Countdown to Summer!

I may have mentioned before that my family has an affinity for Paper Chains...

Well. We do! Our three started asking if we could make a paper chain count down to Summer Vacation...right after Christmas! I was able to hold them off until now.

Here we go! Our "Spring" (and I use the term very loosely) here in Nebraska has been very cold. And wet. And gray. And drizzly. We had snowfall on May 1st...and the last time snow fell on Nebraska in May was 1967!

So to jazz up our chains...the kids made some smiley suns to remind us of warmer weather yet to come! And we went with a rainbow pattern, because who doesn't love rainbows?!?!

Katy pulling off her first chain.

John's turn!

Our fourth grader's final day is May 22nd and the little two are finished on May 24th. Just in time for Memorial Day weekend!

Whooooooo is Hiding In Our Tree?

Merry Christmas Eve!

We celebrate Christmas Eve with my side of the family, so it's always a fun and family filled night!

Before we head out, I wanted to share Ornament #24!

Are they characters, or What??? I love them!

My inspiration (pinspiration!) came from here:

Source: flickr.com via Amy on Pinterest

I think owls are awesome! And TP roll owls are Awesome-er!

All it took was some paint, a black Sharpie, us going to the bathroom a lot (hahaha) and some great inspiration from by BFF Pinterest!

I hope you all have a Blessed and Magical Evening and a Merry Merry Merry Christmas Morning!

Thumbs UP!

I'm a sucker for hand print art & foot print art & a new favorite...

Thumb Print Art!

And, speaking of thumbs, as soon as I typed that I couldn't get THIS...

...Outta my head. LOVED this book when I was little. And now I must buy it for the kids!

Rings on my Fingers. Rings on my Thumbs. Somethin Somethin Somethin...daa daa DRUM!

Don't quote me on that. It's been a long time since I've read it. And I'm a little hopped up on Benadryl and last minute Christmas projects. And Rolos.

ANYWAY!

Here is Ornament #22!

Who doesn't love some Thumby Reindeers???

My inspiration came from Little Bit Funky. She does a great tutorial with amazing photos...you must take a peek at the shot of her kiddos reflected in the ornaments.

Completely fun and fast and great for last minute gifts!

Jingle All the Way!

Ornament #20! (aka Monday's Ornie)

I saw these Jingle Bell Flowers last year on The Crafty Crow. If you don't read The Crafty Crow...you need to! She has an amazing collection of ideas and they are fantastically organized!

Here's how mine turned out!

Super Close up!

They are so bright on the tree! I love the use of old egg cartons. Re-cycle Crafts are a big deal around our house. Head over to The Craft Crow for a great tutorial!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

That's what that Silly Frosty the Snowman is always saying instead of Merry Christmas!

Last year that was John's go-to video. We watched Frosty. A lot. And the second one, too. With Mrs. Frosty. The only thing I remember about Frosty the Sequel is when the kids want to name his SnowBride Minnie Haw Haw.

LOVE IT! Minnie Haw Haw...someone was downing some seriously good cocktails when they came up with that!

But we all love nostalgia of Frosty the Snowman. He is a jolly happy soul.

So I had to make this...

...when I saw the instructions over at The Crafty Crow. Too cute! And I luv me some TP-roll crafts!

My hot glue gun did get a bit carried a way, so the felt flower looks a little sloppy.

But the look on John's face when he saw the ornament on the tree was priceless!

Craft Stick Crafting

I'm on the home stretch! 

Christmas Eve is in exactly one week! My side of the family always celebrates Christmas Eve and then we gather with my hub's side of the family on Christmas Day. This is going to be one crazy fun week!

On to Ornie #17!

I love craft sticks...or as I like to call them "popsicle sticks"! It takes me back to grade school and Girl Scouts. Simpler times! I also say "pipe cleaners" instead of chenille stems. Who so fancy???

Anyway! I love popsicle sticks & pipe cleaners and that's half of today's Ornie Equation!

Add a sparkly red pom pom and goggle eyes and behold:

Crazy Cute Reindeer!

I DIYed it right from Let's Explore!

It would be so easy for kiddos to do. I did mine in the dead of night when everyone was sawing logs, but I may have John & Louie whip some up themselves this week.

And...my favorite part...there isn't even a hanger. Just stick a branch through the middle section.

WaaaaLaaaa!

Crochet Chain Wreath

I saw today's ornament and had to make it. Right Now!!!

There was just something irresistible about it. Cuteness? Simplicity? Crochet?

All three, please!

You can find out how to make your own little Crochet Wreath at Tangled Happy. Super easy to follow directions with great photos!

Our oldest son recently told me he'd like to learn how to crochet something. I think this will be the perfect first project for him!

I can see me making up a LOT of these. I've got a bunch of random green yarn to use up, but I'm also seeing little white wreaths with blue ribbon? Adorable!!!

Personalized Wrapping Paper

I've been looking for some different and unique ways to do our Christmas wrapping. I'll admit part of the fun of ripping into a present is the crazy paper mess that's left over. Usually to be turned into projectiles...ending with someone getting poked in the eye.

Plus, I usually feel guilty when I look at the paper waste. And I feel ripped (pun intended) off at the store when I have to buy paper that will end up shredded anyway.

I've found a few new & funky ideas on Pinterest:

Source

Source

I think we'll be doing a bit of both. I've got a few bolts of brown paper and a bolt of plain white paper. I love the idea of not having sticky or taped on gift tags!

This was all swirling in my mind this weekend when Louie had a Birthday gift to give one of his buddies. We were having a crazy run-around type weekend and I wanted him to have something calm and quieting to do. He had chosen his current favorite game (Battleship) as a gift, so I wrapped it in brown paper. Then I plunked down the markers and told him to decorate!

Not too shabby! Our oldest is not the most creative Block on the Quilt, so I was proud of his decorating skills!

The only thing I would have changed is adding one of these to the top!

Source

Paper Chain Count Down...Christmas Version!

This month is so crazy & fun & festive!

You can never have too many things around reminding you that we are on a great countdown to celebrating Jesus' birth!

I found this at Make and Takes.

So fun! The kids thought we were just making an ordinary paper chain and the boys were trying to figure out the weird amount of green vs red vs yellow.

Imagine their surprise when all these loops turned into this:

A CHRISTMAS TREE!

Seriously! Some people are genius! This is such a cute twist on the chain. LOVE IT!

Countdown To Summer Vacation

The big news around here, now that it's almost May, is Summer Vacation!

Louie figured out how many more days of second grade he has and then figured out how many more days John has left of preK.

What's a Mom and Some Kids to do with this information???

Make a Paper Chain!

With a link for each day left of school. When the boys come home they run to it and rip off the day that they've just finished. Easy. Fun! And...sanity saver. Instead of, "How many more days now, Mom?" being thrown my way a few times a day, I point to their chains and answer, "Count!"

I cut up some construction paper into strips. Then I pulled out the JUMBO Glue Stick. My kids think that any project that involves the JUMBO Glue Stick is the most important project in the world. We counted out the strips that each boy needed and I put them to work.

Kat, obviously, doesn't go to school. But she won't be out-done by her brothers. Plus she's a diva and demands, "Pik-urs, Mommy!" while posing for me. How can I say no to such a sweet request?

Here are the Kidlets with their respective chains.

ps...Yes. That is my angry & mis-understood middle child still in his jammies at 4 in the afternoon. Whoops!

Linking to these Parties:

The Creative Crate

Simply Designing

Craft Goodies

Inspiring Creations

Sun Scholars

Paisley Passions

Flubber

I'm finding that if I don't blog everyday, it's so easy to push it off until "tomorrow" and then (like today) I found that I haven't blogged for days! So my goal is to have a post every day this week...even if it's one of those cute "Wordless" ones where I just share the kidlets being crazy!

And Happy President's Day!!! It's an unsung Holiday (except for some awesome store sales!) that I never paid much attention to until having kids. It's a pleasing surprise to see how much my kids are learning at school about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and many other Presidents, as well.

John's pre-school did a Lincoln unit and they even made a log cabin that is big enough for the kids to go inside and sit and read. They also crafted five dollar bills (early intro to counterfeiting???) and had a "store" where the kids were able to buy little flags. So cute!

So...because I'm lazy...I didn't have any special activities for our kids today (they both have the day off of school) that involve the Presidency. But I've got a GREEN activity. And...um...lots of Presidents are on money...and...um...money is GREEN! don't judge me.

There is this marvelous blog I found, Daily Pleasures, written by this wonderful woman, Amy. Reading her blog makes me feel peaceful. Really, you should check her out. I found the "recipe" for Flubber here, on her blog...and after viewing the photos of her kids with the stuff...who wouldn't want to make it?!?!

I quartered the recipe, because of an Elmer's shortage we have going on in our house! But it worked just great. Kat was sleeping, so she didn't get in on the fun. John touched the stuff with a pinky finger tip, screamed and washed his hands for about five straight minutes. Louie was my trouper, though, so I present to you...Louie & Flubber!

Louie is kneading the stuff together. It was at this time when I wondered if it would stain the table! It didn't.



AWESOME!!! I'll admit there are few photos of the fun, because I was having lots of fun myself!

AAAAHHH-CHHHHHOOOO! Anything snot/booger related is hilarious to a 7-year-old. It's good to know that some things never change!

ps....Please pay no attention to my son's pairing of tie-dye with plaid. That is just the way he rolls!


Linking Up Here:



  

Stamped Heart Flowers

It's almost Valentine's Day and we're geared up and ready to go! Holidays are so much more fun now that we have the kiddos...they get SO excited about things and their excitement is contagious!

I've got another craft to share. I found these cute "flowers" here at Maya Made and fell in love with them. This is a project that both boys enjoyed and they love handing out bouquets made up of these "flowers"!

We started by drawing hearts onto a kitchen sponge (a new clean one!) and cutting it out. Here is Louie-the-Sponge-Hearted.

I can't get this kid out of his tie dye shirt. We'll have to make up some more of them this summer. Anyway! Then we started stamping red and white hearts on brown and white butcher paper. John was happy about this because his fingers stayed pretty clean!

Hmmm...clean fingers, but painty table and jammies! Oh well!

Magnificent gooey paint hearts! We finished stamping and then hung them up to dry. Then the next day I cut out around the hearts and paper punched them at the bottom point.

Then I got out our pipe cleaners and cut them to some different lengths.

I grabbed my Button Bag and pushed one end of the pipe cleaner through my button.

That last photo makes me giggle. Not sure why... ANYWAY! I coiled the tip of the pipe cleaner so it wouldn't slide off. Then I fed the pipe cleaner through the holes I punched in the hearts.

I should note that my boys had given up on this project by now. They are about as crafty as...I don't know what...but not much! They're MUCH more into cooking & baking. But, this would be a great project for a child to do on their own...I've got high hopes for the girlie...

Scootch those hearts up to your button and then thread another button on behind them. Squeeze the buttons together to make a tight fit.

I was worried about this second button slipping out of place. I picked smaller buttons to do the job, and so far so good! Your final step is to fan out your "petals" and display them in a pretty spot!

I'm linking up to these parties!!!

Craft Goodies

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Bubble Wrap Hearts

We had one crazy weekend over here!

Now it's Monday and I think I've been bit by the flu bug. Ugh! You know how if feels...like there are giant weights dragging down your arms, legs & eyelids. And you're so achey, you hair hurts! That's me today.

My lovely hubby is taking over my Cub Scout den meeting this afternoon and I'm home with my cuddly J & Kat. They are playing so nicely and quietly that I thought I'd grab my computer and try to get my mind off feeling yucky.

Here's our newest Valentine project!

This crazy big Heart Garland that I've strung up above our kitchen sink. (Sorry about the glare!) We had SO much fun making it...except for maybe J who HATES to get his hands dirty...or rather...he HATES to wash his hands, so he avoids getting them dirty at all costs!

We started with some bubble wrap and paint. I asked the boys to pick "Valentiney Colors" and this is what they brought me.

The seven year old brought me red and white. The three year old brought me pink and purple. I found that interesting. J is definately our one to think outside the box! I then instructed the boys to paint on their bubble wrap (we did this back in November to make Indian Corn).

Here's where J backed down. "It get on me's hands!" Louie trooped on. When you've painted your bubble wrap the way you want it, press it down on some paper.

Then gently pull it back to reveal your pattern.

We then hung up all our sheets to dry overnight. The next morning I pulled out my handy cookie cutters.

I love the variety of sizes! I used them as stencils and traced out hearts over the bubble prints.

Very cool! The patterns are amazing! Then start cutting out your hearts.

Keep cutting...while your three year old with clean hands slowly takes over the table with his Thomas stuff!

Then I punched a hole at the top of each heart (I wanted mine to dangle a certain way so I only punched one bump per heart). And I strung them up on some white yarn.

Then I strung them up above our kitchen sink! I really like bubble wrap stamps...each stamp is so individual! I'll probably be doing something for St. Patrick's Day with this...BEWARE!

There. I was productive for the day! It's time to grab my youngest two, throw an afghan over us and cuddle till Daddy & Louie come home!



Linking Up HERE!