Mandi Ehman's Blog, page 126

Get Organized with a DIY Memo Board Center

The following post is from Janel of Life with Lucie and Ella.:

source: Janel of Life with L and E

I’m not going to lie. Keeping my work space clean is, shall we say, a challenge for me. More often than not, my desk is covered with receipts, to-do lists, notes, and other miscellaneous papers. Well, I decided that it was time to take action and get things a little more organized by creating a custom Memo Board Center for my work space.

I headed to the thrift stores to see what treasures I could find for my project. I scored two rather outdated pieces of artwork for under $5 total. With some basic craft supplies and some leftover cork from my woven felt coasters, I transformed some old frames into something pretty AND useful.

Rather than just hanging them, I decided to spruce up the boards a bit with a diy envelope to hold my receipts and some pretty push pins. You could also add some wall words or a special wall hanging in the grouping to add a bit of encouragement to your work space.

How to Make a DIY Dry Erase Board & Bulletin Board

source: Janel of Life with L and E

Supplies:

thrift shop picture frames in desired sizes
sandpaper
craft paint or spray paint
paintbrushes
poster board
rolled cork
iron & ironing board
scissors

Directions:

Give your thrift shop picture frames a new look with a coat of paint. First, clean any dirt and grime off of the frames. If you’ve got wooden frames, use sandpaper to rough up the surface a bit. Remove any dust with a damp paper towel and dry thoroughly. Paint as desired with spray paint or acrylic craft paint. (For mine, I gave them a coat of white acrylic paint to cover up the old color followed by a distressed / rustic finish with gold paint.) Allow to dry.

source: Janel of Life with L and E

For a dry erase board, open the back of the frame and remove any artwork. If you want a plain white dry erase board, cut a piece of white poster board to fit inside the frame. If you would like a dry erase board to hold a to-do list or calendar, design that on your computer and print it. For additional flair, you can mount it on colored scrapbook paper. Once that is done, place it inside your frame either instead of the poster board or in addition to it. Replace the backing and secure.

For a bulletin board, open the back of the frame and remove any artwork and the glass. Unroll your cork onto an ironing board and give it a few passes with a hot iron. This will remove any curl to the cork. Measure and cut the cork to fit within the frame. Place it in the frame, replace the backing, and secure.

Hang your bulletin board and dry erase board securely on the wall. For extra security, use L-brackets to mount them to the wall.

How to Make an Envelope (for receipts, coupons, etc):

source: Janel of Life with L and E

Supplies:

envelope template
scrapbook paper
scissors
scoring tool & ruler
glue

Directions:

Print out the envelope template and cut it out. Trace it onto scrapbook paper and cut it out. If your paper is thick, use a scoring tool and ruler to score along where indicated by dotted lines on the template. Fold along the dotted lines.

source: Janel of Life with L and E

Fold in sections A & B and apply glue. Fold up section C and press firmly to glue it to sections A & B. Use a tissue to remove any excess glue. Fold down section D to make the closure for the envelope.

How to Make Floral Push Pins:

source: Janel of Life with L and E

Supplies:

DIY Satin Flowers
push pins or thumbtacks
hot glue gun and glue sticks

Directions:

Create satin flowers according to this DIY tutorial. Apply hot glue to the back of the push pin and apply to the backside of the satin flower. Hold securely until cooled.

source: Janel of Life with L and E

How do you organize your workspace?

Janel is a stay-at-home mom of two and law school wife. Raised in a budget-conscious and do-it-yourself minded family, she loves seeing something in a store or magazine and making her own version at home for less money. Janel blogs about motherhood, crafts and recipes at Life with Lucie and Ella.

Get Organized with a DIY Memo Board Center is a post from Life Your Way

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Weekly Reads (And Choosing Books for Kids) {4/1/13}

I try not to buy Kindle books unless I’m planning to read them right away, since it feels like it would be easy for them to get lost in the abyss, which would just be a waste of money, but lately I seem to be collecting a virtual “to be read” pile as I end up reading whatever captures my attention each week instead of what I planned to read. Oops!

Head here to see Katie’s post for this week. We also want to know what you’re reading! Add your blog post to the linky below or leave a comment with your favorite reads from this week.

This Week’s Reads

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

This book was a little outside my normal reading material. Part mythology, part fantasy, it had a dark undertone that you could feel from the very first sentence, and I’ll admit I had some crazy dreams after reading it at bedtime. The setting is a small island community surrounded by the deep, dark sea — home to the capaill uisce, violent water horses who emerge from the sea every November in a hungry rage. To honor these mythical creatures, the community holds their annual Scorpio Races, where they seek to train (but not domesticate) these creatures, despite the danger and inevitable deaths. This year’s race holds especially high stakes for two riders — Sean Kendrick and his champion capaill uisce, Corr, and Kate “Puck” Connolly, the first girl to race.

Despite the dark storyline, I couldn’t put this book down. The writing is just stunningl, and I found myself stopping to reread paragraphs (not something I normally do, even with my favorite books). Maggie Stiefvater’s insight into humanity is pretty striking as well, and so often she would describe the reaction or emotion of a character in a way that was spot on but not something I ever would have been able to put into words.

I don’t know that I’ll read any of Stiefvater’s other books (many of which run more on the paranormal side), but I have a feeling this one will be one of a few books that I actually reread in the future.

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey by Trenton Lee Stewart

My oldest daughter is listening to The Mysterious Benedict Society for the third or fourth time and is anxious to move on to the second story in the series,  but Heidi mentioned that the second story is a bit scarier than the first (which it is!), so I decided to read it first.

As the Reynie, Kate, Sticky and Constance set off on another adventure — this time alone as they seek to save Mr. Benedict from his evil twin brother — they face more danger than they did during their first mission. I think my oldest will be fine with the scary elements — like the Ten Men, the evil henchmen of Mr. Curtain, who seek to stop them no matter the cost and the danger that Mr. Benedict and Number Two are in, but we’ll make sure she listens to this one during the day by herself rather than at bedtime with her younger, more sensitive sisters!

On My Reading List for This Week

I’m a little hesitant to share a reading list since I haven’t stuck with it, but here are the books I have in my queue:

UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging. by Scott Stratten
The Book of Business Awesome / The Book of Business UnAwesome by Scott Stratten
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

A Question for You

I’d love to know how you decide which books/audiobooks are appropriate for your children. Do you preread them all? Use a specific review site? Stick with classics? This is something I think we’ll be dealing with more in the coming year, and I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Share Your Reading List

Day 15: Kids’ Room Bedding {Spring Cleaning Made Easy}

For the next month, we’ll be spring cleaning the easy way with our Spring Cleaning Made Easy series! The goal is to get the whole house clean — one mini task at a time — without having to set aside a whole week, or even a whole day, to clean.

Tackling our girls’ room is probably my least favorite part of spring cleaning, although in reality I end up doing it once a month rather than once or twice a year. But we’re headed into the children’s rooms this week to sort through clothes, toys and deep clean all those hidden corners.

source: Amy Gizienski

Like the master bedroom, you’ve probably changed the sheets fairly recently in your kids’ rooms, but today we’re going to clean all of the bedding, flip the mattresses and begin airing out the room!

One thing that scares me is the idea of one of my children falling out of a second story window, so we don’t open their bedroom windows very often at all (thankfully the upstairs bathrooms have high, unreachable windows that we can open to let the fresh air in!), but since you’ll be working in the kids’ rooms this week, it’s the perfect time to let some fresh air in while you’re near!

Then, we’re just going to follow the same basic plan we used to clean the master and guest room bedding last week:

To start, strip the sheets off both beds. Be sure to take the shams off any decorative pillows so those can be washed as well. Lift the mattresses and remove the dust ruffles.

Before you do anything else, go ahead and start a load of laundry. If you’ll be putting the same bedding back on the bed, start with the dust ruffles, fitted and flat sheets, and pillowcases since those are the things you’ll want to put back on the bed first!

Next, flip the mattress. I like to turn my mattress so that the foot is at the head and flip it over.

If you’re not planning on washing the comforters today — and you have a clothesline — hang the comforters out in the fresh air while you’re washing the rest of the bedding.

When the washer is done running, move the sheets to the dryer and wash the pillows.

Now you can take a break while the wash runs. Once the sheets are done, begin making the beds back up while you wash any remaining blankets.

Pack away any seasonal bedding and finish making the beds.

And you’re done!

Bonus: If you have time, take your comforters to a laundromat, where you can use the extra-large capacity washing machines and dryers that can handle the thickness of a comforter. You can also do this in the bathtub at home, but you’ll need someplace to hang the (heavy) comforter to dry!

Track your progress this month with the Spring Cleaning Made Easy checklist, which comes in two versions — one with dates to coincide with the live series and one with generic labels so you can do it on your own at another time. Click here to download or print your copy!

Want to get started on tomorrow’s tasks? We’ll be sorting through your personal wardrobe!

Does your children’s bedding include all of those accessories: dust ruffles, pillow shams, etc., or do you keep it simple in the kids’ rooms?

Mandi Ehman is the founder and publisher behind Life Your Way and the co-author of All in Good Time, as well as a wife and the homeschooling mom to four beautiful girls. She lives with her family on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia and loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Day 15: Kids’ Room Bedding {Spring Cleaning Made Easy} is a post from Life Your Way

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Preschool Activities eBook Bundle for Just $7.40! {BundleoftheWeek.com}

This week’s bundle includes a collection of ebooks packed full of activities for preschool and beyond! You’ll discover books to read together, educational activities around your home and strategies for making the most of every learning opportunity. This week only, get all 5 ebooks for just $7.40 (a savings of more than 70%)!

With your purchase, you’ll get all five of the following ebooks:

I Can Teach My Child to Read! by Jenae Jacobson
Fifty Books to Enjoy with Kids by Veronica Getskow
Circle Time by Kendra Fletcher
Flourishing Spring by Michele Augur
Finding Educational Activities in the Most Unexpected Places by Angie Kauffman

Get yours today!

Even if you’re not interested in this week’s bundle, be sure to sign up for the BundleoftheWeek.com weekly newsletter so you can be the first to know about the latest bundle:

Preschool Activities eBook Bundle for Just $7.40! {BundleoftheWeek.com} is a post from Life Your Way

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Day 13: Finish Cleaning the Master & Guest Bedrooms {Spring Cleaning Made Easy}

This month we’re spring cleaning the easy way with our Spring Cleaning Made Easy series! The goal is to get the whole house clean — one mini task at a time — without having to set aside a whole week, or even a whole day, to clean.

We’re almost done with the bedrooms! Today we’re going to finish deep cleaning the master and guest bedrooms so that those rooms are nice and fresh before we move on to the kids’ rooms next week.

source: Mandi Ehman

First things first: throw open those windows and air out the bedrooms. We like to open our windows as soon as temperatures hit 50 degrees to get fresh, clean air into our home, even when it’s a little chilly!

Next, we’re going to start at the top and clean our way down:

Grab a duster or vacuum cleaner and clean off the fan blades (okay, if your fan is over the bed, we maybe should have done this before we changed the bedding — oops!).


Using your duster or vacuum, clean the corners between your walls and ceilings.


Dust window frames and clean blinds. Hang your curtains outside or tumble them in the dryer to get rid of any dust in them.


Next, wash the windows and any mirrors.


Dust any shelves and knick knacks as well as picture frames.


Clean the baseboards and behind any furniture.


Finally, vacuum and steam clean or sweep and mop.

And you’re done!

Track your progress this month with the Spring Cleaning Made Easy checklist, which comes in two versions — one with dates to coincide with the live series and one with generic labels so you can do it on your own at another time. Click here to download or print your copy!

Tomorrow’s Easter, so enjoy your rest day before we jump back into spring cleaning on Monday!

How often do you air out your bedroom?

Mandi Ehman is the founder and publisher behind Life Your Way and the co-author of All in Good Time, as well as a wife and the homeschooling mom to four beautiful girls. She lives with her family on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia and loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Day 13: Finish Cleaning the Master & Guest Bedrooms {Spring Cleaning Made Easy} is a post from Life Your Way

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Weekend Reading: March 30, 2013

source: mandiehman on Instagram

I confessed on Instagram last night that we have not been very intentional in our Easter celebration this year. Last year we did activities and lessons, and we all really enjoyed focusing on the Easter story in the weeks leading up to the actual holiday, but this year….well, I’ve just been trying to keep the laundry clean and earn enough money to put food on the table! Between morning sickness and sleeping all the time, I just haven’t been able to prioritize object lessons or even gathering my thoughts to make the Easter story memorable.

One of our traditions, though, is to turn out the lights at 3pm on Good Friday and live by candlelight until Sunday morning, in a kind of simplified, not-quite-Tenebrae service at home. This is our third year doing it, and this year our oldest remembered on her own and explained the tradition to her little sisters, which I loved hearing.

One of the things I love about this tradition is it doesn’t take any forethought or planning. We actually had family date night yesterday afternoon, and when we got home, we simply turned out the lights and pulled down the emergency candles. We talked about why we were doing it — to symbolize Jesus’ death and separation from God for the three days until His resurrection — and that was that.

It’s simple and somber, and I was glad to have at least this tradition to fall back on. Tonight we’ll make resurrection rolls by candlelight and bake them tomorrow morning for breakfast, and between those two things, I think we’ll end up doing pretty well!

Have you subscribed to our new weekly newsletter? Be sure to subscribe to stay connected with us every week!

Here are some of my favorite posts from this week. As always, check out what I’m reading to see the other posts that make me stop and think. You’ll find new posts all week long!

Food {Eat Well, Spend Less…in the Spring}

46 Ways to Serve Fruits and Veggies at Snacktime | Easy Homemade


How to Dehydrate Spring Greens | Kitchen Stewardship


Spring Cleaning Your Pantry | Food for My Family


Five Things I Plan To Do in the Kitchen This Spring and Summer | Denver Bargains


Eat Well and Spend Less with Spring Produce | Life As Mom


Spring Produce Stock-up | Keeping the Kingdom First

Family {Take Care of Yourself}

Self-Care Is More Than Bubble Baths and Pedicures | The Happiest Mom


What If Sometimes You Don’t Like Motherhood? | Finding Joy


6 Strategies for Dealing with Your Parenting Critics Graciously Yet Firmly | Simple Kids

Have a great weekend!

Mandi Ehman is the founder and publisher behind Life Your Way and the co-author of All in Good Time, as well as a wife and the homeschooling mom to four beautiful girls. She lives with her family on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia and loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Weekend Reading: March 30, 2013 is a post from Life Your Way

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8 Ways to Go Green with Your Kids

The following post is from Emily of Live Renewed:

source: Emily @ Live Renewed

I distinctly remember the day my 3 year old daughter asked her Nana (my mom) what a paper towel was. Because we don’t use paper towels at home she had never really seen them before and had to ask what they were called. I have to admit, I was kinda proud.

Or there was the time that she gave my brother-in-law a hard time for leaving his TV on during the day for his dog, while he is away at work. “You know how you leave your TV on for Brutus when you’re not home?” she asked. “You shouldn’t do that because it wastes energy!”

My kids yell at each other to turn off the lights in rooms they’re not using, and to not leave the water running in the faucet while they’re washing their hands.

My family began our journey toward more green and natural living around the time that our oldest daughter was born, so our children have grown up with these things as a normal part of their lives. By implementing these ways of going green with your children from a young age, they will learn the importance of protecting our planet, and it will be a core value to them that they will want to share with others too.

source: Emily @ Live Renewed

1. Use cloth diapers and wipes.

Teaching children the importance of using reusable products instead of disposables ones begins with what you use to cover their bums. Modern cloth diapers are an affordable and surprisingly easy way to reduce the amount of waste that you create for your baby and young toddler!

2. Dress them in used and hand-me-down clothes.

One thing I have learned with having three young children is that kids are hard on their clothes! By dressing them in clothes that I’ve purchased second hand, or received as hand-me-downs, I don’t worry as much about their clothes getting stains on them, and I’m teaching them not to be too wrapped up in their appearance - there are more important things than having the perfect wardrobe.

3. Buy used kids toys and gear.

The same thing applies to kids toys and gear as clothing- kids are hard on their stuff, and they grow out of things quickly. We like to stock up on quality open-ended toys, and we’ve been able to find great deals at garage sales, consignment sales and thrift stores on Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys, LEGO Duplos, puzzles, books, games and more, teaching our kids that new, fun toys don’t always have to come from the toy store or shiny toy aisles at the big box store.

source: Emily @ Live Renewed

4. Teach them where whole, real foods come from.

Some of the biggest highlights of our family’s summer are the days that we head out to local u-pick farms to pick a bounty of delicious fruits to bring home and put up to enjoy throughout the year. Our kids are learning that local fruits and vegetables are only available during certain seasons. Then, when they see those same fruits and vegetables available at the store, they know they were grown far away and shipped across the country, and sometimes world, to get to us.

They’re also learning that the best meat, eggs, and dairy products come from a local farm where the animals are happy and treated humanely. We tell our kids that our farm fresh milk comes from happy cows, so one day our son said that milk from the store is from “mad cows”. My husband and I had a good laugh about that!

5. Use safe and natural cleaning products.

Our kids are growing up learning that there are chemicals in most of the products that are available around us every day, and that we try to avoid those chemicals as much as we can. The best part about using safe and non-toxic cleaning products is that your kids can help clean right alongside you!

6. Use safe and natural bath products.

It’s important to protect our kid’s growing little bodies from the toxins and chemicals that are found in personal care products. Our kids are drawn to the colorful children’s bath products covered with their favorite cartoon characters, but we are trying to teach them to be conscious consumers from a young age, knowing that just because a product looks great, or the commercial shows that it’s fun for kids, doesn’t mean it is something they should be using.

7. Teach them the importance of recycling and composting.

Our kids know that scrap paper, most plastic, cans and glass jars or bottles belong in the recycling bin, and that most of our food scraps belong in the compost pail. One of our kids jobs in the kitchen is to help with taking the compost pail out and dumping it in the compost pile.

They like to help turn the compost pile and watch as the food scraps and yard waste decompose and turn into soil that we can use in our garden. They are learning that we try to reduce our waste as much as we can by reusing items, recycling and composting.

source: Emily @ Live Renewed

8. Let them help you in the garden.

Spring is looking a long way off  for us here in Northern Indiana as we woke up to snow again this morning, but my kids are itching to get out and get started on planting our garden. They love to dig in the dirt (what kid doesn’t!), and help plant the seeds, watch them grow, and harvest the vegetables when they are ready. It’s another way that we teach them where food comes from and how it grows.

There are lots of fun ways to get our kids involved with green living. They will grow up with a respect for the world and it’s resources, and will pass those values along to their children one day as well, helping to ensure that the earth is a safe place to live for future generations!

How do you teach your kids the importance of protecting the planet and conserving it’s resources? 

Emily McClements is passionate about caring for God’s creation while saving money at the same time. She is a blessed wife and mama to two young children, and blogs about her family’s journey toward natural and simple living at Live Renewed.

8 Ways to Go Green with Your Kids is a post from Life Your Way

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Day 12: Organize Bedroom Closets & Storage {Spring Cleaning Made Easy}

This month we’re spring cleaning the easy way with our Spring Cleaning Made Easy series! The goal is to get the whole house clean — one mini task at a time — without having to set aside a whole week, or even a whole day, to clean.

Yesterday we worked through our wardrobes, and today we’re going to take some time to sort through the rest of the closet storage in your master bedroom and guest room. How long this task takes you will depend on how much stuff you’ve got stored in there!

source: marioanima

In our current home, our master bedroom closet has actually been converted into the nursery, and we use Ikea wardrobes for our clothes. That means we don’t have a ton of extra storage space in there, which is a good thing because in our other homes, the master closet has often been our catch-all storage spot for anything that doesn’t have a place.

On the other hand, our guest bedroom closet is home to not only all of our extra blankets and pillows but also where we store humidifiers and extra paint supplies.

It’s not that keeping things in the master bedroom or guest room closet is a bad thing, especially if you have the space, but it can be easy to just toss things in there without a lot of thought so that it quickly starts to overflow and feel messy and disorganized.

If that describes you, take some time today to pull the storage out of your closets and reevaluate it.

What can be given or thrown away?


Would it make sense to store any of the items in a different place?


Can any of the things be repackaged in different boxes or bins to make them neater?

Another thing to think about as you’re doing this exercise is how items end up in the closet. Is it because that space really is the best home for them, or is it where you put things when you can’t think of anywhere else to put them? Is that working for you, or do you need a new strategy?

Bonus: If you’ve got items stored under the beds or in drawers as well, be sure to sort through, declutter and organize those as well!

Track your progress this month with the Spring Cleaning Made Easy checklist, which comes in two versions — one with dates to coincide with the live series and one with generic labels so you can do it on your own at another time. Click here to download or print your copy!

Spring cleaning over a holiday weekend may not be your idea of fun, so you may want to finish up tomorrow’s task today as well. We’ll finish cleaning the master and guest bedrooms tomorrow — cleaning the ceiling fans, washing the windows, wiping the baseboards and vacuuming or mopping.

Do you use your bedroom closets for random storage or just for clothing?

Mandi Ehman is the founder and publisher behind Life Your Way and the co-author of All in Good Time, as well as a wife and the homeschooling mom to four beautiful girls. She lives with her family on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia and loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Day 12: Organize Bedroom Closets & Storage {Spring Cleaning Made Easy} is a post from Life Your Way

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Simple Foods for Busy Seasons

The following post is from Kate of Modern Alternative Mama:

source: Geoff Peters 604

My fourth baby was just born.  I’m honestly not doing a lot of cooking at this time.

But you know, my kids — they still want to eat!  Can’t seem to get around that one.  My husband likes to eat too (although at least he is capable of cooking!).  My 5-year-old likes to think she knows how to cook, too, and although she can do some kitchen skills quite well, she still needs a lot of help and supervision.

What I need right now is simple foods to keep people fed.  But, nourishing foods — I’m not going to let them fill up on boxed mac’n'cheese and potato chips!

Here are our (healthy) favorites:

Chocolate Milk

My 5-year-old can make this herself from raw milk, cocoa powder, and maple syrup.  It’s pretty low-sugar and full of healthy fats, and all the kids love it.  It makes a nice afternoon snack or to serve with any meal.

Fresh Vegetables

We keep cucumbers, celery, carrots, grape tomatoes, and other fresh veggies on hand.  The kids like to eat them plain, but they can be dipped in homemade ranch dip or nut butters if you prefer.  If I don’t know what else to offer, this is it!

Fruit

We keep a mix of frozen, canned, and fresh on hand.  We like to have canned pears and pineapple, fresh pineapple, apples, bananas, oranges, pears, grapes (and whatever is on sale really), and frozen peaches, blueberries, pineapple, and strawberries.  These can be eaten plain or mixed into smoothies quickly.

Yogurt

I often buy Trader Joe’s European style plain, which has no additives in it, or I make my own if I have time (it keeps well so I can make it in advance, plus it’s pretty fast and hands-off).  My boys will eat it plain in a bowl, or I will turn it into smoothies or popsicles.

Pasta

I buy brown rice pasta and serve it plain, or with a little butter and cheese.  Sometimes I pair some ground meat with it.  For myself I like to add some vegetable sauce.

Snacks

And, okay, I buy veggie chips, pretzels, and animal crackers to add to meals as special treats.  Not the healthiest options but hey…we all like ‘fun’ foods now and then, right?

Meal Ideas

I like to roast chickens, make Italian chicken breasts, scrambled hamburger, bake some pork chops, fry up some brats and crispy potatoes, and other super easy ideas.  Anything that gets me in and out of the kitchen! It’s a bonus if my 5-year-old can help some!

What foods do you rely on during busy seasons?

Kate is a wife and mommy to 3 and is passionate about God, health and food. She has written 7 cookbooks and is planning to release more in 2012. When she’s not blogging, she’s in the kitchen, sewing, or home schooling her children. You can find her at Modern Alternative Mama or contributing to Keeper of the Home.

Simple Foods for Busy Seasons is a post from Life Your Way

© 2010-2013 Purple Martin Press, LLC | All rights reserved - This feed is provided for the convenience of Food Your Way subscribers. Any reproduction of the content within this feed is strictly prohibited. If you are reading this content elsewhere, please send an email to contact@yourway.net to let us know. Thanks.

Bubble Wrap Printed Spring Lilies

The following post is from Kristina of Toddler Approved:

source: Kristina Buskirk

Spring has arrived where we live in California and everything is blossoming. It is gorgeous!

Inspired by the beautiful flowers we are seeing (and these handprint lilies from Spoonful) we decided to create some bubble wrap printed lilies this week. 

These would be the perfect accessory to a wrapped gift or would be fun to make for your favorite teacher or even as a homemade Mother’s Day present.

Supplies:

colored cardstock
bubble wrap
wood block or rolling pin (optional)
clear tape
washable paint
scissors
pipe cleaners (green and yellow)
ribbon

source: Kristina Buskirk

Directions for Bubble Printing:

Just wrap some bubble wrap around a wood block or rolling pin and tape it in place.

Once the bubble wrap is secure, grab your paint and start printing onto your paper! I collect different sizes of bubble wrap from the packages we get so that we have variety when we print with them.

Once you’re done painting, let your papers dry before you turn them into lilies.

Bubble wrap printing is such a fun way to paint because the wrap is a cool texture and the bubbles are exciting to pop while you press the paint down on your paper! You can even do this after your kids have jumped on the wrap for awhile If you have little ones and making the handprint lilies is too complicated, just enjoy bubble wrap printing and mixing and creating with colors!

source: Kristina Buskirk

Directions for Handprint Lilies:

While your papers are drying you can get your pipe cleaner stems ready. Cut the yellow pipe cleaners into small pieces and twist the green ones around them to make the stamen. Curl the yellow pieces and then set the stems aside until your flowers are ready.

Once your papers are dry, trace your child’s hand on the back of the papers (or your child can do this on their own).

Cut out the handprints and then roll them up and tape the bottoms of the flowers mostly closed, leaving a small opening for the pipe cleaners to move through.

Curl the handprint fingers using a pencil (or just roll them) and then stick the pipe cleaner through the center of your flower.

Once you’ve made several flowers, tie them up with a bow and present them as a gift, place them in a vase, or find another way to use them to decorate your home and get it ready for Spring!

source: Kristina Buskirk

Some of our other favorite spring crafts and activities include…


Spring Mural
Build a Garden Math Game
Photo Flower Pens

Are spring flowers blossoming where you live yet? What is your favorite flower? Do you have any other favorite spring crafts you love?

Kristina is a mom of 3 and a former Special Ed teacher for children with communication disabilities. She blogs at Toddler Approved as she looks for ways to make life a little more fun and creative with her kids while embedding learning into everything that she does. Kristina tweets as @ToddlerApproved and can be found on FB and Pinterest.

Bubble Wrap Printed Spring Lilies is a post from Life Your Way

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