Catholic-families Archives

Our Halloween Decor! (Indoor-Outdoor-Photos Galore!)

October 9, 2011 By Laura 22 Comments

BOO, People!! So excited here, to show you all around! I had a goal this year (2011), to have our whole homestead Halloween decor done (known as the 3-day Hallowtide, to us) by October 1st! That way, we could enjoy it all the whole month of October. I also wanted it all blogged no more than a few days later. How long can it really take, to photograph, edit, and blog it? Apparently….9+ days. With my kids busy schedules, I’m in the driver’s seat, in gyms and on fields, more than in my computer chair these days. (Enjoying it, although behind in work to say the least. But my kiddos come first!)

Now, I have to explain real quick, that I have been trying to ‘find my place’, with Halloween decor, for years. From a spiritual/Catholic point of view (always where I am at), I don’t like to stray too far from the true meaning or Christian roots of any holiday, including Halloween. This is why we have always extended our focus to Hallowtide = All Hallows Eve, All Souls’ Day, and All Saints’ Day. (You can see more about that, and how we roll, HERE.)

On a completely unrelated note, but tying in with the theme, I personally am a big baby, some may say. I do not like scary/gory/terror/evil anything. My kids laugh at everything they see, and I look away. I freak out inside a little bit, myself. Not to mention (ok, I will….), that I see zero value in all of it. So…. decorating has always been a bit of a reluctance / confusion for me, about what I wanted to do. But I can say this year, I found my groove, and the game was on!
In that light, I hope you enjoy seeing our homestead, outdoors and indoors, that I have photographed for you all.
LET’S GO!

best Halloweeen decor Off the bat ( <—- <giggle!), I’d like to give huge props and thanks to Emily from Frosting & Ink Social Designery! <—- Click on the link to see her Etsy shop! I purchased this Halloween Party Collection from Frosting & Ink, and used it for my home decor! While I can design much of anything myself, I hardly have time these days. And besides, when I saw what Emily created, I was all over it! So she deserves lots of credit here! I’ll be posting some her beautiful designs, and showing you how I used them throughout these photos. I actually have not used them all yet, but there is always next year!

002

Got to warn you: I handed the Hubs the cobweb stuff, to be in charge of getting that done, and he went crazy with it! Even {O} giggled watching him and said, “I can tell you’re having fun with that stuff Daddy! You don’t want to stop!”

One more note: I had fun editing these photos, with some little grunge effects, etc. My house is not actually this grimy looking, inside or out! Not that’s it’s perfectly clean either. If anything, it gets more of the messy & dust-bunny kind of dirty. LOL ; )

So here is my very favorite Halloween creation, I made with a design from Frosting & Ink….

best Halloweeen decor

My Halloween Parking Sign! That’s right, I’m the witch around here! Heee hee heeee! Some will agree with that, in a heart beat. ; ) Others will argue, “No000 sir. She is kidding you. She is the sweetest thing ever!” Depends who you talk to. LOL. (Or the day? lol). Just kidding.

best Halloweeen decor

Anyway….I smile every time I pull the car into our driveway, about 20 times a day, and see my sign. It’s something I made to be able to use every year, for years to come. I saw the whole thing in my head, the second I saw the design. Michael made the jagged wood board for me, and we painted/distressed it, etc. It is weatherproof.

If you are wondering how, I do plan to do a quick post in the Crafts section, about how I made some of these Halloween decor things, sometime this week. But this post is just about showing our decorations for now.

best Halloweeen decor I just have to show you the amazing and beautiful detail in Emily’s work! I always loved that font used for ‘Parking’. A band I love, Daughtry, uses that letter-style for their logo. It’s called Bleeding Cowboys, I think. It’s a perfect choice for Halloween designing. Good call, Emily!

best Halloweeen decor

I was soooo on the fence (<—-another pun…giggle!) about getting this skeleton at Michael’s Arts & Crafts!! I definitely am drawn to skulls and cross-bones and stuff, you know? I have no idea why. They just ‘look’ cool to me. Yet I don’t really want to like them so much. LOL. So….this is about my line, as far as decor goes. See? Call me a wimp. As long as we placed him humorously, was our/my decision. I do like seeing him, hanging out there! (As long as it’s not dark out! lol)
–

007_halloween-garden-home-decor Here is a wider view of our front-yard-gardens.
The flowers are pretty deadish now, which really kind of makes it all work! Don’tcha think?
–

best Halloweeen decor

Another perspective of our friend. From Snap Peas to Skeletons!
–

best Halloweeen decor I love my newly painted buttoned bottle.

best Halloweeen decor The potting bench.

Bats swarming our front door. It was a popular idea last year, that I loved. But I’m slow. : )
Details of how I did this will be in the Crafts post too.

best Halloweeen decor This chest Michael picked up free somewhere in front of someone’s house. It’s super interesting inside! Really old…meant for shipping clothing and goods, etc., I think. There are all of these compartments inside. BUT, when opened, there is a heavy mold/mildew odor (which I am immediately allergic to), that we can’t get rid of. So, we’ll be tossing it, instead of doing anything more with it. But I thought it would be cool to keep through Halloween out on the front deck, anyway.
–

best Halloweeen decor

Through the glass of our front door here, you can see our Halloween wreath I made, with another design from my party pack from Frosting & Ink!

SO……that’s about it for our outdoor Halloween decor.

Would you like to come in??…

best Halloweeen decor When you order for this particular pack from Frosting & Ink, you are supposed to give her your last name, so she can customize this design. I incorporated it into a wreath. I’ll share more about how I made this later, in the craft post, too.

best Halloweeen decor The wreath is technically on the inside, because it is not weatherproof, in any way! Just turning it over here, so you can get a better look of it as a whole. But faces outdoors.

best Halloweeen decor

Our Halloween Tree. Yep….still have that stick tree there! LOL.

The Halloween lights and black crow were bought at Michael’s Arts and Crafts.

Some of you may know, I love making inter-changable fan pulls, for our all-season room. (Anyone?) I haven’t made one in a long time. BUT, I did make one for Halloween this year!….

best Halloweeen decor Beads and this spider, from Michael’s Arts and Crafts.

best Halloweeen decor

How cute are the little ghosts??

best Halloweeen decor

I did this kind of thing on our French doors, for Christmas and spring too. I used the the little Cupcake Toppers and Party Signs, from the same Frosting & Ink Party Collection, for what I call ‘Fancy Strands’, down my doors.

025_ A little over the top with the cobwebs, much? It is a bit of an old family portrait now. Well, only 2-3 years. Time for a new one, although we’ll keep this one up somewhere in the house, too, anyway. But that’s the fam.

Well would you look at the time!….

It’s late, and I must get to bed. I am sure we’ll have something more Halloween-ish to share, in the coming weeks. We do plan to do something with pumpkins! And as I said, I’ll be showing how I made everything crafty in this post, in a coming post in the Crafts section. So….we do hope you come again. (If you DARE!! Because we’re wicked scary….right? ; )

ETA: Here is the link for: Tips, Tricks and How-To’s to our Halloween Decor in this post

Please say “BOO!”….if you enjoyed this peak of our Halloween Homestead!!?

Feel free to share the post, or PIN any photos you’d like, as well!

Isn’t the Halloween season fun??

* * * * * *
creative Halloween decor

Save

Our Homeschooling Year 2011-2012, Kicks Off!

October 6, 2011 By Laura 9 Comments

Well, forgive me for the delay with any updates about our new homeschool year we’re in the midst of here! Once we kicked it off at the beginning of September, we’ve been very occupied finding our groove, with our new schedules. Things are quite different for us this year! With the kid’s respective ages and levels, life has opened up new and exciting opportunities, of experiences and learning, for all of them. Not to mention new territories for us parents! We have a high schooler now, for example, and with it comes all kinds of things. But the younger ones are also following their passions and gifts, more so than ever.

Some of you may know this, but for those of you who do not, we are year round homeschoolers. We keep a lighter (academic) schedule in the summer, and begin a whole new school year/grade levels, in September. It’s always a very, very exciting time, as we love to plan out and begin a new school year! We’re really blessed that our kids are enthusiastic students, who love school and learning. This coming school year, was filled with more anticipation than ever, and it’s been as CrAzY and exciting of a ride, as we expected.

I always take the kids’ new school photos on the first day of school. This year, it was almost a week later, but we got it done. We have also ‘always’ taken their portraits in the school room, at the side of the cabinets. But if you follow our blog, you may be aware that we drastically changed our school room set-up, and those cabinets are gone! You can see the old and new set up of our school room, as well as the style of school photos we were taking in all previous years, in this recent post.

So this year, I did all of the kids’ school photos outside. These photos will be in the sidebar quite soon, so that new comers can see the kiddos who make up our homeschooling world. In this post, we wanted to share with you a little about their (book) subjects they are studying this year, as well as some other little interesting tidbits of information. In coming posts, we’ll be sharing a lot more, including activities/learning experiences outside of their academics, some deeper thoughts and observations I have had as a homeschooling parent, and lots of other fun and interesting homeschooling related posts. We hope you’ll join us for it all, with discussion and sharing of your own!

homeschooling-new-year-1
This is our oldest daughter/student, Alexis Grace (14). Also known as {A} around the blog here. She has been homeschooled (not necessarily at home…right? lol), since 3rd grade, and just started 9th grade this year. We can’t believe we have a high schooler now! That means I worked hard over the summer, researching, and piecing together a serious 4 year college prep plan for her. And maybe panicking, just a little. The girl scares me, and excites me, and makes us all proud, all at the same time! She has huge aspirations, and her heart set on really great colleges. We cannot let her down, and we believe in her, because she is so unique in her focus of her life at her age. She is so faith-filled, determined, intelligent, tough, independent, and firm on the path she is laying out for herself. What fascinates me, is it’s all a far cry from anything her father or I ever dreamed for ourselves, or were interested in. But that’s why each one of us has our own calling, and why it’s important as homeschooling parents, to help shape our children’s character, and foster the calling they feel God has put in their heart, as the work He has meant for them to do, in their life. It’s all about guiding and supporting them, to be the people they are meant to be.

Throughout this past summer, Alexis taught the 4th Grade Religious Education at our parish (2 weeks), and ran the games activity for the kids of Vacation Bible School (1 week.) She also earned herself a Catholic High School scholarship, that has covered all of the expenses of her academic and extra-curricular school year. We’re proud of her, and grateful as well!

This school year, as a high school Freshman, Alexis’ courses are: Language Arts (Alpha Omega /LifePac), Algebra (Math-U-See), Biology (Apologia), History/Social Studies (Streams of Civilization-Volume 2 Cultures in Conflict Since the Reformation), Latin (Latina Christiana), Spanish (All Bilingual) , Art and Music (Piano – private lessons, and the Recorder – all kids at home.).

Alexis is also playing sports now, for our town’s public South High School! She is really involved there. That is a whole other exciting post. I could easily ramble, so I’ll save it, but suffice it to say it’s been really wonderful for her so far, and exciting for us. It is extremely time-consuming on a daily weekday basis. But I’d say we best get used to it and keep making it work.

In the light of sharing all of their subjects in this post, I feel it’s important to mention, that we live our personal faith, which is Roman Catholic. So it’s not a subject the kids study for school, but more something we are always teaching them, and they are always living and learning it as they grow. Just as we still are as adults, actually. That said, they do begin each day all together, with a Scripture, discussion, and prayer. As a tool, we still really love Living Faith-Kids!!

JackMichael (9), the first-born of the triplets. Also known as {JM} around here. He and the other 2 have the same academic subjects of course, being in the same grade level and age. As I said, I’ll be posting more about what they love to do outside of their academic studies, and I’m excited to do so, because they are all so unique, with their interests and personalities. And yet, the differences from within their unique selves, meld together so well with each other. It’s fascinating to me, to observe, frankly. But anyway, for today, here are the subjects all 3 of them have this year:

Language Arts (Alpha Omega / LifePac), Math (Delta / Math-U-See), Science (Exploring Creation with Astronomy-Apologia), History/Social Studies (Christian Liberty Press / Our Nation Under God, and, History Stories for Children), Writing Strands, Spanish (All Bilingual), Latin (Prima Latina), Art and Music ( Recorder – all kids at home).

Olivia Faith (9), the second triplet born. {O}, which we tend to call her 1/2 the time, ourselves. The boys especially, refer to her as “O”, a lot. And you know what she calls them, when she’s talking to the both of them? “Boys”. It always cracks me up, because there is such a motherly air about the way she says it. So….our own little baby boom is “O and the Boys”, I guess. It has a cool little ring to it, now that I think about it. : ) Oh, speaking of their names, and {name initials in brackets}, I know we’ve been a little all over the place with it. The thing is, using initials for any sake of privacy or protection, is pretty irrelevant by now, considering they’ve been on TV a few times now, (related to our Catholic faith) as well as the newspaper, for different things. All times with full names. On the flip side, I have found myself continuing to use their initials in brackets sometimes, for the sake of brevity. As you can see, my posts tend to be perhaps a little lengthy, so I need to use all the brevity tricks I can. : ) The kids are all well aware, lots of people know who we are by name, but the reverse isn’t necessarily true. (Especially around our town, and the people we meet and run into in person.)

Shane Jacob (9), the last born of the trio.

(Reaching for ‘brevity’ now………..). Shoot. I forgot what I was going to say. Ummmm. Oh yeah. You see that beautiful little school desk in the background? That is Michael’s, from when he was a little boy!! What a treasure, huh? That sweet and sentimental little antique is going to be another blog post coming up, that I am planning, as well. There’s some story to tell, and some specific things that are part of the desk, that you will not believe!! Michael’s antique school desk, is not the only one we have to show you, either. So if you’re interested, be on the look out for that post too!

homeschooling-new-year-5 I am glad I thought of doing a quick ‘class picture’ of sorts, while we were at it. I sure love my class!!

Honestly, I’ve struggled a little with this homeschooling section of the blog, right along. It’s a lifestyle to us for sure, but one that is just so normal to us, I think…”What is there to blog about?”. But I know there is LOTS. Lately, my realization of that has really broadened, and in the process, I have realized why I am not as active in this section. Which is crazy, because I so passionately love homeschooling my kids, and living this life I do with my family, that it hardly makes sense. But I see now where it comes from, and I think I’ll be sharing those thoughts very soon too.

So stay tuned!! This homeschooling section should be picking up steam, real soon! You should know, we love comments and hearing from all of you! But if you are a homeschooling blogger as well, we especially encourage comments with your blog-linked names, so that we can visit your stories and shared, comment, and connect with you all as well. Our hope and goal is that we are all an inspiration and encouragement for each other, in raising and educating our children, as homeschoolers or not. homeschooling happens to be the route we have happily taken, with a deep love and passion for it. So our posts will derive from that life we live, as a homeschooling family. But proving a great education, however any of us do, is the more common thread. So thanks so much for stopping by, and please DO again! God bless you all!

Gosh, I promise I’ll work harder on that brevity thing, too.

******

Save

Our Triplets’ Turned 9 | Their Birthday(s) Celebrations

September 26, 2011 By Laura 7 Comments

Yes, our triplets’ turned 9! So hard to believe.

This birthday post is a bit late just about every year. But considering the triplet’s birthday is the last day of August, and then we hit a new busy school year, a belated post is like a tradition with valid excuse, in my mind. I don’t think anyone is really waiting for it anyway. It’s not a report as much as a record of our celebrations for ourselves, and anyone interested.I hope to scrapbook it all someday too.

Sp here are tons of photos from over the course of a couple of days, and a little story-telling here and there too, if you’d like to hear all about it.

We go to the fair every year, but this year we made it part of their birthday celebrating. The first thing we did when we got there was go see the arts crafts in the Agricultural Hall. It’s more of a judged show, of quilts, kid’s artwork, etc. And then we got Fried Dough! We could hardly wait for that. So we didn’t. ; ) (Well, Alexis waited to get hers right before we left later that night.)

Tobar the Robot is always around, and it’s hilarious to see him scare the dickens out of fair-goers, when he suddenly moves. We sat and watched that for awhile, and laughed out loud with food in our mouths. (That would be the Friend Dough.) The Trio always love going down Super-Slides, every chance they get. I think I’d feel the burn, climbing those stairs over and over.

triplets-birthday-3 Feeding the animals is always a must with them too. I thought the little nursing goat was the sweetest little thing. I have no idea what plant that tee-pee is, but I have a feeling puts off big blooms at some point? Any guesses or knowledge? You can go inside too. There’ a sitting bench in there.

triplets-birthday-5 They still love the Carousel, and always ask to find that. Then they go several times on some of the smaller rides.

triplets-birthday-8 The guy running this game was a HOOT! But anyway….Oh my word…..do not let this girl near Foxwoods Casinos! lol. {A} saw this game, where you can win cash, and it was all she played! She was darn near-tormented by the thing, and was having a hard time walking away. She was playing the window in the top left there, so you can see how much money was right on the ledge there! She was smart with her money, only putting back in what quarters she won, but she was going for those bills, and this guy knew how to joke with you and keep you playing. He was funny! Look at how he was talking on his cell phone, so he didn’t have to hold it. Anyway, I would have discouraged {A}, as it did feel a bit like gambling, except that I knew she’d do well by any money she won. Probably something charitable, and then put the rest towards her campaigning funds, or something. ; )

Like most fairs, there was food everywhere! Oh the aromas in the air! So many choices one doesn’t get very often, that Michael and I found it hard to decide what we wanted, come dinner time. But our kids knew just what they wanted, and I could not even believe it! SALAD! I was like….“Really? At the fair, you want salad for dinner?” Yes, really, they did. Alrighty then. We finally found the place they had seen earlier. HUGE salads, and the scoffed every bit up. I was so torn over what to have myself, that I ended up just having a a few bites of their salads. It WAS very good. I think it’ll be on my mind next year. lol

triplets-birthday-10 They had a really great time, and it was dark before we finally left.

triplets-birthday This is their special birthday breakfast, that I made, and already shared in the Vittles section. A little twist on our traditional birthday number pancakes. and the whole fam loved it! Fried French Toast, made as healthily as I could manage. (This shot is pre- butter, confectionery sugar and syrup, of course.)

triplets-birthday-4 We gave each of them 9 surprise gems for their Gem Jars on their birthday morning. They were thrilled about that!

triplets-birthday-7 Packages always start arriving the week leading to their birthday, and this one from their Aunt in Arizona, sat on the floor in the sun room in front of the wood stove, waiting….and it intrigued them to no end. They went over to it every day, wondering if maybe there was a Scorpion in there! And guess what? There kind of was! lol. They each got a bunch of Arizona souvenirs and such, and one of the things was a scorpion encased in acrylic, like a paper-weight. They loved it all.

triplets-birthday-9 They get just as much of a kick, out of their birthday cards.

triplets-birthday-11 Arizona stuff from their Aunt. The scorpion is in the red thing.

Also a big package from Grandma.

triplets-birthday-13 Big sister had a gift for each of them, and they also all had one for each other.

All of the photos are not in this blog post. That would have been ridiculous. But suffice it to say they were very grateful for everyone’s thoughtfulness. They treasure everything they get, always.

Of course, we had a gift for them too…..

triplets-birthday-15 Wii.

I think they were shocked! I am not a fan at all, of video-games for my kids, personally. This may explain why they are likely the last ones on earth, to get Wii! And believe it or not, it was my idea. They are older now though, and it comes with serious rules and strict time limits, which they are all totally fine with. It’s not an every day thing, but more once a week. They have never even asked for Wii, or anything like it, even after they played some a time or two at others home, and had a good time. It’s just not the kind of thing we ever do much. But, with the rules and limits we have in place, it’ll be a fun thing when it’s still raining after a week, or the bitter-temp days that come all in a row, come winters, to get some energy out – because it is pretty physical. They only got the sports related games. Believe you me…..this is not connected to the internet (hell to the no…), and there are certain games/sports that are off limits.

Call me a poor sport. Mama don’t care. ; )

triplets-birthday-16 Normally we don’t invest in such high-ticket items–especially for birthdays or holidays. But, Alexis did get that camera for her 13th. And this gift is split 3 ways. Of course the whole family can use it.

Also, Grandma generously pitched in and helped pay for it. <3

triplets-birthday-17 Creating their Mii’s alone, had them laughing hysterically trying the different features. I think they came out really quite resembling them!!

Their cake request……

triplets-birthday-18 It was a unanimous decision, and they wanted one cake: White cake with chocolate chips, white frosting and coconut flakes. We were thankful not to be up baking 3 different requests all night. We’ve done that when they have 3 different requests, without complaint. We feel they deserve the kind of cake they each want, like any birthday kid, and shouldn’t have to compromise. But sometimes we luck out. Buying store bought cake is not an option, with {S}’s peanut allergy. Home made is always better anyway.

(May all of your wishes come true.)

Here’s a really fun thing we also did: On the night of their birthday, some family friends of ours were gathering down on the waterfont, for Plymouth Idol, because…..their son was competing! We were invited, and we wanted to be there to cheer him on. (You all know I can make some noise! As can our kids. lol)

triplets-birthday-20 His name is Mark. I think 100’s auditioned prior to the event, and he made it into the top 10, which was the public Plymouth Idol we went to watch.

Don’t mind his scrubs, but he barely got to the competition in time! He’s a nurse, and came from work. The judge panel was kind enough to wait for him, and he got there just in time to go on stage 10th!

Mark has an amazing voice!! Not only is his singing beautiful, but it is filled with such emotion. He’s the kind of performer that when you watch and listen, you get so sucked in, you forget where you are.

Here’s how the competition went: There were 10 contestants who sang, the judging panel cut it down to 5, those 5 sang a song, they cut it down to 3, and then those 3 sang again. The judges commentated after each performance, just like American Idol. Mark had a little tough competition. There was a young opera singer who was certainly gifted. But Mark was the best, and non of us felt were biased. lol. He had 3 songs picked to sing, should he make it through each round: 1 from Les Miserables, and 2 by Josh Grobin.

And HE WON!!! We were all so excited!!

triplets-birthday-21 The Trio had a really good time, because their little friends were there too. I did not seek permission to share their photos on the internet, so I just blurred their identity. But they were so cute all together, having a ball. They were upfront and cheered Mark on like crazy. Despite how it appears in this photo, there was a big crowd there for this event. It was a beautiful night too, right on the waterfront, with the ocean breeze. We were really happy for Mark and his family. What a great evening.

To end our day of celebrating, we went out to dinner to somewhere the kids have always wanted to go:

triplets-birthday The food was great, as was the company. I have another story from there that was pretty amusing, but it could get lengthy, and this post is probably long enough. (You think? ; ) You can ask me for it separately if you’d like. But anyway, the servers were really good to the kids.

triplets-birthday-14 What I really love about their birthday every year, is how they really celebrate having each other. They’ve said many times, in different ways in various conversations, that they are so happy they were born together, and get to celebrate their birthdays together. I’ve asked them, “Don’t you think it would be nice to have a birthday all of your own, too?”, and they said “No!”. lol. They’ve never known anything different, so they probably cannot imagine it.

One thing is for sure; While we did feel like we hit the Baby Jackpot (once we got through all of the fears and worries), we are so thankful, that they came along, regardless. Whether together, or one at a time, each one of them is a blessing all their own to us, and it’s a beautiful life, to watch them grow up(Alexis Grace. too!), and become who God uniquely made them to be. I do wish it would slow down a bit.

Dear God, thank you, for entrusting them to us.

And to JackMichael, Olivia Faith and Shane Jacob:

Happy Birthday to You, and You, and You!

XOXOXO

* * * * * *

Save

French Toast, My Way. (The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread.) | Recipe

September 15, 2011 By Laura 8 Comments

Recently, a very special breakfast was in order. It was our triplets’ 9th Birthday, and we always have a special breakfast on birthdays in our house. Usually, it is my husband’s specialty of ‘Birthday Number Pancakes’, which we have blogged about many times. But this time, I had plans. I really wanted to make French Toast, and just like the kind I had had so many times growing up, at a particular restaurant. The crazy thing is, I cannot for the life of me (yet) remember, what restaurant that was! It’s one of those questions I’d love to ask my Mom, but can’t, because she is gone now. : ( I know she would know. I have searched recipes all over the net, trying to find a recipe even close to the kind I had had, to no avail. Alas….I decided, “What do I need a recipe to follow for? I can figure this out as I go!” I decided I believed in me.

And what became of that fearless leap, is the best French Toast, we have ever had. (Quite equal to the mystery restaurant’s French Toast, if I do say so myself. Except their’s was like, a 1.5 inch thick slice of bread, cut corner to corner into a triangle. The crust sides were the best.)

It’s important to note, I am pretty health conscience, for my family. But this French Toast was to be deep fried, which of course is why it is SO good. And it’s a treat! On special occasions, one needs to indulge. Still, I wanted to make this recipe as healthy as I possibly could, while still making it taste exactly like I wanted. So, while we never really have white bread, we did for this. The oil I was deep frying in, was the healthiest possible (I think): Canola Oil. It’s what we always use to make donuts and such as well in the Fall. And as you read the few steps here you’ll find I had a few other tricks that made me feel better about the whole health thing in my mind. You are going to need a deep fryer, for this particular how-to recipe. Ready?

Participating Ingredients, to have on hand:

(*Amounts depending…)

Bread Slices (I used thickest white slices I could find.)
Corn Flakes Cereal
Eggs
Milk
Vanilla
Cinnamon
Canola Oil

For Table:

Butter
Confectionery Sugar
Syrup

***

*I say amounts depending, because it really depends on how many French Toast you need to make. If you need more of a batch of anything, you just get a little more as you go. No big deal. Also, to keep things moving and producing quickly, it’s helpful to have a helper. {A} and I were a great team in the kitchen this particular morning. (And will be a gain soon. ; ). So, the following is stations you want to have prepared before you actually begin cooking.

Dipping Mixture: In a shallow dish, crack 3 eggs. Add 3/4 cup of milk, a few drops of Vanilla Extract, and a dash or 2 of cinnamon. Whip it up with a fork.

Bread/Toast: A key ‘trick’ here, to making your French Toast as good as it can be, is to pre-toast your bread. Trust me, it makes all the difference, as to not soak-up the mixture into the bread, but rather coat it as intended. So for us 6, I covered 2 cookie sheets with tin foil, and put the bread slices in the oven at the lowest setting. Just watch them, until they are toasted a bit. Flip them if you’d like. Both sides don’t need to ‘look’ toasted, but just feel toasted on the surface. Once they are all toasted, pile them all onto one sheet and cover the emptied sheet with a layer of paper towel.

Deep Fryer: Fill fryer with Canola Oil to recommended level. Heat to 350 degrees.

Crunch Coating: In a shallow dish also, have Corn Flakes cereal crushed up. Little flakes are fine. Don’t crush it to dust.

Now…..here goes the assembly line routine, which you can sort of see in the 2 photos coming up:

001 1) Put a piece of toast into the egg mixture, flip it over quickly with a fork to coat the other side, and take it out right away using a forl. Let it drip off as it hangs from the fork, and then lay it in crushed Corn Flakes dish.

2) Press the toast slice down a little into the flakes, flip over, and press again. Neither side has to be completely covered with the flakes. You just want some on there.

3) Move the coated slice from the flakes, and lay it in one end of the deep fryer basket. Then do a 2nd piece the same way: Quickly coat both sides in egg, let drip, coat both sides in flakes, and lay in free area of basket.

4) Now lower basket into oil, and immediately start counting to 1o. The toast will float. So when you get to 10, flip them both over, and count to 10 again. Bring the basket up, and hook on the side.

Enter Trick # 1: I had to stand both pieces up after each set, as shown above. In my mind, it best helps any excess oil drip off, instead of soaking into the toast. And ultimately, makes it crispier. Then….I would put onto the paper-towel covered cookie sheet in the still warm oven.

Repeat sets of toast until you are done. We only had to make a little more egg mixture once, and crush up some more Cornflakes a few times.

Now, this was our Trio’s Birthday Breakfast, and so we had traditions to stick to. I managed to cut 9’s out of the top French Toast on each of their plates, and put it on the side. Of course, this was before we added the wonderful toppings! (Coming up.)

fried-french-toast-recipe-2 The Happy & Hungry, 9 Year Old Triplets!!

For topping, I just lightly butter, sift a little confectionery sugar on, and then drizzle on the syrup.

I can’t even explain how delicious this French Toast is. My family was loving every bite. It’s filling, for sure. But it’s not heavy in your mouth or stomach, in the oily ‘ugh’ kind of way. It tastes light, and sweet, and it’s nicely crispy on the outside. Add some sausage or bacon on the side, with juice or coffee, and it’s a special breakfast, that’s worth the little production effort for sure. Consider trying it this weekend, and letting us know how you liked it!

I think we might be having it again ourselves. 😛

Save

A T-Shirt Craft / Wicked Cool, Fun, Easy, & Not Messy!

August 17, 2011 By Laura 35 Comments

This just may be the coolest and most fun craft, I have ever done with our kiddos. If that wasn’t awesome enough, it is super easy, and it doesn’t make a mess either!! I know, right? It’s perfect for kid’s birthday parties, scouts, camps, etc. Our kids didn’t want to stop. They even made a couple of shirts for their friends. But all of you mothers, as we show you how simple this project is,….think outside the box, for yourselves, or other projects, too. I am!

awesome fun t-shirt craft All you need is:

some white t-shirts (in your sizes)
sturdy plastic cups
rubber bands
bottled rubbing alcohol
a (liquid) dropper
and Sharpie Permanent Markers in colors!

Easy supplies to gather, right? Here’s how you get creative with them.

awesome fun t-shirt craft Lay your t-shirt on the flat surface you are working on, front side up. Take the cups, and arrange them upright in different places inside the t-shirt, one at a time. As you do this, consider that where ever you have a cup, that’s where a design will be put on your shirt. Secure each cup as you go, with a rubber band. (You can do more later, on the sleeves or backside of the shirt.)

awesome fun t-shirt craft Using your colored Sharpie Permanent Markers, get creative and make some designs or simple line drawings on t-shirt fabric that is over the opening of the cups. My kids even played a game of Tic-Tac-Toe on one. In a moment or 2, I’ll get to what colors or techniques you may want to avoid, and which ones worked best. We learned from little mistakes so you don’t have to, and figured out some tips and tricks that I’ll share with you too.

You’ll be able to see them for yourself, too. ; )

awesome fun t-shirt craft Each designer can personalize them in their own style, symbols, colors, or simple line drawings that they like, or mean something to them. Or if it’s a gift, think of the recipient. Simple words may be able to be used as well.

Here’s where it gets even more fun.

awesome fun t-shirt craft

Working on one design at a time, slowly drop drops of alcohol in the *center of the circle/design. As you do, you will see the marker ink start to spread. You don’t want to drop too much alcohol though…..you need to do this slowly, and watch what is happening. The spreading will slow down, but if you watch carefully, it is often still spreading. If it does seem that it stopped, add more drops, one at a time, and keep watching.

*TIP: It’s important, to only drop the alcohol drops in the center. Reason being, it pushes the ink from the center, outward, spreading it evenly and nicely, for the right effect. Also, if the fabric becomes too saturated with alcohol, the drops drip into the cup beneath, which pretty much evaporate. But that is why it’s important to keep the cups pretty upright, as to not spill any colored alcohol that may be sitting in the bottom of the cup.

awesome fun t-shirt craft Once you get the feel for it, you can do more at once. As one design is spreading, you can start another (and another) beside it.

Do you see the multi-color burst? That one is still spreading very slowly. Do you see the little purple swirly one? That’s a little shot glass, instead of a bigger plastic cup. Perfect for the side of a sleeve too.

awesome fun t-shirt craft

Here, {O} had finished drawing out her designs, and she’s now dropping alcohol on them. It’s really so exciting, to watch them and see how they are going to turn out.

awesome fun t-shirt craft

As you can see, black can get pretty messy. In the case of the smiley face, I like how it turned out. It reminds me of a record. Remember those? ; ) But if the black were in the center of the design, it really would have blotted out the rest of the colors.

Now look at the rainbow and clouds. Because she was dropping alcohol under the last color of the rainbow, where the center is, all of the color above that pushed up. Because again, it spreads from the center. So that’s a good thing to keep in mind with your designs. Blue reeeeaaallly spreads, so be mindful with that color, too. It may seem like it’s a lot to remember, but really, once you are working with the colors you, you get it quickly.

*TIP: We actually did a test t-shirt before we began our own t-shirts, and played a bit, just to see how it was going to work. But the colors’ chemistry is something we learned on the real ones. So you may want to consider 1 practice t-shirt for everyone to do a practice design on collectively. Or, you all can just live on the edge, and go for it!

Here, the boys draw out their designs…..

Sometimes, the ink will spread so much, that you can’t hardly tell what it was anymore, such as with the blue and yellow one above. It was a thunder cloud, with lightening coming out. But that’s ok! The designer knows what it was, which makes it fun! Other times, you can vaguely still see the deign, like a subliminal message. ; ) In the photo above, the very top two designs in the photo are not alcoholed yet. So let’s take a look at how those came out….

awesome fun t-shirt craft See, I was concerned that that “J”, so colored in and outlined so darkly like that, might turn into a hot mess. Using dark colors and solidly coloring in something, is going to turn out much like that J. But the flag turned out pretty cool! Again….see how it spread from the center? It creates it’s own design.

awesome fun t-shirt craft

Drop…..drop…………….drop…..we don’t really want to stop!

Here are some of my favorite designs…..

awesome fun t-shirt craft
Antony…..get it? ; )

awesome fun t-shirt craft Have a nice day.

awesome fun t-shirt craft Love this one. It’s {S}’s design.

awesome fun t-shirt craft Dragonfly.

Here’s how the kid’s own t-shirts turned out. WHICH, they are loving wearing. We have not washed them yet. I think I will just hit them with an iron before throwing them in the wash, to kind of ‘heat-set’ them first. Even though, it IS permanent marker, and shouldn’t come out.

Also…the shirts dry very fast, because it’s just alcohol, which evaporates.

Next time……because there will be a next time, very soon……we’re going to try not securing the rubber bands so tightly, and try to make a less defined circle. Because it’s the fabric pulled tight over the edge of the cup, that really keeps the ink from spreading much more. I bet it would look cool to let it go, too.

awesome fun t-shirt craft Our kids ‘signed’ the shirts to their friends, on the back side, bottom left, of the shirt. Here, the shirt is secured over a square vase container.

Check out how cool it spread…..

awesome fun t-shirt craft I have more designs in mind, that will be fun trying.

Other Ideas: This technique can be used in the more traditional way that tie-dyed shirts are done, by twisting and rubber banding the shirt, coloring it with markers, and applying the alcohol.

I’m going to try making my own shirt, with a design just in the center, on a women’s t-shirt. Maybe a little something cool on the sleeve cuff too.

Another idea: white bandanas!!

Hope you loved this easy, fun crafts, that’s (not just) for kids!!

You may also be interested in another t-shirt craft we did years ago: T-Shirts with Sole!

* SPREAD the craft idea with others! Facebook it, Twitter it, or Pinterest it for yourself.*

Have fun with it!

If you and your kids do this craft, take photos, and blog it….come back and leave the link in the comments of this post, so we can see how yours came out!

******

Save

« Previous Page
1
…
3
4
5
6
7
…
15
Next Page »

Amazon Affiliates