Homemade Puppet Show Theatre

A friend of mine posted a question about good Christmas gifts, and this immediately came to mind. I thought I would share it with you, since it is so simple and so adorable!

Every time I have given these away, I get raves. And who doesn't like raves? Your kids will LOVE waking up to this and a good set of puppets on Christmas morning!

I have made several versions of this same thing, but basically you are going to make (or buy) curtains and then either use a spring rod (less expensive, but not as sturdy) or a shower-stall curtain rod to hang them in a doorway for an instant puppet show theatre! Both a spring rod and a shower curtain rod are adjustable, so just get one with a range of expansion that fits your doors. Two great things about this product are that it is portable (either from doorway to doorway or from your house to someone else's), and when your kids tire of it, you can simply fold the curtains up and put them in your linen closet. No big toys to store!

The first set I made were just two curtains made from silky purple fabric with yellow stars all over it- it sort of turned out like something for a magic show. But my kids loved them! I made them pretty long because you can adjust the height of the curtain rod depending on how tall the child is. Even my older kids (6 and 8) like to do magic shows and puppet shows. For this set, you can split the curtains so the kids can actually walk through them. (Great for introductions to performances etc.!)

If you've never made curtains, simply get a square of fabric (you want it to be at least 60" wide or up to two times the door width, and the length can be as long as long as you want!) and hem the sides first. Second, hem top and bottom. Then, fold the top down (creating a pocket) far enough that you can fit your curtain rod in the loop, and stitch along the bottom of the folded fabric.

The puppet show theatre in the above picture takes a little more effort, but not much. I simply made two curtains-one for the bottom and a shorter valance one for the top; and then I decorated them with ric rac. This particular set also has a clear pocket on the front so that my kids can put in 'signs' for their show depending on what they are using it for. We've used it for "store," "theatre," "show," and "circus." Once I figured out how to do these well, I actually sold them at a craft fair, and they were the FIRST product to sell out.

Good luck!

Sweet Scarecrows

How cute are these 'Sweet Scarecrows' from Family Fun? You can use this cute face with either cookies or cupcakes. We are making these for our kids' table at Thanksgiving. I love a darling, simple craft that brings happiness to our home and smiles to the kids.

No More Smelly Dishcloths!!!

There is nothing I dislike more than a smelly dishcloth. Ugh.

To keep your cloths smelling fresh- once a month, put them in boiling water for 15-20 minutes with a few tablespoons of baking soda, then wash them in the washing machine with a little bleach added and they will be as good as new! Because that's what my mama says and she knows.

The Letter Factory

I have meant to blog about this awesome product for a long time! Usually I'm the "no TV mama," but I think I love this DVD even more than my kids! A friend of mine introduced us to this when Emma was 2 years old, and it took her about a week to learn all her letters by name and the sound they made. It has been the same story for Madeline, and the children of family and friends. It is just a simple, but very creative video about letters and their phonetic sounds. And it works! Now, my kids are constantly singing about letters and the sounds they make.

To see other reviews about this video on Amazon, click here.

Once your child has mastered his or her letters, there are also "Talking Words Factory," and "Talking Words Factory 2," which teach them how to add the sounds together to form words (READ)! Try it, you'll be amazed how great it is!

Panoramic Sugar Eggs

As a child, my mom made these and she would set them out each Easter. I remember peering into them, so excited to see a familiar scene of bunnies and easter eggs or chicks at play. I wanted my kids to enjoy them too, so I made these a few years ago and they have held up surprisingly well, even amidst all of our moving. So far, I have only lost two! My kids love them a little too much, so I've had to put them up high on the mantle so they need a little assistance to "look" at them.

I can't say they are the easiest things to make, but they do keep well if you pack them away right. And they are completely edible... made from sugar and water and lots of frosting (minus the cute little mini figures- those are specialty of Michael's).

If you would like a comprehensive tutorial on making these neat eggs, click here. If you would rather just buy them, click here.

Last Minute Ideas for Valentines Day Fun

Here are some fun things you can do to make the day special for your family... and they don't require much preparation!

1- Make heart shaped pancakes (just pour it on the griddle in a rough heart shape) or muffins. (If you don't have a special muffin tin, simply put a marble between each paper liner and the muffin tin and it will create a heart shape- I tried it and it worked great!)

2- Put pink food coloring in the milk jug.

3- Find one of those shades of lipstick that you were sure about in the store, but once you got home, you realized it was all wrong, and write a lipstick mirror message for your sweetie.

4- Leave a love note in your child's lunch box, fill the lunch box with heart confetti, or draw hearts on the bag.

5- Give someone a "heart attack" by sticking hearts all over his/her car, office, or door.

6- Call a loved one at work and sing them a love song on the telephone.

7- Wake your kids up in the morning with a kiss and a Hershey's kiss (they might get out of bed faster!?)

8- Blow up red balloons or cut out red hearts to hang over the dinner table.

Please let me hear your ideas by leaving a comment!

Kids Valentine Ideas

We've been having fun at our house... we hope you have too!

Since we always seem to have leftover candy canes from Christmas, it has become a tradition for us to make these candy cane heart Valentines for our teachers.


These are the Valentines we made for the kids to give to classmates. I figure the less candy, the better, since they are sure to come home with a LOT of that.


And this last one was just for fun... I remember having these candy airplanes as a child and I wanted to see what my kids thought. Of course, they were a hit. You need smarties, single sticks of gum, two lifesavers, and a rubber band (preferably not the hair kind, like me).



If you are interested in cleaning out your crayon box, this craft is for you! Get all the little broken crayons together and unwrap them. Fill up a small heart shaped bake pan with random pieces. Bake at 250 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until they are melted. Let it cool and then pop out. My kids loved this.