Glue & Salt Painting

I'm always looking for a good hot summer afternoon craft project to keep these kids busy.  This one was a bit messy, but the kids still had fun, and their creations look pretty.  All you need is white glue, salt, and a little bit of water with food coloring in it (which we used medicine cups for).  Draw a picture with the glue and sprinkle salt to cover.  Dip a paintbrush in the colored water and touch the tip of the brush to the glue.  The color spreads nicely.  Kate, age 4, had to have help with her glue and salt, but Jack did most of the project on his own. 

Kate's sun

Three-Picture Frame for Fathers' Day Gift

Three letters in the word DAD?  Three gorgeous kids?  A nice black frame with spaces for three pics?  Perfect Fathers' Day gift!  Well... the idea was brilliant.  The execution?  Not so easy.  Especially when I left the photography part to the last minute and only had a few minutes at a playground to get pictures of the kids holding their framed letters. 

I got several shots of Jack's tongue.  Six-year-old boys!

Kate was sweet as always.

Maggie, however, was soooo not into it. 

 

I believe she was saying "HERE!" in this shot, trying to give me back the frame.

These photos just crack me up.

Yes, that would be MY hand holding the frame.

Poor thing just wanted to go down the slide.

 

Ta-Da!  Our finished product.  Definitely not perfect.  Someday I'll replace the pictures with better ones.

Pirate Ship Applique T-Shirt

The kids and I went to a pirate-themed birthday party a few days ago.  Super fun: they got tattoos, dug for buried treasure, and came home with a load of salt water taffy.  I made the birthday boy, three-year-old David, a pirate ship-appliqued t-shirt.  I found the original idea here.  He--and his mom--loved it!

I used white "puffy paint" for the skull and crossbones.

Princess Crown Applique T-Shirts

So, I forgot.  I said I didn't do anything special, besides the invitation, for the girls' princess party.  But I actually whipped up a couple t-shirts for them to wear on party day.  That's special, right?  I did a simple princess crown applique for both of them. 

Look!  Maggie is learning to stand still for a picture!

 

The Girls' Princess Party Invitation

So, we threw the girls (4-year-old Kate and soon-to-be-2-year-old Maggie) a princess party yesterday.  Although, after going (probably) overboard for most of the kids' birthday parties in the past couple years, I really wanted to make this one simple.  No fancy decorations, no carefully thought-out themed foods, and no elaborate games.  Just a playground, pinata, some backyard games set up to use at leisure, a table of snacks, and a homemade vanilla cake with strawberry cream cheese frosting.  I did, however, create a fun little invitation.  My inspiration: this picture I found on Pinterest (but can't trace it to the source!):

Super cute, huh?  We borrowed several good-quality princess dresses from a friend and hung them on a clothesline in the courtyard of my husband's grandma's condo (the greenest spot in town!).  Set up a couple chairs, gave the girls some books, and took a million pictures, hoping at least one would turn out as magically as the inspiration photo.  We got one!

I fixed up the picture at Pixlr.com to make it into a birthday party invitation. 

I am a little sad that I couldn't take the time this year to put together a special party... but people had fun, and the hubs said last night that he liked that I was much less stressed than in years past. :-)