7 Simple April Fools Tricks

April 1st is tomorrow! And that means it is time for a little (harmless) fun.

Here are 7 tricky ideas:

1. Grab the Newspaper rearrange it so that every other page is upside down. Fold it back up and leave it out for your loved one.

2. Put a sign saying "I'm an April Fool" on the back of the unsuspecting.

3. Instead of 'T' 'P' ing a loved ones yard how about sticking plastic forks all over the lawn. They are easily removed, aerate the soil, and are so funny to see. (Just make sure not to trespass).

4. A little soda and milk warmed slightly looks just like coffee.

5. Send a ridiculous text. Something like, 'taking your son to the mall to have his belly button pierced'.

6. Set the all the clocks in you house ahead. Just far enough for them to freak out, but not so far ahead that it is easy to figure out. And do let them in on the joke before they stress too much if they are getting ready for work.

7. How about meatloaf that looks like dessert? Or a fish sticks that are ice cream? I found this idea at Theidearoom. Go there for the recipes!

Paper Dolls with Clothing

To print click on the pictures above to expand the photo. Then either right click with your mouse on the photo and select 'print photo' or, after you have expanded the photo use 'file' and 'print' at the top of your browser. If it is cut off at the bottom or side of the photo you will need to set your margins to zero in 'page set-up' or 'print preview' under the 'file'. You can also save the photo to your computer and print as your normally would or by using the 'paint' program. If you have any trouble please feel free to e-mail me!

This photo is showing how the mom and sister doll should be cut out for the clothing to fit properly.

Enjoy! These were so fun to make. 

To print the just the paper dolls with out the clothing click HERE.

Vacation idea #13 - Ball Park Tour

WISH i was on HOLIDAY

- Vacation Idea #13 -

Ball Park Tours

From stay-cations to vacations abroad visiting sporting fields is a fun and relatively in expensive event. A couple of years ago for my husbands birthday we toured Safeco field in Seattle.

Almost on the green.

Just about the only place we were not allowed on this tour was on the grass. Which is carefully manicured and cut longer or shorter in different areas to suit each of the home players requests.

In the actual dugout (the big kid in the middle love this the best).

Touring the press boxes. (This is me 1 baby and about 15 lbs. ago).

A little post tour wrap-up.

Dress-up Paper Dolls

For Easter Basket filler, gifts, or just for fun I have made up cute dress-up paper dolls.

After I was unable to find (free) dress-up paper dolls online to give to my niece, I decided to try making some up. To my surprise, I found they are lots of fun to make! Once I started I almost didn't want to stop (this is only just a few of them).


You can print the paper dolls on cardstock or any thick paper. Cut them out and use the scraps to make stands for them. They can be colored with markers or crayons. Instructions for printing them are below. If you have any trouble printing them feel free to contact me (info is in the sidebar).

Copyright 2010 Holiday-Haven.Blogspot.com

To print the dolls and their clothing together click HERE .

To print just the dolls: click on the photo above to expand it, then place your cursor over the photo, right click on the mouse, and select print photo. Or, after you have clicked on the photo to expand it, click on 'file' and then 'print preview' or 'page setup' at the top of your browser. If you have any trouble play with the options in the page setup or save the image to your computer and print through the paint program.

Earth Hour

I should start this post first by saying I am not a fanatic, or an environmentalist, or any such thing. And I do have my questions about "climate change" But when I heard about Earth Hour I couldn't help but want to join in because of what I have seen on Vacations. 
Earth hour is a call for action on climate change by turning off your lights for one hour. That hour is tomorrow, Saturday March 27th 2010, at 8:30pm (your local time). People around the world will be joining in.
So why am I joining? What did I see on vacation? I saw dam after dam after dam on the snake river (15 in all), and the huge concrete Bonneville dam that stretches across the Colombia river. You can see a photo of it HERE. Much of Washington State where I live is powered by this hydro electric dam. Seeing these dams stretched across these huge beautiful rivers was my first indication that something wasn't right. But learning the history is when I really came to understand their impact. In the Columbia river the fish use to be so thick that people imagined they would be able to walk across the river on the fishes backs. Today there is a much smaller fish ladder and they count by hand the number of fish that swim through. And they actually have to truck fish from one side of these dams to the other side. That means they take fish out of the water put them in semi-truck like vehicles called "tank trucks" and drive them to the other side of the dam to release them. You can see an article here about it. Again, I am not a environmentalist, but sometimes, something has to be done...
And besides all of that, it is just kind of fun to have the lights out and light the candles every now and then.
If you would like to join me you can sign up at Earthhour.org.  

Amish Friendship Bread (My Passover Tradition)

This is one tradition I have completely backward. Historically passover is a time to eat unleavened bread, so what do I do? I make bread that takes 10 days to leaven. Totally backwards. Still, I think it has value... In an age where we do not generally make our own bread and therefore do not normally wait for it to rise, it is great to remember back to a time when all bread was made from scratch and a ten day recipe was not unheard of. According to the bible traditions during the first passover the (then) would be Israelites were not to wait for their bread to rise. In the years after their tradition was to remove all yeast from their homes completely. So today I make Amish friendship bread and wait for the next 10 days for it to leaven using a fermentation process. I always explain to my friends that it is my backwards way of celebrating passover and each year I try to give it to 3 new friends. (That way my good friends do not get tired of it).

Printable

Click to expand,

right click and select print. 

To start Amish Friendship bread from scratch:

DO NOT USE METAL SPOONS, OR BOWLS - only wood, plastic, or glass. And do not store it in the fridge. This recipe uses a fermentation process that refrigeration hinders.

Mix

1 packet of active dry yeast

1/4 c. of water

1 cup flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup milk (warmed is best for yeast to activate)

Now that you have a starter here is what you do with it over the next 10 days:

Day 1 - This is the day you made or were given the starter

Days 2 - 5 stir with wooden spoon (or if the starter is in a ziploc, mush the ziploc)

Day 6 Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup milk (transfer to larger container if needed)

Days 7 - 9 stir with wooden spoon (or mush baggie)

Day 10 - Show time! First add another 1 cup flour, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup milk. Then divide the batter into 4 portions and put into (non-metal) containers. Give 3 to friends with instructions. (To print, click on the instructions above to expand them. Then right click on them with your mouse or use the browser's file and print options.)

Keep 1 portion to make a loaf of friendship bread.

Friendship Bread Recipe

Take the portion from above and add the following:

1 cup vegetable oil or melted butter

1/2 cup milk

3 eggs

2 tsp real vanilla

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

Mix and pour into two well greased and sugared bread pans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour.

Makes 2 loaves.

A new look for Holiday-Haven

Spring is here and so I have redecorated. Something a little more fitting for spring/summer. I still love the "in-between the cover of a scrapbook" look that Holiday Haven had before and you may see it again come fall, but for now I thought some flowers were needed!

Here it is before:

Let me know what you think! Does the texture of the parchment make it too hard to read? I still have to play with some font colors. What would you tweak? 

Thanks for stopping by to have a look!

Easter Decorating

A couple of small decorations as we warm up to Easter around my home.

An couple of apothecary jars, with fabric covered eggs (tutorial HERE).

A closer look.

In our youngest little ones room I put together a little shelf with the Velveteen Rabbit,

And a little fuzzy bunny with carrot toes.

Vacation Idea #12 - Manchester State Park

WISH i was on HOLIDAY

- Vacation Idea #12 -

Manchester State Park

Port Orchard, WA

About two hours South of Seattle you can find this amazing building. It was a Torpedo Store house. It was built in the early 1900's to protect a naval shipyard in a nearby town and help to protect the protect the Puget Sound.

Today it is a State Park with a campground.Many weddings have been held here.
We visited it on a cloudy drizzly day. Which is the flavor of most of Seattle's weather.

Their is a trail that leads to an under ground bunker. And a geocache hidden somewhere near there.

This a path down to the the Sound.

And the view of the Torpedo Storehouse from the beach. Beautiful views, and there is another small trail along the beach.

Drizzly but beautiful.

But, if you ask the right member of our family, the rocks may have just been the best part.

Or, the ducks.

To see more about this park including camping fees, hours, etc. click HERE.

Port Orchard's Chamber of Commerce can be found HERE.

And the cities website HERE.

Fizzy Lemonade for the First Spring Day

A fun little tradition we have started in my family making up some fizzy lemonade for the first warm spring day. How we make this varies from year to year, but usually we buy a frozen concentrate lemonade and then add Perrier instead of water to reconstitute it. If Perrier is not your thing, you could use club soda. You can also hand squeeze lemons, add sugar (about 1 cup of sugar to each 1.5 of lemon juice) and, then club soda to taste.

Happy First Day of Spring!!

Fabric Eggs

To make fabric covered eggs:

1. Start out with an egg shell that you have poked holes in and blown out the egg with a straw. Or you can use a plastic egg. 

2. Cut a piece of fabric just wide enought to reach the tip and base of the egg and no wider. This is very important or the fabric will bunch as you try to cover it.

3. Cut the edges of the fabric as shown, leaving the middle solid.
4. Put glue down the middle of the fabric and wrap around the egg.

5. Then put glue on the end of the egg and bend in each strip one at a time.

This is the hardest step. You may need to undo and re-do to get it flat. And once dry you can trim any edges that stick up just a little.

And even though they are not perfect, I think they are too cute.These were made using quilting squares I bought at Jo-Annes fabric. I love to keep fun fabrics on hand for little crafts like this!

Shamrock Pizza!

Fun way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day!


First I mixed the dough, I used my favorite tortilla recipe which you can see HERE.

Next, circles folded in the edges to make the clover.
And smooshed them till I came up with some think that looked clover-ish.
Tomato sauce, cheese and green bell pepper. Lots of green bell pepper (you could also add avocado and green onions for more "greeness").

Served up to my little "leprechauns" with a small green side salad.

P.S I told them that Avocado's in the salad were a gold mine of vitamins and minerals. And it worked! They ate them.

Vacation Idea #11 - Gateway Arch

WISH i was on HOLIDAY

- Vacation Idea #11 -

Gateway Arch

St. Louis, Missouri

Hailed the gateway to the west, the gateway arch was erected in St. Louis as a tribute to all of those who went West on the Oregon trail.

The top photo of me with two of my kiddos (my youngest was not yet born) when we visited St. Louis a few years back.

The photo below is from the Museum of Westward Expansion which is located under the arch. It has extensive history of the Oregon trail with many touching stories of those who traveled it.

The Arch is the tallest national monument at 630 feet tall. And you can go inside it all the way to the top! 

Here we are looking out the windows in the top of the Arch.

View from the top:

This is the Old St. Louis Courthouse. It was built in 1862. 

This is the courthouse that travelers would name a large rock after in Bridgeport Nebraska. You can see a photo of  Courthouse Rock here.

View out the other side of the mighty Mississippi river.

Do you see the river boat?
Learn out more about the arch click HERE

And get a sample vacation schedule HERE

(The links in this post are non-sponsored)