Remake Your Kids' Art: Finger Painting Bunting

Doesn't your heart sink when your kiddo goes to throw something in the recycling and sees their old art work in there? They get so offended and it breaks my heart.

So I am posting about things to do with your kiddo's art projects, since so far it seems ok if we chop them up and reuse them.

Preston loves to paint and finger paint. So we found a bunting template online simply by googling it and cut out Mr. P's finger paintings. We used hot glue and twine, gluing the back top of the flags to the twine.

Give it a whirl.

To learn about the Dictionary P go here.

Or to learn how to mount photos on canvas go here.

Happy repurposing!!

I was going to post a blog...

I had every intention of posting an incredible/fun/inspiring/fill in the blank blog today, however all of my photos are blurry.

I think sticky toddler fingers got to my camera lens.

So, you get this instead...

iphone photos of the sweetest little boy in the world...

eating a gluten free cupcake, on valentines day,  

tangled up in a bad hair day while making the best memories with his mama!

Seize the day!

Tea Party Tub Time

It rains here in Portland, a lot. 

When you have a curious toddler, it gets kinda tough this time of year. It seems that there are only so many things we can do in the house. Sure, we go out in the rain sometimes but it's really not a desirable situation. 

I have been brainstorming to conjure up activities, other that plopping my little man down in front of the television or reading to him until my tongue is swollen and dry.

Preston's favorite thing about summer is being able to play in the water. 

So, I decided to bring it indoors, but not as a traditional bath time.

I got a huge mixing bowl and filled it with water and put our green toys tea party set in the tub. I put on Mr. P's bathing suit and placed him in the tub for his bath tub tea party!

I stayed in there the whole time with him, sitting on a blanket. I let him play on his own, problem solving, pouring and sipping from tiny tea cups...

It lasted two whole hours!

I read blogs, got sucked into Pinterest (the surfed my way out), read a pile of magazines that had been waiting on my attention, and then picked up a book!

Eventually I got bored and took him out, but I think he would have kept playing quite a while more!

If you're looking for some time to catch up on reading materials and something to entertain and educate your two year old, maybe you'll have success with 

Thumbprint Christmas Ornaments

Holy-moly! I haven't written a blog in a long time! I have been doing numerous things, getting ready for the holidays, spent time with my mother etc... Time has slipped away, but I have needed the down time that I have taken. Whew!

I am sharing a very fun and simple holiday project that we did as a family, Thumbprint ornaments!

Here is my Ornaments Pinterest Board with the pins that have inspired this project!

We started off with inexpensive wooden circles from the craft store.

We painted a base coat of acrylic paint- in this case it was an off white.

I used a paint brush to put brown acrylic paint on every family members' thumb (one at a time of course) and placed it where I wanted it on the wood with light pressure. 

I then used a fine paint brush to paint the eyes, ears and antlers in black and the noses in red. I wrote in red ink at the bottom, but it doesn't look so crisp, so I'd likely not do that this time. This project was inspired by this pin.

For the snowman, the base color is Christmas red and I used Mr. P's pinky and index fingers and thumb. I simply brushed on the off white paint and put them where I wanted them!

All that is left to do is drill little holes at the top, thread some ribbon through and hang them on the tree!

Happy ornament making!

PaPaBAW!! (pom pom balls) toddler activity!

PaPaBAW!! (pom pom balls) Mr. P yells this every time that I get the pom pom balls out. I keep them in a jar and let him stick his hand into the full jar (sensory!) and pull them out. 

Keeping Mr. P in the high chair for this activity helps to contain the balls and maintain his focus. 

I love this activity, because it lasts awhile, it is educational, it's super cheap, and it doesn't have to be directly supervised if you need to buy some chore time!

As you see here, we get out multiple kitchen containers for lil man to practice sorting and use his imagination!

We are teaching him to sort by color in the silicone ice cube tray.

Just look at this concentration caught on camera!

he really loves this activity. It is fun to watch him make up different things to do, sometimes we inspire him and other times we leave him alone to create.

We purchased this pack of primary color pom poms at the Dollar store! We also got a pack of pastels to mix it up. 

Eventually we can start talking about comparisons and what colors combine to create other colors!

And sometimes the measuring cup just becomes a telephone!

**Please note that if you toddler likes to stick things in their mouth this may not be the best activity for them unless highly supervised. Mr P is not big on putting everything in his mouth, but he just had to try it once. We watched very closely as he tested one in his mouth and spit it back out- quickly! It only took one time!

If you think of any other pom pom games/activities, please let me know! These things are so versatile!