Target the Stars Blog

Just because we're low on cash and time this Christmas doesn't mean we have to be low on creativity and fun. After nine solid months of being unemployed, I finally found a job. The upside being great - yeah for health insurance and a steady income! The downside, we're strapped for cash this Christmas and working full time I have to find more creative ways to spend quality time with my kids.  Figuring out what I wanted to give our 11-year-old daughter was a challenge.  Electronics are too easy and fleeting, plus we're not really going to spend time together. So, I came up with a unique way to make sure we spend fun times together in 2015.  I purchased 26 envelopes, punched two holes on the side opposite the seal, and tied them with twine . I printed each letter of the alphabet with two weeks starting January 1, cut them out and pasted them on each of the envelopes.   Every two weeks she gets to open and envelope and find a craft I found on Pinterest and sometimes a...

Reading books is one of my favorite ways to get ready for Christmas.  This year I made an Advent pillow and filled it with the titles of our favorite Christmas stories.  Each day the kids pick out the story of the day and we read it.  I tried to coordinate some of the stories with TV broadcasts of Elf on the Shelf and How the Grinch Stole Christmas . First we read the books, then rented  The Polar Express and Miracle on 34th Street , We read the most religious books like Oh Holy Night and How Many Miles to Bethlehem , and How Jesus Came on the Sundays in Advent then lit the new candle for the week.  We read The Nutcracker the night before we went to see the ballet performance and of course read The Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve.   Creating the pillow was pretty easy. I purchased fabric at Joann Fabrics that already had numbers on it and sewed the top of each flap and then sewed the other three sides onto the back material.    I a...

As soon as the Mall of America publishes it's 2015 coupon book I will update Twin Cities Family Fun Guide. Meanwhile, Alphabet Adventures: A to Z Activities, Crafts, & Recipes is only $10.80 on Amazon.com and would make the perfect Christmas gift for kids, parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, daycare providers, Big Brothers/Big Sisters!

There are so many cool places around town to do fun things and one of the best is beARTrageous , a super cool arts and crafting store and community in the Kenwood neighborhood of Minneapolis. ​ 2121 W. 21st St, Minneapolis, MN 55405 612-423-7554 ​ ​ On Sunday, November 23 at 3 PM, I'll be hosting a Thanksgiving-inspired arts and craft project and selling my books.  There will be refreshments and a door prize! Please join us for some fun!!!

Once upon a time, there was a little princess who delighted in all things fairy tale. Sadly, she was born into the home of a pauper. That pauper shopped at her local dollar store and hosted an amazing Royal Ball fit for the demanding princess. Come, see, and use the ideas the pauper is about to share: 1. The birthday guests were invited by hand made scrolls. Using brown paper lunch bags, the pauper carefully (and sometimes with curse words as it jammed a bit) printed invitations in the Blackadder ITC font: By order of Her Royal Highness Princess (her name) of (city/neighborhood), you are formally requested to attend a Royal Ball to celebrate her fifth birthday.  The festivities will commence at 2 o'clock on the afternoon of Sunday, October 26 at the Royal Palace (address).  Please come dressed as your favorite princess. There will be crafts, games, tea time, dancing, cake, and a special guest (or two).  All subjects are requested to send word of their reply...

Yesterday I was surprised with an early Christmas gift, a big white envelope with local Minnesota scientist and mom Liz Heinecke's brand new book Kitchen Science Lab for Kids: 52 Family-Friendly Experiments Around the house . I enjoyed meeting Liz on the Twin Cities Live set back in June and loved her easy to make experiments and nature studies featured during her segment . As soon as I ripped open the envelope and started reading the book I knew the 52 experiments designed to be easy enough for a 2 year-old to help and interesting enough for a teen to learn would be incorporated a weekly science day into our alphabet-obsessed lives.  Liz has pulled together manageable and yet totally fun experiments including chemical reactions, physics, life science, polymers, botany, microbiology, electricity, and even rocket science.  This book would make a perfect birthday or even teacher gift. Liz is a former research scientist who has turned her love of science into a sour...