Magnetic Figure Skater Toy Download in the Shop!

School is out for winter break and if you are like me, you need fun activities to keep little hands busy, busy, busy. Well expert figure skaters, Sebastian and Sadie, are here and ready to help with that!

To get started, purchase the download here for only $3.99, complete with both figure skaters and three tree shapes. Print out the figure skaters (I recommend using fine art heavy card stock or taking the file to your local print shop for the best quality of print) and cut them out. Cut out support tabs and glue long vertical strip to back of skater for support. (I find it's also helpful to add a piece of thick foam or cardboard for additional support).


Now using hot glue, adhere magnet to the bottom of the flap of skater

Once the glue is dry you are ready to try out your new skater on the "ice"!

To create your ice rink, take a large discarded cereal box and place it on it's side. You may cover it in white butcher paper before hand if you like, leaving one end open. Create slits in the box where you'd like your trees to go. Print out tree shapes. (You can keep them as is or cover them in black duct tape as we did here). Place large tongue depressors to the backs of the trees. Now you are set to place your trees within the slits you created in your large box.

Place your skater a top the box and than place a corresponding magnet within the cereal box and directly below the skater. Magnets should meet up. You are now ready to move your skater around on the ice! So fun!!

These make a great stocking stuffer or craft/toy to play an create with friends and family members during these winter months! Hop on over to the shop to get started on your very own skaters now!

(download will be emailed to you after purchase)

Bear Mug and Scarf DIY's over at Design Sponge

If you are like me you relish the season of scarf wrapping, boot wearing and cocoa sipping. And if you have this cute little handmade bear mug greet you each morning with your favorite warm beverage, well 'tis the season to be jolly indeed!

So head on over to Design Sponge for this weeks DIY gift idea. This little guy is so super simple to make. I promise. You'll be able to mark off quite a few gifts on your list with this furry buddy!


And because we know you might still have a few last-minute gifts to check off that list, we are sharing not one, but two DIY's with you this week! This no-sew hand stamped scarf is the perfect thing to make in an afternoon.

And don't be afraid to let little hands help with the gift creating and giving. But be careful, they just might look so cute in your creation you'll have to keep one just for them.

Mountain Pillow DIY over at Design Sponge

Hi friends! Today I'm sharing with you my love for all things alpine and snow peaked with this cozy little mountain pillow for your home. Head on over to Design Sponge for the full tutorial!

Duct Taping with Parent & Child Mag

Happy Monday friends! Have you seen the latest issue of Parent & Child magazine yet? It's full of some really great stuff. A few months ago they asked us to share with you some great duct tape crafts that you can do with your little ones (of all ages) and we are so excited to see it out.

Meta was my go-to for props and photography and she also had some great connections for little models. Like this twin brother and sister pair who modeled the belt and headband craft.

Are you not just in love with them?! They were really great to work with (in another lifetime I want to have twins :)).

And do you recognize this little cutie? She made an appearance in my Babiekins headband tutorial. Darling girl and a natural in front of the camera. She's seriously one of the best I've worked with.

And I have to say, this little cat purse just might be my favorite craft in the article (but it's so hard to pick just one!). Check out Parent & Child's latest issue, on stands now, for full instructions.

(Oh and Little O was excited to make the cut and finally see himself in a magazine as his older brother has had his own little dose of print fame. The above photo didn't make into the magazine but I think it's just oh so sweet.).

And as it is the season of giving, wouldn't these be the most perfect gifts for your kids to make and gift?! These are seriously some great, simple and affordable hand made gifts for you kids to get in on the spirit of giving! Something we all want to foster within our kiddos, right?!

Crafting for Rubio's Studio: First Installment, The Friendship Tree

Have you guys heard of the new kids show, Ruby's Studio?! If not you are in for a real treat! It's a great kids show that is perfect blend of fun, helpful, endearing, playful and, thank goodness, not too cheesy. Oh, and best test of all - Little O loves it.

So you can imagine how thrilled I was when one of the founding mom's, Samantha Kurtzman-Counter, contacted me and asked if I would be interested in creating crafts for the kids to do on the show. After familiarizing myself with the company and the show, I felt like it was a perfect fit and couldn't have been more on board. And now I'm over the moon about sharing this show, and our crafts, with all of you!

Out now is a delightful episode about friendship, which you can watch now by purchasing here. In it you will see just what you need to create our friendship tree.

And as is always a thrill, I love seeing these little ones take this craft and make it their own. Seriously so great. Oh and can I just say that I want Ruby's studio. I mean isn't it the coolest? Perfectly designed to inspire creativity. Makes me want to get my craft on right now!


If you think you might be interested in this great show (and I know you will be!) take a look here. The premiere Feelings show is really great too. And stay tuned because both Ruby and I have a lot more episodes full of fun crafts for your little ones!

Our DIY IKEA RIBBA Picture Ledge Tree

I wanted to do something different with our Christmas tree this year and after a recent trip to IKEA, I knew just what to do. Using IKEA's Ribba Picture Ledges Jon and my brother Kenton (who was in town for Thanksgiving) helped to make my vision come to life.

I was hoping to post on this much earlier but with baby girl in the hospital all week last week (with RSV - she's doing much better) things got put on the back burner a bit. But let me tell you we've loved having this tree up (the boys too! I was afraid the wouldn't think it was as cool as a real tree but they tell everyone about it wherever we go!) and it was just the perfect thing to calm our hearts when coming home.

To make this tree we purchased three 45.25" RIBBA ledges, two 21.75" ledges and one of the small ones for the very top. Because of course this would be temporary, I decided to use Command Strips to put it up. Worked like a charm. We laid out all of our shelves to decide just how large we wanted this. In the end we came up with the following measurments:

top shelf: 9"
2nd shelf: 15.5"
3rd shelf: 23"
4th shelf: 30.5"
5th shelf: 38"
6th shelf: 45.25"

The cuts were simple and quick to make. To install, we took a look at our wall and determined that we wanted 12" between each shelf. Then using our Command Strips we put our tree up. We used a total of 6 large strips for the lowest shelf, 4 for the next one up and so on, adjusting according to the size of the shelf and what we wanted it to hold.

We then got out our holiday trimmings and decorated our new tree! The boys love it! We just have to advise them not to play with their toys on the shelves too much (yeah right! There's a good reason why the styling is off a bit on the bottom shelf ;).

I also recently tried another variation by adding all of our books from our advent to the shelves (something I actually had in mind from the get-go). I'm super happy with the results but I will advise that if you are trying to go this route, I might secure the shelves to the wall with screws as the Command Strips might not be quite strong enough.

This project was so much quicker than I had even originally imagined so you definitely could still do it this holiday season. There are so many different ways to go with this and the decorating options are endless. I already have an entirely new deco scheme planned for next year! (or maybe I'll do it this year...you never know what mom's going to rearrange around here).

Make Your Own Toys this Holiday Season with Mer Mag!: Gift Guide Part 1

Make your own toys this holiday season and get your kids in on the fun! We have just a little obsession with toys over her (and toy making) and thought it would be fun to share a round-up of some of our favorite projects. The Littles even weighed in on some of their top picks!

And don't forget to encourage the spirit of giving with your kids. So many of these would be great for your kids to make for their siblings and friends! Such as this set of paint chip animals. They would be an ideal gift for a grade school amigo. It is a simple and sizable toy for you little one to make and give (and easy on your holiday pocketbook!).

Start Santa's workshop here:
a. gradient blocks  b. interlocking play castle  c. milly the mermaid doll  d. paint chip animal friends  e. geometric tile puzzle  f. tea box circus train  g. articulated paper dolls  h. pop-up puppet  i. paper mache puppets  j. animal box mask

Mario in the Middle: A 4-yr-old Birthday Party

October was a busy busy month for us. Not only did we have our third child, but Little O had his fourth birthday and of course there was Halloween. Because I knew this month would be just a little bit crazy I really wanted to make Little O's birthday both very simple and very special.

You see Little O has been thrown into the middle child slot...and he's feeling it. Because we've all been sick he's not been allowed to really interact with the baby much and is constantly being shooed away...and he's over it. I feel for the poor kid.

Which is why I'm glad that I stayed up until the crack of dawn to make this little Mario costume for Little O. And why I'm glad that I threw together this little birthday bash last minute. And why I'm seriously grateful for a gigantic polka-dot "mushroom" balloon that can transform an ordinary day into an extraordinary one.

We kept things simple by having the party at a local park complete with a playground (or "Mario Land") and a covered picnic area.

And we made things special by bringing simple white linens and dishes to dress things up a bit.

And of course we had to have chocolate mustaches. (Like my sister, I've never really gotten into the mustache craze -she has an entire pin board for ridiculous trends that are way overdone, it's pretty funny really- but I felt that this party was the perfect place for it. And I think even she might approve. I know Little O definitely did.)

We brought along some sodas in bottles (a huge treat for the boys as they typically don't get to drink soda in this way), threw together some star cookies (thanks Jon!!!) and bought a simple cake. We also put out some grapes, string cheese and crackers so it wasn't a total sugar fest.


And thanks to the dollar store we were able to outfit each goodie bag with a self-sticking mustache.

We chose the park for the easy already-something-for-the-kids-to-do-so-we-don't-have-to-plan-games aspect but ended up loving it for the the real life Super Mario game play aspect of it. I mean just look at that slide. Doesn't it just scream plumbing tube?


The kids had a great time and really interacted well together. I was so impressed with how they initiated their own game play. Sometimes I think we forget that you don't really need that much structure for a birthday party to go well. Just a decent area for kids to run and play in...and they'll come up with the rest!


And this little Pizano? He was in Super Mario heaven. And well...I'm not sure he's left it since.

Man I love this kid. Here's hoping he stays in this magical make-believe world of four forever.

Homespun Halloween: Costumes of the Past

As soon as little O turned one I decided it was time to follow in my mother's footsteps and start sewing our very own handmade Halloween costumes. So for the past three years, we have been trying to do just that. There is something special about a homespun costume - and for those of you who don't sew, it can easily be created from boxes, paper, and more found objects. I just think there is something special about creating and wearing something original and hand crafted.

For us we like to have our costumes later become great staples for our imaginative play costume box. So more often than not I like to sew them, so that they last and can be easily stored. Last year the boys asked to go as a pumpkin and Perry the Platypus. And let me tell you what. That platypus has been worn quite a number of friends and family members alike. It's probably been the number one requested dress up item in our home. And the pumpkin? Well, I love that one so much that I'm keeping it nice for baby M to wear again one year.



In 2010, the boys went as knights. We had a lot of tun with these and even themed Little O's 2nd birthday party around them. By basing these off of a vintage art smock, they were not only simple but easy for the little guys to wear...over...and over again.



That year I also decided to share a simple DIY ghost cloak that you can make from a sheet. And trust me, if you don't have a costume idea made up and ready yet, you can totally make this one the day before (or even the day of!) Halloween.



2009 was the year I began all of this sewing madness. I actually wanted to start sewing as soon as A was born but I think it took having number two for me to really be inspired. I kind of get into themes. And really you only have so many years before you can get your kids to theme your costumes. Or at least that's how it's played out in my house.



So in 2009 the boys went out as a sailor man and an octopus. I started the costume with a fringed white beard...that lasted for about three seconds (A wasn't into how it felt on his face).

So as much as I loved the beard (it still comes out for Santa Claus impressions) we nixed it for a simple, younger, sailorman costume.



And what's a better side kick for a sailorman than a squigly red octupus? I can't deny that I was seriously in love with how my little baby O looked in this costume and was proud to have created it completely on my own (no pattern). And I seriously can't wait until baby M can fit this, because I'm very sure that I've not had enough of it yet.



And this year? Well stayed tuned to find out! I mean I now have three costumes to create! So you'll just have to keep a drift to see if everything turns out as planned.

What are some of your favorite costumes from years gone by? And why? Any of them handmade? I'm still in awe of my friend Sarah's darling gumball costume, found on Inchmark, made for her daughter. Seriously so innovative. You can see more of what is inspiring me costume wise via my Hallow's Eve Pinterest board. And can you believe that the haunted holiday is upon us!? EEK!!

DIY Paper Lion Mask for National Geo Kids

I was recently contacted by National Geographic Kids to create a fun DIY craft for kids in the theme of Trick-or-Treat for Big Cats. I love how they focus on big cats during the month of October and I was more than happy to tie it all in to Halloween. And over here, well we can't get enough of lions, tigers, cheetahs, you name it!

If you need a simple and quick costume solution for this haunted weekend, or just a fun craft for imaginative play with the littless, this paper lion mask is your ticket!

For DIY instructions and a template, just head on over to National Geo Kids and click on the "lion mask (PDF)" link on the right hand side. From there you will be able to download a pdf with all the information you need.

 Happy romping and roaring!