KEEP ON PINNING

Pinterest. It can be overwhelming just as easily as inspiring.

Originally I started pinning to organize the heaps of design influence and ideas I'd come across while researching. That is all good and well, but I worry about the day when the links no longer have a route to the item of interest.

On the other hand, in my computer's filing system, sometimes I have images that I can no longer trace to an original source. Two different organization tools..... same issue.

Neither are ideal but both are helpful in the big picture, the NOW picture. There are reasons to keep both going.

One thing I've noticed since I've been pinning, I am able to decide what to DIY easily. It's all right there on my ever growing DIY board. For the most part, I pin items that I really do intend to make. I can also see which items to purchase rather than suffer through the material costs and time.

Below are four examples I've had in my computer files for far too long, most are on my Pinterest boards too. I have deep desires to create all of these things, but the reality is I know I can sew a clutch, I think I can make a wire wreath, I might be able to paint something, and I highly doubt I can make that dress! I know my limits.

All that said, thank you Pinterest for keeping my inspirations organized and my limits known. And an even bigger thanks to those out there that continually inspire all of us. Join me on Pinterest... your own personal inspiration meeting.

ON THE ROAD WITH KIDS

We are novice road trippers. We recently upgraded to a vehicle with lower miles and instantly felt that a little road trip was doable. A six hour jig over Thanksgiving weekend was a good first try.

I put together little packages of fun and entertainment for our kids. Before they got in the car, I placed a starting kit in their car seats. One of the kids really made use of everything put before her. The other set each thing aside at first and looked out the window, but eventually got to the entertainment we provided ;)































TO START
They each received:
1. A new color/sticker book
2. A pencil case with crayons, scissors, gluestick, and pencils (nothing gooey)
3. A plastic enclosed clipboard that contained several travel bingo games (see below)
4. A small baking tray (stored in the seat back pocket) and magnets to hold their paper games on. The tray ridges are handy for coloring and keeping everything on their laps.
5. A magazine box full of library books
6. A snack kit (I used our Beaba Babycook freezer containers and refill as needed)

DURING THE DRIVE
I had planned to give them each five small ($1 store) gifts to open one each hour. Things like construction paper, window clings, small activity books, embellishments, post-its... anything to entertain! One of the gifts was for both of them, a DVD hoping to take up two hours. I kept these gifts in a bag at my feet so that I could distribute based upon their moods, temperament and boredom level instead of actually on the hour. We ended up with some leftover gifts that I used for Christmas stocking stuffers.

PRE-TRIP DILEMMA
a few weeks prior to our trip one of our kids started urinating too frequently. When I say too frequent, I mean 18+ times per hour, that's not right. It left is a quandary... should we postpone? Should we stop by the side of the road every ten minutes? After talking with her doctor, seeing a specialist, ruling out any serious diagnosis's and spending some time considering our options, we chose to put her in a pull up. We were concerned she might feel embarrassed but she was excited to pick some out at the store. It worked like a charm. She didn't feel the need to go as often. We made some stops but at least we weren't getting frustrated on the side of the road.

All in all, these kids didn't sleep at all during our drive. They played the games and used the crafts we had planned out, and it was enough to entertain them for twelve hours of driving. That's pretty good, I say!

ROAD TRIP BINGO PRINTABLES

SICK OF FROZEN YET?... NOPE.

We had huge anticipation for this movie back in August. My daughter was Anna for Halloween before anyone knew about Frozen. Explaining over and over who she was.

Then we saw it Thanksgiving weekend. INSTANTLY Anna was no longer of interest in her mind. It was all about Elsa from that point on.

The songs are sung in our car ALWAYS. Carpool = 3-7 kids yelling their little guts out, "Let it Go!"

We just got back from Disneyland and of course, top on the list was meeting Elsa and Anna. I stood in line for 2.5 hours for that sweet little moment. And I'm happy to report that Elsa was the one in there. We were two people away from meeting both of them, but honestly if it were only Anna in there, I think my husband and I would've thrown some punches. "Why can't you hire two Elsa's and two Anna's?" is his big (justified) complaint, "Rotate them!"

I feel like the only person that prefers Anna. Well, how can you compete with ice shooting from your finger tips and a sexy, slinky sheer dress, and a long braid of hair. Anna may be the hero, and hilarious, and carry the whole movie, but Elsa will always have her beat in my girls minds.

What does this all mean? An upcoming Frozen birthday party... AND the gears start to turn. I have two months to plan it out. In the mean time, we continue to sing the songs and build paper ice castles (compliments of daddy's craftiness) and see the movie over and over until we're all sleeping, eating, breathing and gagging on Frozen.

With all of that said, I have to confess, I'm not really sick of it. It's cute. I enjoy watching it with my little family, despite the fact that the parents die (thank you Disney, for that). Our girls are like Elsa and Anna in so many ways that it makes me cry when they stop playing together in the beginning and again when Anna sacrifices herself for her sister. And I'll always adore Olaf.

KIDS VALENTINE CARDS

SUPPLIES
Bouncy Balls - Target (in the Valentine's section. They come in a bag of q15)
1" Hole Punch - Michael's
Printer
8.5"x11"Cardstock
Paper Cutter or X-acto
Cellophane Bags - (3.5"x8") Zurchers
Ribbon or Baker's Twine
Treats

PROCESS
1. Print out FREE "XOXO" PRINTABLE and cut the cards.
2. Punch the first "O" of the xoxo.
3. Have your child write their name or draw a heart below the "XOXO"
4. Gently place the bouncy ball in the cut out, matching the seam of the ball to the paper's edge. This helps keep it in place.
5. Place card in bag with other treats.
6. Close with a ribbon or string. To personalize, add a tag.

FREE "XOXO" PRINTABLE

VALENTINE'S BOOKS FOR KIDS

We frequent Barnes & Noble so we often see a slew of books prior to each holiday. I was looking through some of them and thought, "huh, so many are just so-so". Not worth the space on the bookshelf. But there are others that are sweet stories with equally adorable illustrations. I took note of a few of my favorites.

"The Nice Book" by David Ezra Stein. I love the simple story of sharing love and the words that we like to use with our kids. I love the naive painterly style, but not so much the typography. This will be a good one for my three year old (for length of attention span) and my five year old (for the simple words to sound out).

"Hug Time" by Patrick McDonnell. I'm a fan of all of his books and his cute little characters that often don't use words but actions to get their message across. Hugging is the best gift.

"Plant a Kiss" by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. This book has a fantastic fresh take on giving love. And the pages have a bit of sparkle to them which my girls will love. We also adore the illustrations by Peter H. Reynolds.

VALENTINE'S KID CRAFT - PAPER HEARTS

We made hearts out of triangled construction paper pieces, with the points meeting up in the center. The girls loved the colorful result.

MATERIALS
Colored Construction Paper
Backing Paper - We used a 13"x19" white sheet 
Pencil
Scissors
Glue - Rubber Cement works well

PROCESS
1.  Cut big triangles from a variety of colored construction paper. We started with 8.5"x11" paper and used the entire sheet, cutting from corner up. It's not precise.
2. Put a blob of rubber cement in the center of the backing paper.
3. Place your first triangle, with the point in the middle.
4. Glue under that triangle to secure it to the backing paper.
5. Repeat the process with triangle papers until it's full all the way around. The backing paper won't be visible.
6. Flip the whole thing over and draw a large heart on the backing paper.
7. Cut out the heart.
8. Glue down any parts that need to be tacked down.
Done!