Holidays Archives – The Salty Mamas

My birthday is in October, and luckily for me, every beer garden in the world has decided to throw me a party complete with live music, tons of people and – of course – giant steins of beer. Now, I’m not delusional enough to think that every Oktoberfest in Long Beach is actually thrown in celebration of my birthday, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t spend many years taking full advantage of this easy to throw party. I mean, who doesn’t want to go to Oktoberfest?!? But the harder question is, Who wants to go to Oktoberfest with kids?

Not me.

Standing in front of a large crowd chugging a stein of beer just doesn’t have the same appeal when my three kids are part of the audience. But the truth is that somewhere along the line I ended up enjoying so much more about Oktoberfest than just the beer. And I found myself wanting to find a way to share some of that with my kids. Here are some cool ideas of ways to celebrate Oktoberfest with your kids.

Just because you have kids doesn't mean you can't rock Okctoberfest! #oktoberfestwithkids #oktoberfestlongbeach #oktoberfestlb #alpinevillage #alpinemarket #octoberactiviteswithkids #octoberwithkids #fallactivitieswithkids #kidsandbeer #germankids #teachingkidsaboutoktoberfest #oktoberfestcrafts #oktoberfestcraftsforkids

This post was sponsored by Cool Cabins. As always, all thoughts and opinions are those of The Salty Mamas. You can read more at our legal page.

Continue reading “Ways to Celebrate Oktoberfest with Kids” →

Crafty Mamas, Holidays

DIY Candyland Fairy Costume

August 1, 2018August 2, 2018 Salty Jaymi

I don’t know why, but when it comes to kids’ Halloween costumes, my daughter can never choose something simple. I love her originality, but DANG does it create a lot of work for me. While all the other girls were busy being Sofia, she wanted to be Totoro. When Aurora was all the rage, she requested to be a “pink bakery chef.” And while I could easily have gotten a Moana costume off the rack last year, she insisted that I get her a kids’ Candyland costume.

And, as luck would have it, I DID find it on the rack. But it was more like Sexy Candyland Fairy, and she’s four, so that was never gonna fly with me.

Which means that, yet again, it was up to me to make it happen in the DIY toddler Halloween costume department. I typically sew her costumes (like Totoro), keeping it as simple as possible. But as (bad) luck would have it, my sewing machine broke down just before it was time to assemble her Candyland Halloween costume.

The good news is that this was actually a HUGE blessing in disguise. It forced me to get a little more creative with the costume (and, frankly, a little less crafty). Which means that anyone with a hot glue gun, puffy paint, some felt, and an Amazon Prime membership could make a kids’ Candyland Fairy Halloween costume, too. Follow along below for the instructions!

This super-easy DIY Candyland Fairy Halloween costume will have your kids looking like the real deal this Halloween! Get a step-by-step tutorial at TheSaltyMamas.com. #DIYCostumes #DIYkidscostumes #DIYhalloweencostumes #kidshalloweencostumes #nosewhalloweencostumes #nosewcostumes

Continue reading “DIY Candyland Fairy Costume” →

Holidays, Kids' Art Projects, Recipes, Saturday Six, The Wonderful Ones, Why We're Salty

Saturday Six

March 24, 2018March 24, 2018 thesaltymamas

Another Saturday, another week of Mothering under our belt, another Saturday Six. Enjoy!

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1. Crafts and Cabin Fever

We’ve been housebound a lot recently thanks to rain, ear infections, and the dreaded flu. When we get cabin fever, we like to bust something out of our secret craft stash! This week, we looked forward to a break from the rain with this Hide and Seek Rock Painting kit that we can take outside when the clouds part! And you can’t go wrong with ANY of the craft kits from ALEX Toys! (But this one’s on sale for 50% off right now!)

2. We LOVE Low Mess Meals

Have you ever noticed how many delicious “One Pan” dishes there are on Pinterest? But then they’re all “We SAID one pan, but that’s really only if you have a cast iron skillet, and if you don’t then you need to use a regular skillet and then transfer into a baking dish, and I realize this changes EVERYTHING because you were really planning on this dinner when you pinned it and we lied to you about that one dish thing?”

Yeah, we’ve noticed it too. So Christine finally bit the bullet and bought this cast iron skillet and now she’ll never get screwed by Pinterest again. Well, until she tries to do some “kid friendly craft” that proves to be anything but…..

3. National Puppy Day

Is it any coincidence that Chad sent Christine a picture of puppies on National Puppy Day and suggested that one join the family? Spoiler alert: She said No. Or, more accurately, “HELL NO!” I mean, they’re cute and all, but puppies? Stay tuned and she’ll fill everyone in on the ten reasons she gave him for absolutely, under to circumstances, adding another family member let alone one covered in fur that will never be potty trained.

4. Christine is Having MAJOR Problems with Co-Sleeping.

Mainly, her kids all want to and she doesn’t. It’s like having a newborn again with all the shuffling kids back to their beds all night long. Or they stay and rub their feet on her all night long, which is worse. Christine and Chad considered getting an obscenely giant bed like this one from The Ace Collection, but knows they’d still end up getting pushed off the edge somehow. The struggle is real.

5. Jaymi’s Not the Only One Going Gray!

If you loved reading about the way she embraced her gray – and then how she changed her mind and went down the rabbit hole of hair coloring, then you’ll totally dig our friend SewGeekMama’s fight with her husband over her ~~gray~~ silver hair.

And if you haven’t ready any of that, well, now you have something to do while you drink your coffee! Or wine. We don’t judge.

6. Tragedy at Jaymi’s House

We love Abram, we really do, but we were not loving the way he threw Little Blue Truck across the room when he was done reading it peacefully. And we especially did not love the tragedy that befell the TV screen when it happened.

Help Jaymi not feel alone! Comment with the biggest tragic accident that’s happened at your house! And have a great weekend!

Chick-Fil-A, Crafty Mamas, Holidays, Kids' Art Projects, Married with Children, momlife, Momsquad, Recipes, Saturday Six, They Said WHAT?, Tips & Hacks

Saturday Six

February 17, 2018February 16, 2018 thesaltymamas

This post contains affiliate links. You can read more at our Legal page. Thank you!

This week was full of love, mom-wins, and sunny Southern California weather. So we’ve got LOTS to celebrate! Here are the six things that rose above to make this week a great one.

1. Jaymi is still gluten free, and not all Gluten-Free Foods were created equally. However, she’s finding that lots of her favorite recipes are easily modified. One of the best has been this Carnation Café Copycat Loaded Potato Soup. It is seriously AMAZING. Like, “We Serve it to Company” good. Sub in some 1-to-1 Gluten Free Flour, and it’s a GF version that doesn’t taste gluten free (thank goodness).

2. You may have heard that we won free Chick Fil A for a year, but we ALSO won a free Valentine’s Day Meal. Seriously y’all, we are SWIMMING in free chicken. You may not be willing to sleep in a parking lot for free chicken (because…well…REASONS), but PLEASE tell us you have the Chick Fil A One app installed on your phone. All you have to do is scan when you order, and you’ll get points that add up to free items. And if you’re anything like us, those orders- and those points!- add up fast.

3. Have you done one of those kid interviews that’s been floating around Facebook recently? We did them with our kids, and the answers were equal parts hilarious (Q: What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? A: A grown up. So I can make the rules) and so sticky sweet we could die (Q: What Makes You Happy? A: Hugging You). Our friend at All in A Dad’s Work asks his kids questions like these on the regular, and their answers are super insightful, and also sometimes super funny. We particularly liked this week’s questions. Go check them out!

4. We found out Cricut makes a heat press, and now we NEED it so we can make some Salty Mama swag. I mean, can you just imagine the salty goodness we could create if the kids all agreed to nap at the same time? Whoa.

5. We busted out our Marbled Shaving Cream Art at a playdate this week and it was a HIT. Each kid made five or six hearts a piece, and it ~~totally stopped them from fighting~~ was a great way to get some art in. And can I say, I kind of felt like super mom handing it off to their Mamas when they got picked up. We recommend busting out the green paint and some shamrock-shaped cardstock to bring it into the new season.

6. Our cruuuuiissseee is coming uuuuuuup! Look for some themed posts that will be going up this week, and get your rainbow tumblers ready. We’ve got a fun DIY headed your way so you can either A.) Cruise with your momsquad in style or B.) Have a virtual drink with The Salty Mamas.

Holidays, Mama Mojo, Married with Children, momlife, parenting, Saturday Six, The Daddys

Saturday Six- Valentine’s Edition

February 3, 2018February 5, 2018 thesaltymamas

This post contains affiliate links. You can read more about our policies at our Legal page. Thank you!

Valentine’s is just around the corner, and we’re gonna be honest…we’re just not as into it as we were pre-kids. Nowadays it’s more about cutesy crafts and heart-shaped snacks, and honestly? We’re mostly fine with that- but everyone once in a while we want to kick up the romance, too. So this week we’ve got a few tips for your sweet, kid-friendly Valentine’s day- but we’ve also got a few ways to take it up a notch (if you’re into that kind of thing).

1. When Jaymi was younger, a local pizza place would sell heart-shaped pizzas as part of their VDay celebrations. She no longer lives close enough to run in and grab one, so now she makes heart-shaped pizzas with her kids every year. Sometimes it’s just shaping pre-made dough into a heart, and sometimes it’s cutting English muffins with cookie cutters and layering on the toppings. Either way, it’s a fun and very simple tradition to start with the kiddos.

2. These DIY Love Coupons are perfect because they are 100% customizable for you and your partner. They can go from practical (Good for One Extra Morning of Sleeping In) to Saucy (fill in your own blanks here mamas 😉 ). Plus the kit comes with enough that you can give some to your kids (Stay Up Late, Choose the Restaurant, etc) or for your main squeeze…but PLEASE don’t mix up the two!

3. Lila’s very favorite cookies are these easy Funfetti Sugar Cookies from Sally’s Baking Addiction. They are soft, fluffy, and SCRUMPTIOUS. For a Valentine’s Day Twist, use only pink and red sprinkles, which you can purchase here.

4. Paper Heart Family created these awesome Emoji Keychain Printable Valentine‘s. They are a candy-free, super creative option for Valentine’s that stand out from the rest, and the best part is that they aren’t super expensive or tricky to create.

5. Show of hands- who wants to drag their toddler into a lingerie store to try on some skimpy outfits? Anyone? Yeah? NO. So here’s a little romance hack- you can actually buy adorable lingerie on Amazon. We’re not even kidding. You should check it out- the reviews are actually really good!

6. As you may know, we are very partial to the Daddies, and we love them every day in (almost) every way. Even though they drive us nuts sometimes (like this time. And this one. Or that one time.) But at the end of the day? DANG are we glad they are ours.

Happy Valentine’s Day from The Salty Mamas!

Crafty Mamas, Holidays, Kids' Activities, Kids' Art Projects, momlife, parenting, The Salties

Valentine’s Day Marbled Print Art

January 22, 2018February 5, 2018 Salty Jaymi

As a preschool art teacher, I have to say that I strongly favor process-based art for kids. The research all shows that the true benefit of art for kids comes from the process of making something- mixing colors, experimenting with lines and swirls, and getting hands-on experience with creative expression. Your average Valentine’s Day art projects, with their prescribed colors and shapes and outcomes, are typically not in line with process-based activities.

But.

I’m also a mother. I want some art for my dang refrigerator, gosh darn it.

So I’ve created this fun, process based art activity that will end with a product that you can display. By limiting the colors you present the kids with (pink, purple, and red for example), you can ensure that the project stays on theme- and the kids will be none the wiser. (Or feel free to go rogue here- this project can be accomplished with any colors and any shape of paper- including a plain old rectangle.) Continue reading “Valentine’s Day Marbled Print Art” →

Holidays, Mama Mojo, MicroLuxuries, momlife, Salty Mama Lists

What We Wish We’d Gotten For Christmas

December 30, 2017 thesaltymamas

At the risk of sounding like HUGE jerks…there’s just a few things we WISH we would have gotten for Christmas. I mean, they are largely impossible, but still… a Salty Mama can dream! Continue reading “What We Wish We’d Gotten For Christmas” →

Holidays, Mama Mojo, momlife, parenting, They Said WHAT?

New Year’s Resolution: Drop the Just

December 27, 2017 Salty Christine

One of the hallmarks of any small talk situation is the standard question, “So, what do you do for a living?

It used to be a question I was really comfortable with. I was always so proud of my answers. Whether I was “bartending my way through grad school,” “being a teacher’s assistant and leading my own classes at Cal State Long Beach,” or “working in fundraising for a non-profit” I always felt like I was doing something good. Something important. Continue reading “New Year’s Resolution: Drop the Just” →

Cheapskating, Crafty Mamas, Holidays, Kids' Activities, momlife, parenting, The Salties

Cheap and Easy Class Gifts

December 22, 2017October 3, 2018 Salty Jaymi

You think you’re done with your holiday prep. You’ve baked. You’ve shopped. You’ve even wrapped. You have done the impossible- you’ve finished Christmas a full week ahead of time. You pat yourself on the back for a job well done and prepare yourself for a blissful evening drinking a glass of wine and watching “Love Actually” one more time.

And then you get a sweet little note from your child’s lovely teacher (and I mean that. She is SO wonderful), asking that you send twenty identical kindergarten class gifts to school the day after tomorrow. And since said teacher is seriously SO wonderful, you decide to oblige her one last request.

I mean, you cry first, of course. But then you get to brainstorming.

So, if you’re like us and find yourself with ~~one more~~ twenty little preschool class gifts to buy, might we suggest a few ideas…

Continue reading “Cheap and Easy Class Gifts” →

Holidays, Kids' Activities, Salty Mama Lists, Traditions

I’m NOT Dreaming of a White Christmas

December 20, 2017 Salty Christine

Ding, dong, it’s December. And for many people that means snowmen and snowball fights and the dazzling white of the first snow and did I mention snow? But here in sunny Southern California, winter looks a little different. Sure, it’s a brisk 45 degrees out right now as the sun comes up, but I’ve got to dress the kids in light layers at school because it’ll be 70 and sunny when I pick them up at noon. And I’m bringing POPSCICLES to school for my daughter’s birthday. Basically, snow is not on the menu this December. And I’m not even a little salty about it.

But for some people, winter and Christmas and Santa all need snow. So here are some fun and festive ways to spread holiday cheer, without any of the freezing cold white stuff. Continue reading “I’m NOT Dreaming of a White Christmas” →