St. Patty's Gold Hunt

Since my son was born I have been absolutely determined to create many great and fun traditions for my kids to grow up with. I want them to have a happy, memory filled childhood. Not having that many traditions in my own growing up, I've spent the last two years of my sons life trying out various fun times and crafts. We celebrate typical American holidays as well as pagan Sabbats so I have a lot of figuring out to do. Some of those holidays either overlap or are similar so I am trying to find balance as far as what to do for which holiday. This blog however, is for St. Patrick's Day.

St Patrick's Day is important to me because I am part Irish. Not to mention my love of all things Celtic, and it's major connection to my pagan beliefs. I tried to think of a fun way to incorporate the lore of the day with the level of my son. What I came up with was a "gold hunt". Much like an Easter egg hunt (which I will blog about in a couple weeks), I bought a pack of plastic gold coins at the craft store and while my son was napping I hid a few coins at a time in various places around our living room. In the future, I think I will try to make my own "gold", for a more personal feel.

It was fun to have a hunt with a twist on it, as usually we'd be looking for eggs. The pack had 24 coins in it, so I hid 6 at time, knowing the attention span of my two year old wouldn't last that long. I'm thankful I decided that, because I was right. Looking for 4 locations was just the right amount for him. He did need a little help, he's still getting used to the idea of searching for specific items.

He re-hid his leprechaun gold the whole rest of the day. A fun way to celebrate, and it only cost $2. I haven't yet taken on the meal of the day, corned beef and cabbage. Next year I think I will attempt it. I still wasn't ready this year. It will be on the traditions list though. I promise myself that.

Happy Faces

This artwork of my son's just amazes me. He's gotten so big already, so fast! He can draw happy faces. What a milestone. He's been doing it for a couple months now and, of course, they keep getting better. It still puts me in awe though when I see him do things like this. My little man of 2 and 1/2.

Handpainted Knobs

We were lucky that last year a family member offered us their sons furniture. It is a twin size bed with mattress, two night stands, and a dresser. Being less abundant with cash flow, and knowing one day he WILL need these things, we took them. I already wrote about how our son got his new "big boy" bed and we put the dresser in the living room for extra storage space. It looks better there than it sounds.

These furniture pieces aren't the highest quality, but they certainly serve their purpose. I've tried a few things to help spice them up a tad. We did add the tent to his bed and he loves it so much. On the dresser I added a scarf as a runner and some cute pictures and books. Still, both pieces needed something else. Finally, I figured out what that was.

KNOBS! A simple change of knobs (and some of them were missing on both pieces) can really change the look of a drawer, and the furniture overall. I got some cheap simple black metal ones for the living room dresser. They look amazing if I may say so myself. For our sons bed, which has two drawers beneath it, I bought four white plastic knobs that are easy for his hands. I took them home and painted them with symbols that he knows and loves. It was fun, and considering that type of craft (drawing/painting) is not at the top of my skill list, I think I still did pretty good.