Week 2 : Summer "Hits" and "Flops"

We sure are having a great summer! Lots of time at the beach and pool and I think we have eaten an ice cream cone everyday.  Yum, Yum...  lets hear some more about our Summer  "Hits" and "Flops".

Hit#1 Slime

This was a HUGE hit!  My boys played with it for over an hour.  I kept seeing recipes all over Pinterest, so I thought I would give it a try.
Recipe:  1 bottle of 4oz Elmers glue
              1 1/2 c of water
              food coloring
              1 tsp of borax  (you can find this with the laundry detergent at the store)
I found a great step by step with pictures on Ourbestbites.com


1. Pour all of glue in lg mixing bowl with 1/2 c of water and stir
2. Add some food coloring
3. Mix 1 cup of water and borax together in separate container then add to the glue
4. You will instantly see a cool science experiment. The gook separates and its ready to play with.
5. Discard extra water. The more you play with it, the more solid it becomes.
6. Store in ziploc bag and you will have many hrs of entertainment.

Flop # 1 - A Vacation Trip Timer

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I was so excited about this one.  We were headed for a 8 hr trip to vacation with family.  Came across this great idea - or so I thought.  
You take ribbon or elastic of some kind and tie it to the hooks on each side of the ceiling in your car.  You then mark it off for how many hrs  you will be driving.  Tie a car to the ribbon.  A child gets to move the car over for each hr that passes.  No longer will you hear "Are we there yet?" Right?......


NO, NO, NO.  Instead of that we heard, "Can I move the Car?"   "Its not FAIR,  he moved it the last time!"  "Has it been an hour, yet?"  Topped with the fact that they had to take off there seat belt to move the car.  Uuuugggg....  You try to make it fun...and sometimes you just get headaches.


Hit #2   Mattress Surfing

Take an odd crib mattress, hold on tight and slide down the stairs.  

Now what kid wouldn't have fun doing this?

Hit # 3 Tree Climbing Advetures

My boys made this game up. - Adventure Tree Climbing.

  I bought these plastic rings at the thrift store for $2.  (I knew we would find something to do with them.)  

Real Simple - the boys throw the hoops into a tree, climb the tree and shake the tree till the hoops come down.  I know, sounds stupid.  But they have so much fun with it.  

Tie for a Hit and Flop - Making our own Bubble Gum

So we got this kit from a friend to make our own bubble gum.  Of course, the boys thought it was the best thing ever.

 Positives -  Boys has fun, it made ok tasting bubble gum, something to fill our day with

Negative - It made a huge mess, boys quickly lost interest stirring it, you have to kneed the gum for at least 10 minutes with your hands ( so after those little hands are smashing it for 10 min, I wasnt crazy about  taste testing)

All in all, it was a tie.  But it did make some good bubbles.

Hows your summer going?  

- Steph

10 minute pillow slipcover

This is the easiest way to make a slipcover for your pillows. In just 10 minutes you will see results that are amazing!

1. Get a pillow and cut fabric so that it is 2 inches bigger than the pillow on the top and bottom and long enough on each side that if you fold it, the fabric overlaps by 6 inches.

2. Unfold the fabric and hem the two short sides.

3. With pillow inside, keep the fabric inside out and pin the fabric so that it is fitted.

4. Remove pillow and hem two straight lines on the sides of the pillow.

5. Turn right side out and you have a beautiful slipcover pillow.

Before:

After:

Happy sewing!

 - Steph

Summer flops and summer hits!

Summer is officially underway at the Gammons house.  In order for me to remain sane for the whole summer, I spent some time looking at various blogs and made a list of activities that my kids would enjoy.  I thought it would be fun to tell you what has been a "Hit" and what has been a "Flop".  I will be sure to up date this list through out the summer.  Here goes....

Hit #1 - Jazzing up our thrift store razors

My boys have been asking for Razors for awhile now.  I almost cried when I found both of these at Goodwill for $10.   They were used and the purple handle bars had to go. I bought some fun Duct Tape at Michaels for $5 and went to town. (they have so many fun colors and patterns..from pok-a-dots to skulls)

The kids were so excited for their one-of-a-kind scooters.  Even little sister wanted some on her scooter.

Flop #1 - Ice Cube Painting

I didn't even take a picture because the kids lost interest in about 30 seconds.  I took an ice cube tray and filled it with water and food coloring.  Allowed it to freeze and then paint with the cubes outside on paper.   Problem - the color wasn't very bright and the paper was tearing because it was wet.  So we just broke out our traditional paint and brushes and finished being artists.

Hit #2 - Baking Soda Volcano

I was really surprised that all my kids had fun with this (ages 6,4,and 2).

1. Pour Baking Soda on plate.
2. Put food color in a cup of vinegar for the lava.
3. Use a medicine dropper to squirt the vinegar on the soda.  fizzle fun!!!

They probably played with this for almost 45 minutes!

Flop #2 - Homemade Pizza

So we fun making it...but it just tasted gross!  Mikey said "I just like how that other guy makes it.  You know the kind we usually get. He just makes it better"  He is referring to "Little Caesars" ....lol
I guess I will have to go back to Pinterest and get a better recipe.

What have your hits and flops been this summer?  Would love to hear......

Steph