My husband and I didn’t have a tree skirt for our Christmas tree for the first several years we were married. It wasn’t until our firstborn child was 2 years of age and our middle child was about 6 months of age that I decided what I wanted in a tree skirt. I decided to make a simple tree skirt out of felt on which we could chronicle … [Read more...] about DIY Tree Skirt with Kids’ Handprints
projects and crafts
Easy and Affordable Update to an 80s Bathroom
The home we currently own was built in the 1980s. When we purchased the house several years ago, the most unsightly room in it was the full bathroom in the upstairs hallway. Unfortunately, after nearly five years, this bathroom remained the most unsightly part of the house! Our original intention was to completely redo the bathroom, but … [Read more...] about Easy and Affordable Update to an 80s Bathroom
DIY Bubble Wands
One of my girls’ favorite outdoor activities is blowing bubbles. They’ll blow bubbles for 20 or 30 minutes, chasing them down to pop them and seeing who can blow the biggest bubble. Unfortunately, we sometimes misplace or break the bubble wands that came with the bubble solution. One day, when we could only find one bubble wand, I … [Read more...] about DIY Bubble Wands
DIY Deluxe Sensory Table
Throughout the spring months, my oldest daughter kept begging me to put a sandbox in our backyard. I could easily think of a half dozen reasons why it would be a bad idea to put one in our yard. However, I love giving my kids things that they desire and sandboxes are great for several reasons (they provide a safe place for kids to play in the … [Read more...] about DIY Deluxe Sensory Table
Easy DIY Puppet Theater from a Cardboard Box
Cardboard boxes, especially large ones, are wonderful “toys” for kids! I can recall several occasions during my childhood when we had large boxes from new appliances and similar items. We would play for hours while pretending these were all sorts of things (houses, rockets, etc.). Though I’m a mom now, I still love large cardboard … [Read more...] about Easy DIY Puppet Theater from a Cardboard Box
Printable Easter Story Word Clouds
As I did at Christmas, for Easter I’m sharing words from the Bible in the form of word clouds. The word cloud pictured above contains the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Word clouds are images comprised of the words used in a particular text. In this case, the text is Mark 15:22-39 and 16:1-7. The size of each word in the cloud … [Read more...] about Printable Easter Story Word Clouds
Printable Christmas Story Word Clouds
I often find myself unsure of what to write when I sit to draft the posts I will publish before Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter. After all, the Bible already says the most important things about these holidays! I don’t feel like I have any particularly meaningful insights this Christmas, so I will share with you some words from … [Read more...] about Printable Christmas Story Word Clouds
6 Things that Foster Creativity
Last week we discussed how creativity benefits all of us, regardless of the particular roles we fill. We also examined 6 mental blocks and habits that stifle creativity. Today we are going to consider 6 strategies that can help us foster creativity when we’re feeling stuck. Hopefully these strategies will help us come up with new ideas … [Read more...] about 6 Things that Foster Creativity
