Every year, when spring decides to strut back in with its blooming branches and chirpy songbirds, I swear I love it more than the year before. The sunshine! The fresh green everything! The vibes! And every year, I make the same dramatic plea: Spring, please never leave me.
But here’s the good news—just because the season eventually slips away doesn’t mean the feeling has to. We can totally bottle up that springtime joy and sprinkle it around our homes all year long. Exhibit A: butterfly plant markers.
Let’s face it: remembering what you planted in which pot can be a whole guessing game. Cilantro? Parsley? Who even knows anymore? But pop in a butterfly marker, and boom—mystery solved and your plant gets a stylish little sidekick. Plus, butterflies = pure spring magic. It’s not just adorable, it’s practically scientific.
Everything you need for this project you can find at Michaels (except maybe the live plant)!
Wooden hearts
Acrylic craft paint
Paint brush
Popsicle stick
Ice cream spoon or oblong wooden shape
Aleene’s Tacky Glue
Skewer
Scissors
Marker
1/ Paint wooden hearts a solid color of acrylic craft paint. (We chose white so that the colors that we added in the next step would really pop!).
2/ Using the end of a wooden stick or skewer, scoop small amounts of acrylic paint onto one of the wooden hearts. You can make dots, lines, or squiggles, but make a generous little mound.
3/ Now flip the other painted heart and press it onto the one in step 2. Pull them apart and let them dry completely.
4/ While the hearts are drying, paint an ice scream spoon or trimmed popsicle stick and about one to two inches of a skewer. Let these dry.
5/ Break the painted part of the skewer off and snap it into two pieces (scissors help score the wood or bamboo). Glue the two short pieces to the back of the spoon as the antennae and the remainder as the stick that sinks down into the soil.
6/ Add a drop of tacky glue to the points of the hearts and line them up so they are touching. Add a drop of Tacky Glue to each point and lay the butterfly’s body on top. Let dry completely.
7/ Write the name of your plant with a marker on the body of the butterfly.
In my online search for these party favor/toy machine games, I had absolutely no idea what to call them: Plastic disk rolling ball hole game? or Plastic disk tray chain face game? And then I found them and was today years old when I learned that these are called dexterity games or puzzles, or handheld dexterity games to be precise. There are so many amazing vintage ones that would make a super fun collection…here’s a cool history if you are interested!
I bought these coin protectors on Amazon for another project and I knew I was going to make mini dexterity games for something…and what’s better than a unique Valentine? Here are three super fun versions, all in time for some last minute Valentines!
Print out template for as many valentines as you need and cut them out.
Cut circles from white cardstock.
If you are using confetti, trace the heart in the middle of each circle and draw an arrow through it. If you are using shrinky dinks, color in hearts that are about 1.5″, cut them out, and shrink them according to package instructions. Once they are shrunk, trace them onto paper circles and drawn an arrow through it.
Glue the paper circle into the coin protector, place the confetti on top and close.
Use a glue dot or a small dot of tacky glue to attach the game to the card.
Download the worksheet and instructions to use with your family on Yom Kippur (or any day whether you are Jewish or not!)
On Yom Kippur, we talk so much about our “sins” and finding forgiveness. Did you know that the word for “sin” in Hebrew (chet—rhymes with state), actually means “missing the mark?” So instead of thinking of our wrongdoings as single-shot opportunities with bad intentions, perhaps we can start to think of them as well-meaning actions that didn’t quite land in the right place. (You can read more about it here.)
Let’s use archery as our analogy, shall we?
• What do you have to do to get a bullseye?
• If you don’t get a bullseye the first time, do you give up?
• Is there more than one way to get a bullseye?
• To get a bullseye, do you have to do it on your own?
• If your bullseye is too small, maybe redraw the target!
With focus, every shot has the potential to help refine your technique for the next time. Use these strategies to explore how you can return and reimagine your missteps on Yom Kippur…
MAKE YOUR MARK!
(1) Print out the target page for every member of your family. (Print this out too so you don’t have to open your phone or computer.) Grab a pen or pencil for each person.
(2) The target is divided into three sections by the arrows, so think of up to three things you wish had gone differently. These can be things that affected others or things that only affected you (’cuz we have to ask ourselves for forgiveness too!). Write those things in the blue stripe.
(3) Now think of what you could have done to acheive your goal. How could you have approached that situation differently? Could you have asked for help? Could you have been more prepared? Use the green, yellow, and pink spaces to brainstorm small steps towards getting it right.
(4) In the red center, write the ideal outcome.
Let’s be real…we are never going to hit bullseyes EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Yom Kippur is our chance to reset, to draw back our bow with fresh intention, and to let our arrows soar as many times as it takes to get it right.
Whenever I write letters to my kids at camp, I inevitably write something like “sending hugs” or “sending kisses” or “sending good vibes.” But do they actually feel my hugs, kisses, and good vibes?
This year, I sent an actual hug to my daughter at sleep-away camp! The craft is so simple, you won’t believe it.
First trace your hands onto cardstock.
Decorate the hands with colored fingernails, rings, freckles, tattoos…anything that will make the hands feel like yours!
Cut a piece of string or ribbon that is the length of your arm span. (Fun fact: our arm span is usually pretty dang close to our actual height!)
Glue the ribbon or string to the wrist area of each hand, and then write your message on the palm-side of the hands. Write some funny instructions like “Put one hand over your left shoulder, wrap the ribbon around you body, close your eyes, and feel my hug!”
When should you send a hug in the mail? Here are some ideas:
These Accordion-Book Boxes Are the Perfect Craft Project for Book Lovers
Is it a box? Is it a book? Is it a craft? It’s all three!
Surprise — it’s a box with a book inside! Turn a ho-hum gift box from your gift-wrap stash into an art book keepsake. Get creative with your page-turning masterpiece — comic books, counting books, and photo albums are all fair game! These can also be made as elaborate birthday or holiday cards for special loved ones. You can write a long message or tell a fun story like a comical history of your friendship. The options are limitless!
What you’ll need:
2-piece gift box
Paper roll
Scissors
Glue stick
Felt
Tacky Glue
Letter stamps
Ink Pad
Markers
Crayons
Colored pencils
Make it:
Cut a long strip of paper the same height as the inside height of the box. Accordion-fold the paper so that each “page” matches the width of the box.
Cut a piece of felt that matches the height of the box and is about one to two inches wider than the depth of the box.
Glue the felt to the top of the box, and wrap it around to glue to the back — but not too tight! Leave a little slack in the fabric so it curves out a bit around the “spine” of your book box.
Give your book a title! If you have small letter stamps and an inkpad, use them for the title. You can also write the title on the front with a marker or colored pencil.
Use stamps, drawing utensils, or collaged paper to create your pages. These books can be scrapbooks, comic books, or story books. You can even print small photos to make a memory book.
Use the glue stick to adhere the first page to the bottom of the box.
Pipe cleaner crafts are like a beginner course in Wire Sculpture 101. They are lightweight and easy to shape into whatever you dream up. This craft is a super-fun way for kids to explore facial features…making round eyes, short noses, long ears—all at the bend of a pipe cleaner! And because this craft does not require glue, there are no mess-ups. Just give it a facelift and start again!
What you’ll need:
Thin wire hanger
Pipe cleaners (edit note: or would you rather say chenille stems?)
Large beads
Scissors
Thick yarn
Make it:
Stretch out your wire hanger until it forms a head shape. An adult might need to help a child with this step!
Use pipe cleaners to make the facial features.
Nose: For a long nose, you’ll need two pipe cleaners. Twist one to either side of the base of the hanger’s hook. Twist them together about halfway down and then form the pipe cleaner into a nose shape at the bottom; twist to close.
Eyes: Slip a bead over the end of a pipe cleaner and wrap the pipe cleaner around the bead and into the other hole. Cut another pipe cleaner in half and form a circle. Twist each end onto the eyeball pipe cleaner to form an eye shape. (Eyebrows and eyelashes are optional!)
Mouth: Form a pipe cleaner into a mouth shape. Twist a straight pipe cleaner to the bottom lip and twist around the hanger. Trim off excess.
Ears: Cut a pipe cleaner in half. Bend each end over the wire hanger on the sides of the head.
To make the hair, cut 4-inch strands and knot them onto the top edge of the hanger head. Experiment and play with bangs, ponytails, and various fun hairdos!
These are so lightweight that you can hang with a dash of washi tape!
It is Hanukkah time! Admittedly, we are kind of limited with the crafts that we make on this holiday (where are the partridges, drummer-boys and gingerbread houses?), but the variations on the classics are endless! Menorahs, dreidels, and lots of Jewish stars.
I always like to start the holiday with a menorah craft that invites kids of all ages to light their own menorah. I know my kids love to have their own menorah set-up, and if you have little ones that are too young to strike a match, this is a great flameless menorah craft that allows them to feel a part of the holiday.
You can find all of the steps and materials below— feel free to use whatever you have on hand for the flames! I used yellow pom-poms, but you can use felt, tissue, paper, construction paper, buttons,… The options are endless!
Materials: You can find a link to all of the materials here.
8 medium clothespins, 1 large clothespin
thin wash tape
hot-glue gun
wooden tongue depressor
2-inch wooden block
yellow pom-poms
1. Adhere thin washi tape strips to the front of 9 wooden clothespins (8 medium sized and 1 larger).
2. Add stripes of matching tape to a 2-inch wooden block to make a stand for the “candles”.
3. Use hot-glue to attach the backs of the wooden clothespins to a wooden tongue depressor. You can glue the tallest clothespin as the shamash either in the center or on either end. You can glue the two parts together but it’s kind of convenient to keep them separate.
4. Each day of Hanukkah, clip a yellow pom-pom, a teardrop cut from yellow felt, or a tuft of yellow tissue paper first onto the tall candle, and then on each candle corresponding to the day of the holiday.
If you follow me on Instagram, you know that yearly, I post about our family Yom Kippur ritual with my kids.
Having grown up in a conservative synagogue, I’ve always taken this holiday seriously—fasting (even before I was 13), asking others for forgiveness, and thumping my fist over my heart (IYKYK). Yom Kippur felt so tangible to me…I understood what was being asked of me and I did the rituals. I liked the inter-personal nature of it, and if it got me forgiveness for crashing the car, then sign me up!
But the one person I never asked forgiveness from was myself, then and actually, even now. My therapist often reflects back how I *talk* to myself, asking me if my child came to me with the same troubles and feelings, would I speak to them the same way I *speak* to myself? Never. It’s so enlightening every dang time, and I want my kids to start valuing the building opportunities from mistakes and offering themselves grace and kindness NOW!
In the early days, we used to go to the park on Yom Kippur, discuss what it meant to be a part of this family unit and then write down our goals for the year. Last year I shared a fun fill-in-the-blank worksheet that I made for my family, but now, as my kids are entering their teen years and have a pretty good grasp on our family values and goals, I wanted to steer this year’s message a bit more inward. I did some reading (mostly on my favorite Jewish media sites like Hey Alma, Tablet, and Kveller) to put together this *equally* fun, and I hope meaningful, exercise.
Every year we look back at the Yom Kippurs past and the kids get so much entertainment seeing their handwriting and adorable spelling mistakes!
To end on a high, happy note, I always add a drawing prompt at the bottom (last year it was to draw Hugg McHuggster—see our drawings below!). You’ll have to download this year’s to see who you get to create!
I say this every year…this exercise is rather agnostic—there is a little mention of the holiday but it’s useful for anyone of any belief set.
This article by Shelly Jay Shore on Hey Alma. (TW: there is talk of disordered eating.)
This podcast episode from Unorthodox. If you listen to the conversation with Rabbi David Bashevkin, you’ll hear the origin story of my new worksheet, The Beauty of Broken Pieces. In a nutshell, he talks about how the Ark of the Covenant held both the broken tablets and the second “do-over” set. The broken set became a reminder of Moses’ mistake—how he smashed the 10 Commandments in anger over the Jewish people’s worshipping of the Golden Calf. In order to grow and learn, we can’t erase or hide the mistakes, but rather find a place for them to exist and teach in our own lived experiences.
To commemorate my 12 years celebrating Mother’s Day as a mother, here are 12 gifts that I wouldn’t be mad about. In full transparency, I made the declaration when Oliver was born that I didn’t need anything to happen FOR me on Mother’s Day…I just got to decide what I wanted to do for that day. So if I wanted to spend the day picnicking in the park with my husband and kids, they had to join me. And if I wanted to be alone with my dog, well, they had to honor that too.
And even though I don’t expect gifts, these last minute treats would make me quite happy. And for you last minute gift buyers, if you order NOW, these will all arrive on your doorstep before Sunday. You’re welcome
1. My love for colored glass rivals my obsession with the coup-champagne style drink ware. Sometimes I pour my Spindrift in one just to feel a little fancy as I WFH in my sweats. This set is just beyond and will add that touch of joy to any shelf or bar cart.
3. I never used to care about pajamas, but now I’m all about them. And bonus points for a set of pajamas that I can wear with my Birks when I take the trash out. This Eberje set is a splurge, but I swear she’ll never want to take them off.
4. I spend a lot of time with my mugs. They are the first object I want to interact with every morning and they stay by my side until at least noon. I fell in love with this chubby mug and saucer set that would also welcome a tasty scone into the picture.
5. I saw these Sherpani fanny packs in a store recently and fell head over fanny for them!
6. You can’t convince me that all portable mugs are the same. The hand-feel, the weight, the design, and the thickness of the lip (yes, I’m that picky) all matter. And with a terrazzo design, these Porter mugs kill it in all departments.
7. I’m a total sucker for a good neckerchief, and this selection from the Japanese company Topdrawer is perfection. Wear it around your neck or in your hair…in which case, you can go ahead and call it a hair-kerchief.
8. Even before the lock-down pandemic puzzle craze, I was crazy for puzzles. This delightful sticker design puzzle by Pipsticks for Workman is just the right combo of challenge and fun.
9. The cheekiness of these balloon letter initial charms just send me…up up and away. A perfect accessory that says mom without saying mom. Wear your initial or get one for each kid.
10. I never buy myself candlesticks, which is why I think they make the perfect gift. Serene and neutral, they go with any room, anywhere.
11. My kids gave me this flower LEGO bouquet a few years ago, and I relished in the assembly of every petal. I allowed them each to make one flower, but it was my turn to throw a tantrum when I swore up and down that I was missing a piece!
12. Sometimes as a mother, you just don’t want to be the one to make the decisions. Thank goodness for relaxing, art projects like this Paint by Number set by Pink Picasso that will give you the satisfaction of making a piece of art without the worry of getting it right! Moms deserve some arts and crafts time too!
When I started this mini-diorama craft, I pulled out plastic animals, twine, and little pebbles. I’m thrilled with a miniature landscape any day, really, but I guess my more sentimental chords got the best of me.
These easy photo dioramas are made using upcycled box lids, cheese wheel lids, thick jar caps, and even a sardine can! They are so fun to plan out and easy to make. You can get super creative by adding extra elements, like moss underfoot or maybe a moon hanging above. And glitter, much to most people’s dismay, is always a good idea!
Here are the instructions for making these DIY mini photo dioramas…I swear, you will want to fill a wall with these cuties!
2. Trace your box onto the decorative paper and cut out. You’ll likely need to trim it down to make it fit inside since you are tracing the outside! (Just a little craft geometry!)
3. Glue the paper to the inside of the back with your tacky glue stick.
4. Cut small pieces of cardboard from a box making sure that they are small enough to not be seen behind the photo. Glue them into the box, and then glue the photo on top.
5. Now hang or stand your little dioramas on a wall or shelf!
DIY photo dioramas are a great activity to do with a group of people (as long as they either come with a printed photo or they send you one in advance). Think family reunion activity, birthday party, office ice breaker…you name it!
1. Adhere thin washi tape strips to the front of 9 wooden clothespins (8 medium sized and 1 larger).
2. Add stripes of matching tape to a 2-inch wooden block to make a stand for the “candles”.
3. Use hot-glue to attach the backs of the wooden clothespins to a wooden tongue depressor. You can glue the tallest clothespin as the shamash either in the center or on either end. You can glue the two parts together but it’s kind of convenient to keep them separate.
