I received free product in exchange for this post. This post also contains affiliate links.

Over the eight years I’ve been blogging, I’ve put together quite a few gift guides. I have a gift guide for two-year-old girls, a Cricut gift guide, a non-toy gift guide for kids, and a gift guide for moms. I’ve written a few gift guides specifically for new moms, and I even have a new dad kit gift basket.

But there’s one age group I haven’t ever done a gift guide for, and ironically, it’s one I buy gifts for every Christmas–grandparents!

This year that ends. I’ve decided to put together a list of unique and meaningful gifts for grandparents, because if you’re a parent reading this post (which 90% of the people who read my blog are), then you’ve likely got some grandparents (aka, your parents or in-laws) that you will be buying gifts for this Christmas, and I want to help you out.

Gift Guide for Grandparents

Grandparent Balloon Art Gift DIY

Like I mentioned last week, this is what we got my parents last year. It’s just a super cute visual representation of all your parents’ grandchildren. And lucky for you, I put together a cut file and free tutorial so you can make your own! So this is a great cheap option for grandparent gifts!

Promptly Autobiography Journal

I’ve been a fan of Promptly journals for a long time, and I love their Autobiography Journals. Writing about yourself can be a challenge, but the autobiography journal contains guided prompts so you can get all the details down! It’s broken into different sections (birth, childhood, teenage years, young adult years, adult years, and golden years), and besides all the lovely writing space, there are places for pictures, too! I wish my own grandparents had filled out these journals before they all passed away. It would be so fun to go back and learn little details!

Promptly is having their Black Friday sale starting TODAY! It goes for a week, and you can get 15-40% off their products! So make sure you check that out while you’re on their site!

Digital Picture Frame

There are tons of options for digital picture frames on Amazon. The Aluratek Digital Photo Frame has tons of five star reviews and is only $40. If you want a fancier frame, the Nixplay Digital Photo Frame has WiFi so you can share photos with it via an app or e-mail. It also has a ton of five star reviews, but it’s pricier, at $175.

Photo Session with Grandkids

Another great gift for grandparents is a photo session with their grandkids! If you live close, this is an easy one, and if all the grandkids are spread out, this would be such a fun surprise! My parents always love getting pictures with their grandkids, and a professional session would be a gift they’d treasure for years!

Puzzle of Grandchildren

We did this last year for my mom, and it was such a cute gift! I love using Minted to make photo puzzles because they have tons of cute layouts so your puzzle can be more than just a flat picture of your children. If you have a new baby in the family, this confetti puzzle would be such a cute one to gift!

Grandparent Membership Pass

If you live close to your parents or in-laws and they love going places with your kiddos, this would be a great gift. A lot of zoos and museums offer grandparent membership passes where the grandparents are the membership holders and any grandkids under 21 can get in with them. If a year-long pass isn’t something you think would be utilized, you can also just get one-time tickets for them to go with their grandkids!

Tickets to an Event

Along the same lines, you could get grandparents tickets for them and their grandkids to go to a fun event! A sporting event, the theater, a concert, Disney on Ice (our personal favorite!), a special train ride, or anything else fun coming to your city (or theirs!). You could even plan a whole trip to visit them around the tickets!

Materials for their Hobbies

Grandparents have to have hobbies, right? So get them materials for their hobbies! My dad is big into coin collecting, so we’ve gotten him books and coin cleaning things before. Painting supplies, seeds for the garden, fishing lures (Mystery Tackle Box is a fun subscription box for fishers!), puzzles, books, yarn for knitting or crocheting, quilting materials, or anything else they may be interested in.

Blanket or Sweatshirt with Grandkids’ Picture

Another personalized gift that would be fun would be a blanket or sweatshirt with the grandkids’ picture on it! My friend recently told me that her husband’s family would gift their grandpa a sweatshirt with a picture of his grandkids on it every year, and I thought that was so sweet! You could do a blanket with a big picture on it, or even a pillow! It will be a constant reminder of the cute little people in their lives.

Custom Socks

The last wonderful gift on this list is the gift we’re getting my dad for Christmas this year–custom socks! Printify is a company that has a bunch of blank clothes and items that you can personalize. I had my kids draw pictures for their grandpa and then I uploaded them and put them onto a pair of socks! I chose the sublimation socks, and it was super easy to design and order them.

I love all of the ideas on this gift guide for grandparents, and I’d happily gift them all to my own parents (in fact I have gifted some of them!). Hopefully, as you make your Christmas lists this year, one or two of these gifts will stand out and you’ll be able to gift the grandparents the perfect Christmas gift!

The post Gift Guide for Grandparents appeared first on Life With My Littles.

I received free product in exchange for this post. This post also contains affiliate links.

Last year we watched the classic Christmas movie Home Alone with our kids, and they thought it was one of the funniest movies they’d ever seen. They watched it over and over, even after Christmas was over. And I have to say, I can’t really blame them!

One of my favorite parts of the movie is when Kevin and Buzz are arguing about the last slice of cheese pizza and the milk spills on the plane tickets and passports and everyone freaks out trying to save them. Then things calm down and Kevin’s uncle looks at him and goes, “Look what you did, you little jerk!”

Oh my goodness, can you even imagine! Everyone is quiet and glaring at little Kevin and blaming him for everything that went wrong. I laugh so hard every single time.

I have recently been experimenting with screen printing, and I thought it would be a fun idea to make a DIY Home Alone screen print shirt with that hilarious quote from Uncle Frank!

Screen printing isn’t too complicated, and as long as you have the right tools, you can create one-of-a-kind items that will last a long time! I haven’t ever shared a screen printing post on here, so I wanted to make sure I give you guys a full tutorial so you can follow alone and make your own Home Alone shirt, too!

I opened up Cricut Design Space and got to work. I even asked my Instagram followers their advice when I designed it, and had so much great feedback! I used the Cricut font “ITC Machine Medium,” and added the little house from Home Alone to the end of the quote. You can access the cut file on Design Space here.

Figure out how big you want your design to be on your shirt. I usually grab a ruler and hold it on my material to see how big I want it to be. Then size down your design. I did 12″ for my design. Just make sure your design will fit on your screen, too!

Cut it out on vinyl! I used my Cricut Explore Air 2 and Permanent Black Vinyl. You can use whatever color on hand, but you need to cut your vinyl all at once, so make sure you have a big enough piece of vinyl. Once you get to the “prepare” screen, center your design on the mat so you have a good amount of edge on each side. This will come in handy when you are screen printing.

Then press continue on Design Space, make sure your machine is set to “vinyl”, load your mat, and start cutting!

Weed your vinyl. Unlike a regular vinyl project, you’re going to be leaving the outlines of what you want to screen print. I always have my Cricut Starter Tools on hand, because the weeder and spatula come in handy when peeling things off the mat.

Grab a big piece of Transfer Tape so you can transfer your design to your screen. Use your scraper for the tool set to smooth out all bubbles, and make sure every little edge is stuck to that tape!

Pull up that Transfer Tape with your design attached and stick it to your screen. My screen is a Speedball 10×14″ Screen. Again, the scraper will help you eliminate any bubbles.

Pull off your transfer tape and then cover up any open spaces along the edges with painter’s tape. You don’t want any paint on you shirt where you don’t want it!

It’s time to paint! I’ve screen printed several times, but I’m certainly not a pro, so if you haven’t ever tried it before, it’s best to read up on how to do it because I can only give you the basics. Pigskins and Pigtails has some great screen printing for beginners posts.

The basics of what you need are your vinyl stencil on your screen, a paint squeegee, and paint. I also like to have something like a paper plate on hand to set my squeegee down when I’m done. And I use a plastic spoon to spoon the paint out onto my stencil before I squeegee it.

Okay, so once you have everything on hand, center your screen and design onto your tee. Now imagine how good your DIY Home Alone screen print shirt is going to look! You’re almost there!

Also, I didn’t get any pictures of this but make sure you have some type of paper or cardboard between the layers of your shirt, especially if you’re doing your design on a white shirt, too. The paint will bleed on a white tee a little bit, and if you don’t have something in between the front and back layers, you’ll print the reverse shadow on the back of your shirt.

Now spoon a little bit of red screen paint along the edge of your design.

Very careful and not too quickly, pull the paint across your design with your squeegee. It’s a big design, so the paint may not get the whole thing at once, and you may have to add a little more paint on the other side. Go back and forth with the squeegee until there aren’t any more white spots left and the paint isn’t pooling anywhere.

Slowly and again, very carefully, lift the screen off your tee. I start at the bottom and peel it away little-by-little. It will look AWESOME but you need to be patient and let it dry at least 24 hours before the next step. So set it somewhere away from little hands.

After your shirt has dried for a full 24 hours, you need to heat set the ink before you wear it, otherwise when you wash it, some of the ink will fade.

You can use an iron if you want, but the easiest way to heat set your design is to use a Cricut Easy Press. Set the temperature to 320 degrees and the time to 40 seconds. When it heats up, heat set your design by holding the Easy Press on your design. Repeat the process anywhere you miss (if your design is bigger than your Easy Press).

I also like to use the Easy Press Mat behind my materials when I heat set so I don’t damage the table or floor (or wherever I am) underneath. An ironing board works, too.

Now you’re ready to wear your shirt! Pull it on, grab some popcorn, and turn on Home Alone! Or, if you’re feeling brave, watch the new movie Home, Sweet Home Alone on Disney+. It comes out November 12th and I’m not sure how I feel about it! Although, if I’m being honest, I’ll probably still watch it.

Yield: 1 tee

DIY Home Alone Screen Print Tee

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Active Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

DIY "Home Alone" screen print shirt based on Uncle Frank's line "Look what you did, you little jerk!" One of the best lines from the original movie on a tee! Includes the free cut file on Cricut Design Space, and a full tutorial!

Print

Materials

• White tee
• Transfer tape
• Vinyl
• Red screen paint

Tools

• Cricut Explore Air 2
• Weeding tool
• Scraper tool
• Screen
• Painter's tape
• Squeegee
• Easy Press
• Easy Press mat

Instructions

1. Open Cricut Design Space and pull up the cut file here.
2. Decide how big you want your design to be and size down the design.
3. Cut out your vinyl on your Cricut Machine. Make sure it is centered on the cut screen before pressing "Go"
4. Weed out the words and the house (the opposite of what you would do if you were using the letters you cut).
5. Using transfer tape, transfer your design to your screen.
6. Remove the transfer tape and cover up any open spaces on your screen with painter's tape.
7. Center your screen on your shirt.
8. Spoon out paint on side of screen and use a squeegee to pull the paint across your design.
9. Carefully lift your screen off the tee.
10. After at least 24 hours, heat set your ink. Use an Easy Press set at 320 degrees for 40 seconds.

Notes

Before you paint your tee, put something in between the layers so the paint doesn't bleed through. Don't remove it until after your ink has completely dried.

The post DIY Home Alone Screen Print Shirt – “Look What You Did, You Little Jerk” appeared first on Life With My Littles.

This post contains affiliate links.

Over the last year, I’ve kind of lost myself. I’ve been on survival mode homeschooling the kids, having very little time to myself, running the house at a very basic level, and only doing the essentials to keep my blog up and running.

Unfortunately, I know I’m not alone. This last year has taken a toll on everyone, especially moms. We’ve had it dang hard, with navigating distance learning, staying home with kids all day, and even working from home.

DANG HARD.

Moms always have a lot on their plates, and it’s easy to put yourself last and forget to do things you enjoy. And if you’ve been mommin’ hard for a few years (or more), you may not even be sure what that is anymore.

If you’ve been wanting to pick up a hobby but aren’t sure what kind of hobby you want to try, this post is for you. I talked to some friends and have put together some ideas that make great hobbies for moms. Bonus: they’re all pretty easy to pick up!

25 Hobbies for Moms

Houseplants

Every heard of a plant mom? Well I have fully become one over the last year. And I’m planning on writing a post with some of the easiest houseplants for beginning mamas, too!

Brush Lettering/Calligraphy

I’m lumping these two together, but I know there are slight differences. Learning how to do brush lettering has always been on my to-do list, and I may have to actually take it up some time! You can do so much with it!

Crafting

This is a pretty general term, and it can include so many different things. You could even start selling your own little crafties!

Journaling

If you’re not a frequent journaler, you may not thing this can be considered a hobby, but I assure you, it can. Journaling doesn’t just mean writing “Dear Diary” and recording your latest crush. Promptly has great journals for beginning journals, and if you already know what kind of journaling you want to do, a blank one from Scribble & Jot is my favorite. You can even keep memory journals for your kids!

Yoga

This one’s not for me, but if fitness is your thing and you want a hobby that helps you stay healthy, yoga is perfect! There are tons of free videos on YouTube to get you started.

Baking

I do love this one. There are so many different things you can bake, and if you bake a lot, you can share your treats with neighbors and friends! Everyone loves the friend who brings them treats!

Cake Decorating

Cake decorating is a great hobby for moms. It’s a great artistic outlet that has a bonus of being delicious. You can do it from home and even make your kids’ birthday cakes if you want. I love Cake by Courtney for cake recipes, and I get lots of my decorating inspiration from Instagram accounts.

Gardening

If indoor houseplants aren’t your thing, maybe try gardening! Fresh vegetables from the garden are the best way to eat vegetables, and there are lots of things you can grow that are pretty foolproof and hard to kill. We used to have a huge garden at our old house, and now we have three garden boxes with cute little garden markers I made myself. Even if you just start small with one tomato plant, it’s so satisfying to harvest food and flowers you grew yourself!

Watercolor

Another one of my favorite hobbies is watercolor. If it sounds intimidating, it’s not. I’m mostly into abstract paintings, and I’ve got several things I’ve done hanging in our house. It’s a pretty forgiving art form, and it’s a lot of fun to try! I have a set of Prima tropical watercolors and I love them.

Embroidery

This is a great hobby for moms because you can just sit wherever you are and work on it! Plus, supplies are pretty cheap (embroidery hoop, fabric, embroidery floss). I embroidered one of my favorite quotes a few years ago and I still love it.

Quilting

Quilting isn’t just a grandma hobby! You can make quilts for your family and friends, or even donate them to shelters or hospitals.

Card Making

I know this also sounds like a hobby your grandma might do, but it can be so fun to make and send handmade cards in the mail! And who doesn’t love getting a handmade, handwritten card in the mail? (Side note, the Cricut Joy & card mat make card making SO EASY)

Pilates

Another healthy hobby, pilates is great for moms who want to work on strengthening their muscles and looking good! I was really into pilates after my first son was born, and it was great for me!

Running

Remember when I was really into running and then there was this pandemic and everything came crashing down? Me too. Anyway, running is a great hobby, even if you’re super slow and not in it for the competition. You can even listen to podcasts or audiobooks while you run!

Knitting

Another hobby that I’ve never learned, but I know some people love it! And since it has minimal materials you can do it on-the-go!

Crochet

Crocheting is pretty easy to pick up, and also different than knitting! But another great one to take on-the-go.

Sourdough Bread

If you haven’t tried to make your own sourdough starter yet, now’s the time! Since the pandemic, sourdough has risen in popularity, and the internet is flooded with delicious sourdough recipes!

Reading

One of my newly-renewed hobbies that I forgot I loved so much is reading. I love reading and being pulled into a story. And it can be a free hobby if you get a library card!

Paint by Sticker (or Number)

Paint by Sticker is one of our family’s newer favorite activities. It’s basically like painting by number, but instead of actual painting, it comes with stickers for each spot. The pictures turn out amazing, and it’s kind of soothing! Or you could always go with the classic paint by number, too.

Coloring Books

There’s a reason adult coloring books have risen in popularity, too. They’re an easy, calming hobby and something you can do while listening to a podcast, music, or an audiobook.

Procreate

I’m not very artistic, but I think Procreate is so cool. You can create all kinds of digital art, and when I asked my Facebook friends what their favorite hobbies were, several mentioned Procreate!

Diamond Painting

Another hobby that a few mama friends mentioned was diamond painting. It’s described as a mix between cross-stitch and paint-by-number. I saw someone doing it at the rec center last month and it really did look cool!

Stamp Collecting

One of my secret hobbies is stamp collecting. I don’t have very many, but I think it’s so fun to track down stamps that have a special meaning or tie to somewhere I’ve been or something I like. One of my favorites I have is an old Walt Disney stamp from the 1968.

Puzzles

Puzzles are another pandemic hobby that’s taken off the last few months. We’ve done a few, and my kids have even helped a few times. If you can make a space in your home to set up a puzzle spot, it’s worth it! Even a small little card table works.

Lego Sets

My kids love Legos, and it wasn’t until one of my best friends showed me the Lego set she had gotten for Christmas that I realized Legos can be a hobby for adults, too! I even got my own set (Harry Potter Legos, what else?) for Valentine’s Day, and it was a blast to put together. If you have somewhere you can keep them up, Legos make a great hobby!

Being a mom is a busy, full-time job, with no breaks, no holidays, and no weekends, and this last year has been ROUGH. But despite all that we have on our schedules, it’s important to find things to do for ourselves.

Hobbies allow us to do things we enjoy, just because we want to, which is something we don’t often get with all the little people in our lives.

Pick one or two of these hobbies for moms, try them out, and if they aren’t for you, try something else. You may even find something you’re passionate about and can enjoy for years to come!

The post 25 Hobbies For Moms appeared first on Life With My Littles.

This post contains affiliate links.

Last week we took a trip down to Florida and spent three days at Disney World. I was hesitant to visit during the pandemic, but when your husband offers to take a trip to Walt’s Place, you don’t turn him down!

Several people I know are going to Disney World in the next few weeks and months so I thought it would be helpful to write a post answering the question “What is Disney World like during COVID-19?”.

Whether you’re going to Disney World without kids, or you’ve got your little ones in tow, this post is for you!

There were several things that would’ve been helpful to know that were kind of a surprise to me when we got there. And of course, there were obvious things that I expected, like temperature screenings before entering the park.

Here’s a helpful list of everything I could think of that made Disney World different during the pandemic.

What is Disney World like during COVID-19?

You have to choose what park you’re visiting each day through the app or website. They call it the Disney Park Pass System. All the parks were open on all three days, so I didn’t really have a problem with this.

Temperature screenings before entering security at each park.

Park Hoppers are only available after 2pm. For the first part of the day, you have to stay at the park you reserved.

No Fast Passes. This was a huge bummer, because we always use it for the big rides and it saves us a lot of time waiting in line. Because there are currently no Fast Passes in use, we had to wait in lines up to an hour long. Boo.

There’s extra spacing in lines, which means markers on the ground every six feet that tell you where to stand. In places where the lines curve too close to be six-feet-apart, there markers are spaced even further apart.

This makes the lines extra long, even with the reduced capacity. Lots of the lines wrap around outside of their regular queues, and there are cast members out holding signs for the ends of these long lines.

You have to wear masks at all times, except when eating or drinking while stationary. And yes, even during pictures. This actually wasn’t a big deal for me, except for when I got hot. Also, I started breaking out along my mask line.

Some dining locations require you to order on the mobile app before coming inside or up to the counter.

Some also require you to make a reservation. If it’s a sit-down place, I highly recommend making reservations far in advance. We booked our trip three days before we left and weren’t able to get reservations for any restaurants inside the park.

There are no character meetings or character dining right now. If meeting characters is a big part of Disney for you and your kids, this is going to be a bummer. Especially if there’s one character in particular that your child wants to meet. We were only able to see a fraction of the characters we normally do in the parks.

There are however, random parades/drive-bys with one-four characters. Unfortunately, they aren’t listed on an schedule, so you just sort of have to stumble upon them. We were able to catch the end of a three-car drive-by with Donald, Minnie, and Mickey at the front. Seeing Mickey for those ten seconds he drove by was my three-year-old’s favorite part of the trip.

Most shows are cancelled. I think the Frozen Sing-Along Celebration was the only one still happening.

The parks also close a little earlier (it ranges between 5pm and 8pm), and there aren’t any fireworks shows. There is one nighttime water parade, but it’s only viewable from a few resorts, so we didn’t get to see it.

No Extra Magic Hours. They suspended it when they opened Disney World last summer, say it’s not going to return.

A lot of dining places are closed. So if you have your heart set on a particular treat, you may not be able to get it.

Queues have plastic dividers between rows that are close together. This happens a lot on the loading zones for rides.

On that note, some rides have plastic dividers between rows on the actual cars/boats/space ships you ride. Most of the dividers are fine and didn’t bother me, but the did make it hard to see on the Frozen Ever After ride and the Kilimanjaro Safari.

Most rides don’t fill completely to allow for social distancing. For example, Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Jungle Cruise all had open seats in the rides.

There are lots of hand sanitizer stations and audio reminders to wash your hands. I appreciated all the hand sanitizer stations, especially in lines and at the end of rides. My kids love touching those queue barriers that like a million other people also touch.

Disney World still felt busy to me, even with reduced capacity, and I’m mostly basing that on how packed the stroller parking spots were. They were packed. We also went at the end of January, which I feel like should be a pretty non-busy time.

Our trip to Disney World was still a lot of fun and I definitely don’t regret going during the pandemic. My kids had a great trip and enjoyed going to Disney World for the first time. My husband, not so much, but then again he never really enjoys theme parks that much.

If you do want to go to Disney World right now, make sure you check out Get Away Today for their great deals on travel packages! You can even get $10 off with code LITTLES!

The post What is Disney World Like During COVID-19? appeared first on Life With My Littles.

This post is sponsored by Cricut and contains affiliate links.

I remember when I was in high school and my mom got the original Cricut machine. She was big into scrapbooking, and it could cut out so many fun shapes and letters. I loved sneaking downstairs and cutting out my own shapes and letters.

When I was in college, I got my first Cricut machine, a Cricut Mini. It worked by using Cricut Craft Room on my computer, and I loved using it to create. One of my favorite things I used it to make was a key-hanger that we hung in our entryway the first few years we were married.

Unfortunately, when Cricut changed over to Cricut Design Space, they stopped updating Cricut Craft Room, and my Cricut Mini became obsolete. For a few years, I didn’t have my own Cricut machine. I had to rely on the kindness of friends when I got an urge to create. It was a rough time.

In 2018 I bought a Cricut Explore Air 2, and this year, I got a Cricut Joy. As a result, my creativity has flown free! I use my Cricut machines all the time! I’ve made shirts, bags, home decor, door mats, labels, and party decorations. I’ve even helped friends create their own projects during girls’ nights!

As Cricut has grown as a company, the machines it has come up with have improved impressively. Not only can you cut paper, but depending on your machine, you can cut leather, chipboard, fabric, felt, and vinyl, not to mention drawing with pens and markers! Cricut also now has the EasyPress to make creating beautiful projects even easier. You can even use your own fonts or upload your own designs on Cricut Design Space. I honestly don’t think there’s much you can’t create with a Cricut machine!

With Cricut, the possibilities are literally endless! And that’s why Cricut machines make great Christmas gifts! I’ve used a lot of different Cricut machines and products, and today I want to share a few holiday gift bundles for the creative person in your life!

Cricut Gift Guide

Cricut Joy Bundle

Cricut Joy

The Cricut Joy is Cricut’s newest machine, and it’s also their smallest! This bundle is great for someone who doesn’t have a lot of storage space, but still has a lot of creativity! It has a few features that are unique to it, like Infusible Ink, that bonds to projects instead of just sitting on top, and Smart Materials, that don’t need a cutting mat.

The Cricut Joy cuts 50+ materials, can draw or write any shape, works with Bluetooth, and can cut designs up to four feet long, or make repeated cuts up to 20 feet long! It’s a tiny machine that packs a big punch!

Insert Cards

Forget the days of cutting out your own cards. With these amazing pre-cut insert cards, all you have to do is design, load into your Cricut Joy, and sign your name!

Card Mat

If you plan on making custom cards with your machine, I highly recommend adding this to your bundle! This makes card making SUPER easy and fast!

Transfer Tape

If you plan on transferring vinyl to anything, I highly recommend transfer tape. I didn’t know it existed until I got my Joy, and it’s a game-changer!

10′ Permanent Smart Vinyl

This amazing 10′ roll of permanent vinyl doesn’t come in a lot of colors, but I love that it’s so long and will last forever! Plus I can make cuts up to four feet long when I use it!

Cricut Joy Tote

I got this little tote bag to store my Cricut Joy in, and it’s so handy! It also fits pens and the cord for the Joy, so when I want to use my Joy all I have to do is grab my tote and bring it upstairs!

Smart Label Writable Vinyl

I LOVE this writable vinyl! I used it to make school supply labels for my kids this year, and honestly, you could probably use it to make labels for anything! Plus, it’s one of the Smart materials, so no mat!

Extra Fine Point Pens

Use these little guys to write on your writable vinyl, address envelopes, write on cards, or draw pictures!

Infusible Ink Markers

These markers are amazing, and so much fun! Include these in your gift bundle and the recipient will fall in love with Infusible Ink!

Infusible Ink Blanks

I personally love the Tote Bag Blanks, but Cricut also makes several other blanks that are compatible with Infusible Ink (like shirts for everyone in the family, coasters, pillow covers, and even cosmetic bags).

Cricut Explore Air 2 Bundle

Cricut Explore Air 2

The Cricut Explore Air 2 is perfect for serious makers who are constantly coming up with big projects. It’s a fast-cutting machine that cuts up 100 different materials–everything from cardstock, vinyl, and iron-on to a range of specialty materials.

You can make shirts, custom stickers, labels, cards, and pretty much any paper craft you can imagine! The Cricut Explore Air 2 is a crafter’s dream!

Felt Sampler

I used this felt to create a felted word art sign in my kids’ school room, and it turned out so well! Let me tell you, using a Cricut to cut felt makes it SO MUCH EASIER! If you’ve ever wanted to make a quiet book, it’s never been easier!

Patterned Iron-On

Cricut makes so many cute sheets of patterned iron-on, from Disney characters to designer patterns, they have it all (even leopard print!). You can create some seriously fun things with this!

Premium Permanent Vinyl

Cricut’s premium permanent vinyl comes in over 40 colors, so you can either pick a favorite color, or choose a sampler with a few colors.

Foil Transfer Kit

Foil transfer sheets are the newest material from Cricut, and they can make some pretty fabulous projects! To use the foil sheets, you need this foil transfer kit, and it comes with some sheets to try out. I haven’t tried them myself yet, but I have friends who have and they look awesome!

Printable Vinyl

This is another material I haven’t tried out yet, but I REALLY WANT TO! Imagine all the stickers you could make!!

Transfer Tape

Like I said before, if you’re transferring designs, you’ll need some transfer tape!

Cricut Maker Bundle

Cricut Maker

The Cricut Maker is the machine that does the most, so if you know someone who runs an Etsy shop or business out of their home, this would make an incredible gift!

Not only does it cut all the basic materials (paper, cardstock, vinyl, iron-on), but it can cut leather, chipboard, fabric, and stamp material. Guys. It can cut over 300 different materials. That’s just madness! I think if you get a Cricut Maker you can just throw your scissors away forever!

Side note, the Maker comes with a rotary cutter and FabricGrip mat for cutting fabric,

Deep-Point Blade

To cut thicker things like magnet, chipboard, foam, stamp material, and cardboard, you’re going to want some of these bad boys!

Aluminum Sheets

If you want to make wall art or keepsake cards, aluminum is a great option! You can also make dog tags, monograms, and engraved jewelry with this.

Engraving Tip

What use is your aluminum if you can’t engrave it!?

Genuine Leather

You can make so many cool, unique things with leather! Imagine a personalized luggage tag made of leather!

Chipboard

Another cool material the Maker can cut is chipboard. Can you imagine making your own puzzle!?

Ultimate Fine-Point Pen Set

I have these (you can use them on the Explore, too) and they write beautifully!

Premium Permanent Vinyl

This one’s a must-have for all three machines 🙂 It’s just so versatile!

Patterned Iron-On

Again, versatile! Every bundle needs some!

Transfer Tape

You get it 🙂

Materials and Accessories Bundle

Maybe you’re gifting to someone who already has a Cricut machine they love. Here are a few things you can gift them to help make their creative dreams come true!

Cricut EasyPress 2

Forget about trying to transfer a design with an iron! The EasyPress makes it SO much easier! The Cricut website has a helpful heat guide chart showing what temperature it should be on for what material and for how long. You just heat, hold, and remove! Voila!

Portable Trimmer

If you’re cutting cardstock or vinyl to a certain size before your Cricut cuts it, this is super handy (and makes for a lot straighter edges!).

Machine Mats

Depending on how often you use your machine, your mats will eventually lose some of their stickiness, and that’s a recipe for disaster. So include some extra mats in your gift bundle, and you won’t have to worry about that!

Basic Tool Set

Having these tools makes weeding and applying designs so much easier.

Gifting Cricut machines and gift bundles this holiday is a great way to show friends and family that you care, and you support their creative endeavors! There are literally millions of projects you can make with Cricut, so the possibilities are endless! Choose a gift from this Cricut gift guide and you’ll have one happy maker!

Merry Christmas, mamas!

The post Cricut Gift Guide for the Holidays appeared first on Life With My Littles.

This whole distance learning combined with social distancing and staying home thing has been kicking my butt.

I meant to get a bunch of posts up in this “Stuck at Home” series before we moved, but like I said, things have been complicated lately.

But today I’m finally posting another resource (better late than never!) full of fun things to watch at home with your kids while you’re stuck there. Sometimes it can get repetitive watching the same TV shows or movies over and over, and these videos are a great way to mix things up while we’re all confined to our houses!

Live Videos

The author of Pete the Cat, James Dean, does Instagram Live videos every weekday, and they are so fun! He teaches kids to draw characters from his books, talks about art, and reads one of his books. He’s affectionately nicknamed his following the “Pete the Cat Club” and we love it!

The Cincinnati Zoo hosts home safaris on their Facebook Lives every day at 3pm EDT. They highlight one of their animals in the videos, and then suggest a fun activity for you to do at home!

Ocean’s Initiative has been hosting a Virtual Marine Biology Camp on Facebook Live twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays at 2pm EDT. They’ve done episodes about seals, dolphins, whales, and even sounds in the ocean! If your child is interested in marine life, it’s a great educational resource!

YouTube Videos

National Geographic Kids has an awesome channel with a few different video series. They have series like “Weird, but True,” “Explorer Academy,” “Destination World,” “Best Job Ever,” and “Are We There Yet.” If you are in the mood to learn something new, check out NatGeo Kids!

Dude Perfect isn’t an educational channel, but my kids LOVE their videos! They’re a bunch of guys who started off doing crazy trick shots and now they have all kinds of fun videos, including funny stereotypes (that are always spot on), battles, and a show called “Overtime.”

DoleTube is one of my new favorites because we’ve been able to learn about some of our favorite fruits, how they grow, and how they make it to our stores! I wouldn’t recommend all the videos, but the ones about bananas are so cool!

Exercise Videos

You may be living under a rock if you’ve never heard of Cosmic Kids Yoga. The videos feature yoga, mindfulness, and guided relaxation, and are designed specially for kids aged 3 and up. My kids’ favorite is the Frozen yoga video. She goes through the story and they do yoga moves along with her! A lot better than sitting on the couch!

Disney Family has a series of exercise videos on YouTube called “Get Moving with Disney Family” where, similar to Cosmic Kids yoga videos, you do exercises that go along with different Disney movies. There’s Peter Pan, Moana, The Jungle Book, The Incredibles, The Lion King, and Mulan.

Little Sports is another channel that has a bunch of exercise videos for kids. They’re animated, and not all of them are great, but they have them for all body types and they can keep your kiddos active while at home!

Okay, so KidzBop isn’t necessarily “exercise” but their channel has tons of dance-along videos for kids to watch and dance along to! They also have “Daily Dance Breaks” every day at 3pm EDT.

Books Being Read by Authors and Celebrities

Storylineonline.net is a website with a bunch of videos of celebrities reading books out loud. There are TONS of books to listen to, and even one with the child actors from This Is Us! Adorable!

The Instagram account @savewithstories has more videos of celebrities reading books. The best part is that there’s a great mission behind the account, too! In partnership with Save the Children and No Kid Hungry, they offering stories to provide fun and education to kids and parents stuck at home during the coronavirus outbreak. It’s free, but you can also donate to help make sure schools and community programs have the support they need to keep brains and bellies full. You’re also supporting our important work to meet the health, education and nutrition needs of kids in other countries impacted by coronavirus. How cool is that?!

The hashtag #operationstorytime also has lots of videos on Instagram of authors and other celebrities reading books. Maybe you can find your child’s favorite book!

Cooking Shows

There are lots of great shows about cooking, both that you can just watch and enjoy, and that you can cook along with at home. My kids love Kids’ Baking Championship, Cupcake Wars, and Girl Scout Cookie Championship. Taste Buds Kitchen started a free at-home cooking club you can sign up for that features videos of easy recipes with simple ingredients you probably already have, every Tuesday and Thursday at 2pm EST. And for every sign up, they donate $1 to No Kid Hungry!

GoNoodle

GoNoodle is an app, a website, and a YouTube channel, but I’m giving it its own category because it offers so many different things. Your child likely has had experience with GoNoodle in their classroom, so they can probably tell you about it! They have lots of different options for active screen time, from dance parties, yoga sessions, mindfulness activities, and game sessions. We have the app on our Roku and the kids love doing the videos!

Competition Shows

I know I already had two competition shows listed in my cooking show section, but I have more to tell you about! LEGO Masters is one my first-grader especially loves, and of course American Ninja Warrior is always fun to watch!

Your Favorite Movies and TV Shows From When You Were a Kid

Now I can’t promise they’ll all be as good as you remember, or that they’ll all be as innocent as you remember, and there’s a chance your kids won’t like every movie or TV show you show them, but now’s the time to watch those classics you’ve always wanted to show your kids! If you don’t have a subscription to a streaming service that features a lot of old movies and shows (like Disney+ or Amazon Prime), you can usually rent movies and TV shows online for a few dollars!

Drawing Videos

Mo Willems, author of the Elephant and Piggie series, is the Education Artist-in-Residence at the Kennedy Center, and for three weeks he hosted “Lunch Doodles” where he showed kids how to draw! There are 15 episodes and you can watch them all on the Kennedy Center website.

Joe Wos is a cartoonist who has a YouTube channel called “How To Toon” where he shares all kinds of video tutorials to teach kids how to draw cartoons! He’s been doing daily live streams that you can check out on his channel. If your kid likes to draw, they might enjoy his videos!

My kids also love Art for Kids Hub on YouTube. They have hundreds of drawing videos, from preschool-level to advanced.

Animal Shows

Disneynature has some great animal movies. We just watched Dolphin Reef, and are in the middle of Diving with Dolphins. There’s also Elephants, Penguins, Bears, Chimpanzee, African Cats, and several others. They are fun to watch because the footage is incredible and you get to learn about animals!

The series Planet Earth is great for learning about animals, too! If you don’t have a copy, you can watch it on Discovery!

Our Planet is a show similar to Planet Earth that’s available on Netflix and is narrated by the same person as Planet Earth. It’s like, the streamable version of Planet Earth!

If you’re burned out from watching too many episodes of My Little Pony or Mickey and the Roadster Racers, hopefully you can turn to one of these fun things to watch with kids while you’re stuck at home!

Remember, this social distancing madness won’t last forever, and things will go back to normal. If you’re spending a lot of time in front of the TV, don’t feel too guilty about it. We’re all just in survival mode right now, and doing what we have to to make it through the day! You’ve got this, mama!

Check out the other posts in my Stuck at Home series here:

• 36 Things to Do With Kids
• 35 Things to Cook With Kids
• Working From Home With Kids
• 7 Ways to Stay Connected With Friends and Family

The post Stuck at Home: 10 Things to Watch with Kids appeared first on Life With My Littles.

This post contains affiliate links.

Up until last week, we hadn’t even mentioned what was going on around the world to our kids. We live in Minnesota, and life hadn’t really been affected here. Our kids had no idea there was a virus spreading around the globe, making people sick, shutting down cities, and causing a mad rush to stock up on toilet paper.

But then one of our favorite NBA players tested positive for the virus, the entire NBA season was postponed, Disneyland decided to close its gates, and our church leaders announced that church meetings would temporarily be suspended worldwide, all within a period of 24 hours.

Things suddenly felt a lot more real.

In the last few days, our entire country has started taking this seriously. That means cancelling events, postponing movie releases, and even shutting down entire school districts.

I’m glad people are taking precautions to prevent the spread of the virus. Social distancing, while it may be difficult, is the best way to slow the spread of this disease. Sure, it sucks that we didn’t get to go to Disney on Ice last week and that lots of people had to cancel their spring break trips, but it’s for the overall health of the world, and that’s why it’s okay.

Like I said, we hadn’t talked to our kids about what was going on until a few days ago. But even they have noticed that something’s off right now. We didn’t go to the gym, we’re not going to church tomorrow, and we’re staying home on a Saturday, a day we usually try to get out of the house and do something fun.

Our kids are seven, five, and three. I know not everyone’s kids will notice something’s going on, especially if you regularly stay home with your kids and they don’t go to school yet.

But if you’re in the large group of mamas who suddenly finds herself stuck at home with her school-aged kids, you might be stressing about how to keep them occupied and how to prevent total chaos and madness in your house.

Fortunately, this is happening at a time when most people have access to the internet. It’s starting to warm up so kids can play in the backyard in most states. Lots of restaurants and fast food places have drive-thru or deliver options. We can order groceries online and have them delivered, or go to the store and stay in our cars while they’re loaded into the trunk.

Social distancing sucks, but it’s only temporary, and we can get through it.

In an effort to prevent mamas everywhere from losing their minds, here are some things to do with kids when you’re stuck at home.

Things to Do With Kids When You’re Stuck at Home

Exercise

There are tons of exercise videos on YouTube, and so many of them cater to kids! My kids love the Get Moving series from Disney Family. You can also try GoNoodle or Cosmic Kids Yoga.

Cook or Bake

My kids always love helping out in the kitchen (especially in their aprons!), and of course our favorite part is always eating what we make! We’re going to try out homemade soft pretzels finally and maybe some Rice Krispie treats later this week!

Tour Something on Google Maps

If you were really set on that vacation you had to cancel, there’s a way you can still (sort of) enjoy the place you were going to go! Tour it on Google Maps! From a desktop, go to Google Maps and type in a location you want to tour. Then drag the little orange person at the bottom right of your screen to the place. It should bring up pictures of that location and you can tour it! I know it works for Disney Parks, historic monuments (Stonehenge!), and even the White House. This has quickly become one of our favorites, and I’m sure it will be one of your favorite things to do with kids when you’re stuck at home, too!

Do a Science Experiment

My kids love doing science experiments, and I love doing easy ones that don’t require a bunch of extra materials I have to buy. We got out son the Everything Kids’ Science Experiments Book for Christmas and we’ve had fun doing a bunch of the experiments in that.

“Ride” Rides at Theme Parks

In this day of the smart phone, it’s very popular to take videos of theme park rides and post them online. Which is nice when you can’t go anywhere, because even if you aren’t really going up and down with the roller coaster hills, you still kind of get the experience! For kids, it’s enough, especially if they aren’t tall enough to go on the ride anyway! So head to YouTube and watch videos of rides at places like Disneyland, Six Flags, Sea World, or Universal Studios!

Color or Draw

My daughter could (and does) color for hours. My older two especially love making little story books and stapling them together. Just give your kids some paper and crayons and let them at it! You can even print coloring sheets online (my oldest LOVES color by number pages!).

Play Outside

If it’s warm enough to play outside, send your kids out for thirty minutes. It helps to break up the day and they can get some of their energy out!

Go for a Walk or Bike Ride

Walk around your neighborhood, at a regional park, or on a local trail. It’s another way to get your body moving and get some much-needed fresh air!

Plant Something

We’re going to be inside for a few weeks, so you might as well make it worth it! If you have seeds, plant them in little yogurt cups, or if you have beans, you can grow them in a plastic bag in the window. It’s always fun to check on your plants every day and see if they’ve grown!

Take a Virtual Field Trip

Did you know that there are museums that offer virtual tours? Did you know you can visit National Parks, farms, and even the Space Center without leaving your couch? Check this list of 50+ virtual field trips you can take with your kids to get some ideas.

Watch Facebook or Instagram Live Videos

In the last few days I’ve seen lots of places hosting Live videos on Facebook or Instagram. The Cincinnati Zoo has daily “safaris” you can watch on Facebook and James Dean, the author of Pete the Cat, started hosting Live story time on his Instagram page today. It’s a fun way to participate in something live while still at home!

Word Searches

If your kids are old enough, print them out a word search! It will keep them busy for a while and there are tons of free ones available online (just google “printable word searches” and you’ll find a ton!). Amazon also has lots of cheap word search books (my oldest really likes the “My First Word Searches” book).

Have a Building Competition

The best way to do this would be to use LEGO bricks, but you could also use blocks, pillows, boxes, or anything else you can stack. Give your kids 30 minutes and see who can build the tallest or fanciest tower and offer a reward to whoever wins.

Play Card or Board Games

My friend Britni just put together an awesome post of the 25 best board games for kids, which is a great resource when you’re stuck at home! And here’s a post of 10 kid-friendly card games you can play!

Read Aloud

No matter how old your kids are, reading aloud together can be a great family activity. I remember my parents reading chapters of books to us every night before bed and how special that was. Read one of the books on this list of first novels to read aloud, or if you have a favorite book from childhood, now’s the time to start it!

Do a Scavenger or Treasure Hunt

What kid doesn’t love following a set of clues or a map to find something special? You can try this nature scavenger hunt or make your own! It’s really easy to set up, and you can adjust it to their ages of your kids! You can find more scavenger hunt ideas from Play Party Plan.

Listen to a Podcast

Podcasts aren’t just for adults anymore! There are so many great kid-friendly podcasts out there. I know not every kid will be able to sit and listen to a podcast for more than a few minutes, but if your child is older and has a longer attention span, they might love listening to podcasts! This list of podcasts for kids from Common Sense Media has some great ones!

There are plenty of screen-free things to do with kids when you’re stuck at home. Yes, it can be hard, and yes, you need to make sure you get some quiet time during the day, but if you stay busy and refuse to let it get you down, being stuck at home can actually be a memorable, fun thing!

Since we don’t know how long this crazy pandemic is going to last, we’re just taking it one day at a time. Hopefully these fun things to do with kids when you’re stuck at home will help you stay sane and prevent everyone from losing their minds while we’re quarantined!

The post Things to Do with Kids When You’re Stuck at Home appeared first on Life With My Littles.

I’d like to argue that mental health is the most important part of self-care for moms.

We can take care of our bodies and feel like we have things going on outside of motherhood, have mom friends and feel spiritually fed, but if we aren’t taking care of our mental health, none of that is going to make a difference.

When we feel stressed or anxious or depressed or overwhelmed or hopeless, even if it’s just for a little bit, it impacts our ability to function and impacts the people around us.

We aren’t supposed to be stressed or sad or down all the time. Sure, it’s normal to have a bad day, but if you’re having bad days every day, something might be wrong!

Mental health can get in the way of doing everyday activities. It can prevent you from feeling up to getting out of bed, packing lunches, doing laundry, running errands, visiting with friends, and playing with your kids. That can be a problem!

Just like any other part of our bodies, our minds can get sick. It doesn’t mean you’re being punished or you did something wrong, it’s not a weakness, and it’s not your fault. Mental illness can happen to anyone.

One of the most important things to remember is that it’s okay to ask for help. In fact, sometimes things won’t get better unless you do. Mental illnesses also affect moms long after the postpartum period has ended. So don’t feel like just because you didn’t have a baby recently you can’t ask for help. You can.

I know it’s hard for moms to seek out mental health care. It took me months to finally go to the doctor for my PMDD. But one more day of suffering is one more day of suffering, and if you put it off, you’ll just keep suffering and feeling pain! The hardest part of getting help is taking the first step, whether that’s telling someone how you feel, scheduling an appointment for yourself, or even acknowledging that something isn’t right.

The only way things are going to get easier is to open up and talk about them. And not only can opening up help you, but it can also help others who are dealing with the same things.

Now I know that not everybody suffers from mental illness. And even if you don’t struggle with depression or anxiety or any mental illness that can be diagnosed, it’s still important to take care of your mental health!

And regardless of whether or not you have a mental illness, there are things you can (and should!) do to help you stay on top of your mental health.

Self-Care for Moms: Ideas for Better Mental Health

Take time to breathe, reflect, and sit still

This one is definitely harder said than done when you’re a mom, but it’s important. Sometimes we’re going so fast all day long that we forget to be still. It can help you feel more calm (obviously) and present.

Find an outlet

There are several things that could help you release any tension or stress you feel. It might be meditation (the Motherhood Unstressed podcast is a great tool for this!), doing something creative like painting or knitting, reading (fiction or non-fiction!), or journaling (the Dive Thru app is a really cool journaling app that gives you guided journaling exercises to help you take charge of your mental wellbeing-even after one session I felt more clarity and direction!).

Acknowledge your feelings

It might be hard, but you have to acknowledge the feelings that you’re having, good or bad. You’re allowed to have all feelings, and you shouldn’t feel bad or ashamed or deny the feelings you have just because they aren’t “good” feelings. Acknowledge your feelings, feel them, and if you can, move on. If you can’t, do more of these ideas!

Talk about how you feel

Once you’ve acknowledged your feelings and maybe even written them down, you need to talk about them. It might be with a friend, your spouse, a parent, a therapist, a doctor, or even someone anonymous. Saying the words out loud is harder than writing them down, but it can help you start to heal. And chances are, you’re not the only one feeling those things, either!

Read or display affirmations

And I don’t just mean things like “you’re beautiful” and “you are loved,” which are great, and you should definitely read those, too. But I think there are better affirmations to help your mental health. Things like “you can do this,” “this will pass,” “they’ll grow out of it,” “no one has it all together,” “don’t compare yourself,” and “I can do this.” Say one of those to yourself when your feeling like a hot mess and it might help you feel more grounded and like you have a handle on things!

Take a break from screens

I love me some screen time (Disney+ is my FAVE), but it can really help clear your mind and help you refocus on what’s important when you take a break from screens. Try disconnecting one day a week and see how it can help your mental health. I stay off of social media every Sunday and it’s honestly refreshing! If my business wasn’t done primarily on social media, I would probably do it more often! It helps me be present and connect with my family and friends more (which is of course good for your mental health!).

Find a way to keep track of your thoughts and ideas

One thing I struggle with is feeling like I’m going to forget ideas that I have. It might be groceries I need to get, ideas for blog posts or my kids’ birthday parties, or something I want to do for a friend. I usually get these ideas at night and lay in bed for hours feeling anxious trying to keep all my thoughts straight. Something that helps me (a lot) is writing these late-night ideas in the reminders section of my phone. You may want to do something similar, or use a notebook or planner to keep track of things. Mamas are BUSY and have so much to manage, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed and feel anxious when you feel like you’re going to forget to do all the things you have to do!

Treat it

Sometimes doing these things isn’t enough. Sometimes, it’s not just a bout of sadness or a single panic attack. Sometimes, you need to treat your mental health. And when it comes to that, you can try natural remedies, therapy, or medication. Sometimes a combination of these things is what you might need. Everyone is different, so treatment looks different for everyone. And if you can’t afford therapy (because it is dang expensive), or you just want to do it from home, check out the app Bloom. It combines interactive video sessions with guided CBT journaling exercises to give users a new and affordable way to therapy and improve their mental well-being (even if you don’t have a mental illness, it’s great!).

Have a plan in place

Make a plan before things get bad, before you feel like you’re going to breakdown and lose it. Pick something you can do when you feel like things are getting too dark so when you get to that point, you’re not lost at what to do. It might be to call your mom or best friend, get outside for even just a few minutes to breathe, sit in your car and close your eyes, or go buy your favorite Starbucks drink and drive around for a while. Deciding beforehand what you’re going to do when you’re about to crack will make it easier when the time comes to do something positive instead of negative.

Whether you suffer from a mental illness or not, it’s important to take care of your mental health. Mamas, we need to take care of ourselves in order to take care of the people around us, and that absolutely includes taking care of our mental health. Fortunately, people are talking more about mental health these days, but there’s still so much more we can do. When we’re open and we share our struggles and successes, we can help not only ourselves, but others struggling with their own mental health, too.

Check out the other posts in the Self-Care for Moms series:

• Self-Care for Moms – A Six-Part Series
• Self-Care for Moms – Physical Health

Check out the other posts in the Self-Care for Moms series:

• Self-Care for Moms – A Six-Part Series
• Self-Care for Moms – Physical Health
• Self-Care for Moms – Finding Yourself
• Self-Care for Moms – Spirituality
• Self-Care for Moms – Connection

The post Self-Care for Moms – Mental Health appeared first on Life With My Littles.

Leaving the house when you’re potty training can be scary, but it doesn’t have to be when you’re prepared! Make sure have these diaper bag essentials for potty training packed, and you won’t worry about accidents on-the-go anymore!

There’s no such thing as casual potty training.

At least not successful casual potty training.

We’re potty training our third child, and if there’s anything I’ve learned over the years, it’s that in order to be successful with potty training, you have to really commit and go all in.

Instead of being cautious and putting diapers or a pull-up on our son when we leave the house, I’ve been keeping him in his undies. Yes, that does mean there’s a potential risk of accidents outside of the house, and yes, that can be terrifying and messy and complicate things.

But if you stock your diaper bag with these essentials for potty training on-the-go, it will be a lot easier to commit and potty train your child while still leaving the house.

Here are some diaper bag essentials for potty training that I highly recommend you stock in your diaper bag for trips out of the house!

Diaper Bag Essentials for Potty Training

A wet bag

This could be a plastic grocery bag or something fancier like these wet bags that are meant for storing soiled cloth diapers. As long as you can put wet or possibly stinky undies or shorts inside without getting the rest of your diaper bag wet and stinky.

Pants that are easy to put on

When you’re potty training, pants that are easy for your child to put on and take off by themselves are your best bet. And it’s especially helpful to have ones that are simple when you’re on-the-go and need to change your child. Stretchy waistbands aren’t just for Thanksgiving anymore.

An extra shirt

Most often, this won’t be needed, but especially when you’ve got a little boy who is potty training, sometimes their stream can go up a little too high and get on their shirts. So make sure you have a backup just in case!

Baby wipes

Besides obviously wanting these on hand in case of any poop accidents, any mama who has potty trained a child knows that when your kid pees their pants, it’s uncomfortable. Having some baby wipes to wipe down their legs after they have an accident is important for your child’s comfort post-accident.

Clean undies

Or, I supposed, a clean pull-up, but we personally aren’t using pull-ups this time because in our experience, they feel too similar to diapers. ANYWAY, you’ll obviously need some clean undies in your diaper bag when you’re potty training.

Little rewards

Rewards are a big part of potty training for us, even if all that means is a single M&M after using the potty. And if your kid is anything like mine, they will ask you for a reward every single time they use the potty, whether you’re at home or away. Keep something small in your bag for them (even if it’s just a few chocolate chips) or you might be faced with a tantrum followed by the purchase of expensive ice cream.

Sanitizing wipes to wipe the toilet, if needed

You know how sometimes you don’t even want to sit on the toilet seat because it’s so disgusting? Now think about your child sitting and touching and moving all around on that same toilet seat. Keeping a few sanitizing wipes (like Clorox wipes, Lysol wipes, or a small pack of ancibacterial Wet Ones like these) in your bag in case of extremely gross toilets can definitely help. Especially if your child needs to use the bathroom at a gas station or (please, no!) a porta-potty.

Socks

You never know how full your child’s bladder is going to be when they have an accident, and sometimes it runs all the way down into their socks. Keep an extra pair in your bag, just in case.

Disposable or washable changing pad

One thing I’ve always struggled with is when kids poop their pants in public. I have this traumatizing memory of my oldest son when we were at Disneyland for the first time standing on a bench by the Monsters Inc. ride telling me he pooped his pants. Have you ever taken off poopy underwear without getting some on your child’s legs? Have you ever been able to cleanly wipe your child’s poopy bum while they were bending over? It’s a struggle.

My solution is to use a disposable or washable changing pad (or honestly, even a puppy potty training pad like this) so you can put your child on their back and lift their booty up to clean everything. You definitely won’t want to have them just lay on the ground, and sometimes it’s too late to or too embarrassing to go out of the stall and use the baby changing table, and this is a quick solution! Just clean your child up and toss the pad in the trash or washer! Easy peasy!

I honestly think potty training is one of the hardest parts of parenting. It takes a lot out of you, it’s a full-time commitment, it’s exhausting, stressful, and you never know how long it’s going to take. But the reward that comes at the end, AKA having a child who uses the toilet, is definitely worth it. Obviously.

Hopefully these diaper bag essentials for potty training will help make it easier for you to keep up the potty training even when you’re on-the-go! Life doesn’t stop just because you’re potty training!

The post Diaper Bag Essentials for Potty Training appeared first on Life With My Littles.

UPDATED FOR 2021 WITH 2021 CALENDAR LINKS!

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Remember the little chocolate advent calendars from childhood where you’d open a tiny little paper door each day in December and behind it would be a small little chocolate, usually in the shape of something Christmasy?

I know they still exist (we’ve done them with our kids before!), but advent calendars have really stepped up their game in the last few years! From socks to toys to books, there’s really an advent calendar for every interest and age these days!

Back in August I pre-ordered the Disney: Storybook Collection Advent Calendar, and last week, it showed up! Mamas, we haven’t even started it and I love it so much! It’s huge, great quality, and has 24 mini Disney storybooks inside from our favorite Disney movies. We already peeked at number one and it’s 101 Dalmatians!

Today, I thought it’d be fun to share some other awesome unique advent calendars that I found online, both for kids of all ages and interests! No disrespect to the classic chocolate advent calendars (we might grab a few of those this week, too), but these ones look like so much fun!

19 Unique Advent Calendars

Disney: Storybook Collection Advent Calendar

Crayola Christmas Countdown Activity Calendar

Play-Doh Advent Calendar

LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar

Paw Patrol Advent Calendar

Barbie Advent Calendar

The Office 12 Days of Socks

Lindt Bear Advent Calendar

Hot Wheels Advent Calendar

Disney Pixar Cars Advent Calendar

24 Days Christmas Advent Calendar with Fashion Jewelry

Bonne Maman Mini Fruit Jams and Spreads Advent Calendar

Harry Potter Holiday Magic Advent Calendar

Chocolate Kisses Candy Filled Advent Calendar

Funko Harry Potter Advent Calendar

Thomas & Friends MINIS Advent Calendar

Funko Pokemon Advent Calendar

Sweetapolita Sprinkle Advent Calendar

Funko The Office Advent Calendar

LEGO Marvel The Avengers Advent Calendar

I also want to note that there are a bunch of awesome sock advent calendars at Target right now, and you can find more online, too. So if none of these spoke to you or if you just want to do socks for everyone in the family, that’s a fun advent calendar idea, too!

Hopefully at least one of these unique advent calendars will work for your family. I honestly wish I could buy several of them (maybe one year!), but I’m 100% happy with our Disney Storybook Collection calendar. I can hardly wait to start reading the stories each night with my kids!

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