GF Family Tips: Keep it Kid Friendly! #UdisGlutenFree

Since my daughter was first diagnosed with food allergies, and then later a gluten intolerance, I've made it my mission to have fun playing with food! 

It can be easy for kids with special diets to feel left out - missing birthday party or class treats, candies, or even something as simple as enjoying the same hot lunch their friends do at school.

By getting my daughter involved with me creating in the kitchen, we keep things exciting and fun by focusing on the great foods we can have!

That's why I'm so thankful for amazing brands, like Udi's Gluten Free, that offer us gluten free & allergy friendly products for our family.

Lunch Made Easy: DIY Mini Pizzas {Build Your Own Gluten Free Pizzas}

Each time I visit my daughter at school during a lunch period or while chaperoning a field trip, I can't help but look and notice what all the other kids have packed/ are eating. Many of them pull a Lunchables from their backpack. Some even accompanied by a can of soda.
I get it - it's easy. And the labels are so deceiving... "Whole Grains", "Great Source of Calcium", "100% White Meat", etc.
It's when you actually flip the container over and read what's really in those items that it makes you shake your head.  That was me. I use to buy those things. Especially when they were on sale. 
Super easy, right!? But oh, so, wrong for your health.  Then trying to explain to your child why they can't have them is difficult. Granted Little Miss cannot because of the allergens & gluten, but it's still tough since she feels like she's missing out.
That's why we make our own! For years now, we've done our own homemade cracker stackers, nachos, nuggets, etc. 
Today is no exception! Little Miss was so thrilled to have her DIY Mini Pizzas packed for school, just like her friends.

Craft Complete: Father's Day Gifts & Ideas

I am obsessed with Pinterest, by the way. What an awesome place to find ideas and inspiration!

That's where this one came from for Father's Day:

Craft Complete: DIY Jellyfish Craft for Kids

This is a cute craft to do with kids - Making jellyfish. :)

Of course when I told me daughter we were going to make jellyfish, she started saying in her very best Spongebob impression "jellyfishing, jellyfishing..." and wouldn't stop. lol

Super simple and cute. We already had all the supplies in the house too!

Things I Love... Take Two!

Second Edition Posting of THINGS I LOVE!

I love Lego Walls for a Kids Room/ Play Room.

Craft Complete: DIY Craft for Learning to Tie Shoe Laces

I have been trying to think of fun ways to help my daughter learn to tie her shoes.
If we just sit and try with a pair she has on, she gets very frustrated and gives up. (She is extremely hard on herself - the type of person, already at five, that wants to understand and do everything correct.)

In an effort to make the learning process more casual and fun, we did this craft together to help her learn to tie her shoes.

Craft Complete: DIY No-Sew Bag (Revisited for Kids)

If you remember my previous post from a couple weeks ago, Craft Complete: No Sew DIY Tote Bag (Made from a T'Shirt!) I mentioned I'd be revisiting this to do a small bag for my daughter.

I wanted to share it with you!

Craft Complete: DIY Crayon Redo

What do you do with all the broken crayons your kids have? Throw them away, right?
Here's  simple and fun DIY Craft for upcycling all those broken crayons!

I started collecting my daughters and have a baggy full.
You'll also need a silicon muffin pan - any shape & size :) obviously the more fun the shapes, the better!

Craft Complete: Puzzle Playmat Floor Pieces Redo!

I wanted to make sure these turned out and were upholding before posting. (AND THEY ARE!)

My daughter has these Disney Princess puzzle playmat pieces on the floor of her room to help protect not only her ;) but also our original hardwood floors. After time, the pictures have begun to peel off making not exactly appeasing to the eye.

I decided to spray paint them to give them new life!

Craft Complete: DIY Non-Slip Hair Clips & Bows

DIY Hair Clips & Bows - I love making these for my daughter! They can get so expensive buying them outright.

So simple to do; All you'll need is ribbon, an alligator clip, non-slip cabinet liner (optional), and a hot glue gun (and hot glue, of course, lol).

You can buy alligator clips at Hobby Lobby or Sally's Beauty Supply stores. I purchased mine on Ebay (was able to get a big bag of them for cheap).
Non-slip cabinet liner can be found at Target, Walmart, or even most dollar stores.

Lunch Made Easy: Bento Inspiration has begun...

My sister has gotten me hooked and completely interested in Bento lunches.
The art and the practicality! I need to build my supplies up... and now with the school year ending, I might as well wait until it begin again in the fall before I really splurge. :)
That being said, I plan on placing an order for a few things after the weekend. SO EXCITED!

Below I'm not only going to post her lunch from today, again utilizing the recycled strawberry container she now loves (LOL) but also a Bento inspired dinner I made for her the other night.

Lunch Made Easy: Recycling Strawberry Containers

This is a cute idea for recycling those plastic strawberry containers!
Not only that - if your kids lose or forget it at school, no biggy... I buy strawberries every week. lol :)

Food for Thought: I Love Cinnamon Rolls.

Easy and simple way to turn an ordinary cinnamon roll from a can into a lovely breakfast delight!
(Of course, made my five year olds morning - she said because I made them with love. *ahem* I always do! lol) Saw them gem of an idea on Pinterest.

Food for Thought: Flower Inspired Dinner Creativity

I wanted to share with you a shot of the plate I made for my little miss for dinner last night.

My sister has got me hooked on the idea of bento inpsired lunches. I, of course, do not have the talent or time to do have of the crazy beautiful ones I've seen, lol, but the ones I give a stab at my five year old appreciates most greatly!

Craft Complete: Teacher's Gift Project (& Extra Ideas)

I saw this and new it'd be the perfect Teacher 'Thank You' Gift for my daughter's teacher(s) this year. (It serves as a cute giftcard holder!)

The end of the school is rapidly approaching so here is what I made and how you can too!

Craft Complete: No Sew DIY Tote Bag (Made from a T'Shirt!)

I love this project! I first saw a posting on this from leethal.net and knew I wanted to try.

I've made two so far. Attached are pictures and easy-peasey instructions on how to turn a T'Shirt into a Tote Bag! This is a DIY NO-SEW PROJECT (my fave - no sewing! lol)

Craft Complete: DIY Cord Management

Such a clever idea from unplggd.com -

I always throw my old bread, apple, and potato tags away. This is a perfect solution for organization and labeling so when you need to unplug an item you know exactly which one it is!

Craft Complete: Turning Cereal Boxes into Gift Bags!

This past Christmas I found an idea online for turning cereal boxes into gift bags!

I particularly liked this idea because I could wrap the cereal boxes in my holiday paper to match the rest of my gifts. (I'm a bit OCD that way... I blame my mother, lol.)

It's also a great way to recycle and also save on having to purchase gift boxes! (You can also use oatmeal, granola, instant potato, or any other box you have handy for different sizes.)

Beauty Blogable: Newsworthy Nails

I stumbled upon this post from passionnailart.com and HAD to share!

You can see the picture tutorial on their linked website, but I've also listed the instructions below: