DIY Eco Friendly Art

It was time to update the art in Owen's room. Sadly it still sported the wonderful artwork of his older brother, who has a different room now.  Owen loves animals and I love great looking wall art that costs next to nothing and is eco-friendly.  So....I snatched an old calendar that I used in 2009 and saved just in case I was inspired.  Today was my inspiration day.  It's stocked with some great black and white pictures of frogs.  Check out these great photos...

King for a day...

A little fishing anyone?

Just hanging around.

This was a 5 minute makeover switching out the current art for some sophisticated looking frogs.  It didn't cost me a thing and I have professional looking photos on the walls.   Best yet,  Owen doesn't have to be bummed that we have 4 feet of snow in the window wells for the next 3 months instead of a well stocked pad full of frogs and toads.  And the finished product....drum roll please.  

Ta-da!

What eco-friendly projects have you encountered lately?

Ahmelie's "I Love Your Heart" Granola

I grew up on homemade granola and it's truly a treat to have it in the house.  I also love making this and giving it as gifts.  It's a hearty breakfast that sticks with you on those cold winter days.  I also add a variety of dried fruit to make it deliciously sweet.  It takes 2.5 hours to toast it to a golden brown and requires being stirred every 15 minutes so it really is a labor of love.  Here's the goods on how you make it.

Ahmelie's "I Love Your Heart" Granola

Ingredients:

10 Cups Quick Oats

2 Cups Old Fashioned Oats

3 Cups Oat Bran (May substitute other dry ingredients: flax seed, wheat germ, etc)

1 cup almonds, slivered or sliced

Mix dry ingredients in roaster.

Mix Seperately:

1 Cup Honey

3/4 Cup Brown Sugar

1/2 Cup Oil

2 Tablespoons Cinnamon

1 Teaspoon Salt

Pour honey mixture over oats, stir in.  Bake at 300* for 2.5 hours, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.  Add 1 cup raisins, 1 cup craisins, 1 cup dried/chopped apricots,  1 cup coconut. Stir into granola mixture.  Serve over yogurt or with milk.  Yummy!

Easy No-Bake Oreo Mint Cookies Recipe

The kiddo's are loving prepping for the holidays so they jumped at the chance to help with the Cookie Baking Marathon.  Last year I made these Oreo cookie treats by dipping a regular oreo in white chocolate and sprinkling them with candy cane sprinkles.  This year I knew working with hot chocolate would be hard for the kids so we drizzled them in white chocolate instead.  I also got the Mint Oreos as I thought it looked festive having the green in the center and the white and red candy cane on the top.  You can't mess these up and another quick and easy no bake recipe that is kid friendly.



Chocolate Mint Cookies
Ingredients:
Mint Oreos
White Chocolate Almond Bark
Candy Canes, Crushed
Christmas Sprinkles, optional


Directions:  Line cookies closely on wax paper--this is a great task for little hands.  Drizzle with almond bark and sprinkle with crushed candy cane.  Garnish with Christmas Sprinkles if desired.  If you ask the kids, they'll say yes!


I love the makeover we made to this recipe and the kids had a lot of fun making them.  Grab a cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolcate and enjoy!

Easy No-Bake Haystacks Special Recipe

I asked Huz what kind of cookies he wanted since I'm doing a Christmas Cookie Baking Marathon at our place today.  He said, "Do you know how to make a Haystack?"  Well I think I do, but since they are so simple I thought maybe his mom had a special haystack recipe or something.  Negative.  There is nothing special about them, but this is the way he likes them...

Chocolate Haystacks

Ingredients:
2 bags (12 oz. size) chocolate chips
1 package (18 oz. size) chow mein noodles
1.5 cups coconut

 

Directions:  Heat chocolate chips in double boiler or saucepan until soft. Add chow mein noodles and coconut. Form into balls and cool on waxed paper or just drop spoonfuls of mixture on waxed paper. Let cool until firm. 

Voila!  You're done!  Disappear for awhile so Huz thinks these are much more time consuming and you've been slaving away over his favorite treat.  I'd recommend sewing for a bit then having him do the dishes.  But shhhh...it's our little secret!

Every Gift has a Story

This video has some great earth friendly wrapping ideas.  Use old ties as a bow.  Wrap with an old funnies paper or maps you aren't using anymore.  Use Baker's Twine for a simpler look.  Recycle old cards into gift tags.  Use fabric reusable gift bags for a unique look and an an earth friendly touch.  Happy shopping and have fun wrapping! 

What's your gifts story?  

A Happy Heart is a Thankful Heart

Thankfulness is hard to teach and it's hard to learn.  I prefer to make "projects", as the kids like to call them, and share them with others.  The kids collected all different kinds of leaves several weeks ago.  We put paint on them and stamped them onto these flour sack towels.  

After that we attached notes of thanks and handed them out to daycare staff, teachers and family.  

How do you teach your kids to have a thankful heart?  

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Child Rearing

There are days where nothing seems to go right and today was one of those days.  It all came to a rolling boil when I went to pick my sweet Little O up from day care...I was hoping for a "MOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMYYYY" as he gleefully came running to me with a big hug.  Instead, I got a sheepish look and not one, but two incident reports.  The last time we got one of these a rock mysteriously appeared in said child's nose.  Now I don't know about your house, but in mine kicking another child in the crotch and kicking/hitting and calling someone a "poopy head" is simply not accepted.  Where do they pick these things up?  How do you get them to stop when the usual punishments don't work?  And why in the world would you throw a fit because you weren't the line leader this time?   I think I need to read The Strongwilled Child.  Again.  Oh good, just saw there is a  "new" version out!

Anyone want to read it with me?