With SPRING it brings a lot of allergies, but also GREAT WEATHER! I've been trying my best to get the kids outdoors. I've been reading about all the benefits of bringing in mother nature, walking outside barefoot, how it helps you mentally and even physically. I remember seeing this adorable and creative idea to do with the kids. All I did was cut out the shape of flowers on a cardboard box. I used some shipping tape for the back of the cardboard, so that we can stick all the things we FIND to it and make a beautiful work of art.
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When I first started looking into this craft of making polymer clay jewelry, I was a little overwhelmed at first. IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY. I tend to do that to myself quite often though. I watch quite a bit of YouTube video's on how to, in hopes to avoid mistakes. Everyone has their own experience, and through mine, these are the items I cannot work without when making jewelry. What I love about polymer clay earrings, is that they are so lightweight. You can rock some beautiful & large statement earrings without that heavy weight, which can be painful!
You'll notice that the clay will come in a block form. Please be sure to cut it up first with a blade before running it through your clay conditioning machine. If you don't do that, you can risk breaking your conditioning machine and you don't want to do that. In order for your clay to bake well, be sure that your clay is well conditioned. The brand I have are sculypey, they come with 3 of them. I'm using this EVERY TIME i make something with clay. These are the blade I use to cut up my clay before I run it through the conditioning machine. So the popular brand by far, seems to be Sculpey PREMO and Sculpey SOUFFLE. I have also used craftsmart, a smaller / cheaper brand in the Polymer Clay community, but I do like it as well. I must say that the quality with the PREMO and SOUFFLE are better, but they really are limited to colors that are available (it's always sold out) What I usually do is check my local craftstores (Michael's & Joann's are the ones nearby) and I regularly check the Michael's website. There are many more colors available online. Acrylic surfaces work well, I've also used parchment paper. One thing I ran into was that the clay would stick to the cutters, thus ruining the piece I just made. I went to ross, and found a really cute granite charcuterie board, and I LOVE IT. Always remember to work on a clean surface for the best results. You won't find much of a selection at your local craft store, and I would recommend getting clay specific cutters. You can find a large variety of them on Etsy. You could also use small clay cutters as well.
6.) Small Drill
The popular brand to use is a dremel. I got a small drill at Harbor Freight. Seems to be getting the job done so far. I have been told that compared to the dremel, the one I have vibrates way too much. I may look into investing in a dremel soon! Without a drill, it would make it difficult to make holes in the jewelry. 7.) Jewelry Findings There are so many great options at your local craft store, but even more on Etsy.
I'm getting so excited for our trip to Disney World. This is going to be our 2nd time to Disney World. It's been 11 years since our last trip there. Our last time there was when we had one child, (she was 5 at the time!) Now we have five children ranging from 1 year, 3 years, 6 years, 9 years and 15 years old. There will also be less adults than our first trip to Disney World, so this will be quite a challenge. Being prepared is SO important, so I've put together a list of items I will have in my Disney Day Back Pack. That's right, BACKPACK! I will need both hands free.
6.) Extra Hair Ties
7.) Sunscreen 8.) External Battery Charger 9.) Small First Aid 10.) Water proof case for phone Traveling to the snow is so much fun! Our family likes to travel to the snow at least a couple times during the winter season. I like to share with others the things that our family has found quite helpful. I actually just found out about hand warmers from my cousin at our most recent trip to the snow. Here is a list of items to bring with you 1. CHAINS - If your car doesn't have AWD, please be sure to have chains ready. You don't want to be stuck without them if you need it. 2. JUMP STARTERS FOR CARS - Self Jump Starter cause you just never know! We've actually gotten stuck on a beach once. After that I just don't take any chances. 3. WALKIE TALKIE - Every time we go up to the mountains where the altitude is high our reception is TERRIBLE. We cannot make or receive any phone calls. This will keep you safe, and also free of frustration when you are trying to get a hold of someone who is far from you. 4. INSTANT HAND WARMERS - WOW! I honestly had no idea these things existed, and I get very cold very easily. My hands go numb! I found myself holding onto these and they instantly brought me back to a state of comfort. 5. BOOT STRAPS - If you find yourself sledding, or even simply walking through snow, if your pants lift it allows all the snow to fall right into your boot! This will leave you with freezing cold feed and wet socks. Get these for prevention. It's an inexpensive fix that will keep you nice and warm in the snow. 6. SNOW TOYS - We usually take a day trip to the snow park, and there we set up a spot where we make a snow man and make things. 7. SNOW MAN ACCESSORIES - You can easily make a snow man with the items you find, twigs, pine cones, etc. But this little packet is adorable and really gives off the finish touches of the perfect snow man. 8. PORTABLE POTTY - Your own Portable Potty at any park is necessary. Especially if you are staying the day there. You won't have access to any actual bathrooms. Save yourself the torture of using a public port-a-potty and buy this necessity! 9. THERMAL (UNDER) WEAR - The clothing you get is important. If you want to stay warm I'd recommend getting the thing thermal wear to wear under some comfortable clothes. I dress myself and the kids in some warm. Do not overdress, just remember they'll be wearing their waterproof snow gear on top of their clothes. I get snow bibs like these for the kids. No snow down the pants, and everyone is happy. 10. BEANIES & GLOVES - Don't forget a beanie and some gloves. Remember that everything must be waterproof! Knitted mittens are nice for a stroll to the park, but not a trip to the snow. Keep 11. SUNSCREEN - Sometimes the last thing you think of is the sun when you're traveling to the snow. You can get even worse sunburn because the sun reflects off of the bright white snow.
We had a fun little get away to Arnold, CA. This is a town about 2 hours from where we live. I'd have to say that is one of the perks of living in California. It's one of the few places where you can be a couple hours away from a beach, and a couple hours away from snow. I discovered this place when trying to find a place to go for just Snow Play. This is called Spicer Snow Park. We didn't need any ski slopes or resort, just a snow area to play where there are little hills to slide down with, with sleds. This was our second time there, and totally worth it. They have cabins in the area, but since it is a pretty close drive for us, we just made it a day trip. We pack a small bbq and food to cook, along with some chairs and drinks to enjoy our time there. It was so sunny, and we even got to experience some snow while we were there. It was absolutely THE PERFECT day to go to the snow.
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1.) Sippy Cups / Non-Spill Cups
These are things that I used to ALWAYS forget, but every time I am out I WISH that I had some (even for the big kids!) I've been through so many spill accidents, that I've finally learned my lesson that this is a MUST HAVE for any travel, long or short. If you don't want a spill, or a whiney child in the backseat, don't forget this. I found that I favor the simple cups with the least attachments. Anything that comes apart or has a separate straw, are not my friend! Straws some how go MIA, then when I get fed up with cups with no covers or straws, I get rid of it, only to find the MIA piece weeks later. I really like the Here are a couple of my favorite which I'd recommend:
2.) Busy Book / Activities
They sell plenty of these whether you look on Etsy or Amazon. The one on amazon listed below is amazingly convenient. I would definitely advise to make sure these busy books and activities DO NOT COME APART. Small pieces are a no-go for me. So if you're anything like me, you'd prefer something like the items below. Just remember to bring a few activities because we all know that the attention of toddlers are not that long.
3.) Snacks & Drinks
Snacks & Drinks are an essential for any road trip 1+ hour. It is always best to be prepared for these requests. Being a mother of 5, it has never failed but there is at least 1 of them who will say they are hungry about 10 minutes into the drive. My 3 year old is highly allergic to peanuts and tree nuts so getting food that we already know are safe foods are a must for us as well. Here is a list of (car-friendly) snacks that I pack for my kids. I say car friendly, in the sense that, it won't stain our car or leave dark marks (such as Oreo's). You can order through Amazon Fresh as well, how convenient is that!
4.) Portable Potty
This will actually come in handy with any age (even the adults) I've noticed that ever since the pandemic, many places do not offer restrooms to customers. To keep yourself and others safe as well, I believe this is a great investment for anyone who travels. You never know when you will find yourself needing the restroom, with no restroom in sight. There are options for kid specific portable potty's, but my recommendation it to get the fold-able (adult size) portable restaurants. Usually purchased for camping. There are a few times when we absolutely needed this. One time during our recent trip to the snow. There was only 1 porta-potty available. Let's just say there was poop all over the place in there, smelled really bad, and was absolutely disgusting. Other times are during our trips to the beach. So these purchases are definitely worth it.
5.) Emergency Clean Up Bag
I cannot tell you how many times I WISHED I had an emergency clean up bag. From newborn blow ups, to potty accidents, to car-sick toddlers I found in a situation where this is NEEDED. Here is a list of items I put inside our clean up bag (compact is essential!)
I've officially began the count down... Anuhea seems to be the most excited. Every other day she is asking when we will be going on the plane. This will be her first official plane ride! (Along with Kaila & Keoni's first plane ride as well) It's so cute and funny how Anuhea always says that her first plane ride was July 2014 (I was 6 months pregnant with her) Lol! She's not lying though, she was definitely on that plane ride too =)
Over the course of these next few months we'll be getting things ready. I'll be doing my research on how to travel with 2 & 3 year old's. (That is what is giving me the most anxiety) But besides that, we are so excited for this trip! It will definitely be one to remember. The first week we are there, it will be Kamea filming at Disney World (6 days of filming!) and the next week we will be tourists and explore Florida. We'll be visiting The Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios & Magic Kingdom Disney World Parks. All airfare has been booked, Disney World tickets have been booked / park days have been reserved. Hotels have been reserved. IT'S OFFICIAL!!! HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY!!! We traveled to Lodi Lake with the family in hopes to find some leprechauns! I found this event on Facebook, and thought to myself, what a great activity to do with the kids! So we went on our little adventure. This place is great to bring your family to for some fun activities. We have only gone to this lake once before but that visit was very brief. This time around we got to walk around and take in the beautiful seen of the lake. There are plenty of things to do there as well, such as kayaking and fishing, people bring their jet ski's there. But we were there for one mission, it was to find those leprechaun's! We pulled up to the parking lot, and just as we got out, my daughter spots one in the tree RIGHT AWAY. I thought for sure the rest of them would be just as easy to find... BOY WAS I WRONG. We walked the entire lake and only found 2 others. On the website, they provided a map (pretty useless to us) and some clues to find the leprechaun's. Although it was tougher than we expected, I'm glad this got us out of the house and enjoying the weather outside. We were convinced that people moved the leprechaun's. Aside from that, it was such a beautiful place. There was a path we walked which looked like we were deep in the forest in some areas. There were deer right near us as well, so that was exciting to see. The kids stayed away from the playground since it was quite crowded there. Today's project was a Pot of Gold at the end of the rainbow. All I did was print out a picture of a pot, and let the kids do the rest. We colored the pots with crayons/colored pencils, and painted the rainbow with our Crayola Paint. Once that dried, we glued on the cheerios to look like a bunch of GOLD. We had a big bag of old cheerios which I was about to throw out a few weeks ago. I decided to keep it for projects with the kids. It worked out perfect, as it ended up looking like some gold in their POT we colored.
With the high demand of work, I have been finding it really difficult to take the time to do some projects with the little ones. This was something I was planning to do around the first of the month, but being in finance, our month end close is BRUTAL. (Leaving not much time to do anything else) Anu, Kaila & Keoni did a fun and simple hand paint project today. For the next 3 days we'll be doing some Saint Patty's themed paintings. Today was the lucky 4 leaf clover. If you have green paint, some white paper, and a few crazy kids, they are going to love it. I've found it really difficult to only do just one paint project (since the kids love making a colorful mess) So we made some "flowers" after our 4 leaf clover project. These will all be displayed on our ART WALL. And then eventually make it to our 2021 Family Year Book :)
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AuthorA woman enjoying the roller coaster of life. A wife, a mother, DIY enthusiast, full time parent, full time corporate finance job, part time everything else. Learning how to balance it all Archives
April 2021
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