DIY

A Day of DIY Lion Activities for Kids

April 26, 2017

Birthday Party Ideas, Book Review, Books, DIY, Family actives, Kids Books, Kids Crafts, Party Ideas

As the proverb says, March (or Spring) will go "In like a lion, and out like a lamb" or "In like a lamb and out like a lion."

Our March definitely went "Out like a Lion" so because we have some lion lovers in the house, we were trapped inside due to weather and sickness, and we had THE PERFECT book for such a thing, we had a day of "Lion Lessons".

THE BOOK

We read the book (multiple times) by Jon Agee which has seven steps to becoming a lion and then we proceeded to try them out for ourselves and added a few more.

TAIL MAKING

A $2.88 bundle of yarn allowed us to make lion tails and manes for our little lion cubs. For the tails we just cut off 10 or so strands a few feet long and then loosely braided them and added some extra pieces at the bottom. Kids can tuck the end into their pants or pants pocket and it stays in pretty well.

MANE MAKING

For the mane we cut 15 small pieces (roughly 3 inches long each) and then tied them together with another small piece to form a "puff". We used that same piece of thread to tie the "puff" to an elastic headband. Once all the "puffs" were on the headband they can put it around their head and have a mane.

MUST HAVE PAWS

The kids got these slippers for Christmas and I have enjoyed watching them run around in them about as much as they have enjoyed using them. So funny and they love to use them to dress up as lions both on their hands and their feet.

POUNCING PRACTICE

No, they didn't pounce on these two. These two watched the kids jump/pounce into a giant pile of blankets and pillows from a VERY safe distance.

THE ARTWORK

We traced circles on art paper using dessert plates and then let the kids use washable paint and plastic forks to make manes around the circles which then became lions. Walmart has lion sun catchers for a dollar that you can use with paint or markers. Since we did these activities during springtime we had to throw a lion Easter Egg into the mix.

THE EATS

This is the only picture I have from a lion party we had earlier in the year. Easy to make and the kiddos love it. You'll need two box cake mixes. Chocolate cupcakes for the mane and whatever flavor you choose for the face which is a circular cake pan.

LION DEN

We build a giant blanket and pillow fort under the kitchen table to be used as a lions den and they played happily in there for well over an hour.

LION ROAR

It goes without saying that the Lion Roar was practiced All. Day. Long.

April 6, 2017

Art, Craft with Kids, Crafts, DIY, Easter, Family actives, Holiday Traditions, Kids Activities, Spring

When we saw this idea on KSL Studio 5, (I believe they got it from @hello_wonderful on Instagram) we knew we had to try it because our kids are obsessed with showers mainly to use the shower squeegee while in there.

All you need is paint (we used washable finger paint), a shower squeegee, poster board or pieces of cardstock paper, and a place to make a mess. We used a $1 dollar table cloth that we could fold up and throw out as soon as we were done.

On large pieces of poster board we made several egg shapes and cut them out.

Then we set up our work area with paints, squeegee and table cloth.

Let the kids choose what colors of paint they want on their egg and put little dots on the egg. Have someone hold the top of the egg and then let the kids drag the squeegee across the paint until all of the white paper is covered.

You can experiment with mixing colors to make other colors (blue and yellow dots make a blue egg etc.) or just play with different colors.

Once the eggs have dried you can make a banner or let the kids color them with markers or whatever else your heart desires.

Happy painting.

February 15, 2017

Craft with Kids, DIY, DIY Valentines, February, Happy Valentines Day, Holiday Traditions, Holiday Treats, Holidays, Kids Crafts, Lifestyle, Mom Life, Our Holiday Favorites, Traditions, Valentine, Valentines Day

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

We hope you had a treat filled day of love with whomever you chose to spend it with. We thought we'd give you a peek at our day and some of our favorite Valentines tips that we tried and loved this year. Some we will definitely be using next year and others we will be using for birthdays or other holidays before Valentines even rolls around again.

Enjoy!

White Chocolate Cupcake Toppers

All you need are sucker sticks, melted white chocolate, and wax paper. Once the chocolate is melted place the stick on wax paper and write (we put the chocolate in a plastic bag and cut the tip off) your design or word on or across the stick. Let it dry, or refrigerate until hard and place in your cupcakes. Genius!

Sidewalk Chalk "Heart Attack"

We used a cardboard cut out of a heart to trace hearts of all different colors on the neighbors walk. Then left a message. The kids loved helping and it was sweet and cute.

(Mostly) DIY Valentine Making

Targets Dollar Spot and the Dollar Store are great places for Holiday finds IF you get there early before all the good stuff is gone.

Felt hearts stuffed with chocolate treats can do double duty for decor.

Whoopee Cushions because "Love Stinks"

More Target finds.

Valentine Balloons

4 words. Dollar Store Must Haves!

The Perfect Man Gift

A six pack of soda with the tag "6 reasons I love You", include a treat if you want because we all know men love food.

Valentine Decor

Twine, Red XO's and lips, and clothes pins made an easy and non destructible Valentine banner.

Pin the Lips on Yourself Game

We got this idea from the Small Fry Blog and while we did a few things different it was such a cute game and the kids loved it. We used photos of our children that had closeups of their heads and then printed 8x8 photos at Costco. We laminated them. Cut out foam lips from craft foam, blindfolded them and they were set. The Small Fry Blog has a template for lips, mustache, and glasses that is great for the game but our local copy store was having issues so we made our own.

Valentines for Grandparents

We took balloons and flowers to the grandparents and had fun making cards to send in the mail a day or two before Valentines day. We also used some of our favorite Valentine pictures and sent photos in the cards. Grandparents love mail right?

Babies first Valentines Day

With no planning on our part we each bought the babes the same shirts for Valentines at different stores but on the same day. Great minds. Aren't they darling?

February 2, 2017

I recently have been drooling over this sheet set from Pottery Barn . . . ok more just the pillowcases. But who am I kidding, it's Pottery Barn and it's pricey, there is no way I am gunna pay $80.00 for a set of twin sheets. Looking at these I thought to myself that I could easily replicate them.

So here ya go . . .

What you need:
Black paint (non-washable/permanent)
Sponge brush
Heart stencil
White pillow case
Cardboard

Slip cardboard under before you start so you don't get bleeding!

Start a paintin'.

TIP: apply a liberal amount of paint to get the full sharp heart shape

I left the folded creases in the pillow to help create a guide to aline the pattern. Be sure to line the hearts up horizontal, vertically, and diagonally with equal spacing between them all. (Lots of lining up, I know)