Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Some simple summer fun...

I have a couple of fun recipes and ideas to share with you for some summer fun!

First is my recipe for...

The Best Homemade Bubble Juice

1 cup blue Dawn Ultra dishwashing soap (it absolutely has to be this brand)
1/4 cup glycerine (found in the first aid section of most drug stores)
12 cups water

Mix together (I use a mop bucket) and let sit overnight. Pour into shallow containers when ready to use (like a pie plate). I store mine in tupperware pitchers that seal tightly, so when I'm ready to use, I can pour it easily. Don't worry if you can't use it all in one afternoon...it gets better with time! This makes a TON of bubble juice; you might need to half the recipe. It's great for an outside party or a lazy summer afternoon.


Earlier in the summer, I bought some big bubble wands at the dollar store. They're perfect to use with this bubble juice. However, this is what they look like now.


When my kids cry over something from the dollar store that breaks, I remind them that it's because it's cheap. I looked for more wands last week at both Target and Walmart and couldn't find them. *frown*

Actually though, I got this recipe for Bubble Juice with in this kit that included a ginormous bubble wand. Check it out below! This picture is a few years old, but wowza...that is one big bubble!


Another fun summer treat we enjoy is homemade popsicles. You can buy popsicle molds at Target and Walmart (couldn't find the bubble wands, but they did have popsicle molds!). We make 'em with grape juice, orange juice, gatorade, lemonade, and anything else you can think of. My favorite kind to make though are smoothie pops. We make fruit smoothies almost every morning for breakfast, and I try to make enough extra to freeze for popsicles. It's my favorite mid-afternoon treat!


I don't know about your family, but we eat TONS of berries in the summertime.

Strawberries and blueberries are usually packaged in #6 plastic containers, which can be re-purposed to make shrinky dinks. Here's a link with directions. We've done this a few times, and our shrinky dinks have yet to come out flat...I don't know if we're doing something wrong. I still think they turned out cute!

I think we're going to use these to make a charm bracelet for Abbey.

Enjoy!

21 comments:

Unknown said...

That happened to our wands like that too. Let me recommend: Gorilla Glue. Always have some on hand. It's wonderous.

Susan said...

I will have to find an alternative to Dawn here. Thanks for the recipe. JR LOVES bubbles. I love popsicles too.

Michele said...

I love the shrinky dink idea - would have never thought of that and we go through a ton of those plastic berry boxes :)

Gretchen said...

Great ideas! And I had never heard of Gorilla Glue. Must have that on hand, too.

If it ever gets above 60 here for any length of time, I'll make those smoothie popsicles. I make a lot of smoothies, too.

Have a great day!

Kim Heinecke said...

Shrinky Dinks, yeah baby!!

Natalie Witcher said...

Love the bubbles!

Anonymous said...

Way fun.
PS: We love Blokus!
:)

*carrie* said...

Fun ideas, Mer. Monica made homemade bubbles this week, and I just tried some homemade popsicles for the first time. I'm bummed, though, because the "sticks" pulled out leaving the slush still in the mold. Any tips?

Tami said...

Love the shrinky dink idea. I have been wanting to do these with my kids, but they are not available anymore.

much2ponder said...

hope you don't mind my dropping by. I enjoyed your writing. My kids are out there in CO too. My son, his wife and their three kids. I love to visit. The mountains are just breath taking.

Kecia said...

Thanks for the shrinky-dink idea. Who knew!
What do you make your breakfast smoothies out of?
(And btw, it was McClard's--blech!)

Janna Widdifield said...

Oh my goodness! I didn't know you could recycle those plastic containers to make shrinky-dinks. We will be doing this soon...

Leigh Ann said...

You always have the best ideas. Both of mine are nuts for bubbles. That huge bubble wand would have kept them busy for hours!

Gina said...

Smash the shrinky dinks with a non-slotted spatual as soon as they come out of the oven. Seriously. Oh, and I like to plop yogurt into the molds. Yummy- and no thought what so ever.

Gina said...

Try leaving them in a little longer, too. It looks like maybe they are not done shrinking. Oh yeah, we have been all over these shrinky-dinks since the day we both de-lurked at that post!

Lori Harper said...

Thank you so much for the comment on my blog. It is nice to meet you. I bookmarked your blog, too. Sounds like we have a lot in common!

Meredith said...

I bought some popscicle forms last year and never used them...thanks for the reminder. Everyone loves a cool summer treat!

Rae said...

We've been using Crystal Light in our popsicle molds. I'm definitely going to try out your fruit smoothie idea. Yum!

That is one terrific bubble. My chick-a-dee's will love that!

Jenn said...

What a fun mom you are! My youngest two are really into bubbles right now - so I am going to order that GIANT bubble blower- how fun.

I am going to target tonight so I am going to look for the Popsicle molds!

Also thanks for the idea for the fruit containers - we have lots of those around here and just recycle them. My boys will love making shrinky dinks.

Go to my blog you are a winner! :O)

His Girl said...

that's it! it's 111 degrees out here. you are now the summer home of the hisgirl family. make room for the 5 of us and our big fat beagle.

Girl Raised in the South said...

WOW on the bubble recipe - if my grandbaby likes the ones from the Dollar Store, he'll go crazy over these, so of course I'm going to whip up a batch and find something that will work as a fantastic wand. Thanks!