Kid's gingerbread house decorating party

Kid friendly gingerbread decorating party using graham crackers

Christmas with kids is always fun. There’s so many traditions you can start with them. Like baking cookies, making Christmas stockings, and decorating gingerbread houses to name a few.

We made graham cracker gingerbread houses last night and it was so much fun! And my stress level was at a ZERO! Yes, a zero. If you are a momma of multiples, especially multiples that are stair steps, you know what I’m talking about. Things like this can stress us out. My secret to a no stress gingerbread making party? Let the kids have fun and don’t worry about any of it being pretty or perfect. That’s it!

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Don’t get me wrong the pictures on Pinterest with the perfectly decorated “kid” made gingerbread houses are absolutely adorable. A picture perfect graham cracker house with a tiny little spill of sprinkles on the table and a dab of out of place frosting is oh so cute…but let’s be honest that’s not likely to happen in most homes with little ones. As a mom of 4 I KNOW this lol! And really, where’s the fun if there’s not a GIANT MESS of sprinkles, crumbs of graham crackers, frosting smeared on their faces and broken candy canes to pick up?

So let’s ditch the vision of perfectly put together Christmas gingerbread houses and embrace that beautiful chaos. Those are the moments you are connecting with kids. Those are the moments your kids are learning. Those are the moments that matter.

GRAHAM CRACKER GINGERBREAD HOUSE YOUR KIDS WILL ENJOY MAKING

Most of the supplies I picked up at my local Dollar Tree. Here’s what we used

• graham crackers

• 2 tubs of cream cheese frosting

• green food coloring

• mini candy canes

• gumdrops

• assorted hard candies

• large spree candies

• twizzlers pull and peel

• red and white round peppermints

• green and white peppermints

• mini & regular sized marshmallows

• jellybeans

• traditional pretzels

• large & mini pretzel sticks

• sprinkles

Other supplies that we used:

• 2 Wilton piping bags

• 2 sandwich bags

• paper plates

• glass condiment bowls

• 4 oz mason jars

• cake stands (these are similar to what I used)

• assorted bowls & dishes

• rubber bands (to tie the frosting bags closed so it doesn’t come out)

To free up space we used cake stands to hold the candies that were in these little glass condiment dishes. I love these little dishes. They are super cheap, only $.25 each! This got them up and off of the table so that the girls would have more space to create.

We used another cake stand to hold the sprinkles and the bags of frosting. The frosting I used, generic cream cheese frosting in a can, wasn’t really the best for this but it works. It doesn’t set up/dry super fast but it works. We also stuck the bags of frosting in the fridge about an hour before we started decorating so that the icing would be more firm to work with.

Each daughter got a paper plate to make their gingerbread house on.

They played around with different designs then started “gluing” their pieces together using the bags of icing.

After their houses set up, the frosting had hardened a bit, they decorated their little hearts out!

I always love seeing their creativity take flight. They kept adding and adding candies thinking of new ways they could use all the different colors and shapes.

My third daughter was the only one to make a snowman out of the marshmallows. He was adorable with his little hard candy hat and twizzler scarf.

I love the doorway my first born daughter made using the marshmallows.

And this super creative door crafted by daughter number 2 made into the shape of a heart using mini peppermint sticks. Adorable!

Last but not least is the masterpiece from daughter number 4. Oh the love that was put into this. It may look like a mess to others but she had THE MOST fun making this. After her original house fell she turned the rubble into a work of gingerbread house art!

Sure our houses weren’t perfect by Pinterest standards but it doesn’t even matter. For a couple of hours our family sat around our kitchen table and had the best time singing random songs, cracking jokes, teasing one another, and making memories. AND there wasn’t an argument one! I know, super rare for a family with 4 kiddos. It was a perfect Christmas themed evening.

Check out more kid friendly crafts below.

Fresh strawberry shortcake recipe

Fresh strawberries, they are way too good to pass up! That’s why every year we take our four daughters and do some berry picking of our own. If you’ve never been you have to add this to your bucket list! Here in the Midwest there are lots of family owned farms that are less than an hour from us so we have a lot to choose from {but our favorite is Fahrmeier’s Farms. We stumbled across them several years ago and have loved making memories there with our family ever since! If you don’t know of any local farms in your area doing a quick search on social media is a great way to find them.

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

We always get home with way too many strawberries and we always make a big batch of strawberry shortcake. Although we don’t make a traditional shortcake, we serve our strawberries over a fresh loaf of pound cake. I promise, it’s even more delicious than the shortcake {or the angel food cake that my parents always served it over}.

For this recipe you’ll need

• 8lbs of fresh just picked strawberries preferably handpicked at your local farm but if you can’t get fresh from the farm fresh strawberries from your local grocer will work too ;).

• 1 1/2 cups of sugar

• mixing bowl

• big spoon

I promise this is sooooo super easy. Wash and slice each berry. If there are brown spots on them you can just cut them off and the rest of the berry should be just fine. As you cut, toss the berries in your mixing bowl. I’m not a perfectionist by any stretch of the imagination so I just cut them into bit sized pieces. I’m sure any foodie watching me slice these strawberries would probably fall down at the lack of keeping the pieces equal….but I’m a momma of 4 and I have better things to focus on than my strawberry pieces being equal lol!

Add in your 1 1/2 cups of sugar. If you don’t want as much liquid, you can reduce the amount of sugar. We like ours to be super juicy so we can soak the leftover pound cake up in it. YUM! Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

While your strawberry mixture is in the fridge you can make the pound cake. We don’t make this from scratch but we do prefer to make it versus buying a premade one. Premade ones at the bakery tend to be a bit pricey. We find our pound cake box mix at Aldi and it is super delicious!

I don’t add anything extra to this recipe, just follow the instructions that come on the box.

A little side note, if you’re like our family and go through whisks like crazy {idk why we are so hard on these wonderful gadgets} try The Pioneer Women balloon whisk. I’m super frugal but I was tired of buying a new whisk every few months because we use them so often in the kitchen and they just fall apart. So I spent a few more dollars and picked this one up and we love it! It’s super sturdy and you will thank yourself just like I did.

After your pound cake is completely cooled it should slip right out of the pan. We use glass bakeware for the majority of our baking needs vs metal.

And that’s it. Super easy, the hardest part is having to wait till it’s done to eat it!

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Easy iced coffee recipe

Iced coffee…it’s a glorious drink! I didn’t discover coffee until AFTER I gave birth to three of my four daughters. I don’t know what rock I was living under but I never knew coffee could be delicious. I’ve found out that cold coffee, especially ice cold coffee is even more delicious than I could have imagined!

I’m not a huge fan of hot coffee though so most of the coffee I drink is either iced or room temp. Call me weird, that’s ok, but I like what I like.

After being so tired of the three older daughters always using up the regular coffee creamer in their milk I decided to just stop buying it and try my taste buds with half and half. I have to say I am SOOOOO glad I did! It is even better than any flavored creamer I’ve bought! Granted I add in a few things but even so it’s tasty!

Affiliate Disclosure. Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, which means that I may earn a small commission if you click on the link or make a purchase using the link. If you make a purchase you will not be charged anything additional.

The recipe is so easy to make too. You can buy everything from Aldi for a fraction of what it would cost you at the big name grocery store. Here’s what you’ll need

• brewed coffee at room temp

• half and half

• sugar

• vanilla extract

• ice

Everyone is different when it comes to taste but I like to have a ratio of coffee:half and half 3:5….yes maybe a little heavy on the half and half but what can I say I’m living it up ;)! First, pour your coffee into your glass.

Then add in your sugar. I add 1.5 teaspoons to mine and it’s almost too sweet for me.

Don’t forget your vanilla. I usually eye ball this to be just a tiny bit but if you’re nervous you’ll pour too much use a measuring spoon. I don’t recommend putting in more than 1/2 teaspoon.

Then add in your half and half

Give it a good stir.

Add in some ice. I usually add a lot.

Then you’re done!

Such a simple and easy go to iced coffee recipe. No frills just the basics but it’s soooo good! I like to drink mine from my stainless steel straw. If you’ve never tried these you must! This is the only way I can get enough water every single day to stay hydrated.

I hope you enjoy this recipe!

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Snowman snack, easy, simple and mess free

Here’s a fun snack for those little ones that LOVE fun foods! It’s SUPER easy, almost totally mess free {you might have some crumbs but that will pretty much be it}, very friendly on the wallet and honestly you probably already have these items on hand.

Here’s what you’ll need

• vanilla wafers

• chocolate chips {we used regular ones but the mini’s would have been PERFECT for this snack}

• twizzlers pull & peel

That’s it! There aren’t a whole lot of steps to this adorable little snack.

First, place three vanilla wafers in a line, like a snowman. Then use the chocolate chips to make a cute face. Last peel off a couple pieces of the twizzlers for a scarf. Put them in in between the first and second wafers and viola you have your very own snowman snack!

I told you it was super simple. Enjoy!

60 Minute SIMPLE Dinner Recipe

Regardless if you're a working mom or a SAHM, we can all agree being a mom keeps you insanely BUSY! We are always looking for new ways to save time and energy so we can focus that precious time on things that really matter in life, our memories with our family.

I'm sure this is called lots of other things but in our house we call it Mexican Bake! It's super easy to make, and if your kiddos love "Mexican" food they will LOVE this! We like to make ours with fresh onions, peppers, and tomatoes {although we didn't have a fresh tomato when I took the pics for this post, but usually we do}. You can make this in less than an hour and if your kiddos are school aged they can even help like our girls love to do. For the most part this is a one pan dish from start to finish.

Ingredients

• 1 lb of ground beef

• 1/2 chopped small onion

• 1 chopped small bell pepper

• 1 chopped small tomato

• 3 cups shredded cheese {you can make this less cheesy if you'd like} it doesn't have to be an exact measurement, you can add as much or as little as you'd like

• taco seasoning packet

• 1 packet of Knorr Taco Rice

• 2 tbs butter {optional}

Cooking

• skillet {we recommend cast iron}

• sauce pan {we recommend stainless steel}

• cutting board

• knife

• wooden spoon

• small mixing bowl

PREHEAT your oven to 450.

This recipe is SUPER quick and easy. You'll want to start by chopping the veggies, then set aside. Melt butter in the iron skillet. Once melted add the veggies and let them simmer. To speed this step up I will cook them on a slightly higher temp and add a little water so they don't burn, then  put a lid on it and cook till they are tender. 

Once that's done cooking remove from your skillet and set aside in a small mixing bowl.

To save time get the rice started while the veggies are cooking. Be sure to follow instructions on the back of the packet. 

Add the hamburger to the skillet {do not wash in between, it isn't necessary}. Strain off any unwanted greese/fat {I strain ours into a discarded coffee container}. Once browned, leave the ground beef in the cast iron skillet, add in veggies and stir together. 

Mix in taco seasoning packet, follow instructions on the back of the packet.

Add in 2 cups of cheese and the rice. Don't over stir, just enough to blend them all together. Then sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.

Place iron skillet in preheated oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Take out and let sit for 10 minutes or till desired cooling, ENJOY! {if you are NOT using a CAST IRON SKILLET DO NOT PLACE YOUR SKILLET IN THE OVEN. PLEASE PLACE IN A OVEN SAFE DISH, THEN PLACE IN OVEN}

We usually top ours with sour cream and salsa and serve with tortilla chips.

Super easy and inexpensive dinner to serve your family on those crazy busy nights.