Snowman Button Cookies

 

We are currently residing in the extremely frigid (-20 F last night), snowed in part of the country right now and as much as I'd love some fresh air, I'm not about to step outside with all the kids in this weather. If you're like us and spending quite a bit of time indoors, here is something you can do with your kids to keep busy!

 

It might be too cold outside to build a snowman, but you sure can make some snowman buttons inside!

 

Snowman Button Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 c. unsalted butter, softened

3/4 c. sugar

1 egg

1 t. vanilla extract

2 c. flour

1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

 

Blend the butter and sugar together. Beat in the egg and then stir in the vanilla extract. Slowly add the flour and cocoa and mix until soft dough forms.

 

Split the dough in half and cover each with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

 

Preheat oven to 375. Unwrap the dough and nestle between two sheets of plastic wrap. Roll into 1/8" thickness.

 

Using the top of a wide-mouthed canning jar cut the dough into circles. Take a regular-sized canning jar and gently press inside the larger circle to leave a circular indent.

 

 

 

Poke four button holes into the cookie. (We used bamboo skewers).

 

 

 

Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 6 minutes.

 

The original recipe was from Family Fun Magazine and if you want printables to go along with this go to www.familyfunmag.com/printables.

 

 

 

 

 

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Using the Seasons to Teach our Children about their Creator

Recently I had one of the best Saturday afternoons ever with our two older children. The activity was nothing grand and was certainly inexpensive, but boy, did we have fun together. :)

Our kids love to do crafts. Their Momma? Not so much. So when I saw this EASY, FUN idea in the September issue of Family Fun magazine I knew it'd be a good match for all of us.

All you do is gather some beautiful leaves and grab a couple of paint pens. We used gold, but the article used Silver. Either one are pretty in my opinion. The article suggested drying them for 10 days I think but I only pressed and dried ours for a couple and they worked just fine.

I picked up a paint pen at Target and it had both a fine and large tip on it and it was less than $3. That means really cheap "craft" but a fun and artistic time for the kids and me.

Here's a peek at some of the leaves we drew on....

 

I also used this time to help point our children to passages in Scripture that talk about the seasons and to remind them Who has sustained these seasons for thousands of years. There are some really neat passages in Scripture that go with this theme. One of my favorites is Psalm 104:19 "You made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to set." This would be a great springboard for science too because then you could study about the sun, moon and stars in location to the earth during different seasons. (Hey, that's a really good idea...maybe I should actually do that!) :)

 

A few other Scriptures are Daniel 2:21 "He changes times and seasons;" and Job 38:32 "Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons...?" Or Acts 14:17 "...He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy."

I'm sure you can find some more Scriptures that use nature to help point your children to their Creator but these will get you started.

It was a beautiful, sunny, perfectly warm day with some nice tea, my kids, the Word of God and my favorite music, Scripture Lullabies. Life can be really busy at times but I am so thankful for special moments like these!

Thanks so much for visiting Purposeful Homemaking. Please take a moment to "Like" me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter and Pinterest or stay connected with Google Friend Connect so you don't miss a thing!

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Current Sponsors

I am blessed to have the following sponsors on Purposeful Homemaking. Interested in adding your name to the list? Check out my advertising policies. 

• Halifax ISA-Individual Savings Accounts
• doTerra-certified pure, therapeutic-grade essential oils
• jenuinely pure-all natural and organic skin care products
• Mary & Martha-Meaningful Entertaining...Made Simple
• Usborne Books-excellent books for children of every age

Recap of Our Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day 2013

The kids are ready to party!

We had such a wonderful Valentine's Day yesterday and this was just one of our hi-lites...enjoying a fantastic party put on by my sweet friend.

We took over a few of our Valentines for her kids which included this one below.

(It's a box of crayons with this message on the front)

We ran out of time to make these bookmarks but my kids enjoyed making them later on at home. Inspiration found here.

Adorable Valentine Robot chairbackers for each child to hold their Valentines in.

And of course we made sure the food all reflected the theme as well with heart shape everything!

 Cucumbers with hearts cut out from a cookie cutter

 Cupid Hearts (Watermelon)

 Some of the goodies to eat

Ice cream station! (Two-thirds of my kids don't tolerate dairy so she made awesome coconut ice cream from coconut cream and maple syrup. Yummo!!!)

The kids assembling their heart shaped Legos

 What a girl! Look at the heart shaped homemade pizzas! (Yes, some without cheese!)

Each child used a Vintage styled plate (Love these!)

 Marshmallow Pops (Yep, she's amazing!)

The adorable table for the kiddos!

God blessed our day in more ways than one for Valentine's Day 2013 but He sure used this party as one way to bless us. The kids had such a great time! Thanks, my friend!

Thanks so much for visiting Purposeful Homemaking. Stay connected so you don't miss a thing:

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  My eBooks: A Wife's Guide to Studying Proverbs, Topical Devotions for Pregnancy and Early Potty Teaching.
  
  This post may involve product that was received in exchange for a review or contain affiliate links for which I will earn compensation should you choose to make a purchase. I am disclosing this information in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR Part 255, Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Thank you for your support of Purposeful Homemaking.

Produce Craft with the Kids!

Around our house, we homeschool four days a week and leave Fridays open for the extra things in life. Sometimes we have to run errands or go to appointments, but ideally, I like Fridays to be at home. It also helps me make sure the kids get some extra play time outside that they might be lacking during the week.

Plus, I can get caught up around the house and do extra things with the kids like crafts, maybe a French lesson if we got behind that week, or spend a little extra time doing preschool with our daughter. . I have reviewed so many great products from TOS this year that I am never lacking for extra-curricular material!

Today, we actually managed to get a craft done. (Thankfully it was a simple one and I already had everything we needed to do it!) I got the idea from Family Fun Magazine (one of my favorite magazines!)

It's a head start on some of our Valentine's Day cards. (Click here for some more Valentine's Day ideas we did last year!)

I love the creativity that some people have out there. I never would have thought to use the end of a celery bunch to paint with, but it makes a beautiful rose shape! Who knew?!

Here's What You Do

Simply cut off the end of a celery bunch and then dab it with a bit of paper towel to wipe off the excess water.

Then have your child paint the top of the celery bunch.

Once the celery bunch is completely coated with paint (this link is to my new go-to for child safe art supplies!) have your child press it down onto a piece of blank paper that has been folded in the shape of a card. Make sure you kind of wiggle the celery to get all the pieces onto the paper.

See? It's a rose!

Even our little guy got in on the fun!

Everyone enjoyed the craft (and I was happy I actually did a craft with the kids!)

Do you have any good Valentine's Craft Ideas? I'm starting to collect them on my Pinterest board and would love to pin your idea! Simply leave a link to your idea in the comment section below. Thanks!

Stubby Pencil Review

What is Stubby Pencil Studio?

I recently discovered this very cool kids' art supply shop. They have super great eco (which as far as I know, would always make it then, kid-friendly) art supplies.

What Do They Carry?

Really cool things like...

 Organic Chalk??

Yep. You read that right. This chalk is completely safe for small children.

You know how little ones tend to put everything in their mouth? Well, you won't have to worry if they gnaw on one of these! Although not intended for food, it won't be a problem should your toddler get the sudden urge to chomp down on one. 

This chalk is made with organic ingredients, is vegan, contains no wheat, sugar, preservatives, or lead! (Set includes 5 pieces of sidewalk chalk: green, yellow, orange, pink and purple.)

Here's another fun product and at a great price (I know because I bought some watercolor crayons from another company prior to finding Stubby Pencil and I did not pay this...)

Watercolor Crayons!

For only $3.95 you get a set of 12 non-toxic watercolor crayons! What are watercolor crayons, you ask?

Well...they're these very fun crayons that after you color with them, you dip a paintbrush in water and brush over your drawing to create a watercolor picture. (Best to choose watercolor paper when doing this craft. Ask me how I know.)  You should definitely check these out.


Stubby Pencil also has colored pencils like these...

Eco Friendly Colored Pencils

These pencils are manufactured in California from Incense-cedar wood and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (meaning they have originated from environmentally well-managed forests.)

Set of 12 in recycled paper packaging for $6.95





I don't know about you, but when I go on Stubby Pencil's site, I can find a lot of cool art supplies that I would love to get my kids. I'm sure you can too!

They also carry school supplies, books, toys and things like this Nature Bag for, perhaps, your favorite Bug Hunter.

 

My favorite Bug Hunter with his Nature Bag.

We can't wait till spring so we can have his Bug Hunting Birthday Party!

The Nature Bag includes: 1 recycled rubber wood magnifier, 4 soy crayons, hemp twine, 8 color cards, 2 leaf viewers, 1 recycled mini notepad, 1 recycled denim pencil, 1 organic cotton blindfold and an activity booklet.

Sponsors:

Teachable Moments-character training tools

Thanks so much for visiting Purposeful Homemaking. Stay connected so you don't miss a thing:

• Subscribe by Email
• Pinterest 
• Facebook
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• Twitter
• Google+
  
  
  My eBooks: A Wife's Guide to Studying Proverbs, Topical Devotions for Pregnancy and Early Potty Teaching

This post may involve product that was received in exchange for a review or contain affiliate links for which I will earn compensation should you choose to make a purchase. I am disclosing this information in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR Part 255, Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. Thank you for your support of Purposeful Homemaking.