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Christmas Crafty – Part Two

December 07, 2009 By: Amy Category: Activities, Blog, Family Fun, Hers

I mentioned in an earlier post that we were working on another project. We’ve finally finished it!

I was recently on a mission to find picture frame ornaments but not just any picture frame ornaments. I wanted simple, small wooden frames that we could decorate. I went to several stores and couldn’t find what I was looking for. I told Eric about it and he came up with this ingenious idea – make them ourselves out of popsicle sticks.

Well, duh.

I just so happen to have had some small sticks leftover from a project we did a couple of years ago. So, I had our four year old color some of the popsicle sticks. We then glued them together, making a small square (about 2″ x 2″). She decorated the colored sticks with some holiday stickers and I tied a string (actually, some holiday ribbon) around the frames to hang on the tree. This is what our homemade frames look like:

Collage27 Christmas Crafty Part Two

Very cute. Very four-year-old-looking. I love them to pieces.

See the two furry things in the frames? Those are our two fabulous kitties, Indie and Ollie. We recently lost both of them (just over a month apart). So, this was a very important project for me. It’s going to be a different Christmas without them around. I’m thrilled that we completed our project and our furbabies now have a place on our Christmas tree.

We encourage you to make some homemade ornaments this year. When you pull them out of the Christmas bin next year, you’ll have a lovely memory to look back on.

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Tags: arts and crafts, holidays, preschooler

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How the Grinch Stole…my iPhone?

December 02, 2009 By: Amy Category: Activities, Family Fun, His and Hers, Kids, Products

I purchased my iPhone this past July and truthfully, it’s one of the best purchases I have made in a while. I love everything about this phone. I switched from a BlackBerry Curve and it was an excellent decision, in my opinion.

My iPhone keeps me company while I’m feeding the baby or swaying her to sleep. It also provides entertainment to my four year old when she’s restless. Half of the apps I have are for me and half are for her. Not to mention I have at least three movies loaded and some episodes of Blues Clues.

Now that I’ve professed my geeky love for my phone, I’ve got to tell you about a couple of new apps that were just released. They are here just in time for the holiday and they are HOT.

If you don’t know who the Grinch is, or the adorable people from Who-ville, then I guess you’ve been living under a rock. Two new notable iPhone apps are all about the Grinch and we can’t get enough.

The first one that I fully abuse every day is the Dr Seuss Camera – The Grinch Edition ($2.99 at the iTunes app store (app store > photography > Dr. Seuss camera – The Grinch Edition)). Here are some of the holidayriffic photos I’ve taken since downloading the app:

Collage25 How the Grinch Stole...my iPhone?

They are scaled down in size here but the originals are easily greeting card size. I have been showing them off to friends and family and I have about a thousand more where these came from. It’s too fun and we all get a good laugh.

Next on the holiday list is Grinchmas ($1.99 at the app store (app store > games > Grinchmas)). You can be nice or you can be naughty in this one. Throw snowballs or presents at the Who’s houses, depending on your mood. Don’t worry, we’re pretty sure no Who’s were injured while playing the game.

Here are a couple of screenshots of the light-hearted Grinchmas app:

GrinchmasSS How the Grinch Stole...my iPhone?

These two apps are available for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Soon I’ll post a list of the other apps we enjoy…hopefully, if you have an iPod Touch or iPhone, they will keep your kids entertained on the long trips to visit family and friends for the holidays. I know they will work like a charm for me!

IMG 0543 200x300 How the Grinch Stole...my iPhone?

Thanks to Oceanhouse Media for providing me with promo codes for these two apps. They would have been well worth it to purchase!

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Tags: holidays, iPhone apps, technology, toys and games

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Christmas crafty

November 30, 2009 By: Amy Category: Activities, Blog, Family Fun, Hers

I’m gettin’ crafty this Christmas.

I took the four year old to Michaels the other day. We were on a mission to gather items for our homemade wreath. I thought it would be fun and a little less expensive to assemble our own this year.

wreath

I added it up and figured out that we spent around $10.00 for the entire project. It was tempting to pick out a bunch of Decorative Essentials but we stuck with just a few and in my opinion, our wreath turned out quite nice. Plus, the cool thing about it is that we can take off what we put on and change up our wreath for the different seasons. Score!

While we were there, I also spotted another craft project for the preschooler to pass the time. She’s so anxious for Christmas to get here, I think I’m going to have to come up with something for her to do each day for the next 25 days.

Check out this cute little Ready-to-Finish wood decoration set. She jumped right on this when we got home. It turned out pretty adorable:

decoration

It was inexpensive, as well, and could be given as a gift.

I could spend hours wandering around the craft store and conjuring up fun activities to do with my sweet girl. I don’t know what has happened to me. I’ve never been <–this–> into crafts before. I think I’m turning over a new leaf.

We’re working on another craft project right now but it’s not finished yet. I’ll post about it as soon as it’s finished.

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Tags: arts and crafts, preschooler

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A quick Thanksgiving craft for the kids

November 26, 2008 By: Amy Category: Activities, Family Fun

On a weekly basis, our little three year old comes home from the babysitter’s house with a special drawing or seasonal craft. I am so thankful that our sitter takes the time to sit down with the kids and work on projects with them. Hailey just loves arts and crafts.

So, yesterday, she came home with this adorable little construction paper turkey, made from her feet and hands. Such a sweet, memorable little craft! This is surely a quick little activity that you should have time to do before tomorrow’s festivities – or – even make it a special Thanksgiving Day activity for the family to do. You could surprise your kiddo’s grandparents or siblings with this special gift.

Thanksgiving craft Here is Hailey, proudly displaying her turkey. What you will need for this project is:

-Colorful construction paper
-Elmer’s glue
-A pencil
-Scissors
-Little “eyes” found at virtually every major retailer in their craft section or your local craft store.

Choose different colors of construction paper and trace your child’s hands. You can see about 8 tracings of Hailey’s hands in the picture. Trace your child’s feet, rounding off around their toes.

Cut out the traced hands and feet. Glue the two feet tracings together to make the body of the turkey (see picture) and then flip it over and glue the hands on for the feathers.

Cut out feet for the turkey, a beak and the beard thing. I can’t remember what that thing is called. Glue on the turkey’s feet, beard thing, beak and eyes.

Voila! There you have an adorable little Thanksgiving Day craft that your little one can show off to all of the relatives.

If you make this craft and take a picture of it for your blog, make sure to leave us a comment with the link so we can come over and check it out!

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Tags: arts and crafts

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Making family traditions

November 14, 2008 By: Amy Category: Activities

hailey pumpkins Making family traditions

I love making memories and traditions, especially when it has to do with my family.

Each year, for the past three years, we have taken a picture of Hailey on Halloween sitting with a pumpkin. Each year, on the pumpkin, we paint one of the letters of her name. For example, since Hailey’s birthday is the week before Halloween, we paint the next letter of her name on a pumpkin. We’ve been doing this since she was born. She came home from the hospital on the night before Halloween in 2005. It’s a fun way to document the years and watch your children grow. I got this idea from a friend of mine, who does this with her children.

You could do this any time of year, really. Birthdays, Christmas, Easter, you name it. The most important thing is that you’re capturing an image of your child and creating a tradition.

babyhailey pumpkin Making family traditions

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Tags: photography

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Why is making a mess so much fun?

June 10, 2008 By: Eric Category: Activities, Family Fun

hailey facepaint Why is making a mess so much fun?

Even though the cleanup is often no fun at all, making messes is great fun for parents and kids of all ages. Who doesn’t love finger painting or turning a pile of sand into mud with some water?

Not only is making a mess fun for kids, it can be good (and fun) for parents too. As parents and tidy housekeepers it seems like we spend countless hours cleaning, organizing, and put everything in its place. Occasionally making a mess can help you loosen up bit and be a little more apt to simply “go with the flow.”

The truth is that messy play is actually very good for children. Kids get to use their imaginations and play and explore their surroundings without worrying about staying inside the lines. They can freely engage their senses and develop their creativity. Besides, the smile on a child’s face as muck oozes between their fingers is priceless.

Some fun things to make a mess with include:

• Paint – Both finger paints and brushes can easily turn the the cleanest child into a colorful mess and their canvas into a priceless work of art.
• Mud – The king of all mess making materials. A little mud and dirt never hurt anyone.
• Food – I’ve watched our 2 year old daughter try to eat spaghetti on numerous occasions and we usually both end up laughing. Cooking (especially mixing cookie dough) also seems to be a fun and purposeful way to make a mess with a great reward for cleaning up.
• Sand – Our daughter could play in her sandbox for hours. Sand will be everywhere, but she will be happy. Try Moon Sand for an interesting indoor alternative.
• Play Doh – We’ve got swirled and mud-colored crumbs all over our our child’s play area, but (again) she loves creating with it.
• Water – Splashing in the bathtub bubbles, playing in the sink, or even jumping in the puddles on the sidewalk, it doesn’t matter. Kids love getting wet and making messes.
• Arts & Crafts – Yeah, I’ve been questioned at work about stray glitter on my face, but kids love crafts. A little glue, tape, colored paper, glitter, cotton balls, Popsicle sticks, etc… and you’re there.

Once the mess has been made, make sure you get your child to assist with the clean up. Sing a song about picking up or make a game of it. Preparation (however) can go a long way to making cleanup easier. Use a plastic table cloth when you are painting or just keeping the really messy stuff outside and a quick change of clothes, a few broom sweeps, or a spray with the hose may be all you need to make quick work of the cleanup.

Just remember that messes are fun and fun is good.