This idea was actually inspired by a trip to the doctor’s office. My son went in for his 3-year check up and one of the questions that was asked on the child development guide was something like “Can your child use scissors?” It had never dawned on me to let him try. So what a better way to start than with a craft day!

Knowing my son would have little patience, I prepped EVERYTHING ahead of time. I laid all of our crafting materials on the table and made sure to line with with a table cloth that I could wipe down later. We had everything from stickers, shape punch-outs to markers, glue and of course scissors! The first project was paper cutting. I drew out shapes for him to cut. This project not only got him using scissors but also learning the names of the shapes too.

For our photo album project, I picked up two albums (one for his little sister) and pre-cut design paper that would slide into the sleeve. I also picked out the pictures ahead of time and pre-cut the borders (it is a little time-consuming but SO worth it in the end or else we would have never finished the project ). What my son basically did was choose which picture he wanted on what paper and glued it on.

We then moved on to painting where I set up his easel and let him go to town with washable paint.

My son really enjoyed this experience! Not only did he get to play with new materials, he also learned new skills. The best part of it was that I got to spend some quality one-on-one time with him. Now that he’s started pre-school, these activities aren’t so foreign to him anymore.

We recently did some pumpkin decorating…now I can’t wait to plan a Christmas Craft Day!

When I saw this tutorial on … is five I was instantly drawn in. First not only do I love how she embroidered the book marks I also love the colors and the practicality of it!

When I was younger I was a huge reader. My favorites started out with Beverly Cleary Ramona series then as I grew older I moved on to Sweet Valley Twins & High by Francine Pascal. Eventually I moved on to the classics of Shakespeare and Dickens then into the fantasy realm of elves and magic with R.A.  Salvatore.

Lately though I have less time for reading but do carve out time for my favorite author- Nicolas Sparks. Seeing these bookmarks makes me want to hit the bookstore and curl up on the couch with a glass of hot chocolate and escape into another world.

Click here to go to … is five and learn how to make these fun bookmarks.

These would be great for party favors or a “just because” gift for the reader in your life. I’m imagining making these for my girl when she gets older with her favorite characters on them!

Get ready for St. Patrick’s Day with these fun crafts I found online.

Living Locurto made some great cupcake toppers but you can use them for anything really. Stickers and buttons come to mind for me. Download them here.

Martha Stewart has a ton of crafts but I think these Shamrock Boutonnieres are sweet way to accessorize your St. Patrick’s Day outfit. Learn how to make them here.

Are you a knitter? Vickie Howell has two free patterns! Make a mitered shamrock or a darling pair of booties for your baby. Get the patterns.

Need a card? Zakka Life has a tutorial for a simple & sweet card.

A few weeks ago I posted about some party theme ideas I found. In the end I decided to go with a color theme of pink and green and to save the more specific themes until our little one was older.

The color theme came about when I was making the invitations. I turned to scrapblog.com to create it because I knew it would give me the stickers I needed and the freedom to create the invitation I envisioned. Scrapblog offers printing but I had some cardstock already and decided to print the invitations at home.

After that it all came together….

From top to bottom:

The “happy 1st birthday” banner was  home-made using scrapbook paper, cardstock, and paper string. Look for a tutorial in our craft tip of the week soon!

The scrapbook pages were displayed on a wall and featured a lot of our baby’s firsts and milestones.

I wanted to share with our guests the monthly photos I took so that they could see how much she had changed. Each month had two photos tied together with ribbon and pinned up with a clothespin decorated with flower punch-outs.

No party is complete without a birthday hat! There will also be a tutorial for this in the craft tip of the week soon as well.

We started the party in the birthday shirt and tutu, which were a huge hit. The front is our little one’s first initial with a little crown – for being the little princess! The back of the shirt says, “I’m one!” with a large one underneath. The onesie was made using photoshop and iron-on sheets. The tutu was bought from Trinity’s Tutus on Etsy.

It was a lot of fun making many of the decorations and celebrating our little one’s first birthday with family and friends. I think she really enjoyed it too!

When I was working at the ad agency, I had the opportunity to work with the New Business group which was responsible for finding new clients and pitching our great advertising ideas. I remember during one project, we wanted to find a really creative way to reveal some objectives and someone mentioned fortune cookies. The only way to do was to make some real fortune cookies. Being the young and naive account executive, I volunteered for this task. And fortunately for me, I pulled it off!

This project got me thinking about making an easier, non-edible version that could also incorporate a lot of colors. Using the same concept as the cookie recipe, I figured that all I would need are felt, thin wire (for shaping), ribbon and a glue gun. Let the fun begin–here’s how to assemble your “cookies” (no baking required!):

1) Cut felt circles. I recommend 4″ and higher depending on what you plan on putting in it.

2) Cut thin wire and glue along the center of the felt circle.

3) Cover the wire (while the glue is still hot) with ribbon.

4) Bend the circle to form a fortune cookie shape!

5) Insert paper, candy, ribbon, etc.

This project is great for parties! Suggestions for its use:

1) Drawing names for Secret Santa

2) Writing down clues for a party guessing game

3) Putting in a few pieces of candy for party favors

4) Name place holders for the dinner table

5) Fun, colorful decorations (put in a large bowl)

6) Unique Christmas tree decorations with family members’ names inside

When you’re in need of an activity for the little ones (or big ones) pull out those twist ties and exercise your imagination by making people, animals, buildings – anything! Not to sound cliche, but the possibilities are endless and you’re only limited by your imagination.

I discovered this art when I was setting up a computer at my old job. While waiting for software to install I started twisting them around my finger and thought, “Hmm, this looks a little like a person” and the man twist tie was born (on the right).

Always looking for a challenge, after making people I thought why not try an animal. Silhouettes were a little challenging for me so I ventured into 3-d and ta-da – little puppies!

This one is my favorite though. I like the simplicity of the curves and how they form a flower. This was formed purely by accident. I just started twirling the twist tie around my finger and then pulled the long end out. Instantly I thought it looked like a flower and did the same to the other end.

And just in time for the holidays I found this Twistie-tie Pompom Gift Toppers tutorial (from Nice Package blog) for those of you who need a job for the little helpers in your house. It’s a great way for them to feel involved with the gift wrapping while staying (a little bit) out of your hair!