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Fun with Holiday Leftovers

I’m not talking turkey here. With Christmas just a few weeks away I am desperately trying to purge my home of leftover Halloween candy and remnants of our Thanksgiving feast, so I figured why not have a little fun in the process.

If you have kids at home the following projects make for excellent boredom busters during the holiday break from school:

CANDY SAND ART

Materials:

Pixy Stixs

Clean baby food jars

Gummy worms or fish

Small plastic castle or scuba guy

Directions:

To make sweet sand art, layer the colored sugar from the Pixy Stix into a clean baby food jar.

Use about five sticks of each color per layer.

On top of each layer add a plastic toy, fish or worm to create an undersea scene.

For some reason we have a ton of leftover cranberries from Thanksgiving. If you are dealing with the same predicament, consider letting your kids help with the following simple recipes:

EASY CRANBERRY SMOOTHIE

Ingredients:

1 cup apple juice

1 banana

1 cup frozen cranberries

2 cups frozen strawberries, blueberries or peaches

Directions:

Place 1/4 cup apple juice and a banana in the blender, blend until smooth.

Fill the rest of the blender with the cranberries and other frozen mixed fruit.

Add the rest of the apple juice and blend until smooth.

Garnish with a few fresh cranberries.

CRAN-APPLE PEAR CRISP

Ingredients for Filling:

3 apples, peeled and medium chopped

3 pears, peeled and medium chopped

2 cups fresh cranberries

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Ingredients for Topping:

6 ounces cold butter, unsalted

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup old fashion oats

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix together all of the filling ingredients.

Place filling into a 9 by 13-inch baking dish.

In food processor pulse butter, brown sugar, and flour.

Once it gets to a crumbly consistency add oats.

Sprinkle topping over fruit filling.

Bake for about 35 minutes.

Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

Related Articles:

Ways to Keep Kids Busy During Thanksgiving Break

Homemade Thanksgiving Decorations

Simple Thanksgiving Centerpiece

Hands-On Thanksgiving Fun

Kid-Friendly Thanksgiving Art Projects

Homemade Thanksgiving Decorations Courtesy of Mother Nature

Fun Ways to Keep Your Kids Entertained on Thanksgiving

Keeping Kids Busy on Thanksgiving

More Easy Thanksgiving Pumpkin Crafts

This entry was posted in Holidays by Michele Cheplic. Bookmark the permalink.

About Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism. She spent the next ten years as a television anchor and reporter at various stations throughout the country (from the CBS affiliate in Honolulu to the NBC affiliate in Green Bay). She has won numerous honors including an Emmy Award and multiple Edward R. Murrow awards honoring outstanding achievements in broadcast journalism. In addition, she has received awards from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association for her reports on air travel and the Wisconsin Education Association Council for her stories on education. Michele has since left television to concentrate on being a mom and freelance writer.