Wilton Halloween Crafts Part 1 ~ Candy Necklace Kits

Wilton has many easy to create craft kits for you to make with your children.  From candy necklaces to gingerbread houses to cookie pops.  I do attempt to make a lot of things from scratch, but sometimes having a kit comes in handy.  Besides, sometimes purchasing the kits makes it cheaper than trying to create them yourself.

If you are looking for a quick and easy project to do with your children, Wilton offers a wide selection of Candy Necklace Kits.  They have themes for just about every holiday, as well as many Disney characters.  I wrote about how we create these (and some quick tips for making them easy to make for little ones) in my post Wilton Easter Candy Necklaces and Crafts with the Girls. I am sharing this today because I found several kits on clearance at our local Michael's store for $1.99!  You can also purchase them at Wal-Mart for $3.24.  Joann Fabrics has them at regular price for $3.99, but you can always find a 40% off coupon online, which make them just $2.39.

Wilton Helps Bring 4th of July to Your Celebrations

Here we are on the 4th of July
last year getting ready for the
fireworks over Lake Winnipesaukee

It is hard to believe that we are just about to the 4th of July.  As I am starting to make our grocery list and menu for the holiday, I thought I would look up some fun ideas for a themed dessert.  Of course, my first stop is always Wilton's.  You may have noticed from some of my previous posts that I really love their products, and they are a great resource for inspiration.

As with every holiday, they have plenty of ideas to choose from.  You can see all of them at Celebrating the 4th of July with Delicious Treats and Fun Decorating Ideas from Wilton.  They have plenty of ideas for cakes, cupcakes, cookies and more.  I am leaning toward the One Flag for all Cupcakes, but we will see as it gets closer.

Which of the 4th of July ideas did you like best?  Are you going to give it a try for your 4th of July celebration?

2012 Wilton Yearbook Cover Revealed!

I am a huge fan of Wilton products, whether it be cake decorating, candy making or kid's crafts.  Every year I look forward to the new Yearbook.  My collection goes back to the 70s with copies of my mom's, and I had continued collecting as I got older.  Well, I just opened my inbox and there was an e-mail revealing the cover of the 2012 Yearbook.  It will be released June 2011, and I can't wait to pick up my copy!

Here's the sneak peak:
2012 Wilton Yearbook

Wilton Easter Candy Necklaces

I am always trying to find new crafts to do with my children.  Some I take the time to buy all the materials and organize them myself.  Others, I enjoy buying the kits you can find in stores.  Last Halloween, I posted about the Halloween Candy Necklaces we made.  My daughters loved these!  So when we saw the Easter candy necklaces in Joann's, we had to buy them.  You can also purchase these at WalMart, but it just so happened I had a 50% coupon for Joann's, which made it the better buy.  It cost less than $3 for the entire kit.

The kit comes with materials to make 8 necklaces.  What is even better, each set is individually packaged,so my children get exactly the same number of beads, without me having to count them out.  I give each child their own dish with all the beads from the pack.  I then tape the string down to the table to make it easier for them to keep the beads from slipping off the end.  This activity is great for those fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination. 

On a recent trip to WalMart, I also noticed in the party supply section many Disney versions of the candy necklaces.  We saw Mickey Mouse, Tinkerbell, Princesses and Toy Story.  I look forward to testing these out too!

Crafts with the Girls

I am always on the look out for little craft activities to do with the kids.  Some days I do take the time to make some elaborate craft item, which can take more time to prep than to actually put together (that is the teacher in me), but other days, like today I try to find something quick and simple.  While at WalMart yesterday, the girls and I decided to see what Halloween things were already stocked on the shelves ~ hard to believe that Halloween is quickly sneaking up on us.  We ended up buying both girls their costumes.  Hayley, my four year old, is going to be Jessie from Toy Story and Emily, my two year old, is going to be Minnie Mouse.  As a Disney fanatic I can say, I was quite excited they both chose Disney characters.  In addition to the costumes, WalMart also had a lot of Wilton Halloween supplies out.  As you may have noticed from previous posts that I really love Wilton cake decorating and candy making materials.  In this section, I found our quick craft for today a candy necklace kit. 

Both of my girls where their dress jewelry all the time, so I figured this would be great.  Not only did the kit come with enough materials for 8 necklaces, but it was only $3!  You can't beat that.  This morning when we took the kit out of the box, what was even better was that each necklace was in its own little bag, so I did not have to do any sorting or organizing.  I just took one bowl for each girl and poured one bag into each bowl.  Ta - Da!  The craft was all set up.

Hayley picked up the ability to string the candy beads pretty quickly.  Emily, being only two, needed a little assistance to get started but then was able to do a few on her own.  Of course, her attention span is a little shorter than Hayley's, so as soon as Hayley was done her own, she then helped finish up Emily's.  The funniest part was that neither one of the girls even thought the beads could be candy.  They were so proud of the necklaces, they wore them while we went to pick Joey up from school.  When Joey saw the necklaces, he said, "You made candy necklaces without me?"  That was when the girls realized they were candy and began munching away.  It was a good thing I made one for Joey and brought it along because all three kids ate their necklaces before getting back home. 

So if you are looking for a quick, fun little activity that really helps the kids develop their fine motor skills, here is one for only $3.  We'll be making them again tomorrow, since Hayley discovered the 5 leftover packages that we haven't put together yet and has asked no less than ten times if she can make another necklace!