Family Handprint Art

  Here is the 2nd Art Installation piece in our bedroom. Last week you will remember that I did a Natural Twig Art and the week before that I shared with you our Headboard Created from a Door. Next week I will share with you a glimpse of the whole bedroom update.

Creating these were relatively simple. I chose to use 4 colors that would complement each other and other colors in the room and pop on the canvas. All you need is 4 tubes of acrylic paint; you can buy tubes inexpensively for about 75-cents a tube. You also need four 8x10 stretched canvas. If you watch sale ads at Michael's, they do come on sale for a 10-pack for $10 - don't worry you can always find uses for the extras. I have even let the kids have a playdate and all the kids painted on their own canvas which they really enjoyed because it made them feel like they were actual artists, like my daughter did in Outdoor Inspired Art.

I just painted the entire canvas including the sides and let it dry. Then I paint the right hand of each member of our family and had them press it on top and let it dry. Voila! An art installation that cost me $7 and I have leftover paint to use on future projects.

4-Part Series on a Bedroom Re-Decorate

*Pottery Barn Inspired Headboard
*Natural Twig Art
*Family Handprint Art
*Video of the the Whole Reveal
**BONUS -- Review of Wrapped Canvas Picture Added to the Room

Christmas is in 25 Days!! What Are you Making???

I'm excited about Christmas! How about you?

I want this month (well, at least the first 25 days) to be all about helping you get in the Christmas spirit with crafts, food, and homemade gifts.

I plan to kick off the month (starting TOMORROW) with by showing you how to make an Easy   Felt Christmas Tree Decorated with Buttons Ornament that any kid could do, which just a little help from an adult.

That craft will start my "5 Days of Christmas Tree Crafts".

The month will include:

* 5 Days of Christmas Tree Crafts

* 5 Days of Gingerbread

* 12 Homemade Gifts of Christmas

* 3 Christmas Drink Ideas
PLUS -- I'll work in some Christmas cookies and candy recipes!!!

I better stop typing and get making, because I have a lot of plans to share with you!

Just click on 25 Day of Christmas to see everything that has been shared so far!

Review: Alexia Frozen Foods

 My favorite Alexia Frozen Food item is the Olive Oil, Rosemary & Garlic Oven Fries, which you gotta believe me is hard to narrow down as I love all of them, is the Rosemary & Olive Oil Oven Fries. They go perfectly with a burger on a crusty hard roll and some spicy ketchup. Yum! I can't wait to (re)try the yeast rolls, waffle fries, and seasoned sweet potato fries. Our freezer is always stocked with a variety of Alexia frozen food items.

Be sure to "Like" Alexia on Facebook, and sign up for their Alexia Ambassador Program, you could score some free food!



I was given one or more of the above mentioned products through BzzAgent.com. I #GotItFree. I did not receive any monetary compensation. All thoughts, opinions and pictures are my own. This post may contain affiiliate links.

Thrifty Thursday : Egg Carton Preschool Snack Game

 I first came up with the idea to do this when my daughter was a toddler and I did preschool-at-home with her. When you stay home with your kids, everything can be an opportunity to teach them something.

So, before you recycle your egg carton let it serve as a counting container for snack time. The idea is simple, just label the inside with the number 1-12. Then fill each one with that number of items. For example: 11 raisins in the spot labeled 11 and 2 mini rice cakes in the spot labeled 2. The dump all the snack in a bowl and have your child sort them by like items. Next ask your child to count how many there is of each like item and them put them in the labeled spot that has the matching number.

Once they are done sorting & counting, they can dig in.

This little idea cost you no additional money but help teach your kids sorting and counting.

Wordless Wednesday: Strange Foods

All of these foods came from Freida's. 

Try It Tuesday: Popsicle Stick Snowflake Ornament for Kids

These are simple snowflakes that are fun & easy for your kids to create.

All you need are a few supplies: popsicle sticks, paint, glue, glitter, & a short piece of string/yarn.

Start out my giving your child a snowflake that you had previously glued together (a hot glue gun is great for this) and have them paint it white.

After the paint dries, spread a think layer of school glue on top and allow them to sprinkle glitter over the top. Have them sprinkle over the top of some paper or a paper plate so that you can collect the extra glitter and put it back in to the container.

When it is dry, tape a piece of string or yarn to the back to serve as a hanger.

GIVEAWAY and Review: Crayola Holiday Gifts

I had the opportunity to review both the Crayola Airbrush Marker and Digital Light Designer, which are highlights of their Crayola Holiday Gifts. Both of these items were ones my daughter had seen in toy catalogs and expressed an interest in putting them on her Christmas list. Now, we didn't have to wait. We love to do art & craft projects in our household and try out new gadgets.

Crayola Airbrush Marker - Pink is available this season at many major retailers and online at Amazon. It is a pretty neat product. I love that this product is kid (or adult) powered. No batteries are required, you make it work by pumping the handle. It comes with 8 washable markers and 4 fabric markers (yes! you can airbrush on to fabric and have it permanently set), 4 stencil sets and 20 sheets of paper. You have everything you need right in the box to start creating right away. And you can also use them with any of your Crayola Washable Broadline and Fabric Broadline Markers that you already own.

Check out the video I made of how to use this product:

The Crayola Light Designer  is listed as the #1 best seller on Amazon in Kids Painting and Supplies. So, if you are looking for a HOT Christmas toy this holiday season for a special kid in your life, this just might be it!

This toy is really neat. It used LED lights and is battery operated (it does require a lot of batteries, so hopefully they last a long time!) It comes with a stylus that you use to draw with. You can choose between widths as well as 8 different colors. You can also animate your creations. The toy also features 8 different games and activities that you can do with it (we haven't gotten to all of them yet).

Check out this video provided by Crayola on how it works:



Be sure to check out the Crayola Colorful Gifts for All Ages, that lists gift ideas by ages: 3+, 4+, 6+ and 8+.

Both of these items are going to provide hours of entertainment and creativity for my children. After exploring the Crayola website, I even created my own list of items I would like to have to use with my children, as well as coloring sheets I want to print off. Did you know that there are FREE printable coloring sheets on the Crayola website? There are 1,562 of them!!!!

ONE LUCKY READER WILL WIN A CRAYOLA HOLIDAY PRIZE PACK THAT INCLUDE BOTH THE AIRBRUSH MARKER AND THE DIGITAL LIGHT DESIGNER!!!!

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The Crayola product to try, information, and additional gift pack have been provided by Crayola.No monetary compensation was received. All thoughts, opinions, photos and video belong to Save Green Being Green. SGBG is not responsible for product fulfillment. This post may contain affiliate links.

Make It Monday: Cream Cheese Frosting

This is my go-to frosting for banana cake, carrot cake, zucchini cake, spice cake and even the occasional chocolate cake. I do have to tell you that you are not saving money on making this frosting over buying a pre-made tub of it, it will cost you more but not so much more that you should avoid it. By making this homemade you avoid the hydrogenated oil and HFC used n making the store bought tub. Plus, it's super easy to make and tastes DELISH!

Homemade Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup butter
2 C powdered sugar 
1/2 tsp almond extract (or 1 tsp of vanilla extract)

Directions:
Let cream cheese and butter sit out to soften to room temperature.
Whip all ingredients with a mixer until smooth.
Enjoy!

GIVEAWAY and Review: The Nutcracker Music Game for Children

We had the opportunity to review The Nutcracker Music Game from Art and Music Games. I was really excited after I learned about all the awards that they have been honored with including:

• 2004 "Mom Tested" Software of the Year Award from Parenting Magazine
• Dr. Toy's "10 Best Software" list and the "100 Best Children's Products"
• Discovery.com's Award of Excellence
• and many more.....

Thanks to the my daughter's music teacher's love of The Nutcracker that has influenced my daughter's interest, paired with my daughter's love of the "Barbie in the Nutcracker" DVD, she was thrilled to get to play a game on the computer that was The Nutcracker.

Some of the time I had to play it along with her in order to help her identify sounds, but I was impressed with how well she learned to distinguish the different instrument sounds. The Nutcracker Music Game has really helped her hone her music listening skills. She would get really excited every time she got it right and didn't want to stop playing until she had mastered a game. 

The game itself is comprised of nine different games. Each game has different activities and tasks that need to be completed to earn a magical key. My daughter has not completed all of them but she is excited to master the games and earn all the keys. 

This would make an excellent educational gift for any child ages 4-10.

From Art and Music Games:


This computer game gives children an outlet for exploring their own appreciation of music, while sharpening their listening and problem-solving skills and improving understanding of the basic concepts of music. The Nutcracker Music Game is a magical adventure that celebrates music by challenging kids through interactive participation and exciting game play.

The premise of the program is to save the Nutcracker by earning nine golden keys through a series of musical games and activities that teach students about differences between sounds, exercises their memory skills, and increases their music vocabulary.

The Nutcracker Music Game offers exceptional teaching tools, such as the ability to demonstrate, in the classroom, every instrument of the orchestra and its interaction with other musical instruments. But above all it teaches children to love and appreciate music.

The program features a multitude of innovative musical games, puzzles and riddles, as well as an animated Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments, an extensive Listening Room, Tchaikovsky's biography, the Nutcracker story, the History of the Nutcracker ballet, music trivia and more. 

ONE LUCKY READER WILL WIN A COPY OF THE NUTCRACKER MUSIC GAME ($29.95 VALUE!)

Be sure to check out the FREE SAMPLE DOWNLOADS Available!

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I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Book Review: What Daddy Did Today

My husband (aka Daddy) and I both have had the opportunity to review this book, What Daddy Did Today, with our son. I think my son has asked me to read this to him either at bedtime or quiet time every day since receiving this book.

I had never thought much about what my kids thought daddy did all day. I stay at home with my kids, so one or both of them is with me all day and they know what I do. But what does daddy do? My daughter is in first grade and she knows that what daddy does is talk on the phone & type on the computer, which in a nutshell is what he does. But my 3 year old son, I am really not sure what he thinks.

I asked my husband what he thought about this book and he said it was neat and is pretty sure that now our son thinks he rides a lion to work but he really likes how it ends. I will have to ask my son now what he thinks daddy does do at work.

I just love how the concept of the book embraces a child's active imagination and how they believe that their daddy can do anything, how they believe he is the strongest and fastest man in the world and quite possibly could be a super hero!

There are beautiful & brightly colored illustrations in the hard cover book and I really enjoy the weight and feel of the pages (I know that might make me a dork, but I really do like really paper books and some book pages just feel better than others.)

From the Author:

This is Daddy's chance to tell his child about all of the amazing things he does while he is away at work.  But amidst the heart-pounding excitement, which includes wrestling a dragon and traveling to outer space, Daddy has only one thing on his mind - getting back home to his child.  

BUY THE BOOK HERE!!! Enter Promo Code 5WDDT and Get $5.00 Off!

I received a copy of this book for the purpose of reviewing it on this blog. No monetary compensation was received. All thought, opinions and pictures are my own.

Create a Natural Twig Art Piece

 So, last week I told you about our Pottery Barn Inspired Headboard created from a door, this is my art piece that is hanging above that.

All of these twigs are branches that fell from our maple trees in the backyard. I collected a variety of sizes, making sure that at least I had similar sizes for the edges and a variety of other sizes for the center.

I laid the sticks out on the kitchen table and came up with a design I liked and then started gluing. I think I went though almost 3 hot glue sticks. And that's it.

Come back again next week to see my other art installation and the week after for the final presentation of our bedroom re-do. I think I may even do a little video of the bedroom so you can get a 360 picture.

I have been liking doing 4-part series on Friday and filling in between with some Fix-It Fridays. Do you like the series segments? 

I suppose I could call it a Friday Four-Part. LOL. There I go again with my desire for a theme name. My other Friday Four-Part series is 7 Ideas for Clean Eating (Breakfast , Lunch, Snack & Dinner).


4-Part Series on a Bedroom Re-Decorate

*Pottery Barn Inspired Headboard
*Natural Twig Art
*Family Handprint Art
*Video of the the Whole Reveal
**BONUS -- Review of Wrapped Canvas Picture Added to the Room

Thrifty Thursday: 10 Ideas for Leftover Turkey

Did you make an over-sized turkey this year? 

Or maybe someone sent you home with a bunch of leftover turkey.....

Here are some ideas of what to do with that leftover turkey

• Turkey and Corn Enchiladas

• Grilled Cheese, Pear and Smoked Turkey Sandwich

• Turkey Pumpkin Chili

• Turkey Dumpling Soup

• Turkey Mushroom Tettrazini

• Turkey Pad Thai

• Turkey Springrolls

• Shepard's Pie with Leftover Turkey and Mashed Potatoes

• Four Cheese Turkey Mac & Cheese

• Leftover Turkey & Swiss Panini

Wordless Wednesday: American Swedish Institute

American Swedish Institute

These pictures were taken a while ago, but I still wanted to share them with you.

5 Thanksgiving Crafts and Projects for Preschoolers and Toddlers

I wanted to share some ideas for Thanksgiving crafts and projects that you can do with your kids over the next few days. All of these are great for Preschoolers, Toddlers, and young children.

Coffee Filter Turkey - All you need is a coffee filter, some construction paper, markers, a water spray bottle and googly eyes (optional).

* Have child color coffee filter with markers, any design (or lack thereof) is fine.
* Place colored coffee filter on a piece of wax paper, spray with water and allow to dry.
* Glue dried colorful filter to a piece of construction paper.
* Glue on top of that the turkey body (adult could cut this out), then glue on eyes, beak & waddle.
* Draw on legs (& arms too, if your child insists like mine did)


Here is a great deal on 300 pieces of Construction Paper on Amazon to use for all these projects:  SunWorks Construction Paper Smart-Stack Asst, 9 inches x12 inches, 11 Colors, 300 Sheets (6525)

Thanksgiving Day Corn (and Snack!!!) - Supplies needed for this one include construction paper, glue and popped corn (make extra to have a snack when you finish.

* Glue corn husk & corn cob (both pre-cut by an adult) on to a piece of construction paper.
* Pop corn
* Glue on popped corn and allow to dry.

Dot Marker Art -  Click on this title to bring you to the page where I printed off the Dot Marker Art. You can find bingo daubers at some dollar stores or they sell a kit of them on Amazon: Do-A-Dot Rainbow Art Set (Set of 6) This website has many different pages to print for a variety of themes, holidays & occasions. You can print them off in B&W or Color for most of them. I often print them off in B&W so that the kids can color them after they fill in the dots.

Handprint Turkey (Paint) - You could do this project with just some washable paint and a piece of construction paper (I used half a piece for his small hand), but we also used a googly eye and a construction paper beak (my son wanted to work on his cutting skills and cutting out triangles for beaks for these projects was perfect)

He loved helping paint his own hand and press it in to the paper. Then I asked him to paint on two legs and a waddle.

If you are needing to buy washable paint, you can get 6 bottle for just over $6 at Amazon: Crayola Washable Kid's Paint (6 Assorted Colors) 2 oz Each 

Handprint Turkey (Dried Beans, Rice and Legumes) - The supplies need for this is a piece of construction paper, glue & an assortment of dried beans, rice and legumes (preferably in different colors.)

*First trace the child's hand on a piece of paper and have them draw on some legs.
*Fill in hand with an assortment of dried beans, rice & legumes.
*Don't forget to make some "bean" feet and a waddle.




This post does include affiliate links that are at not additional cost to the blogger but help support the blogger.

GIVEAWAY and Review: Sears Holiday Cheer

My kid and I had the opportunity to shop at the Sears Christmas Shop while on a mission for Smiley360. We were given a $15 giftcard (ONE LUCKY READER WILL ALSO WIN A $15 GIFT CARD!) to be able to review the Sears Christmas Shop.

We went to the Mall of America (Sears is one of the anchor stores!) to check out their Sears Christmas Shop and the Sears Cheer Tree Experience. We saw a winter wonderland of inflatable and lighted lawn sculptures that were flanked by a row of lighted trees.

The shop features an array of or ornaments, garland, tree shirt, snow globes, wreath hangers tree toppers, ribbon, figurines and many boxes of lights. Why not let Sears be your Christmas Headquarters!!!!

I told my kids that they could each pick out their favorite ornament. I also picked out my favorite and then we bought a large pack of balls that we have plan for an upcoming craft. We were all pretty pleased with our choices. My son knew right away he was going to pick out the golden reindeer, but my daughter went back and forth between a handful or sparkly choices.

Click Here to learn more about the Sears Holiday Cheer Mission I am on from Smiley360. If you would like information about trying out new products first with Smiley360, SIGN UP HERE!

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I am on a mission from Smiley360 and was provided with a $15 gift card for the purpose of evaluating the Sears Christmas Shop. All thoughts, opinions and photographs are mine. I was not compensated monetarily. Save Green Being Green and it's owner are not responsible for prize fulfillment or delivery.

GIVEAWAY: Disney on Ice Family 4-Pack of Tickets on 12/6

Have you ever seen Disney on Ice? I have been fortunate to be able to take my daughter to one with some friends when she was about my son's age. Now I can take my whole family to see Disney on Ice  as they celebrate 100 Years of Magic. This will be my son's first Disney on Ice and I am pretty sure it is my husband's first one too! When my son saw me typing up this post, he got very excited about seeing Mickey and proclaimed "I Love Mickey Mouse" and then I told him we would get to see Mickey skate on ice and we would would also get to see Nemo and the characters of Toy Story and he was very excited. He is a big Nemo fan! I can't wait until my daughter is home from school to tell her about this. She still often talks about seeing the Disney Princesses (they will be there too) when I took her before and she still has the souvenir cup we bought there.

ONE LUCKY READER WILL WIN A FAMILY 4-PACK OF TICKETS FOR THE DISNEY ON ICE SHOW AT XCEL CENTER ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6TH.

SHOW OVERVIEW

Join the celebration as 65 of Disney’s unforgettable characters from 18 beloved stories come to life in Disney On Ice celebrates 100 Years of Magic!  You’ll be captivated by the one and only Mickey Mouse, the irresistible Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio and all the Disney Princesses.  Be thrilled by exciting moments from The Lion King; Mulan; and Disney/Pixar’s Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Toy Story films; in a skating spectacular filled with magical Disney moments you’ll remember forever as Disney On Ice celebrates 100 Years of Magic!

EVENT:	Disney On Ice celebrates 100 Years of Magic
	DATE:	Dec. 6-9, 2012
	TICKETS:	$18 / $24 / $46 / $69 – Opening Night Tickets Just $11!
	DETAILS:	Tickets are available at the Xcel Energy Center Box Office, Ticketmaster Ticket Centers, by calling            800-745-3000       or online at www.ticketmaster.com. To charge by phone using Ticketmaster TDD/TTY, call             800-359-2525      . Certain fees may apply. (Groups 12+ call            651-312-3486      .)

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I was provided with a family four pack of tickets for the purpose of reviewing the show and in exchange for creating this post. No monetary compensation was received. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.