Our Preschool Thanksgiving

Thanks to some awesome tutorials, we had a blast at the preschool Thanksgiving "feast". 

I made the paper bag popcorn turkey, corn on the cob cupcakes, and a preschool staple - carrots. 

 Here is the turkey.  The kids loved it and it was so easy and cheap to make.  Here is the tutorial.  It took about 10 minutes to make this turkey start to finish.  I used air popped pop corn to make it healthier but I'm sure premade or microwave would work just as well.

 These are mini muffins.  For my version, I used M&Ms instead of jelly beans.  They are cheaper and the kids like them better.  I also just make the cupcakes in the mini muffin pan because I didn't want to give every preschooler a huge cupcake right before lunch. 

Here is the inspiration version made in full size muffin tins with jelly beans.  You could actually get more of the oval shape with the M&Ms too if you poked them in on their sides instead of flat.  I used chocolate chip muffin mix so the chocolate buttons went better with the flavor.  I think that the whole batch was about $5.00 and it only took about 30 minutes.  The mini muffins cook in 10 minutes, then I pop them into the freezer to cool them and then I just tinted a tiny bit of premade frosting yellow.  The tutorial is here.

Here are all of our happy Pilgrims and Native Americans after their big feast. 

Paint Your Own Corn On The Cob

Make your own Thanksgiving Harvest at home with your child!

This was so much fun and super easy!!

And look at the cute result!

So I adapted this project from a bubble wrap corn cob that I saw on another blog. I was so excited to get started that I ran down in the basement to get the bubble wrap that I had stashed away only to find out that someone *not my husband* had thrown it away! UGHHH! Determined to do our project I found a length of plastic canvas and thought, I can do this!

So in order to do our version, you will need:

toilet paper tubes

green construction paper or card stock

glue (i used hot glue ~ who wants to wait for it to dry?!?!)

and some paint ( i used yellow and orange)

Cover your surface and your child!

We did our project over a brown paper bag which we later used as a gift bag for Grandma and Grandpa's 40th wedding gift bag! No waste:) I love it!!

Lay your canvas or bubble wrap down and pour some paint on it.

Next, let your little one roll the tp tube over the canvas.  

This really worked well because the paint actually looked like little kernels or corn!

We let them dry.... okay, we blow dried them! What?! I don't like waiting and neither does my 3 year old:)

 Then we cut our our long leaves for the corn husks and glued them on the sides overlapping in the back yet open in the front. And voila!

I had one happy toddler:)

Happy crafting!

Give Thanks Tree

We've really been working on explaining to our little one's about being thankful and what that means. So this weekend we celebrated our girls night in (Dad works Friday nights) with some thankful crafts. The girls had so much fun decorating their leaves and putting them on the tree that we made 100% out of paper bags.

To make your own you will need:

3 large paper bags

Tape

Paper Leaves (Dollar store)

First we started by cutting the bottom of the paper bags off and opening them up so that the lay flat in long sheets. Then I cut one of the bags into the trunk shape and taped it to the wall. For the branches, we split the flat bags down the middle to create two long strips. WE just simply twisted them until we got a nice somewhat tight looking branch. I taped these to the wall above the trunk. Then we stared to place our leaves on the tree. I found some paper leaves that the dollar store that had floral wire stems. Bonus!! So I wrapped them around the branches but you could cut out your own. The girls and I wrote down things that we love and are thankful for and then placed them on the tree. All together the tree cost us $3!

If you can't find paper leaves, you could cut out your own by using this template over at Enchanted Learning.

It was really touching to see what the girls thought about being thankful. Chances are you'll be one of the first things your child mentions, which is always nice to hear;)

Happy Crafting!

Apple Pie Cupcakes

Let's begin on the couch where I sit and have a ritual morning cup of coffee while reading some kind of cookbook or craft book. The one time I choose to be completely unaware of the growing mess my children are making throughout the house. Why a person would put their pajamas in the hamper is beyond me; they look much nicer on the dining room floor. And my children agree. There it's settled then. We'll all be careless for this ten minute cup of coffee... so that I can THINK!!! And these Apple Pie Cupcakes are what I thought about. I had seen different versions of this idea around the Internet. After combining different components from some of the recipes that are out there I came up with my own. I made these for my mother in law's birthday dinner and let me just say, everyone had seconds. Yes!! Success. You must try them.There are three different levels of flavor in each bite. A spicy moist cake bottom layer. A sweet and tart apple pie center. Finished with a sweet caramel butter cream. So good...TRY THEM!

To bake the cake you'll need:

 Spice cake mix or use your favorite recipe

Ingredients to bake cake

Small box butterscotch pudding mix

Cupcake liners

 Cupcake pans

To make the Apple Pie Filling:

4 tbsp. butter

4 tsp. cinnamon

6 tbsp. sugar

6 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced

To make the Caramel Butter Cream:

1 Stick Butter, softened

1/2 C Shortening

2 tsp. Good quality vanilla

16 oz. Powdered sugar

2-4 Tbsp. Heavy cream

1/3 cup caramel ice cream topping or favorite recipe 

Now preheat your oven to the cake recipes specifications. I always bake cakes at 325.

I used a box mix to make my cupcakes. It was super simple. I followed the box direction but added my butterscotch pudding mix to the dry cake mix before I started. I generously filled my lined cupcake tins with cake batter and baked as directed.

Then I made my pie filling.

Heat your butter in a medium skillet. Add the cinnamon and sugar and cook for 1 minute. Next, add the apples and mix to evenly coat each apple. Cook for about 10 minutes. Let this cool while you prepare the cupcakes.

I just cut all the way around the top of the cupcake at an angle to take out a pyramid shaped piece of cake. Just eat those.. no one will know:) 

Next fill each cupcake with equal portions of filling. Don't be stingy with the juices.

Now for that delicious caramel butter cream.

In stand mixer or with hand held mixer, cream your butter, shortening, and vanilla together until smooth. Then alternate sifting in powdered sugar and cream until all of the powdered sugar is gone and you have the right consistency for piping. Pipe a generous amount of frosting on top of each cupcake.

And Voila! The Best Cupcakes Ever!!