{MOPS Craft} DIY I Spy Bags

This adorable I Spy Bag is sure to keep little hands busy! 

 

 
One of our most popular crafts at MOPS this year was this fun 'I Spy Bag". We prepped everything ahead of time so all the ladies had to do was fill their bag with little trinkets and poly pellets. A few crafty moms brought their sewing machines to help sew the opening of the bags closed.
To learn how to make your own I Spy Bag, follow my tutorial here.

Teacher Appreciation Gift - Mason Jar Cookie Mix Recipe and Free Printable

Handmade Teacher Appreciation Gift

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix in a Jar

 

Teachers deserve a cookie break! A decorative jar with pre-measured & stacked cookie ingredients is a thoughtful gift to show your appreciation. A hand tied bow and this free printable tag offers unique gift personalization that any teacher will enjoy. The presentation is as good as the cookies!

MOPS Craft - DIY Journal Welcome Gift

 DIY pocket journals made an excellent welcome gift & craft at our first MOPS meeting.

For our first official MOPS meeting, we wanted to create a "Welcome to MOPS" gift. My clever crafting partner, Traci, came across these adorable pocket-sized journals from cremedelacraft.com. We were inspired and thought it would be great to make this journal our first craft and gift. To make the journals a little more special, I designed some information pages to fit inside. They featured our theme logo for the year, a place to write contact information, a list of all our upcoming meeting dates and blank pages for meeting notes.

MOPS - A Great Get to Know You Mixer

Here is a fun large group mixer you can use to get to know new people.

We called this our "m&m mixer"

The first MOPS meeting of a new semester can be exciting for returning members and perhaps a little nerve-racking for the new members. Many of these moms do not know their tablemates and may need some help in breaking the ice.  To get conversations going and facilitate introductions we provided this fun "m&m mixer".  It was a great way for the moms to get to know one another without the anxiety that can come in first meetings.

Each mom was provided the above printout and a fun-size bag of m&ms.  They were instructed to share a little bit about themselves based on the color of m&m they pulled out of their bag, using the printout as a reference.  For instance, if I pulled out a yellow m&m I would tell the ladies my favorite things about my daughter, (which is her sense of humor and cuddles)!  We set a 10 minute limit on the mixer, just enough time for everyone to learn fun and interesting tidbits about one another!

To download the PDF of the m&m mixer, click here.

MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) Creative Activities

This past year I became the Creative Activities Leader for my local Friday MOPS group. MOPS stands for "Mothers of Preschoolers" and is a program designed to nurture mothers with children from infancy to kindergarten. This year is my second year as a member of MOPS and my first year as part of the steering committee. I must say I feel so blessed to have become part of such an amazing organization! The friendships I have made and the lessons learned are ones I will cherish forever.

As the 2013-2014 semester wraps up, I thought I would share the crafts and mixers we came up with for our creative activities. I remember when I first started searching for craft ideas at the beginning of the semester I was racking my brain for ideas! I wanted to find creative activities that would be fun, quick and affordable. Thank goodness for Pinterest...

Follow Us on Pinterest!

Before the semester began, my creative activities partner and I created two Pinterest boards. The first board titled MOPS Crafts was where we pinned just our random ideas and inspirations we found across the web. Once we were sure we liked an activity and wanted to proceed with it, we then pinned it to our board MOPS Crafts Final. Check these boards often, we are very active pinners!

I plan to post all the activities we did throughout the year on my blog with supporting pictures and documents. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did at MOPS. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments!

Tuscan Inspired Table Decor

This gorgeous Tuscan inspired tablescape was used at my husband's recent company retreat at The Resort at Pelican Hill. The theme for the evening was "Festa!". I love the rustic mix of lemons and artichokes paired with the ranunculus flowers and rosemary sprigs. The Italian pottery and wood vases looked beautiful against the blue and white embroidered linens. This look was a great representation of the food served and the current spring season.