Before the now traditional Mardi Gras beads, yelling out “Throw me something, Mister!” might help you end up with a doubloon in your hand! Today we’re making our own Mardi Gras Doubloons to create and exchange with friends!

Supplies

• Colors or markers
• Glue
• Glitter
• Frozen juice lids
• Washi tape or other embellishments

Directions

• Color and cut out the doubloons.
• Glue onto the juice lids.
• Dress up and personalize your doubloons with glitter and other embellishments.
• Hand out and exchange between friends.

P.S. If you’re looking for a great video to give your kids a basic understanding of Mardi Gras check out this one from National Geographic Kids. –Erin

P.P.S. I know the image for the printable looks funny but don’t worry the actual document shouldn’t have the big black boxes on it.

I know you’ve heard it a million times, but truly I’m not an obscure holiday celebrating kind of gal. Outside the big three (Easter, Halloween, Christmas), it takes a concerted effort on my part to remember these days, let alone come up with something for the kids to do! Crafts like these were always a highlight during my school days, and I don’t want my kids to miss out just because we homeschool, so…I’m working on it. Here’s the first craft I’ve come up with, and it’s printable.


Supplies

• ·Crayons
• Glue
• Scissors
• Toilet paper roll
• Groundhog Printable

Directions

• Color groundhog and cut it out.
• Color the grass and cut it out.
• Cut along the dotted line (I know it’s hard to see) to create grass.
• Cut a paper roll in half.
• Glue the grass along the outside of the paper roll.
• Glue the groundhog on the INSIDE of the paper roll.

Earlier this week I shared a craft that was perfect to hang outside but not as perfect as these Ice Birdfeeders. Who knew making ice cubes would entertain my children as much as it did? –Erin

All you have to do is gather your supplies:

• water
• birdseed
• shaped, silicone ice cube trays
• plastic, ring dish

Fill the trays and dish with birdseed.


Fill the trays the rest of the way with water. Add a little bit of twine to create an ornament.


Let them freeze overnight. The next day take them outside and decorate the trees with your seed ornaments.


You could hang the big ring on a fence post or garage door with a strong ribbon, or you can do what the kids decided to do…just put it on the birdbath. It’s outside our dining room window and the kids (or maybe just me) like watching the birds in the morning.

There’s nothing as fun as stalking the craft section of your local Wal-Mart and seeing one of your own creations on the cover of a magazine. Okay, so maybe it’s not the THE cover image, but it’s on there and that’s enough to get me jazzed! Does anyone use that word anymore?

Kids Crafts 1-2-3 is a magazine filled with crafty projects, for kids five and up. It is exclusively sold in Wal-Mart and most of the crafts use supplies you can find in the store, which is a blessing for this rural momma. In Issue #3, on stands right now, I’m sharing my Oatmeal Headband Holder. It was so cute, ‘cause you know I grabbed a copy and had it sitting in the van when I picked the kids up from their gym class. Essie took one look at it and said, “Hey that’s mine!”

Go out a pick up a copy for yourself – if you’re a crafting mom or grandma they’re always looking for submissions, maybe next time I’ll see YOUR project on the cover! - Erin

This time of year snowflakes means snow days, something even us homeschoolers can appreciate. To celebrate the sparkle of the season and the wonder of nature I wanted to make a craft I could hang in the house OR throughout the yard. - Erin

Growing up one of the foods I looked forward to every Christmas was my Grandmother’s Chocolate Crackle Cookies. I was fascinated by the fact that no two cookies ever looked alike, some had few big bulbous cracks while others were riddled with them. They were little works of powdered sugar and cocoa art in my eyes.

I’m sure this is why I never attempted making them until a few years ago, thanks to Martha. I had picked up her cookie magazine ( it came out before the cookie cookbook) and sure enough there they were. I’ve made a few modifications so mine aren’t like Martha’s but they are like Dorothy’s and that’s what I was aiming for. –Erin

Chocolate Crackle Cookies

Here is a link the main recipe on Martha’s site.

Modifications

• Completely omit the 8 oz. of bittersweet chocolate.
• Add 1/2 cup of flour.
• Freeze dough for at least a few hours, preferably overnight.
• Only remove one portion of dough from the freezer at a time and work VERY quickly to roll into balls.

Enjoy!

Do you have any foods that remind you of loved ones or special times?