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There are great shops for your personalized items, like Christmas gifts from Getting Personal, an M&T Sponsor. Kids always love to have their names pop up in all kinds of ways. You can create a personalized storybook with their name all throughout, super cool. Or maybe you want to make a handmade pillow or bath towel. You can add that special touch by embroidering their name or initials. Maybe you want to make some tile necklaces with paper that has their initial on it....

Get your scissors ready – there are lots of little shapes to cut for this art project. Your positive and negative space grid art can be simple or intricate. Cutting the paper squares is great scissor work for littles, and it also requires some focus practice while organizing and glueing. Older kids can make more complicated shape cut-outs, try making letters of their names, or create shapes that all fit into a theme (superheroes, nature, foods, etc....

With Ford we had an Unstoppable Family Adventure! We’re test-driving a Ford Explorer for our geocaching trip, driving all over for a little family-friendly treasure hunting. It’s been a blast, testing out the new 2016 Ford Explorer (link). It has everything a family could want: electronic outlets and plugs for all our cords, leg room for our almost teenager, heated seats for the front and middle seats, and an amazing dashboard with voice-activated SYNC® technology....

We’re creating a fun puffy paint DIY project to help bring our little rainbows to life! Supplies for Puffy Paint Rainbow Cards: puffy paint in rainbow colors pencil white cardstock paper paper towel – optional Fold your paper in half to make a card. Using your pencil, draw dots in the spots where you want your puffy paint. This will make it easier as you create your image. It’s very easy to get off track on your lines if you don’t have a pencil guide, if you’re going for a specific image....

There is a wide variety of quilt battings available on the market. Like everything else, the variety can get overwhelming so I’m going to break down some of the differences so that you can pick the batting best suited to the project you have in mind. The two most relevant factors in choosing a batting are Loft and Fibers. First off – Loft. This means how thick or thin your batting is....

Decorations for a Rainbow Birthday Party: Balloons: This is an easy way to decorate for a rainbow theme. Balloons come in all colors. You could blow up 10-15 balloons and leave them on the ground for the kids to play with as they arrive, or tape them to a ribbon and hang them as a wall or door decoration for a Balloon Garland. Zig-Zag Rainbow Streamers: I love these tissue paper streamers from Oh Happy Day....

So, how can you tell what is “In Season” near you? If you are not that familiar with what’s in season, this spring you can always check the fruit and vegetable section of your local supermarket. If you notice an abundance of certain fruits and vegetables, that is a good sign those fruits and veggies are in season. A few staple fruits and vegetables worth looking for: You can always check your local farmer’s market....

Foam Spiral Snake (pictured above) Rice Bag Snakes Paper Chain Snake Snake Mobile Tie Snake

Come see how Mr. Snowman went for a swim! Or make a few other pre-made candy spoons. Chocolate, peanut butter, coconut, marshmallows, there are so many possibilities! For the full tutorial, head over to Alpha Mom’s – Once Upon a Holiday with a fun Snowman Hot Chocolate on a Spoon.

This trend toward softer, slower, and more sensual interactions has emerged for a reason. Many women are burned out by the high stakes of modern dating apps. Platforms that demand perfect bios, witty replies, and long-term intentions can feel like work – especially after a long day of actual work, raising kids, or managing life’s unpredictability. On the flip side, purely physical platforms often feel unsafe or impersonal. Soft flirting fills the gap....

Supplies for Underwater Silhouette Paintings: watercolor paper liquid or pan watercolors medium/large paint brush & water rubbing alcohol pipette or dropper black construction paper black marker glue stick scissors The first step is to paint a cool and watery background. We wanted our colors to mix and swirl together, so we started by wetting the watercolor paper with plain water first. Then, add your watercolor paint (liquid watercolors or a pan of watercolors work equally well)....

It doesn’t seem to matter if the child’s birthday is at the beginning of the school year or at the very end. What matters most is the child’s development in these 3 areas: emotional, social, and cognitive (educational). Here are a few things to consider if you’re making a decision about when your child should start Kindergarten: Emotional: Going to Kindergarten can be a very big deal to a child....

White School Glue & Tacky Glue: These are used for pretty much the same thing, good all purpose glues. They are wet and messy, but get the glue job done. I like to use Tacky Glue with fabric and felt, like gluing these Star Wars finger puppets and this farm glove puppet. Tacky Glue is great if my kids are helping with the fabric projects. Rubber Cement: If you’re only wanting to bond something temporarily, rubber cement is the way to go....

Reusable water bottles: My four year old kicked off spring with beehive soccer. From his experience, it was painfully apparent to me that we’re teaching our kids to be irresponsible about waste. “If just two out of three sports fans refilled a water bottle rather than buying a new one, it would save about as many plastic bottles as there are people in the United States,” (The Green Book, Three Rivers Press 2007)....

The reality is that sometimes picnics don’t go according to plan. Things are forgotten. The food might be warm and melted. The idyllic park might be swarming with people. However, with a little preparation and planning a picnic can be an awesome outing for families. Location, Location, Location It is truly possible to picnic anywhere. Spontaneous picnics can be a blast, however if you are planning to picnic with a group of young kids then you will want to do some advanced planning....

Craft kits for teens and adults Let’s get real for a moment. When I was first asked to round up craft kits, I thought it would be fun to take the girls to a craft store. Each of us chose a craft kit (a craft we had never done before), took it home, and tried to get started. It was an epic fail. All three craft kits (different crafts, by different brands) that we purchased didn’t have everything we needed to actually make our crafts....

You could easily crochet 1 or 2, maybe even 5 of these jelly beans in just a day. In less than a week, you’ll have all your jelly beans made to assemble and join them into a darling to die for scarf! You’ll be the sweetest person in town! See the full tutorial here. Watch Twinkie Chan’s video how-to for this jelly bean scarf: More silly Candy-Shaped Crochet Projects Crochet Easter Peeps: these are the ultimate in cuteness and candy!...

As I mentioned earlier in my Chapter Book post, my son received this book on CD and had previously listened to it on his own. I wanted to know what it was all about too, so we checked it out from our local library and read it aloud together. It involves a mouse named Geronimo, who owns a newspaper company and travels the world having exciting stories to write about....

Ingredients: 1 14 oz. can tomato soup 1/2 cup whole milk 1/2 cup heavy cream (can sub: cream cheese or sour cream) dash parmesan cheese dash parsley flakes Method: In a saucepan on medium heat, pour in tomato soup, milk, and “creamy” item. Let it come to a boil, while stirring, then turn the heat down to low and let simmer for a few minutes. Add your dashes of cheese and parsley flakes....

Easy and super quick, no bake chocolate peanut butter bar recipe, made with just 5 ingredients. Decadent and fudgy, these bars can be the perfect snack or dessert. No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars They are that simple! All you need is: butter, graham cracker crumbs, peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar and some chocolate. You probably have already these ingredients in your pantry! There is just a little bit of work: to crush some graham crackers for the base, mix it with peanut butter and melted butter....