Here are some FREE & Discounted events going on this weekend. Many may seem to have consistent national participation- but it is always wise to call your local location to be sure they are participating…

BARNES & NOBLE: Sunday, December 1st,... there will be a reading of Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas with Grinch themed activities, treats & more. Coming Soon! – On Friday December 6th at 7 pm there will be a reading of the Polar Express with Activities & holiday treats. Plus on select dates in November and December at 11 am – there will be fun activities and adopt an Elf/Name your elf at the The Elf on The Shelf Event

BASS PRO SHOPS: Santa’s Wonderland is thru Dec 24th! Bass Pro Shops is hosting FREE holiday Events daily including a FREE Photo with Santa, games, crafts & more

HOME DEPOT: Saturday, November 30th from 9 am to 12 pm. Kids can build a small toolbox for the holidays

MICHAEL’S: Check out Michael’s Kids Club for fun craft sessions for your child while you shop! For $2 per child, you can reserve 30 minutes of creative time. Sessions are held every Saturday and start every half hour from 10 am – 12 noon. Coming Soon! – Saturday, December 7th kids can make a fun Melted Snowman Ornament

Have a safe and fun week ahead from everyone at Kids Klutter!

kidsklutter.com

DIY Peppermint Gift Jar~

Gifts in a jar are perfect for giving homemade Christmas gifts. This Peppermint Pampering Jar is filled with items like body butter, foot soak and sugar scrub.

Giving homemade Christmas gifts is so affordable! This Christmas I will be giving out gifts in a jar with a Peppermint Pampering theme. It is filled with homemade peppermint spa products and peppermint treats.

If you want to make your own spa products, the recipes are below. If not, you can buy small sized bottles of similar spa products to put in the jars. Or buy large bottles and divide it into small containers.

I started with lots of these small containers from  Dollar tree and spray painted the lids red. Be sure to use spray paint that is specially formulated for plastics. I used Krylon Fusion brand that i found at lowes .   Be sure it can be used on plastic. I am using the color Pepper Red Gloss to paint these lids. 

To make the peppermint body butter, I used I used one Net Wt 7.5 oz jar of Vaseline Cocoa Butter petroleum jelly, three 8 fl. oz bottles of  Bath and Body Works Twisted Peppermint body lotion (bought them on sale) and two Net Wt. 4 oz jars of Studio 35 Vitamin E cream cream.

Put all of the ingredients into the mixer bowl and add 2 drops red food coloring, 5 teaspoons peppermint extract and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Whip everything together.

Fill up as many small containers as you need and put the rest into large containers. This recipe makes 48 oz of lotion. If you don’t need that much, cut the recipe in half.

Peppermint Body Butter

Ingredients

• (1) 7.5 oz (Net Wt) jar of Vaseline Cocoa Butter petroleum jelly
• (3) 8 fl. oz bottles of Twisted Peppermint body lotion
• (2) 4 oz (Net Wt) jars of Studio 35 Vitamin E cream
• 2 drops red food coloring
• 5 teaspoons peppermint extract
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Put all of the ingredients into a mixer and whipped them together.
2. Fill containers with the body butter. This recipe makes 48 oz of lotion.
3. Attach a label to the front.
4. Add a strip of  tape/ribbon across the top.

To make the peppermint sugar scrub, soften 1/2 cup of coconut oil in the microwave for 15 seconds. Add 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar, 2 teaspoons peppermint extract and 2 drops of red food coloring.

Mix everything until the color is evenly distributed.

Fill containers with the sugar scrub.

Print

Peppermint Sugar Scrub

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of coconut oil
• 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar
• 4 teaspoons peppermint extract
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 drops of red food coloring

Instructions

1. Put coconut oil into a bowl and soften in the microwave for 15 seconds.
2. Mix in sugar, peppermint extract, vanilla extract and red food coloring.
3. Fill containers with the sugar scrub. Recipe makes 16 oz of sugar scrub.
4. Attach a label to the front.
5. Add a strip of  tape across the top.

Next, I made some peppermint foot soak by mixing together 1 cup baking soda, 1/2 cup Epsom salt, 2 teaspoons peppermint extract and 2 drops red food coloring. Use a whisk to mix well. The extract made the mix a little wet so I poured it onto a piece of parchment paper and let it dry for 1/2 an hour.

Put 2 tablespoons of peppermint foot soak into each container. When ready to the foot soak, pour the entire contents of the small foot soak container into a basin of warm water.

Peppermint Foot Soak

Ingredients

• 1 cup baking soda
• 1/2 cup Epsom salt
• 2 teaspoons peppermint extract
• 2 drops red food coloring

Instructions

1. Mix together baking soda, Epsom salt, peppermint extract and red food coloring with a whisk.
2. Allow the mixture to dry out before adding to the containers. I poured it onto a piece of parchment paper and let it dry for 1/2 an hour.
3. Put 2 tablespoons of peppermint foot soak into each container. Recipe makes enough that you can put 2 tablespoons into 10 containers.
4. Add a strip of  tape across the top.
5. When ready to the foot soak, pour the entire contents of the small foot soak container into a basin of warm water.

Print, cut out and glue the labels onto the containers.  Avery has an assortment of ready made labels . Put a piece of candy cane stripped tape  or ribbon hot glued across the top of the containers.

Here is everything I put into my peppermint pampering mason jar: 1 Mint Chocolate, peppermint hot cocoa packet, a red manicure set, candy cane lip baum and peppermint candy. I used a  one quart (32 oz) wide mouth mason jar.

Carefully add everything to the jar so that it all fits.Put a piece of candy cane stripped  tape or ribbon around the lid and add a snowflake to the top. Great gift for teachers, baby sitters, or any gal in your life~!

 

Candy Corn Scarecrow

  Great idea for a table decoration at thanksgiving!

To make these adorable candy corn scarecrows you will need:

• An empty glass bottle.  I reused a Starbucks Frappuccino bottle.
• Plastic cup
• Yellow sharpie
• Buttons
• Candy Corn
• Brown and orange paper scraps

Color your plastic cup with a yellow sharpie.  You could also use a yellow paper cup.  However, I like how the plastic curls and it was what I had on hand.  Trim your cup to the correct size, and cut slits to mimic straw.  Gently curl the edges.  Add a paper band to the hat as a finishing touch.  You could also embellish with flowers if you were making a girl scarecrow.

Glue on button eyes and a paper stitched mouth.  Fill your jar with Candy Corn and your little candy corn Scarecrow is all finished.
These little Scarecrows would make a great teacher gift or favors for thanksgiving!
 

Thankful Tree with Paper Pulp

 

 Today we are sharing a fun Nature Play Recipe.  Our adorable Fall Centerpiece Craft for Kids is so simple to make and will look great as part of your Thanksgiving display.

Making Paper Pulp is really simple…

• Have the kids sort paper scraps by colors into separate bowls and tear them into little pieces (we actually cheated and used the paper shredder).  Since we were making fall leaves, we used yellow, orange and red paper.
• Pour boiling water over the shredded paper and let it sit for a few hours.  This will help loosen the paper fibers and make it easier to blend it into pulp.
• Scoop small batches of softened paper and water mixture into a blender and pulse into a smooth pulp.
• Super easy!

The kids collected tree branches and wood chips from our back yard and arranged them in a tin can (make sure your can does not have sharp edges).

Once the kids are ready to start creating, have them squish the wet paper pulp onto the branches.  This will create the look of brightly colored fall leaves.  How simple is that!  The paper will dry and have a wonderful texture.
Just to be clear, we are simply adding the wet paper directly onto the branch.  We did not adding anything to the pulp/water mixture.  I love how beautiful and textural the paper pulp looks when it is dry.

The less planned the leaves are, the better it looks.  Just sit back and let the kids create:) Our little branches supported thick leaves, small leaves, chunky leaves, skinny leaves and each one looked great!

Once the kids have deemed their branch finished, set it in the sun to dry.  Depending on how thick the pulp is, will depend on drying time.  Ours were completely dry by morning.

I can’t believe how beautiful our little Fall branches turned out!  They will make the perfect Thanksgiving centerpiece.

The dried paper pulp is stunning and the kids were so proud of their creations!  I think we may need to make a larger version for my front entry.

Just remember that we did not add anything to the paper, just water.  The dried pulp with turn back into a squishy pulp if it get wet.  You could coat your trees with a spray varnish if you are worried about them getting damaged with water.  This is an inside decoration for sure

• Paper ~ just save your scraps and you will find in little or no time you will have enough to do this with, or use a few pieces of your favorite colors.
• The branches and wood chips were found on a nature walk
• cans- these are from soup or other items used in a can, you can use a jar or any other object to house your tree,  no limit to what you can do.

big thanks to www.houseaforest.com for the pictures and great idea.

visit there website for more fun things!