Posts Tagged ‘spring’

Tips for Gardening with Kids

Monday, March 9th, 2015

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Gardening with kids is a joy! The kids can see a plant growing up out of the soil into a large and beautiful plant. Getting fresh air and sunshine is good for children, and they are more likely to eat fruits and vegetables when they grow their own plants.

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First you will want to find a plot of ground for your child to plant his or her garden. There was a small square plot at the front of our house, and my son chose that space for a small tomato plant. If you look at the picture above, last year his plant grew to ten times the size in just three months! The tomatoes tasted wonderful. He wanted to sell them, but they were just too good. So into his mouth they popped.

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This year my son wanted to plant strawberry plants. I told him that a contained area is great for strawberry plants, which tend to take over the whole yard like a weed. The strawberry plants thrived as well.

Tips for Gardening with Kids

  • Make sure that the soil is rich in the area where your child is planting. You will want to dig out the bad soil and replace it with good gardening soil.
  • Don’t forget to water your plants. You might want to place a note on the refrigerator to remind your child to water the plants.
  • Let the child choose the plants. This way they will be more interested in the growth and produce of their plants.
  • Choose plants that are native to your area. You are more likely to succeed if the plants are indigenous to the area. You can find those in local nurseries rather than big chain stores that ship their plants from outside your state.

Have a wonderful time gardening with your kids!

Eggshell Art

Wednesday, May 29th, 2013

eggshell-art

Make beautiful eggshell art with your kids. It’s easy and fun to make a mosaic with broken pieces of eggshell dyed different colors.

You will need the following materials:

  • eggshells
  • egg dye
  • paper towels
  • vinegar
  • drinking glasses
  • black card stock
  • pencil
  • white school glue

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Start by dying the broken eggshells different colors. Pour half a cup of boiling water into each drinking glass, along with one tablespoon of vinegar and 10-20 drops of food coloring. Wait for 5 minutes, stirring the eggshells occasionally.

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Dump each glass into a colander in the sink, one by one. Line a cookie sheet with paper towels, and place the eggshells on it to dry. Don’t mix the colors unless you’re trying to make strange confetti. Let it dry overnight.

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Draw a design with pencil on the black card stock paper. Then fill one area with white school glue. Dump one color of eggshells onto the page, pressing the eggshells down. Re-arrange the eggshells until they look nice. Lift the page to let the excess eggshells fall from the page. Then move on to the next color until your design is cmplete. After letting it dry, you can enjoy your finished eggshell art!

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How to Make a Spring Tree

Thursday, May 23rd, 2013

spring-treeYou can make a beautiful spring tree for your entryway by attaching tissue paper flowers to a gnarly branch stuck into some dirt in a pot.

I happen to have a dead tree in my entry way, as you well know from my Thankfulness Tree. Those who follow me on Facebook also saw a dilapidated picture of oversized ornaments hanging from it at Christmas time. Ah, yes. Why don’t I just throw the darned thing out already? Because look! I just transformed it into a gorgeous spring tree! It makes me smile each time I pass by. (And my daughter was delighted, too. My husband just rolled his eyes.)

You can make tissue paper flowers with cookie cutters, and those come out more fancy than the simplified ones I’m going to show you here. Instead of using a cookie cutter, I grabbed the lid of a mayonnaise jar and traced around it on light and dark pink tissue paper. Make 4 circles with a pencil, then cut stacks of the tissue paper all at once to make this project go faster. (It’s actually easier to cut 6 or 7 layers of tissue paper than to cut one piece, because the paper is so flimsy.)

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Now that all your circles are cut out, stab half a piece of pipe cleaner into the center of a stack of 4 or 5 pieces. Hook the pipe cleaner to make a lump so that the tissue paper doesn’t slide off the end. Now fluff up the tissue paper. Your flower is finished.

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Make as many flowers as you like to decorate your tree. I used one large piece of tissue paper for light pink, and one for dark. I cut as many circles as I could, and I ended up with the amount of flowers you see in the picture.

 

Creative Ways to Use Cookie Cutters #16: Jam Tarts

Thursday, May 9th, 2013

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You can make these easy jam tarts with ready-made pie crust, jam, and a cookie cutter! Delightful, easy, and delicious!

First you will need to unroll the pie crust. Press a cookie cutter in the desired shape on top of the pie crust. If you want to make more tarts, you can roll out the dough to make it thinner. I did the pie crust both ways (thick and thin), and they were both delicious and tasted about the same.

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Make sure to cut two of the same shape: one for the top and one for the bottom. Place one piece on a cookie sheet or pizza stone. (I prefer using my pizza stone for baking cookie-type foods because they never burn.) Spread raspberry jam on the lower piece of pie crust. (I also made some chocolate tarts by spreading Nutella on some of the tarts.) Then top with another piece of pie crust. If you want, you can brush the top of the tart with egg white so that it browns more nicely.

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Now serve these jam tarts with some British tea with milk and sugar in a gorgeous teapot, and invite friends. Enjoy the tarts!