We had so much fun at the Discovery Cube this winter! I made these fun FREE winter coloring sheets in honor of the Science of Gingerbread exhibit and the Winter Wonderfest exhibit.
Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
Download these free coloring sheets here, here and here! Or click on the pictures above.
I love the dollar bins in every store. Don’t we all! Don’t you kinda feel like you are sticking it to the man when you get something from that section? (Or am I the only one?) My crafty friends and I got together and created the Dollar Bin Challenge! We each picked up the same thing from the dollar bin at target and tried to outdo each other with our creativity! I came up with this fantastic baby doll bed. It is EASY to make and Tessa loves it!
LOVES!
1. You’ll start with the “bed frame.” I decided to go with a brass bed style frame. I used metallic permanent markers. But you can just as easily do a wooden frame with a brown marker. I did the big top circles first. Then used the ruler to create straight lines to the bottom and across for the base of the bed.
2. Then you’ll go ahead and color in a mattress and pillow. I also drew a simple bed skirt… I mean our baby doll isn’t being raised in a barn!
The $3 doll (also from target) is the perfect fit for this bed. I love this size doll for toddlers.
I feel like this bed is pretty cute as is! But let’s say your baby doll is complaining about a bad back and you want to offer her a life of luxury. We all want the best for our children!
Then you can whip up bedding with some fabric scraps.
For the Mattress: Cut two pieces of fabric 6×8”. Place the right sides together and sew a 1/4” around the rectangle, leaving a 2” gap for turning. Turn. Stuff – I use the stuffing from old pillows. Then sew up the open seam.
For the pillow: Follow the directions above with two pieces of 4×6” fabric.
For the comforter: I had a cute quilted hoop that I repurposed for this comforter, finished dimensions should be about 6×7”. You can sew something or pick up find a fun hot pot holder!
I also made a throw pillow from scraps. That tiny little thing brings a smile to my face!
Isn’t this the cutest holiday gift? I want to make a few more for the little girls in my life for Christmas! Tess has been carrying hers around since I gave it to her… and she puts the baby doll bed next to her bet at night.
Now visit to the other Dollar Store Challenge gals!
From top left:
Thankful cards and basket from Life with Lovebugs.
Organization center from Simply Creative Ways.
Chalkboard succulent box from Pandora’s Craft Box.
My lil’ babydoll bed!
Succulent garden hostess gift from DIY Inspired.
Creativity Corner on a budget from Zoo Cutie Printables.
My aunt got me the best gift for my birthday! A subscription to some amazing titles from Cricket Magazines! And I’ve already put the first issue into good use. Try these activities from cricket magazine this week!
I had never heard of Cricket magazines before and I love them. LOVE! Each magazine focuses on a different theme and is age appropriate. The little tree below explains things pretty well.
I created a week of fun activities to go along with the July/August 2014 issues of Spider and ask magazine.
Monday:
We made “Berry Tasty Roll-Ups” (pg 34). You’ll need ripe berries (we used blueberries), bowl, potato masher, knife, jelly roll pan, parchment paper, rubber spatula and a storage container.
Wash the berries then mash.
The kids loved doing this!
Spread the mashed berries on the parchment paper in the pan, and leave in a warm dry place for 24 hours. I put the pan in our small top oven.
The Berry Tasty Roll-Ups weren’t completely dry in 24 hours. I turned on the oven to 200 degrees for about 10 minutes. Then I turned off the oven and left them inside till they were completely cool. (The recipe originally calls for plastic wrap so I had to transfer ours to parchment paper then bake. Just do the parchment paper from the beginning!)
Next we talked about a book summaries and the rule of underlining the title of a story when you write a title on paper. We read Odin’s Firefly Goodbye on page 27, and I had the children summarize the story. Then we wrote a short summary together.
Tuesday:
We read the poem Summer Sunset Song on page 26 aloud, then we made a list of all things we love most about Summer sunsets. The children picked their two favorite things on the list to write their own Summer Sunset Song. We had fun thinking of rhyming words to go with our favorite sunset activities.
Eli’s Summer Sunset Song
The sun begins to fall,
Daddy and I play baseball.
We watch Cake Boss for fun,
When the day is done.
Wednesday:
We learned about the way ancient Spartans sent secret messages to each other. We read Secret Message Skytales, then made a skytale of our own.
Cut 1/4” strips of paper. If you use computer paper you will need about 5 strips.
Secure the strip to the TP roll and start wrapping. I would tape as I wrapped.
Write a message from left to right, using only one letter per strip.
When you unwind the paper, it looks like gibberish.
But when you wind it back up, you have a message!
Thursday:
Today we learned about Moose! We read The Elusive Moose of Yellowstone and The Little Fly and the Great Moose: A Native American Story. We talked about our trip to Yellowstone and Old Faithful. Then we worked on our cutting cutting and stapling skills while making Moose antlers from the back of the magazine. It was fun! 
While we were cutting we learned all the jokes from page 20!
The kids think they are hilarious.
I hope you do too!
Friday:
We got the July/August issue of ask magazine in the mail during the week and it was just too fun not to include!
Vikings.
The whole thing was about Vikings! How sweet is that!?!?
Did you know Vikings didn’t have horns on their helmets? (Those were added for theater costumes in the 1800s). And that Vikings were the first people to land in North America?
I didn’t.
But now I do, and so do you!
You’ve just been (home) schooled!
(pictures snipped from ask magazine clockwise from left p 19, 4, 11 & 26)
We devoured the whole magazine. The whole thing!
How I love to see Eli excited about learning! This is a big deal.
Receiving this magazine was icing on the cake for our week! Since we read the whole darn thing, I decided to have the kids write key words from each article instead of doing separate learning activities for each article. But we really could have done a week of educational activities. Maybe I’ll save that for another post!
You can do something like this with any magazine. But the cricket ones are pretty amazing. We have Babybug, Ladybug, Spider and ask. We love them so much, I think I’ll incorporate at least one activity into our homeschool routine once a week.
This gift is really a something that keeps on giving! It’s especially special to me because it’s something my mom would have given me. My aunt knows this… her mom died when she was only 19. I’m so thankful for people who have gathered around our family. Makes this life seem less lonely.
Is there something you can do for someone to make their life less lonely?
That thing… that thing you thought of right now.
Do it!
It’s National Donut Day.
Because that’s a super important thing to celebrate.
Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE donuts!!
But really.
I can’t wait for archeologists to discover a list of our “holidays” and see National Donut Day. They’ll think we worshiped donuts.
Then they’ll find a donut recipe.
And they will understand.
The donut above is from RoseArt. It’s chalk, so you shouldn’t eat it.
It’s not secret I’m a huge fan of RoseArt! I love that they try to “think outside the paper.” The donut is from a whole dessert chalk series last summer. I’ve also just tried their Goo-Hu, which bounces right off the paper… because you can make your own bouncy ball at home.
How fun is that? We put little LEGO bricks inside.
A few other things we love are the Scraps toy and and Color Blanks.
(Below is Rapunzel and Darth Maul.)
RoseArt has been gracious enough to donate a “Surprise Pack” for our Small Things giveaway week. They never disappoint with their goodies so the winner is in for an artistic huge treat!
The only product I insisted be included, is their Glitter Magic Markers. These things have an off the charts glitter ratio. A favorite for my glitter loving artist.
Disclosure, yo: RoseArt has given me stuff for for free in the past and will send one winner a box of art stuff for free too. Aren’t they nice! But all my opinions are my own. What else can I disclose?… um… I never do a post about something I don’t like… ever. Oh and I cuss at my kids. Hope that covers all the bases. Blarg.
Having 4 kids means I’m at the doctor’s office 4 times as much as someone with one child.
Having a child like Cyrus, means I’m at the doctor’s office 10 times as often… that kid!!
Anyway, at our last sickie appointment (Cy, two weeks ago) the doctor told me to get the whole family on probiotics. I had two thoughts: 1. Why am I just hearing about this now? 2. When, where and how much?
A couple of days later Lifeway’s Frozen Kefir Pops rocked my world. A lil’ ice-creamy-ish product with 12 probiotics (seven to ten billion CFU’s of 10 strains of bacteria plus ProBoost).
Um… OK! Just what the doctor ordered!
The “bug pops,” as my children call them, are tasty and healthy. If you are looking to get some probiotic action in your kids during Summer pool time, then pick some up at Whole Foods Market ($5.99 for a box of 6). They are in the freezer section… I’m telling you because no one knew where they were. I kept getting directed to the regular ProBugs in the yogurt section. (Which also looks tasty and it’s in those squeezy packs that are soooo easy for babies to suck down… you know what I’m talking about, right?)
After you finish your frozen ProBugs use the box (or any lightweight cardboard box… or 2 layers of felt) to make superhero masks with this great Superhero Mask Template I made for ya.
You’ll need:
Frozen ProBugs box
Dark marker
Glue (I only use hot glue… dangerous, yes. But also strong and fast drying.)
Random kid crafty stuff. I had buttons, pipe cleaners and sparkle tape. Markers, rhinestones and stickers would be great too.
Hole punch
Yarn
I ended up making a template because it’s a lot harder than it looks to eyeball a mask shape.
True story.
I made 3 different mask styles – traditional, cat-eye and crown.
Cut out, then punch a hole on each end of the mask level with the eye holes.
Decorate, then tie the yarn to create the band. (If you are using felt then you can sew on elastic.)
Easy and fun.
Find Lifeway Kefir on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.
All of Lifeway’s products are gluten free and 99% lactose free.
Random side note: The Lifeway brand has a sweet lil’ backstory, a real American Dream!
Have fun
Disclosure, yo: This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group™ and Lifeway Kefir but all my opinions are my own. And I made up the craft and template myself and used my own supplies. What else can I disclose?… um… I never do posts about something I don’t like… ever. Oh and I cuss at my kids. Hope that covers all my bases. Blarg.
I asked my friends for fun 4th of July crafts and my friend Monica shared this sweet canvas she made with her daughter last year.
Adorable!!!
It’s perfectly imperfect, don’t you think??
(both pix above from Monica)
Earlier that week I had been in Joanns and picked up one of those super tiny canvases (I think it’s 3.5” x 2.5”) just because it was cute.
Total impulse purchase… but it was only $1.99 so I don’t feel bad.
Then fate brought me Monica’s canvas… or that’s what I’d like to think!!
I modified Monica’s larger canvas and used Cy’s finger prints to make a lil’ flag. I had intended to use his whole finger to make the stripes but uncurling 1-year-old’s finger, even with the help of Hot Hubby, was impossible!
The flag is little and so darn sweet looking. I can’t wait to pull it out every 4th of July and remember how tiny Cy’s little fingers were.
Are you looking for something fun and Thanksgivingy to do tonight!?!
You’ve found it!
Check out what my alter ego She’s Crafty has been making:
Make these adorable Turkeys here…
Spice up your Thanksgiving table with these awesome napkin rings here…
Or if you are feeling super silly, make your family into Indians 🙂 Just like we did last year…
You’ll need…
~Printed pictures of each family member
~Feathers
~Indian coloring sheets. Click here, here, here, here and here for the ones I used above.
~Crayons or markers
~Cardboard
1. Print out pictures of your family and enough Indian bodies for everybody.
2. Cut out faces of family members and glue them on the bodies where the face should be. Note: It doesn’t have to be true to size… it’s funnier if the face is a bit bigger!
3. Color
4. Glue picture onto cardboard
5. Cut out around body and face
5. Glue feathers to the top
6. To make them stand on their own glue a scrap of cardboard in a T shape on the back.
Found this craft last year here.
