Spaceboy and robbie have been gifted

yesterday was my nephew's bday party. so now i can post the completed gifts and the cool recycled packaging we used.

this is the robot my daughter, C, drew and embroidered. i transferred the image onto fabric so that she could embroider it. i then sewed it up, and she helped to stuff it. so much love and care went into making this little robot stuffie, that it was hard to let go. but, in the end, it was made for the purpose of gifting it to my nephew from C. she was so proud of her work, as was i! her embroidery skills are improving so much!

and here is my nephew's finished spaceboy. it is cute, as are all of wee wonderful's doll patterns. but, i feel like C really outdid me, in originality. of course, she was inspired to make the robot stuffie after she saw what i was making for him, so the two gifts definitely go well together. and because we thought they were such a nice pair, we decided to package them together as a set. here is what we came up with:


as you can see, C named the embroidered robot stuffie, 'robbie'. i thought that was cute and more appropriate than her first choice, 'stephen'.

i found an empty cereal box in the recyclables and decided to make a box package. i was inspired by lizette greco's recycled box packaging tutorial. i didn't exactly follow her directions, but she was the main inspiration for my choice in packaging the presents. i opted for covering the box with brown paper bag and i didn't put any plastic in the windows, mainly because i was short on time and couldn't find any. i also pasted some cute space themed stickers from lotta bruhn. i thought they went so well with the dolls and overall theme. the stickers are a free pdf download, so go get some!

for some reason my printer was acting up, despite the fact that my husband had just replaced all the colors. that is why the blues came out striped. it didn't affect the cuteness factor, so i was okay with the way they turned out.

the birthday boy was very pleased with his present and we all had a wonderful time with family and ate yummy chocolate cupcakes, made by the best aunt ever, me! ;)

Spaceboy and embroidered robot for my nephew

my nephew, the only boy in our family, so far, will be turning 6 in august. he's a tough little boy with a sweet heart. he's very much into the typical things little boys like, like super heroes, robots, pirates, cars, etc., so i'm sure he will like the spaceboy, from wee wonderful's, that i'm in the process of making for him. he's still young enough to appreciate soft dolls, and he still has pretty much everything i've hand made for him. it's very touching to see the toys i've made for him throughout his life, very well loved and very well played with. the years in which he will play with these sorts of toys will soon be ending. i want to get a few more in before i have to come up with new gift ideas for a big kid. i plan on making him the robot, also from wee wonderful's pattern, for xmas.


C is very close to her cousin, N, so she insisted on making something, too. she decided on making him a robot to go with his spaceboy, so after doing some reseach on robot looks and designs, she came up with a cute drawing of a robot. to keep it simple for her, i copied her drawing onto fabric and let her color it with crayon so that she could embroider it. when she's done with the embroidery, i'll help her find a suitable backing fabric and help her sew the front and back together (right-sides facing), turn it out, stuff it and sew it closed for an easy stuffie robot to accompany the spaceboy doll. stay tuned for pics of the finished presents!

Mail-themed handcarved stamps

i have been working on some new hand carved stamps. they are mail-themed and were inspired by C, who is learning to write friendly letters and enjoying the anticipation of receiving a letter in return. this all came to be because my sister-in-law, who is a very good friend, recently moved to a different state with my niece. we both agreed to try to encourage our daughters, who are only four months apart, to write to each other. they are very close, so they will miss each other very much. i thought it would be nice for the girls to keep in touch and practice their writing by sending letters.

the stamps, of which there are six, are designed by me and would add charm to letters, envelopes, packages, etc. they can also be used to make fake mail so kids could play post office and mail carrier. the stamp set includes:

• 'to:'
  
• 'from:'
• postage mark
• stamp
• envelope
• snail (to be used with the envelope to say, 'snail mail'. cute, huh!?)

i'm almost done with them and i think they look really cute! as soon as i get some good pics of the stamps, i'll put them in my shop.

J's Birthday Present-Completed!

so, here are some more pics of my completed present to my niece, J. this is the bunny pillow i made for her, using missy balance's free pattern.

and this is the back, with the stamped letters that spell, "SOMEBUNNY LOVES YOU". you might have to click on the image to get a better view. sorry, my photography sucks! but luckily i had this really cute volunteer to model for me!


and here is a picture of the wrapped gift. i wanted to show my wrapping because i am especially proud of the finger knitted yarn that my oldest, C, made. she made it with rainbow colored yarn and i thought it looked really nice with the tissue flower i made to top off the gift.

i didn't get any pics of my niece opening her gifts as my camera had run out of batteries and i didn't have time to recharge them. but i can tell you that it was one of the first gifts that she opened. and when she saw the pillow, she stopped opening the rest of her gifts and just took off to her room to take a nap. she was so happy to have a small pillow and she loved the little rabbit! it took her a while before she finally let go of her bunny pillow and agreed to open the rest of her gifts. it made me so happy to see that my handmade gift was enough for her to make her happy! of course, she also liked her other presents, but mine was the only handmade present and i'm glad that it stood up to the competition!

WIP: J's Birthday Present

i've been working on my niece's birthday present. she'll be turning 3 and will soon become a big sister, so i thought i would make her something to make her feel special.

it's a freezer paper stenciled shirt made using more than two fabric paints. it was really tricky to do this! and if i had started making this earlier, i probably would have had more time to allow the colors to dry before i went on to the next color. i tried to dry the paints with my blow dryer, but it didn't work too well. so if you zoom into the picture you can see all the imperfections. still, i like it and it's wonkiness. it definately has a handmade look to it and i think it makes it that more special. besides, i'm sure the birthday girl will like it, and won't notice those imperfections.


here is another freezer paper stenciled shirt. i hadn't thought out how i would embellish this shirt and since i already had all my materials for stencilling, i decided to look for a stencil online. i found this stencil design at stencilry. it's a website that offers free stencil designs and they have tons of cool ones that i would like to try out in the future! surprisingly, it took me less time to do this one, considering that i didn't have a stencil to begin with. i was able to quickly cut out my stencil and since i was only using one color, the application process was really easy. i thought this design was a good idea because she could use it for valentine's day and and anytime throughout the year.


and last but certainly not least, i'm making her a bunny pillow using missy balance's pattern from her blog crafty carnival. i'm still not done with it, which explains the lack of pictures. the picture above is of the back of the pillow. i wanted to embroider those words onto it, but again, because of lack of time, i decided to stamp the words using my letter stamps and the left over fabric paint from the stenciled shirt above.

she's a sweet little girl and i hope she likes what i made for her. her birthday is this sunday, so i'll try to post pics of the completed pillow and of the birthday girl with her presents, if i can remember!

Silent

i have laryngitis. i've never had it before so it is a weird experience for me. i first got it on sunday night, but i didn't think it was more than just hoarseness from having sung several songs in a row while playing rock band with my husband. but when i woke up on monday morning with the same hoarseness, i knew it was laryngitis. so now i'm just trying to keep silent and let my throat heal. don't really know what i can do for it, but i don't think a trip to the doctor is necessary right now because it doesn't hurt anymore. it did hurt last night and was accompanied by a cough, but i think that's cause i decided to take a late night shower and was too lazy to blow dry my hair, so i slept with a cold, damp head. i hope nothing worse comes from that. right now i feel much better, but i still can't talk, so i'm going to try to take it easy and take better care of myself from now on.

i did get to go buy some new materials to get started on my advent calendar. i got red embroidery floss, a pink fabric with tiny polka dots and linen. i'm still not sure about the pink fabric. maybe i'll add some other colors or maybe i'll keep it simple with just linen and red, with a little bit of white for interest. i guess i'm still very indecisive. but, i did decide to go with the banner advent calendar with pockets. i'm going to use linaloo's advent calendar and lululollylegs doll quilt (which looks like an advent calendar) as inspiration. you can also see pictures of these two calendars in the previous post. i'm also thinking of incorporting some of my girls' artwork in the calendar. maybe i'll have them do little sketches for me that i can embroider in the different pockets. we'll see how it goes, but i can't wait to get over this illness so i can get started! right now i just don't feel like doing much.

Advent Calendar Inspirations

1. Advent dangles, 2. Advent Calendar - Finally Done!, 3. DQS5 Christmas Advent Calendar, 4. advent calendar, 5. Advent calendar, 6. advent calendar, 7. advent calendar, 8. Advent Calendar 3, 9. Homemade advent calendar

okay, so these are some of the advent calendars that i like. i think it is pretty obvious that i prefer the kind that hangs like a banner, with little ornaments inside the pockets that are taken out of the pocket each day. i think i can easily slip a small chocolate or piece of paper with an activity, if i want to do any activities with my girls. i can imagine sitting with my family in the evenings and hand-stitching and embroidering numbers and decorations for each pocket. but, i also like allsort's advent calendar pockets pattern. i like it because it is cute, seems simple to make while watching a movie and because it drapes like a garland and could easily be used as decoration for our fireplace mantel. i also like oliver + s's mitten ornament as an advent calendar and stardust shoe's mini stocking advent calendar, but because it doesn't really get cold enough where i live, we don't use mittens, and so i don't think the mittens will make much sense to my kids. and since i'm already planning on making all new stockings for my husband, my kids and myself for xmas 2009, i don't think a stocking advent calendar will be necessary.

i still haven't decided which one i'll do. and maybe i'll make two different kinds, once i finish the first one. as soon as i make up my mind, i'll make a trip out to my local craft store to buy the necessary materials, and get started. if there is anyone out there who actually reads my blog, wish me luck! i hope you can delurk yourself and give me a bit of encouragement!

Xmas Crafting Throughout the Year

the xmas season is one i look forward to every year. i try to make it special and memorable for my family and i get inspired from all the other craft blogs i read to make my own decorations, advent calendar, ornaments and gifts. but my life starts getting busy starting from october with family birthdays and all the holidays that happen from then till xmas. so by the time my husband's birthday is over, which is december 9, i have only 3 weeks to make anything xmas related. it's a lot of pressure and stress and yet i push myself because i want to make so many things. so by the time it's xmas eve, i'm so pooped that i don't get to enjoy it as much as i'd like to. this past xmas i got so sick that i missed my own xmas eve dinner with relatives coming over to our home. my poor husband had to be a host to family and nurse to me. i stayed in bed in my bedroom all evening and missed out on all the fun. it really brought sadness to my family. my little girls missed me, so they kept coming to see me and my husband was so tired that he also got sick. well, to make a long story short, i've decided to start preparing for xmas earlier in the year.



craft apple and stardust shoes are starting an advent calendar sew along and they're starting in january. so, i decided to join this sew along in hopes that i'll be inspired to continue making all the wonderful things i've been meaning to make for xmas and get them done in time! and hopefully when the holiday comes around, all i have to do is set up my decorations, buy a xmas tree, wrap my presents and spend more time with my family.

if anyone else is interested you can join and post your progress at the 2009 advent calendar sew along flickr group.

Happy New Year!

well, that was a really long break from blogging! not from crafting, though. i made many things during my long break. maybe i'll post some of them in future posts. maybe i won't. i'm probably going to ramble from one subject to another, because i have so much to talk about. so, if i get confusing, please excuse me; i'm not a good writer and i've been out of practice for a while.

i don't like making new year's resolutions, but i'm always thinking of things i need to do to better myself, so i decided to start now in the new year. there are several things i want to focus on. here they are, in no particular order:

• to be more positive
• to be more productive
• to take better care of myself
• to take better care of my family
• to take better care of my home
• to date my husband more often
• to not let stress get to me
• to not be too critical of myself if i fail at any of these resolutions
  
• and always keep trying

so, what has happened during my long break? well, let's start from where i left off... in early october we had our yearly visit to disneyland. we all had lots of fun and now it saddens me to think that it may be our last visit for a while because we don't know if we'll be able to afford doing that next year. we'll see.

we also had an old, rotted tree fall on the front fence of our house. the city was supposed to cut it down because it had a fungus that was killing it, but they only removed the tree next to it, which also had a fungus growing on it. so it finally toppled over and broke our fence. it was quickly removed by the city and our fence was fixed a week or two later.

in late october my oldest daughter dressed up as supergirl and my little one dressed up as the tooth fairy for halloween. she was supposed to go as tinkerbell, using the same costume as last year, but i didn't realize till the day of that it didn't fit her anymore, so i had to improvise. i found a nice easter dress that my aunt had given to her for her 2nd birthday. we added some fairy wings we had from that same party and a wand and voila! they both looked very cute and got tons of candy! here they are while trick-or-treating with their cousin J, who is dressed as a pirate girl. so cute! the glowing eyes in the background are my husband, his sister and i. even though we didn't dress up for halloween, we kind of look like zombies in all of our pics. and unfortunately, this was the best pic i could find. oh well!

in november we celebrated C's 6th birthday. we had a fairy tea party theme and it was pretty awesome, if i do say so myself! i made most of the pastry and cupcake stands by gluing various plates to candle holders or fancy candy dishes. they looked very nice! i also made a new table cover and curtains, which i decorated with hand-stamped roses. i made lots of different sweet and savory tea sandwiches, three different teas, and pink cupcakes. i found lots of tea sets from thrift stores. and i made pink and light blue sugar for the kids to mix into their lemonade or tea. i also made shrinky dink charm necklaces, key chains, and cell phone charms as party favors. we only invited C's cousins, which included one little boy (we couldn't leave him out just cause he was a boy!) and all of her aunts, and her two grandmas. it was very girly and very fun!

we also had a very traumatic event happen in late november. my littlest, M, was running around a department store and after yelling at her for the nth time to settle down, she fell and landed chin first on the edge of a display shelf, splitting her chin open. it was a pretty bad injury, but M handled it pretty well. she held a paper towel onto her chin, through the ride to the hospital and was very cooperative right up until it was time to stitch her chin up. my poor little baby was so scared and because she refused to take any ibuprofen, i don't know how much the topical pain killer helped her. the doctor had to put her in a restraint to keep her little arms from flailing and getting in the way. she got 7 or 8 stitches. then she had to go back to the doctor to have those stitches removed a week later. again, she cried and pleaded with my husband and the doctors to stop. it was too difficult for me to be in the room with her both times, but she was loud enough that i heard everything! she is better now and the scar is underneath her chin, so if it doesn't fade (which i doubt will be a problem) it won't be very visible. she was a good sport throught it all. very patient and very understanding for a 2 year old. she amazes me so much!

in early december we celebrated my husband, Mark's birthday. i made him a carrot cake, which is his favorite! he's not much of a cake person, which is unfortunate for me cause i LOVE cakes! he's more of a pie person, but i don't know how to make pies, so we both settled on carrot cake as a compromise. it turned out to be very delicious and he actually liked it! i was very happy about that! later that same month was xmas! i made most of the presents i gave. i was really proud of that because it was a pledge that i made. there were a few that i bought, but they were so small and so inexpensive that i don't feel guilty about it. there were also some that i didn't get to finish on time. i still plan on finishing them, but now that xmas is over, i don't feel that nagging pressure to get them done by a certain time. i know i should, but right now i just want to relax for a few days before i start crafting again. one of the gifts i made was a scarf for my mom. this picture is from when i had just started it. i didn't get a pic of the completed project, but i did like the end result and so did my mom.

part of the reason why i haven't been blogging much is because i find the process of taking pics and then editing them (cause i'm really bad with photography!) so that i can post them and then write about them, just too time consuming. obviously, i'm not good at this blogging thing, but i do hope to try to get better. one thing i want to improve on is how much i write. most of my blog posts are just too darn long! i can't help it! but i do notice it and after going through the whole writing and uploading pics, i don't want to invest more time in editing. it kind of takes the fun out of blogging. so i'm going to try to post more often but not write too much.

i hope we all have a wonderful new year! here's to a fresh start!

I've Been a Bad Blogger

yeah, i have no excuse, other than i was caught up with our summer activities and daily life with my two girls and my husband at home all day for the whole summer. it was both lots of fun and lots of work. more cleaning up after the girls (and my husband!), more clothes to wash, meals to cook, dishes to wash, etc., etc. but it was also nice having our little family being so close and doing fun things together.


i also got to do more crafting with my husband being around to play and spend time with our girls. here is one thing that i made. it's an embroidery for my Aunt Josie, who recently renewed her vows with her husband of 10 years. i got the pattern from vintage transfer finds but i just checked and it seems that the pattern has been removed. and i'm glad to say that my aunt loved it! i wasn't there to see her and her husband open their presents, but i heard that it was ooohed and aaahhed a lot. my mom thought it was the nicest present, and i'm glad i decided to make that for her!

Sewing Kit Swap Is Done!

now that i know our swap partners, N from Balkan Style Bloggers and her daughter B received out package, i can show you some pics of what we sent to them.
as you can see, there were some fabric scraps, ric-rac and trim, a needle book, a tissue cozy, a felt bird softie kit, three sewing cards, yo-yo's, a hand carved stamp and stamp pad, a pincushion and heart shaped pins, an embroidery hoop, some buttons, some ribbon and a smaller pincushion. and we packed it in a cute green small luggage case.

here are some close-ups of both pincushions. the smaller one is below.

and i'm glad to hear that N and B are happy with the sewing kit we sent to them! i can't wait to see any projects they may work on with what we sent to them.
and here is the swap package they sent to us! as you can see, C was very excited to see what was inside.
luckily she was patient enough to let me take pictures before she took off with anything! N and B sent so many nice things! among our favorites are the buttons and fabric. they also included a pattern for making a ruby doll and i think we'll definitely use some of the fabric for that. C also liked all the embroidery floss in her favorite colors of pink and aqua. and i can't wait to teach C how to use the hand made knitting nancy! i think that is a wonderful way to get C started with knitting!

and here is my happy girl! thank you so much N and B! and thank you to Melissa of Day to Day for hosting this awesome swap!

Summer Fun, Weeks 5-7

just popping in to say 'hi!'. sorry for the unexpected blog break, but i've been preoccupied with so much stuff going on this summer.

for one thing, (and this is something that i forgot to mention here in my blog) i signed up for another swap! this one is hosted by Melissa Goodsell, from Day to Day. it is a sewing kit swap in which we make a sewing kit for our partner's child. my partner is N from Balkan Style Bloggers. i have already finished her daughter's sewing kit, but i won't show any pictures until i know she's received it. i will try to mail it out today or tomorrow.

that was the fun part, now for the not-so-fun part. my husband, my two girls, my MIL and i have all gotten sick this summer! it was some strange form of cold and it affected us all in very different ways. we are still trying to get over it, and i know it won't last forever, but it has been very uncomfortable and has dampened our fun this summer. there is still a month before C starts school, so i'm sure we'll have lots more fun before her vacation is over.

also, because my husband is taking a vacation, we decided to use it to try to DIY and fix things up around the house. i think the stress of the hard work and worry from not knowing how to go about doing some of the fixing is what made my husband take his illness harder. he only took a day or two off and is still working. our house will be under repair through most of the summer, so it will make things like entertaining at home nearly impossible. there go my birthday plans! oh well! i'm sure we can just go out for dinner. hopefully we can finish the home repairs in time to take a mini vacation and take the kids to sea world before the end of summer. (crossing fingers!)

other than that, i have some crafty projects i need to start working on. one is for my nephew's birthday present and the other one is for my cousin's quinceañera party favors. i'm really excited about working on these two projects and i can't wait to show some WIP photos! gotta get started!

Neice's Birthday Present Complete!

this is the front of the tote bag. i also decorated the gift bag with my own hand carved stamps. C made the birthday card.

this is the back of the tote bag. you can also see the hand carved stamp i made for my niece, outside of the little white envelope i packed it in.

here is a close up of the stamp i made for the birthday girl and the gift bag i decorated using my own stamps. note: C also made some mini brownies, shaped like hearts, with m&m's inside. we packed them up in a little box with printed wax paper (from the martha stewart craft line) and i wrote "to:" and "from:" on the front of the box and used the stamp i made for my niece and a new stamp i made that morning of C with her name on it. i didn't get a picture of it because C made them right before we had to leave to the party so i forgot. i also didn't get a picture of C's stamp, but i'll try to remember to post it along with any new stamps i may finish. right now all i want to do is carve my own stamps!

Still Working on Niece's Birthday Present

since my last post i've been trying to fit in some crafting time to finish this present. i've only had a few minutes here and there because i've had family visiting us, so this is all i have done. i added a few more pieces all around to make it large enough for a tote bag and to add more color.

and i've finished the back side of the purse! i wanted to sort of mimic what was going on in the front with the fabrics i used and made a large outside pocket using some of the left over scraps. i also decided to go with a more solid back and so i'm using a pink fabric with an all-over print with really small flowers. i also decided to put her first name initial, so i played around with some more fabric scraps and came up with this.

and if you look real close you could see my handmade tag i made using my own hand carved stamp. it's my first time putting a label onto anything i've made, except for some paper tags i made for the father's day presents i made. but this label is special because it will forever be a part of the tote bag. the ink is a bit too light, but the pastel stamp pads are all i have right now that print well on fabric and will resist coming off if it is washed. i really like being able to put my name on my hand made things!

i still need to add the strap and finish sewing the bag closed. i also need to get C to make a nice birthday card with one of her drawings. if i get it done in time and manage to get a nice pic, i'll try to put in in my next post. i'm also trying to add one other small, but nice, handmade addition to this tote bag gift. so i have to go now and try to finish everything!

Summer Fun, Week 3

what we've been up to this past week:

* more homework.
* lots of drawing time. i have now accumulated a year's worth of artwork in only three weeks! and many of C's works have amazed me so much that i want to save them and either make an art book for her as a gift or incorporate them into my projects. i've also been thinking of making her a quilt with some of her drawings embroidered onto plain, solid blocks. and part of me also wants to start an etsy shop and sell some of the things i can create using C's drawings, but i wonder if that would be fair to her. it is her artwork that is inspiring me, afterall. well, i guess i'll have to think it a bit more before i decide on that. either way, i really want to encourage C to continue with her drawing because i think that maybe she can grow up to be a children's book illustrator or something else in the field of art.
* reading to each other. we're still on the same books, but we've also borrowed a few more books on a recent trip to the library. we signed up for the library's summer reading program and we got C her first library card! she was so proud!
*we went to participate in an art class taught by an employee of lacma. C made her own story book and got to experiment using oil pastels. her book was about a fairy who saw her home in a tree and decided to go home. it was only four pages long and that included the title page, so there was not enough pages to be more elaborate. still, i think it was a good story because in those four pages C was able to draw the fairy looking at her home from afar, then flying over to her home, then sitting happily inside, which C colored pink with a purple door. i thought it was very imaginative!
* we're still playing hopscotch, using the hula hoop and having a game or two of tag, while we're outdoors. it hasn't been warm enough to bring out our kiddie pool since C's graduation party. but maybe we'll bring it out for the weekend. the pool is large enough for a family of four and so i hope to be able to enjoy the pool with my family.
* M decided to go pee-pee in her potty once this week, so that is a big accomplishment in the potty training area.
* we went to watch "wall-e" in a new movie theatre and it was a really nice experience because there were only a handful of other people watching the movie, so we didnt' have to bother with finding a seat for our family of four and dealing with other noisy movie watchers. the seating was also neat because the armrests could be pulled up, and so we could all sit much closer together or be able to lay M down if she wanted to take a nap. the movie was so touching! it even made me and my two year old cry! we'll definately get the movie when it goes out on dvd.

on the crafting front, i've been getting some work done, finally! here is a picture of the embroidery/appliqué i made using my niece's drawing. she actually only drew the horse, which is cute in itself, but because i didn't want it to be too plain, i added a few things, such as the sun, her name, the butterfly, the bird, the grass and the flowers. at this point i still wasn't sure what to do with the finished embroidery. i didn't want to frame it because i thought it would be enjoyed more by a child if it was something that could be held or touched. so the only two things i thought of were a small pillow or a tote bag.

after adding some pieces of fabric all around, log cabin-style, i decided that i wanted to add more to it and make it into a tote bag, so that it could have some usefulness and it can be seen. i guess you can say i was pretty proud of myself! the wet spots on the embroidery are where i had to make the water-soluble pen ink disappear. i don't know if i'll have the gift done in time, as the party will be on sunday, but we'll see!

Summer Fun, Week 2

this past week, we continued with the summertime fun. here is a list of what we did:
* C is continuing with her summer homework. i give her some math, handwriting, and spelling work.
* i have also continued with reading to both girls the pippi book and C reads to me from some early reader series of books we checked out of the library. right now she is reading "alone" from days with frog and toad, by arnold lobel. she reads to me and i help her sound out new words and add them to a list of words to practice reading.
* we are still enjoying or daily games of hopscotch. C is showing a lot of improvement on her hopping skills and as she progresses, i add more rules to the game to make it a little more challenging. when we first started playing i basically had no rules but to hop on all the squares and make sure to pick up their markers. M is still too little, so she does whatever she wants. and everyone has fun!* we poured a large container of bubble solution into a bucket and got our two badminton rackets to try to make lots of bubbles by waving the wands and using the wind. it was messy, but fun!
* we then turned on the sprinklers and let the girls rinse off all of the bubble solution.
* we invited the girls only boy cousin, N, to come over to play hopscotch, make giant bubbles, and run under the sprinklers. i think N had lots of fun that day!

* we took the girls to the museum of natural history. this was a reward for the girls because they have been doing their homework, playing well with each other and making my summer with them much more bearable!

C chose to go to the museum. here are the girls "digging" for fossils. next week, if they do well, the girls will get to have a sleepover party and invite their cousin N. i look forward to planning some fun activities for the kids!

as for me, i'm getting less time to craft for myself. i do have a project i'm working on for my niece's birthday coming up. the weekends seem to be the only time i have to craft because my husband is at home to help with the girls. so i have gotten some work done this weekend and i hope to finish it in time for the party. i was hoping C would help me with the project or make a gift for her cousin, but i'm finding little time to plan these things, so it hasn't been possible. the birthday is in a week, so i'll see if C and i can do something fast, simple and cute.

Fun For Nothin' Challenge: Hopscotch and Beanbag Markers

i was reading sew liberated's blog and in one of her latest posts she talks about her fun for nothin' challenge. i realized that some of the things my girls and i have been doing this summer would fit this challenge. one that stands out is the hopscotch game we played with the little bean bag markers we made.i know this isn't a new idea, in fact it was one of my favorite games as a kid, but i haven't seen anyone mention this game as an idea for a free or low cost game and source of entertainment for little ones, so i thought i would mention it here. we have since bought a new bucket of sidewalk chalk to use for this summer because when we first came up with the idea to play the game, i only had a piece about 1 inch thick, left over from last year. it was just enough to draw our first game on our cemented walkway in our front yard. but if you have to go buy some chalk, i'm sure they could easily be found in dollar stores everywhere at this time of year. we started out playing with rocks, we found nearby, as markers because we couldn't find anything else. after seeing how dangerous it was to throw the heavy rocks, as they bounced hap hazardously, we came up with the idea of making little bean bags. so off we went back inside to escape the heat for a while and make our markers. i had the girls go through my scraps to find colors or prints they liked and cut 2" x 5" pieces of fabric. i folded the piece right sides together and quickly sewed down two sides to leave a pocket. i then let the girls fill these little pockets with split peas. i recommend using small beans because the bags are so small. lentils and even rice would work as well. i had split peas on hand, so that is what i used. i then handstitched the last side closed using a blanket stitch. because the bags are so small and we filled them up as much as we could, i couldn't use the sewing machine for this step. so if you do as i do, i wouldn't recommend using the machine for this last step or else you might have a big mess and possibly ruin your machine if any small beans or rice get stuck in your dog feeds. and that is all! the bean bags should have a nice weight to them to make tossing them at long distances easier. they also don't bounce so they are safe to use.

i hope everyone likes this idea and i get to see more and more moms writing in their blogs and posting pictures of their kids playing hopscotch!

Summer Fun, Week 1

it has been about a week into C's summer vacation and i have been trying to keep my girls busy, entertained, and active with fun crafts and activities. here is a list of what we've done since C's last day of school:

*C graduated from kindergarten! she was really sad to be leaving her school, teacher and classmates, but i'm sure she'll be looking forward to first grade by the end of the summer!
*we have started M's potty training. wish me luck on that one! M is really smart and communicative, but with trying to take care of two girls all day, everyday, i don't know how long it's gonna take me to accomplish that job!
*everyday i have C do some math, handwriting, and spelling home work before we play or do anything fun. at the same time i try to teach M her colors, abc's, numbers and shapes and sometimes C helps to teach M. she seems to really enjoy teaching her little sister!
* we went to the library and checked out a few books. amongst them is astrid lindgren's "pippi longstocking", which i plan to read to them. my girls love to watch the movies so much, i thought this would be a good way to wean them off the t.v. this summer.

*we played hopscotch and had to improvise by using found rocks as place markers. but then i got the idea to make some out of fabric scraps and some dried beans. with the help of my girls, we quickly sewed them up, filled them, and stitched them closed in time to play a few more rounds before the end of the day. we made enough place markers in case we have some visitors who would like to play with us. C is still working on keeping her balance while hopping, but i'm sure by the end of the summer she'll have it down pat! M just hops around on two feet and doesn't really follow the rules, but she looks so cute hopping around and she has so much fun playing with us!
*we played with a hula hoop. well, we tried to play with it. the hoop was too small for me, so i couldn't show the girls how to do it properly. C still needs some practice and M is just too small. she is only 2 years old, but she tries, and she looks adorable doing it! she holds the hula hoop over her head, with her body in the center, then lets it fall as she stomps in place and wiggles her little body. she really thinks she's doing it!
*we baked cookies. yum!

*we made homemade play dough using kool-aid for color and to give it a fruity smell. the girls love it when we make our own play dough because they get to help and the play dough is much softer and more fun to play with.

*C lost yet another tooth! now she has two missing front upper teeth! she looks so cute!
*we took C to get her first real haircut and it's a short bob that looks really cute on her face!
*we celebrated C's graduation from kindergarten with a pool party. we had most of our family over and all the little ones had so much fun in the kiddie pool!

*we went to a new park, while poor Dadda had a dentist appointment. but the girls enjoyed their outing!
*we made a makeshift house using a tarp we draped over our unused clothesline. we brought the girls' little table and their chairs and set them up in their little house. i made them pb&j sandwiches and they ate them in their little house. they had a nice time eating their snack in their temporary playhouse!

we have been having so much fun! and i have enjoyed watching my two girls laughing and playing together and learning to get along better. and i still have many things on my list to keep them busy, so i'm sure i won't run out of ideas any time soon. we have also done most of the things on the list more than once. i want to make this summer really fun and memorable for my girls, especially C, since it is her first vacation from school, other than xmas vacation, of course.