Sweet Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin carving is in the air. Here is a great recipe to make a perfectly healthy snack unhealthy :) That is the great thing about the holidays !!!

Sweet Pumpkin Seeds

2 c dried pumpkin seeds
2 T melted butter
3 T brown sugar
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon


Dry pumpkin seeds 300 degrees for 30 min. Mix all ingredients together. Spread over parchment paper lined cookie sheet and roast at 350 for 15 min.

The Giving Tree

I saw this idea in a Pottery Barn catalog and had to replicate it. The idea of it is to have the family write down one thing they are thankful for each day in the month of November in the spirit of Thanksgiving. I thought this would be a great family tradition and would be fun to look back as the kids get older the things they said they were thankful for. Also it would be a daily reminder to count our blessings.

Materials needed:
1 yd of brown felt
1/2 yd of green felt
1/2 yd of yellow felt ( I found a mustard yellow to go along with the fall colors)
1/4 yd of 4 different fall looking fabrics
Fabric glue or glue gun


I have to say it was a little time consuming cutting out all the leaves and numbers. I am sure there is an easier way of doing it. Just make sure that you make pockets out of the leaves so that way the notes can be placed in each leaf. Please feel free to leave a comment or email me for the template.

Cheap Fun Paper

Today was my turn to teach preschool again. I was excited to use our news paper roll and it was a great change of pace for the kids to get out of their seats and sit down on the ground to color. So I just had to post what great paper this is especially for large groups. They are the ends of the newspaper rolls. They sell them at the Idaho Press Tribune, in the front, for $2 a roll regardless of size. It is kinda hard to tell how much is on the roll in the picture but trust me we will not be running out any time soon. Such a great deal and fun for the kids to color on the floor. If you are not from this area call your local newspaper to see if they do this.

Making Pizza

Today was my turn to teach preschool. Thought it would be more crazy with 8 kids but it actually went really well. Making pizza was a hit so I thought I would share. The kids are learning shapes and this activity is great for shapes and colors. I first cut out triangles from paper grocery bags and fold over the end to make a crust. I cut out red circles for pepperoni, large orange triangles for cheese, small yellow rectangles for pineapple, pink squares for ham, small green triangles for bell peppers (the kids changed them to pickles though) and black circles with a hole punched through the center for olives. I started with cheese and from there used one shape at a time. They glued on one topping at a time so they could get familiar with the shape. They had a great time learning their shapes as well as pretending to be little chefs!

Caramel Popcorn

Well it's not really baking, more like microwaving but so yummy! For Sunday baking
we made caramel popcorn. We went to the pumpkin patch Saturday and it really put me in the fall mood. The girls didn't help with this one because the caramel gets really hot and sticky. I got the recipe from a friend of mine and is by far the best recipe for caramel corn, so thanks Courtney!

Microwave Carmel Corn
1 Bag of popped popcorn
1/3 C of butter
2/3 C firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 C light corn syrup
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla

Microwave butter in a 4qt microwave safe glass bowl until melted. Stir in brown sugar and corn syrup until mixture bubbles, stir once. Microwave on High 3 minutes without stirring. Stir in baking soda and vanilla. Stir in popcorn and mix well. Microwave at 70% power for 1 minute. Remove and stir. Repeat again at 70% power for 1 minute. Stir,once all mixes spread out onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper to cool.

I think next time I will add peanuts or candy. Beware you cannot just have one!!

Halloween Ghosts

I thought these were fun little friendly ghosts to add to our Halloween decorations. Supplies you will need: Cheese Cloth sold at Walmart or Joanne's,liquid starch,black felt for the eyes, hot glue glue gun, 2 cups and a small balloon. Tape 2 cups together and place a small blown up balloon in the top cup. Soak a piece of cheese cloth big enough to drape your balloon in the liquid starch. Drape over and let dry. We let ours dry overnight. Once dry pop the balloon with a needle and remove from cup. Add eyes with a hot glue gun. This was very kid friendly and a fun project. For step by step instructions visit:http://www.countryliving.com/crafts/projects/ghost-craft-1010

Bite Size Caramel Apples

I love fall and everything about it, I have been trying to finds some fun things to do with the girls for when the weather gets colder. I found these on another blog and thought they were so cute. I love caramel apples but they are so big. These are perfect for kids! You need a melon baller to scoop out the apple balls. Dip into melted caramel and use pretzel sticks for the stick. Perfect for Fall!