Guess Who Is One - A Sunshine Birthday

How can these sweet squishy babies go from doing nothing to getting into everything in a blink of an eye?  June turned one on the 19th and here's the cake to prove it.

We sent out these adorable invites.

This was the first time I purchased invites, but in all honesty her birthday kind of creeped up on me.  Maybe that happens when you're number 4?  

Decorations Part 1

Thrifted frame, spray painted, and chalk paint over the glass

Mini chalkboards $1 Michael's 

Happy dahlia 

Invites - Sweet Gumdrop Creations on Etsy

First birthday chalkboard - CustomChalkPosters on Etsy

More inspiration for your little sunshine to come!

Thank You and Thanks - End of the Year Teacher Gift

When you bring home that sweet newborn the days seem so long and if you're my kiddos, then they make sure the nights are long, too.  This is girl.  This Wee One, or Cheese as we call her at home, had a big year.  She became a big sister, started preschool, and moved.  That's a lot of stress for a three-year old, so it's no surprise she will act like a threeager  every so often.

 

 

 

Her teacher and teacher aid were so amazing and provided stability during all of those transitions, so I wanted to do a little something. 

 

This is literally a little something.  Thanks to the popularity of fairy gardens, my local greenhouse is stocked with miniature plants and miniature pots. 

 

 

 

 

To make my life even easier, the nursery put them in these adorable boxes.

 

 

Plant - $1.99

Pot - $2.99

Thank You Flag - Free made at home

 

This teacher gift isn't cutting edge, but the it's cute and inexpensive. 



Discovering Great Artists - Book Review

Have you ever spent hours hours pouring through a website trying to decide which product would be the best bet?  No, then consider yourself lucky.   If you're like me, then I'm pretty sure I've spent a cumulative of months looking at products only to do the cart dance - in the cart, out of the cart, in the cart, and back out.  My most recent cart dance involved picking an art book.  I needed one that gave background, covered many styles, and had activities. 

Enter

 

Discovering Great Artists

The book is easy to use and comprehensive.  There are icons to help you plan your time and materials.

 

 

The activities are fun and my kiddos have loved every thing we've done.

The only downfall and it's a big one for an art book is that it's not in color.  My husband said, "An art book not in color? "  I knew the book wasn't in color, but I thought it wouldn't bother me.  It does.  I get it that it's an instruction book, but Ladybug reads it and wants to do every activity she sees. She would get more out of the book if it was in color or better yet a set of postcards of some of the art. 

This is not a pass, but rather makes a good part of a collection of art books for kids.

Kidnoculars - A Review

Behind our house is a small pond that attracts a whole new world of wild life.  Mister has written to Sea World to ask for an orca, but in the mean time we have been bird hunting.  They spend a great deal of time looking out the window at all the birds that visit our pond.  To encourage their love for the pond, the Easter Bunny brought a pair of binoculars for each kiddo. 

 

 Before the bunny found the binoculars she spent a lot of time researching which pair to get.  I needed something:

 

• durable because things get dropped all the time
• auto focus
• large enough to hold
• preferably large eye holes



The only pair that came close were the Geosafari Jr. Kidnoculars.  They are durable and easy to see through with auto focus.  I think they are a great pair for a young preschooler to practice looking through binoculars.  Also, it creates a whole level of excitement that a pair of toilet paper rolls don't match.  If you are looking for something that really magnifies long distances, then these aren't for you.  

 

 

A Look Back - Strawberry Shortcake Birthday Party

I think the more kids you have, the crazier you become.  It really is a good thing we stopped June because anymore kids would send me farther over the edge.  Yes, farther because I'm pretty sure I'm at least partly living in Crazy Town.

Example of my crazy was throwing the Wee One a birthday party when June was 2 weeks old.  See, I could have had it at the park or Chuck E Cheese's, but no I had to throw her a Strawberry Shortcake birthday because that's what you do when you live in Crazy Town.  

She's Three!

Invites

See that blank spot?  That's because I have no memory of doing an invite and record of one.  People managed to show up so there must have been something.

The Scene -The party ended up being a variation of Vintage Strawberry Shortcake picnic party.  The colors were pink, red, and green with daisies and strawberries.  The Wee One has a July birthday and that means very little decorating needs to be done.  It's hot, the tundra gets hot, and we spend most of our time in the inflatable water slide.

Food - We had fried chicken, grilled corn on the cob, blueberry muffins, pasta salad, potato salad, and strawberry applesauce.  That applesauce was so good it is still in my freezer - untouched.  That means I've had it for almost a year and I moved it.  

The food was served in wax paper lined baskets.  The guests had their choice of pasta salad or potato salad served in small cups.

The kid tables were done with green disposable placements and a gingham runner made from fabric.  

Strawberry lemonade and lemon water to drink.

The cake was a double decker strawberry shortcake.

The Fun - We had the inflatable water slide, chalk, an enchilada (pinata for those who don't speak Wee One), and plenty of running around.

The Favors and Thank You - Each guest received some chalk, berry flavored lip balm, a jump rope, a visor, and some candy from the pinata.  

The green berry baskets were lined with the same gingham fabric as the table runner.  

And the thank you cards that never happened.  Confession:  I am really bad about Thank You cards.  Really bad.  Maybe a mid-year resolution?

This was as good as it was going to get.

So I am only behind two birthday parties now?  Maybe it's denial that my kiddos are growing up.  Probably not.

Lila Doll Review

The Wee One has two goals in life:  To be a bakery (yes, a bakery) and to be a mom.  For Christmas she asked Santa to bring her a pacifier doll.  Santa spent countless hours reading reviews of dolls and putting them in and out of her Amazon cart.  Finally, with a week to Christmas it was do or die for that pacifier doll, which she had not stopped talking about.

Here is what we, Mr. and Mrs. Clause decided would be the perfect doll:

Corolle Lila

Those Corolle dolls get me every time with their sweet smell and cuddly bodies and then I look at the price.  It's a good thing I had a major coupon for Creative Kidstuff or I would still be looking.

When she threw up her hands and screamed, "Pacifier baby!"  that is when I knew I nailed it...or so I thought.

We are almost 3 months removed from Christmas and while she loves her pacifier doll, Carly, it is not her go-to doll.  The Wee One still has a soft spot for Ladybug's first Coroelle doll.  She is often annoyed with the crying and turns Carly off, which is totally fine by me - You've never heard a parent say a toy is too quiet.  The pacifier and the bottle are easy to insert in the doll's mouth, but I wish the pacifier would have come attached to the wrist or with a clip. We ended up using a ribbon to tie the pacifier to Carly's wrist after I spent hours (hours!) searching for it.  The doll is a good size, soft, and smells divine.

Overall I think this doll is a good doll and far less annoying than a lot of other interactive dolls.

You Drive Me Wild, Valentine!

Just tuck this in your back pocket for next year.

Amazon Prime add on stickers + Avery design and print online = You drive me wild, Valentine. 

Factor in that I didn't have to take four to the store in tundra weather and you have a winner, folks. 

Art Tackle Box - A Review

This year my husband and I decided to have a small Christmas with more focus on family and less focus on stuff.  That stuff seemed to pile up in the corner, spill out of the basement playroom (an entire basement dedicated to toys), and eventually spend more time in Toy Time-Out than being enjoyed. 

The kids were asked what they wanted and Ladybug, who loves artys crappsy kinds of activities, asked for a blue art tackle box or better known as the Lakeshore Arts & Crafts Supply Center.  Over the next few weeks I kept asking nagging because I wanted her to be really sure and she kept saying the same thing.  Really though this thing looked like my worst nightmare. 



Lakeshore Arts & Crafts Supply Center

Now, I was skeptical because:

A.  It had a lot of awesome supplies and those supplies would end up everywhere.  Remember that stuff that was in Toy Time-Out?  I was mentally adding the blue tackle box to the list. 

B.  I had a coupon for half-off. Was it too good to be true?

C.  I could only find reviews where the product had been supplied by Lakeshore and reviewed.  Now, I know that these reviews are suppose to be unbiased, but I wanted a review not associated with a coupon or Lakeshore.

I gave Santa the green light and now we are the proud owners of a blue art tackle box. 

 

We've had the blue tackle box for almost two months and it is used every single day.  My concern was the awesome supplies would be everywhere, but it seems the novelty of the small clear boxes helps keep her supplies organized. There is enough variety in supplies that it keeps all of them interested and creative. 

 

 

I would recommend to blue tackle box to any budding Martha Stewart.

 



Sneak Peak - Part Two

For Christmas the kids received two large scale DIY projects.  The fist was an art studio and the second a playhouse.  Here is a sneak peak at the playhouse and the empty space.

Like the art studio it's a nook in the corner of the basement that's only purpose was to collect junk.

Built-In Art Studio - Part 2

In my last post about the art studio it was all about heavier lifting and now it's time to put it all together or the fun part.

This space isn't particularly girly and if Ladybug would have been the team leader she would have picked lavender, pink, dark purple, and glitter.  I chose to use a few pieces we already owned, purchased from Spell It With Style, to help design the space.

I picked up 4 inexpensive framed cork boards, 1 white board, and 1 chalk board for art display and extra workspace.  On each cork board I did a light sand and painted one of the four colors from the ART.  Using my Cricut machine a number was added to the top to give it a little something extra.  My husband and I played around with multiple figuration, so could reach the cork boards and the extra drawing spaces.  It was a challenge because they aren't very tall.  When we found the only thing that worked they were nail gunned to the wall.  Those aren't going anywhere.

On the opposite wall from the work space I covered an IKEA Spontan board with fabric using industrial hot glue.  Above the magnetic board I put my spin and first attempt at Subway art.  This project took longer than  any other thing in the entire kid's art studio.

Usually, I dislike and have a hard time with mismatched patterns, but my mom convinced me the space needed some whimsy.

On the pegboard IKEA baskets, buckets, and lights were affixed to the board along with movable hooks.  The lights are wired together and a switch is used to turn both on.  I am not going to try to explain the wiring because, well, I didn't do any of it.

Finally, my husband installed an IKEA Knappa light that ladybug chose, but had no idea why she was picking it out, in the old can light.  You can see a hole around the light because we have the only model of can light that was not on the can light adaptor list.  Not only was the light a pain to put up, but IKEA directions have to be the worst directions of all time.

There you have the completed kids art studio!  The whole project took a little over two weeks working 2-3 days a week for a few hours a day plus some evenings.

If you have a kid's art space I would love to see it since I am always looking for new ideas!  Feel free to leave a comment and a link to your space.