Being healthy doesn’t always mean watching what you are eating and exercising, sometimes it is about taking time for yourself or spending time with your family. Taking some time to have fun and just enjoy yourself will help you with stress. Finding healthy ways to relax are important for you to battle overeating and emotional eating. If your mind is wanting you to eat, but you are not hungry find something else enjoyable to do.

Play Together!

One thing that can really help brighten your day is taking time with your kids. Stop and just enjoy them. Here is one fun way to do that. Make something together and play! Zarek and I decided to try making koolaid play dough and it was tons of fun.

What you will need:

• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup salt
• 2 tablespoons cream of tarter
• 1 package koolaid

Step 1: Add all your ingredients into a saucepan

Step 2: Place over medium heat and stir till forms a ball

Step 3: Let cool for a few minutes on the counter, then kneed till smooth

Tip: Set up your little one “cleaning” the dishes while you wait

Step 4: Play!

How do you take time with your kids?

Pepper Ferguson

Healthy Mom = Healthy Family - That is my life motto and I hope to encourage it to be yours too. January 2011 I made the decision to lose weight and lost 80+ pounds. I saw my boys start getting active with me and I realized I wasn't only changing my life but also my boys.

More Posts - Website - Twitter - Facebook

My newest fun thing to do with my handy dandy Handi Foil (our sponsor today) muffin tins is to bake eggs in the oven! I’m sure you have seen it on Pinterest a dozen time just like me. But I thought not only could I back the eggs in the Handi Foil tins but I could easily use them to have the boys dye the eggs too!

Cooking Eggs in the Oven

Step 1: Place the eggs into your muffin tin.

Step 2: Place in oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

Step 3: Run cold water over eggs to stop the cooking process

It really is just that easy!

Dying your Eggs

This was a little trickier than I thought. You have to remember that you need to leave extra space in the tins for when the water rises when you add. So make sure and keep this in mind when filling your tin. I did 2 tablespoons of water to 2 tablespoons of vinegar in each of the spots in the tin. Then I added the little color tablets.

I just bought one of those dollar dying kits to make things easy for us. You can use food color to create your dye also.

Techniques for Dying

We had a few easy techniques for dying our eggs

Just Roll Them

If you just want your egg to be one color just keep rolling your egg until it is the shade you want.

Dye Once, White Crayon, Dye Again

Choose a color, usually a lighter color is better, and start dying your egg.  Pull the egg out, dry it, and then draw things with a white crayon. Now place it into a new color and dye again. Anywhere the crayon you will see the original color.

Half & Half

Place the egg in the dye and do not move! Wait for a bit to let the color set then pull the egg out, flip over and put in a new color.

Quick Clean Up

The one nice thing about doing everything in the Handi Foil tins was the quick and easy clean up. Dump the dye and recycle* the tins and you are done.

*Quick Fact: Aluminum tins are 100% recyclable, reworkable and Handi Foils Eco-Foil line is made out of 100% recycled aluminum because Aluminum is the only material that can be recycled indefinitely without losing its qualities

This post was sponsored by Handi Foil, all opinions are my own.

Pepper Ferguson

Healthy Mom = Healthy Family - That is my life motto and I hope to encourage it to be yours too. January 2011 I made the decision to lose weight and lost 80+ pounds. I saw my boys start getting active with me and I realized I wasn't only changing my life but also my boys.

More Posts - Website - Twitter - Facebook

Life is changing in our home this year, Zane is in school so now I can spend some extra time with Zarek. I may try bringing back the “A Craft A Day” Series. I know it’s silly but I am starting off with Zarek where I left off with Zane. I think it’s my OCD have to finish the alphabet.

If you are new to A Craft a Day

A Craft a Day gives you five activities that you can enjoy with your kids, one for each day of the week.  Most of these activities work well for preschoolers, but you may be able to adapt them for your toddler.

You can learn more about the basics of a Craft a Day Here.

I will post the crafts on Saturdays so you can use the weekend to get any supplies that you may need. We are finishing the alphabet this year so if you missed a letter you can find it here.

Are you Supermom?

Now I’m not supermom and I don’t expect you to be either. We don’t always get to each activity, sometimes life is just too busy. Hopefully you may try one or two of these activities with me and my kids! You don’t have to do every single one. You don’t have to be doing preschool with your child. I just hope to give you a resource for some great fun with your kids!

The Crafts:

Owl Lunch

I like to have a fun lunch for Zane when he gets off the bus. I had found this easy sandwich idea a year ago so I was excited to finally make these cuties for the boys.

Owl Tubes

A quick and easy craft for Zarek, ours wasn’t quite so perfect as I didn’t have cute swatches of cloth for the wings, but Zarek still loved making these guys.

Pepper Ferguson

Healthy Mom = Healthy Family - That is my life motto and I hope to encourage it to be yours too. January 2011 I made the decision to lose weight and lost 80+ pounds. I saw my boys start getting active with me and I realized I wasn't only changing my life but also my boys.

More Posts - Website - Twitter - Facebook

Life is changing in our home this year, Zane is in school so now I can spend some extra time with Zarek. I may try bringing back the “A Craft A Day” Series. I know it’s silly but I am starting off with Zarek where I left off with Zane. I think it’s my OCD have to finish the alphabet.

If you are new to A Craft a Day

A Craft a Day gives you five activities that you can enjoy with your kids, one for each day of the week.  Most of these activities work well for preschoolers, but you may be able to adapt them for your toddler.

You can learn more about the basics of a Craft a Day Here.

I will post the crafts on Saturdays so you can use the weekend to get any supplies that you may need. We are finishing the alphabet this year so if you missed a letter you can find it here.

Are you Supermom?

Now I’m not supermom and I don’t expect you to be either. We don’t always get to each activity, sometimes life is just too busy. Hopefully you may try one or two of these activities with me and my kids! You don’t have to do every single one. You don’t have to be doing preschool with your child. I just hope to give you a resource for some great fun with your kids!

The Crafts:

Noodle Necklaces

This is a great craft to practice coordination skills. Even Zane enjoyed doing this project with us! Place a piece of tape on the end of your yarn for easier threading and I tied a piece of pasta to the end of the string so their noodles didn’t slip off. Learn how to make the rainbow pasta below.

Noah’s Noodle Rainbow 

Noodle rainbows are fun and easy. I wish I had gotten a photo of the end results because they were so pretty. But I made the mistake of putting them on the sliding glass door. Oops. We talked about when God made the rainbow as a promise for Noah.

Noah’s Ark

I actually did a very similar craft with Zane for letter A for Ark, but I loved how they created the rainbow out of the pipe cleaners to make this a door hanger.

Bird’s Nest

Bonus Craft: Nesting Supplies

This is a little off season, but I’m glad we did it because it was so much fun to make and it is kind of pretty up in the backyard. I have actually pulled it down to store for next spring.

Make your Own Rainbow Pasta

Be Featured

If you do any of these crafts and happen to take a picture or write a blog post about it please make sure and share your link in the comments. Also don’t forget to link the original crafter! I may feature you and your blog  on the following weeks post!

Pepper Ferguson

Healthy Mom = Healthy Family - That is my life motto and I hope to encourage it to be yours too. January 2011 I made the decision to lose weight and lost 80+ pounds. I saw my boys start getting active with me and I realized I wasn't only changing my life but also my boys.

More Posts - Website - Twitter - Facebook

January

• I start Project 52: Self Portraits with Lynda from DigitalWoe.com. I made it almost halfway to my goal. This year I may choose to do another Project 52.
• I vowed to defeat my weight issues last January. I have lost 60lbs this year, I hope to loose another 50lbs this year.
• Zarek learned how to crawl out of his crib. Today we will be converting his crib to a “big boy bed”.

February

• CommentHour was created by me and Jenny. I’m not sure what will happen with #commenthour this year, I have to think long and hard about it’s future.
• I received my acceptance letter for my weight loss surgery!
• I shared a photo of me and the hubby on Project 52. Not the best photo, but when you consider it is one of very few it’s pretty nice to have it.

March

• I tried doing March Vlogging Madness with Jendi at SimpleVloggingTips.com. I made it through about 10 videos, but it seems as if life had gotten in the way. I will be trying to do another 30 day vlogging challenge this year!
• I participated in the Ultimate Blogging Party. I was a little disappointed in the event this year 2010 was a lot more fun it seemed.
• My sleep study revealed I have severe sleep apnea. This year I hope to get another test done to see if my sleep apnea is better after my weightloss.
• I shared my typical day of a working mom. My hope to stop working out of the house is being delayed as we try and work on our goal this year to become debt free.

April

• I shared my imperfect life with a photo of me and my messy house.
• I had my first weigh-in required by my insurance for weight loss surgery.
• Zarek turned 2 this year and I wrote him a letter to tell him how much he means to me.

May

• I wrote a post all about how to slowly invest in your web design. If you are on a budget but would like to learn how you still might be able to update your website you should read this post!
• I shared about the 7 major elements of blog design. Are you re-evaluating your blog for the new year? Use this post as a guide at the different key elements you want to look over.
• In Beauty vs Budget I compared a website or blog to buying a house, which would you rather own: a travel trailer, a  mobile home, a pre-built home, or a custom home?

June

• I started a new version of A Craft A Day where each craft was related to a letter of the week. We have made it halfway through the alphabet and I hope to finish the rest of the alphabet this year.
• I drove up to Seattle to attend Bloggy Boot Camp and got my first speeding ticket.
• #commenthour went live all on it’s own with it’s own hashtag, twitter account, and website!
• I shared how you can create an amazing about page in 5 easy steps.

July

• I hit a plateau in my weight loss and struggled to keep my motivation. I finally made it through my plateau to only hit another this December. I hope to just keep going and keep on losing.
• I talked about 15 ways you can clean up your sidebars in a post called How Much is Too Much? Which had a few people question my thinking but I promise your blogroll is doing less for you than you realize.
• I introduced you to my newest toy my Iconia Tablet and started a series about some of my favorite Android apps available at the Marketplace.
• If you are struggling with creating an editorial calendar or getting people to read your posts you should run back and read my post about How to Use a Magazine for Easy Headlines.

August

• I had my first guest blogger on PepperScraps and her post was a huge hit, if you missed it you have to go back!
• I offered my first freebie for kids and moms looking to get active with their kids. I have a video showing off my boys using the printable activity cards and if you want you can still like Pepper Scraps on Facebook and get them free!
• As summer came to end I felt my blogging motivation dwindling and saw many of my blogging friends struggling so I shared one of my favorite posts on how to beat Blogging Burn Out.
• I started a new series all about bloggers you should follow.  I really enjoyed sharing some of the great people I have met through blogging and I hope to share more this year!
• One of my last posts of August I took the time to thank some of my favorite blogging buddies, but also encouraged others to thank someone special in their lives also.

September

• I posted about my thoughts about getting Invisaligns and why I was considering this great product. I’m still thinking about this as I get my dental work finished and am continuing my quest for healthier living.
• I shared a little more about one of my favorite blogger Darren Rowse and how you can learn more about blogging from him.

October

• I got invited to an awesome little party by Kristin from Our Ordinary Life that was sponsored by Diaper Genie and had tons of fun. I’m hoping to do more fun things like this this year and to learn more about different products and product sponsorship. I may even do a series on how to be a sponsored blogger.
• I really nailed down a great system for creating an amazing editorial calendar and I shared my secrets with you!

November

• November 2nd I had lap band surgery! I shared with you all the steps that led up to my surgery the day after surgery.
• I didn’t write much in November due to my recovery but I did share a very detailed account of my surgery day, including my ride to the surgery room with my hilarious anesthesiologist.

December

• My recovery was harder than I thought after surgery, it wasn’t the pain but the exhaustion that got me. Do to this there was only one post in December.

Now onto a new year with Pepper Scraps. I hope you will join me in all the adventures I share here. I hope that I can share more about blogging, more about crafting with your kids, more about how to lose weight and become healthy, and who knows where this adventure shall lead us.

Pepper Ferguson

Healthy Mom = Healthy Family - That is my life motto and I hope to encourage it to be yours too. January 2011 I made the decision to lose weight and lost 80+ pounds. I saw my boys start getting active with me and I realized I wasn't only changing my life but also my boys.

More Posts - Website - Twitter - Facebook

If you are new to A Craft a Day

A Craft a Day gives you five activities that you can enjoy with your kids, one for each day of the week.  Most of these activities work well for preschoolers, but you may be able to adapt them for your toddler.

You can learn more about the basics of a Craft a Day Here.

I will post the crafts on Saturdays so you can use the weekend to get any supplies that you may need. We are making our way through the alphabet this year so if you missed a letter you can find it here.

• Moon Phases – I thought this still worked since the moon is often associated with monsters. I did this with pepperoni instead of oreos, since I was unable to get to the store. I also had seen it done with cheese. As a bonus food craft I found a recipe for a Jelly Swamp Monster!

• Mini Monsters – I thought these were adorable and I had everything I needed to create these cute little guys. We tried it with regular yarn and with fun yarn, both turned out great! We used a piece of cardboard instead of the embroidery ring. We also used pompoms on the purple monster for feet.

• Shape Monsters – This was so much fun! Plus with a toddler you could work with them learning their shapes. I cut out all the shapes beforehand and gave them to Zane to create his monsters! I used craft foam, but you could use constructions paper.

• Blow Painting Monsters - I loved her trick on how to use the straws without getting your kids to slurp up the paint! I’ve done bubble artwork with Zane before but he slurped up the water and we were done!
• Sandwich Box Monsters! – I’ve seen these done with tissue boxes also, but I think they are so cute!! Make your own monster and recycle at the same time. I wonder what you could store in these cuties!

The Crafts:

Supplies: oreos, round cookie cutter, lime jello, marshmallows, chocolate chips, pink icing – optional, yarn, buttons or googly eyes, scissors, glue or glue dots, embroidery ring or cardboard, pompoms, bright coloured paper or craft foam, straws, thinned non-toxic paint or food color and water, white construction paper, black pen, straws, 2 cups from a cardboard egg carton, black paper, white and black paint, empty sandwich bag box

Are you Supermom?

Now I’m not supermom and I don’t expect you to be either. We don’t always get to each activity, sometimes life is just too busy. Hopefully you may try one or two of these activities with me and my kids! You don’t have to do every single one. You don’t have to be doing preschool with your child. I just hope to give you a resource for some great fun with your kids!

Be Featured

If you do any of these crafts and happen to take a picture or write a blog post about it please make sure and share your link in the comments. Also don’t forget to link the original crafter! I may feature you and your blog  on the following weeks post!

Pepper Ferguson

Healthy Mom = Healthy Family - That is my life motto and I hope to encourage it to be yours too. January 2011 I made the decision to lose weight and lost 80+ pounds. I saw my boys start getting active with me and I realized I wasn't only changing my life but also my boys.

More Posts - Website - Twitter - Facebook

If you are new to A Craft a Day

A Craft a Day gives you five activities that you can enjoy with your kids, one for each day of the week.  Most of these activities work well for preschoolers, but you may be able to adapt them for your toddler.

You can learn more about the basics of a Craft a Day Here.

I will post the crafts on Saturdays so you can use the weekend to get any supplies that you may need. We are making our way through the alphabet this year so if you missed a letter you can find it here.

The Crafts:

• Lion Bento Lunch Box - I made this and it turned out okay I will share the photo just so you can see one of my project fails. LOL This must have been done with cold mac n cheese.

• Lion & Lamb Mask – This was great you got two L words in one! Plus this worked well for a bible theme also.
• Macoroni Lion – We have actually never done a pasta project before and I thought this was a pretty cute one.
• Crunchy Leaf Lion – Again a two L project here. I actually believe I have featured this project in the past. But what is great is you can find any image you want trace it with glue and add the crushed leaves. I wanted to use this lion picture and outline the main in glue. But we didn’t make it out to get leaves. Two outings outside, one Zarek fell off a wall and two Zane had an accident. I gave up.
• Clothes Pin Lion – I created this craft after learning that clothes pins can help your preschooler with scissor skills. Zane and Zarek were both able to participate in this activity.

Supplies:  cheese, carrot, celery, white cheese, macaroni, paper plate or card stock, elmer’s glue, black pen, google eyes, clothes pens, markers, collected leaves, glue, craft paper, paper plate, yarn, glue, craft paper

Are you Supermom?

Now I’m not supermom and I don’t expect you to be either. We don’t always get to each activity, sometimes life is just too busy. Hopefully you may try one or two of these activities with me and my kids! You don’t have to do every single one. You don’t have to be doing preschool with your child. I just hope to give you a resource for some great fun with your kids!

Be Featured

If you do any of these crafts and happen to take a picture or write a blog post about it please make sure and share your link in the comments. Also don’t forget to link the original crafter! I may feature you and your blog  on the following weeks post!

Pepper Ferguson

Healthy Mom = Healthy Family - That is my life motto and I hope to encourage it to be yours too. January 2011 I made the decision to lose weight and lost 80+ pounds. I saw my boys start getting active with me and I realized I wasn't only changing my life but also my boys.

More Posts - Website - Twitter - Facebook

Creating these lions was so easy even Zarek, at 2 1/2, could help us!

Supplies:

• plate or card stock
• Elmer’s white glue
• craft paper (white, black, light brown) (Cut white eyes, pupils, nose & mouth)
• clothes pins
• markers (Red, Orange, and Yellow)

Step 1: Color the clothes pins with the markers.

Step 2:  Color plate (I trimmed ours as the lip didn’t work well with the clothes pins) or circle cut from card stock

Step 3: Glue white of eyes down (Zane went crazy with the glue!

Step 4: Glue pupils down

Step 5: Glue nose down

Step 6: Glue the mouth down

Step 7 : Let your child place the clothes pins around the outside edge like a main.

You can let your child play with this over and over.

This was such a fun project and it was really easy. Plus you can get all these items for $10 or less (You can find clothes pins at the dollar store).

Do you have any other crafts or activities that help your preschooler with their scissor skills?

Pepper Ferguson

Healthy Mom = Healthy Family - That is my life motto and I hope to encourage it to be yours too. January 2011 I made the decision to lose weight and lost 80+ pounds. I saw my boys start getting active with me and I realized I wasn't only changing my life but also my boys.

More Posts - Website - Twitter - Facebook

If you are new to A Craft a Day

A Craft a Day gives you five activities that you can enjoy with your kids, one for each day of the week.  Most of these activities work well for preschoolers, but you may be able to adapt them for your toddler.

You can learn more about the basics of a Craft a Day Here.

I will post the crafts on Saturdays so you can use the weekend to get any supplies that you may need. We are making our way through the alphabet this year so if you missed a letter you can find it here.

The Crafts:

• Mini Sword Snacks – I actually used sword toothpicks that I use for the boys bentos, but if you are concerned with your children with something sharp you can use pretzels instead.
• King of Kings Crown - A fun, easy and inexpensive project. I love that everything in this project you can at the dollar store. Plus it let my boys have a freedom to draw, paint, color however they wanted.
• Knight Collage – I know this is more knight than king, but I told Zane that this was a King Knight. This project took a little prep on my side as Zane is still learning scissor skills so I cut out all the pieces beforehand. But if your child is learning or good at scissor work this project is great!

• Paper Plate Crown – What I love about this project is that you can pull out any odds and ends you may have from other projects to decorate these crowns. You can use stickers, gems stones, marbles, pom poms, scraps of felt, and any other kinds of odds and ends.
• Card Board Castle – Create a castle for your little King (& your Queen). I first saw this castle and loved it, but their isn’t very much that my boys would be able to do to create this. Then I found the colorful artistic castle created at Frugal Family Fun Blog. Perfect! You can let your children freedom of decorating their castle with markers, crayons, tissue paper, and more.
• Shield Collage (Bonus Craft) – Cut out a shield from cardboard and use tissue paper to cover the cardboard. Then let your child use stickers to decorate their shield and create their own “coat of arms”. Supplies: Cardboard, Glue, Stickers, Tape

Supplies: assorted fruit, pretzels or sword toothpicks, craft foam, Popsicle sticks, decorations for crown, hot glue, elmer’s glue, styrofoam balls or pool noodle, cardboard, misc decorations for the walls,, paint or markers, craft knife or good scissors, Construction paper, Tin foil, Yellow and black pipe cleaners, Feather, Black pen or marker, Knight Template, plate, stickers, scissors or exacto knife, random craft scraps

Are you Supermom?

Now I’m not supermom and I don’t expect you to be either. We don’t always get to each activity, sometimes life is just too busy. Hopefully you may try one or two of these activities with me and my kids! You don’t have to do every single one. You don’t have to be doing preschool with your child. I just hope to give you a resource for some great fun with your kids!

Be Featured

If you do any of these crafts and happen to take a picture or write a blog post about it please make sure and share your link in the comments. Also don’t forget to link the original crafter! I may feature you and your blog  on the following weeks post!

Pepper Ferguson

Healthy Mom = Healthy Family - That is my life motto and I hope to encourage it to be yours too. January 2011 I made the decision to lose weight and lost 80+ pounds. I saw my boys start getting active with me and I realized I wasn't only changing my life but also my boys.

More Posts - Website - Twitter - Facebook