With the weather warming up outside, it's nice to be able to play outdoors. If you don't have a play area close by, but still want to spend time outside, why not pull out the bubbles? Most babies and kids are amused with the floating spheres. You can make your own bubbles too. Here are a few different bubble recipes you can use to create your own bubbles.

You can also create different size bubbles by making different kinds of wands. Try taking a metal coat hanger and bending it into a circle. Poor the bubble solution into a pie tin or other container large enough to dip the hanger in the solution. Or you can try making this wand with a few straws and some string. - Trisha

Diaper cakes are becoming extremely popular for gifts for the new moms. The only problem is most of them are extremely expensive, with some running as much as $200 or more.

While I like my friends, I can't afford to spend that much on one gift for them. So I searched and found several different tutorials for how to make a diaper cake. Each one is slightly different, and you can mix and match ideas to make the perfect cake for you.

If you are looking for inspiration be sure to check out this diaper cake gallery. There's really not a wrong way to make one, so get creative and make one that you and the recipient will enjoy! You can also use tulle or other material to wrap your cakes in. Look around and see what you have around the house. The most important part, however, is to have fun!

• How to Make a Diaper Cake wrapped in blankets and other cloth items


• How to make a Diaper Cake wrapped in ribbon


• How to make a Diaper Cake wrapped in tissue paper


• How to make a Diaper Cake filled with goodies


- Trisha
Photo by madaise, shared via Flickr

When my first child was born I had a baby book, first-year calendar and a journal where I wrote down her milestones and first words. With my second it was the book and calendar. My fourth was lucky to get the calendar! Offline solutions for recording precious moments and memories as my child grows don’t seem to be working and that’s why I’m intrigued by Keepaboo.

Keepaboo is not an online scrapbook, which is appealing to someone like me who’s never had an interest in scrapbooking and doesn’t want to think about page layouts and design. But it also isn't as DIY as starting up a blog, pulling elements together, and ending up with a basic way to post photos, videos and pictures in a chronological stream. Think of Keepaboo as more of an online suite replacing the standard baby book and even scrapbook. You can collect, record and even share moments and milestones from your baby’s first year. You can keep a parent diary, create picture galleries, track your baby’s growth and “write down” the memorable things your baby is sure to say.

Everything you record is put into your baby’s LifeBook, an online 3D book you can browse like a real baby book. Plus you can create custom books with themes such as Baby’s First Birthday or Grandma’s Brag Book. Keepaboo plans to offer the ability to print hardcover versions of your keepsake books, which is clearly their money-making strategy - great for us, because it means the site itself is completely free to use.

Keepaboo is a wonderful way for parents to capture those first-year (and second-, third- and fourth-year) memories in one place and share them with family and friends. It’s the perfect solution for a mom who’s online as often as I am and tired of dusting off her daughter’s current baby book! - Emily H.

My son is starting to really enjoy playing in the bath, which I think is a good thing. We have a huge clawfoot tub that dates from the 1930s, so he’s got a lot of room to cruise around in.

I’ve started tossing interesting objects into the tub with him lately, to keep him happy in there. The one issue is that if the objects hold water, he’s learned how to (and seems to be thrilled by) bring them to his mouth and drink the bathwater. Alternatively, if it is cloth, he sucks the water out of as if he is nursing it. Either way - yuck!

We started casting about for items we could use as toys that were not absorbent and lack the vessel-like qualities necessary for taking a shot of the bathwater. So far, we've had success with the following DIY bath toys:

• Lids to 32-oz. yogurt containers


• Slotted spoons


• Tea strainers


• The two tiny plastic tugboats that came in our Viking Toys 15-vehicle bucket of Chubbies (one of the great cheap toys reviewed on Z Recommends)


• Funnels


• Spatulas

What did I miss? - Leigh G.

No matter how many toys you have around, kids seem to have more fun playing with your bowls and spoons and other household items. Why not turn those items into actual toys for them to play with?

I found a great list on Kiwi Families of many different toys you could make using things you probably already have around the house. My favorite idea from the list of more than a dozen crafty suggestions:

Cut a cup sized hole, half way along a postage tube and find 2 or 3 brightly coloured rubber balls. When baby drops the ball through the hole it disappears, but when they pick up the tube to find it, the ball rolls out one end. Babies from 9 months on will be fascinated by how this works.

The article also has safety tips for what things are appropriate for children and what precautions you should take when you make your own toys. - Trisha