Unique Photo Gift Idea

On Saturday, my cousin got married. In addition to the standard wedding card with money, I also wanted to give her something a bit more from the heart. Now what's more personal than a gift that includes three cute kids? So I printed out a saying for each of my kids to hold and then glued it on construction paper. We then headed outside and I took a hundred few pictures of each child holding up their designated sign. I then picked my favorite picture of each child, had it printed, and put in a frame. I give you the end result...

"Congratulations Auntie Janet and Uncle Joe!"

The best part is you can use this idea for any event, holiday, or just for fun. You can also have the signs say whatever you want. If you have the time and patience you could also have the kids help to make or decorate the signs. If you have a baby, you can also simply place the sign in front of the baby (like I did with Daniel for his through the months pictures). Pretty much the ideas are endless and it's a gift that's sure to be a hit!

BabbaBox, Barefoot Books, and UrbanSitter! Oh, my!

On Sunday, I got to attend a great event with Isabelle and Henry put on by BabbaCo and Barefoot Books. Babysitters were also provided by Urban Sitter (score!).

I had never been to the Barefoot Books store in Concord, MA before and let me tell you it was adorable. They have a great story telling area, tons of books (obviously!), toys, and a great room in the back for parties and events. They also put on all sorts of events so if you live in the area you should definitely check out their events calendar HERE.

After we got over the awe and excitement of such a cool space, the kids got to work on maracas and tamborines. 

These crafts are actually part of one of the most recent BabbaBoxes. What is a BabbaBox you ask?  Well let me tell you! It's a monthly subscription activity box designed for kids ages 3-7. It's a box delivered to your doorstep with everything you need to have lots of fun with your child!

Not a crafty Mamma? No worries, the BabbaBox has got you covered. Each month it contains:

• 2 to 3 projects kids do with their hands. ALL the physical materials included! (No more trips to Michael's!)
• A theme-based product where your child will engage with the world & nature.
• Carefully curated books to stimulate your kids' imaginations.
• Interactive learning with prepaid downloads approved by BabbaCo experts.

Sounds pretty aweseome, huh? Well BabbaCo is providing Dollops readers with a $10 off coupon code for your first month of either an annual or monthly membership. Simply use the code BOSTONMOM at checkout. You can find out how to sign up right HERE!

At the event, they also had babysitters/helpers provided by UrbanSitter so that I could eat endless amounts of coffee cake learn more about the products. We attended an event in the fall that had UrbanSitter at it and one of the sitters remembered me and my family (from months ago!). I feel like that goes to show how attentive (and nice!) that they are.

The kids had so much fun making the instruments and then shaking their groove things at story time (more like dance party time!).

We also got to leave the event with goody bags that had a handwritten note from Jessica, the owner of BabbaCo. What a nice touch!

*I attended this event and received a goody bag. No other compensation was received. As always, all opinions are my own.*

Cute Bunny Craft with Cotton Balls!

We were supposed to get 6-8 inches of snow the other day but somehow ended up with just over two feet. Since we were somewhat unexpectedly homebound we passed our time with some crafts. This bunny craft came out pretty cute if I do say so myself.

What You Need: 

Paper Plate

Cotton Balls

Construction Paper

Googly Eyes

Pipe Cleaners

Pom Poms

Glue

Scissors

Crayons

Optional: Ribbon and Bell

Steps:

• Cut out the inner circle of the paper plate. Plates are more sturdy for glue/cotton but if you don’t have plates you could just use a piece of construction paper.

• Trace two ear shapes on white construction paper and cut them out. Color the inner part of the ear pink (could also use pink construction paper for this if you have it).

• Glue (or staple) ears on to paper plate.

• Generously cover plate with glue and apply cotton balls

• Decorate bunny with eyes, nose, whiskers, and mouth. We used googly eyes, pom poms, and pipe cleaners (cut) that we had around the house.

• We also had ribbon and bells left over from a previous craft so we gave the bunnies necklaces. After all, what makes a craft better for kids? Making it a noisy craft!

Menu Craft for Kids!

I've talked before about how Isabelle (5) loves to do crafts. The girl would sit at the table all day long and color, paint, glue, sparkle, ribbon, etc! The other day she spent her afternoon making a menu for her pretend restaurant. She cut out pictures of food from the local grocery store flyers, colored the pages, and then we put them together with some ribbon. It's super easy and kept her entertained for hours. We now use it whenver we play restaurant so it's actually a useful craft, too - a win/win!

Happy Valentine's Day!

"Children have a certain way

of growing bigger every day!

But these little hands,

and this special smile

Will stay in your heart for a long, long, while!!"

Isabelle's Valentine for us that she made at pre-school

Pre-School Valentines

Isabelle was so excited to make Valentines for her classmates over the weekend. I told her the original idea, but she took it to a whole new level. That girl loves her arts and crafts! She happily spent hours cutting out each heart, coloring, gluing/glittering, signing her name, hole punching, and ribbon cutting. I may be a bit bias, but I think they are pretty amazing for a four year old. Here are some pictures for you to decide for yourself…

"You color my world!" heart with crayons attached

No matter how many times I see it I still think,"When did she get old enough that she can write her own name?!"

The finished products!