Crazy Hair Day

Today is crazy hair day and sock day at hannah's school. I saw this post on someone else's blog and they had the most fantastic crazy hair, so I got motivated! I really had no idea what i was doing, so I was super relieved when it actually turned out half way decent. (I am the worst when it comes to doing my girls' hair. I can't even put a clip in their hair and my parts are always crocked, hence they rarely have things in their hair).

But here is what I came up with. All it took was some ribbon, spider web and some glittery spiders to finish the look. It was pretty simple and I love the way it turned out.

Summer Craft Club

Last summer i did a craft club for the kids in my neighborhood, we had such a great time that I thought I would do it again this year. (You can find the crafts I did last year in my "kids craft" category on the sidebar). But due to my pregnancy and everyone's busy schedule, this years craft club wasn't quite like last years. But I did manage to get a few craft sessions in this summer.

Here is are a few of the crafts we have done.


The first one was our Hawaiian theme. We read a book about Hawaii and then we made leis. The tutorial for the lei's can be found here. Instead of using yarn, I used lanyard string. It is easier for the kids to use and thread. And of course I used my cricut machine to cut out all the flowers. For the treat, I made Hawaiian floats. I used orange sherbert, pineapple juice and sprite.




The next craft was a Three lIttle Pigs Theme. I read the cutest book "Wait, no Paint!" and then we made houses make of straw, sticks and bricks. For the snack, we had pigs in a blanket. As you can see, I used shredded paper for the straw, popsicle sticks for the sticks and I cut out red construction paper for the bricks.




The last craft was a rainbow theme. We read the book "Have you Filled a Bucket Today." This book has a great message and although it doesn't have to do about rainbows, it uses rainbows to show it's message, so I thought it worked. The kids then made rainbows out of pasta wheels. The tutorial can be found here. Then I made Rainbow Cupcakes like the ones found here. The kids loved these!

Craft Club wasn't in session very long these year, but the crafts were really fun and the kids always love it!

St. Patty's Day Treat

We made these little St. Patrick's Day treats for teachers. Cute and easy, my kid of craft. I got the idea from here.

Activity Days - Valentine Heart Garland/Service

For Activity Days last night, we made these heart doille garlands. I completely stole the idea from here (thank yo so much, I didn't have anything planned until I saw this idea).

I have to say, we had 4 girls and it was touch and go to get this done in an hour. I wouldn't suggest this if you have more than 4 girls (or a lot of helpers). It is a great idea and I love the service/love ideas that the girls get to do each day. I told the girls if they would do what was on each heart each day, I would sign an activity off in their Faith in God books. I figured if they did 14 days of service and love, that was worth signing off an activity in their book.

Also, we didn't stitch the hearts together, we glued them together which was probably as time consuming as stitching. You could also staple the heart doilles together too (to make the activity quicker). Also, you could hole punch a hole in the top of the heart you print on cardstock and tie fun coordinating ribbon to it (to help the girls be able to pull out each heart better) adn add to the cuteness of it all.

Again, love the idea and think it is so cute, festive and fun. I just didn't anticipate that the girls would have such a hard time with it all. But in the end, it worked out fine and they had a great project to take home with them.

And the image of the garland is from Tip Junkie (thanks again).

Craft Club - Monsters

We had our last craft club last week and with school starting, I forgot to get our crafts up on the blog. The last craft theme was all about Monsters! I cheated this week and got the craft from OTC.... paper plate monsters. Sometimes letting someone else do the work is better (okay, it is most of the time, right?)

This was such a fun summer activity and it will definitely be a yearly summer tradition.

BOOK: TIckle Monster
Craft: Monster Plate Faces (I can't find them on OTC, but they have plenty of other fun monster crafts)
TREAT: Monster Cookies

Activity Days - Hair Clips

For Activity Days we took the summer off. I only had one girl any given week, so we decided we would start back up when school started, so we could all be together and have fun together. So last week, we had our first activity (again) and we made hair clips. I found this idea here and the tutorial here. The girls really enjoyed picking out their material and making these clips. And the best part was the girls learned a little bit about sewing.
I told the girls I hope to see these clips in the hair on Sunday!

Craft Club - Green Eggs and Ham

This week's craft club theme was good ol' Green Eggs and Ham.

Of course we read the story. I am always amazed how reading books can capture kids attention. They all sit so still and quiet while I read them stories. I love the power of books and reading! But back to the craft....

The kids made their own place setting of green eggs while spelling out their names! I got the idea from Katherine Marie, again!

Then we made treats that looked like green eggs and bacon. I forgot to get a picture of all of them before the kids got to them, so these are the last two! The kids loved them.

BOOK: Green Eggs and Ham
CRAFT: a place setting of green eggs
TREAT: pretzels, melting chocolate and green M&M's (green eggs and bacon)

Craft Club - Popcorn

This last week for craft club our theme was popcorn. We made corn and used popcorn for the kernels. It was the perfect craft for my kids because they literally can not get enough popcorn. It is evident by their craft. The popcorn cobs should have a lot more popcorn on them, but Ella got to them and ate the popcorn directly off the cob.... glue and all!

I used this corn template and got the idea from here. We then had caramel popcorn for the treat.

BOOK: The Popcorn Book
CRAFT: Corn Cob with popcorn
TREAT: caramel popcorn

Craft Club - Bugs

This week for Craft Club, we made bug jars. I found the idea from Oriental Trading Company and their bug jars here. But I thought, hey I can make those. So, I started to save and clean baby food jars and cut out stuff on my own and I think they turned out just as cute, (if not cuter :-) Mostly because of the glitter grass!

The kids loved going outside to find rolly-pollies to put in their jars. But the bad news is that I didn't put holes in the lids, so I feel bad for the bugs. Don't call me a "bug-killer", really I feel bad, but I couldn't very well, tell my kids they couldn't find bugs for their jars. And I couldn't easily make the holes. My kids carry their jars everywhere and are good to make sure they get air every few hours.

And then for snacks, we had Pudding Dirt (pudding, smashed oreos and a gummy worm). Another great craft day with the kids.

BOOK: The Ant Picnic Feast
CRAFT: bug jars
SNACK: dirt pudding

Craft Club - Pigs

We started up Craft Club again this week. We had a blast with the theme: Pigs and Pancakes. Really it was pigs, but then I decided to read "if you Give a Pig a Pancake", of course we had to serve pancakes for the treat. We made pig faces using cotton balls that I spray painted pink. I love who they turned out.

Book: If You give a Pig a Pancake
Craft: Cotton Ball pig faces
Treat: pancakes

I forgot I have to give credit to Katherine Marie for the inspiration and idea for this theme.

Craft Club - 4th of July

This week for craft club, I cheated just a bit. I bought some cute necklaces and bracelets from Oriental Trading Company and called it good. I couldn't really come up with a project I just loved, but I thought it would be fun for the kids to make these fun accessories so they could wear them on the 4th of July.

The kids loved making them and all agreed they will be worn to celebrate the 4th.

I don't know why, but I didn't take any pictures of the kids and I forgot to read the story I had. But for treats we had cookies (because I had a ton left over), but I was thinking of getting those red, white and blue rocket popsicles. So, there you go. We will be taking two weeks off and then back at it again. Next theme will be pigs!

Craft Club - Clowns

On Thursday we had our first Craft Club! We did the theme based on clowns. We read a book about the circus, since our library didn't have a book about clowns. We made clown faces made out of paper plates and lots of embellishments. And the then kids took home some circus cookies that I put in a little bags I got in the Dollar Spot at Target and made little tags that said "Clown'n Around."

The kids had fun creating their own clown faces and taking them home to show their parents. It was so much fun for all that I think we will do it again next week and this time we will do something Fourth of July-ish!

Book: C is for Clown (this would be a much better book to read)
Craft: clown faces
Treat: animal crackers or cookies

Summer Craft Fun

I was thinking about how I would entertain my kids this summer. What would I do with them that would be fun, creative and take some time. Of course my mind went straight to arts and crafts, since Hannah loves, loves, loves arts and crafts. I also came across this website and she has sooo many cute ideas that include arts and crafts and they are all centered around different themes (even more fun).

On a side note - go and check out her site. It is so cute. Her photography is beautiful and fun all at the same time. It is inspiring to see all that she does with her kids... what a good mom!

So, I decided each week, we would do arts and craft centered around a theme. But then I got to thinking, if I am going to go through all the effort might as well invite others to join in the fun (or should I say make it more fun)! So, that is what I did. We invited the neighborhood kids over for a weekly arts and craft hour (or so). Each week we will have a theme and with that theme we will read a book, do a craft project and have a treat!

I can't wait! I think it will be so much fun for the kids and just as much fun for me! A little mini-party each week.
Here are the invitations I made for our neighbors inviting them to the Summer Craft Fun! This first week is clowns so stay tuned!

Activity Day - Father's Day Cards

For our Activity Day activity this week, we made candy gram cards. I bought cardboard, candy bars and let the girls write a candy gram for their dads. Then they wrapped them up. Since we still have 10 days until father's day.

Some candy bars we used were:

Twix - Be "TWIX" you and me, you are the best dad around.
M&M - You are a "M&M" - a mighty man!
SNICKERS - There is no "SNICKER"ing when it comes to how much I love you.
MIKE & IKE - Even, "MIKE AND IKE" agree you are great.
STARBURST - You are a "STARBURST" of energy and love in our family.

You get the picture. Something easy and fun and what dad wouldn't love a card made out of candy bars!

Activity Days - Mother's Day Bath Sundaes

I know this is being posted after Mother's Day, but i had to wait to post this idea, so that I wouldn't ruin the surprise for many of my activity day moms. But this is what my Activity Day girls did for mother's day this year. It is a cute little Ice cream sundae made out of bath salts and a loofa. Isn't that so cute!

We had to package the ice cream sundaes in these brown paper bags, so that the moms wouldn't see their present, since we made them 10 days before Mother's Day. But I think they turned out cute with the little ice cream tags.

Okay I have to be honest, I didn't come up with this all on my own. I think it originated from here.

We had a blast putting them together and the girls were super excited to give these little treats to their moms.

Chores are fun to Do!

I mentioned in my last post about chore charts I had made for my girls. Hannah is finally at an age where she can take on certain responsibilities around the house. We also decided she needed to start learning about and paying tithing. In order to pay tithing, you need to start making money. So, we decided to start giving Hannah an allowance based on doing chores and certain things during the week. If she does them (and fills up her weekly chore chart with stickers), she gets a $1.

Here is what i did. I downloaded this cute weekly chore template (she has many other free adorable templates) and included our own personal weekly to-dos and chores. I attached them to these cute clipboards I got at HomeGoods and bought some cute little stickers. And waa-laa. Cute chore charts that the girls are so excited about.

NOTE: If you notice at the top, "staying dry through the night".... this isn't one of the things she has to do to get a $1. But I wanted to include it to help her feel motivated to do it. And if she does stay dry all week, she can go to the store and pick out a toy.

Valentine Album

It seems every holiday, the Target Dollar Spot has adorable little 8 page photo albums for only a $1. So, for Valentines, I bought their albums and had Hannah put together a cute little picture book for her grandparents. I printed out photos, got her some stickers (for the Dollar Spot) and let her have at it. This is what she created and gave to her grandparents for Valentines Day. It was the perfect project and gift to say I love you!

A little imagination

I found this cute oven over at Creative Crate and was very impressed. I love it and think it is about the cutest kitchen around. Such imagination on the mom's part and endless days of playing imagination for her daughter. So so cute!

Help me find the Time!

I seriously have to make one of these. They are just too cute and my girls would love, I mean love it! I don't know when i will find the time, but I think after seeing this one, I am going to have to sit my bottom down and get cracking. Isn't it so cute! I love her garden, such a cute idea.

Click here to see the whole house. It is amazing.

And here are a few more cute images of Table tent Playhouses

Playhouse 1
Playhouse 2 You can buy these.
Playhouse 3 A good tutorial on how to make one.
Playhouse 4 more tips on how to make one.

Sneak Peak

Here is a sneak peak of Hannah's halloween costume. It turned out cuter than I imagined. I am in love with it! She and I can't wait for her to wear it!