01-08-2014

Playtime in the snow

After enjoying homemade hot cocoa & popcorn yesterday, the kids had a bawl playing in the snow! Shaving cream snow that is!

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I often use shaving cream for sensory play…learning to write our letters, teaching the colors of the rainbow, and best of all…shaving cream fights in the tub! But I’d never thought to use it as pretend snow until Stella’s very creative preschool teacher used it this week to entertain while it’s been so cold outside.

So yesterday I set up an idyllic play scene and let ’em go to town on it. SO MUCH FUN!

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The best thing about shaving cream is that it really isn’t that difficult to clean up. I did use a ton of paper towels to wipe it up, so that wasn’t good for the environment. But once you wipe it all up then the rest comes clean with a wet cloth. And since they just used toy figurines and matchbox cars, the cleanup of those was simple as well.

So if you don’t have any magical snow glistening in your front yard, go out and get some shaving cream!

~ Jess

02-14-2012

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I hope your day is filled with lots of smiles and laughter. And if you’re lamenting that you still don’t have that ‘perfect’ gift for your someone special, hopefully these ideas will inspire you. And they are all homemadeable (like my new word???) so its not a problem if you’re running out of time!

Write and frame a heart felt poem – this doesn’t have to rhyme or be catchy – and if you get stuck, you could always type up an old school romantic poem and frame.

Give them a box of Goldfish crackers with a note saying…”Of all this fish in the sea, I’m glad I caught you”

Make a bookmark for them with a romantic quote on one side and a sweet sentiment on the other. An office supply store can help you laminate it.

Have a special libation made for them when they walk in the door. This could be a pink concoction or something as simple as sweet tea. On our first Valentines I made my husband a gallon of homemade sweet tea, just because.

Make a special homemade Valentines card. Hopefully, my husband is not reading this…but this year I’m getting crafty with Cherokee and Danish languages since I’m got native american blood and he’s pure Scandinavian.

Or get crafty and make them an old school Valentine showing how much you love them with your hand prints and an a piece of paper folded accordain style. (Our best ever babysitter handcrafted this the other day for us as a sweet surprise from our son!)

And remember, there is no ‘perfect’ gift. Its simply about finding little ways to show you care.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Jessica

02-01-2012

Valentines Wreaths

I LOVE VALENTINES DAY!

What is not to love about this holiday???  There is no dress requirement….none of the… you need matching outfits for your kids or you need to create some crazy costume that will be worn for a whopping 5 minutes. And, there is no hosting a huge elaborate meal at your house. Now, don’t get me wrong – I love having people over to my house, but sometimes wouldn’t it be nice if there was just one holiday where it wasn’t a requirement??? Oh wait, there is a holiday like that……..Valentines Day!

Some of you may be thinking….but I don’t have anyone special to spend the day with…that’s not true…you have yourself. You are special just being you and you don’t need anyone else to make you special. And, if you don’t have a ‘love’ in your life this year, I bet you do have some friends who would love to receive a note in the mail saying how much you appreciate their friendship.

I really cannot explain how giddy I get talking and thinking about Valentines Day. I wish ya’ll could see my smile. It is exuberant.

So to the point of this post…

My son was lamenting that we didn’t have a wreath on our door since we had taken down the Christmas decorations, so we got crafty and made a Valentines wreath. (I have learned since having kids or at least a boy that craft time really means a chance for me to cut and glue as my son’s attention span for crafts lasts about 30 seconds!)

So here is a handy dandy tutorial that I hope will get your crafty senses flowing!

Gather up all your craft supplies and try to keep your child from sniffing the rubber cement!

Tie the ribbon on first.

Then cover with felt for a background, using rubber cement to glue the felt together. I had planned to glue the hearts directly onto the felt but I couldn’t find a glue that would work for that, not even rubber cement. So we improvised and glued strips of paper together.

Now, cut out some hearts in any shape, size, and color you want and glue to your hearts content! We added glittery pom poms on because they were too fun and cute not too.

For the second wreath, it is pretty standard with just cut out hearts and stamps but I have these two tips…
1….Lay out the hearts in the desired shape on your table first. This helps position everything when ready to glue.
2….Use the old school Elmer’s glue, not glue sticks, for glueing the hearts together. You don’t have to move the hearts around so much with the old school stuff.

I hope these wreaths give you some inspiration for craft time at your house!

And…Do you enjoi Valentines Day or think it’s just another Hallmark Holiday?

Have a great night!

Jessica