A Mommy and Me Day Making Art from the Heart

Last weekend we were invited to a birthday party at a pottery painting studio. The theme was princess and there was so much creativity going into it. What I loved is the idea of having it revolve around an art activity! All of the girls were dressed as different princesses from Ariel to Cinderella and even a full Bridal costume. Each girl painted a piece of pottery and had to leave it there to pick up the next week.

Well today we decided to take some "Mommy and Me" time to pick up her princess box from the "Art from the Heart Cafe" and while we were there we painted some pieces. Pottery Painting shops provide a fun and creative afternoon of fun for Mommy and Me Days. Kids can pick out the piece of pottery they want to paint and the colors and go to town creating their very own masterpiece. Its a great way to be creative and see what your kids are inclined to pick for a pottery piece or what colors they are drawn to use. Not only does it help encourage a child's creativity, but its also a way to get your toddlers working with their hands! (A great way to help fine tune those writing skills.)

With the holidays approaching its a great way to get your kids involved in giving at Christmas. They can make unique holiday gifts for grandparents and relatives by putting their hand prints on plates or painting a coffee mug for their grandma. They will be so proud to give them as gifts because they were made "from the heart".

Our local shop "Art from the Heart Cafe" even has their own Mommy and Me Night on Friday nights where moms who bring their daughters get a discount! This doesn't have to be a Mommy and Me event just for Moms with Toddlers, its a fun thing to do with "grown-up" moms and daughters too!

Locks of Love

Going to the hair salon can be a fun Mommy Daughter experience. I still on a rare occassion go to get my nails done with my mom. I didn't know how well my daughter would do at a hair salon, and was kind of nervous about it. She doesn't like the dreaded cup of water rinsing her hair in the bathtub, but maybe a salon would be different. It was. I think its because when a girl goes to a hair salon and gets pampered they always feel like a princess.... that and there is no dreaded cup of water being poured over their head. Instead they can lay back in a salon chair and have someone wash their hair with warm water and have it never get into their eyes!

Getting her hair washed and cut by the best hair stylist in Kentucky - Julie Singletary at Hair and Beyond

But why not make the trip to the salon even more rewarding? When I heard about Locks of Love I wished I'd known about it, or that it had been around when I was in highschool. Prior to getting diagnosed with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) my hair was much much thicker. And when I was younger I remember it growing out almost to my waist. I definitely don't have that much hair now as it has been thinning out since about the age of 18. My pony tail which was once a 2-3 inches in diameter is now about half an inch! So I understand what it is like to lose your hair.

Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 18 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. They help children by using donated hair to create the highest quality hair prosthetics (a.k.a. wigs). Most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure. The wigs they are able to make help to restore their self-esteem and their confidence.

My daughter has the fortunate ability to grow beautiful long locks of hair. (She gets that from her daddy who also has good hair!) Since it is summertime and getting quite hot where we live, her long hair ends up in a hot, sweaty, tangly mess every day. So I talked to her about getting her hair cut shorter and told her about locks of love. I explained to her that there are kids out there who aren't as fortunate as she is and they don't have the ability to grow hair like she does, and that this is a way she can help another little kid. She was hesitant at first... she is quite the diva for 4 years old! But she agreed and so we did it!

Before the Haircut

After the Haircut

To donate your hair for a wig they require your hair to be 10 inches long from tip to tip. However they can use hair that is shorter as well to sell and help offset the costs for making the wigs. For more information about donating your hair to a child in need, visit http://www.locksoflove.org/.

Locks of Love is not the only organization in that you can donate hair to. Pantene Beautiful Lengths creates wigs for Adult Women who are battling cancer. They are distributed for free through select American Cancer Society wig banks across the country. Hair requirements for Beautiful Lengths is only 8 inches. Women facing cancer can find out about the availability of a Pantene Beautiful Lengths wig by calling the American Cancer Society at 1-877-227-1596.

If you've got hair to give then let it grow!