Mother Bear Project

Several months ago one of my favorite parenting blogs had a post about the Mother Bear Project.  They are an organization that collects hand knit bears to send to children with HIV or AIDS in other countries (mostly African nations).  I love finding out fun ways to use my knit/crochet skills to help others, so I took on Kara's challenge of making one bear in honor of each of my children.  My kids each have a lovey that they sleep with, and I love the idea of providing a bear for three sweet little souls halfway across the world who need someone to snuggle.


The most challenging part of these bears was embroidering their faces!  They sat completed without faces for a month before I got up the nerve to try.  I'm mostly OK with how they came out.  They're not too scary looking, are they?!

http://www.motherbearproject.org/

Easter spin art

I saw an idea in blogland to use your salad spinner to make art.  We used foam egg shapes from the $1spot at Target.

  Blobbed on some paint, set it spinning, and watched while it slowed down  

Lift off the lid, and see what you get!

All 10 eggs painted and drying.  We plan to make a garland with them later.

superhero mask hats

My friend Andrea's boys had a combined birthday party, with a superhero theme.  I thought this pattern was a perfect choice if I wanted to craft for their presents.  I wrapped them over inflated balloons, since otherwise they look like flat knit rectangles, and it's pretty hard to get excited about that if you're a two or four year old boy. They won't get use out of them until fall/winter (toooo hot here!) but they're both plenty roomy and should fit for a good long time.  This is such a fun pattern!  I think my boys need some!

watermelon set

I liked the watermelon hat I did as part of the rainbow so much that I wanted to do another.  My stepsister is expecting a baby girl in mid-April, so this hat and booties set is for her little one.  I love how they came out!

rainbow

A friend on my message board mentioned that she had seen a cute idea for a baby gift--a rainbow of hats. Darn it.  I had been looking for an idea for our niece-to-be, and I couldn't get the idea of the rainbow out of my head.  I tried to talk myself out of it.  I didn't need to crank out 7 hats in 5 days and completely neglect my housework.  But the idea was too compelling.  So I did it.  

Three of the hats are made to fit right away, to be worn this spring as a newborn (yellow, green, and cream).  The rest are made to fit when she's 6-12mos old, during her first fall and winter, and beyond (in the case of the blue one, which ran a bit big and will probably fit until she's two).

There are crocheted hats and knit hats.  Wool hats, cotton hats, and acrylic hats.  It's a completely random variety of hats.  All made with love for baby girl.  We can't wait to meet her!

Update: I wrote this post before baby girl was born, but forgot to publish it.  Baby girl has since arrived!  Emma Margaret Foster is our new sweet niece, and we still can't wait to meet her!

chore wheel

I have been wanting a chore system for my kids, but none of the ones I saw marketed for preschoolers (either to buy or to make on pinterest) seemed to fit what I was looking for.  Seems that most people consider toy pick up and personal hygiene to be the main chores of a 3-5yo.  Not in my house!  I consider those things a given, and I want their help with other stuff!  I wanted a list of available helpers, otherwise I tend to enlist the child who is being least cooperative, which means that two of them work a lot more than the third. (Hey--just being honest here!)  The jobs I usually call on a kid to help with are unloading the dishwasher, setting and clearing the table, wiping down the table, and moving laundry from the washer to dryer (or dryer to basket).  Those are things I wanted on a chart.  I saw this post, with a chore wheel for much older kids and much more specific tasks, but I thought the format could be made to work for us.

The inner green circle has their names (obviously).  The yellow middle circle has meal-related chores that I need help with every day.  The dishes person will help unload the dishwasher, the table person will help wipe down the table.  Both of those together will help set and clear the table.  The floor person will sweep crumbs, which is a new job for them, but one I think it's time they learn.

The outer teal circle is for jobs that I don't need daily help with, but that I'd like to know who to call on when I do need them.  Laundry helper helps with laundry (obviously).  Mommy's helper can help me with my daily cleaning chores (bathrooms, vacuuming, dusting, etc).  Parent's choice is for a job that we see that needs to be done and can be done by a preschooler, like gathering shoes that are misplaced and taking them back to the cubbies in the mud room (common).  I plan to rotate jobs weekly.

I love it.  It's simple, it's flexible, and if it's a total failure, it cost me $1.50 in 12" scrapbooking cardstock in 3 colors at Michaels.  No biggie.

a UFO complete!

Summer 2010, when my kids were two and three, we made adorable handprint American flag tank tops to wear.  I didn't want to get rid of them when that summer was over, so I tossed them in my to-sew stack with the intent to make something out of them.  Tonight, in my on-going project to turn the guest room into a den/school room, I was cleaning out my sewing cabinet and came across them.  I decided it was as good a time as any, and whipped out a throw pillow.  It'll live on my long bench in the entry way during 4th of July time.  It's going to be SO cute!!

I cut out the flags, ironed some stabilizer on the backs of them, and then stitched them onto some red twill I had in my stash.  I made it into a pillow shape, and now it just awaits me buying another bag of polyfill to stuff it and finish it up.  Maybe I'll remember to do that between now and July.

purple yarn

I took two skeins of light grey wool yarn that had been in my bins, unloved, for  who knows how long (years?) and dyed them with purple (grape) kool aid!  Super fun!  I used the same method described here (the one with the blues and the crock pot about 3/4 of the way down the page).  My results were less dramatic than hers, I think due to the fact that that I started with a gray base and not a white/natural base and that grape kool aid is not as dramatic as blue Wilton's dye.  I got a nice semi-solid, though, and I really like it!  Much better than the boring gray at any rate.

dress ups

Before: small, plain, sturdy bookshelf that my husband brought into the marriage.  It has been housing various things in the guest room, but nothing that couldn't be relatively easily re-homed.  Two shelves had already been removed before I remembered to take before pictures.

























Before: dress up storage.  Overflowing. Yikes.

After! Ta-da!

Command hooks to the rescue (gosh, I love those things!).  I left one shelf, moved it down, and put two smaller bins below.  I currently have clothing dress ups hanging, with hats and accessories in the bins.  Capes are on the outside, since they're too long for the hanging space inside (plus they get used DAILY).  I want to get a couple more hooks for the outside and move the purses and necklaces onto those and out of the accessory bins.

Dress up is the thing around here, so hopefully this keeps ups better organized, makes the costumes more accessible, and fuels the FUN! 

lego (duplo) table!

Thanks to pinterest, I found a new use for my ugly old Ikea coffee table.  Pinterest is littered with Ikea Lack end tables turned lego tables, but I had a Lack coffee table, which is bigger, and frankly better, since I have three preschoolers who will need to play here happily (ha!) together. My favorite of the DIY lego tables that I browsed was Jill's from Meet the Dubiens.  I pretty much knocked it off.  And I love it! 

Before,  uninspiring $20 coffee table, well  used.

Since I was using 2 plates, I attached them together with a big block, to make sure they were aligned correctly.  I centered them on my table, and put some tape around the edge so I'd know where to put it back down after I applied glue.  Not a very scientific process, but it seemed to work pretty well.  I gorilla glued those puppies down, and removed the blue tape.  I left it overnight, weighted down with some books.

This morning I added the road (address labels cut with my rotary cutter), and the blocks.  They got the Winnie the Pooh set and the school set for Christmas.  They also have a Thomas set and a Toy Story set that we can add in when we want to change it up.  I grabbed a couple of bins at Target to hold blocks on the shelf underneath.

LOVE! 

Christmas crafting

I crafted Christmas gifts for my nieces and nephews this year (and for my mom, but I think I forgot to take pictures of that one!).

A doorway puppet theater (with Ikea farm animal puppets) for the older three

























and a hat for my favorite baby, Annie



















tutorial for the puppet theater and farm animals can be found here:
http://www.skiptomylou.org/2011/09/14/doorway-puppet-theater/
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40213189/

scarf

I just noticed that I never blogged my scarf! This was my first ever real object done entirely in knit.  I'm still a new knitter, still mostly a crocheter, but I'm learning and getting better.  This scarf was for ME, which is just really rare.  I never craft for myself.  I absolutely love it.  Great pattern. Great yarn.  Happy scarf.

December

I have been doing a little bit of Christmas crafting plus a handful of other small projects.  I can't blog the Christmas crafts since I don't want to spoil surprises, but here are the other recent FOs.

I do apologize for photo quality on this post. I wanted to get this written, but waited until daylight ran out for pictures, so you're getting indoor shots which are terrible on my camera.

First, felted crocheted slippers.  They're really cute, but really just a bit too big.  Anyone need any size 9-10 slippers?



















Second, a pair of bottle proppers for a friend with newbie twins.  I know, I know, never prop a bottle (or encourage your friends to), but unless you've had a toddler plus newborn twins, you just have NO idea.  Don't hate.

Third, a knit and crocheted (both skills used in this pattern!) head wrap for a friend who asked really, really nicely.  It's not yellow.  It's a creamy off white.  Bad photo.

And fourth, another mei tai.  Long funny story on this one. I gave away my favorite homemade mei tai that I used with my kids when they got too big to want me to wear them.  I have regretted that.  It was the only homemade carrier that I used and loved.  My other beloved carriers were purchased (Ergo, Moby, Beco, ring sling), but this one was special, one of a kind.  So, I asked for it back. LOL I asked my friend if she'd give mine back if I made her a replacement.  She was kind enough to agree, and this is her replacement.  My old one is now in my keepsake box, where it will stay.  The color is off on this, too.  It's lime green with white leaves.

manger

I read this idea a few years ago and thought I'd like to try it when my kids were old enough. I think we've reached it, at 3 and 4 years old, so this year was time to make a manger. I had been making plans that involved cutting up yard sticks for construction, which would have been super cute. But then I was in the shed and noticed the leftover swing set parts. Perfect! Our swing set was supposed to have a small picnic table built underneath it, but I have plans to put a sand box there instead, so I have leftover boards. Here was my pile to work from. You can see the beginning plans starting to form as I played with different combinations. My goal was to do as little sawing as possible.

And it worked! No sawing whatsoever. Boards in their full lengths, wood glue, plus screws=manger!

The goal is to have the kids put "hay" (yellow yarn) in it each day as we prepare for the birth of Jesus. The inspiration post (linked above) suggested having kids put hay in when they did something kind, etc. I don't think we'll do that. We'll let each kid put a piece of hay in every day. I don't like tying "being good" to Christmas (same reason we don't do Elf on the Shelf). Jesus didn't come because we were good boys and girls.

I'm so excited about it! It looks so sweet beside the tree. I'm pretty darn proud of my construction skills, too. ;)

mei tai for a friend

My favorite DIY carrier back when my babies were babywearing age was a mei tai that I made from the Ball Baby pattern. Super easy to sew, super comfortable to wear. I thoroughly enjoyed making this one today. It's for my friend Becca. Hope she likes it!

In case you've never seen a mei tai and don't know what it does, here is a good how-to. The pattern I used is a little different than a Kozy, but same concept, and same usage applies.

milk crates in Expedit

When we got our Ikea Expedit for the playroom, I couldn't decide what sort of bins or baskets I wanted to put in it for toys. I landed on milk crates! Mine are from The Container Store, but I think any standard sized milk crate should fit in the Expedit cubes nicely. I love the cheerful look the bright colors give to the playroom.

renovation station!

I can't take credit for any of this "crafting" since we paid someone else to do it, but I'm so pleased, that I had to blog about it anyway.

First, the MUD ROOM!!

before:

after:

and loaded:

I super duper love it!! I have cubbies at the top to hide whatever I want to (currently empty--still deciding). The baskets on the left hold hats, gloves, and SOCKS. I hate having to send kids to two rooms to get socks and shoes. Socks should live with shoes!

The other three projects were much smaller--some upper cabinets in the laundry room, a repaint in Jono's room, and a new pair of shutters for the front window.

acorn fairies!

Saw this in my morning blog reading and thought it'd be fun on this chilly fall morning. Ours aren't as polished as hers, but they were fun!

the whole collection:

and the process:

superhero capes!

I made my three super kids some capes! I used this tutorial, with one small change. I used youth size XL tshirts instead of the suggested "ginormous" tshirt. That way, the neck was not too big, so I just left it intact for pulling off and on. So easy--just cut from the back of a tshirt a cape shape, and decorate as you please. The kids love them!

the Wallace jazz trio

My son asked to be a jazz trumpet player for Halloween. Knowing that it would create a riot for one of them to get a toy instrument and not all three, and since the other two had not expressed strong costume preferences, we're making it a trio!
I made Hazel's little flapper dress with this tutorial. It was super easy, and I LOVE it!! She likes it too, since it's sparkly and purple. I mean, what's not to like about that when you're three years old?!

The boys have shirts with faux (appliqued) neck ties, and they'll wear black pants. I've been trying to talk myself out of getting them these hats at The Children's Place, to avoid spending more money on these costumes, but I'm pretty sure they need them. :p

The only decision left (besides the yes/no on hats for the boys) is what sort of hair accessory to do for Hazel. I waver between a flapper-ish headband with a feather or crocheting a flapper beanie. Thoughts?