This post contains affiliate links. I will be compensated for any purchases made through those links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support! Years ago I received an Oster Bread machine, and I loved how easy it made it to mix up dough, but I could never get the bread to bake without collapsing. It was very annoying, as kneading bread is my least favorite part of making bread, and I liked how simple a bread machine made it to have fresh baked bread everyday. I mean a fresh loaf with about 5 minutes of work on my part is a dream. Alas I felt it wasn’t meant to be for us, and once I got my KitchenAid, the bread machine sat on a shelf collecting dust. And we went back to buying store bought bread. But I guess I wasn’t exactly ready to give up on my bread machine, because it is one of the things that made the move with us to Georgia. And with the prices of groceries rising everyday, it seemed like a good time to pull it out and give it another go. I mean millions of others use bread machines to make great loaves of bread, I knew I could too. Plus now we’re more in the country and farther from stores so it makes running to the store for bread a big hassle. If I could just make a loaf every night of the next day, it’s less time consuming and more economical!
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THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS. WE WILL BE COMPENSATED FOR PURCHASES MADE THROUGH THOSE LINKS AT NO ADDITIONAL COST TO YOU. ALL VIEWS EXPRESSED ARE OUR OWN.Our 6 year old daughter is really into arts and crafts. I can always guarantee the toys she is going to play with everyday are her Legos and her arts and crafts bin. If she has a spare moment she will pull out paper and pen and draw. So when she had a Daddy Daughter Date night they decided to pick out a craft project they could do together. She got really excited about Perler Beads, and so did her creative dad. They spent the night making cute scenes of unicorns and rainbows to decorate her new room with! Then the Perler Beads came out to be used everyday for the whole of the next week. Many MineCraft characters, more unicorns, Godzilla, and even a big Megaman made their appearance. But I was hitting a creative block of what to make to join in on the fun. That’s when my daughter said she was going to make her own bracelet. She designed a very cute simple square bracelet for herself and it reminded me of the fun earrings I used to wear in high school. My freshman year of high school those large chandelier earrings were in vogue and I loved to wear them. (Side note: One of the reasons I loved them was the nostalgia they provided from this picture book we had about getting pierced ears. Lots of fun earring designs in there!) And so I decided to design and make little, funky, colorful earrings. It was so easy and fast. I made three pairs for myself and then used a jewelry making kit my cousin gave me to attach them to hook earrings. Here is a kit I found on Amazon. And here is a kit specifically for jewelry! To make the earrings I used a square base plate and whatever Perler Beads I liked to make cute designs on the plate. If you decide to do this, make sure the beads are adjacent to each other so they will melt together. After you have the design you like, use a hot iron and a piece of parchment or wax paper over your beads. We found it worked best to Let it melt the beads for a few seconds before trying to move the iron around. Otherwise the beads would come loose and your design could be ruined. Once the first side is done flip the base plate over and remove your designs. Put the melted side down on another piece of parchment. Replace the parchment over your design and melt the other side. When that’s finished, set something heavy over your earrings to keep them flat (if that’s the look you’re going for. I accidentally melted the hole away in my peeler beads so I just heated up a needle and melted a new hole in the top bead. You could also attach post earring backs or clip on earring backs with glue or by melting the plastic and pushing the post into it, though I have not tried that method. The earrings came out so cute and fun! My daughter decided to make me more and we’re going to get some clip-on backs to add to some of the earrings for her to wear.To make the earrings I used a square base plate and whatever Perler Beads I liked to make cute designs on the plate. If you decide to do this, make sure the beads are adjacent to each other so they will melt together. This would be a fun activity to do at a birthday party. I love the kind of party favors that will last more than a week and will be something the party goer can use over and over again. Or do it for a Girls Night with your friends! It would be an awesome Galentine’s Day Activity. Or just on your own, the possibilities are endless! We've found other sources of ideas for Perler Earrings, too! Check these out: Maker Mama The Thinking Closet Here are some great Perler Kits to help you with designs:
This post contains affiliate links. I will be compensated for purchases made through those links at no additional cost to you. All views expressed are my own. Thank you for your support! In June of this year my wonderful mother passed away. When I look at this awesome picture of her, it is hard for me to believe that she is gone. She was always so alive and such a presence in my life, even though I lived far away from her most of my adult life, I knew that she was always there for me. I've written about the many things I've learned from her on posts here and here. In reality, there is no way to express in just a couple of posts all she has meant to me and my siblings throughout our lives.
Not only did she mean so much to her own children, but she was adored by grandchildren and great grandchildren alike. She had made quilts, afghans, and slippers for everyone over the years that all of us cherish. She wasn't afraid to teach life lessons to any of her posterity, even just days before she passed away. She had 26 grandchildren and if I'm counting correctly, 41 great-grandchildren. (forgive me family if I counted wrong!) At any rate, with almost everyone making it to the funeral, there was a lot of children in attendance. Many of them were young and didn't have any experience with my mom except as an old woman. They didn't know all of the wonderful things about her and the things that she experienced throughout her life. For example, they didn't know that she loved to dance and that she always made the most delicious tacos, pies and cookies. We wanted the children to have something to keep that would teach them more about her. Also, there needed to be something to keep them entertained throughout the funeral service. Alicia came up with the terrific idea of making a special program booklet for the great-grandchildren that would keep them busy and somewhat quiet throughout the service and also teach them something about their marvelous great-grandmother! This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking them, we will be compensated, but there is no additional cost to you. All opinions expressed are our own. Thank you for your support. I love reading with my kids. I love sharing my love of books and reading with them. My son recently got his first library card and he was so excited. I was excited too because, as Arthur says, “Having fun isn’t hard when you’ve got a library card!” (He checked out EVERY Pokémon book that library had in stock. Literally.) So I thought today I would share some of my favorite Children’s books we’ve been reading lately. Ok the first one is actually a bonus because Ms Messner has actually written 6 of these books now (the sixth is being released in September and it’s about the ocean). I love all of them. The art is beautiful! The science is easy for the kids to understand. It’s a great way to learn about ecosystems! And at the end she always writes about what inspired her book and includes a glossary of the organisms in the book. You’ll for sure want to check these out! I ordered this for my fact loving son and didn’t expect it to be as thorough as it is. It’s actually a pretty hefty book with timelines on so many different subjects. It includes your typical historical things like the Ottoman Empire and the Civil Rights Movement. But it also includes a timeline on games played throughout history and spy work through time. Of course I also love the inclusion of science with timelines on our understanding of physics and chemistry. A super cool book!! Little Critter Books By Mercer Mayer Another bonus as there’s so many of these books! I used to enjoy them as a kid too. My son randomly said to me, “I love Little Critter books mom. They’re just so fun!” And I have to agree. The cute pictures help to tell the story. Plus looking for the other critters like the spider or mouse on every page is another way to enjoy these books. Ok I know I’m decades behind but I hadn’t ever read this book until this year! My mom and sister have read the whole series, but I never had. I am in love with Anne Shirley. It’s an insanely wonderful book. I regret not reading it sooner. I did watch the PBS series when I was younger though and thoroughly enjoyed it. If you haven’t read this yet, do yourself a favor and read it. Fun, creative and funny! That’s how I would describe this book. It’s my son’s favorite so we do end up reading it quite often. But it doesn’t get old because the pictures are great and it’s fun to get into the character of the narrator. There’s also a sequel that I haven’t read but my son has and says he loves it just as much. So if you’ve got a dragon loving kid, a taco loving kid, or just a fun loving kid this is a great choice for you! So what about you, any kids book recommendations? Let us know in the comments below. Other Kid's Book Recommendations: |
Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
Author
Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
March 2024
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