Snow Day!

If you live in North East Ohio, you're waking up to 4" - 8" of snow, 40mph winds and 19 blistering cold degrees. And if you have kids, you're probably looking forward to entertaining them during the first snow day of the season. Yippee.

Oh wait, I meant to say  Y I P P E E ! ! ! !

Normally I'd bundle the kids up after breakfast and head five minutes away to our favorite sledding hill. But with 40mph winds and 19 degrees and just getting off a weekend with the flu, I'm thinking that's not the best idea. So I've been up for an hour googling winter crafts and I've got a few good ones that use things already on hand.

Crayon Cupcakes
I've never made these, but I've been thinking about getting the Punks a Crayola Crayon Maker. If this goes well, I won't be doing that.

What You'll Need:
• Broken crayons with the wrappers removed
• Muffin tin or silicone ice cube tray
• Paper muffin cups

Directions:
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• Place broken crayon pieces into separate muffin cups until about 3/4 full.
• Place tin in oven. Check every five minutes and remove once melted completely. Let cool.
• Once cool, pop the crayon cupcakes out of the mold and have FUN!


Cornstarch Clay Creatures

This takes about five minutes to "cook" and ends up warm, pliable and the perfect consistency for kneading, modeling and embellishing with odds and ends. (From FamilyFun.com)

What You'll Need:
• 2/3 cup salt
• 1/3 cup baking soda
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• water

Directions:
• In a saucepan, mix the salt and baking soda with 1/3 cup water and bring to a boil.
• In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and 1/4 cup water and stir well.
• When the salt mixture boils, remove it from the heat and add the cornstarch mixture.
Stir vigorously for a minute or two to thicken the clay. Spoon onto a sheet of waxed paper and allow to cool before working with it.

I got this idea from FamilyFun.com and they show junk drawer finds like screws and eye hooks. I think we'll probably use buttons and pipe cleaners and other odds and ends to decorate the little guys.


Paper Christmas Trees

This idea is for an Advent Calendar, but I think we're just going to make decorations. (Also from FamilyFun.com)

What You'll Need:
• Template
• Construction paper
• Glue Stick
• Clothespin
• Glue
• Markers, crayons, odds and ends for embellisments

Instructions:
• Download the Template (each is one third of a circle) and cut out shapes for paper cones. Run a glue stick along one straight edge, then roll into a cone. Clamp glued edge with a clothespin until dry. 
Note: If you want, you might have the kids decorate the tree shape with markers or crayons before rolling and gluing it into a cone shape.
• Cut out stars, circles and other shapes from colored paper to decorate your trees.
• Glue on small pompoms, stickers or other embellishments.

And last, but not least ... FOOD. I'd type in the recipe for Microwave Coffee Cup Cake, but the Punks are up already demanding pancakes. If you try any of these ideas, please tell me how it goes and send me lots of pictures. I'll post our creations later!