Mamapicks Newsletter – Feb. 3rd, 2010

Printable Birthday Invitations

I know, invitations are something you might not want to invest in…but what about $10 for a package that includes as many as you need as well as a whole bunch of other stuff?    That’s the idea behind purchasing a printable birthday package from Happy Papers.  They do the art and you do the printing!  A birthday set includes invitations, circular labels, rectangular labels and tags.  A non-personalized birthday package costs only $5.  Receive the PDF file in your inbox and print as many as you like.

What To Do This Weekend (Feb. 6th & 7th)

The City of Vaughan’s 21st annual Winterfest (Sunday, Feb. 7th, 10:30am-3pm, Vellore Village Community Centre) will feature the following family events:

• Free Kidz Zone with rides and a really nice selection of activities (all day)
• A special story telling concert by Robert Munsch on the outdoor (what??) Tim Horton’s stage @ 11am.
• A tribute to Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus (1:30pm & 2:30pm)
• Autograph signing session with Maple Leaf’s goalie, Jonas Gustavsson (2pm)
• Meet & Greet Sesame Street characters (10:30, 12pm, 1pm, 2pm)

Admission is free.  Click here for the Winterfest brochure and see more about the Kidz Zone offerings.

Check out more great weekend events on www.mamapicks.com

Hyper Parents & Coddled Kids

There is a CBC documentary that may be of interest to you coming up on Feb. 4th @ 9pm on CBC-TV.  Hyper Parents and Coddled Kids explores the parenting trend termed over-parenting and its impact on children.  I’ll be setting my PVR, which by the way, has changed my life almost as much as my children have.

Valentine’s Day Craft

Martha has done it again.  Check out this cute DIY card for Valentine’s Day.  Click here for more information.

Two Great Family Shows Coming Up…

I didn’t know anything about the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga until Chantal Kreviazuk performed there a few years back and we went to see her intimate show (it was amazing).  The Living Arts Centre is a place where community members of all ages come to delve in arts related courses, programs and entertainment.  It’s like a super-high-class community centre.

The Living Arts Centre’s Wiggle Club, showcases great performances for kids.  There are two coming up in March that you may want to buy tickets for:

• Robert Munsch (1pm & 4pm , March 17th)  Tickets are $20-$30.
• Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny (March 28th, 3pm) Tickets are $15-$25

Click here to find out more information about these and upcoming shows at this venue.  To buy tickets offline, call the box office @ 1-888-805-8888

I think show tickets are an amazing birthday gift for a child and accompanying adult if you are looking for an original gift .  If your own child is celebrating a birthday in March and you want to do something unique, you can have the birthday as part of the above performances…  Call 905-306-6158 for more info on birthdays.

Best of 2009 Series: 31 Awesome Cake Ideas

My husband and I always (well, we’ve only had kids for three years…) liked to create our children’s birthday cakes from scratch.  It’s a fun project to do together.  The Boy’s cakes have always been based on a story that he loves like The Very Hungry Caterpillar.    See the unbelievable ideas in this Parenting showcase of 31 cakes. I like the detailed explanations on the photos of the cakes that reveal their nifty tricks.  You’ll need to scroll down for those!