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It's a serious winter wonderland outside right now. And that can only mean one thing...that it's time for snowman building!! And OK, yes the authentic frolicking in the snow and assembling Mr. Frosty with mittens and frostbitten noses is a great way to go...but I'm thinking once that in through, we need to come indoors for some hot cocoa and a much warmer snowman building of sorts.
And this simple modern snowman is just the ticket. I was over the moon to find these large blocks at our local craft store (thinking some more mix-n-match um's are in order with these puppies) and knew that our friend Frosty needed to come to life.
We kept it super simple with just a set of eyes, a triangle nose and some buttons. We made them with our favorite craft supply de jour, duct tape, but you can paint yours on if you like. Have fun with it!
My mother-in-law has a great after-Christmas tradition where she brings out all things wintery and snowman related to keep the after-holiday blues at bay. I love this idea. And our simple frosty block friend is just what we need to keep us merry and bright, even when the tree comes down.
What about you? Any after Christmas/New Year traditions that help keep your spirits up? I'd love to hear what you do and any great tips you might have. Thanks!
School is out for winter break and if you are like me, you need fun activities to keep little hands busy, busy, busy. Well expert figure skaters, Sebastian and Sadie, are here and ready to help with that!
To get started, purchase the download here for only $3.99, complete with both figure skaters and three tree shapes. Print out the figure skaters (I recommend using fine art heavy card stock or taking the file to your local print shop for the best quality of print) and cut them out. Cut out support tabs and glue long vertical strip to back of skater for support. (I find it's also helpful to add a piece of thick foam or cardboard for additional support).
Now using hot glue, adhere magnet to the bottom of the flap of skater
Once the glue is dry you are ready to try out your new skater on the "ice"!
To create your ice rink, take a large discarded cereal box and place it on it's side. You may cover it in white butcher paper before hand if you like, leaving one end open. Create slits in the box where you'd like your trees to go. Print out tree shapes. (You can keep them as is or cover them in black duct tape as we did here). Place large tongue depressors to the backs of the trees. Now you are set to place your trees within the slits you created in your large box.
Place your skater a top the box and than place a corresponding magnet
within the cereal box and directly below the skater. Magnets should meet
up. You are now ready to move your skater around on the ice! So fun!!
These make a great stocking stuffer or craft/toy to play an create with friends and family members during these winter months! Hop on over to the shop to get started on your very own skaters now!
(download will be emailed to you after purchase)
Good morning friends. It's snowing outside of my window as I type and it's looking like it just might be a white Christmas indeed. Yippee! Which means, after the snowball fights and snowman building, it is the perfect time to come inside, sit snugly indoors and create with my Littles.
I don't know about you but this time of year often brings about a case of the sniffles. Which means we have have number of tissue boxes lying around the house. Well the Littles and I discovered just the thing to do with them. Make a little Christmas village, using glitter and duct tape of course! So that is just what we did.
To make the structure of the roof tops, we just cut up a few other tissue boxes (or any other discarded cereal box, etc.) and created the roof shapes atop the tissue boxes. We then proceeded to cover them with the duct tape and then had lots of fun decorating them!
We were so excited to find this gold and silver glitter tape, from Martha Stewart, at Michaels, and knew right away that it needed to be used in our little village. I love how it makes the shingles sparkle and come to life (and an extra bonus - it's really easy to cut).
I also played around with our hole punch a bit and was able to create polka dots with the gold duct tape by spreading out the tape onto parchment paper prior to punching. With a little finesse, they turned out great! (In fact we have updated our duct tape cutting methods altogether. If you lay it out on the parchment, you can get a really nice clean cut with scissors and create just about any shape your heart desires! Best thing about it: the Littles can be more involved in the cutting stage now! Yippee! I'll have to do a tutorial of this new cutting method on the blog soon).
And our little vintage wooden angel is just the perfect friend to inhabit our little village. Makes me want to create a few more wooden friends for her to carol to.
And how cute would it be to cut out the window and door shapes and then add a few battery operated tea lights or even a strand of white Christmas lights on the inside? I just might have to do this variation in the next day or so. Would be so magical indeed!
Friends the Christmas countdown is on! But if we act fast we do still have time to purchase a number of items online. Which is why I'm sharing with you a great gift guide from one of my dear friends (who just happens to have incredible taste and two crazy adorable boys) Lorraine Galvin.
Here's what Lorraine has to say about her picks.
1. Tree Hopper Jalopies: These look so cute! I love the natural wood and handmade feel of them.
2. Magna Tiles: I have been waiting for Christmas to buy these
because they are a little pricey. Warren plays with them at preschool
and a dear friend suggested that I get a set every Christmas to build a
collection. I've already ordered and wrapped these! I can't wait to see
what they create with them.
3. Animal Hand Tattoos. Warren loves these things and we've been
giving them to his friends for their birthdays. I love the designs- and
they are only $5.99 at World Market.
4. Jellycat Noodle Fox: My kids each love their Jellycat and sleep
with them every night. One has a blue elephant and another a giraffe.
I've been eyeing this Jellycat Noodle Fox for a while, I think it's so
cute! (I know Jellycats may seem like old news, but they are tried and true
with my kids. They sell them at Anthro too!)
5. This clothing line just launched and I'll admit I couldn't wait until
Christmas for my kids to wear their new Munkstown gear. Belts, pants,
and sweatshirts are available as well. Love! (psst...psst....Lorraine's sister in-law is one of the founder's of this new line and it's incredible. we are huge fans too!!)
6. I LOVE South and Summer's graphic prints. My favorite is the airplane and my kids favorite is the robot.
Thanks Lorraine!! I'm so excited to know about Jellycat's. They may be old news to some but I had never hear of them. Such great picks!
What about you guys? Have you finished all of your Christmas shopping yet?
I always love to see what sort of toys my friends recommend and in turn what their kids really love to play with. So fellow toy enthusiasts, Meta and Stephanie and I agreed that we needed to swap recommendations, and of course, in turn, share them all with you!
So here's our tried and true list of toys we own and quite simply, love.
a. Charlie and Lola's An Extremely Wintery Winter Activity Kit. This is one of those toys that you purchase for the holidays on a whim but don't expect it to be the super big hit that it ends up being. I mean my boys LOVE this game. Little O asks me to get this out I'd say possibly 2-3 times a week. Winter or summer they love to get this out and the spin the spinner to see who dresses their character up in winter gear first. Oh and the book and snowflake stencils are also lots of fun. Tip: draw in the clothing items with permanent marker to corresponding numbers on the spinner for easy identification. Your kids will be entertained without your help for at least 20-30 min! b. Brio Anti-Virus train set. I admit that it's harder to find items for this train set these days but let me tell you, if you are a train enthusiast, this set is soo great, and worth the hunt. This hub is a great place to start. Everything also corresponds to all Brio train sets (and really most any train set) so you don't have to purchase everything to start having fun with it. My boys have loved putting it together and collecting all the virus characters and the electronic "emails" that get transported around the track which then make fun silly noises when placed into the slots. Loads of fun. You can see little O playing with our set here in this old post. c. Charlie and Lola dvds. OK, more Charlie and Lola fun. Can you tell we are enthusiasts? The boys love it and I'm a fan of how sweet, funny and educational it is. And the best part? It's a show that can play in the background without grating on my nerves. A dream for road trips to grandmas house. d. Push and Learn Alphabet Bus. This has been such a great find for learning the alphabet. The boys have loved placing the little animals into their corresponding puzzle slots and the wheeling them around in the bus. And I've love that it still looks good when strew across the floor. e. Montessori Pink Tower. OK so I'm sure you know that we are Montessori enthusiasts. But whether or not you want to delve into the educational philosophy, I still highly recommend their pink tower. It's educational for many different learning levels. And I love that it's one of those toys that you can leave out on you living room shelve and it still looks good. f. Domorino. We love getting out this bamboo tile take on the popular domino game. It's both fun and simple enough to play over and over again. g. Voltron Robot Print. My good friend, and talented graphic designer, Brooke Daines just started the company, South and Summer, where she offers these really great prints of vintage toys. We are just over the moon about this Voltron print (which takes me back to some great childhood memories). h. Mudpuppy Finger Puppets. OK, so admittedly I'm biased about this toy (as I illustrated them) but my boys, no lie, love to get these out and play with them. I love how they fit nicely into your purse and can be pulled out when you need to stand in line at the post office for longer than anticipated. I also love their monster versions and have plans to add these to either the advent or their stockings this year. i. String Along Lacing Kit. Not your average lacing activity, this is hand down a favorite. It can keep A entertained for at least a good hour. I kid you not. Need I say more? j. Centimeter Cubes. These are great for teaching simple to complex math concepts. Or just set out a bucket of cubes on the table and see what your littles create with it. So fun! k. Mudpuppy Flip Draw Books. Again I'm biased but I will say this. My boys are not really into ballerinas but when I brought this home they couldn't wait to color in the different pages and were especially fond of the blank pages in the back where they could create their own versions. I'm thinking St. Nick. needs to bring them the monster or robot one.
Take a look at One More Mushroom and Simply Radiant's tried and true gift guides here and here!
This week I'm teaming up with good friends, and fellow toy enthusiasts!, Meta, of One More Mushroom and Stephanie, of Simply Radiant, to share with you some fun gift guides. Earlier we shared our girls wish list/gift guide with you, (you can view Meta's here - so adorable! drooling over that dear doll), and today we're sharing what we are dreaming up for our boys (although a number of these items are gender neutral).
So this knight print - I'm just dying to get it for their room. And I can't even begin to imagine the elaborate things that Little O and A might create with these fun blocks. We are record fanatics around here and I seriously love this player. This logical game is right up A's alley and I'm pretty sure Little O would never leave this teepee (aren't you just crazy about the colors?!). And I can only image the fun that the boys and their papa could have with this. A would be "over the moon" about it I'm sure ;). And are you not dying over this fox scarf? Little O might actually stay warm this winter if he could play with his winter gear.
**and for an update on sweet baby M, well we are still in the hospital (she has RSV) but hope to go home tomorrow as she's doing much much better! Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.
Hi Friends. Happy Cyber Monday. Have you been doing any online shopping?
I typically have a BOGO shop sale today but Baby M and are sitting here in the hospital as she has acquired a bad case of RSV so things have been a little stressful and shop sales are on hold for a bit. In the mean time I thought it might be fun, and a bit theraputic, to share with you a a gift guide that I've been dreaming up for our little darling girl.
It's full of fun finds from some of my favorite artisans and shops. Like this polar bear rug/blanket by my incredibly talented friend, Roxi Marj. I'm kind of obsessed with it and think that baby M has to have it as a tummy time/play mat. And once I discovered I was having a girl I knew that she would have to have a le train fantome Lumi doll as I've wanted one since...oh...like forever. But as this one will need to be a bit more of a keepsake, I think she'll also need a little Ozzie rabbit softee for her to snuggle and nibble on while she's still a wee babe. And of course she'll need a dollhouse and think this modern one will do the trick quite nicely. And I've wanted these geo blocks for like, forever. And well, I'm pretty sure baby M needs them. And I'm not sure whether or not she needs this sleep time hat more or if I do but either way...we both need to catch some zzz's. Here's hoping we're out of the hospital in the next day or so and in the clear...because we've got some holiday preparing to do!
a. sleepy time hat b. Ozzie the rabbit c. modern doll house d. roxi marj bear blanket e. lumi doll f. geo blocks
And for more holiday shopping fun check out Meta's gift guide for her daughter here. And for the rest of this week I'll be teaming up with One More Mushroom and Simply Radiant to share some of our wish lists for our kiddos as well as some of our favorite tried and true toys and gifts we own and love. So stay tuned!
My friend Meta, of One More Mushroom, recently threw her son the cutest super hero party. She had this idea for a darling super hero photo booth, and she asked me if I would help by creating cereal box/duct tape buildings to imply a cityscape of sorts for the little vigilantes to fly over. Being a big lover of re-purposing discarded goods with duct tape, we of course said yes! We created four buildings, each with a different bright popping color and then adorned them all with black tape, adding just a few pops of contrasting color here and there. And I just love how they look with little masked crusaders flying over them. Head over to One More Mushroom, and Babyccino kids, for more great photos of the party and to learn how to set up the rest of the photo both.
My friend, Susan, of Freshly Picked, also created a great leather mask craft for the super hero's to paint and decorate. Take a look at how you can make your own here on her guest post for Martha Stewart!
Photos by Ashley Thalman
Have you had a chance to peruse the November issue of Family Fun that recently hit the news stands? If so you might have seen our Tea Box Circus Train in it! A couple of months ago Family Fun asked us to share our circus train idea with their readers and we were thrilled. Have you made one yet? It's really a load of fun. Could be a fun Christmas craft for around the bottom of the tree, yes? Which could carry a few little gifts for good girls and boys. So many fun ideas!!
If you are looking for the perfect trick-or-treat candy bucket, but you don't want to spend a lot (or if you are like me and don't want to bother going out to the stores only to find that what you're looking for just doesn't exist)...we've got just the thing for you! A Do-it-Yourself bat (or pumpkin) treat bucket from a tin can, adorned with cardboard wings and duct tape!
To make these candy buckets, simply gather together a number of household materials, such as:
- a tin can (paint cans work great as they already have a handle in them)
- a wire coat hanger and pliers (if you don't already have a handle)
- an assortment of festive duct tape colors
- an X-acto knife and self healing mat (see tips for cutting duct tape here)
- cardboard (for the wings if you are making the bat)
Start by punching holes for the handle into the sides of the can with a hammer and an awl (or use a drill). You can then bend and trim the coat hanger until you are happy with the size and shape for your handle. Don't place the handle into the holes just yet, though. I would wait to do this at the end once the tin is already covered in tape.
Once the holes are punched, you can begin covering your tin with duct tape. For the bat I covered it completely with black and created the face, and other decorative elements, with colorful tape. I even did a few rows of corresponding tape within the bucket to make things pop a bit. It's important that you have a good layer of tape folded over the top of the bucket so that no sharp edges are exposed. You can also cover the holes you previous made in the tin can and then puncture the tape where the holes are. This helps to cover any sharp edges that holes might have created as well. I then added a few bat ears by taping together pieces of black tape and then cut out triangle shapes which were then taped to the inside
of the bucket.
Once you have finished decorating your tin, you are ready to put your handle on. You might want to wrap a few layers of duct tape to the top of the handle to make it that much easier for little hands to hold throughout their night of tricks and treats.
For the bat wings, simply download this bat wing template and trace it two times onto cardboard (or a cereal box, etc.).
Cut the wings out of the cardboard and then cover with duct tape. Fold the wing over (at the dotted line) and tape securely to you bucket.
But don't let the fun stop there! You can continue to create an assortment of other haunted treat containers for your home or to give away as ghoulish gifts. Have fun raiding your pantry for a variety of cylinders. We made this little pumpkin guy out of an old discarded chow mein noodle package and we've become quite fond of him (not to mention the goodies he now holds inside!).
Now that your trick-or-treat buckets are complete, your little ones are ready for a spooky night out on the town! And my favorite thing about these treat containers is that they are mighty durable and, if treated well, should hold up for at least a few years. (To store, simply remove the wings and lie them flat. Any nicks and scratches can easily be repaired with a new "coat" of duct tape). And little O's favorite thing about these buckets? Well the candy they hold of course!!
Hello friends! Sorry it's been such a quiet week around here. I'm actually up to my neck in fun kids craft projects that I can't share with you quite yet (but can't wait until I can!). And of course I'm scrambling to get so many things completed before this little girl gets here - now scheduled to be arriving on Oct. 2 (if not before!). Things have been bustling around here and there is definitely an air of excitement and anticipation in our home. The boys are just over the moon about the prospect of getting to meet their little sister and so are Jon and I.
Our space in our home is very small so we have been trying to find the best way to incorporate this little girl into the room with her brothers. It's been a little restrictive but I'm always up for a design challenge (I'm finding the "less is more" aesthetic is definitely crucial for this space to work, which is hard as we need so much more...). Little by little we are adding small touches of "little girl" into our home and our lives. Just one of those touches is the the introduction to the doll in our home, such as this darling vintage doll, with a new hand sewn ensemble, gifted to baby girl by my sister Lorajean.
The boys are trying to take this all in, especially A who has always
been afraid of dolls (he insists that all dolls be removed from the
guest room when we stay at my in-laws...he claims that they are looking
at him and it makes him squeamish). That fear has now been translated
into silly play where one of the boys will grab this doll and chase the
other one around the house with it, giggling and threatening to scare
one another. Oh boy.
We've had a few chats about how we need to respect little sisters stuff
and how this might make her sad in the future, etc....but we'll see how
much it sticks (and I can't deny suppressing a few giggles and eye
rolls of familiarity when thinking about teasing older brothers, who
will torment and pester their sister one minute and then defend and
protect her in the next breathe...something I know a thing or two about - having
just such an older brother).
Well her brother's are going to need to get used to a few dolls around here because one thing I've been dying to delve into is the world of the doll. Well OK, I've sort of been into dolls for perhaps my entire life...and I just may or may not already have a small collection of them (that the boys have never seen). In fact, when we were found out we were expecting our third I told Jon that I was going to have to buy this blonde Blythe doll for the baby if it was a girl...and if it was a boy, well then the doll would just have to be for me :). (We didn't get the doll...yet....).
You see this affinity for dolls is really a part of my legacy. My mother was (and still is) a doll artisan of sorts. I grew up watching her make dolls and she has experimented with a wide variety of mediums from porcelain to cloth. I can remember watching her pour the porcelain into tiny hand molds and was mesmerized when I would watch her take tiny paint brushes and create little lips, eye brows and if it was a cloth doll, even eyes. She was also very picky about which dolls she would purchase for myself and my sisters. She would inspect them from top to bottom to see how they and their clothing were made before ever jumping into a sale. They had to have just the right look and design, or forget about it, we didn't get them (we never had Barbies - they didn't make the cut). She somehow ended up with five girls all with different hair colors and we all loved how our dolls would often match our hair color (I always got the lighter brunettes). I think my mother secretly loved having an excuse to purchase an entire line of dolls that she was really into. We each had a Fisher Price "My Friend Doll", a Hasbro's "My Beautiful Doll" (got to love those 80's clothes!), and I can still remember the Christmas when we all got our own Lady Lovely Locks Doll...yeah, that was a good year.
My sisters have also carried on the legacy of the doll in their own lives and in their own ways. Lorajean even makes her own darling doll sculptures. I've enjoyed creating a few dolls of my own and have quite a number of ideas for the future. Needless to say, I am excited to have an opportunity to carry on this legacy of the doll...in our our own way. And hey, if I every veer into "creepy doll lady" territory, I'm confident my boy's doll aversion will be sure to keep me in check ;).
What about you? Does your family have a craft/design/toy legacy that you want to pass on? I'd love to hear about it!
Have you guys seen Sarah Jane's new adorable fabric line, Out to Sea? If not you are in for a real treat!!
And as part of her incredibly fun blog tour, I'm offering up a doll pattern, based on my Mod Dolls, for you to create your own mod Milly the Mermaid doll!!
In celebration of the the Out to Sea tour, for a limited time, I'll be offering a FREE downloadable pattern and instructions for the basic Mod Doll itself. Tomorrow I'll be offering the pattern for the mermaid ensemble, complete with instructions and additional hair and skirt options, in my shop! And can I just say that I love that you can take her tail off and change up for another option at a whim?! She can be your real life little mermaid!
Purchase the full MILLY THE MERMAID pattern HERE
And you know that if you make one, I just have to see it! So please do share your darling mermaid creations when they are complete :)!!
and stay tuned for the limited release of the mermaid ensemble tomorrow!!
(and I've no doubt there will a number of many more outfits for our little Mod Doll in the future!)
*Update: The simple Mod Doll Pattern is no longer available for free download but you can purchase the entire pattern, complete with mermaid tail, top, skirt and two types of hair here.
My talented friend Meta, of One More Mushroom (killer new blog about desiging kids spaces that you will just die for), was so nice to help me out with an impromptu photo shoot involving myself and the boys and a few of our crafts that we have worked on. I realized that I didn't have any recent shots of myself and the boys and thought it would be fun to do a few before our family dynamic changes forever - with a new little lady on the way and all (which we are of course SO thrilled about!).
Now let me tell you, posing for a photograph at seven months pregnant is NOT my idea of fun. We tried a few shots revealing the baby bump I'm carrying around and I just couldn't get it right (Meta was great - my modeling on the other hand was less than inspired). But I think these ones with the boys in front of me are a great solution. And the boys look good no matter what they are doing, belly showing and all!
But I need your advice. Which of the three do you like best? I'm sure I'll use a few for promotion and I'm just not sure which one I like best. I like the interaction of me with the boys on the last two but then again I really like the first one with Little O interacting with our interlocking cardboard castle. What do you think?
And thanks again Meta for being so willing to do this last minute! You're an all star!
Mer Mag crafts featured in photos: animal box masks with duct tape; interlocking cardboard castle with duct tape; easy breazy kiddie scarves; diy triangle tshirt
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