Rainbow Fruit Kabobs

Last year for St. Patrick's day my kids helped me put together these rainbow fruit kabobs as a treat to celebrate.

Don't they look delicious?  And festive?  I love all the beautiful colors together.

My kids of course loved eating them.  We didn't have any frosting covered cookies, or green pudding, or chocolate coins.  We ate fruit, and it was special.  I love that healthy can still be a treat.  Sometimes I forget that simple is better.  I don't have to fill my kids up with candy or sugar for every little occasion. We had fun creating our kabobs together and eating each sweet juicy bite together.  I think we started a great St. Patrick's Day tradition that we'll keep.

Interested in more healthy treat ideas?  See some of our ideas HERE.

DIY Upcycled Plate

Years ago, as a wedding gift, we received a decorative plate with our engagement picture on it.  I never really loved our engagement pictures so that was the first strike against it.  I could tell my husband hated it--strike 2.  And strike 3?  It just wasn't our style.

With all of that said I still hung on to it--somewhere buried in a drawer or box.  We couldn't really give it away (it did  have our faces on it) and it somehow felt wrong to throw it away.  But I knew it had potential.

I recently found a calling for this little plate I've been keeping around for nearly 10 years.  It was going to decorate my kitchen--with a few modifications of course.

First, I gave it several coats of spray paint.  It took quite a few to get to the point where our faces didn't show through.

After I had spent all day painting and waiting for paint to dry between coats I used my Silhouette to cut out a "C".

Can I tell you how much better I like this plate now?!  I love it!

And it has finally found a home instead of being tucked into a dark box.

Kiwi Crate

I recently received a package from a great company called Kiwi Crate.  Have you heard of them?  Well, let me tell you--they are awesome!  Every month you get a new crate full of all the supplies you need to make some great crafts with your child.  Everything in one convenient box delivered right to your door.

While the older boys were at school and the baby was napping Mr. A and I pulled out our crate.  He couldn't believe that this package was just for him. 

When we opened it up we discovered that we were in for some pirate fun!  The crate had everything we needed for creating a pirate adventure: eye patch, pirate hat, parrot, treasure maps, flag, and even a treasure chest!

First we worked on the hat.  After folding it up (with help from the great instructions!) we started to decorate.  I held the stencils while he colored them in.  He had a great time picking out the different shapes, colors and their placement.

And what pirate hat is complete without feather! They thought of everything!

We moved from project to project and A was just as excited about each one.  And I loved it because all of our supplies were right in front of us! 

He loved decorating his very own treasure chest.

And practicing his writing by spelling out every family member's name on his pirate flag.

It was a fantastic afternoon of crafting with my boy.  My favorite moment was during his drawing he looked up at me and said, "Mom!  I'm an artist!"  Yes, yes you are.

Mr. A loved making some great pirate gear and I loved so many things!  Aside from the fact that I didn't have to come up with an idea and gather all the materials, I loved that each project came with easy-to-follow instructions along with a "messiness rating"!  And there were great tips like: put a brown paper bag under the flag when you color it because the markers will bleed through.  (So much better than finding that out the hard way on my new table!)

 Thank you Kiwi Crate!  We loved our experience!

Don't feel like you can sign up for a whole year?  Kiwi Crate just introduced single crates for just $19.95!

**disclaimer: Kiwi Crate sent us a crate to review but all opinions are mine and mine alone.

Love at Home Printable

I love pictures frames.  I have a bad habit though. I fall in love with the perfect frame, buy it, and then let it sit empty in my house.  Sometimes for over a year!   When I bought the picture frame below I committed to filling it before the end of the month.

I wanted to fill this frame with a saying of some sort.  Since I love the words from this hymn I decided to create a printable using the first line of the song.

Simple and true.

I created it in several different colors.  Feel free to grab your own copy below if you'd like.  They're made to fit a 4 x 6 frame.

(To download: Click on picture to enlarge.  Right click to copy.  Paste into a word document.  Print.)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine Card Ideas

Each year I pull out our little $1 mailboxes from Target on February 1st.  From the 1st through the 14th my kids and I enjoy sending and receiving notes and treats from each other in our mailboxes.  It's become a fun little tradition my kids really look forward to.

With so much inspiration floating around on Pinterest I got a little more creative this year with some of my notes. 

My kids really got a kick out of this monster card.  They thought it was very clever.

 

(Inspired by this post)

How much do I love you?

(Inspired by this post)

I love you in sign language.

(Inspired by this post)

Who can resist a pop up card?
Here's the ultra simple version . . .

 And one that's a bit more difficult . . .

Making these cards made me appreciate so much more the beautiful pop-up cards my friend Rebecca makes.  They're a lot harder than they look.

Create a "thumb-body" using an ink pad to make your thumb print.  Last year our family send these out to grandparents saying, "5 little thumb-bodies love you" with each of our finger prints creating a "thumb-body".

(Inspired by this post)


I've had fun coming up with cute things to put in my kids mailboxes but I've also realized that the part they love most is seeing the little flag on their mailbox raised and knowing that they've got mail.  They would rather have 10 simple notes than one fancy one.

Find some of my past mailbox ideas here.

Valentine's Chex Mix

Amy is always great at coming up with healthy snacks--which I'm grateful for because I always use them!  But here is a little something for your sweet tooth.  I was recently making these for a large group and decided that I wanted a little variety.  This is what I came up with: 

Want to make some of your own?

Here is what you will need:

6 cups Rice Chex cereal

12 oz bag of white chocolate chips

1-2 tsp peppermint extract

optional: 

red sprinkles

valentine m&m's

red candy melts (I just threw in a few with the chocolate chips to give it a pink-ish hue)

Measure your cereal into a large bowl.  Dump your chocolate into a medium sauce pan on low heat.  Stir chocolate occasionally until it is completely melted.  Stir in peppermint extract to taste.  Pour chocolate into cereal, stirring gently until cereal is covered.  Add in any extras (m&m's, sprinkles, etc.)  Spread out on wax paper until cool.  Store in an airtight container.  

Enjoy!

Healthy Valentine Treat

Last year I helped my daughter throw a little Valentine party for some of her friends similar to the one we did two years ago.  This time we were trying to keep the sugary sweets to a minimum so we made these fruit kabobs for a healthy snack.

They were easy to make and were a big hit with the girls.  I'll for sure be making them again this year for my family.

Doily Garland

I've been looking for a fun valentine garland for my mantle.  Something fairly simple.  And then I was struck by this wonderful idea--and it didn't cost me a single cent.  I used only what I had on hand and it was all put together in less than 5 minutes.

All you need are heart-shaped paper doilies and a string or ribbon of some sort.  I used pink baker's twine.  I decided on two different colors and sizes.  Once you decide your pattern just start stringing the doilies on!  Seriously easy.  And the perfect addition to help us celebrate the month of love.