Bibs from Drop Cloth & Fabric Scraps

Super easy and fun bibs for from drop cloth and fabric scraps! A great way to use up scraps and a fun way to use drop cloths too. Things need not cost a lot and free is always good. Like I always say, use what you already have. You can do that to make these bibs. See the tutorial over Hill House Homestead. 

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Preschool Mother's Day Card Craft

I wanted to have my 3 preschoolers make cards for their moms for Mother's Day and all the kids wanted to join in! The oldest 2 are 8 and they all did a good with the cards. It is of course an easy craft to make and it is great for fine motor skills. My little kids (we have 3 groups here now, big kids, little kids and babies :) practiced cutting with scissors and lacing. 

Perfect Gift for Grandparents

As a grandparent, I have always planned to write my life stories down someday for my grand kids. Family stories are so wonderful to have and I most certainly love and cherish the oral stories passed down from my grandparents. (It would be so great to have those stories in writing!) But where to start? And what is is interesting about my life?

Well I now have the perfect thing to jump start my memories and stories! Stories From My Grandparent, an Heirloom Journal for Your Grandchild has been put together by my blogging friend Susan Adcox.  It is an heirloom journal that asked the questions for you; you just fill in the blanks! Oh it's wonderful and so easy to do! And I really do love that it's spiral bound and lays flat to easily write in. A perfect gift for the grandparent in your life.

Radio Flyer Ziggle: A Review

*Disclosure: I received a free Ziggle ride on toy from Radio Flyer for purposes of review. However, the opinions below are completely my own. 

Parents and grand parents, or anyone who wants to buy a ride on toy for their favorite child please read this! You need to get them a Ziggle from Radio Flyer! Oh gosh have we had fun with ours! A Ziggle is a ride on toy that your child will love too. With a twist and wiggle to make it go, it takes only a second or so for them to figure it out and they are off! Then the giggles start! What a wonderful way to get them out side and enjoying the wonderful spring time weather. 

  

Artterro Art Journal: a Review

Artterro Eco Art Kits asked me to review one of their lovely Eco Art Kits and in the process of emailing back and forth with them I told them about my Kids Club. Kids Club uses art journals as part of the learning process when we take field trips. Artterro was delighted to send me an Art Journal Kit for each of my 5 Kids Club members along with the Wool Felt Jewlery Kit. We were so excited to receive and begin to use these lovely journals! What wonderful gifts for each child!

Artterro Eco Art Kits; A Review

Disclosure: I received free product for purposes of review. Opinions are my own.

I am excited to tell you about Artterro, Eco art Kits! Artterro is an award winning company that offers quality art supply kits that are also eco friendly. When I agreed to do the review, I thought I would be receiving kits for kids....but let me tell you that while your kids will love Artterro Kits, the adults in the family will too! If you have read my blog very much you know I believe in teaching kids to sew. Learning skills like sewing and crafting is wonderful for kids self confidence. Skills that create an 'I can do it' attitude. 

Shirts That Go; A Review

Disclosure: I received a free shirt for review purposes. Opinions are my own.

I received a free shirt from a wonderful online company that specializes in vehicle and transportation shirts; Shirts That Go! And their timing was perfect! Our wonderful Red Firetruck shirt arrived just in time to be worn and loved by our grandson who has moved out of state but was visiting when this shirt arrived. Look at that smile of his, he is happy to be sporting such a beautiful shirt!

Who Am I Going To Be Today?

I haven't written a post like this in a long time. I hope you will read this in it's entirety; thanks!  Oh and FYI - I have chosen to alter my photos as I have to discourage unauthorized reuse of pics of my kids :)

I can say with certainty that where ever you are right now and with whatever is going on in your life, it will change! It won't always be like this. Try to see the bigger picture of your days and know that it all passes, usually too quickly! 

Pocket Purses

I call these Pocket Purses and they are easy and fun to make! I made them for my grand daughters but I want one too. They would be perfect for going window shopping as they are the right size to hold the basic necessities, just add a longer handle. Add a different handle to dress them up or make them your own style. 

Lollipop Seeds

This is a re-post from last year as I simply ran out of time. Have you heard of Lollipop Seeds? Then be sure to read on!  I am giving the kids Lollipop Seeds again for Easter this year as I had special request for them from the two older kids. 

Easy Easter Gift

Here’s the Easter project I made for the grand kids. It’s simple, easy, and inexpensive. I need all three of those ingredients! It may not seem like enough of a gift, but with all the other candy and toys they will receive, I doubt they even think about that. I think it’s a gift they will remember for years too. Let me show you what I made.

Starting New Traditions & a Blessing Blanket

Do you have family traditions? We do too. I try to be careful not to over load the family with following too many of them because family traditions can become chores rather than blessings. When we were expecting our first grand child, I wanted to have a gown and blanket for each child to use on their Dedication Day at church; like a Christening gown. A new tradition to follow.

Sweet Encouragement

Guest Post

Hello! My name is Melissa and I blog over at Willamette Valley Wonder Woman. I have been following Family Home and Life for quite some time and was thrilled that Connie took me up on my offer to guest host for part of her blogs anniversary month! I just have something so simple and easy to show you guys, but it is so meaningful if you have any children in your life, whether it be kids or grand kids, it really doesn't matter.

Celebrating What I've Learned

Today I want to give a short run down on some things I have learned about blogging this last year but first......welcome to March! Yay! Oh, why am I so happy about March? Well those of you who know me and read this blog know that last month was terrible - so happy to see it behind me. And best of all....March is my blog anniversary month! I can't believe it has been two years since I first began. (2 1/2 really, you will have to read my about me page to understand that) This last year, I really stepped it up by posting better content on a regular basis, and started two link parties...Wow Us Wednesday and Grandparent's Say It Saturday. 

Build a Better Sandbox

Papa made the kids a sandbox and they love it. It is easy to make one, and doesn't cost much. We choose to use 2x4's stacked two high to keep cost down but you could use a 2x8 instead to save some construction time and effort. We are all tease Papa around here because whenever he makes something, it's very well made; perhaps he puts more effort into his projects than necessary because it's a work of love! 

Peanut Butter & Jelly Game

This is a home made gift I keep on hand when I need something quick to give to a child. It's called the Peanut Butter and Jelly Game. Super easy to make, of course, it's inexpensive too. (you know me :) Kids from about age 4 to 8 love this game; some 3 yr olds may understand how to play too. The directions here are for enough pieces for 4 players.

Sewing With the Kids

Sewing is a skill that has served me well. It has helped out in time of need when money was tight, helped me make special one of a kind gifts, and has provided me with an abundant outlet for creativity. Kids that learn to sew also learn to have patience and self confidence. I think that all kids should learn some basic sewing. Here are my post about sewing with my grand kids.

First sewing lessons don't need to be hard. Here's how I first began to teach my grand daughters to sew. 

Here's another child's beginner's lesson.

The second sewing lesson is here; and yet another lesson with three of the kids. 

The kids can make their own doll's too, or a car or animal using this technique.

Check out a few of my favorite sewing books for kid's at my Amazon Store.

I link at these parties.

If you are reading this post anywhere else but at Family Home and Life then it was used without permission! Please report it! Copyright© Family Home and Life 2012 All Rights Reserved

PicMonkey for Kids

Hey kids, want to have some fun using the computer with PicMonkey? It's really easy to do and you can make lots of fun pictures. All you need are shapes and colors to create with and *PicMonkey will make them for you; you will just need to choose them. Let's get started! 

Start with a blank picture by scanning a blank sheet of paper into your computer. (or make a copy of any photo, it will be covered anyway, just make sure it is a copy )  Open a window in *PicMonkey, click 'Edit a Photo' and up load your blank paper scan. Then.....

Things to do With the Kids

I am having a look back at some of my post from the past years. I hope you will look with me too.

*Need something to occupy kids old enough to use the computer? Check out this painting app Jackson Pollack style. You can print them out or save to your computer.

*Everyone should make this bread with the kids; you can't go wrong with it and they will have a blast!


*Ok, I know Easter is a not on the horizon yet but who says kids can't still hunt eggs indoors? No eggs? Use blocks or other small items that you can hide.

*How about an indoor scavenger hunt? Easy to set up and lots of fun. 

*Ever had Cornflake Balls? You know the kids will love these.

I link at these parties and The Shabby Creek Cottage.

If you are reading this post anywhere else but at Family Home and Life then it was used without permission! Please report it! Copyright© Family Home and Life 2012 All Rights Reserved

Projects to do With the Kids

I am going to have a look back at some of my post from the past years. I hope you will look with me.

 Need to occupy the kids indoors right now?

*Join me on Wednesdays for Wow Us Wednesday live at 12:00 AM*

Easy and inexpensive indoor activity (above) from ingredients in your kitchen.

Here is a fun, fast and easy cup cake to make with the kids.

Here is a whole binder full of kid activities.

Use spoons to make people.

Do your kids know how to measure?

I link at these parties and The Shabby Creek Cottage.

If you are reading this post anywhere else but at Family Home and Life then it was used without permission! Please report it! Copyright© Family Home and Life 2012 All Rights Reserved

Kids Activitiy Binder

I sometimes find it hard to keep my older grandchildren occupied while I am busy with the younger children. One day I found some free kids printables online and printed a few things out for them to do.....things like dot to dots, hidden pictures and mazes. Soon, they were finishing them before I could get the next one printed out. That could get expensive fast not to mention it was becoming wasteful. 

I printed out several different activities in a variety of skill levels and marked each level by number, with a #1 being the easiest. Then, I put them into protective plastic sleeves and placed them all in a binder. Armed with a washable marker the kids can find an activity for their skill level, complete the activity, and then the markers will wipe off  for the page to be used again. No more wasted paper and printer ink, no more keeping grandma running to the computer to print one more thing.

Our binder has grown to over 100 sheets now with educational activities added too; pages for practicing writing and number skills, tic tac toe games, etc. The binder could be divided up into individual activities or skill levels with tabs; though this Gramma has yet to find the time for that. It's nice for the kids to be able to take it outside on a quilt to work on, or to use while sitting quietly when Gramma is busy or just needs quiet time (or to finish a blog post ;) It will pack up nice for car trips too. 

Here's a good place to get started with your activity binder printables. Do you have any suggestions for additional activities I can add to my Activities Binder?

 I link at these parties.

I have had a lot of content theft lately. If you are reading this post anywhere else but at Family Home and Life then it was used without permission! Copyright© Family Home and Life 2012 All Rights Reserved