Blindfold miniature golf

I came across this great date idea...go miniature golfing blindfolded! Here is the trick. Purchase ONE ticket for miniature golfing. Blindfold one person (switch it up if you want). The person who can see helps the blindfolded person golf. Using verbal cues direct the golfer. Be smart, assist them in walking around. Take off the blindfold and walk to the next hole (take turns being the blind golfer if you want).

I hope your date jar is filling up with great inexpensive date ideas!

To see the blog post about the date night jar click here.

If you have more ideas on dates leave a comment. Or email me at doodlesanddoilies (at) gmail (dot) com and I will post it for all to see!

Rollerblading

My husband and I go rollerblading at a nearby park. It takes us back to our childhood. I am still really bad and my husband loves showing me all of his tricks. But we have an enjoyable time!

When the sun is shining go rollerblading for a date. And don't forget the camera!

Fun Easter egg hunts

Here are some ideas for Easter egg hunts I found online.

Try out the ones you like; then report back and let us know what you liked/disliked about it!

1. Odd & Even hunt: assign each child odd or even. They can only take the eggs they find if it has their assignment. (Don't forget to write odd/even numbers on your eggs)

2. Color hunt: assign each child a color. They can only take the eggs they find if it is their assigned color. (you can assign two different colors to a child; more than one child can have the same color)

3. Notes: spice you the egg hunt by putting notes into some or all of the plastic eggs. Notes can be "kiss mommy", "give one of your eggs to brother", "help baby sister find one egg", "run around the house one time before finding any more eggs", "hug daddy", "take one of cousins eggs", etc. I think this one should be approved by all of the children because if you just have a child coming up to another child demanding an egg it could get ugly. But if everyone knows what some of the notes are it could solve the problem. Tell us what you think!

4. Golden egg: this egg could hold a special treat (different from all of the other eggs). Such as money, toys, stickers, etc.

5. Checklist: give each child a checklist; this way no one gets more/less eggs than there friends.

_____2 blue eggs

_____1 pink egg

_____4 orange eggs

_____1 purple egg

_____3 green eggs

_____1 golden egg

6. Jellybean hunt: in one or more rooms of your home hide some jellybeans. My husband loves this one.

7. Nighttime hunt: hand out flashlights and let the hunt begin (this can be played inside with the lights out or outside).

8. Parent's turn: have the children hide a few eggs for the parents to find. And if you are wanting a certain treat, now is the time to let them fill your eggs as well.

9. Name hunt: find the eggs with their name or letters of their name.

10. Teams: pair up in twos or in groups. Help each other find eggs. This is nice when you have younger and older children in the hunt together.

Do you have other ideas? Send us a message and let us know!

Enjoy your weekend!

Crayon decorated eggs

Today we are going to decorate Easter eggs with crayons.

So get some water boiling and boil your eggs.

Meanwhile, dig out the crayon box with all of your old crayons. I used a potato peeler to shave my crayons.

When your eggs are all done cooking. Dry them on a towel. Put them back into the carton (you can use a paper plate, plastic cup, whatever you want to get the angle you want). Sprinkle the crayon shaving on to the eggs & watch it melt. You can do one color or multiple colors!

Have fun!

Easter scavenger hunt

In my family and my husbands, one of our Easter traditions was participating in a scavenger hunt to find our Easter baskets on Easter morning. My husbands family did the scavenger hunt together. In my family each child had their own scavenger hunt; clues were easy to difficult depending on your age.

A few places that baskets were found in my house were the bathtub, behind the couch, in the dryer, the oven, and dishwasher. My husband's family (as far as I know) always found their baskets in their parents bedroom closet. Some other places to hide baskets could be outside (depending on the weather), pantry, under the bed, under a desk, the linen closet, a large doll house, etc.

I am not very good at coming up with clues like my mom is, but I found this great website where you can buy the clues. And if you are like me...you don't have the money to buy them. But I think it will be very helpful in making your own clues. You have to check it out here!

Now there are a few ways that you can hide the clues. My family just had slips of paper. You can get a little more creative with writing the clues onto egg shaped (or bunny shaped) pieces of paper (decorated is even better). You can hide the clues in plastic eggs. If your clues are short you can right them on hard boiled eggs (room temperature) with permeant marker. With each clue you can have a little treat for each of your participants like a jelly bean or a Peep.

If you don't have children but have a special someone this can be great date idea. Spend time writing the clues and hiding them. Then take turns finding your basket.

Be sure to have your camera ready, because you don't want to miss any great moments.

Happy Friday! Be sure to check out Doodles and Doilies next week for more exciting ideas to make life fun!

Easter Egg Scripture Story

I love this fun way of making sure Christ is included into our Easter activities. After all He is why we celebrate Easter!

You will need 12 plastic eggs (I got a package of 18 at the dollar store); number them 1-12. Here are the items and scripture references you will place in the numbered eggs:

#1 sacrament cup; Matt. 26: 17-30

#2 three dimes; Matt. 26: 14-15

#3 small rope or twine; Matt. 27: 1-2

#4 soap chip; Matt. 27: 24-26

#5 thorns; Matt. 27:28-30

#6 small nail(s); Matt. 27: 50-54

#7 dice; Matt. 27: 35-36

#8 gravel; Matt. 27: 50-54

#9 white material; Matt. 27: 57-61

#10 rock or stone; Matt. 27: 60

#11 spices (bay leaf or clove); Matt. 28: 2-5

#12 leave empty; Matt. 28: 5-8

You can display them however you like. Some ideas are in a basket or egg carton. You can also present the Easter story over twelve days (opening #12 on Easter day) or you can open them all on Easter. This is a visual way for all, especially children, to review the Easter story.

FYI: I used tissue paper in the bottom of my basket because plastic Easter grass can be a chocking hazard for children.

Homemade Easter egg dye

Hooray! It is finally April and the Spring weather is getting so much closer. And what a better way to start off the month than with a DIY project.

I was reading in Better Homes and Gardens magazine when I can upon this great idea. Making your own Easter egg dye.

Let me share the recipes with you:

PINK: 1 cup pickled beet juice & 1 Tbsp vinegar

PURPLE: 1 cup grape juice & 1 Tbsp vinegar

BROWN: 1 cup strong coffee & 1 Tbsp vinegar

BLUE: cut 1/4 head cabbage into chunks. Add cabbage to 4 cups boiling water. Stir in 2 Tbsp vinegar. Let cool to room temperature. Remove cabbage with slotted spoon.

DARK PINK: Cut 1 medium beet into chunks. Add beet to 4 cups boiling water. Continue as you would with the blue dye.

YELLOW: Remove the peel from one orange. Add peel to 4 cups boiling water. Again continue as you would with the the blue or dark pink dye.

Spring cleaning

Streamlining vs. organizing.

Organizing is put your things in order...however in about two weeks the house once again looks cluttered and messy. Streamlining is going through every single item in your house that is yours or you are in charge of and asking your self....do I need, want, use, like, or have room for this? Have bins/bags/boxes with you to help sort through your things. Have a garbage, DI/other charity/yard sale, file later (for all of those important papers you find in odd places), and doesn't belong in this room bins. Work in a clockwise pattern in each room. Go through EVERYTHING, touch EVERYTHING.

Tips for children: 7 (+1 extra incase something gets dirty) shirts, pants, socks, underwear (depending on the stage of potty training you may need more); and 2 Sunday outfits. To make the closet practically empty, fold the shirt, socks, underwear inside the pants to make a outfit pack and store in dresser. This way clothes match and you don't have a sock drawer, a underwear drawer, a pants drawer, etc.

The motto: LESS IS BEST!

You don't want clutter you want empty spaces. Our homes should look and feel like the temple. You should feel at peace! By clearing out the things that we don't need, want, like, use or have room for we give ourselves more time (we aren't spending so much time looking for things we can't find or spending money on something we already have because we are tired for looking for it), energy (not searching for lost items, easy to find an outfit with the outfit pack, etc.).

A tip from Opera...if you aren't sure which clothes you wear turn all the hangers backwards on the rod and when you wear something put the hanger the correct way in a few months you can tell which clothes you wear and which ones you don't.

You only need 2 pairs of sheets (get rid of the linen closet: store sheets and extra blankets between mattress and box-frame), one towel (if you want one hand towel and wash cloth as well) per person in your family (we don't really work with the cows everyday an more, so we really are bathing clean bodies).

Going through clothes is the hardest thing; remember you only wear about 25% of your clothes: they are your favorites so you know which ones I am talking about. Get ride of the other 75%. A lot of room was just made in your closet! Get ride of the clothes that aren't in style, are old and warn out, have holes in the knees, have frayed edges, stained (arm pits, oil) etc. Be careful though, if you are like me and on a budget don't get rid of every pair of pants because you have had them since high school and they are fraying...you won't be able to replace them. Perhaps you could set aside a few dollars each month in your clothes budget to buy some more down the road. Store winter/summer clothes under your bed/couch.

When you are getting ready to start your streamlining you may want to let someone babysit your younger children...this can take a long time and it will be hard to give your attention to them. Shut your teenagers door...don't touch their stuff. Don't touch your spouses stuff...let everyone know that you are only going to be streamlining your things and the things you are in charge of (which is basically the whole house). Let the older children help; they are more than willing to help. Children love to clean and be helpful...use them! A smart mom does less chores!!!

It is time for the embarrassment to stop when you have unexpected guests show up...streamline!

GOOD LUCK EVERYBODY!!!! HAVE FUN!!!!

LDS General Conference

Don't forget this weekend: April 2nd & 3rd is General Conference!

I found an article on classiclds.org called Conference: It's for the whole family. I found lots of interesting points and tips in how to get the family involved in conference. To read more go here.

1. Plan a family project or outing between Saturday sessions

2. Do Saturday duties on Friday

3. Note taking for older children: speaker's name, speaker's topic, and at least one story

4. Have children/teens add pictures of the speaker in their notes

5. Discuss conference talks and what each person learned during the FHE after conference

Our family makes crepes for breakfast on Sunday. What are you family traditions?

I also found some printable packets for youth and primary children at Sugar Doodle; go here to check it out..