Easy Reindeer Food + A Free Printable!

One of my favorite traditions carried out by my family is how, every Christmas Eve night, we sprinkle reindeer food on the lawn so that Santa's reindeer can see our house from the sky. It's a great way to get into the Christmas fun without a ton of money or mess.

To Make:

- 1 Cup of Oatmeal
- Glitter ( I use green and red)
- Sandwich Size Ziplock Bag
- My Printable


Instructions:

1. Scoop 1 cup of uncooked oatmeal into the sandwich bag. 
2. Add as much glitter as you desire to the oatmeal in the bag.
3. Stir it around with your finger, a spoon, or by shaking the bag (closed, of course!)
4. Print out the sheet, cut out the poem, and stick it in the bag. 
5. To be opened Christmas Eve night! 

You can print this out and put it in the reindeer food bag, or make your own using one of the many examples online!

Enjoy this recipe and this fun new tradition! 

-Sophia 

Beautiful Pictures of Autumn Leaves

Here are some pictures I took just the other day of a tree in our front yard. I took most of them with a shutter speed of 100 or 60, with an aperture of 5.0 or 5.6 and an ISO of 100. I also had the flash on.

And, of course, my personal favorite... 

Check back in later today for a tutorial for wrapping oddly shaped presents, a Winter Break Family Bucket List, and a recipe  for reindeer food! 

Did you like these pictures? Let me know your favorite in the comments! 

-Sophia

Blurred Pictures Made Easy- Simple Tips For A Non-Professsional

Everyone wants those awesomely artistic blurred pictures that are super Tumblr, right? Well, so did I, but I was really confused about how to get a picture out of focus entirely. That is, until I remembered that I could switch the lens to manual focus on my DSLR.

So I tried that and guess what? It works! Simply slide the bar from AF to MF on your lens and you can leave the picture out of focus! Simple, yet very effective!

Look out later today or tomorrow for more posts about photography, and a tutorial about wrapping oddly shaped presents! Plus, a list of family resolutions for the holiday break, all on Cupcakes and Kayaks!

My Christmas List 2015

Every Year around this time, kids put together their ultimate wish list of everything they want for Christmas. Those lists can include everything from a time machine to a hairbrush, but one thing is always the same: kids implore Santa to bring them the toys of their dreams on Christmas Eve.

Today, I'm sharing with you my Christmas list and my sister's Christmas wish list, in case you need some ideas.

My Sister's:

To Santa from Lena

this christmas I want the
American girl doll Grace with 2
Accessories. A paint set.
Stuffed animal. Animal headphones. 

P.S. with the American girl doll 
accessories I want the slow cooker
and a pair of boots and a sweater for her and glasses.

And I want one of those gymnastics
wedge things 

So there's the list of what Lena is asking Santa for this Christmas. Now for my list:

• Gift cards: Target, Hobby Lobby, iTunes, Starbucks, Amazon, Simon Mall, etc.
• Inside Out DVD
• “The Goldbergs” or “The Middle” or “Black-ish” DVD set. For the Goldbergs, season 1 or 2, for the Middle, further back is best. They have the sets at a discount on Amazon right now
• “The Martian” Movie Poster. They have them also on Amazon. I would like the one that says “Bring Him Home” and underneath “Matt Damon; The Martian.”
• Money
• A Canon zoom lens. The EF-S 55-250mm seems like a good choice to me, but anything that has a range close to that and is inexpensive would be awesome. I have a 18-55mm right now
• A “Turn Board” which is probably also on Amazon
• Clothes
• Adidas “High Rise Full Tight” they're in the women's section and I would probably need a size XS
• Cool T Shirts
• “Pink” Jacket
• Cool Crew Socks

So there you have it. And as for my brothers, the ten year old twins, they will probably send off their list the day before Christmas Eve, hoping Santa gets it in time.

Happy Thanksgiving!

-Sophia

My Mousetrap Car Failure

Watch my video to find out what happened!

How I Learned to Use A Planner

For years, I was opposed to using a planner. My thoughts were, "I have a brain, that's where I can keep all my assignments."

But the problem with that was that I would forget things. So for my 8th grade year, I decided I would use a planner.

I bought a small planner at Target for under 5 dollars. I found some cute smiley face binder clips and some Paper Mate pens for 2 dollars and set out to be organized.

I decided to color code my planner based upon the type of thing I was writing.

I wrote homework in orange, due dates in purple, dance in green, and tests in blue. 

Every day I have been writing in my planner, using my pens, and i have to say that, while the system isn't foolproof, it has definitely helped me with my organizational skills, especially at a time when we are having some much more homework and assignments!

I also have begun using a different one-inch binder for each of my four core classes, and this little step has helped me tremendously. I am so pleased that I have really become a more organized, dependable person this 2015-2016 year.

However, I did have to build a mousetrap car recently that made me want to scream. But yeah... organization. More on the car later.

Happy weekend!

My Secrets of Kid-hood

I love to read adult self-help books that don't apply to me in any way. So recently I read Gretchen Rubin's "The Happiness Project" and I was interested by her list of "Secrets of Adulthood" (I would definitely recommend this book, by the way).  The list can be found in her book. It contains things from the down-to-earth basics to happiness-inducing habits.

I decided that I could come up with a list of my Secrets of Kid-Hood, mimicking Rubin's technique. Here it is folks, the Secrets of Kid-Hood!!!

• It's ok to say no
• Pack your backpack the night before
• Do what you want, not what your friends want
• Before buying clothes, think about whether you'd actually wear it, not whether you could wear it or might wear it
• Find a hobby
• Get used to school, because it's not going anywhere
• Don't forget to be a kid
• Before you do something questionable ask yourself, "Would I be OK with my priest/rabbi/teacher/grandmother seeing me do this?"
• If you don't want to go somewhere but you know you really should, suck it up and go anyways because it might be fun. Or it won't. But at least you'll know.
• Use a planner
• Don't fake being sick, instead, ask if you can leave school a bit early or not come back after an appointment. Your parents will appreciate your honesty. 
• Go with the flow
• Don't get too caught up in things being "perfect"
• Have fun with your "cool" friends, but don't blow off your other friends
• You only live once, so enjoy it and don't be stupid
• Do well in school, and if you can't do that then do okay. And if you can't do that then study
• Focus on the now
• Be nice to your siblings
• If you have to doze off, daydream during language arts, not math
• It's okay to ask questions
• It's not the end of the world if you do bad on a test
• Take risks, but don't be stupid
• You are amazing
• How you look doesn't define you
• Middle school is awkward, it can only go up from here
• Be assertive. If you want something from your parents (or anyone), ask! 
• Tell people how you feel
• You'll never know if you don't try
• You're only a kid once, don't waste your opportunity
• You are You

Here is a picture of the list. To print it out, download it and print!

  

Let me know in the comments what your own secrets to kid-hood are! 

- Sophia