Rainbow Fish Story and Craft

If you want a fun and easy craft for your kiddos....think COLLAGE! My kids LOVE glue and little bits and bobs of whatever I can find in their craft drawer. So today we made a fish collage! 

But not just any fish collage...a rainbow fish collage! 

We read the story of the Rainbow Fish, which tied in nicely to "Beach Week" and is the perfect transition into "Under the Sea Week" next week ~ which I need to somehow combine with a "4th of July" theme {I think I'm over-thinking all this a bit}. Anyway, the Rainbow Fish story is really popular with my girls so they were so excited to see all the fun stuff set out for them after breakfast!

I gathered ~ sequins, glitter, sand, seashells, buttons, googly eyes...and, of course, GLUE! Lots and lots of glue!

It was a lovely morning. Messy, yes. But that's normal around here :) I finally got smart and bought a vinyl table cover from the party store. I don't know why it took me so long to figure this out. Until now, I've been laundering seven table cloths each week!!! 

Aren't these pretty? I love the sparkly sequins. :)

Learning with Seashells

Today I'm going to share with you a few of the educational activities we did this week ~ with seashells! Unfortunately, I cannot take credit for any of these ideas. They come straight from all of the awesome montessori-inspired blogs I have been reading lately!

At the beginning of the week, I made a little trip to the craft store to pick up a couple bags of mixed seashells.  I can't get over how beautiful seashells are! Really, the most beautiful things on this earth are the ones that come from nature, aren't they? I knew my girls would love exploring these and seeing them up close. Even though we often collect shells at the beach, they've never seen variety like this.

Both of my girls enjoyed looking at and touching the sea shells, although predictably my 4 year old was more interested in using them for structured activities than my 2 year old. {I don't know how you homeschooling mommies out there do it when you have more than one child!}

My daughter is left-handed, often writes from right to left and put these numbers in order from right to left, as well. I did correct her but she insisted this was the right way. :)

After putting the correct amount of seashells under each number card, we played some math games...I threw out numbers for her to add together and she used the seashells to get the answers. My parents used to teach math to my brother and me when we were little, just like this but using beans!

These treasure boxes were fun to make! Perfect for holding little summer treasures :)

That's it for today, friends. I'll be back Friday or Saturday to share a recap of our week. Happy Thursday! It's almost the weekend again!!!

Starfish and Linen Wall Art

I was so inspired a couple of days ago while putting together the post about beach decor, that I whipped up a few framed starfish art pieces I have been meaning to make for a while. I had the supplies on hand already, so it was a quick and easy project and I'm going to share a few pictures of the process with you guys.  Maybe it will inspire you to make one {or two} to add a little beachy vibe to your home!

Supplies Needed:

Starfish

White frames

linen fabric paper (found at craft or scrapbooking stores)

hot glue

scissors

glue, glue stick, tape or other adhesive

 Remove the glass from the picture frame. Put back the matte and glue or tape the linen paper {trimmed to size} on the back of the matte. Now the back of the frame can go back in and the starfish can be hot-glued to the front of the frame. 

That's it!!! Told you it was super duper simple!

You can even use different types of seashells for this project, different sized frames and different backgrounds {i.e. scrapbook paper, fabric, etc} depending on the feel you want. 

I made three of these, all matching because I want to put them up on my bathroom wall next to each other. When I finished them, though, I decided that one would also look nice above my mantel to add a beachy feel to my family room. Which now means I'll have to go out to buy another frame!

Here's a sneak peek of my summer mantel in progress! I still have a couple of details to add but so far I love the light colors and the simplicity of it.

Check back in soon to see my finished summer mantel!

Beach-Themed Party Ideas

I have another round up of awesome, beachy pics for you guys today {can you tell I have been spending WAY too much time on Pinterest lately?}

I was admiring some of these yummy pics and getting really inspired to throw a little beach-themed party for the kiddos. Too bad there are no birthdays coming up! Look at these adorable beach and under-the-sea inspired party ideas!

Whale Cake

{Mermaid Banner, pink table setting, crab push pops, buckets of sweets}

So, I'm thinkin' I might have to come up with an excuse to throw a beach-themed party after all!!!  I'm smitten with those cute little mermaids! And that whale cake with the sprinkles!!!  Can't get enough of the cuteness! ;)

Beach-Inspired Decor Round Up

Last week, during Rainbow Week, I was so ready to start a rainbow-inspired life and paint my walls each a different color of the rainbow! Well, I'm glad I didn't because today I'm ready to go live in a little seaside cottage and collect shells and beach glass all day!!!

Can you blame me? Look at all of this amazing inspiration I found while browsing for ideas for Beach Week...

{Clean and streamlined living room}

{cool stones, sea view, vase with sand and seashells, shell mosaic candle-holder}

{beach glass tray, fresh flowers, beachy living room}

Just looking at these pics makes me feel relaxed and serene! Plus, I have new ideas on how to decorate my home, and new project ideas I'm dying to start on!

Hope you are having a great Monday! I'm off to the craft store to get started on a little starfish & linen wall art I'll share with you later. :)

Swimming Lessons, Beach Day and a Movie in the Park

I love summer weekends! We have so much fun getting outdoors and doing family stuff. This weekend was no exception and I have a few fun photos to share with you! Enjoy!

Swim Lessons...

The girls' first-ever SWIM LESSONS on Saturday morning! :) They were so brave and I was so excited that we finally have them in weekly swim lessons. It will be awesome when I don't have to worry so much whenever we're near a pool.

Movie in the Park...

Then in the evening we went to see a movie, "Hop", in the park with my parents. Our first time doing something like this and it was a blast! The only thing that I didn't expect and wasn't prepared for was that it was really, really cold once the sun set! Next time, I'll know to bring extra jackets and blankets.

Beach Day...

And last, but not least, a day at the beach! It is beach week after all and what better way to kick it off than spend the day playing in the sand and water?

I hope you all had a lovely weekend, as well!