Another Toddler Thanksgiving Craft

I tried again to find a "job" to entertain my sweet toddler while I tried to get work done. I found a super cute Thanksgiving fingerpaint project on All Kids Network. Isabelle is crazy about painting and I rarely let her at home - just too much work with her busy hands and the baby. However I'm trying more and more to move out of my comfort zone so that she can learn and enjoy.

I cut the corn and stalks last night. My husband insisted that I cut some green leaves for the cob as well. Husbands are funny, aren't they? But I gave in..

On her own she painted the corn very similar to the original tutorial.

I didn't even instruct on what she should do. Love her orderly pieces of corn.
And then well.. that got boring I guess. We ended up with a crop of muddy corn! She had fun and I got no work done, but we had a great afternoon together while the baby napped.
And I have more cute Thanksgiving decorations. Granted they are muddy brown, but they are made with love!

Turkey Garland

The Baby still insists on 2 naps a day while I'm lucky if I can get Kiddo to be quiet for 1 nap. During the morning nap I try to work while Kiddo plays or reads. The reality is Kiddo wants to hang on my leg and have constant attention. It's hard to balance this. I want Kiddo to feel loved and have that special time with me, but there are some days that I'm so busy that I quite simply need to work. I thought if I had some dedicated crafts for her to do while I worked, that we might both be happier.

Early this morning I searched Pinterest for Thanksgiving inspired child crafts. I found this post on the blog, Chasing Fireflies. I loved it! I thought it would be a great activity for Kiddo and would be super cute as a decoration. I made a pot of coffee and chopped up Kiddo's doodled construction paper in festive colors. Now if you spend some more time punching holes in the "feathers" your Kiddo's life maybe a tad easier, but.. I'm lazy.
During Baby's nap I gave Kiddo the colorful stack of feathers, a skein of yarn I no longer loved, and a yarn needle. Kiddo is around my sewing tools 24/7, so I feel very comfortable with her using a blunt yarn needle. She's 3 1/2. Please use your own judgement with your kids... I showed her a few times how to punch through the paper using the needle and off she went.
Did I get more work done? Probably not. My leg is still the place to cling to no matter what craft is available. However, she did finish a beautiful strand of garland all on her own. It looks awesome and fun in our playroom. And I actually love that the feathers are from doodled paper.. looks more like us..
What was I working on? Well it's top secret, Peeps! But here is a tiny peek..

Linking up to: Tatertots & Jello

I Need TeePee For My...

I need TP for my pumpkins, you silly ol' readers. Though kudos to you if you get my Beavis reference ;o)

Have a toddler in need of something to do? Want a new way to make a cute pumpkin?

Grab that itchy roll of TP no one wants to use.. and read on!

What do you need?

*A fresh roll of TP

*A fat quarter of fabric

*Some extra batting, smaller than your fat quarter

*A jumbo twig

What do you do?

You layer it as the image shows above, and ya stuff it all in!

That's it!

Here's Kiddo with her pumpkins. Sorry for the blurry image, but playing with these pumpkins is MUCH more fun than posing with them..

Love my stem? It's a real pumpkin stem! Now before you go to your local pumpkin farm in the middle of night to scalp some stems, here's the deal. Wait till Halloween is over and ask nicely =) You can't even use them yet anyways.. Let them sit out and dry for weeks and weeks. Don't put them airtight in a ziploc unless you want to see a science experiment... Sure, ask me how I know..

And next year you will have these AMAZING stems to craft with.. I'm going to be making a few velvet pumpkins for my Thimbles & Threads class attendees ;o)

Can We Trade?

Do you have a moment?

Go to Heart Break Kid's blog..

I can not believe she went from my lil' ol' thread eggs to those beauties!!

I love them!!!

Want to trade??

Easter Egg & Bunny Tail Garland

One of my new favorite blogs, eighteen25

posted a tutorial for their pom pom garland.

It was super cute, but I wasn't planning on making it.

Then my mother pointed it out again

and commented on how that would be an easy craft to do with Isa

(and Isa is a craft addict! I wouldn't know where she gets it from..)

I have nicknamed this the Egg & Bunny Tail garland.

All you need is plastic eggs

(eighteen25 recommended Target ones because of the holes)

large white pom poms,

thread and a needle.

Have your kiddo dictate what goes next on the garland,

string 'em up,

and tie it off.

Hang the garland and watch your kiddo beam with pride!

It took us about 30 minutes to make it

and kept my kiddo plenty entertained.

We hung it up in her play area

so that she could touch it and admire it at will.

**And this is totally another under $5 decorating idea!**

Easter Decor for less than $5!

On the CSI Project this week we were tasked

with creating a craft for less than $5.

Easy peasy!

I had all of this in my inventory room, but it will cost you less than $5 brand new.

What do you need?

*Styrofoam eggs - $2.19 for 4 here

*Colorful BUT cheap thread that you should never, ever put in your machine - .99 cents

What do you do?

Call your mama or other girlfriend for a good hour long chitty chat,

and wrap thread around the Styrofoam egg until you can no longer see Styrofoam!

Hate Styrofoam?

You can do it with last years Easter eggs.

What do you do with them?

Stack them in a super cute basket, vase, jar..you name it!

Love easy crafts - Love having money in my wallet!

And yes these were absolutely inspired by the Temari balls I did for last week's WoW!

Results for WoW #12 and tutorial - Details for #13

The news in Japan is so heartbreaking.

It feels lately that our news goes from one tragedy to the next.

If you can, please donate to one of the devasted countries,

sadly there are many to choose from right now.

It is too easy for me to be bogged down in the sadness,

so I try to find a creative outlet.

Well this isn't what I planned on making,

I had grand designs for an appliqued quilt for a dear friend's daughter.

However, my girls revolted this week.

I think I can count on 1 hand the amount of time I've had to work/craft.

So.. the quilt will have to wait until my girls are pacified.

For this challenge, I tried Temari.

I used this tutorial here..

Wow, it is harder than it looks!

The tutorial warned that a live class would be more effective.

Try your hand at it and let me know how it goes for you.

*****

Kathleen made a beautiful Sashiko pillow!

I love the the clean lines and modern look.

It is amazing how traditional crafts can easily fit into our world.

Thank you so much for sharing - I will definitely try my hand at this too.

Even if you didn't enter a project, I hope you were inspired to

look more into the the traditional crafts of Japan.

During such a time of upheaval, I think it is important

to grasp the roots of the past for future generations.

Craft Challenge #13

Do you smell it? Easter candy is in the air!!

Yum, yum, yummy!

What is your favorite?

Jelly beans, PEEPS, Cadbury eggs?

Well craft it!

This week's theme is Easter candy..

Even if you don't celebrate the holiday, I bet you buy some of the delicious candy..

Want some inspiration?

You have to check out these recipes.. Wow, serious diet killers!

Deviled Cadbury Eggs

Leftover Easter Candy Cookies

PEEP Sushi

Want to join in on the fun?

Leave your yummy links in the comments on this post

by midnight of next Tuesday.

Need more details?

Check out the WoW post here.

The Little Things

One of my favorite blogs, Grosgrain Fabulous

has been doing a feature on some of the large must- haves as a DIY'er.

I have agreed I think with each one.

BUT

I think some of the littlest things can make or break your final project.

1. Buy *GOOD* thread.

Why are you buying $10/yard fabric and sewing on a fancy machine

if you buy crap thread?

It is honestly what keeps sewn projects together.

So please, buy good thread.

My machine adores Sulky. It really skunks up when I buy cheap stuff..

*P.S. Thread does go bad..it does, I swear!

Please toss the old thread too..

2. Learn how to correctly wield your glue gun.

The glue gun is a fabulous invention,

but there are some preferred ways of using it.

Click here for some great tips!

Also, it makes such a difference if you go back and clean up

the dreaded glue gun strings.

I'll be back with more next week..