St. Patrick’s Day is almost here…

It is starting to look like St. Patrick’s Day at our household, thanks to this cute rainbow suncatcher Emily and I put together! To make your own, you will need tissue paper in rainbow colors, clear contact paper, a hole puncher, black construction paper, gold foil (we used candy wrappers) and some yarn. Lay a […]

New Series — Slacker Saturday!

Do you want to do crafts and activities with your children, but just do not have the time or energy to do so? Want to try an activity that is quick, easy, and budget-friendly? If so, Slacker Saturday is for you! I am starting a new series every Saturday here on Frugal Family Fun Blog […]

New Series — $5 Friday!

I am very excited about a new series I am starting on Frugal Family Fun Blog called $5 Friday! The idea is simple — each Friday I will be posting about frugal family activities that can be done for $5 or less for a family of four. That’s right, entertainment for the family for just […]

Fun with Chalk

There was nothing Emily wanted to do more today than to draw with sidewalk chalk in the driveway, but it was simply too cold this afternoon. However, she was almost just as happy drawing with chalk indoors. She practiced writing her name in very large letters and teeny tiny letters… We worked on an awesome […]

Sunflowers and Bean Sprouts

The emphasis on art projects has always been on the process in our household, but Emily was very proud of the outcome of this project and it has encouraged her to do more stamping projects similar to this one. To make your own sunflower stamping project you will need: a brown paper bag, some paint, […]

March Comes In Like a Lion….

Emily spent some time this afternoon working on this drawing of a lion, which proved to be quite frugal since it only required paper and crayons. She was quite happy with the end result and proud that she had drawn it “all by herself”. Here is the secret to her success — a book called […]

Book Review — The Creative Family

If you read just one book this year, make it The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule. This one has been out for about a year, but I am just now discovering it because I live under a rock. I happened to notice many of you who follow Inner Child Fun also follow Amanda’s blog […]

Putting Recyclables to Good Use

As mentioned in an earlier post, we were recently featured on Newswatch 16 for a segment called “Power to Save” which is all about saving money, saving the environment, energy, resources, etc. I have posted about our Invention Kit before and mentioned it briefly during NBC’s 10 Show, but this segment goes into detail about […]

Bird Feeders…. From Recyclables!

Yesterday, Newswatch 16 was here to film for a segment called “Power to Save”, which will air later this evening. While they were here, we made bird feeders from recyclables.  It occured to me that with the help of a simple power drill, you could turn just about any recyclable into a bird feeder. We […]

Shamrock Lanterns

Last night Emily helped make some Shamrock lanterns from empty baby food jars, tissue paper, glue (mixed with water), and some thin gauged wire. The white tissue paper almost looks like frosted glass. To make your own lanterns, cut pieces of tissue paper into squares. Mix the glue with water for a 50/50 mixture.  Invite […]

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Some of my readers requested crafts that use up empty oatmeal canisters, so I thought this was a great way to incorporate them into a craft and a Dr. Seuss theme day. To make your own Cat-in-the-Hat hat, you will need an empty oatmeal canister, a paper plate, and some paints (we used Crayola Washable […]

Scratch N Sniff Painting

We had some leftover unsweetened powdered drink mix that was several years old — I’m not kidding! It probably would have been okay to drink, but instead we made scratch n sniff paint with it. I lightly penciled in some fruit pictures for Emily to paint. It made very vibrant colors, and the pictures smelled […]

Homemade Hockey Table

This is how we spent our morning — designing our own hockey table, and it was so easy! Emily had a blast, and is still planning to devote the rest of the afternoon to table hockey. A few years ago, one of our neighbors had a moving sale and sold this fabulous coffee table to […]

Mardi Gras Fun

This morning I helped Emily make this cute Mardi Gras mask from some leftover craft supplies, cardstock, stickers, a drinking straw, and some glue. First, I drew a pattern using a pair of her sunglasses as a guide for where to put the holes for the eyes. Emily traced the pattern onto the cardstock. If […]

Free Books!

My mother-in-law first told me about this tip, and I am so glad she shared it with me! If you are a literature junkie, be sure to check out DailyLit.com to read books for FREE via email or RSS. Lots of children’s titles are available too. It is so easy to sign up and get […]

Frugal Fun with Music

This afternoon we made musical instruments from recyclables. This was a big hit and Emily is still making lots of new sounds with her drum, guitar, and shaker. We made the drum with an empty oatmeal canister. If you saw this post, you would understand why we have a lot of these! This version of […]

Someone’s Getting Older

Emily and I spent the better part of today getting ready for Mark’s birthday tomorrow. We have a special surprise for him, and she spent a lot of time working on it. In honor of his 31st birthday, here are some of my favorite photos. Emily loves going sledding with Daddy. Clara (1 day old) […]

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

You did not think I paid full price for chocolate covered strawberries, did you? We made them ourselves! These were so easy to make, and so much fun! To cut costs, I waited until strawberries were buy one get one free at the grocery store, and used chocolate from an after-Christmas sale. I buy about […]