Just Add Stickers

There is something very relaxing about a Sensory activity. I made this Valentine's Day activity for Little Miss, we both like kinetic sand, it's fun to play with and isn't as messy as some other sesory bin materials. I also don't think there is an age limit on sensory activities.  I found all the material I used at the Dollar Store. This would be very easy to make using any materials you have on hand.  The supplies I used are: • Container (I used a heart shaped chip and dip bowl) • Kinetic sand • Heart jewels (or any Valentine's craft supply works) • 'Shovels' (I used wooden spoons because it's not beach season so I couldn't find any little sand shovels.) • 'I dig you' sign Activity:  Open and dump. It's as simple as that, start with the jewels or craft supplies. Place enough sand to cover the jewels. I topped it all of with a 'Happy  Valentine's Day' sign that I had left over from a cake a few years ago. I placed the 'sho...

Over the years we have acquired a good amount of football decorations and come up with football themed activities and games for family friendly Super Bowl parties. This year we added some new decorations to our collection and came up with a few new activities. We started by ordering a pack of photo props. Little Miss and I assembled them and I used a metal bucket and some floral foam to display the photo props upright, which also makes this a nice centerpiece.  This year I thought it would be fun to have our guests vote for who they think will win. I made this little poster with construction paper and white printer paper. We hung the poster near the TV with pens available.  To make it fun we are giving little prizes to the winners, football keychains with the year written with a permanent white marker. I hope these easy party ideas provide some inspiration! Happy Super Bowl Sunday and happy crafting!

  Little Miss and I made a very special fairy addition to our library. I found a Fairy library kit on Amazon and thought that it would be easy to create our own version. We had all of the materials at home. Some times when I get an idea for a craft, I want to buy exactly craft supply that I have in mind but lately I have been trying to use what I have on hand, to save money and slowly work my way through my large amount of craft supplies. The end result often turns out different but more unique than what I had in mind. This project calls for a faux book box but you can easily make one out of a box. I used one that I had in my Halloween decorations box. I had a more spring themed library in mind but the dark interior gave us the idea for it to be a midnight library. We added some constellation stickers I had left over. We were very happy with the end result. I can see this as a cozy place to read books at night.  What you need: A decorative book box  Modeling clay Mini boo...

Welcome to my 3rd annual reading journal post I started in 2023 and continued the tradition throughout  2024 . This year many of the pages are the same but I have decided to make one change to the way I track audio books and physical books. The 1st year I kept them completely separate, having separate sections for reviews and trackers. Last year I kept the reviews together but tracked physical books and audiobooks separately. I always felt that the way I relate to the story is different in audio form than it is when I read a physical book. I find audio books closer to movies because you don't have to imagine the voices, the narrators bring the characters to life in a unique way.  I am also less concentrated on audiobooks, I will rarely sit listening to a  audiobook without any other distractions, I multi-task while listening to audiobooks, cleaning or walking or driving, even Christmas shopping. The other side is that audiobooks are faster to listen to than to read (espe...

Last year we had a last minute New Year's Eve party. I was inspired by a charcuterie counter setup I saw on Instagram. I covered my table and counter with brown paper. On the counter I wrote our menu for the night with arrows to where the dishes were to be placed. On the table I drew a clock with the hands pointing to just before midnight and 'Happy New Year.' I places markers and crayons.on the table amd told the kids to draw their favorite memories from the year. What we ended up with was cute scenes of going to the beach and Christmas fun. It was a lot of fun to see what the kids came up with. Happy New Year and Happy Crafting!

I always struggle to find the perfect secret Santa gift, especially for co-workers. This year I took some inspiration from Instagram, I'm not sure who did it first or even where hot the idea from but I saw someone fold a dish towel into a pocket and I thought that would be a cute gift for my co-worker who likes to bake.  I found a few tutorials on youtube on how to fold dishcloths into pockets, it's pretty simple. I added cookie mix and festive spatulas to mine. Looking around for cookie cutters to add to the gift I found cookie cutter lights for 60% off at Michael's. They are battery operated and can be set on a timer. I think they would look very cute in a kitchen window ledge or on a little tree in the kitchen.  With everything included I came in just under the 20$ budget at 17.50. I am really looking forward to gifting this Secret Santa gift!  Happy Holidays and Happy Crafting!

I was very much in the spirit of the Spooky season this year and I feel that excitement carrying over to the Christmas season (I don't know what I'm going to do in January, maybe by then I will be done with celebrating but I doubt it!) I love the feeling of making memories with the kids and make everyday meals and activities a bit more special, a little magical.  First things first, advent calendars! I thought it was fitting that I got my advent calendar order from Amazon on Oct 31st. Ok fine, I am very early but I am ready to dive in to the next season! I have a few ideas, we are going to have a few advent calendars going on, and I'm ok with that! Although, I am very last minute with this post and I guess I'm ok with that too! Little Miss wanted to buy an advent calendar again this year so we looked around and chose a jewelry and hair accessory ad entre calendar. I have to admit, it is very cute and it is reusable. Little Man did not choose an advent calendar this year...