Category Archives: Motherhood

DIY Earth Day Handprint Artwork

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Small hands make a big different, especially when it comes to protecting our Earth.

This DIY Earth Day Handprint Artwork is perfect way to showcase your love for Earth while using recycled crafts supplies.

At a young age, I’ve taught Mila she needs to love our Earth. We’ve always talked about recycling and how we need to be mindful of our decisions. She always picks up trash off the ground and loves every part of the outside world.

It’s important to me that she knows her impact and ‘small’ hands can help our Earth heal.

This DIY Earth Day Handprint Artwork was a perfect way to showcase that. We reused supplies we already had and made it cute to show off. Hopefully signs like these will help inspire others to love Earth as deeply as we do.

Here’s all we used:

  • Wood sign
  • Paint
  • Paint brush
  • Yarn
  • Hot glue

To start off, I reused the back of an old summer sign. It was the perfect size and shape of what I had in mind. Plus, it gave it another purpose too!

Next, paint your child’s hands resembling the Earth. This was a bit tricky. I just added blue paint first then topped it off with green. Obviously it’s not going to look exactly right, but I think ours turned out pretty cute.

Then, press down on your child’s hand to get the paint to transfer to the wood sign. You have to work quick so it doesn’t completely dry on their hands.

Once the paint is dry, you can add whatever quote around the hand Earth. I was inspired by The Letter Vee’s Earth Day worksheet and used, “Small Hands Make A Big Difference.” You can write whatever speaks to you!

At this point, I could’ve been done, but I had to add a little extra.

I used scrap yarn as bows on the hanger. The color really popped and gave that earthy feel. Once I saw that, I knew this piece needed more texture than just the bows.

So, I added the fluffy white yarn around the outside of the sign. It really made it look special and stick out.

Since I wanted to spread our love for the earth, this sign is hanging on our porch. Hopefully it’ll inspire someone to make good choices. The future of our world and children are in our hands.

We can make a difference.

What ways do you celebrate our Earth? Check out these fun ways we have:

Recycled Planter Pots

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If you’re looking for a great way to reuse candle jars or any aluminum can, you’re going to love this Recycled Planter Pots! Not only are you reducing waste, you’re giving a plant life too.

Plus, they make beautiful gifts for Mother’s Day and end of the year gifts for teachers.

I have all these adorable candle jars from Moravian Trail Co all around my house. The designs on them are so cute, so I had to figure out ways to reuse them in my home.

Of course Mila and I are always thinking of plants, so they were perfect to transform!

If you don’t have these cute candle jars from there, but want to reuse aluminum cans, you can do the same steps and maybe have your kids design an outside label.

But, here’s what else you’ll need too:

First, you need to make holes in the bottom of your container. I just used a knife which isn’t completely safe, but it did the job!

Then, I let Mila pick out one of our plants. You could do a houseplant to keep inside or a small flower. Having Mila take care of plants is such a great responsibility. It lets her see growth in her hard work!

Fill up your container halfway with soil. I mix a houseplant soil with perlite. Then add the plant in snuggly too. Fill the rest of the container with soil.

Give it a nice drink and it’s ready to go!

I added a fun straw and printable from The Letter Vee just to make it extra cute. Mila loved the way it turned out and I loved how it was nice to our environment!

As I said before, this would make a great gift for moms, friends, and teachers too.

Don’t know what houseplant to use, these are all great options.

Have you ever made a DIY pot? Check out this terracotta one we made last year.

Cran Raspberry Punch

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Springtime is heating up and refreshments are needed. This Cran Raspberry Punch is fun twist on a vodka cran, but can be made for littles too!

Mila and I LOVE making punch. I feel like we’re constantly making and drinking it. For all her parties, I throw a themed punch together. Now with holidays and different seasons, I think it’s so fun to make something for them too.

Since spring is here, I wanted a light punch that Mila and I both would love. She is obsessed with cranberry juice; which I’m happy for that. We also both love raspberries so a combination of the two was a must. I always like to be able to make punches or different drinks with the capability to add some type of shot too. This reminded me of vodka cran, just with the extra sweetness of punch.

Here’s what you’ll need for this Cran Raspberry Punch:

  • Raspberry Sorbet
  • Cran Raspberry Juice
  • Raspberry Seltzer Water
  • Shot of Vodka (optional)

To make this drink, you just need to add this in either a cup or a punch bowl. When it’s just Mila and I, we just make them individually.

Personally, I start off with the raspberry sorbet. Then I’ll add the juice and alcohol for the adults. After, I like to finish off with the seltzer water. It just makes it foam up a little better. The seltzer water somehow mixes it all up perfectly too.

You could garnish with fresh raspberries or fun shaped ice. I feel like the cup I used in the picture is a whole garnish. It’s from DIY With the Wears.

Then, enjoy!

Check out some other fun punch recipes we’ve made:

What is your favorite spring drink?

Nut Free Bunny Trail Mix

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Easter is almost here. Hop on over to check out this Nut Free Bunny Trail Mix for Easter Sunday or a fun after school spring snack.

Mila and I LOVE trail mix. It’s such a yummy and easy snack… but I can’t eat nuts. Instead of missing out, I’ve found a few staples of a mix I love.

Not only are they yummy to snack on, you can easily store snack mixes to enjoy for the entire week. It makes snack time SO easy!

One of the best parts of having a great mix is adding seasonal snacks to enjoy.

Here’s the ingredients of our latest spring mix:

  • Pretzel Sticks
  • Pastel M&M’s
  • Bunny Marshmallows
  • Chex Mix
  • Jelly Beans

Anytime I make nut free mixes, all you have to do is throw it in a big bowl. You can mix them up a little bit and you’ll have an amazing snack.

Sometimes we also like to add sprinkles as well!

One fun way to serve these is to use different shaped plates or big jars. It just adds a little more magic. The Dollar Tree always has fun containers and plates. That’s where I found this bunny!

Hopefully your friends and family will love this Easter snack mix!

What are you favorite things to add into trail mix? Let me know in the comments.

Simple No Bake Funfetti Dip

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If you want to bring the best dip to holidays and parties, you’re going to want to make this Simple No Bake Funfetti Dip. With only four ingredients, it’s easy to make and so tasty.

The best part about this dip is it can be festive for every holiday and party.

This week is a big one for Mila and me. Not only is Easter on Sunday, Mila turns FOUR on the fourteenth! That means we have a lot of places to be to celebrate. We actually just had her birthday… which I want to write a post about…where this dip was a huge hit. This Simple No Bake Funfetti Dip is definitely worth celebrating!

Here’s the only four ingredients you need:

  • Funfetti Cake Mix
  • 8oz Cool Whip
  • 1 Vanilla Pudding Snack Pack
  • Sprinkles (I use different ones depending on the event)

Another awesome part of this dip… you only need one bowl. Add all of these ingredients in a bowl and then mix them together. Once it gets to a creamy consistency, it’s ready.

I always add extra sprinkles on top. For Easter and Mila’s birthday, I added a spring sprinkle mix. When I made it for Valentine’s Day, we put heart sprinkles in the dip too! Whatever you’re celebrating, you can add so many different sprinkles in and it changed the whole mood of the dip. Plus, who doesn’t love sprinkles?

Then, you can either spoon to your serving bowl or keep it in the mixing one. Just make sure to put it in the refrigerator for about twenty minutes. In that twenty minutes, it will really fluff up and become extra delicious.

While you’re waiting for the Funfetti Dip to cool, get your dipping items ready.

Our favorites for this dip are vanilla wafers, graham crackers, strawberries, grapes, and green apples. Actually, green apples are our number one, but it’s good to mix with the others too. I’m definitely excited to trying more dippers.

If you try this Simple No Bake Funfetti Dip, comment your favorite dipper or what holiday you used made it on. I love this recipe so much and know you all will too!

What’s your favorite food to make for parties? Let me know in the comments.

DIY GIANT Daisy Wall Hanging

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If you’re looking to make a big statement with your spring decor this year, you’re not going to want to miss this DIY GIANT Daisy Wall Hanging. With material you can find in your home, you’ll have a piece of decor that demands to be seen.

My favorite part about spring is all the flowers. Since the pandemic started, Mila and I really got into growing plants. They’re spread throughout our entire house. Honestly, they just bring so much life into our home. Plus, they’re perfect for her to learn about the science behind them and responsibility. It’s a win-win.

So, when Mila ditched her space themed birthday and wanted to do flowers and plants, I wasn’t so surprised. I just knew we had to make something special.

You can easily make this DIY with items you can find around the house. Here’s what you’ll need:

  • Cardboard
  • Scissors
  • Cotton Balls
  • Yellow Yarn
  • Hot Glue (a lot of it)

When I say you need a lot of hot glue, I mean that I probably used 15 sticks. This daisy is big and needs a lot of glue to make it stick!

But first… you need to cut out a circle for the middle and then the petals around it. I used six petals, but you can do what you think looks good for your DIY daisy.

I used a plate to trace the circle and one of the feathers from my headboard. You could free hand a petal or find something that’s a similar size and shape around your house. Then just cut everything out.

Next, hot glue yellow yarn on the circle. I just did a spiral pattern.

After that, got glue the petals to the back of the circle. I put about them about an inch in. This made the petals secure.

Once the hot glue is dry on the structure, it’s time for the cotton balls. This takes a while, but once you find a rhythm it starts to click. I tried to do patterns with them too. You’ll use a lot of hot glue here!

To secure the back, I made another petal and hot glued it on. Then I hot glued a string to be able to hang the flower.

Even though this DIY GIANT Daisy Wall Hanging took a little while to make, I love how it turned out. It’ll be perfect for a picture backdrop for her party! After I’ll have it in my home too.

What’s your favorite flower? As you can imagine mine are daisies!

DIY Match the Egg Memory Game

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Looking for a fun way to challenge your little this season? A DIY Match the Egg Memory Game is an egg-ellent option!

When I saw the egg match printable from The Letter Vee, I knew I had to utilize it. Mila loves playing memory games, especially when they’re seasonal.

With a little work, it became such a cute and fun way for her to settle and use her brain.

This DIY Match the Egg Memory Game takes a little bit to make and set up. After the hard work though, it looks beautiful and my little loved it! She spent about 30 consecutive minutes playing with it.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Not going to lie… this DIY took a little work.

First, you need to print out the sheet from The Letter Vee. Then cut each of the egg pieces out.

Next, use modge podge to glue the paper on to pieces of cardboard. I only used a thin layer between the paper and cardboard. It seemed to have stuck perfectly fine.

Once the glue is dry, cut the cardboard into the right sized pieces too.

You could easily be done with your Match the Egg Memory Game, but we wanted to make it extra cute. This is totally optional, but I think it made it extra special.

We reused pink tinsel to trim out the pieces. To do this, I just cut the tinsel to size and hot glued around the cardboard. Then you just stick the tinsel around the outside and let it cool. I decided to leave the tinsel off of the side where the eggs come together too.

You can use these pieces as a traditional memory game or make it a little more special by hiding them in eggs around the house. Either way, it’s full of Easter fun!

What Easter games do you play with your kiddos? Let me know in the comments.

DIY Melted Crayon Artwork

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Happy National Crayon Day, friends! To celebrate the day, Mila and I made these adorable DIY Melted Crayon Artwork eggs.

This was a fun and different way to utilize our broken crayons.

Mila and I like to color a lot and sometimes we can left with small ones that can’t color anymore. We’ve melted them to make other crayons, but we wanted to be more creative this time.

I’ve been so inspired by all the Easter content lately that I thought it’d be adorable to make Easter eggs.

Here’s what you’ll need to make yours…

  • Crayons
  • Grater
  • Iron
  • Wax Paper
  • Thick Paper

This activity is really simple, but there’s definitely a decent amount of prep and clean up for parents.

First, collect your broken crayons that are not useable. Then it’s time to start grating them.

Mila picked out a ton of different colors. Beware of this! They can all mix and melt together. She didn’t seem to mind so it all worked out for us!

Once everything’s grated, it’s time to design your Easter eggs. I’m sure older kids would be able to create different designs. You could even use washi tape to keep everything separated.

Mila had a fun time putting the crayon shreds on the paper and had even more fun watching the next part.

When the design is complete, lay wax paper over it. Then with a heated iron, lightly press on it to melt the crayons. Mila was not expecting it to melt so we got to talk about why and about color mixing too!

After it melted, we let the crayon melting dry and then cut out the eggs shape.

We will make these eggs into a cute garland with different textures of yarn… and maybe some glitter too. Glitter is always the answer in our house!

This is an inexpensive way to decorate for Easter while doing a fun craft and science experiment with littles.

Check out other ways Mila and I have utilized and upcycled old crayons:

Let me know in the comments what you do with old crayons. I’d love to hear what our other options could be!

Strawberry Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast

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If you’re looking for a new breakfast recipe for this Easter, you have to try this Strawberry Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast. You can easily make it in regular squares or spice it up for Easter morning.

On Easter morning, we have the same routine. Wake up, find our Easter basket and eggs, and then eat a big breakfast before all the festivities of the day! It’s important on holidays to make sure to get food before everyone gets together and plays. That’s why I’m always on the hunt for recipes that Mila will love.

Since I love french toast and Mila’s into strawberries (I mean, me too if you remember last summer), this seemed like a perfect one to try! It combined all of our favorite flavors in one bite! Who wouldn’t love that?

I had most of the ingredients on hand, but if you’re wanting to try this recipe out, here’s what you’ll need:

For this Strawberry Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast recipe, it’s made similarly to regular french toast… besides the stuffed part!

The strawberry cheesecake stuffing consists of mixing cream cheese, vanilla, a pinch of sugar, and strawberries in a bowl. I mashed the strawberries a little bit to get the flavor consistent throughout the cream cheese. Then spread the mixture on one of the slices of bread. Next, put another piece of bread on top.

If you’re making your french toast with cut outs, this is the time to do it. We used different Easter shapes! No matter if you’re making it fun or traditional, make sure to press the sides down so it doesn’t all escape!

Now it’s time to dip them. Make a mixture consisting of one egg, milk, cinnamon, vanilla, and a pinch of sugar. Dip your bread in the mix. I make sure to add extra cinnamon every time.

After it’s coated, place on a hot pan that’s coated with butter to cook.The Strawberry Cheesecake Stuffed French Toast is done when both sides are brown and toasty.

Once it’s done, I’ll add maple syrup and sprinkles to top it off. Sprinkles make everything better.

Then enjoy!

We loved this tasty breakfast and I can tell we’ll be trying different flavors to stuff our french toast with. I think using the Easter cut outs made it even more fun and festive.

What’s your favorite breakfast food for Easter morning?

DIY Spring Bucket List

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If you’re wanting to help plan on getting the most out of spring this year, this DIY Spring Bucket List can help! Not only will it motivate you to get everything you want done, it’ll look great in your home.

Mila and I love bucket lists. We make them every Christmas break and try to do one for the other seasons too! Here’s our one from last spring.

We usually just make ours out of craft paper, but when I saw the tags from The Letter Vee, I wanted to do something a little different. I used an existing floral mobile I had and gave it another use!

To make our bucket list come to life, we used:

First things first… it’s time for a family meeting. Have a talk with your family about what you would all like to do this spring. This will look different for every family.

Once you figure this out, it’s time to print.

The Letter Vee has some bucket list items already on their site, but also gives blank cards too! This way you can easily write down what you’d like. For our ‘other’ items, I just used a normal pen and you could easily see my writing.

Next cut them out and use a hole puncher for each tag.

I actually taped the tags on spring scrapbook paper to give it an extra pop and used a daisy hole punch. The extra details made it so cute.

We also decided to use pink, grey, purple, and light blue yarn to connect our tags.

All you have to do is a light tie on a piece of the yarn or ribbon on your wall hanging. I just shuffled them around so we could easily see them.

You can add as many bucket list items you’d like.

Our plan is to take pictures with each bucket list item. When we do it, we’ll pull it off and make a little scrapbook of our spring.

It’ll be a fun way to record what we do and reflect on it at the end of the year.

Either way, we’re super ready for springtime and to start pulling items off of our bucket list. We can wait to keep you all updated.

In the comments, let me know what’s on your spring bucket list.