Project Time that Doesn't Give Mommy Performance Anxiety!

 I love all the project ideas I've been finding on Pinterest lately!!  But, sometimes I admit I get a little overwhelmed with all the things I want to do with the boys, go looking for a project to do with them online, get creatively paralyzed by all the options, and end up doing nothing.

This is a perfect time to remind myself (and all you super moms out there) that you don't need to take a trip to the store and plan out activities days in advance for your kids to have fun creative time.  You don't need to spend a fortune on project kits either. 

 In fact, it may even be more beneficial to your own kids' creativity to just give 'em the supplies and let them decide what to do with them!  I have these little plastic drawer units in our closet and some plastic bins, all from garage sales & thrift stores.  Each one is labeled and filled with different supplies:

• Markers

• Crayons

• Colored pencils

• Scissors, Paper crimpers, and punches

• Watercolor paints

• Stickers

• Construction paper

• Glue sticks, glitter glue, glue bottles

• Collage Images (cut from magazines, etc)

• etc...

 So today the boys asked to do a project.  I got out bins above, gave them a stack of paper, and let them have at it.  Toby colored and used stamps.  Sammy is in the process right now of making paper cookies and handing them out to each of us to share.

Want to mix it up?  Get out a different selection each day.  One day may be paint day.  One day is marker and crayon day.  The next day is scissors, glue and tape day.  We also have a big bin of cardboard tubes, canisters, egg cartons, etc for 3D projects...and of course, play doh.  All are just as easy for you to plop on the table but pose different challenges for the kiddo's when you mix and match.

Sure, I have other more specific project items I've collected from garage sales like perler beads, shrinky dinks, air dry clay, wood models, etc.  But, for those days when I'm just too busy to guide them through every step of a project, I can still let their creativity run wild with a little project "free play" while I get a little laundry done!

So give yourselves a break Mommas, and let your kids decide what project to make now and then.  I personally find it to be even more fun for me to see what their little minds come up with!  Okay, gotta run...I'm making mac & cheese for lunch and Sammy just drew me some "instructions" with a pot, the food, and the fire so I know what to do! ;-)

ID Mommy Tip: Road Trip Entertainment

Here's a little tip! The other day I was tossing another cereal box into the recycle bin and had a thought...why not cut out and save all the back panels with puzzles and games on them? They'll make perfect road trip entertainment and the stuff cardboard is perfect for drawing on your lap!

Helping Myself Remember Vitamins!

Here's a completely random idea.  Maybe it'll help you too...

I always have a hard time remembering my multi-vitamins.  When I leave the ugly bottle sitting out on the countertop, I usually remember.  But then there's the ugly bottle on the countertop.  Last week, after dusting off and re-locating an empty antique canning jar for the umpteenth time, I finally put two and two together. 

Now I store my vitamins in this jar, which looks much cooler so I don't mind it sitting in plain view, and being able to SEE the vitamins every morning jogs my groggy, pre-coffee memory to take them!
Plus, this jar came out of some dusty boxes of cool antique stuff my Dad gave me from his shed attic, so that makes it doubly cool...

If you feel the need to keep the ingredient list or directions, you can always stash away the empty bottle somewhere or write the info you need on a piece of masking tape on the bottom of the jar.  Now just make sure to keep them way out of little ones' reach! ID Mommy cannot be held responsible for kiddo's who mistake vitamins for candy!! ;-)

ID Mommy Kitchen Tip: Freeze your Tomato Paste

Here's a little trick that just dawned on me to try the other week.  Not sure why it took me so long to think of this, but here it is in case you haven't thought of it either...

I've found that most of my recipes that call for tomato paste only require a Tablespoon or two.  While the cans are pretty small, I still find myself wasting a lot of left-over paste after I open a can.

So here's what I did.

I used the one tablespoon needed for the recipe I was making.  Then, I put a piece of plastic wrap on a plastic food container lid.  I measured 1 Tbsp portions and dropped them on the plastic wrap, then stuck the whole thing in the freezer.

Then, just label a plastic bag, and once they are frozen, dump them into one bag in your freezer.

Now you have pre-measured tomato paste ready to go when you need it, without the waste! I count 8 Tablespoons in this bag....that's probably 4-8 meal's worth that I would have tossed out in the past.  Which isn't a ton, but when you think about what I used to do in using a whole can for every recipe, well, I'm buying one can instead of up to 8 cans!

Easter Egg Coloring: Fancy Looks ; no Fancy Tools!

Alrighty, folks!  Time for another egg coloring tutorial!  While my last one utilized rubber bands, this one is even simpler...there are no tools required other than your standard egg dye and some careful positioning of the egg in each color.

 

Colored Quarters

1) Dye the entire egg yellow.

2) Lay the egg on it's side, and hold it half way down in red.  The more still you hold it, the more clean your line will be, and the longer you hold it, the brighter the color will be.

3) Let it dry a little, then stand it on it's end and hold it half way down in the blue dye.

4) Dry it off and you should now have 4 colored quarters in yellow, orange, green and purple!  It's a great lesson in color mixing for your kiddo's, too!

 

Rainbow Egg (or monochromatic egg)

1) Stand the egg on it's end, then dip it almost all the way into red, leaving a little circle of white on top.  Now lift it up 1/4" or so, and hold it there a couple more minutes to get a darker stripe.  Repeat that again to get a third stripe.  (You can just do this over the whole egg to get a monochromatic striped egg, or keep going for more colors...)

2) Dip the egg in green, with the dye line about 1/4" or so below the darkest red stripe.  Pull it out 1/4" to again make another darker green stripe.

3) Dip the bottom of the egg in blue, adding more darker stripes if you have space.

4) Turn the egg over and dye the white tip in yellow.

He is Risen! "Sunrise Egg"

This one is all about the angle of the egg as you place it in the dye, and looks pretty with the three crosses in the foreground.  I used a crayon to draw them first, but then had to go over it again later with a darker crayon as it didn't stick well.

1) Draw your crosses with crayon as a guide for the sun ray placements. Dye the whole egg yellow.  Then lay it on it's side but at an angle, to create the darker yellow rays of sun on either side of the center cross.

2) Angle the egg a little more and dip it again (on both sides) in orange. (Sorry the photo is confusing with orange dye in a green cup, but it's orange!)

3) Angle it again a little more, then dip in red.

4) Dip the bottom of the egg in green to get the grassy hill.

Have a little fun with these experimenting with different angles and color combinations!  You can even do any of these, then put rubber bands on them and dye them again for all kinds of funky color patterns!

Easter Egg Coloring : Rubber Band Methods

I've been saving these Easter egg coloring photos for a year and I think it's about time I post them!  I did a bunch of fun eggs last year, including trying the silk tie eggs in last year's post.  I'll share all of them in a few posts, with today's theme being rubber band methods! 

Awesome eggs don't have to involve a lengthy process, although I love trying those kind too.  You'd be surprised how much you can do with just a rubber band or two.  Here are a few that I did last year....

Wide color bands
1) Die the egg with a light color...I used yellow.  Let it dry, then wrap a rubber band so that it divides the egg in thirds.  You'll have a point where the rubber band crosses itself but that's okay. If you don't like that, you can use two smaller rubber bands.  Next, dunk the whole egg in orange.  This then should leave it yellow underneath the rubber bands, but don't take them off yet. Let it dry.
2) Dip one end of the egg in blue, just up to the rubber band.  Be careful not to dip it past the rubber band.
3) Dip the other end in red, same as step 2, trying not to go above the band.
4) Let it all dry and then remove the rubber bands! 

 

Stripes

1) Dye the egg in yellow.

2) Apply rubber bands and space them apart however you'd like your stripes.

3) Dye the egg in blue.

4) let it dry and then remove the rubber bands for vibrant stripes!

Wacky Stripes...or Plaid?
1) Dye the egg in yellow, let it dry, and apply 2 rubber bands in stripes.  Dye it again in red.
2) Remove one of the rubber bands, but leave the other.
3) Add another rubber band going the other direction.
4) Dye the whole egg again in blue.  Let it dry and remove the rubber bands!
I like how this one came out...one of the bands moved slightly which gives it a cool look like a 3D picture without the 3D glasses. ;-)

Your Chance to Win a Macbook Air AND Help My Dad!

 

This post is dedicated to my biggest I.D. Mommy blog follower, my dad Phil Brandt!

A few years ago he was diagnosed with Non Hodgkins Mantel Cell Lymphoma.  My dad has been cancer free for over 3 years now, and I am sad to say that it has returned.  While he has been able to achieve remission after two rounds of chemo this time, his journey is just beginning, as he will be undergoing a stem cell transplant beginning within the next week.  Luckily he was blessed with not one but TWO siblings who are a perfect match for him!


Throughout his journey he and my mom have come across many kind and generous friends, family, and even strangers.  One such angel has generously purchased and donated a new Macbook Air, which is going to be raffled off for $10 per ticket, to help raise money for their medical expenses. 

 Click on this link for the details to enter the raffle.  You'll be asked to send an email, and will receive a Paypal invoice and then your ticket number(s) once your payment is completed.  You have until March 31st to purchase tickets.  The drawing will be at random on April 2nd, with the winner announced on April 7th.

For more info on my dad's battle, check out his CaringBridge site here!