Tag: Kids

Kid’s Art Room Tour

Post author By vickybarone
Post date September 15, 2016

[This post contains affiliate links. If purchased, I will receive a commission, but the price stays the same for you!]

Hi, everyone! Today I’m sharing my kids’ art room if you’d like to see! I really wanted to give the boys a place to learn, explore, create, and have fun! But as they get older, we seem to accumulate SO MUCH STUFF. I found it necessary to create a room with storage and work spaces to support their creativity and learning.

World Map Fabric Wall Decal: Vicky Barone Designs on Etsy. Desks: Amazon. Chairs: The Land of Nod.

Desk: Amazon. Chair: The Land of Nod.

The desks are reminiscent of old school desks, giving them a place for their stuff (and so it’s not scattered all over the place). I found mine on Amazon, but Pottery Barn Kids has similar ones in stock right now.

Table: Pottery Barn Kids. Chairs: The Land of Nod. Rug: Ballard Designs.

Giving them a shared work space/table allows us all to work together on a project.

Organizing their stuff into categories helps to keep the clutter at bay (although I have to regularly go in and reorganize, they are getting better at it). For instance, we have a place where all of the supplies are kept.

Bookcase: The Land of Nod. Tower Drawers: Ikea.

There’s another shelf that contains non-fiction books and science-related books and projects. One of the shelves is dedicated to toys we use to build stuff.

Games and puzzles are as organized as they can be. Plastic bins on the shelves help to keep the books more readily accessible and easy to find.

Multiple places to display recent artwork is great – there are clipboards on the wall making it easy to swap new artwork for old. There are also magnetic strips (again, making it easy to post new artwork).

Table: Pottery Barn Kids. Chairs: The Land of Nod. Rug: Ballard Designs.

The rug is an indoor/outdoor rug made of polypropylene so it’s easy to clean if they spill paint. Most importantly, I’m trying to teach them that everything has a place and we should always respect our things and put them back where they belong.

Bookcase: The Land of Nod. Tower Drawers: Ikea. Floating Shelves: The Land of Nod.

The drawer towers are labeled with subjects so at least the older one can read where things should go. And I keep the supplies stocked so it’s easy to pull out a project or put one away.

I am also loving the chalkboard wall I painted! The idea is to write inspirational quotes about learning, being brave, creating, being grateful, making mistakes/artwork, etc. It’s also fun to label certain areas of the room and the boys can decorate it whenever they want!

World Map Fabric Wall Decal: Vicky Barone Designs on Etsy.

I used the wall opposite the chalkboard to display one of my own designs! This world map is a fabric wall decal and you can find it here in my Etsy shop. It’s a sturdy and super colorful map that is easy to remove and re-position!

Chalkboard Easel: Melissa and Doug.

There’s my little tour! I hope it inspired you to make space for creativity! I’ve listed the product links below if you’d like to see where some of the furniture and art came from. Enjoy!

[The above products may contain affiliate links. If purchased, I will receive a commission, but the price stays the same for you!]

Tags art room, decor, Kids, organization, room tour, tour

DIY Kids

DIY Apple Jars

Post author By vickybarone
Post date August 23, 2016

Back to School season is upon us! Today we’re sharing an easy and inexpensive DIY gift your new teachers will love!

Supplies: mini glass jars (our were from the Dollar Spot at Target!), red acrylic paint, green acrylic paint, a paint brush, green felt, brown pipe cleaner, and hot glue.

Directions:
1. Pour red paint into a jar and roll it around to coat the inside. Pour out excess paint into the next jar and repeat!
2. Rest the jars upside down to let the paint dry and let any excess paint drip out. We rested ours on bamboo skewers on top of wax paper overnight.
3. Use a paint brush to paint the lips with green paint. Let dry.
4. Cut leaves out of green felt and hot glue to the lids.
5. Cut pipe cleaner into 1″ pieces, fold in half, and hot glue to the base of each leaf to create the stems.

Personalize these gifts with some tags from Places for Faces that you can print from home!

Aren’t they cute?? These make great teacher gifts too! Add erasers, paper clips, or other supplies to the insides and gift to your new teachers. If you’d like to add candy to the jars, we recommend painting the red on the outside instead. These jars are not food safe the way we created them.

Looking for more back to school ideas? Check these out!

Tags back to school, crafts, DIY, Kids, teacher gift

Kids Recipes

Gummy Bear Popsicles

Post author By vickybarone
Post date July 8, 2016

This post contains affiliate links. If purchased, I will receive a commission, but the price remains the same for you!

Happy Friday! To celebrate the weekend, we are sharing an easy Popsicle recipe your kids will love. These 2-ingredient Popsicles are sweet and delicious and have the cutest little gummy bears peeking out! Here’s how to make your own:

Supplies: a Popsicle mold, Popsicle sticks, gummy bears, and a clear beverage of your choice (try Sprite, flavored sparkling water, or coconut water!).
The above supplies contain affiliate links. If purchased, I will receive a commission, but the price remains the same for you!

Directions:
1. Add three or four gummy bears to the bottom of a Popsicle mold.
2. Insert the Popsicle stick and hold in place as you add more gummy bears on the sides (the gummy bears will help steady the Popsicle stick).
3. When all the molds are full of gummy bears, carefully pour the beverage you chose into each mold until it reaches the top.
4. Let set in freezer at least four hours.

YUM! Such a tasty treat for a hot Summer day. Hope you enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

Tags coconut water, gummy bears, Kids, Popsicle, popsicles, sparkling water, sprite, summer

DIY Family Holidays Kids

Father’s Day Shadow Sign

Post author By vickybarone
Post date June 15, 2016

Father’s Day is this Sunday! If you are looking for a sweet last-minute gift, we have just the idea for you: Create a DIY shadow sign message for Dad to let him know how much you love him!

Supplies: a piece of cardboard, a pencil, an X-acto knife, a camera, and a frame.

Directions:
1. On the cardboard, trace the message you would like to share with Dad.
2. Using the X-acto knife, carefully cut the message out and discard cut-out pieces.
3. Have your little one stand outside and hold up the sign on a sunny day. Make sure the shadow is reading correctly on the ground! If it’s not, flip the sign around.
4. Take a picture of the shadow on the ground, making sure to get your sweet little one’s shadow in the photo as well.
5. Print and frame the photo and gift to Dad!

Such a sweet and simple DIY gift he is sure to love. For more gift ideas, check out this post!

Tags DIY, fathers day, Gift, Kids

DIY Kids

DIY Paper Plate Crab

Post author By vickybarone
Post date June 13, 2016

School’s out for Summer!!! And now that I’ve got a little one back at home with me before camp starts, we are in need of some crafts! This paper plate crab is super fun to put together. Your kids will love celebrating Summer with a sweet little beach creature!

Supplies: a paper plate, red acrylic paint, a paint brush, red construction paper, scissors, glue, and googly eyes.

Directions:
1. Flatten the paper plate and paint one side with the red acrylic paint. Let dry.
2. While the paint is drying, cut a piece of construction paper into six thin strips and two thicker strips with claws on the ends!
3. Fold the thin strips accordion style. Fold the thick strips accordion style until you get to the claws.
4. When the plate is dry, flip it over so the white is facing up and glue the legs onto the edge of one half.
5. Add glue to the other half of the plate and fold in half.
6. Glue on googly eyes. Let dry.

There you have it! A fun and simple craft to keep your little ones busy (at least for a few minutes 😉 ).

What are your favorite Summer crafts? We’d love to hear!

Tags crab, DIY, Kids, kids craft, paint, paper plae, summer

DIY Kids Things I Love

Fun in the Sun: Yard Game DIYs

Post author By vickybarone
Post date June 2, 2016

Today we have a guest writer joining us from homeyou.com! Tabbie Stark is here to share some fun and affordable DIY yard game ideas that are fun for the whole family. Take it away, Tabbie!

Quality time as a family is sometimes hard to come by in the school year seasons. With school, sports, rehearsals, meals, sleepovers on top of jobs and housework, it can be stressful to find days or nights to spend time together as a family having fun. But the summer can be a whole different story! The kids aren’t in school, the appointments tend to be less and not to mention those longer sunny days; these all add up to making memories together as a family. But it can get expensive to trek out together for a day at the amusement park or even a day at the beach can get pricy. How do you combat the price point of destination summer activities with the ever growing popularity of indoor activities like video games? You can turn your yard in your home into a DIY play paradise! As summer quickly approaches we’ve gathered our favorite DIY projects you can do to enjoy with your family this summer within the comforts of your home and yard!

Pool Noodle Olympics
Channel your inner Olympian and celebrate the upcoming Summer Olympics in Brazil by creating your own games you can compete in! Let the whole family get in on it and add some sprinklers to really take the fun to the next level.

Dunk Bucket
What’s better than a bucket of water on a hot day being poured on your head? I can’t think of much else! This is great for family parties or events and even better for those baseball players in your home, keep that arm in shape and have some fun while doing it!

Giant Scrabble

Bigger is better and this giant Scrabble game is no exception. During the summer kid brain takes over and locks away all the things they learned in school the year before. But with a game that is both competitive and fun that promotes education for the little ones, where can you go wrong? The pieces are easier than you would think to make too!

Cornhole Game

Get your own version of the classic BBQ game and get in on the fun! This simple but amusing game is easy to craft on your own and will last you for years to come. Plus it takes almost no time to set up!

Lawn Twister

Get your Twister on while soaking up the sun! Landscape marking spray is easy to find at any hardware store and can make it very easy to set up a regulation size board or for those of you with larger families, a board big enough for everyone.

Sleepover Tents

Summer sleepovers are some of my favorite memories as a kid! Never having to worry about which nights were school nights or who had homework and who didn’t. We used to love grabbing our sleeping bags and heading to the back yard for stargazing and sleeping. These DIY tents are perfect for those nights! Camping can be a nightmare for families and take a lot of planning, but with these tents you can set the kids to the yard for a night they will love (with way less setup than a traditional tent!).

Jumbo Slip and Slide

The slip and slide is one of those summer activities that both kids and adults can almost always agree on! Speeding down a hill with the water cooling you down and the wind in your face? Count me in! This DIY is great because it’s not only good for the backyard but if you are feeling adventurous you can take this DIY to the closest beach and have a great time with the whole crew!

Make this summer the best summer yet with you, your family and these amazing games! Don’t let your summer disappear into an endless video game vortex or endless “I’m bored” comments from the tiny humans in your life.

Article written by Tabbie Stark, also a writer for homeyou.com, a company that connects homeowners to reliable, affordable and professional contractors for their home improvement projects. See more on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter.

Tags DIY, fun, guest writer, Kids, outside, yard games

DIY Kids

DIY Felt Memory Game

Post author By vickybarone
Post date May 12, 2016

Looking for a fun game for your little ones that doesn’t involve a screen? This felt memory game is perfect for keeping kiddos busy at home AND in the car! Here is how to make your own…

Supplies: 1 piece of black felt, 1 piece of white felt, 8 pieces of colorful felt, fabric scissors, and glue.

Directions:
1. The white piece of felt will be your board. Set it aside.
2. The black piece of felt will be the backing to each “card.” Cut the piece of black felt into quarters. Then cut each quarter into quarters. You will have 16 rectangles of black felt. Round each rectangle out to create ovals (see photos for example).
3. Cut fun shapes out of the colorful felt. 2 of each shape to match within a color.
4. Glue the shapes onto the black ovals. Let dry.
5. Mix up the “cards” and fill up the board, shape side down. Get to playing!

The felt on felt helps the pieces stay on the board so it’s a perfect game for car rides!

What do you think? Would your little one like a memory game like this? How about this one? 😉

Tags DIY, felt, Kids, memory game

Holidays Kids Things I Love

Holiday Gift Guide for Kids

Post author By vickybarone
Post date December 7, 2015

Next up in this year’s gift guide series: gift ideas for kids! From princess bedding to personalized growth charts, these gifts are sure to please this Christmas. We also included a tee-pee (!!!!) because you absolutely cannot go wrong with a teepee. Happy shopping!