Play Dough Bakery!

A good part of this morning was spent playing with Play Dough! I recommend at least 15 minutes a day of mandatory play dough time for everyone — it is great stress relief, and perfect for lots of pretend play! We sometimes make our own, but Clara was gifted with some Play Doh over the […]

Valentine Sweets for My Sweetie

A warm welcome to our newest sponsor, Happy Heels by Hannah! Hannah and her sister sew and sell fleece blankets that are designed to keep babies warm in a car seat — brilliant! Frugal Family  Fun Blog readers can get 10% off their order by using coupon code — FFFB10 Sponsors help make this blog […]

Heart Tea Tags

These heart tea tags were a fun after school project for Emily, and they make quick, easy, (and frugal) Valentine’s Day gifts! I had a small box of tea from the dollar store, and Emily snipped off the tea tags with her kid-friendly scissors. Easy, peasy! We didn’t have any heart stickers on hand, but […]

“Bee” My Valentine

Clara and I had so much fun making these super-easy Valentine cards!! We used this Melissa and Doug Rainbow Stamp Pad again with great results — the ink is washable and wipes off easily with a baby wipe, plus the colors are quite vibrant! I cut up several pieces of white paper and helped Clara […]

Easy Icicle Craft

Emily thought this icicle craft was so neat, and it was super-easy to do. All you need is some paper, glue, and some salt! Invite your child to apply a thick line of glue to the top edge of the paper — go back and forth a bunch of times. Emily’s a big fan of […]

Dress Up Parade!

We had more snow today, but that didn’t stop the girls and me from having a fun parade! Do you have a magical dress up curtain at your house? They are great fun! Every time you pop out from behind the curtain — Poof! — you’re in another outfit! Here it is…. in action! Parade […]

Ice Cream Shop!

What could possibly be more fun than playing with snow?? Playing with snow in your monkey pajamas!! Woo hoo!!! 1 Container of Clean Snow + plastic spoons + ice cream scoop + empty yogurt containers = 1 Happy Kiddo! Pajamas are not strictly required, though they are highly recommended — as is a towel to […]

DIY: Fabric Wall Decals

Update: Be sure to read the comments on this post — lots of great ideas from our awesome readers to keep in mind!! A new little elf friend just moved into our house, and is causing lots of excitement around here! He made his home just underneath the staircase, and so far has been very […]

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, […]

Battery-Free Toys We Love

Recently, I asked readers on Facebook to share their favorite battery-free toys with us. Here’s a summary of the responses, and I think this would be a great go-to list for a gift guide, or if you’re looking for alternatives to TV to keep the kiddos entertained during cold Winter days! A big THANK YOU […]

Purple Crayon Mural

Over the weekend, we took the girls to see Harold and the Purple Crayon at the theater, a holiday gift from Mark’s sister (Thank you, Aunt Julia!!) It is one of their favorite books, and afterwards Crayola was there to hand out large purple crayons to all the kiddos! Fun!! This morning, I attached freezer […]

I’m Over at Stonyfield’s Blog!

Come visit me over at Stonyfield’s blog, where I did a fun guest post on showing how to create an Invention Kit! If you don’t already have an Invention Kit at your house, this is the perfect time of year to put one together for lots of creative fun during long Winter days. It is […]

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 […]

Thumb Printed Hearts

This project was simple and lots of fun to do! We made some colorful (and very personalized) heart wrapping paper!! To make your own, all you need is an ink pad and some freezer paper or white craft paper. Emily had lots of fun, and has plans for more art projects with the ink pad […]

Crafts for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Do your kids have off from school today? Looking for something creative to do?? In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I thought it would be fun to highlight a few crafts to promote peace. Each one of these peace signs is unique, and it’s a very toddler-friendly art project!! Instructions can be found […]

5 Creative Ways to Beat Winter Blues

With more snow in the forecast, this time of year can cause “Winter Blues”. Here are some fun ways to cure those blues away! — Create an Indoor Snow Blizzard! — Go outside and paint the snow! — Make a Beautiful Snowflake Sun Catcher! — Have an Indoor Snow Picnic (and don’t forget the hot […]

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 […]