Stickers

In the winter months, when it's too cold for the park or the soccer field, it's always nice to find a non-messy craft that will occupy the girls. The fort that they recently made out of blankets, string, stuffed animals, pipe cleaners and paper boxes does not fall into this category. Melissa and Doug Sticker collection sheets do.

Over Thanksgiving, the girls' friends Cam and Drew introduced them to the sticker sheets and since then they've been hooked. Noni particularly likes the fashion collection and Evie and Lucy love the make-a-face book. The sticker books have become our go-to birthday present these days. If you're looking for a holiday present that will keep your little one entertained for hours, I strongly recommend them. They are available at Childish Things in Boulder or online at amazon.com.

Lucy making sticker art

Our fridge, courtesy of Noni

Mompreneurs

It's been a while now since I worked outside the house. In that time, it's funny how often I've formed friendships with other moms who are home full-time with their kids without ever thinking to ask they did before they had kids. I've had friends who for years had no idea that I was ever a teacher. And I was shocked when, after knowing a friend for months, I found out that she was going back to work as a doctor. I had no clue she was ever a doctor.

Recently, several of my friends have jumped back into work by starting their own businesses. I love seeing moms come up with creative solutions as they re-enter the work world and I love discovering that my friends have talents that I never knew they had. My friend Keri-Ann recently decided to put her love of baking to the test and sold out her pies at the farmer's market. And just today, I learned that my friend Corey designs reusable bags and is starting a crafting blog.

In honor of all of these creative friends, I thought I'd share a couple of their websites:

Corey's reusable bag company (formerly thegoodgiftbag.com, the new site is in development): http://goodbaggage.com/

Hilary's name dots: http://www.kidecals.com/

And I'll celebrate creative family as well:

My mom's palettes: http://possumproducts.com/

Enjoy!