What Can a Mess Make? -- Picture Book Review

 

Disclosure: I was sent a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Did you ever hear the story about the time milk spilled on the floor and instead of getting upset the mother sat with the child on the floor and they made pictures with the spilled milk? I believe the child becomes an artist, but I don't remember whose story it is. Our lives, homes, rooms, desks, etc. are filled with little messes, but with some creativity they can become a masterpiece just liked the spilled milk. Today I am sharing a book that is being released today. It is What Can a Mess Make? by Bee Johnson. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.

Beaded Decor Craft

 

My plans for this week were to take it easy and enjoy some time with friends and family. Unfortunately, Hazel came home with a cold last week and shared it with me over the weekend. Our Christmas plans were cancelled, and Hazel and I have been watching a Harry Potter marathon. I want to share a fun craft I made last week. I am going to hang in on our front door once I take the Christmas wreaths down.

Fabulous Paper Flowers for Valentines, Home Decor, Spring Celebrations, and More!

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Last spring, I used a book by Emiko Yamamoto to create paper wildflowers which I used on spring cards. Today I get to share her next book that also gives tutorials and templates to make beautiful paper flowers. The book is Fabulous Paper Flowers by Emiko Yamamoto.

DIY Christmas Decorations -- a Crafty Sundays Post

 

Sorry I was missing this past week. Hazel got sick and was out of school all week. I felt like I was fighting it and with some extra sleep and Rachel Carapella's advice, I seemed to fight it off. Now sadly Steve seems to have it. Fortunately it is not Covid-19. It seems to be a cold or a little bug. While being home with Hazel I was able to make some crafts I have been thinking about for awhile. Have you noticed gnomes seem to be everywhere this year? One of the moms of one of Hazel's friends loves them so I have been noticing them everywhere. I was going to try to make one of the fabric gnomes shared here, but haven't gotten around to it. I shared the tutorial with my friend but she wanted a non-sewing version so here is what I came up with.

DIY Wall Art (Inspired by Wall Art at Michael's) -- Crafty Sunday

It is Sunday again. Where did this week go? It is amazing how fast time is flying by even though we are mostly staying home. Last week I was looking at Michael's on-line (and then in the store) for a frame for my paint-by-number family portrait that I shared a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately it is a weird size so I have to do something custom. But I was checking out the home décor. I found so much inspiration. Even though much of it was on clearance most was not at my local store and I hate paying for shipping if I don't have to plus I looked at some of them and said I can make something similar with what I have at home.  I have a Pinterest board where I pin my inspiration in case you want to see some of the other wall art I loved. I saw two similar blue and white inspirational ones and thought I could make something like them. I am not a talented enough painter but have a supply of beautiful craft papers from Paper Source from my time of working there. They occasionally go on sale and I would buy them on sale. Here are my inspirations.

Canvas Factory Canvas Print Review & #Giveaway

Disclosure: Canvas Factory gave me a coupon code to receive this canvas for free and is offering one to a lucky reader!!

So last spring my parents surprised us with the news that they wanted to move out of the house my grandparents built on Cape Cod. The initial thought had been to sell the house, but once we all worked on getting them moved and the house somewhat emptied my father changed his mind. It was his parents that built the house. This is a house we spent most of our school vacations and at least a week or more of the summer at while growing up. It has always been a second home to us. My parents moved there when my grandmother was not doing well and couldn't take care of herself. After she died, they stayed there. They had already sold their home in Connecticut by that point. So this was a bit of a crazy time for all of us. In July we went from get the house on the market to fix up the house for renters. One of my sisters, bless her, has been doing the majority of the work. She was trained to paint houses and has a bit of an eye for design. She is also the pickiest out of the three of us. Well we decided to decorate the house with non-personal photos and pictures of beach life. My other sister (who use to work for a photographer) happened to take this amazing photograph on the beach that you can walk to from the house. I approached Canvas Factory for help with some of our decorating. 

Felt for the Home

Disclosure: Leisure Arts sent me a copy of this book in return for an honest review. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. The links are affiliate links where I will receive a small percentage of any purchases made through them at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Crafty Moms Share!

We had a busy week back from our vacation and we are celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week a week early so my focus has been at school and not crafting. Ugh!! However I want to share thie fun book with you. It is Felt for the Home by Kimberly Layton. 

Happy Easter!! Easter Craft Round-up from Crafty Moms Share and Our Link Parties!

I am enjoying this weekend with family. Hazel and I came to see my parents Thursday night and will stay through tonight. One of my sisters and Steve will join us as well. Then Steve, Hazel and I will go home tonight and to church Easter morning and then celebrate with Steve's mother. It is a busy weekend full of family time, but I wanted to take time to share some Easter crafts and activities. First will be a round-up of ours and then some Sharing Saturday and Crafty Weekends Features from the on-going parties. Be sure to come share at both parties with us this week as well!! Happy Easter!!

New Year's Eve Birthday Bash Ideas

Disclosure: Oriental Trading sent me these products in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Hazel and I are always talking about ideas for birthday parties. Our big plans for this year's party was to do an American Girl Beforever Party. However with her new school she wants to invite the boys so we needed to change the theme. We came up with a New Year's Eve Birthday Bash. All of our planning was basically thrown away and we started fresh. We went to check things out over at Oriental Trading in their birthday section. We had fallen in love with these Pink and Gold Birthday Party Dinner Plates and planned the party around them. (We had chosen them for the American Girl party as well.)

Merry Monday -- Where to Shop for Educational Gifts & a Quick Craft

Disclosure: MindWare sent me these products in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Even though we had our Multicultural Monday post this morning, I wanted to be sure to share a Merry Monday post with you. Instead of books this week I thought I would share some educational gifts and where to buy them as well as a fun and easy hack on a decoration I saw at Michael's today. Now one of our favorite places to shop is Mindware. Mindware sells different brands however our favorite category is the Created by MindWare one. We chose three products this year to share with you. However I have to mention that we have gotten some amazing products from them over the years including one of our all time favorite games--DestiNation USA, which everyone we have introduced to this game loves it. 

Happy Home Outside -- Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge from Quarto Books USA. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

The spring weather finally is here or at least was last week!! I am finally ready to be outside (or at least the weather was ready for us to be outside finally). After a mild winter we have had an unusually cool spring thus far. However we finally got into the 70s last week. It was gorgeous!! Then to add to the fun Steve finally had a patio and fence added to Hazel's clubhouse. He has been planning this for several years and finally decided to do it. (I will admit I didn't care much about it, but they both really wanted to do it.) It came out looking really cute and I personally love having the chairs on the patio so I have a place to sit and read or work on my laptop while Hazel is playing outside. 

The Year of the Monkey -- Book Review

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge from Immedium. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

February 8, 2016 begins the lunar new year. There are several cultures that celebrate the lunar new year, but the Chinese is the largest one and the most heard about one. The Chinese have an animal zodiac for each year. It is based on a twelve year (and twelve animal) system. We are ending the year of the sheep and will be beginning the year of the monkey. There are several versions of legends as to how the twelve animals were picked. Today we will focus on the year of the monkey!!

DIY Wild Kratts Themed Birthday Party -- Product Review

Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from Oriental Trading. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to the products for your convenience but do not receive anything if you buy from them.

I have been promising a post about our Wild Kratts themed birthday party and here it is. The rest of the week I will be doing posts on New Year Resolutions and products that are helping with mine. But with New Year's come Hazel's birthday party. It is always over Christmas vacation, but this year we decided to have her party with her school friends after the vacation and we discovered many more people come when it is not on vacation!! But first our invitation.

Ducky Themed Birthday Party

This week we are getting ready for Hazel's birthday. Our tradition is to do a family/mostly adult party for Hazel on her birthday and then have a bigger kid oriented one later with her school friends since her birthday is always over Christmas break. This year she wanted her family party to have a ducky theme. I thought this would be easy. I had bought some duck printable paper ages ago so I used it for the invitations. I found a few cute ideas for wording on-line and combined the parts I liked.

Crafty Weekends: Paper Pom-Poms & Other Party Decorations Book Review & Link Party

I am hosting a giveaway to win ABC Monsters & Houdini DVDs ! Have you entered yet?

Disclosure:  Ryland Peters & Small sent me a copy of this book free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Today I am sharing the perfect book for the DIY party decoration maker. This book has amazing ideas and instructions for making some common party decorations as well as creative new ones. I brought it into work (at the Paper Source) and my manager loved the book and wanted a copy for herself. The book is Paper Pom-Poms ad Other Party Decorations by Juliet Carr.

 I started with some basic party decorations. The rosette and the paper pom-pom. For the rosette I used a hummingbird paper from the Paper Source. I am planning on making some more for Hazel's Wild Kratts themed birthday party this year. I got a small rip in it unfortunately.

Coastal Crafts -- Book Review

 Disclosure: Lark Crafts gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. They also sent me a copy to giveaway! As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation. 

We have been having a heat wave here in Massachusetts this week. It ended today with some much needed rain. However it made me not want to give up the feeling of summer. Hazel is back in school now and I actually took a part-time job to fill my days a bit while she is there, but I still want summer back. How about you? Well I found a wonderful way to preserve some beach memories and they are from Coastal Crafts by Cynthia Shaffer.  

I fell in love with many of the crafts in this book. I love the candle on the cover, but could not find the right jar for it. I'm still looking. We do not need anymore pillows, so I skipped those for now as well. We did however enjoy making some stationary. Some of the book stationary are pictured on the back cover.

Creating a Cozy Reading Nook -- Decals Tree Product Review

Disclosure: Decals Tree gave me a wall sticker and is supplying the ones for the giveaway free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the wall sticker for your convenience.

In Hazel's bedroom there is a little nook between her closet and what may have been another closet at some point with a window. I have always wanted to make it a reading nook for her. I wanted a cozy spot with some fun pictures to help her imagination go wild. She fell in love with bean bag chairs at the Whole Foods play area near us. So we got her one at Target and moved her fluffy rug over there. Then Decals Tree offered us any wall sticker on their site for $50 or less and are offering a giveaway of the same thing to one of my readers. 

Jonathan London's Froggy Series Themed Birthday Party Ideas and Giveaway

Disclosure: Penguin Kids gave me a copy of these books free of charge for this review and are providing the book for the giveaway. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Have you been following the fun challenge Penguin Kids gave this month? It all started because Froggy's Birthday Wish by Jonathan London and illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz was released on March 10th! We were lucky enough to receive a review copy as well as two other Froggy books, Froggy Builds a Tree House and Froggy Gets a Doggy. Have you discovered the Froggy series yet? They are so fun. We are going to provide some general Froggy birthday party ideas as well as ones from each book. For even more Froggy birthday party ideas check out my Froggy Birthday Party Pinterest Board!

Frozen Themed Birthday Party with free printables and product review

Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from Oriental Trading. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease but receive no compensation.

This weekend we had Hazel's Frozen themed birthday party. Ever since Hazel saw the movie (her first movie at the theater), I have been collecting Frozen ideas on Pinterest. I got to use several of the ideas I pinned and products I pinned for this fun party. All of the girls had a great time and loved it. Today I am going to share the details with you including the products Oriental Trading sent me for the party to review. First I have to share Hazel's Elsa dress. Elsa is Hazel's favorite character in the movie and she really wanted an Elsa dress. With all the sheer fabric on them I knew her delicate skin would not be able to handle just any Elsa dress, so I made one for her. I used the Simplicity Pattern 1233, however I lined the bodice and cannot imagine using any of the sequined fabrics without lining.

Mermaid Play Date

So to end summer on a positive note, we had a Mermaid Play Date. Hazel originally wanted a mermaid birthday party, but had trouble choosing between Frozen and mermaid. We decided since we would only want girls at the mermaid one it was a better play date. (Several of her best friends are boys.) So we sent out an e-vite.  Yes, they have a free mermaid e-vite! We invited the three girls from Hazel's Pre-K class and her friend from gymnastics. We asked everyone to bring an 18-inch doll or stuffed animal. Unfortunately, only one of her girlfriends and her older sister could come, but the three girls had a blast. 

Hazel and I had big plans for the play date, but they did not all happen due to our busy schedule leading up to it. I did make all the 18-inch dolls a mermaid tail. We had them at the kids table with seats for the girls and the dolls. I provided a tutorial and pattern for the tail. I also cut out felt tails and sewed on ribbon for the girls. I estimated the older sister's size and guessed pretty well. The girls started by decorating their felt tails with glitter glue, stickers, shells, etc.

Next the girls had a potato sack/pillow case trial. We thought it would be like walking like a mermaid if she could leave the water. We just did a fun trial and no race since two of the girls were five.

Then the girls wanted a snack, so we headed back to the patio and to the snack table.

On our snack table are green grape seaweed skewers, oyster cookies, sand dollar cookies, and three kinds of Goldfish. Plus for decoration we have a foam mermaid castle. I bought the kit for the castle at Michaels when it was on sale. Hazel likes to pretend it is another dollhouse. We had planned to bake cookies, but with limited time, we improvised.

Our oyster cookies are Golden Oreos opened with a yogurt covered raisin in them. We added blue sugar sprinkles for looks and then closed them up. The yogurt covered raisins were the only white roundish things I could find at the store quickly. 

For our sand dollar cookies, we opened the Golden Oreos and Hazel ate the lids. Then we used a toothpick to trace the flower design into the filling. Hazel enjoyed making both of our sea cookies and the grape seaweed. She also loved picking out the Goldfish. We also bought some mixed berry juice boxes because they were blue. If I had time we would have made covers for them, but we didn't have the time. After a snack the girls did the final craft. It was a handprint mermaid on a little tote bag.

For the face we used a small play dough lid. Then the girls used the glitter glue for the faces and hair. While these dried the girls played in the yard and in Hazel's new clubhouse. Hazel was excited for her friends to see it. 

We did some quick decorating with green crepe paper. We made seaweed on the walls and stairs.

Hazel and I decided we would try this theme again for a play date and get more of our ideas completed!! Maybe next summer. 

For more mermaid ideas check out:

• 18-inch Doll Mermaid Tail Pattern and Tutorial
• Paper Mermaid Craft
• Mermaid Treasure Box
• Mermaid Bedroom
• Framed Mermaids
• DIY Mermaid T-Shirt
• Sukey and the Mermaid 
• My Mermaid Crafts and Party Idea Pinterest Board