Handmade Mother's Day Gifts

A huge thank you to Mel from Never A Dull Moment for sharing these easy toddler craft projects to make your Mother's Day extra special!

Homemade Mother's Day gifts from Toddlers 

We love making handmade and homemade gifts and the option of a hand print and we're game! My mom has mentioned more than a few times how much she loves the hand and footprint cards we've done through the holidays so I knew Mother's Day would be no exception.

So, thanks to Pinterest- here's a few of our favorites....

Have a grandparent that you don't see nearly enough? Send a hug!

Everyone loves flowers for mothers day; why not spend a little extra and personalize the planter? 

{note: this was a pain to do! not only did her hand keep sliding, we couldn't get a good print because it wasn't flat. Oh and as the hubs mentioned today; if paint isn't water proof what happens when it rains? Oh well, it's the thought right?}

And my favorite...

 

I saw something similar on Pinterest and knew this was something my mom would love. This was done on a small canvas from hobby lobby (craft store) and was very inexpensive! 

And one that I haven't tried yet but will be soon....

Mel is the mom and blogger at Never A Dull Moment.

Easy Easter Crafts for Toddlers

A HUGE thank you to Melissa from Never a Dull Moment for guest posting for me today! She's a crafty mama with a knack for children's activities, especially around the holidays! Enjoy some Easter toddler crafts!!

For the past month or so I've perused Pinterest and searched Google for some options Easter craft options for Lexie {2 1/2 years old}. There are many out there as I'm sure most of you know, but some of them are a little complex, some a little tacky to me; and some well I couldn't do them on my own no less with my toddler "helping"! Then I found a few I could do, and a few I knew we'd enjoy. 

We did the turkey hands at Thanksgiving, the Santa hat's at Christmas, and the loVe at Valentines day; so it was no surprise that I found a hand-print/footprint craft I loved. 

1. The foot-chick 

Lexie is so used to having her hands and feet painted she actually request's it now. This one was nice and easy though I will admit we called Dada in to assist when she tried to run around with a painted foot. We used a yellow finger paint, let it set over night then I added the eye, beak, and feet the next day. Makes a great gift for the Grandparents, or the front of an Easter card to family. 

2. Striped Easter Egg

This one was a lot of fun, with only a little prep work I cut pieces of colored paper we had on hand, and placed double sided tape on one side of the strips. Then took a white piece of paper and had Lexie lay them out covering the entire paper. Next, I took a second piece of white paper (we used card-stock)  and cut an egg shape out of the middle {this was honestly the hardest part for me, I won't mention the numerous time I had to re-cut it}. Then you adhere the top to the bottom, I simply taped them together. 

 3. Chalkboard Eggs
At first thought you may not think Chalkboard eggs are a good toddler craft but if you give me a moment I'll explain. First the prep.

I'll be honest, I've never used Chalkboard paint and was wondering if I would ruin the thought of it by starting with this project. However, that wasn't the case at all; I honestly looked around the room after I did the eggs thinking of what else I could paint! The directions call for two coats, painted an hour apart, one vertically, one horizontally. For the eggs I only did one coat but I did apply it thick and allowed it 12 hours to sit. Then I showed Lexie...

The paint is very forgiving (and yes, I painted the paper plate too- told you I was looking for "things"!)  Lexie really enjoyed drawing on them, and she cracked quite a few and you wouldn't know it unless you felt it! 

Can't see the BIG crack can you? 

oh yeah, I did one too! 

Happy Easter! 

Hi, I'm Mel from Never a Dull Moment.I'm a Coffee Drinking, Social Media Lover, "Woober", "Mom-mom" and 30 something trying to get healthy! "Never a Dull Moment" sums up my world, as the saying goes "if it’s not one thing it's another!" Join me and my family through that day to day life with a crazy toddler (who's very photogenic) and an extended family who thinks one more should already be on the way {which we are NOT ready for yet}. Oh and then there's me, the matriarch of our little family who is double the size she should be and is trying to figure out how to get healthy without losing my mind in the process!

Fabulous Finds Friday: Terracotta Pot Planter

Looking for a punch of colour on your front porch?

I know that I am, and I think one of these flanking either side of my dark grey door will do just the trick!



I think I would change it to suit our colour tastes though....likely paint the posts a dark grey to match the door, but still contrast with the light grey stucco.

Flowers...hmm...purples and yellows likely, especially if the front walk up is boxwoods and daylillies {another post for another fabulous friday!}

Special Post: Mother's Day Crafting with Shizz

So its the day before Mother's Day, and did you get anything for Grandma?  No?

Well, here I am to save your day :)

This super easy craft is cute, quick (30 minutes tops) and definitely something any grandmother/mother/aunt/sister/friend would love!

Supplies:

small flower pot

hole punch

craft knife

scissors

colored cardstock

green pipecleaners

small block of floral foam

self-healing cutting mat

1 more supply item:

Toddler for tracing :)

Cut our your hand template.

I labeled mine with his age, because I plan on using it again in the near future.

Pick out your colors of cardstock, trace out the number of hand "flowers" you want.

Using your craft knife on your self-healing mat, cut out your flowers.  Make sure to cut ever so slightly inside your traced line, so that you don't have a line that shows up on the flowers.

Next (not pictured) punch holes in the bottom of your flowers, about 1/4 inch from the bottom of the flower.

Then, fold a pipecleaner in half.  Insert the folded end through the hole in the flower, and fold down the tip about 1/2 inch and pinch flat.  This allows your flower to stand straight, and not flop over.

Now twist the ends of your pipecleaner together to make it more sturdy.

Using a bread knife (don't worry Mizzle, I used the cheap one), cut a small cube of flower foam that will squish down in your flower pot.

Then, using scissors to first poke holes in the foam, insert your flower stems and arrange to your liking.

I added a little bit of brown shredded paper "dirt" in the bottom, which also helped to make the flowers stand better.

Now give it to Grandma!

This is a super easy craft that can be used for almost any holiday.  Birthdays, Easter, Mother's Day, Teacher Appreciation (use a handprint from each child in the class), Grandparent's Day, etc.

Enjoy, Happy Crafting!

SWH4T$: Rainbow Rice

Rainbow Rice
by: Shizz

I'm sure you've all seen this floating around Pinterest, Rainbow Rice to put in a sensory bin for toddlers to play with. I've been wanting to make this for a while, and Monday was the perfect day since the weather here was 85 degrees and sunny (yup, its still April).



I used this recipe as my guideline :)



I tried to break down the cost by cup of rice, but it wasn't really working, so here is what I paid for everything today (I have leftovers).



1 10 lb bag of white rice: $5.49 (I only used about 1/3 of the bag, I made 12 cups of rice total)

bottle of rubbing alcohol: $1.09

Ziploc bags (sandwich size): $1.00 for 15 (Dollar Store!)

Food coloring: $2.50 for 4 bottles

Plastic container for storage: $1.00 (Dollar Store!)



So that's less than $12 for a fun activity that I could probably make about 8-10 batches from that one bag of rice. Not bad at all!

Step 1: Gather your supplies:

Ingredients listed above,

Wax paper for drying

Disposable gloves (if you hate dye on your hands like I do)

Step 2:

Bag up your rice: 1 cup to a bag

Step 3: Add color

1 T rubbing alcohol + 10-12 drops food coloring

First batch I mixed them in these little bowls, 2nd batch I added

the alcohol and food coloring directly into the bag (much easier)

Step 4:

Squish Squish Squish the bag till all the rice is colored.

Make double sure that your bag is sealed.

Trust me on that one...

Step 5: Dry

Spread out on wax paper in the sun and let dry

I think it took about 30 minutes to dry

Step 6:

PLAY! Dump into a bin, sand/water table, cookie sheet, large bowl,

basically any large container. Add a few utensils, cups or spoons,

and let your toddler go to town!

Jack loved it :) He played with it for about an hour :)

I was worried about the dye coming off on his hands, and I'm

happy to report that there was not one speck of dye on his hands :)

SWH4T$: Love {in a} Jar

Happy Thursday everyone, and welcome back to She Works Hard for the Money - a bloghop for hard working mamas to share their time and money saving tips!

The rules are super simple!

1) Follow your hostesses, Baby Shmizz and Sweet Stella's, via GFC

2) Link up a specific post that relates to money and time, your job, your business, couponing, anything that shows how you "work hard for your money".


3.) Post our button on your post

Have fun linking up and finding her blogs to read!

Love {in a} Jar

So...my husband decided to be super romantic this Valentine's Day and booked us a night at a local hotel, a romantic dinner, and even got a baby sitter for our son. I was shocked...pleasantly surprised...but absolutely shocked!

And I had squat to give him!

I started thinking and came up with this cute idea, which would be perfect for anniversaries as well!

Materials:

1 jar (I used a large jam jar)
3 pieces of paper
10 pieces of his favourite candy (Rockets for my Hubster)

Soak your jar a sink of hot water. This will make scrapping the label off a sinch!

While your jar is soaking, cut your paper into strips. They don't have to be perfect by any means. I did 5 notes for every year that we've been married, and 5 extras.

Set aside 5 strips of paper

Write out love notes on the remaining strips of paper. Reasons you love him...are proud of him...proud to be his other-half...proud of him as a father Really anything that you love about him.

On the 5 you set aside, write out activities to do together. Thing like...slow dancing...taking a walk together...whatever you'd like! Wrap them around his favourite candy

Scrape the label off the jar, and dry it thoroughly...you don't want those papers getting wet!

Once the jar is dry, stuff it with the notes, activities and extra candies!

Sweet and corny, but super thoughtful!

Link up your crafty, thrifty and frugal ideas with us!

Fabulous Finds Friday: Sculpted Wall Installation

There's a wall between our closet and bathroom doors...it needs some love and since i've been playing with clay again, I'm thinking about making a wall installation similar to this



Probably a cluster of 3 or 5...

Off centred from one another...slightly cascading

I'm hoping to have the walls painted before we move in...currently they're a spicey cinnamony colour, and with the dark hardwood, it just feels really heavy to me.

I'd prefer it to be a lighter, softer stone or grey colour so we can add in punches of mustard and teal and have it really stand out.

Our bed linens are also a bit dark, chocolate browns with cream and caramel.

I think these white flowers would be the perfect wall installation!

SWH4T$: Repurposed Jars

Welcome back, crafty, thrifty mamas!! We're so happy to have you back for She Works Hard for the Money!

Before we get hopping, we've got some rules...

1.) Follow your hostesses at Baby Shmizz and Sweet Stella's via GFC

2.) Link up a specific post that relates to money and time, your job, your business, couponing, anything that shows how you "work hard for your money".

3.) Post our button on your post

Have fun linking and finding new blogs to read!

a href=" http://sweetstellas.blogspot.com/target="_blank/"img src=" http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c91/zippinviolet/SWH4T.jpg " /></a>

Repurposed Jars

Before the holidays hit, I was looking for some simple crafty projects to take my mind off of a super stressful time (packing to move...selling our home...going on vacation...coming home...moving).

Have some empty salsa jars lying around the house? Maybe some funky patterned paper? Podge?

Well that's all you need for this project!!

Choose your paper...I chose some grey and blue tones so that it will fit nicely into my new studio once we move

Wrap it around your jar, and make a mark where the paper meets

Cut out the pattern that you desire. I cut around the flowers and vines, but there are really no rules to this project!

Smear adhesive to the jar, and attach paper. Seal the paper with more adhesive



For me, they make perfectly pretty water jars (and drying jars) for my paint brushes but they would also be great with some inexpensive flowers for a hostess gift (I'd tie ribbon round the top to finish it off), some stones and fallen branches for some bathroom or kitchen decor



Happy repurposing!

Fabulous Finds Friday: Glitter Shakers

I've been searching high and low on Pinterest, designing ever square inch of our new home {which we haven't found yet, but that's besides the point...}

One obvious room that I'm focusing on is my design studio. I've been looking for everything from amazing office chairs, unique storage ideas, distressed desks and how to repurpose items that I already have {cheap and cheerful!}

Here's one that I've found, and definitely will be implementing with some great shakers from the dollar store!



Incredibly smart, and they look super chic too!

Have a Fabulous Friday!