A Mom's Year

Creating a comfortable life one moment at a time

Archives for May 2012

Kids Activity / Duct Tape Castle Tutorial

Oh, lordy, would you look at this? It’s an Interlocking Cardboard Castle made with cardboard and duct tape! I love projects like this that don’t cost a lot but can keep kids busy for an entire day…or even longer if you’re lucky.

This project was created by Merrilee of the blog mermag. Merrilee and her kids made a castle, but you could customize the project to fit your child’s interests. A museum, or a zoo, or Hogwarts, or outer space, or a little town with a flower shop, a corner cafe, a patisserie, a bookstore (okay, that last one might be for me). You could make it as big or as small as you’d like. And when the kids (or you) are done playing with it, wouldn’t it look nice sitting on a table or shelf?

You’ll find Marilee’s step-by-step tutorial and free templates here.

Spotted at lmnop.

Movie Night Invitations

For the past few years, we’ve celebrated the last day of school by gathering with friends and neighbors at a nearby drive-in theater to celebrate the last day of school. So I was happy to see this free printable invitation at Oh Happy Day. It’s perfect!

Jordan has promised to share more great ideas for throwing your own Movie Night, so be sure to visit her blog soon.

I’m thinking about making these Fruit Roll-Up Diplomas, or maybe even these, to hand out to the kids that night. I’ll have to wait and see what kind of week I’m having before I get too carried away…

 

Graduation Ideas / Fruit Roll-Up Diplomas

{ image by Aimée Lowry and Bettijo B. Hirschi }

Do you celebrate graduations? Looking back over my childhood, I remember a big picnic and awards ceremony at the end of sixth grade, a special church ceremony for eighth grade graduation (I went to parochial school for middle school and high school), and, of course, a big ceremony and open houses for high school graduation. For my kids, the big graduation events have taken place after preschool and kindergarten, and then really nothing else until high school graduation.

If you have a little one graduating from preschool or kindergarten, you might like these graduation party ideas from One Charming Party. And, really, your older kids might get a kick out of these “diplomas,” too. I mean, who doesn’t like a fruit roll-up? You can go here for a more generic free printable for graduates of any age.

I think it would be fun to print out one of the signs to hang on the door to greet the kids when they come home from school on the last day. You could then present each child with a diploma while recounting some of their finest moments from the school year. And then send them outside to run off all the sugar!

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope your Memorial Day weekend has been warm and wonderful. My favorite parts were watching Andrew march in the parade with the middle school band (for the last time!), water balloon fights, planting flowers with Lily, and laughing at my grandparents’ stories. They just celebrated their 63rd anniversary and are still keeping things interesting, let me tell you.

I have a birthday approaching, so I’ve decided to make it a year of trying new things. Some big things, I hope, but some small things, too. So far, I’ve grilled corn for the first time (delicious and crazy-easy—you just shuck the ears, smear them with olive oil, and throw them on the grill) and today I iced a watermelon. Yes, I’ve made it to nearly 44 without ever buying a whole watermelon and putting it on ice. There’s something so nostalgic and summery-looking about a watermelon getting nice and cold on ice in a metal tub, isn’t there?

Weekend Links (And a Michael Franti Story)

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I met Rosa of flutterflutter when we both answered a question about taking chances for Design Mom Asks. Since then, I’ve been inspired by her creativity—especially when it comes to creating fabulous art like the print above and coming up with ways to entertain young children.

Rosa’s latest print design features lyrics from the Michael Franti song, “The Sound of Sunshine.” It made me smile because it reminds me of a really amazing moment Tim had with Michael Franti. Can I tell you about it before we move on to some fantastic links for summer entertaining?

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Tons of Free Printables for Teacher Gifts

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We only have 10 1/2 days of school left, so we need to get busy with our year-end teacher gifts. We’re giving a DVD called “How Can I Be a Good Friend to Someone with Autism?” to the school on behalf of the teachers, but I’d still like to give each of them a little something to let them know how grateful we are for everything they’ve done.

[Read more…] about Tons of Free Printables for Teacher Gifts

Attempts at Gardening / Window Box

Are you a gardener? I like the idea of gardening, but I’ve never done more than dabble. I plant a window box and do a few potted plants here and there, but I’ve never really plunged in. I think it’s because you have to be willing to engage in a lot of trial and error. I’m not the biggest risk-taker in the world, but I’m working on it.

Last year’s window box was simply awful. I accidentally bought the world’s smallest geraniums—I swear they never grew more than about four inches. And since the window box is the first thing you see as you come down our driveway (it’s underneath the bonus room window over the garage), it kind of bummed me out all summer.

So this year I was determined to plant an absolutely gorgeous window box.

[Read more…] about Attempts at Gardening / Window Box

Teacher Gift / Summer in a Basket

{ dandee designs }

I know there’s no way to truly thank teachers for all they do for our kids. But these cute little “Summer in a Basket” gifts might be a start! I like Danyelle’s idea of including fun, non-cluttery gifts that the teachers can use right away—nail polish, a snack or two, a fizzy drink with a cool straw, and a gift card. You and the kids could have a great time coming up with treats to tuck in the basket.

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Happy Mother’s Day

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Mother’s Day weekend is nearly here! I’m blessed to have a mother and a grandmother to celebrate. Lily has been plotting something for weeks (with her teacher’s help), so I’m looking forward to being surprised on Sunday.

And can I make a confession? I told Tim that I don’t like breakfast in bed. Are you shocked? I have gamely gone along with it for years, but the truth is that the idea of eating first thing in the morning has never appealed to me. I’m more of a brunch kind of girl. The reason I finally broke the silence was because I really don’t think the kids would remember to do it if Tim didn’t bring it up.

Of course, if the kids remember on their own and want to bring me breakfast in bed, I promise that I will pretend to eat with gusto. Just as I’ve done for 14 years.

And then my treat to myself will be to watch the video of Billy Collins reading “The Lanyard” for the umpteenth time. Collins perfectly captures the essence of the mother-child relationship in the funniest, yet deepest way.

So whether you’re with your mom or missing her, I hope you have a wonderful weekend.