Paper, Paste, and Paint: Arts and Crafts for Young Children

With schools cutting their arts budgets right and left across the country, families are searching for ways to help their kids channel their creative talents and practice their arts skills by doing crafts and projects at home. Using your printer and basic craft supplies, your children can create some imaginative artworks that are sure to inspire in them a love for the creative process.

 

Cherry Blossoms

Japan is famous for its cherry blossoms. You can infuse a bit of geography into this lovely project. You'll need to print a black and white photo of a Japanese setting you find attractive. If you're running low on printer cartridges, you can order them at https://www.stinkyinkshop.co.uk/ for an affordable price. Then, take a neat little twig and glue it on your photo. After, glue small scrunched-up wads of bright pink tissue paper to form cherry blossoms. This pretty mixed media work can even be framed for the wall.

 

Merry-Go-Round Centrepiece

For this project, you'll need a circular block of Styrofoam or florist's foam to create the base of your merry-go-round along with a handful of popsicle sticks. On your computer, locate colouring pages of carousel animals. Print them and have your child colour and cut them out. Glue each one to a popsicle stick and then push each stick to the foam. You can embellish your merry-go-round with a central pole (a cardboard tube works well) and any other supplies you have on hand like ribbon or glitter.

 

Button Tree

Find a colouring page of a beautiful tree in and print it out. Have your kids colour the base of the tree and any other areas of the picture. Then, glue some inexpensive plastic buttons in multiple colours and glue them throughout the tree foliage. Your kids will have fun gluing and choosing buttons for their special tree.

 

Custom Stationary

Ask your kids to make your holiday cards this year. They can print out vintage Christmas scenes for instance on cardstock. Have them print in black and white and then they can colour elements of each scene with coloured pencils for a cool retro look. They can even personalize the insides of the card with a message or special holiday greetings.

 

Decoupage Blocks

If you have old wooden blocks that no one builds with anymore, you can turn them into decorations for your home. Have the kids print out cute seasonal scenes sized to the sides of your block. Then, they should cut out each scene and paste it to each side of the blocks. Using Modge Podge or another clear sealer, coat each image two to three times. Make sure that each side is dry before turning the block and don't apply a second coat until the first is completely dry. You can even do this by using photos instead of seasonal scenes.

 

Be sure to tap your printer to add to your creative fun. You'll find lots of other fun printer projects when you search online. Your kids are sure to enjoy craft time and these projects will certainly enhance your quality time together.

 

John Sollars started Stinkyink.com in 2002, a printer cartridge supplier in the UK. He knows a thing or two about printing and he enjoys sharing his ideas and insights online through blogging.

Music 101 with my Daughter

The other day, my daughter was  telling me some stuff about music that she learned over the years of taking piano lessons.  She  showed me different  notes that are used for piano, guitar, and other  music instruments.  I thought that was pretty nice although I can hardly remember them all now, lol.  If you ask me about audio sample rate, I wouldn't know  a thing but  my kids would probably know  it.  I appreciate the  music 101 that she taught me.

First Day of School SY 2015-2016

I was looking at this photo earlier at my phone and it makes me sad that my kids have grown up a lot! I am so grateful and blessed  that I get to be a stay-at-home-mom.  It might not be a cloud nine everyday (you know what I mean right, lol) but it's worth every second I spend my time with them.  

oday is there first day of school and as I prepared their breakfast, U wanted to cry because I felt a very strong emotion  that I couldn't  explain.  I thought that as they grow older, it would be easier for me to  send them to school but no! It doesn't get any easier at all.  The only consolation I have is seeing their smiles  and  their excitement of going back to school.  

 They never really cried when I sent them to Kindergarten on the first day but I did!  I don't cry now when I get back home but still hard  for me to see them  go on the first day.  Today is half day and they have free dress day.  Tomorrow will be the start of a full day at school and wearing uniforms.

 Anyway, we went to school early today to avoid the rush of so many  students pouring in.  We brought all their supplies last Friday when we  registered  so it was an easy day today.  I can't believe my son is now in third frade and my daughter is in middle school.  Ahhhh time really flies!

My daughter  woke up so early and made this  note for her teacher.

A pose with her classmate before I left.

As I tyoed this, my heart is heavy but at the same time  I am excited for their new adventures in learning.  Talking about mixed emotions eh?  I don't know, maybe I am just too attached to my kids that I have this separation anxiety everytime they go.

In ten years, we only left these two to a caregiver ince when we attended a Navy Bal few years ago.  Ut was really hard for me being away from them and it was just  for few hours.  I don't think I will be able to take it if we will be sparated for  weeks or even days,  Ih boym I better stop before tears  flood my keyboard.  Have a great  day everyone!

Dog Sitters: Summer Job for the Kiddos

During summer break, my kids always find ways to do to earn a little  money for them to spend on things while on vacation. 

 Our neighbor hired them to  take care of her fur babies while  she's at work.  The kiddos don't mind doing it, in fact they  love it because they love dogs.

 They even told her  that they can take care of them for free but  our neioghbor  paid them anyway.

 Their  dogs are like beef cakes, they are beautiful and very gentle.

They have labs and retriever which are very  kid-friendly.  I told the kids that they can spend  the money the way they want to but they said that  they want to add it in their savings which  is  adorable.

Go Farther, Dream Bigger, and Look Good Doing It! #liveLikeHeroes

Being a blogger and media influencer is great because you get to work with  different  companies.  Most of the companies I work  with  are great.  This is the advantage of  working online, you don't only work for one company but  many.  It also feel rewarding when you see the company evolved and progress and the best part of it is, you get to witness them change for the better.  One of the companies that I truly like is the Warrior Poet.

They carry boy clothing that are made with high quality materials. They recently changed their website url from .com to.clothing which is nice. Their website url speaks of what they are now, which is providing clothing for boys. If you have a son, you know that there's not many companies that only cater for boy clothing.

As part of their blogger program, we were given a shirt   as  a promotion for their newly revamped website.  I chose this Sweater Vest design for my son.

I love how it is designed with a tie and vest.  It makes it look sophisticated and stylish for any little boy.

Look how big  the smile of my little  young man is.  He love shirt designs that are unique.  I hughly recommend their  clothing for boys.  They are stylish and very well-made and  has quality craftmanship in every piece.  

Today, Warrior Poet launched their video which is based on a true story.  You may watch it and be inspired.

Based On A True Story : Loyalty from Warrior Poet on Vimeo.

Disclosure: The owner of this blog was NOT financially compensated to write this review.  I was provided with the product/s mentioned  to help me  facilitate this review but  opinions are my own.

EJ Can Change the World

During the  book fair last year, my son asked me if he can buy a set of  books about the US president so I bought it for him.  

One of the personalized children's book that I See Me! sent me for review is this EJ Can Change the World that my son really love.  It's amazing how simple words and sentences can give  hope and  perspectives to kids.  

Even though this book is not on my son's  reading level anymore, he loves it  just because it is quite unique.

His favorite part is  the page where his picture appeared.  He thought it's really sweet.  

I See Me! has a lot of back to school collection such as Lunchboxes, Puzzles, Coloring Books, Placemats,   Stickers, and Growth Charts! You can find just about anything for special children in your life.  

Disclosure: The owner of this blog was NOT financially compensated to write this review.  I was provided with the product/s mentioned  to help me  facilitate this review but  opinions are my own.

Parenting is a HEART Work

I have two tweens at home  and their personalities clashes sometimes because they have different interests.  One of the   things that they have in common is music and arts so I am very pleased with that.  They are such good kids  but that doesn't mean that they are  saints either, they have their moments for sure that sometimes makes me question  my  role as a parent.  Hubby and I are constantly  learning  ways to  become better  parents to our children.  We are always seeking ways to improve our ways in handling our children's situations.  

We learn from other parents, we learn from other kids, and we certainly learn from our own children.  Our children can teach us valuable lessons too so we have to be very open in learning and seeing the signs that our kids are telling us.  When my kids were little, I was very hot tempered, my patience is very short and it was affecting how I handle things at home.  It affects my kids and it certainly affects my   confidence of  doing my job as a Mom.  As they grow older, I also changed my ways and now, I can handle things better in a very calm way.  I am glad that there are parenting books that we can read these days. I got a copy of this Parenting is a Heart Work  that was  written by Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller.  They are the same authors that wrote the book I  reviewed previously, the Motivate Your Child Action Plan.  

So far, I am enjoying it's content.  I am not done  reading the entire book but it definitely shed some lights about my parenting ways.  It gives me   wonderful insights on how to handle things with our kids.  I love that they  uses  examples from real parents and they also  site  stuff from the Bible.  

With so many  messed up stuff happening in this world, we have to be very vigilant and get involved in our children's lives.  Our world is changing and   every generation is changing their ways.  We need to be proactive and constantly  look for ways on how we could raise our children to be a better citizen someday.  They are our future so the way they will be as adult  depends on how we raise them as individuals.

Parents are children's first teachers.  Their learning starts from our home, it starts with us.  We become their big influence on how they would act in  public.  Reinforcing  strong morals and good behavior in our kids is important as  they would soon be exposed  in the real world and  see and experience things differently.  

If you instill a great foundation in them, there's a greater chance that they would do just fine in the challenges that they will face in the real world.  There are parents nowadays who are scared to discipline their child.  Disciplining your child  doesn't mean you have to do it  physically, the  great way to handle discipline is through reaching their emotions, touching their hearts.  

I am very strict Mom but I also have limitations.  I set limits for my kids and I also set limit for myself.  It needs to be balanced.  Sometimes we  forget to listen to what our kids is saying.  I have been there but I learned my lesson and glad that I corrected myself and now I have a better  communication with my kids.  

I used to tell them that I should be followed because I am the Mom but it was wrong.  I changed my approach and now  things are better with me and my kids.  I am not  stressed and they are happy.  You see, parenting is a constant learning process, it's a work in progress.  You will learn everyday.  This book is really a great read for every parents out there.  You will learn   a different approach for  different situation.  You can buy this here via Amazon for $12.90

The National Center for Biblical Parenting is launching their  Parent Training Center program  to help  churches disciple parents.  You can check further details at biblicalparenting.org website.  When your church sign upm  the book will  be included in the Parent Training Centers.

To find out morem please watch the video below.

Disclosure: The owner of this blog was NOT financially compensated to write this review.  I was provided with the product/s mentioned  to help me  facilitate this review but  opinions are my own.