Thankful

The one thing I love about this time of year and about Thanksgiving is the feeling of gratitude and thankfulness that takes over. I saw this video today and I loved it.

It's so easy to complaint and find things that we don't like, but how often we do stop and actually list the things we like and especially the things - big and small - that we are grateful for.

Last year I made a thankful tree, much like this one, with Thomas and this year I am trying to decide what to do - but still something along that same line.

Here are some ideas that I've seen and really liked:

This upscale version of the Thankful Tree.

Thankful Tree - Simply Vintage Girl

I also loved this idea for a thankful countdown to Thanksgiving - those who can't wait until Turkey Day will have fun with this! ;o)

Thanksgiving Countdown Calendar

And this super fun Thankful Turkey! 

Today I'm grateful for rainy days, what are you grateful for today?

Welcome, Spring!

I know, we just got some snow today, but now the sun is shining again! And guess what? Friday is supposed to get up to 66 degrees Farenheit here in Utah. SO exciting!

Anyway, I've compiled a few of my favorite crafts for spring, all really easy! Some of them are for you, some of them for your kids, but most of them you'll have to do together with your kiddos. But then you get to join in the fun!

 

 Click here for the flower easter egg tutorial.

Click here for the Bunny finger puppets tutorial.

Click here for the Easter Egg Hunt bags.

Click here for the No-Sew flowers for mom tutorial.

Sheep Egg by Disney Family Fun.

Bee Egg by Disney Family Fun.

Seven Flowers. Awesome Pop Up - Click here for another funny movie.

This is a video tutorial for a Flower Pop-Up card from instructables.com

Wash Cloth Easter Bunnies by Sitting at our Kitchen Table.

And here's one for April Fools':

Chicken Not-Pie from Disney Family Fun.

HAVE FUN!

What to do?

Yup. We're all snowed in. If you live around these areas, you're probably going through the same thing right now. Stuck at home, kids are bored, making huge messes. How about trying something new?


Have you ever made Gak?

Kids love 'em. Make sure if you have little kids that you watch them while they play with it, otherwise they might just want to eat it.

Click here for the recipe.

Got some Twizzlers at home? Try making a twizzler candy bracelet with your kids. If you don't have any twizzlers you can use cheerios, fruitloops... Use your imagination! Click here for a tutorial (or not, since it's pretty much self explanatory).

Or if you dare go outside, you could bundle them up and go make a snowman! You could get different wooden shapes at the craft store and make your own snowman kit like the tutorial found here. Or even better, you could let your kids' imagination go wild and find things around the house and outside to use as props.

But if you're the one who's bored at home, with nothing to do (or with nothing FUN to do), try making a simple craft, like a felt flower hair clip for valentine's day. You can make it for your daughter or even wear it yourself. Here's the tutorial.

Whatever you decide to do today (or this week) make sure you have fun and be happy! These cold, gloomy days are a perfect excuse for us to just sit on the couch in our pajamas all day long and feel depressed. But don't let that get to you! Make sure you're always busy doing something. Even if that means cleaning the house. I'm sure you'll feel pretty good about yourself after you're done.

Have a good, fun, happy week everybody!

Halloween Jars

This is a fun project that you can do with your kids and prepare for Halloween!

Supplies:
Modge Podge
Paint brush
Mason Jars or other jar/vases
Ribbon or paint for the rim
Tissue Paper
Black vinyl or black construction paper for the details

How - To
Cut the tissue paper into stips. Brush modge podge on the jar and lay the paper slowly and then put more modge podge over the paper. Go all around the jar. For the Lay it upside down to dry.
After it is completely dry you can either cut out the shapes for the faces out of vinyl or use construction paper and then glue it to the jar with more modge podge (under and over).

For step by step (and better) intructions go to Our Best Bites and check it out!

BTW : they also have some extremely fun Halloween food ideas that I'm dying to try out !!!

Get Crafty

I would also like to share a cool website I just found of crafts for toddlers and preschoolers. What I didn't like about it was that there's a lot of things that the parent/caregiver has to make, so it's not really crafts that your children will make but more like crafts you will do for them to play with. Did that make sense? Hope so.
Anyway, I still thought there were some good ideas (and there are a few things children can make).
Sometimes I feel like Jasmine is too young for those sorts of things (she's two and a half) so that's why I researched specifically for toddlers.

Do any of you have any websites of crafts for children you would like to share? Do any of you have a fun craft idea for toddlers? Please share!

Here's the website I told you about:

http://stepbystepcc.com/toddlercrafts.html

Playdough

I got this recipe from a book titled 365 Days of Baby Love. It's a pretty neat book with lots of activities for babies and toddlers. There are many recipes out there for playdough, this is just one of the many variations. It is smooth and pliable and can be stored in a plastic container or ziplock bag for several weeks (it doesn't have to be refrigerated).

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon food coloring
2 cups water

Mix all the ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until dough leaves sides of pan. Continue to stir dough ball around in the pan for a minute, then remove it from pan and knead for several minutes. Once cool, you are ready to play! My girls love to play rolling it and using cookie cutter shapes.