Once upon a time I received a dreamy box full of glitter in the mail. My daughter and I knew our weekend of Christmas crafts was about to become much sparklier! Our biggest project – giving Santa’s cookie plate an upgrade.

Our first step was to gather the supplies and select which glitter to use for the border.

Lily choose Gold, Snow, and Citron from Michaels Recollections Glitter Collection. The extra fine glitter was perfect for our project! You can buy the glitter individually or you can also get them in pretty sets. The prices start at $3.99 and, let me tell you, the glitter lasts forever! My six year old applied the glitter liberally several times and it barely put a dent in the containers.

Other supplies you will need include:

Paint Brushes – a wide one and a smaller one for touch ups

Crayola Chalk

Painter’s Tape

Chalkboard Paint or Spray Paint

Modge Podge

Plate

Once we had all of our supplies together, Lily helped me tape off where the chalk board paint was going to go.

Because we were taping a rounded edge, I tore the tape off in several-inch long pieces and then laid them down overlapping until we surrounded the entire edge of the plate. I then used my little sharp tool to make an even cut around the entire edge. I did this step myself, but Lily helped with the rest of the process.

Next came the fun!

Lily started by painting the outside of the circle and then finished with the middle. This helped her to not getting any of the paint outside the circle. We let the chalkboard paint dry over night and it was ready for a second coat in the morning.

It was time to move on to the SPARKLE! We poured the modge podge into our glass cup and then used both the smaller and bigger brushes to spread it on the plate. The smaller brush was for the inner ring. We did it in sections so the modge podge did not dry too fast.

Lily knew the best way to apply the glitter. Pour, pour, and pour some more! I started applying it much too thinly. The sections where she literally dumped the glitter looked much better. For the first coat of glitter, we sprinkled all three colors from the Michaels Recollections Collection. The glitter we used was very fine, but Michaels also has chunky and tinsel glitter available which may be fun to use as well!

We let the glitter dry and then we went over any sparse patches with another layer of modge podge and more glitter. Putting a poster board underneath the plate allowed us to catch any glitter that fell off. We funneled the glitter into a plastic bag and then poured it on for the second coat. You will want to spray a sealant on keep the glitter in place as well.

Lily was THRILLED with our final project.

She quickly wrote her thank you note to Santa and now she can’t wait to make cookies Christmas Eve. This was the perfect craft for Lily and I to work on together! We are already thinking of ways to use our glitter from Michaels next!

My boys also got in a little glitter fun when Lily was at school. I made them snow bins and sprinkled in the Peacock extra fine glitter. They loved making mini snow men inside!

Thank you to Michaels for making this post possible!

The post Chalk Board Santa Cookie Plate appeared first on KeepMovingForwardWithMe.

I was delighted to meet the representatives from FamilyShare.com at the Build Your Blog Conference earlier this year. I am a huge fan of any person or company whose goal is to strengthen families so I couldn’t wait to explore their web-site.  After I graduated with my bachelor’s in Journalism, I made the giant leap to a master’s program in Marriage Family Human Development. For two years I buried myself in the latest research on marriage and family and I loved it.  I had to put my academic endeavors slightly on hold when I fell in love and added a different mrs. to my name as well as a beautiful and quite vocal baby girl.

Much to my chagrin, motherhood did not come with a manual. I had vigorously studied child development for two years – I was bound to be a natural, right? I spent hours on the phone with my Mom, e-mailed friends and family, and sought advice from my mommy friends. Discovering that all my research wouldn’t alleviate sleepless nights, nursing struggles, and overactive hormones was a big eye-opener for me. What did help was knowing that I am not alone. Connecting with other mommies has been so important during my early mommy years.

And boy oh boy has technology increased in the five years since I had my first baby. I’ve chatted with other sleep-deprived mamas in the late hours of the night turning an exhausted, tear-filled moment into a moment of shared hope and new resolve. I can ask what the going rate for the tooth fairy is and get responses back in seconds (the question and answer section of Familyshare.com is perfect for this!) My daughter just lost her first two teeth this past week and this was a HUGE deal at our house. I used some of the tips from the article How to be the World’s Best Tooth Fairy and it was a hit.

Tips two and three became part of our fairy magic. My daughter was wide-eyed listening as I wove a story of where the tooth fairy came from – including the magical ways the fairy would be using her two front teeth. She adored the sparkles that were painted on to her dollar bill as well. Her daddy told her that the color of the sparkles matched the color of the fairy. Moments like this are part of what makes me love being a mother. So happy I found the fun ideas on Familyshare.com!

It was a fabulous week to be a mommy as I shared with my daughter in her fun milestone. And I am excited to be celebrating Mother’s day with my own Mom today! I’ve loved reading all the virtual shout outs to deserving mommas on social media today so I just had to make one for my own Mom.

It’s super easy! You can even upload your own picture. How fun is that? Just click on the pic and it will take you to do your own.

As I have explored Familyshare.com for valuable mommy tips, I have loved how customizable it is. I select which topics are most important to me and they are bumped to the top of the page. This is so important to me with my limited time. This morning I got so much out of the article with 15 things to say to your mother while you still have the chance. My mom and I talk almost every day, but the list still has some great ideas!

I am looking forward to reading more articles at Familyshare.com. There’s so much to learn and share on this mommy adventure! I feel blessed to have so many online resources that can strengthen my family right at my fingertips.

How are you celebrating Mother’s Day?

What do you love most about your Mom?

 This is a sponsored post. The ideas and opinions are all my own and I loved checking out Familyshare.com!

The post Learning and connecting online with Familyshare.com appeared first on KeepMovingForwardWithMe.

With two very active, non-potty-trained little boys running around my house, you know that we go through a lot of diapers! This mama is always on the lookout for the latest and greatest in diapering. I jumped at the chance try out Wal-Mart’s White Cloud Diapers. You know you are a mom when you are excited when the mailman drops off a package of diapers on your doorstep! I certainly was!

My boys put the White Cloud Diapers to the test for a few days before we got together with a group of mommy bloggers to discuss what we had discovered about the diapers. We met at a local park, played baby shower games, munched on the cutest treats, and dished about diapers.

My boys were in heaven running around with new friends while the mamas chatted. In fact, my older boy played so hard that he just kept going even though his diaper was full. And it didn’t leak! The White Cloud Diaper definitely lived up to its advertising of leakage protection! My guy was still dry and comfortable enough to run around and play even with a very full diaper! I was thrilled that the diaper had stayed on and contained all the wetness. No need for an extra change of clothes when the diaper does all the work.

Both of my guys have super sensitive skin so I appreciated that White Cloud Diapers are hypoallergenic and fragrance-free. The biggest bonus for me was the strength of the diaper tabs. My 18-month-old dare devil wasn’t able to take the White Cloud Diapers off by himself – major plus. No nakey runs for him while we were trying out the diapers. My husband also thought that the diapers contained the diaper stench a little better. He was a fan!

In talking to my fellow mommy bloggers, we all agreed that the design of the diaper is darling. I love the polka dots and my boys love the animals! The mamas of newborns liked the wetness indicator that helps you know when baby needs to be changed. I remember loving that with my new ones.

As our littles were running around, we played a fun baby shower game where we guessed the baby food in the diaper by its scent and color. It was a fabulous afternoon in the park talking with other moms about products we love.

The best part of the play date was my little boys being able to run and play without me having to worry about a diaper blow out or leakage. Happy children = happy mommies!

The kids and I all voted our first park play date of the season a success! Thank you Wal-Mart White Cloud Diapers for bringing us all together!

Diapering can be one of the biggest expenses in a family’s weekly budget and a great performing diaper is a must-have for parents.  In order to make this affordable, Wal-Mart has reintroduced their premium line of White Cloud diapers to address the needs of today’s busy parents.

White Cloud Diapers provide your baby the highest quality diaper with superior leakage protection, exceptional softness and great fit.  White Cloud Diapers are available exclusively at Walmart, where you can find low prices everyday on all your family’s needs. Check them out today!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of #WhiteCloudDiapers

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