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).

Writing for Alpha Mom: Introducing Solids to Your Baby

Hope you all had a fun filled and pleasant weekend! I just wanted to drop in and and let you know that I will be writing for Alpha Mom and all about baby food! This couldn't be more perfect timing as I'm expecting our little girl in a little less than three months (wowza!) and I've wanted to really delve into making my own baby food for some time. So now I've done just that and am sharing all my know how with you.

Take a look at my first post: Introducing Solid Foods (Fruits and Veggies) to your Baby. It's jam packed with great info. And if you have any insight on what you like to prepare for your baby, I'd love to hear it!

Roadtrip to the Rockies: Tips for traveling across country with kids

(First off, a big Thank You to all of you fabulous readers who were able to retrieve my lost post via Google Reader! I can't tell you how happy this makes me! xoxo.) 

We are back from our annual 4th of July reunion in Colorado. We had an excellent time but are very happy to be off the road, at home and in our own beds. Unfortunately Jon couldn't join us this year as he's acting in a play and has other work that he couldn't break away from. So I decided to take the 8 hour drive out to Colorado on my own with our two boys (Oh yeah, and at 6 months pregnant). Crazy you say? Well I do agree, but in someways this was one of the best road trips I've had with the boys. Why? Well in addition to having a little help from above, I think some serious preparation and planning (and the chance to caravan with my sister's family) did just the trick.


I'd love to share a few tips (some learned the hard way :)) for traveling across country with young kids (particularly if are traveling by yourself!).

TIPS FOR ROAD TRIPPING WITH YOUNG KIDS

• Evaluate your needs and devise a plan. How old are your children? Do you have an infant/baby? Are your kids potty trained or are some in diapers still? What are their needs and how can you address them in the best way possible both ahead of time and while on the road? For example, my oldest, 6 yrs, needs a lot of brain stimulation so I prepared a lot of dot to dots, mazes, math activities, etc. for him. Whereas my youngest, 3 1/2 yrs, needs a best friend play toy at all times and needs to snack constantly, to stay in a good mood. So I made sure I was ready for both of these things and more. After evaluating you might end up deciding that being the sole driver just isn't in the cards for you at this time. But then again, you might decide that you think you (and your littles) are ready and want to take the plunge! And you might just find out, like me, that it was totally doable and worth it!
• Separate the trip into shorter, manageable sections. This doesn't mean you have to stop at each "section" of your trip (but then again you might need to for feedings, diaper changes or bathroom breaks!) but you can have mile markers where you pull out a new toy or coloring book, etc. When Jon and I drive together on long trips we typically have the rule, no videos until after dinner or when it's getting dark. This encourages the kids to engage in their planned activities while it's still light out and day dream while looking out the window (a very important part of a road trip, if you ask me). On this trip however, as I was driving by myself, I told the boys that they could start watching videos after our "middle of the trip" mile marker,  Little America (where we would be also be meeting up with caravanning cousins for a short while). This helped me out as I wouldn't have to worry about entertaining them for such long periods of time and by making this clear ahead of time they knew what was coming and how to mentally prepare themselves for how the trip would play out.

• Involve your kids in the pre-planning. Let the Littles get involved with the plan up front so they are not as thrown by any surprises. For example, we had our boys earn money for a toy from the dollar store before the trip. They then each picked out a couple of plastic Power Rangers who quickly became their inseparable (and eventually armless) road trip companions. We also took them to the library where we picked out books on CD as well as movies on DVD. I like checking out movies from the library because it's something our kids have never seen so they are engaged and excited about it, but it's not as expensive (or even free at some libraries) as purchasing an entirely new show. I then throw in a few tried and true beloved shows from our home DVD library if all else fails. We also let them come with us while picking out snacks but make sure that they didn't break into any of it until the trip. Yes they got antsy and complained, wanting the yummy thing right then but I held strong and didn't let them have any of it until we got on the road. You could also work together to make a number of homemade snacks and treat which is a really great way to go. If I did this again I'd love to pick out some of my pinned snack ideas to make such as these, these, or these (we had candy buttons on another trip and my boys loved picking them off and eating them. They quickly became my "oh no, the boys are starting to lose it, time to break out another sheet of candy buttons" trick up my sleeve). This is a fun idea as well. I think keeping these things "special" along with knowing what sort of snacks they had in store before the trip started helped them look forward to the long adventure ahead.

• Make or purchase accessories that will help your trip run smoother. This year I finally made another travel desk for Little O as well as an art portfolio case that could be used a top the desk and then placed within the underside pocket (where the board is) for storage. I then stuffed them full of fun games and activities as well as blank paper, markers and colored pencils. These were then slung over and stored on the side of their seat arm rests, making it accessible whenever they wanted it. As my oldest is more capable of helping himself and his brother out, I also put a bag full of additional books, games, tag readers, etc. between their seats so that they could help them selves out when they needed a change of entertainment. I also made sure that the boys each had a water bottle full and available at all times. I kept the snacks in a box in the captain's chair and passed them back when needed. Both my boys can now unwrap their own drink box straws, string cheese wrappers and more, making things that much easier (hooray!).
• Don't forget to assess your needs for the trip. Whether you are teaming up with another driver or going solo, you can't forget to evaluate your own needs for the trip. I mean, if practically every responsibility is going to to fall into your lap, you need to make sure you are happy, comfortable and excited about the adventure you have in store! Being 6 months pregnant I had make sure that I stayed well hydrated, had lots of healthy snacks (as well as the essential sour gummy snacks that keep my senses alert) and had opportunities for breaks to get out and stretch my legs (which the kids needed as well, so it worked out great!). I also needed to be engaged in the audio books so I had some say in what we finalized when going to the library before hand (Being a YA/Middle Grade illustrator, I'm quite the fan of these books so I was more than OK with a younger sort of book. You might have work something out when you can listen to a more adult book, perhaps while the kids are watching shows or have fallen asleep). Make a number of mixed CD's with music that will engross you and keep you alert and awake. I love songs that bring me back to past times in my life. Waxing nostalgic amidst stretches of red rocks, prairies and endless road can be quite fulfilling. This is also a great time to plan fun projects and brain storm about the future. I can't tell you how many young adult "novels" I've written in my head while road tripping. Maybe someday they will amount to something :). I also found that Instagramming the trip made things much more bearable for me. I was able to keep Jon in the loop and not feel so alone on this long journey (you might notice that a number of these pics here are from Instagram. I'm new to this world but if you want to follow me you can find me at mer_mag).

• Be willing to roll with the punches. As you can probably guess, traveling with kids requires a certain amount of flexibility. Fights might break out when you least expect. They need to go to the bathroom just ten minutes after visiting the last rest stop. They claim to be "bored" with the unending amount of activities you have planned for them (many of which they haven't even bothered to look at!), etc. For I us I decided that I was going to make this trip about the trip itself, and not just the destination. So when all else failed, we found a random place to stop, get out and photograph the beautiful scenes before us (Oh and I brought a long a digital camera for the boys to take pics themselves. The giggled for a good 30 minutes taking pictures of each other legs, noses, etc. while in the car. I highly recommend this for kids who can work a camera).

Stopping and taking breaks actually ended up being one my fondest experiences of this trip. We were able stop at one my favorite landmarks, the little white church in Virginia Dale, CO. My friend's grandfather actually built this darling church and I have wanted to stop and take a closer look at it for some time. Yes making these types of stops adds time to the trip but for us, it turned out to be completely worth it.
When we finally did arrive at my parents in Colorado we jumped right into to the pool to relax and cool off!
We were so ready and excited for all the 4th of July festivities to begin. And I what a fun time we had! I can't wait to share our story and all of our pics with you, which I will be doing so very soon!

What about you? What works for you when traveling with little ones? Do you have any helpful hints on how to make things go smoother? Or some funny flops, if nothing else :). If so please share. I know we'd all love to hear them!

Summer Fun Jars

I have to give full credit to my cousin Crystal for this summer fun idea. For the Mudpuppy giveaway she commented:

"So this summer me and the kids made a summer fun jar so I don't have to be as creative everyday. Each week they pick out an outing, a food to make, and an activity to do at home and we make sure we do all three that week. "

Crystal I LOVE, love, love your idea! So of course we had to implement it here in our home as well.

 This approach to summer fun works really well for us. I often get super busy with work while it seems like our friends are gallivanting off to swim parks, camping trips and more. I've been feeling really bad for my little guys and have worried that their summer just isn't turning out as fun and exploratory as I'd hoped it would be. So when Crystal mentioned this idea, I thought, "Hey! I can do that!" This simple approach satisfies my little ones need for structure and planned events (especially my oldest who has been ansty non-stop ever since school let out) and also allows me the freedom to chose when the events/projects work best in my schedule. I don't have as much pressure to do something extravagant every day and the littles love looking at our calendar, looking forward to what is coming up next!

To make our summer fun jars we used old pickle jars (we are pickle fanatics here), covered the lids with decorative paper and affixed a label for each summer fun item, reading "LET'S GO, LET'S MAKE, and LET'S EAT." 

If you'd like to do the same, I've made some jar labels for you to download here.
Each Monday evening, during family night, we have our kids draw out one slip of paper from each jar. The kids then love looking at and discussing what types of things we have in store for us that week. In our "LET'S GO" jar I've put in outings to local hot spots as well as things we can do closer to home such as "have a BBQ with friends." In our "LET'S MAKE" (which could also be called "LET'S DO") I've placed a number of prompts for us to get creative such as "make a summer scrapbook" or "learn a new skill".Our "LET'S EAT" jar has been a huge hit (notice the explosive amount of papers in the jar). I decided that I'd finally do something with all the delicious food pins I've been collecting on Pinterest. So I printed out several pages of pins, cut them up and then placed them in our "LET'S EAT" jar. This is so popular we actually ended up pulling out two food items, one sweet and one savory each week (I ended up making another savory jar, not shown here).

*(You could also use this Pinterest approach for your "LET'S MAKE" jar. Just print out all the DIY's you've been saving up and start doing them! If you need motivation to get started, take a look at a few of the pins from Mer Mag).
The kids love looking at what we have in store to make and eat. Somehow it's so much more exciting than just reading it. For example, take these delicious Mint Brownies from Brooke of Inchmark. I've been dying to make these ever since she posted about them! And now they have been drawn and placed on the calendar. We will be making them today!
So when we draw a food item from the jar, we then go to back to Pinterest to get the recipe. All the ingredients to make that item then goes on our shopping list for that week. The kids loving doing this and I love that they are learning a bit about shopping and cooking (and if I'm really ambitious I can give a little lesson about money on our shopping trip).
And it may be a bit late in the season (unless you are in Cali where school just let out for the summer) but we finally made our summer calendar. My mother would do this for us each summer and we loved visually looking forward to trips, events and fun summer activities. It really made summer SO much fun. To make ours I simply took a piece of black poster board and divided up the space into squares with decorative washi tape. I then used white oil pastel to write in all the dates and days of the week. From there we simply taped it to the wall with more washi tape.

And when the boys draw something out of our summer fun jars, we choose a day of the week and then have them tape up the paper right to the calendar. They love it!
 
And now we need to prepare for our big summer fun activity... our annual trip to Colorado for the 4th of July! We are so excited! To see some of the great summer reunion fun we've had in the past, take a lookly lou here, here, here and here. This summer we are going with a traditional 1776 white wig, Betsy Ross type of gala. No fireworks though, due to all the fires in Colorado :( but I know we'll come up with something just as fun. Apparently my mother is making little white wigs for all the kiddos and I just can't wait!

How to Cut Duct Tape for Craft Projects

OK, so I'm sure you've noticed that I've been on duct tape kick as of late. And if you are just catching up now, you can see a few of my past projects here and here. If you are looking to delve into some duct tape endeavors of your own, I thought I'd share a few helpful hints on how to handle duct tape - specifically how to cut it without wanting to pull your hair out (I had to learn this the hard way).

First off, do NOT use scissors. I made this mistake when I initially approached my first project. Basically you'll end up going nuts and vow to never do anything with duct tape again. Duct tape is super sticky so when you try to slice it with scissors things just start sticking to each other and once the sticky part of the tape sticks to itself, it's nearly impossible to get it apart. It's also hard to get precision when cutting and your scissors end up all gooey and well, it's just not fun.

So let's talk about how to do it right, shall we? You will need a utility knife, a self healing cutting mat and of course some duct tape.

1. Start by rolling out and sticking your duct tape to the self healing mat. Cut a portion of tape off of roll (you can get a really nice straight line this way (and if you want to use a straight edge or ruler, that works even better).
2. Cut desired shape out of tape by pressing utility knife firmly into the tape so that it cuts all the way through.
3. Peel away newly cut shape. I've also found that if if you use the tip your knife to get right under the shape to begin lifting, you avoid the slight turn over your fingernail could create.
4. Enjoy your new shape and place where you want it...


...such as on the upper right hand corner of this of castle that I'm working on (this is just a sneak peek of one of my most favorite cardboard/duct tape projects yet...let's just say I got a little obsessed with it and I can't wait to show it to you! Hopefully tomorrow?!...)

And what's even more fun is that A got an impromptu craft project out of my left over cardboard and duct tape cutting scraps.
Don't they just make the most perfect skyline? I seriously love how it turned out (and I love that I didn't have to plan a thing for it!).  

My super sneaky glasses secret

OK, so it was abundantly clear that top buns and geeky glasses were all the rage at ALT (we already knew this ladies, right?). Well I have to share with you all my super sneaky way of acquiring prescription glasses for OH so much less.

Just to give you some background, I starting doing this over 10 years ago when I found a $12 geeky pair of glasses at Claires that I liked (yes, I said it Claires! that teeny bopper shop in the mall). I wore them around a bit as a fashion accessory but then later thought, hey, I like these so much I want to turn them into prescription glasses (yes, I officially do need glasses). So I took them to my local optometrist and in no time at all (and hardly any $$) I had my own custom pair of glasses for super cheap. Well let me tell you, these glasses have held up! If the prescription wasn't old (I could always get it updated) I'd still wear them because they are in GREAT condition. And they were from Claires people. I wanted to take a picture of them but they are currently MIA (tucked away in some drawer I'm sure).

Now contrast that with these high priced prescription glasses I got about 5 years ago. These certainly have NOT held up for the long haul. Yes, I do have two little boys that love to bend and stretch my glasses when I'm not looking. But they have had their way with my Claires pair and they are still as good as ever (I'm going to find them and put a photo up, because you have to see them).

Well, as is the way of life, my eye sight has deteriorated a bit and I needed new glasses, again. I knew for sure that I didn't want to spend $$$ on hi priced frames again so I went shopping...in the mall. And I found the perfect pair at Express, for only $29.90.

I nabbed them and went straight for my department store optometrist (I'm thinking cheap people). The lenses were only $50 and it took less than two weeks to get them. And I LOVE them! I did have to get used to the weight of the larger glasses but they work great. And with this price, I'm seriously in the market for more!! This is the great thing about this little secret, you can afford several pairs. I also think it's a wallet friendly way to try out trends when you are not quite sure you are ready to dive in with both feet.

Now I know there are online glasses retailers that offer frames for a great deal. I've never gone that route because I like to try my glasses on. Not all frames work on everyone. I had tried on a number of these chunky geek chic glasses - before finding these ones at Express - and didn't like the way they looked on me. However, having said that, I did just order these frames from Modcloth and will have to see how they work. If I like them, you better believe I'm taking them in for prescription lenses. Oh the possibilities are endless!

So what about you? Have you done this? Have you ordered online from some of the inexpensive sites? Did you like the results? If so, please share your sources. If not, I highly suggest hitting up your local mall. You never know what you might find.