TWO SIMPLE DIY VALENTINE'S CRAFTS FOR KIDS

The girls and I got creative this year on Valentine's gifts to give their friends. All three of my oldest are in the same Kindergarten class so I wanted to come up with something that was a little different and something they could all create together to gift the kids in their class. So I looked through our craft boxes and came up with a couple simple DIY projects that were both entertaining for them and super simple for mama (win win)! 

It was fun to see them create something as they thought about each friend in their class and it made for a fun activity and memory we all go to do together. The best part is, this project is super cheap and very simple! I hope you enjoy and are inspired to create something like this with your kiddos too!

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-DIY MINI CANVAS PAINTINGS-

**If you're on Pinterest be sure to Pin this Image below so you can save it and come back to it later!**

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

-watercolor or acrylic paper (the heavier weight the better)

- wooden craft popsicle sticks

-paint colors of choice

- paint brushes

- hot glue gun + glue sticks

- scissors + twine

(All of these supplies can be found at Walmart craft section, Hobby Lobby, or Michaels craft store)

STEP 1:

Cut out squares of paper, roughly 4.5 x 4.5 inches 

(enough to fit within the size of the framed sticks)

STEP 2: 

Hot glue the sticks around the edges of the paper creating a frame

(I did this myself to prep the canvas' for the kids ahead of time, I didn't let my kids do the hot glue and I don't recommend kiddos doing that)

STEP 3: 

Let the kids have fun painting and creating however their hearts desire!

STEP 4: 

Once the paint is dry, turn it over and hot glue the twine on the back to hang up the canvas when it is finished! 

And Voila! You're done!

Now you have a sweet piece of art from your kids to cherish for years to come! These would also be cute as unique gift toppers or mini canvas' you can paint on yourself in case you don't have kids to paint them for you :)

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Our next project we did was a yarn keychain for each of the kids in their class. I thought it would be meaningful for the girls to give a friend a keychain with the first initial of their name so they could wear it on their backpack or use it somewhere around their home. This one required a little more help from me, but I think if your kids are a little older it is totally doable for them.

DIY YARN INITIAL KEYCHAIN

**Be sure to pin this image so you can come back to this tutorial later on!**

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

-Yarn any color of choice

-pencil

- cardboard scraps 

(I used a box we were recycling, I recommend  cardboard from a shipping box or something at least this thick to hold up the yarn)

-scissors

-ball and chain for the ring 

( I purchased mine from Amazon, there are a lot of options there for these)

-hot glue gun + glue (optional)

This one requires more gluing, so make sure the glue is dry before passing it off for them to start so they don't get burned by the glue

STEP 1:

Pencil sketch your initial in block letters onto the cardboard, be sure to make the letter wide enough so it won't be too thin and fall apart when cutting it out

STEP 2:

Cut out your initial letter

STEP 3: 

Take your yarn and grab one end to start wrapping onto your cardboard. Place a dot of hot glue onto the corner you are going to start on your letter then place the yarn on top of that to stick.

STEP 4:

Once the glue is dried start wrapping your yarn around the cardboard letter. There is no right way to wrap the yarn, just wrap in any direction you'd like, enough to start covering up all the cardboard underneath.

STEP 5: 

Once your letters in fully wrapped in yarn, take the hot glue again and glue the end of the yarn onto the back to secure the yarn in place. 

STEP 6: 

Once the glue is dry, take your ball and chain and squeeze it through a few pieces of yarn towards the top of your letter. I made sure the chain was underneath the yarn enough so it felt secure in there. 

And that's it! Now your kids can attach it to their backpacks and show it off! 

Hope you enjoyed these. I'd love to see what you create so be sure to share with me and tag me on Instagram so I can see! You can also follow along on my Pinterest to see other fun things I've been pinning an DIYs I'm saving too.

Peter Pan Family Halloween Costumes

Well we pulled off another year of family costumes together and I wasn't quite sure if it was going to happen with baby 6 due on Halloween. But it seems baby is staying put for a little longer so we headed out to a park this week to grab some pics of our family theme this year: Peter Pan and the Neverland gang. 

Shane as Captain Hook, Mama as Smee, Dash as Peter Pan, Jaelynn as Tinker Bell, Joci as Wendy, Raleigh and Sage as Mermaids. 

Earlier this summer I introduced the girls to this favorite childhood Disney movie of mine. It was when I was telling them stories about when I was little and pretended to be friends with Peter and the lost boys that one of them said we should dress up like the characters for Halloween! :) Since then, the ideas went swirling in my head of how we'd pull it off. I did a lot of DIY on this one, making the tinker bell skirt and mermaid outfits on my own (and teaching myself to sew with a machine for the first time ever). It was a challenge but actually kind of fun at the same time trying something new creatively. The girls were all really into helping me pick out all the pieces and putting it all together. 

We also added pieces that will be worn again in their regular wardrobe, which I always like to try and do so we get multiple uses out of it. 

I know I probably get myself way too into these things sometimes, but this year after looking back on all our previous dress ups it made me thankful that we have kept this tradition going. It felt like the girls were more involved in picking everything out and choosing what we'd do as a family together so that felt really fun to have them be a part of it more. 

And I can't go without mentioning again how thankful I am that Shane goes along with all of these ideas of mine. He's the best dad, husband, and trooper there is--especially trying out that wig without hesitation just to complete the "look" we were at least trying to go for! haha 

(favorite picture of the night right here--flying Peter Pan ^)

Pretty thankful for this crew of ours! And thankful they let me pull off these silly traditions with them each year. Not sure if I'll be in the hospital or not during trick or treating time, but we'll be wearing our costumes either way :) 

Hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween getting full on all the sugar you can handle! 

Simple DIY Fairy Crown

I had so many questions about these crowns I made for the twins birthday party that I decided to make it into a blog post tutorial for those that would like to create one for themselves. The fun thing about this is that it was simple AND cheap, making it a sweet way to bring a little personal touch into the theme of the party for them. So here it is...

What you will need:

-scissors

-ribbon (any size, color or texture depending on the look you are going for

-thin floral wire, mine is gold so it went well with the colors I was using (found at any craft store)

-brown twig floral wire (found mine at Walmart)

-fake flowers (again, found at any craft store. I grabbed mine from the dollar store! score!)

Directions:

-Take your "twig" wire or whatever your base wire is for the crown and size it around the head, leaving a little extra on the end to wrap and secure together

-form the wire in a circle shape and wrap the ends together "tying" them together to secure

-once secured together, take your ribbon and cut them into the length you want them to hang down once they are tied onto your crown. 

-simply tie as many ribbons as you want onto the back of your crown

for this I tied all the ribbon over the part of the wire I secured together so it would hide that part a bit more

-optional: you can also take another piece of ribbon and wrap it around your wire to add a little more color and texture to the wire if you want

-once all your ribbon is tied on, take your faux flowers and cut off as many pieces as you'd like to place on your crown. 

for this step I cut the stem a bit longer so I had enough of it to be secured on with the gold wire. 

-Next, take your gold or thinner floral wire and tightly wrap the base/stem part onto the crown where you want it placed. Once you have the wire wrapped all the way, you can maneuver your flower a bit to make it stay where you want on your crown. 

-repeat these steps until you are satisfied with the look of your crown! 

I can't wait to see how you make yours! Tag me on Instagram so I can see your creations. And with halloween right around the corner it makes for a perfect way to throw together a last minute costume idea!

Painting Eggs With Toddlers

I still haven't pulled the trigger on doing the egg dyeing thing with the girls yet. The thought of it just makes me stress out from imagining the mess! haha. So the past couple years I've set out to find a way to decorate eggs the easy way. Last year's project was drawing with chalk all over black chalkboard eggs. This year, the dollar section at Target saved the day with the perfect wooden eggs and metallic watercolor paint in the craft section! 

The girls have been more into painting lately, which is so fun for me not only because they seem to be following in their mama's footsteps, but also because it can entertain them for long stretches of time (win!). I love the excuse of a holiday to come up with a fun craft to do with them, but the funnest part for me is teaching them the real reason why we celebrate the holiday in the first place. I love how their brains are curious about the stories and how they communicate it back in the silliest ways. Their ages might be my favorite so far as they continue to take in and understand more and more. 

So if any of you have some fun ideas I can keep in my back pocket for next year, please let me know! How have you done egg decorating with your toddlers? Do you have any family traditions you do for Easter? Share some with me in the comments below!

Hope your Easter weekend is a sweet one!