Wave in a Bottle
When I was growing up, my aunt loved to do fun things with me and my brother. One of my favorite projects with her was my wave in a bottle. I remember bringing it home and playing with it for hours. I would shake it, roll it, tilt it back and forth; you name it, [...]
Mother’s Day Herb Garden
I don’t know if it’s just me, but I have extreme difficulty picking out gifts. Mother’s day is especially difficult for me because I absolutely adore my mom and my mother-in-law, but they buy everything they want or need when they see it. Fortunately, I was flipping through an HGTV magazine and some colorful ideas [...]
Counting and Sorting Fun
On N’s first Christmas he was gifted a super cute baseball-themed piggy bank. He was so excited, even though he had no clue what it was used for. Over that first year of having it, we filled it up pretty well. Whenever grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends come over, N gets some “piggies” out of [...]
Painting Rocks Activity
My daughter loves doing crafts— she loves crayons, markers, stickers, stamps and of course, paint. We try to do a couple crafts each week, whether it be just coloring a birthday card for a friend, making animals out of toilet paper rolls or plastering stickers all over construction paper for daddy to hang up at [...]
DIY Soap Bar Bunnies
When I was younger, my own mama and I did a lot of crafting. We had a few favorites, and this is one of them. I’m not sure where my mom learned to make these adorable little bunnies, but they’re something I haven’t seen in years anywhere else. By using that soap bar, it has [...]
Painting with Water
One of my earliest memories occurred in the summer of 1980 when my family and I visited my great-grandparents in upstate New York. I was two years old at the time. My great-grandpa took me in their backyard and put me to work “painting” the lilypond (which, in my memory, was a big tire. Turns out [...]
DIY Cardboard Box Oven
When I was a kid, family vacations were almost always camping. With four kids in a single-income household, we couldn’t really afford flying somewhere for a vacation. Living in northern California meant we were a decent driving distance to some really wonderful places to camp. I have great memories of waking up early, packing the [...]
DIY Shape Sorter
At about 15 months old, Danica started to get bored with her ‘baby’ toys. I went on the search for new activities that she would enjoy. We had a play date with a friend and she had made her daughter a DIY shape sorter— Danica absolutely loved it. It is very simple to make, and [...]
Homemade Bubble Recipes – Part 1
My son loves playing with bubbles. I do too, so this is an activity that we enjoy almost any time of the year. Over a decade ago I worked as the arts and crafts director at a Girl Scout Camp. I would make a couple gallons of bubble solution to have on hand as an [...]
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