"Magic" Crayons

I'm enjoying the day babysitting for my twin nieces and their older brother Alex. He and I enjoy learning new crafts together so, while his sisters napped, we made "Magic" Crayons. 

It's a quick and easy kids' craft: Take the ugly, broken crayons from your collection, remove their paper wrappers, break into smaller pieces and place inside a muffin tin. You can do each one multiple colors or solid colors. Bake in a preheated 275°F oven for about ten minutes or until they're melted. Once cooled, they should pop out.

Alex was enjoying seeing them melt through the oven window and this is a great way to teach children how to recycle and re-use old, broken objects. 

This post was inspired by a post seen on Instagram. If you're on there say hello and please feel free to post if you've tried this craft. 

My Favorite Ogre

So, my little nephew Alex came to visit this morning and modeled my Ogre Hat for a few cookies. He is at the age where he doesn't stay very still, but he liked the hat and we both had fun running around, chasing a ball. When I created this hat, I was unaware Shrek The Final Chapter was coming out later this month.

Beautiful Day!

I found these on my morning walk today. They were so tiny, but a sure confirmation that Spring is here. A day early, but I'm noticing things popping up all over. When you look at the trees, there is actual color in their silhouettes. I love this time of year.

Today is also my birthday. I started it all off with a sweet morning walk with my 17 month-old nephew and we had some serious fun. He's at the point now where is shadow amazes him and as he gets to a curb, he stops and accesses the step ahead. The morning light provided a nice long shadow for him to run from. He twirled, ran, stomped and amazingly, that shadow couldn't not be shaken. I love watching him learn and figure these little things out.