For the sake of the arts!

If you are a parent then you know (or you soon will) the dilemma of what to do with your kiddo's artwork begins early on.  It is likely more difficult for some than others to decide on what to save, what to discard, and how to display and preserve those precious memories.

I have seen so many great ideas on the Internet and Pinterest. I shared my own idea here though I am likely not the first to do something like that. 

I used my kiddo's art again today. He painted some coloring sheets and I used them to wrap some small gifts. I loved how they turned out and I think it makes the gift that much more special for the recipient. 

Night-Night Blanket

My little man is growing up fast. He is fast approaching the big 2nd birthday. He is getting so big and is out growing the baby blanket we use in his crib. I use the term "blanket we use" loosely as it ends up smooshed into a corner of his bed nightly. But, it's significance is more so that it is part of a nighttime, morning and nap time routine/ritual. 

Every night little man is covered with his blanket and every morning he sweetly hands it up to me and we smooth it over the edge of the crib. He is very particular. He has resisted my attempts at switching it for a different blanket. 

It is lightweight, he likes the pattern, and so on. I decided I would make him a blanket with similar features, but larger to accommodate his growing size. (He is very tall like his dad.)

I used a flannel on one side (the pattern) and a fuzzy thin fleecy fabric on the back, (the gray). I didn't use a tutorial but this one (http://melissadark.blogspot.com/2011/09/easy-baby-blanket-tutorial.html) closely approximates what I did. 

One thing I did not do that I would do different if doing this again is to wash the fabrics before starting my cutting, pinning & sewing. Still, I am pretty pleased with how it turned out. Little man is sleeping with it even as I type this. 

A personal touch - hand stitched note cards

Like most people, I love giving and receiving things that have a personal touch. Whether it is handmade, personalized, or just carefully selected to represent the giver or recipient; the personal touch shows when the effort has been made.   

This year, at Christmas, our family (as they have a tendency to be) was very generous and thoughtful with the gifts they gave to my son. I wanted to do something special that would truly signify our gratitude. 

I love a handwritten thank you. I love beautiful stationary. I also love getting my son involved whenever, wherever, and with whatever I can. It is never too early to learn. However, as he is still a bit shy of turning two, I recognize there is a limit to what he can do. He can't very well write his own thank you notes yet. So, I tried to think of ways he could contribute. He can scribble with markers, crayons, and colored pencils. He can finger paint and even paint with a brush. Of course, the result is precious art!  Any of those would work for what I had in mind.  

This is our creation!

 

It is easy; you can do it too!  

What you will need for this project:

Scissors

Glue stick or double sided tape

Card stock 

Thread

Sewing needle

A seam ripper (or similar tool to perforate the card stock)

Some custom artwork created by your little(s)

I used my little guy's crayon art, marker art, and finger paint art for my cards. In this example I am showing the card using only my little guy's finger paint art.  Mixing and matching them all turned out great too!  (But you will have to take my word for it, I forgot to take photos of the other cards I made.) If you have been collecting those precious art creations and running out of room to store them, here is a good way to put them to use and share them with others!

Steps:

1 - Collect your supplies. 

2 - Next, cut some card stock to your desired card size.  I used 8.5 by 11 and folded them in half. I had more room to work that way. 

3 - Cut some shapes from your kiddo's art and place them onto your card. (Use a glue stick or double sided tape.). You could also let your kiddo place them if you want. Just one more way to get them involved. 

4 - Using your perforation tool, puncture holes in the card outlining your shapes. (You will want something behind the card like styrofoam, cork board, folded towel, etc...). No need to be precise about placement of the holes. It adds to the handmade look. 

5 - Using your needle and thread, stitch through the holes. 

I added a signature to the back - "mommy & me cards"

6 - Now you can write your note of thanks (or whatever use you decide). Best of all, your little one had a part in creating it. 

Enjoy!

PS-disclaimer...you know it and I know it, but it won't hurt anyone for me to say it. Any involvement by a child in this project should be age appropriate and closely supervised by an adult. 

One Year Old Photo Prop

 My little guy recently turned one.  It is such an exciting time! We are so lucky to have talented people around us and because of that we have beautiful photos made by a fantastic photographer.  While we were brainstorming for a location and other ideas for the big 1-year-old photo-shoot she suggested that it would be cute if he were holding a number 1.  Now I know I could find such a thing pre-made in a craft store or online.  But I thought it might be more fun to make mine.  So I did!  I am pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Here is what I made in action:

Here is how I made it:
You will need the following things.
1 - Scissors
2 - Box cutter and/or x-acto blade
3 - Glue (I used elmers)
4 - Template (I used a number 1 I found online but you can use anything as your template)
5 - Craft tape (also called washi tape)
6 - Cardboard (I had much to choose from and opted to recycle cardboard from a diaper box and from a shipment from an online purchase)
7 - Tape

Start by cutting out your template and placing it on your cardboard - like so:

Then I taped my template to my cardboard and cut it with my box cutter and scissors.  The quantity of cardboard number 1's I cut out was based on the thickness of my cardboard and on how thick I wanted my end product to be.  I ended up cutting out three number 1's from cardboard.

Next, I added glue to the back of the first and second cardboard number 1 and stacked all three together.

Finally, I placed them on a flat surface on a sheet of wax paper.  I placed a sheet of wax paper on top of them as well and placed several heavy books on top to press them together while they dried.  I left them this way overnight.

The next day I removed my thick cardboard number 1 and started decorating.  There are any number of ways to do this.  You could wrap it with yarn or ribbon, spray paint it, cover it with scrapbook paper, and so on.  I chose to use craft tape (washi tape) and using varying lengths I wrapped my number 1.  I found that using varying lengths to tape until all of the cardboard was covered allowed flexibility for covering corners and edges and it also added texture and interest.

Happy crafting!

Easter Gifts for Day Care Teachers

I would love to work part time or not at all in order to spend days with my son.  Maybe someday, but not today.  So, it was with great care that my hubs and I chose a daycare school for our son.  We have been very pleased with the way the teachers care for our son.  He is so happy to be there and that makes me happy and less anxious about being at work.  There really isn't an adequate way to thank them for the care and love they show us but I like to try.

For Easter this year I searched the internet for ideas and found some great ones.  I modified what I found slightly and came up with these insulated cups filled with goodies and personalized notes.  The notes say "Thank you for stirring my creative juices."  They are filled with Crystal Light powdered drink mix (a play on words "creative juices" pun totally intended).  I also dipped pretzel sticks and marshmallows in candy making chocolate.  I packaged it all up with matching ribbons and added a note customized with each teacher's initial.  I used a Cricut to cut the circles and letters to customize the cards which I purchased from Hallmark.  End result:

Here is where I found the original idea.