We thought the birds could use a little love this time of year, so we made a fresh batch of bird seed cookies! While we were “baking” these, we could hear birds chirping loudly outside our kitchen window. Emily kept telling them to be patient! First, Emily traced a heart shaped cookie cutter onto corrugated […]
Sunday Snapshot — Frugal Entertainment
November 1, 2009 by
Mark and Emily were outside raking leaves, while I was inside taking care of some laundry. A few minutes after they left to start raking, I heard Clara struggling with something… … it was like a grunting sort of noise. Was she trying to lift something heavy? I went to investigate… …and I found this! […]
The Halloween Deal
October 31, 2009 by
Between Clara’s Little Red Riding Hood, and Emily’s Link from Zelda, we’re kickin’ it old school in our household this Halloween. Mark made the shield from cardboard, and I sewed the tunic, hat, and sheath for the sword ($5.00 fabric from JoAnn). The sword was a Target find ($5). Emily and I worked out a […]
Super Easy Marshmallow Pumpkins
October 30, 2009 by
Emily and I did some Halloween “baking” this afternoon. She thought these marshmallow pumpkins were the coolest thing, and they were super-easy to make. Each marshmallow makes two pumpkins. Very frugal! She made these with very little help from me whatsoever. For a slightly healthier option, try slices of banana instead of marshmallows. I say, […]
Hey there Little Red Riding Hood
October 29, 2009 by
I finished sewing Clara’s Halloween costume last night because there’s no sense in waiting until the last minute, right? Fortunately, this sweet hooded poncho for Little Red Riding Hood took less than 10 minutes to put together. I used 1 yard of costume fabric from JoAnn that was just $2.49/yard. Bargain! I love that her […]
Five Little Bats Finger Puppet Playset
October 28, 2009 by
Here’s a fun Halloween craft for preschoolers to foster plenty of learning fun. This Five Little Bats Finger Puppet Playset is a festive way for kids to work on counting and number recognition! The bat finger puppets are quick and easy to make. The kids may want to perform their own creative puppet shows too! […]
Last-Minute Goody Bags from an Envelope
October 27, 2009 by
Emily asked if we could make some special Halloween goody bags to give out to her friends, but I am too lazy (and far too frugal) to go to the store and spend money on goody bags. In the end, she liked these handmade ones so much better! I think they would be perfect for […]
Beautiful Autumn Leaf Garland
October 26, 2009 by
We thought the dining room (aka sewing studio) could use some decorating this season, so Emily gathered up some leaves earlier in the day and we got to work on this beautiful garland for some late night crafting. Emily had been begging me to do the waxed paper leaf collage for a long time, but […]
DIY: On-the-Go Snack Cup from a Sheet of Paper
October 25, 2009 by
The girls started to get a bit hungry on the way back from visiting with Grandma and Papock. We stopped at a rest stop, and realized we had snacks, but no cups or bowls to serve them in. The solution? Mark’s origami skills and a sheet of paper! You won’t believe how quick and easy […]
Time Warp
October 24, 2009 by
We have entered the time warp that is Grandma and Papock’s house, where the girls are enjoying all the wonderful toys Mark used to play with when he was a kid. Don’t you just love that they saved this stuff? It’s a real trip down memory lane, I tell you. I couldn’t help but smile […]
10 Tips to Get the Most Out of Library Book Sales (Guest Post from Chronicle of an Infant Bibliophile)
October 23, 2009 by
I hope you will join me in welcoming Lynn to Frugal Family Fun Blog for this gem of a guest post with lots of valuable money-saving tips. Thank you, Lynn! Update: We have a guest post up on Lynn’s blog today. Be sure to visit her! Hi. I’m Lynn, mom to a 2 year old […]
Fun Autumn Treasure Hunt
October 22, 2009 by
We went on an Autumn treasure hunt at our local nature conservancy! It was so much fun! Emily used a clipboard with the list of treasures we were looking for. In mind were these playground scavenger hunt cards. We used our own non-illustrated version, since Emily’s working on her reading skills. Here are just some […]
Care Packages for Friends with Swine Flu
October 20, 2009 by
Swine flu appears to be making its way through our area, as it has throughout much of the U.S. Fortunately, we’ve managed to avoid it in our household so far, but some friends of ours were not so lucky. We delivered some meals to them, and I thought I would share this recipe with you […]
Fishing for Cats
October 19, 2009 by
We are the proud owners of two of the World’s Laziest Cats, as evidenced by this post. Emily thought they could use some exercise, and I had to agree. So we made cat toys from some of our fabric scraps, and filled them with catnip! We attached the filled catnip fish to a dowel rod, […]
Tiny Pumpkin Patch Playset — Cuteness Overload!!
October 17, 2009 by
We had so much fun creating this tiny pumpkin patch playset for our little friends (in this case, Calico Critters). Emily has been busy helping me make this, and then playing with it all day! First, we made tiny pumpkin seed packets with some paper and flax seeds. Dog got to work planting the pumpkins […]
Brighten Your Day with a Flower Crown
October 16, 2009 by
We were missing the flowers from Spring, but that didn’t keep us from making our own flower crowns! Just seeing all these beautiful colors was enough to brighten our otherwise rainy day. For instructions on how to make tissue paper flowers, click here!
Creative Rainy Day Fun
October 15, 2009 by
We are forecasted to have at least four days of non-stop rain here, and the girls were getting a touch of cabin fever. We did what any normal parents would do when faced with a similar situation…. placed both of them in our sound-proof anti-gravity chamber with padded walls and let them burn off some […]
Cheap Thrills — Cardboard Box Edition
October 14, 2009 by
For a fun time, place a preschooler inside a large cardboard box. On the box, draw eyes, a nose, and mouth. It helps if it looks angry. Pretend to eat things!! Nom nom nom! Pajamas were just the beginning…. this box was hungry! (Burp!) On to The New Yorker….. Oh no…. he can’t be stopped! […]
