The Summer Bucket List

It's the most wonderful time...of the year!!! Summer is ALMOST here and what better way is there to build up the anticipation of the fun times ahead than by creating your own Summer 2012 Bucket List!! Grab an extra large size sheet of paper (the easel size works perfect), gather your crew around the table and brainstorm all of the fun things you want to do together this Summer. To get you started check out our colorful list of to-dos we created over the weekend with a good old pack of Mr. Sketch!!

•Kayak Date •Bonfire •Make S'mores •Fly a handmade kite •Drive-in Movie •Photo Scavenger Hunt •Eat beavertails •Eat at Fresh restaurant •Fireworks •Learn to ride a bike •Have a picnic •Host a BBQ •Watch a movie on the beach •Go carting •Use telescope at the beach •Night swimming •Carnival •Build sandcastles •Catch fireflies •Make sidewalk chalk •Minigolf •DIY waterwall •Daily crafts •Make ice cream 

What can your family come up with??

Keeping Busy this March Break in Northumberland Region

I was recently elated to discover our little blog has been chosen to once again be a part of the Kinder Ambassador Program. We had a lot of fun in 2011 sharing our favorite ways to make time for play in our home and were honored to connect with so many awesome families to share our stories. 2012 is sure to bring so many new adventures and challenges and we're glad we have a chance to share a few of our favorite moments with you. March Break is the perfect opportunity to start making some memories to start the new year off right. After all, it is the first real chunk of time off for our school-aged kids and what child doesn't count down the days in anticipation of the winter holiday?? Keeping busy in our small community can prove to be challenging but no worries - we've got you covered!! We've dug up some of the best activities and day camps in Northumberland Region sure to keep your kids entertained and you snapping away like a common day paparazzi.

1. The Painted Tree is offering drop-in classes twice a day for $25 a pop. Classes will vary throughout the week with children's illustration, painting, sculpture and cartooning.

2. The Cobourg Public Library has all kinds of things going on throughout the week with truly something for everyone. From movie viewings to a pajama party to a dolls tea party to a "hunger games" to arts and crafts to babysitting courses...and more. Prices range from being free to $2 (with the exception of the babysitting course for $45).

3. Cobourg Community Centre is offering free public skating during the break (except on the Friday) and also has a March Break Camp for kids ages 6-12.

4. Northumberland Players is running a March Break Theatre Camp consisting of theatre games, crafts and a prepared final performance.

5. Northumberland Mall is once again keeping kids busy with their free N Zone Kids Club. Children can enjoy free crafts and build to their hearts content in the Lego construction zone. Northumberland Mall Theatres will be offering matinees all week with $6 admission for kids. Northshore Bowling Lanes will of course be open daily for family fun.

6. Shimmy Dance has March Break fun on the go with daily dance, choreography and crafts for kids 7 and up. $160 for the week or $35 a day.

7. Art Gallery of Northumberland is hosting art classes for kids 7-13 for $10 per child. Classes taking place Tuesday through Friday will include painting and working with clay.

8. The Walkworth Maple Syrup Festival is worth checking out on March 10 and 11. Children 12 and under are free and can partake in free taffy on the snow tastings, sap making demonstrations, live entertainment, $2 horse drawn sleigh rides and more.

9. The Municipality of Port Hope has all kinds of fun March Break activities on the go. Free public swims and skates. A fun day camp. Aaand my personal favorite the Art On Ice event where children and families can paint their own masterpiece on the ice surface of the arena. Fun!!

10. If all else fails and your family just feels like staying close to home on a day here or there over March break why not try one of our 156 and counting kids crafts/activities to keep you busy. Or bust out the board games. Or rent a movie and cuddle up with some popcorn. Or make a fort and read some favorite books inside.

While your browsing through all of our handy links make sure to stop by and check out the Kinder Canada facebook page. Every month Kinder hosts a fabulous facebook exclusive giveaway with prizes sure to thrill every family. This month Kinder is giving away $500 towards your dream staycation. Pop by and check it out!!

“Disclosure: I’m part of the Kinder® Mom program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.”

A Christmas Bento

Christmas tree sandwich decorated with m&ms. Vanilla yogurt topped with red and green sprinkles and candy cane stir sticks. Red and green pepper slices with Cajun dipping sauce. Gingerbread bear and candy cane fudge. Served with a tall glass of eggnog.

A 5 Minute Holiday Headband

Have a few minutes?? Then why not whip up this fun and easy headband that is sure to add a little sparkle to your little ones wardrobe this winter.

What You'll Need -

• Hot glue gun
• Headband Blank (can be found at most craft and dollar stores)
• 1 blue ostrich feather and 4 white saddle feathers (my fave place to buy feathers is HERE.)
• A snowflake or winter embellishment (we found ours in the scrapbooking aisle)

How-To

1. Slowly and carefully using the hot glue adhere the blue ostrich feather to the headband blank as shown below.



2. Starting in the bottom center of the ostrich feather, begin gluing your white saddle feathers. Layer the feathers one at a time creating a fuller look.


3. Glue your winter embellishment to the base of the feathers. We added a sparkly gem to the center of our snowflake to make it pop. We found a package of a dozen of these gems for only $1 at our local dollar store.


Tadda!! Instant holiday glam!!

Leftover Halloween Candy??

Ok maybe you won't have any leftover Halloween candy in your home....but maybe..just perhaps..this will inspire you to save a few candy bars to make something special. We whipped up these candy bar cupcakes after last Halloween and handed them out to eager friends and family following a serious candy overdose. So I had ulterior motives for trying to pass off some of our excess candy?? When cleverly disguised as a cupcake no one seemed to mind helping us out with our overabundance of the sugary sweet stuff.

Spotted: Pumpkin Cheesecaketini

I'm seriously hoping someone reading this is feeling generous enough to drink one of these on my behalf. I suppose being pregnant I could make this cocktail virgin style but we all know that would simply not be the same. After hauling your kiddos around door to door tomorrow night, teeth chattering and fingers numb I think it goes without saying that every Mom deserves to sit back, drink one of these bad boys and enjoy a few candy bars. Do it for me. Check out Tasty Kitchen to get the low down on how to whip up your very own Pumpkin Cheesecaketini. Cheers!!

Halloween Crafts of Years Gone By

Get your spook on with your little ones by creating one of our favorite Halloween projects from years gone by. My all time favorite has to be the googly eyes frame...such a riot. All of these projects come together in little time and with commonly found crafty goodies. Have yourselves a happy Halloween!!!


1. Googly Eye Frames.

2. Pumpkin Tambourines.

3. Spooky Halloween Spiders.

4. Footprint Ghosts.

5. Handprint Spiders.

6. Apple Print Pumpkins.

Mummified Nails

These ghoulishly glam mummified nails are just the ticket for getting your spook on this Halloween week. Peace Love Polish shares a fun tutorial on how to create this fun look yourself at home. Can we say yummy mummy??

Halloween Lunches for Little Ones

Celebrate the official countdown to Halloween this week with one (or all!!) of these spooky lunches your little ones are sure to love and devour.


1. Menacing Muffin Tin Meal, Another Lunch.

2. The Three Witches Snack Bento, Another Lunch.

3. Mummy Mini Pizzas, Rhodes.

4. Creepy Crawly Muffin Tin Lunch, Bento Mama.

5. Sand"witches", Fiskars.

Spotted: Fall Photo Checklist (Free Printable)

Simple As That shares this awesome free downloadable printable fall photo checklist that is full of fun moments to capture before Autumn meets it's untimely end. There are also lots of other seasonal photo checklists available for free download as well, including a Holiday Photo Checklist, so head on over and check it out today.

Handprint Turkey

Happy gobble gobble weekend my Canadian friends!!! Celebrate with your little ones by crafting a keepsake turkey decked out in feathers in all of their favorite colors. This craft can be thrown together in only a few minutes so it's the perfect activity to work on in between prepping dishes for a Thanksgiving feast.

What You'll Need

• Brown paint and a paintbrush
• White cardstock or construction paper
  
• Colorful feathers
• Googly eyes
• Orange and red craft foam or construction paper
• Scissors
  
• White craft glue

How-To

1. Paint your childs hand with the brown paint and press onto white paper as shown above. Baby wipes kept nearby make for easy clean up.

2. Glue colorful feathers over the fingers of the handprint. Glue a googly eye on the thumb. Cut a red shape from the craft foam to form the turkey's wattle. Cut 2 rectangular shapes from the orange craft foam to form the legs. Glue pieces into place. Allow ample drying time.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Spotted: Autumn Brittle

Savor the flavors of Fall with this delectable recipe for Autumn Brittle from Adventures in Cooking. Pumpkin seeds, cranberries, almonds and cashews give this brittle it's crunch and distinctive flavor reminiscent of cooler months. Try bringing along a batch of this to your Thanksgiving festivities this weekend....guaranteed to give your family a little something extra to be thankful for.

Gobble Gobble!! An Autumn Lunch.

I delighted my daughter with this silly turkey themed lunch this week. For my hard work I was rewarded with her very best imitation of the autumn bird which resembled something between an actual turkey and a happily grazing cow - "mooogoooobblegoooobble". Our vegetarian "turkey" sandwich was created with tofurkey sandwich "meat", cheese, fall colored peppers and candy eyes. Everything tastes better when it's in a fun shape doesn't it??

Harvest Queen Crown

All hail the queen of Autumn!! To celebrate Fall we decided to create a harvest queen crown one afternoon last week. This whimsical crown now rarely leaves our little gals head. If you have been around here lately than you have surely spied our petite princess donning her crown and announcing loudly - "I win!!!" Keep on winning little one.


Want to make one of your own?? Here's what you'll need -

• 2 pieces of sturdy 12x12 cardstock
• Scissors
• Scotch tape
• White craft glue
  
• Fall leaves (real or fabric...fabric will last longer but will require a stapler to attach)
• Fall colored feathers
• Stickers, gems, or whatever else you can find to match your color scheme

How-To

1. Scotch tape the 2 pieces of cardstock together side by side. Use this lengthened piece of cardstock and wrap around your childs head for an accurate measurement. Trim the cardstock as needed. Cut large pointed triangles to form the crowns peak from the cardstock. Tape the ends of your crown together once you are satisfied with the overall shape.

2. Attach fabric leaves with a stapler or real leaves with a healthy dollop of white glue. Finishing decking out your crown with the other decorative bits and pieces. We also decorated some printable leaves found HERE and added those to our crown as well. Allow to dry.

Happy Autumn!!!

Autumn Wreath Craft

Celebrate Autumn by creating one of these festive Fall wreathes with your kiddos. All you need is some sturdy cardstock (or even thin cardboard like the insides of a cereal box), real or faux fall leaves, feathers, acorns and other fall finds - get creative. Cut a wreath form from your cardstock or cardboard and then go crazy gluing on your fall finds. We ended up needing to use a stapler to attach our fabric leaves since standard craft glue wasn't quite doing the trick. Tadda - beautiful fall decor made by your favorite little craftster.

Decorating with Acorns

Celebrate Fall by decking out your home in one of this seasons hottest home decor trends. Acorns!! Scavenge your neighborhood for these little treasures or take the easy route and purchase some decorative acorns from your local craft or home decor store. Just be sure if you bring acorns home from your local park that you wash and bake the acorns first to be sure you are rid of any little invaders that may have made a home inside.


1. Framed Acorn Display, Delia Creates.

2. Painted Acorn Wreath, See Kate Sew.

3. Painted and Podged Acorn Display, ModPodge Rocks.

4. Acorn candle holder filler, Favor Girl.