Christmas Elves: Wild Night on the Trapeze

Those darn elves found empty cardboard rolls and constructed a trapeze and net while the grandkids were sleeping.

My little buddy, loves waking up to see what the elves have done. I am going to miss all this mayhem when the grandkids outgrow their elves. I already have one elf who is retiring this year.

I SPY BOTTLE

As the grandkids bound through the door last night, they could hardly contain their excitement. They were headed to Tennessee to spend a week with their ‘other’ grandparents, Nena and Poppa.

“Do you have are bags ready?”

“Sure do,” I said. “They are right there with your names on them.”

Whenever the grandkids take a road trip South, I prepare them bags filled with food snacks, games, and coloring sheets. Their mommy limits the amount of time they can spend on electronic devices; so the goodie bags come in handy and keep them occupied then they travel.

As I helped my daughter load up her Jeep, she picked up a 2-gallon container filled with cereal, rice, and uncooked pasta shapes.
“What the heck is this?”

“Oh, that’s an I Spy bottle; I showed the kids how to play it last night.”

“Mother, where do you come up with these ideas? Please tell me they don’t unscrew the cap.”

“No, the cap is glued on and can’t be removed.” My daughter breathed out a sigh of relief as she carefully surveyed the container.

I Spy in a Bottle uses picture cards that show various small objects hidden inside the container. The rice, dried pasta, cereal and assorted beans prevent the player from seeing them without shifting and moving the contents around to reveal the hidden items. The game starts over when all the pictured items have been revealed to the player.

Gather the items that you want to hide in the bottle. They should be small enough to fit through the opening of a plastic juice container. I added about 50 items to my I Spy bottle.

Group 5-7 items together and snap a photo. Print the photo and trim off excess edges. It's best to keep all the photos the same. I found 4 x 6" worked well.

I mixed all of the filling contents and the hidden items in a large bowl and then filled the container. It allowed the hidden objects to fully incorporate into the contents I used for the filling.

You can use any type of filling you want. It might be all rice, colored rice, all dried cereal; you decide. Or, mix a combination of ingredients as I did.

Use your imagination when collection the objects to hidden. The assortment should be colorful.

Half the fun for the kids is helping to collect the objects.

The Pause Button

 

So much has been happening over the last few months. You have probably noted I haven't made any blog posts for several months. I thought it was time to share the reason.

Normally my efforts are focused on soap making, how-to tutorials and pictorial inspiration. As much as I love the soaping world, I needed to step away to focus on a lifelong dream; to write a children's book for my grandkids.

The manuscript is complete and the book is in the design assessment stage with the publisher. If all continues to move on track, the book will be published early April 2014 and available for purchase on Amazon.com. It is called 'Remember the Rainbow'.

My illustrator, who lives in Japan, did a fantastic job in bringing the story to life. She has agreed to work with me on my next children's book for preschoolers to be published in November 2014.

 

 

I was recently notified a story I had written about dealing and caring for someone with Alzheimer's is being included in a Chicken Soup for the Soul book scheduled for release November 2014. It is my second published story with the Chicken Soup series.

 

In fall 2013 another writing publication was released when my monthly Bunco group published a collection of favorite appetizers to raise money for our local community's Christmas Express and food bank. It was a great success but another time consuming project that once again pushed the pause button on my soaping adventures.

With a number of articles published in various trade magazines (about the business of soap making), I set my sights on writing about something entirely different. It's a blog called Devotionals for the Imperfect Person and offers hope to those trying to make sense of their imperfect life. The writings are in the process of being compiled into a book that will include devotionals written by my daddy and baby sister.

 

I assure you I haven't forsaken the world of soaping and will continue to post new projects and ideas in the near future. For now, however, I remain focused on writing and planning a July 2014 trip to Italy with my honey-man.

 

So continue to hang with GoPlanetEarth, we have plenty of new and exciting things going on in the background with our sister company MoldMarket.com.



The Dr. Seuss Birthday Party

Yes, that would be me, the owner of GoPlanetEarth getting ready to great guests at my grandson's birthday party. He turned five and all he could talk about was his Cat in the Hat party. It was a huge success and all twelve guests had a great time collecting tickets to cash in at the candy bar and prize tables.

The birthday boy, Fischer, is pictured (center) along with his brother and sister.

There were truffula trees, a photo station, candy bar, games, coloring, lunch and most important, gifts! Fischer was the perfect host greeting his guests as they arrived to Seussville.




(And, yes, I know I spelled Seussville wrong on the entry sign.) Thankfully, none of the kids noticed and most can't read yet.



Seuss Lunch Station



The lunch station (pictured right) was set up on the wood floor. It included PBJ sandwiches from Costco, GoGo Squeez applesauce, Gogurt, cupcakes and Dr. Seuss coloring pages.



The Birthday Boy



 





 

The coloring pages entertained the guests while waiting for everyone to arrive.

 

Photo Station

Games included a blindfold/seek duck pond, spin the Seuss wheel and a ring toss. Each game gave the kids an opportunity to win tickets to cash in at the candy bar and prize table.

 

 

 

 

The party was originally planned outdoors but the weather was somewhat "iffy"; I opted for plan B, an indoor celebration.

 

The thank you cards were handed out at the end of the party. Each guest received a photo card from the photo shoot.

 

 





So many things to buy with my tickets.
 

Candy Bar



Cashing in tickets was the best part. It was so hard to decide on what to pick. The kids drew numbers to determine the line order. Of course, the birthday boy went first.



 

How to: Make Dr. Seuss Lorax Trees (Truffula Tree)

Well it's that time of year again, grandkids birthday parties. They always count on NeeNee to make their celebration special and, of course, I do. My five-year old grandson, Fischer, decided he wants a Cat in the Hat party theme. Party decorations are very important to him; so, I'm tend to go a little over the top.

Pictured above are the invites I made for his party. Below are photos of the colorful tree toppers I will use for the Lorax trees. The toppers will be seated atop six and four foot foam pipe insulators (the kind with a slit running down the length of the tube).

 



My son-in-law is making stands to keep the trees upright. The hollow insulation tube will slide over the wooden dowel and yellow duct tape will be wrapped around tube every eight inches. A light-weight wire will secure the tissue toppers to the insulator tube.



 

 What you need:

 

• 16 x 20" sheets of tissue paper (any color)
• Thin wire or string
• Scissors
• Yellow duct tape
• Pipe insulator tubes (2 inch diameter x 6 feet or 4 feet)
• Stands to keep the trees upright (you can tape to a wall or posts if you don't want to make stands)

 Fold 8 sheets of tissue paper accordion style (begin folds on a short end). Fold the tissue in half to find the midway point, then tie with a string or piece of wire. Trim the ends into a point.

 

Fan out the folds and carefully pull four layers of tissue from each side toward the center.

Flip the tissue over and do the same for the other half. Once all the paper has been pulled toward the tied center, fluff out the tissue pieces to form a uniform looking ball.

It's that simple! Try layering different colors of tissue paper for added variety. Hang from the ceiling in different sizes. Just cut the tissue paper width by a few inches. Each tissue ball cost me 50 cents with string/wire added in the cost. If making the Lorax tree trunk, the insulator tubing runs under $2 at Home Depot.

When the party is over, I'm donating the Lorax trees to a local library for a Dr. Seuss display.

The "Are We Almost There?" Road Trip

“How long until we get there?”  This single question must be built into the DNA of every child, because there is likely not a parent in the world whose kids haven’t uttered these words on a short or long road trip. My daughter was planning a 10 hour road trip with her three kids over Easter break.  Heck, you can’t even take a 30 minute car ride with the kids without someone asking, “Are we there yet, or how much longer?”

I knew intervention was needed to keep my daughter from having an epic melt-down when the kids started with the, “Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Arewethereyetarewethereyetarewethereyet?!!!!  I had a plan; a good plan I might add, a plan of all plans, an ‘are we there yet’ road trip plan.

 

I printed out a picture of a mini-van and road signs. Each picture has a front and a back side so mommy doesn’t have to hear, “Not fair, I can’t see the picture.” And we all know that NEVER happens! Cut out mini-van and the signs. Double sided tape worked like a charm in securing the front and back sides together.

 

A small hole punch and grommet pliers were used to create an opening at the top of each sign. This opening is where the paper clips are inserted to secure the signs and car to the string.

Here's how it works. All the cut-out signs will be attached to a string using paperclips. One end of the string is attached to the van's sun visor or mirror; the other end is tied to something in the back of the van. 

When the road trip begins, the mini-van graphic is parked at the start line. Every 45 minutes into the trip, the kids get to move the mini-van up to the next road sign.

The kids rotate turns to avoid any fighting over who gets to move the van. Since this is a 10 hour trip, I placed 13 road signs on the string along with a start and finish graphic.

Each time the van moves forward, the road sign is removed from the string and placed behind the mini-van. When the vehicle reaches the finish line (AKA destination), all the signs will be positioned behind the van.

There are countless variations to this road trip idea. If you're traveling to Disney World, make graphics of Disney characters. Use graphics of different States, license plates, historical landmarks.

 

 

When you are done with the game, simply wrap the string around a 4 x 3 inch piece of cardboard (to keep it from getting tangled) and store in the glove box for future use.

I will be using this same idea at Easter to tell the story of Christ's death and resurrection to my grandkids. The timeline will start at the Last Supper and progress to the cross, the tomb, and finish with the resurrection. The kids will enjoy moving Jesus along the timeline as the Easter story is read. Visual props breathe life into a story.

If you would like to recreate my Are We Almost There road trip you can download the graphics here.  

Happy St. Patrick's Day

My grandkids are always excited about special holidays because NeeNee dresses the table with fun and colorful place settings. This is their place setting for St. Patrick's day.

After lunch, we will playing a Shamrock dice game. Well, it was going to be a dice game until four-year old Fischer misplaced the die. We will using the spinner from the game Chutes and Ladders instead. Those green bills are what they will be getting if they win. You will find the printable shamrock templete here.

How to play Lucky Shamrock:

The object is to color in all the numbers on the shamrock. Each person rolls the die and crosses off that number on the shamrock. If you roll a number that you no longer have, you pass the die to the next player. First person to color in all their numbers wins.

Happy St. Patrick's Day. May luck be on your side!

St. Patrick's Day: Bite Size Cookies

Yesterday, I decided to get a jump start on making cookies for the grandkids' classroom party on Friday. It's tradition that NeeNee bring cookies, green lime-aid and treat bags for each student. And of course, green napkins and cups.

My husband returned from the grocery store with the ready made sugar cookie dough. I was expecting the dough to be in one of those sliceable rolls. Instead, in came in break-apart cubes. It's probably nothing new to most of you, but for a non-baker, it was a novel concept.

Now, what should I use to make a shamrock on these little bite-size cookies. Ah, ha, said the women who never bakes, "I can cut a stencil from the lid of my husband's to-go wonton soup container."

My shamrock application improved with every cookie. By the last batch, I had mastered the template.

Beaming with pride, I showcased the cookies to my husband. His reply, "I could have purchased ready-made cookies, all decorated, at the grocery store" as he popped a cookie into his mouth.

My response,  "Come here so I can knock you to the other side of the moon and don't come back without that cookie you just ate." Big hugs ensued as he told me the cookies looked great.

These are the cookie cubes. It was amazing how they turned into round cookies.

While making the cookies, I thinking soap. It's my business and in my blood. Hmm... how can I make this template work on finished soap.

Let's see... if using cake frosting on cookies, why not use soap frosting on soaps? BINGO! It's on this week's soaping projects list.

I think Mold Market's personal size cirle would be ideal.

96 cookies baked, 80 treat bags assembled...big sigh! Was it worth the time, energy and expense? YES, YES, YES! To look at the grandkids' faces as they pass out treat bags and cookies to school friends, I would do it again in a heartbeat.