Thanksgiving Gratitude Lanterns

 With Thanksgiving approaching we have been talking a lot about the things we are thankful for. I wanted to somehow capture my children's sweet answers and also to sit and create with them while talking is always a great way to feel connected as a family.

 I wrapped a piece of wire around a basic jar making a loop on one end and leaving the other end long for beading.

 The kids added beads to their lantern handle. If you are using plastic beads I would suggest only adding beads to the sides since you will be placing candles in these lanterns. Once we added a few beads, I slipped the wire end through the loop and twisted it close.

 On small pieces of lightweight paper we wrote down things we are grateful for. We set these aside while we got a mixture of school glue and water together. I also pulled out a bag of tissue paper squares to add to our lanterns.

 We chose some pretty fall colored tissue paper for this. Any color you have on hand will look beautiful. Just cut the tissue into small squares. We gave our jars a good coating of the glue mixture using a foam brush and started adding the colorful squares.

 Lastly we added our words right on top of the tissue with some more glue. These took a couple of hours to dry.

Once our lanterns were completely dry we added candles and went on an early Thanksgiving lantern walk. The kids love going on lantern walks and I have to say I might enjoy this special tradition even more than they do! There is something about walking as a family and singing songs while holding our beautiful lit up creations that makes you feel a little magical.

Corn "COB" Doll

Don't you just love when you create something on accident?! These corn cob dolls were not at all intentional or planned. It was just one of those magical creating moments that always makes you wonder why it took so long to discover.

 We grabbed some Indian corn from the market to make our traditional November Indian corn jewelry. It's actually a lot of fun to pop the kernels off the cob. Look how beautiful that corn is! It amazes me every year.

 So, back to the dolls. When G started running around the house with his now naked cob and talking like of course any corn cob would--I got an idea!

 We pulled out a few knick-knacks and the hot glue gun and got to work. Em got silly by giving her doll a pony tail.

With some fabric scraps and buttons these corn cob dolls were turning out pretty adorable. Again, why did I not think of this before?? Oh, all those sad cobs that got tossed into my compost each year. 

 Here is Em's creation! It is one of my favorite things she has made. I love that she used a rubber-band as a mouth. It's a keeper!

**Stay tuned for our Indian corn jewelery, coming soon!!

Healthy Caramel Apples

 You know those family traditions that you just can't break, but you also just can't continue? Well, caramel apples for Halloween is that tradition for me. I remember the pure joy and excitement when it came time to make these sweet treats and I want my children to have that, but in a healthier way. I have been brainstorming for weeks on how I could make this happen and I finally got it!

 I have a food blog crush on The Nerdy Farm Wife. She is amazing and her site is full of DIY goodness. One of our favorites is her Nutty Caramels. They are pure bliss. When I was browsing around on her site recently I realized these little squares of caramel heaven were exactly what I needed to make my healthy caramel apple happen! All that is in this caramel is honey (get a good quality, it makes a difference,) nut butter and coconut oil.

 The kids washed the apples for me and I added popsicle sticks to each one.

 You start by bringing a cup of honey to 270 degrees....a candy thermometer is a necessity. Once this happens you remove from the heat and add 1 cup of nut butter and a tsp of coconut oil. You mix this all together over a cold water bath. Check out The Nerdy Farm Wife for full details.

 While I was making the caramel Emma crushed some peanuts to go on the apples. This is optional, but helps keep the caramel in place. You could also use shredded coconut.

 Once the caramel becomes thick it is time to dip those apples. You have to work fast because it keeps getting thicker as you go.

 The kids enjoyed rolling their apples in the crushed nuts, but were not happy when I popped them into the fridge for an hour or so. Once the caramel hardened I sliced it off the stick and I had a very happy family on my hands, continuing a very sweet tradition.

 We brought home a whole lot of apples yesterday, so we thought it would be the perfect time to make our shrunken apple heads. Spooky, right? Check out my full tutorial from last year for all the details, Shrunken Apple Heads. They are a lot of fun.

Pumpkin Spice Lip Balm

I recently discovered how simple it is to make our own lip balm and shortly after that I also discovered that Emma thinks it is the best thing ever!! This sort of project can be a little intimidating to do with children (because of the hot melted wax and all!) but with careful supervision it is a great opportunity to show children how resourceful they can be.

 What we used:
equal parts of beeswax, cocoa butter and coconut oil (we used 2 tbs of each) and 1/4 tsp of pumpkin spice. 

I have a designated pot that is made to melt wax. You can use any small stainless pot, but be sure to mark it "for crafting only!"
Emma measured out all of the ingredients (another great opportunity to work on measurements) and added them all to our pot. She helped me to stir over a low heat until everything was melted and combined together.

 I took over at this point and filled our empty lip balm sticks with the wax mixture. My pot has a small spout for this, but if you are using a regular pot you can pick up a glass dropper to fill the sticks.
While the wax settled, Emma used some plain mailing labels to customize her lip balm. She absolutely loved this part. She, of course, became a fancy-lip-balm-store-shop-owner and set-up a little processing line.

Did I mention our house smelled amazing while making these? You can experiment with different scents by adding essential oils and spices. I am lucky enough to live by a great little store that sells everything I need to make lip balm and more, but if you are looking for somewhere online I also adore Bulk Apothecary.

No-Cook Treat: Dates and Walnut Balls

 

Oh yes, fall has arrived and for some reason it made me think of these yummy date balls that my friend filled me in on last fall. She is my whole food loving, partner in crime and like me is always looking for a healthy treat to give the little ones.

Best thing about this-- what you see above is all that is in these sweet fall treats! You need about 1 cup each of dry pitted dates and shelled walnuts.
First, measure out a cup each of the walnuts and dates. Emma and I have been talking a lot about measurements as we cook. This recipe was a good chance for her to get some more hands-on practice.

 Next, with adult supervision, let your child toss all ingredients into a blender or food processor. Emma took her time while sneaking bites of each and telling me how sticky the dates felt. We talked a lot about dates since this was a new food we haven't used much. Emma was interested in where and how they grow. (I needed some help from Google on that one!)

 Once everything is in the blender, it's your turn to take over for a minute. Get the walnuts and dates processed down to a paste-like texture. It takes a few minutes and a few scrapes with a spoon to get it all fully incorporated.

 Use a spatula to get the mix out of the blender and let those little clean hands get to work on rolling the mix into balls. Easy-peasy, right? If you have any treats left after your little ones have been eating and rolling, the balls can be stored in the refrigerator.

I can't tell you how good these are. No need for sugar to have a special treat after dinner this fall! Enjoy!

I shared this recipe over at Kiwi Crate.

Doily Turkey

 Making sweet turkeys with different kinds of materials goes hand and hand with the month of November. I love seeing what my children create and hearing their silly turkey "gobble gobbles" come out! We made this turkey with a clothespin and a doily. To see my full tutorial of our Doily Turkey, head on over to The Studio, by Kiwi Crate and join us for some Thanksgiving fun!

For another fun turkey craft check out the cork turkey we made last year.

Fall Owl Burlap Flag

Did you know I LOVE owls? Surprise, surprise...I know. I just can't seem to get enough of these cute round birds. They make me smile. When Emma and I were looking to make a fall flag similar to our winter snowman flag...an owl seemed like the perfect way to go. Our secret to getting that perfect owl shape, an apple! Who knew? To see exactly how our adorable owl flag came together--head over to The Studio, by Kiwi Crate where you can join us in our full tutorial of this fun fall decor craft.