Art for Kids: Painting Castles

I found these wooden castles at a recent Michaels trip and I was so excited to get started on this project! Now, I thought it would keep them occupied for a looong time, but it was about 30 minutes. It is ok though, because they were so proud of their creations!

The castles were $9.99 but they always have one of those 40% or 50% off coupons that you can find. All you need is some paint and paintbrushes, as well as something to cover the table (I used a roll of kraft paper).

I let the kids pick which colors they would like on their “palette”, which is a small plastic bowl.

My daughter is almost two years old, and even she was very engaged an excited about this project.

I find it best to give each sibling their own brushes and paint from the start, so they know what is theirs and it avoids fighting.

They did an excellent job!

Kwik Stix Paint Markers for Kids – My Favorites!

We received this Kwik Stix paint set as a gift from my brother and sister-in-law and they are absolutely amazing! These are my favorite kids art supply to date! They go on so smooth, even Mom was having a blast with this one.

I regret to say that my one year old daughter took a fancy to eating the paint sticks (she’s in an everything in the mouth stage). So, instead I took out some standard markers for her to experiment with.

But the 4 year old was having so much fun playing around with his new creative tools.

Christmas Card Art Project for Kids

I love giving my son arts and crafts projects at home. This Christmas greeting card project is super easy.

You will need:

  • 10 blank fold-over cards
  • Black sharpie marker
  • Kids markers
  • Glue
  • Gold glitter
  • Embellishments/stickers of choice

Use a black sharpie marker to draw the outline of a tree, and write each card recipients name on a card. Then give each one to your child to color them in.

Let them be creative! Green trees, or blue trees, in the lines or out of the lines – just have fun and let them explore their creative spirit.

Then for the parents, use the glue and just draw a simple zig-zag on each tree. Then sprinkle with glitter.

Lay the out on the table and let them dry for an hour or so. This will make the next step less messy.

Then let your child use the embellishments/stickers as “ornaments” on the trees. We used holly and snowflakes, found at the local craft store.

Penguin Christmas Card

This year’s Christmas card was inspired by these little penguin illustrations, how cute are they!

Packaged in a kraft envelope printed with an image of our little penguin friend and the works “MERRY”. Then I used a fine point Sharpie (my favorite pen!) to personalize each recipient’s name.

Inside is a lollipop adhered with a glue dot, and it reads, “We hope your holiday season is SWEET and filled with much laughter and joy.”

Thanks a Latte Card for Teacher

The holidays are a time to think of the super important people who care for our children. Rather than getting them another tchotchke, I prefer a gift card. This year I did a Dunkin’ Donuts gift card for each, along with a cute card that says, “Thanks a latte for taking care of our little munchkin”.

I created the design as a fold-over notecard with a personalized message inside.

The gift card is adhered in the interior of the card.

The inside message reads, “Wishing you much joy, peace & laughter in 2018.”

Choo Choo Train Party Favor

There is nothing my soon to be 3 year old loves more than trains, so it seemed an appropriate third birthday theme. I created these adorable wooden engine party favors so that all his friends could join in on the fun and take a little piece of the party home with them.

I got the wooden train set on Amazon, 12 trains for $21.99.

I designed the gift tags to read, “Chugga Chugga Thank Choo for celebrating my 3rd birthday and for being a very special friend”. I printed, trimmed, and hole punched each one, then tied a satin red ribbon to attach one to each train. Needless to say all of the kids loved them!

Baby Girl Announcement and Stationery

My favorite designs are the ones I create for my family. When I found out I was pregnant with a girl, all I could see was pink and florals. I was excited to create Josephine’s stationery and announcement with that theme in mind.

Our beautiful Josephine Eleanor was born on August 11, 2017. She was named after my Grandmother and Great Grandmother. Two strong women that I admired.

Her baby photos strongly resemble her brother’s baby photos, I can’t tell them apart! Brother Ryan welcomed her with joy, his desire to love and care for her was intuitive.

The combination of her given name, and the energy I felt from her, I knew she was going to be a strong, grounded baby. I wanted to incorporate quotes on the stationery that expressed this feeling. “Though she be but little, she is fierce.” I like the juxtaposition of the soft, feminine colors and imagery, paired with bold words and meanings.

I wrote individual thank you messages on the notecards and inserted them into the announcement envelopes to make them more personal.

Practical Baby Gift Every New Mother Needs

When visiting a new mom, keep in mind that she may be overwhelmed. Brining a gift like a plant might just be another thing for her to have to take care of when you leave. I was surprised how sedentary life with a newborn is, so having a basket of essentials nearby was something I learned to be beneficial with my first child. By the time I had my second, I created a basket like this for each area of the house I planned to spend time nursing, (1) on my nightstand, and (2) next to my living room couch. Having these “stations” set up were perfect for making sure I had everything I needed at all hours of the day (and night!). After having two babies, I’ve figured out what the best products were – what worked / what didn’t. I thought it would be a great gift to bring to a new mom, and I plan on bringing one to my friend this week when I visit her and her new baby.

Here’s a list of what’s included, with a link to the item at Amazon so that you can add it all to your cart and don’t have to surf the web trying to find everything:

Diapers: Pampers Swaddlers, size Newborn

Pack of Wipes: Pampers Sensitive Wipes with Pop-top Lid

Pack of Cloth Diapers (these are great used as burp cloths, super absorbant): Gerber

Diaper Rash Cream: Boudreux Butt Paste

Nipple Cream: Medela Lanolin

Onesies ($20.99): Carter’s Short-Sleeved

Pacifiers ($4.42): Philips Avent Soothies

Snack: Nature Valley Peanut Butter Bars

Bottle of Water: Fiji Single Bottle

Basket of Choice