My girls often use picture books as inspiration for their own drawings, so lately we’ve been surfing the web to check out some of our favorite illustrators’ websites. My younger daughter loves all the printables that feature some of her favorite story characters, while my older daughter gets inspired reading the biographies of each illustrator. Getting a peek “behind-the-scenes” of an illustrator is a great creativity spark in our house....

I’ve been getting after my friends to share with me their favorite group games, check it out…some fun stuff! 1. Cheetos Head Have the group split into two evenly numbered teams, preferably with the same number of men on each team. Each team will need a can or two of shaving cream and a container of cheese puffs or bag of puffy Cheetos. Have two chair set up across the room and a line of tape on the floor several feet away (your preference....

I’ve found 9 of the best DIY garden bed ideas and want to share them with you. Get those garden gloves on and start planting! 9 DIY Garden Bed Ideas Square Foot Gardening: Maximize your gardening space with square foot gardening. It will help you grow the most vegetables in one garden bed. Raised Concrete Block Garden Bed: Did you know you can make a garden bed with cinder blocks?...

Create-Celebrate-Explore: Beautiful photography, creative crafts, and fabulous adventures. Impress Your Kids: All kinds of crafts and activities that your kids will love. 5 Orange Potatoes: Bringing in lots of fun crafts and activities about nature and the world around us. Creative Jewish Mom: Such beautiful and playful crafts. Lots of great ideas for celebrating Jewish traditions. Let’s Explore: This mother and teacher makes sure to give her kids lots of time to play and explore....

One-Pot Creamy Chicken Pot Pie Noodles: Chicken pot pie noodles made in one pot? Yes, yes, yes! Can’t wait to whip this up for dinner one night. (via Life Made Simple) Easy One Pot Chicken Chow Mein: Who doesn’t love homemade Chinese food? This chicken chow mein is better than take-out! (via The Recipe Rebel) One Pot Pizza Rigatoni: Pizza + pasta + one pot meal = the best dinner ever!...

It might be overwhelming to decide where to start organizing. Just go one area at a time and you’ll be surprised how easy it is. I’ve made it even easier for you with these 9 ways to organize your kitchen that I’ve found from other great blogs. These tips will blow your organization mind! They’ll get you inspired and ready to get in your kitchen to start! Wire Holders for Veggies: Use wire holders to hold all of your vegetables that don’t need to be in the refrigerator....

I’m excited to be a guest contributor for PBS Parents this year, sharing a great way to display all the things you’re thankful for with this Thankful Tree. Head on over to read how we attached these paper leaves onto a real tree branch to make a thankful centerpiece. Not only will it look great in the center of your table, but this great craft idea is a meaningful family tradition to do year after year!...

Framing as a process is so expensive, and matting is no exception. So when I need something framed, I almost always look for a frame with a mat in the size I need. If I want a different colored/textured frame, that’s where this little craft comes in. I love the look of this glitter mat frame. Wouldn’t it be cute to give to a grandparent or another family member? Wrap it up and gift it to a loved one....

Since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I posed the same question to my staff – which didn’t churn out many results since I’m a stay-at-home-mom whose “employees” consist of a pre-schooler and a 13 month old who only signs four words. Holden (our 3 yo), mentioned something about “getting robbers” so he could protect the earth from the bad guys. In his world, “Saving the Planet” begins at the Hall of Justice or with a Marvel Comic book hero: “Saving Planet Earth” and Green Goals Makes Us all Heroes, (with or without the SuperFriends) My husband, always along for the journey, settled on “Xeriscape our front yard....

I often use cookie cutters to cut shapes out of bread, especially for making fun party sandwiches. For this kind of cookie cutter toast, you are just making an impression in the bread, which shows up even better once the bread is toasted. Using the blunt side of the cookie cutter, gently press the cutter into your slice of bread. Plain ol’ white or wheat sandwich bread works best for this....

Creative Intentions and Manifesting Your Dreams As I’m well into my year of FLOW (my word for this year), I’m excited for what possibilities are still to come, to the path that is unfolding, especially as the fall and winter months approach. I’m ready to be in the flow, in the rhythm of life, and doing what feels right, staying mindful to the creative intentions in making good decisions for my life!...

Drawing Game for Kids: Pick an Object, Pick a Scene Instructions: Your first job is to think of scenes and objects and write them on small slips of paper. The kids can write their own, or dictate their ideas to a grown-up. The more random the objects, the better! You might end up drawing a scuba-diving monkey at the bottom of the ocean or Santa Claus shopping at the grocery store....

Last week my 5-year-old brought home a handful of acorns for me each day as a little gift. We started collecting them in a glass jar, which is when I realized how gorgeous they would be in an autumn centerpiece! Easy Fall Centerpiece Idea Supplies for an Acorn Centerpiece: Acorns collected from the yard (or from a park if you don’t have oak trees in your yard) Glass vase or jar (I chose a tall vase) Craft jute Scissors Candle, decorative sticks, fall leaf picks from the craft store, etc....

DIY poncho One of my favorite things to wear in fall is flannel shirts. They are so comfy, cozy, and keep me warm on those slightly cooler days and nights. This DIY poncho is going to be your favorite thing to wear in fall. I’ve made it using flannel, it’s in fall colors, and it’s so comfy you will love throwing it on for cool nights reading by the fire....

Do you remember when I made the leather tassel earrings and the layered beaded bracelets? Well, I still had some of the suede and leather leftover from those projects. So, I decided to put it to good use and make these wine glass markers. Most of these are made from suede, but a little leather and faux leather scraps were thrown into the mix too. How To Make DIY Drink Glass Markers This is the perfect project if you have scraps lying around....

I’ve become obsessed with tassels recently, especially in fall colors, and after looking at a leather tassel on my wallet thought they would look fabulous as earrings. They go with so many things and make any outfit look fun. How To Make Leather Tassel Earrings As you’ll see below though you can make these in other materials too. This is perfect if you have scraps lying about as I did from other projects (I rarely throw anything away apparently)....

Supplies: Everything is available at your local craft or fabric store. Punching Awl Pattern for Gift Box to punch – Download this pattern, then print it out: Gift Box Stitched Card Pattern Cork board: For punching holes in card – found at kitchen or office store (try a cork hot plate) Thread: I usually use DMC floss, with all six strands Needle: Cross-stitch needle #26 for 18-22 count fabric Cardstock: white piece, accent color piece, folded card piece Envelope: white envelope that measures, 4 ½ “ x 5 ¾ “ Glue: Glue stick, glue dots, spray glue is recommended...

These pretty paper daffodils, with frilly 3-D centers, are such fun to make (especially the paper curling!), and look adorable on my mantle to boot. How to Make Paper Daffodils Supplies: paper scissors glue crayons tracing bowl Instructions: Let’s start with the petals. Trace and cut a circle from yellow construction paper. We used a bowl for tracing. Next, cut small triangles around the circle to create five petals. I free-handed mine, but my girls felt more comfortable sketching out their petals before cutting....

Here is my Earth Day craft idea: Mini Tin Can Drums. We’ve always got a few of tin cans laying around. They inspired our mini drums, along with a balloon and some ribbon. Supplies for Mini Tin Can Drums: small tin cans paint and paint brush 20 inch balloons, one per can scissors ribbon craft glue or hot glue is best (adult only) Wash and dry your tin cans, removing the label....

Supplies for Cupcake Liner Flowers: cupcake liners – 3-6 per flower pipe cleaners – 1 per flower scissors cute washi tape vase First choose what your flowers will be. Pick out your colors and how many liners you’d like for each. Pattern Method: Fold each of your cupcake liners in half. Layered Method: Keep your liners in their shape and layer them into the stem. To Make the Flowers:...