Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Christmas Ornaments DIY - Star of Paris - Tutorial

Once again, I was inspired by Pinterest to make these holiday Christmas ornaments.

They cost about $4.25 for 6 ornaments. 
$1.50 - clear plastic ornaments 
$2.75 - acrylic paints 

Here is the link to my YouTube tutorial :
A great gift or any grandparent :)

Also, the fingerprint snowmen add a lot of cuteness to this project :)






Labeling Storage Boxes for Garage Organization - Star of Paris

This has really helped in organizing our garage !!


Saturday, December 28, 2013

Freezer Paper T-Shirt Printing - Pregnancy T-Shirt

I have been wanting to do this project since I found out I was pregnant but never had the time. Finally, this week when I was ready to toss an old t-shirt out, I decided to paint it. 
I used the freezer paper method. Maybe an hour to print the image, cut out, iron and paint. Definetly glad I took the time to do this project :)

This is the link to my you tube tutorial: DIY - Freezer Paper Stenciling Tutorial - Star of Paris






Art time at our house - 2 year old

At our house art time is a whole day process. I do it every month and will be trying to do it weekly now that the cold weather has set in.

How I set up..
First, we have so many coloring books we could open a store. I take old and un-used coloring books and tear the pages out.

Then, I tape all them all together and make one huge coloring page floor area.

Finally, I take out markers, paints, pens, crayons and color pencils.

He can now color to his hearts content !  
It keeps him very occupied and loves to use all of his art supplies. 

As an added bonus I give him stickers to embellish his artwork. 





Friday, December 20, 2013

Too many toys ??

I took my son this week for development testing. I don't have any concerns but I did want to know if there were any areas we could improve. To my surprise there were two main tests he failed.
First: imagination
They asked if he pretends to play with other toys. While he does pretend to cook he never pretends one toy to be another. For example using a block as a car. It's true we have a garage full of toys so he has never had to pretend. If he wants a car he has a box full of them. That was when I asked myself if my child has too many toys? Is it limiting his imagination ? I have taken out toys and rotate them monthly. Maybe just a cardboard box for a week to try and get him to pretend more ? 

Second: pointing at images on books and naming them.
In our house we have 30 library books plus bookshelves and closet full of books. Reading has been our primary goal since he was born. Before nap and bed time we read him an average of 10 books. Now, I'm asking myself it have we been doing too much reading and not enough interacting ? If you ask him to point to a item he does, if you ask him to repeat a word he does but he never voluntarily names items out loud. He will look at books and say he's reading but he never reads out loud and points out items. Not sure how to improve this. If you ask he will answer but how do I get him to talk without asking? 

I'm glad I did the development testing, it made me look at him from a different perspective and now I'm re-evaluating my daily activities to get him talking more. Having kids is hard, there might be millions of books to teach you how to raise a child  but with limited time, which are the right books and what activities are best for your child. Back go the drawing board for me :)



Monday, December 16, 2013

Baby Proofing The Christmas Tree


When we had our first baby we decorated the tree with lovely "Baby's First Christmas" ornaments. Then the year passed and my baby started exploring more and more. Finally, last Christmas, I had to admit my ornaments were no longer child safe. So, I went out and bought new ornaments and childproofed as best I could. Here is some advice when you're planning your first kid friendly Christmas tree.

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New Christmas ornaments:
Replaced with non breakable ornaments. Purchased stuffed animal ornaments, paper ornaments and made origami ornaments. Ornaments that were delicate and we wanted on the tree were placed at the top of the tree, out of reach.

Hanging Christmas ornaments:
Removed all metal hooks from ornaments and replaced with thread.


The light outlet is behind the tree and we don't let our toddler see it. We turn the tree on/off when he's not watching. He's in a phase where he wants to plug and unplug everything if given the chance.

Purchasing a small tree. We bought a 4'-5'ft tree. Mostly I like that small tree's are easier to decorate and fit in my son's playroom. Another bonus is that he's not tempted to climb it. His favorite stuffed animal ornaments are at the bottom so he can move them around as he likes.

A Christmas tree skirt is the best way to deter my son from looking under the christmas tree. Make sure the tree skirt doesn't have any decorations that can be ripped off and become a choking hazard !! Especially those with bells.

Most of all, remember less is more. Try not to over decorate the tree. For sanity's sake, know how many ornaments are on the tree so no little hands take and hide ornaments for entertainment later.



                                                                              ******

Here are some more pictures of our Christmas tree. I can't wait for christmas morning :)

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Elmo birthday cupcake wrappers tutorial ~ 2nd Birthday ~ ELMO

I have been getting ready for my son's 2nd birthday. This year will be an Elmo themed birthday. I have been recording my decoration projects as I go.
This is the first of several projects I will be sharing on YouTube too. Lol I have learned a few things along the way and hope they can help you too in your party planning :)

First lesson learned, should use smaller circles for these cupcake wrappers. Too late but good to know for next time :)