Back to School: Toddler Clock

I don't know if all kids are like this, but mine seem to have a strong need to know what the plan for the day is. "What day is it today?" they ask... and they don't mean Monday or Tuesday. For us it is Library Day, or Uncle Mark Day (Saturday, when their uncle often visits to help daddy work on his hot rod.) They like to know what it going on during the day too. So with the changes in our schedule that come with a new school year, I came up with this idea that can help them see at a glance our basic schedule for the day... time for toddlers:

Starting about 8 o'clock they can see the sun that represents our morning routine. At quarter to 9 my oldest heads off to school. 10-ish is morning snack (I have a whole hour window and can still be "on schedule" which is so important when I'm squeezing in the daily busyness), 11 is time dedicated to helping my 2nd with her goals. Next is lunch, then preschool/kindergarten, time for preschooler on her off-days, big sister comes home, chores and homework, playtime, dinner, bedtime routine. Each of them have a time when my focus is primarily on them and their goals. I think it helps them see that their time is coming if mom is focused on someone else. I used Velcro dots to attach the pictures so we can change our schedule as needed. They don't need to know how to tell time, but can see by where the hour hand is pointing what "time" it is.

When I had the idea, I was going to make my own clock but found this one (or search for Kaisercraft Wood Frame Clock) while shopping for the clock parts. I covered it with scrapbook paper, added my own numbers.

It does have a pretty loud ticking sound, so I may try to replace the hands with another set, but it was an easy project that helps our day run more smoothly.

A new life for my favorite jeans

I've been going through my closet lately and weeding out and recycling/refashioning things like crazy. (Yay for losing baby weight and fitting into things again.) I had this pair of jeans that I loved! I've never had a pair that fit me as well as these did and it shows. These jeans were so worn, there was actually a hole on the inner leg area. I mended it once when it was small enough for it to not really show while I was wearing them, but that didn't last long because they were so threadbare. I knew I couldn't ever wear them again, and neither could anyone else, unless....

... I made them into a skirt. 

 I've made jeans into skirts before but this time I tried something different and I love the result. Normally I unpick the inseam and the center front seam up to the base of the zipper, and the back seam up until it lays flat. Then, I overlap the curved part of the seam and use the cut off portion of the jeans to fill in the triangular gaps. (Similar to this tutorial.) This time I just sewed the inner front seams together and only added more material in the back (see photo above). The combination of the side seams angled in on the front and the fading has a real slimming effect. Love it even more than I thought I would.

(FYI - the hem is not really higher in the front, the front waist sits lower than the back so it just looks that way here.)

I love this!

My entry to win a free Canon 5D Mk III via @CameraBag 2 (http://bit.ly/cb2-5d) #cb2giveaway

Okay mostly I love this little face, but this cool photo editing software that I'm trying right now is pretty great too.

 This CameraBag2 application is so cool... I love my Photoshop, but for quick editing with just a few clicks this is the greatest, and has soooo many cool options.

Here is my original photo below. It took me four clicks to arrive at the result above: contrast, "wedding," vignette, border. Sweet!

Easter Dresses

I had wanted to make some "pillowcase" dresses for the girls for a while now, and had found this pack of curtains on clearance over a year ago that I thought would work. But, I was sick last spring with the pregnancy so it never happened. Now, the day before Easter, I suddenly decided I was going to use the stuff I had to make Easter dresses. N's dress is one side of the curtain, A's the other, and E's skirt is from the valance. I had to laugh at my "Fraulein Maria" moment, making dresses from curtains. I think this is a new record for me, making three dresses in one afternoon, as well as the cost: $3 for the curtains, $3 for a yard of the striped fabric, elastic recycled from dad's shorts ;-0 and slips/lining from an old sheet. (My girls, who loved the dresses, will probably die of embarrassment reading this later. Hee hee.) So here they are. The dresses were okay, but the girls were so adorable! Check out the poses.

Sock Bunnies

I've been wanting to do this little project with the girls for a while now and am feeling good about finally getting around to it today. Crafting with 4 little kids can be a challenge. (As is evident in the lack of posts on this blog.) My 5 year-old especially got into it, insisting on doing all the stuffing without any help, and she stitched the openings of each arm leg and foot closed all by herself too. I think this was her first real sewing project and I was so impressed with how well she did.

As soon as they were finished the girls got busy dressing them with clothes and accessories from their other dolls.

I think they turned out pretty cute, and the fact that they helped make the bunnies themselves adds to the love.




The bunnies just happen to be the perfect size to fit into our Disney princess baby doll clothes. When I saw the pink bunny in the Sleeping Beauty dress, complete with little slippers I had to take another photo.
We followed this tutorial from Lil Blue Boo, but decided to embroider the eyes instead of using buttons. (I loved the unique look of mis-matched buttons for the eyes but the girls thought it was creepy and they insisted on eyelashes too.)

Happy Thanksgiving

Another wreath... a random combination of raffia, berry bunches, a fabric scrap and coffee filters. Just wanted to make something and needed to use what I had in my stash.

My assistant and lovely wreath model.

Happy Halloween

While the blogging has almost completely ceased since the arrival of baby boy... the crafting has only slowed a little. Will I ever catch up? Probably not, but here is a little something fun we did for the "candy holiday" – a simple Halloween wreath. We took a dollar store wreath form and tied lengths of black tulle around it. My 6 yr old and 4 year old were great helpers with this part. If I were to do it again, I might cut the tulle longer and have a fuller look. I added in some purple and orange ribbon and then hot glued this spider web (also from the dollar store) to the back, making sure I didn't cover the peep hole.

The peep hole is important because of the number of door-to-door salesmen who don't seem to understand what "no soliciting" means. I put that sign up after being visited by 6 sales people in three days... a little much for pregnant mom/new baby mom. My dad also rigged my doorbell so I can switch it off when baby sleeps. Why isn't this a standard doorbell feature? OK, rant over.
Salesmen stay away! Trick-or-treaters welcome!

Happy Halloween!