Crafting with Leftovers — Valentine Collage Placemats

These Valentine collage placemats are the perfect excuse to use up leftover craft supplies, and there is very little post-clean up involved. I love that it kept Emily happily entertained for a long while, and she has plans to make more of these for grandparent gifts!! She did almost this entire project on her own, […]

My Kind of Baking

I made up a few pretend baking kits for the girls — which kept them happily occupied, and it’s a great quiet time activity! They are SUPER easy and quick to make up. I cut up some very inexpensive craft felt using a few cookie cutters as my pattern, added some pieces for “icing” and […]

Easy Lacy Snowflakes!

These lacy snowflakes were perfect for adding some winter cheer to our house! It was a quick and easy project, plus it gave Emily lots of practice with the scissors! They turn out perfectly every time, giving the kiddos some early success using scissors! To make your own lacy snowflakes, you’ll need some paper doilies […]

Shiny Snowflake Mosaics

Clara loved how shiny these snowflakes turned out, plus it was a fun way to practice her developing fine-motor skills! This project kept her happily busy for a long time, and there was hardly any mess to clean up — Yay for no-mess (frugal) crafts!!! I gave Clara a piece of tin foil to tear […]

Gum Ball Machine Craft for Tots

It’s no secret that we love to create projects that bring lots of COLOR into our household — they are so bright, cheerful, and they always make me smile! This particular project kept Clara happily occupied for a long time, and doubles as a prop for pretend play. I traced a large serving bowl onto […]

No Mess Candy Cane Ornaments

When Emily came home from school this afternoon, she asked if we could make some ornaments for the tree, and she didn’t have to twist my arm. These candy cane ornaments are so easy and so much fun to make! Added bonus — hardly any post-crafting clean up! Yay for no-mess crafts! We happened to […]

Rainbow Sprinkles from Highlights High Five

This little gem of a handmade gift idea comes from Highlights High Five magazine — rainbow sprinkles to use as a fun topping for yogurt or ice cream! As soon as Emily saw this craft featured in the December issue, she begged to make it! If you don’t already subscribe to Highlights High Five, I […]

No Mess Christmas Tree Craft for Tots

Clara and I made a fun Christmas tree using a few office supplies, and the best part..?  No clean up! (Yay for no-mess crafts!) They are quick and easy to make too! I cut two identical pine tree shapes out of colored card stock (I recycled a torn file folder), then invited Clara over to […]

Dove Garland

Emily and I made a pretty dove garland, and it was made using our new favorite art supply — coffee filters! These were so much fun to make!! If you have some coffee filters on hand, you can download our template, and print it out on card stock, to make a dove garland of your own! […]

Spontaneous Montessori

While I was doing some work in the sewing room, Clara started playing with a pile of buttons. I added two empty yogurt containers and a pair of tweezers, and she had some impromptu Montessori-inspired fun!! This was a super-simple activity of just transferring the buttons one at a time, from one container to the […]

Time-Saving Tip for Cleaning

Do you hate a messy sink full of dirty dishes? Of course. We all do! Ever wish you had an extra helping hand (or two)? Are you sick and tired of spending all your time doing housework?? Don’t despair, you’ll save lots of time with this simple and easy tip for cleaning! (Before) Just call […]

Super-Easy Corn Craft

Clara and I did a bit of crafting this morning to make this corn arrangement, which is now hanging on the back of our front door! They are super-easy and lots of fun to make! To make your own, you will need yellow tissue paper, a brown grocery bag, and some plastic netting that comes […]

Weekend Rewind — Gratitude Activity Jar

This was one of my all-time favorite posts — a fun ACTIVE way in introduce kids to the concept of gratitude. It’s perfect for this time of year, and we enjoyed this activity so much last year that we are doing it again this year. Enjoy!! Around Thanksgiving we try to do crafts and activities […]

Introducing… Awesome Remote!

Need a little more awesomeness in your life? Introducing…. Awesome Remote! The must-have gadget that makes everything just a little more awesome!!! Awesome Remote comes with these great features to make everything AWESOME!!! Instant Gift Bacon!!!! Sunshine Money Balloons Mail Flowers and….. Bubbles!!! Awesome Remote makes even the most un-cool situations instantly more awesome. Don’t […]

Spider Web Place Cards

Have I mentioned how much I adore Halloween? Seriously, it is my most favorite holiday. I look forward to it more than the kids! While it’s not quite that time of year just yet, I am already eager to start decorating the house as if Halloween were right around the corner. That’s where this super-easy, […]

Easy Village Mural

Emily and I felt inspired by the beautiful colors of these fun Post-It Notes to create a new mural for our sewing room. Oh, Post-It Notes…….. how I love thee! She cut some of the Post-Its in half to form triangles for the rooftops. For each square, only one triangle had adhesive, so we saved […]

Super Easy Monster Hand Puppet

Clara made her own monster hand puppet, just in time for Halloween — and she did it all by herself!! (With the help of a few self-adhesive googly eyes, that is….)  Have I mentioned that she has a tendency to get into the craft supplies if I’m not careful…?? I don’t know about you, but […]

Bang on the Drums All Day

I can’t even tell you how much FUN Clara had with our make-shift drum table this morning! I laid out a bunch of old pots and pans, lids, and some wooden spoons on her play table. Then it was time to Rock N Roll!!! She experimented using the spoons as drumsticks, and later hitting the […]