Alright boys and girls! Time to get your creativity caps on and the art supplies handy, because today, we’re learning about the letter O! So many wonderful words start with the letter O, like onion, over, oven, and orange. Even common phrases we read in story books start with O, like “once upon a time.” To help us learn this letter, we’re going to do an arts & crafts project with our favorite animal that starts with O: an octopus in the ocean.

We’re going to learn how to create a toilet paper roll octopus! To get started, here’s the supplies that you’ll need:

• A toilet paper roll 
• Acrylic paint or markers
• Googly eyes
• A glue stick
• A scissors
• A black sharpie

First, start by cutting 1.5 inch long slits at the bottom of the toilet paper roll with your scissors. Then push the roll down on a flat surface, so that the slits spread out like octopus legs. Next, grab your acrylic paint and paint the outside of your octopus a bold color of your choosing. Paint the interior of the roll at the top and underneath the legs a different color for contrast. Then, use a glue stick to stick on some googly eyes or feel free to draw the eyes on with a black sharpie. 

Use a black sharpie to add a happy smile onto that octopus face, because he or she is happy to be alive and in your home! Finally, feel free to add on stickers, gems, or other decorations to your heart’s content! Don’t forget to create 3-4 of these guys so your octopus can have some friends.

These octopuses are taking over the world of Pinterest right now, as parents are starting to get exponentially more creative with keeping their kids stimulated at home. See the photo of Holly Homer’s toilet paper roll octopus to catch a glimpse of the potential here!

Lastly, we’ve created a coloring book illustration of an octopus in his natural habitat. Octopuses are fascinating creatures with three hearts, high intelligence, and the capability to camouflage themselves by changing color. Feel free to print out copies and invite your kids to color this scene! 

Know any other fun preschool activities that start with the letter O? Feel free to share them with us in the comments below!

The letter “P” starts plenty of words that provide perfect activities for your preschool child! Especially these days, when children are home from school, parents are looking for low maintenance, easy to set up activities. This one is great for staying inside on a rainy day, keeping your kids entertained for a bit, and enjoying a fun final product that they can keep!

Additional Letters

• Letter O Activities for Preschool
• Letter Q Activities for Preschool

Today we will be learning how to make your own puzzle!

All you need for this project is to download and print the picture below! You’ll need a pair of scissors, some markers, crayons, or colored pencils, and one imaginative child. 

Start by having them color a picture on the puzzle image below, anything that they like! Once they’ve completed their masterpiece, either you or your child can carefully cut out the puzzle pieces, mix them up, and try to put the picture together again like a puzzle. 

If you have two kids, all the better! Have each of them make a puzzle, cut it out, and then swap them so the activity lasts even longer. To make it a little bit harder (or buy yourself a few extra minutes of quiet, entertained kids) you could even mix the multiple puzzles together and have your kids try to put their puzzles back together from the one pile.

Some puzzle ideas:

• Draw your favorite animal.
• Draw your favorite food.
• Draw your family.
• Draw your house.
• Draw their favorite movie character.
• Draw their favorite thing to do.

Parents are always looking for new activities for their kids to do, especially when they’re stuck inside! These projects give you double the value since the activity is to create an activity! Your preschooler will be able to create their own puzzle and then put it together, again and again, giving them further entertainment while you take care of whatever you need to do.

Moms know hosting a gathering can be an a stressful event. From the prep work, to the actually event, to the cleanup—It’s quite the undertaking. Despite this, many moms host a variety of events for friends and family, like a kid’s birthday party, Christmas, or a summer BBQ. Although you can host a knock out party just about anywhere in the U.S., are some cities better equipped to host than others? What makes a city top-notch for having company?

A recent study found the best U.S. cities for hosting, according to a variety of ranking factors that would make for an ideal hosting experience, from home amenities, hospitable rentals, and event planning resources. In total, 100 cities were analyzed across 16 ranking factors, including catering costs, home square footage, on-street parking, surrounding Airbnb rental availability, internet speeds, crime rates, grocery costs, and more!

According to the study, Charleston, South Carolina is the best U.S. city for hosting an event. With a score of 79,3, the Southern city boasted affordable groceries, a surplus of Superhost and Airbnb Plus rentals for guests, and more. Daytona Beach, Florida (78.8); Fort Myers, Florida (77.1); Greenville, South Carolina, Orlando, Florida (76.7, tie); and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (73.3) round out the top five positions.

“From a surplus of Superhost and Airbnb Plus rentals to groceries priced below the national average cost, Charleston is where rich culture meets southern hospitality – it’s a way of life,” said the company. “As one of the oldest cities in the U.S., Charleston’s history can be felt and seen in any home. Whether you find a gorgeous Federal style home or Victorian single, many homes throughout the city will charm you and your houseguests.”

For a complete list of cities, check out the list.

“Qq” is a hard one… there are not a ton of things that start with the letter Q.  There is Queen of course, but since we had just done K is for King I didn’t want to go there.  So instead, we did Q is for “Quack!”  It ended up being a lot of fun!

Additional Letters

• Letter P Activities for Preschool
• Letter R Activities for Preschool

During circle time we reviewed our numbers, letters, and letter sounds.  Then we introduced the letter Q by singing “Five Little ducks Went Out to Play.”

Five little ducks went out to play
Over the hills and far away
When old mother duck said, “Quack, quack, quack”
Four little ducks came waddling back

Repeat and count down to one

One little duck went out to play
Over the hills and far away
When old mother duck said, “Quack, quack, quack”
No little ducks came waddling back
But when old Father duck said, “quack, quack, quack, quack, quack!!!!!”
All five ducks came waddling back! 

We made theses cute little paper plate ducks.  The ducks stand up on their own but can also lay flat and slide right into a page protector in their alphabet binders we have been working on.

SUPPLIES:
1 paper plate
yellow paint (or yellow crayon)
orange and yellow construction paper
glue
2 googley eyes

1.  Let the kids paint or color the paper plate yellow.  When the plate is dry fold it in half.
2.  While it is drying, fold a piece of yellow construction paper in half.  Help them trace their hand on the yellow paper.  Having them trace their own hand or their friends hand is a great fine motor activity for little guys!  Plus, they love doing it!
3.  Cut out the traced hands out and make a circle for the ducks head with the left over yellow paper.  Make a beak and duck feet with the orange construction paper.  You want to keep the duck feet connected with a 3 to 4 inch thin rectangle.  Fold in half along the thin rectangle connecting the feet.
4.  Glue the feet to the bottom of the open plate, putting one foot on each side.  Glue on the head, beak, and eyes.  Use the cut out handprints for the ducks tail feathers byt gluing one hand to each side of the paper plate.

We also painted with Q-tips.  The kids had fun with this and thought it was great to paint with something other than a paint brush or their fingers.  The pictures turned out pretty cute.  I glued a couple Q-tips to the paper so the kids would remember what they did when they look back at their picture in their alphabet books.

I recently went to a birthday party and my friend made this cake for her son! She had an amazing 3rd Birthday Cake Idea and I wanted to share it.

Talk about AH-MAZ-ING.  So creative.  I was asking her about it and she said it would seem that the M&Ms would have taken a long time, but they only took her about an hour!

This is what she said she did:

• Take two bunt pans and bake your desired flavor of cake – you could even make two different kinds.
• Cut the two cakes so they become the 3 shape (obviously, you can test this by cutting a little at the time).
• Flatten out the two parts where they attach (she said to put a little frosting where they attach so they stick better).
• Ice the whole cake with chocolate icing
• Pattern the M&M’s like the picture above.

And you did it…. righhhhhhht.  I do think this cake is simple if you pay close attention to detail by taking your time.  Here’s the sweet birthday boy blowing out his candles:

She also had something else cute at the party that I would share.  Each child had pizza to eat and one of these snack bags:

Such a fun and creative party!  I might have to steal some of these ideas!  Happy party planning!

For other party ideas:
Ella’s 3rd Pancake and Pajama Birthday Party
1st Birthday Party Ideas
Cupcake Cake Idea
Lion Birthday Party
Super Hero Birthday Party 

Other bundt pan ideas:
 Too Much Chocolate Cake
Popcorn Cake 
Cream Cheese Monkey Bread

Celebrating birthdays with your child or children is only going to get more and more fun over the years. Why? With each birthday and corresponding age, your child is developing their likes, dislikes, opinions, and it’s easier to shower them with events and excitement. They even understand the specialness of a birthday at this point. 

What Makes a 7th So Special

Let’s talk about age seven. The number itself is usually really special – seven is one of those mystical numbers in fairy tales, stories, movies, and lore. It’s also the age when your child is probably making the jump from preschool to grade school. That’s, for sure, something to celebrate, right? 

At this point, the parties are generally longer than an hour or an hour and a half. Guests are often playmates from school, activities, or neighborhood friends. If your little one is celebrating their seventh birthday at school, there’s never a wrong time to bring in cupcakes! 

For your celebration, consider making your child’s seventh birthday party special by planning significant gifts which support the theme of a special seventh. 

1. Something they want

A great gift is usually something special an individual wants. It’s pleasantly frivolous, typically a toy or an outrageous outfit, accessory, or otherwise. 

2. Something they need

Did your 7-year-old recently outgrow their soccer cleats and uniform? Did they start a sport you could outfit them in? Gifting your child something they need is a great way to build gratitude, and show them they’ve got the gear to do what it takes for a sport, hobby, or interest. 

3. Something to read

Is there some book series, set, or universe you can help introduce your child to with books? Or, alternatively, if they’re interested in puzzles, a game-book is a good route to go. 

4. Something to watch

This one can run the gamut from a video game to a video, a movie to a TV show series. It could be an app you purchase that helps your child learn something, or it could be a more interactive show than the ones running live on streaming services or cable. 

5. Something they can wear

Whether they’re gifted a party outfit or a new pair of light-up sketchers, something to wear is a great gift for your seven-year-old. Having a new outfit for their party or celebration could be exciting, but it could also be exciting for them to have that pair of sneakers that are just a little too expensive for everyday wear or a costume of their favorite movie character.

6. Something to play with

Toys are also in the categories of something they want and something to watch, but something to play with is always memorable. Gift sets of ponies, play gardening gear, hot wheels, and more are the type of gifts your seven-year-old will love. Pick a set based on their budding interests.

7. Something to remember 

At age seven, I received my first cross necklace. It was a special gift and signified a new age of independence, guided by my values and ideas. With that in mind, gifting your child something to remember —  whether it’s an important accessory like a necklace or watch, or instead an event like Monster Jam or Frozen on Ice — is the ultimate way to make an experience a magical memory.

Small Business Saturday encourages holiday shoppers like me to shop small in the wake of big commercial holidays, offering a brick-and-mortar counterpart to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It makes shopping for presents for the kids a way to support your community.

If you’ve ever wanted to support a small business with more than just your dollar, you’re not alone. A new survey found that many Americans had childhood dream jobs that would lend themselves perfectly to a small business structure, whether it’s a ghost hunting business, an ice cream truck driver, or a tornado chaser! Big business doesn’t always leave room for the types of big dreams that we hear about from our kids. Unless, of course, they like pretending to work for Apple or Amazon!

According to the study, nearly 60% of people said they still think about their dream job occasionally or often. One small business owner said when they were a kid, they wanted to be a chimpanzee caretaker! The job market for babysitting monkeys isn’t the easiest to get into. Although sometimes I feel like that’s my job as a mom!

As parents, many of us ask our kids, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Deputy’s research confirmed what I would have suspected — a professional athlete, famous actor, and legendary musician were some of the most popular answers. In actuality, those surveyed grew up to become a history teacher, a salesman, and a deacon, respectively! This is the story for many of us, but it’s not too late to support someone else’s dreams or go after your own.

According to the insights, two-thirds of people said they don’t think it’s too late to chase their dreams and that their dream has changed since they were younger. This is where the rubber meets the road in the aspiration of becoming a small business owner. Many were able to pursue their entrepreneurial endeavors only after gaining experience working for someone else. 

For some, owning a business is the dream — and for others, it’s being a mom. Whatever the job may be, participating in Small Business Saturday might at the very least be a  great way to off Thanksgiving dinner. More importantly, it supports the dreams that came true for many of owning a small business that serves its community. Don’t forget to mark Nov 26, 2022, and shop at any nearby stores as you collect your early Christmas presents. You never know— Santa himself may have started off wanting to be a small toy shop owner!

So I had a major accident in the driveway after one of my painting projects.  Danny was out of town and I was trying to finish a project in the garage during random snippets of time that I could occupy the kiddos elsewhere.  Of course I was rushing…

I spilled a big puddle of oil based primer right on our new brick pavers in the driveway.  So sad.  I googled and googled and all the ehow’s and the ask.com’s said it was impossible to completely remove.  They said to try paint stripper, but that it probably wouldn’t work and would just damage the brick.  Other’s suggested power washing or sand blasting.

I was desperate to clean it and tried scrubbing with the paint stripper three different times.  Nothing.  I kept scouring the internet and everything I read talked about the stone being too porous.

Use Vinegar to Remove Paint From Brick

Finally I found a random comment on a post along ways down on some website saying that he had used plain distilled vinegar to get the paint residue off from in between the bricks of his fireplace.  

Vinegar is often effective at removing paint from bricks. For best results you’ll need to soak the painted surface in vinegar and then scrub the surface. Depending on the type of brick or paver that you have, be careful to not scrub too hard as it can damage the brick.

I had vinegar on hand so I figured I might as well give it a try.

I basically poured the vinegar into a bucket, soaked it up with steel wool and scrubbed with some rubber gloves on.  A good 20 minutes of scrubbing took it right off!  Seriously, Danny didn’t even notice and will have no idea unless he reads this post. 🙂

This post is for those poor souls who think there is nothing they can do after spilling paint on their stone or brick!  Vinegar!  Who knew!?!?!

My mom has been making some adjustments to her garden lately.  She asked us to make a hand or foot print stepping stone for each of her grandchildren to put in her garden.

These turned out so cute that I had to post about them!  They are relatively simple to make and are really sturdy.

You can buy the kit on amazon.  It will come with everything you need except the bucket to mix it in.

All you do is mix the cement with 3 cups of water and stir it up.  Then, pour it into the mold from you kit and wait about 30 minutes.  Then you can decorate with the rocks, letter prints, or anything you want.

I made three of these (one for each of my boys) and learned a few tricks as I went.

First, after you have let it sit for 30 minutes, if you can see water pooled on the top you need to soak it up with a paper towel and wait another 15 minutes before trying to make a mold of your hand or anything else.  If you dont wait, the hand print will fill with the water and you will have to make your print all over again.

Second, don’t put your stone in the sun to dry.  Leave it somewhere it can sit for at least 48hrs at room temperature.  You want it to dry slowly.  If it dries too fast it will crack.

Finally, once it is done and has dried for at least 48 hrs you can clean it off (I used an old toothbrush to polish it up) and take it out of its mold.

Okay so I am picking out things for the new house and came across this very reasonably priced handmade natural fiber jute rug.  It looked perfect under my dining rom table… until my dog got sick and puked on it.  Did you know it is IMPOSSIBLE to clean a jute rug???  I didn’t, but found out very quickly!

Mistake number 1 was using carpet cleaner on it.  This just bleached the rug and made it worse.  Sadly, even using a too much water can discolor a jute rug.

So the rug was ruined and I had a chance to experiment with it.  I have heard of other people painting rugs and started googling.  I found a lot of good blog posts online where people updated there jute or sisal rugs by painting them..  Apparently it is pretty easy to paint a rug!  It also looks great!  I used the site jimmychoosonthetreadmill.com for my motivation.  I also like this rug painting post on natalme.com.

So easy!  The only supplies your really need are some foam bushes, a gallon of regular latex paint, and some painters tape.  I painted mine right in the house after the kids went to bed.  I just put a tarp underneath it.  This rug has a thick plastic bottom and didn’t even soak through to the tarp, but the tarp made me feel better just in case.

I decided on a Chevron pattern and made a triangle from construction paper to make sure the chevron strips were exact.  Then I outlined the triangle back and forth with painters tape.

After I had the design all mapped out on my rug, I painted! I used a soft foam brush and regular indoor latex paint, just like you would use to paint your walls.  Make sure to get a pack of foam brushes as I went through 3 or 4 on this project.

Can You Spray Paint a Jute Rug?

Personally, I decided not to use Spray Paint on my Jute Rug.  There is nothing that would limit you from doing so but I feel it would leave too shinny a finish.  Instead I used regular latex pain.  I got the paint from Walmart.  Did you know that they have pre mixed colors for 50 – 75% off?  It is hit or miss on what colors they have available, but I was happy to find this shade of grey for $4.

I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on this project since it was my first time painting a rug and I wasn’t sure of the outcome.  I am now ready to admit that I like the rug even better than before!  Considering I bought a $4 gallon of paint and a $4 roll of painters tape, I basically redesigned this rug fabulously for less than $10.

After the paint is dry, peel up your painters tape to see the masterpiece!

Guests come over and are shocked when I tell them the rug didn’t come this way.  It looks great and I feel so talented! ha! I might even want to try this out on another rug!

Some of the other posts I found on this told me to sand my rug with an electric sander when it was done to take away the crispiness the paint can leave.  I did not do this since this is a jute rug and it already has a tough texture anyway.  I can see how this would be a necessary step on a smoother, less textured rug.