Arts and Crafts

We've waited four years, and it's finally here ... the 2018 FIFA World Cup!  Quarterfinals are in full swing and the final match on July 15th is right around the corner! This is when the excitement truly builds, when people who aren't die hard soccer fans begin to take notice. It is also a great time to explore new countries with your kids!  This year Russia is hosting 32 teams (Russia included) in over 11 different cities, with the final match being played in Moscow. With only 16 teams left in the quarterfinals, there are still plenty of countries to explore for the last two weeks of the World Cup. Ways to explore different countries Cuisine Feeling ambitious? "Eat your way through the...

I can't believe the 4th of July is already here! We normally celebrate it with some side walk chalk and swimming during the day followed with the firework show at night. This year we decided to add an art activity with all the other festivities. This "firework" painting project is a lot of fun and a must for any of those children who are not fond of the loud "BOOM" that comes along with fireworks. My son normally will only watch fireworks from a window or with us covering his ears. He has always been more sensitive to any type of loud noise, and fireworks are definitely loud! This art activity got him thinking about how much fun and how...

As soon as December 1st comes around, I immediately turn into a crafty DIY person. I’m normally not that big into arts and crafts; I mean, I can barely draw a stick figure. But nonetheless, I pretend I’m an artist and have at it. This year especially makes me excited because Maverick is at the age to want to get into everything ... especially when it comes to arts and crafts. So I figured why not let him indulge a little. Sure I assisted a little, well a lot, but he still loved every minute of it. We’ve even started painting on brown paper to wrap the Christmas presents with this year! The only things you need for this project...

There were so many things I looked forward to when I was pregnant with my first son. I'm not even embarrassed to admit that I daydreamed about making cute personalized items for him more than I wondered what he would look like. In fact, one of the ways I passed the time breastfeeding was designing his birth announcement, family stationery, and even play date cards. But even before Pinterest, I have always loved baking, designing, party-throwing, and crafting. So needless to say that two kids later, I am a full-fledged crafty mom. But I feel guilty about it most of the time. I blame Pinterest and social media for the pressure it has put on moms as a whole to send...

I first heard of "toddler busy bags" on Pinterest. I was intrigued. A busy bag is a bag full of toys to help keep your toddler entertained while out and about. As I was going down the black hole that is Pinterest, however, I had just about decided against these things. Most of the ideas I saw involved a lot of work on my part - making a "fishing pond" out of magnets, hot glue, and storing it in an Altoids tin. Who has time for this? I'm just not crafty, and I was pretty much against anything that involved a ton of work, money, hot glue, or pipe cleaners. But I still liked the idea of having something...