Seriously, how did I not know about this!?

I’ve always heard of snickerdoodles, but I had NO IDEA how good they really are.  Now, my how family is aware, and we’ll likely be using this snickerdoodle recipe many, many times.  The cookies stayed soft for days, even when left out in the air.

Related Pages: 12 Christmas Sugar Cookie Recipes, Applesauce Recipes

Snickerdoodle Cookies Recipe:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar (Yes, there is something other than home made play dough that uses cream of tartar!)
• 2 TBS sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  

  How to make snickerdoodles.

Beat the butter on med-high for about 30 seconds before adding half of the flour, the sugar, egg, vanilla, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Then add the rest of the flour and beat it all together.

In a smaller bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon.

Roll your dough into 1-inch balls and then roll them around in the sugar/cinnamon mixture.

Place the balls two inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for about 11 minutes at 375 degrees (F). The edges will brown slightly.

Cool your snickerdoodles on a wire rack (or, you know, whatever).

After going on two vacations and getting three kids ready for school, I, for one, am more than thrilled that my children started school today! I don’t say this too often, but I am 100% happy to be back to work!!! So to celebrate, I’ve put together some school coloring pages for kids.

School Coloring Page	School Coloring Page - Wise Owl	School Coloring Page - Cute Crayons
School Coloring Page - Animal Student	School Coloring Page - School Supplies	School Coloring Page - Classroom Students
School Bus Coloring Page	Fall School Coloring Page	School Coloring Page - Fall Fun

You might also like our animal coloring pages or this adorable set of book worm alphabet coloring pages.

My kids are SO ready to go back to school. Yesterday they were even watching TV with their backpacks on, wishing summer was over – I kid you not! So I’ve thrown together some back to school worksheets in the hopes of capitalizing on their summer boredom woes. But these will also be great for kids in 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade as a way of giving them some fun worksheets to welcome them to the new school year.

Related Pages: School Mad Libs, Teacher Newsletter Templates, Back to School Crafts

Back to School Word Search	Back to School Word Ladder	Back to School Word Scramble
Back to School Word Search Answer Key	Back to School Word Ladder Answer Key	Back to School Word Scramble Answer Key

Check out all of our back to school printables while you are here!

At our house, Dress Up is a favorite game.  While Miss Dot has plenty of costumes in the form of dresses, tiaras, wands, tutus, etc., sometimes you just want to be a pig.  We decided to get creative and make some pig ears one day, and we made it all from things we had around the house (including scraps!).

Related Pages: Pig Coloring Pages, Printable Pig Mask

What you’ll need to make your own piggy ears scrap felt craft:

• Pink felt
• White batting
• Headband
• Scissors
• Glue (we used hot glue, but if you’re more patient, your kiddo can totally do this with white glue)

Scrap supplies for this toddler craft.

Cut the pink felt into two diamonds. We folded it in half and cut out a triangle. (You get to learn about two shapes at once!)

Cut two triangles, a bit smaller than the pink ones, from your scrap batting.

Add glue to one side of the diamond and wrap it around the headband.

Fold it in half and then add the other ear to bring your piggy costume to life.

Glue on the batting.

You can't tell me that's not the cutest thing you've seen all day.

What I Learned the Hard Way: We were totally making this up on the fly, so I didn’t think to measure the ears out in advance; and they’re a little on the big side.  One of my friends suggested that maybe we were playing Olivia from the children’s books.  Yeah…that’s…that’s totally what I was going for!

These mustache necklaces are almost too much fun.

OK, I have to say, this is probably the coolest kids’ craft we’ve ever done.  Someone linked to these mustache necklaces that were on sale, and after giving it a quick look-see, I figured we could make our own.  Here’s how we did it.  (Also, you’ll see a couple of variations at the bottom, so if you don’t want to get as crazy with the jewelry aspect, you can still totally make them with your kiddos.)

What you’ll need for this kids mustache craft:

• Shrink film
• Marker
• Hole punch
• Scissors
• Baking sheet
• Baking paper
• Necklace (pictured is a chain from the craft store, but you can also use elastic string and beads)

Supplies needed to make a mustache necklace.

Trace the shape of a mustache onto your shrink film. (We printed some from the Internet to use as a template.)

When you shrink them, they’ll end up being about 1/3 to 1/2 the size they start out.

Color in the mustache with your marker.

Cut the mustache out as close to the edges as possible.

Punch two holes at the top as shown.

We weren’t sure what size would be best, so we experimented with a few.

We got a little creative!

Place them on the baking paper on your baking sheet, leaving plenty of room between them. Bake according to the direction on your shrink film.

Have fun watching them shrink!

Take the middle link out of the chain, and hook both ends through the holes in your mustache.

While it works as a mustache necklace, the real fun comes from sliding it up under your nose!

For a little easier version, simply use elastic string.

Hilarious, right?

We made this fancy beaded one for a teenage friend of ours.

What I Learned the Hard Way: While the chain idea is cool, I think the elastic ones with the beads turned out looking the best.  There’s even some special elastic at the craft store that won’t get all stretched out after you’ve pulled on it to put the mustache under your nose a few times.

I’m slowly getting back into the swing of things after wrapping up writing my book (woo!!). I won’t lie, it’s been pretty hard switching gears from running the Woo! Jr. sites to book writing, and now back to writing and running the Woo! Jr. sites again. But now that June is here and the kids are out of school, I’m finding it a little easier to create new printables and projects again.

These writing prompts are great to help younger kids write up a special message for dad for Father’s Day, plus also help keep writing skills intact as summer starts to take over our brains. There are two more serious story starters about how much we love our dads, and a funny one to help kids imagine what life would be like if their dad was an alien. Think about it – you could celebrate the holidays in another galaxy and take vacations in a space ship!

Related Pages: Father’s Day Kids Poems, Pre-K through 5th Grade Summer Worksheets

Story Starter - I love my dad because...

Story Starter - If my dad was an alien he would...

Story Starter - The best thing about my dad is...

Learning to write craft project

So, my amazing three year old recently learned how to write her name.  I wanted to continue to encourage her to learn her letters, so we came up with this fun craft to practice them.  We use erasable markers so that she can practice her letters over and over again.

Make a craft that encourages kids to learn to write:

• Poster board (you could do a smaller version with cardstock)
• Markers
• Pencil
• Ruler or yard stick
• Scissors
• Contact paper

What you need to make this reusable writing poster.

Measure out your lines. We did larger ones at the top for learning the letters and smaller ones at the bottom to practice them.

Trace your lines to look like the paper you used in elementary school.

We used green on the top (for “go” or “start”), a yellow dashed line in the middle (for “caution”), and a red line at the bottom for “stop.”  I also wrote the alphabet, numbers, and basic shapes in the middle so Dot could use them as examples when learning to write.

Lay the poster out on your contact paper, cutting two pieces and then affixing one to the back and one to the front.

I left about 1 1/2" around the edges to make sure I had enough and then trimmed it down.

Look what a great job my super-brilliant girl did! (She wrote the one on the right, which is probably obvious.)

I didn't want to waste the back, so I colored it like a picture frame, and she can doodle on that erasable surface, too.

What I Learned the Hard Way: I got dry erase markers for this, and they don’t come off quite as well as I was hoping.  Using washable ones and wiping it off with water might be a better way to go.

This is a slightly more personal post that I don’t normally write on Craft Jr. But if you want to skip my big announcement and just get to the plush softie patterns, they are below!

Some of you may have noticed that lately I haven’t been posting very frequently, that our newsletters haven’t been going out, and in general, things have been mostly quiet on both Craft Jr. and the entire Woo! Jr. Network. I’m happy to say that it has been due to (mostly) very awesome reasons! (The not so awesome reason is that my brand new laptop is still getting “repaired” after almost a month. But I digress…)

Anyways, I’m kind of rather spectacularly proud of the fact that my first book, Mom Blogging for Dummies, is pretty much done and is getting ready to go to press! It is coming out this July – squeee!

Mom Blogging for Dummies by ME!

Let me just say that writing a book is way more work than you probably think it is.

No. More work than that.

It pretty much took up every spare second of my time (and then plenty more hours on top that didn’t fall into the ‘spare time’ category). The lovely and talented Lorna Doone Brewer has been keeping you entertained with projects while I’ve been busy, and I’m happy to say she will continue to do so even now that the book is complete. Over the next week or two I’ll be getting back into the swing of things around here, and more regular posting shall commence!  If you can’t wait for the book release, you might want to pre-order Mom Blogging for Dummies now just to make sure you’re the first on your block to get a copy!

Lots of book writing + running a business + being a mom = brain drain

As satisfying as it was to write a book, it was also a little draining. Mostly this was due to the fact that without any of the aforementioned “spare time”, I was unable to do any sewing, crafting, or creative projects for about 4 months. I know, right? I kind of went bonkers. So this last week I blew off many overdue side projects, emails, and important communications to replenish my creative soul (sorry to those who are still waiting for emails – that’s next on my list, promise!). What did I do? I sewed. As in, sewed so much that I actually got sore from it. I promised myself I would make my first quilt when I was done with the book, which I did – it’s almost complete!

But this last weekend was the really fun part of getting my creativity back – I sewed softies!!

Making Stuffed Animals

I just have to say, sewing softies (Stuffies? Plushies?!) is rather addicting. I made one for myself, then went on to make one for each of my kids, too. None of the patterns are mine, but I’ll show you where to get all of them:

Fancy Peacock from the book Little Birds

Stuffed Peacock Pattern from Stash Books' Little Birds

I bought the book Little Birds based solely on the fact that I saw this peacock on the Stash Books Blog (eye candy alert) and literally HAD to make one for myself immediately. He is proudly perched in my craft room now, and I get happy just looking at him. I mean, who wouldn’t be happy looking at this adorable thing??

Little Birds from the Stash Books Design Collective

Pikku the Penguin from the book Little Birds

Stuffed Penguin Pattern from Stash Books' Little Birds

So, have you ever bought a book based on one awesome project, only to find that the rest of the book is only mediocre? Well, that’s NOT the case with Little Birds. I have plenty of work-related catching up to do this week, and I’m having to talk myself out of making more birds. That sounds really odd when I say it out loud…

Anyways, this little penguin was adorable and perfect for my youngest daughter. I made it out of a recycled cashmere sweater, so the resulting toy is beyond soft and cuddly. I had a hard time giving this little one up.

Little Birds from the Stash Books Design Collective

Stuffed Angry Bird from Obessively Stitching (Free Pattern!)

Stuffed Angry Bird Pattern from Obsessively Stitching

My son wasn’t quite as impressed with the rather girly-girl birds in the first book. So we went over to Obsessively Stitching, where Care has created sewing patterns for all the Angry Birds and green pigs, too! My son had the hardest time deciding which one he wanted me to make for him (complicated further by the next book – you’ll see what I mean). But he was kind of ecstatic when I was done with this. He’s not usually into stuffed animals, but his love of the Angry Birds game outweighed his usual disdain for softies.

Asp Turtle from the book Beasties

Stuffed Turtle Pattern from Diana Schoenbrun's Beasties Pattern Book

I have to admit, this pretty darn adorable turtle isn’t entirely representative of the things you’ll find in Diana Schoenbrun’s Beasties book. My oldest daughter is a turtle lover, so I used the pattern but made it extra cute (don’t you agree?!). The book, however, is filled with softie patterns that can be truly called “Beasties” – a cyclops, werewolf, Loch Ness monster, aliens, a yeti, and some truly strange creatures that pretty much defy explanation. This book was filled with so many cool monsters to make that my son asked if he could make one all on his own. Yep, an 11 year old boy asked me to teach him to sew because of this book.

Beasties Patterns by Diana Schoenbrun

So, that’s where I got the stuffed animal patterns to make my own softies. You may see another post like this in the near future – but I promise I have to get caught up on emails first. :)

FYI – these are not affiliate links, I live in Illinois and pretty much can’t use affiliate links at all anymore – new weird tax law, don’t ask. :(

But I did get a free copy of Beasties to review late last year. I feel pretty bad it’s taken me so long to write something about it! I bought the other book with my own hard-earned pennies. :)

Super cute craft apron that kids can help decorate.

I have to admit that sometimes it’s difficult to get pictures of Dot doing crafts because, well, the kid hates to be dressed.  That also means that she gets pretty filthy when we do some of our projects.  We’ve been able to solve both problems while creating a really fun craft.  We used fabric paints and markers to make her a special “craft apron” that she can wear when we’re doing our “little projects.”

To make this apron for kids, you will need:

• A kid’s apron (this one was $3 at Joann Fabrics)
• Fabric paint
• A fabric marker

You only need a few supplies to decorate a kid's craft apron.

Let your kiddo dip her finger in the fabric paint and stick it on the apron. Two green dots on top of each other make a cute frog.

Dot did hand prints on her craft apron, which is so fun because we can compare them as she grows.

Of course, you can decorate your kid's craft apron however you want.

After the paint dries, add eyes and smiles with your fabric marker.

The craft apron looked a little plain, so we added some words with the fabric marker.

What I Learned the Hard Way: Kids hate waiting for paint to dry.  ;-)

I’ve seen this project several places, including the new craft book I bought with a birthday gift card.  (There’s a swear word in the title, so I won’t type it here.)  Anyway, I was dying to try it out, and now Dot keeps asking me over and over if we can do it again.  The results were actually kind of stunning, as we ended up with custom stationery that has an awesome marbled effect, but I was terrified the whole time because we did it in the carpeted dining room.  I hightly recommend doing it in the kitchen in case one of your pans of bubbles spills.

What you’ll need to do some bubble painting:

• Water
• Dish soap
• Shallow dishes or pans
• Straws
• Paper (we used blank cards and envelopes to make stationery)

Supplies for bubble painting.

Fill your pans about halfway full of water and add a couple of drops of dish soap.

Add in several drops of food coloring and stir. (It needs to be pretty dark to really show up on the paper.)

Insert a straw and start blowing until the bubbles are almost spilling over the top of the pan or dish.

I just thought this picture of bubbles was really cool, so I included it. ;-)

Lay your paper over the top of the pan and smoosh the bubbles down with it. ("Smoosh" is a very technical term, by the way.)

When you pick up the paper, you'll be able to see marks where the bubbles touched it. (You can actually see where a few bubbles are stuck on still. They pop on their own.)

Do this several times to cover the whole paper.  We also used more than one color on a paper to make more colorful designs.

Here are a few of our finished bubble art pieces:

Blue and purple bubble art hand made stationery.

Hand made stationery in all kinds of color combinations.

What I Learned the Hard Way: You need a LOT of food coloring in the water.  I think we ended up using about eight drops to about half a cup of water.

What Dot Learned the Hard Way: Blow, don’t suck.  (Oops!)