I happened to have some sparkly pink that was almost identical so, that worked out perfectly! Lilly decided that she wanted more bunnies so we did every other nail instead of only one. 1. First, I trimmed and buffed her nails. (By buffing them well, we've made each fancy manicure I've created last two weeks on Lilly! I also put a no-light gel topcoat on which increases the durability.) After prepping her nails I put on an Essie base coat. 2. Then, I applied the sparkly pink to every other nail and a shimmery pale pink to the others. 3. Once the shimmery pink was dry, I applied one dab of white on the edge of each nail. (It doesn't have to be perfect, she's a child.) 4. Then I grabbed my tiny paintbrush tool and painted two white lines coming from the round blob. 5. Once those were dry, I used the dotting tool and added two black dots in the center of each white blob to create the eyes. 6. To finish, I cleaned my dotting tool and used the shimmery pink to make a dot for the nose then I applied my secret for long lasting manicures, Sally Hansen Miracle Gel. |
I recently purchased a Sally Hansen nail design tool kit like this one at Target and my daughter and I have been having a blast creating fun nail designs. Apparently we've had so much fun that I have forgotten to snap pictures of the last few which included ladybugs, flowers, hearts and snowflakes. But, we decided to get into the easter spirit this week and went with bunnies! All I do is find a few inspiration images and give it a go using my handy tools. The inspiration for this week was this sparkly design. This stuff is seriously amazing and you don't have to use it with their colors. I apply it on top of everything and it generally keeps my manicure looking great for a whole week! I thought it was so adorable that I gave myself the same manicure but with only two bunnies like the picture. I mean...I am an adult. I also painted Lillian's toes but only did bunnies on her big toe. If you and you're daughter (or just you) love playing with nail polish then the $6 investment is totally worth it! Pinterest is full of inspiration for nail art designs or you can come up with your own ideas. You can also follow my Pinterest nail art board. Good luck and keep in mind that it should be fun and nothing is permanent so, don't stress if you mess up. Just keep some remover nearby! Enjoy!
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Here are some of my favorite ideas for getting crafty on St. Patty's Day! All of them take very little prep and will definitely be fun for any age! 1. Leprechaun Paper plate mask
2. painted shamrock
3. St. Patrick's Day Slime
4. St. Patrick's Day Scavenger Hunt
5. erupting Rainbow
6. Pinch Proof Onesie
7. Popsicle Stick Bracelets
8. Lucky Rainbow necklace
9.Fingerprint rainbow pot of Gold
10. Handprint Clover
I hope you have as much fun with these crafts as my kiddos and I did! Enjoy!
Spring break is only a few weeks away! That means it's time for another Mommy Camp! Since the break this year falls right before Easter I've made it Easter themed! You can read about a few of the specific activities we'll be doing and download some printables I created, including the lesson plan below. Theme One: Jelly Beans The first focus is on jelly beans. We'll be conducting experiments, participating in a taste test, learning how they are made, making necklaces and more! (A list and links to all of the activities can be found in the lesson plan download.)
Theme Two: Eggs This is a very fun-filled theme that includes egg science, growing "egg heads", paint-filled egg bomb painting, a glowing egg hunt and "egg-ing" the neighbors. Plus a ton of other fantastic activities focusing on math, reading and sensory experiences. (A list and links to all of the activities can be found in the lesson plan download.)
Theme Three: Bunnies In the bunnies focus we will learn about rabbits, do the bunny pokey, learn how to draw a bunny, dig for sight word carrots and make bunny handprint art along with some fun math, reading and cooking. (A list and links to all of the activities can be found in the lesson plan download.)
Theme Four: Peeps Everyone loves peeps! Delicious, sugary marshmallows! In this section we will conduct some peep experiments, learn how they are made, create puffy paint peeps and make peep play dough along with doing some reading and math. (A list and links to all of the activities can be found in the lesson plan download.)
Click the link below each image to download the printables that I've created as well as the lesson plan. Enjoy!
My son just turned two and while he doesn't say much, one thing he loves to say is "ROAR"! So, it was only fitting that he have a dinosaur themed birthday party this year. I had a lot of fun preparing for this party and I hope you find some inspiration!
When guests arrived they saw gigantic dino footprints down our front sidewalk to our door. I had my brother draw them because he's a graphic designer and I figured he'd have fun with it. He did. He decided that he wanted to morph the dinosaur prints into tiny Arthur prints as they got closer to the door. It was stinking adorable.
I used my silhouette to create the Arthur banner (it slipped and went a little crooked in this photo. Oops) as well as the 3D pterodactyls. I used plastic dinosaurs to make the food items fun and created a cute menu using canva.com. The "dinosaur eggs" were supposed to look super cute and have colored outsides but, the peeling process was a disaster and many looked slightly ragged. They tasted good though.
I made the cake using this paleo coconut cake recipe. It was soooooo good! Everyone enjoyed it! i added toasted coconut to the top and slivered almonds around the sides to make it a little prettier. Then I added a dinosaur and a speech bubble that said "RAWR" for the dino. I think it turned out pretty great!
For fun, the kids had a dino fossil dig area and a cardboard "volcano" for pretend play. We were really lucky to have 60 degree weather in February so we had all of the fun in the backyard. The kids also had the opportunity to jump on the trampoline, swing and play in the playhouse. Once gifts were opened, they also had fun with some really cool chalk stencil sets that were gifted (My mother-in-law said she got them at Wal-Mart.).
I made the volcano with three cardboard boxes, brown craft paper, red streamers, a knife and some tape. I cut a big opening at the bottom of the biggest, center box and then folded the sides in on the smaller boxes but left them open on both ends to create tunnels. Then I taped all three boxes together and covered them with crinkled paper and streamers at the top. I taped the sign to the swing set which was in front of the volcano. The kids actually played quite a bit with it and it only cost about three dollars!
The dig site was a water table we already had filled with play sand and plaster of paris dino bones. I bought the molds from amazon and made the bones the night before. They popped out pretty easily and looked really great! Then I threw in a few sand tools like a shovel and a bucket and a few chunky paint brushes for dusting the fossils and taped a sign to the side. This was a big hit with everyone!
I made all four of us adorable dino themed shirts too. Lilly had a girl walking a pet dinosaur in glitter, Arthur had a t-rex holding the number two and wearing a party hat, I had a shirt that said "RAWR" and Derek had a dinosir, a t-rex with a top hat, bow tie and monocle. I didn't manage to snap a pic of Derek with his shirt and Arthur was NOT into photos so these are the best I could do. I created all of them using my silhouette and iron-on vinyl.
We also had a photo booth area set up. I hung a plastic table cloth on the wall and provided a few props and a selfie-stick to encourage guests to take a pic. We got some pretty cute ones. I made the signs with my silhouette and craft. Threw in some feather boas, dino masks and a safari hat for good measure. The kids all got to take home goodie bags with mini dinosaurs, masks and a craft activity from amazon that was dinosaur themed.
Arthur had a good time and really enjoyed the watermelon and cake. The adults were able to visit because the kids were having so much fun and no one got hurt or threw up. I call it a success!
Oh, and when Arthur went to blow out the candle, he started as soon as it was lit...across the room. It was adorable to watch him blowing at the candle for the entirety of the Happy Birthday Song.
I don't know about you but, my two year old loves to put everything in his mouth. When I want to give him something fun to do that my 5 year old will also enjoy I love whipping up a batch of edible sensory material. It's even better when the recipe only calls for a few common ingredients and takes less than 15 minutes to create! Check out my list of 10 fantastically simple and edible sensory recipes that will leave you with a few minutes to go to the bathroom alone without the fear of your toddler chomping on something undesirable.
I hope you have fun with these recipes! I know my kids will! Thanks for visiting!
I don't know about you but, I loathe when my child comes home with gigantic amounts of candy/sweets. I don't need that! I'm trying NOT to be a fatty and my kids definitely don't need it either. So, I generally try to go with a non-sweet valentine. This year I found some adorable heart shaped plastic play glasses at Target and set about designing an adorable Valentine to go with them. I created my printable valentine using canva.com. Then I had to create a cut file to back the printed paper because I printed on regular paper and it was too floppy. Once I cut out the printed papers, I sent my cut file to my silhouette using brightly colored craft paper. Then I glued the printed copy paper to the colorful craft paper and adhered a pair of glasses to each one using washi tape. I think they're super cute! And you can make them too! I've included the printable and cut file below! Have fun!
We like to think of ourselves as devoted and caring parents who make it a point to spend quality time with our children; however, we often find ourselves focusing on other things while attempting to play. Kids unknowingly crave alone time with parents where they are the only focus. By beginning a regular habit of dating our kids, we have improved not only our children's mental state and general behavior, but have also been able to improve our general feelings about ourselves as parents. We've been able to cut down on feelings of guilt and are not as stressed about the time we don't spend with them. Now that Arthur is almost two, he requires more and more of our focus and Lillian is not blind to that fact. We've noticed a decrease in her willingness to cooperate and listen. Just last week we received an email from her teacher informing us that she was not listening to instruction. We instantly knew that her feelings of neglect were the likely culprit. (Not that she was being neglected in any way! She just wasn't getting as much one-on-one time as she needed.) So we made a plan to begin a weekly Mommy/Daddy date. This way, she would get a whole night, once a week, where she received 100% of our attention. The added benefit is that the parent who stays home gets to spend alone time with our son and he gets that parent's focus for the night. We decided to give her a double dose for the first week and we both took her on a date. For our first date, I took her for hot chocolate and a chat at Starbucks. We talked about her day and I made sure to devote all of my attention to her. Taking special care to leave my phone in my purse except for a few fun selfies. While enjoying our drinks, I talked with her about her misbehavior at school and made sure she understood that it was not ok. Once we were done with the heavy stuff we were able to have fun for the rest of the night. We went to the mall and rode a motorized animal thing that they have, it's only $6 for 15 minutes and is pretty freakin' cool. (It's like a motor powered car but is shaped like an animal and the adult can ride it too. You can ride through the whole mall but cannot enter the stores.) Then, I let her pick out and stuff a bear at build-a-bear, (She won't get a toy every date night. That would be ridiculous.) We ended the evening by letting her choose the dinner venue. She opted for fried rice and veggies at our favorite Asian restaurant. We stayed out later than usual and had a discussion about what would happen when we got home in regards to getting ready and going to bed. She was very cooperative and went to bed without any problem. My husband, Derek, and Arthur got to spend time together playing and he said while they played with pretend dinosaurs in the floor, every so often Arthur would just gaze up at him with a grin from ear to ear that simply said, "I love you, Dad." It was pretty heartwarming. The next morning she got up and came downstairs fully dressed and ready to go without any prompting. We also received an e-mail from her teacher letting us know that her behavior had dramatically improved and there was no longer an issue. My husband went ahead and took her for another date that night. They went to the college library and read numerous books together in the children's section. Then they ate burgers at Five Guys. Arthur and I basically cuddled the whole time they were out. He had a fever and wasn't feeling well. I'm not going to complain though, cuddling him will be something that I am going to miss the older he gets. I think the key element to the idea of dating your children is that you spend time alone with each other. Not only does this give the child focused attention but it can also be very cathartic for the parent as well. You don't have to do it every week and you can choose the day and time. This allows for you as a parent to live in the moment with your child. Don't worry about things that need to be done, stop checking your phone, and simply exist in the moment with your child. Recent research has turned the idea of how much time we need to spend with our children on its head by stating that the amount of time has nothing to do with their happiness. It is the quality that is important. Children are not dumb and can tell when you are unhappy, stressed, and/or feeling guilty. They benefit from quality time where you are present both mentally and physically. This can also help during times when you are feeling guilty about the amount of time you are spending with your children because you know that you give them quality time on those dates so it's ok that you need to do laundry and dishes some of the other time. We've seen a noticeable change in her behavior, willingness to share, and cooperation at home and the teacher hasn't had to contact us again about misbehavior. I've also felt less stressed and guilty when I need to do things around the house or just need a break to read a book. I feel more confident that the time I spend with my children is valuable and that relieves a lot of my own underlying stress. We're making a point to continue a weekly date night, taking turns spending one-on-one time with our children. This week, Derek will take her and I'll stay with Arthur, next week we'll switch. There are many things you can take your child to do, but the most important thing is to simply spend time with them. Make them the focus and you will not only have a happier child, but you will be creating memories that will last forever not to mention strengthening your bond as parent and child. I've listed some more ideas for date nights with your child below and I encourage you to make a point to take them on a date every once in a while. You won't regret it! Dating your Children: Date Ideas
Go Somewhere: - see a movie - do an activity such as mini golf, bowling, pottery painting or skating - visit a library or bookstore and read together - go on a hike/nature walk - mani/pedis - many nail salons nowadays have children's pedicure chairs - fancy dinner - get dressed up in fancy clothes and have a meal - gym class - a lot of places have regular mommy/daddy and me classes for yoga and more especially larger cities - craft classes - similarly, home depot, and some craft stores host free craft classes for parents and children - window shopping at the mall - dessert date - Skip the dinner and just get a fancy dessert together. - coffee date - get a coffee/hot chocolate together and chat - visit a museum - go on a scavenger hunt - there are plenty of ideas online for an easy and fun scavenger hunt - have a photo shoot - you can head out or just hit the backyard and be sure to let your child pick their outfit and grab a few fun props. To make it extra fun, be sure to make it comical by directing them like a real photographer. "Make a fish face! Magnificent Dahling!" - volunteer together - makeovers at the mall - the make-up counters in department stores will give you a free makeover. Take advantage (Just be nice and let them know you don't intend on buying anything upfront so they can give attention to the people who do. They work on commission.) Stay at Home: - bake together - have a tea party - Be sure to dress appropriately! Tiaras are a must! - rent a movie and eat popcorn - We like to dump a bag of peanut m&m's in our popcorn. It's delicious! - spa night - Skip the expensive salon and turn your bathroom into a spa. Light a candle, play some music and make a bubbly foot bath. Fancy treats like homemade chocolate covered strawberries and faux bubbly make it extra special. - game night - camp out - spend a night under the stars in your own backyard - bike ride and picnic - pack your lunch/dinner and ride somewhere nearby for a lovely picnic - dance and karaoke party - make your living room come alive with music and dance! - craft something at home - visit pinterest or buy a craft in a box kit - science experiment - you can also find plenty of ideas online or buy a kit - plant a mini garden - grab a pot and let your child start their own mini garden - build a fort and read books - cook dinner together - learn something - Hit the internet and learn about something of their choosing. My awesome husband got me a Silhouette Cameo 2 for Christmas this year! It was a major surprise and I am super excited. I've used it a few times to practice and make sure I have some idea as to how to use it and I would like to share the first few projects I have accomplished. For my first attempt I decided to make my daughter some paper butterflies to stick on her walls. The cut file was free and I had scrap paper so it didn't matter if I messed up. I used the free butterfly cut file and made two different sizes of butterflies on my silhouette studio page. Then I placed paper on my cutting mat and loaded it into the cameo. After checking to make sure the settings were correct, I sent it to the machine. They turned out great! I repeated the process using a different paper and then layered the smaller butterflies on top of the larger butterflies and used stick tac to adhere them to the walls. It was super easy and my daughter thinks they are great! Success! For my second project I chose to make a gift for a good friend who was about to have a birthday. He runs his own marketing business and is very energetic and positive with a good sense of humor. I found a really great art print and decided to make my own version using gold poster board and black craft paper. I saved the image and then used it to create a cut file within silhouette studio by importing the image. Once I had my cut lines correct I loaded the poster board and sent the cut to the machine. After it was cut I glued it in the center of a piece of black card stock and framed it! It went very quickly and he loved it! Success again! I think I'm getting the hang of this. (I will say that I thought the paper setting should have been on card stock for the poster board. However, I was very wrong which resulted in the machine freaking out and cutting the edge of my mat! For future reference, you should set it at glitter card stock if you want to cut poster board.) I was in such a hurry to get it made before the party that I completely forgot to snap a picture! It looked really awesome though. :( For my final projects I ventured into he land of vinyl. (I had to wait until my order arrived.) I purchased my vinyl from amazon and I think I got a pretty good deal. I started my making a monogram for my friend. She plans on putting it on a tumbler. I used this site to generate a free monogram. Then I placed the monogram into powerpoint, added a thick dark circle around the edge and saved both parts as one image. Then I dropped into silhouette studio and added my cut lines. It was very quick and she loves the result. My other vinyl project is still in the works but, I plan on making some organization labels for my children's rooms. I'll let you know how that goes in my next post!
Father's Day is tomorrow! Are you in need of a thoughtful and quick gift that the kids can help with? This DIY back massage t-shirt is a fun project for you to try that only needs a few times to be completed! Materials: - t-shirt - fabric markers - city template (we just free-handed it but this blog has a great, free printable for the less artistically inclined.) You can find the template here: http://thebluebasket.blogspot.com/2011/09/tutorial-car-shirt.html?m=1 Add a couple toy cars to the mix and now you have a fun gift that will allow Dad to both relax and play with the kids at the same time!
Do you have a father or grandfather that you won't get to see on Father's Day? Then send them a hug with this easy and inexpensive project! Materials: -crayon/pen/marker -brown butcher paper (found at the dollar store) -scissors Directions: 1. Lay the paper out on the floor. It is helpful to weigh it down on the corners so you can complete the project. 2. Have your child (or whomever wants to send the hug) lay down on the paper with their arms stretched out. 3. Draw an outline around the person on the paper. Then you can let your child decorate their outline. We also added a speech bubble and a note. We basically used it like a giant card. 4. When it's done roll it up and mail it! You can generally find poster tubes at the post office or you could fold it and mail it in a large envelope.
We know our loved one's will really enjoy this unique present and we hope yours do too! We want to share one more fun 4th of July themed craft! Today we made fizzing fireworks art which is both a fun craft and a mini science lesson!
5. When you're done making fizzy reactions let the filters dry. (We took ours outside so the sun could accelerate the drying time.) Once they're dry you have fun, colorful coffee filters that you can display as art or even use to create coffee filter flowers by following this tutorial! We hope you had fun! Check out the science explained below to teach your child about the reasoning behind why this experiment/art works! The Science Explained
In this experiment, the fizz is produced by a chemical reaction between baking soda and vinegar. Baking soda and vinegar react, and one of the products of the reaction is carbon dioxide gas. This gas forms bubbles that are surrounded by the liquid. The laundry detergent makes the bubbles last longer, and a foam is produced. The volume of the gas produced and trapped in the foam is much greater than the glass can hold, so some of it spills over the top of the glass. Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. Vinegar contains acetic acid dissolved in water. Sodium barcarbonate reacts with most acids. The products of the reaction with vinegar are carbon dioxide gas, sodium acetate, and water. The reaction of sodium bicarbonate to form carbon dioxide gas is the basis of its use as a levening agent in baking. Cakes are solid foams. The foam is produced when bubbles of carbon dioxide from the reaction of sodium bicarbonate are trapped in the batter. As the cake bakes, the batter dries, and the trapped bubbles of carbon dioxide form the holes in the cake. The 4th of July isn't very far away and we're sharing two fun and easy crafts you can do with your kids! Our kids had a ton of fun making these! We hope you enjoy them too! Check back later for more cool art projects and fun activities!
Here is a fun craft you can make with your child that is also a toy! With only a few materials you can easily create a sensory bottle. Today, we're creating a 4th of July themed bottle. You can have your children help put the items into the bottle to make it a group activity and you can make all sorts of different types of sensory bottles. A great place to look for items is the dollar store. It just needs to be small enough to fit into the mouth of your bottle and it will work! We hope you enjoy this cheap and easy craft!
Today we had a lot of dramatic play fun with edible ice cream playdough! It was easy, cheap to make, and entertained us for quite a while! Let us know what you think! Materials Needed: - Cake icing (any flavor will work. We used Betty Crocker icings in raspberry lemonade, chocolate and lemon) - Powdered sugar - Fun tools like an ice cream scoop, bowls, and spoons (we also used some of our pretend ice cream things like sprinkles and syrup and I grabbed actual ice cream cones at Target for 1.39. Lilly thought they were a great addition!) - Olive oil - Large bowl and spoon Directions: 1. Mix one cup icing and 2.5 cups powdered sugar in a large bowl. I had to use my hands to mash it together for the proper consistency. 2. Once it is mostly mixed, you might find it to be a bit crumbly. Add a little olive oil to make it stick together. 3. That's it! You're done! The little one had a good time too! When you're done creating fantastic concoctions, you can put the playdough in a sealed container and use it again later. If it's crumbly, just add more olive oil to smooth it out.
We hope you enjoy this fun activity! 😃 These cheap and easy to create party poppers will be a big hit with my daughter’s classmates. All you need to do is gather your materials and get started! You will need: – toilet paper rolls – candy and small toys/trinkets – tape – scissors – wrapping paper (as thin as you can get; don’t get the expensive stuff) – ribbon First, you cut each toilet paper roll in half. Second, you stuff it with your candy and toys. Third, tape the roll together (very little tape; you want it to be easy to pop open) and wrap it with your paper. Fourth, twist the ends of the paper together and tie it with a ribbon and your done!
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meet rachelRachel is a mother of three, elementary Spanish teacher and part-time blogger who loves crafting, creating fun and engaging activities for her children and students and hanging with her friends and family. She blogs about what she's doing and her interests at any given time which vary. She's a little OCD and always looking for her next project. Her husband calls it, "focusing her crazy", but she just calls it fun. Archives
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