SPACE SAVERS

LIFESTYLE EXPERT COLLEEN MULLANEY’S HIGH DESIGN ON A LOW BUDGET

SNOWY DAY 101

Snowy Day You just got the 6 a.m. call: School is canceled. It’s official.
Insert panic here. Now, what are you going to do with the kids
all day? Never fear—here is your snow day how-to, guaranteed
to keep the little ones going from breakfast to bedtime.

Start Smart

Pancakes in cookie-cutter shapes with fresh fruit and warm syrup give them a healthy start as well as energy for a long day ahead. Don’t feel like making pancakes? Go for fruit smoothies. They’re full of flavor and nutrition. Add yogurt to the usual blend of fruits, ice and juice for an extra hearty burst.

Lunch-n-Munch

Pita pockets

Ham or turkey and cheese rolls

Grilled cheese

Hot dogs rolled in crescent dough

Make-your-own pizza

Sweet Treats

Candied apples

Hot chocolate with marshmallows

Crafty Ways to Spend the Day

Decorate snowflakes: Decorate foamy snowflakes and hang them from branches brought inside for a snowflake tree. I use a tin flower bucket filled with stones on the bottom for a rustic base.

Decoupage: This classic paper technique will provide children with hours of pleasure and can be adapted to suit most ages. Save wrapping paper, paper doilies, newspapers and magazine cuttings, and keep them in a decoupage box. Kids can decoupage glass jars, shoe boxes and tins.

Make paper lanterns: Like paper chains, paper lanterns are traditional and a fun way of using paper to make three-dimensional objects. They look great strung across a mantel or window. Decorate with ribbons, buttons, beads or glitter.

Paint stones: Painted stones can be used to create a variety of items, such as paperweights, jewelry and bookends. The shape of the stone may inspire its design. Keep a collection of stones on hand so you’ll have a supply ready to go.

Kitchen Confidential

After craft time, try a fun no-bake project in the kitchen. The kids will have a ball decorating these houses—think gingerbread houses minus the gingerbread. They can work on their masterpiece all throughout the day.

For one house, you’ll need:

Orange juice or milk container
6-inch-by-12-inch piece of cardboard
1 tub of vanilla icing plus 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
Spreading knife
Candies to decorate

Mark the sides of the carton with an inverted V shape. Cut along these lines.

Ice the bottom sides of the house.

Decorate sides with candy.

Let it set.

To put the roof on, score the cardboard in the center so that it will bend easily over the center. Using the knife, apply icing liberally.

Decorate the roof and let dry.

Snow Go

Try a little snowman-making contest. Fill a spray bottle with water and a little red food coloring. Kids can spritz the mixture onto their flaky men for an extra blushing glow.

Build something. Use a bucket to create bricks of snow for the perfect snow fort or fashion a table and seats by filling large galvanized buckets with snow and turning them upside down. Use two for the table and one each per seat.

Got a snowball maker? They’re great for mini snowmen, snow animals or just about any miniature form your little sculptor can create. Oh, and they’re good for throwing, too!

Colleen Mullaney has enjoyed a long and dynamic career devoted to style and entertaining. Whether it be through her many published works or with her friends and family, Colleen has made it her passion to bring style to the world through floral design, home decorating and crafting. Colleen is a former editor in chief of Family Circle Homecrafts, FTD In Bloom and Jo-Ann magazines. Most recently, she partnered with Chris Madden on the launch of her magazine At Home with Chris Madden.

Her books include Shells, Faux Fabulous Florals (Sixth&Spring) and her popular Punch (in its third printing with Chronicle Books; more than 30,000 copies have been sold in such outlets as Williams-Sonoma and Anthropologie). Colleen will celebrate her take on bridal with One-of-a-Kind Weddings (Creative Publishing) as well as the global entertaining landscape with It’s 5 o’clock Somewhere (Sixth&Spring). Colleen has created interiors for residential and commercial spaces, and she’s designed cottage gardens and floral arrangements for clients up and down the East Coast. You can also see her work in full color on HGTV’s Insider’s Garden and soon on the web with a yet-to-be-announced project. Colleen lives in Westchester, N.Y., with her husband and three children, where she is constantly hosting playdates and dinner parties, toiling in the garden, and working on future projects.

For more from Colleen, go to www.colleenmullaney.com.