It's December which means Christmas is right around the corner! Hip hip HOORAY! I love this time of year. (And yes, I know I say that about every time of the year. But it's TRUE!)
We spent last weekend putting up Christmas decorations and had a blast. Emily loved putting ornaments on the tree but it's becoming increasingly difficult to convince her to leave them on the tree. And I doubt she will be interested in taking them off when New Years rolls around and it's time to clean up.
I was scrolling through Facebook the other day and a friend posted a link to two blog posts 20 Fun Toddler Christmas Activities and 20 Cute Christmas Crafts for Toddlers. Both were exactly what appeals to me as a parent: a great collection of arts and crafts activities to engage little ones in fun and learning. There were a few on the lists I wasn't sure about (like, is it safe for children to play with Epsom salt?) and a few that looked easy and fun (the wall Christmas tree and holiday hand wreath).
Last night, I decided I would try out the holiday hand wreath. Because, ya know, what time better to do an arts and crafts activity than after a long day at work and day care?! But we had finished an early dinner (thanks to a wonderful husband who started cooking as soon as he got home) and it wasn't quite bed time.
You know those "nailed it" Pinterest memes? The ones with the cute Pinterest pics of bunny shaped biscuits beside a pic of someones best attempt that look more like possessed demons? Yep, that'd be me.
Bless sweet Laura from Lalymom for guiding moms like me through activities like this. Because as much as I want to be that mom, I just think it's beyond some of us. Her suggestions were awesome but we successfully missed the mark on all of them.
Since I could not locate my phone to snap pictures of the tornado that was this craft activity, allow me to replay my internal-that-is-almost-always-external dialogue as I walked Emily through what should have been the simplest of steps:
"Ok, it looks like we need a paper plate. Do we have one of those? I probably should have thought of this before we started. Oh yeah! In the china cabinet!" (And yes, I get the irony here.)
"Dang! A paper plate is really hard to cut!"
"Ok, there we go. Emily, please don't touch the scissors."
"Emily, do not touch the pen. That's Mommy's. Here, hold the paper."
"Ok, Emily let's do your hand prints! Wait wait....come back! We are making a surprise present for Daddy!"
(I have learned that the words "surprise", "daddy" and "present" are magic words that get Emily to comply with just about any request. If you are able to use all three in a sentence, jackpot.)
"We don't have a glue stick. I guess a glue bottle will work? I dunno. I really should have planned ahead."
"Laura says: 'remember to allow the child to do the steps they can do.' Hm, what steps are those exactly? I will not be overbearing and try and 'fix' Emily's work. This is her's to make."
After managing to cut out red and green hands, we attempted to put them on the plate. "Emily, let's put your hand here. Ok, Mommy is going to hold the glue...." ("WAAAAAAHHHH" from Emily) "Ok, Mommy will hold the glue with you."
Emily put exactly 5 hands on the plate and decided she was done and ran off the rest of the paper hands.
I peaked her curiosity and she came back to the table when I finally found some gift wrap ribbon (again, plan head MEGAN!). She proceeded to unravel the entire roll as I was attempting to paste the rest of the hands on the plate. (Well, I tried to let her do it by myself. I really did!)
Sigh.
"Ok, Emily! Almost done. Help Mommy put the ribbon here and here! Just a little piece and you can have the rest, I promise!!"
After tapping ribbon on the back to hang the wreath (yes, went off script but who is honestly surprised at this point), Emily proudly ran over to Randy and said "Daddy! I made you pwesant!"
There it is. The moment I was hoping for.
Randy oohed and ahhed for the appropriate amount of time. We put the wreath in a safe place for "Daddy to take to work tomorrow" (and yes, it is still sitting there this morning). Randy returned to his tv show and Emily started her next project: dumping toys out of her toy basket.
I turned around to a table covered with glue, construction paper and a tangled mess of ribbon on the floor.
The last paragraph of Laura's post popped into my head: "Ta-da! Now you have a lovely wreath to hang or give as a gift! And
bonus- your kids had lots of great fine motor skills practice! That’s
how WE do classic kids crafts at our house! How do you do Christmas
crafts? Fancy? Open-ended? Messy?"
Messy, Laura, always messy. But entertainingly so. That's how we do pretty much everything. And I fully accept that I am that mom.
Happy holiday crafting, friends!
*M
Showing posts with label everything i needed to know in life i learned on Pinterest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label everything i needed to know in life i learned on Pinterest. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Rehab Addict: Megan Style!
I've never been one to follow a tv show through season after season. I'm not a fan of the "big name shows" like American Idol, Walking Dead, Downton Abbey, Breaking Bad or any others that have come along in the last few years. I bounce around from channel to channel, tuning in to whatever grabs my attention.
I do have a weak spot for reality tv (except for the super trashy, cheesy kind) and in the past have tuned in for a few episodes to Swamp People, Duck Dynasty, Face Off, Celebrity Rehab, and the list goes on! Most recently, I cannot get enough of do it yourself home improvement shows. Anything from House Hunters, to Property Brothers, to Kitchen Crashers I've either already watched or have 10+ episodes waiting for me on our DVR.
My latest favorite is Rehab Addict. I love the idea of restoring old homes and furniture to their former glory and doing it all for cheap. Plus Nicole Curtis is the star of the show and she is amazingly talented. Girl power on home renovations!
The other day when it was unseasonably warm and not raining/sleeting/snowing out, I got inspired to do a Rehab Addict-ish project. Emily has a doll cradle (that belonged to yours truly first) and a little rocking chair that needed a face lift. I ventured out to Lowes and found some spray paint: dark brown for the cradle to match her bedroom furniture and pink for the chair to match Emily's own rocking chair. Here are the before pics:
I sprayed each with 2-3 coats, drying about 20-30 minutes in between. While I cleaned each piece before I sprayed, I really should have taken some sandpaper to the chair. Regardless, I was really pleased with the end results.
As a bonus project, I made a mattress pad for the cradle. I had an extra, small pad that came with Emily's diaper changing table. I cut the foam to fit the cradle and took an old pillow case (without a match) and covered the foam. I folded the pillow case back and hand sewed it in a few spots just so it would stay in place and look neat. I couldn't bring myself to cut the fabric! If I ever need to use it again, I can easily cut the thread holding it together without damaging the case. I also sewed two ribbons to either side of the pad. I tied them under the cradle to keep the pad in place as Emily often likes to carry the cradle from room to room.
Without further delay, the finished products.... with and without models! :)
I do have a weak spot for reality tv (except for the super trashy, cheesy kind) and in the past have tuned in for a few episodes to Swamp People, Duck Dynasty, Face Off, Celebrity Rehab, and the list goes on! Most recently, I cannot get enough of do it yourself home improvement shows. Anything from House Hunters, to Property Brothers, to Kitchen Crashers I've either already watched or have 10+ episodes waiting for me on our DVR.
My latest favorite is Rehab Addict. I love the idea of restoring old homes and furniture to their former glory and doing it all for cheap. Plus Nicole Curtis is the star of the show and she is amazingly talented. Girl power on home renovations!
The other day when it was unseasonably warm and not raining/sleeting/snowing out, I got inspired to do a Rehab Addict-ish project. Emily has a doll cradle (that belonged to yours truly first) and a little rocking chair that needed a face lift. I ventured out to Lowes and found some spray paint: dark brown for the cradle to match her bedroom furniture and pink for the chair to match Emily's own rocking chair. Here are the before pics:
I sprayed each with 2-3 coats, drying about 20-30 minutes in between. While I cleaned each piece before I sprayed, I really should have taken some sandpaper to the chair. Regardless, I was really pleased with the end results.
As a bonus project, I made a mattress pad for the cradle. I had an extra, small pad that came with Emily's diaper changing table. I cut the foam to fit the cradle and took an old pillow case (without a match) and covered the foam. I folded the pillow case back and hand sewed it in a few spots just so it would stay in place and look neat. I couldn't bring myself to cut the fabric! If I ever need to use it again, I can easily cut the thread holding it together without damaging the case. I also sewed two ribbons to either side of the pad. I tied them under the cradle to keep the pad in place as Emily often likes to carry the cradle from room to room.
Without further delay, the finished products.... with and without models! :)
The spray paint only cost be about 8 bucks total and the rest of the stuff I used from around the house. It was a fun easy project! And who knows what might inspire you at your house!
Happy rehabbing!
*M
Monday, October 14, 2013
Homemade Playdoh
Being sick sucks. Being sick while caring for a tiny human really sucks. This weekend I came down with the worst cough/cold combo. I went from feeling fine Saturday morning to having to cancel dinner with family Saturday evening because I literally could not get out of bed.
I was hoping that I would feel better when I woke up Sunday morning but as it often goes, that was not the case. I managed to corral Emily to her room and laid on the floor while she played. Seriously. She eventually grew bored with the 1,000+ toys she has in her room. I made the mistake of "turning her loose" while I attempted to throw some food together in the crockpot to make chili. Next thing I knew, she was in the pantry and had a bag of chocolate chip morsels in her hand. The bag was also open and she had it upside down. Sigh. It was then I saw we had food coloring tucked away on one of the shelves. In my cold medicine induced hazed it suddenly dawned on me, homemade playdoh. She would love it AND she could play with it in her high chair. Contained chaos. GENIUS!
I did a quick Google search and finally came across a few recipes that did not include having to cook it or cream of tartar (whatever the heck that is).
Are you ready for the easiest recipe ever? Here goes...
In bowl, mix together 1 cup of regular flour, 1/2 cup salt, 1 tbsp oil, 1 cup boiling water and food coloring. Kneed it together on a cutting board (once cooled off a bit) to really blend the color together.
Done!
When I do it again I will probably mix it all together and then divide up into smaller bowls and then add different colors. This time I put a little bit of red which made it turn pink. I took half of the mixture out of the bowl and added blue which turned the rest into a nice purple.
Emily was a huge fan. She tried to eat a little bit but not a big deal because I knew what was in it and it clear didn't taste good because she spit it out. I have it saved in a plastic bag and will be pulling it out again when I need to keep her contained and busy.
Happy playdoh playing!
*M
I was hoping that I would feel better when I woke up Sunday morning but as it often goes, that was not the case. I managed to corral Emily to her room and laid on the floor while she played. Seriously. She eventually grew bored with the 1,000+ toys she has in her room. I made the mistake of "turning her loose" while I attempted to throw some food together in the crockpot to make chili. Next thing I knew, she was in the pantry and had a bag of chocolate chip morsels in her hand. The bag was also open and she had it upside down. Sigh. It was then I saw we had food coloring tucked away on one of the shelves. In my cold medicine induced hazed it suddenly dawned on me, homemade playdoh. She would love it AND she could play with it in her high chair. Contained chaos. GENIUS!
I did a quick Google search and finally came across a few recipes that did not include having to cook it or cream of tartar (whatever the heck that is).
Are you ready for the easiest recipe ever? Here goes...
In bowl, mix together 1 cup of regular flour, 1/2 cup salt, 1 tbsp oil, 1 cup boiling water and food coloring. Kneed it together on a cutting board (once cooled off a bit) to really blend the color together.
Done!
When I do it again I will probably mix it all together and then divide up into smaller bowls and then add different colors. This time I put a little bit of red which made it turn pink. I took half of the mixture out of the bowl and added blue which turned the rest into a nice purple.
Tada!
Emily was a huge fan. She tried to eat a little bit but not a big deal because I knew what was in it and it clear didn't taste good because she spit it out. I have it saved in a plastic bag and will be pulling it out again when I need to keep her contained and busy.
Happy playdoh playing!
*M
Friday, June 29, 2012
Getting Crafty
Overall, I don't think I'm that much of a creative person. However, I do
have fleeting moments of creativity. And when they strike, I make the most of
them!
I've been wanting to recover our dining room chairs for some time. After almost three years, I think we finally have gotten rid of extra furniture and only have what we want to keep (for now). Our dining room set was a given to us by my sister-in-law in exchange for our couch and coffee tables. A pretty sweet trade if you ask me.
The seat covers were a bit worn and in need of a makeover:
Plus, we just painted our living room a soft green and the red and green didn't jive. :)
I have an awesomely creative friend (who also painted a beautiful mural in our nursery) who I recruited to help me. We found a great fabric place and bought the fabric I had in mind...and on sale!
30 bucks + staple gun + 1-2 hours of work =
I've been wanting to recover our dining room chairs for some time. After almost three years, I think we finally have gotten rid of extra furniture and only have what we want to keep (for now). Our dining room set was a given to us by my sister-in-law in exchange for our couch and coffee tables. A pretty sweet trade if you ask me.
The seat covers were a bit worn and in need of a makeover:
Plus, we just painted our living room a soft green and the red and green didn't jive. :)
I have an awesomely creative friend (who also painted a beautiful mural in our nursery) who I recruited to help me. We found a great fabric place and bought the fabric I had in mind...and on sale!
30 bucks + staple gun + 1-2 hours of work =
Ta-da!
I'm so pleased with the way they turned out and it was way
easier than I thought it would be. Now, if only painting the dining room was
this simple. But that's for another day when my next creative moment strikes.
*M
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