Review of 2013

Happy 2014! 

Before starting this post, I just wanted to say a big thank you for visiting this blog.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  Thank you for joining in our family's daily adventures and thank you for appreciating my crafts.  Honestly, blogging wouldn't be as fun without you.  Your support really means the world to me. 

Ok, ok, enough mushy stuff.  Ahem, now onto today's post.

Since I enjoyed last year's 2012 review post, I put together something similar together for 2013.  Looking back, I'm amazed by how many crafts I made (oy vey- thanks hubby for being so supportive!) and how much Chuck has grown.  My baby is gone.... he's a little boy now.  Sheesh, time just flew by.   

Are you ready to grab hold onto 2014?  Hope your New Year is off to a good start!  

 January


Memorable events: Choosing to try new things and attending a wedding
Favorite kid activity:  Painting with cornstarch paint
Favorite craft:  Dying flowers rainbow colors


February
 
Memorable event: Attending this bridal shower
Favorite kid activity:  Making bubble snakes
Favorite craft:  Whale Tissue Box Holder



March

Memorable event:  Selling goods at the craft fair
Favorite kid activity:  Feeding birds outside
Favorite craft: Sumo Plastic Bottle Bowling Pins


 April

Memorable events:  Attending a Mehndi ceremony and wedding ceremony
Favorite kid activity:  Blowing humongous bubbles with Chuck
Favorite crafts: Tattooing a banana and Painting an umbrella 


May
 
Memorable events:  Attending a lovely wedding and hanging out with Aussie family  (in DC and NYC)
Favorite kid activity:  Attending a niece's birthday party
Favorite crafts:  Good Night, Bonne Nuit Pillow Cases


June

Memorable event:  Visiting Colonial Williamsburg (1 and 2)
Favorite kid activities:  Making cornstarch paint and Grass Egg Heads
Favorite crafts:  Making a Mosaic Styrofoam Picture Frame  and painting a galaxy umbrella


July

Memorable event:  Reflecting on faith and crafting
Favorite kid activity:  Visiting The Children's Museum
Favorite crafts:  Painting a rainbow fan


August
 
Memorable event:  Having a house guest and being part of a craft e-zine
Favorite kid activity:  Painting with toys
Favorite crafts:  Tattooing bananas and Orange peel canola candle

September


Memorable events:  Visiting the zoo and Maker Faire (1 and  2)
Favorite kid activities: Blowing up balloons with baking soda and Cardboard spaceship toy
Favorite craft: Making crystal flowers


October
 
Memorable events:  Visiting Lancaster and Baltimore
Favorite kid activity: Celebrating Halloween!
Favorite craft: Making a tulle mask


November

Memorable event:  Thanksgiving!
Favorite kid activity:  Craft stick dominoes
Favorite craft:  Heart stenciled shoes and Making roses out of autumn leaves


December

 

Memorable event:  Christmas!
Favorite kid activity:  Playing with Chuck in the snow
Favorite crafts: Hiding a jump drive in a rubber toy and Making reindeer antlers

Light Painting with a Flashlight

Hubby and I love seeing things glow in the dark. We've taken photos with glow sticks (and then cut them up to see what was inside- muah ha ha), made our Christmas lights look like different shapes, and even made glow-in-the dark chalk.

This past Christmas our uncle gave us his old tripod (Thanks Tito Ric!), so hubby wanted to try light painting.  We basically just waved around a flashlight in the air to make lovely "drawings" in the dark.

Christmas Photos

Warning!  This post contains a lot of photos!  But, I figure it's ok since Christmas only happens once a year.  

This year we went to two family get-togethers.  We had lunch at one aunt's place and dinner at a cousin's house.  Fortunately for us, both houses were only 5 minutes apart.  We had a lot of fun hanging out with family and stuffing ourselves silly.  Here are some photos from our Christmas adventure:

(Thanks hubby for taking most of these while I played with the kids!)

Hubby, Chuck, and I wearing our Christmas headbands, ready to party (thanks Tito Ric for the photo!)

Click below to see more photos...

Making different shaped marshmallows

Merry Belated Christmas!  How was your holiday?  Good, I hope. Ours was filled with family, food, and a ton of fun.   Chuck really loved playing with all of his older cousins.  I'll upload some photos from the day's event a little later on. 

Until then, I thought I'd share this neat food trick that I learned from here.  Did you know that you can make your marshmallows into different shapes?  Well, you can.... and it's super easy to do.

Aren't these heart shaped marshmallows lovely?

Keep on reading to make your own fun shaped marshmallows...

Merry Christmas!

We wish you all a merry, merry Christmas.

May your homes be filled with love, joy, and peace this holiday season.  

And in case you need a little extra holiday cheer, here are some goofy photos of Chuck and me wearing a lovely Santa/Gnome beard.  (I just cut out a beard shape from felt and hot glued elastic to both sides.)

Happy Holidays!  (And happy crafting!)

Holiday Train Show at Grand Central Terminal

One of the best things about this Christmas is that Hubby is off the entire week.  Hooray!  With all of his traveling last month, it's really nice having him around.  I also especially love seeing Chuck and Daddy playing like best buddies. 

This past weekend we finally got a chance to visit the Holiday Train Show at Grand Central Terminal.  Even though it was pretty crowded, the display itself was enchanting.  Everything was meticulously crafted and I kept "oohing" and "ahhing" over all the lovely details.

Here are some photos from our trip into the city:

The miniature taxis were too adorable!  Can you spot the tiny Santa?

As you can see, this little guy really wanted to get inside

I loved seeing the sparkly Christmas light-night sky, King-Kong, and tiny, tiny nuns

Ack!  Look at that adorable mini Christmas tree!

We then got some yummy gluten free pizza at Two Boots Pizza.  I love this little guy's sweet kisses

Since it was such a nice day, we walked back to our bus stop.  On our way across town, Daddy and Chuck posed underneath the Bryant Park Christmas tree

It's a family portrait.  Can you find all of us?

Four Winter Toddler Crafts and Activities

Looking for some easy toddler winter crafts and activities?

I'm officially over winter.  Buh-bye shortened days!  Buh-bye cold weather!  Buy-bye staying inside!  Oh, how I wish it were already spring.  But, until warmer, sunnier days come, Chuck and I are going to persevere and have fun indoors.  Here are four crafts and activities that have kept us busy, happy, and sane for the past couple of weeks. 

1.  Cereal Box Gingerbread Men

I cut out a whole bunch of gingerbread men from my empty cereal box stash.  (Yes, I'm a proud cardboard hoarder!)  Then, I brought them to the library and let the kids decorate them with googly eyes and foam stickers.  The older 2-year olds had fun making funny men and the babies just watched their moms do the craft. 

Chuck's attention span:  He probably spent about 5-10 minutes on this activity before he lost interest.

2.  Hand and Foot Reindeer Wreath

 

I've seen versions of this craft all over the internet... and thought they were so cute and perfect for the holidays.  I traced Chuck's hand once to make a template for the wreath and horns.  I also traced Chuck's foot to make the reindeer's head.  Then, I glued everything together and he helped me add foam shapes and googly eyes.

Here are the different components of the wreath:

Chuck's attention span:  He probably spent about 10 minutes on this activity before he lost interest.

3.  Homemade Play Dough

I followed this craft clay recipe and we had tons of fun rolling, cutting, and shaping our clay.  Unfortunately, our ornaments cracked when they dried.  Boo.  But, we had such fun manipulating the stuff that I kept leftovers in a sealed bag in the fridge.  It didn't dry out and we got to play with it another day. (Right now the "play dough" is still in our fridge... so we'll try it out again this week.)

He used a blunt plastic knife, measuring spoons, measuring cup, and an olive jar (our makeshift rolling pin) to play with the dough. 

Chuck's attention span:  This activity was a hit!  We spent about 30-45 minutes on two separate days playing with our "play dough."

4.  Water Bead Play

Again, I saw a ton of other mommies raving about these beads so I had to give them a try.  I found mine at Michaels in the flower section.  The beads are made of a special polymer that expands in water.  The resulting beads look a bit like boba balls and are slippery and firm.  They also bounce a bit if dropped.

Here's what the water beads initially looked like ...

After a couple of hours, our beads grew and Chuck had a blast scooping them from container to container.

Warning:  Yes, they can be a choking hazard.  I repeatedly told him that the beads weren't food and I made sure to watch him while he played.  Once we were done with the beads, I threw them away in the garbage can.  (You can't pour them down the drain because they can clog your pipes.)

Chuck's attention span:  This activity was a hit!  He spent about an hour just scooping the beads from container to container.


So, for all you mamas out there who are also stuck at home with young ones... stay strong!  We can make it through winter!  Hopefully one of these ideas will help keep you sane this week.

Happy crafting, friends!