Cupcake Busy Bag

If you're on Pinterest or read any type of parenting blog, you've probably heard of Busy Bags.  I like to think of these as "Mommy Gets 15 Minutes Alone" bags or "A More Productive Alternative to Locking Yourself in the Bathroom" bags.  No matter what you call it, the activities are usually ones that can be done alone and quietly.  Recently, I came across this busy bag idea on Money Saving Mom and actually found the time to print the patterns, buy the supplies, and assemble the activity.  Find the Cupcake Busy Bag printable pattern here.

This felt cupcake (made by Abigail for me!) is the finished product.

So, what you start off with are cupcake parts.  I made vanilla and chocolate cupcakes and every color imaginable wrapper and frosting.  I figured the more options, the more busy time.

After your child assembles the cupcake, it's decorating time!  The printable pattern includes a few of these decorations.  The rest (strawberries, chocolate chips, marshmallows, cookies) I just made up and cut out.  My girl likes her cupcakes decked out.  Oh, and I found these nifty containers in the Target dollar bins.  The dividers work great for my very detailed girl (and me) who needs all the decorations sorted.

See? Super fun and easy to do.

And we keep everything in a plastic shoebox.  So I guess this technically is a busy box.

On a side note, I realized that is what kids played with before their parents let them play games on their phone like this:

Not that I let Abigail do that.  Just kidding.  This is her most favorite app EVER.  Also known as the "How Mommy gets 15 Extra Minutes of Sleep in the Morning" app. Download it here.