One Simple Thing - Marbled Paper

Making marbled paper is a fun and educational activity that builds vocabulary and small motor skills!

To create the marbled effect, pour liquid laundry starch into a shallow baking sheet. The liquid should cover the sheet about 1/4 inch deep.
Next, mix a tablespoon of acrylic paint with two teaspoons of water, and stir well. Repeat for additional colors you would like to use. Drop as many colors as you like on the laundry starch surface. Next, use a chop stick or the wrong end of a pencil to create swirls and other paint designs. Cover the design with an 8 1/2 by 11 piece of paper and lift it up by the edges a few seconds later. Briefly dip the paper into a pan filled with cold water to wash off the starch. Let the paper dry on newspapers or on a thick old towel. Throughout the whole process, talk to your child about the colors and patterns she is creating. Discuss the names of the colors and point out the color names on the paint containers. After the paper dries you may have to carefully iron it, using the delicate setting, to smooth out any wrinkles. Voila - beautiful paper that you can turn in to stationary, birthday cards, and other fun projects!

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One Simple Thing - Make Ice Cream! No Ice Cream Maker Needed!

You can make amazingly creative ice cream with your little one by doing the following (the original recipe can be found here ): Whip 2 cups of chilled, heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks form. In a separate bowl, mix one can of sweetened condensed milk with any mix-ins you like. We stirred in 1/4 cup Nutella and 1 tsp espresso powder for an amazingly rich Nutella ice cream. Later, we used chocolate chips and vanilla extract to make Stracciatella ice cream (shown below). Fold the condensed milk/mix-ins mixture into the whipped cream. Transfer this mixture to a plastic container and cover with a tight-fitting lid or aluminum foil. Freeze for 6 hours. Voila! Perfectly creamy ice cream! No ice cream maker needed! This was such a fun and creative project for the kids! They had so much fun making pineapple ice cream (adding 1 can of crushed pineapple) and chocolate (adding a chopped up chocolate bar and chocola...

Tile Coaster Tutorial

Tile coasters are easy and fun to put together and make wonderful gifts! Best of all, they are inexpensive and functional ! Here's what you'll need: Modge Podge (available at craft stores) 12x12 scrapbooking paper (scrap paper is fine too, you'll need 4x4 squares) 4x4 tiles (13 cents and up at home improvement stores) foam brush felt pads (any size, four per tile, found at Home Depot, Lowes etc.) clear acrylic spray Cut as many 4x4 pieces of scrapbooking paper as tiles. Using the foam brush, cover each tile with a thin layer of Modge Podge. Quickly press the paper unto the tile. Let the Modge Podge/paper dry for 15 minutes. Next, apply a thin layer of Modge Podge over the entire surface of the tile and paper. Let dry, then repeat. Finally, spray each tile with a thin layer of clear acrylic to seal. Add the felt pad to four corners of each tile and...Voila -water-resistant coasters that can be customized to match any season or decor!

Frozen Hot Chocolate

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter on low heat in a medium size saucepan. Add 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 tablespoon of baking cocoa. Next, add 1 cup of milk and whisk until almost smooth. Add 6 oz of milk chocolate chips and stir until a smooth chocolate sauce forms. In a blender, combine chocolate sauce, 5-6 pieces of ice, and 1 cup of milk. Blend until the mixture has a frappuccino-consistency, about 20 seconds. Pour into two tall classes, add whipped cream, and enjoy!

Chocolate Isn't a Vegetable?

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