Gift baskets for moms

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Papel Cortado

Papel picado (punched paper) is a Mexican popular art form with roots in the country's ancient cultures. The Aztecs used the bark of wild mulberry and fig trees to make a rough paper called amatl . Amatl was used to make flags and banners to decorate temples, streets and homes.
Today, professional craftsmen use awls, chisels and blades to make intricate designs depicting flowers, birds, angels, crosses, skeletons, historic figures and even words. The design the pattern on a piece of paper and then cut through it and as many as 50 sheets of tissue paper with their special tools.
Sound complicated? Well, never fear... in it's simplest form, papel picado is done as papel cortado (cut paper) and is made a lot like a paper snowflake. Toddlers and up will be proud to display their unique artwork

Materials:
tissue paper (I cut store bought sheets into 4 pieces -- each about 8x10 inches)
scissors
string
scotch tape

Directions:
Fold tissue paper a number of times.
It should be folded edge to edge, not corner to corner.
For younger children, don't fold too many times or it will be difficult for them to cut.
Cut shapes from the paper, but don't cut off any corners (we want the rectangular shape of the tissue paper to remain)
Unfold
Edges may be straight, scalloped, zig-zagged or fringed

Pinata

Pinata! How much fun!!!!

This is a wonderful project to make and then "break" to celebrate Cinco de Mayo!!

You will need:

A large balloon,

lots of newspaper,

flour,

masking tape,

colored tissue,

paint (optional),

glue,

scissors,

string,

pencil.

Here's what you do:

Blow up the balloon & tie tightly.

Then tear the newspaper into long, thin strips (about 1 inch wide and at least 12 inches long). You'll need lots of strips! In a large bowl, mix 5 cups of flour with water- adding the water slowly until it is the consistency of pancake batter.

Dip the newspaper strips in the flour and water mixture, wetting them completely. Remove any excess moisture from the strips by running them through your fingers, and then drape them over the balloon.

Continue overlapping strips until the balloon is completely covered. Add more and more layers of newspaper until you have applied 5 -10 layers.

To decorate your pinata, let it dry completely, then either paint it, or cover it with colored tissue paper attached with craft glue. Overlap the tissue like roof shingles.To fill the pinata, cut a small flap in the top, bend it back carefully and drop in small wrapped candies or goodies. When the pinata is full, fold the flap back in to place.

The history of cinco de mayo

Cinco de mayo is celebrated on the 5th of May. Contrary to what many people believe, Cinco de mayo is not Mexico's independence day from Spain. Rather, it's a remembrance of a David and Goliath-like fight. In 1862, as the French invasion of Mexico began, Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza's force of 4,000 soldiers defeated twice as many French soldiers in the Battle of Puebla. The French occupation would continue until 1866. But the Mexican soldiers' courage and determination inspired Mexican Americans. Even back then, historians say, California's Mexican Americans celebrated the win. Later, in the 1960s and 1970s, Chicanos involved in the civil rights movement related the Cinco de mayo story to their quest for respect in the United States. They identified with the Mexican Indian and mestizo (people of Mexican Indian and European descent) soldiers' triumph over European conquest attempts. Chicano activists publicized it and made it a popular holiday in the United States. Today, it's become much like St. Patrick's Day. You don't have to be Mexican to celebrate it.

Mini Sombrero

What you'll need:
Styrofoam or paper cup
Mini paper plate
1" wide strip of brown felt
1/4" wide strip of red felt
1/4" wide strip of orange felt
Acrylic paint in red and sunflower (tan/yellow)
Medium pom-poms in red, green, yellow, orange, white and brown
Paint brush
Hot glue gun

How to make it:
Paint paper plate and Styrofoam cup with sunflower paint. Let dry and repeat. Paint the outer edge of the plate rim red. Let dry completely.
Hot glue the Styrofoam cup to the center of the paper plate to form your hat.
Glue the brown felt around the bottom of the Styrofoam cup (the edge that is touching the plate) to make the hat band. Glue the red and orange felt over the brown to create stripes.
Glue the pom-poms to the red edge of the paper plate, alternating colors as you go (green, white, red, yellow, brown, orange, green, white, etc.).

Have fun this cinco de mayo with Maracas

What you'll need:

2 Styrofoam or paper cups
Tan, red and white acrylic paint
Decorative accents such as pom-poms and buttons
Hot glue gun
Dried beans

How to make it:

Paint cups with tan paint and let dry.
Decorate cups by painting on swirling or curvy lines. We used red paint for ours. You can also paint zig-zags. We used white for ours. Paint the bottom of each cup red.
Place a handful of dried beans into one of the cups.
Put a layer of hot glue onto the rim of the cup with the beans in it before quickly placing the other cup on top of it, lining up the rims of both cups. Allow to dry completely.
Finish any decorating you would like, such as adding pom-poms around the center (to hide the glue line). We also used mini pom-poms to dot the peaks of the zig-zags.
Once your glue is completely dry, shake your maraca!

Nachos

Nachos Recipe

Ingredients
Tortilla chips - extra thick - 1 14-oz bag
Refried beans - 2-3 cups
Cheddar Cheese - 1/2 lb, grated, about 3 cups
Pickled jalapeno peppers - 4 peppers, sliced
Salsa
Guacamole
Sour cream
Cilantro, chopped

Directions
1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Arrange a layer of tortilla chips along the bottom of a wide, shallow baking pan. It will make things easier if this baking pan also can be used as a serving pan, such as the ceramic platter shown in the photo above. The layer of tortilla chips can be a couple chips thick. Spread the refried beans over the chips (this is why you need extra thick chips, so they don't break when encountering the beans). Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top of chips and beans. Sprinkle slices of jalapeño peppers over the cheese. Bake in oven for 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted. 5 minutes in a convection oven.
2 Serve with dollops of salsa, sour cream and guacamole, with chopped cilantro sprinkled on top.