Cruising through the holidays

39 days until Christmas.
It's a lot of time and a little time, all at the same time.

I  want to have a festive, relaxing and memorable Christmas. That's what I want so I'm working hard this year to give that gift to myself.

Last year we put up our tree on December 1st and by December 23rd I was ready for "it" all to be over. That didn't feel so great. In fact, it super sucked! I blamed it all on having put of the tree too early (sorry tree) but I really think that my state of disorganization > which lead to chaos, which leads to having nothing to wear to festivities, bad hair days, running around all over the place trying to pick up things, and so on, made the entire Christmas season feel like one big last minute rush.

Here's the truth, lots of women make Christmas happen. Lots. As my dear dear friend put it, "We are the Christmas Makers." It's an honour and a duty all at the same time. I didn't fully appreciate all the work my Mom did until I had children of my own. What? Christmas doesn't just happen by waving a sparkly glitter snow wand over your house and voila? Mom, thank you.

So, I need help over the holidays. Maybe you are ok, good to go and have little to no anxiety about gift shopping, decorating, meal planning, visiting, hosting, wrapping, eating too many cookies and having fun - I am so happy for you and one day hope to join you on the "other side."

But for now, if you're even A LITTLE like me, could use some guidance, need a planner to work through, have trouble delegating, get overwhelmed at the thought of being the Christmas Maker...maybe you could use this free FlyLady Cruising Through the Holiday Control Journal, maybe.

Other FlyLady control journals, here.

P.S. The Fly in FlyLady stands for "finally loving yourself," nice, isn't it?

Super Fun Birthday Goodie Bag Treasure Hunt!

We celebrated out daughter's 4th birthday this weekend and her and her little cousins had a super fun time doing an easy 3-5 year old friendly Goodie Bag Treasure Hunt. Hardly any adult intervention was needed to complete the hunt, in fact we mainly just followed them around, cheered them on and laughed with them as they made their way around our house: 

1. Take pictures of 10-12 spots/things around your house

2. Print pictures and put picture #1 in an envelope, tape the rest of the clues in sequence around the house...one following the other.

3. Write instructions on envelope and read it to the "Team." Ours went something like this: "Hey Team! It's time for your super fun Goodie Bag Treasure Hunt! Go to the place in clue number one to find the next clue! Good luck and have fun!"

4. Let the birthday child open the envelope and run to spot #1 to search for the next clue.

5. Corral the teenage boys that thought this was a race and each picked a little girl to team up with, explain to them at clue #1 that this isn't a race and that they have to STOP pointing out the clues and then finally banish them until you need their help to make sure the kids get down the stairs safely...

6. Try to keep up with the kids until they reach the last clue - I wrote an "X" on the clue and knew our daughter would know "X" marked the spot. P.S. The look on her face and hysterical calling to her cousins when she saw the X was priceless and I'm still cursing myself for not having enough room on my itouch to have video taped all of it :(

The first clue was taped to the front door and the Goodie Bag Location (the "X") was the dryer! The dryer location worked perfectly for us because we (serious, all this we actually should read I, but you knew that) could hide their goodie bags in the dryer, fill the dyer with inflated balloons and shut the door. This was the only way we could have set up the treasure hunt before all the guest arrived. The taped clues around the house were strategically in somewhat unnoticeable places, but the kids were so distracted beforehand I'm not sure they would have known otherwise.

Other clues were located: on the master bedroom mirror, under the baby's crib, under the dining room table (so funny to see all the little girls crawling between aunties legs looking for the next clue), in the shower, taped to the microwave door, inside the fridge freezer, taped to the inside of the playroom closet wall, etc. 

Honestly, I could not have imagined that this super easy to prepare for activity would have gone so well. It was so funny and rewarding to see them working as a team (for the most part) and celebrating their successes together. Each girl found clues, even the littlest one. I think they had more fun on the hunt than opening the treasure bags.

They went on their treasure hunt after we sang happy birthday and cut the cake. May as well have them blow off some sugar before opening presents, right?

I can't take credit for the idea. It is from Unplugged Play: No Batteries. No Plugs. Pure Fun. by Bobbie Conner (a gift from my Mom, thanks Mom!).

Do you have any winning birthday party ideas to share? I'd LOVE to hear them!!!

Paint the snow...

Fun right?!

From A Bird and a Bean: kids crafting and cooking and such

Let Her Eat Cake!

Our daughter will be 3 years old very soon. In preparation for her birthday I've asked her a couple questions, including what kind of cake she wants. She wants a pink cake with her picture on it. Ok. I'm thinking, how can i put her picture on a cake without doing one of those edible photo things?? I'm not sure how she'd feel about a knife going through her photo or someone eating her face, right!?

Bonjour Wilton. I love this idea of putting a plastic picture frame on top of a cake. Now this princess cake is bit blah for me, but the frame on top couldn't get any easier! 

Oh yes, she loves princesses...another idea (thanks mom!) is to simply place a princess tiara (like this one) on top of a cake. I would swap out Jasmine's photo with a photo of our princess, and voila, a princess cake with her picture on it.

I think cakes can make us feel special. If we're lucky enough, we have photos of ourselves as children in front of our birthday cakes, tongues wagging, waiting to dive in! 

Why wait for a "special" occasion to eat cake? If it means hitting your local grocery store and picking up something Yum - Do It! Let's enjoy our lives, that's what they are there for!

Sunshine Mural

Super cute for a playroom or basement corner (?)...or just to look at.

From here.

Chair Gift

I love this idea. A small chair was recovered in plain white canvas and drawn upon with fabric markers as a gift for a child's 1st birthday. From here.

You could take this idea and instead of a chair do up a canvas, blanket, pillowcase, or poster paper (and then have it framed)...The chair is a cool idea but the most labour intensive. Keep in mind that anything that will be used (ie. dirtied) may need to be cleaned...but there's fabric sealers and art supplies for practically anything these days.

Ok...now here's a thought, this would be great gift from a child to a parent. Yes, supervision and help would be required...but I want one in ottoman form for our living room! So, I think I'd have to replace gift with "project" in my case...but that's ok.

Draw/Paint a Peacock!

Something fun for kids and adults from a great website: Art Projects for Kids - Classroom Tested Art Projects for K-5 and Beyond. It's like "Are you smarter than a 5th grader"...but replace smarter with craftier?!

P.S. Did I mention it's educational too? Wowzers.

Play Kitchen - Made by a Dad

I love blogs by guys (well, some of them anyways)...here's one of them.


I like this play kitchen. I don't know what the budget may have been but since this guy's subheading is:


"Ramblings of a bald man and his mod pad. And stuff. And getting it on the cheep. And sometimes maybe ladies. Who knows?"


I'm guessing it didn't cost a mint. Just some creativity and time.

This quote from the blog is hilarious: "Claire's pretty into it. Not really in the traditional way I guess, but more in the "Let's-rip-off-the-sink-and-drop-food-down-the-hole-and-retrieve-it-from-the-cabinet" sort of way. Sometimes she puts her fancy lady attire in the kitchen. I'd like she'll still be doing the same thing in about 25 years."

Soap Action Figures

I came across this craft and thought...my husband would think this is SO cool!!

I think this is a good craft that dads and kids can do together. Not that it would  mean less work for you (set it up for your husband to tackle, collect all tools and ingredients, print out instructions, possibly simplify instructions, probably clean up afterwards, provide a snack, etc., etc.) but I think it could make a really cute set of photos and some priceless memories. From here.

What are you doing this summer?

I'm a sucker for lists. I'll admit though, that in a flurry of pregnancy hormones and tiredness I took my latest set of Honeydew lists, tore them up and tossed them out.

What is a Honeydew list? It's a cute way of saying: Honey Do This and Honey Do That. Did the list work? Yes, yes it did. But let's be honest. Not even a working list can sustain the wrath of a pregnant, tired and moody woman! Nobody, and nothing else, was harmed in the ripping of the lists and I actually felt better for doing it!

Anywho, I digress... a list is a great reminder to make my good intentions a reality. The list need not be long, complicated or definite. Checking off something here and there feels great and keeps the home-fires burning when it comes to getting "it" done.

P.S. Lists don't have to be all about work. Here's a great idea for a Summer Must-Do List from Giver's Log. Summer is short (at least in Winnipeg...it snowed this year on May 1 - but that's another story) so let's take advantage of getting some fun things done. I like that the onus on making the list isn't all up to one person (Mom) and that it's colourful enough to hang somewhere where everyone can see it and remind each other about what's really important - enjoying our lives! We Can Do It! 

Frozen Yogurt in a Tube

Yoplait makes these yogurt tubes that make a super treat for kids and grown ups alike, especially if you freeze them.

Our daughter really likes these yogurt pops and I feel good that she's eating yogurt! 

To prevent cold fingers and hands slip the frozen yogurt tube into a mitten or a sock. P.S. the mitten or sock makes a good napkin when things start to get melty!

Bookshelf/Play House

1 sheet of 3/4" plywood = this bookshelf/play house. I like the kleenex box chimney detail.
From here.

Go and Check the Routine!

Our 2 1/2 year old daughter is not a fan of brushing her teeth and doesn't always want to eat supper/sit on the potty take a bath/put on her pj's/go to bed/ [fill in the blank]. So, what's a parent to do...besides the best they can...which is really the most important thing, right?

I took a little time and drew up our daughter's route in little pictures, numbered each one (she's into counting right now), gave each activity a title and taped it to the wall at kid height. Now my husband or I can say, "Go check the routine!" when it's time to do one of the evening rituals that help settle our toddler and get her ready for bed. Amazingly so far so good! Some nights she even says, "I check routine!" and runs over to see what's next. I'm sure it won't work forever but I'm thinking maybe she feels more like a participant rather than being forced to do something she just doesn't want to do. I know there's lots of advice and psychology literature about kids + routine = comfort (which I believe)...but let's be honest, whatever it is, I don't need to read up on it. If the routine is working right now we'll take it while we can get it.

Clarification: Our daughter sits on the toilet (lid closed) while we brush her teeth...

I just realized it may look a little strange.

Mini-Eco - Turn a Cardboard Cereal Box into a Play Castle

Turn a cereal box into a miniature play house or castle. So cute...from here.

Play tables for kids

Cute, especially if you have an old table (just saw down the legs) and some extra paint. The table doesn't have to be square, or a table at all for that matter, cardboard & markers would do. It's about the fun, not about complicating your life!

 I think a map of your neighbourhood with street names and landmarks would be especially great.

Photos from here.

 

Make a craft tray out of a plastic 4 L milk carton

One day I thought to myself, why use tupperware as a paint, glue or glitter tray while when I can cut off the bottom of a 4 L plastic milk jug and use it instead? Inspired by the reusable plastic container from this post....

Make as many as you need to satisfy all the little, and big, crafters in your house!

Other possible uses:

Snack/picnic tray

Button/needle/thread holder while sewing

Sprinkle catcher while sprinkling iced cupcakes

Why you can love it:

You're reusing instead of buying

You can recycle it after using it (without cleaning it)

It's free (providing you have milk drinkers in the house)!

Recycle Your Crayon Bits Into Chunky Wonders

Ever wonder what to do with those old bits of crayons? Why not melt them into a set of cool new technacolour crayon chunks (and I'm not talking about leaving a bag of them on the back dashboard of your dad's 1963 station wagon on a hot day)...

Cute and useful with complete instructions here. Rumour has it bright colours work best...

Forget your fridge, put your child's art on the wall!

We were over at a friends place for dinner and while we were finishing up the sushi (yum) the kiddies were into the Pipsqueaks (Crayola's cute -totally- washable markers for little hands)... when low and behold...VoilA!

One of the kiddies ran up to his mommy with his masterpiece in hand. A series of blue, green and grey scribbles on a white plain old piece of computer paper. Honestly, there was something totally captivating about his scribbles that words can't describe. We looked at each other and said, almost at the same time, that's nice enough to go on the wall - it just needs to be about 20x bigger!

Well, in my employment travels over the last 2 years (I took to part time after our daughter was born in seek of personal balance) I worked at a photo restoration shop. One of the services they offered was printing on canvas. So there you go. You can get just about anything printed to almost any size on canvas, have the canvas stretched and mounted on a frame > ready to hang on your wall. GENIUS. Seriously. If When I win the lottery my first purchase will be a big beautiful plotter (really really big printer) and I swear I'm going to set up shop in my house. Until then, if this at all interests you let me know, I can give you a hand as to where to get your kid's artwork turned into a wall sized canvas.

Our children are a part of our families and our homes are their homes too. If they happen to be into scribbling here and there and something catches your eye, save yourself about $7500 and get a big a$$ canvas print made of their painting/drawing/scribble and hang it on your wall. I think it boosts their self confidence at the same time. Win win.

I let my daughter go to town on a canvas I had lying around the house when she was about 2 years old. It hangs at our back door and I see it through the window every time I come home and stick the key in the lock. I love it. It just says Welcome Home Mommy every time.

One of our daughter's masterpieces that hangs by our backdoor.

More art display ideas:

I LOVE this.

If you have a child who produces art like it's going out of style, 

something like this may be right up your alley! 

Side note: Ikea, when are you coming to Wpg? Seriously.

Complete with photos of the artists. From somewhere in here.

A series of scribbles.

Collage style. cute right? 

112 little pieces or art in one big frame. 

I want a tepee for my living room.

Tepee, Tipi, Teepee. However you spell it, it's all the same. Me wants one.

From here.

Twinkle Lights

Twinkle lights are one of my favorite things. Don't they look nice draped down the wall?
From here.