272/366: Pintember Booking

It seems that every night when I attempt to tuck my boys in for the night, I am asked for a bookmark.

I love that books are piled at their bedside.  I love that they are reading.

I don't, however, care so much for the "I need a bookmark".

So...here is my solution:

This is super easy!  And you are recycling!

We pay our bills on line, but still request paper invoices.  Every paper invoice comes with a return envelope.  This is a great way to use the envelopes with pre-printed addresses.

Just cut off the corner with scissors or a straight-line cutter.

Then...embellish!

The purple one is just colored with a purple marker.  I added a fun little hat.  The white one has ears (the corners of the envelope).

This is definitely a great craft to do with kids of all ages.

I have a feeling the boys are going to request some envelope corners soon!

Here is the inspiration post...also a really cute idea:

Source: dsharp.typepad.com via Carrie on Pinterest

270/366: Pintember Rocks Again

This is one of those projects where it looks so much easier than it really is.

Kind of bummed about that.

I used my favorite Sharpie Oil Based Paint Markers again for this project.

Here is the inspiration pin:

Source: bing.com via Carrie on Pinterest

Amazing. 

I didn't need to paint my rocks first, this obvioulsy was a big mistake.  Especially on the black one.  The white just doesn't cover the black enough.

Ick!

I will keep my head up because I tried, and down so I can pick up more rocks!

195/366: Wolverine Claws

Last week, Little Man and I made a recipe from the back of his activity book.  He was adamant on us purchasing all the ingredients and making these as soon as possible.

We only need the biscuits, so you may very likely have all the ingredients already.

The recipe...simple (that's what I like).

Melt your butter in a dish big enough to drop the biscuit in, same with the cinnamon and sugar mix.

Start by dipping in the butter, then into the sugar mix.  A helper is important here, they make it more fun.

Our butter was still hot from the melting, so we used a spoon.  I would recommend this, it makes it less messy once you get into the sugar stage.
 

I then took a pair of kitchen scissors and cut two 'claws' into the biscuit and pinched the back end a bit to try to make them appear more claw like and less paw like.  I used my oldest, blackest cookie sheet for this, knowing we would have burned sugar all over the place.

They smelled delicious...not gluten free, but the smell won't hurt my belly.  Like I said, much more paw like, in fact, they don't resemble Wolverine Claws at all. 

And their taste...the Little Man said, "MMMMmmmmmm".  He stated, "These are so good, I'm going to eat them all."

He was doing pretty good, until claw four stalled him, but he tried!
 

My Saturday

Aside from my own, these are some of my favorite little people.

Photo shoot at Margaret Louise Park, Amherst, NY

Sponge Ball and Boochie Review

Every so often I succeed.

But more often than not, it's an epic fail.

Before we went camping with all the cousins, ranging in age from 3 to 11, I purchased some sponges to make this craft.  It seemed so simple.  Almost too simple to be fun.

Boy was I wrong.

 

On day 1 in 95 degrees of humid heat, we cut up the sponges and tied them with dental floss and the kids got playing.

They got me a couple times, it felt really great and refreshing.
 

We hit a couple snags in the "he hit me" and "you are supposed to throw it, not tackle" aspects of the fun.

They were all soaked.

And all happy.

Now, that homemade fun was great, but you know what I think was better?

BOOCHIE!

If you have kids, you should get this game.  It will become my new standard gift for birthdays.  It is made by Gameright and has won all sorts of parenting awards. The game is recommended for kids ages 8 and up.  My 5 year old loved it.  I would say that if a parent or kind older sibling was playing, the little ones could have fun, too.  If they can throw, they can play.

The game is simple, a take on Bocce, with fun twists and turns.  It's a really fair game.  The more points you get, the harder your throws (or kicks) become.  Thinks like, sit on the ground and toss backwards.  Or use your knee to move the objects.

I had a lot of fun with it too!  The only issue I had, was that two of the wristband velcro straps came out of the fitting and it was a big pain to feed it back through.  I am sure this game will be a camping standard, as well as a boredom buster in this house!

Clowning Asleep

Yesterday, I took the day off to spend with my best boys at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY. If you live around here, you already know it is an amazing place. Every single time we go, we discover something new.  And if you ever come to this area, you must visit Strong.

It was Clown day and everyone got a clown nose. I think we came home with 6 of them.

And when I turned around to check out the quiet kids while waiting to pay the toll, this is what I saw.

This kid makes me smile even when he is sleeping.

And by the way...he denies this ever happened.

Craft: Eric Carle is Awesome!

I really try to rotate craft, art, food, funny, music, shameless self promotion. But I really wanted to share this kid craft with you. Sam was learning about Eric Carle, technique and stories. He saw a video in art class on how Eric Carle creates his illustrations. And Sam said, "I really want to do Eric Carle craft". So, we did. This is simple and fun.

What you need:

10-12 sheets of heavy weight paper/card stock. We did a couple on regular bond paper and they curled, but still worked fine.

Assorted Acrylic paints

Assorted paint brushes or tools for adding texture to paint. We had sponge brushes and bristle brushes. You could use forks, crumpled tissue paper, or Q-tips, anything to bring a cool pattern to the paper.

Scissors, tape or glue dots.

We looked at Brown Bear for inspiration. Each boy drew a little outline of the animal we were going to create. I cut out the shapes for them, and they attached them with scrapbook tape. After the giraffe, Sam cut out the butterfly wings and some of the design by himself. He loved it.

This is such an easy craft and so much fun. Gets their little minds working differently. How to cut a shape out, instead of drawing it flat.

And yes, I loved every minute of it.

Well, except for the cleaning paint off the rug and picking up schniffles of paper.

If you try it, please send me pictures or links to your pictures. (yeah, I'm talking to all of you, even those without kids). Do it.

The April Waggle Scene

Meet Waggle and April. I hesitated to show them off to the general public due to this family's goldfish death rate. Instead of spending twelve dollars trying to have a 5 yr old toss a dented ping pong ball into bacteria infested bowls at the overpriced mob-like carnival, we opted for the 'free fish for 12 yrs and under' at the local pet store. The boys picked out their fish in the tank and with a free Starbucks coffee with real cream and a couple black and white cookie parts for the boys, we were off. Little Man demanded to hold the fish in the car. Out of the water. Fish on hand. Poor guy.

As you can see Waggle and April are doing well, enjoying their Chicago sized dwelling. Hey, we are all downsizing these days, why shouldn't the fish?

Big Boy thought they needed company, so grabbed every frame within his grasp an made a bit of a gallery of people for the fish. They never get lonely. And yes, Lisa, that is you and me at our high school graduation a mere 19.6 yrs ago.


And this here is Pinky Dinky Doo What?

This is a take on all the $70 fabric purses on Etsy these days, which I believe to be a knock off of an Amy Butler pattern. Cute, but does it need more? I am thinking a little something at the top center where the pleat is...any thoughts?

I got the yarn wound and on the loom. I started the pattern last night after a couple transcribing issues and really like it. The warp (up and down yarn) is cadet blueish and the weft (yarn that makes the pattern horizontally) is chocolate brown softball cotton. It looks warm and yummy. I chose the colors in hopes of having some type of man-type scarf.

I was telling Tom this morning that it is "a man's scarf" and he looked at me as if I had a nose behind my ear (Hi Twitter friends).

"Well, maybe a "metro-sexual" man."

Tom looked at me as if I now had an ear on my nose.

"You mean a man that has sex while driving?"

~~~~~~

Blogger's Note: I have rearranged the specifics of this story, Tom didn't really ask the question that way, but that is what he thought after I told him the definition. Don't be mad, honey!

Sports Illustrated Kids 2008: Derek Andrews !!!

Congratulations, Derek. Job well done. Thanks for everyone that voted for him. Well deserved.
Go get 'em!

Sports Illustrated Kids: Derek Andrews

Vote for Derek Here, you can vote once per day.

Despite a condition that weakens his muscles, Derek still made his baseball league's All-Star team, a hockey select team, and was the leading scorer on his soccer team. After winning a local bank's essay contest, Derek used his prize money to put on a magic show at the children's hospital, help organize a book drive for a Buffalo school, and buy supplies for elephants at The Buffalo Zoo.

"My best sports moment came this summer while I was playing soccer. I played on the Sponge Bobs in the Clarence Division 4 House League. I played in this division last year and scored only four goals all season. The leading goal scorer on my team last year (my best friend, Joey) had 12 goals. This season, I got off to a great start and scored 19 goals in the first nine games. I really wanted to score 20 goals, but had no luck in the next two games. I still had 19 goals going into the last game of the season. In the last game, I didn’t score in the first or second quarter. Near the end of the third quarter, the ball came free around the mid-line. I started dribbling, went through the defenders, and shot the ball into the corner of the net just as the referee blew the whistle to end the quarter. I jumped in the air because I was so happy to have scored my 20th goal. I ran over to my coach, who’s also my dad, and he gave me a big hug and told me how awesome my goal was. I felt great because I had done something I didn’t think I would be able to do."

Vote for Derek Here, you can vote once per day.

I don't know Derek, and don't work for Derek, I just think he is a good kid. And good kids should get good things.