Confessions of a Not So Crafty Momma.

Halloween is less than two weeks away and we have been slacking big time on the Halloween crafts! Today, we want to share a simple and mess free black cat!

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Materials Needed

• Construction Paper (We used two pieces of white, black, and pink)
• Glue
• Scissors
• Black Paint
• Plastic Sandwich Bag
• Googly Eyes

I started by slightly folding one piece of white paper so it would fit into the sandwich bag. Next, I put paint on the paper and slid it into the bag. After that, I gave it to my toddler so she could spread around the paint. We use this method of painting often because there is no mess to clean up!

This painting took awhile to dry. While it dried, I cut out two triangles and several long rectangles from the black construction paper. I also cut out two pink triangles slightly smaller than the black triangles and one more small pink triangle. Once the painting was completely dry, I cut out around the outline of the painted area.

Next, I helped my toddler glue the cat’s head onto the other piece of white paper. After that, she glued on the eyes, ears, nose, and whiskers. When we do art projects, I always try to offer as little guidance as possible.

The end result is an adorable black cat that won’t leave you cleaning up paint!

Book Suggestions

Little learners often learn the best when you pair up a book and a craft or activity! All of these books are under $10.

If you like this craft, please take a moment to share it!

Even though our family won’t be heading to Disney until next October, we are in full Disney planning mode. Over the years, the amount of planning required for a Disney trip has increased. Today, we want to share some tips for planning a trip to Walt Disney World.

If you are staying on property, you can make your FastPass selections 60 days before your arrival. If you are staying off property, it is 30 days. Make sure you log on as soon as you can to pick your FastPasses! The FastPasses for newer and popular attractions go very fast, so if you wait too long, you may miss out!

If you are staying on property, you can also take advantage of Extra Magic Hours. These give you the ability to be able to enter parks early or to stay late. Make sure to look at the Extra Magic Hours schedule before planning which park to visit each day. This may give you the chance to ride some of the more popular rides with shorter wait times!

There is so much to do in the Parks, but Disney magic can also be found outside of the parks as well. Plan some time to visit Disney Springs as well as some of the Disney resorts. You will find some amazing resturants and shopping by taking even four hours away from the parks to explore. It is also a way to take a bit of a break from all of the overstimulation of the parks.

Don’t forget to plan out your dining. We always take time to figure out which quick service restaurants we want to eat at and where they are, so that we do not waste park time figuring it out. You can make advanced dining reservations for table service restaurants up to 180 days in advance. By making reservations as far out as possible, you have the best chance of getting the reservations you want. There are often day of reservations available, but if you have your heart set on a certain resturant, then you may not want to take that chance.

If parades and shows are important to you, make sure you look at the entertainment schedule for each day while you are planning FastPasses and dining reservations. You can find this information on the My Disney Experience app. If these things are not important to you, consider looking up the times anyway because wait times are often less when everyone else is waiting to see a parade or castle show!

Several stores sell Disney gift cards at a discount. We buy ours at Sam’s Club, but if you have a Target Card, you can also use that to purchase them at a discount. We buy a gift card when we have extra money in our weekly budget and that is how we pay for our trip. Disney gift cards can be used to pay for your resort stay, meals, souvenirs, and park tickets, so they will not go to waste!

We find planning each day at Disney to be super helpful, but don’t forget to leave some wiggle room in each day. You don’t want to over plan yourself and miss out on the spontaneous magic Disney World has to offer.

We hope that these tips will help you feel like an expert Disney trip planner! We would love to hear from you! How many Disney World vacations have you planned? What is your favorite part of the planning process?

Fall weather is finally starting to make an appearance in Ohio. To celebrate, we created a multi-media fall art project. This easy art was a lot of fun for us to do together at home, but it could also be used in a classroom setting.

Materials Needed

• White Paper
• Brown Construction Paper
• Paint (We used orange, yellow, red and brown)
• Scissors
• Glue
• Cotton Swabs

I started by getting the paint out and ready to use. I put a cotton swab in each paint color. Next, I cut out a tree trunk like shape along with several different sized rectangles from the brown paper.

Once my toddler sat down, I have her the tree trunk to glue onto her paper. Next, I helped her put glue onto the rectangles and told her to build a tree. I tried to offer very little guidance as to where she should place the trees “branches”. I always like to encourage her creativity.

After my toddler put together her tree, I gave her the paint. I used a cotton swab to put a few dots on one of the branches, but other than that, let her decide where on the paper she wanted to paint.

This art project did get a bit messy, but it was a lot of fun!

Halloween will be here soon! It is a favorite in our house. If you are as excited as we are, you may be busy planning a child friendly Halloween party right now. Today, we want to talk about some things that every wonderful Halloween party needs!

To stay true to the spirit of Halloween, you will want to serve some fun and slightly creepy themed foods!

• Mini Ghost Pizzas
• 5 Minute Spider Snack
• Creepy Brain Pasta
• Halloween Egg Salad
• Carved “Pumpkins” Orange Bell Peppers

It is not a party without some sugary fun! We suggest balancing out all that sugar with a few healthy options as well.

• Witch Hat Cupcakes
• Easy Halloween Popcorn
• No Bake Halloween Boston Cream Moon Pie
• Grapenstein Cups
• Halloween Spooky Marshmallow Witches
• Spider Cupcakes
• Mickey Mouse Pumpkin Patch Cookies

Drinks are often an afterthought when planning a party. These drinks will help you avoid making that mistake.

• Melting Witch Green Halloween Punch
• Mummy Water Bottles
• Candy Corn Punch

When it comes to decorations, less is often more. You want enough decorations to put your guests in the mood for a Halloween party, but not so many that they are in the way.

• Easy Bat Garland
• Easy Pumpkin Garland
• Dollar Store Halloween Door Hanger
• White Holographic Glitter Pumpkin
• Upcycled Jar Jack O’ Lantern
• Easy DIY Bling Pumpkin
• DIY Glow in The Dark Window Clings

Little ones do not enjoy simply socializing as much as adults do. You can keep them busy with a few games, activities, or crafts!

• DIY Halloween Hats
• Hidden Ghost Halloween Painting
• Halloween Oobleck
• Easy Colored Spaghetti & Eyeball Halloween Sensory Bin
• DIY Felt Frankenstein Mask
• Pumpkin Faces Fridge Magnets
• Pumpkin Ring Toss Game
• Spider Web Obstacle Course

Don’t forget to send your guests home with a tiny bit of fun to go with the memories they make at your party.

• Halloween Treat Tag Printables
• Halloween Coffin Favor Boxes
• Paper Roll Ghosts
• Halloween Treat Bags
• Scarecrow Treat Bags

We would love to hear from you! Are you planning a Halloween party this year? What other Halloween festivities are you excited about?