Try It Tuesday: A Ninja Rudolph Puppet

My kids each make each other at least one homemade present for each other. This year they each made two. This Ninja Rudolph Puppet is one that my daughter made for my son. My daughter really wanted to make him a reindeer puppet but my son saw this Ninja puppet and asked if one of us would make him that. My daughter decided to compromise and make a Ninja Rudolph Puppet.

The downloadable pattern can be found HERE. You can also see hand puppets that I made of an angel, kitty cat, snow man, and gingerbread man. I also made a Clifford the Big Red Dog Puppet,  and a 5 Monster Glove Puppet.

Some paper puppets I have made include a Alligator Puppet out of recycled materials and a Paper Bag Shark Puppet.

Or maybe you want to make a Doorway Puppet Theater to showcase all your new creations.

Review: PREMIUM Solid Cordz® 1 Foot Extension Cable

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

My Thoughts on Solid Cordz® 1 Foot Extension Cable:

These have come in quite handy and we have used 3 out of the 5 we received with our living room set up of TV, DVD player, DISH box, etc. and was able to eliminate one of our power strips because now we can fit all of the plugs on one strip. Before receiving these to review, we were plagued with plugs that were too big and covered part or another outlet on the strip or did not plug in all the way because there was too many big plugs. So, now instead of having 2 power strips behind our entertainment cabinet, we have only one and it looks so less cluttered back there.

We plan to use the other two in the living room to do the same thing. We only have 3 things to plug in there but we have the cords running along the wall to 2 different outlets. Now we will use these to consolidate and plug them all in one power strip and tuck neatly behind the table holding the gaming consoles.

I am thinking we make need to get some more to use in our home office because of the same type of "box" plus situation with the monitor, speakers, printer, computer, etc.

About Solid Cordz® Extension Cords

Features:
Convenient & money saving 5-pack
12-inch length to provide a clean, organized look
Equipped with a 16AWG wire gauge
Underwriters Laboratories (UL) listed
CSA Approved for top quality
Heavy-duty molded ends

Benefits:
Liberates the power strip
A staple for any Technophile
Perfect for the office and home
Get the full use of your power strips and outlets with our high-quality liberating extension cords
Just plug those big bulky power adapters into our cables and plug the cables into those previously unusable outlets
Replace multiple power strips with one unit by utilizing slots!!!

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.

Make It Monday: Egg Dumplings

Dumpling soup (doesn't matter what else is in it, but usually it is turkey or chicken) is one of the most requested things from my daughter. She loves dumplings just like her mama, maybe it is our German heritage couple with the fact that we live in the Midwest, but we love dumplings. They are quite simple to make, so why not!

Try making Turkey Dumpling Soup with your leftover Christmas Turkey!

Egg Dumplings Recipe
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
1/2 C milk
1 1/2 C sifted flour

Directions:

• Beat egg, salt and milk together
• Stir in flour
• Drop spoonfuls into boiling soup or water for 15 minutes, 30 minutes if cooking soup on low in a slow cooker
• Enjoy.

Thrifty Thursday: Juice Lid Coasters Plus 8 Other Juice Lid Ideas

This is the gift that my daughter made for her daddy for Christmas. Lots of hot glue and twine and LOTS of Love (she was getting bored of the repetition and it was pretty much the thought that daddy was going to love her gift because she made it that helped her get it finished up.)

Want some other ideas of what to make with Juice Lids, check out these ideas:

• Chalkboard Gift Tags
• Memory Game
• Snowman Magnetic Activity
• Vertical Name Plaque
• Stick Plant Markers
• Metal Punch Plant Markers
• Magic Princess Wand
• Magnetic Dishwasher Sign

Holiday Greetings from Our Family to Yours!

Try It Tuesday: Pink "Sister" Peg Doll Fairy

This is one of the gifts that my son made for his sister for Christmas. He wanted to make sister in to a fairy doll, and he certainly captured it with the choices of fabric we made.

I bought pegs that were already painted and had him draw on a face with permanent marker. We did use a hot glue gun, but I operated that while he cut all the materials according to my directions and he carefully put them on the hot glue. He knew to be careful! :)

This is a perfect addition to her collection of other homemade peg fairy dolls that include:

• Rainbow Fairies (collection of 7 of them)
• Ballerina Fairy
• Needle Felted Fairies (obviously made of wool, not pegs, but about the same size)
• Or See all of our Fairy Crafts, Projects, and Fun

Make It Monday: Gingerbread Pudding Muffins

Even though I used gingerbread pudding in this recipe to make them Christmas muffins, you could try other puddings for other occasions. I am kind of wondering if these would be good with cheesecake pudding or pistachio pudding. Let me know if you try them with a different variety.

Gingerbread Pudding Muffins
2 C flour

1 T baking powder
1 3.4 oz package of Jell-O Gingerbread Pudding
1 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 C milk
1/2 C oil
cinnamon sugar (optional)

Directions: 

• Preheat oven tp 400 degree
• Sift together dry ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.
• In a small bowl, combine egg, milk and oil.
• Add egg mixture to dry mixture all once and stir until mixed.
• Spoon batter in to prepare muffin tins and fill each 2/3-3/4 full
• Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, if desired.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes or until brown.
• Makes 12-15 muffins.
• Enjoy!

More Earring Gifts (my daughter's designs!!!)

My 7-year old daughter designed all of these earrings, the top two are for teachers and the bottom one is for a babysitter. They will all have been gifted at the time of this post. I let her have the pick of all my beads and sat with her while she designed them and was so impressed with how perceptive she was to her teachers taste. She really likes designed jewelry and here are 1 other posts if you want to check them out: Post 1 and Post 2.

Santa Wine Bottle

Another fun project using my Clover Wonder Knitter! Well, I just made the scarf with the pink attachment for it and stitched it to my desired length. The Santa hat I used the larger end of the spool loom and stitched on about 10 rows. I made the small pom poms by wrapping the yarn around two fingers. This was a pretty quick project that I thought made a cute little accessory on a gift of wine for a friend.

Fitness Friday: Runnerbox Challenge via Instagram

This past week I have been participating in the Runnerbox Challenge and am hoping to receive a FREE Runnerbox. Have you been participating in this challenge?

Here are all my submissions via Instagram! While you are there, why don't you just go ahead and follow me on Instagram too!

Dec 16 - Run An Extra Mile

Well, since I had taken 2.5 weeks off of running hoping to heal the aches and pains in my knee I was do to get on the treadmill soon. So, a 5K was perfect and I took the advice someone gave me on my Aches and Pains post and ran faster and I was surprised that the little bit of pain I was starting to feel went away.

Dec 17 - Hold a Plank for At Least 30 Seconds

Do you know how hard it is to take a picture of yourself when you are doing a plank? Not easy. Plus your face is being pulled by gravity and you look a little wonky. Ugh. Anyways, I did one for 2 1/2 minutes and I am pretty sure I could have gone longer, maybe 3 or 3 1/2 minutes. And then I went to yoga class and got to do some more planks and side planks. Yippee!

Dec 18 - Share a Motivational Quote

Pretty obvious I found this on pinterest. I love pinterest!

I need to remember this! As much as I love to workout and run with friends, I can get down on myself if I feel like I am not fast enough or strong enough.

Dec 19 - Workout with a Friend

Dec 20 - Share your 2014 New Year's Resolutions (Goals)

* Try a New Sport
* Participate in a New Run
* Complete an Indoor Triathalon

Fitness Friday: Custom Canvas Running / Gym Bags and a Project #FAIL

This is a project spilt in 2 parts - success & fail! I am still trying to salvage the failed ones but decided on another gift to make that friend. This top one is the successful one.

These were just iron-on items with canvas bags......it should have a quick and easy craft. But...........

Ugh! Do you see what happened!!! The paper stuck to the iron on transfer. This was supposed to be for myself and then I had one more I was going to gift. When I have time to try to fix it I will just give it as a bonus surprise "Thanks for Being My Friend" gift.

The iron-on transfers were made by 2 different companies (letters were one company, the words Live Love Run were from another company). The letters one worked just as the directions stated. The directions on the words were the same but it did this.

The problem was that the instructions on both said to allow to cool completely before peeling away. When I made the 3rd bag that was successful, I did the words differently. I peeled it away while it was still hot and peeled it ever so sssssssllllllllooooooowwwwwwllllllllyyyyyyyy!

Thrifty Thursday: Re-Purpose a Sweater into a Stuffie

 

This was so much cuter in my head than how it turned out. I still think my son will love it, but I decided to make him another "kitty" present (he really likes kitties!) partly because I don't think this is as cute as I hoped and partly because his present came from an old cashmere sweater that I don't wear because, ironically, the cats put snag holes in it and the everything else is leftover items from previous projects. I really spent no money on this project. It was all time. I made each of the kids 2 gifts and I had to purchase things to make both of my daughter's. So, I bought some supplies to make my son 1 more kitty gift (you'll get to see it, but probably not til after Christmas.)

I like these Monster Stuffies I made 2 years ago so much more! Other items I made from sweaters include:

• Mittens 

•  Dress 

•  Leg Warmers, Mittens, and Doll Acessories

Or maybe you are looking for other homemade stuffed toys besides this kitty or the Monster Stuffies, you could try these Loom Knit projects: Bunny or Owls

I'm not done using this sweater, so there will be 1-2 more posts with crafts from it!

Wordless Wednesday: Holiday Treats

And soon to be made (not from scratch like the above pictures).......

Cute Reindeer Crafts using Wonka Gobstopper Candy Canes

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

Today we received these 2 Nestle products in the mail to review in time to put in your holiday stocking, make some last minute crafts with or give as a gift. The two products we were sent (pictured below) are WONKA Gobstopper Candy Canes (SRP $2.49) and WONKA SweeTARTS Merry Mix Theater Box (SRP $.99), but they do have a whole line of other products including holiday gummies, giant canes, fun books, powder filled candy canes, tube filled with mini candy canes, assorted miniatures, and 1 pound candy bars.

We got right to work on making the above reindeer crafts using the WONKA Gobstopper Candy Canes. Just a little hot glue, some googly eyes and pom poms and we have the start for both crafts. We also used brown card stock and a marker on one of them and gold pipe cleaners on the other.

For more information about Nestle Seasonal Confections holiday offerings and recipes, please visit Nestle Simple Celebrate. At the time of this post, there is also 6 different coupons you can print off, ranging in value from $.50 to $2.


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.

Try It Tuesday: Sequins and Lace Cowl

Another loom knit gift. I used the yellow knifty knitter loom to make this and the yarn is Patons Sequins Lace Yarn, which is a weight of 2 and has the sequins already. By using this thin yarn, it gives it a lace look and the stitches look different with more emphasis put on the spaces and how the yarn is knit together.

I used a basic e-wrap stitch  to construct this cowl. You can read the linked post and see the video tutorial if you need more explanation on how to do that.

To cast off and finish the piece, I did a simple chain by picking up a loop and then a second and pulling the second loop through the first loop so that I was left with only the second loop on the crochet hook, and then pick up another loop and continue doing this until you have taken all the loops off the loom. Tie in your end.

This will create a tighter circle on one end and I think it looks good to put the cowl on with the tighter end first so that the end that is more loose drapes over the top.

You will want to keep creating rows until you have your desired length. I made mine about 16-17" long.

If you are looking for another idea to use this yarn with, I also made a headband with it using straw weaving, if you haven't tried that, it is pretty fun.

Yellow Pages Prize Pack Giveaway

48 HOUR FLASH GIVEAWAY!!!

I have an Official YP Prize Pack to award one lucky reader!

YP Prize Pack Includes:
• Black Cinch Bag
• Flashlight
• Tape Measure
• Notepads
• Pencils
• USB Car Charger
• Gum

_____________________________________________________________________________________________ About Yellow Pages 

Do you love the feeling of accomplishment that comes from knocking out your to-do list? You must be a Doer! YP is the one site and one app for people who wear busy as a badge of honor. Within seconds you can find a hardware store, gardener, limousine service, dentist or bounce house for your child’s birthday party. Search 18 million business listings as fast as you can tap. But the big question is… do you DO the holidays right? YP has created a fun quiz to help you find out, and learn some fun facts along the way!

Each household is only eligible to win ONE YP Prize Pack via blog reviews and giveaways. Only one entrant per mailing address per giveaway. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you will not be eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.

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I received nothing i return for this post. There will be no review, this is just a chance for a reader to win some swap. No monetary compensation was received for this post. All content was provided to me.

Review: Disney on Ice - Passport to Adventure

 I had the chance to take my kids with me to review Disney on Ice - Passport to Adventure when they were at the Xcel Center last weekend. I am not sure if bloggers are supposed to have a favorite, but this has been my favorite Disney on Ice show so far. Some of the skating was awesome to watch with all the tricks and the production was spectacular! There was many different light changes and use of bubbles and a strobe light as well as they has a second level.

The kids are all waiting for the show to begin. My daughter in the middle looks bug eyed. Makes me laugh.

The first part of the show was the Lion King. They did a great job of taking a 90 minute movie and turning it in to a 15 minute segment.

The Lion Kind portion had some amazing skating techniques and tricks that were performed. It was so fun to watch!

As the theme was Passport to Adventure, we were traveling. And so we went from the jungle to the ocean to visit the Little Mermaid. They had wonderful costumed skaters that were different sea creatures.

Then there was the HUGE sea witch that was defeated and basically deflated in front of the audience.

From the ocean our voyage took us to an island to visit Lilo and Stitch. This is actually one Disney movie my kids have never seen, but not after watching it on Disney on Ice they can't wait to get the DVD and watch it at home.

That Stitch! He is quite the character!

Being goofy with my daughter and trying to ignore that I was getting sick. I now have viral lyrangitis. Ugh! No talking for me for a while. Might need to blog more this week to get things off my mind.

Hula dancers as part of Lilo and Stitch.

Intermission time and the kids wanted to get a closer look at the ice.

A nice smiley picture with my son, the culprit who shared his germs with me and got me sick. Thanks buddy!

Goof ball put a smiley face stamp on his head upside down at preschool that morning.

Our final adventure was to Merry ole England to visit Peter Pan, Tinkerbell and the kids in the nursery.  They all flew from the second floor stage down to the main stage where the ice was, and flew back up again later.

The humongous crocodile was pretty awesome and even appeared to gobble Captain Hook!

Of course Mickey and Minnie were there too and opened and closed the show!

I highly recommend going to check out this Disney on Ice if it comes to a city near you!