Christmas Picture Frame Ornaments

Are you in the Christmas spirit yet? I'm having a hard time finding it, these past weeks have been so busy and on top of all the business me and my munchkin both caught the flu. But on the bright side, were better now and Christmas is only a week away! 

We made these cute things a few weeks ago. I just bought some colored Popsicle sticks and some Christmas pom poms had Noah decorate them, and I put the picture in just by gluing it onto some red construction paper and glue it around the back of the frame, then just tie a ribbon and your all set! I even let him wrap them up himself... he did a pretty good job for a 3 year old. 

We wish you Happy Holidays! 

POST BY MOMMY OLIVIA

Beaded Candy Canes

This idea came from a post I saw on Pinterest. Such a cute idea! You can either tie a ribbon to the top to make ornaments, or use them as little name tags to wrap up a present!

What you will need: 
Red and white beads (dollar tree)
red and green or white pipe cleaners (dollar tree)

Fold the pipe cleaner in half and wrap it around so it makes a sturdy line (this will keep the candy cane form and not flop around). Then fold or not one end and start piling the beaded on the other, leave about 1/2 and inch from the top free of beads so you can tie up the other end. Then form the candy came shape..that's all! It's a great craft for toddlers!

Pinterest Holiday Crafts

* 1. DIY picture ornaments * 2. Pine tree ribbon ornament * 3. Mistletoe's Painting * 4. Santa Calendar

*   5. Christmas tree bead ornament * 6. Christmas Tree Jars * 7. Paw Print Ornament *

POST BY MOMMY OLIVIA

Science Experiments with CANDY!!!

As a parent myself I winder every year, what are we going to do with all of the Halloween candy!!! Noah has been bouncing off the walls for a week now... I think it's time to get rid of the stash. So browsing online I found some cool science experiments to try with toddlers! As it turns out at that very moment Noah was consuming yet another pack of M&M's, so I figured let's give this one a try and stop him from eating!

What you will need:
- cup
- water
- M&M's

All you do is put the M&M's in water- not only do the color come off and make the water beautiful, but the cool thing is the "M" will come completely off the M&M, like a tattoo, you can put it on your finger, or if you leave it long enough the "M" will come off and just float around in the water... it's actually pretty cool!

See how the "M" came right off????? PRETTY COOL!!!!

You can check out other fun experiments with candy HERE.

POST BY MOMMY OLIVIA

Paint Blowing: Autumn Trees

I found this idea floating around Pinterest, I completely remember doing this as a kid and it's a fun way to incorporate art into a child's life. When you are creating this art piece you can explain to the child how when different colors come together they create a new color!

What you will need: 
- green, red, and yellow paint
- drawing of a tree
- straws (to blow)
- water

First take your paints and mix with a small amount of water, the paint being more runny helps the paint move around the paper better.

Draw or print out a picture of a tree (with no leaves!)

splatter the paint around the page and let your little one blow through the straw, mixing the colours together and creating a fun piece of art!

We love to hear about your seasonal crafts! feel free to share with us on Facebook!

POST BY MOMMY OLIVIA

Pinterest Challenge: Make Your Own Paint

So this picture has been floating around Pinterest and Facebook, so I figure, I have a toddler why not give it a try! We had all the ingredients already at home, and it is a cheap way for the fun to last.

I made it exactly the way the recipe says above and it was way to thick, I had to almost double the water. It looked like paint, so we gave it a try on some paper. For the most part the paint did what it was suppose, make pretty colors on the paper, but afterwards once the paint dried it was easy to peel off and started crumbling. I had to throw his paintings away. It's fun for toddlers who just want to paint in the moment and don't really care about the result.

Do you have another paint recipe we can try? 

POST BY MOMMY OLIVIA

Easter Crafting

I am always looking for new crafting ideas for me an Noah to do together. Nothing beats the gorgeous artwork that covers my fridge. So of course with the beautiful Easter holiday coming up, why not do something that's fun and colourful to capture the essence of spring?

We would love to see your Easter ideas! Visit our facebook page and post! :)

POST BY MOMMY OLIVIA

Fun with Felt Boards

Noah got a felt board last Christmas, and I completely forgot about it until now, we came up with some fun activities and now he loves it, he asks me to play with the felt board all day and of course I don't mind because he's learning and it's quiet!





Your toddler can also make pictures with the different shapes and figures, you can see he has a Cat in the Hat felt board, which I got from Michaels, he has tons of Dr.Seuss books, so it's great to make a story come to life with the felt board. There are also so many great websites to make your own felt figures as well, you can make a sun, clouds, rain, so your toddler can explore and identify the weather everyday or even make people so he can create his own pictures. Felt boards are definitely a great inspiration and learning tool.

What sort of activities do you do with felt boards?

POST BY MOMMY OLIVIA

St. Patty's Day Crafts

First cut an even strip out of construction paper.

 

 

Then fold it like your making a fan, make sure each square is equal size.

 

Draw on a clover, make sure you don't completely cut out the clover or they won't stay together, leave the two edges around the side leaves.

 

Then you should have a pretty garland when finished :)

 

 

Using a square sponge (you can buy a pack from the dollar store) cut out a clover shape- or whatever shape you desire.

Then dip it in a paint and start stamping on paper! Your toddler will love this part!

 

POST BY MOMMY OLIVIA

 

Fine Motor Skill Learning with Cheerios

Important skills for toddlers to learn are fine motor skills. It helps them with every day tasks as well as keeps their little minds learning. 

A fun idea for them is this cute and simple pipe cleaner and Cheerios craft. 

All you need is a pipe cleaner and a small plastic bowl full of Cheerios. 

Stale Cheerios all you have on hand? Perfect! This lets you use up them and not have to throw them away! 

All you have to do is give your child a bowl of Cheerios and the pipe cleaner.

Then show them how to put the pipe cleaner throw the hole of the Cheerio then let them try their hand at it themselves. 

Make sure that you encourage them to keep trying if they don't get the hang of it right away.

If they choose to snack on a few along the way, its not even a worry.

Logan was having a hard time with a full sized pipe cleaner as he wanted to hold it at the bottom. When he tried to thread the Cheerio, the pipe cleaner would bend. 

This was solved easily by cutting it in half. The half sized pipe cleaner worked even better for his little hands.

                            

What are some other easy Fine Motor Skill ideas you know that use simple items? 

By Mommy Melissa

Macaroni Bracelets!

Noah loves to do crafts, I will say this time and time again and I hope that never changes because I love doing them just as much as he does! However, as the mommy it's my job to come up with new and exciting crafts to try, this one is one of my favs, it's so easy and really teaches the toddler hand-eye coordination. You don't just have to do bracelets, you can do necklaces as well! You can also use any type of pasta you like, as long as there's a hole through it! We used ditali pasta which to me resembles the most to beads.

What you will need:
- Ditali pasta
- Hemp string (any colour)

You can get hemp string from the dollar store, I like using this because it's sturdy and thicker than normal string, it's a lot easier for a toddler to put the macaroni through.

So all you have to do it triple knot one end and let you toddler put the pasta through, you will be surprised on how well coordinated they are! Once the beads are through triple knot the other end so they stay- depending on how big your pasta is will depend how big the knot will be. There you have it! Little masterpieces!

POST BY MOMMY OLIVIA

Have you heard of Shutterfly?

Last year about this time a friend of mine was telling me about this great website where she goes to get all here pictures printed, and of course the picture fanatic that I am I immediately had to check it out! Now I am in love, I have ordered so many things from this website, from prints, to cards, mugs, magnets, there are just so many things you can create with you precious moments! The best part is, once you sign up  you get 50 free prints! So I invite you all to check out Shutterfly, it definitely makes great affordable presents for the special people in your life.

                        Christmas Card                                                                                         Magnets

So I invite you all to check it out and put your memories on display :) Visit www.shutterfly.com

POST BY MOMMY OLIVIA

Kids Craft Idea - Shrinky-Dinks at Home!

Here is a simple and fast craft to do with your children this month. Its fast, simple and the best thing about it, your children get to use their art skills to come up with their own creative masterpieces.

Before they went into the oven

After they came out

The best pic I could get

All you need is:
#6 plastic (check out your recycle to see if you have any in there)
Permanent markers
Scissors
Cookie sheet covered in aluminum foil
Oven
Oven mitts


All you do is draw on the plastic with the markers then cut your design out as close as possible.
Preheat oven to 350.
Place on a cookie sheet coloured side up.
Put it into the oven for about 60 seconds. It may curl up a bit but once you take it out you can flatten it out with a knife in the first 10 seconds before it cools down and becomes solid.

You could even make jewelry this way. Just make a hole in the top before you bake them! 

What are some ideas you can think of to make with this craft idea?

By Mommy Melissa
 

Winter Bird Feeder DIY

Want to make a fun project with your kids this never ending winter? This has been an idea stuck in my head for a few weeks now and finally was put into works with my two lovely nieces. 

It is very simple but my two are too young for it. They like to put everything in their mouths. Bird seed and lard...not so yummy! They sat out this one. 

Mix up wild bird seed, raisins, peanut butter and lard in a bowl.

Use your hands if you want to get messy!

Push the mess, I mean mix into a disposable cup and let it harden in the freezer or outside if its very cold

Hang it in a tree and feed your new little bird friends!

DIY Winter Bird Feeder

Supplies

bag of wild bird seed

about 1 tbs peanut butter

a small handful of raisins

about a cup of lard, softened

disposable cup

Mix all the ingredients together then firmly press into the disposable cup.

Leave it to harden either in your freezer or outside if the weather is below freezing.

Once its solid, cut the cup along the side and remove it. 

You now can put it into a bird feeder you already have or simply cut two holes in the sides of a juice container or something along the same line, place the feed into it and hang from the tree.

Try it out if you want to attract some beautiful birds to your yard!

By Mommy Melissa