Cherrios Christmas trees

Yesterday we made craft number two...

Cherrio Christmas trees. 

 All you need are

-Cherrios

-paper

-ribbon

-glue

First I pre cut a christmas tree shape and star out of cardstock for each of the kids and trimmed off a few pieces of ribbon from my stash.

 Then I let the kids glue the star to the top of the tree and the ribbon on as decoration.

And lastly we glued Cherrios onto the trees as "ornaments". 

I put dots of glue down for the kids to make it a little (less) messy. 

My kids l.o.v.e. glue. 

And there you have it. 

Another fun and easy Christmas craft to do with the kids. 

Happy crafting!

Q tip painting (snowman)

Yay! It's Thanksgiving break!  

A week off school (and school drop off/pick up) deserves celebrating.

I asked Kenzie what she wanted to do during the week off.

her answer....

crafts. 

Lots of crafts. 

So I told her we could do one every day. 

Today we made a snowman painting using Q tips.

Super easy and it was all stuff we already had at home. 

Just Q tips, paint and paper.

I drew the outline of the snowman and his hat onto the paper lightly with a crayon and they did the rest. 

Even Maddie and Wesley were able to do it. 

I love how all of ours turned out unique. 

I'm trying to find the perfect place to display them. 

And since I'm going for the Mom of the year award today we also painted finger nails...Christmas theme (of course). 

Do your kids have the whole week off school too?

Wedding cake toppers

I just found this blog post I wrote a few weeks ago (before the wedding).

Apparently I forgot to post it...whoops! 

Oh well....better late than never. 

I can't believe my brother's getting married in a couple weeks!

His fiance wanted some wooden peg dolls to go on top of the wedding cake 

and since they were $60-$100 to buy them on Etsy I told her I would try to make some myself. 

So for $10 here's what I came up with.   

Not too shabby. 

play tent

We aren't one of those super crunchy granola eating kind of families

but we do love camping.

a lot.

And we wish we did it a whole lot more.

In fact if we had a real backyard I think we might even go camping there. 

You know...just for fun. 

I think the only people who love camping more than me and my hubby are the kids.

They ask to go like every other day. 

They would be so excited if I (who am I kidding...Aaron) whipped them up one of these cute little play tents. 

Aren't they cool! 

Another project added to the never ending to-do list :)

Tutorial HERE

Tutorial HERE

Tutorial HERE

Where are some of your favorite places to go camping? 

Chalk board picture frame

I've been wanting a cute chalk board for 

forever. 

It's just one of the projects I have on my super long to do list that will most likely never get done. 

You know how that goes.

But guess what I got for Christmas?

A super cute 

totally perfect for our house

chalkboard picture frame handmade by my cousin.

I'm in love!

It's just perfect for writing Mackenzie's weekly bible memory verses (for her preschool) on. 

And we hung it right by the dining table so we could go over the verse during meals.
So far it's been working out great!

Oh and apparently it was super easy to make.
Just take the glass out of a picture frame, paint some chalkboard paint on it and
ta da!
An adorable chalkboard.

Thanks Becky!
We love it!

a handmade necklace

Handmade gifts are so special.

They are straight from the heart.

For my birthday, my friend Lindsay made me a sweet little necklace. 

The gift tag is absolutely right.

When I saw this cute little bag with my name on it I was instantly happy.

And then I opened the cute little bag 

to find this beautiful necklace inside and I was even happier.

so. pretty.

Thanks Lindsay!

I love it!

Want to make a handmade necklace of your own 

or even better to gift to a friend?

Check out the tutorial HERE on her blog and learn how to make your very own!

Puzzle Cube

I come from a puzzle loving, game playing kind of family.

Every holiday (or family gathering for that matter) involves some kind of game whether it be ping pong, board games, or our favorite- card games.

And just recently Aaron and I have started a weekly game night. 

It's been fun to spend more quality time together and to finally be able to beat him at something :) (I remain undefeated...just had to throw that in there.)

Anyways, when I saw this super cool puzzle cube tutorial I immediately thought of about 5 people in my family who would love it.

Maybe you have a puzzle lover who would like it too.

Check out the tutorial HERE.

Flip down desk

I'm in love with everything about this desk.

It takes up hardly any space, is functional (check out the storage inside!),

and it even doubles as a chalkboard.

It's pretty perfect.

Now I just have to figure out where it can go.

Oh and I actually have to make it (minor detail).

Does anyone know if there is a store bought version of something like this?

I think if I put it on my project to-do list it might not be completed until my kids are in high school...maybe college.

A special little book

I love Disney from Ruffles and Stuff

and I love.love.love. this adorable book she made for her little girl.

What a fun gift to make for our kids.

Disney even shows how she made the book using Photoshop.

The tutorial looked great but I'm still not sure I could manage it.

I'm thinking it might be easier to draw my own pictures, photograph them (like she did) and then turn them into a photo book through iPhoto or Shutterfly where you can add your own text.

Either way I love this idea and thought I'd pass it along.

Below is a sampling of the book...

check out the whole book here and the tutorial here.

Pallet Projects

I'm loving the newest upcycle trend of

taking old shipping pallets and turning them into all sorts of cool things.

Just check out some of the fun ideas I found on Pinterest over the past couple of weeks.

Pallet art

Pallet bookshelves

Pallet shelves and bike rack

Pallet organizer

Pallet sign

Pallet Headboard

Pallet sectional

Pallet shelves

Pallet bed

Now all I need are some pallets (and some free time to get building).

Dinner time Doodle Mats

Keep the kiddos busy

and yourself sane

while you are trying to get dinner on the table

with these awesome doodle mats.

so. incredibly. genius.

Check out all the details here :)

Flip flop makeover

I've heard that you lose brain cells every time you have a kid.

Each day I'm more and more convinced that is true.

Whether it's actual brain cell loss or just plain ol' sleep deprivation I've been completely void of any good, new or creative ideas.

And it's probably just as well because even if I did have any I'm not sure I would have the time or the energy to make them come to life these days.

But luckily there are a ton of other crafty people out there coming up with awesome ideas like these fabric flip flops that are just perfect for summer.

Check out the tutorial from The Mother Huddle HERE

And hopefully my brain will return to me soon :)

Summer Fun

Looking for some fun summer crafts/recipes/boredom busters?

You must check out THIS post from the Idea Room.

so.many.awesome.ideas.

Your kids might never be bored again.

Especially if you implement THIS awesome little jar :)

Meet the neighbors

Looking for a way to meet your neighbors?

Bake some cookies, slap on one of these super cute printable tags and then deliver them to your new (or not so new) neighbors.

You'll be the favorite house on the block in no time :)

Cookies have a magic way of doing that.

Check out the details HERE

Paper Butterflies

Oh Spring,

how I love thee!

If this doesn't scream spring,

I don't know what does!

I'm thinking a little corner of our house is definitely in need of some butterflies.

Don't cha think?

I couldn't agree more!

Check out the details on how to make a super cool butterfly sanctuary for your home HERE :)