Busy Moms Helper

Superhero Hooded Towels Tutorial

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We love hooded towels at our house. It’s just nice to literally wrap them up completely after their bath (for the boys) or for my girl to wrap herself up. They think it’s lots of fun, too! The ones we did have were from when they were smaller – animals such as a lion, shark, duck and frog, and a princess crown one for my girl. They were fine, yes, but having grown so much, it didn’t cover completely. Or really at all – like from the hood on their heads down to their little bums. Then they’d try to curl up their legs to dry off and stay warm, without much success. It was time to replace them, that’s for sure!
I wanted BIG hooded towels this time. And I mean HUGE!!! So really, you don’t need to sew two full towels together, I just chose to for this.
Supplies – per towel
Two bath towels ($3 each at Walmart)
One hand towel ($2 at Walmart)
Felt of color choice for details
 
Here are the color schemes:
Wonder Woman: Blue, Yellow & Red. She has white stars on the bottom, and a gold crown with red star.
Superman: Blue, Yellow & Red. His cape is red, along with part of his pants. Top and pants are blue. Yellow Belt.
Batman: Black & Yellow, or you could do grey as well. I added bat ears to the hood – too cute! Yellow belt.
Green Lantern: Green, White & Black
Directions
Take the two towels and sew them together, with a nice seam. Make sure the prettiest edge is on the outside. (sorry for the terrible pic – was taken in my craft room at night, since the kids couldn’t see them in the day or I’d be totally busted!) The part that’s showing here should go on the INSIDE of the towel.
I thought they looked best with this seam running vertical. Place the hand towel with one long edge along the top of your ‘bottom’ you just created. Again, make sure the prettiest seams are going to be on the outside! Like in this picture below…pretty seams on the outside!
Then take the very top of the hand towel, fold and sew together.
Use the felt to create some Logos, Crowns, Belts, Stars, Bat Ears…..give them personality, just like the kiddos! Then just sew them on – the smallest felt pieces (logos and crown) were done by hand stitch, the rest on my normal sewing machine
See the adorable little bat ears? I LOVE LOVE LOVE them!!! So does my little Batman 🙂

 

 

Sorry I don’t have a pic of my Green Lantern – he was ultra grumpy this week with schedules going back to normal. I’ll try to nab a photo this weekend and include it 🙂
What hooded towel would YOU love to make, and for who?

Dear Santa: Kids Wish List Printable

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Thanksgiving week – WOW!!! I know everyone says how the holidays creep up on them, but seriously, this is pretty ridiculous! Now, there’s probably many of you who already have a good idea what’s on your shopping list for gifts this year. I, on the other hand, am not sure what my kids really want. It’s definitely going to be a mellow year, that’s for sure – moving, buying a house and a puppy….nothing extravagant this year! I do want my kids to be able to ask for a few things on their mind, though, and figure having that done BEFORE the big sales this week would be wise. So here it is…a darling yet simple Christmas Wish List Printable, for your kids, friends, or even you!

Dear Santa Printable

Easy DIY Jet Packs and BONUS Monster-Making Fun Kits

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 If you’re stopping by from The Frugal Foodie Mama, I want to give a big WELCOME and THANKS for stopping by!!! And to anyone else, stopping by from, well anywhere – WELCOME and THANKS to you, as well! Gotta share the love to all, right? Like usual when I’m guest posting for Carrie @ the Frugal Foodie Mama, I have TWO wonderful and totally fun things to share with you today. First up, the absolutely darling (and easy!) DIY Jet Packs my little Superman is modeling for you in the above photo. Out of about twenty pics, this was the ONLY one not blurry because he just wanted to fly around. Too cute!

Easy Jet Pack Tutorial / Bonus Monster Activity / Busy Mom's Helper

Supplies
Two 2-liter soda bottles (empty) – may discard lids
Small piece of sand paper
Silver spray paint
Duct/Gorilla Tape
String, yarn or ribbon
Orange cellophane or tissue paper

Directions
Take the labels off the soda bottles. Lightly sand paper the bottles all over (this helps the spray paint stick better).

Spray paint all over the bottles, allow to dry. Use a second coat if you want – I didn’t see a need to.

Use duct or gorilla tape to attach the bottles together – also put the string/yarn/ribbon as straps attached by the tape and tying. Be sure to measure it to your child, or they may not be able to get their arms in if it’s too small.

Put a small piece of rolled tape inside the bottle top, then stick the orange cellophane/paper so it’s attached and sticks out (these are the flames from the jet packs).

Viola – complete, and so much fun!!!

What color would YOUR kiddos make their DIY Jet Packs?

And as promised……a second fun and super simple project for you today!

These Monster-Making felt kits are so much fun for the kids, and you can make them in minutes (or longer, depends on you)!

Supplies
Felt – various colors
Scissors

Directions
Use the scissors to cut out various shapes for your monsters – Heads, Hair, Eyes, Noses, Mouths, Teeth, Scars, Horns, Ears, Bolts…..get creative!

Then just let your kids create and recreate fun monsters and other Halloween fun creatures!

If you want, you can also put magnets on the back of it all and have it stay together better. Really, the options are only dependent on yours (and your kids’) imagination!

More Halloween Fun…..

Simple Scary Monster Windows

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So, I don’t know if this would actually count as a post – but I feel bad I haven’t shared anything since Saturday. Reason being: my mom is in town!!! The kids and I are having a blast with her, and since I’ve made it a point to put family first, I’ve been a bit absent from here. I apologize, but promise there’s some AMAZING stuff coming up in the coming weeks, so just bare with me!

I wanted to share my Simple Scary Monster Windows with you – especially since it’s SOOOO EASY!!! Seriously, all you do is take a bunch of black 12×12 scrapbook paper (larger, if you can find it). Do a monster on each page, making a variety – witch, different mouths and eyes, horns or snake-eyes, etc. Cut them out, then tape them to your window (inside of the blinds). Then go outside and take a look – Viola!!!

Simple Scary Monster Windows / Busy Mom's Helper

See, super easy, yet lots of fun! Let your kiddo’s help create the monsters and they’ll think it’s the coolest window ever!

Want some other fun Halloween ideas?

Tasty Spider Gift

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These are an oldie-but-a-goodie. My kids actually made them at my mom’s house last Halloween-time, and I snapped a photo of those ones so I could try to do them again. Behold, Tasty Spider Gift second edition! These fun little gifts are so simple, cost-friendly (Booyah!) and cute that kids AND adults alike will love them!

Tasty Spider Gift / Busy Mom's Helper

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Supplies
Tape or Hot Glue
Black Pipe Cleaners (or colorful, your choice)
Jewel, pom-pom – something for a nose
Candies to hide inside!
Directions
 
I got my little canisters at a Family Dollar, and they were only about 50 Cents a piece. So….take your little canisters……
….and glue four pipe cleaners per side (spiders have eight legs, remember?) to the bottom of the canisters. I used black because that’s what I had on-hand, but making fun colorful spider legs would be awesome!
Tasty Spider Gift
Next, glue on the Googly Eyes and Nose to the lid.
Tasty Spider Gift
Fill with candy, replace the lid and VIOLA!!! A really easy, inexpensive little treat craft for the kids (adult-kids also included)!
Tasty Spider Gift
Did you see my other fun Halloween Craft this week?

Cute Witchy Hat

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Okay, can I just brag for a moment on how absolutely beautiful my little Wonder Woman is? Seriously, look at those bright blue eyes!!! Yup, she’s adorable 😀 She’s really been getting into headbands lately, but we only have plain ones. When we were at Hobby Lobby the other day, she saw a black/white striped one and thought it was so fun – I thought it was so boring. A few items in our cart later and I had a plan…turn it into a fun, colorful little Witchy Hat. Perfect!!!

Supplies
Headband
Markers (if you’re decorating the band)
Foam Cone (the size you want the hat to be)
Scrap of fun Halloween fabric (that will fit over the cone completely)
Ribbon/Flowers to decorate
Piece of black construction paper
Hot Glue Gun

Directions
If you’re decorating your headband, like I did for our plain black/white one, use the markers to color over as desired. I alternated purple, green and orange on the white parts.

Here’s the inside – you can see the plain it was before we colored the outside.
Here’s the colored version. The markers did bleed a bit, but you can’t tell when she’s wearing it.
Wrap your fabric so it covers the foam cone completely – use a hot glue gun along the edges and top/bottom to secure it in place.
I wrapped orange ribbon a few different times/directions around the fabric, securing it with hot glue underneath the cone and at the top.
Cut out a large circle from the black construction paper to be the ‘rim’ of the witchy hat.
I hot glued some black flowers to the construction paper, after CAREFULLY laying them out to where they would be AROUND the cone, not stuck underneath it.
Then I clued the cone onto the middle of the construction paper, at the edge of the flowers so they ‘lined’ the bottom edge of the cone.
Finally, just hot glue the bottom of the hat (construction paper) to the headband. Allow all the hot glue to dry well, then have fun wearing your Cute Witchy Hat!!!

12+ Fall Crafts for KIDS

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 I’m a stay-at-home mama, so I’m always trying to think of fun, cute yet inexpensive activities to keep my three younger ones busy (and me sane). Although I’m really eager for holiday ideas and fun, I’m trying to take it slow and enjoy right now – FALL SEASON!!! This is my first fall in Texas, and coming from Northern Utah, where the fall is so beautiful and colorful, I’m kind of blah with just the greens and browns right now. Perhaps it will still happen, but we’ll see. In the meantime, this list of 12+ Fall Crafts for Kids will keep us in plenty of colorful fun!

Fall Crafts for KIDS

Fall Crafts for KIDS
Fall Crafts for KIDS
Fall Crafts for KIDS
Fall Crafts for KIDS
Fall Crafts for KIDS
Fall Crafts for KIDS
Fall Crafts for KIDS
Fall Crafts for KIDS
Fall Crafts for KIDS
Fall Crafts for KIDS
Fall Crafts for KIDS
Fall Crafts for KIDS
Now, I told you 12+….meaning more than 12, right? Well, here’s a FANTASTIC list of 10 MORE fun fall crafts for kids from East Coast Creative!!!

PB & J Muffins

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Adapted from Edible Perspective

Do your kids love PB & J sandwiches? Mine DEVOUR them….it’s like an absolute favorite no matter how recently we’ve had it, or how often. I don’t mind them, but come on, there’s a limit to how many I can eat, and especially how many I can MAKE!

In my never-ending struggle to find creative, inexpensive and EASY lunches for the kids….that they ALL enjoy…I decided to try PB & J in a different form: MUFFINS. I found these WONDERFUL recipe from Edible Perspective, and just changed some for my own family’s preferences.

PB & J Muffins

Ingredients – Muffins
2 1/4 cup Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
2 Eggs
2/3 cup Milk
1/2 cup Applesauce
6 tbsp. Honey
1/4 cup Butter, melted
3 tbsp. Peanut Butter, creamy
1 tbsp. Vanilla
1/2 cup Jelly/Jam

Ingredients – Crumble Topping
6 tbsp. Oats
3 tbsp. Sugar
3 tbsp. Flour
3 tbsp. Peanut Butter, creamy
1 tbsp. Butter, melted

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 Degrees. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin, or line with muffin liners. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix all of the dry muffin ingredients.

In a medium bowl, mix the Peanut Butter, Honey and Butter until smooth. Add the remaining muffin ingredients EXCEPT THE JELLY and mix until well combined.

Pour the butter mixture into the dry mixture and stir until just combined.

Pour enough batter into the muffin cups just to cover the bottom. Top with 1-2 tsp. Jelly, then cover with more batter until cups are 2/3 of the way full.

Make the crumble topping: In a small bowl, mix the Peanut Butter and melted Butter until smooth. Add the rest of the crumble ingredients and MUSH together with a fork until crumbly.

Sprinkle the crumble topping on top of the muffins. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean – keep in mind to stick it in the edge, as to avoid the jelly.

PB & J Muffins

Look at that yummy jelly center – ooooh, yummy! The kids absolutely LOVED these, and are now asking for these even more than the PB & J sandwiches!!!

Kids Chef Hats

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 My family is big on cooking. We just love food, creating and eating it! My kids share this joy, so we thought it would be fun to make them little ‘chef’ hats. It was quick, and I just used supplies I already had around. They loved it; but be warned, they aren’t made to last forever, especially with little ones!
DIY Kids Chef Hats / Busy Mom's Helper
Supplies Needed:
Tissue paper
Scrapbook paper
Tape
Scissors
Kids Chef Hats
Cut 1-2 inch thick strips of scrapbook paper. Measure around their head and tape the ends together, so it’s like a snug headband.
Lay the tissue paper flat, then take each corner and tape it to the inside of the headband.
Take the remaining parts of the tissue paper that are sticking out, and fold them in. Tape them to the inside of the headband so they’re secure.
Fluff the inside so it puffs up like a Chef’s hat.
Kids Chef Hats
Superman usually loves green, but this time he threw a fit because he wants the PINK one!
Kids Chef Hats
Notes: Have fun with the colors; let their individuality and spunk show! 


Sinea over at Ducks ‘n a Row has a wonderful post on a Chef themed party by Ducks ‘n a Row! Be sure to check it out – even if it’s not a birthday, it could just be a fun mommy and kids day in the kitchen!
I’d love to see pics of some you guys come up with!