A Summer Book Surprise List

"Brown paper packages tied up with string... these are a few of my favorite things!" Summer break is still a few weeks away for us, but I'm getting ready, including putting together a summer reading list for E.

Baby Gift Idea

Is it just me or is the whole world pregnant? It's probably just my stage of life, but I feel as if everyone is sporting a swelling belly. For me, this means a steady stream of baby shower invitations.

Heart Crayon Valentines & a free printable

I'm finished with A's class valentines! Aren't they sweet? If you'd like to create your own, scroll to the bottom of this post to download the printable.

Handmade Christmas: Land of Nod Inspired Floor Cushion

When I saw a tutorial for a Land of Nod inspired cushion, I knew it would make the perfect Christmas gift for my girls. This little beauty cost me less than $20 for materials but more than 3 days of blood, sweat and tears. Now that it's finished, I can say I'm really pleased with the way it turned out and can't wait to place it under the Christmas tree.

I wanted to monogram the cushion, but lacking an embroidery machine I settled for an applique. This font is Cooper Std Black. I loved the idea of having a handle for lugging the pillow around and the piping makes it that much cuter.

And of course I couldn't make just one!

Now my each of my girls have a soft place to rest their bum while they read or watch tv. How long do you think it will take before they use those handles to start swinging these puppies at each other? I'm giving it maybe 30 minutes. :)

When I finished up around 11pm last night, my husband asked how much I would sell these on Etsy. I told him $500. Each. Seriously, I am so impressed at you experienced seamstresses who can confidently whip up anything out of fabric and thread... and I will never again cringe at the prices you charge for your creations!

If you want to attempt a cushion of your own, check out this tutorial by Living with Punks.

Doggy-themed care package (with thumbprint doggy card)

My sister's sweet keeshond died recently, and the family has been grieving the loss of their furriest member. Her two boys have taken it especially hard. To help cheer them up - and to celebrate their getting a new puppy soon - I put together this little care package.

Inside is a stuffed dog, our favorite puppy book, a dog-themed coloring book, and a homemade card. The dog is from Target - a great place to find good-quality stuffed animals for cheap. The book is one of our favorites. I love the McDuff series! They are well-written, beautifully illustrated, and just the right length for preschoolers. Plus, at only $10 a book, they're affordable enough to own.

The card was inspired by an image I found on Google, and was super-simple to make.

Simply have your child press two fingerprints on top of each other for two of the doggies: one vertical and the other horizontal. Use your thumbprint (or an older child's thumbprint) for the center dog and add a horizontal fingerprint on top for the snout. Then add your embellishments with a fine-tipped pen.

So what are your favorite dog-themed books? The Carl series? Pepper? Spot? Clifford? Biscuit? (Wow - dogs are a really popular subject with children's authors!)

Crayon Apron & Book Review: ABC Animal Jamboree

I'm still an inexperienced enough seamstress to want to show off my creations with a "Look what I just made! Yes, me! I did it!" You seamstress-extraordinaire-types will no doubt notice the uneven stitching and loose threads, but I'm quite pleased with the result and hope A will be too. We give three presents to each child on Christmas morning (something you want, something you need, and something to share), and this fulfills A's "something you want." She's currently obsessed with crayons so I think she'll love this and hopefully won't use it to go on a graffiti spree in the house.

If you'd like to try to make a last-minute one for your kiddo (or just want to bookmark it for a later date), you can find Samantha @ Bobaloo Kids' tutorial here.

ABC Animal Jamboree by Giles Andreae

Here's a fun picture book that would make a wonderful gift for your little bibliophile. Large, hardback, and with brightly colored illustrations, the book is a collection of poems about animals starting with Angelfish and ending with Zebra. The rhymes are cute and clever: "It's great to be a monkey,/ Swinging through the trees,/ And if we can't find nuts to eat/ We munch each other's fleas!" The illustrations are just as fun and sure to captivate little ones.

The book isn't necessarily meant to be read cover to cover, but rather read selectively, as your child's attention span allows. In the top corner of each page is an upper and lower case letter. A isn't interested in hearing the poems, but she loves to have me read her the names of each letter and look at the corresponding pictures. On the other hand, E can read the poems to herself. This is why I love good picture books - they're enjoyed by all ages!


Disclaimer: ABC Animal Jamboree was provided to me courtesy of Tiger Tails Books free of charge in exchange for a review. This does not in any way influence my review.

Teacher Gift

I have four days to make five handmade gifts. Wish me luck. I'm grateful that these two for E's teacher are already finished. They were simple enough that E could help me make them.

Hand Warmer
I borrowed this idea from my friend Polly @ Helping Little Hands. Two 4.5" squares sewn together and filled with rice and dried lavender (optional) make great little hand warmers to use during recess. I used some scraps on hand and let E help me with the sewing. If nothing else, they'll make good bean bags for classroom games.

Sugar Scrub
I've been wanting to make these for years! It's so easy, I don't know why I waited. I found cute little jars at Walmart for two dollars each. I filled each about half full with sugar and then poured the sugar into a bowl to mix with enough olive oil to dampen. Then I added dried lavender in the hopes of scenting the scrub. It didn't work, so I'm going to have to beg a few drops of lavender oil from a friend tomorrow. I tried out the scrub, and it works great!


Mary's First Christmas by Walter Wangerin Jr.

And if you're looking for a good Christmas book to give as a gift, this is my absolute favorite. You can read my review here. The book is set up in short, gorgeously illustrated chapters, making it perfect to give NOW, a week before Christmas.

Christmas Crayons

Target always has a few gems in their dollar spot, and a few weeks ago I snatched up a couple Christmas-themed silicone trays. Not surprisingly, these puppies have been showing up all over the blogosphere in fun and creative ways. One such blogger (insert link here when I can remember who the heck it was!) used her trays as crayon molds. Brilliant!

So I sat my little type-A-ers down to the tedious task of peeling the paper off of old and broken crayons. They went at it with a passion worthy of their detail-oriented mother.

10 minutes at 200 degrees was just about perfect in my oven. I suggest keeping an eye on it, because they go from soft to liquid very quickly, and you don't want to the colors to run together too much.  Allow to cool and pop out for some adorable (and cheap) kids gifts!


I've Seen Santa! by David Bedford

Here's a cute Christmas bedtime book toddlers and early preschoolers will like. It's Christmas Eve and Little Bear is worried that Santa won't come. He keeps a close eye on the fireplace all night, looking out for Santa, but finding Mama Bear and Big Bear instead. Eventually the whole family decide to stay awake to wait for Santa. They never see him... but HE sees THEM!

The illustrations are adorable and the story is cute, simple, and short - just right for young attention spans.

What a Surprise! Snowball Survival Kit

One of the unexpected blessings of blogging has been the incredible women I've met and befriended online. One such woman - Katherine Marie - surprised my girls this week with a Snowball Fight Survival Kit!

In true Katherine Marie-style, it was adorable and filled with sweet goodies: hot cocoa mix, mini marshmallows, red M&Ms, cookie wafers, spiced cider mix, and rope (licorice). The gift was simple, inexpensive, and completely made our day! Thanks, Katherine, for thinking of us and spreading your Christmas cheer!

While it's cold enough to snow, we won't see the white stuff for another 6 weeks or so (if at all), but I've got a whole pile of clean socks just waiting to be balled up and thrown at an unsuspecting child. :) You've got to love indoor snowball fights!


I Love Christmas by Anna Walker

Here's a Christmas book Katherine Marie recommends. Our library doesn't have it, but as soon as I can get to B&N, I'm going on a hunt for it!

Ollie is a zebra (perhaps the cutest ever!) and tells us all the things he loves about Christmas: twinkly lights, tinsel, angels and reindeer. The text is sparse and the illustrations are oh-so-adorable. I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Give the Gift of Fish!

My sister found this post showing the fishing game Christine @ From An Igloo made her children. My sister - being my sister - immediately posted it on my Facebook page. I believe her exact words were "My boys would LOVE to get something like this from their Aunt!" I - being the awesome sister and Aunt that I am - happily obliged.

Being a follower of blog etiquette, I won't recreate Christine's tutorial for you, but here are some ways I made the project extra-special (and in some ways easier):

1. Use coordinating fabrics. I'm the queen of buying the supplies for a sewing project and then never actually sewing the project. This has given me a large collection of coordinating materials, including the selection of 5 green and blue fabrics that looked adorable as fishies. I used each fabric twice to create 10 fish total.

2. Use two fish templates. I created two fish from each fabric, one in each template. I used Christine's template and then google-imaged "fish template" to find another with a smaller tail. With two fish sizes, the kids have more options for playing matching games.

3. Get thee to a hardware store. Other than the fabric and buttons, everything else you need will be at a hardware store: dowels, twine, washers, magnets, glue. I bought one long dowel and had my hubby cut it in half and drill holes through the ends for the twine. If you don't want to drill, you can carve a notch on the end and tie the twine tightly in the groove. Make sure you make at least two fishing rods!

4. Glue the magnet. I'll admit it: I have a fear of power tools. There was no way I was going to drill through a magnet or ask my husband to do so (especially late at night when I was finishing this up). If you have the same irrational fears (or don't own a drill) just glue it. I traced the magnet on some scrap fabric and glued the end of the twine between the magnet and fabric. Worked great.

5. Personalize your bucket. You can find buckets at the dollar store, including some good quality ones with rope handles. I got this tin bucket in Target's dollar spot. To make it extra-special, mod podge the child's initial on the front. I printed out an A in a font I liked, cut it out and traced it onto some scrapbook paper I already had on hand. A little mod-podge magic and we were good to go!

The gift, it seems, was a hit! You've got to feel good about giving simple, homemade gifts kids love.

And if you need a book to give along with the game...

Not Norman: A Goldfish Story by Kelly Bennett

Any book subtitled "A Goldfish Story" has got to be good! There are so many things I love about this little story: I love the flat and vibrant illustrations; I love that the protagonist is African American; I love the straightforward sentences; and I love the message of true friendship.

A little boy wants a pet for his birthday and is bitterly disappointed when he gets a goldfish. But as the two develop a sweet friendship, he realizes he wouldn't want any other pet. Be forewarned: by the end of the story, your child might not want any other pet, either!


I'm linking up to:
- SOYS @ Fireflies & Jellybeans

The Best Birthday Gift Ever

Okay, so that might be a slight exaggeration, but it's certainly the best birthday gift I've ever made. I am a novice seamstress, at best, so I am prodigiously proud of myself for crafting this adorable little travel doll house.

Let's take a tour, shall we? You'll notice the exterior of the house is decorated with extra touches like an arched door and appliqued hearts.

Coordinating buttons and elastic loops keep everything secure until we're ready to head inside...

 ... and meet the current tenants! For years I've been wanting an excuse to buy the girls a Calico Critters set. Now that I have the perfect home for them, they happily took up residence.

So how did I make it? With blood, sweat, tears, and the occasional curse word! I found the tutorial from Dawn @ UK Lass in US via Jeanine @ Serving Pink Lemonade. Both of these extraordinarily talented ladies used the words "easy" and "simple" in their posts. I'm sure it was easy and simple for both of them, but it was two days of sewing warfare for me. While you don't need more than basic sewing skills to make the house, the project is difficult for a newbie like myself.

The structure of the house is formed from plastic canvas wrapped in batting. You quilt together the covering for the canvas pieces and lay it out in a open box pattern. Then it's simply a matter of hand-stitching the one side in place and adding the details. Dawn gives a very detailed tutorial that most of you will probably read and think "wow! That is easy! Christianne must be one spatially-challenged wannabe seamstress!" You'd be right.

So you'll forgive me if I toot my own horn a bit. Not only did the birthday girl love her gift, but we gave it a place of honor in the playroom: it's own spot on the bookshelf!

What else is on that bookshelf? Well, A's other birthday gift...

On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman

I've seen this book around, but lumped it with the sentimental "you're special" books that parents cry through and kids yawn during. We have several such books which I love and my kids can't sit still through. I am so glad I gave this one a second chance!

The illustrations are gorgeous and downright magical at times. The story explains how all of nature rejoiced on the night "you" were born. What sets this book apart - besides the phenomenal artwork - are the interactive moments throughout. Your child is encouraged to whisper their name (just as the wind is doing) and wiggle their toes (those "silly, wiggly wonderful toes"). These asides to the reader early in the story grab the child's attention, while the short sentences on each page and brilliant illustrations hold it.

My girls sat enraptured by the story while I read it at bedtime... and yes, I cried at the end. Because truly, my dear A,  

"Heaven blew every trumpet and played every horn

on the wonderful, marvelous night you were born."

I'm linking up to:

Mothers Day Handprint (and such) Apron

Don't forget: Only one week until our Love My Library link-up on May 12!

I'm blessed to have both of my girls' grandmothers in town, so I had two opportunities to make Mothers Day gifts: a beaded bookmark for my bibliophile mother, and this cute garden apron for my green-thumbed mother-in-law!

I am not an artist, but this apron is so simple, even I could pull it off. I started with a craft apron from Michaels and painted the grass using two shades of acrylic green paint. Then it was time to paint my girls!

A graciously provided her tootsies to help make the butterfly...

E was happy to create the flowers using her hand and two of her favorite colors. (The bumblebee is my surprisingly large thumbprint.)

E also helped add a few happy ladybugs with her own adorable thumbprint...

... and I embellished it all with a black paint pen. Just in case you were wondering what the weird snake/spirit creature is hiding in the grass...

... A turned Picasso while I had stepped out of the room. I was upset at first, but managed to squelch my perfectionist tendencies. I figure Grandma won't mind. Overall I'm really pleased with how it turned out and hope she is too!

On a different note, did you know that this is the 60th anniversary of Are You My Mother? I'm always saying there's a reason this or that book is still in print so many decades later. Are You My Mother is a classic that deserves to be on every child's bookshelf. It was the very first book E read by herself (at age 3!) and we will continue to enjoy it as A gets older. So pull out your old copy or grab one from the nearest library and enjoy one of the best "mother" books this Mothers Day!


I'm linking up to:
- Made By You Monday @ Skip to My Lou