I’m not much of a DIY’er and definitely am better at parenting tips, and fun essays on parenting, but I’m super excited about this idea my husband and I had for an outdoor gravel pit play area for our kids.

Last fall, my husband was building a new gate and fence for our backyard. We had a big pile of dirt in the yard for a long time and my three kids would not leave it alone! They played there constantly and had so much fun just moving the dirt around. When we got the fence finished, we had this little square space in our backyard that was now fenced off, and we thought it would make the perfect play area for the kids.

Since we have a cat, we didn’t want to fill it with sand or dirt and have it turn into a giant litter box, so we opted to make a little gravel pit instead. Now the kids love having a place to play with their cars and trucks, and it has a little dirt mound too.

First, we had to spend some time leveling out the area. This was actually the hardest part because it had lots of rocks that were too big to keep there, and we hand sifted them out. Then, we added the dirt back in and worked on leveling it.

After that, we went shopping for gravel. At first, we thought we’d want something super smooth so the kids would have no problem playing in it. But, ultimately decided on 1/4 inch gravel instead of small pebble rocks that would have been smoother because the cost was so much cheaper. It has worked out great so far!

Our play area was just under 50 square feet and we wanted the gravel to be about 4 inches deep for plenty of digging fun, so it turned out we needed about 1600 lbs. of gravel. It was easy to get in one truck load.

We left a little dirt mound in the middle for a hill, and filled in the rest with the gravel. For the dirt mound we found flexible edging in the garden section of Home Depot.

For the roads, we searched high and low for for something that would look like roads, but be light weight enough for the kids to move around an manipulate.

We thought about bricks or tiles of some sort, but I didn’t want anything that would be breakable and possibly hurt the kiddos while they were playing.

I finally settled on rubber baseboards of all things! They are like these from Home Depot, except I was able to purchase them individually for about $3/piece in the store. I only bought about 5 or 6 and it was plenty for our space.

Last, I took some white primer and painted the lanes on the baseboards and cut them with an exacto knife to different lengths. They were the perfect solution because they are light weight, look like roads, and easy to move around. We cut small triangles for the turns out of one of them too.

It’s a fun play area now that my kids love and so do the neighborhood kids. You could fill yours with shovels and buckets, or anything else that the kids can use for digging. We are going to add a little fairy garden in the corner for my daughter too eventually, even though she loves playing with the trucks as much as the boys. We’re big fans of construction vehicles if you can’t tell.

I hope you’ll stop by my blog and check out some of my other fun posts. You might like these:

If you’re about to lose your mind with how much you repeat yourself in the summer, you might like my funny post about 10 Things All Moms Say All Summer Long.

And grab this easy party favor idea for any birthday parties you’re throwing this Summer.

And, I recently published an eBook on Amazon about how I grew my Facebook following by 28,000 followers in just six months. Find more about that here.

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Thanks Meredith! What a fun idea for a play area!

Make sure to visit Perfection Pending and

xoxo

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It’s funny, because my youngest is four, but since he still can’t read or tell time, and he doesn’t know what day it is, I’m constantly trying to explain to him the concept of today, tomorrow, and yesterday. It’s a work in progress and sometimes frustrating for both him and I.

So, when my sister, Paige, came up with this awesome idea of a picture calendar for her three year old, I had one of those moments where I thought, Why didn’t I think of that 3 kids ago?

My sister is a very busy lady. She owns her own hair salon in Philadelphia with her husband, has a successful photography business, and is also a mama! So, their daughter Faye Elizabeth, has a busy schedule too. Sometimes she’s at preschool (for hearing children at a deaf school), sometimes she’s with Grandparents, and there are days where she’s with just Daddy, and just Mommy. Not to mention she has music and dance classes too!

Paige told me that Faye’s first question every morning is, “What day is it?” and “Where am I going today?” That sounds a lot like my four year old! And, it must be confusing to them to never know what’s going on.

So, she decided to make a picture calendar so there was no more confusion. I love this idea!

She purchased her calendar with a cork board at Michael’s. You can find it here.

And instead of drawing pictures on the calendar, she made pictures to represent each activity, or person that Faye would be involved with that day. She can easily switch it out depending on what is going on in their lives.

For example, this is a picture of the whole family together, and her ballet class. Super easy for a 3 year old to understand!

And this cute picture is of Faye’s grandparents. She stays with them when Mommy and Daddy both have to work.

And for school days, she chose the ASL sign for “I Love You” and Faye immediately recognized that it represented school days since she goes to a school for both hearing and deaf kids. But, you could make a picture of a school house, or backpack, or something that is special about school to your child. On days when Mommy is home with her, she has a picture for that, and on days when Daddy is home, she has a picture for that.

As she was telling me about this idea, I thought of some things that might work for my four year old too. You really can switch it up and do whatever might help your child understand better what’s going on.

Other ideas you could include on your calendar are:

• Pictures for holidays like a bunny for Easter, or Christmas tree for Christmas
• Pictures of weather (clouds, wind, rain, snow, etc.)
• Pictures of friends they play with often
• A picture that symbolizes birthdays

I’m just always on the hunt for things that make parenting easier, and this idea by my sister definitely spoke to me. I can’t wait to start it with my own little guy. Thanks Jen for letting me be here today to share this awesome idea (thank you Paige too!)

I hope you’ll stop by and check out some of my favorite parenting ideas and inspiration!

If you like this post, you might also like:

5 Myths about Kids with Food Allergies

and How to Make a Personalized School Emergency Kit for your Child

Let’s Stop Making Parenting Harder Than It Has to Be

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Thanks so much Meredith! I love that idea too!

Visit Perfection Pending and

xoxo

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These are SO quick and easy to make because like most mamas I’m short on time but long on wanting to make the most out of every holiday moment! I think I’ll have the boys put their Reindeer Food Tubes on our tree.

I’m Shelly from Dolen Diaries and I’m delighted to be here at TT&J today! I live in the Seattle-ish area with my husband and three, crazy fun boys. I am all about creating creative quality time with them so much so that my husband and I spend most of our date nights in our garage (we lovingly call them our Garage Date Nights). I have the BEST conversations with my boys while we are doing something creative together and I love sharing ways that you can spend some creative time with your kiddos. {Like I’m having here in this photo…just kidding! Gotta love teenagers!}

Supplies:

• glass tubes with cork stopper* I got mine at Michael’s.
• reindeer food
• gold vinyl & craft cutter *I used my Cricut Explore

Here’s the reindeer food recipe I use:

• dry oatmeal
• holiday sprinkles
• gold glitter

Mix it all together and set aside.

I cut out the words REINDEER FOOD in Bebas Neue font with my Explore and applied them to the side of the tubes.*If you don’t have a craft cutter of your own you can get gold stickers at your craft store and apply those to the outside of your tubes.

Then I filled the tubes with the reindeer food. I love how modern they are without losing any of the traditional reindeer food fun! We’re hosting a little graham cracker house decorating party and thought reindeer food tubes would be the perfect festive favor! Bonus their mamas can keep the tradition going year after year by refilling the glass tube!

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Thanks Shelly! What a fun idea, and I bet this would make lots of kids more excited about Christmas! Shelly has great ideas on her blog. Here are a few more I know you’ll love:

She has these darling Sew and Stamp Ruffle Christmas Gift Tags!

And her DIY Outdoor Marquee Light is so amazing!

And she has such creative kids ideas like this DIY Rain Art!

Follow the HAPPY Holidays Event at Tatertots & Jello

all through the holidays with awesome tutorials, recipes, decorating ideas and more from some amazing blogs!

xoxo

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This bucket certainly comes in handy if you have kids that need a little “reminder” that Santa brings presents to nice kids only. It has helped end a tantrum or two in my home- hopefully you’ll find it just as useful! Here is how to make it:

Naughty or Nice Bucket

• double-sided bucket -or- 2 separate containers
• wooden stick figures
• craft paint in various colors + paint brush
• letter stickers
• scissors
• ribbon
• dry floral foam

*All the supplies listed above are available at Hobby Lobby

1. Paint your craft sticks to resemble each child. Add their names with stickers, or free-hand this with paint.
2. Tie a ribbon around the bucket. Add the words “Naughty” and “Nice” to each bucket.
3. Trim the floral foam to fit inside each bucket. Stick your stick figures into the craft foam.
4. … and that’s it!

Merry Christmas!

Thanks Stephanie! What a cute project, and if it works to keep the kids cleaning up their rooms, even better!

She has such amazing projects on her blog. Here are a few  more I think you’ll love:

Christmas Eve Traditions for Couples || Christmas Treats in a Can || Christmas Stockings for Couples

 Visit Somewhat Simple and

Follow the HAPPY Holidays Event at Tatertots & Jello

all through the holidays with awesome tutorials, recipes, decorating ideas and more from some amazing blogs!

xoxo

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How fun are these? A little gross and a lot of fun!

To make these cute boxes is super simple.

SUPPLIES

• Free printables
• Scissors
• Glue
• a scoring tool or a blunt ended pen, etc.
• treats to fill them with

DIRECTIONS

1. Download, Print and Cut out free printable
2. Cut out around the entire box except where the red lines are shown here…you also need to cut here.
3. Score down all black lines.
4. Fold on all lines.
5. Glue the back of the box to the flap. Tuck in white corners and glue bottoms together.
6. Fill with treats.
7. Close by folding down final flap and you can secure it with a small piece of tape, sticker or wrap a piece of twine around it.

For the Ghost Boogers, I used marshmallows, but you could also use yogurt raisins or anything white! There is even an area to write a to/from, in case you want to use for parties, etc.

For the Jack-O- Lantern Teeth, I used candy corn, but you can be creative with these as well!

I can’t wait to hear how my kids giggle when they find them one day…it’s one of those things I love as a mom…to leave little pieces of “me” all over. haha!

To download the freebie, click on the link below:

Halloween Treat Boxes

Hope your Halloween is filled with incredible memories with your family!

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Those are so much fun! I’m sure any kid would love these in their lunch box. Kiki has so many fun ideas on her blog for Halloween. Here are a few more:

This Halloween Eyeball Wreath is so easy and so much fun!

And, how cute is this Printable Halloween Doll House?

And make sure to use her Happy Halloween Simple Garland in your decorating!

Make sure to visit Kiki and Company and

xoxo

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Hello TT&J Friends, it’s Marie from Blooming Homestead here to share this super fun and easy DIY Memory Game. While I spend a lot of time creating home decor, diy crafts, and recipes, I also love to create fun activities to do with my two kiddos.

When I received my box of goodies from the Jen Hadfield Home + Made line I immediately fell in love with the patterns and knew exactly what I wanted to create. I love finding creative uses for beautiful paper patterns such as wreaths, banners, even book covers! This memory game is simple and beautiful, how about I show you how to make your own?

Supplies:

• Scrapbook Paper
• Scrapbook tape & dispenser
• scissors or craft cutter

To start you’ll cut your paper shapes. You can cut any shape you choose using scissors, or a craft cutter if you have one. These flowers are 2.5″ inches in diameter. You’ll be cutting 2 flowers per page of scrapbook paper to create the matches.

Next you’ll select the scrapbook paper for your backing. I chose this grey floral print that is just so pretty. You’ll cut out enough pieces to cover the backside of your matches. (I made 24 game pieces)

When you have all your front and back pieces cut you can start assembling. You’ll start by setting your backing piece right side down and applying scrapbook adhesive.

Now you can add the top piece and press down to secure. Be sure to line up your flowers.

Finish assembling the remaining flowers and you’re all set!


Such a fun and simple game that makes a perfect boredom buster.

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Thanks Marie! Such a fun project, and really, it’s so easy to make too! I love it! Marie has great ideas on her blog, here are a few I know you’ll love:

I love this DIY Pallet Wood Sign she made. So pretty and such a great message!

And this Easy DIY Wreath looks so pretty above her mantel!

And, how gorgeous is this DIY Baby Headband? So cute!

xoxo

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Keep it in the backyard for BBQ’s, bring it camping or simply play a game with the kiddos.

Supplies:

– 14X8″ Board

– Dark Walnut Stain

– White Paint (both large and small paint brushes)

– Wood Sealer

– 10 Rocks

– Bowl

This project is one of the many reasons why I save all of my scraps from previous projects. I had this piece left over from the Wood Striped Wall we put in my son’s room and it was perfect for this project!

You can recreate this look by cutting a piece of wood to 14X8″ and then staining it in Dark Walnut.

I don’t have a steady hand, so I used my Silhouette to create a stencil for the tic tac toe board and then painted it white.

Lastly, I went out in the backyard and collected 10 rocks that had a smooth surface and painted 5 ‘O’s and 5 ‘X’s. To seal both the rocks and the wood, I gave them a coat of polyurethane.

I placed a bowl on the board to hold all of the rocks. You can secure this by using an industrial adhesive (Elmer’s ProBond is my favorite).

And now you have a fun family activity for all to enjoy

Thanks so much Jen for having me over today!

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Thanks Taryn! What an easy and fun idea to do for the kids this summer!

Taryn has so many great ideas on her blog. Here are a few I think you’ll love right now:

I love this DIY Vintage Inspired Wall Art she made. Such a fun idea for a kid’s room!

I just love these DIY Industrial Hanging Pots she made too. So perfect for indoor or outdoor plants!

I also love her DIY Wood Striped Wall! Such a fun idea for a nursery!

Make sure to follow Design, Dining, and Diapers and

xoxo

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To make this DIY corkboard string art, you’ll just need a few supplies:

• Sheet of cork (12″x 22″)
• Crochet thread
• push pins
• picture frame

Start by cutting the cork down to fit in your frame and remove the glass. Next, print a template for the monogram or design you want for your string art. Cut out the template and tape it down in the center of your frame. Outline the template with push pins and then create a border of pins around the edge of the frame. To make sure the pins were secure enough to hold the weight of the string wrapping, I pushed them through the backing board that came with my frame. This part takes a little while and some of the pins go in easier than others, but it is definitely doable!

Once all the pushpins are in place, you can start wrapping the string in a consistent pattern. I didn’t really have a plan for this, I just went for it!

Continue to layer the string until you get the coverage you want. The push pins may start to pull a little if there are too many layers of string on one pin, so make sure you are spreading the pattern out evenly. Here’s my finished pattern:

I really love how it turned out! And it looks so cute in my daughter’s room:

I hope you like this spin on string art, let me know if you try it too!

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Thanks Holly! That is just darling, and looks like such an easy project, too. My Sister’s Suitcase has tons of great ideas. Here are a few right now I  think you’ll love:

I love this super cute Rainbow Pom Pom Necklace! Such a cute idea for St. Patrick’s Day or just because.

And, I just loved how they transformed these Gold Glitter Marquee Letters. I love the gold!

And, they also have so great St. Patrick’s Day Free Printables you can grab to have a yummy breakfast for your kids!

xoxo

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