A FUN Kids Table for Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is one of my most favorite holidays! I love getting up early, having my coffee while reviewing my cooking schedule for the day, and having friends and family hang the whole day before dinner. We always have our kiddos eat with the adults, but this year I also wanted to add a kids table that focused on fun and creative activities that are also in the spirit of the holiday. Head over to Honest to Nod to see how we plan to do just that!

Holiday Family Traditions: Festive Kids Room Decor

For the past few years, we've stuck to our own home for the winter holidays. Traveling is expensive, always crazy, and it's just not as fun for Santa to visit the kids in advance (or schlep presents elsewhere). But I always miss my mom's holiday tradition of decking out our childhood rooms. So I decided to pick it up and decorate our kids' rooms this year in the same way. The kids LOVE it (and you just might find me snuggled up in their flannel sheets too). Head over to The Land of Nod to see how I carried on this family tradition.

Giving Back Advent Calendar

I love, love the holiday season. But every year I feel like I spend inordinate amounts of time making sure our family focuses on the real meaning of the holidays and not just the piles of presents rolling in. We celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas in our home, so it's no small feat. The kids are always asking me for an Advent Calendar, but I've resisted. This year, I decided to try something different: a Giving Back Advent Calendar. Head over to Honest to Nod to see what I put together! 

25 Favorite Holiday Cookies

Do you make holiday cookies in your family? We typically haven't in years past, but I kind of love the idea of trying out one or two new recipes every year and building up a family cookie cookbook. Our kids love to bake and cookies are generally a pretty easy way to get them involved without risking some sort of kitchen disaster. So we're adding the activity to our Winter Bucket List (stay tuned next week for that ....) and have already started perusing the endless options. I'm thinking we'll have to figure out how to throw together a cookie exchange to prevent me from eating all. the. cookies. though. From the classic to the kooky, here are some of our favorites!

p.s. I'm also vaguely toying with the idea of all of us signing up for this. Seems like a fun activity to do over the winter break!

1/ The Best Cutout Sugar Cookies 2/ Color Dipped Gingerbread Cookies 3/ Mom's Russian Tea Cakes
4/ Holiday Crinkles Cookies5/ Stained Glass Sugar Cookies 6/ Vanilla + Chocolate Pizzelles
7/ White Chocolate + Peppermint Christmas Wreath Cookies 8/ Old Fashioned Gingerbread Men
9/ Peppermint Candy Cane Cookies 10/ Chocolate Amaretti Cookies 11/ Everything Sweet Sugar Cookies
12/ Frosted Peppermint Brownie Cookies 13/ Chocolate Swirl Meringue 14/ Gingerbread Animals
15/ Gingerbread Donut Cookies 16/ Sprinkle Cookies 17/ Coconut Snowball Cookies
18/ Christmas Tree Shortbread Cookies 19/ Pot of Gold Truffle 20/ Ginger Spiced Sugar Cookies
21/ Amaretti Cookies 22/ Almond Thumbprint Cookies with Dark Chocolate + Sea Salt
23/ Lemony Slice + Bakes 24/ Ombre Rainbow Cookies 25/ Peppermint Pattie Cookies 

Weekend Makes

This Sunday night kicks off of Hanukkah. I'll be traveling this weekend, but I've got everything set up for the kiddos to have a fabulous first night. We'll see if Mr. Not-So-SAHM is feeling crafty while I'm gone, but if I were around, these are what we'd have cooking!

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Gingerbread Playdough

We've been on a much slower pace than in the summer, but we're still getting after our Fall Bucket List. We tackled a new gingerbread playdough recipe yesterday that made the entire house smell deeeeelish. And the kids loved decorating "cookies" for the bulk of an afternoon -- they felt like they were getting in on the holiday cooking, but managed not to leave me with an entire plate of cookies to eat. An all around win.

Fave Travel Activities, Games + Toys

Anyone gearing up for a little holiday travel? We're staying put this year, but given how much traveling we've done recently, I've got a good handle on what to bring for the kiddos that will minimize the number of times you have to hear "are we there YET?!" Here are my favorite activities, games, and toys that travel well -- most we have or I've seen in person and are on our holiday lists. Some you might even recognize from your own youth traveling days. You've still got time to stock up before Thanksgiving hits -- happy traveling!

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5 | 6 | 7 | 8 

9 | 10 | 11

12 | 13 | 14

15 | 16 | 17 | 18

19 | 20 | 21 | 22

23 | 24 | 25

Weekend Makes

I can proudly say that I held off on buying Halloween candy until just a few days ago and it's been deeply hidden away, waiting to see the light of day until tomorrow. But, between our recent move to a more residential neighborhood and the kids finally being old enough, I think we're set up for some serious trick or treating this year. Which means that I also need a plan to deal with all the candy that is going to flood in after I hand out our stash (other than me eating all of it). Thus, candy Weekend Makes. Happy Halloweening!!

1 / love this idea breaking down Wayne Thiebaud compositions -- maybe a little advanced, but I think we could try it.

2 / use a small candy box to make an instant comfort box like this! I know one little lady that would love to have something like that at school.

3 / you'll have to adjust based on your candy haul, but I love the idea of this edible cell for a good science lesson.

4 / paint with Skittles!

5 / a good science experiment for the younger set -- will the candy sink or float!?

Weekend Makes

We're continuing with more spooky makes this weekend! Last weekend's STEM projects were a hit, but we've rounded up some great art makes to keep your littles busy. Happy weekend!

1 / we loved these monster collages we made a few years ago (perfect for that deluge of catalogs that I'm sure you've been receiving this fall too!) 2 / I love these playdough monsters 3 / spooky halloween trees with blow painting 4 / our edible jack o'lanterns are still a fave of mine 5 / spiderweb resist art! 

DIY Kiddo Costumes

It's almost here!! Are you ready? We're doing another family costume this year and there was no way I was making four costumes, so we've already purchased ours. But in case you haven't or you're not finding anything you like, here's a roundup of my favorite DIYs this year. Some are more realistic than others, depending on your DIY skills. But I love each of them!

1.  Kane would love to help customize a robot costume!

2. I'm kind of obsessed with Iris Apfel (have you seen the documentary about her? It's on Netflix, do it) and I think Cam could pull this off no problem.

3. Kane is all about b-boys at the moment. He'd dig this.

4. I'm pretty sure Cam would lose her mind if I could get it together to make her a sushi costume.

5. This looks like a really wearable pineapple costume (if that's even a thing).

6. Cotton candy love.

7. Who wouldn't want to celebrate a birthday on Halloween?

8. E.T. Yesssssssss.

9. The only thing better than a DIY LEGO costume is a StarWars LEGO costume.

Weekend Makes

Our kiddos are deep into Halloween mode. We finally have a home with a front yard to decorate and they've been adding and adding to it all week long. I cut them off from purchasing any more pre-made decor, so they've been working wonders on cardboard. Needless to say, I'm in the mood for some different makes this weekend. These Halloween STEM activities should do the trick!

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Weekend Makes

We are spending our holiday weekend at the beach, but since we travel with arts + crafts, we've got plenty of weekend makes lined up! Hope everyone has a fabulous July 4th weekend!!

1 / I love Studio DIY's bingo cards -- the kids were waaaay into the Superbowl edition too.

2 / In the event it rains, and that's not unlikely given our weather lately, our rain paintings are super easy to spin as firework prints.

3 / Hello Wonderful's super cute rockets would be a great way to keep the kids busy until firework time.

4 / These DIY temporary watercolor tattoos are gorgeous!

5 / The kiddos loved the firecracker straws I made for A Subtle Revelry last year.

DIY Father's Day Felt Catchall

We're over at The Land of Nod's blog today sharing our super easy DIY tutorial for a fabulous felt catchall. Dads have a lot of stuff, so give them somewhere to keep it! Head over to Honest to Nod to get the goods.

(p.s. we'll have our monthly 12-in-12 up next week!!)

Weekend Makes

It's National Donut Day!! Donuts are kind of a big deal in our house -- much care is put into tracking down and selecting the perfect one. We've even attempted to make our own before. Cam takes her time and savors them. Kane downs whole donuts like they're munchkins. Either way, these two definitely will be celebrating the holiday. Given that I'm not partaking in sugar right now (why oh why did I have to do a Whole 30 over National Donut Day!?), I've got some other celebratory weekend makes lined up.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 (this one's for me)

Weekend Makes

Cam and I are kind of obsessed lately with teeny-tiny jewelry dishes. We've been using them for all kinds of things, but given that it's also Mother's Day this weekend, I wouldn't mind a kiddo-DIY (with some adult help) dish with a little something sparkly in it, too. Happy celebrating to all those who mother!

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Weekend Makes

No big secret that we like any excuse to party! Although since we somehow missed celebrating both National Zipper Day and National Shrimp Scampi Day this week, we feel completely justified in celebrating Cinco de Mayo. So here you go!

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Weekeend Makes

It's Easter egg time! One of our favorite family activities this time of year is coming up with fabulous new egg-dying techniques. And we've got some artsy, dare I say eggcellent, ones on our minds.

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Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! A holiday that celebrates feisty spirit and favorite color? We're IN! We've got a few things planned for today, but just in case you don't, here's a round-up of some of our favorite holiday-appropriate activities.

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Weekend Makes

In anticipation of Valentine's Day, this Weekend Makes is all about conversation hearts. Whether you love 'em or can't stand the sweet chalky things, Valentine's Day isn't much the same without them. And since we bought a ginormous bag and ate just a few at our Sweet Little Valentine's Day Party, I'm looking for plenty of activities to use them up. And I threw in some conversation heart-inpsired makes for those of you who love the look, but won't be purchasing the candies this year. Make away!

1 / I actually like the taste of conversation hearts, but I'll take a macaron instead any day of the week. So pretty with the gold lettering, too!

2 / Make 'em play for their candy with this tic-tac-toe free printable.

3 / Just what happens to those little hearts once they go down the hatch? Try out some of these science experiments to see.

4 / Mini hearts in a GIANT piñata heart. We loved making little piñatas last summer, so I think we're up to this task.

5 / Make super sweet-smelling paint out of the hearts and whip up some art for your loves.

Valentine's Day Mocktail

Put some extra sparkle in your love's day! Our sweet little Valentine's Day mocktail is over 
at Honest to Nod today. It even has some fruit in it (shhh!).