Kid Craft: Jellyfish

Day 2 of the kid crafts Mickey shared with me that they did while on vacation in NC with Meghan and her family - each day they had a theme with a craft, snack, and story that fit the theme.  For reference I think the kids are all little, the 2 girls I know are ages 2 and 3. Obviously tailor your theme days so they are age appropriate. 

They made jellyfish from a painted paper plate cut in half, attach google eyes and strips of crepe paper. 

I can't remember what story they read but here's a couple ideas: 

• Can You Dance like a Jellyfish? by Penney Adams
• The Jellyfish who lost it's Glow illustrated by Richard Merritt
• Peanut Butter and Jellyfish by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

I think their snack was an Uncrustable so I wonder if they read peanut butter and jellyfish?! 

day 1 shell turtle 

day 3 seahorse

day 4 rainbow fish 

8.20.24: TT dirty dozen fruits and veg

8.20.23: 🔥 week 34

8.20.22: ambassador shirley temple

8.20.21: banana cream pudding pie

8.20.20: sushi tower

8.20.18: Marcia's green chili frittata

8.20.17: potato squash gratin

8.20.16: chopped competition

Tip-sy Tuesday: Rope Lights on Deck

We've tried different ways to get a strand of rope lights to stay attached to the steps of our Fifth Wheel and also look nice - I finally got it to work and look good by attaching them with cable ties - they stay perfectly in their place and I don't have to fuss with them at all. I'll cut them when it's time to close-up for the season but it's very easy to put fresh ones on next Spring. The lights outline our stairs which is great at night so we don't have to leave the outside overhead security light on but can still safely navigate the stairs, and the the excess is coiled under the bottom step so it's kinda festive looking. 

8.19.24: high chair tutu

8.19.23: words

8.19.22: snackle box

8.19.21: personalized mimosa glasses

8.19.20: gingersnaps

8.19.19: shadow box memory collage

8.19.18: 🔥 week 33

8.19.17: twisted frozen grapes

Kid Craft: Shell Turtle

Mickey shared photos with me of the kid crafts they did while on vacation in NC with Meghan and her family - each day they had a theme with a craft, snack, and story that fit the theme. I'll share them with you this week, love this fun idea to entertain the kiddos! For reference I think the kids are all little, the 2 girls I know are ages 2 and 3. Obviously tailor your theme days so they are age appropriate. 

Here they made this adorable turtle using construction paper, a big painted shell, googly eyes and buttons. (one button obviously fell off on the plane ride home!).  

I can't remember the other details of each day but I googled for a couple suggestions. Turtle day craft is making these cute shell turtles; for the story you could read Yertle the Turtle by Dr. Seuss, The Foolish Tortoise by Richard Buckley, or If I Were a Turtle by Anne Wilkinson; and hmmm for a snack I'm not sure - maybe decorated cupcakes or cookies? Or maybe white chocolate fruit turtles using kiwi and grapes like I saw here at food-bites, click here for their instructions.  Too cute!! 

day 2 jellyfish 

day 3 seahorse 

day 4: rainbow fish 

8.18.24: 🔥 week 33

8.18.23: msti air-fryer drumsticks

8.18.22: chicken breast in cream sauce

8.18.21: oreo rice krispie treats

8.18.20: tip-sy tuesday: measuring sticky ingredients

8.18.19: 🔥 week 33

8.18.18: scrambled eggs and toast 'chick'

8.18.17: school hairstyle by Brooke

8.18.16: 30 day ab challenge 

🔥 Around the Campfire (week 33)

Dear Campers ~ 

Here's a quick recap in case you missed anything at camp last week:

Posts ~

8/10: 🔥 week 32

8/11: Georgie's party dress 

8/12: TT layering vinyl

8/13: playhouse flower box 

8/14: ice cream cone cupcakes

8/15: no-bake reese's squares v2

8/16: words (awkward pet photo)

That's it for this week! See you next week for more projects, crafts, recipes, whatever we can think of to make at camp - bye :)

Sincerely ~

Jill

camp counselor

8.17.24: words (she is clothed)

8.17.23: tricolore salad with oranges

8.17.22: yard sign

8.17.21: tip-sy tuesday - fruit filled crescent rolls  

8.17.20: painted letters and an engagement cake

8.17.19: grape and broccoli salad

8.17.18: morse code bracelets 

8.17.17: caprese salad (tomato mozzarella salad)

8.17.16: chocolate peanut butter layered dessert  

8/16 ~ Words

 

8.16.24: bourbon berry bramble

8.16.23: chocolate caramel cookies

8.16.22: TT things to toss

8.16.21: personalized drink cups

8.16.20: 🔥week 33

8.16.19: tuna avocado egg salad

8.16.18: sloppy joes

8.16.17: s'more pie

8.16.16: mashed cauliflower

No-Bake Reese's Squares (v2)

My sis requested (like you've never heard this before) something Reese's for her birthday (it's either peanut butter or s'mores every year). I've made her buckeyes and buckeye squares along with lot's of other peanut butter things, I posted making "Reese's Squares" in the past (click here for that recipe) but technically those were buckeye squares - this time I thought I'd try making them with the addition of graham cracker crumbs to make them even more Reese's like. And they turned out great, I will for sure make this recipe again. I followed it exactly and the only thing I'll do differently next time is to add a pinch of coarse salt - I used unsalted butter and it needed just that little pop of salty in all the sweet.

Side note: Kyle had one and said to me 'you know what is the only thing that would make these better?' and I said to add salt? LOL yep that's exactly what he thought as well. 

The reviews are quite good but my favorite one is:

"My "expert" (her dad) said it wasn't good enough to be a true Reese's because it didn't have chocolate on the bottom, but he liked the over all taste and texture."

haha - not good enough to be a true Reese's 🙄😂

I forgot to take more pics, this was all the squares left to photograph haha! 

• INGREDIENTS:
  1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
  1 lb. confectioners' sugar (3 to 3 1/2 cups)
  1 1/2 cups peanut butter
  1 cup butter, melted
  1 (12 oz.) bag milk chocolate chips
  DIRECTIONS:

• Combine graham crumbs, sugar and peanut butter and mix well.
• Blend in melted butter until well combined.
• Press mixture evenly into a 9 x 13 inch pan.
• Melt chocolate chips in microwave or in double boiler.
• Spread over peanut butter mixture.
• Chill until just set and cut into bars (these are very hard to cut if the chocolate gets "rock hard").

recipe found here at food.com 

8.15.24: smash cake 

8.15.23: TT opening clamshell packaging 

8.15.22: baked walleye

8.15.21: 🔥 week 33

8.15.20: mini succulent shadowbox

8.15.19: cheeseburger shepherds pie

8.15.18: zucchini bread or cake

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

Mickey asked if I'd make ice cream cone cupcakes for Georgie's birthday party - I make a LOT of cupcakes but I haven't made the cone ones since like the 90's so I thought it'd be fun to make something different. I told her that I remembered standing the flat bottomed cones up on a baking sheet but don't remember if they tipped over easily so I'd play around with that - she said or we could just order these stands for 7 bucks that you can both bake and serve in. HAHA so yep, that's what I did! Easy.

I bought sugar cones instead of the softer cake kind because I read that with regular cones you need to bake and serve as soon as possible because the cones get soft - using the thicker sturdier sugar cones kept them crunchy for at least 3 days.

I followed the instructions on the stand box and filled the cones with 2 (not heaping) Tablespoons of dough and baked them until they were done (it took longer than I expected, I didn't keep track of the time but I kept adding minutes onto the timer - just watch them). Once cooled I filled them like I usually fill cupcakes (click here for one example) and then frosted them with a big swirl of buttercream so they'd resemble an ice cream cone. 

And of course lots of sprinkles to finish them off!

8.14.24: thru the years

8.14.23: how to sew a pillowcase 

8.14.22: 🔥 week 33

8/14.21: buffalo dip

8.14.20: mason jar lunchable

8.14.19: chocolate chip cookie ice cream cake

8.14.18: tissue paper flower gift topper

8.14.17: make a personalized shopping bag

8.14.16: quebec chicken

Playhouse Flowerbox

We got Georgia an outdoor playhouse for her birthday - it came with a window box and I thought it'd be cute to fill it with artificial flowers. I cut a piece of floral foam to fit, then cut flowers off of a bunch from  the craft store using wire cutters. Stuck them in the foam and look how cute it turned out:

8.13.24: TT baking powder vs. baking soda

8.13.23: 🔥 week 33

8.13.22: dirty shirley

8.13.21: taco cake

8.13.20: notebook paper frame

8.13.19: TT - opening a can

8.13.18: framed travel coins

8.13.17: chicken tortellini salad

8.13.16: copycat purple drink

Tip-sy Tuesday: Layering Vinyl

Yesterday I showed you the cute dress Georgia wore at her birthday party (click here for that post) - I don't have much experience layering vinyl so wasn't sure how to build the cupcake using different colors. After some YouTubing I was pretty comfortable attempting it and sure enough, no issues. 

You can layer regular vinyl over glitter but I read that the glitter texture might show thru, so after cutting the cone shape out of gold glitter vinyl I trimmed away most of what would be under the ice cream shape. There was a little overlapping but after it was all ironed on you couldn't see the glitter under the regular, so not sure I needed to trim. 

For the sprinkles - I cut them out using 3 different colors; to apply them on top of the ice cream shape you don't want to iron each one too long or you'll end up using way too much heat and potentially ruining the design - so first I ironed on the cone for just a few seconds, just long enough for the image to stick and I could peel off the packing; next I did the same with the ice cream shape, just a few seconds and remove the packing; do the same with each of the 3 different colored sprinkles (note: put a piece of parchment paper over the entire design when ironing so you aren't directly on top of the whole image); once all of the vinyl is on then hold your iron or heat press over the layered design for 30 seconds to really set it all in place. 

8.12.24: fluffy peach tutu

8.12.23: words

8.12.22: candied almonds

8.12.21: room assignment cards

8.12.20: mini banana cream pies

8.12.19: zucchini chickpea patties

8.12.18: 🔥 week 32

8.12.17: baked spinach dip

8.12.16: candy bouquet

2 Year Old's Party Dress

We celebrated my great-niece's birthday over the weekend and Mickey asked if I'd cricut 'two' on the front of a cute tutu dress she found. It was an ice cream themed party so I played around with different fonts and  ice cream images (found on the cricut design space but you can import your own if you don't find anything on the site that you like - click here for instructions how to do that) and came up with this design. It turned out so cute and she was adorable!!!

8.11.24: 🔥 week 32

8.11.23: MSTI coffee chiller update

8.11.22: salted caramel ice cream cake 

8.11.21: baked breakfast frittata

8.11.20: TT - brownie liners

8.11.19: 🔥 week 32

8.11.18: boozy bears (gummy bears soaked in vodka!)

8.11.17:  bead bracelets with charms

8.11.16: citrus pesto