SharpMoms » Family

What We Love Right Now May 2, 2012: Dream Catcher Frame Craft

admin — Wed, 02 May 2012 11:00:20 +0000

Dream catchers are one of the oldest traditions of Native Americans. The traditional dream catcher was intended to protect the sleeping person from negative dreams by only allowing positive, happy dreams through. The positive dreams would slip through the hole in the center of the dream catcher and glide down the feathers to the sleeping person nearby. The negative dreams would get caught up in the web and vanish once the first rays of sunlight hit the web in the morning.

Why not create a dream catcher with your child? It’s the perfect way to do something fun together and help your child get a good night’s rest full of peaceful, happy dreams. Hang it on your child’s bed post or nightstand.

image via

You can create this dream catcher using this kit from Oriental Trading. If they happen to be sold out simply use popsicle sticks, leather cord, beads, feathers, brown yarn, and light colored fabric to create your dream catcher. All the supplies needed can be found at your local craft store.

Fun Birthday Countdown Printables {It’s FREE!}

admin — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 11:00:09 +0000

Birthdays can be a big deal, especially with kids. Why not countdown to your family member’s next birthday? These printable are FREE and super cute.

Here’s just one design…

image via

Just click here and choose a design that you can print at home or at a local store, like Walmart or Target. Then put the printable in a frame and use a dry erase marker to change the number from day to day!

Thanks to Life Sweet Life for creating such cute printables!

Baby Birds in a Nest Plastic Eggs & Paper Plate Craft

admin — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:00:58 +0000

Still have plenty of plastic eggs left to recycle? Try this super cute birds in a nest craft and use up some of those Easter eggs!

You’ll Need:

2-3 Plastic Eggs

Construction Paper

Brown Paint or a Brown Party Plate

Craft Glue

Scissors

Black Permanent Marker

Make It:

1. Paint your paper plate brown. If you have a brown party plate, skip this step.

2. Begin crafting the baby birds. First, fold a small piece of orange construction paper and cut a triangle. This will make the beak.

3. Cut wings out of construction paper. Again, you can go with a triangle shape.

4. Glue beak on top of egg. Use a permanent marker to draw two small eyes on either side of the beak.

5. Glue on wings.

6. Put glue on the bottom of each egg and adhere to plate.

7. Cut brown strips of construction paper to make the nest straw. Glue the strips around the edge of the plate.

Thanks for sharing the great idea Busy Bee Kids Crafts!

Disney Jr.’s Doc McStuffins Games and More!

admin — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 11:00:40 +0000

Has your child fallen in love with the new Disney Jr. series Doc McStuffins? My kids love this cute new show. What child doesn’t like to pretend play and help their favorite stuffed animals?! My kids enjoy fixing up their stuffed animals just like Doc McStuffins. If you haven’t seen tuned in yet, then be sure to check it out online. You can watch the episodes right from Disney Jr.’s site!

There are also new games and crafts too. Make your own Doc McStuffins door hanger, print off some fun coloring pages, and more! Your child will love Stuffy’s Scramble, a search and find game. Girls will especially enjoy Lambie’s Ballet, a fun game where Lambie comes to life and takes the stage. In addition to all this online fun, your child can also create their own Book of Boo Boo’s for their stuffed animals too–just like Doc!

image rights are that of DisneyJr.com. All thoughts expressed in this blog are opinions of SharpMoms.com.

What We Love Right Now April 4, 2012: Cute Easter Cupcakes

admin — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 11:00:46 +0000

Baking for holidays doesn’t have to be an elaborate ordeal! We made these cute cupcakes for Easter and they required very little effort! Great addition to your Easter brunch or dinner dessert table or an Easter play date!

All you need to make these cupcakes are:

Boxed Cake Mix (any flavor)

White Icing (we like the premade in a jar!)

Red, Blue, and Green Food Coloring

Easter Candy of Your Choice (We chose coated chocolate eggs)

Fix it Fast:

1. Bake cake mix according to package.

2. In three separate bowls, mix icing with small amounts of food coloring. The less you use, the more pastel the coloring will be.

3. Put icing in a Ziploc bag, snip corner, and use decorating tip to ice cupcakes.

4. Place candies on top and enjoy!

Vistaprint Only Gets Better! New Nickelodeon Merchandise Added

admin — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 00:08:35 +0000

{via}

I’ve always been a HUGE fan of Vistaprint! They offer so many products and at a stellar price. Anytime I can’t find a design I like with other companies I can always find something I like with Vistaprint. I especially love their invitations and announcements. Recently added to their designs are Nickelodeon prints featuring Dora, Diego, Sponge Bob, and more!

Click here to begin creating your Vistaprint invitation!

Torn Paper Rainbow Craft

admin — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 19:10:26 +0000

I don’t know what it is about my childhood elementary art classes, but torn paper projects stick out to me. They were kind of fun and really gave whatever you were trying to create a neat look. I’ve done a few torn paper crafts at home with my own kids and it’s one of their favorite projects! I think they like it because they can do it on their own with little help from me just by using the paper pieces and a glue stick. Here is one of our latest creations for spring, a rainbow. We may add some St. Patrick’s Day things to it too like a pot of gold or clovers! Have fun creating torn paper crafts with your kids!

Kid Party Ideas: Construction Dump Truck Themed Birthday Party

admin — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 11:00:54 +0000

My toddler loves cars and trucks, so when I started planning his second birthday party I knew a vehicle themed party was a no-brainer! He especially loves his Chuck dump truck and all of Chuck’s Pals so I decided on a construction themed party. Here’s what we created with the help of great online party supplies like Birthday Express, Birthday in a Box and Kid’s Parties by Lori {highly recommend all three!}

It was all very simple. We had a small gathering, but still wanted to have some cute decor and fun with food.

Peppermints: Rocks

Pudding Cups with Gummie Worms: Dirt Cups

Donuts: Spare Tires

Cupcakes: Boulders (cupcake picks from Lori’s Parties)

Brownies: Cinder Blocks

Catered Sandwiches and other sides: Work Site Grub

The cake came from a local grocery store bakery. It was delish! I am not a baker, but wanted a mud look, so chocolate icing with chocolate sprinkles did the trick! All candles were purchased from Birthday in a Box.

The mantle was decorated with a DIY scrapbook paper pennant and some favorite Chuck trucks.

We like sweets so that was a major part of the snacks. You could be creative and go any direction with pebbles, rocks, and other things you might find on a construction site. All the dump trucks and construction cars were ones we already had, so be sure to utilize what you’ve got for decorations. Also, you can’t really see it in the picture, but the black plastic table cover had silver tape down the center giving it a “road” look. The kids loved it!

**All paper products were purchased from Birthday Express.

What We Love Right Now December 14, 2011: Easy to Make Holiday Treats

admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 11:00:51 +0000

Christmastime is a great time to roll up your sleeves and bake. If you’ve baking up a storm maybe you’re looking for an easy treat to make or, if you’re not really into baking, you might be looking for a cookie recipe that requires just a couple of ingredients and just a little time. Our two holiday cookie ideas are perfect for either category you may fall in!

Christmas Cookie Sammies

{image via}

We found this cookie idea on another blog and thought it was a great, simple idea to share! All you need are the Pillsbury slice and bake cookies, some yummy icing (homemade or store bought), and some fun, festive sprinkles! These require little effort and they’ll be yummy and, not to mention, cute on a nice little platter. For the full recipe click here.

Christmas Tree Brownies

Another simple creation, these treats take just a few minutes to bake and decorate and it’s the perfect way to involve you little bakers as well. You’ll need one box of brownie mix, candy cane sticks, green gel icing, and peppermint M & M’s.

1. Bake the brownies according to the box.

2. After brownies have cooled, cut into triangle, tree shape with a steak knife.

3. Insert candy cane stick at bottom of brownies for the tree stem.

4. Apply icing and place M & M’s on brownie.

Hanukkah Popsicle Stick Craft

admin — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 01:02:12 +0000

Hanukkah is just around the corner and this craft is super easy for your little ones to create. You just need popsicle sticks, yellow construction paper, craft glue, and paint.

1. Cut paper into small flames.

2. Paint sticks any color you like and assemble to make a very festive menorah!