superman valentines

 Lately my kids have been interested in Super Heroes. My kids can list off a huge list of them (some that I had to verify were real ones like Dr. Octopus, or something like that.) So I thought that it would be cute if we made Superman valentines. Simon helped me make these since Claire was at school and I think that he did a great job. I'm hosting a little play date for Simon and his friends the day before Valentine's day (while Claire's at school celebrating) and I thought these would be perfect for him to give to his friends.

Supplies:
Cardstock (I used white)
Paint (blue and whatever colour you want to make the face, I mixed white and brown)
Markers (red, yellow, blue and black)
Googly eyes (optional)

I cut the paper into rectangles measuring 3x4inches. Simon dipped his thumb into the cream(ish) colour paint and pressed it firmly onto the card. He did all of the cream coloured thumbprints and then did all of the blue ones right next to them. Once the paint was dry I used the markers to finish embellishing the cards. I used the blue to draw the arms and legs and black for the hair. (Yes, I'm aware that there will come a point where my children far surpass my artistic (ha!) abilities.) Then I used the red marker to draw a smile and a the outline of the cape. I used the yellow marker to draw a diamond like shape on the cape which I coloured in yellow. Then I finished colouring in the cape. I added a few stars as well. To finish Superman I glued on some small googly eyes.

Then I tried to think of something clever to write on the valentine. I googled Superman's catch phrases, but Superman didn't give me much to work with :) He does say up, up and away, hence the use of that on the card. Simon signed all of his cards and now they're ready for him to pass out to his friends, so that when his sister comes home with  a bag of valentines, he will also have one!

Christmas Owl Sign

I love Christmas! So naturally, making Christmas crafts is one of my favorite things to do. The kids and I have been doing lots of little crafts here and there. (Follow me on Instagram to see what we've been working on! You can check out my posts here.)

I saw this craft on my Pinterest strolls in October and loved it so much that I was inspired to make an owl themed Christmas sign.

Supplies needed:

• wooden plaque/sign (I bought mine at the dollar store)
• an old book to cut up
• patterned paper
• other various paper scraps (red, black, white, orange, yellow)
• sparkle paint
• ribbon
• mod podge

I love these wooden signs from the dollar store- I've made a few different ones in the past, but this one is my favorite. I started by painting the edge of the sign white. I debated leaving it unpainted but thought this would give it a more finished look.

Then I placed a piece of white computer paper on top of my plaque and used a crayon to etch out the shape of the sign. I cut out the sign shape and then traced it on to the patterned paper, and then cut that shape out. If you were going for a more rustic look you could probably cut a rough shape out, mod podge it down and then use sand paper to finish the edges. (Here's a picture from another sign that I was working on.)

After I cut out the paper I mod podged it to the sign. Squeeze out all the air bubbles. I mod podged the accent piece of stripped paper on at this time too.

Then I created an owl pattern and traced cut the owls out from pages of an old book. I cut out the circles for the eyes, using my hole puncher to cut out the smallest circle. Then I cut a small triangle out of orange paper for the beak of the owls. I glued the eyes together and then glued the eyes and beaks to the owl cut outs. I used my cricut to cut out a little Santa hat for one of the owls. I also cut out a little star banner.

Then I glued the owls in place (using Mod Podge). I added on the accents, hat and stars, and then painted over everything with a nice layer of Mod Podge.  To finish my sign I added a cute little gingerbread ribbon so that I could hang it up.

Is everyone else in full on Christmas mode yet? I'm almost done my Christmas shopping, just have to pick up a few stocking stuffers for the kids!

Easter lunches

My kids are getting so excited for Easter. At six years old I'm surprised that Claire has already figured out that I'm the Easter Bunny, but she still expects a little egg hunt this year! I've made a few Easter lunches for Claire which she has really been enjoying.

I made a Wowbutter sandwich on some oatmeal brown bread that I made. I added an Easter sticker to the top of her applesauce, a bunny ring to her container of grapes and some Annie's bunny crackers for a snack.

I picked up this new bunny cutter this year at Target (love that Target's in Canada now!) complete with a bunny tail. I added in a few grapes and bunny pick, some sugar cookies we made and a green apple.

More Wowbutter sandwiches cut into small flowers. An apple, some blueberries and a few chocolate Easter eggs in a pink plastic egg.

 This was her favorite lunch! The plastic eggs were filled with strawberries, blueberries, grapes and Annie's crackers. I cut her sandwich into small pieces and added them in the smaller compartments. I put a few chocolate eggs in there as well.

I used a heart shaped cookie cutter to make the bunny sandwich. Grapes, blueberries and strawberries were added to the lunch as well. I took the label off her Yop and drew a little bunny face on it. Drawing's not really my strong point :)

These lunches, along with all of my other ones, are packed in the fabulous EasyLunch Box containers that we love.

St. Patrick's day lunches

 It's March break here now!! Claire's so excited to have a whole week off of school. I made a few of these lunches the week before March break. I have a special one planned for St. Patrick's Day for Claire. All of these lunches are pretty straightforward. All of her sandwiches are made with WowButter (they're not allowed to take peanut products to school.)

I used some shamrock cookie cutters to make shamrock sandwiches. I added some green grapes and strawberries. As a treat I added in a few chocolates. I ordered a few things from All Things For Sale a little while ago. It was hard to contain myself on that site. There are so many fun things! I ordered some St. Patrick's Day picks, and added one into each of these lunches.

 Ha. Now this lunch didn't quite turn out as I had pictured it in my head. For some reason St. Patrick's Day stuff is so hard to find this year. I searched all over Halifax for a small shamrock cookie cutter and couldn't find one anywhere. The one that I used above is actually an apple that I used upside down (not that it looks much like an apple either!) I filled the cut out with some chocolate sprinkles. I added an applesauce, clementine and some more green grapes. And of course another one of my new picks.

 I used a medium sized cookie cutter and cut  three hearts out of 1 sandwich. There was a tiny bit leftover to make the stem of the shamrock. Blueberries and strawberries and a little shamrock ring finished off this lunch.

 I cut the sandwich into three slices (like the Irish flag), not that it was noticed by Claire! I skewered some grapes and added a clementine and blueberries. I used one of my new picks and a little leprechaun ring.

Love these lunch boxes? I sure do. You can check them out here: EasyLunch Boxes. They make packing lunches so easy!

valentine lunches

I love making valentines lunches. Oh wait, I just love packing lunches in general. All of these are packed in my EasyLunch Box containers. They make packing lunch SO easy.

 I cut Claire's sandwich into two hearts using a sandwich cutter that I picked up at the grocery store. I added a few pretzels to the top of the sandwiches. I skewered some blueberries on heart (cocktail) skewers. I added a few grapes to a silicone cup and added some heart shaped strawberries.

 I used a penguin cutter to cut Claire's sandwich into penguins. I added a heart sprinkle to each penguin. Using a heart silicone container I gave Claire some blueberries and grapes.

 Claire was asking me to add some sprinkles to her lunch, so I cut off the crusts of her sandwich and used a small heart cookie cutter to cut a heart out of one piece of bread. I made the sandwich using WOWbutter. After I put the sandwich together I added some chocolate sprinkles through the heart piece. I packed some more blueberries in a silicone cup and added in a few chocolate chip cookies for a snack. I also added in an applesauce.

I cut her sandwich in the shape of a heart, as well as the apples :) I used a bit of washi tape to make a little skewer flag for her cup of blueberries.

Linked up with: Tatertots and Jello, Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons, Six Sisters, Skip to my Lou

train themed Valentine bookmarks

In years past, I've made a lot of different Valentine bookmarks with them. Last year we did a fruit themed series and the previous year we made some animal themed ones. This year, Simon and I made some train themed ones, after his favorite show, of course!

It can be tricky to find or make Valentines that aren't made of pink and purple hearts and covered with lace  glitter. I tried to incorporate Simon's interests to make these bookmarks. If you watch the Thomas show at all, I hope that you can recognize all of these trains! The ones in the above picture are Charlie, Thomas, James and Percy. The trains below are Gordon, Duncan and Henry.

These are so simple to make. Start by cutting a piece of white paper into 6x2" pieces. Decide what trains you'd like to make and have your child stamp their finger in the paint and then onto the paper. Once all of the colored dots have dried, have your child stamp their pointer finger into some grey paint and then onto the center of the colored dot. Once that paint is dry use a thin black marker to decorate the train's face. Don't forget to add the funnel, buffer (use a red marker) and some wheels. I added a bit of washi tape to the bookmarks because I love it. And have to start using my hoard collection of tape. If you have any questions about the bookmarks leave it in the comments and I will get back to you!

Happy crafting :)

Linked up with: Tatertots and Jello, Six Sisters, Skip to my Lou

footprint Santa & Rudolph

I love Christmas crafting. Surprise! This is one of my favorite crafts because one footprint is Claire's and one is Simon's. I love that the project incorporated both of them on the same paper.

To make the Santa, I paint the heel of Claire's foot cream colour and the rest of her foot red. Then I painted Simon's foot brown and stamped it next to Claire's footprint. Note: When you're doing this try to make sure you line up the toes of the footprints, otherwise you'll end up making stairs for Santa and the reindeer to walk up :) After I stamp their feet on the paper I have a face cloth right next to me to wipe the paint off of their feet. I always use Crayola paints and it wipes right off. We usually head up for a bath shortly after these projects so that I don't have to worry about getting all of the paint out in between their toes.

Once the paint was dry I started to create the reindeer. I used a brown Crayola marker to draw antlers, ears, arms, and a tail. I used a red marker to draw boots and a smile and a blue one to dry a hat. I added some googly eyes and a sequin for the nose, it is supposed to be Rudolph after all. Then I cut up some patterned paper so that Rudolph could carry some presents. Now while I think that the reindeer looks wonderful, Claire (she's 5) feels like he's not authentic. "Mommy, Rudolph doesn't wear boots or a hat and he DOESN'T carry presents. That's Santa's job." So maybe consult your little ones as to whether Rudolph wears boots and a hat :)

For Santa, I used a black marker to drawn Santa's boots, belt and nose. I used a red marker to draw Santa's hat, smile and arm. I drew his mitten and toy bag with green markers. I glued a sequin on Santa's belt and added some googly eyes. Then I ripped apart a cotton ball to make Santa's beard, the fur on the top of the hat and the ball on the end of the hat.

Winter lunches

 I love Christmas time. I'm so excited to be making new winter/Christmas themed lunches. I just wish it wasn't so cold here! My hands still haven't warmed up after dropping Claire off at school.

About a year ago I had picked up this penquin sandwich cutter at Walmart. It's nice because if you're using square bread it just cuts the crusts off, which Claire doesn't care to eat anyway. I skewered a few blueberries, added a clementine and some chocolate goldfish to her lunch. I added a snowflake pick that I bought at the dollar store, of all places.

 I used my Wilton tree cookie cutter to cut out Claire's sandwich. I gave her some grapes, blueberries, and a few M&M's. I also added in a banana for her snack.

 I used a Wilton cupcake topper to make this lunch. I just cut the sandwich into a circle and placed the snowman on top of the sandwich. I skewered a few more blueberries and added a chocolate chip muffin. I also sliced some green and red apples for her snack.

Lastly I gave Claire a snowflake sandwich. I skewered a few grapes on picks that I bought at the dollar store. I gave her some blueberries and an applesauce ( I added a few stickers to the top to make it a bit more festive).

These are all packed in my favorite Easy Lunch Box containers. They make lunch packing so easy. The only hard part is making sure that Claire and her friend Madison have the same colour lid :)

reindeer sandwiches 4 ways

 I, much like both of my kids, am so excited for Christmas. I've started packing Christmas lunches already (you know, since we celebrate Thanksgiving in October). Last week was my first week making Christmas lunches, and I decided to start with Reindeer ones :)

 For my first one, I used a gingerbread cookie cutter and turned it upside down to make a reindeer. (Thanks for the idea, Martha!) I melted a few chocolate chips and piped the antlers right onto the sandwich. Then I
made my usual marshmallow cut in half with a chocolate chip for the eyes and a red smartie for the nose. I also packed some gingerbread muffins a clementine, and an applesauce (not pictured, obviously.)

 I used the same techniques on this one, I just used a star cookie cutter. I also included a clementine (my kids can't get enough of these), some red and green grapes and some red jello that I made right in the container.

 This one was so simple, it might be my favorite one! I used a large circle cookie cutter to cut out the sandwich. I used pretzel letter E's for the antlers. I cut up some strawberries and sent Claire with another clementine and an applesauce.

 I love this reindeer pick. It was from a pack of cupcakes that I picked up last Christmas season.

 I used a heart cookie cutter and turned it upside down as well. I packed some red and green goldfish crackers, some grapes and a few marshmallows for a treat (it was Friday after all!)

Halloween lunches part 4

 I'm almost done making Halloween lunches and it's a good thing as I'm just about out of ideas :) I can't wait to start making Christmas/winter ones!

 I'd seen this idea on Pinterest, but I have no idea who thought of it first. To make this one I had to keep the fake teeth wedged in my spice rack for a few days so that they didn't burst out of the sandwich. When I made the sandwich, I just cut a hole in the sandwich and placed the teeth in the hole. I added some grapes, strawberries and apples to Claire's lunch.

 This was my attempt at a skull sandwich. Sometimes these things turn out so much better in my head than in actual execution. I used a piece of a fruit chew for his mouth and marshmallow eyes. I skewered some grapes, added in some blueberries (and my ghost cut out of a milk carton), and a chocolate chip cookie.

 I decorated a yogurt drink again for Claire's snack. We had made pizza for supper the night before and I rolled out the extra dough, cut out some pumpkins and baked them. I included those in Claire's lunch with some shredded cheese and peperoni. She also had some clementines, grapes, and a few smarties.

I think that this lunch was Claire's favorite one. I included a gingerbread waffle and a little bit of syrup for her to dip them in. I skewered a few grapes, and added in a few blueberries and strawberries.

thumbprint witch

So a couple of years ago Claire and I made the footprint witch craft. This year we made a thumbprint witch.

What you need:
Card stock- I used white card stock cut into 3x4 inches (hello project life insert cards)
Cream and white coloured paint
Markers
Googly eyes (optional)

Have your child stamp their thumbprints on the card stock, one on top of the other one. See picture below.

Once the paint is dry, you can start to decorate it. I started by drawing the broom. Then I used the black marker to draw the witch's arms, legs, and hat. I added some stars and hair using yellow marker. I used a fine tip marker to draw the smile and nose. I finished it off with some googly eyes. There you have it. An adorable Halloween card or a super cute Halloween project life insert :)

footprint scarecrow

It's been a while since I came up with a hand print/foot print craft. This was inspired by some fall clip art that I came across on pinterest. Check out the inspiration here.

This was a simple craft to make since I just had Claire paint and stamp her foot, and then I added on the details. She painted her heel and toes a cream colour and the rest of her foot green. She stamped it on a piece of 12x12 white cardstock.

Once that was dry, I drew on the details, which I did using the kids Crayola markers.  I started by using a dark brown marker to draw the post that goes from the feet into the ground. Then I used it to draw the hat. I used an orange marker to draw the arms and a light brown one to draw the broom handle.  I used a light and dark yellow marker to draw all of the straw coming out of the scarecrow. I drew a little face and some small patches on the scarecrow body.

Happy Fall!

halloween lunches part 3

Claire had a short school week last week because of the Thanksgiving holiday, so she only had four lunches last week. I didn't realize how similar the lunches looked until I saw them all together here! I might have to start packing her lunches the day before. It's so dark here in the mornings, it's hard to get good light to photograph them. It also speeds things along in the morning if I don't have to worry about packing her lunch as well.

See previous weeks lunches here and here. Thanks to everyone who pinned my lunches from last week. It was exciting to see them pinned so many times in just 1 week!

This was one of those mornings where I was quite rushed packing her lunch! I cut her sandwich into a circle, and cut some ghosts out of a fruit chew to decorate her sandwich. I added in some strawberries, raisins, and an applesauce.

I started by cutting Claire's sandwich into stars. I have nesting star cookie cutters, so I picked out a few sizes for the sandwich. She also had some tortilla chips and clementines. The blueberries were skewered on the skull picks that I bought from Target. I made Rice Krispie squares in a mini muffin tin to include in her lunch. I made half a batch of the Rice Krispie squares, and after I greased the pan, I shook in a few halloween coloured sprinkles. Then I smooshed in the Rice Krispie bits.

Claire really like this lunch. There was a sandwich cut in the shape of a pumpkin, with grapes and an apple on the side. I added in a granola bar (homemade) for her snack. I love all of the picks that people add to their kids lunches, but I haven't ordered any yet. I cut these ghosts out of a milk carton to add to her lunches.

Lastly, I had picked up a package of halloween rings from the dollar store. Because they're so cheap, the ring back pop off, which makes them super easy to add to lunches! They snap back on so that the kids can wear them too. I cut Claire's sandwich out in a circle and added a spider for decoration. Then she had a clementine, some strawberries, and some goldfish crackers.

All these lunches are packed in my EasyLunchboxes containers, which I just love. Everything that I send for Claire fits in this one container. It just makes it so easy! (This is not a sponsored post, I just love their product.)

Linked up with: Tatertots and Jello, Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons, Six Sisters, Skip to my Lou

fall & halloween lunches part 2

Fall and halloween lunches continue! If you missed the first round of lunches you can check them out here. We've got a short week of school this week, since it's Thanksgiving here today. Check back in later this week to see a few halloween crafts.

No special tools required for this lunch. I just cut the crusts off of Claire's sandwich (who likes the crusts anyway? Not me.) and then cut the sandwich in half, making a zig zag cut. I just used a sharp knife to do this. Candy eyes are fine, but I prefer to cut a mini marshmallow in half and stick a chocolate chip to the marshmallow. I skewered a few blueberries, added in a few grapes and an apple.

I used a pumpkin cookie cutter to shape the sandwich. I added in a few grapes and a clementine. I drew a pumpkin-esque face on the package of peaches (packed in water). I added in a few halloween smarties for a treat.

I used a ghost shaped cookie cutter to cut Claire's sandwich and added on marshmallow eyes. I gave her a clementine, some raisins, and some tortilla chips as a treat. Lastly, I drew a Frankenstein face on her applesauce container.

This one looked a little bit better in my head than it actually turned out- but alas, Claire ate the whole thing. The sandwich was supposed to be a turkey, as it's Thanksgiving here this week. I just put a foam sticker on the applesauce to make it a bit more festive.

This was my hand at making lunchables. I gave Claire some vegetable Breton crackers, a few pieces of ham, rolled and skewered on skeleton skewer and some shredded cheese. Because that's how Claire likes to eat her cheese, shredded. I put a little ranch dip in the container for the carrots and added in a few grapes.

Linked up with: Tatertots and Jello, Kitchen Fun with my 3 Sons, Six Sisters, Skip to my Lou