Thin Stix Creativity Pack

My kids are so excited every time we get to review for The Pencil Grip, Inc.. They love arts and crafts and appreciate getting new supplies to make creations. The mess-free Kwik Stix are well-loved in our house by both kids and mom alike. The kids equally like the thinner version of the stix as well, but had only used the classic colors. You should have seen the looks on their faces when they opened the box with the Thin Stix Creativity Pack!

The Pencil Grip, Inc. was started in 1992 by Dr Lois Provda, an educational therapist. The company has been selling hundreds of unique and innovative products for the school, home, and office ever since. They offer the original ergonomic pencil grips that encourage proper writing skills, textured products that appeal to sensory-seeking kids, ultra-safe scissors, basic office supplies, and, of course, the Stix. 

The Thin Stix, just like the original Kwik Stix, are solid tempera paint sticks, but without the mess. That means we don't always have to pull out the paint, brushes, smocks, and cups whenever the kiddos want to create masterpieces. Don't get me wrong, my kids love traditional painting! But Mom doesn't always want to deal with the hassle. With these paint sticks, they can simply uncap, twist, and paint to their hearts' content. On top of that, the fast-drying formula of the stix though allows the color to dry in only 90 seconds!  Now we don't have paintings drying all over the house. The pages can simply be stacked in one neat pile. 

Even times when I would say no to a full-on painting session, I would never deny their requests for the Thin Stix. So quick and easy.  

The Stix remind me of a big tube of lipstick. The paint is waxy and slightly tacky. They silkily glide across the paper as you swipe. (I admit, it's a bit addicting!) Using them is more like coloring than painting though since you draw instead of brush the color around. The finish on the page is paint-like with a shimmery sheen, so the completed project looks like it was painted.

The Thin Stix are much slimmer than their original counterpart. Their size and length are similar to markers. They have slightly less paint inside (0.35 oz for the original, 0.21 oz for the thin). You can be more precise and accurate with the thin version.

Just like the regular Kwik Stix come in a variety of colors (classic, neon, and metalix,), the Thin Stix do, as well. All the colors are fun, but the shimmery metalix are my personal favorite, and given the fact that my kids "ration" the use of the gold and silver stix, I'd say they're their favorites, too, ha. 

We've used these to paint on all types of paper, coffee filters, popsicle sticks, wood, and styrofoam plates. They really are easy to use on just about any surface (just ask the 2-year-old how much fun it is to use these to paint on the kitchen table. Stinker.) This time we made sure to make some fall decorations to display on the windows. The kids and I had fun swirling the colors on pages. Then we flipped the pages over to draw leaves and cut them out. It was a fun surprise every time we turned them over to see how the patterns and colors came together.    

The Thin Stix Creativity Pack offers so many opportunities for creativity. If you're looking for a mess-free, fun, and easy form of art, these Kwix Stix may be just what you need.

You can connect with The Pencil Grip, Inc. on the following social media sites:
Facebook
Twitter 
Pinterest


You can find more art projects made with the Thin Stix Creativity Pack by reading the reviews on the Homeschool Review Crew blog.

Things That Make Me Smile 11/17/16

Jake (10½), Alyssa (8½), Zac (7), Tyler (4½), Nicholas (1½)

Happy Friday! Has anything made you Smile this week?

1. Zac, holding his LEGO phone creation: "Mom, I can take pictures and rate them. I just took one of you and wrote 'the beautifulest girl in the world.'"

2. Me: "Are you Mama's boy?"
Nicky: "No."
Me: "Are you Daddy's boy?"
Nicky: "No."
Me: "Are you Gramma's boy?"
Nicky: "No."
Me: "Are you Papa's boy?"
Nicky: "No."
Me: "Well, whose boy are you then? Aren't you Mama's boy?"
Nicky: "No. Papa."

3. I was going to wash Nicholas after breakfast, but he "hid" from me.

Me, teasing: "Nicky, where are you?"

Nicholas: "I un know!" (I don't know) 

4. I clean my wedding ring every Sunday morning before church and leave it on the bathroom counter until I'm completely ready, so it stays shiny even when I wash my hands throughout the morning. I forgot to put it on this week until we were about to pull out of the driveway. I mentioned it to Leighton. He teased me about it before running in to grab it for me. Jake was very concerned and told me, "You have to wear it! Otherwise someone's going to come and try to marry you." 

5. Alyssa, about Nicholas: "He's like a super hero with his cuteness."

6. Zac: "Mom, did you know your eyelashes are as long as a Lego?"

7. Tyler: "Mama, how many more years until Christmas?" 

8. Zac, at dinner: "I get to sit next to you? Ooh, I get to sit next to the pretty girl!"

9. Our pile of Leafs.

 

10. Tyler, to Nicholas: "Baby, I like you."

 

11. Tyler: "What's the name of this Lego piece?"
Me: "Turntable."
Tyler: "That's right! How did you know?"
Me: "Because I'm so Lego savvy."
Jake: "What does that mean?"
Me: "It means I know about Legos."
Tyler: "You're so 'I know about Legos'? That's weird."  

What made you Smile this week?

 

Tasty Tuesday: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Every Thursday, my friend Karen from Tots and Me hosts Throwback Thursday Blog-Style. When she first started it, I thought it was a great idea. It's so fun looking back through old posts, seeing older pictures of the kids and remembering some activities that we've done. It's also a good way to connect with other bloggers. 

This past week, she personally shared a recipe for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I knew immediately that I wanted to try them. We make pumpkin cookies every fall and coat them with a simple icing. We've made them so many times that I thought for sure that the recipe was here on the blog. I was shocked to discover that they're not and will remedy that eventually. And though I had been craving our pumpkin cookies the last couple weeks, the idea of adding chocolate to the pumpkin goodness instead of the vanilla icing on top was very appealing. I grabbed some butter out of the fridge to start softening. As soon as the schoolwork was done for the day, we got to baking.

 

Oh, let me tell you, these cookies did not disappoint! As with any cookie, we had to taste them just minutes out of the oven. Soft cake-like texture, gooey melted chocolate chips, and a hint of pumpkiny flavor. It's a good thing we made 5-6 dozen, because these kids of mine were inhaling them. I'm sure they would have gobbled down nearly all of them that first day had I let them. 

Yeah, they're that good. These are cookies that we'll be making again.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
5 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
3 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
2. Cream the butter and sugar. Add pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla and mix well.
3. Slowly add in the flour mixture until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Drop dough onto baking sheet. (I used my large cookie scoop, about 2 tablespoons.) Bake at 350* for 14-18 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.    

Recipe adapted from Tots and Me.

Wordless Wedneday 10/29/14

Wordless Wednesday 101/14

Tasty Tuesday: Maple-Filled Pumpkin Spice Spritz Cookies

I am so excited that it's fall! This is my favorite season for so many reasons, but especially for the flavors: apples, pumpkins, cinnamon, nutmeg. Within the past few weeks we've already made pumpkin bread a few times and zucchini muffins. And cinnamon swirl bread, but we make that year-round. With all the bread baking, we were needing a change. These cookies were the perfect solution.

Not only do they taste yummy with just a hint of pumpkin spice, but look how adorable they are! The kids love whenever we pull out the cookie press. Treats are even more fun when they're in cute little shapes.

I love how the end of one color bled into the beginning of the new one in some of the cookies. I think it would be really pretty to fill the cookie press alternating the different colors. It would make wonderful multicolored leaves--perfect for fall!

While the cookies themselves are not quite as buttery as our typical spritz recipe, they make up for it with the maple filling. To me, they taste just like the maple cookies my grandparents used to buy in the bulk section of the grocery store. Leighton said they taste like a cross between pancakes and waffles. Haha, I guess the maple filling just means that we can eat these for breakfast!

Because you don't need a lot of filling for the cookies, I used the leftover goodness to frost a loaf of that cinnamon swirl bread I was talking about. And, yes, I most definitely ate a piece of that with my coffee for breakfast!


Whether you prefer these cookies by themselves or filled with maple goodness, why not make a batch to celebrate fall.

 

Pumpkin Spice Spritz Cookies
 Ingredients:
1 cup (16 tablespoons) butter softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
 food coloring (optional)

Directions:
1. With an electric mixer, beat butter and powdered sugar until fluffy, about 4-5 minutes.
2. Mix in the egg and vanilla extract until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and pumpkin pie spice. Slowly mix dry ingredients in with the butter mixture until combined.
4. If using food coloring, separate the dough, and add coloring accordingly.
5. Fill the cookie press with dough and press cookies onto ungreased baking sheets.
6. Bake at 350* for 7-8 minutes, until firm and edges are just beginning to brown. Remove from oven and let stand for 2 minutes before transferring to cooling racks to cool completely.


Maple Filling
Ingredients:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon maple extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar

Directions:
Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Blend in maple and vanilla extracts. Slowly beat in powdered sugar until combined.

Sandwich maple filling between 2 cookies.

Recipes adapted from diethood.

Tasty Tuesday: Apple Cookies

I can't believe that this was the first apple recipe we've done this fall. We have a bunch of apples that were calling my name. They were begging to not be eaten plain. They deserved more out of their short lived lives. They needed to be combined with sugar and spices. I owed it to them to make them into cookies. 

I was busy gathering the ingredients and readying everything to start baking. 

And what does Alyssa decided she wants to do?

Eat one of those apples!

She's lucky I had more. I just feel sorry for the poor apple. Its hopes and dreams of being made into delicious cookies were broken with each crushing bite.

 I eventually put her to work though . . .

Pouring

 Dumping

 Mixing

 And of course, grating.

The kids shredded the apples since I knew that Jake would not eat the cookies if they had bits of apple chunks in them. This is the kid who begs for asparagus, but doesn't like "things" in his cookies and what-nots. For that reason (and also because of his daddy), we did not add the raisins or walnuts either.  We did however, add a half cup of quick-cooking oats to make up for some of the missing substance.

Let me just say . . . yum! These cookies are the perfect way to use up a couple of apples in the fall or anytime of the year, for that matter. The shredded apples worked perfectly in place of the diced and the added oatmeal gave the cookies a wonderful consistency. They really don't even need the glaze on top; the cookies are pretty sweet as it is. We made half a batch of the glaze and it was just enough for one batch of cookies.

Whether you use glaze, raisins, walnuts, oatmeal, or a combination of four, you will not be disappointed with these apple cookies!

Besides, just think how happy you'd make the apples.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup shortening                                                  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar                             1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 egg                                                                       1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour                                 1 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon baking soda                                          1 cup apples - peeled, cored and finely diced
1/2 teaspoon salt                                                     1 cup raisins

Glaze:
1/4 cup milk                                                             1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar                     2 1/2 tablespoons milk, or to desired consistency    
1 tablespoon butter   

Directions:

1. Beat shortening and brown sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and blend thoroughly.

2. Stir together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg.

3. Stir half the dry ingredients into creamed mixture. Stir in nuts, apple and raisins, then stir in remaining half of dry ingredients and milk. Mix well.

4. Drop from tablespoon 1 1/2 inches apart onto lightly greased baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Remove cookies to racks and let cool. Spread with glaze.

5. To make Glaze: Combine powdered sugar, butter, vanilla and enough milk to make glaze of spreading consistency. Beat until smooth. Spread on cooled cookies.
Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com.

Tasty Tuesday: Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie

Looking for something a little different this holiday season?  Why not make an apple butter pumpkin pie. It combines two of the season's favorite flavors and is still traditional enough to satisfy your pie fix. Plus, it's coated with a streusel topping. And we all know, streusel makes everything better!

We used our own homemade apple butter in this recipe. It adds a wonderful depth of flavor. You could also use a store-bought variety, but I highly recommend the homemade.

Just know, there aren't any spectacular pictures you can take for the making of this pie. Just a bunch of ingredients plopped into a bowl. 

Consider yourself warned.

 Appetizing?

 Mmm, looking better with each ingredient? 

 All mixed up, it looks like traditional pumpkin pie . . . but we know better. Ha!

We used the last of our brown sugar in the filling of the pie, so we had to make our own using white sugar and molasses, like we did HERE.

Technically, you're supposed to mix the two together by themselves (or mix the molasses with the wet ingredients.) I didn't want to take the extra time to do so, and it turned out just fine. See, sometimes shortcuts are ok!

We didn't add the pecans in the streusel because no one in our family would eat it then, and that would kind of defeat the purpose of making the pie in the first place. Nuts in desserts are starting to grow on me though. I think they would make a lovely addition to this one.

I've said it before, I don't care for pumpkin pie (even though I love any sort of pumpkin-y cake, cookie, or bread.) It doesn't even look like pumpkin though. It actually looks pretty good.

To me, it tastes very similar to a regular pumpkin pie - but better because of the topping. The texture is also a bit lighter. I think it needs more apple butter in order to get a better blend of flavors though. Or maybe I'm just trying to mask the pumpkin flavor altogether? It's possible. I love the addition of the streusel though. It adds a crunchiness to an otherwise creamy pie and gives it a good contrast.

Leighton's opinion is the one that truly matters. He agrees that it needs a stronger apple butter flavor to be called an "apple butter pumpkin pie." But put this pie in a match against a regular ol' pumpkin pie, and the tried-and-true traditional pumpkin is the winner.

Either one I make, one thing will always remain true: I steal the end crust off Leighton's slice(s). He could live without it, but it's my favorite part. We're like Jack Sprat and his wife, only instead of fat and lean, we're filling and crust.

Ah, such romantics we are.

Pie Crust
Ingredients:
1/2 cup vegetable shortening                                 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour                                   1/2 cups cold water

Directions:

1. Mix shortening, flour, and salt together with a fork or a pastry blender until very crumbly. Add as much water as needed to hold together, and mix lightly with a fork.
2. Roll gently on a floured pastry cloth to about an inch larger than pie plate. Fold carefully in half, lift to pie plate, and unfold. Press into pan. 

3. Don't forget to use up that excess pie dough!

Apple Butter Pumpkin Pie

Pie Ingredients:
1 cup canned pumpkin puree                                 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup apple butter                                                   3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup dark brown sugar                                       1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon                              1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Streusel Topping Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter                                              1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour                                        1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, apple butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Stir in eggs and evaporated milk. Pour into prepared pie shell.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted 2 inches from the center comes out clean.
4. To make the streusel topping: In a small bowl, combine butter, flour, and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Stir until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in pecans.
5. Sprinkle streusel topping over the pie, and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Wordless Wednesday 11/2/11

Tasty Tuesday: Pumpkin Bread

Have I mentioned how much I love quick breads? Oh, I have? Well, I really do. Not just because they're quick and easy, but because they taste soooo yummy!

We showed how Jake made banana bread all by himself. 

And in our chocolate chai bread post, Alyssa used the hand-mixer by herself for the first time!

Here, you'll see Alyssa has improved much in the kitchen during the last 10 months.

She cracked the eggs all by herself.

Better yet - she dropped NO pieces of shell!

Eating a marshmallow while making the bread? Multitasking already. Girl after my own heart. She's come a long way from the first time she used the mixer.

The kids just love grating the nutmeg. She wanted to turn the entire seed to powder. It's a good thing it's the season of spice baking.

And since when did she learn to dump a bowl of something into another bowl without pouring it on the counter in the process???

I'm amazed while watching my children in the kitchen. They've learned so much and truly enjoy creating delicious foods. 

I'd better be careful though - pretty soon they just might kick me out of the kitchen and take over for good!

We made a simple glaze (1 1/4 cup powdered sugar & 3 tablespoons milk) and drizzled it on top of one loaf after it (mostly) cooled.

For the second loaf, we swirled 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips into the batter before baking.

Which one is better? You be the judge! Try this recipe yourself and see. You really can't go wrong with this one. Try adding walnuts, cranberries, white chocolate chips, or caramel. No matter how we've made it, we always love it! Even plain, it still ranks up at the top of my list for quick breads - and that's saying something!

Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree                           
4 eggs                                                               
1 c vegetable oil                                               
2/3 c water                                                         

2 c white sugar                                                   

1 c brown sugar                                                 
3 1/2 c all-purpose flour   
2 ts baking soda
1 1/2 ts salt
1 ts ground cinnamon   
1 ts ground nutmeg
1/2 ts ground cloves
1/4 ts ground ginger
                                                               
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9x5 inch loaf pans.

2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.

3. Bake for about 60 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Make It Monday: Hand-Print Fall Tree

Some parts of the country have talked about snow recently. Thankfully, here in Michigan we're still enjoying the bright sunshine glowing on the oranges, reds, and yellows of the trees. I'm glad the rain has finally stopped so we can enjoy the beauty of fall. 

Now it doesn't matter if it does continue to rain though. I have my very own colorful fall trees right in my kitchen.

Let your friend paint your arm and hand brown. Watch out - it tickles!

Press your arm down on a piece of paper. If there are some white spots visible when you lift your arm, simply fill them in with more brown paint. 

After you wash off all that excess cold brown paint, return the favor, and paint your friend. 

Please though, paint just his arm and hand.

 "Hi, Mom! Wanna hug?"

 Embellish your tree by using your finger to add dots of colorful leaves all around.

I had visions of glorious trees sprinkled with the colors of fall. Masterpieces to be hung on the kitchen wall, for sure.

What they painted was far different from what my idea of the pages was. They seemed more interested in painting other accents. Very little leaves were being added.

This was not the plan. These were not the works of art I was excited to see created. 

Or were they?

Jake's picture, on the top, shows the leaves gently floating to the the ground with the slight breeze. There are 2 piles of leaves that the daddy already raked up for the child to play in. The child is jumping off the tree swing into the larger pile. The house is visible in the background.

Alyssa's picture, on the bottom,  shows a huge gust of wind. The leaves are being swept away and blown all around in the chaos. A little red squirrel tries to take shelter from the breeze near the tree.

See, it's all about perspective. Upon closer evaluation, and taking the time to listen to their descriptions, I realized that these were, indeed, art at it's finest. They weren't at all what I envisioned, but that's what makes them true artists. They weren't restrained to paint what I saw, but what they saw, what they felt.  

These little ones of mine are creative and talented and have minds of their own. Who am I to try to stand in their way, making them reform to my way of creating things? 

These pictures are hanging on our kitchen wall. Right where they should be.