Mio’s preschool had a special “Mom’s Day” on February 25, where mothers of the students could come about an hour earlier than the regular pickup time to spend time with their children in the classroom and see what kinds of activities they usually do, before attending the weekly Wednesday chapel that the kids go to before dismissal. I’ve always been so curious about how Mio acts in school, so it was fun to get a little peek into her life at school, and observe her in a classroom setting. My heart was warmed to see how excited she was to have me in class with her, excitedly showing me the toys and games she likes to play with!
Mio showing me an activity at preschool
She was so giddy that I could be there with her.
Can’t contain her excitement!
Mio’s class singing and moving to the “Yoga Clock” song — so cute!
Here’s Mio singing “Jesus Loves Me” on her own at chapel, but then she forgets the lyrics towards the end and gets stuck repeating the same part over and over. lol
Flint Hill Elementary School was having a holiday craft fair on December 6, so we took the girls to go check it out! The school is the elementary school that I attended growing up, so it was nostalgic to walk through its halls again, decades later and with my own young children. Our primary purpose of going was to see Santa Claus, since we had read that he was going to be making an appearance there, but sadly his visit had been cancelled. (This seems to happen often with us.) Mio was discouraged, but she got to enjoy some holiday crafting before we left:
Mio with an ornament she made.
She looks perplexed.
Decorating a pinecone ornament this time.
She was fascinated by all the older kids around her.
Carefully placing the pompoms…
“Where’s Santa? I need to tell him I want pink octopus for Christmas!”
Alas, visiting Santa would have to wait until another day…
Mio received a birdhouse kit from her friends as one of her birthday presents, and so we decided to put it together this week! She first built it by assembling the pieces with Daddy, and then painted it with me on Thursday.
Mio was pretty particular and wanted to paint each panel/surface a different color.
Leaning back to admire her creation!
The completed birdhouse!
A collaborative creation between Mio, Daddy, and Mama.
Thanks for the great gift, Kosei, Avonlea, and Smith family! π
I felt like doing something crafty this weekend, and set out to find some containers to store my makeup brushes in on my vanity. I love mason jars, but wanted to make them a little more unique by giving them some color. I found this tutorial online and decided to give it a try! It was pretty easy and a cheap project requiring few materials.
Mason jars from the craft store. They were only $1.50 each at Michaels.
In a ramekin or small mixing bowl, mix 1 tablespoon of Mod Podge with 1/2 tablespoon water, and 7-9 drops of food coloring of whatever color you want your jar to be.
Mix well with a stirring stick. I decided to try staining the jars pink and mint. For mint, I used mostly blue food coloring with a drop of green.
Pour the Mod Podge mixtures into each jar.
Swirl the mixture around in the jars to ensure that the inside surface is completely covered. Drain out excess back into the bowls/ramekins and discard. Wipe the rims of the jars clean.
Turn the jars upside down to let the excess drip out for an hour. After that, wipe the rims of the jars again, place the jars open side up on a baking sheet and place inside an oven set on warm (approx 225 degrees F). Keep in the oven for 40 minutes, and be careful when you take them out as the jars will be hot.
The stained jars out of the oven! I filled them with rice and stuck my brushes inside. I used one for smaller eye brushes, and used the other for larger face brushes.
Note that once the jars are colored using this method, you can’t use them for drinking/eating, nor put water or liquid in them or they’ll start peeling on the inside. They’re great for putting electric tea lights in for entertaining and event decorations, though, as well as for storing dry non-food items in as I did here.
Additional DIY from this past weekend: I loved these eyeshadows until they shattered during travel a while back. Saved them by re-pressing them using a few drops of rubbing alcohol, a tissue and a coin!
I’ve been on a roll with creating hair accessories for Mio, and since a few people have asked about the petal clips that she’s been wearing lately, I thought I’d write a blog post about them. I recently ordered a ZUZII petal clips DIY kit from Etsy, because the hair clips you can make with them are truly adorable, and I loved having the option to make them myself! I was particularly smitten by the colors that were provided, and the reasonable price — at $8 ($10 if you include the $2 shipping), you can create six hair clips. Hair accessories for girls can run pretty steep, and I could easily spend more than that if I were to buy all the materials myself, so I thought this was a pretty good deal.
Everything you need comes in this cute little pouch.
The materials and instructions included in the kit. So awesome that the petals are precut to their various sizes, as that would have been the most annoying and time-consuming part if you were to completely create these from scratch.
They come with the snap clips that the flowers attach to.
A couple of the petal clips in progress…
All six Zuzii petal clips, completed!
Again, I love the colors! A great mix of soft and vibrant colors — Mio will always have something to match her outfits.
I was really happy with the way they turned out! (They’re so cute that I just might sport them in my hair myself… is that allowed? :P) The instructions were really easy to follow, and because the petals were precut, it was very quick and easy to assemble and stitch the flowers and create the hair clips. The best part? When someone asks about the pretty hair clip in your little girl’s hair, you can proudly tell them, “I made it myself!”
I really recommend this kit if you have a little girl and want a fun and easy creative project, or if you want to gift it (either premade by you, or for the recipient to make themselves). The Etsy shop also has a DIY kit for barefoot sandals with the same petals, which would be precious on a newborn, for those with younger baby girls.
