Tag Archives: Spring

DIY Flower Book

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With spring flowers here, we’re ready to learn about as many of them as we can! To do that, we created a DIY Flower Book.

Although we only started off with one flower, I’ll make sure to update our other flower pages.

Since Mila picks flowers all the time, we had to press and keep them for a while. I thought it’d be cool to see everything in a book for us to review and go over at the end of summer.

All we had to do is start with a base. Here’s the supplies we used:

  • Cardboard
  • Scrapbook
  • Modge Podge
  • Pipe cleaner
  • Paper
  • Stickers
  • Flowers

For the actual book, I ended up using cardboard from a brownie box. It was easy to cut and I liked how it was thin cardboard too. Then, I used modge podge to paste scrapbook paper on to the cardboard pieces.

After it was dried, I used stickers to write “Mila’s Flower Book.” Then I hole punched the top corner to connect the book with a pipe cleaner.

For the inside flower pages, I just used computer paper. You could definitely do thick card stock paper or other scrapbook paper too. I’ll probably use others with some of the other flowers.

I figured we’d start with tulips since the ones we picked are starting to die.

All we did was dry the flowers, have her draw them, me draw them, and we went over the letters in tulip. It was a fun learning experience for her!

We can’t wait to get started on the other flowers. I think dandelions will be next and some of my Mother’s Day flowers too.

What’s your favorite flower that we should study? Let me know in the comments.

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DIY Fingerprint Flower Jar

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Mother’s Day is almost here and we’re busy making DIY’s for all the special moms in our lives. If you’re looking for an easy one, this DIY Fingerprint Flower Jar is just right for you.

We love making presents for our loved ones. It makes gift giving more personal and shows how hard we worked on it too. Mila is always so proud when she sees something she made up in someone’s house. She’ll get a huge smile.

Since she loves to pick flowers and put them in vases, I thought this would be a perfect gift for the loved ones in our family!

There’s not a bunch of supplies you need for this DIY gift. We had everything already at home and were able to reuse an old olive jar!

  • Jar
  • Paint
  • Modge podge

All you need to do is get an area prepped for paint. Then I showed Mila what I meant by finger painting flowers on a jar. I just did it on the brown paper that I prepped the area in. This way she could see she was allowed to use her fingers as a paint brush.

Then I let her go!

She did a few alone, but then she felt better when I held it up and twisted it for her. I don’t think she wanted to smudge the flowers she already had done!

Once they’re finished making flowers, coat the jar in modge podge. I just did a thin layer so the flowers don’t go off in the future. This step isn’t required, but if you want that added protection, I’d suggest it!

To finish it up, you could add letter beads like I did or a yarn bow too.

We filled ours up with flowers, but you could add your loved ones favorite candy or even a tea light candle too. Either way, this jar is something special and easy a mom in your life will really love!

If you’re looking for more Mother’s Day DIY’s, check out these ones Mila and I have done. Let me know which one is your favorite in the comments.

DIY Floral Handprint Art

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If you’re looking for a memorable and easy craft for Mother’s Day, you’ll love this DIY Floral Handprint Art.

Not only was it simple to make, my four year old helped me through it all.

If you haven’t noticed by my last few posts on social media, we’re in a hand art phase. I think it’s a mix of wanting to preserve how little she is and they’re easy to do!

I’ve had this floating frame in my house for about a year. In my head I pictured it with pressed flowers all around. Then, the past few days I thought it’d be a perfect Mother’s Day gift to myself.

So, with Mila’s help and flowers from Josh, we created something beautiful.

For this DIY Floral Handprint Art, you’ll need:

*You can find this frame here.*

First, clean off your frame. I like to do this so I don’t noticed smudges after everything is finished. Plus, it’s nice to work with a clear area.

Then, paint your child’s hand. Mila picked pink, of course and I thought it looked beautiful. When it’s painted, firmly press your child’s hand on the inside pane of glass. If there’s a few missing space, you can repaint their hand and redo the process!

Next, let your child put the pressed flowers where they’d like.

When they have their final spot, clasp the second glass pane to keep the handprint and flowers safe.

On the outside, I decided to paint the word love and the year on the corner. “Love” was purely decorative, but the date is something I do on all of our projects!

Then you’re all finished.

I truly think this DIY Floral Handprint Art would be a lovely piece for moms, grandmas, and every other mother figure in your child’s life.

What’s your tips on pressing or drying flowers? I’d love to hear different ways… especially with Mila’s love of flower picking.

DIY Gardening Grow Kit

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If you’re looking to surprise a gardener in your life with a little gift, this DIY Gardening Grow Kit will be a hit!

Mila and I LOVE to garden. We try to grow vegetables every year and eat what we produce. It’s always a fun way for her to learn about the growing cycle and show her how much work it takes to make our food. She’s always very into growing flowers and making arrangements.

Let’s just say, we always are surrounded by plants and gardening supplies!

Since this time of the year is so close to Mother’s Day and end of the year, this is a great gift to give and easy to assemble too. You can find all these items at any local store.

Here’s what we used:

I love being able to put all the items into the watering can. It makes for an easy gift bag. You could also add ribbon or a printable with it too.

Even though I added flower seed packets, you could easily do veggies or even DIY seed bombs in there too. If you’d rather skip seeds in general, putting a plant inside of the watering can would be a cute idea too!

For soil, I would suggest either buying a whole potting soil bag or putting enough for a pot in a ziplock bag. You can easily stuff in it the bottom of the watering can.

This DIY Gardening Grow Kit will be perfect for the mothers, teachers, or any gardeners in your life!

What’s your favorite outdoor plants to grow: flower or veggies?

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 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.

DIY Flower Pom Poms

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Springtime is here and we’re bringing the best parts inside. To decorate and embrace spring, we made DIY Flower Pom Poms.

These boho flowers are easy to make and really make a statement to any wall.

Mila and I are obsessed with plant and flowers. They bring us so much joy and are beautiful to look at too. I think they’re one of our favorite parts about springtime.

Even though we have plants and see flowers constantly, you can never have too many! That’s why I love this DIY Flower Garland.

Here’s the only two things you need for it.

  • Yarn
  • Scissors
  • Large needle
  • Pom pom maker (optional)

The first thing I did was pick out what color yarn I wanted for this project. I am in love with this orange, yellow, and pink color scheme lately. It gives me 70’s floral pattern vibes.

Then you need to make your pom poms. I personally don’t use a pom pom maker, just my hand.

All you need to do is cut and hold a string in your hands horizontally, then start wrapping string vertically around your four fingers. Wrap it around 150 times to get a full pom pom.

Next, you have to tie the first string you had horizontally. Once it’s tied, cut the loops for the rest of the strings to flare out.

After you have your little yarn ball, it’s time to shape and make it look fluffy. You’re going to trim A LOT of yarn here. Just keep cutting it down until it’s the size and puffiness you’d like. Once that’s done, your first pom pom is complete.

For each flower you do, you need to make six pom poms. I usually do a white center with colors on the outside.

To connect them, you can either use hot glue or stitch them together.

I made a garland of hearts, but you could easily make a single wall hanging, faux flowers, or a rear view window decoration. You can also change the size of your poms using a pom pom maker or different technique.

Personally, I love how this turned out and totally want to make one for my room too.

Prepare yourself for all the spring and Easter content. We are so excited for this tike of year and are so ready to create!

What craft or activity are you ready to tackle this spring? Let me know in the comments.

Baked Reuben Sliders Recipe

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If you’re looking for something easy and delicious to make for St. Patrick’s Day, you HAVE to try these Baked Reuben Sliders.

The one food I always crave around St. Patrick’s Day are reuben sandwiches. They have so many good flavors and are such a comfort food.

Last year was the first time I’ve made them at home. Usually I’ll order out, but they were easy enough to make. Since we always like to change it up and everyone loved the Chicken Parmesan Sliders Recipe, I knew these classic reuben sandwiches needed a twist.

Let’s just say… it was another instant hit in our house. I think this means we’ll have Baked Reuben Sliders all year long. A total win for me and my cooking time!

I’m sure I’ve convinced you enough to try with just the picture. Here’s what you’ll need to make them for your family:

  • Corned Beef
  • Baby Swiss Cheese
  • Thousand Island Dressing
  • King’s Hawaiian Original Sweet Rolls
  • Sauerkraut
  • Butter
  • Italian Seasoning

Before I begin… I did not add the amount I used becuase it will probably be different for your family. For Mila and me, I bought a half pound of corned beef, a pack of baby Swiss cheese, a can of sauerkraut, and one pack of King’s Hawaiian Rolls. We had enough for leftovers, but that’s what worked for us!

First, preheat your oven to 350° F.

While that’s preheating, slice your Hawaiian rolls across the middle leaving a top and a bottom. You won’t want to pull the individual rolls apart. Before putting the rolls on a cooking sheet, coat the bottom of the sheet with melted butter.

Then, put some butter on the bottom rolls. Place the bottoms of the rolls in the oven for around three minutes. This will toast them and not make the bottoms soggy when you’re eating.

After it’s toasted, pull them out and start assembling.

First, put thousand island dressing on the rolls. Then add the corned beef, sauerkraut, and baby Swiss. Before putting on the top part of the buns, I added an extra layer of thousand island dressing.

Next, add the top of the buns. Brush melted butter and Italian seasoning to the top.

Place in the oven to bake for 15-20 minutes. You’ll know when they’re done when the buns are golden brown and the cheese is all melted.

Then enjoy all the goodness!

These Baked Reuben Sliders are so good. The sweetness of the King’s Hawaiian Rolls just elevates the taste. Plus, it makes them so much more shareable too.

You can pair these with different sides like French fries or a salad (since we always eat salads here). But make sure to pair with a tasty St. Patrick’s Day treat or drink. I’ve shared a few that you can choose from:

Do you make Reuben sandwiches for St. Patrick’s Day? If you don’t, what’s another Irish meal that you crave?

DIY Color Changing Shamrock Sign

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The magic of St. Patrick’s Day keeps flowing, especially with this DIY Coloring Changing Shamrock Sign.

Littles will be amazed watching blue and yellow make green! You can also use this sign to help trap those pesky leprechauns. They’ll be attracted to the magic.

Mila has been super curious in two different things: leprechauns and how to make colors.

To be able to give her both in one day, we did a magical craft that we’ll use to bait leprechauns. It’s really been fun to hear all her ideas of how to catch a leprechaun. She had fun making magic like them!

Plus, we love an activity with a simple set up! This one gives you just that with some leprechaun magic too! Here’s what you’ll need:

  • Blue Paint
  • Yellow Paint
  • Black Paint
  • Gold Paint
  • Canvas
  • Plastic Wrap

All you need to do is pour some blue and yellow paint on a blank canvas. I actually had the canvas in a sensory bin to keep the mess at bay.

Then, I had Mila place plastic wrap on top and told her to mix all the colors.

For that part, I really had to tell her it was okay to get messy. She was really moving the plastic wrap around which mixed it up quicker. At first I think she was afraid of the messy paint!

Once it’s combined, take the plastic wrap off and let it dry.

To add a little more magic, I painted on a shamrock, ‘lucky,’ and splattered gold paint. I think it turned out as magical as a leprechaun would like.

What’s your favorite St. Patrick’s Day saying to put on signs?

Unicorn Flower Crown

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What’s more magical than a unicorn? A unicorn wearing a flower crown!

With flowers popping up everywhere and our love for being outside, we combined the two for another fun backyard activity.

Mila and I LOVE unicorns. I swear when I found out I was having a girl I bought all the rainbow, pink, and unicorn items I came across. Its no wonder why Mila loves them.

Since I know she is interested in backyard adventures (scavenger hunt, birdhouse motel, fairy-tale garden, and nature crafts), I figured we’d do another one.

As always, you’ll have most of the items you’ll need on hand.

Here they are:

  • Cardboard
  • Sharpie
  • Pen
  • Yard full of flowers

All you need to do is cut a cardboard piece to whatever size. I had just recently bought candles and they came in the cutest, smallest boxes. They turned our perfect doe this activity.

Then, try your best to draw a unicorn ‘head.’ To simplify it, I obviously just drew the eyelashes, hair, horn, and some hair.

It’s not perfect by adult standards at all, but Mila thought it was the best thing ever.

Next, poke holes where a crown would be. I just used a pen to push through the cardboard. It would have been cute to do a pattern on a bigger piece of cardboard. Maybe next time!

All that’s left is to let your child explore the outdoors.

I let Mila pick ANY flowers in the yard and flower garden. For some reason, she was intent on picking the little white ones.

To keep the flowers from falling, I had Mila thread the stems in. If your little can get long stems, this will help. Then when she went back to look for more, I made little knots from the excess stems.

If you have an older child, this might be good practice for them!

Once she was all done, she gave me the biggest smile possible. Then ran inside to place it on her favorite shelf. It needed the prime spot.

Toddler activities do not need to be crazy intense for your child to be engaged and happy. Most of the time, it only take a piece of cardboard and creativity from a parent!

Even though we love unicorns, this activity can easily be tailored to your child’s animal preference.

I hope you and your child enjoys this activity! Let me know in the comments if you’ve done something similar or what animal you’d draw.

Before you go, check out how these moms included magical animals in their play: