A Spontaneous Birthday Party and Instagram

Need to add some fun to your winter? Throw a simple birthday party, just you and your kids. By simple I mean, SIMPLE. Decorate a little, enjoy some sort of treat, and just make the day feel special. Before you know it, the day will be special. 

Yesterday we awoke to 3-4 inches of snow outside. The girls were thrilled! Immediately after eating breakfast they dressed for the occasion and headed outside to our winter wonderland. 10 minutes later they were done. What were we going to do with the rest of our snow day!? 

Then Hailey informed me it was Leo's birthday.

Leo is one of Hailey's imaginary friends. Don't be misled, Leo is a girl. And apparently yesterday was her birthday. And we were to throw her a party, which of course necessitated decorations.

Oh boy. I drug my feet on that idea. I was in no mood for partying, let alone throwing and decorating our own. Quickly though, Hailey's enthusiasm won me over, so birthday-party-it-up we did. Why do kids have the best ideas sometimes?

We pulled out streamers and ribbon, a plastic tablecloth, and even gift bags for the presents (their own toys wrapped up). Of course, there must be presents! Lucky for those girls I even had cupcakes in the freezer, leftover from Keira's birthday. We thawed those puppies and gave them a nice topcoat of Nutella and sprinkles. Yes, Nutella. No frosting? Use Nutella. It totally satisfied us. It was a bit thicker than frosting, but nothing a glass of milk can't help. :) No cupcakes immediately on hand? Bake some cookies or muffins together and stick a candle in it. If your kids are like my kids, they are quickly satisfied by anything with sugar. 

After cake and presents it was almost lunchtime. I had a few par-baked mini pizza crusts in the fridge, so we decided to use those up and make our own pizzas. This is always a hit with the kids.

Since it was suddenly a special day we pulled out a blanket and picnicked in front of a movie (which never happens). Win-win for me, pizza and some quiet time to relax!

Need a pizza dough recipe? Use mine, it's quick. I can whip up some crusts ready for toppings in just 45 minutes to an 1 hour. I store the extra in the fridge or freezer to be used later. It makes for an extra fun, yet super easy lunch.

   

So tell me, how do you like to spend your snow day? What do you do to keep you and your kids happy and sane during the winter?

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Now, let's talk INSTAGRAM.

Yeah, what about it? 

Well... I'm now on it! Follow me @hillmade_blog. There is plenty I do day to day that doesn't make the blog. I'll post more of that there. I'd also love to see what you're up to! Have you used any of my ideas? Tag #hillmade_blog. I'd love to see it!

Kids | Paper Bag Dresses and the Paper Bag Princess

We love the library. Just about every Thursday morning you can find me and my girls enjoying storytime at the library. While there, we check out a new stack of books each week. Hailey can hardly wait the 5 minute drive home before digging into the new books. She usually asks to look at one or two on the way home.

One book we have checked out a few times is The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch. The Paper Bag Princess is about a princess whose castle is destroyed by a dragon. The dragon carries away her prince, who she plans to marry. Everything the princess has is burnt by the fire of the dragon, including her clothes. The only thing to survive the dragon was a paper bag. The princess makes herself a dress from the paper bag and sets off to rescue her prince from the dragon. At the end of the book, after outwitting the dragon and rescuing the prince, the prince is no longer interested in the princess, because she is a dirty mess. The princess doesn't care,  and leaves the prince, no longer intent on marrying him.

The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch

What I like most about the story is the idea in the end that the princess knows the prince is wrong. She has a good sense of her own self worth and knows that how she looks is not an important part of who she is.

One afternoon Hailey asked me for an activity to do. We ended up making impromptu paper bag dresses, just like the Paper Bag Princess. You can too!

We started by ripping open the bottom of the bag.

After Hailey tore the bottom open, I used some scissors to cleanly cut away the paper. You should have a tube to look through after the bottom is cut open. (Yes, Keira has marker on her face. That girl loves markes, but she always makes a mess!)

Then we decorated. We used crayons, markers and stickers. I think paints or stamps would be fun too.

Hailey decided to practice writing and traced the letters on the bag.

After we decorated, the dresses were nearly ready to wear. Hailey complained that the top of the bag was digging into her arm pit, so we cut holes in the bag so it would sit more comfortably.

That's it. Easy peasy, but fun. So go grab some large paper bags, art supplies, and a copy of The Paper Bag Princess and craft away! 

Kids | Exploring with Non-Newtonian Fluid (Oobleck)

Kyle is the cool kid at our house. He has one of those brains that is constantly dreaming up something new and fun. He loves to see how things work and experiment. Of course, he loves to share all of this with our girls. After dinner one evening, Kyle led us all in some fun with science. 

Kyle and I have seen videos of people walking on what looks like liquid. Walking (running really) straight across it. What these people have done is made a large quantity of what is called a non-Newtonian fluid (also known as Oobleck). It is a fluid that when at rest acts as a liquid, but when force is placed upon it, it acts like a solid. It is crazy cool stuff. It's a mixture of water and cornstarch. That's it! 

We played with this stuff for an hour, and only quit because it was bedtime. Hailey would have kept going and going and going... Seriously, if you need to occupy your children for an hour, make them some Oobleck. Or if you would like something fun to do with your children, make some Oobleck. :)

You need:

1 1/2 cups water

16 oz. cornstarch

To make it, grab a large bowl or tub. Pour in the water.  

Add the cornstarch. Start with a little, mix. Add some more, mix. We didn't follow any recipe, we just experimented until it turned out. We used almost the entire 16 oz. of cornstarch.

When the mixture is the right consistency it will pull away from the edges of the bowl.

Now roll up your sleeves, dig your hands in and play!

Try pushing down with your fingers and see how the fluid resists them.

Now relax and watch your finger sink into the goo.

Roll the goo into a ball and watch it ooze out of your hand when you stop rolling. (Sorry the video is choppy, I made it from still images I had taken.)

This stuff is serious fun. I even got into it and had a blast with it. Yes, it's messy, but it cleans right up with water, no scrubbing. Just wet a towel and wipe it away. Now, that's my kind of mess.

If you do just one messy activity with your kids, make it this one! They will love it. You will earn major cool parent points for it. I'm thinking we need to have some friends over and do it again. Anyone want to come play with us!?

10 Arts and Crafts for Kids

Hailey loves to do arts and crafts. I really enjoy doing it with her too. Here are some arts and crafts projects we've done together.

As much as we enjoy making a crafty mess together, I just don't do it often enough. I'm out to change that. Hopefully we can get our hands messy more often and have fun doing it together. I have spent some time scouring Pinterest and the internet for some fun ideas. From that, I have compiled a list of 10 activities to do with toddlers and preschoolers.

from Fun-A-Day

from Life Lesson Plans

from U Create

from Housing a Forest

from Mama.Papa.Bubba.

from Powerful Mothering

from Red Ted Art

from I Heart Crafty Things

from Daisy Cottage Designs

from Meaningful Mama

Don't these crafts look so fun!? I have created a Pinterest board dedicated to crafts for kids where I pinned these crafts and more. If you like these, follow me on Pinterest to see what other fun crafts I discover!

Follow Renae Hill // hillmade's board kids crafts on Pinterest.

Kids: Edible Apple Igloos

Brains are funny. Funny amazing. It baffles me how much information is stored away for another day. Sometimes we really have no clue that our experiences have been carefully tagged, organized, and tucked away. That is until that tag pops up again and our brain jumps into action, "Look, here! Remember this. Or this..." And then we are shot back into time.

My brain went to work one day when Hailey brought home from preschool a picture of an igloo she had colored. Instant memory: I was sent back to when I was about her same age (four). I have a distinct memory of making igloos out of apples, peanut butter, and marshmallows. I mentioned that to my mom, "I remember making igloos, did we do that?" Baffled, she said, "You remember that!?" Nice work brain. (High five!)

So... what did Hailey and I do? We made igloos!

Here is what you need:

• peanut butter
• marshmallows
• apple
• cutting board
• knife (one for cutting, one for spreading peanut butter)

step 1: Core and cut your apple in half. If you have a handy-dandy apple corer that would be ideal. I don't, so I just cut away the core as best as I could with a knife.

step 2: Spread peanut butter on the outside of the apple.

step 3: Stick marshmallows to the peanut butter all over the apple.

Ta-da! An igloo. Now go eat it!

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