Ambrosia Crunch

This is about the best sweet snack mix I've ever had. It is simple to prepare and sure to please the palate. Wrap it in cellophane bags with pretty ribbon for a great presentation.

3 c. rice chex
3 c. corn chex
3 c. cheerios
2 c. stick pretzels
2 c. peanuts
12 oz. plain M&Ms
12 oz. peanut M&Ms
12 oz. white chocolate chips

Combine all ingredients, except for white chocolate in a large bowl. Melt white chocolate slowly in microwave, one minute at a time at half power, stirring after each minute. Pour over mix and stir thoroughly. Pour onto waxed paper and let cool. Break apart and enjoy!

Ocean Cake

OK, my fellow cake-loving friends will laugh because they know how excited I get about making cool cakes for my kids' birthdays! This one was seriously so extremely easy and it turned out better than I had imagined. I found it (and many other fantastic cake ideas on one of our favorite sites, familyfun.com.) Perfect for any type of ocean or Hawaiian themed party.Simply use speckled Jelly Bellies for the rocks, Fruit By The Foot for the seaweed, and different gummy fish for the fish. The cheesy Ariel candle is to appease my sweet three year old, but I have to say it looked much cooler without it.

Pinecone Turkeys

We made these adorable turkeys at playgroup last week. Each turkey only requires a pinecone, a pom pom (fuzzy ball), a few pipe cleaners, some googlie eyes, small pieces of red and yellow felt, and some craft glue. (Martha Stewart had some great ideas this month on creating bird and mice ornaments out of pinecones too.)

Homemade Sorting Toy

This is a simple activity for your 1 1/2 or 2 year-old. Mine has been loving little pieces lately; she has been sorting beads and buttons and the like. She kept bringing me a little bag of beads from my craft drawer so I thought we would put them to good use. We used an empty egg carton and turned it into a sorter. It costs next to nothing, keeps them occupied for a few hours, and if they tire of it after a few weeks, you don't feel bad tossing it in the recycling pile.

For this toy, you will need an empty egg carton, different colored felt, scissors, glue, and something to sort like beads or buttons.

Simply cut small squares of felt and glue them in the bottom of the egg cups.

Pour the beads in the lid, and ask your child to put them in the right spot.

Recycling

I really love to recycle. And it seems Miss Emma takes after her mommy. She is absolutely sure she needs to have every single toilet paper roll, shoe box, and empty yogurt carton she can find. There are so many times where I don't have time to help her and I explain that we can't keep everything, (her room is overrun with papers and art projects as it is) but last night, I had time. So I obliged her.

measure and cut felt

Hot glue it on; add some ribbon or buttons

Decorate the lid with felt and puff paints. Now, you have yourself a super duper, nifty cylinder-shaped box for all of your treasures.

Turkey Sugar Cookies

The girls and I made turkey sugar cookies for Family Home Evening tonight. They were a hit! I now go against the core of who I am (made-from-scratch mommy) and purchase premade sugar cookie dough (for the lesson learned, click here), and it has been much more fun for the kids.

For this project, you need orange frosting, candy corns, m&ms, and a small amount of melted chocolate to dot on for the pupils.

My little turkeys

Pear Ghosts

Here's one more cute Halloween idea. I know it's late, but I didn't have time to post it earlier, and there's always next year, right?These are so simple- you just dip pears in white chocolate and when it's almost set up, add the semi-sweet chocolate chips for eyes. They look darling and taste so good! My kids loved them.