Super easy and Super fun! This is a really easy edible art project! Instead of boring plain old syrup on your pancakes, why not paint them! What you’ll need: Food Coloring, Syrup, Unused Paintbrushes, & Pancakes! We used an egg carton to “hold the paint” as it doesn’t tip easily, holds small portions of syrup and, most importantly, is disposable! I love art projects with easy clean-up! Add 3 drops or so to roughly a tablespoon of syrup and have fun painting and …

Do your preschoolers use a ton of chapstick?  Mine do!  And I needed an alternative to help their cracking lips (gotta love winter weather) and something that I felt safe with them ingesting.  I was inspired after reading about a friend who mixed shortening and a juice mix to create a yummy edible lip balm.  We adapted it slightly.  We like a “harder” solution – here’s what we made, and my kids love it!
…
.
.
.
What you will need make your own edible lip balm:

1/2 a cup of vegetable shortening
1 teaspoon of …

I got this idea from chatting with Kellie, from Chicks With Kidz, she had a great idea/suggestion to include my kiddos in making our own variations of trail mix.  We eat granola regularly for breakfast, but I have always been the one mixing it up!  With her encouragement my one year old now has a way to “help mommy” cook breakfast!  Thanks Kellie!  We are always looking for ways to include our kids in household chores and activities!
.
How to make your own Granola Mix:
.
Grab handfuls of any or all of …

My house has clutter, lots of clutter and I am often in awe of some of those super organized mommas!  Nicole from Restrained Chaos has offered to guest post a few of her organization tips… I love them!  They are cheap and easy!  Hope you can take and glean from them as I have.  Here is Nicole in her own words:
.
Now, I can’t give the key to total organization. This is not because it’s a secret from Martha Stewart’s vault or hidden in a remote (and very clean) monastery …

This will be a new “favorite food” for my preschoolers! My son was so proud that “he made lunch”. These would be perfect with frozen pancakes, but as we had already consumed our stash Z mixed up some batter for us (see our make pancake letters post). We used bags to “squeeze” out our mini-pancakes. They were the perfect size for little hands to grab!
.
How to make them?  Grab two pancakes, lather on the peanut butter, add slices of bananas and you have a hit …

My son loves being a helper and was thrilled when he got to make lunch for us today! We are eating pancakes – yummy! How fun is it to mix breakfast with learning our letters! We have a set of cookie cutters that are in the shapes of capital letters (thanks Laney). Here is a tip that we use to decrease the likelihood of massive pancake batter spills while using cookie cutters to make pancakes in particular shapes, maybe it will help you!
.
We used a dry …

Today’s Fantastic Friday shout-outs all have one splendid theme, “dessert”. I have a massive sweet tooth and am seriously itching to try making my very own thin mint cookies (why does Valentines Day mean Girl Scout Cookies in my mind?), these melt-in-your mouth mini-cheesecake cookies, homemade cream soda-pop, and fudgy molten chocolate cake. I am exploding in anticipation! Alas, I’m snowed in… I sense a grocery trip in my future. Till then, check out these “Fantastic Friday” posts… and if you have any sites to share …

Please tell me we aren’t the only family to get in a rut during meal times. We tend to eat the same 5 or 6 lunches! They say variety is the spice of life and while I can’t seem to manage to think of something new for lunch, we do have new ways to entice our kiddos to eat! Yeah for cookie cutters! They make grilled cheese or even peanut butter and jelly interesting!

This is really good. When I was little, my Mom used to shop at Randalls. They always had this big kettle of clam chowder out in front of the seafood shop with little plastic cups for samples. I loved the fresh clam chowder. But I have never been able to enjoy the canned version, it tastes “tinny” to me. This was awesome, super awesome. I plan to always have some on hand.
…
Jenn’s Super Easy New England Clam Chowder

Ingredients

1/2 pound bacon, cut into 1/2 …

Every Friday we offer awards to what we think are a few of the most fantastic posts or interesting news we have found online or have been submitted to us.  Feel free to join in on the fun and find your own fantastic posts and blogs to feature!  We have a linky and a button award for you to share.     This week’s “shout-outs” go to DIY Crowns, Instructions on how to make your own gummi Lego Candy, some templates for making letter puzzles and the cheapest odor eliminator I’ve ever …