Even though I didn’t really plan anything awesome for the 4th of July, I pulled out a pack of glow sticks while we watched fireworks and it made me instantly popular with the kiddos.

It’s a good idea to always have a secret stash of glow sticks.

Max wanted a race car theme with red and orange. Done.

We tied an orange balloon to each chair. I covered the table with brown kraft paper (the [...]]]> Spring time is birthday season at our house. I decided to let the kiddos have birthday parties with friends every other year. So this was our friend party year.

Max wanted a race car theme with red and orange. Done.

We tied an orange balloon to each chair. I covered the table with brown kraft paper (the kind from Home Depot that contactors use to cover the carpet – it comes in giant rolls and is super cheap). I used orange wrapping paper to cover the counter. The plates, napkins and cups were red.

I pre-poured snacks into cups – cracker, pretzels, goldfish. We had tangerines, chocolate cupcakes, and juice. About an hour before the party, I put the juice boxes in the freezer to get them cold and the froze! So most kids ate their juices with a spoon – but everyone likes slushies, right?!

The kids played “Red Light, Green Light” in the backyard. I made the flags out of felt and dowel rods from the craft store.

Target had some wooden cars and trucks for a dollar so the kids each decorated a car. Max takes his projects very seriously. He stayed at the table to color even after his buddies were long gone and playing in the playroom. He colored every inch of the car (and his face). I set up a ramp in the family room using our coffee table and some masonite board I had laying around for the kids to race their cars.

Max helped me put the party favor bags together. He chose punch balloons, race car pencils, bouncy balls, and little race cars to go inside the bags. I printed out some race car graphics. Max cut each one out and glued it on each bag. We used the extra images to make a mobile that hung from the light over the kitchen table (my mom’s idea). The kids loved that! We closed up the bag with jute twine following this tutorial.

All in all, the party was a success. No disasters. My parents were in town so they helped with all the prep and the day of the party. Max had fun with his friends. We were all happy.

We recently celebrated a birthday at our house (how did my little guy grow up to be TWO?!). I like to make at least one of the gifts for birthdays. Here’s what I came up with for my two-year-old: A fishing game made of felt. I know this is not a new idea, but I [...]]]>

We recently celebrated a birthday at our house (how did my little guy grow up to be TWO?!). I like to make at least one of the gifts for birthdays. Here’s what I came up with for my two-year-old: A fishing game made of felt. I know this is not a new idea, but I had trouble finding a tutorial and fish templates so I’m posting my tutorial to (hopefully) help out someone else who wants to make the same sort of thing.

HOW TO MAKE A FISHING GAME FOR KIDS WITH FELT

SUPPLIES

+ assorted colors of felt
+ needle and thread
+ VERY strong magnets
+ dowel rod
+ twine
+ scraps of muslin

STEP 1: Make the fish out of felt.

I found the best tutorial for this part over at The Purl Bee. I used their templates and followed their instructions… mostly. I wanted my fish to be double sided so I put the detailing on both sides of the fish. Instead of using embroidery thread to hand sew the magnets into the fish, I used my sewing machine.

STEP 2: Make the water out of felt.

I bought a 1/2 yard of blue felt for the water. Using a different blue, I cut out waves (you can do this free hand). I had some scraps of a shiny blue (reminds me of mermaids) that I also cut some wave shapes out of. Then, I sewed on each wave with my sewing machine. One of the beautiful things about felt is no hemming the edges!

STEP 3: Make the fishing poles.

I bought a dowel rod from the hardware store and had my husband (thanks, Chris) cut it in half so each rod is about 18″ long. Then, he drilled a tiny hole in one end of the rod about a 1/2″ from the end. Tie a piece of jute twine (or yarn) through the hole. Use your muslin scraps to make a tiny bag for your magnet to go in. Sew the 4th edge of the bag shut with your magnet and twine inside.

The kiddos love it! All it needs now is a storage bag with a pocket for the fish…

I used this table setting at our Easter Brunch but it would work with any spring or garden party. The nest is made out of marshmallow and All Bran cereal.

A few weeks back, our friend invited me and the boys to make these darling chicken cupcakes. [...]]]> This might be a little late, but I’m sharing anyway.

I used this table setting at our Easter Brunch but it would work with any spring or garden party. The nest is made out of marshmallow and All Bran cereal.

A few weeks back, our friend invited me and the boys to make these darling chicken cupcakes. They were so much fun to make and the kiddos loved it (especially eating the Jelly Bellys off their birds). Great idea for kids or adults.

AND… here’s a sneak peek at tomorrow’s tutorial:

With Mother’s Day right around the corner I thought you could use this. It’s a card/book with pockets so you can write an extra special mother’s day love note to your mom.

See you tomorrow!

As you know, I have a baby on the way so I thought it’d be fun to have a few weeks of baby-related tutorials (at least for me, haha!).

Katie Kortman of Blue-Eyed Freckle is the genius behind this ruffle bottom onesie tutorial. She has so many great ideas and is such an artistic and fashionable [...]]]>

As you know, I have a baby on the way so I thought it’d be fun to have a few weeks of baby-related tutorials (at least for me, haha!).

Katie Kortman of Blue-Eyed Freckle is the genius behind this ruffle bottom onesie tutorial. She has so many great ideas and is such an artistic and fashionable girl! We first met in college on a study abroad to New Zealand. You are going to love her.

(do you think baby boys can have ruffle bottoms? haha. kidding)

HOW TO MAKE A RUFFLE BOTTOM ONESIE

Materials needed:
-( 1 yard-ish) nylon chiffon or tule, or other non-fraying translucent material
-thread/ sewingmachine
-onesie/bloomers

1. cut 3 strips of the chiffon the lengths you want the ruffles to end up. make the strips about 3/4 to 1 inch wide.

2. next, cut out approx 9-12 circles per strip (depending on how long your strips are. mine were 5 1/2 in. long and I used 9 circles that were 2-3 in. in diameter).

This kiddo prefers to work on the floor so he [...]]]> I have two little buddies who work along side me in the art room. They both love projects. They have their own bucket of supplies – tape, markers, crayons, scissors, glue. We like to listen to our Elizabeth Mitchell radio station on Pandora while we work.

This kiddo prefers to work on the floor so he can spread everything out.

This kiddo must be on a chair. Most of the time he wants my chair.

I love what they come up with.

I have two little kiddos who love to make things. They draw and paint and color. Most of the time I’m working int he studio, they are there too working on their own projects. So, we have a LOT of kiddo creations around the house. I hate to file them away somewhere so I came [...]]]>

I have two little kiddos who love to make things. They draw and paint and color. Most of the time I’m working int he studio, they are there too working on their own projects. So, we have a LOT of kiddo creations around the house. I hate to file them away somewhere so I came up with this frame that is easy to change out the art so we can rotate the new drawings into the display. This one is black, but it can be any color you want it to be.

SUPPLIES

+ a wooden frame without glass  (The one I used  is from an old art project that I had in my closet. You should hunt for one at a thrift shop or garage sale – remember you can always paint it to be the color you want it)
+ 2 eye hooks
+ enough wire to string through the eye hooks
+ paper cut down to the size of your frame
+ double sided tape or hot glue

HOW TO MAKE THE FRAME

STEP 1: Decide if you want your frame portrait or landscape and choose the side that will be the top. Measure 1.5″ down from the top on each side of your frame. Twist in the eye hooks in those spots.

STEP 2: Attach the wire to each eye hook. Make it as tight as you can.

STEP 3: Tape or glue the back side of the frame and lay the paper on the back. SIDE NOTE: This was the trickiest part for me. It’s tough to keep the paper tight and stretched out completely – but you can do it!)

STEP 4: Add a clip or clothespin or paperclip and hang in some artwork.

A few notes:

+ I did this in my garage because it was raining. Not a good idea. My frame and paper got so dirty. Especially because the boys kept riding their bikes into the rain and them back through my project.

+ Now that I have it up on display, I wish the inside of the frame was black too. It think it’s a little distracting to have the unfinished wood in there.

+ I can’t wait to make more of these. I plan to make all different sizes and hang them together so we can have our own kiddo art gallery. I’ll let you know how it goes.

I know I’m a little late on this post, but I’m still going to share! For Valentine’s Day this year, I kept it simple. I drew a few cheesy valentines on smallish pieces of paper (I think they were about 2.5″ by 4″) with my trusty Sharpie. Then I left my almost-four-year-old with his markers [...]]]>

I know I’m a little late on this post, but I’m still going to share! For Valentine’s Day this year, I kept it simple. I drew a few cheesy valentines on smallish pieces of paper (I think they were about 2.5″ by 4″) with my trusty Sharpie. Then I left my almost-four-year-old with his markers at the kitchen table and this is what he came up with! Notice how some of the names he wrote have the letters scattered all over the paper? He wanted it to be a game so the person would have to hunt for their name. How cute is that?! Oh, I love this kid.

So, Happy Valentine’s Day.

(better late then never…)

Hooray for Tutorial Tuesday! Still January = still posting tutorials about letter writing.

When I was in elementary school, I did some kind of summer class at the library and that is where I learned how to write with invisible ink. Thankfully, I tested out my memory of how to do this and it worked. So [...]]]>

Hooray for Tutorial Tuesday! Still January = still posting tutorials about letter writing.

When I was in elementary school, I did some kind of summer class at the library and that is where I learned how to write with invisible ink. Thankfully, I tested out my memory of how to do this and it worked. So I can pass it on to you.

I did this with my almost-four-year-old yesterday afternoon and it was right up his alley. He drew monsters for a few his friends. I’m thinking all of my valentines will have invisible messages this year. Think of it: a hidden love letter!!

SUPPLIES:

+ paper (the lighter colored, the better. The red construction paper pictured here didn’t work as well as the light yellow. Test your paper before doing your whole project)
+ lemon juice
+ q-tips
+ something hot (candle, match, 150-watt lightbulb, iron)

1. Write your message. Dip the q-tip in the lemon juice and draw on the paper. You can draw or write a message or both.

2. Let it dry completely. The message will totally disappear. Cool, right?!

3. Heat it up. Using your hot source (I used a candle) heat the paper and the message will slowly start to appear.

So if you are using this to send to someone, stop after step #2 and mail it with directions for the recipient to heat it up. A cute little valentines idea would be to send it with some yummy smelling candle as the gift. I’m thinking I will make a bunch of magic hearts with messages on it and package it up with candles to send out.

How will you use your invisible ink?

I have a new idea for you: Jenny ordered 7 dino notebooks to use as party favors for her son’s first birthday. How great is that!? The party colors are blue and green so I [...]]]> Remember these notebooks I have for sale in my etsy shop? Have you ever wondered what you might use them for?

I have a new idea for you: Jenny ordered 7 dino notebooks to use as party favors for her son’s first birthday. How great is that!? The party colors are blue and green so I stuck to those colors for the notebooks. So these pics are a sneak peek for Jenny before the real ones arrive in her mailbox.

Thanks, Jenny! Enjoy the party!