Father’s Day Craft Hacks

fathers day crafts

Before I begin my Father’s Day crafts for the craft impaired, there are 2 things you should know:

1. There is an actual gift DIY post over on the OKC Moms Blog today that has 2 really awesome gift ideas if you are into all things DIY.

2. I’m part of the TODAY parenting team and they featured a little blurb of something I submitted to them recently.  And hey, when it comes to the TODAY show you’re allowed to get excited over a measly blurb. Here is my Today Show Father’s Day blurb. I’m number 12 of 14. But it still counts, right?

Alright, back to our regularly scheduled business.

I’ve brought you Pinterest round ups for the DIY challenged before here and here so if you’ve read either of those then you are well informed that lo, I am not a pinterest mom.

However, there are some things there that are super cute, super simple, and not as likely to end up a fail.

Here is what you need to make all 3 (maybe you have this in your pantry already?)

  • Two Mason Jars
  • M&M’s
  • Soda
  • Misc. smalll candy
  • Card Stock
  • Ribbon
  • Markers/Pens

Gift in a Jar

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Step 1: Get stuff (soda, candy, etc.)

Step 2: Put stuff in a jar.

Step 3: Tie ribbon & make a simple label.

Cannot mess this one up. Love.

That’s So Punny

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Love this cute & simple card idea – and who’s to say it has to be a bowtie? I don’t think your husband would be mad if that was replaced with a snickers bar or a payday.

Hidden Gift Card

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If gift idea 1 and gift idea 2 had a baby it would be this.  Put gift card in jar. Pour M&Ms in jar. Tie a bow. GIFT DONE.  You could do a gift card or have your kids give dad a “coupon” for a car wash or something similar.

Happy “crafting”!

 

 

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Slow down, summer!

Isn’t it a rule that life is supposed to slow down in the summer? I’m pretty sure that’s carved in stone somewhere. The 11th commandment at the very least.

Apparently that memo was MISSED when it came to life letting up as the weather heats up when applied to my family.

Instead in the last 2 weeks we have:
Celebrated a 30th birthday (mine) at yet another visit to the ENT (for G)
Celebrated an anniversary (2 years!)
Worked like crazy lunatic people because JOBS BE CRAY (both of us).
Evicted some adenoids (G’s)

And a whole host of other things that I can’t even think about right now.

Suffice it to say, we’ve been busy people.  And that is how we made it to nearly of June without a single visit to a pool, splash pad, sno cone stand, or any other summer-related fun.

We are woefully behind.

But I guess a perk to living in Oklahoma is that September is basically a summer month, too. So I shouldn’t get too bent out of shape.

I’m sad to report that due to all the crazy listed above we’ve been rather dull people because, survival mode, man. Sometimes you’ve just got to dig in your heels and make it through a day. And then wake up & do it again. Rinse & repeat times 2 weeks until the adenoids are removed and you can throw away all the antibiotics in your house.

(Knock on wood, lest we have a repeat of the great tubes jinx of 2015)

Lemme give you a brief run down of the handful of things we DID get out and do recently:

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I surprised J with an anniversary dinner date at Broadway 10.  Ya’ll.  If you’re looking for a place to celebrate a special occasion or just eat ridiculously good food then this is it.  We especially loved that sides didn’t have to be purchased a la carte like so many other steak places in the city – they each came with a starch.  And all you really need to know is that the smoked gouda mashed potatoes were a religious experience.

We also got out last week to support one of my new favorite organizations in OKC – Wings.  Wings is a community center for adults with special needs and they had an art auction and dinner last week that was so much fun!  G tried grits for the first time and was in HOG HEAVEN (may have had something to do with the bacon & cheese mixed in) and I had the best time pretending like I was keeping up with the rapid-speed talking of the auctioneer.

Oh and their property? Gorgeous.

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I mean. They rent out their space for weddings it’s so pretty – such a little gem in the city and an organization with an incredible cause.  Thanks for hosting us, Wings!

Last but not least, we finally made it down to the children’s garden at the Myriad Gardens for their Charlotte’s web exhibit.  Exhibit’s not the right word. It was more like a festival. There was a scavenger hunt that led you all the way through, a maze, a story time station, live pigs & chickens, fair games, crafts, and on and on and on. G had SO MUCH FUN and J and I didn’t have a bad time either.

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Summer, we’re ready now.  Let’s do this thing.

(p.s. I’d be a bad internet friend to all of you if I didn’t let you know that G’s shoes are Natives and easily the best money I’ve ever spent on footwear for her.  They are supportive, easy for her to walk run around in, and best of all – I can rinse them off when they come home muddy like they did today.)

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Glimpses

Glimpses

As G grows older, I’m finding myself more and more clinging to glimpses. Who she was. Who she will be. And I love these glimpses – they are such a big part of really knowing her.  Noticing them takes careful observation, like catching the early morning sunbeams.  But oh, they are lovely. And so worth soaking in.

During babyhood, it was glimpses of who she would be.  These come in little snapshots, flashes of light that are gone as quickly as they arrive.  And they are simple – a food preference, a favorite song, a book that makes her giggle.  I was cracking the window into who she was and what made her tick and I yearned for more…but then it goes back.  She’s back to doing typical baby things like grabbing her toes or trying to roll over or spitting up on my freshly dry cleaned dress.

(Just me on that last one? Don’t let me be alone on that limb!)

But now that she’s getting older, the glimpses I once saw & yearned for are here.  They aren’t fleeting. They are constant. They are her. I’m seeing the fullness of her personality.   I know what she loves.  I know what makes her giggle and what many of her favorites are.  She doesn’t snap back into a “typical” behavior anymore because her behavior is uniquely her.

(And we can all agree that toddler’s aren’t typical, right? They are crazy people among us.)

And now I find myself aching for glimpses of babyhood.  I sneak in her room to watch her sleep and smile because she still sleeps with her fanny in the air, feet and legs tucked under her, just like she did as a baby.  I admire her chubby cheeks when she pouts because those are thinning out as she transitions into little girl-hood. I am so thankful for her (mostly) bald head because that is her most baby-ish feature.

And her babyhood is slipping through my fingers.

Because now she can’t fall asleep without a special stuffed animal.  Her round little face and chubby legs are getting longer and thinner.  And the wisps of sandy-blonde hair coming in is starting to curl up at the ends.  Will she love that puppy forever? Will she be tall? Will her hair be curly?

I don’t know the answers. But I’m watching. And soaking up who she is in this moment.

And loving the glimpses of what’s to come. 

 

 

 

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