Summer Craft Kits Product Reviews

 Disclosure: I was sent these craft lots to review free of charge from Oriental Trading. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I added links to the particular products for your convenience, but not for any compensation. 

Point I get them to for Hazel

Shed to Clubhouse Transformation

For as long as I can remember Hazel has loved little playhouses. She has really wanted one, but we never got around to getting one. We kept wanting to get her a special one that she would want to use for many years, but we never found the money since those tend to be so expensive. Since we added a garage to our house, Steve has not been storing as much in his shed and decided to give Hazel the shed as her clubhouse/playhouse. She was excited for this and we talked about decorating it with curtains and a rug. While out shopping Hazel chose the pink shag rug for the clubhouse. I pulled out pink sparkly curtains I had bought on clearance and planned to use for a birthday party, but never did. We hung them with a thin branch from a tree that had fallen in the yard and used nails to keep them up. 

Happy Home Outside -- Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge from Quarto Books USA. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

The spring weather finally is here or at least was last week!! I am finally ready to be outside (or at least the weather was ready for us to be outside finally). After a mild winter we have had an unusually cool spring thus far. However we finally got into the 70s last week. It was gorgeous!! Then to add to the fun Steve finally had a patio and fence added to Hazel's clubhouse. He has been planning this for several years and finally decided to do it. (I will admit I didn't care much about it, but they both really wanted to do it.) It came out looking really cute and I personally love having the chairs on the patio so I have a place to sit and read or work on my laptop while Hazel is playing outside. 

Sharing Saturday 14-21

It was another amazing party last week!! If you have not checked out all the great ideas shared, you should!! As always, they are so inspiring. Thank you to everyone who shared with us and to all who visited and commented on others ideas. We had a most clicked from In the Playroom: Sponge Painting: Van Gogh Starry Night.

Since a Van Gogh Starry Night project was most clicked, I thought I should share the other Van Gogh Starry Night project in case some of you missed it, so it is with some of my favorites below. But first here are a few Memorial Day and Outdoor Features. Monday is Memorial Day here in the United States.

Memorial Day and Outdoor Activities

1) From Some of the Best Things in Life Are Mistakes: Free Patriotic Printables Round-Up
2) From Every Star Is Different: Memorial Day Unit 2 With Free Printables
3) From Mothers Madness: Woodland Animal Hunt
4) From Left Brain Craft Brain: How Bubbles Work & 20 Things to Do with Them

A Few of My Favorites

1) From Mini Monets and Mommies: Van Gogh Art Activity: Kids' Clay Famous Artist Project
2) From Wesens Art: Bird Cage Made Of Newspaper
3) From Prettily: DIY Toy Drum Set
4) From Little Bins for Little Hands: Moon Sand Sensory Play Recipe
5) From All Done Monkey: Cloth Diapering Tips and Resources to Get Started!
6) From 3 Dinosaurs: Green Yarn Sheep -- Where is the Green Sheep?

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! I hope you will join us and share again!! If you are featured here, please feel free to grab a featured button to display proudly on your blog. 

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From Your Hostess: This week we shared a Middle Eastern Cinderella tale for Fairy Tales in Different Cultures, an Asian Pacific Island Book Round Up and Link Party for Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, Painted Mickey and Minnie Mouse Tote Bags for our upcoming party, DIY Minnie Mouse Pinata with activity signs for the party, and a Zoo Scavenger Hunt.

Now for This Week's Party  
A Few Simple Guidelines:
1)  Please follow Crafty Moms Share via GFC (or one of the other ways that work for you).  

2)  Link any kid-friendly, child-centered post. Please no etsy shops or giveaways, etc.  Remember to link to your actual post. 

3) Post the Sharing Saturday button on your sidebar or somewhere on your blog to help spread the word.

<a href="http://craftymomsshare.blogspot.com/search/label/Sharing%20Saturday" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g424/cpericola/SharingSaturdayoption2-150_zpsba88f805.jpg" /></a>

4) I would love it if you would follow me on Facebook,  Google+, and Pinterest 

5) If you do not have a blog, but want to share an idea you can leave it in the comments or e-mail it to me with a picture (if possible).

 

 Disclaimer: By sharing here, you are giving Crafty Moms Share permission to use your photos for features and to pin your craft at Pinterest.

Sharing Saturday 14-24

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week and to all of you who took the time to check out what others shared! I know I had a very hard time choosing features (you will be able to tell by the number I am featuring). There were so many amazing ideas shared! There was not a most clicked this week, so I broke our features into three categories: Father's Day (it is on Sunday), Painting and Artwork, and a Few of My Favorites.

In case you are in need of a Father's Day Idea, here are a few of the ones shared last week. 

 

1) From Crystal's Tiny Treasures: Father's Day Poem Printable

2) From Planet Smarty Pants: A Father's Day Gift: a Lego Card Holder 

3) From Stella 123: Ten Ideas for Giving the Gift of Family Time This Father's Day

4)  From Lou Lou Girls: 20 Amazing Father's Day Gift Ideas

5) From Some of the Best Things In Life Are Mistakes: Last Minute Ideas for Father's Day

 Painting and Art Features

1) From Mini Monets and Mommies: DIY Metallic Paint

2) From Krafts and Kiddos: Picasso Flower Art

3) From Crystal and Co.: Homemade Watercolors for Kids 

4) From Rubberboots and Elf Shoes: Fingerprint Fireflies 

A Few of My Favorites

1) From Ruffles and Rainboots: FROZEN-Inspired Princess Anna Dress Up Apron 

2) From Enchanted Homeschooling Mom: Tape Line Obstacle Course Gross Motor Skill Activity 

3) From Let's Do Something Crafty: Cereal Box Crafts: Making a Cardboard Hat 

4) From Mommy in Sports: Cardio With the Kiddos! 

5) From Our Adventure Story: 7 Doughnuts from Around the World

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! I hope you will join us and share again!! If you are featured here, please feel free to grab a featured button to display proudly on your blog. 

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From Your Hostess: This week we shared a review of the Minnie Mouse decorations, Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle for Virtual Book Club for Kids and our seahorse mobile, the food and activities from our Minnie Mouse Party, a review of some fun summer craft kits from Oriental Trading, some books, crafts and activities to celebrate Flag Day and a review of the amazing new book 101 Kids Activities That Are the Bestest Funnest Ever! by Holly Homer and Rachel Miller from Kid Activities Blog.

Make sure you enter our giveaway for the $30 gift certificate to the Air Plant Shop!! They have such neat things and  fun easy craft ideas!

Our Air Plant Craft

Now for This Week's Party  
A Few Simple Guidelines:
1)  Please follow Crafty Moms Share via GFC (or one of the other ways that work for you).  

2)  Link any kid-friendly, child-centered post. Please no etsy shops or giveaways, etc.  Remember to link to your actual post. 

3) Post the Sharing Saturday button on your sidebar or somewhere on your blog to help spread the word.

<a href="http://craftymomsshare.blogspot.com/search/label/Sharing%20Saturday" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g424/cpericola/SharingSaturdayoption2-150_zpsba88f805.jpg" /></a>

4) I would love it if you would follow me on Facebook,  Google+, and Pinterest 

5) If you do not have a blog, but want to share an idea you can leave it in the comments or e-mail it to me with a picture (if possible).

 

 Disclaimer: By sharing here, you are giving Crafty Moms Share permission to use your photos for features and to pin your craft at Pinterest.

Donald Crews Part 2: Ten Black Dots

We have a winner!! Congratulations to Doreen W. for winning the Room on the Broom DVD!

Today I am going to share our second book for this month's author in the Virtual Book Club for Kids. This month's author is Donald Crews. Last week we shared Carousel. This week we are going to share Ten Black Dots. If you do not know anything about the Virtual Book Club for Kids, you can check out my post last week or click the button on the left which will take you to the Book Club's Facebook page.

Sharing Saturday 14-19

Wow, what great ideas were shared last week!! If you have not checked them all out, you should!! There was not one most clicked, so I picked a few favorites in two categories for you. The first being spring and Mother's Day themed and the second being painting.

1) From Tot Schooling: Easy Mother's Day Pop-Up Card
2) From JDaniel4's Mom: Mother's Day Pictures for Homemade Cards
3) From Toddling in the Fast Lane: Magazine Flowers
4) From Sparkling Buds: Making Yarn Flowers Using Building Blocks
5) From Sparkling Buds: Easy Paper Flower
6) From Crystal's Tiny Treasures: Paper Plate Sunshine Craft

1) From Parenting Chaos: Paint With Flowers
2) From Mini Monets and Mommies: Kids' Nature Art Activity: Painting with Plants!
3) From Where Imagination Grows: Train Painting
4) From My Nearest and Dearest: 13 Fun Ways to Play and Create with Paint

Thank you to everyone who shared last week!! I hope you will join us and share again!! If you are featured here, please feel free to grab a featured button to display proudly on your blog. 

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From Your Hostess: This week we shared our easy Minnie Mouse napkin rings for a birthday party, Hazel's garden/meadow to go with On Meadowview Street, our outdoor play and explorations, our needle felted acorn capped strawberry craft, and an easy pressed flower vases for gifts for teachers or moms made with a recycled jar.

Now for This Week's Party  
A Few Simple Guidelines:
1)  Please follow Crafty Moms Share via GFC (or one of the other ways that work for you).  

2)  Link any kid-friendly, child-centered post. Please no etsy shops or giveaways, etc.  Remember to link to your actual post. 

3) Post the Sharing Saturday button on your sidebar or somewhere on your blog to help spread the word.

<a href="http://craftymomsshare.blogspot.com/search/label/Sharing%20Saturday" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g424/cpericola/SharingSaturdayoption2-150_zpsba88f805.jpg" /></a>

4) I would love it if you would follow me on Facebook,  Google+, and Pinterest 

5) If you do not have a blog, but want to share an idea you can leave it in the comments or e-mail it to me with a picture (if possible).

 

 Disclaimer: By sharing here, you are giving Crafty Moms Share permission to use your photos for features and to pin your craft at Pinterest.

Summertime Fun Ideas from Oriental Trading

Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from Oriental Trading. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to the products for your convenience but do not receive anything if you buy from them.

So one of the things that got me going on our Summertime Fun Series is this amazing review for Oriental Trading. We picked out a variety of things to review to bring different summertime activities to you. Hope you will try some of them out.

Creating a Cozy Reading Nook -- Decals Tree Product Review

Disclosure: Decals Tree gave me a wall sticker and is supplying the ones for the giveaway free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the wall sticker for your convenience.

In Hazel's bedroom there is a little nook between her closet and what may have been another closet at some point with a window. I have always wanted to make it a reading nook for her. I wanted a cozy spot with some fun pictures to help her imagination go wild. She fell in love with bean bag chairs at the Whole Foods play area near us. So we got her one at Target and moved her fluffy rug over there. Then Decals Tree offered us any wall sticker on their site for $50 or less and are offering a giveaway of the same thing to one of my readers. 

A New Skirt for Hazel's First Day of School

Since September is National Sewing Month, I have been doing a lot of sewing. Ok, maybe not because it is National Sewing Month, but they are happening at the same time. Hazel started school last week. Since she has been very anxious about starting at a new school, I thought I would make her something special to wear the first day. I had this beautiful pink little girl fabric that I had bought ages ago to make something for her. It has wonderful little sayings like "Mommy's Little Helper" and "Fairy Princess in Training" on it as well as pictures of girls playing. I used a simple pattern that I have used before. I found it in Little Girls, Big Style by Mary Abreu. I also let her wear my gold cross that I wear every day. My grandparents brought it back from Jerusalem when they visited the Holy Lands. 

Now I figured if the skirt made her this happy just trying it on, it had to work for the first day.

And she had a great first day. She was brave and her teacher was wonderful with her. She went in and had a great day. Then we went to the bookstore and did our first day tradition of letting her pick a book. Although I was not thrilled with her selection, she did choose a cheaper one, so I bought her a few.

Ready to go

The novelty of the Minnie Mouse backpack and lunch box ran out after the first day. The second morning she cried and screamed for an hour and a half, but then once I got her there had a great day. This morning it was only 20 minutes of crying with some great "reasons" to stay home--"I'm too young for school" and "I'm too tired today." However after school she thanked me for making her go. She had another good day. Hopefully it will get better each day.

What are your strategies and traditions for the first day of school?

Mother's Day / Spring Card -- Crafty Weekends Craft & Link Party

Mother's Day in the United States is just a couple of weeks away. This year I decided to make my mother a card based on one I saw at work. To make it I used some flower punches and my bow/mustache punch. I picked papers that were in my mother's favorite colors--purples, turquoises and such. I punched out many flowers in all the colors I had gathered. Spring colors and my mother's favorites.

New Year's Resolutions/Word of the Year for Tweens & Teens

 

Having a birthday around New Year's always makes for an interesting party. When Hazel was young we had a party on New Year's Day for all of our family and friends. Then we started having two parties, our New Year's Day for family and family friends as well as another one for her friends. Eventually we stopped the family and friend party. Themes for her friend parties have ranged from current favorites like Minnie Mouse, Harry Potter, and Frozen to generic themes like New Year's Eve. As she got older we started doing sleep over parties. That changed with Covid. Last year we did a social distant with a window open Paris themed party. We had multiple small tables for the girls to sit in pairs like a Paris Cafe. This year we are having a party on New Year's Day with a butterfly theme. I picked the theme. I chose butterfly since she is turning 13. I feel like 13 is a big birthday since she will become a teenager. Just like a caterpillar metamorphosizes into a butterfly Hazel will begin to metamorphosize into an adult. She likes the butterfly theme but does not like my explanation of it. 

Sharing Saturday 13-22 Week 2

Due to my crazy schedule, this is a continuation of last week's Sharing Saturday. This week's features come from two weeks ago. If you have not checked out the amazing ideas shared two weeks ago, you really should go and be inspired. And of course, please check out all the wonderful ideas that were shared last week and already this week! Here are some of my features from two weeks ago. (I shared different features last week!)

Then there were a few themes from last two weeks ago. Last week I shared some the gardening themed posts. This week I am going to share some of the science themed posts. I should add that several went in both categories, but I picked one for them.

1) From Buggy and Buddy: Bubble Science

2) From Gummy Lump Toys: Taking a Look Inside of Our Bodies

3) From Schooltime Snippets: Making a Wind Vane

4) From The Usual Mayhem: Germs and Microbes Week 1

5) From For the Children: Nature Study: A Week at the Pond

6) From The Measured Mom: Make an X-Ray Light Box

Thank you to everyone who shared last week and two weeks ago!! I hope you will join us and share again!! If you are featured here or earlier this week, please feel free to grab a featured button to display proudly on your blog. 

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From Your Hostess: Another busy week but we shared a Minnie Mouse Dress, Why I Love Weeds, A Cinderella Story from India--Anklet for a Princess, and the Virtual Book Club for Kids June Author is Gail Gibbons.

 

Now for This Week's Party 
 
A Few Simple Guidelines:
1)  Please follow Crafty Moms Share via GFC (or one of the other ways that work for you).  

2)  Link any kid-friendly, child-centered post. Please no etsy shops or giveaways, etc.  Remember to link to your actual post. 

3) Post the newly updated button on your sidebar or somewhere on your blog to help spread the word.

<a href="http://craftymomsshare.blogspot.com/search/label/Sharing%20Saturday" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g424/cpericola/SharingSaturdayoption2-150_zpsba88f805.jpg" /></a>

4) I would love it if you would follow me on Facebook and Google+

Disclaimer: By sharing here, you are giving Crafty Moms Share permission to use your photos for features and to pin your craft at Pinterest.