Upcycled Button Toothbrush Cup

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Hello friends!

April is Earth month, and it has me thinking. We have spent a lot of time trying to get as many chemicals out of our home as possible. I make our laundry detergent (link) and cleaning sprays. We use cloth diapers (most of the time), and I try to keep the kids' soaps and products as natural as possible. We're not perfect, but we try.

I've also been working on getting our home more organized. It seems like the first step to any organizing project is going out and buying some new storage item. Now, don't get me wrong, I love good storage, but I don't think that running out and buying something new needs to be the first step every time!

This was a great little project for Abbey. She got to make a project, and now she has more ownership over keeping her bathroom counter clean, because it's her work she is using!

No Prep Kids Crafts

Hi Everyone!

I am so excited to be partnering with Wayfair and other Homemakers today to bring you some fantastic kids crafts. We're big craft fans around here, and there is some seriously great stuff on this list. Even better, you can do all of them with stuff you probably already have on hand! I don't know about you, but having to run to the store for that one thing an activity needs pretty much means we aren't doing that activity today. No such problem with these!

Painted Garden Markers

Hey there, friends!

Have you started planting gardens where you are? We finally have good enough weather, so we decided to get some herbs planted. I have been trying to encourage Abbey to do more handwriting, so I had her help me make some garden markers!

What you need:

• craft sticks
• craft paint & brushes
• permanent marker
• seeds

She started out by painting the craft sticks. I set her up with some paint and let her go to town.

Once those were dry I gave her a permanent marker and had her write the name of each herb we were planting on the sticks. This was a great chance for her to practice her handwriting.

She had to look at each name and decide how big her letters should be. Some words were little, while some words like "lavender" took up more space.

She also had the chance to practice copying text. Rather than spelling out the names for her, I handed her each seed packet, showed her which word to write, and let her copy it on her own. She did a great job!

I think she did a great job! In case you were wondering, those drawings at the bottoms are seeds. Her own artistic interpretation. ;)

Then we got to planting! As I grabbed each seed packet, she found the right stick and stuck it in the dirt. Reading practice! Bonus!

I have one proud little girl! It took a while for her to understand that it will take a while for our herbs to sprout. She checked them at least 5 times this afternoon! I can't wait to see her face when they sprout!

What are your favorite herbs to plant?
Do you dry them and keep them, or just use them fresh?

Be blessed!
Heather

A Pretty Little Project

Hi guys!

I am falling in love with embroidery! I know, right?! I would have thought I was crazy, too, but simple projects that can be done in an evening or two make me happy!

Read all about it at {Fancy Little Things}

5 Fun Ways to Feed the Birds

Hi friends!

I am in LOVE with this print from The Wheatfield! I want it for my mantle!

It's finally bird chirping weather! Well, it's starting to be at least. Here in Chicagoland winter just will. not. let. GO! But, the birds are back, so that means that spring can't be far behind. I've rounded up 5 of my favorite bird feeder crafts for you. There's also a great list of ways to watch and observe the birds you attract!
Check 'em out!

1. Molded Bird Feeders from Eighteen25
2. Plastic Lid Bird Feeders from Frogs, Snails, & Puppy Dog Tails
3. Bread Bird Feeders from Teaching Mama
4. Fruit & Grain Bird Feeders from Happy Hooligans
5. Pine Cone Bird Feeders from Fancy Little Things

Tips:

• Can't use peanut butter? Use your favorite nut butter! (also, 1, 3, and 5 on this list are PB Free!)
• Hang your feeder near a window so you can watch as the birds come by
• Use a great bird watching printable like this one from Lara's Place. She also has a great list of bird watching materials.

Is it bird chirping weather where you are?

What is your favorite way to feed the birds?

Be blessed!

Heather

Stained Glass Shamrocks {and what they taught me about perfection}

Hi there, friends!

I am so sick of gloomy skies and snow. It was 37 and sunny the other day and I was this close to throwing the windows open! We need some color when we look out the window, and these fit the bill perfectly.

So this was my plan. Fill up a piece of contact paper with torn green tissue paper, trace some shamrocks on it, cut them out, and hang them on the wall. Easy peasy, right? We'll be done in, like, an hour, right? Right.

Plan: Fill a piece of contact paper with torn tissue paper.

Reality: A patchwork of tearing and sticking for small amounts of time over 3 days. Concerns from the 4 year old including, but not limited to: It's too many, what if I don't finish before dinner, that piece is too big, that piece is too small. Responses from Mama including, but not limited to: You can do it! Dinner is in 5 hours, you can do it. That piece is perfect, you can do it.

Jobs appear really big to her. We have learned that we need to break big things into smaller pieces, or she gets overwhelmed and doesn't know how to start. She's a bit like her Mama that way.

Plan: Trace shamrocks onto contact paper and cut them out. Follow the lines, of course. You know, because fine motor practice and life skills.

Reality: "I just want to cut a circle around them."
This is where I got stuck. I really wanted her to cut on those lines. I encouraged. I offered her the bigger one with bigger curves. I cut out the bigger ones to show her how simple it was. I pushed. And still, "I just want to cut a circle around them."

Ok. Here's the thing. She gets overwhelmed. She is absolutely terrified of making mistakes. It's hard to find the balance between encouraging her to do her best work, and letting her set her own standards of success. Will there be times that I need to set the standard of following the directions correctly? Of course. Was this one of them? Not even a little bit.

So I don't have a window full of perfectly cut out shamrocks (because, let's face it, that was my plan). What I do have is something that Abbey can look at every day and see success. She finished a project and it made our house prettier. And because she felt successful, she wanted to do more

It's not spring without a rainbow, right?

.

"Now it looks like spring all the time!"

Yes it does, baby girl, yes it does. And you did it!

Be blessed,
Heather

Have a Safe 4th!

Hey there friends!

I have to admit...I'm that mom that freaks out over sparklers. They just make me nervous! I was never allowed to have them growing up, and now they just make me antsy with little ones around.

Last year, we decided to get crafty and make our own fireworks. We attempted straw painting. I think our paint was too thick...

We also made these, and they were a hit! Some sparkly pipe cleaners, some craft sticks and  little hot glue...DONE! Easy peasy, and lots of fun to run around with.

This year I've been looking for other fun alternatives to sparklers and, as usual, the Kid Blogger Network did not leave me wanting! Here are some of my favorites:

super simple: Star Wands from Our Arts 'n' Things

A little fancy: Patriotic Spirit Wands from Buggy and Buddy

Great for itty bitties: Fireworks in a Bottle from No Twiddle Twaddle

Want more crafty holiday goodness? There are over 30 ideas, all from KBN bloggers here on my pinboard: 4th of July with the Kid Blogger Network

Be blessed, and be safe!

Heather

Day 22: Bridget's Beret

Hi friends!

Today I've got another great book by Tom Lichtenheld (the author of Cloudette)! Our book for today is Bridget's Beret.

I am officially a Tom Lichtenheld fan. This is a great story about doing what you love, and it includes classic art!

Today I wanted to show you something that gets used all the time in our house: our art bin!

I bought a simple bin with a lid with a handle. It's simple, portable, and lives on the same shelf as our Toddler Boxes.

It's full of all our favorite arts and crafts supplies, so they're easy to get to whenever we need them.

Here's what we keep on hand:

Paint:

(clockwise from top left)

Dot paint: We do a lot of bingo dauber sheets (my favorites are HERE), so these are great. The biggest "investment" in the bin though. Totally worth it!

Tempera paint: Great for general paint projects. Washable (woot!). 

Finger paint: Not the biggest hit over here, but nice to have around

Sun Catcher stain: Plastic sun catchers cost about a dollar at Hobby Lobby. Great "special treat" after a day of running errands

Water colors: Perfect for simple, mess free painting. These come out at dinner time a LOT.

Craft Supplies:

Pipe Cleaners: Plain and Sparkle varieties. They're in toddler boxes, they're in Christmas projects. They're pretty much all purpose. Get some!

Craft Sticks: You know....for building things.

Foamie Stickers: Great for simple collages. Great fine motor practice, too!

Pom Poms: If we're not using the dot paint for dauber sheets, we use these. Also fun for collages.

Glitter:

What good is an art bin without glitter? Ours stays in a ziploc bag 1) so it will stay together and 2) because glitter messes are no fun to clean up!

Coloring:

Markers

Rainbow scratch art sheets

Our crayons tend to be out for general use, so they don't stay in the bin. 

Elmer's School Glue: Good for general crafting. Also makes great Cloud Paint!
Glue dotters: These used to be standard on my school supply list, and I like them SO much better than glue sticks. They don't try out, and you actually get a usable amount of glue without much pressure.

At any given time there may or may not be a random assortment of other stuff in here, depending on recent projects, but these are the staples. I love having everything in one place, it makes quick activities so easy! Also, nothing in here is to expensive, or fancy so I don't worry about letting Abbey go wild.

Have fun putting together your art bin!


Just joining in? Make sure you check out the rest of the series!

Be blessed!

Heather




It's A Long Story: blog. facebook. twitter

Day 2: Now It's Fall

We LOVE Fall around here and the changing seasons. Our favorite book to read as we celebrate the beautiful colors is Now It's Fall by Jeanie Lee.

Complete with pull-out flaps to show how the trees change, simple reading, and beautiful illustrations, this book will surely delight the littlest pumpkin in your crew.

See how the pull-out tabs create different pages? Love that!

Today's project is all about taking what you probably already have around the house and outside and creating something new and beautiful! (Much like fall does with the changing colors!)

Here's what you'll need:

Green leaves (to transform them into colorful fall leaves!)

Paint & paintbrushes! We had white and red on hand (and these leaf dishes make festive paint holders)

White paper (any paper will do)

Any other crafty mediums (think crayons, markers, colored pencils, Bingo dabbers!)

The goal of this project is to transform your green leaves into beautiful fall creations! Charlie enjoyed taking his time, mixing colors, and practicing different strokes with the paintbrush. We then moved our leaves over to dry and will then probably glue them onto a tree on another piece of paper. 

Figure 1 - Place leaves on white paper (or other surface that you don't care if it gets dirty)

Figure 2 - Watch your little artist study his intricate work

Figure 3 - Charlie LOVES to paint!

Figure 4 - Isn't he adorable?

Happy Leaf Painting!

Samantha @ The Peanuts Gang

The Sweater Pumpkin

Hi friends! 

This tutorial was my first ever guest post (on Sugar Bee Crafts!) just after I started blogging. I never got a chance to post it here, so I thought it deserved to be shared again. Fall is my all time favorite season to decorate for. It may even out rank Christmas (I know!). I'm so excited to pull this little guy out again this year!

This project started out at Goodwill (don't the best ones always start at Goodwill?). I found this "awesome" sweater for $5, and just knew it had secret pumpkin aspirations.

I started by cutting the sleeves off, and making rectangles out of those top 3 orange stripes.

Note: When you're cutting up a striped sweater, make sure you either do it one side at a time, or make sure the stripes are lined up. Of course I remembered to do that...psh! Who would forget to do that! 

Take one of your rectangles, fold it in half and pin it like so:

(I need more blog friendly pins...)

Sew a 1/4 inch seam down this edge. Then fold each half in half and do the same thing again. You'll end up with something like this:

Repeat this whole process with the other rectangle, and then sew the two rectangles together, leaving you with something like this:

Grab a needle and thread and gather up one end of your pumpkin. It's difficult to get it closed up all the way, so I cut a rough circle out of brown felt and (very!) roughly whip stitched it on to cover up the edges.

At this point, it also makes a great hat!

(I love this smile!!)

Loosely gather up the other side. Fill your pumpkin with fiber-fill, our your stuffing of choice, and cinch it up. Leave your opening large enough that you could shove some more stuffing in there if you want once it's closed. 

Now your pumpkin needs a top. I grabbed a stick from outside, cut pumpkin-toppy (??) shape out of some green felt, and stuck the stick through the middle. I put a bit of hot glue around the bottom of the hole, just to keep everything secure.

This piece then got hot glued to the top of my pumpkin. Then I added some copper wire that was just sitting around. I twisted it around the stick a few times, and then wrapped the ends around a pencil to make some super cute little curly-cues.

Isn't it cute? I am thrilled with the way this pumpkin turned out. I plan on turning the bottom part of my sweater into a pumpkin as well, and maybe the turtleneck as well! I'll have a cute little pumpkin family! OK...maybe you're not as excited about that as I am...Whatev.

Sorry for the lame-o pics! I craft in a basement, and took pictures at night. Bad blogger, bad!

Be blessed!

Heather

I'm linking up. Come play with me!