Spin-A-Color (Fun Nail Painting Game)

Nail painting is such a big part of my girls' lives.  A few years ago, I made them these Spa Bags and they pull them out every few weeks to do their nails.  If I want to give them a special treat, I just let them buy a new bottle of polish.  It doesn't matter to them if it's the cheap stuff, but I do get bonus points if it's a fun, bright color or it has glitter and sparkles. 

For my oldest daughter's recent slumber party, I knew I wanted to include nail painting in the evening's activities.  I took the idea of the "Spin the Bottle" nail painting game (where you spin the actual bottle of polish and the girl it points to has to paint their nails that color), and put a little twist on it using actual spinners.

Check it out...

I actually had some blank spinners left over from my teaching days (but you can find similar ones in the Math resources section of teacher supply stores or order some online).  I used two of the spinners to make the game.  On the first one, I gave the directions and on the second, I painted the actual nail polish on each section to show which color to use.  (I added silver polka dots to half of them for some extra fun).  

NOTE:  I did get the quick drying nail polishes so the girls didn't have to sit around forever while they waited for all their nails to dry!

At the party, I had some nail polish remover and cotton balls available for anyone who wanted to remove their old polish before the game started.  I also spread out a mat on the floor to catch any drips or spills.

As you can see, the girls had a lot of fun with it and the final manicures and pedicures were quite colorful!

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Tatertots & Jello

Rice Krispie Treat Cones

My daughter recently celebrated her 10th birthday with a slumber party for several of her friends.  When planning the treats for the party, I knew I wanted something fun and easy to serve.  As I was browsing Pinterest (seriously, how did I ever plan parties before Pinterest?) I came across these super cute cones at Maddycakes Muse.  How perfect!  They look so much like real ice cream cones but the fact that they're actually chocolate-covered Rice Krispie treats make them so easy to make in advance and serve easily.

Check them out...

Here's how I made them...

(Note: To make 18 cones, I had to make up two batches of the Rice Krispie treat mixture)

1.  Make up a regular batch of Rice Krispie Treats.
          * 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
          *  1 bag of marshmallows
          *  5 1/2 cups of Rice Krispie cereal

     Melt the butter over low heat, add the marshmallows and stir until melted.  Remove from heat and add the Rice Krispie cereal, stirring until well coated.

2.  Allow the Rice Krispie mixture to cool slightly so it's not quite so sticky, about 5 minutes.  Then fill the inside of each cone with the mixture ~ this gives you more treat to eat AND it helps to stabilize your cones so they're not too top-heavy.  Next add another generous scoop of the Rice Krispie mixture to form the top "ice cream" part of the cone.

See how the first scoop filled it to the top of the cone, 

then the second scoop was mounded on top?

3.  Instead of using an ice cream scoop, I found it easier to just scoop out the mixture with a regular spoon and mound it on top.  Then I used a piece of waxed paper sprayed with cooking spray to mold the mixture into a more evenly rounded shape.

4.  Finally, I melted some chocolates for dipping.  I did three "flavors" ~ white chocolate for vanilla, white chocolate tinted pink for strawberry, and regular chocolate.  I simply dipped the top of the cone in the melted chocolate, then used a rubber spatula to spread it on evenly.

5.  I set the dipped cones in a cupcake tin for some stability and added some sprinkles while the chocolate was still warm.

That's it!  They were quite simple to make and looked really cute set out on a tray for the party.  (Although I forgot to get a picture of them nicely displayed!).  

The chocolate coating was a bit too hard to get a regular birthday candle into, but we improvised with a sparkler and it was a huge hit!

One happy and satisfied birthday girl...

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Tatertots & Jello

Fall Planting Time

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Miracle-Gro for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I've mentioned before that I don't have much of a green thumb.  I'd love for my yard and flowerbeds to look great, but I need a lot of guidance and help to know what kinds of plants would do best in which spots.  Then, once they're in, I need even more help to keep them growing well.  Luckily, there's lots of help out there.   Miracle Gro recently introduced a team of real-life gardeners who share their tips and experiences to help the rest of us ~ they even have helpful videos to show you exactly what to do in different situtations.

I've learned that Fall is a great time for adding some new plants or shrubs to your yard.  The ground is still warm so new roots can take hold, but it's not so sweltering hot that tender new plants dry up before they even have a chance to grow. (Plus, it's not nearly as uncomforable to be outside working).  I recently spent several days outside tackling an overgrown jumble of shrubs (and weeds) near our pool. 

I'm not going to lie, it was hard work cutting and digging out all the old shrubs and putting in the new ones, but I know it'll look so much better by next year when we start our pool season.  I'm also confident that my new shrubs have a great chance of surviving my "brown thumb" thanks to the Miracle Grow Tree and Shrub soil that I used around my new plants.

Check out the  Gardenieres  site for lots of fantastic tips and videos to help with your Fall planting.  I really like this video sharing 10 Common Things to watch out for when gardening.  (Believe me, I need all the tips I can get!)

Also be sure to check out   Miracle-Gro Facebook page   for even more tips and great info.  You can talk to fellow gardeners and share your own gardening stories.