Easy Cup Owl Craft

Well yesterday we went to Lakeshore Learning for their free craft. They had the kids making owl pencil holders out of styrofoam cups. (If you click the link above and then click the picture of the owl pencil holder it gives you their instructions.) We made three. First Hazel made a brown one since the craft leader told her to color the cup first.

Picture Books to Help with Back to School Emotions

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in order to provide honest reviews. All opinions are my own. 

August has begun and that means people start to think about back to school. Whether it is back to school shopping or getting back on a school schedule including bedtime, August is when it all begins. Kids begin to feel various emotions around the start of school and into the school year. Almost everyone feels nervous about a new school year. And I mean everyone--teachers and students. The Sunday scaries may begin again. A child also may be excited for the new year with hopes of doing new things and perhaps doing things on his or her own. Today we are sharing two new picture books that are about some of these emotions. The first book is Sunday Scaries by Debra Kempf Shumaker and illustrated by Lavanya Naidu. It is recommended for ages 3 to 7. 

Owl Graduation Gift

Reminders:

There is still plenty of time to share at Sharing Saturday! Please stop by and check out all the wonderful ideas already shared and share your child-oriented crafts and/or activities. I am also collecting ideas for teacher gift ideas. Please stop by the link party to share any and all that you have!

Special Announcement: 

I'm so excited to be a part of this. Fifteen + wonderful bloggers/blogs are getting together to host a Virtual Summer Book Club. Each month an author will be chosen and all you have to do to participate is read one book by the author and do a craft tied to the book. Then come back here the third Monday of the month and link your post about it to our link party. The author for June is Mo Willems. (I know we are having trouble choosing just one book!)

Now back to our normal post...

Today we were suppose to go to a graduation party for the main person who runs the nursery at my church. She and her sister also babysit for us, and often Hazel is one of the only children in the nursery at church so she loves getting the attention of the high school girls. Since we went to the doctor yesterday and found out Hazel does have a bug that is going around and is still contagious we did not get to go to the party. However, we do have a gift for her. While on Pinterest, I saw something that was an owl and it said "Owl miss you." (The pin came from Lisa Storms Blog.)It hit me that we would do something owl related and make a card from Hazel with that on it. I thought of making one of the toilet paper roll owls and filling it with candy hugs and kisses (like this one on Clean & Sensible), but wanted to do something more.

I went looking for a good owl pattern or picture that I could make a pattern from and somehow came to We All Sew and this pattern by Ashley Johnston. Now that said, I found this pattern through another blogger, but for some reason I did not save the link and cannot find it again. She had made a smaller version of Ashley Johnston's pattern. I saved the pattern but it does not have a source on it. If you are the blogger, please let me know! I did add buttons to the inner eyes as well and made the front a pocket. figuring it might be a good place for a college student to hide something she doesn't want anyone else to find.

Next we made a card. I used Printshop and made this. I had Hazel color the front. Here is the card in pdf form in case you would like to use it (I changed the fonts a bit, but it is basically the same). Sorry the front of it is so blurry. You can see it a bit better in the next picture. I also picked up an owl necklace at one of the craft stores for $1 and helped Hazel make it. We punched a hole in the card an attached it.

I will bring it to church tomorrow to give to her since we couldn't go to the party. Today it poured so I was kind of happy to have a stay-at-home day. How was your Saturday?

This is where I link up...

Picture Books Review

With the start of December and Advent, I thought I would share each post where our Mouse and the Miracle Mouse (Holy) has been up to. (He now has an elf friend named Elfie who often is hidden with him.)

Holy on Window with Angels and Elfie Hanging on Tree

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copy of this book free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Today I am going to share with you five wonderful picture books that help grow imaginations and wonder. These books will help the reader learn about the world and use their imaginations. We had so much fun exploring this five books and highly recommend them. I also shared some round-ups of crafts to go with three of the books. First I am going to start with a wordless book.

Focus on the Nativity

This year one of my goals is to really focus on the true meaning of Christmas. I feel our society is so much turned away from the religious side of Christmas and more into the commercialism and the receiving. I do not want to bring Hazel up this way. I want her to understand why we celebrate Christmas and why it is a special day. So I have been on the look-out for ways to do this. 

Crafty Weekends Link Party -- Valentine Edition

This has been a very busy week and today I managed to catch a cold. Ugh!! My crafting didn't happen, but the party must go on. So I am sharing some features from last week as well as a bonus of free printable Valentines from last week and from previous Crafty Moms Share posts. Valentine's Day is Tuesday so these are perfect for anyone who needs something quickly! Many of these go with small gifts but also can be used without them. (When did Valentines start to include the gifts? I never received them when I was little.) I have listed the gifts after the links. I hope this will help relieve stress for some mom or dad out there. Let me know if you use one and/or which one is your favorite!

Sock Animals

For Hazel's half birthday she received a sock animal kit. It included one sock, two buttons, a piece of batting and a copy of Socktastic!  The other day she decided she wanted to make some sock animals. We opened up the kit and looked through the book.

The True Story of Zippy Chippy -- Picture Book Review with Horse Craft & Activity Round-Up

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

We have all heard of the little engine that could, but have you heard of the little horse that couldn't? Today I get to share with you a picture book about Zippy Chippy, the little horse that couldn't. The book is called The True Story of Zippy Chippy: The Little Horse that Couldn't by Artie Bennett and illustrated by Dave Szalay. 

Books for Younger Kids (Birth-Kindergarten)

Disclosure: I was sent these books to review free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. 

Although Multicultural Children's Book Day is quickly approaching I thought I would share some books that are not part of the event. These picture books are great for younger kids, but we still enjoyed them!! The first book is the perfect book to bring to a baby shower. You know the ones that ask you to bring a book for the baby's library. It is Hand in Hand by Rosemary Wells.  

Summer Animal Fun -- Summertime Fun Reviews

Disclosure: I was sent these products 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 book for your convenience.

 Summertime brings thoughts of many things--beach, heat, sunshine and animals. For me there are always new and fun things to see in nature and I like to share that with Hazel. What animals do you think about in the summer? We have so many different birds, bugs and frogs that come into our lives, so today's products are going to share those things with you. This year the town cleaned out some of the creek in our back yard and we discovered frogs around. So we will begin with Fabulous Frogs by Martin Jenkins and illustrated by Tim Hopgood. 

Raven's Gift: A Feathered Flight of Faith -- #ReadYourWorld Review

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in order to provide an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Today is the BIG DAY!! It is Read Your World Day! To celebrate we get to share our last Read Your World review for 2026! The book is Raven's Gift: A Feathered Flight of Faith by Claire Annette Noland and illustrated by Desiree Cordon. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8 and is a Christmas book. But before I tell you about this fun book, let's tell you about Read Your World Day!

Surviving through our new normal--Toilet Paper Roll Craft Round Up & More!

The world is a scary place and has gotten a whole lot scarier the last few weeks. I believe we are truly afraid of the unknown. We do not know who will get the Coronavirus, who will die from it and what will happen during this time. There are predictions but it is scary. Now we are dealing with this stress and fear and our kids are home with us because it isn't safe to have them at school. And then there is the whole stores wiped out of toilet paper (and other things) going on. Craziness! 

Sharing Saturday 15-11

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week!! Once again I am amazed to see such creative ideas. If you have not had a chance to check them out, you definitely need to. They are so inspiring!! The features are just a small sampling of what there is. This week's features are Party Foods, Kites and Easter, Raising Girls, Art, Lessons and Crafts.

Dash and the Lights in the Sky -- Book Review & Giveaway

 

Disclosure: I was sent a digital copy of this book to provide an honest review. All opinions are my own. I am working with The Children's Book Review and Ashley Key to bring you this post.

Have you ever seen the Northern Lights? I haven't. It is too bright in my neighborhood even when they have been visible around me. It is something I hope to see. Today I get to share a special book with you about a dog who sees the Northern Lights and wants to know what is happening. It has scientific explanations as well as some amazing crafts with the science behind them!! The book is Dash and the Lights in the Sky by Ashley Key. There is a giveaway after my review!

Sharing Saturday 14-43

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week and to everyone who shared the love by visiting posts that others shared. As a result we have a most clicked! From In the Playroom, Sensory Play with Chocolate Cloud Dough.

Last week we had many Halloween themed posts (I will be featuring some skeleton posts on Sunday). There were also Frozen themed posts, spiders, math and lessons and so much more. If you have not had the chance to check them all out, you should! Today I am featuring some pumpkin themed posts and a few favorites of mine.

Sticker Fun! -- Review of Sticker Activity Books

Disclosure: I was sent these products 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 book for your convenience.

One of the things that keeps Hazel busy are sticker activity books. She gets so excited for them. Today I am going to share with you four new sticker activity books for different ages!! I am going to start with the older kids. The first is Sticker Shape Create by Thereza Rowe. 

Chapter Book Extravaganza -- Beginning Reader through Young Adult! Part 1

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own or Hazel's own. 

Ok, I have had this group of books growing on my shelves for awhile. It is time for me to clean house and get ready for the new year. I will admit I have not read all of these books (I have started most of them). Hazel has read some of them so I plan to let her share her opinion on the ones she has read. I hope you will check these out.

Just Us Girls Book Review--Mother Daughter Crafts

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge from Quarry Books. 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.

Today I get to share with you a wonderful book called Just Us Girls: 48 Creative Art and Craft Projects for Mothers and Daughters to do Together by Cindy Ann Ganaden. This book has some fun projects for any mother and daughter team to try. It promotes bonding time which is always important. Hazel loves that it is called Just Us Girls. She thinks of it as a secret time to do fun things. As usual I let Hazel go through and pick some crafts to try. She limited herself this time or maybe I limited her by not giving her as many papers to mark pages. 

Newly Released Children's Books Featuring Animals

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

August seems to be the month of children's books with animal themes. We have been sharing books about all sorts of animals: zebras, coyotes, hippopotamus, snails, dogs, and more! Today we are sharing two new books about various animals that were released this week. One is a board book and one is a lift, look and find picture book. We will start with the board book which is Hoot Hoot by Georgette. It is recommended for ages 0 to 3.

New Board Books for the Spring

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Spring is basically upon us and as everything awakens, I am noticing I know several people who just had babies or about to have babies. It is the perfect time to look at board books to read to little ones or gift!! Today I have four new board books (one being released tomorrow) to share with you. The first is Hey, Little Night Owl by Jeffrey Burton and illustrated by Joy Hwang Ruiz.