Chalk Drawings
Chalk Saturn
Our kids love playing outside! 🙂 Now that the weather is starting to get warmer they are beginning to enjoy some fun Spring time activities like riding their bikes, scooters, roller skating, chalk drawings and more. You can tell at least one of the kids still loves anything related to space from looking at her chalk pictures. Thankful for warm weather and time to have fun with the kids!
Colorful chalk sun
Everyone loves rainbows
And hearts…
Our family
Creative Kids: Fuzzy Caterpillars & a Princess Crown
Brina created these super cute fuzzy caterpillars for everyone in the family
The girls love to do crafts! Whenever we have a little bit of extra time the girls like to sit down and get creative. It is really neat to see the girls get more creative and they can do a lot of the crafts on their own. The other day the girls requested to do a craft. We had several leftover items from an earlier craft we did so they used the scrap construction paper, fuzzy balls, and googly eyes. Brina made adorable fuzzy caterpillars and Karlie made a princess crown for Brina. Love seeing their creations! 🙂
Karlie decided to take her construction paper and fuzzy balls to create a princess crown for Brina
Brina gluing the craft pieces together
Karlie finished Brina’s beautiful princess crown….sweet sisters
Tissue Paper Bleeding Art
Do you have some crumpled tissue paper laying around? At the next birthday party or gathering make sure to keep the colorful, crinkled tissue paper for this craft or if you already have some on hand that works great too. It is super easy and loads of fun! Our girls loved these and had a blast doing this craft.
Colorful tissue paper in one of the kids bowl
Tissue Paper Bleeding Art
- Variety of colorful, crumpled Tissue Paper
- White Paper (we use a heavier paper or poster board)
- Small Bowl of Water
- Paint Brush
Gather some brightly colored tissue paper. Tear the tissue paper into a variety of pieces (small to several inches). Put a piece of tissue paper on the white paper and use a paint brush dipped in water to wet the tissue paper, you will see the colors start to bleed. Continue putting the tissue paper pieces down and painting with water until your white paper is full. Set aside and allow to dry over night. Once the tissue paper has dried, remove all the pieces and throw away. You can use your new tissue paper bleeding art paper to cut out shapes and use them for thank you notes or display (see picture at the top of the post).
Tip – if the kids are not able to get all the tissue paper wet you can use a spray water bottle and lightly mist the art piece before putting it away to dry.
Putting down the tissue paper
Water in a bowl and a paint brush
Tissue paper covering the paper now just need to wait for it to dry
What the paper looks like after the tissue paper dried and removed. The tissue paper die bleeds onto the heavy paper underneath and this is what it looks after it has dried, really neat! You can use this paper to cut out shapes and use for thank you notes or something special for the kids to display.
Creative Kids: Invisible Writing
The girls love to do crafts and all kinds of fun activities…..(so do I)! 🙂 As I was getting ready to leave for a few hours the other day I left a “secret” note on the girls bar stools. They didn’t realize it was a note because it was invisible . The night before the girls had asked if they could paint again soon so I decided that since the paints were going to be out anyway I might as well leave an invisible note for them to discover the next morning.
These invisible notes were a hit and super easy to do. Take a white piece of paper, write a message in white crayon, and have the kids paint over the letters to decode the message. Once the girls figured out it wasn’t just a plain white piece of paper on their bar stools they quickly decoded the message.
They decided it was pretty neat and the next spent hour writing invisible notes back and forth to each other. I love it when I start a fun activity and they run with it. Thankful that the girls get excited over the little stuff.
These would work really well for younger kids too. You could do a picture instead of a note as well.
Teaching Our Children: How to Wrap Gifts
Letting the kids wrap their own gifts
As I sit in the middle of the floor with little scraps of Christmas wrapping paper around me I have to smile….. The girls LOVE going to the store to pick out the perfect gift(s) for each person. They also really like to wrap the gifts! While they have a tendency to make a mess, use more wrapping paper, put on too much tape, and take a long time wrapping they have a blast doing it. Although, I have noticed that every year they get a little better and more efficient.
Each girl starts the gift wrapping activity by picking out their own roll of wrapping paper to use for their gifts. They use that roll of wrapping paper on all the gifts they have to wrap until there are no more gifts to do or the wrapping paper is gone. They do the entire wrapping process on their own from cutting the paper to taping and even labeling the gift.
While we still have the occasional – “Mom, I didn’t cut the wrapping paper big enough” overall they are getting better at the whole process. At times, I’ve even had problems not cutting the paper big enough! Typically, we spend an evening or two (depending on the amount of time we have) doing a “wrapping party” while listening to Christmas music. As they wrap their gifts I will tackle some that I need to do as well. Everyone has fun and we get a lot accomplished at the same time.
I love that they take the extra time to not only wrap the gifts but label, add little notes, or draw pictures on the outside of the gifts. They started doing this on their own last Christmas. It was so cute reading their notes and talking about their drawings as we opened the gifts. They were so proud of the gift and the wrapping which they did from start to finish. Here are some of the sweet drawings and notes we found under our tree last year:
Silly notes written on the gifts…..made me smile
Brina even picked out turtle food at the store for the turtles and wrapped it for them.
Karlie drew a planet, specifically Saturn, on this gift
I Love You note on the gift
Brina drew little “heart” people on the outside of this Christmas gift.
Picture of the sweet sisters on the gift
While the gift wrap my not win a decorative prize the girls are proud of their work and are excited to share. They are learning many lessons during this too (hand-eye coordination, measuring, sharing, giving, etc….). Pretty soon I will have to start delegating more gift wrapping tasks to them! 🙂
Creative Kids: Packing Peanut & Wallpaper Craft
Fun craft for the kids
There are many great uses for the styrofoam packing peanuts. Not only are the styrofoam packing peanuts used to protect items that are being stored or transported they can be a wonderful kids craft once they are no longer needed. The colorful ones are the most fun (at least according to the kids). You can also pick up a big bag of them at your local craft store.
When Jake’s sister and her family came to visit they spent one of their evenings here with friends. Their friends introduced them to this easy and entertaining craft for the kids. They brought home a baggie full of packing peanuts so I got out some wallpaper samples and the kids had a blast building all kids of items with the craft.
The kids used paint brushes and water to wet down the styrofoam peanuts. The wet peanuts would stick together and to the wallpaper like glue once they dried. They can use their imagination and build whatever they want. On the fireplace we had towers, houses, forts, pools and more fun stuff.
If your looking for a fun craft and have a few extra packing peanuts around you should try it.
Living on a Budget: Creative Cash (March Update)
Last month I began a monthly challenge called Creative Cash. Creative Cash is finding ways to come up with extra cash to share with others as well as work on our current goal. I am working part time, a stay at home Mom, and wear many other hats from day to day, however, I feel that it is important to save money for our family by using coupons and buying items on sale but to earn a little money to help with the extra expenses and to share with others. The extra amount I bring in on top of the work is what I call “Creative Cash” which means finding ways to make money creatively or with items and talents I have already. I have tested this goal over the last couple months as I am challenging myself to make my life more simplified. I plan to continue this goal for the remaining months of the year. Despite the many financial obstacles that we have faced as a family we have been blessed with so much. We believe it is important to be accountable with our finances and give to others.Explanation: The creative cash will be made throughout the entire month through various endeavors. As it comes in the money is placed into our savings account and withdrawn at the end of the month so it can be split. It is my goal to make at least $100 extra a month to help with our goals as well as share with others. At the end of the month the money will be split 50 / 50 with half going towards our current goal we are working on (which at the moment is paying down debt) and the other half going to charity.
March was a great month and I was able to go over my goal of $100 (although not quite as good as my February Creative Cash since I didn’t have a bunch of coupons saved up). I want to share with you the ways we did it so if you are looking for ways to make a little extra creative cash for your family hopefully we can be an inspiration in getting your creative juices flowing:
- $85.92 – Items sold on Ebay: The majority of items sold were coupons (I did sell a small office supply that I received free after rebate for about $8 of the amount sold). I encourage you to look around at some of the coupons you get the mail, newspapers, magazines, in your stockpile, or other places and if you will not have the opportunity to use them then consider selling them for a little extra creative cash.
- $30.00 – Items sold on Craigslist: I sold lawn care items/tools that we were no longer using. We had really good luck on Craigslist again this month, it can be hit and miss on Craigslist depending on the week and what people are looking for on the site.
- $6.40 – Other miscellaneous amounts earned (a rebate, return, cash back, extra money, etc…) that was added to my stash for the month.
March’s “Creative Cash” total was $122.32 which means $61.16 extra that goes towards our current goal, paying down debt and $61.16 goes towards charity. It was exciting to go above the $100 goal again and to know it helps us get a little closer to our goals as well as helps others along the way. I have plan of action on ways to earn creative cash in April so stayed tuned, hopefully, it will be another month where we can get closer to our goal and share with others. Each month I do a variety activities to accomplish this goal, the items above are just the ones I did specifically in March. I look forward to sharing more of the things that work well for our family as I do them in the upcoming months.
I will share with you the challenges, successes, and updates as I go through this journey so you can keep me accountable or even go through it with me by participating and sharing your story. Taking the extra time to find ways to help our family as well as invest in the lives of others is important to us. I hope that we have been able to encourage you to find ways to come up with some creative cash for your household as well. Obviously, each situation and family is unique so decide what works for you and go for it! Do you know of another way to earn creative cash? I would love to hear your idea!
Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances. Life doesn’t always go as planned. We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given. Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life. A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others. There is so much more to life than having all the stuff. We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.
Photo by StopNLook
Curious Kids: Swing Experiment!
Notice anything odd about the jungle gym? The girls are always asking questions and trying new things. As parents we get the privilege to answer these questions and teach them more about how things work. Occasionally, they come up with some interesting ideas on their own. I love how they use their creativity and are able to pull together some fun experiments. Not every creative moment ends up perfect but glad to see them thinking outside the box.
We were outside playing one sunny winter afternoon when I looked over at the girls playing on the swing set and noticed something a little odd. They had taken their cherry red lawn chairs from the front porch and put them on top of the swings on the jungle gym. It was hilarious watching them swing on the lawn chairs. A piece of me was thrilled that they figured out how to “invent” something silly yet not dangerous. They had a blast swinging on their “redneck” swings. It was great hearing their bursts of giggles as they watched each other swing.
They came up with this creative Redneck "swing" all on their own! 
They did pretty well swinging on their little red lawn chairs! 
Karlie and Brina Swinging on their silly swings! 
So proud of their little experiment! It was pretty funny watching them swing on those little red lawn chairs. They were so excited their experiment worked out so well. As Jake and I moved around in the yard the girls would just rotate their chair swings to face us. They make me laugh with some of the things they come up with but I am glad to see their imaginations running full throttle!
What started out as mere curiosity ended up being a fun new way to enjoy time swinging on the jungle gym. Encourage your kids to be creative and curious, you never know what you’ll see when you come around the corner!
Curious Kids is a series of posts on various questions kids ask as well as creative things they come up with on their own. If you have ever been around a toddler you know they will have a season when they start asking all the “Why” questions. Then as your toddler gets older you begin to see them start experimenting with objects, becoming even more creative, and trying to figure out new ways to make things work. As a parent of Twins my girls hit those stages at the same time! I was (and am) determined to not answer….”Because I said so” to their questions and allow them the freedom to be creative (as long as it isn’t dangerous) but there there are days when it is difficult coming up with all the answers to their questions and the mess behind their “creative” experiments sometimes gets a little too crazy for even Mom. Most days I love having the opportunity to teach my girls and encourage them to use their curiosity to be creative when they play!
Life Simplified: No Grocery Shopping (Update)
We are now well into week four of my no grocery shopping challenge for the month of January 2011. It is time for me to give you an update so you can continue to keep me accountable. Last week was an easy one for us because we were not at home, my husband and I had the privilege of going on a cruise with extended family and the girls were staying with friends. We did take food over with the girls but we didn’t have to buy any essentials or perishable items while we were away.Before leaving for vacation we ate the leftovers and most of the perishables in our refrigerator. This week was the first time this month I had to pick up several perishable items. Other than a gallon or two of milk a week we have been doing really well. So far we have purchased 5 gallons of milk for the month of January. Thankfully all the groceries I purchased this week were marked down except for the gallon of milk I paid $2.99 for at Save A Lot. Here are the groceries I bought this week at Save A Lot | Rite Aid to restock the perishables in our fridge:
- Ground Hamburger – $6.39 markdown to $3.18
- Cube Steaks – $3.14 markdown to $1.59
- 2 Yogurts – $0.50 markdown to $0.25 each
- French Onion Dip – $1.29 markdown to $0.64
- Cottage Cheese (24 oz) – $2.25 markdown to $1.12
- Flour Tortillas – $0.99 markdown to $0.49
I spent a total of $7.52 including tax. By only purchasing the markdown items I was able to save over $8 on the perishable items we needed for our family. With the exception of the french onion dip everything would meet my criteria of a necessity for our household. Every home has different perishable items they need to keep in stock; meat and diary fit into that category for us (within reason), although, I have been trying to cut down on the amount I purchase to make sure we really do use the items already in stock. Fruits and veggies are ones I would consider necessary too (in moderation), however, we are still using up the ones we had from several weeks ago as well as those we froze from the garden this summer. The french onion dip is one I felt the most “guilty” about buying but since it was $0.64 for a large container and we are going to a Super Bowl party outside our home it technically falls under my criteria of “for Someone Else outside of my household” (I may be stretching that criteria a little). Even though it was a good bargain and it is for people outside of my home I probably could have made something from scratch with the items already in my pantry.
I am hoping these will be the last items we have to purchase for the month of January (with an exception to milk) and maybe even into February if I am really lucky. These groceries should last at least a couple weeks when we put them together with the food we already have in our freezer and pantry! So far I haven’t done too bad with the challenge. I have had to pass up on a couple really great deals, but the point is to use the items in stock before buying more.
I will continue to share with you the challenges, successes and what I had to purchase so you can keep me accountable or even go through the journey with me by participating and sharing your story. I would love to extend this goal into February if I can make our pantry stretch!
Life Simplified is a series on getting rid of the extras in our life while learning how to enjoy what God has given us so we can continue to be a blessing to others. Our homes can quickly start are bursting with “stuff” and if you are like us we just have too much. I am doing a series on ways we are learning to simplifying our food, homes, and lives. When our hearts, lives, and homes get too cluttered we may start missing out on opportunities to serve and bless the people around us.
You know I do a lot of smiley faces for the girls when…..
The girls start coming up with food smiles on their own. I was baking the Beary Cute Cookies and asked Brina to help unwrap and sort the candies. This is the plate of goodies she handed to me. Yes, it made me smile. I am thrilled to see her willingness to participate in the kitchen and love the creative side coming out as well. Thankful for some extra cooking time with my sweet Brina. Everyone has been enjoying the goodies that we baked together this weekend. Hope you are having a wonderful time celebrating the last day of 2010 too!!!!
