lifestyle Archives < From Under a Palm Tree

Bedroom Closet Reorganization Tips

January 23, 2019 by Meagan Leave a Comment

Last year, for our anniversary, my husband gave me one of the best gifts he’s ever gotten me…a closet makeover! For the past 9 years, we’ve had the same closet with the standard wire racks all around the top. While this type of closet design is fine for most, my husband and I had been using separate closets for the past 9 years- me using our master bedroom closet and him using our son’s playroom closet. We both have way too many clothes and shoes and not enough space so it was time for a change! After multiple rack falls and fixes, I [Read more…]

Teaching Your Child to Count to 10 in Spanish

January 15, 2019 by Meagan Leave a Comment

Now that I’ve finished teaching my 3 year old son the alphabet (it took the whole latter part of last year), I’ve started the new year off with a lesson plan that covers a spectrum similar to a preschool classroom. Being that I still bring J to work with me everyday, I do my very best to stick to a lesson plan that I outline each Sunday night. It covers writing/spelling/reading, math, science, logic/thinking, and my two flex subjects- fine motor skills and [Read more…]

Teaching Your Child Their Phone Number

January 8, 2019 by Meagan Leave a Comment

It’s a new year and that means it’s also back to the grindstone, as mom always says. With Christmas and New Years, it feels like months since I’ve been on a normal schedule with J. The past 6 months I’ve been consumed with letter of the week crafts and activities, finishing letter z the week before Christmas. We took the next 2 weeks off but we’re back at it and coming in strong this new year with phone number practice. This is what you need to know about [Read more…]

Christmas Tree Magnet

December 21, 2018 by Meagan Leave a Comment

With Christmas just about a week away, I’ve been doing some fun holiday crafts with my 3-year-old. A few weeks ago, during Thanksgiving, we made a turkey magnet which you can see here. It was so easy and quick that I decided to also make a Christmas Tree Magnet. We made a couple to give as gifts to grandparents and the few who can really appreciate a toddler’s one-of-a-kind artwork. [Read more…]

DIY Hot Wheels Christmas Tree

December 3, 2018 by Meagan Leave a Comment

If you’ve read some of my older posts, you know my 3 year-old-son is obsessed with cars. I imagine most little boys his age are so, with Christmas right around the corner, I decided to make my little guy this DIY Hot Wheels Christmas Tree. Now he has his [Read more…]

Thanksgiving Turkey Wind Blower

November 20, 2018 by Meagan Leave a Comment

My 3-year-old son is finally at an age where we can do crafts together. I have found that over the past 6 months while teaching him the alphabet, I have used crafts to not only teach him letters but to also connect with him. Over Thanksgiving, we took a break from the alphabet to just focus on fun holiday activities. One of which is this [Read more…]

3 Tips on How To Be a Thoughtful Gift Giver

November 16, 2018 by Lisa Leave a Comment

I’m always amazed when I hear about the impractical, silly, or downright thoughtless gifts some of my friends have received. I’m talking about the same restaurant gift card 5 years in a row for people who rarely eat out. Or beautiful pierced earrings for a woman without pierced ears. Or the loud musical instrument for a child whose parents clearly disapproved of the “gift”! Those are the kind of gifts that leave a person wondering “What were they (the gift giver) thinking?” The thing is, they probably weren’t thinking. It doesn’t mean they’re a bad person, they probably just haven’t practiced how to be a thoughtful gift giver. And who’s gonna tell them they’re gifts are [Read more…]

Thanksgiving Turkey Magnet

November 13, 2018 by Meagan Leave a Comment

With Thanksgiving just about a week away, I’ve been doing some fun turkey crafts with my 3-year-old. One of my favorites is this Thanksgiving Turkey Magnet. Making this with J brought back some fond memories from when I was a kid. I don’t remember much from my early childhood but I do remember doing holiday crafts with my mom every year. I think that’s one of the reasons I make such a point to [Read more…]

50 Gifts For The Person Who Has Everything

November 9, 2018 by Lisa Leave a Comment

Christmas is just around the corner! Yay!! I just started my shopping the other day at T.J. Maxx and as I bent over the jewelry counter to look at some earrings, I said to myself, “ NOOOO…do not buy any of the girls another pair of earrings! They don’t need them!!” (Of course, I considered getting them for myself, but that’s another subject). I got to thinking about what gifts I could get the special people in my life in the way of experiences instead of [Read more…]

Feed the Turkey- Fine Motor Development Game

November 6, 2018 by Meagan Leave a Comment

If you’ve read some of my recent posts, you know I’ve been kind of obsessed with sensory bins and fine motor development games. Both are great ways to help children explore and stimulate the 5 main senses. At the same time, they can help develop the skills needed to learn how to use [Read more…]