Father's Day Handprint Card

Father's Day is extra special this year!  Not only are we now celebrating with two children, but it is also our 6 year anniversary!  God has blessed me with a happy, healthy family, and it is Him that I thank for my husband and children... not just on Father's Day, but every day!

The truth is I am not a huge fan of buying greeting cards.  Honestly, they just feel like a big waste of money... I mean come on, five bucks just for a card!  I'd rather write a thoughtful letter.  Now, although there are times I give in and just buy the stinkin' card.... for Father's Day this year I definitely wanted to make something more personal. 

Now that we have finally settled into our new house, I am able to wrap my head around getting some crafts going.  Father's Day was a perfect reason to pull out my supplies and make something creative.  I saw a ton of these handprint cards on Pinterest last week, and here it is...

What You Need:

- construction paper

- glue stick

- scissors

- markers

- little hands :)

What To Do:

- Trace your child's hand twice, or if you have two children, you will just trace one handprint for each of them (as you see above).

- Using scissors, cut out the handprints.

- Cut an approximately 1"x 8" strip (as seen in yellow above).

- Fold the strip accordian style.

- Write you message on each hand, and the accordian strip in the middle. 

- Fold to make the card.

- When the card is opened, your sweet message is displayed!

Happy Father's Day!!

Happy Birthday Addy Bear!

Mother's Day is always an extra special day for me... because God blessed us with our beautiful daughter, Addison Marie, at 12:01am on... Mother's Day! 

This past weekend was Addy's birthday party and her one request was a "Swiper party".  Unfortunately, very few decorations come featuring Swiper (that sneaky, sneaky fox)... so we focused the party around Dora..
      .. not very original, I know.

Let me state up front.. this is not a craft.  I just wanted to share Addy's birthday party and some of the fun things we did.

Each year I make the birthday cake myself.  I really enjoy taking the time (hours and hours to be clear) to create a special cake for my babies.  Even though my days are swamped with things to do, I always make sure I set aside plenty of time to accomplish this task.  Now I'm definently not a professional, but I'm pretty happy with what I created.  Here is the final product...

Ryan took Addy out the morning of her party, allowing me plenty of time to set up and decorate.  When she came home and saw all party decorations up, the smile on her face was priceless!

We had one more surprise for her out in Mimi and Poppop's yard...

... her own powerwheels Jeep!

    (neutral colors of course, since she'll be sharing with her brother in a couple years)



Time for guests to arrive, the grilling to start and a few games to be played!

Addy was very excited to see her Nina!

The men at the grill!

Four generations.

Addison and her cousins, Ethan, Andrew and Wesley!

Pin the Tail on Swiper.

Poor... Poor Dora.

Addy was eyeing the Swiper cake topper the moment I set the cake down...

Happy Birthday Addy Bear!

Pine Cone Bird Feeder

I have been on the hunt for pine cones for weeks!  Why is it that I see pine cones all the time, but when I actually am looking for them I never find them??  Now it's not like I went out of my way to get some... obviously that would have been the simple solution.  With a 5 month old on my hip, finding a new house, and planning Addy's 3rd birthday party... I just have not had time to make a trip to find pine cones.  Luckily, we came across a TON of them at our old playground... so here it is...

Pine Cone Bird Feeders



What You Need:

- a pile of pine cones

- a jar of peanut butter

- wild bird seed (pour into medium sized bowl)

- 1' of yarn or ribbon per pine cone
- spoon for spreading the peanut butter

What To Do:

- First tie a 1' long strand of yarn or ribbon around the small tip of your pine cone.

- Using a spoon, have your child rub peanut butter all over the pine cone (yes, this can be messy)

- Roll the pine cone in the bird seed.

- Repeat until you've made as many as desired.

- Hang from a tree

(make sure there are plenty of branches around for the birds to reach the pine cones!)

Countdown Chain

What a perfect way to introduce this fun project... counting down to Addison's birthday AND our new house! 

Yes.
We are on our way to owning our second home.
         ...talk about stressed!

We've been talking about Addy's birthday for a couple weeks, and she has made it very clear that she wants a Swiper party.  How come there is so little Swiper decor out there?  Is my child really the only one who is obsessed with that sneaky, sneaky fox... I doubt it.
Anyways.
Trying to explain how many days are left until a big event is difficult when talking with a soon-to-be three year old... therefore, enter... The Countdown Chain Craft!

Materials You Need:

- Construction paper

- Printed pictures representing the event

- Crayons, marker, or whatever you prefer to color with

- Glue stick

- Scissors

The Simple Steps:

- Pick an upcoming event that your child is excited for!

- Find an image to represent the "event".

(You can use WordArt, Google Images, etc)

- Get your child to color their pictures.

- Fold the construction paper longways, in 1/3s or 1/4s to create equal widths.

- Cut along each crease, enough strips for the days left until "the event".

- Have your kiddo glue along one sides of each strip, then loop around to create a circle.

- Continue for each strip, and connect making a chain.

- Hang your pretty creation in a fun location!

- Each day tear one chain link from the chain, creating your countdown!

Suncatchers

We are currently in between homes and are spending most free time house hunting... therefore, there has been very, very little time to post!  I did come across a super easy and fun craft at Ben Franklin and wanted to highly recommend it. 

No, this is not homemade...
      but this blog isn't about doing everything from scratch.
             It's about spending one on one time with your children, and this craft does just that!

Although Addy is just approaching three, she had a blast doing this!  I actually did one with her while visiting my inlaws, and she requested to do it again!  I picked up two more at Michaels and here it is...

Suncatchers

Just grab one of these from your local craft store, or order online.

(Makit & Bakit - Suncatcher)

You just need your oven, a sheet of foil, a baking sheet, tweezers & fishing wire or a string.

Decorate your suncatcher...

(Addy is young, so I just let her sprinkle each color... she took it very seriously!)

Once you are done decorating, move all excess color beads away from the suncatcher and use your tweezers to straighten out any in need.

Bake until smooth, allow to cool, and hang!

Bird Nest Crunchies

So as most of you know this idea is swarming the internet right now.  I was on the fence even posting, but I figured it's a classic to have on my list... so here it goes!

What You Need:

- 1 (11 oz) bag butterscotch morsels

- 1 (11 oz) bag chow mein noodles

- Reese's Pieces chocolate eggs

(or Cadbury Mini chocolate eggs work fine)

- Wax paper

What To Do:

- Melt butterscotch morsels in a large mixing bowl in the microwave according to bag.

- Stir in chow mein noodles until coated.

- Using spoon, scoop onto wax paper in clumps and shape into bird nest.

- Place chocolate eggs in the middle.

- Cool about 10 minutes and done!

Easter Egg Wreath

As a young mom I am always looking for cheap ways to build my seasonal/holiday decoration collections.  I think displaying your child's art work is a perfect way to create a warm, loving atmosphere for any home.  Easter decor is definitely one department I am slacking in.  I came across this idea on allkidsnetwork and thought it was a perfect craft to do while in visiting my in-laws.  Okay, so it was definitely more time consuming than I realized and it took an entire 24 hours to dry, BUT all the work was worth it because it is SO cute!

What You Need:

- construction paper (variety of colors)

- large paper plate

- Easter grass

- yarn or decorative string (to hand the wreath)

- scissors

- white glue

- finger paint, glitter, buttons, stickers, etc...

The Prep:

(I'm all about being prepared to craft before you bring the kiddos to the table)

- Using scrap paper, cut out an egg shape to stencil about 12 eggs using a variety of consruction paper colors.  You want enough eggs to circle all around the outer edge of your paper plate.

- Cut the center out of your paper plate.

Craft Time!:

- Let the kids decorate each egg with paint, glitter, buttons, stickers (or whatever you prefer).

- Set eggs aside to dry.

- Tie a string around the plate for a hanger. 

- Drizzle a generous amount of glue around the edge of the plate.

- Cover with Easter grass and drizzle more on top to make sure it holds.

- Drizzle glue on the back of each egg and place around the plate.  Set aside and allow to dry overnight.

Your plate will feel flimsy at first, but once all the glue dries it will harden up and hang very nicely!  I used a LOT of glue to make sure everything held, and mine took almost 24 hours to dry.