CLEAN fingerpainting!

I know what you're saying...

That is just NOT possible.

Oh but it is!

And so much fun too!!!

I did this a few times with the preschool class I taught and it was always a lot of fun.

All you need:

Ziploc Bag

Fingerpaint

Q-tips

Just put a few colors of paint into the bag making sure to squeeze out as much air as possible.

Then let them squish it around!

It's fabulous and all the mess stays inside!!!!

Peighton used the Q-tip to make letters, spell words, draw shapes and pictures, etc.

Preston, he just did a lot of squishing!

I also hung his on the sliding glass door for a bit and let him use more of his gross motor skills.

And it looks pretty cool in the sunlight too!

Then he had to go read about his tractors...priorities.



We did this a few days ago and Peighton is still playing with hers and practicing letters!
Love it!

Happy Scrappy little MoNsTeRs!

My scrap bin looks like this:

Ok, usually it's IN the bin inside a cupboard...

but two little monkeys were "helping" me organize some things and this is what happened.

I saw THIS POST on

Pinterest and knew we NEEDED some happy little monsters in our life!

And the best part is that there is absolutely no pattern needed for this guy!

Just start cutting and each one will be unique and adorable.

I started with a rectangle and later rounded it off for the head part.

I made a pocket at his belly-I think my little man is going to stick his pacis in it for safe keeping!

Once again, I used ribbons for the ears, arms and legs-SO MUCH faster and Preston likes chewing on the tags.

Here is our happy little monster family:

I have a craft show coming up this weekend and I think these will be gone pretty quickly...they are just so ugly that they're cute!

I thought about using buttons for the eyes, but since they are meant for babies I just sewed some shapes on instead and used my zig zag stitch to make an eye.

Peighton's might get buttons but she is much older!

Another GREAT baby gift!!!!

I think I'll be making more of these!

Spiderweb Pancakes

Friday mornings are pretty fun at our house.

We don't have school or dance or gymnastics or anything really!

So, that means we get up and make something fun for breakfast and stay in our jammies for awhile.

Peighton loves it and I think we both look forward to it.

Today, we tried out spiderweb pancakes!

Super simple and super fun!

I've seen it all around "blog-land" lately so I don't really know who thought it up but that was one smart mama!

I even saw one picture using a plastic spider on top of the pancakes! CUTE!

Wish we had some spiders!!!

We dyed our pancake batter orange with food coloring.

Then we had some random green glittery squeeze frosting in the pantry so of course that's what Peighton chose.

It worked out pretty good.

I also tried out Hershey's syrup.

Peighton approved of both and liked helping do the spiderwebs!

Preston also thought they were pretty good and had eaten most of his by the time I got the camera!

Fridays are FUN at our house!

What a fun fall week!

The weather has gotten COLD this week here in Iowa!

Which means lots of falling leaves and pumpkins and combine rides!

We love Fall!

Here's some fun from our week:

My  mom spent lots of time raking and raking so Peighton and Preston could have some fun!

Peighton jumped right into the leaves with lots of giggles!

Preston was not quite as quick to jump in and watched his big sis for a bit.

 It didn't take long for him to get in there though!

Even Zoe liked the leaves.

After he got in, of course he didn't want to get out!

He just made a little nest and rolled around for awhile.

There were a few times he may or may not have been buried in the leaves and had to be rescued...

That afternoon we moved onto pumpkin carving.

Preston was weight lifting here.

And Mac thought he had to help too.

Preston was quite a good little pumpkin carver!

Such a great day with lots of Fall fun!

Long after the leaves blow away the giggles and laughter of this day will be remembered.



It's "Mickey-palooza" around here!

Even though it's months away we are already getting excited and preparing for our upcoming trip to meet Mickey, Minnie, and the gang and most importantly....Cinderella!

I've been dreaming up all sorts of outfits for my two little munchkins to wear...and coordinate...maybe everyday that we're there...

We've started with our basic Mickey attire.

I have no idea why it's upside down and it won't go any other way!!!!!

Maybe stand on your head and it will look right. ;-)

Anyway, I used a basic madras plaid for Preston's shorts and used my embroidery machine for the Mickey head.

Normally, I would also add Preston's name to the shirt with  my machine BUT, I do not EVER put their names on shirts, bags, etc when I know we are going to wear them in a very public, busy place like Disneyworld.

(It would be super easy for a stranger to convince a small child that they are their friend simply by reading the name on their shirt and could take them in an instant.

So, even though it's cuter, I will  not be adding thier full names to anything for this trip.

I may do some monogramming but that's it.)

And the added bonus of this outfit...

Miss Peighton already has a really cute dress in her closet made from this same plaid fabric!

I am going to add some Minnie mouses to her dress and we have matching outfits #1!

 Peighton and I both LOVE this one:

I made some capri ruffle pants from the hot pink and black polka dot knit-she LOVES them.

Wants to wear them NOW even though it's 55 degrees out.

Then I used an old T-shirt of mine that had those nice pin tuck things at the bottom and made a shirt to match!

Super cute.

I used the scraps from the pants to trim the sleeves and neck of the shirt and then made a giant Minnie mouse of course.

Don't worry, Preston will not be coordinating with the hot pink and black polka dots.

I have some fabulous camo knit in mind for him.

That's all I have done for now....good thing I have a few months left to finish the rest of the trips attire!
I have Minnie mouse skirts in mind, a pink polka dot peasant dress and LOTS of embroidery designs to choose from!
We can't wait to go to Cinderella's castle!

Super sweet giveaway!

There is a super sweet giveaway going on over at

The Tiny Seamstress.

Love her stuff!
Go check it out!