Week 8 Challenge - Glow Stick Night Lights AKA Radioactive Pets

A key ingredient to Summer fun is flexibility; crafting projects with children always remind me of this fact. Today’s challenge was to make Fire Fly night lights. I had carefully prepared wings and thoraxes out of construction paper then laid out all the supplies in anticipation of adorable little Fire Flies. When the Big Chick and Middle Little made it to the table, they both declared they wanted to make Bats and Bunnies, so we rolled with the flow. They turned wings into ears and thoraxes into capes. (Yes, a cape was needed as our bat is a vampire bat!) Glowing bunnies and bats were no problem in the girls’ minds; they just stated as a matter of fact that these were radioactive bats and bunnies. Here is what we used to make our radioactive pets:

Supplies

Water bottles
Craft foam
Googley eyes
Pom-poms
Chenille sticks (I still laugh calling them this)
Tape
Glue or Sticky Tack
Markers
Glow Sticks

There really are no instructions necessary, just let your kiddos make whatever Radioactive Creature they desire. Then, insert a Glow Stick when it gets dark and enjoy!

Week 7 - Play Tent by Ducky

My mom made a tent like this for my sister and I one summer when we were little. It lasted many summers and only needed one replacement covering through those years. I wanted to recreate the fun for my kids. Working together as a family we created the tent in one afternoon. We spent about $20.00 total on the project.

Materials we used for the tent:

Painters Canvas Tarp
Nylon Rope
6 - 1x8's
Paint for decorating

The wooden poles were also available in 1x6 and 1x12. PVC pipe or bamboo sticks are options also. It depends on how tall you want the tent. You could also use a sheet or blanket for the outside covering.

We drilled holes in each 1x8 about 10 inches down. Stand 3 - 1x8's upright against each other forming a tripod. String rope through holes to connect each. Situate the remaining 3 - 1x8's evenly spaced on the tripod. String the rope through connecting them to the tripod. Secure with a knot. Wrap canvas around the tent. We stapled the canvas to the 1x8's. Each family member decorated a panel.

We all agreed this was a fun and successful project.

Week 6 - Taffy Pull

5 children, 4 adults, boiling syrup and molasses…sounds like a recipe for fun, right? Well this week we set out to have a real old-fashioned taffy-pull party. The result is that we have our 2nd cracked egg.

We started off full of nostalgic optimism; the kids would run around, having fun until it was time to begin the pulling. We would have some time with our sweethearts, while faithfully (yet easily,) monitoring the simmering candy. The reality is that the boys had a lot of fun making jokes about “pulling taffy” and Ducky and I were overwhelmed with the not so appealing smells of vinegar and molasses mixed together, even if we quietly were snickering at the boys’ jokes. In the end, we were left with a pan full of beautiful bronze stickiness. It never firmed up enough to pull.

What went wrong? We don’t know exactly. It could be that we used rice vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar or plain white vinegar. My recipe didn’t specify which type to use, so I didn’t think it mattered too much. It could be that we were overly cautious with the heating of the candy, and it took too long to get it to the correct temperature. Or maybe it was the fact that it was an extraordinarily humid day, and that set the science of our recipe off just a tad.

I’ve since looked at other recipes for making taffy and have determined to try this again. Additional recipes I have found had better instructions that I think a taffy-pulling novice such as myself needs.

The lesson of the taffy-pull is to laugh while making mistakes, and then order Chinese takeout since you will already have a heap of dishes waiting for you. ;-)

Taffy Recipe

From Let’s Make a Memory by Gloria Gather and Shirley Dobson
2/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1 ½ cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 ½ Tbsp. vinegar
½ cup water
¼ tsp salt
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1/8 tsp. soda
1.4 cup butter

Combine molasses, syrup, brown sugar, vinegar, water, and salt in a large heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves over low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture reaches 265 degrees on candy thermometer. Remove from heat and stir in soda and butter. Pour into buttered large shallow pan and let cool until it can be handled – about 15 minutes. Turn edges into center as it cools. Butter your fingertips; then cut off pieces of candy and pull and twist until candy changes color, to bronze. Twist in shapes or cut into 1 inch pieces with scissors dipped in cold water. Wrap in plastic paper. Makes 150 pieces.

To see the next taffy recipe I want to try visit Pioneer Thinking. They have great instructions. As a side note some of the recipes I read through suggested once the taffy was cool enough to handle that you roll it into a ball. I can see how this would help and I will do that next time.

WEEK 5- STEPPING STONES

This weeks challenge was a group event with both our families. We had a lot of fun doing this together. Clucky used a stepping stone kit she found on clearance for $10 to make circle stepping stones. It had enough supplies to make four stones. We also made foot print stones. These are so cute for the garden or walk and are a nice summer memory of the size of your child's foot.

To make a foot print stone you need:
Disposable pie plate or 9x13 pan
Play Sand
Plaster of Paris

Place slightly dampened sand in desired container. Have your child press their foot into the sand, tamp down the sand around the foot. Lift foot out and you now have the mold to pour in plaster of paris.
Mix plaster of paris according to directions on packaging. The mix should be the consistency of softened icecream. Let dry, preferably overnight. Remove from pan and brush off sand. You could paint them or leave them as they are. Arrange in your garden, walk or use as a gift.