crafts with kids / Stay at Home Meg

We Missed National Ice Cream Day-But Here's a Craft!

July 25, 2019

Yup, we did it. We somehow managed to miss national ice cream day on Sunday. Something Jax and I both thoroughly enjoy. But in reality, who needs a national day for something when its normal for us to eat it every day. 😜Jk jk we only eat it every other day!

Soooo in honor of a great national day we thought we'd share another fun craft of something we love to eat. My last craft post was of watermelon so come on, at least we eat somewhat healthy... sometimes? Ice cream and watermelon is definitely enough sustenance to live off of right? Don't judge.

Anywho, this is a super simple, super easy craft once again---Obvs (short for obviously) my favorite kind. Who needs crafts that take FOREVER when you have a toddler? I know I don't! But, we actually somehow survived making three of these things for myself, his Aunt and Busia all in one sitting. They each chose different colors for their ice cream scoops which made them even more unique and adorable crafts for each of us to keep!

Once again, I'm all about that super cute but super easy sh*t, so take a glance at the short list of supplies below. You probably have them all at your house right now! As you can see, from Jax's ridiculous cheesy grin, he's super proud of his artwork.

Supplies

Canvas or paper

Paint

Toddlers foot

Paint brush

Directions

1. Paint kids foot, press on paper or canvas with enough room on top for the scoops (more space for those of us who like more ice cream than others).

2. Paint ice cream scoops.

3. Choose toppings or a cute saying to draw on if you wish!

4. Place on mantle for everyone to enjoy.

June 21, 2019

TODAY IS THE OFFICIALLY THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER!

Last night we had a nice Summer thunderstorm roll through with crazy loud thunder that woke our little man up in the middle of the night. Of course he came into our bed and fell right back asleep cuddled between Mom and Dad. Summer storms in the midwest are so pretty and loud. But that's just one of the fun "perks" of summer in the midwest.

Another part of Summer that I am obsessed with is watermelon. 🍉🍉🍉I love the smell, the taste and the colors of watermelon. It is such a "traditional" fruit to me that I've eaten every Summer while I was growing up-at BBQs, 4th of July parties, pool parties, etc. I can never have too much watermelon. Is there even such a thing as having too much watermelon? I used to (JK i'm lying, I still do this) eat so much that I stuff myself full of only watermelon and then don't have room for any other awesome BBQ food. Jax definitely inherited my love of watermelon. That was one of the first fruits he tried when we started giving him solids and his obsession has never stopped.

That's why we prepared a VERY simple watermelon craft that requires minimal painting. Its so cute and bright and perfect for your summertime mantle.

There are 5 items needed to make this:

Kid's foot 😂

Green and pink paint

Paint brush

Paper or canvas

Sharpie (if you want to add a cute Summer saying)

Now go buy yourself some yummy watermelon!

In case you're wondering where we got his cute little outfit go check out Target for the tank top and sandals. The shorts were gifted to us so I'm not sure where they are from!

Target Toddler Cat and Jack Tank Top $5.99

_______________________________________________________

Toddler Victor Hiking Sandals $14.99

_______________________________________________________

April 7, 2019

We finally hit the 70s this weekend and it was glorious. There is nothing quite like Springtime after an EXTRA long winter season. This weekend the birds were back to chirping outside, I pulled a weed already and Jax even got a little shirt tan when we went to the zoo! Which means, Easter is coming and it will be here before you know it (about two weeks to be exact).

When I was little we used to get the best Easter baskets. Holidays were (and still are) my absolute favorite time of year, and Easter was one of those holidays. My Mom would make sure our baskets looked perfect-They were always vibrant, wrapped in that brightly colored cellophane, filled with so many candies and special treats. I especially remember one year when I finally got that sparkly, colorful nail polish that I loved. She made sure to fill our Easter baskets with candy and items that we loved. We always got one of those solid chocolate crosses as well because "Jesus is the reason for the season", as my parents always used to say (He is the reason for Easter after all, so don't forget). My two sisters, my brother and I would dress up in our fancy Easter outfits, go to church, come home and open our baskets- but sometimes we attempted to break into our candy before Church 😂

Holidays were always a big deal, and I have come to love Holidays even more with my own family now. Watching Jax's face light up is always the best feeling and brings back a feeling of childhood joy.

I try to vary up what I put in his basket. I always put something educational (like a book), a learning toy (last year was a mini classic bead maze that you always find in doctor's offices), an outfit or two, a fun accessory (last year was bunny ears) and of course candy. I know, he'll have a sugar high all day long, but I don't mind when it's only a few times a year. He LOVES jellybeans so I can't keep them from him (well I could but ya know).

So...Easter baskets. What to put in them? I'll share with you what I plan to put in Jax's Easter basket this year as well as a cute Easter/Spring craft we did a few weeks ago.

This year in his basket he'll get:

5 options besides candy

2 shirts - Target $6.00 each

He will get a Marvel shirt because he is obsessed with the Hulk right now and loves watching The Avengers cartoons on Netflix with Dad when Dad is home from work & a Star Wars shirt because Mom is a Star Wars nerd. Spring is here and with this warm weather he will need an abundance of T-shirts.

A book - Target $9.59

Happy Easter Curious George-I gave this to him a bit early so that we could read it throughout the Easter season. Buttt it will still be going in his Easter basket since he won't realize it yet!

Accessory - Target $5.99

He'll be getting a pair of sunglasses this year because he loves putting on our sunglasses. I got these cute one from Target that resemble Dad's pair! He'll be looking stylish when he wears these to the zoo.

Toy

His Busia and Dziadz sent us an assortment of jungle animal figures to put in his basket. He loves lining them up and playing pretend with them. You can see his imagination working when he plays. He will LOVE these!

Kids Flossers - Target $2.99

We just went to the dentist and she recommended starting to try and use them. That should be interesting!

Candy - Target $2.69

And of course I will fill a few of the usual eggs full of jelly beans and peanut butter M&Ms, his favorite! I'm a Mama who can't resist giving him a little bit of candy.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Now onto crafting!

Supplies:

Canvas
Cotton Rounds
Paint
Glue

This craft is super easy and super cheap! I found this cute egg shaped sign in the Target bargain bins for $3 so that's what we used as a "canvas". I already had paint at home so I just had to buy $.99 fluff balls for the bunny tail (if you have cotton rounds this works too).

I used his footprint for the back of the bunny and his handprints for the carrot tops! I love capturing his handprints and footprints in the crafts that we do. He has giant hands so it looks a bit disproportionate, but that's the fun of kids crafts right?

All you need to do is paint one hand and one foot and push it onto the board. I drew on the bunny ears, the grass, and the bottoms of the carrots since he isn't old enough to be able to do this by himself yet. After the paint dried I glued the bunny tail on, and that's it! Super easy, fast craft to make for a cute spring and Easter decoration for around the house.

Fun fact: Easter egg hunts prove your child really can find things when they want to

This post contains affiliate links, and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

April 1, 2019

Here goes nothing!

As a fairly recent newcomer to motherhood, I have realized that it is ~~hard~~ almost impossible to find REAL moms out there who are down to earth, honest, relatable, and who drop a few F* bombs here and there (oops 😬) .

Being a HUGE extrovert myself and having a love of socializing, sometimes it's hard being stuck at home with only a tiny human being who can't talk yet. Two years into motherhood, with being a mom as my only career, I wanted to have a place of comfort that other moms can come to. I don't want other moms feeling like I have at times--of sometimes having that feeling of needing to do more and feeling inadequate, because at times everyone feels like this. This is just me being raw and sharing parts of my life that only my husband knows about. I will talk about mom stuff, let you know what life is ACTUALLY like being a military wife (and advice on how to survive), post some yummy recipes, help you with how to survive travel with a baby, give you some fun crafts to do with your little ones, and tell you about the products I recommend to help out motherhood. If that interests you at all, take a look around and see if there is anything you like!

Fair warning: I have a foul mouth, I love living in places that have REAL seasons, I can never have too many iced caramel macchiatos, I can eat avocado on almost everything, I absolutely love my family more than anything in this world, and I am obsessed with the color yellow.

No mom is perfect and neither am I.

He's really 2, not 5...But ya know he looked super cute in this pic so I didn't care that the balloon was backwards. Cuz ya know, Mom Life 💁

Comment below with future post suggestions!

Stay at Home Meg