for coming and for their gift. I remind my kids that  the only reason why it's so special to have a birthday party is because our friends took the time to come and help us celebrate. Having the kids thank them for coming and giving them a little treat is a small gesture but a good reminder that even though they are at the center of attention they still need to show gratitude.

For Maria's party she and I made sugar cookie birthday pops. Maria loves sugar cookies and she certainly loves lollipops, so I knew that sugar cookie birthday pops would be a meaningful treat she could give her special guests.

I too love sugar cookies and I am all about glorifying them. I've made them from scratch and turned them into lollipops for a graduation party and I've also made them into stained glass and put them in a snow globe for a Christmas party. As part of the DailyBuzz Food Tastemaker program with Nestlé® Toll House® I was given the opportunity to sample the new Nestlé® Toll House® Birthday Sugar Cookies. There are 24 cookies in a pack with 12 different designs. Maria was so excited about the designs. She carefully chose which cookie went on which lollipop stick and then which ribbon to tie each baggie with.

Sugar Cookies Birthday Pops

1 pack  Nestlé® Toll House® Birthday Sugar Cookies (makes 24)
4-Inch lollipop sticks 
3-Inch-by-4-3/4-Inch Clear Treat Bags
Ribbon for tying

Pre-heat oven to 350*F. Remove the sugar cookies one at a time. Carefully insert a lollipop stick in the middle and place on a cookie sheet. Repeat with each cookie. Separate them out so that there is enough room for the cookies to bake and expand. We baked 10 cookies at a time instead of 12 just to make sure the cookies didn't stick together. Bake for 9-10 minutes until golden brown around the edges. Cool on a wire rack. When the cookie pops are completely cooled you can place them in a treat bag and tie a ribbon around it to make individual cookie pops. Serve them at your next birthday party!

This post is brought to you by Nestle Toll House Birthday Sugar Cookies. Bake some birthday love.

Soap Clouds

Soap clouds in the bath beats store bought bubble baths any day. All you need is Ivory soap, a microwave, some food coloring (actually the food coloring is optional), and a Ph.D in science to explain to your kids how this actually works.

Seriously, how do you go from this

 to this?

I mean, I know you just nuke it for 30 seconds but what's the science behind it?

I'm calling this a craft instead of a science project because I can't explain to the kids the chemical properties inside an Ivory soap bar that makes this even possible.

So, HORRAY[!] for kitchen crafts.

Back in April Our Best Bites posted a massive soap cloud on their blog which I bookmarked for future projects. Back in April I was living in the jungle without Ivory soap and definitely without a microwave. We also didn't have a bath tub.

Now we have all of those things again so soap cloud making is possible.

I love the look of the plain white cloud, but my kids wanted color. Also, I didn't want our soap cloud to be as big as the one from Our Best Bites so I cut up the Ivory soap into 4 pieces and made 4 different clouds.

Then I mixed 2 drops of blue food coloring in a bowl with 2 teaspoons of water.

Enzo dyed the outside of his soap in the food coloring mixture

and then we nuked it in the microwave, on top of a paper towel, for 30 seconds.

And a pretty white cloud tinted with blue was born.

Maria on the other hand wanted more colors on her cloud. So I microwaved her cloud for 10 seconds, added a drop of food coloring, then microwaved for another 10 seconds, added another drop of food coloring, and kept on doing this until we had a cloud with 5 different colors on it.

Which one do you like best, the all white, the blue, or the colorful one?

Some questions I had before making soap clouds,

What is the texture like? 
I know it looks all soft and fluffy but it's not. It's solid but also crumbly, so unless you're planning on playing with these in the bath or in a kiddie pool I wouldn't recommend making it.

When it comes out of the microwave is it super hot?
I was worried about this because I knew the kids (and I) would be impatient wanting to touch it right away, but it was fine. It was warm for a couple of seconds but not hot. Granted my microwave isn't that powerful so if you try this at home touch it first before your kids grab it so you can make sure it's not hot.

Will your food taste like Ivory soap when you microwave it?
No. I thought it would but it was fine. The microwave smelled like Ivory soap for a little while but right after I gave the kids a bath we went back up to the kitchen to have dinner and I microwaved some food and it did not taste like Ivory soap. *sigh of relief*

So then what do you do with it?

Oh you know, you play! You put your kids in the bath and you let then go at it. The food coloring in the soap makes the bath water colorful and pretty. And because your kids are playing with soap it's hard to go wrong.