Shrunken Apple Heads!

I have been wanting to try these shrunken apple heads for a few Halloween's now, but at fear of traumatizing Emma - I had to hold back! This was my year. I showed her a photo first and her eyes lit up. Yes, my little weirdo loves this creepy craft just as much as I do!

 First get your apples peeled. Leaving the top and bottom peel to keep the apple sturdy.

 Now get to curving. We found some tools in the kitchen that worked well including a few pumpkin carving tools. A popsicle stick is good for little ones to etch away at their apple head.

 Getting creepy by the minute! At this point squeeze some lemon juice over them and place on a baking sheet. Now for the tough part...they have to go in the oven at 170 degrees for pretty much 2 days...or longer! We popped them in and would turn off the  oven when we left the house or went to sleep. They were really fun to keep checking on and see them transform, plus your house will smell like yummy fall apples.

 When they feel dry and like rubber they are done and ready to spook little siblings everywhere! You can add some pine needle hair, rice grain teeth or black bean eyes if you dare! We liked them just like this to add to our Halloween fright collection.

Emma likes to carry them around and talk to them in her witch voice. What have I done???
Happy Halloween!!

Rock Ghost - Boo!!

We seem to collect rocks daily around this house and always are meaning to do something fun with them. Lately, I have seen the rock jack-o'-lantern all over pinterest, but we thought a ghost would be fun! Seems like ghosts are the theme of our Halloween fun this year.

Pretty cute and they make the perfect Halloween paper weight for teachers or a fun garden accessory!

Ear Plug Monsters!

I love when random materials become cool art projects for us. Like ear plugs of all things, but why not! They are little and anything little seems to catch my kids attention.

You want to start with NEW ear plugs of course. I am definitely all for reuse, renew, recycle...but, I have my limits! The only other thing you need is a set of markers. This is the perfect evening activity when little ones need to chill and wind down.

Oh the tiny monsters wee ones will create.

Cute, right? And they are the perfect size for little hands to carry around, name, play monster house with or something like that.
From my monster house to yours,
xoxo
green owl mama

Pledge to Hide and Seek!

Today I pledge to play hide and seek. When life gets too serious, when I have a million things to get done, when my kids are cranky, bored, restless and just need me - I pledge to stop what I am doing and play hide and seek.
It is amazing what it does for a cranky child...and mama too! It brings laughs, fun, love, ends sibling bickering (for a moment at least,) and reminds me that dishes and emails can wait because at this very moment I am connected with my children; making memories and being just happy. 

Pledge with me!

xoxo
green owl mama

Nature Fairy Wand

With Halloween just around the corner I thought this sweet wand would be a fun craft to get into the costume mood!

We love Flower Fairy books by Cicely Mary Barker. They are so sweet and magical. We read them for inspiration just before going on a walk to collect sticks for our wands.

Start by wrapping the stick in pretty ribbon. You can start it off with a little bit of glue to help keep it in place while you wrap. At the top of the ribbon we tied a small bow with an additional peice of ribbon to hold it in place.

Layer the top with glue and tissue squares.

We tied on a couple bells to give it an authentic "tinker."

With a set of wings this costume is perfect for an afternoon to enjoy the beautiful imagination of a five year old.

Perfect & Plump Garden Pumpkin

My very inspiring, crafty and oh so awesome mom-in-law told me about this Halloween gem. Isn't it cute? Emma and I had an absolute blast making this plump pumpkin and it looks pretty darn sweet in our garden next to a........very large spider web! What? I seriously had no idea that was there until now! How perfectly chilling for this Halloween craft. Thanks Miss Spider.

Stuff you need:

• dryer vent
• duct tape
• paper bag
• paint + brush

 First form your piece of dryer vent into a hoop and duct tape the ends together. You can get all sorts of dryer vent size. We wanted a big pumpkin!

Next paint (as best as you can) the pumpkin. It doesn't have to be perfect - it's definitely more of a rustic pumpkin.

Paint the paper bag for the pumpkin stem. Once dry put that stem in place and you got a perfect pumpkin to spread some Halloween cheer to your yard.

Happy October! Eyes All Over!

Today is the first of October. I am so excited for what this month brings and to celebrate and kick start the fun I did what any mother would and put eyeballs on EVERYTHING! It's amazing what joy this brought my children to be surprised by eyes! Love these silly kiddos!

 

Calm down jar has a mind of it's own. 

Happy October!