Insting Blogs

I am guest posting over at San Diego Bargain Mama with a listing of our local sand diego kids summer movie series. We love this! It breaks up our week and helps us beat the heat during those hot summer months.Do you have anything like this where you live? How do you beat the heat where you live? I would love to kn...

Simple, easy,and done in minutes, these 4th of July chocolate dipped Oreo cookies are sure to be a hit at your Independence Day event. And it's a great way to let the kids help with the festivities! For the full tutorial, head to my original chocolate covered Oreo po...

It's Muffin Tin Monday! I have been enjoying this little break from the themes. How about you? I spent the better part of the weekend glues to my computer, getting out the muffin tin swap emails to all of those particpating. It's a lot of work up front, but when it's done, it feels so good! Look for the swap round-up post sometime next week.Here's what we had this week: chicken nuggets, mozarella cheese circles (with cute animal shaped picks), sliced green apple, sliced carrots and ranch dip, and...

Happy Sunday! This is your weekly dose of link love and a little breather from that nasty thing called "the newspaper." Hope you enjoy this week's links!I can't get enough of tumblr! I mentioned it last week and Carissa of 1 Plus 1 Equals 1 put together a fantastic post detailing a little more how to use it for links and what it's all about. I will tell you this, it has made my sharing links with friends and all of you so much easier.Super cute Butterfly popsicle craft by Parents Connect. (found...

Over Mother's Day, I submitted the story of my amazing mother to the 2010 P & G "Thank You Mom" Campaign and I was notified yesterday that I am one of 30 FINALISTS!!!  15 of those with the most vote for their mom will win $1000 towards a reunion with their mom and a camcorder to record the time together. It sounds cliche to say that I have already won to have such a wonderful woman in my life-but I have - but it would be nice to fly her to Chicago to see my sister or to fly my sister...

  We have a bucket of perler beads that gets toted to and fro, all over the house and with them to friend’s houses. We have even left said bucket with friends only to purchase a second bucket of perler beads after the muffin tin kids are sorely missing their beads.   In one day, I believe we made 10 different perler bead creations. hmmm…..What to do, what to do….cue light bulb overhead….I had several canvases I  had purchased when they were on sale for super cheap because, well,...

  We love art around here. And when the kids and I went shopping for their cousin’s birthday yesterday, we had art on the brain!  So I decided to make up an art box and the kids loved the idea. I chose a low flat box for a couple reasons. 1) It was wide enough to accommodate a large 9x12 pad of drawing paper and 2) It would store easier and you wouldn’t have to dig through the box as much to find your supplies.   Here’s what we included: Set of washable markers 48 ct...

Welcome to Muffin Tin Mom, the official home of Muffin Tin Monday! I trust you all had a wonderful Father's Day. We are continuing with no themes this Summer. Going to keep it simple today. Here's what we made.This week we decided to do a yogurt sampler dessert muffin tin with toppings: Strawbeery yogurt, reeses pieces, sprinkles, m & m's, cinnamon toast crunch cereal and fruit gushers. Definitely lots of sugar!What did you make? Won't you share it with us? If you want to participate in...

This week I came across several links I know you will love and will give you a little respite from the craziness of life. I hope you enjoy!If you are participating in the Muffin Tin Monday Swap....expect and email in the next couple of days...Some  wonderful blog finds:Motherlode: Camille is amazing. She is supremely creative and she shares such wonderful ideas backed by her inspiring photography. A few of the ideas that have inspired me are her pollock inspired pavement painting (yay for her...

Enchanted Cakes For Children by Debbie BrownTo look through this book is to love it...Special thanks to Lucia for letting me browse through it....

**Updated: with a tutorial**Make your own fruit themed food picks using polymer clay and toothpicks. Super fun. The kids even made some minus the picks...I helped with the leaves, but I think they did a pretty good job. Muffin Tin Boy said that the brown and blue blob is a "magical mushroom".Here are the tools you will need:Assorted Polymer Clay 2oz. packs (we used Sculpey III)ToothpicksSculpting tool (optional)Conventional OvenHere's How:Shave off a small piece of clay with a tool (or your fingers)Knead...

My soon-to-be kindergartener (can it be he is no longer in preschool?) loves to "do" word searches, however he isn't quite cognitively there yet. So I decided to turn his love for word searches into an age appropriate activity by having him search for all the same uppercase letters at a time.In other words, I have him search for all the "A"'s then all the "B"'s, etc. After each letter, he counts them up and tallies them on the side. If he sees a word he recognizes that is bonus points!This is great...

Welcome to Muffin Tin Monday! The weekly blog link up where participants from all over the web (and world) come together and share the muffin tin meals they make for their kids. What's a Muffin Tin Meal? It's pretty simple, it's a meal, snack or dessert served in a muffin tin.  Muffin Tin Mom is the "Official (and longtime) Home of the Muffin Tin Meal". To check out more about how MTM got started and to learn some tips,check out the FAQ page or view past weekly MTM link ups.In our tin today,...

It's Sunday and let me tell you that yesterday's paper was torturous.  Mayem, I tell you. Mayhem. Is it me, or is the "news" becoming worse than fictional movies and TV? Well, I hope you find this week's links a little diverting.Love love love this "junk food sushi" made by Blue Cricket Design and found via Tip JunkieCheck out the Father's Day printables from HP Creative Studio.Learn some tips for crafting with polymer clay from Family FunAlso from Family Fun and in this month's magazine...

A great way to encourage a young child’s imagination, among other things, is to have a scavenger hunt. Around here we call it “discovery”. They can discover, investigate, estimate and  document what they see around the house, in nature, or in a public place. You can give your discovery hunt themes like:Shapes Colors Alphabet Nature Faces Or you can even hypothesize about the story behind a certain object found. Where did it come from? How did it get there?We have a pesky gopher in our yard...

I am so excited to announce the return of the Muffin Tin Monday Swap!**THE SWAP IS NOW CLOSED, check back soon for the Post with all the participants swap packages!Here are some of the fine details:~The deadline to enter is June 18th. This is also the deadline to cancel.~Anyone who committed to sending a package last time and did not send it, will not be able to participate this time around.~To participate, you must send me (via email at vistamommy(at)yahoo(dot)com):Your nameYour address Names...

It's Muffin Tin Monday! That weekly blog link up that is all about silly smiles and happy tummies. I mentioned last week that the themes are on hiatus for the summer. But that doesn't mean you can't do one. I have seen some of you get super creative with your MTM's.The Muffin Tin Meals Facebook Page already has over 400 members. Wow. This has become a great way to interact with all of you Muffin Tin Mamas. I share exclusive MTM ideas, photos, and more. Come on over!One of the things I love...

There has been much sad news this week, so it is my hope that you will be offered a little mental vacation with today's link line up. Goodbye Sunday newspaper, hello link love!I love the re-purposed glass bottles featured over at Someday Crafts...such delightfully inspiring projects and you can even add your own!Speaking of someday....It is my dream to have an outdoor space like this outdoor lounge. I'll have to get my husband to learn how to cut PVC pipe first. (Found via One Pretty Thing's outdoor...

The next time you need to get out of the house with your child, take some play-dough and accessories to Starbucks. Everyone may look at you funny, but your 5 year old will have the best time ever.*Perfect "sitting quietly" practice for those active wiggle worms in your life.*Hot Chocolate is $1.10. It maybe the cheapest date you will ever go ...

Here's What You'll Need:Empty Toilet Paper RollScissorsTape3-4 Small triangles of carboard (ours are from an empty mac n' cheese box)Contruction paper circleStickers and paint (oprional)Here's How To:Cut a small circle out of construction paper. Cut a slit from the edge to the center. Fold it in, so it make a cone shape (this is your top). Staple it or tape it shut.Cut 3-4 triangles out of cardboard. Cut a slit in each and slide them on the edge of toilet paper roll.Tape (or glue if you want) the...

This simple handprint butterfly craft can be accomplished in one (or more if you have a toddler) sittings. It makes a great project for Spring or Summer and is perfect for infants, toddlers, preschoolers and even older children! You could make a family of butterflies, each member making their own hand print projectHere's what you'll need:Tempera washable paint in any color (black also for the body)Construction paperLittle hands, of course The short How To: Using a large paint brush,...