Month: September 2018

In our house, free and clear laundry detergent is a must. Our toddler and I both have extremely sensitive skin. Mr. Not So Crafty does not have as sensitive of skin, but he does have asthma, so strong smelling products are out for him as well.

**We have been provided with a #freesample by Seventh Generation. The opinions expressed are all ours**

Since joining Seventh Generation’s Generation Good Program, we have gotten to try a few different products and it is always exciting to get a new package in the mail.

Seventh Generation’s Free and Clear detergent has the EPA Safer Choice certification. This means that every ingredient in the laundry packs has been reviewed by the EPA.
There are no added fragrances, dyes, or artificial brighteners. The most important question of course would be, does it work?

It works great! I used to for two loads yesterday. If you’ve never tried detergent packs, they are super easy to use. You just throw them in the washer, than put the clothes on top! The Seventh Generation packs got our clothes so clean and I’m wearing a shirt I washed right now with no problems at all for my sensitive skin! If you are looking for a new laundry detergent, this choice will not disappoint!

In our last post, we shared Ten Great Apple Books to read with your little ones. Yesterday, we did this simple paper apple that will go great with any of the books we shared!

Materials Needed

Paper Plate

Green Construction Paper

Red Construction Paper

Brown Construction Paper

Glue

Scissors

 

I started by cutting the red paper into squares. If your little one is over four, try letting them cut or tear up the paper. This activity is super simple, so it might not hold the attention of little ones over 6.

I let my toddler glue the squares onto the paper plate. We used liquid glue, but you can also use glue sticks and have your little one put on the squares one at a time. My toddler just does not have the patience for that currently!

 

After that, we put on the stem and leaf. This took about 20 minutes in total. It was an easy, but fun, little project.

 

 

If you want more apple fun, dont forget to check out the Paper Plate Apple craft!

Fall is officially here! That means it is time for everything apple in our house! We have already made a Paper Plate Apple. Today we’d like to share ten great books about apples that are perfect for little ones five and under!

**The following post contains affiliate links. We may get a small commission, at no additional cost to you, for purchases made from the links. The opinions expressed are all ours.**

Apples

Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship

Apples and Pumpkins

Peppa Goes Apple Picking

Apples, Apples Everywhere! Learning About Apple Harvests

My Little Golden Book About Johnny Appleseed

Pinkalicious: Apples, Apples, Apples!

Apples (Celebrate Fall)

Apple Picking Day!

Amelia Bedelia’s First Apple Pie

We are not a totally crunchy household, but we do worry about chemicals in things that come in close contact with our toddler. There are unfortunately chemicals in many baby products. Baby wipes are probably the most versatile product we have in our home, so we depend on them to be trustworthy and chemical free!

**We were given a free sample of Seventh Generation Free and Clear Baby wipes and were asked to provide a review. The opinion expressed is all ours and we are not being directly compensated for a positive review**

We recently joined the Generation Good Community. They occasionally send out samples and we were thrilled to receive a free sample of baby wipes. Baby wipes have so many uses, but before we get to that part of the post, we want to tell you about these amazing wipes!

 

Seventh Generation Free and Clear wipes are a new favorite in our home. Our toddler can not use things with fragrances because of her severe eczema, so these are the perfect choice. They are also free of parabens and phenoxyethanols. Most importantly, they work great! They are thicker than some other sensitive skin wipes out there. They clean very well, but didn’t bother our toddler’s skin at all. As a bonus, they are really cute!

So, these wipes clean baby butt, hands, and face wonderfully, but did you know you can use baby wipes for a variety of other things? Here is a list of our favorite other uses!

Remove stains from furniture, carpet, and clothing

Clean car windows, dashboards, and interior

Clean your walls

Clean your pet

Clean dolls and toys

We’d love to hear from you! Have you tried Seventh Generation Free and Clear wipes? (If not, you totally should!) Do you have a favorite way to use wipes around the house?

 

 

 

This little paper ant is easy and adaptable for little ones between one and five. Our toddler had a blast making it. It is a great addition to any bug unit or just a fun craft to do at home!

 

Materials Needed

• Black Construction Paper
• White Computer or Construction Paper
• Googly Eyes
• Scissors
• Glue

This art project will take about three minutes to prepare for. I simply cut out three black circles, six long black strips, and two short black strips. The ease of getting it ready makes it a perfect choice for both home and classroom! We are working on shapes, colors, and numbers in our house, so I held up a circle before we started and told her it was a black circle. The only color she can say right now is yellow, but if you have a young toddler, describing things on a daily bases is the best way to introduce new words and concepts. If the child you are working with is preschool age, let them do the cutting if there is time!

 

I let her glue the circles on the paper one by one as we counted them. Then, I handed her the legs and the antennas.

Lastly, we added googly eyes. This didn’t take long and my little one absolutely loved putting on the legs. We are not good with coordinated snacks, but if you want to be super extra, you could serve the stuffed celery “ants on a log” for snack after!

September is in full swing, which means it is time for the apple activities! Apple based activities have a special place in my heart because when I was student teaching, the very first evaluated activity I did was a name activity with a paper apple tree. Last year, we put an apple tree up in our playroom and filled it with apple crafts, but we are skipping that this year because our toddler is in the stage where if we put anything up all the wall, she just tears it right down!

Materials Needed

Paper Plate

Red Paint

Paint Brush (Optional. You can use any painting tool or hands)

Green Construction Paper

Brown Construction Paper

Glue

Scissors

This is a super easy activity that you can do with even younger children. I started by letting my toddler paint the paper plate.

 

As the paper plate was drying, I traced her hand on the green paper then cut it out. If your little one is preschool age, try letting them cut it out themselves! I cut a small rectangle out of the brown paper for the stem. Once the plate was fully dry, I just glued on the handprint “leaf” and the stem.

Last week, we read and reviewed  Thelma the Unicorn. Our toddler loves unicorns right now, so naturally, I decided we would make a unicorn to go with the book. I don’t know if it was my bad drawing skills or the fact that the toddler is teething and slightly cranky, but somehow the unicorn craft went very wrong!

 

It started out like any other craft or activity. I sat down and drew some unicorn parts. Then I cut them out and sat down the toddler to put it together. As I’ve written before, I try to offer very little guidance when it comes to gluing things down. I will keep things out of her mouth and give her parts in a certain order, but thats about it.

The assembly was a little rougher than normal. The little one wanted to lick every part and not everything I had got out got onto the paper. We got it together and I took a picture, because our little unicorn was looking gloriously hilarious.

I was certain it would look much more unicorn like with hair, but first I wanted to let it dry a bit. While it was drying, I sent the picture to a friend, who affectionally named this creature a Rhinicorn. Then Mr. Not So Crafty came home and said “that pig with a party hat is cute”. We gave it some hair and then proudly hung it up on the fridge.

 

This little imperfect unicorn means the world to us now. It is such a great reminder that we can not expect perfection from our little one. We should just let them grow and explore without putting limits on that wonderful natural creativity. In a Pintrest perfect  world, I’d love to see more Rhinicorns!

Tonight, we are departing a bit from our normal activities. The goal of this blog is to post content for the average, non perfect mom. I don’t know about you all, but there is no time that I am less perfect than when I’m on my period. Sorry dads, this post might not be of interest for you, but if it is, you are welcome to keep reading as well! Mr. Not So Crafty is a skilled feminine hygiene product buyer and it makes me fall in love with him more every time! Here are a few ways to make your time with your often unwelcome monthly visitor more tolerable.

**We received a free sample of products from Seventh Generation through the Generation Good Community. We are not being paid in monetary value for any review or social media advertising. I did love the products I was sent, so I will be talking about them. No statement made in this post should be taken as medical advice.**

Stay Hydrated

Even though you probably already feel like you are retaining water like crazy, you will feel much better if you stay well hydrated.  The more water you drink, the less water your body may feel like it needs to hang onto.

 

Exercise

It is so tempting to just curl up into a ball and not move during your period, but that is a terrible idea. Your body will appreciate some light or moderate exercise. Walking is my personal go to way to help cramps ease up a little bit.

 

Trust Your Products

Good, reliable feminine hygiene products are so important! Seventh Generation offers some amazing organic cotton, chlorine free pads, pantiliners and tampons! The prices are very affordable and the quality is amazing. If you have a fragrance sensitivity or allergy, these may be perfect for you!

 

I hope these simple tips may help make next month a little more manageable. Do you have a tip you’d like to share? Please leave it in the comments!

Our tiny toddler has a bit of a unicorn obsession. She loves my little pony toys and is obsessed with unicorn related clothing. When we saw Thelma The Unicorn by Aaron Blabey at the library, we had to bring it home!

**This post contains affiliate links. We may get a small commission, at no additional cost to you, from our links. We are not being paid for our opinion nor were asked to give it**

Thelma the Unicorn by Aaron Blabey is an adorable book about one little pony’s dream to be some one special. Thelma had always wanted to be a unicorn. When she see’s a carrot on the ground, she gets an idea!

After strapping the carrot onto her head, she shows off her horn to her best friend. In an unusual turn of events, a truck full of pink paint and glitter spills onto Thelma.

Much to her delight, Thelma is now mistaken for a real unicorn. At first, she loves all of the attention. Soon the attention gets old though and she happily returns to her life as a pony!

This book is sure to be a favorite for both children and adults! The rhyming story is very well written. The way Thelma learns to love herself is a lesson that a young child can not hear enough! The books characters are so easy to fall in love with and the illustrations are amazing.

Fall is the favorite season in our house. Once the beginning of September hits, we enter fall mode quickly. Mr. Not So Crafty will be breaking out the fall and Halloween decorations any day now and we already have several fun fall family activities planned. There are a few things we must during this time of the year that we’d like to share with you all!

Decorate 

We love to decorate for different seasons and holidays, but fall and Halloween decorations hold a special place in our hearts and in our storage room! We love to use pumpkins because they can stay up until November, but we have a lot of Halloween specific decorations too. Each year on November first, we go shopping for things on clearance! If you want to make some of your own decorations, this list is a great place to start!

 

Pick Out Costumes 

We love Halloween costumes! There is just something fun about getting to play dress up and as you get older, the opportunities to do that become pretty rare. This will be our toddlers second Halloween. Her first Halloween was a little too cold to do much adventuring, but we do hope to at least stop in at a few family members houses this year! We may find inspiration from these adorable mother and daughter costume ideas or from this list of the best costumes for little girls.

 

Enjoy Seasonal Attractions

We have so many fun places we love to visit in the fall. A pumpkin patch is a must. We live in North East Ohio and our absolute favorite fall fun spot is White House Fruit Farm. We get our pumpkin tere each year and there is just so much family fun to be had. Corn maze’s are another must do each fall. Locally, we have Maze Craze. Our last must do activity is one for just the adults. We love haunted houses! There was a time where we tried to visit four or five a year, but currently we only get to set aside a night to do one each year.

 

We hope you enjoyed reading about our fall must-do’s and would love to hear what is on your families to do list this fall!