Star Wars Behavior Chart

We needed something to track of Tom's daily behavior - something that would allow both my husband and I to know what the other parent had already done (put him in time out, took away TV etc). 

Tom adores Star Wars.  He comes by it naturally enough.  Both his Dad and his Uncle (my brother) are huge fans.  I looked on Pinterest for behavior charts that would incorporate the Star Wars theme, but didn't find much.  I asked my brother and husband for some ideas and had a few of my own.

I did an internet search for 'Star Wars Cartoon Characters' and used some of the results as inspiration for the guys I drew for the project.  I used colored pencils to finish them off.  I'm fairly happy with the results;

*Awesome (The Force is strong with this one)
*Good (Jedi in Training)  - this is the default position for his marker
*Warning (Much to learn, you still have)
*Time Out (Encased in CARBONITE)
*Lose ALL Screen Time (Welcome to the DARK side!) - no TV, no computer, no Kindle etc

So far Tom thinks its pretty cool.  We'll see how well it works.

Egg-citing Fun!!

Little Guy goes to a small in-home daycare/pre-school. Usually the class has between 6 and 8 children but right now (because two families have recently moved away) there are only three. Since the class is so small right now, I decided that I'd be willing to try something different to take to their Easter party which was today (the Wednesday following Easter).

I found this clever idea in a recent issue of Disney's Family Fun magazine. The kids have been learning phonics and some sight words. They've been practicing 'word families' like the "AN" family includes the words fan, can, man, tan etc. I thought this project would be something that would go along nicely with what they are learning at school. Also she had asked that if we brought anything - it needed to be healthy. This final product included nothing edible, so no chance of unhealthy food! :)

Here's the Process...

I went to Wal Mart the day after Easter and picked up these cartons of candy eggs
and break apart plastic eggs.  I took out the candy, and raided my
colorful cardstock and scrapbook letter stickers...

Following the directions in a recent issue of Disney's Family Fun magazine
(If you have little ones, I think you might like this magazine) I went to work

Each carton held eight eggs.  Each egg had several single letter stickers on one side
of the "break" and on the other side a series of two or three letters that when
matched with the single letters formed a word.  The child can then twist the eggs for
word-building fun!



I made little signs for the top (again following the design in the magazine) and then we were done!
My Little Guy thought these were awesome, and his pre-school teacher loved them too since they weren't
filled with candy!! 

Little Artist

Little Guy has discovered a love for painting.  His favorite media is acrylic on paper.  His favorite subject matter is transportation, and we have a 'gallery' of tractor/train/fire truck pictures to prove it!  I love that he's embracing this new artistic side of his, even if it's only a passing fad.

"When I was a child, my mother said to  me, 'If you become a soldier, you'll be a general.  If you become a monk you'll end up as the pope.'  Instead I became a painter, and wound up as Picasso."  -Pablo Picasso



Cardboard Play House

Over a year ago, we acquired a large cardboard box that had previously held a dishwasher.  We had cut a window in it and Little Guy had a lot of fun playing inside it for a while.  After a few weeks, his interest waned and the box went into our basement storage.  Last week he said he wished he had a house of his own.  I brought up the box and he was very excited about it.


The 1800 matches our own house number, and
the red mailbox is very similar to ours as well.



Although the plain box had been fun, I had a feeling we could do better.  So, I cut out a second window.  Then I covered most of the dishwasher wording with brown construction paper (except the "roof" which I covered with black paper). 

As soon as Little Guy saw the improvements he said that we needed a chimney - haha!  So, we took a small-ish box, and covered it with pink paper.  I drew on "bricks" and LG and I glued on a big stack of cotton balls for smoke.

By now, I was really having fun (maybe more than Little Guy was even).  I added a big tree (complete with perching blue bird), shutters, a fire hydrant and a mail box that looks quite similar to the one on our actual house.  We also added flowers all the way around.



Little Guy did complain a little bit that the shutters don't actually work, so there may be one more project in our future!  :)

Little Guy loves getting mail, and having us 'visit' him at his house.  He now has a pretend door bell and has wedged in some of his play furniture.  I helped him make a 'home sweet home' sign and we hung it (as well as another picture he'd drawn) inside.   

This has been a very fun project, and since we had all the supplies on hand - a totally free one as well! 

The cardboard play house is great, and I think we're done with 'improvements'...for now anyway.

Valentines Day Party

Little Guy's home-made Valentine cards.

This week has been a whirlwind of Valentine Day preparations.  I had volunteered to help with the party Little Guy’s pre-school was having, and had been tasked with making ‘boxes’ the children could decorate.  I also decided this year to make Little Guy’s valentines for his friends (to save money, but also for a little variety).  We used the store-bought ones left over from last year for Baby Boy’s little daycare friends.

What spare time I had over the weekend was spent making the little cards, getting the boxes ready and planning a little something for my own Valentine as well.

Little Guy’s cards were pretty straight forward.  I scoured the internet and came away with a lot of wonderful ideas.  In the end, Little Guy decided he wanted dinosaur cards.  I found some cute illustrations of cartoon-ish dinosaurs on-line and used them as inspiration for some I drew on plain white paper.  I then added a corny little line, “You are DINO-mite, Valentine!” and “Valentine, you are Tricera-TOPS!” etc to each.  I cut around the drawing, glued it to pink or red construction paper and then cut that paper to make a frame around the dinosaur.  Little Guy then colored each one, and we attached them to little plastic dinosaurs which we’d purchased at Wal Mart for $1 each.  The end result was pretty adorable and we had a lot of fun putting them together.

For the ‘boxes’, I decided to do something a little different.  We’ve saved a lot of formula canisters over the last few years (with no particular plan in mind), and finally put them to use.  I removed the label from each, cleaned them carefully, covered the edge with duct tape (to avoid any sharp bits), covered the outside with white art paper, trimmed in ribbon, and made holes in each side where a pipe-cleaner handle could go.  These were a little time consuming, but the end result was one I was happy with – and completely free, as I had all supplies on hand.

Old formula cans from our storage room.

Monday was the pre-school party, and we had so much fun!  I was able to be a ‘guest reader’ and shared two little Valentine themed books with the children.  Then we had a snack (heart shaped fruit pizza and juice).  I watched as the teacher taught all the little ones about the letter “R” during lesson time, and then watched as they sang songs and played some games.  I adored watching Little Guy as he interacted with his friends.  He was so well behaved and very involved in everything.  He loves learning and is soaking it all up like a little sponge.

Soon it was time for arts and crafts.  This was when I was able to bring out the Valentine buckets and the children were encouraged to decorate them.  We had crayons and stickers as well as various pictures and glue.  I had drawn about thirty little Valentine robots and those were a big hit for gluing to the sides.  They were also able to color and draw and write their names.  In the end, each child had a pretty cute Valentine bucket to take home – each decorated uniquely and adorably. 

This was the sample that I made for LG's Teacher.



And Little Guy's finished bucket (you can see one of the robot drawings here as well)

When it was time for me to leave after lunch, I ended up taking Little Guy home too.  I had the whole day off after all, and the roads were icky so this saved me a trip back to pick him up.  Also, he was clearly enjoying having me there, and was quite upset at the prospect of seeing me go.  We ended up having a lovely Mommy/Son afternoon at home, decorating our house with pink paper hearts and making a special Valentine dinner for Hubby.

It was a fabulous day, and the end result was worth every minute of time spent to get there.  Spending some quality time with my Little Guy always warms my heart, and this particular day with him was perfectly priceless!

Dinosaur Snouts & Groundhog Day

Little Guy and I have been doing a lot of “projects” lately.  They keep him busy (and out of trouble), and they give us quality time that is always appreciated. 

As soon as we decided to have children, I started to accumulate educational materials.  I had been collecting children’s fiction and picture books for many years prior to starting a family, but when we made that decision I began to branch out a bit.  By now, I have a nice assortment of books that cover most topics (match, science, art, language, geography etc) for multiple age groups.

Usually I have some projects in mind, and other times I let Little Guy pick what we will do next.  Recently he had found an activity (to make dinosaur snouts) in an old Better Homes and Gardens book that I have.  This was timely, as the January theme at his pre-school was dinosaurs, and he LOVES learning about them and pretending to be one!

For this activity, we needed two Styrofoam cups, some yarn, construction paper, glue and scissors.  I helped him with the cutting but he did most of the rest.  We learned that the yarn did not really hold the snouts on very well, but that we liked holding them to our faces just fine.  It was a simple little project, but one he really enjoyed.

Another one little activity we did recently was for Groundhog Day.  On the evening before (Feb 1), I told Little Guy all about the Groundhog, and how he was going to look for his shadow.  LG thought this was fun, and wanted to know more about groundhogs, so we looked them up on-line.  After looking at several pictures of the furry creatures, we talked about shadows and about animal homes.  Then I brought out our supplies for the little project I had in mind.  We used an empty cottage cheese container, construction paper, a Popsicle stick, some brown pom poms, glue and scissors.

I cut the bottom out of the cottage cheese container.  We turned it over, and glued green paper to the sides.  This was to be the groundhog’s burrow.  Little Guy drew some flowers to add, and we glued those to the grass.  Then we took the pom poms and glued them to the Popsicle stick.  Presto we had a groundhog!  We let him dry over night, and then the next morning (while Puxatawny Phil was stepping out of his home in Pennsylvania), Little Guy was pushing his little groundhog up out of its ‘burrow’.  This was a fun and simple project.

No matter what we end up doing, we always have fun with our little 'projects'!

Brachiosaurus!!

Little Guy goes to a small in-home daycare/pre-school.  His teacher is fabulous!  She takes time for each child one-on-one, helping them to grasp various topics at their own pace.  Our fella is thriving there.  He loves going so much, that sometimes he gets upset to find out its Saturday and he doesn't have "school".

Recently he was assigned his first ever presentation.  The theme of the month for January has been dinosaurs and Will's assignment was to talk about the Brachiosaurus Dinosaur.  We were asked to help him come up with five or six facts about this dinosaur which he could memorize and tell his class-mates.  We were also asked to help him create some kind of visual aid to support his presentation. 

I took a copy paper box, cut it down with a box cutter and Little Guy and I painted the interior of the box to look like an outdoor scene.  Then on colored paper, he drew a sun and trees and I cut them out.  He glued those around the walls.  We put two rubber brachiosaurus toys that he had in the middle and also added a couple stand up bushes.  Around the outside we put a picture of the dinosaur which he'd colored as well as a few other little pictures.  I helped him, but he did a lot of the work himself and I'm very proud of him for it. 

Today I talked to his teacher (the presentation was yesterday).  She said he did great, and didn't need any prompting.  She had build a little stage and podium for the kids and Little Guy loved every minute of it.  On the way home, he asked if we could build a stage at our house.  Ha ha.

Brachiosaurus facts that we've learned this week:

• taller than a T-Rex
• very slow walker
• ate plants and leaves
• front legs longer than hind legs
• nostrils on top of his head

Finnegan the Bear

Close-up

I wanted to do something handmade for Baby Boy for his Valentine’s Day gift, and decided I’d make him a bear.  Up to this point, I had not made any critters for our youngest, though Little Guy has several different ones that I’ve made for him over the past few years (though never a bear).

My Mom had recently given me some yardage of heavy brown felt which she didn’t need.  As soon as I saw it, I just knew it would be perfect for the bear project I had in mind. 

I made my own pattern, sketching out the bear shape I was wanting on a big piece of drawing paper.  I cut out the brown felt for all the big pieces.  I used doll face velour and scraps of felt for facial features (all from my stash).  I did buy a fat quarter of brown stripey cotton for the ears, tail and belly, but everything else I already had.  I stitched him up on my machine (except for the tail, and the belly, which I did by hand).  The belly part covers the opening I used to stuff him. 

He’s cuddly and should be machine washable.  There are no buttons or other bits that Baby Boy could choke on.  Total cost was $1.99 which is what I spent on the one fat quarter.  This took maybe four total hours to complete.  Overall, I think he is a success. 

I call him Finnegan, and I hope he makes my Baby smile. 

Front View



Rear View



Hand-Made Christmas, Part 3 (Dr. Who)

As I mentioned in my last post – Hubby and I decided this year to make each other gifts this past Christmas. 

In addition to the wall hanging featured in that previous post; I also made a small plush Dr. Who for Hubby.  If you don’t know the Doctor, he’s kind of hard to explain.  A British television series that has spanned decades, and follows a fantastic and funny time traveler as he has adventures all over time and space.  Hubby’s favorite incarnation was the fourth doctor – played by the talented Tom Baker.  His version of the Doctor was quirky and fun and known for a ridiculously long scarf, among other things. 

I used a photo of the 4^th doctor that I found on the internet as a rough inspiration and free handed the body (using doll face velour).  I also free handed the clothing and stitched up as much as I could on my machine.  I used a doll needle and embroidery thread to make the eyes and the little smirk.  All of the clothes are made from heavy duty felt, except for the vest which was made from a scrap of plaid wool from my stash. 

I didn’t have to buy anything to complete this project.  It took me the better part of three hours to cut out, assemble and sew the whole thing.  I’m very pleased with this, and am fondly calling it “Dr. Who felt art”.  Hubby keeps it atop his dresser next to the little ninja I made for him last year (long story there which I’ll save for another day).

Here he is without the little scarf...



and Tom Baker as the Doctor... my inspiration for this project!

Hand-Made Christmas, Part 2 (Wall Hanging)

My husband and I decided this year to make each other gifts.  We did it to save money, but also because there comes a point in life when you usually buy what you need when you need it, making Christmas shopping for one another kind of challenging.  There was a bit of pressure in deciding what to make, but in the end I was very pleased (both with what I gave and with what I received).

I received a necklace (he drilled a hole in an old Irish coin and attached it to a long chain).  In case you are wondering about the significance, my family first came to the US from Ireland long ago.  I should have taken a photo, but forgot so will have to do that soon.  He also made me some lovely soaps – melting down the ingredients, adding color and fragrance and putting the whole she-bang into adorable molds.  I love my gifts and really appreciate the time and effort put into making them.

In return I made him the wall hanging shown above (original inspiration for this project came from HERE, via my friend and co-worker Sarah).  To make my version of this wall hanging, I first painted the bottoms of my boys feet and carefully transferred their footprints onto heavy white paper (John Deere green for Little Guy and International Harvester Red for Baby Boy).  I cut out the footprints and attached them with craft glue to a “farm scene” I had assembled using bits of colored scrap book paper.  I cut out the wheels, cab and other details from construction paper and glued it all together.  I had an old oak frame that I painted with glossy black acrylic paint.  I wrote the boys’ names and ages in the wheel wells, and the year in the sun.

Total cost was under $5.  I did have to buy a little bottle of the black paint, and two sheets of scrapbook paper.  Everything else came from my stash of craft supplies.  I like this and it now hangs in our hallway.  When the boys are grown, we’ll still always be able to remember their sweet little feet whenever we see this hanging on our wall.

Hand-Made Christmas, Part 1 (Fire Hose)

Today I was looking through the photos of our boys this Christmas.  Surrounded by upended boxes and scraps of wrapping paper, my three year old is beaming over one toy or the other in every picture.  As is always the case, he got more than he needed – but oh was he happy!  The majority of his gifts were store-bought.  The one exception being a fire hose, which I made for him to go along with his new fireman suit (we LOVE fire trucks and firemen at our house).  I used scraps that I had on hand, so there was no cost.  It turned out to be one of his favorite toys of the day, so I definitely feel that it was worth the time spent to put it together.

I personally adore hand-made gifts.  My family has been exchanging them for years (for as long as I can remember really), and those little things made with love stand out as my favorites.  Did I love the store-bought dolls and other toys?  Of course.  But with the exception of my beloved Mandy and Jenny, I don’t have any of them now.  The hand-made items though…those are ones I kept.  They each hold a special place in my heart and always will.  I hope my children will always appreciate things made for them with love, and never close themselves off to the idea that price doesn’t have to have anything to do with value.

The fire hose is made from a long piece of heavy-duty black fabric (which in a prior life was part of a conveyer belt), a plastic drinking cup, lots of duct tape and some blue yarn.

Above is a picture of Little Guy in full-out fireman mode.  I found the hat at a garage sale for 50cents, the jacket on eBay for $5.00, and the boots at a children’s consignment store for $6.00.  I also bought a ‘fireman accessory pack’ at our local dollar store for $1.  It included pretend versions of: an axe, a walkie talkie, a badge, and a mini fire extinguisher.

He loves his fireman gear, but of course as soon as he’d put it all on – he asked where the fire hydrant was?  I told him we didn’t have one, so he promptly grinned at me and said, “You can make it for me Mom.”. 

Guess what’s on the craft agenda for this week?  haha  I guess, that at least for now, my Little Guy is just as big a fan of home-made gifts as I am.

Christmas Stockings

We’re Boston Red Sox fans, and our family room is all decked out in Red Sox everything.  The family room is where our fireplace is, so when it was time to make Little Guy’s Christmas stocking three years ago, and when it was time to make Baby Boy’s for this year…the theme was easy to choose.  Both are made of heavy duty felt.  The designs on the front were cut from the same type of felt based on a free-hand sketch. 

The circle with the sox within did take quite a bit longer than the big “B”.  Four nights of my free time (translation: whatever time I have between when the boys go to sleep and I do) was spent working on this.  I’m pleased with how it turned out.  I wanted something that was similar to LG’s without being to matchy-matchy.  I’m pleased with the results.

Note: I did tweak the photo a bit (obviously) to remove the names of my boys.  The names are actually big block letters (same heavy duty felt) that I sewed on by hand.

Autumn Art

Here's a little project that Little Guy and I worked on this week. We both had fun, and his artwork now hangs on our front door to welcome any visitors who might come our way.

We used his hand prints to make leaves, and LOTS of glue, but it was worth the mess to see how much he enjoyed himself.

Keepsake Projects

Here are a few of the little things I’ve been working on lately to keep myself busy, while waiting for the arrival of our new Baby Boy:

I wanted to make the new Baby some blankets. I’ve put all of Little Guy’s special baby blankets in storage so that he can have them as keepsakes when he’s older. I want Baby Boy to also have plenty of keepsake blankets, so I’ve been on a mission. You may recall the retro rocket blanket I made a while back. Now, I’ve added a dinosaur blanket (orange flannel backing on a basic cotton print – all fabric from JoAnn’s):

And a puppy dog blanket, which I appliquéd “AJ” (Baby Boy’s initials) for a fun fold-down effect. The orange in this picture looks odd. It actually matches the orange “woof woof” printed on the fabric. This one is flannel front and back, so will be a little warmer than the dino one. (The doggy print came from JoAnn’s. The tan flannel has been in my stash forever).

In keeping with the whole keepsake theme…. I also have been re-working the much loved sock monkey from my own childhood, to give to Baby Boy. It was made for me in the 1970s by a dear family friend. This little critter survived years of love and use and moves, but just barely. I’d actually looked for it when I was pregnant with Little Guy, but had never found it. Little Guy did receive a sock monkey which was made for him by a family member (who also happens to be a dear friend) - so he didn't miss out.

By chance, I came across my old sock monkey on a recent visit to my parents’ house. He was floppy, missing lots of his yarn embellishments and needed a general freshening up. I did a little surgery on the back of his neck, added a lot more stuffing and then replaced all the red yarn that had faded or disappeared over the years. Now both of my boys have sock monkeys with great loving back stories.



Before



After

I'm also putting the final touches on the quilt I'm making for Baby Boy.  I'll post pics once that is complete as well.

Bumper Pad Recycling Project

Back when I was pregnant with Little Guy, I found an adorable crib bedding set on eBay (gently used) which I purchased for a great low price. It was a brightly colored farm themed set, and it fit perfectly with the design idea I had in my head. It was also pretty gender neutral, which was important to us as we knew we wanted more children, and didn't feel we should need to buy a different bedding set for each child.

This particular set included a crib skirt, quilt, bumper pad, mobile and decorative pillow shaped like a barn. We used everything except the bumper pad in LG's nursery. I know that many people have used them successfully, but having read a few horror stories – we chose to stash our bumper pad in storage. I knew that someday I’d think of something I could do with it.

As we recently began to get the nursery ready for Baby Boy, I came across the bumper pad again. Though we are reusing the bedding and décor from when this was LG’s room, we also wanted to give it a little different look. I had one corner that didn’t really have any wall hangings, and I decided to do something with the bumper pad to rectify that.

When LG got his bunk bed last month, we removed a few framed prints and a wooden shelf from his wall. They no longer fit with the much taller bed in place. I used those three frames and the shelf as the foundation for my new idea.



supplies at a glance

I carefully removed the fabric from the tube of bumper pad batting, and then cut out the shapes of a pig, a lamb and a chicken. I also cut out several of the gingham flowers. Using some of the reverse side of the bumper’s fabric, I made a background for each of the framed pics, then collaged the cut out images on top. The end result is fairly festive and adds another tie-in with the rest of the room’s look.

Ready to hang

Oh, and other than a half hour of my time….this cost nothing. (My very favorite type of project). Also, I’m going to use some of the bumper pad batting to create a bolster pillow for Little Guy. His new bunk bed is placed near the wall, but the design of the bed allows for a gap between his mattress and the wall. For some reason he gravitates to that space while asleep. I’m hoping that this new long pillow (which I’ll cover with some Thomas the Train fabric from my stash) will give him a more comfortable night’s sleep.

End result!  The little stuffed critters on the shelf were rattles that we had when LG was a baby, but never really used.  They made a nice addition, I think.



Little Guy's Cowboy Quilt

Last month, I finished the twin quilt I’d been working on for a while. Technically, if you count fabric selection…it’s been in the works for almost three years. When LG was just a tiny baby I started to buy bits of cowboy themed fabric wherever I ran across it - with the goal of an eventual twin bed size quilt in mind.

This cowboy quilt has been a really fun project for me. I didn’t use a pattern, but chose a basic four-patch design which I knew I could handle. I used a low loft batting and a solid navy blue fabric for backing. I went with blues and reds to accent the cowboy fabrics because they seemed like colors that could withstand whatever wear and tear our Little Guy might put them through.

Someday I’ll do some more hand quilting, but this project was done 100% on my sewing machine. I also tied off the centers of each four-square block. The ties weren’t necessary, but reminded me of the first twin size quilt I ever had (and still have now) which was made by my Grandma.

Luckily for me, I also found some cowboy themed sheets at a garage sale last summer, making the overall look really come together (I think). The day these pictures were taken, was the day Little Guy’s new bunk beds were delivered (giving us time to set his toddler bed back up as a crib before the baby is born).



Look closely... Little Guy is peeking out from behind his stuffed dinosaurs.



I’m never going to win any quilting contests, but I do love the process: from picking out fabrics to finishing the final stitches…it’s like putting together a puzzle that you don’t have a picture or box for. Pure fun, if you ask me.

This is the second twin size quilt I’ve made (my first was a Superman themed one for my little brother back in 2001). I’ve made a number of baby quilts and a lap quilt or two. I’ve never taken a class or had any formal training. What I have done instead, is read a lot of books on the topic, and carefully examined the family quilts which I love the most. Those quilts I have which are most dear to me are what I consider true patchwork. They were assembled with squares cut from old dresses, work shirts and feed sacks. They are not perfectly color coordinated, but they were clearly made with love.

When Little Guy outgrows this quilt, or decides he needs something else, it will be carefully stored away. Maybe someday one of his children or grandchildren will be able to use it too. One of the many things I love about quilts is how they can be handed down from generation to generation, and loved by each.

My quilting focus has now moved to the crib quilt I’m working on for Baby Boy. Then it will be time to start collecting fabric for HIS first twin quilt. Right now…I’m thinking maybe his will have a space theme (planets, rocket ships etc.) but time will tell.

Baby Bibs

When Little Guy was just a wee baby, we used bibs that we had purchased or which were given to us. They were cute, and served the purpose, but none were all that special. This time around I decided to take a stab at making my own.

I took a couple of our favorites that we had saved, traced around the edges to make a pattern, and then used some bits of cutesy flannel that I had in my stash (some adorable Michael Miller and a cute chicken print from JoAnn’s).

I had a quarter yard of each, and with that amount was able to make a large “eating” bib, and a smaller “dribble” bib with each of the three fabrics. I had the thread and snaps on hand too, so this project cost me nothing. It was a lot of fun and I hope that Baby Boy gets a lot of use out of them. I’ll probably make more too, as time permits.

For now though, I need to concentrate on finishing two quilts. One is for Little Guy’s transition to his first twin bed, the other is for Baby Boy’s nursery. I’ve started both (and really am probably half way done with LG’s. I need to get motivated and get them finished. THEN I can maybe make some more cute bibs.

The motivation has been elusive these last couple of weeks, so we’ll see.

Baby Boy's First Blanket

When I was expecting Little Guy, I splurged on one item.  It was an adorable baby blanket made with a fun Michael Miller retro cowboy fabric, backed with minky chenille.  I found the blanket on eBay and bought it right off.  In hindsight I should have done a little research and tracked down the fabric to make it myself. Oh well.  I loved seeing my tiny boy wrapped up in his little cowboy blanket, and he still uses it at nap time on occasion.  It was worth the splurge.

So, when we found out about the new baby, I knew I wanted to make something similar... I went to Etsy (never knew about that lovely site three years ago, but it's now a favorite!)  I found another retro Michael Miller fabric (this one features space ships and little child astronauts).  I was able to purchase one yard for a great bargain price, and decided to use a vintage chenille bedspread (in pale yellow - from my fabric stash) as a backing.  Total time to finish the project was maybe an hour.

Gathering the supplies...

The end result is really quite adorable, and the total cost of this blanket is less than one fourth of what I paid for Little Guy's cowboy blanket.  I sure hope my new little munchkin loves his blanket as much as Little Guy loves his.

The Final Result.... I love it!  What do you think?



Monkey Business

I was recently approached by a friend with a request. She will soon be a happy Grandmother to a sweet baby girl named Ava. The baby shower invitation featured a cute little cartoon monkey, and my friend asked if I thought I could create a plush version of the critter on the invite.

I told her I’d give it a try.

I used brown chenille (left over from an earlier baby blanket project) for the body. For the face I used doll face craft velour. Sewing the velour to the chenille proved challenging, and it took me much longer than expected to get the face attached (evenly). I attempted to put a “belly” on the monkey too with the same velour, but it wasn’t working. I made a design decision at that point to not give the monkey a belly or ear detail. Otherwise, I think that this worked out okay.

Front View:

Back View (note the frilly diaper back):

Showing the Invite I worked from:

Winter Slow-Down (and some news)

Earlier this week, my Dad told me that something was evidently wrong with his computer as he had not been able to read my recent posts on this blog. There was then an expectant pause as he waited for me to realize that he was taking me on a little guilt trip for not posting more often in this fine new year.

Point taken, Dad. This one (such as it is) is for you!

January has been a great month so far, and we have much to be thankful for. We are all healthy (hurrah!). The weather hasn’t been unbearable (thank God it’s been much milder than last winter – knock on wood). I’ve been keeping busy (an afghan and twin size quilt both in progress). I’ve also been catching up on reading books for fun, which I had sadly neglected for some time. And because it is my nature to hunker under warm blankets and shy away from the chill of this season… I’ve been spending my evenings (after Little Guy is tucked in) hanging out in the main floor of our home reading, crafting and watching tv instead of shivering in the basement where our family computer resides. So the effort usually put toward my blog has been redirected of late. Don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten you all. I’ve just been taking a little “Me” break, I guess. Never fear! I’ll be getting my very own laptop in the next couple of months. I promise to be back full strength when that happens!

I didn’t make any resolutions this year. I thought about making some, and then made a conscious effort to avoid that particular tradition. The thing is…everything is going so well. As some smart person once said, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

I do have much to look forward to in 2011. Our fourth(!) wedding anniversary, Little Guy’s Third birthday, a vacation to see my Sweet Grandma in Kentucky, and a brand new baby to add to our happy little family this summer (yes, we’re expecting #2, and I might add we’re ecstatic about it)!

So far, I’ve felt okay. I was nauseous for most of the first trimester, which was no fun (and much, much different than my first pregnancy where I never felt sick once). Now that I’ve discovered spices of any kind are the culprit, things have settled down. Though not super exciting, I don’t mind eating plain-Jane food if it keeps away the constant feeling of “ugh”.

That laptop is still weeks away, so between now and then I’ll brave the cold to make a point to get more posting done. The basement may be chilly, but we do have a space heater and lots of blankets. I’m sure it will be fine (assuming I can pry myself off of the cozy sofa – I’ll try my best).

I hope you are also enjoying your January, staying warm and keeping busy. A belated (but very sincere) happy New Year to you!