Crafts Archives - mamachallenge | Real Solutions for Real Parents

“You’re the Bomb” Thank You Gift {Free Printable}

August 3, 2015 By Autumn Rose Reo 37 Comments

Sometimes you just need to say thank you.

Especially for those things you just come to expect from people like your drycleaners, neighborhood barista, and even your daycare. These people make your world go ’round and can save your booty every time when you’re rushed, need a favor, or even just a smile when your day is done…

With temperatures skyrocketing and a last few weeks where I felt I had cashed in all my favors with everyone, it was time to put a little back in emotional currency…or much easier said, I needed to give back and just say thank you to a lot of people who had helped our family keep going!

A little recognition was in order – in a sweet way.

With a quick run to Kroger for the Original Bomb Pop, a cold ice chest, and a little bit of ink from the printer, Project “You’re the Bomb” was underway! Using this cute free printable paired with the iconic rocket-shaped multi-flavor sweet treat, made for an easy giftable that was just as much fun to make and give as it was to get!

Printing on 5X7 print sheets, the card can be used for anyone you want to say thank you to!

A few tips for the “You’re the Bomb” thank you gift, consider the following:

Don’t try to do too many unless you have a super cooler to keep it cold for hours
Think about the schedule the people on your list have. Don’t show up at their busy time or they might now be able to enjoy it
Make sure to enter this giveaway to get your Bomb Pop Prize pack including $25 gift card to Kroger!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mickey Mouse Brunch Party with Waffle Bar #DisneySide

April 11, 2015 By Autumn Rose Reo 2 Comments

A party featuring Mickey Mouse is always going to be a good time, but starting off the day with a Mickey Mouse Brunch Party is even better! See how we put together this get together easily featuring the Mouse, waffle bar and lots more Disney fun!

Everyday is a good day for a Mickey Mouse themed party…especially one that starts early in the morning, in your PJs and covered in syrup! Thankfully from the #Disneyside sponsors, we had some great supplies to put together this marvelous Mickey Mouse inspired reverse pajama/brunch party!

Inviting some of our favorite friends and family members, via our favorite email service Punchbowl, we managed to create a hot diggity dog time – all before lunch time!

Centered around finding the coolest Mickey Waffle Stick Maker (affilate link) that makes four Mickey-shaped heads with sticks for waffle on a stick action that makes it easy and fun to eat. So the idea was born to create a Mickey Mouse Waffle Bar at our Reverse Pajama Party!

Aren’t they adorable? And with them just the right size, they are easy to eat AND you can eat more than one. Chocolate syrup, whip cream, strawberries, sprinkles and powdered sugar made for lots of fun for the kids to personalize their Mickey Mouse Waffles.

Along with the waffles, there were tons of other Mickey Mouse-shaped breakfast foodsas well as decorative items like this easy MM centerpiece we made for another Mickey Mouse birthday party for the kids when we returned from Disney World.

Of course, there were several Disney-themed edibles like these chocolate chip muffins with Mickey Mouse toothpicks (affiliate link) on this adorable resuable Mickey Mouse muffin/cupcake stand (affiliate link).

And you can’t ever forget the Mickey Mouse plates, cups and napkins (affilate), especially when you have waffles with whip cream and chocolate chips. While the kids enjoyed watching classic Mickey Mouse cartoons like Steamboat Willie and Mickey’s Adventures in Wonderland (affiliate).

Borrowing this idea from our Disney Princess party, we transformed the idea of princess wands to Mickey Mouse sticks using pineapple cut like Mickey Mouse, grapes and strawberries. If you don’t have a Mickey Mouse cookie cutter (affiliate) and have kids, you should buy one! It’s a quick and easy way to make sandwiches, cookies and these fruit kbobs fun to eat!

However, the fun didn’t stop there! We made these homemade Mickey Mouse marshmallows for our hot chocolate!

And the kids also received their own reusable travel mug with hot chocolate mix, Mickey Mouse marshmallows and other great treats to take home to show their #DisneySide including luggage tags, HP CMYK Pack with photopaper for their own photo memories and a DVD about planning your own Disney trip!

And you can’t ever forget the Mickey Mouse ears to make the PJ party complete.

We’re so glad we were able to get together to show our #DisneySide done breakfast style! The only thing that would have been better is to have Mickey Mouse join us!

How do you show your #DisneySide?

Valentine’s Day Crafts for the Kids

February 7, 2015 By Autumn Rose Reo 13 Comments

Valentine’s Day is supposed to be about love, not money or spending countless hours finding the perfect “thing.” Instead spend time together making these Valentine’s Day Crafts for the Kids something that you’ll enjoy creating as much as you will enjoying eating them!

I featured these make-and-dos on Fox Good Day Saturday.

Heart-Shaped Cake

Using two cake mixes and a cookie cutter, make a cake or bread that gets to the “heart” of the matter with a secret heart! What a great way to celebrate the holiday or to give as a gift.

Valentine’s Day Lunch Box

Making a healthy lunch together makes it fun to prepare for the next day’s meal OR you can make it a surprise when they open their lunch box. Best of all it only takes a few minutes to pack this V-day lunch box. Using strawberries, cheese sticks and toothpicks, we’ve created these Cupid’s heart and arrows.

An added bonus: Healthy Valentine’s Day pouches that double as a healthy Valentines for your kids!

Red Velvet Oreo Cake Balls

Red Velvet anything is a win, but when paired with an Oreo cookie, it’s downright heavenly. I may have lost some pounds with Jenny Craig, but these cookies I found at Market Street better find a new home because they aren’t going to last more than a day at the rate they are going right now. With only three ingredients and almost no cooking, your kids will love making these Oreo Cookie Balls with their hands. The most important thing to remember: Buy at least two bags of Red Velvet Oreos – one to make the cake balls and another bag to eat. (Just saying…)

Get the Recipe Here

Love-themed Art

I love any time you can take a memory or personalized moment like using your kid’s hand and foot prints. We’ve used them for all kinds of adorable crafts, but this time we’ve made artwork that you might actually put on your wall all year long using just canvas, paint and a little patience!

Coffee-Filter Flowers

A beautiful bouquet of flowers are normally a #1 choice at Valentine’s Day, but let’s be honest, they die after only a week. Using some left-over coffee filters (remember those things you have in the back of the cabinet after you got your Keurig) and some tape, you can make your own custom-made flowers and they last forever! Add a little food coloring and you can even change colors!

For more Valentine’s Day make and do including BACON ROSES, check out these treats including a free printable!

Or if you’re really out of time, but want to show you love them, you can always pick up a heart-shaped Papa Murphy’s HeartBaker Pizza (now until Feb. 14), stick it in the oven and claim it as your own.

The pizza is made from scratch with fresh dough in the shape of a heart and is topped with traditional red sauce, generous portions of 100 percent whole milk mozzarella cheese and premium pepperoni slices. It’s perfect for busy moms and those who want to celebrate the occasion without a lot of work, but with that ‘extra something’ that’s quick, easy and served fresh to your family. Priced at $7-$8 depending on your Papa Murphy’s location, it’s a steal. Many locations are also offering a ‘Sweetheart Deal’ for $11 which includes the HeartBaker and a S’Mores dessert pizza.

Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone.

Whatever you do, just remember to love it! After all, it’s Valentine’s Day!

Don’t miss this #mamachallenge moment:

NEW: Michaels Southlake with Grand Opening Giveaways

February 6, 2015 By Autumn Rose Reo Leave a Comment

If you’ve EVER needed anything the least bit crafty, you’ve been to Michaels.

For me it’s like going to fantasy land with tons of things that I’m dying to make (even if I never will.) The ideas are endless and the solutions for everything are all at your fingertips, especially if you aren’t artsy fartsy, this place MAKES you look like you are.

So to be honest, there’s no reason to persuade you go to go to Michaels – you should know it’s amazing already, they always have great deals and you’re gonna love this news. And if you haven’t, you’ve been missing out and it’s now time to come to the motherland or AKA Michaels new store in Southlake!

I stopped in earlier this week to get a sneak peek at the store and the new features Michaels has at work – like bigger location signs (so you know where to go), the Make Market (think farmer’s market, chalkboard everything and denim) and one of my favorite features, marquee signs – with options to even build your own from scratch with bulb colors, different designs and more!) And that was all in the first aisle!

Stop by this Sunday to see the new Southlake Michaels store for yourself for their Grand Opening celebration– located at 1051 E. Southlake Blvd (it’s in the same complex as the new The Fresh Market).

Plan to get there early – the first 100 in line receive mystery gift cards of $10-$100!

There’s Valentine’s Day fun for you (and the kids) with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a performance by the Carrol Dragon Cheer Squad at 9:45 a.m., followed by hourly prize giveaways and a DJ from 3-5p.m.

While you’re there, take note of the new store look and check out the new Make Market line for DIY project and home décor ideas – all made with simple, on-trend surfaces and textures like chalk, denim, galvanized, burlap and cork.

Trash to Toys: 10 Recycled Educational Toys

April 21, 2014 By Autumn Rose Reo Leave a Comment

Thanks to today’s contributor, Kiddie Academy (www.KiddieAcademy.com) for the following ideas for creating recycled educational toys.

Want to feed your child’s imagination, while helping the environment?

Earth Day is a yearly reminder to consider our role in protecting the environment. Parents can make a positive impact by creating fun, educational toys from everyday items that may initially seem like trash, but can be repurposed into teaching tools.

Computer Keyboard:
An outdated keyboard is a perfect teaching toy, as it includes the entire alphabet to assist in early literacy exercises. Challenge your child to sing the ABC song while locating each letter on the keyboard.

Shoebox to Mailbox:
Children love getting mail. Reinforce both reading and writing skills by creating a family mailbox from an old shoebox. Encourage your child to write notes to family members, and leave notes for them as well.

Water Bottle Instrument:
Fill a clean, dry plastic water or soda bottle with rice, bells, beans or coins and shake them to hear a variety of new sounds. Glue the top on to secure the contents.

Junk Mail:
Instead of immediately sending your unwanted mail to the landfill, allow your child to play with the envelopes and letters. She can pretend to be a postal carrier while getting additional exposure to printed words.

Magazines:
Glossy photos in magazines are perfect for creating collage art that provides fine motor skill practice with scissors and glue.

TV Remote:
Children love pushing buttons. An unused television remote control can be used for number and math play. Simply remove the batteries and ask him to find the numbers as you call them out.

Clothing:
Dramatic play is an essential teaching tool that allows children to explore social roles, practice problem solving and language skills. Add no longer needed pieces of your own wardrobe to the toy chest to encourage your child’s imagination. She can literally “try on” a different role by wearing your skirt, hat or shoes.

Linens:
Your child can use a worn out sheet or towel as a cape, picnic blanket or as the roof to a play fort.

Toilet Paper Tube:
Empty TP tubes are a favorite art tool in classrooms. Save a box of them, and give them to your child along with a few craft supplies to see what he can create. Binoculars, stamps and creatures are popular choices.

Boxes:
While it’s tempting to immediately recycle a box, your child can have hours of fun using an empty box for creative play. What seems like trash to you could become a school bus, secret hideout or magic castle.

For more eco-friendly education tips, parents can visit Kiddie Academy’s Family Essentials blog: http://www.kafamilyessentials.com.

Easy Easter Crafts Using Handprints {As Seen on TV}

April 11, 2014 By Autumn Rose Reo Leave a Comment

I’m not a crafty mama. But it’s possible to be crafty without much skill and two hands! Here are some Easy Easter Crafts Using Handprints!

So when my latest assignment on Good Morning Texas was to demonstrate some Easter crafts…I kinda wanted to turn into a turtle and duck into my shell.

So I decided that the best crafts are the kind that anyone can do – even me.

While I don’t enjoy crafting, I do like to have a little piece of memorabilia from my kiddos to keep or give to the grandparents who don’t always get to see the kids, but love getting to stay involved in the kids’ lives.

After getting a cute craft from my child’s school using my daughter’s feet for leaves and her hands for petals, I sprung an idea. We’d do all things fun with handprints.

Honestly, these crafts are so easy, they don’t even need instructions. Just take a look at my tutorial I did on GMT on April 10. And you still have time to do these since they are so quick and still get them in the mail just in time for Easter. Or you could use many of these for Mother’s Day, too! Need more ideas?

Check out my Pinterest Easter Board!

Follow Autumn Reo {mamachallenge.com}’s board HOLIDAY: Easter on Pinterest.

Do you have any handprint crafts you’d like to share?

Easy Easter Food Fun for Everyone

April 5, 2014 By Autumn Rose Reo Leave a Comment

Looking for an Easter craft that doesn’t take too much time or creativity for a cute and yummy treat? Here’s easy Easter food fun for everyone.

“Multitasking Mama” is my middle name. Unfortunately, “Make-and-Do-Mama” isn’t.

So if creativity isn’t one of your skill sets, you are in good company. This Easter I’ve put together a few of my favorite craft ideas that are as much fun to make as they are to eat! These activities that I either found on Pinterest or have been making for years will give you and your kids something fun to do while you spend time together and best of all, when you are done, you can gobble them up for snack time.

And did I mention they are super easy? So easy in fact my son made his own YouTube video on how to make one of them? (Kids these days…)

All of these crafts were featured on Good Day Dallas on April 5, 2014. Hope you caught the segment, but if you didn’t, here’s the highlight reel and the recipes for you to make at home!

Dallas News | myFOXdfw.com

Jackson’s Easter Day Bark
From MamaChallenge.com

Package of White Almond Bark
Package of Easter M&Ms
Sprinkles
Easter Egg Malted Eggs

Place the almond bark in a microwave safe dish and microwave for 90 seconds to melt (adding more every 10 seconds until it’s melted.)

Line a baking sheet with wax paper and spread the almond bark. Drop the M&Ms and other candy over the melted bark. Allow to cool by placing in the freezer. When it solidifies, break into pieces. Makes for a cheap, easy and cute gift to friends, neighbors and teachers!

Easter Basket Cupcakes
(I’ve been doing these since I was a kid!)

Cupcake with vanilla icing
Favorite Easter candy
Licorice rope

Jelly Beans
Peeps or Chocolate Easter Bunny candy
Shredded Coconut
Green food coloring

Place coconut in a plastic baggie or a plastic bowl with a lid. Drop 3-5 drops of food color and then cover. Shake container until completely saturated green. There’s your Easter grass!

Now just line up all your candies in a few bowls so the kids can easily get to them to make their Easter baskets.

Taking the cupcake, sprinkle or swirl cupcake until the top is covered in coconut. Now place your Peep or Chocolate bunny in cupcake. Place jelly beans around it to look like eggs. Last place both ends of your licorice stick into the cupcake to resemble a basket. Now eat it!

Carrot Snacks
This is a great for small kids that doesn’t involve sugar!

1 quart size plastic baggies or clear pastry bags
Favorite orange snacks (I prefer Amy’s Organic Bunnies, buy you can use Cheetos or Goldfish)
Green ribbon

After removing the zip closure on the bags with a diagonal cut, please snacks in one corner of the bag and twist up to resemble a carrot. To close, tie a green ribbon around the top to look like a stem and you are done!

Strawberry Carrots
White Chocolate Chips or Orange Melts
1-2 Tablespoons of shortening
Orange powdered icing coloring
Strawberries
Crushed Oreos

Melt chocolate with shortening until smooth in the microwave or over a double boiler. Now turn chocolate orange if needed with the icing coloring. Next after drying your strawberries (if you don’t the water will cause chocolate to seize and turn gritty), dip the strawberry into chocolate until covered. Place on wax paper to dry for 15-20 minutes. Serve “carrots” over a bed of crushed Oreo to resemble a garden.

Carrot Patch Cups
As seen on Kidzui.com

2 Packets of instant chocolate pudding
2 Cups of milk
1 Thawed package of Cool Whip
2 Cups Oreo cookies
Orange Icing (or white with orange food coloring)
Edible candy grass (or Coconut dyed with green food coloring)

Mix the pudding and milk together.
Gently stir in the Cool Whip.
Crush your Oreos and add half of them to the pudding.
Divide the pudding mixture into cups or dishes and top with the remaining Oreos.
Pipe the orange frosting onto the top to look like a carrot growing out of the ground.
Top with a few blades of fake grass.

Take a look at all the fun Easter crafts I’ve found on my Pinterest page!

Follow Autumn Reo {mamachallenge.com}’s board HOLIDAY: Easter on Pinterest.

Don’t miss these #mamachallenge moments!

GoGo squeeZ Valentines Thanks for Being Awesomesauce

January 13, 2014 By Autumn Rose Reo 5 Comments

Anytime of the year is a good time for Gogo squeeZ, but it’s even sweeter at Valentine’s Day! As an ambassador for GoGo squeeZ, we’re excited to share this cute idea for a quick and free printable Thanks for Being Applesauce that’s easy for valentines class treats or even party favors.

I admit one of my favorite things about my kids going to school are the holiday parties. I just love those cute little foodie treats for the class parties, but unfortunately, all that sugar is no good for them (or for me).

That’s why I came up with this cute printable to be used with pouches of healthy GoGo squeeZ for a Valentine that is quick, easy and that your children will LOVE!

“Thanks for being awesomesauce!” FREE PRINTABLE (click here to download the PDF)

We love GoGo squeeZ around here, so I’m constantly coming up with new and fun ways to use it! From pancakes, muffins and Valentine’s treats, they make the perfect compliment to healthy snacking that’s convenient, delicious and full of nutrition! With 11 different flavors in all, GoGo squeeZ is the natural, no gluten, no dairy, no nuts, no mess way to get what you need, when you need it with just a squeez!

Just check out some of the fun things that we’ve used GoGo squeeZ for around here.

This downloadable prints six per page and could be printed on sticker paper or card stock with a hole punch affixed with ribbon tied around the top. There’s also a line for your child’s name. I’ve used these for playdate treats as well as birthday party favors that doesn’t cost much time or money.

I hope you think these are awesomesauce as well!

Make it the BEST SATURDAY Ever with Superhero Saturday Cartoons {Printables} {Recipe}

November 10, 2013 By Autumn Rose Reo 2 Comments

When I was growing up, waking up on Saturday morning was like practice for Christmas.

Going to sleep the night before you knew once you saw the crack of dawn the next morning, your favorite cartoons were all waiting for you to tune in to your heart’s delight – or at least until noon when they all called it quits until next weekend.

Unfortunately, on-demand cartoons have changed that. Now kids are used to having cartoons whenever and wherever they like. While as a parent it makes things convenient, I do feel like something special about my childhood has been robbed from my children.

However, this last Saturday, we created our own Saturday morning tradition with a “Super-Hero Saturday” watching Vortexx on The CW.

Super heroes like Flash, Superman, Spiderman, and The Green Lantern reign supreme when you have a five-year-old, so the Saban Brand’s Vortexx lineup with Justice League Unlimited and The Spectacular Spider-Man made for a perfect backdrop for our fun. But we decided to go to the next level!

We made an occasion for the whole family! With a Super-hero breakfast party complete with crafts, costumes and a special super-hero themed menu!

Download this template and many more!

As Justice League came on, my son sported his Batman pajamas while he created a matching mask (template attached) and arm shields (made with toilet paper rolls)! Meanwhile, I made breakfast – a “Green Lantern” cinnamon roll made with green sprinkles and a Flash Juice (see the recipe below.)

Flash Juice

Ingredients

8 oz. Pomegranate or Cranberry Juice

1 oz. Ginger Ale

Whole Lemon

Instructions

Pour the juice and ginger ale over crushed ice.

Then slowly remove the lemon peel until a large patch of peel is free from the fruit (at least a 1×1 inch swatch. Using a knife, cut the lemon peel like a lighting bolt and lay flat on top of the drink.

Just hanging out with him for an hour, watching cartoons and making it an interactive experience was almost as much fun for me as it was for him. And he even thinks I’m a pretty super mama, too.

Vortexx on The CW airs every Saturday morning from 7:00 a.m. to Noon Current programs on Vortexx include The Adventures of Chuck and Friends, Rescue Heroes, Sonic X, Bolts & Blip, The Spectacular Spider-Man, Justice League Unlimited, Dragon Ball Z Kai, B-Daman Crossfire, Yu-Gi-Oh! and Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal. Fans of Vortexx on The CW don’t have to wait for Saturday mornings to unleash the fun of Vortexx. MyVortexx.com keeps kids entertained 24/7/365 with fun activities, games and full episodes. Vortexx also has a branded Video on Demand Channel by Kabillion.

Follow the fun on social media with Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Make Your Next Saturday Super!

Make Your Own Fireworks Fun with Monthly Kids Craft Program Kiwi Crate

July 3, 2013 By Autumn Rose Reo 5 Comments

I received a free product for the purposes of the review. No compensation was provided. All the comments are my own.

Are you one of those moms that is totally crafty and makes all kinds of cute things for the holidays and then posts a how-to video on YouTube?

Well I’m so excited you are, because I’m not. I wish I was, but at this juncture in life all I can say is Thank goodness for Pinterest!

And thank goodness for Kiwi Crate! Launched in 2011 by executives from eBay, PayPal, YouTube and BabyCenter, Kiwi Crate sends you fun, hands-on projects for kids ages 3-7 monthly. Kiwi Crate’s arts, crafts and science projects are developed by parents, reviewed by child development experts and tested by kids. Projects are created around themes like gardens, space or colors, and designed to encourage creativity, exploration and discovery and conveniently in this cute little box.

I was so happy to share craft time with son when all the thinking was out of it with my Rocket Party Pack from Kiwi Crate. Celebrating Independence Day, the simple packet gave us everything we needed to make 10 rockets that my kiddo could blast off in the air by just blowing on the straw. Best of all, I didn’t have to research a craft idea, get all the materials together and figure out how to do it. It was all in the box and we just opened it and went straight to having fun!

Kiwi Crate has received multiple awards honoring quality and creativity, including a Gold Seal Best Toy Award from Stephanie Oppenheim’s prestigious Toy Portfolio, the Parents’ Choice Gold Award, and Academic’s Choice award. Kiwi Crate was also named by Dr. Toy as a “Ten Best Creative Product” and “100 Best Children’s Products” of 2012.

Kiwi Crate’s monthly subscription service available at www.kiwicrate.com, starts at $16.95 per month with free shipping. Kiwi Crate also offers single crates available without a subscription for $19.95 each; as well as party favors and activities, starting at $5 each at www.kiwicrate.com/shop. Additionally, Kiwi Crate offers a collection of over 1,500 free hands-on project ideas at www.kiwicrate.com/diy.