mothers day ideas - mothers day gifts

Thursday, November 10, 2011

For the Kids Friday #36

Should I mention that Christmas is only 6 weeks away?
I have been collections LOADS of great holiday ideas that I can't wait to share with you. So stay tuned! I've got to get working on these things myself! How will you be making this season jolly and bright? I am so excited to see all that you have to share!

Here are some of my favorite links from last week's party...

If you've been featured below
grab my A++ and brag about it to your friends :)

And now for the party!

1) I would LOVE for you to first be a follower of my blog. (And why wouldn't you want to be?!)

2) Grab my For the Kids Fridays Button and place it somewhere on your blog. Be sure to link back to me!

3) Link up as many KID-RELATED activities, games, recipes, parties, gifts, clothing you've created, crafts, traditions, lessons, and so on... that you would like to share. Please add a different link each week. They can be old or new... this is just a place to share ideas for our kids to enjoy. Bonus points to those that serve some educational purpose too! Link must be to the specific post, and not your general blog page. Please don't link to your store.

4) Share the love and comment on at least one other link. Everyone loves to get feedback.

That's it! Have fun, and thanks so much for participating!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Play Mat to House

I am excited to share with you another great blog today...
Ani's Favorite Things

Ani has a great mom blog where she shares tidbits on her life, crafting, and loads of her cooking and baking! She loves to bake and has already been sharing loads of holiday cookie recipes, with more posted each and every Friday. Stop by for some great recipes to try, and see what crafty things she's whipping up when she's not in the kitchen!

Some of my personal favorites over at
Ani's Favorite Things...

1) Christmas Cookie Commotion - Cookie Recipes Each Friday until Christmas
2) Faux Chenille Baby Blanket 3) Felt Playhouse 4) Mosaic Jello

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I'm Ani from Ani's Favorite Things. I love to make things... for my house, for children (I have two adorable nephews!), for my friends, and definitely for Christmas. I try to share some of my favorite creations as well as how to recreate them yourself on my blog. A lot of my projects are inspired by others (who I give credit to, of course) and I hope my projects continue the trend and inspire more! This next post is something I'm probably going to save for Christmas.

I've been wanting to make a car mat for a while. I've been collecting inspiration on my Pinterest board. Feel free to check it out. I would definitely be remiss if I did not acknowledge I was inspired by CookCleanCraft and followed their tutorial to make my car mat transform into a house!

I love the idea of having places for several different types of vehicles, so I included a Fire House, Hospital, Police Station, Construction Zone, and Farm.

I included the bank as well to facilitate playing cops and robbers. :)

And I couldn't resist adding McDonalds. What kid wouldn't recognize that?

And, of course, cars need gas. I put a park in there too, as well as a church (both of my brother-in-laws are pastors, so my nephews spend a bit of time at church. :)

I think my favorite may be the barn. What can I say? I'm a country girl!

Here's the outside of the house.

And the front door.

And here it is all folded up. I think it turned out pretty well for my first attempt, and I'm sure it will be the bomb at Christmas. I also love the fact that there is plenty of space inside to cart around cars or even other toys.

Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

For the Kids Friday #35

Welcome to the Party!!!
Yes, I know... I have had issues with my buttons for a while. I haven't had the time to sort it all out until now. I believe I have the problem resolved... so please grab one of my buttons if you haven't been able to! I really appreciate all of you for helping spread the word about our weekly link party!

Here are some of my favorite links from last week's party...

If you've been featured below
grab my A++ and brag about it to your friends :)

Thanks for all of your inspiring ideas! ...now onto this week's party.

1) I would LOVE for you to first be a follower of my blog. (And why wouldn't you want to be?!)

2) Grab my For the Kids Fridays Button and place it somewhere on your blog. Be sure to link back to me!

4) Share the love and comment on at least one other link. Everyone loves to get feedback.

That's it! Have fun, and thanks so much for participating!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Emerald City Art Piece

I have another fabulous blog to share with you today...
restlessrisa
Risa has a fabulous crafty, mom blog full of simple and beautiful ideas. She's been sharing her fabulous ideas at For the Kids Friday Link Party, and today she is here to share as my guest! I am thrilled to have her, and I hope that you take a moment to stop by and see what amazing things she's doing over at her blog.

Some of my personal favorites over at
restlessrisa...

1) Halloween Advent Calendar 2) Back to School Party (Books/Reading)
3) Back to School Party (Fried Worms) 4) Travel Kit Tutorial

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Hello, and THANK YOU RACHEL for having me today. I am honored and thrilled to be here guest posting on my favorite family fun blog!

A little about me... I am a wife to one great husband, and mom to 3 sweet kids. I love being a stay-at-home-mom, and hope I can bring a little magic and wonder into my kids lives. I love holidays, family vacations, birthdays and just every day. I do what I can to make things special and memorable for my family.

This is the family before we welcomed our newest addition 9 months ago.

We need to take a new family picture - I know, but this will have to do for now.

This week, I had a Halloween late night/party for both older kids. In four days, I will be hosting a girlfriend (mom only) Halloween party for some of my closest friends. The theme is Wizard of Oz. I have asked each guest to bring a food item. I will have four tables set, one for each food category.

The categories are:

1) Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion,
2) Munchkin Land,
3) The Emerald City,
4) Good and Bad Witches.

I have decorations for each table, but was having a hard time coming up with what to do for The Emerald City table.

We were all just sitting around this morning, and I decided to enlist the kids help for making an Emerald City art piece. They were THRILLED! They have been very excited for my party, and like to see what I have planned.

SUPPLIES:

1 piece foam board ($.99 at the dollar store)
Elmer's glue Scissors Paint and brush Paper

{I used 3 different colors each
for the yellow brick road (3 sheets),
the poppies (5 sheets),
and The Emerald City (3 sheets)}

First, turn on Wizard of Oz music in the background, and sing along.

My favorite song lyrics from The Wizard of Oz:
It really was no miracle,

What happened was just this.
"The wind began to switch.
The house to pitch.
And suddenly the hinges started to unhitch.
Just then, the witch
To satisfy an itch
Went flying on her broom stick

Thumbing for a hitch."

Tear the edges off all the papers, and tear them into strips.

Pester your sister, and try to take the paper away before she is finished tearing it.

Then tear the papers into smaller pieces.

Cut out the shapes you want to for The Emerald City. I stapled them together on the bottom (where it would be covered by paper) before gluing them to the foam board, so it would be easier to attach.

Paint the foam board.

Draw the yellow brick road, and get started!

I put the glue down, and let the kids stick the papers on. They LOVED it!

This project was super easy, and inexpensive. It took less than an hour, and the kids were so proud of themselves that they got to make a decoration for my party!

My daughter told me she wants to have a Wizard of Oz party for her next birthday. I might just keep everything from this party, make life easy on myself, and use it for her party! In the next few weeks, I will be sharing the rest of my Wizard of Oz party on my blog. Please stop by any time. I love visitors! www.restlessrisa.blogspot.com

Have a Happy and Creative Day!

Risa