A Day In My Life

So, my baby turned two yesterday. And I just KonMaried my house and I am SO. OVER. the toys. And the kid clutter. Plus he has both a big brother and a big sister, and they have toys that cover all the basics. But we still have loads of birthdays and Christmases in our future, so what in the world am I going to give? Anyway, my internal brain rant ended when I came up with this idea. It meets all of my current criteria: It is durable.  It is open-ended and fosters imaginative play. It folds up small and can be stored with like-items in our toy storage system. It encourages cooperative play. My hubby had a mat like this one when he was a kid, so I asked my mother-in-law to give me some details on how to make our own. I bought 60 inches x 45 inches of duck canvas and ran a zigzag stitch down the raw edges. Then, (after planning out the city on graph paper measured and accurately scaled proportionately, then folding the canvas to help rescale my plan) I drew in t...

I love summer. And about 2 weeks ago I started planning out every second of our summer this year with fun, thoughtful, and educational things to do. But then I started dreading all of the structure. Wouldn't it be nice just to wake up, ask Harvey what he wanted to do and then go do it? Or get a phone call from a friend asking if we could fill-in-the-blank-with-something-fun-here, and be able to drop everything and go? Definitely. But on the other hand... I don't want our summer to just waste by, either. I want it to be full of fun, thoughtful and educational things. So I decided to implement all of my crazy plans in a casual way. First, I dug out my old Summer Fun Advent Calendar. It does have little glittery numbers written on each of the cones, to be followed according to the calendar month. But this year - we're bagging that feature. I printed out a list of fun things to do during summer, and cut it into little strips. Then I simply folded each one up ...

**These templates are now available for purchase in my store, scroll to the bottom of this post to purchase! Also, I have a tutorial on how to use them in Photoshop (HERE) , and another tutorial on how to use them in GIMP (HERE) , a totally free downloadable program similar to Photoshop.** When I was pregnant with Harvey, I found this fun and funny pregnancy journal: The Belly Book . I adored it.  This book includes pages for each doctor's visit, a monthly spot for cravings/aversions, ultrasound pictures, one page for each week with a spot for a picture and journaling, pages for why and how we chose his name, the labor and delivery story, and MUCH more. Plus it does it all with a humorous twist: Is the baby a girl? a boy? or a boxer? What is my current disposition? sunshine and happiness? partly sunny with a chance of showers? hormonal hurricane? I'm starting to feel like.... a fertility goddess? Humpty Dumpty?  I thoroughly enjoyed filling it out. And no - I...

When I saw this cute craft on NannyGoat, I knew I had to make a copy for myself. It is SUPER easy... 1. Print doubles of the pictures you want to use. 2. Separate the two copies, and cut the heads out of one copy. 3. Laminate the full sized photos (I put them back to back to save space), and laminate the cut out heads. 4. Buy clear velcro, and place the clear side on the full-sized photos, and the other on the back of the heads. 5. Punch a hole in the corner of all the photos. 6. Attach them with a ring. That's it! (See YOU really can do this one...)

When my husband and his four brothers were young, his mom had a tradition. She had a "You are Special" plate. And when that plate made an appearance on the dinner table, it meant that one of those boys was getting recognized. Whatever those boys did that deserved recognition isn't really important. I'm sure some of the time it was for something great - like a birthday or an A on a really hard assignment at school. But the other times I think it might have been used to recognize a boy that made the right choice on a tough decision, or maybe just a good change in attitude around the house. When my husband told me about this tradition, I knew I wanted to incorporate it into our family. And when I saw that you could upload your own picture and have it printed on a plate HERE (and on sale), I knew it would fit the bill perfectly. So I digitally scrapbooked what I wanted to be on the plate, and sent it in. And when it came in the mail... I was pleased as punc...

Last year in my Family Fun Magazine there was an idea to create a placemat with checklists on each side: one to do at home before school, and the other for things to take when the kids go. I love lists, so when Wendy released her new School Days kit I had to make some for my nieces. Hopefully their mornings will go a little smoother with the placemats. The Family Fun website also has their checklist placemat tutorial online. (credits & comments) I printed three copies on 8.5 x 14 inch paper, then laminated them for durability. Aren't they cute??

My sister-in-law has an amazing mother. I am totally amazed every time I see or hear about something she has created. She just set up a blog to show it all off - and I absolutely LOVE a little something she just put on display. She calls it "She Said What?" I held onto a similar blank book for years not knowing just what to do with it. As soon as I saw her post, I set to work on my own rendition. Here is my "{s}he said What?" book - to fill in with all the little funny or quirky things that my children say throughout the years. I plan on adding a photo of Harvey in one of the boxes when he's 2, and I'll add pictures as needed after that.  It's a book for me. For my future forgetful mind. And no - the {s} is not an announcement, but a hope that sometime in my future years as a mother, I'll have a little "she".

When Harvey was tiny, I searched everywhere for a onesie with a tie printed on the front. But.. I never did find one. I thought about making one myself out of fabric, but I'm not a great seamstress and I wasn't sure if I could manage sewing the whole tie onto the front of a onesie. (I figured it would get all messed up while I was trying to turn it without sewing on the backside.) Anyway, I was at church last Sunday and I noticed a baby wearing a onesie with the tie sewn on only at the "knot" and I knew that was how I could finally make mine as well: Here's how you can make one too: Needed: Fabric for Tie Heat N' Bond Batting (a very small amount) Baby Onesie (size 3-6 months) 1. Download or print this Baby Tie Pattern: Here is an alternate link to download the file: Tie Onesie Pattern 2. Use the template to cut two copies out of your choice in fabric. Cut out a bit of Heat N' Bond and iron it to the lower half of the tie. Sew aro...

I had a baby that spit up - a LOT. Luckily I was given quite a few burp cloths as baby shower gifts. I learned quickly that there is really only one kind of burp cloth that holds its weight in gold (literally) - the one made from a cloth diaper. I used one of the cloths given to me as a stereotype, and I made these for gifts. Didn't they turn out adorable? I am in love with that camo-print ribbon.  They were super easy to make... I just stitched along the middle hem lines then added a coordinating ribbon along the bottom.

My friends and I hosted a baby shower a couple weeks ago. We decided to have fortune cookies dipped in chocolate and sprinkles for our favors in honor of Chinese New Year (Feb 14th this year). We bought take-out boxes online, took them apart and cut out scrapbook paper to fit around them. Then we glued the paper on, and put the boxes back together. It was super easy, but it took us about 2 hours to make 20 while chasing our 14 & 18 month-old kids and a new puppy. While we were putting them together I thought it would be fun to be able to make your own take out box out of whatever scrapbook paper you had on hand, so I made a couple templates to share. Both of them are for a smaller box like I have pictured above, and they will print on a standard sized printer. 1. Outline Only (no program needed). Find some (thicker) scrapbook paper you want to use, cut it down to fit into your printer (about 8.5 inches) and print the outline on the sheet. I would recommend cardstock, or your...

This is one of my favorite crafts to make. They are beautiful, simple, and interactive. They just call out to be picked up and enjoyed over and over again.   These are super easy and inexpensive to make.. all you need is: a wooden block (the bottom one in the pic is 3.5 inches, and the top one is 3 inches but you can do whatever size you want) 6 pictures (keep in mind the size of your block when you are choosing pictures) Mod Podge sanding paper or block (I use a drywall sander available in the paint section of a home improvement store) So, first things first. You HAVE to use professionally printed pictures for this project. The Mod Podge doesn't treat your home printed photo paper very well. Sorry. :) Trace your block right on your pictures. You'll sand the line off so you can do it right side up. Cut your squares out. Adhere the picture to the block with Mod Podge. To save time, I usually do two at a time - opposite each other on the block. This way you can p...

I found this great idea from my friend, Rachel: Make a summertime advent calendar. I loved the idea, and decided to make my own now so I can entertain the girls this year and use it year after year for my own kids someday (when Harvey can actually say "I'm bored..."). For a novice seamstress like me - it was a pretty involved project to say the least. If you really want to make you own, you can follow a tutorial here . However - I'd like to add one thing: Buy Heat N' Bond LITE! The tutorial didn't specify, and I didn't know there was a difference, but if you use the regular Heat N' Bond your sewing machine needle gets all sticky every few seconds and skips stitches unless you clean it off. Let's just say that this project took WAY longer (and was more frustrating) than it should have! Each cone is labeled with the numbers of the month (I used glitter puffy paint), and is a pocket. You write a surprise activity that is planned for the...