Creative Kids

We had a craft party tonight, courtesy of Mommy Parties and Faber Castell. We invited 9 kids besides my own three and only 2 others showed up. So yeah, I love it when I put time into things like this and almost no one comes.

But the 2 friends that did join us had a good time and I was able to give an extra take-home kit for one of the younger sisters to alleviate some of the jealousy that happens when one kid gets to do something and a sibling doesn't. (Not that I know anything about that.)

My son is so in to crafting he didn't even seem to care that he was making a headband. Then he went outside to play while the rest of the girls made bracelets. It was fun for us girls! Even my 4-year-old had fun.

I had necklaces ready to go, but one hour was obviously not enough time to get all of our crafting goals finished. I'll probably take the necklaces to a Girl Scout meeting and let my troop be creative.

Thanks to Mommy Parties and Faber Castell for the really awesome crafting kits. We'll give the rest of our books and trinket boxes to friends and family that we know love crafts as well!

A New Role, or, Why Yes I AM Crazy

Today was the first meeting of Miss M's Brownie Girl Scout troop. It went fairly well. I know because I was there. As a co-leader. I even made a little game and showed the girls how to make a game for themselves. I rocked the game. Seriously. It is a cute game.

We talked about feelings and body language and how great it is that our bodies can move in so many cool ways. We're working on two "Try-its" (they were called badges when I was in Girl Scouts...maaaaaany moons ago.) at the same time, over two meetings.

It's sort of fun, but also very trying. I brought D with me, and she did well most of the time, but did get restless as is expected of a toddler. K Man was supposed to play with the other leader's son, but apparently they weren't playing together so much as K Man watched her son play. So. Not sure how that part of the deal is going to work.

The girls are enthusiastic and fun. I've known most of them since they were in Kindergarten. Most of them went on the overnight trip with us which let me get to know them even more. So this year will be a new adventure and I'll really get to know these girls. That can only be a good thing when the preteen and teen years are looming ahead along with all the drama that entails. (Not that there is any lack of drama already. Sigh.)

I can guarantee that if you'd asked me a few months ago if I would be a Brownie troop co-leader I'd have said Hell-to-the-no. But, I guess that's what being a mom does to you. You agree to things you never thought you would because you love that little person.

Last Minute Gift Solution

We did not make these as gifts, but they would make a nice gift if you're scrambling last minute. If you can get to the fabric store and have 1-2 hours to devote to making this blanket it would make a great gift. My older kids each have a blanket like this that I made for them a few years ago. They LOVE these blankets. They are the blankets they sleep with every night.

Yesterday the kids were moaning that they were bored so I was looking for something for them to do. I suggested we go to the fabric store so they could make new blankets. They were excited!

I made my big kids tie their own blankets this time. (I did check and fix some of their work later.) But this kept them busy for 2 hours tying. It was quiet! Peaceful! No fighting!

So here's how you make the blankets.

You'll need at least 4 yards of material for a kids' blanket. We usually do 2 yards of a patterned fleece and 2 yards of a one-color fleece. You'll want a flat open space on the floor to work. Put the solid color down first, with the side you want on the outside of your blanket facing the floor. Then place your print on top of the solid. The print fabric is usually smaller than the solid. Don't worry about having a little extra solid fabric. If it's more than an inch or so you may want to trim it.
Pin the fabrics together, placing the pins about 4-5 inches above the edges of the fabric.

Cut out the corners of your blanket. You'll want to cut about a 4 inch square from each corner. The real beauty of these blankets is that you don't have to be that exact. Don't get out the ruler.

Going around the perimeter of your blanket, cut slits about 4 inches deep and roughly 1 inch wide. Again, don't get out the ruler. Things don't have to be perfect!

Tie each set of strips together in a knot. You'll want the knots fairly tight, but not too tight. You'll be able to tell when you start tying. I think.

Here's K tying his. I thought his choice of fabric was ugly until the blanket was finished. Now I think it is awesome.

And M chose baby ducks or something. It's cute and she loves it so that makes me happy.

When you're done tying, remove the pins and enjoy!

Kids especially seem to really love these blankets. Like I said, my two older kids always, always, sleep with their blankets like this. They are warm and soft and cozy. Can't ask for more than that on a cold winter night!

A Plain Paper Crane...or Two

One of the beautiful and yet heartbreaking things about having young children is that they think that Mom and Dad can do anything. The bubble about knowing everything, however has long been burst. My oldest 2 kids will ask me a question and when I don't say "I don't know" because sometimes I don't know, and actually give them an answer they usually contradict me and give their own answer. Or they'll say "No, Mrs. M said that (insert answer here) is why." To which I wonder why they asked me anyway since clearly I am stupid and know nothing. I honestly thought I had at least until M was 10 or 12 before I was tossed aside as an authority on anything.

Things have been different with regard to doing everything. Even Miss M at nearly 7 years old still believes, for the most part, that Mom and Dad can fix things, and we can make things. I'll admit the fix things ability belief causes more than a few toys to be destroyed around here, especially when K Man is involved. He's a tinkerer, like a male Tinkerbelle, he's interested in how things work and how he can make something new. It often results in destruction, innocent destruction because he's intent that he'll make something new. I blame my father. He's a fixer, a tinkerer. K Man has Boppa's blood for sure.

The belief that us parents can make things came back to bite, first me, then Craig in our respective behinds last week. K Man received what is actually his penultimate book from the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. I did not read the book, but Craig read the book to the kids. It obviously left quite an impression because both kids were still talking about it the next morning as we took M to school. They chattered about the bird, the paper crane named Menu. They discussed how I would make them paper cranes.

No, no, no. I do not know how to make a paper crane. I was determined to snuff out this pipe dream instantly. I do not know origami. There was no way in Hell that I would be able to fake that I did.

Oh there are directions in the book Mommy!

Of course there are! How kind of the author! She must hate parents!

The excuse of not knowing was no longer valid. I had directions. K talked me into making him a crane as soon as we arrived back home after dropping M off at school.

I chose a large 12 x 12 paper from my scrapping supply. K held the book. At first. I started confidently, then my confidence waned, then fizzled. The wordless photo instructions were not that intuitive. Or I'm an idiot. It could be either, or both. I continued to fold. I tried and tried again. I vowed Craig would be making the next paper crane for M.

By step 6 or 7 out of 20 K was no longer holding the book. He wandered away as I continued to slave. It had, by then, become a challenge. I could conquer this paper. I graduated from my university summa cum laude. Paper folding has nothing on me!

Oh Friends. I am not a paper artist apparently. I make cards, but that does not an origami artist make. But I endeavored to create this paper bird that my son was no longer interested in having, or seeing me create. But I am a Taurus, and stubborn to the end. I would make a paper crane.

And I did. I folded and folded and re-folded and eventually ended up with something that sort of resembled a crane. It was not quite right and not quite wrong. My son was thrilled. His faith that Mommy hangs the moon was intact.

After school, Miss M was peeved that I had not made her a crane too. Oh no, I said, Daddy wants to make one for you. See? I love my husband and I really think he should participate fully in these types of family activities. I didn't want him to miss out on the fun.

Craig arrived home and Miss M asked him to make her a crane 4287 times in about 20 minutes. After we ate supper, Craig sat down with the fresh piece of scrapbook paper to fold Miss M her crane.

He began with confidence. He folded and folded. Then the folding slowed. Miss M began watching contentedly, excitedly, but then she asked for release. It was painful. She wanted to avoid witnessing the fall of her idol.

Because I was laughing at Craig's pain, he needed to scratch his head a lot. Apparently he uses his middle finger to scratch his head.

I let all squirm for a while, then I took over. My second crane was nearly as painful to fold, and turned out only slightly better.

I still find it fantastic that my children think their parents can do so much right even as we do so much wrong. We continue to try to make our lives better, more full of love. And the evidence of our trials can be seen in an awkwardly folded paper crane.

Infant Family Faces Board Book

When M was born, she was only a few months old when her paternal grandparents headed to Florida for the winter. Before they left, I figured out a way to keep them in the baby's life while they were out of state.

I made a square board book with photos of our family members so that M would get to know the faces of the most important people in her life--her family. M liked her book so much, that when K came along I made one for him too. Actually both of them still enjoy looking at those books today.

I finally got around to making Ms. D's book so I thought I'd show you how I made them.


Things you need:
mat board (the kind used in framing--I got mine at Hobby Lobby)
photos of family members' faces
clear packing tape
markers
scissors
hole punch
binder ring

The amount of mat board you need will depend on how many family members you are putting in your book. I made my kids' books with photos of themselves, siblings, Mom and Dad, aunts and uncles and cousins. You also need to decide on a size. I made all of my kids' books 3 inches x 3 inches. It's a nice size, still small enough to tuck in the diaper bag yet big enough to hold a decent sized photo. If you don't have a template to trace and cut your squares from, perhaps you have a plastic storage container that is roughly the size you want that you can trace the lid for a pattern.

Once you have your pages cut you can decide if you want to cover the mat board with different papers. For M and K's books I made each page a different color so that we could use the books to teach colors as well as for looking at family faces. With Ms. D's book I was too lazy for that step so I just used the mat boards as is.

Next cut your photos into squares that will fit on your pages with extra room around the edges. I cropped my photos in my photo editing software and printed them out the sizes I wanted on photo paper.

Position your photos with enough space beneath them to write the person's name and tack in place with a small piece of tape. Write the person's name underneath with marker. I added Uncle before my brother's name and Cousin before the cousins' names as well. I also made a front and back cover.

Decide on the order of your pages and stack them up. Punch a hole in the corner of each page with a hole punch taking care to leave enough space before the hole so that your book won't pull apart and making sure to punch the correct corner in each page.

Now you're ready to tape. I tried to make sure I didn't have any tape lines over the person's face and also made sure to cover every part of the page, including the sides. The first time I made one of these books I tried to use contact paper to make the book water-resistant but it didn't work as well as just using the clear packing tape.

Once you've taped all the pages, you'll need to punch the holes again. Then slide the binder ring through all the pages, close it up and you're done!

(Aweigh Challenge post is below!)

Have a Royally Good Christmas

Last year for the first time I decorated a Christmas tree long before most think of doing so. I did it for Hiawatha Homes' annual Festival of Trees. Three of my friends and I made a tree filled with Candyland dreams .

This year I'll be decorating two trees. One with two of my friends and another with my husband and kids.

I actually really enjoy decorating the themed Christmas trees because our home Christmas tree is filled with a modge podge of decorations ranging from the first ornament I received from my grandmother as a baby to the latest ornament I bought for my kids on clearance at Target. These trees I decorate give me the chance to decorate a tree that is coordinated and unsentimental.

The kids go to see the trees and are immediately enraptured by the themes. Last year, M loved the Barbie tree for its pure pinkness. K loved the woodcarver's tree that had a barn at the base.

So this year the theme for the tree with my friends was "Have a Royally Good Christmas."

Here are the pics:

If you're in the area, please visit. It doesn't cost much to see the trees and the kids are usually quite impressed with the trees.

And we hope you have a Royally Good Christmas.

One tree done. One to go for the festival. I'll post those when it is done.

Jeff asks...I answer...

Jeff at View From the Cloud asked us to show him our hobbies so I thought I'd play along since I'm that kind of a girl I guess. Plus I thought I could butter him up enough that he would build me one of those arbors that he has THREE of at his house!

So, here are two of my not-very-unique hobbies:

Scrapbooking: I do this in spurts. I started when M was about one year old and have a HUGE album for her. K, not as huge. But I keep working at it. I figure if it becomes a chore instead of something I enjoy then that defeats the purpose so I try to not worry about how much I "need" to do to make the kids "equal." They just won't have the same amount of pages. That's life.

A sample:

A newer hobby for me is sewing. So far I've made M a winter hat, some bean bags for the kids, a blanket for K's Cars bed and these:


The curtains are reversible for when/if M decides purple is no longer her absolute favorite color...hopefully her next favorite will be pink!

This is the first shirt I've made. I'm about half-way finished with another one for her. (a sleeveless one this time.)

So there you have it. My uninteresting hobbies! (Well, two of them anyway!)

I'm even more crafty...

A recent trip to the fabric store resulted in my daughter falling in love with the no-sew blankets and a piece of material. She loved this yo-yo print and was insistent that I make the blanket immediately. She had to wait, but when she woke up the next morning, she had her blanket. I made K-man's blanket the next day. It took about 3 hours to make M's blanket but K's took only an hour or so since I knew what I was doing. Then I branched out and made Miss M her hat:
Um, she was crying when I took the photo because it was sooooo traumatic to pose for a photo when an important cartoon is on.

I also made the kids some bean bags. M thought these were the coolest things ever...for about 3 days. Now? Not that thrilling. I even made patterns on a plastic table cloth ... the alphabet on part and just bull's eye patterns on the other part. The fun lasted for about 15 minutes with that. I will attempt to make this more fun tomorrow. It helps if mom gets off her butt and seems excited. The day I tried this the first time I wasn't feeling particularly motivated.

Next up, I'm going to attempt to make Miss M 2 shirts, a pair of pants and a pair of shorts. Pretty ambitious for me so we'll see if I can decipher the instructions on the patterns.

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Miss M also participated in our church talent show yesterday. The cherub choir did a cute dance. I have video that I will likely subject you all to suffering through (if you choose to download). I had trouble uploading it tonight so you'll have to wait. I know, you're all on the edges of your seats.

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I'm soooo "Crafty"

Yeah, that says "crafty" not "crappy" okay?

Today, I sewed K a blanket for his big boy bed. Let me just say, it has been about 20 years since I've sewn something. Gosh that makes me sound really old. Seriously though. It took me about an hour, probably less. It has a quilted red material on the underside. K thought it was the best thing ever when he saw it after his nap. Yep, that's my reward, the happy grin of my son. Oh and he wanted to go to bed again. Not that he did it, but the thought was there.

The other day we made "snowballs" and have had several snowball fights since. They are nylons stuffed with Polyfil. M's preschool had a "snowball" fight a few weeks ago and M and I were giggling the whole time...so I thought I'd bring the giggles home. It worked.


Tonight we played with some glow-in-the-dark tops (the twirling kind) for about an hour. That was fun listening to the kids laugh and have fun with them.

I need to ensure more times like these.