For the past few months, Bitty and I have been hosting Craft Morning at our house. We set up a table (or two) get out craft supplies, invite mommies and their littles over, and we create.
Sometimes I have a specific craft in mind (ornaments in December), but sometimes we just look at what is available, and creativity takes over!
Tomorrow, we’re doing it again! I’ve got supplies for tissue paper stained glass and scrapbook paper wreaths, but my craft supply stash is pretty deep, so there will be other supplies out for whatever the mommies and kids want to make.
I’ve started a Pinterest Board with ideas here. If you are a San Diego area parent and you’d like to join us, check out the event page here.
February’s Craft Morning will be held at a park, and we’ll be painting and hiding rocks! All of our Craft Mornings are free to attend. I get craft supplies for free from local swaps, Buy Nothing groups, Craigslist, as well as family and friends who are cleaning out their supplies.
I hope to see lots of smiling faces at our upcoming craft events!!
If you’re anything like me, you love to learn new stuff. When I found out that Craftsy is offering free mini-courses, I had to take advantage!
If you’re new to Craftsy, the mini-courses feature student-led discussions and are shorter in length than regular courses. They are a perfect way to learn new skills and experience the Craftsy platform first-hand.
Here are just a few of the free mini-courses available:
Know Your Wool: Do you wonder where your yarn comes from? Learn about different types of wool and the individual characteristics of each.
The Hand-Painted Cake: Elevate your cake with Erin Schaefgen’s freehand painting techniques. Create beautiful and edible works of art with Erin’s tips and tricks.
Creative Quilt Backs: Make the back of your quilt just as interesting as the front! Oh, Fransson! blog author Elizabeth Hartman walks you through everything you need to know to make beautiful quilt backs.
Modern Buttercream: Learn to use buttercream like a pro! Discover the tricks and tips to construct and create a beautifully finished buttercream cake.
Short Rows: Don’t fall short because you find short rows intimidating! Learn four different techniques to creating short rows, and discover how they can make shaping a knitted garment a snap.
Perfect Pizza at Home: Stretch your dough and your imagination as Peter guides you through each step of making a pizza. You’ll make pizza sauces, consider cheese options and bake five types of dough in your conventional home oven. gImpress Italian purists with a slice of your Sicilian-style homemade pies, cook creative flavor combinations for more adventurous palates and even provide gluten-free pizza lovers with mouth-watering meals.
Complete Knife Skills:Become faster and more accurate with your knife work, and create dishes that cook evenly and look truly professional. Guided by chef Brendan McDermott, you’ll explore proper hand placement and the four fundamental cuts. Learn to dice, mince and julienne a range of produce. Find out how to chop herbs without bruising them or losing flavor, and never again cry when cutting an onion. Uncover Brendan’s favorite shortcuts for working with butternut squash, pineapple, chiles, citrus and more. Discover the four knives every chef needs in their kitchen, and enjoy a bonus lesson on honing and sharpening your knives at home!
As previously promised, I’ll be holding playdates every few weeks. This is a great chance for moms to meet other moms and let the kids play.
We met at the park last month and it was tons of fun, this month we’re going to be delving onto my craft stash to make some fun holiday crafts. We also have a craft kit from Creative Hands Crafts to explore.
Check out the event and learn more (including the awesome giveaway I’ve got for the first 5 moms to RSVP and attend the event, go to the event page here.
Recently I wrote that I was going to receive a glow in the dark Trick or treating cotton tote bag and markers from Colortime Crafts. It came last week and over the weekend, I gave it a spin. Henry was too busy cleaning his room and playing to color (his words, not mine), and Bitty Bird was napping.
The bag is very sturdy and well put together.
I received three markers: Green, Purple, and Orange. We also have a stash of fabric markers, so I filled in with our stash as needed.
The directions instruct you to place a piece of cardboard between the layers of fabric to keep the markers from bleeding through.
It turned out really cute, and we’ll be using it this weekend at a Halloween event. I’ll be posting photos on Instragram! Make sure to follow me!
Click here for the Latest Online Special offers and promo codes to Colortime Crafts and Markers
I love this time of year! There are all kinds of fun crafts. We go through bags like crazy, so I am stoked to be receiving the Colortime Crafts and Markers Glow in the Dark Halloween Totes!
If you know me, you know I’m not a huge fan of goodies bags at parties- I much prefer that the guest do a fun craft or an activity. Colortime has great goodies for birthday parties and sleepovers! Fun kits like coloring pillowcases, t-shirts, backpacks, permanent fabric markers, and more.
For savings, join their Birthday Club and receive 20% off and a free backpack, with your order!
I’ll be receiving some goodies from Colortime, including a Glow in the Dark tote. I’ll post a review with photos once we are able to get our craft on!
Click here for the Latest Online Special offers and promo codes to Colortime Crafts and Markers
Tomorrow is 7/11/17 and that means FREE SLURPEES at 7-11. From 11am-7pm, most (like 99%) of 7/11’s in the US will offer a free special sized Slurpee. WOO HOO.
It is also Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A! That means if you show up in a cow themed costume/apparel from opening until 7pm, you will recive some sort of free food!
Make or buy your cow costume (or any sort of cow apparel, really).
Wear your cow costume to your favorite Chick-fil-A between Opening and 7 p.m.
Receive a free entree!
To find the full details and a list of what you can receive for free, check out this page. Kids get a kids meal, and adults get an entree (but free is free, so woo hoo!).
2016 Cow Appreciation Day Outfits!
We love free events! In order to participate and keep our our out of pocket low, I re-purpose stuff around the house to suit our needs for the event. Last year I made Henry and myself shirts and kept them. His shirt was a little too big and thankfully he has grown up, not out. It might be a little shorter than he’d like, but it will do. he’s got black shorts to wear as well )I’ll probably wear black yoga pants).
I painted a Cow onsie for Bitty Bird last year, but it doesn’t fit. I think I gave it to someone who was going to have a baby.
I made tails from pieces of felt, and pinned them to the shirts (and the back of Bitty’s tutu). We will be re-using our tails again this year too. I’ll be making new ears for all of us. Mine will be attached to hair clips, Henry’s will be on a head band.
I dug through her closet and found a black shirt for her, a white tutu, and a headband that I can sew a couple cow ears onto. To cow-ify it, I painted white spots onto the shirt.
To keep the paint from seeping through the shirt and the paint sticking the shirt together, I re-used an old Amazon shipping envelope.
We had all of this stuff in the house, so it will cost us nothing! I will be kicking down a few bucks for a large sugar free lemonade!
I haven’t had much time to sit at the computer and write lately, but we’ve been busy! There are so many free and frugal things to do in the summer, and we haven’t even done a 1/3 of what we have planned!
Here are just a few of the adventures we’ve been having (and you can try them too)!
Henry’s Handiwork!
Rock Painting! Some of you have seen pictures of the painted rocks we’ve been making, hiding, and finding all over town on my Instagram feed. Santee Rocks was started by a local teacher to spread kindness. There are lot of other “rocks” groups all over San Diego, and the US! We even hosting a Rock Painting party at a local park! Over 30 people showed up, painted, and played. We hope to host another one in July.
We’ve also been hitting up our local libraries for all sorts of fun events and activities. Our favorite is the El Cajon Library. They serve lunch M-F, 11:30-12:30. Afterwards there are a variety of events and activities from special speakers, concerts, and even crafts! And they even serve an afternoon snack!
There is a small play area for kids with an interactive discovery structure, and a Duplo Wall! There is a shaded playground out front as well. It’s a great way to spend a few hours in a climate controlled place without visiting the mall or any place where you might spend money. We usually end up bringing home a few library books too.
We’ve been on adventures with friends! Playing T-ball at the park and going on the hunt for decorated rocks was the biggest hit so far.
Playing dress up is a frequent stay at home activity. Here we have the Pirate T-Rex, trick or treating for meat.
And of course, We spend time at home, doing crafts, swimming in the community pool, playing Legos, and just hanging out!
I’m of the mind that summer doesn’t need to be packed with activities sun up to sun down. Frequently, we spend our time at home spending time together. We have friends over to play, but it’s super low-key.
I’ve taking a break from trying to pound out an article or post each day. I want to spend time with the kids and family.
What kinds of activities and adventures has you family been having this summer?
School is out for us on Tuesday. That means I’ve got 67 days to fill with adventures and “excitement” as my 6 year put it. No pressure, right?
Here are just a few things we’ll be doing to have lots of fun, but not spend a ton of money.
Taking advantage of free community events! Our local libraries have tons of fun events during the month. Lego Club, craft afternoons, story time for pre-schoolers, and our local library has a great slate of summer events, including a summer reading program!
Using passes and memberships that we’ve already paid for. For us, that’s the San Diego Zoo and the YMCA. I plan on taking full advantage of the YMCA membership daily to get the kids out of the house and playing with others, as well as swimming at the activity pool.
Meeting up with friends at the park to play. We love playing at the park. It’s a great way to get out the wiggles, meet new friends, and catch up with old friends. There are tons of groups on Meetup.com or Facebook. If you haven’t checked out Momco on Facebook, it’s a great way to find moms looking to meet up and play!
I love to arrange craft or science get togethers. The kids get to make something or try a science project and play with friends. I’m not really into Pinterest all that much, but I do have a Pinterest Board with some of the science and crafts we want to do this summer. I try to use the supplies we have on hand. I find that a lot of the supplies can be picked up at 99 Cents Only, or cheaply at Target.
We’ll also be painting a lot of rocks and hiding them all over this summer. Have you heard of Santee Rocks? Both kids love it and it’s a great way to get kids out and active! It’s an awesome Facebook Group. Learn more here.
The Beach! I know not everyone has the beach near them, but if you do- take advantage! Google your favorite beach and Tide Chart and find out when low tide it. Low tide is the perfect time to hunt for shells. If you are in San Diego, or will be visiting this summer, check out Coronado for the SS Monte Carlo. It’s a sunken ship that is visible and explorable at low tide.
Don’t forget the $1.00 kids movies at Regal Cinemas!
I love Craftsy! I love making stuff and being creative, but sometimes it’s hard to learn a new skill or hone one you already have on a budget. Craftsy to the rescue! They have awesome free classes where you can learn to do all kinds of cool stuff from cooking and baking to knitting!
The free mini classes can be viewed on any device, so you can learn anywhere! Right now there are 47 mini classes that are free. Mini-courses feature student-led discussions and are shorter in length than regular courses. They are a perfect way to learn new skills and experience the Craftsy platform first-hand.
Here are just a few of the ones I’ve saved to watch and explore: