I have always considered my husband and I pretty lucky since our son was born because he has always been a really good kid. Many times my mom has mentioned that we have no idea how lucky we have it with him because he’s incredibly polite, he listens well, and he’s always so happy (meaning he doesn’t cry much). Well, that completely changed about 2 weeks ago. My precious little angel son has suddenly turned into a monster! Out of nowhere he has become a cranky, whiney, crying, defiant little boy who argues with me all day long. Dealing with this change is difficult on it’s own, but being 38 weeks into your second pregnancy makes it even worse! I’ve been extremely uncomfortable this last trimester, I can’t sleep, so I’m exhausted all the time, and my crazy pregnancy hormones don’t help much either. All of that combined makes dealing with a difficult toddler so much more taxing and hard. I have been trying really hard to focus on making these last few weeks with him as our only child as fun and as special as possible, but that obviously has been a real feat.
As I’ve been reflecting lately on how to manage my son and deal with my pregnancy exhaustion and hormones I keep coming back to the fact that no matter how hard times can get being a mom, I am still extremely blessed to have the kiddos we have. Sure, some days and times are hard, but then at the end of the day they give you a big hug and tell you that they love you and it makes it all worth it.
I wanted to make something I could use every day that showed how thankful I am to have the family I have and to remind me of how truly blessed I am no matter how hard things get. I decided to make myself a coffee mug so that when I enjoy my morning coffee I can take a few minutes to myself to remember the fact that I have a beautiful family that I love and that loves me.
Here’s what you’ll need in order to make this cute mug:
-plain white mug (check your local dollar store for these!)
-gloss enamel paint in any color
-paint brush
-oil based Sharpie pen
-oven
-acrylic sealer in gloss finish
-a sweet little hand
First thing’s first, you’ll need to prep the paint to put on your child(ren)’s hand. Put some paint on a paper plate, dip your paint brush in the paint, then evenly coat your child’s hand with the paint.
Now, help them place their hand on the mug in the place you want it. Hold it there for a few seconds (not too long), then help them move it up off of the cup without messing up the hand print. (This step is not pictured as I did this while I was home alone with my son. I highly recommend having someone else help you hold the mug still while you help your child place their hand on the mug without them moving it all over the place. This was much more difficult than I thought and I had to wash off the hand print a few times and start over).
Set the mug aside to dry then help your child wash their hand. You’ll want to let the mug air dry for at least an hour before touching it. I actually let mine dry for 2 hours just to be safe.
Once the paint on the mug is dry, you can write on it with your oil based Sharpie. You can choose whatever phrase you want really, but I wanted to show off how lucky and blessed I am to have my son and soon to be baby girl, so I chose the word “blessed.” I decided to use a hashtag because, well, it’s the cool thing to do these days right?
If you’re not comfortable with your own hand writing, you may want to practice what you’re going to write on a scratch piece of paper, or buy some stencils to help you write the word.
Once you’ve written on the mug, place it in a cool oven, set the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 30 min. This will cure both the enamel paint as well as the Sharpie.
When it’s done baking, turn the oven off and let it cool in the oven. I left mine in there for a few hours. Baking it like this will allow you to wash your mug in the dishwasher, but top rack only.
Once the mug is cooled, take your acrylic sealer and evenly and lightly spray over the painted area on the mug. Be very careful not to spray too much. If you have to do a few coats in order to cover it well, that’s better than doing one heavy coat. Let the sealer completely dry before handling or using.
Now that your mug is all done, pour in some coffee and enjoy your morning relishing in the fact that you are extremely blessed to have the kids you have. One of the best parts about this is that you can continue to add your children’s hand prints as you have more kids. How fun would it be to do this when your baby is only a few days old so you can hold onto and remember those tiny hands for forever?
This is a perfect craft not only for yourself, but a great gift idea for your partner, fellow mom friend or a grandparent! We all need a little reminder that no matter what, we’re doing a great job as parents. And here’s a version where I used the hashtag #doingood for this gift so it can serve as a little daily reminder that no matter what, we’re doing a great job as parents.
Life As Mama is partnering with Minute Maid and their “Doin’ Good” campaign to bring our focus back to the amazing job that parents do every day to impact their children’s lives in positive ways. Just like our children give us grace on a daily basis, the #doingood campaign’s goal is to celebrate our imperfection and acknowledge that we’re doing a better job than we give ourselves credit for.
This year, Minute Maid is partnering with four-time Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin to celebrate great parents everywhere, with a special “Breakfast With Missy.” Minute Maid is encouraging parents everywhere to share your own message of encouragement and positivity by posting a photo or video that nominates a parent in your life who is #doingood. Five winners of the contest will have the chance to join Missy Franklin for a special breakfast after the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
You can submit your nominations of parents who are #doingood by posting a video or photo on Twitter or Instagram using the #doingoodcontest hashtag or on MinuteMaid.com/doingood.
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Mary Mulroney
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