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If you are looking for a fun craft and activity to keep the kids busy this holiday season, then Santa ring toss is perfect. Not only can they make their own game, but it will provide hours of fun playing too. Plus, it’s a great way to re-purpose plastic drink bottles. Supplies: Plastic drink bottles Testors Craft 3oz Aerosol Paint – apple orchard red Testors Craft Acrylic 2oz Paint – black, gold, white, and gold glitter burst Rings – glow-in-the-dark bracelets work great for this...

Perhaps there are are still a few people to check off your own naughty-or-nice gift list. Consider giving gifts that won’t someday end up in a landfill: like music or cooking lessons, or tickets to a show. And nothing says “I love you” this holiday season like Carbon Offsets! (Yes I’m being cheeky, but you’ve got to admit the idea has its merits). Buying local is another great way to reduce carbon emissions and greenhouse gases....

Easter Candy Made Into Lollipop Flowers Supplies for Easter Candy Lollipop Flowers: Springtime Bucket lollipop sticks – any size Easter candy – Reese’s peanut butter cups and eggs, Jet Puff marshmallow shaped bunnies toothpick Instructions: Place a lollipop stick into the bottom of the marshmallow. You may need to twist it in, go about half way through. For the peanut butter cups, place a toothpick into the bottom of the candy....

A tessellation is an arrangement of repeated shapes, without gaps or overlapping. Tessellations can be very complex and intricate, with shapes that are flipped or rotated to create a pattern. Don’t worry – these tessellating houses are a perfect beginner project! For this mathematical art project, the tessellated house shape is translated, or slid, across the paper and traced repeatedly. I love the rows of little houses all nestled together....

Supplies for Craft Supply Magnets: glue gun (low-temp) round ceramic magnets craft supplies for decorating: pom poms, jumbo googly eyes, buttons, glass marbles, etc. Before we get crafting, here’s just a few safety reminders. Even a low-temp glue gun is hot! Keep a bowl of cold water nearby, just in case. Also, magnets are not for little ones and are very dangerous if swallowed. This is a very simple activity – in no time at all you’ll have a collection of unique magnets....

Our family loves good ol’ vanilla yogurt. But to jazz it up a little, I thought I’d add a little bit of fresh fruit at the top and freeze them, turning this little snack into frozen yogurt fruit dots! This idea came from One Good Thing By Jillee, who’s made these frozen yogurt dots before, as well as Super Healthy Kids and their ice cube tray method. But we’re adding some fresh fruit to the top of our dots to make them the perfect frozen yogurt bites, yum!...

Paper Tube Snowman Stamps: Frosty is the perfect creation with paper tubes and making fun stamps! Stitch up a Snowman Button Card: I love stitching up cards and this sweet buttoned up snowman is great for winter. Snowman on the Go Kit: Whether you live near snow or might be taking a trip, be sure to bring Mr. Frosty along with you! Snowman on a Spoon: Your hot chocolate never had it so good with melted chocolate and marshmallows....

I absolutely love nature crafts. Being able to take something that has fallen on the ground and make something from it that brings a smile to your face, and that keeps the kids occupied during summer is one of the best things. These stick mobiles are so easy to make and you don’t need any fancy tools, but parents will need to help a little. Supplies: Sticks Wood box Wood glue Paint Bells (optional) Staples (optional for bells) Eye screw Hemp cord...

Farmer’s market season is in full bloom; fortunately they are becoming more prevalent each year in cities around the country and the world. You can use farmers markets as a wonderful teaching tool for your children. They will come to understand so much more about the food they eat: where food comes from; the harvesting of crops; fair and healthy ways to raise animals for meat; why going organic is important for your health; how to support local farmers in your area....

Supplies for Jingle Bell Ribbon Rings: small jingle bells 4 feet of ribbon – any color or size shower curtain rings – or other round object glue dots or double-sided tape Center your 4 feet of ribbon around the top of the ring. You can add a little bit of tape or a glue dot here to keep the ribbon in place on the ring. Starting with one side of ribbon, wrap it around and around your ring....

When my kids saw the bags all ready to go, numbers on and stapled closed, they couldn’t wait to open each one up! Once we packed up the car and headed out on the freeway, it was time to open the first one. How we played the Grab Bag Game: I made 12 bags with activities inside, one for every hour on the road. Before the kids could open up a bag, they had to answer a question I wrote down on our Post-it Notes....

Supplies for Kid-Sized Spider Web: Yarn – we used almost half a spool of yarn Chairs – 4 to 6 Place the chairs out into a circle shape. Then with one end of yarn, tie a knot around the leg of one chair. Now unravel the yarn across to the next chair, and so on, until the web is wrapped at least 3-4 times around each chair. I had each child stand near one chair and they each took turns wrapping around a chair and unrolling it to another friend....

Okay, let’s get to it! Nothing says “Happy Valentine’s Day” like little pink mailboxes with little red flags. As an avid thrifting maven, I’ve noticed that little collections start once you are on the look out. Take for instance: Little Mailboxes. If you see them as they are in the thrift store, it’s hard to see the potential. But once they are all lined up with a fresh coat of Gloss Candy Pink and their little red flags up… behold the cuteness!...

Just by shaping your paper towel tube, you can create the heart shape needed to make these darling heart-tastic shapes. They are so much fun to craft. Make a whole set of cards for your Valentines! Here’s the how to for making paper tube heart stamps this Valentine’s day. Supplies: 1 paper towel or toilet paper tube red and pink craft paint white craft paper scissors Crease and fold one edge of the tube end inward to create the center point and top ridges of your heart....

Supplies needed for a Springtime Garland: An assortment of patterned papers and paper pieces like large die cuts, paper doilies and envelopes. Springlike embellishments e.g. birds, flowers, butterflies and smaller die-cuts. Sewing machine and thread Step 1 Cut triangles from your patterned paper. You can make them all the same size, or vary them like I did Step 2: On your table, lay out how you would like your garland to look....

Pasta bug crafts These super simple and colorful pasta bug crafts are fun to make on their own, or add them to a painting, a paper roll ‘log’, rocks, a diorama, and more. Supplies Colored pasta Glue Marker Tip: If you don’t have pasta that is already dyed, you can use food dye (don’t forget to wear gloves) to dye your pasta. Make sure it is completely dry before you use it....

Homemade Mac & Cheese My kids would eat pasta every single day if I let them, but we have a small problem. One of my kids is gluten-free and the other two are not. The two who aren’t really don’t like the taste of gluten-free pasta so whenever I make pasta dishes I have to make the sauce separately and then divide it between the pre-cooked pasta. This macaroni and cheese recipe is perfect for this....

There are cute animals to make, complete with paper sheets and stickers to embellish! Check it out if you too have first time origami learners!

Supplies: Bread – this works best if you have white bread, the colors show up brighter. Bowls and Brushes – you need a bowl and brush for each color. I just used my basting brushes I have, but it would be more fun with smaller painting brushes, cleaned or unused. Food Coloring – we used all 4 colors and you could mix them too. Milk – whatever kind you have....

These pumpkin cookies are moist, loaded with spices, oats, and butterscotch chips. If you haven’t experienced pumpkin and butterscotch together-you are in for a real treat. They are a match made in heaven! These pumpkin oatmeal scotchies are the perfect fall cookie. Make a batch today! If you share my pumpkin obsession, here are a few more pumpkin recipes you might enjoy: Pumpkin Nutella Bread Caramel Pumpkin Pie with Pecan Streusel Pumpkin Granola Pumpkin Blondies Spiced Pecan and Pumpkin Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread...