Trash to Treasure "Monster High Doll House"

My daughter LOVES Monster High so much that I decided to make a "MONSTER HIGH DOLL HOUSE" out of a bookcase that my neighbor was throwing away. My girls already have a Doll House but they always fight over it so I figured I could make an extra one for them to be able to share.

This is how the bookcase looked at first.

I painted only the inside of the bookcase in three different colors purple, pink, and blue. I wanted to make the floors of the rooms different from the wall colors so I used scrap paper to make them different. At first I was going to Mod Podge the paper on but I didn't like the wrinkles it left so I just used double sided tape and regular tape to tape the scrap paper down.

On the top floor "Pink room" I put  a "MONSTER HIGH" vanity set. I cut out some of the pictures in the box that the set came in to decorate the walls in the room.

The second floor "Blue room" is where I put the "ART ROOM" set and I also cut out windows and pictures from the box to add to these walls as well.

The first floor "Purple room" is where I put the "Cafe"set. 

The "Cafe" cart did not fit in the room so I put it outside the "Purple room" next to the bookcase for the girls to play with. At the bottom of the bookcase I put two storage trays for the girls to keep all their "MONSTER HIGH"  accessories in. I printed out some "MONSTER HIGH" skulls to put in the front of the trays to decorate them.

At that is it! Our new "MONSTER HIGH" dollhouse out of an old bookshelf. All the furniture that I used in the dollhouse were "MONSTER HIGH" furniture sets.

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Fall Decor Ideas

FALL is here and it is time to decorate. I LOVE the FALL it is my favorite time of the year and I love to decorate for it! Here are some ideas to decorate your house for FALL with things I bought at Dollar Tree and Wal-mart.

For my front door I just took some Foam board and a bag of fake leaves (or you can use real leaves) that I got from Dollar Tree to make this letter D wreath. I just cut the foam board in the shape of a D (it doesn't have to be perfect because the the leave are not perfect) and glued the fake leaves on it with Mod Podge glue.

Next to my door is my PUMPKIN tree that I made with things I got at Dollar Tree. I took the little pot at the bottom and put out last name "The Daniels" on it with letter stickers. Then I took a ziplock bag and filled it with sand and taped it to the inside bottom of the pot so the PUMPKIN tree wouldn't move with the wind. Then I taped green foam on top of the sand bag poked the leaves into the green foam to stay in place. Then I bend the leave out over the rim of the pot. Then I put our family's names on the four foam PUMPKINS and connected them together with skewers sticks (the sticks you use for grilling). Then I took another skewers sticks and connect the bottom PUMPKIN to the green foam that is in the pot. Last I made a bow out of ribbon and glued it to the top.

I took some leaves garland wrapped it around the porch.

I also hung some more leaves, HARVEST sign, and a wire PUMPKIN. All from Dollar Tree.

In front of my porch I made a little PUMPKIN patch with foam PUMPKINS and SCARECROWS. All from Dollar Tree.

Inside in my living room I took a leaf wreath and put it on the table and placed a PUMPKIN candy dish in the middle of it. I got both of these from Wal-mart when they went 50% off after the Holidays.

Also in my living room I made this PUMPKIN bouquet go here Dollar Tree Pumpkin Bouquet to see how to make it.

I took some fake PUMPKINS (that I got 50% off at Michael's) and made vines out of black puff paint. Then I took brown wine glasses and filled them with little red/green APPLES and turn them over to created candle holders. Then I tied a bow around the wine glasses.

These are some more Dollar Tree items that I use in my dining room.

There it is my FALL DECOR IDEAS. What have you use to decorate your house?

APPLE THEME FUN

We are still doing some APPLE THEME FUN things for SEPTEMBER and this past weekend we did some more Activities that my girls of coursed LOVED!!

First activity we did was make "APPLE VOLCANOES". I had seen this idea all over PINTEREST  and couldn't wait to try it with my girls! My  girls of course LOVE to do ERUPTING EXPERIMENTS and this activity had that idea plus it uses APPLES to go with our theme. Win Win

To give this activity a sensory feel I decide to add APPLE PIE SPICE to the baking soda so the girls could smell the scent of APPLE PIE while they do their activity.

Also in keeping with the APPLE THEME I made the vinegar green with food coloring and also added APPLE scented hand soap to it (which will create more bubbles too).

Next I cored out a a little bit of the APPLE to make it into a VOLCANO!!

I set up all the materials the girls will need on a tray so that the "lava" will be contain in the tray.

The girls added the baking soda to the APPLE and notice the scent of APPLE PIE!!

Then it was time to add the green APPLE scented Vinegar.

And the eruption began!!

Bri was so excited about this activity that she did it over and over again!

Next I made APPLE PIE SPICE CLOUD DOUGH. Cloud Dough recipe itself take only two ingredients to make it 8 cups of Flour and 1 cup of baby oil ( if you want to make it kid safe for little ones you can replace the baby oil with any cooking oil). To make the cloud dough have a APPLE theme to it I just added APPLE PIE SPICE to the cloud dough to give it the scent.

Next I added measuring spoons and cups. Also I added little pom poms (to be APPLES) and little red pie plates so they can make mini APPLE PIES!

Here is Bri's little APPLE PIE! She was so busy creating she got flour on her forehead!! LOL

Here is the after math of creating LOL

Next I cut up some APPLES and set up the table for the girls to do some APPLE painting.

After the paint dried the girls cut out their APPLE print shapes and made an APPLE wreath by gluing the APPLES prints a paper plate.

Me and my girls are loving all these APPLE activities! We just LOVE the FALL!!

Flat Sheet Fort/Tent/Hide Out

TUESDAY TIP: Instead of buying those tents for your kiddos bunk beds take the two FLAT SHEETS that came with the bedding sets that you got for the beds because lets be real NO ONE using the flat sheet. Tuck them half way under the top bunk and your kids have a FORT/TENT/HID OUT/ whatever they want to call it all the time!! My girls love it!!

Apple Pie Spice Play-doh

We are still doing APPLE theme activities in my house and on Sunday we did a Sensory play activity. I love making HOMEMADE PLAY-DOH especially when I can change it up for the theme or the seasons. So this time I put a "APPLE PIE SPICE" twist to our regular HOMEMADE  PLAY-DOH recipe. 

The Ingredients you will need to make this PLAY-DOH are:

• 1    Cup of Four
• 1/2 Cup of Salt
• 2    tsp of Cream of Tarter
• 1    Cup of Water
• 1    Tbs of Applesauce
• 1     tsp Apple Pie Spice 
•        Red food coloring

First mix the flour, salt, cream of tarter, and apple pie spice together in the skillet with the heat off. 

Next mix the Red food coloring in with the water. I mixed 1/2  little bottle of Red food color from the Assorted color box (I used a lot of red because to get the color red you have to use a lot of food coloring because the white color in the flour and salt will turn the PLAY-DOH "PINK" if you use just couple of drops of Red food coloring. Then mix the applesauce in with the water.

 Then pour the applesauce/water mixture into the dry ingredients and mix it together with a whisk. 

Then turn the heat on medium and stir the mixture as it cooks.

Keep stirring the mixture until it forms a ball.

Put the ball of PLAY-DOH on a cutting board and let it cool. Once it has cooled knead the PLAY-DOH until it is smooth. Then it is ready to play with.

I then cut out some leaves out of green felt and cut some brown pipe cleaners for steams so the girls could make some PLAY-DOH APPLES.

I set up some others materials for them and then invited them to play.

First thing they did was smell the PLAY-DOH and told me it smelled liked APPLE PIE.

They couldn't wait to start playing and making APPLES with  their "APPLE PIE SPICE PLAY-DOH".

The girls played for a long time with the PLAY-DOH and enjoyed the smell of FALL to go along with it.

I still have some more APPLE activities planned for my girls this month and having fun doing them. Don't forget to leave me a comment about your favorite APPLE activities.

APPLE LEARNING FUN

HELLO SEPTEMBER! My favorite season of all is the FALL! I love the colors, baking spice smells, and the cool air. Also I get excited because I always have fun activities to with the kiddos! Since yesterday was the first day SEPTEMBER I decide to kick the season off with some "APPLE LEARNING FUN"! The girls had so much fun and we even had their friend over to join in the activities and she enjoyed it as well.

First we started with decorating APPLE purses. I found these on www.orientaltrading.com when they were on clearance last year. 

To make it easier for the girls to be able to fit their names on their bags I wrote their names for them with a Sharpie marker.

Then I gave them the puff paint to trace over their name. I helped Bri because puff paint can come out fast and make a big blob of paint if you squeeze it to hard.

These were the finish purses.

Then it was time for the "APPLE HUNT". When we lived in Texas there was never a place to go "APPLE PICKING" so I came up with this "APPLE HUNT" game they could in way go "APPLE PICKING" but in their back yard.

So while I hid the APPLES all over the back yard I told the girls to go get some baskets or bags for their "APPLE HUNT" giving me time to hide them. I also let them know it is ok if an APPLE is outside or on the ground because we were going to wash them up anyway afterwards and when APPLES comes from an orchard some have fell on the ground as well so it is ok to still eat them LOL.

Once I was done hiding them I let them go hunt for their APPLES.

They were excited with all the APPLES they found!

Next since I knew we had to wash the APPLES up I turn this activity to a "SINK OR FLOAT" SCIENCE ACTIVITY with the girls to add some learning. I asked the girls which APPLES did they think would sink and which did they think would float. All of the girls said the same thing that the small APPLES would float and the big APPLES would sink. They learned though (as you can see in the picture) that all the APPLES floated!

Then we decided to have some fun with the APPLES and do some "BOBBING FOR APPLES". I don't like spreading germs so I gave each girl their own bowl LOL!

They all learned that by grabbing the steam you could get the apple easier!

Next we did a "TASTE TESTING" experiment that I found over at http://almostunschoolers.blogspot.com/2010/07/minty-apples-thirty-second-science.html. The experiment shows how your sense of smell can affect your sense of taste. To learn more about that click on the link above and it will take you to the post I got this idea from. The girls had to try the APPLES and taste how they taste normally (I used green Granny Smith APPLES) and while they did that I soaked a cotton ball in Vanilla Extract.

After they tasted the APPLES with out smelling anything then I had them smell the cotton ball that was soak in Vanilla Extract and then eat another piece of the APPLE. Then I ask them if the APPLE tasted different. They said that the APPLE tasted sweeter then before which shows that their sense of smell indeed change their taste buds because the APPLE that they ate were Granny Smith APPLES which are sour apples. The Vanilla Extract which is sweet itself changed their taste buds showing that your SENSE OF SMELL can change your SENSE OF TASTE.

After our TASTING EXPERIMENT  we did another experiment that I found over at http://teachbesideme.com/apple-science/ called APPLE SCIENCE "WHAT KEEPS IT FROM BROWNING". You can click on the this link as well to see the post I got this idea from. For this EXPERIMENT we soak piece of APPLES in different substances like lemon juice, vinegar, baking soda, milk, pineapple juice, and water. One of the pieces had nothing on it because anytime you do an experiment you have to have a control subject so you can compare the effects that other substance had to the APPLE. Before we did the experiment I ask the girls which substance did they think would help the APPLE not turn brown. Ari picked the lemon juice, vinegar, and baking soda. Bri picked lemon juice and milk. Stella picked vinegar, lemon juice, and baking soda. 

We wait till the APPLE we did nothing too turn completely brown to check the others. We found out that the lemon juice and the milk worked the best to prevent browning. Also the pineapple juice and vinegar slow down the browning. Stella had a good idea to take the EXPERIMENT further and asked if they could taste the APPLES to see if the substance we used change the flavor of the APPLES. I said sure because all the substance we used were things you could eat. So I cut the APPLE pieces into three pieces to let each of them try the it. They said all the substance didn't change the taste of the APPLE except the baking soda. They and I (I tried it too) spit that one out so fast!! LOL I told them that we will stick to baking soda just for our baking!! LOL. I was surprise to see that they even liked the one that was in vinegar and they said it didn't change the taste of the APPLE.

Our next EXPERIMENT we did I found over at http://teachingmama.org/8-apple-activities-for-preschoolers/ called JUMPING APPLE SEEDS. For this EXPERIMENT  you mix 2/3 tsp of baking soda with 1/2 cup of water in a clear container. Then drop the APPLE seeds and 1 Tbsp of lemon juice in the container. Wait for a little while and you will see the APPLE SEEDS start jumping up and down. The girls thought is was so cool and loved this EXPERIMENT. The seeds were jumping up and down for a good while too. Ari had an idea to take this EXPERIMENT a step further. Since I had to squeeze the lemons to get the lemon juice for the other EXPERIMENT I had lemon seeds. Ari asked why don't we see if the lemon seeds will jump too. I said ok because I love it when the girls really start to THINK and want to expand their SCIENCE learning. So we put the lemon seeds in but they didn't jump like the APPLE seed did but we didn't notice that when we put the lemon seeds in, the APPLE seed started to bounce faster I guess from the lemon juice on the seeds.

With the rest of the seeds I gave the kids their own pot and told them to get some dirt and we would plant the seeds in their pots. I don't if anything will grow but we will see. LOL

Our next activity was a painting one. In the core of the APPLES were the seeds are there is a star shape. So after I removed the seeds I set out the STAR CORES and some red, yellow, and green paint and let the kids paint.

I let them create whatever design or prints they wanted. Most PAINTING PROJECTS that my girls enjoy are when they are able to create whatever they want. Using the APPLE core instead of a paint brush was cool for them too!

While they painted I made homemade "APPLESAUCE" in the CROCKPOT. I used the Red Delicious APPLES but the recipe called for Golden Delicious APPLES.

The Recipe is:

• 16 APPLES
• 1/2 cup Water
• 1 cup sugar (you can not add it or add less if you like)
• 2 tsp cinnamon (optional if you like cinnamon APPLESAUCE)

Core, peel, and cut up the APPLES into small pieces. Put the APPLES, water, sugar, and the cinnamon into the crock pot and cook on High for 2 1/2 hours or on Low for 5 hours. After the APPLES are cooked use a mixer to blend the up the APPLESAUCE. Then it is ready to eat, refrigerate, or even freeze it.

My girls didn't really like the homemade APPLESAUCE but my girls are so picky with food. Maybe next time I will try it with Golden Delicious Apples or another recipe.

So that was our day of "APPLE LEARNING FUN"! The girls had so much fun and even though it seemed like a lot I was happy because my girls were enjoying it.

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Also please leave me a comment on some of your favorite APPLE activities.