Category Archives: Seasons
50+ Ideas for Thanksgiving Kids’ Table (Links)
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During the holidays we’ve all had to sit at the kids’ table at some point in our lives. Now everyone will want to sit at the kids’ table if you use these creative ideas for making your Thanksgiving kids’ table the coolest on the block!
*Thanksgiving Kid’s Table: @ Fiskars
Silly turkey leg place card, pie treat holder, Mayflower drinking straw, decorative turkey clips, pilgrim hat crayon holder, Native American headband, and grateful tree centerpiece.
*The Kids’ Table: Thanksgiving Placecards, Paper Bag Turkey, Thanksgiving Quiz, Bite Sized Pumpkin Pies, Faux Pumpkin Pie Place Cards, Game Time Thanksgiving Boat Races, Thanksgiving Pumpkin Roll: @ One Charming Party
*Thanksgiving Kids Table: @ 11 Cupcakes
*How to Create an Amazing Thanksgiving Kids’ Table: @ Happy Home Fairy
*Thanksgiving Kid’s Table Ideas: @ Craftberry Bush
Black Bristol board lines the table as a placemat or table cloth on a kiddie table that works just as a chalkboard. Wrap the utensils with a yellow and green napkin to simulate corn.
*Eat, Drink, Be Thankful Kid’s Table: by Mirabelle Creations
@ Amy Atlas: Sweet Designs and Kara’s Party Ideas
*Embrace the idea of a kids’ table: @ Country Living
*Thanksgiving Place Settings: @ Fiskars
*Giving Thanks: A Thanksgiving Kid’s Table: @ Frog Prince Paperie
*Kids’ Thanksgiving Table: We Are So Thankful!: @ Frog Prince Paperie
*Turkey Day Table Centerpiece: @ Parents.com
*Happy Gobble Day: @ Anders Ruff
*A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Kids’ Table: @ Denna’s Ideas
*It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! Halloween/Thanksgiving Kids’ Table: @ Denna’s Ideas
*Fun Thanksgiving Kids’ Table: @ La T Dah
*Mayflower Celebration: Sandra Lee’s Cute and Crafty Kids’ Table for Thanksgiving:
@ IVillage
*Thanksgiving Kids Table: @ Alesya Bags
*Set a Special Place for Kids: Ritzy Bee @ Southern Living
*Set a Great Kids’ Table for Thanksgiving: @ Pottery Barn Kids
*Mini Thanksgiving Feast: @ Small Fry Blog
*Ultimate Thanksgiving Kids’ Table: @ Party Bluprints
*Thanksgiving Kids’ Table: @ Giggles Galore
*Thanksgiving Kids’ Table: @ Saratoga Mama
*The Best Thanksgiving Yet: @ Rococo Report
*Kids’ Thanksgiving Table: by Parties for Pennies
@ Creative Home
*Whoot of Thanks Playdate: @ The Savvy Mom’s Guide
*Thanksgiving Child Setting: @ Momtastic
*Color Full Kids Thanksgiving Table: @ Kara’s Creative Place
*Free Printable Paper Pilgrim Hat and Bonnet: @ MarthaStewart.com
*Free Thanksgiving Kids Table Printables: @ Shindig Parties to Go
*Thanksgiving Kids’ Table and Free Printable: @ Sweet Metel Moments
*Kids’ Table Printables: @ Alpha Mom
Thanksgiving Turkey Centerpiece, Thanksgiving Napkin Rings, Thanksgiving Crayon Holder, Thanksgiving Coloring Page
*Thanksgiving Kid’s Table Setting: @ Lily’s Laundry Blog
*Printable Turkey Trivia Cards: by Skip to my Lou @ Alpha Mom
*Free Printable Thanksgiving Placemat: @ Whatever Dee Dee Wants
*Free Thanksgiving Fall Printable Kit: @ Paper Glitter
*Free Printable Thanksgiving Play Set: @ Chickabug
*Free Printable Kid’s Thanksgiving Placemats: @ Darling Doodles Design
*Thanksgiving Table for Kids: Free Printables: @ Design Dazzle
*Kid Friendly Thanksgiving Tips: @ How Does She
*Mayflower Crayon Holder: @ It’s Overflowing
*Mayflower Treat Holder!: @ My Cotton Creations
*(Pottery Barn Inspired) DIY Thanksgiving Treat Holders: @ Sheek Shindigs
*Kids’ Table Centerpiece: @ MarthaStewart.com
*DIY Paper Mayflower Centerpiece: @ Martha Stewart
*Mayflower Place Setting: @ Whatever Dee Dee Wants
*DIY Mayflower Tutorial (Pottery Barn Inspired): @ The Pink Peony of Le Jardin
*DIY Mayflower: @ Making Life Whimsical
*DIY Thanksgiving Tallship: @ Let’s Go Fly a Kite…
![IMG_0814_thumb[10]](https://coolestfamilyontheblock.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/img_0814_thumb10.jpg?w=300&h=279)
*Turkey Handprint Tablecloth: @ How Does She
*Thanksgiving Party: @ Happy Hawkins
*Pilgrim Straw Toppers: @ Daily Party Dish
*Turkey Pencil Holder (Tutorial): @ Pottery Barn Kids
*Pom Pom Tom Turkey Decoration: @ MarthaStewart.com
*Thanksgiving Entertainment for Kids: @ The Idea Room
*Thanksgiving Kids’ Table Activities: @ The Mother Huddle
*Moccasin and Pilgrim Treat and Placecard Holder: @ Can’t Stop Making Things
*Turkey Table Topper and Turkey Nut Holder: @ Spoonful.com
*Thanksgiving Chalk Cloth Placemats: @ Flamingo Toes
*Toddler to Teen Thanksgiving Table: @ The Celebration Shoppe
*Turkey Chair Covers: @ Wild Olive
*Turkey Chair Covers Tutorial: @ Spoonful
*Thanksgiving Napkin Ring Ideas: @ Spoonful
Turkey Napkin Holders, Pilgrim Napkin Rings, Photo Napkin Rings, Fall Tableware Napkin Rings, Wrapped Rings, Button Indian Corn Napkin Rings, Funny Fall Napkin Rings, Turkey Napkin Rings and Holders, Indian Corn Napkin Rings
*Thanksgiving Table for Kids: @ MarthaStewart.com
Thanksgiving Place Mats, Paper Pilgrims Thanksgiving Table, Gourd Gobblers, Cornhusk Dolls, Mayflower Centerpiece, Headdress Napkin Wrap, Paper Boat Place Cards, Finger Puppet Favors, Turkey Trivia
What’s your favorite memory of sitting at the kids’ table?
Do you have ideas for making the kids’ table more fun?
Please share in the comments!
*This post is linked to: SITS Sharefest
Artist and Masterpiece Sibling Costumes
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I am lazy. I don’t sew and I refuse to spend $30 on a child’s costume that is ugly and will fall apart. My 4 year old daughter kept changing her mind about her costume from ghost to kitty to my personal favorite, “I just want to be a regular little girl”. My daughter loves, loves, LOVES to draw and paint and so I suggested that she be an artist. She loved the idea. She loved the idea even more when I said that her little brother could be her work of art and that she could (pretend to) paint him. So simple and easy!
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The costume was a huge hit! We got a lot of compliments on how cute and creative the concept was. It was mostly laziness rather than creativity, but hey, I’ll take it!
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ARTIST/PAINTER COSTUME
-Art Smock / Art Apron / Old button down shirt
-Beret
-Artist’s Palette
-Paint Brush
-Paint smudges on face and smock
-Pencil mustache (optional)
My daughter already had this art smock from Ikea. I wanted to have paint splatters all over her, but that smock wipes up so nicely that nothing will really dry on it 😦 I found the beret on Amazon and I had a Swagbucks giftcard, so it was free! I got the artist’s palette and paint brushes at Michael’s. We have paintbrushes at home but I wanted something a little bigger. There was a less expensive plain white palette but I let Adaline choose which one to get. She chose the watercolor palette which was fine because she would definitely use the watercolors and now I didn’t have to add paint to the white palette for her costume.
If you don’t have an art smock you can use an old white button down shirt as a smock. Be sure to smear it with lots of paint…artists are never clean! If you don’t have a palette and don’t want to buy one you can always make one by cutting the shape into cardboard or cardstock and coloring in the paint. That was more work than I wanted to do (remember the keyword today is “lazy“), so the $4 I spent on the palette was worth it to me.
I also think it would be cute to draw a curly mustache on your artist, but my daughter was having none of that!
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MASTERPIECE/WORK OF ART COSTUME
-Long-sleeved white shirt (a few sizes bigger)
-Painted Canvas
-Picture Frame (optional)
-Hot Glue Gun (to glue the canvas to the shirt)
My original idea for the masterpiece was to use larger canvases and have my son wear them hanging over his shoulders sandwich board style. He’s 20 months old and falls over for no reason at all sometimes, so when I saw the smaller 9×12 canvas panels I got the idea to hot glue it directly to his shirt instead. I also thought it would be really cute to glue a frame from the dollar store around the canvas, but I didn’t think that sounded too comfortable or safe for my little boy. Instead I just added the little sign that said “Masterpiece” so that I didn’t have to keep explaining the costume to people. It worked brilliantly and we got a lot of compliments 🙂
It’s important to note that I got my son’s shirt a little larger (he wears 18-24m and this shirt is a 3T) because you need the extra room once the canvas is glued to the shirt. If the shirt were any smaller I wouldn’t have been able to fit it over his head.
The canvas panels I used were a set of 5 from Michael’s. You can get single canvases as well, but they didn’t have any at Michael’s and I knew that my daughter would use all of them.
Instead of using a canvas you could use card stock, card board, poster board, a pillowcase, just about anything that you can paint/draw on and then attach to or hang from a shirt. You can even just draw/paint directly onto the shirt itself. It doesn’t get any easier than that!
Adaline actually painted the canvas herself. After it dried I hot glued the canvas onto a long sleeved tee.
Here’s the list of actual items that I used:
(None of these are affiliate links)
SMOCK: Ikea MÅLA Long sleeve apron, green $3.99
PALETTE: Michael’s Creatology Watercolor Palette $3.99
PAINT BRUSH: Michael’s Creatology Brushes (Set of 3) $1.99
BERET: Classic Black Wool Beret Cap $5.91 Sold by Accessory World on Amazon.com
TEE: Garanimals Long Sleeve Basic Tee $3.88
CANVAS: Michael’s Artist’s Loft 9×12 Canvas Panel Value Pack (5 pack) $7.99
Did your kids dress up for Halloween this year?
What is your favorite “lazy” Halloween costume?
Let me know in the comments!
This post is linked to: Skip To My Lou: Made by You Monday / Clumsy Crafter: Costume Link Up / Kids Activities Blog: It’s Playtime / SITS Saturday Sharefest / The Mom Creative: Halloween Costumes Link Up
*If you’d like a laugh (or nightmares) read about 1984 Creepy Costumes on my other blog.
Read my personal blog www.imakemyselfthequeen.com.
How to Celebrate LEON Day! (6/25)
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Happy LEON Day! Leon is “Noel” spelled backwards and Leon Day, June 25, marks the halfway point to Christmas…just 6 more months!
Here are some ideas of how to make Leon Day special!
1. Celebrate a mini-Christmas: Get out some of the Christmas decorations, Santa hats, and Christmas books, movies, and music, put on those Christmas jammies and ugly holiday sweaters and get into the Christmas Spirit a little early this year!
(The easiest way to do this is to get some cheap, tacky Christmas decorations on clearance after the holidays and stash them in their own little box just for this occasion!)
2. Christmas Luau: To really celebrate a summer Christmas, have a Christmas Luau! Use silk poinsettia flowers in your hair, tinsel garland for leis and grass skirts, and hula away to Mele Kalikimaka.
Mele Kalikimaka Hawaiian Christmas Party @ Lynlee’s Petite Cakes
Also featured here
Mele Kalikimaka Christmas Freebie Tag @ Loralee Lewis
Tips on Hosting a Hawaii Theme Christmas Party!
Planning a Hawaiian Christmas Luau
3. Have a backwards day:
Since Leon is “Noel” spelled backwards you can have a backwards day.
(You can incorporate this with the Christmas stuff or do it alone.)
A few backwards ideas:
*Write backwards, read backwards
*Wear your shirt/clothes backwards
*Walk backwards, talk backwards, sing backwards
*Turn the furniture backwards or sit backwards in your chairs
*Backwards meals:
-Serve breakfast for dinner or serve dessert first.
-Set the dinner table with all of the plates, cups and utensils upside down or backwards (cups where plates would go, etc.)
-Serve food in a glass and drinks in a bowl or on a plate?! (Messy!)
-Sit on the floor and eat off of your chair.
How do you celebrate LEON day with your family? Let me know in the comments!
Enjoy LEON day and I can’t wait to see you back here
in about 5 months for some great Christmas posts!
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*Originally posted on June 25, 2011
Easter Tradition: Easter Bunny Paw Print Tracks (2012)
The Easter Bunny visited and left a messy paw print trail all over the family room again!
(Watch video here)
The bunny hopped in through the window and onto the sofa before hopping off to hide the Easter baskets.
He hopped straight ahead and hid Jonathan’s Easter basket near the chair.
And then the Easter Bunny hopped onto the chair and his trail continued across Adaline’s toy table (where he had left some Cadbury Eggs for Mommy and Daddy)…
The Easter Bunny’s paw print tracks led to Adaline’s toy basket in the corner of the room where he hid her Easter basket.
From there he hopped onto the end table and loveseat…
…and then he hopped across the room again.
And finally he hopped back onto the sofa and out of the window the way he came in.
Does the Easter Bunny leave paw prints at your house? Does he hide the Easter basket?
Let me know in the comments!
*FREE PRINTABLE EASTER BUNNY PAW PRINT TEMPLATE
*EASTER TRADITION: EASTER BUNNY TRACKS 2011
*EASTER TRADITION: EASTER BUNNY TRACKS 2013
*50+ EASTER EGG DECORATING IDEAS
*NATURAL DYES FOR COLORING EASTER EGGS
Guest Post: Making the Most Out of Every Day This Summer
This is a guest post by Theresa from Our Life in Words. Please stop by and visit her great blog!
My girls (ages 9 & 11) were only out of school for a few days when I heard, “Mom, I’m bored!”
My first reaction was what my mom used to say to me, “Is your closet clean and tidy? All your clothes hung up? Are your dresser drawers organized? Are all of your socks in the same drawer?”
As much as I never wanted to turn into my mom, summer is a great time to teach kids organization and how to clean up after themselves.
Summer is also an opportunity for parents to spend quality time with their kids doing all of those things they wish they had time to do during the year. It doesn’t have to take a lot of money.
Here are some fun *free* things you can do with your kids:
*Have a water fight; use the hose, water balloons, Super Soakers, rags & buckets
*Wash the car together – kids LOVE this!
*Make homemade play-doh together and play with it
*Go for a bike ride
*Go for a walk
*Play frisbee or catch
*Make a tea party for your little girl and use your real china & dress up
*Find a patch of lawn that doesn’t have any grass, turn the hose on and make mud pies with your son
*Make roads in the dirt with your boy, play with matchbox cars
*Check out what free summer programs your library is offering
*For more ideas on fun things to do with your kids for free over the summer, check out books or parenting magazines in your local library!
Work on school skills:
*Play Mad Libs – Kids LOVE Mad Libs and they are a great, fun way to teach parts of speech.
Google Free Mad Libs or check out Education Place.
*Play Math Bingo – I bought this game in the Dollar Store and my kids LOVE it!
*Sign up for summer reading programs at your local library
*Write a story with your kids. Start with a sentence and ask your children to each add a sentence. If they are too young to write, write it down for them. Have them illustrate it.
*Keep a journal with your kids of all of summer fun you have. Press flowers from your walks and glue them in. Or take photos of your fun and glue them in.
“The days are long, the years are short.” ~ Gretchen Rubin
Make the most of every moment with your child because childhood doesn’t last forever!
Do you have any suggestions for frugal fun this summer?
Theresa is a former teacher who spent nine years as a stay at home mom. She now works part-time as the Assistant Children’s Librarian at her local library. She blogs regularly at Our Life in Words and weekly at Three Thinking Mothers.
Guest Post: Planting Flowers and Practicing Skills
This is a post from Amanda at Gratefully Growing in Grace who also brought us the Breakfast Basket guest post on June 7. Amanda has a great blog, so be sure to stop by for a visit!
Planting Flowers and Practicing Skills
My name is Amanda and I’m visiting again from Gratefully Growing in Grace where I write about baby, toddler, and preschool activities, crafts I attempt, recipes I manage to cook successfully, and as any good mommy blog includes, cute stories, photos, and videos of my children.
I’ve been blessed to celebrate three Mother’s Days and each year I have asked for the same thing: a mushy card, a photo of me with my children (I have a special frame for the photos), and flowers to plant. My only stipulation is that we all plant the flowers as a family. Doesn’t my husband have an easy job of thinking of Mother’s Day gifts and activities? This year was the first time my son could really help plant the flowers. He could dig the holes with me, choose which flower to put in the hole, place it there, pack the dirt around it, and water it. We had a blast and I can’t wait to have a home where we can plant more flowers and for my daughter to be able to help us – maybe next year!
We had so much fun planting flowers that I wanted to find a way for us to do it again and again. After reading an article (sorry, I can’t remember details because I usually read when my brain is tired to begin with) about preschoolers practicing hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, I came up with an idea. I’m sure it isn’t original, but my tired brain thought it was brilliant at the moment.
I bought a small storage basket with holes and a few artificial flowers at the Dollar Tree. I rounded out my artificial flower pile by having my mom donate some of her extras. I used a wire cutter to trim the flowers up to be single stems without a lot of extra leaves and stuff on them.
I washed all the flowers in soapy water and let them dry because I’m a germophobe like that. Next, I gave the pile of flowers and the basket to Mini Me and said, “Let’s make a garden!” Simple as that, we turned the basket on its side and began using steady hands to poke the flower stems into the nifty holes. Tada!
The first time Mini Me did this is took approximately 2.5 minutes and he was off and running. I was crushed that my brilliant-but-not-so-original idea was such a dud. But… he came running back to it later after I’d taken the flowers out and wanted to do it again. Then the next day, he wanted to plant his garden again. I started making him put the stems in the smallest holes for more practice. One day he lovingly made a garden and presented it to me, asking if I could keep it on the table for decoration all day. Awwww… Mother’s Day lives on and my preschooler’s fine motor skills are being fine tuned!
Amanda is the author of Gratefully Growing in Grace where she blogs about baby, toddler, and preschool activities, crafts she attempts, and recipes she manages to cook successfully.
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Fun and Dysfunction 