LilSugar

Pimp Your Crib: Paint Your Life

babysugar — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 08:00:00 -0700

The days of sitting for an oil portrait may be long gone but that doesn't mean you have to forgo the beauty of a canvas hanging on your walls. The magic of the Internet and Paint Your Life allows parents to take a digitally uploaded photograph and convert it into an oil painting in just over three weeks. With a team of professional artists on staff, the company recreates your photo using the medium of your choice - oil, watercolor or charcoal - and uploads a photo of the piece for your review. After approval, the canvas is finished and you receive the portrait in the mail.

Prices start at $120 for the smallest oil painting so you may want to start working your way through Summer photos to get a head start on some holiday gifts for the grandparents.

Lil Links: Paris Jackson Weeps Good-Bye

babysugar — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 11:00:01 -0700

Paris Jackson loves her daddy - Celebrity Baby Scoop
School bans pro-life tee - ParentDish
Honor Warren ditches the band for a bow! - Celebrity Baby Blog
Painting the nursery black - MOMformation
Your dad didn't do this - Fit Pregnancy
How to host a rainy day birthday party - AlphaMom
Have you named a guardian for your child? - CafeMom
DIY pedicure - Cookie
9 ways to make your baby laugh - Parenting
Get your kids in on the taste test! - YumSugar

FAO Schwarz to Get the Toys R Us Treatment

LilSugar — Fri, 29 May 2009 09:00:09 -0700

It's a toy story. There is no better factory of fun than FAO Schwarz's flagship store. With toy soldier greeters, life-sized stuffed animals and a world-famous walkable piano, the 145-year-old toy emporium has been a wonderland for lil ones and their parents for generations.

FAO Schwarz has been a backdrop in many feature films, including Big,
Baby Boom and Big Business and currently serves as the home of the make your own Muppet Whatnot Workshop and Make paint your own pottery studio.

This week, the luxury shop announced that it was moving under the Toys R Us umbrella, thus saving it from financial distress. Do you have a family tradition or memory tied to FAO Schwarz?

Track Your Child's Growth With a Picture Me Growth Chart

LilSugar — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 10:00:15 -0800

Remember standing against grandma's hall closet door while your older cousin marked off your height on the door's edge and then comparing your growth every visit? Most modern mothers aren't willing to deface their carefully covered doors with pencil marks (it's hard to find the perfect paint color!), but you can still keep the tradition alive.

The Picture Me Growth Chart ($12.50) offers a more personalized, decor conscious and portable way to track your child's growth. You slip in a picture of your tot at each height into the chart's clear plastic slots instead of leaving marks on the wall. Of course, you can write your child's age and exact height on the back of the photo so you can use the very scientific stats later in life.

ECOWEEN: Witch Craft With Recycled Items

babysugar — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:00:51 -0700

What do haunted houses, tombstones, spider webs and ghosts all have in common? They are a few staples that make Halloween come to life and they're traditional! Show your tot that old is better when it comes to the festive October holiday by crafting costumes with recycled household products.

First up - a witch! Broom Hilda and the Wicked Witch of the West can be whipped up in no time with some careful consideration of mom's wardrobe, craft products and a cereal box!

To see how to craft your creation, read more.

Empty cereal boxes
Black construction paper or poster
Pen or pencil
Scissors
Tape or stapler
Foil or glitter
Two 12 inch pieces of ribbon
Glue (hot glue is preferable)
An old pair of fishnet pantyhose
A black dress or shirt and skirt
Tights or long socks
Makeup or face paint to turn that adorable face into an equally wicked mug

Before you get carried away with the wardrobe, work on stewing up a wicked cap and wand for the lil witch:

Supplies you'll need:

Take an old cereal box and deconstruct it carefully so it is a flat board.
Curl the box into a cone shape that fits the size of your tot's noggin. Once the circumference is decided, use a pen to mark the spot where the two meet and draw a circle around the base directing you where to cut the excess material.
Using scissors, remove excess trim off the bottom to create a clean finished look.
Next, glue your black construction paper onto the box and make sure your line for taping or gluing is visible. Allow your tot to decorate with glitter, foil shapes, etc.
When the images are dry, reshape the box into the cone shape and either hot glue or tape it into place.
For additional trim, you can cut out star shapes and sprinkle silver glitter on them. When they dry, you can attach them to the base of the hat for a magical touch.
Itty bitty witches who may have a tougher time keeping a topper on their head may benefit from two ribbons to wrap around their chins. Simply hot glue the attachments onto the inside of the hat at the base of their ears.
For the wand, give your child a black marker and one chopstick or pencil. Let her go to town painting it black with a Sharpie marker and allow it to dry.
Take some old, but clean recycled foil and shape it into a star shape. Stick the star atop the chopstick and shazam! she's got herself a wicked wand.

Now for the apparel:

Take a clean pair of old fishnet hose and cut the feet out of them. Depending on your child's arm span, you may want to keep the stockings attached at the seat and allow her to put the tights on like a shrug. You can cut the excess off leaving the attached panty portion running across her back. Otherwise, you can cut the tights off and use a ribbon or twine to attach the loose ends across her back.
Next, slip a short sleeved black dress or shirt and skirt over the netted ensemble. Put on tights or long socks to keep her wee limbs warm for trick or treating. If you've got stripes or polka dots, give them a go as they will add some spunk to the ebony do.
Complete the look with a funky pair of shoes, some creepy makeup and the new fancy topper!

To read all of our ECOWEEN coverage, click here.

The Gifted Child: Three-Year-Olds

LilSugar — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 10:00:45 -0800

Three-year-olds tend to be a bit fickle as they express their independence. One moment they are telling you they can do it all by themselves, then the next they insist on holding your hand. When shopping for a gift for a preschooler, look for items that showcase their new found abilities.

Among our favorite selections for this age group:

The ballerina in your life will be begging to put on a recital with the Acting Out Dress Up Musical Skirts that either play music from the Nutcracker or Swan Lake with the flip of a switch.
The little John Bonham or Tommy Lee in your family will love the Plan Toy Musical Band drum set. Featuring drums and cymbals, this environmentally-friendly set, is not too loud and is made from replenishable wood.
One of the coolest new toys on the market, Automoblox, are more than just wooden vehicles. Each car can be taken apart and reassembled, and, once additional cars are purchased, the interchangeable parts can be used to create new, unique, creations.
Sprig Toys use kid-power, rather than batteries, to move their environmentally-friendly, paint-free vehicles. Unlike other vehicles on the market, the trucks and all terrain vehicles in the line use kinetic energy to move, make sounds and light up.
Get your tot up and moving with Animal Scramble a new game of hide and seek that encourages listening and following instructions.
What preschooler doesn't like ice cream? With the Melissa and Doug Ice Cream Set your lil one can dream up the quadruple scoop cones while practicing her colors and numbers.

Source

ECOWEEN: Cardboard Box Grocery Bag

babysugar — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 08:00:00 -0700

Something as simple as a grocery bag helps teach your child about recycling and finding other uses for eco-friendly materials. Using our staple - the cardboard box - you can create a larger than life grocery bag filled with your tot's favorite foods (or the contents of your recycle bin).

To see how we created a brown bag worth wearing, read more.

Supplies you will need:

Medium-sized cardboard box
Green paint (the Livos Salis finger paints can be diluted with a little water to make them paintbrush accessible)
Box cutter
Wide black ribbon
Grocery items from recycle bin
Stapler

View 6 Photos ›

To read all of our ECOWEEN coverage, click here.