Cleaning Make Up Brushes

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Confession: my make up brushes were disgusting. I haven't cleaned them in...too long. In fact, it's been at the top of my to-do list for so long that it's up there with "check into new lawnmower prices". It's now March and there is over a foot of snow in my yard...so...yeah...

I found these easy directions on Pinterest last night and the simplicity of it all encouraged me to finally check off that item on my to-do list. Extra motivation: my skin has been breaking out like a teenager and although I appreciate the "you don't look your age" compliments, looking 15 isn't exactly my goal.

How to Easily Remove the Funk from Your Make Up Brushes 

~ Mix 3 parts of Antibacterial Hand or Dish Soap and 1 part EVO Oil (it replenishes the brush's moisture) on a plate. I used 3 teaspoons soap and 1 teaspoon oil and it was plenty for my 5 brushes.

~ Dip your brush in the mixture.

~ Brush it back and forth on your hand. It becomes very soapy and if your brushes are as dirty as mine, you will start to see some of the make up come off on your hand. See all that purple eye shadow? Gross. No wonder my eyes have been feeling irritated.

~ Rinse the brush under running water, gently squeezing from the base and down to squeeze out even more make up.
*Side note: I had to repeat the cleaning process for my bigger brushes 3 times each until I couldn't see any more make up (and shame) come off.

~ Lay the brushes on a paper towel to dry. The original website says it takes a few hours to dry, but I cleaned my brushes, then spent 4+ hours baking bread, making granola bars, preparing dinner, shoveling the driveway, reading several books to my daughter...and they're still pretty damp. So my suggestion is to clean them and give yourself plenty of time to allow them to dry.

Soup and Bread, and not from Panera for once

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With about 12 inches of snow in driveway, all I wanted to do with cuddle up in my fleece pajamas and eat some warm comfort food. I'm usually not much of a soup person, unless it is made by someone named Panera and comes in a bread bowl. However, I've made this recipe for Broccoli Cheese and Potato Soup once before.
It was so good that I've had a taste for it ever since.

I changed it slightly for our family's taste...


Ingredients
1 small onion, chopped

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

2 1/2 cups fat free chicken (or vegetable) broth

1 cup milk

2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced small

5 cups (about 2 heads) broccoli florets, chopped into small pieces (about 2 heads fresh or 1 bag frozen)

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 slices American cheese

1 tbsp parmesan cheese

salt and pepper, to taste

-Chop the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic and set aside. I love my Chopper. It saves so much time!

-In a large soup pot, melt the butter.  Add the vegetables you just chopped and sauté on low heat until they're soft (5 minutes-ish). Meanwhile, I suggest getting the potatoes ready. Again, the chopper saves so much time. If I didn't have one, I would definitely be less inclined to cook. I'm that lazy.

-Add flour, salt and pepper to the pot and stir until smooth.

-Add chicken broth, milk and potatoes and cook on high heat until it comes to a boil, then cover and cook on low until the potatoes are soft (10 minutes-ish). Meanwhile, get your broccoli ready.

-Once the potatoes are soft, add the broccoli and parmesan cheese.

-Stir and then cook uncovered until the broccoli is cooked. I used frozen broccoli and I chopped it when it was partially thawed. If using fresh broccoli, this step will take closer to 5 minutes. If partially frozen, add a couple minutes. 

-Add the cheddar and American cheese. Stir well and remove from heat.

-The original instructions say to use an immersion blender. Instead, I used my handy dandy Baby Bullet (yes, there are still uses for it once you're done with the baby-food-making stage!!). Scoop a cup or 2 of the potatoes and broccoli into the blender/processor and blend it up a little bit. Then scoop it back into the soup and stir. This thickens up the soup. Don't skip this step because it really does help. 

That's it! It kind of seems like a lot of work but it's so good and even my 18 month old gobbled it up in between "mmm's".

As I was cooking up this soup, I kept thinking about Panera soup and their bread and how great would it be to have a thick delicious bread to dip in my soup. (We're dippers, here.)

So I made some! Honey Whole Wheat Bread - fairly simple and very delicious (especially to make avocado grilled cheese sandwiches with).

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

2 Ingredient, Guilt-Free Cookies

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Ohmygosh!! I found this recipe for 2 ingredient cookies and had to try them. These cookies are so good and only need 2-5 ingredients. They remind me a lot of chocolate chip banana bread, so if you like that (or love it, like me), you will love love LOVE these cookies. (On the other hand, if you're a 'nana-hater like my mom, you absolutely will not like these.)

Required Ingredients:
2 large bananas
1 cup quick oats

Mix these two ingredients together. We used a fork to get the bananas really mashed up. This will take some elbow grease and a few minutes of really good mashing.

Mix in your choice of extras...but I highly recommend:
cinnamon
chocolate chips
walnuts

Plop spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. I used my fingers to help the cookie dough form into blobs.
Very delicious blobs.

Cook at 350* for 10-15 minutes. Mine came out perfectly at 12 minutes.

These are best served warm.

But what is the absolute best part?? Even if you eat the entire batch, you only ate 2 bananas, a cup of oats, and a handful of whatever other ingredients you put in. Guilt free.

Valentine's Activities with a Toddler

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Whoa, whoa, whoa. It's the middle of February?

The last few weeks have really flown by. I must have been keeping busy because I. am. so. tired.

Amidst all of the cray-cray that has been my life lately, Cady and I have managed to do a few cute Valentine projects. Mostly, we made Valentines for grandparents.

Fortunately, we have heart shaped cookie cutters in various sizes, which made this project much easier for me (and much cuter for everyone else because my free-hand hearts would not have been so precise). Cady loved that she had the freedom of holding and using the glue stick all by herself! I just showed her where to glue and she went to town. And then when it was time to press the paper together, she used every muscle in her hand and arm (and made large groans to prove to me that she was pushing them together as hard as she could). What a good little worker bee.

Homemade Monkey Valentine

Homemade Valentines

We made a dog, lion, owl, elephant, penguin, bumble bee...and this morning, we made a monkey valentine for Cady's aunt in New York.

Heart Stencils

 On my lazier days, I use theme-based cookie cutters as stencils and let her color over them.

Heart Prints

 On slightly less lazy days, I let her dip the same cookie cutters in paint and make prints on paper. First, she explored independently with the cookie cutters, paint, and a paint brush. Then when she was about done, I helped her make a few heart prints on top of the rest of her painting.

Pipe Cleaner Heart Ring

It's Valentine's Day. Every girl needs a little jewelry on Valentine's Day, right? I made this out of a pipe cleaner. Check out that lopsided heart. That's why I use stencils whenever possible.











And don't forget the chocolate...Girls must have chocolate on Valentine's Day! :)

I (used to) Hate Carrots

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After an unfortunate incident as a child involving me, carrots, and a late night upset stomach, I tend to steer clear of carrots. Especially raw carrots. Yuck.

However, I promised my waist line that I'd start cooking more from scratch and serving more nutritious meals for my family. Oh carrots, why do you have to be so healthy?

Amidst my research for a tolerable way to cook these orange nuggets, I found a recipe for baking sweet potato fries and I altered it for carrots. My recipe is quick (because I hated that I had to eat them, let alone focus any of my time on them) and actually.....they were delicious!!

* Wash and peel some carrots (I used 8 to feed my family of 3).
* Then chop them up into small pieces...which I haven't done by hand since I've owned a Chopper.
* Cover a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Place the carrots on it.
* Drizzle some olive oil over the carrots, and then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Mix it all around with your hand to make sure the carrots are coated evenly.
* Bake at 400* for about 25 minutes.

Enjoy, because these little orange beauties tasted magnificent. Bonus: they're small and soft and perfect for babies learning to self-feed.

Looks like we'll be eating more carrots around here...and hopefully my fear of late night orange-splattered furniture will lessen. Too much? Yeah, it was...sorry.

Valentine's Day Wreath

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We had our second Pinterest party over the weekend. This is a day free of husbands and children where we make interesting things we find on Pinterest. Our first party was just before Christmas, so we made stocking stuffers: chocolate bars wrapped up in paper, ribbon and socks to look like snowmen or reindeer.

Rumchata Cupcakes

We also made Rumchata cupcakes just because...and man, were they good!

It was time to plan another party because the first one was a hit, and we chose to make a Valentine's themed wreath that I found on Pinterest.

All we did was pop in a couple movies (because this is a simple craft, but fairly time consuming), wrap a wreath in yarn, cut out and glue on felt hearts, and wrap the yarn around again over the hearts in a criss-cross pattern.

You Will Need:
1 wreath (I used a 12-inch wreath)
1 skein of yarn (actually, more like half of one - I used gray)
2 pieces of felt (1 of each color - I used pink and white)
some glue to hold down the hearts while you wrap
a piece of ribbon to hang your wreath

I hung mine on our hallway mirror and I love it!

Winter-Themed Activities for Toddlers

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There are tons of adorable winter crafts all over the internet. My challenge was to adapt ideas (or create my own) for my 1 year old and not spend a lot of money. Everything we are doing this month is either free or very cheap (because Christmas was only a month ago and my bank account is still recovering from that beating). I used many items that I always have around (paint, paper, cotton balls, etc.) and checked out many books and movies from the library. I'm more of an indoor person, so most of our activities will be inside, but I did include a few outdoor activities (weather permitting). Here is what we have planned for the month of January and I'll add more pictures as we do the projects:

Books:

The Snowy Day by Anna Milbourne

Little Mo by Martin Waddell

That's Not My Polar Bear by Fiona Watt

The Mitten by Jan Brett

That's Not My Snowman by Fiona Watt

That's Not My Penguin by Fiona Watt

I See Winter by Charles Ghigna

Snow Angels by Angel Randall

Totally Polar by Marty Crisp

Footprints in the Snow by Cynthia Benjamin

Ebb & Flo and the Baby Seal by Jane Simmons

Penguins! Strange and Wonderful by Laurence Pringle

I am Pangoo the Penguin by Satomi Ichikawa

Mouse's First Snow by Lauren Thompson

Snow Dude by Daniel Kirk

Bella Gets Her Skates On by Ian Whybrow

Under My Hat I Have a Hood by Karla Kuskin

Flannel Kisses by Linda Crotta Brennan

Dinos in the Snow! by Karma Wilson

Three Little Kittens by Jerry Pinkney

Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner


Finger-Plays/Music and Movement: (many of these ideas were gathered during my Early Childhood Education days...so I'm uncertain of their original sources...)

Finger-Plays

NOTE: I use a glove and print, laminate, and attach velcro to individual pieces to make the finger-plays more visually appealing. I also make larger pieces (like big white snowballs) and use a felt board.

*Finger-Play: 5 Little Penguins
5 little penguins swimming to shore, 1 stopped at an iceberg and then there were 4
4 little penguins fishing in the sea, 1 swam away and then there were 3
3 little penguins didn't know what to do, 1 waddled up the shore and then there were 2
2 little penguins playing in the sun, one jumped in the water and then there was 1
1 little penguin looking for her friend, she swam out to find her and that's the end.

*Song: Polar Bear, Polar Bear (tune of "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear")
Polar Bear, Polar Bear turn around,
Polar Bear, Polar Bear touch the ground.
Polar Bear, Polar Bear growl real loud,
Polar Bear, Polar Bear sit on the ground...

*Finger-Play: 5 Little Snowmen
5 little snowmen, each with a funny hat
Out came the sun and melted one just like that (slowly put 1 snowman down)
(repeat with 4, 3, 2, 1)

*Poem: Chubby Little Snowman
A chubby little snowman had a carrot for a nose. (point to nose)
Along came a bunny and what do you suppose? (hands out like asking question)
That hungry little bunny was looking for his lunch... (hand above eyes as if looking)
And he ate that snowman's carrot nose - nibble nibble CRUNCH (use hand to pretend to eat nose)

*Felt Board Story: 10 Little Snowballs (cut out 10 white felt circles)
Snow fell last night and it fell so hard, when I looked out my window, it covered up my yard.
I made 10 little snowballs and I put them in a line. One fell off the wall, and then there were 9.
9 little snowballs, I put them on the gate. 1 fell off and then there were 8.
8 little snowballs, I hit 1 up towards heaven. It came down splat!...and then there were 7.
7 little snowballs, I hit 1 with a stick. It broke in little pieces and then there were 6.
6 little snowballs, lined up side by side. My dog stole 1 and then there were 5.
5 little snowballs, I took them to the store. 1 fell off my sled, so then there were 4.
4 little snowballs, underneath a tree. I threw 1 at a mailbox, then there were 3.
3 little snowballs, I'll share them with you. You have 1 and I have 2.
2 little snowballs, left out in the sun. 1 melted away and then there was 1.
1 little snowball left all alone. I'll put it in my pocket and take it home.

*Song: "Winter Winter Wonderland" (tune of "Ring Around the Rosie")
Winter Winter Wonderland (hold hands and walk in a circle)
Pockets Full of Mittens
Snowflakes, Snowflakes
We All Fall Down! (fall down together)

*Song: "Make a Snowball" (tune of "Frere Jacques")
Make a snowball, make a snowball. (pat hands like forming a snowball)
Throw it now, throw it now. (pretend to throw it)
Make a snowball, make a snowball. (pat hands again)
Throw it now, throw it now! (throw it again)

*Song: Winter Wear Hokey Pokey (tune of "Hokey Pokey")
You put your right mitten in,
You take your right mitten out.
You put your right mitten in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the winter pokey, [shiver]
And you turn yourself around.
That's what it's all about!
Other Verses:
left mitten...
right boot...
left boot...
winter hat...
snowsuit (whole body)...

*Melting Snowmen: For a quick stretch and movement exercise, stand up tall and then pretend to melt like snowmen

*Freeze Dance: Turn on some kid-friendly music (we like to listen to some CCR or The Band Perry) and randomly pause it and freeze. Then start it back up and keep dancing.


Arts and Crafts:

Puffy Snowman

*Puffy Snowman: Mix equal parts of shaving cream and glue. Paint it onto paper and when it dries, it will be puffy like snow! Either pre-cut a snowman shape or do it after the paint dries.

*Play Dough Snowmen: Roll white play dough into balls and make (and smash) snowmen. Try my favorite play dough recipe here.

*Finger Skate Painting: Use pointer and middle fingers as if they are "ice skates" gliding on the ice and finger paint on paper.

Hand Print Tree and Glitter Snow

*Hand Print Tree and Glitter Snow: On blue paper, glue a piece of white paper on the bottom to look like a snow-covered ground. Then put a brown hand print on the paper and paint a brown tree trunk attached to the hand print. Paint glue dots all around the paper. Shake glitter (or you can use salt like we did) over the glue and tap off over the garbage can. It will look like glittery snow and a winter tree. I added the words to one of our winter songs on the bottom of the picture.

*Bubble Wrap Painting: Brush white paint on bubble wrap and make imprints on blue paper. It looks like a snow scene.

*Plow the Roads: Put a few blobs of white paint on blue or black paper. Then use a small plastic car to "drive through and plow the snow".

*Cotton Ball Igloos: Glue cotton balls or pieces onto pre-cut igloos.

Shape Snowman

*Shape Snowman: With a glue stick, place 3 white circles, an orange triangle (nose), a square and a rectangle (for the hat) onto a piece of paper to make a shape snowman. Develop shape and color recognition and fine motor skills!

*Pasta Snowflakes: First, paint pasta wheels white (add glitter if desired). Then either stick them directly onto paper or let them dry and glue them onto paper. Do this on blue or black paper or on a pre-cut snowman.

Pasta Snowflakes

*Sock Snowman: Fill a sock with polyfil. Tie it in 1 or 2 places with ribbon to make a snowman. Then use puffy paint or felt to decorate the face. I folded the top over and tied it down to make a little hat, but you could glue on a felt hat or be creative! This simple snowman is Cady's current favorite stuffed toy. She brings it all over the house with her...if only she knew how attached she is to her dad's sock.

Sock Snowman

*Ice Cube Painting: Mix a packet of Kool Aid with water and let set in ice cube trays overnight. Once they start hardening a little, stick popsicle sticks in the centers to allow for easier (and less messy) painting. Paint on white paper. Once it dries, it's like a "scratch and sniff" painting...and it smells delicious! You could also do this with food coloring, but I like the sensory development that goes along with using a fruity smelling Kool Aid.

Snowflake Painting

*Snowflake Painting: Cut up and attach pipe cleaner pieces together to look like snowflake. Make sure to add a loop handle for easy holding. Dip it in paint and make snowflake imprints.

Snowman Feet

*Snowman Feet: Press white-painted feet onto paper so that the toes are facing down. Draw on snowman features. We did this last January and saved it to be a part of our footprint calendar.

Penguin Finger Painting

*Penguin Feet: Press black-painted feet onto paper with the toes facing down. Cut out a white belly and eyes and an orange beak to glue on. Draw on any additional features (maybe ear muffs, scarf, hat...).

*Penguin Finger Painting: Finger paint with black and/or white paint on a cut out penguin. I glued on some penguin features to make it look more like a penguin.

*Cotton Ball Polar Bears: Glue white cotton balls or pieces onto cut out polar bear shapes.

Paper Plate Penguin

*Paper Plate Penguin: Cut out white circles (eyes) and an orange triangle (beak) and glue onto a small black plate. Develop shape recognition and fine motor skills (picking up pieces/using a glue stick).

*Baby Seal Sock: Fill a small white sock with polyfil and close off with a rubber band or ribbon. Draw on eyes, nose, and whiskers to make it look like a baby seal. Use a short sock because it has just the right amount of stretchy elastic part to look like the seal's flipper.

Colored Snowflakes

*Colored Snowflakes: Color on plain computer paper and then when done, fold up and snip pieces off to make a paper snowflake. 


Science/Imaginary Play/Other:
*Winter Sensory Bucket: Fill a bucket with cotton balls, jingle bells, paper snowflakes, etc.

*Mitten Matching: Cut out felt in the shape of a mitten. Use as many colors as you like but make sure there are 2 of each color. This can be a matching or counting activity.

*Inside Snow Fort: Build a snow fort with folding tables or other furniture and blankets

*Shoveling: Shovel snow with a sand shovel

Sledding

*Felt Snowman: Cut out felt pieces (large white circles, smaller black circles, orange triangle, etc.) to build your own snowman and store in a large ziploc bag.

*Sledding: Go sled outside

*Snow Drawing: Use sticks to draw in the snow

*Snowman Bowling: Cover recycled pop bottles (or something similar) with white paper and decorate to look like snowmen. Roll a ball into them to go "bowling".

*Sled Blanket: Sit on a blanket and have an adult pull the blanket around the house to go "sledding"

*Snowman in a Bag: Cut black and orange foam pieces (circles and a triangle) and put inside bag with shaving cream and glitter. Mush the bag to try to move the pieces so they look like a snowman.

*Indoor Skating: Go "ice skating" with wax paper attached to feet. Use a rubber band to keep it on.

Snow!

*Snow!: Go play in the snow

*Indoor Snowball Fight: Throw cotton balls to have a snowball fight

*Ice Melting Experiment: Fill a balloon with water and freeze it – watch it shrink and melt as the day goes on.

*Blubber Bags: While learning about arctic animals, discuss how blubber keeps them warm. Put some crisco in a baggie and squish it around to get an idea of what blubber is like.

*Penguin Walk: Waddle around the room and walk like a penguin

*Penguin Movie: Watch "March of the Penguins"

*Daddy Penguin Walk: I read somewhere that male emperor penguins carry their eggs on their feet. Put a beanbag on top of your feet and try walking around the room without it falling off.

*Arctic Animal Movie: Watch "Ice Age"