putting the pieces of life back together

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A Craft a Day

A Craft a Day: M is for Monsters

What a way to start October! This week was all about monsters, of course all our monsters were fun and cute!

If you are new to A Craft a Day

A Craft a Day gives you five activities that you can enjoy with your kids, one for each day of the week.  Most of these activities work well for preschoolers, but you may be able to adapt them for your toddler.

You can learn more about the basics of a Craft a Day Here.

I will post the crafts on Saturdays so you can use the weekend to get any supplies that you may need. We are making our way through the alphabet this year so if you missed a letter you can find it here.

  • Moon Phases – I thought this still worked since the moon is often associated with monsters. I did this with pepperoni instead of oreos, since I was unable to get to the store. I also had seen it done with cheese. As a bonus food craft I found a recipe for a Jelly Swamp Monster!

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  • Mini Monsters – I thought these were adorable and I had everything I needed to create these cute little guys. We tried it with regular yarn and with fun yarn, both turned out great! We used a piece of cardboard instead of the embroidery ring. We also used pompoms on the purple monster for feet.

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  • Shape Monsters – This was so much fun! Plus with a toddler you could work with them learning their shapes. I cut out all the shapes beforehand and gave them to Zane to create his monsters! I used craft foam, but you could use constructions paper.

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  • Blow Painting Monsters – I loved her trick on how to use the straws without getting your kids to slurp up the paint! I’ve done bubble artwork with Zane before but he slurped up the water and we were done!
  • Sandwich Box Monsters! – I’ve seen these done with tissue boxes also, but I think they are so cute!! Make your own monster and recycle at the same time. I wonder what you could store in these cuties!
Bonus Craft: Monster Bookmarks – I know this craft looks hard but with a little prep this could be great fun for your preschooler. & they can be a great gift!!

The Crafts:

Supplies: oreos, round cookie cutter, lime jello, marshmallows, chocolate chips, pink icing – optional, yarn, buttons or googly eyes, scissors, glue or glue dots, embroidery ring or cardboard, pompoms, bright coloured paper or craft foam, straws, thinned non-toxic paint or food color and water, white construction paper, black pen, straws, 2 cups from a cardboard egg carton, black paper, white and black paint, empty sandwich bag box

Are you Supermom?

Now I’m not supermom and I don’t expect you to be either. We don’t always get to each activity, sometimes life is just too busy. Hopefully you may try one or two of these activities with me and my kids! You don’t have to do every single one. You don’t have to be doing preschool with your child. I just hope to give you a resource for some great fun with your kids!

Be Featured

If you do any of these crafts and happen to take a picture or write a blog post about it please make sure and share your link in the comments. Also don’t forget to link the original crafter! I may feature you and your blog  on the following weeks post!

Bloggers you Should be Following Blogging

Bloggers you Should be Following: Kristi Hines

Kristi Hines

Kristi is one of my newest blogger finds. I just found her blog Kikolani.com this summer and am loving reading it!

Kikolani, a name I derived from combination of my middle name and my grandmother’s name, is home to my blogging tips and blog marketing advice catered to personal, professional, and business bloggers alike. – About Kikolani

One of my favorite must reads is her Fetching Friday posts! This is an amazing grouping of some of the best posts around the web on things like: blogging, writing, business, personal development and more.

Recommended Reads

These are currently some of my favorite reads from Kristi’s blog.

Where to follow Kristi

Now that you have learned a little about Kristi from me please make sure and follow her blog and other social networks.

What to expect next week?

I will be sharing a new blogger with your next week. But I would love your input in the comments. What bloggers do you look up to and subscribe to? Is there someone you would like me to feature?

Uncategorized

Project 52: Facebook over the Years

How often do you change your photo on Facebook? Have you ever looked back through your profile photo folder? I saw this great post by Vampy Varnish taking a look back at your facebook profile pics over the years.

I actually saw something as I looked through each of these photos. Can you see it? There is a progression and it is related to Project 52.

Answer

You can actually see my comfort with the camera and sharing my pictures grow through these pictures. I started on Facebook in 2009 and I only had pictures of my boys as my profile picture. Then I started adding photos that were only clips of me but more focused on my boys.  Now I share full photos of myself, now that I’m comfortable with my camera and sharing photos of myself.

Join Project 52: Self Portraits

Project 52 self portraitsLynda (from Daily Window) and I are not going to be putting up the linky anymore, but still want to invite you to participate in this project with us. I hope you will join us!

If you want to use the Project 52 badge feel free and grab it and use it on your post. You don’t have to do every week with us you can post just once even and you don’t have to follow the weekly theme either. We just hope that you will join us for some fun.

This is the challenge take a photo of yourself!

Do you edit your pictures to hide imperfections? Or do you think that if you edited your photos more you might be more likely to take more photos of yourself?

Uncategorized

Diaper Genie Party!

I received an invitation to a fun little party at the amazing home of Kristin of Our Ordinary Life! This fun little party was sponsored by Playtex & Diaper Genie. Which after living in a house without a diaper pail for 3+ months I was excited about learning more about their product. Plus I got to bring …

Bloggers you Should be Following Blogging

Bloggers you Should be Following: Darren Rowse

Darren Rowse

I stumbled upon Darren’s blog Problogger years ago and have had a subscription ever since. Problogger is a “Blog that helps bloggers to add income streams to their blogs.”  Will you become a pro blogger by reading Darren’s writing? You will never know unless you try!

Some other great blogs that you can find Darren at are: Digital Photography School and TwiTip – Twitter Tips.

Darren is not only a blogger but has some great, great eBooks that  I highly recommend reading if you are wanting to learn more about blogging. One of my favorites being 31 Days to Building a Better Blog.

I have had some great conversations with Darren on Twitter and Google+. Not only is he amazingly knowledgeable about blogging but about social media and marketing also!

Back in 2002 I stumbled upon an article about ‘Blogging’. I didn’t know it at the time but that moment changed my life.  – About Problogger

Recommended Reads

These are currently some of my favorite reads from Darren’s blog.

Where to follow Darren

Now that you have learned a little about Darren from me please make sure and follow him and his blog and his other social networks.

What to expect next week?

I will be sharing a new blogger with your next week. But I would love your input in the comments. What bloggers do you look up to and subscribe to? Is there someone you would like me to feature?

Free Printables! Getting Healthy

How to get motivated with a 30 day challenge!

What keeps you motivated? How do you add a new habit to your life? Have you tried doing a 30 day challenge?

Hundreds of 30 day challenges exist, from fitness to photography. This says something about human beings doesn’t it? We love challenges! We love trying something new! We need repetition to build good habits!

My First 30 Day Challenge

My first 30 day challenge for myself was to do 30 straight days of exercise. I missed one day but allowed myself to have one day to make it up by doing two exercise sessions. I think that is part of making it through a challenge to not become discouraged when you miss a day. Just keep going.

By the end of the challenge I was finding myself wanting to get out and exercising. Which I have never had this urge in my life. Somehow my body had learned through the 30 days that exercise was good.

How did I do it?

I created a little sheet to mark off each day on my challenge. I made it fun and pretty. And I have it available for you to print off too. I wrote down what my challenge was (exercise) and  wrote down my reward: Bundle Monster Nail Art Stamping Plates (affiliate link).

Each day I crossed off a mark and watched as I got closer and closer to my goal. It was fun and exciting to see my progress!

What’s My Next Challenge

Drinking 8 glasses of water every day for 30 days.

I have found that behind exercise and food, water is one of the biggest things that makes a difference in my weight loss. So for my next challenge I’m going to try and drink the recommended 64 ounces of water every day for 30 days.

Challenge Ideas

  • Drink Water
  • Exercise
  • No chocolate
  • No candy
  • No snacks after 7pm
  • Take a walk every evening
  • Blog everyday
  • Comment on 5 blogs everyday
  • Write for 30 minutes everyday
  • Take a photo a day
  • Learn a new word everyday
  • Hug your child everyday
  • Read your bible daily
  • No TV
  • One good deed a day
  • Clean your house
  • Cook at home every night
  • and more…

Now it’s your Turn!

One of the best things you can do when you are doing a 30 day challenge is to find support! Find someone to keep you accountable!

I’m now asking you to join me in a 30 day challenge of your own. Your challenge doesn’t have to be water or even fitness related. You could pick any of the challenges above or just make one that is your own.

If you are interested in joining in on this challenge then comment and tell me about the challenge you are going to do. If I have a few people interested we can talk about how to keep each other accountable and how to keep in touch (twitter, email, facebook, etc).

And to help you with your challenge here is your FREE printable 30 Day Challenge chart!

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Eggshell Mosaics: E is for Earth & Eggshells
Easy Owl Donuts!
Free Printable Star Wars Valentines
Appetizers Baking Bentos Beverages Breakfast Dessert Dinner Kids Lunches Lunch Salads Side Dishes Snacks Soups
Healthy Broccoli Salad
Spaghetti Squash with Peanut Sauce
Spaghetti Squash with Peanut Sauce
Easy Owl Donuts!