30 Days to Hands on Play Challenge; Day 3

Day 3: Build with blocks.

We don't have blocks in the house so we just used what we had; birthday party cups. I stacked, Bunny stacked, Bunny knocked them over, we laughed. Over and over and over. After a few tries, she figured out that they fit inside each other and it was a new game. She piled them all up then took them apart.

 Learning through play. The very best way.

30 Days to Hands on Play Challenge; Day 2

Day 2:  build a fort.

So today, we took a walk into my childhood. I remember building huge forts that spanned the length of my neighbor's basement. Chairs, blankets, tables, whatever we could find. And then we would make toast with cartoon characters pressed into it. Does anyone remember that? Ah, memories.

Today, though, we just pulled out the ottoman and draped a large blanket across the opening. Despite my crawling on the floor, Bunny had no interested in being under the blanket. The fun for her lied in jumping into it and rolling around in the open space.

And herein lies the lesson, the exact reason we are doing this challenge. She didn't play in the fort in the traditional way but there was no need for me to direct her to do so. She was having so much fun it didn't matter.

Find the joy in the everyday.

30 Days to Hands on Play Challenge;; Day 1

What is the challenge? 

To spend every day this month playing with our children:

• for at least 15 minutes a day
• without any interruptions
• trying out a new range of ideas and activities

Day 1: Spend a little bit of time thinking about this challenge. What do you hope to gain? Think about your child (or children) What do they really love doing? What are they good at? Their special interests? This will be really helpful as the challenge unfolds.

 

I know a lot of people may be doing this because life can get so busy and they want to make more time for their children but I am lucky enough to stay home every day with Bunny. We spend far more than 15 minutes a day doing activities without interruption. The sheer number of times I have read This Is Not A Pumpkin this week will vouch for that. Instead, I want to find inspiration in this challenge, as the third tab says, trying out a new range of ideas and activities.

Bunny dives into everything with arms wide open and I love that about her. It is a trait I find many people could use more of, including myself. So, in doing this challenge, I am not necessarily looking to gain anything more than the experiences.

If you are interested in doing this challenge as well, this is the link. Let me know, too, so I can see all the wonderful new things you experience with your little ones!

Happy Birthday, Bunny!

On this, her first birthday, Bunny was greeted with a flurry of balloons first thing in the morning.* Another tradition we plan to continue. We may as well have given her the sun itself. She couldn't have been more excited.

Once the initial cheering and dropping of balloons had ceased, she spent a good 15 minutes trying to pick each one up, swinging them around and laughing hysterically.

This is what makes 6:00 in the morning not only bearable, but wonderful. How could you not be happy when this face is the first thing you see?

Good morning!











* This should go without saying but since this is the internet, it won't. Obviously, with a baby, you cannot leave balloons unattended for them to wake up to. Major choking hazard.

Birthday Week; Rainbow Sprinkle Pancakes

Since this is Bunny's first birthday, we were able to start all the fun birthday traditions we wanted. We figured the best one we could do would be a fun breakfast since Bunny is such a fan of food. So I made some applesauce pancakes by following the recipe posted below. I omitted the vanilla and used GoGoSqueeze's apple banana applesauce and it turned out very well, if i do say so myself.

This process required a nice big glass of viognier because, well, my baby is about to be a year old. Is this real life?

Anyways.

I mixed the sprinkles right into the batter. Not a good idea. Maybe if I had used larger sprinkles or at least different ones, it would have been alright. These, however, just sort of melted into the mix. So I added more on top once they were in the pan, as you can see in the picture above.

 

 Still, though, you can hardly tell they're there. Note to self; Bigger sprinkles are better sprinkles.

Once they were done, I put them into a tupperware container and stuck them in the refrigerator. Simple! Here is the recipe so you can make them for your little one (or yourself)!

Ingredients (serves 6)

1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon melted butter
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups applesauce
 

Directions

 

Sift flour, salt and baking powder into a medium mixing bowl.
Combine butter, milk and egg. 

Stir into dry ingredients.  

Add vanilla (unless using flavored applesauce) and applesauce; beat well.
Spoon batter into a hot, well greased griddle.

 

Now where is that wine?

Birthday Week; Monthly Photo Banner

This is the next project I have been working on for Bunny's party. I saw similar ones on Etsy but felt like it was something I could do myself. It also ended up being a rather easy project so I thought I would share it here!

Monthly Photo Banner

Tools 

construction paper and/or scrapbook paper

thin ribbon

hole punch

pictures

shapes to trace or Cricut machine

pencil

scissors

Instructions

The first thing you will want to do is lay out all your papers in the order you want to use them in the banner. I simply made sure I didn't have two of the same thing next to each other.

The next step is getting your shapes. I printed these straight from google images and traced around them on my construction and scrapbook papers. If you have a Cricut machine and a shape you could use, you can replace this step with the simplicity of pushing buttons.

Next, glue them together. I placed the inner piece just above center to leave room for my numbers. After the pages were dry, I used a star-shaped hole punch to cut holes near the tops for ribbon.

While I did have to cut my rectangles by hand, I was lucky enough to use a Cricut for my numbers. For these, I just used construction paper in a color that didn't match the background pages. 

The next step is to add your pictures. I traced printed rectangles for these, also. After they were all attached, I glued on the corresponding numbers. If you have access to a laminating machine, this is where you would want to laminate your papers.

Lastly, use thin ribbon to the the papers together. Again, for this step, I was careful not to use the same color as either of the outside papers. Tie bows or knots, whichever is more aesthetically pleasing to you.

And there you have it! A simple banner of monthly pictures for your little one's first birthday! 

If you have any questions, please feel free to let me know! Also, if you use this tutorial, I would love to see what you come up with! Share your finished product in the comments.

Happy crafting! 

It's Birthday Week!

 

It's birthday week here at Orange Sippy Cup! That is to say my teeny, tiny baby girl is 7 days away from being a year old. Since OSC is a brand new blog, I will save the fun & prizes for everyone for next year. This year, I will just inundate you with crafty birthday things, pictures of my daughter and tales of the tears I am shedding thinking about this monumental occasion.

Since today began the countdown, we hung up our Birthday Wreath. In the future, I think I will add a brightly-colored wooden letter for whoever's birthday it is. But, for now, it's simply a rainbow assortment of balloons, ribbon and pipe cleaners.

If you want to make your own, here is what I did. These links are not sponsored, they are just to help you see the materials I actually used.

Birthday Celebration Wreath

Tools

styrofoam wreath (any size)
multicolored balloons
floral pins
pipe cleaners, ribbon, ect


Instructions

Place two different colored balloons in opposite directions on one floral pin and slide them to the end.

 

Holding the balloons in place, simply push the floral pins through the styrofoam wreath. Be cautions, though, as the pins can go completely through the styrofoam. It is very easy to stab yourself in the hand.

Continue this all the way around the wreath. This was actually the hardest part for me because I had to remind myself not to be a crazy person about what colors were next to each other. This took me just over 2 small bags of balloons.

Once you've placed your balloons all the way around the wreath, take a step back and make sure you don't have any gaps that need more balloons.

Add any decorative pieces such as pipe cleaners or ribbon using the floral pins.

 

Add a hanger. I used the same ribbon I used in the wreath, in yellow. At first, I only used the floral pins but they weren't strong enough. I tied the ribbon around the wreath, under the balloons, and secured it using floral pins.

And there you have it! A fairly simple birthday craft! This could easily be done with any color balloons to match your party decor. I considered using red, black and yellow because Audie's party theme is Mickey Mouse but since we wanted to use this more than once, I just went with something festive!

If you have any questions or snags along your wreath-making journey, feel free to let me know! I would love to help you!