Art kit party favor items:

muslin bag (10 x 12, set of 25 for $28, $1.12 ea) or (muslin bag 8 x 12, set of 10 for $12, $1.20 ea)

wooden star (5.5 x 5.5, $0.47 ea)

paints (I got mine at Michael’s, $2.99 for set of 3, $1 ea) – you can also find these at CVS or Walgreens

brushes (I got mine at Michael’s, 25 brushes for $4.99, $0.20 ea)

glitter glue (I got my 5-pack at Michael’s for $2.99, $0.60 ea) – you can also find these at CVS or Walgreens

pom-poms ($8.90 for half-pounder bag, about $0.10 per handful) – you can also find these at Walmart or Michael’s

mini plastic bagettes (2 x 3.75, $5.35 for box of 175, $0.03 ea) – you can also get these at Walmart or the same place as the wooden stars

lollipop (24 pops for $9.15, $0.38 ea)

I used alphabet rubber stamps and some perler + letter beads to embellish the muslin bags. But honestly, you could put all of this stuff in a paper bag or a plastic bag, too.

I envision the kids racing home to pull out their stars, paints, glitter + poms. Then propping their finished stars up on the mantle for everyone to admire. Well, that’s at least what’s happening over here!

Happy Monday Tuesday!

I began my research where I always begin my research…Pinterest! I gathered about three or four recipes and started to experiment. Let me be absolutely clear, I am not a professional or certified anything when it comes to cooking. I’m not bad, I’m just fine. However, my children have these incredibly developed palettes whereby they can detect any hint of healthy. They can actually taste a ground up piece of flax seed, which is really very annoying. So my measuring stick of success was one, or all (as if), of my three kids eating these bars and liking them. Finally, after much trial and error, I present to you the final recipe:

Paleo Dream Bars

1. 12 medjool pitted dates
2. 3 tablespoons applesauce
3. 1/3 cup coconut oil
4. 1/4 cup maple syrup
5. 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6. 1 egg
7. 1/2 cup almonds
8. 1/4 cup walnuts
9. 2 tblspns seeds (I used pepitas)
10. 1/2 cup pecans
11. 1/2 cup oats (ok, this is not paleo so don’t freak…will explain below)
12. 1 tablespoon coconut crystals
13. 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds (or one packet)
14. 3 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut
15. 1/2 teaspooon salt
16. chopped dark chocolate / about 33-50g which is 1/3 to 1/2 a bar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put the dates in a small bowl and pour in some boiling water until the dates are just covered. Let the dates sit for 15 minutes. Next, melt the coconut oil in a pan over low heat. It won’t take long to melt so keep your eye on it and take it off the heat the minute it’s melted. Put aside to cool while preparing the dry ingredients.

Place the nuts, seed and oats into a cuisinart, grinding until it resembles more of a nut meal. My kids don’t like to detect any crunchy nuts, therefore I grind them pretty fine. (For me, I like to put the pecans in at the end so they are still chunky because I love the flavor, but you can do whatever suits you.) A note about the oats: Oats are a grain so they are not paleo, but since my objective with these treats is to eliminate sugar, I keep the oats. You can replace the 1/2 cup oats with 1/4 cup coconut flour, and then add in another 1/4 cut of nuts (you may need to use a smaller baking pan, too). Transfer the nut mixture to a medium bowl, adding the next four dry ingredients and stirring until combined.

After soaking the dates for 15 minutes, drain the water and then put them in the cuisinart with the applesauce. Pulse until the dates are well chopped (no big chunks). In a small bowl, add the cooled coconut oil, date mixture, maple syrup, vanilla and egg and stir until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the medium bowl of dry ingredients and stir. Now for the last ingredient which, in my mind, is the most important …chocolate! A word about chocolate and paleo: I have searched and read umpteen paleo cooking sites, and almost all of them use chocolate. However, it must be dark chocolate and about 75-85% cocao. I use Green & Black’s organic dark which is 85% cacao. Chop chocolate and stir into batter.

Pour batter into a greased 8 x 11 glass baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes or until the edges start to turn golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 2 hours until you cut and eat. These bars are definitely much better when they are room temperature (making them even more delicious the next day!).

I hope you try making these bars, they really are very yummy. Lots of ingredients but once you get the hang of it, it goes quickly. My husband loves them (he’s like a child so that’s a feat), and my daughter loves them so much that she brought one to school to share with her friend. No wonder she’s my favorite child!

Have a beautiful weekend!

xo Bar

Tip: You can find all of these ingredients at Whole Foods, and some at Trader Joe’s. But you can also order online at The Green PolkaDot Box, a “clean” non-GMO buying collective.

His obsession with script is because his cousin in London of the same age has been writing in script since birth, practically. Our school doesn’t teach script until third grade which, in my opinion, is missing the boat. Montessori educators believe that at around age 4 1/2, children “explode” into writing. This is the perfect time to start them tracing letters with a pencil (before that age they can trace with their finger). Thank God for cousins abroad who inspire! For about a year now he has been tracing my script letters. This time, I decided to mix his love of similes with his passion for script. We used these neon Bistro Chalk Markers, which are so cool to write with as they glide smoothly along the black surface.

As the little guy was tracing his similes with his tricked out pens, he told me that he was as psyched as a cow!

And a happy Mother’s Day to my own mother, who really is an incredible woman (I’m not just saying that). Growing up, she was the weirdo mom from Holland in the sweatpants and rain boots (her uniform). She fed us bean sprouts and pea soup, cod liver oil and fresh squeezed juice. She became a single mom in our teen years, and I am only now truly appreciating the courage and strength it took for her to get a job, pay for college and raise the three of us. She lives not half a mile away now, is the best Oma to her six grandchildren, and still brings me over cod liver oil (pill form now) and veggies on a daily basis. A health nut (and plain nut) before her time, she’s a true friend and a role model to all of us.

I love you mom! ♡

If you are interested in seeing how this chandelier was made, please click over to Small for Big for the full blog post + more photos (one very cool one in particular).

Happy Monday!

This month’s theme is Mother’s Day + Eco. These are just a few of my favorites:

1. reversible buckets by Cozy Memories / 2. folding stool by Gallant + Jones / 3. drawing food journal by Claudia Pearson / 4. grain sack pillows by Jill Bent / 5. photography by Janis Nicolay / 6. paintings by Lisa Golightly

Happy shopping!

Supplies needed:

Perler beads

Parchment paper

Iron

Pin backs

Glue gun

Directions are included, but it’s very simple: Arrange the beads on the pegboard, cover with parchment, iron for a few seconds, let cool, add pin. Voilà!

My kids are really into the glow-in-the-dark beads these days. They really do glow! These beads have helped us through many a rainy/snowy/lazy summer day. I hope your kids will enjoy them as much as mine!

Here’s what you need to make this bunting:

T-shirts {cut into 4 x 5 1/2″ pieces}

Twill tape in two colors {4 yard pieces}

Rotary cutter + board {or good fabric scissors}

Pins

Sewing Machine

For this bunting, I wanted a Spring color theme. I chose blues and light grays. I cut out about 50 pieces, but only ended up using 21. I laid them out on the table and arranged them in a random order. Then I carefully pinned each piece between the two different colored twill tapes. Using a wide zig-zag stitch, I ran the bunting through the sewing machine. Voila! I would say this project was very easy. You need the right supplies (a rotary cutter really helps, and also a sewing machine), but it is not difficult at all.

I love the end result. It is playful and colorful and I bet you will see it in future photos…lurking in the background. Start saving those t-shirts!

Mari was so nice to indulge me and let me post about a fun little art lesson for the kids: Circle Paintings! But before you click over to her blog to see how we made these beautiful paintings, I first wanted to show you how I framed one of them. I have always been intrigued by floating frames. Recently, I found this photo on Pinterest which set my wheels in motion. With just a few supplies, and literally a few minutes, this cool + simple frame was made.

Here’s what you will need: Frame (bigger than your art by about 1 inch on each side), wire (22 gauge or thinner), wire cutters or scissors, eye screws (12mm), mini clothespins.

(I picked up everything from my local hardware store and Jerry’s Artorama.)

Step 1: Take the glass and backing out of the frame. Turn it over to expose the back and lay it flat on the table. Center the painting inside the frame, eyeballing it (or you could use a ruler if you don’t trust your eyes). Draw a pencil mark 1cm below the top of the painting and 1cm above the bottom of the painting, (you want the wire to be just below the top and just above the bottom of the painting).

Step 2: Screw in the screws to the side of the frame (the thickest part of the wood). Just push them and turn and they will start to screw into the wood and become secure.

Step 3: Cut your wire about 2″ longer than the finished length. Thread the ends through the eye screws then twist it around and point the ends back towards the inside of the frame (so it doesn’t poke out the front where you could see it).

Voilà…you are done! I painted my clothespins, but you can leave them plain or buy them colored. Now it is time to read about how we made these beautiful circle paintings on Small for Big. And if you’re the following type, become a fan of Mari’s on Facebook or follow her on Pinterest (she has the BEST Pinterest boards, I swear) or Twitter. Her Instagrams are always so fun, too.

Happy Monday!! xo

Marieke’s tutorial is in Dutch, but her pictures are pretty good at showing you the steps. Just trim the hole so that there are no frayed edges. Next, cut a colored piece of fabric twice as big as the hole. I used some old t-shirts thinking that the stretchiness would work well on the knees. Then I cut out teeth from white felt. The trickiest part was getting my hand inside those skinny little jeggings. After pinning the fabric to the jeans (and stabbing myself, like, 100 times), I used some embroidery floss and a large needle to hand sew around the mouth. I went around twice for stability. Lastly, I made two little eyes. I definitely like Marieke’s eyes better, but I ran out of patience. And also, I was bleeding from all of my puncture wounds.

Sometimes, it feels good to just get something done. Cross it off the list. Thank you for the inspiration, Marieke!