DIY Busy Box for Toddlers

Hey there!

Remember last week how I shared this awesome DIY busy box activity?  Well, I've got a real doozy for you today...my version of a busy box.  It's super complex easy...no really, check it out:

Amazing right?  And how sweet is H-Dawg for modeling this for me?

I think it's especially nice for long car trips as your kiddos can stick the magnets to the inside of the lunch box and then it makes for pretty easy clean up too.  You can also use a cookie sheet for displaying the letters OR use a muffin tin and sort by shape or color.  Really, the possibilities are endless!

Now, I know you all are way more talented and have better DIY ideas to bring to the table, so share away in the link-up below!  Can't wait to see what you have up your sleeves!

Ethan's Matching Cards // A Toddler Activity

Several weeks ago, a group of mama bloggers decided that with all of our kiddos going back to school {or daycare} and many of us welcoming another baby into the mix, that now would be a good time for a fun exchange.  The concept?  Busy boxes that have a great learning element...but perhaps more importantly, serve as an even better distraction!  Can we say, win-win?

The sweeter than sweet Sara and Mac {and don't forget baby Mim} sent us the most adorable matching cards from Ethan's favorite book, Brown Bear Brown Bear. 

These are great!  First, Ethan LOVES making noises for all of the animals.

Second, because each animal is a different color, it helps us with our colors.

And of course, it's great to coordinate the animal heads and "tails".

I foresee lots of busy afternoons spent matching up his favorite animals.

And what's even cuter...Sara also included a second matching game, but this time, with pictures of Ethan!  I mean how cute is this??  Ethan was having a ball marveling over all of his photos and I can already "picture" lots of fun ahead!

  Sara will be putting a tutorial together next week...but you can see that it doesn't take too much to come up with a fun toddler activity that spurs creativity.  

You can check out the rest of our busy box concepts at the following blogs:

Erinn at Strawberry Swing and Other Things

Colleen at Meet the Sullivans

Emily at Dear Owen

Julia at My Life in Transition

Natalie at Nat Your Average Gal

Julie at The Girl in the Red Shoes

Michelle at Ten June {see the busy box I "made" here!}

Vanessa at Sunflower State of Mind

Sara at Running from the Law

And now you can join in on the fun!  We're inviting all of you to come up with your ideas and share them back here next Tuesday.  It can be a past or present project...can't wait to see what you come up with!

xo natasha

And don't forget, you can win some adorable invitations or prints here!

Ethan's Admirers

Ethan got so spoiled with love across the country this past Valentine's Day.  A group of us bloggers agreed to putting together a handmade Valentine exchange and it was so fun getting the mail each day to find a new surprise.

The kiddos that participated were: 

Ashlynn and Kenley at Strawberry Swing and Other Things

Hudson at The Girl in the Red Shoes

Blair at Nat Your Average Girl

Harper at Veronika's Blushing

Lex at Hello Erin

Owen and Claire at Dear Owen

Owen at Meet the Sullivans

Arden at Sunflower State of Mind

Sofia at Hello Newlywed Life

Caroline and Carson at Hello Happiness

Mac at Running from the Law

It was especially nice getting a little gift from fellow mama, Emily of Dear Owen!  This personalized mug with Ethan's cute "mug" on it will be my new favorite way to enjoy my morning latte.

And totally unrelated to the blog swap, but my sweet friend Darcy dropped by my work on Valentine's Day and brought me flowers, a cute Minted card and a balloon for Ethan.  She said that they choose one friend each year to surprise and this year it was me!  Such a sweet idea and made me feel so special!  :)

On top of all of the love, hubby and I got to celebrate by going to dinner and a movie on Friday night...which is such a treat these days!  ;)

I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day!

xo natasha

PS...the winner for our winter giveaway was announced...was it you?!

Valentine Cards for the Littles

I can hardly believe Valentine's Day is almost a week away.  This year seems to by flying already!  

Ethan and I had fun putting together some Valentine's for some special friends over the weekend and I wanted to share them with you today.

Many of you know I am not a huge DIY'er, so this cute little kit from Target seemed like a good compromise.  It was only $5 and after we got started, it was fun to get creative!

I like some of the more simple ones the best...don't you??

And for those that either don't have the time to DIY or simply prefer the store bought kind, you must check out Minted's cute classroom selection.  These are some of my favorites:

Tiny Hearts

Just My Type

Happy Botanicals

You're Purrfect

Spot On

You can see all of them here.  It sure beats the old drugstore kind that we used to buy, doesn't it!?

Did you make Valentine's this year?  Share your link with us in the comments below.

xo natasha

DIY Yarn Pom Poms

I decided my mantel needed a little extra something and I've been eying those sweet yarn pom pom garlands online for quite some time!  I was surprised to find out that they are relatively easy {and fun!} to make. 

All you need is some yarn of your choice color, some sharp scissors, fishing line or thread {I used red in the above photo}, a needle to thread the pom poms and some agile fingers!

Start out by wrapping the yarn around your three fingers.

Continue wrapping until you have desired fullness.  I counted about 75 times to make sure my poms were "around" the same size.

From here, you want to cut a separate six inch piece of yarn and slide it in between your pointer and middle finger.  After a couple rounds, I found it's actually easier to insert the piece of yarn between your fingers BEFORE you start the winding process.  It makes it much easier!

Tie the yarn together in the middle and flip it over to tie again in a double knot.  Leave these two pieces long so you have something to hold while you snip the ends.  You'll then snip all the loops.

You'll get a pom on the left that is super shaggy {but cute!}.  Some people prefer this look, but I wanted something a bit more refined.  Go ahead and start clipping until you get the look and shape you desire.

You can honestly drive yourself crazy {and I did!} trying to get a perfectly round pom.  I give mad props to those that have figured out a way...and think they're well worth the price of paying a pro for a well-made pom pom garland!

But I had fun with this project and found there are several ways to use these darling poms...

As a cute accent on a gift...

or a cute garland!  I think I can reuse this for Valentine's Day too!  ;)

And just for fun...

I think our living room has officially been transformed to a winter wonderland!  ;)

Now it's time to link up your holiday craft!  Hop on over to Michaela Noelle Designs or Hi Sugarplum to show off your craft and check out some of the other festive ideas!

Don't forget to get your tree ready and link up your tree this Thursday!!

And before I sign off...CONGRATS to Alina Conn for winning the Southern Spruce printable!

xo natasha

{DIY} Closet Barn Doors

If you've been following along on our house updates, then you know that we bought our house about four years ago and completely renovated the interior {the exterior is still a work in progress!}.  The one thing that we hadn't done was come up with a closet door solution in the entryway and hallway.  

I didn't want traditional closet doors because then we would only be able to access half of the closet each time, and especially since our washer and dryer are in the hallway, that would make things difficult.  And I'm not a fan of accordion doors.  I considered fabric curtains, but just wasn't sure that was the look I wanted.  

I LOVE barn doors and they would be super functional in the entryway and hallway since they can slide open and then slide shut.  However, in doing some quick research, we realized that barn doors and the hardware can get pricey really fast.  

Enter the handy husband!

He realized that we could take two traditional doors {that match the rest of the doors in our house} and simply bolt them together.  And as a bonus, we found a reasonably priced hanging kit.  I was planning to add some fun hardware on the front, but now I like the look of the clean door front.  What do you think?

I especially love the way they look when they slide open...totally unobtrusive!

I even went ahead and added a mounted coat rack to complete the entryway:

Jean Jacket {similar} | Hat | Scarf {similar}

Now...we still need to do the hallway doors...that's next on the list!  

I'm so happy with how this turned out and grateful that I have a husband who can tackle projects like this.  Thank goodness for handy husbands!!  ;)

xo natasha