Helping Little Hands

Firecracker's Chocolate Cake-Pudding-Cream Cheese-Chocolate Chip-Coconut Trifle

2012-01-30T05:23:00.000-08:00

Okay, this is maybe a bit of a stretch to call this "Firecracker's" Recipe. It was certainly inspired by her though. We have a tradition in our house that Mom and Dad's birthday cakes are decorated by the kids. I figure why put all the work into making a "pretty" or "themed" cake for me or Hubby when we don't really care a whole lot about a cake one way or the other...and the kids LOVE getting to decorate it.

Firecracker has become a pretty good cook. She's mastered the cake-mix cake and has even moved on to making cookies from scratch...so for my birthday this year, we told her she was in charge of baking it. It took her a few extra days to get around to it, but she baked it yesterday afternoon with Daddy supervising while I took a nap. Then for some reason...who knows why kids come up with this...she decided to tear it up with a tooth pick, so by the time I saw the cake, it looked like this.

We could have made our typical 7-Minute Frosting and I'm sure it would have frosted just fine...7-Minute Frosting actually does a pretty good job of NOT stirring up crumbs...but the ripped up cake made me think of trifle...so we decided to make trifle.

I did some looking around on the internet and found a lot of delicious looking recipes...none of which did we have all the ingredients for. I figured it's probably pretty hard to mess up trifle since it's pretty much layering of several delicious things. I combined several ideas from different recipes, and we came up with our own version with the things we had in the cupboard and freezer.

So to all the thousands of trifle recipes on the internet, I'm adding:

Firecracker's Chocolate Cake-Pudding-Cream Cheese-Chocolate Chip-Coconut Trifle

which could also be called

Whatever-You-Find-in-the-Cupboard-and-Freezer-Trifle

Ingredients:
1-Prepared chocolate cake (We made ours from a cake mix.)
1-8 oz container Cool Whip, divided
1-3.9 oz package of Vanilla pudding mix
1 1/2 cups milk
6 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 tsp. almond flavoring
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Toppings to Sprinkle (I used coconut and mini-chocolate chips...other options could include crumbled up vanilla wafers, oreos, or graham crackers.)

Directions:

You start by making the chocolate cake...or having your 7-year old make it. A lot of recipes I saw online used brownies instead of chocolate cake.

Vanilla pudding Layer: Mix your vanilla pudding with 1 1/2 cups of milk, and whip until smooth. (This was following the package directions, but using 1/2 cup less milk to make it thicker.) Stir in half the Cool Whip until smooth.

Cream Cheese-Chocolate Layer: Cream/whip 6 oz cream cheese, 1/4 cup of sugar, and 1/8 tsp almond flavoring. Melt 1 cup of chocolate chips in your microwave until barely melted. Add melted chocolate chips to cream cheese/sugar mixture and whip until thoroughly blended. Stir in the other half of the cool whip until smooth.

Layering:
1/4 of the chocolate cake
1/2 the vanilla pudding mixture
1/4 of the chocolate cake
1/2 the cream cheese/chocolate chip mixture
1/4 of the chocolate cake
1/2 the vanilla pudding mixture
1/4 of the chocolate cake
1/2 the cream cheese/chocolate chip mixture
Sprinkle the top with coconut and mini-chocolate chips.

Not the prettiest of trifles...but totally delicious. We still have half of it leftover in the fridge. If you read this soon enough, you're welcome to drop by and have some.

You could use pretty much any flavor pudding...or use white chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet mixed in with the cream cheese. Several recipes I looked through used sweetened condensed milk to mix in with the pudding.

And if you're interested in having your kids decorate a birthday cake, you can see my post here.

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Eiffel Tower Pendant from Lily and Oak	Girl with the Savior Print from Shirleen Bland's Art Studio	Binary Love Pendant from Boutique Academia

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Definitely Different Valentine's Gifts from Boutique Academia

2012-01-28T06:00:00.000-08:00

If you're a regular reader, you know we love math and science at our house. My degree is in chemistry and math and Hubby has a PhD in chemistry...so we're big nerds...and proud of it...

Which is why I love the jewelry and other products from Boutique Academia. Maile, the owner, is a friend I know personally from the time when Hubby was working on his PhD from UC Berkeley, and she has incredible taste.

So I wanted to show off some of the beautiful pieces she has in her shop in case you're looking for something a little different for Valentine's Day...or wondering where to send your significant other to find your gift. (And be sure to read all the way to the end for how to win a a $20 gift card to Boutique Academia.)

Here are a few of my favorites that would be great for Valentine's Day and then to keep wearing all year...

The Binary Love Necklace...with LOVE written in binary code.

The Anatomical Heart Necklace would be awesome as well.

Anyone familiar with the Infinity symbol will know why either of these Infinity Bracelets would make a perfect Valentine's gift.
Infinity Bracelet

Infinity Bracelet 2

Or even if you're not a huge science geek, you can still enjoy the beauty of these Glass Tile Rose Petal Cells Pendant. These flowers will never wilt or grow old.

Or maybe you're a night owl or astronomy fan and would want this Carpe Noctem Pendant (Sieze the Night)

If you're not the math or science type, but love Harry Potter as much as we do, you might like a Deathly Hallows Necklace (which is currently out of stock, so you can drop the hit for this one for your birthday, Mother's Day, or I-Can't-Believe-You-Forgot-Valentine's-Day).

And as you can probably guess...I tend toward showing off Boutique Academia's Pendants and Necklaces because I don't wear earrings.

But you'll want to be sure to browse Maile's selection of unique earrings as well.

Now if you'd like to win a $20 gift card to Boutique Academia, all you need to do is go to this Facebook post and leave a comment...that's all you have to do to enter. You can also get a second entry if you share the contest with your friends. And while you're there, be sure to "like" Boutique Academia on Facebook so you can be notified of new products and contests, as well as all the fun science and math links that Maile shares.

Nothing Like a Good Hawaiian Day...

2012-01-27T10:50:00.000-08:00

...when there's snow on the ground.

It does make for some funny pictures though.

If you're curious...her "dress" is actually an adult size wrap skirt from Goodwill, wrapped around her twice and tied at the shoulder.

Why is Hawaiian Day in January?!?!

I have no idea...but it occurred to me that maybe it's because then they don't have to worry about inappropriate clothing...because you'd be crazy not to put a shirt and pants (and snow boots!) on your kid underneath their Hawaiian clothes. (Okay, most of the kids probably did not wear snow boots since most of them don't walk to school.)

So after we took some fun pictures like this...

...We bundled Firecracker up like this...

And sent her off to school.

Then Sweet Pea wanted to dress up Hawaiian too, just like her big sister.

But she didn't want to take her pajamas off.

Then Little Brother wanted Hawaiian clothes...but his are packed away for the summer, so he has to settle for a backward Star Wars shirt...because why would he want the picture on the back of the shirt where he can't see it. Every time he wears this shirt...it has to be backward.

Happy Friday! Have a good weekend!

If you're having a Hawaiian day, you might be interested in checking out some of our favorite Hawaiian books.

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Sprouting Coconut Original Painting from nJoy Art	Handmade Buttons - Set of 20 Cool Colors - From The Red Kitchen	Tropical Fish Original Painting Set from nJoy Art

Favorite Valentine's Tutorials

2012-01-26T05:05:00.000-08:00

One of the nice things about having been blogging for a couple years is that now I can look back at the things we did a year or two ago. We've done some really fun projects that you might have missed if you're a new reader, so I thought I 'd highlight some great Valentine's Day projects and activities again. Some of these are traditional red and pink...but most are a little different from many that you'll see making the rounds...

My very favorite Valentine's Day projects are ones that work for Valentine's day...and then can keep being enjoyed the rest of the year too.

My kids still LOVE the Valentine shirts I made them last year. They wear them all the time.

For boys there's the Car Love Shirt...

And for girls...the I {Heart} Books Shirt...Check out the post for the free freezer paper stencil...and there is a short haired and longer haired version.

Some favorites from this year, include our little Valentine's Day Twig Tree...

These Melted Crayon Art LOVE tiles will be going in our playroom when Valentine's Day is over (and when they're finished building our house.)

Or you might want to make an I Love You to the Moon and Back Print for one of those hard-to-craft-for boys (or girls) you love.

I hadn't thought of these pajamas as being for Valentine's Day since I made them for my girls for Christmas...but they showed up on this Valentine's Round-Up on Babble...and they're right. These would be perfect for a Valentine's Day suprise.

If you're looking for something yummy and fun to serve up for dinner on Valentine's Day, you might try this Valentine's Pie...

...served up with cucumber salad and heart carrots.

And even though I really don't care to each those chalky conversation hearts...it's time to stock up because my kids asked to do these Conversation Heart Activities again when they saw the hearts in the store.

Or if you're looking for something for an adult in your life, you might want to whip up some of these Sewn Note Cards...

And finally...these are some fun cards I made for my Primary (children's class at church) class a couple years ago, personalized with each child's favorite color...

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Lovey Dovey Mega Bundle from Digi-doodle Doo	Red Rose on Damask Pendant from Lily and Oak	Anatomical Heart Pendant from Boutique Academia

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Solar System Quilt (Pattern Included)

2012-01-25T05:08:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time coming...but it's finally here...the details and templates for Little Brother's Solar System Quilt. (I've included a lot of pictures here at the beginning, but if you scroll down, all the nitty-gritty details are there about fabrics, the templates, and how to put it together.)

All three of my kids needed a nice quilt or bedspread to fit their current sized bed. They'd each outgrown their previous bed since getting a nice one. I knew if I didn't get them done before Christmas, it probably wouldn't happen for another year. Of course I could have gone and bought bedspreads...but the truth is that quilts are my absolutely favorite craft...and I don't make them all that often.

Little Brother used to LOVE cars, and he still likes them, but I wanted to branch out a little for his quilt. Recently he's been really interested in the sun and planets, so I thought a solar system quilt would be a fun challenge and a theme that could grow with him for a while. Besides my husband and I are complete math/science nerds (I taught math and chemistry before we had kids, and he's a high school science teacher), and we're doing our best to turn out kids into them as well...without them even realizing it.

Christmas morning after opening it...

Little Brother is super happy with his quilt and calls it his "Sun is a mass of quilt..." after this awesome song that he can sing pretty much by heart. (Like I said...we're turning them into nerds and they don't even know it.)

And as complicated as this quilt might look...it really went together really fast, since it's all applique except for the borders and sashing.

The hardest part of the whole thing was figuring out how to take a decent photograph of something that big...seriously...see what lengths my Hubby is willing to take to help me get some photographs. (It was a windy day so simply hanging it wasn't an option.)

Yep, Hubby is even more awesome than the quilt. ;)

Seriously, though, this is totally something do-able if you've got some basic sewing skills. I'm not going to give all the details about how to do applique here. I gave quite a few applique tips in this post about the Bird and Bunting Quilt I made for my youngest or you can see my satin stitch tutorial here.

I am going to give you the template and measurements to make a twin size quilt though. The finished size of this quilt is about 60 x 90 inches. That's a little on the small size for a twin quilt because this will be going on a loft bed once we move into our new house. If you want a quilt with more overhang, then you'll need to increase the size of the borders.

My husband and I wanted the quilt to be somewhat scientifically accurate while still being fun to look at...meaning we wanted the sizes of the planets to be relative...but to really make that accurate, you'd barely be able to see anything except the sun and maybe Jupiter. We also took some creative license with some of the colors to make it more fun to look at and to work with the fabric we had available.

I came up with the layout by gathering up a bunch of different sized bowls and laying them out until it looked right.

Fabric: For the top all fabrics were 100% cotton quilting fabrics. I pre-washed them and they DID shrink, so be sure not to skip the washing.

5 yards of your background fabric. (Enough for twice the length of your quilt between the yellow stripes and still leave some extra for shrinkage.) I used Robert Kaufman Stargazers in Midnight Blue from Joanns (make sure to get it on sale or use a coupon).
2 1/2 yards of of your sashing fabric (the yellow). You could get away with less if you want to do some piecing.
Scraps or fat quarters for the planets. The background/flame part of the sun took an entire fat quarter with barely any scraps. I tried to choose mostly abstract/random looking patterns and stay away from prints with things like floral designs. I usually buy fabric off the bolt rather than fat quarters because you get more fabric for your money...but in this case, I ended up mostly using fat quarters because the fabric colors/patterns of the fat quarters Jo-Anns had the day I went ended up being better for this. (I ended up not using all of these...and used some fabrics not shown that came from my stash.)

A 2-3 yards of Heat'n Bond Lite or similar product. (Sorry, I don't have an exact measurement for this one.)
For the back, I was super cheap and bought 4 yards of Broad cloth and had it go across the quilt with a strip of yellow in the middle to make up the difference.

Solar System Quilt Templates
Solar System Quilt Template - Earth
Solar System Quilt Template - Planet Sizes
Solar System Quilt Template - Saturn's Rings
Solar System Quilt Template - Sun Page 1
Solar System Quilt Template - Sun Page 2
Solar System Quilt Template - Moon Page 1
Solar System Quilt Template - Moon Page 2

Cutting your Fabric
The center blue panel used the entire width of the fabric (about 40 1/2 inches after it was shrunk some in the wash.) by 70 1/2 inches long.

I also cut two blue strips 8 1/2 inches wide and 70 1/2 inches long. As well as two blue strips 8 1/2 inches wide and the entire width of your fabric (for me that was 40 1/2 inches). (I actually cut these a little extra long just to give some wiggle room and then trimmed them.) You will also need four 8 1/2 inch squares.

I cut the yellow fabric into 2 1/2 inch strips. I didn't worry about trying to get the lengths exactly right. I just cut them a little extra long and then trimmed off the excess.

Putting your Quilt Together
For all seams I used 1/4 inch seam allowances and pressed the seams to one side.

I started by sewing the yellow strips onto the sides of the middle panel and trimmed their edges. Then I sewed the blue strips (8 1/2 inches by 70 1/2 inches) onto the sides.

Next I sewed yellow strips onto the top and bottom of the quilt and trimmed them.

Now you're going to make the pieced strips for the top and bottom. You'll sew an 8 1/2 inch blue square to a 8 1/2 inch by 2 1/2 inch yellow strip, then to an 8 1/2 inch by 40 1/2 inch blue strip, to another 8 1/2 inch by 2 1/2 inch yellow strip, and then to another 8 1/2 inch blue square. You'll do this twice...once for the top of the quilt and once for the bottom. Then sew these onto the quilt.

The Applique
I used Heat'n Bond Lite for my appliques. You'll need to trace the templates onto the papery side of your Heat'n Bond. You'll notice the template for the earth appears to be backward. This is because images traced on Heat'n Bond will appear in reverse. The earth is the only planet this will matter for, since all the others are just circles. For the earth, you will want to cut out the whole circle in blue and then the green land pieces will go over your blue circle.

When you're using the pieces for the moon, you'll need to cut out two full circles of white for the full moons, and two full circles of black for the new moons. For the waxing and waning moons, you'll need to cut out one black and one white version of each piece. Cut the white version out along the solid line and the black version out along the dashed line. Then when you put them together to make a moon, the white will overlap the black slightly. (And if you're looking to simplify the quilt...leaving the moons off entirely is always an option.) The moons are waxing at the top and waning at the bottom...and it doesn't matter if you turn the quilt around because they will still appear to be waxing at the top and waning at the bottom. (If you live in the southern hemisphere you'll want to orient them differently, though.)

You'll notice the white stitching goes over the black fabric...and I thought I did a decent job finding crater-like fabrics.

Once you have all your pieces traced onto the heat'n bond, cut them out, and iron them onto the BACK side of your planet fabrics. Then cut these out again. Peel the papery backing off.

To place the planets, I laid the quilt base out on my living room floor and moved the planets around until I was happy with their placement. I've always loved quilts that break beyond their borders a bit, so I had the planets extend over the yellow sashing. This also gives a little more room for the solar system to spread out. You could easily leave the phases of the moons off and have the solar system extend into the ends as well.

Once I was happy with their placement, I ironed them lightly, right there on my floor (make sure your carpet can tolerate it.) It was enough just to keep them in their places while I moved it to the ironing board to iron them on more thoroughly. Make sure to CHECK ALL THE EDGES to make sure they seal. It will make the sewing a lot easier.

Then I used a satin stitch with matching thread to sew around the edges of each planet and moon.

Here are some close-ups of the rest of the planets to give you a better look at the stitching and fabric choices...

The sun...

Mercury...

Venus

Earth...

Mars (known as the red planet...so you'll probably want to use something red)...

Jupiter...I was super happy to find this fabric...I think it looks like it's got the storm spot.

Saturn... and a close-up of it's ring(s).

Uranus...

Neptune (typically blue)...

And even though Pluto has become the outcast and is no longer classified as a planet, we included it on the very edge of the quilt. I think it's more of a "rock" color, but we made it purple since it's so far away and dark.

Quilting
I machine quilted this on my regular old sewing machine...you don't need a fancy machine for it. I did use most of the tips from this basting tutorial from Heidi at Honeybear Lane. Let me tell you...I AM IN LOVE with BASTING SPRAY. I can't imagine trying to machine quilt all the circles in this solar system quilt on my little machine without it. There wasn't a single pucker on any of them. After reading different reviews online, I ordered Sullivan's basting spray when it was on sale a Joanns. Since it's the only kind I've tried, I can't say it's the best...but I can say that it works and I love it.

I did all the quilting on the blue background fabric with navy blue machine quilting thread. I sewed around each planet and moon (not through the moons or the sashing though) and around the sides edges of the sashing. It's really hard to tell in most of the pictures, but I also quilted the orbit lines of each planet. (You can see them a little in some of the close-ups and in this picture of the back.) I was hoping the orbit lines would show up a little more, so I may go back and quilt those with white thread...or I may not.

I made my own binding using extra from the background fabric. Dana's tutorial on MADE for more details about how to do that. The only thing I did different is that I didn't cut mine on the bias. (That's okay if you're just binding straight edges, but if you're using it for curves you'll want to make true bias tape.)

And once the ideas started flowing for his quilt, I've started adding some other spacey details to Little Brother's room, and I'm sure I'll be adding a few more after we move into his "real" room.

(That fun felt board was a Christmas present from Grandma Kathy, and she got the idea from Pink and Green Mama here.)

But for now he is completely happy with his quilt and new pictures for his walls.

You can see see more details about how I put together the "I Love You to the Moon and Back" print here. The other spacey artwork in his room came from nJoy Art.

As soon as I saw this solar system print, I knew we needed it to go with the quilt, especially since it has a bit more whimsy. (This print is not currently offered in her shop, but Nicola of nJoy Art loves custom orders, so she could probably paint you another.)

If you have any questions about how I put the quilt together feel free to ask in a comment (PLEASE make sure I can email you back...it makes me sad when people ask a question and their email comes up as no-reply... You can also email me questions directly.)

I've also got some other fun outer-space themed posts coming up, so be sure to check back.

If you'd like to to see some other solar system quilt inspiration, check out my quilts board on Pinterest.

You can also see more of my quilting projects here.

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Personalized Rocket Plaque from nJoy Art

Faith in God Makes Me Stronger from Shirleen Bland's Art Studio

Flying Saucer Original Painting from nJoy Art

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Child Decorated Burp Cloths

2012-01-24T05:34:00.000-08:00

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that burp cloths are one of my favorite baby shower gifts. They're easy, inexpensive, and they're rarely a "duplicate" gift...at least not at the showers I go to.

So we came up with another variation...

Firecracker's birth mom is due with a baby girl next month, so I was trying to figure out something that Firecracker could make for her half-sister.

I sewed the burp cloths and then handed them over to Firecracker with a sharpie and let her do some decorating.

I think they turned out pretty cute, and Firecracker was happy to get to decorate them herself.

She drew Alanna (her birthmom) and her husband, herself, and the new baby.

And of course they got wrapped up with some brown paper and scrappy wrapping (see here for other scrappy wrapping ideas).

You can click here for more burp cloth gift ideas.

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Scent Melts from Lily and Oak	Girl with the Savior Print from Shirleen Bland's Art Studio	Set of 4 Printable Flashcards (PDF) - Alpha, #'s, Shapes, and Colors - From The Red Kitchen

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I Love You to the Moon...and Back - Boys (or Anyone) Valentine Art

2012-01-23T06:37:00.000-08:00

This started out as a project I was going to do anyway, but then realized it could make a great Valentine's gift for those hard-to-craft for boys, husbands, or otherwise awesomely nerdy people you love.

Even more so if they happen to be familiar with Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney.

Little Brother remembered the book as soon as I told him what the frame said.

...and it's SO EASY to put together.

And now our Valentine's Mantel looks like this (since Firecracker is letting us use her's for a bit before hanging it in her room.)

(You can find the tutorial for the Melted Crayon LOVE tiles here and the Twig Valentine Tree here.)

Those who follow my Pinterest boards might have noticed I pin some weird things. Part of me wishes that there was a way to have some private boards, so I could pin things for upcoming projects that might not make sense to other people...besides a way to share lovely ideas, it's also how I save a link so I can make sure to reference it in a future post. For instance, a while ago, I pinned this necklace to my "For Boys" board because I thought it would make a great message for something to go in Little Brother's increasingly space themed room. (And half the stuff I pin to my "For Boys" board is really intended for my daughters...but that's my own fault for the way I categorize things.)

Anyway, since Firecracker asked for a space-themed birthday party, I figured it was a good time to try out some ideas. Then I realized this would make a perfect Valentine's gift for a space or science loving boy (or girl) in your life.

I had three prints made...one for Firecracker (since it was her birthday),

one for Little Brother (since he's getting the spacey room),

The other awesome spacey prints here came from nJoy Art.

...and one extra in case I messed up...and since I didn't mess up badly Hubby will get this for his office at school.

So there are three slightly different versions to inspire you.

Since I already had the frames on hand (either picked up at Goodwill a while ago for $2-3) or hand-me-downs from my mom, all I had to pay for were the prints and the silver paint pen. I could have printed them off at home, but I hated to think of all the black ink it would take, so I opted to take take them to Staples to have them printed.

Here's what you need to do to make your own:

Print of the moon
Frame with or without a mat
Silver Paint Pen

I did a Google Image search for large moon photos. The moon image I used came from this site. (You'll need to follow that link and then click on the picture where it says "My best moon photograph" for the large version.) I also found some neat images here and here that would be large enough to print. As far as I could tell it was okay to use images from these sites for personal use. I used Photoshop to crop the picture to an 8x10 size and took it to Staples. If you don't have Photoshop, don't worry...you can also crop images in Word or many other programs. I ended up having them print it on pearlized cardstock so that the white parts would be a little shiny...but it had to go through their color copier. They ended up costing $1.39 each + tax.

I really like the black frames. I'm not super happy with the frame that has the mat...I like having a mat, I just wish the frame and mat were more black/grey tones, but that was what I had in my garage and I figure I can re-frame it later.

Here's what I did:
You could totally do the writing free-hand...but I was afraid I would mess up. Instead, for the print with the writing on the print itself, I printed out the words on regular computer paper. (I used "Rage Italic" for the font.)

Then I laid the text over the print where I wanted it to go, and wrote over the computer paper with the ball point pen.

This left a slight impression on the print itself that I could trace over with the paint pen.

Then I just cut around the edge and framed it.

For the others, I thought I'd try putting the text on the frame itself, since they were black. Tracing the text with a ballpoint pen didn't leave an imprint, so instead I did some old school transferring. I remember using this for things back in elementary school. I scribbled with a pencil on the back of the paper...

...lined the text up on the frame where I wanted it, and traced over it with a pencil.

The scribbling on the back will then leave a faint pencil line on your frame.

Trace over it with your paint pen...and that's it.

For the last and final frame, I decided to wing it and just use my own handwriting. It turned out pretty even...if not as scripty looking.

I think my favorite is the one where I wrote on the frame with the script font. I also love how it looks with Little Brother's other spacey artwork in his room.

The solar system print just arrived a couple days ago from nJoy Art...

...along with the sweet surprise of the two extra smaller prints, so they all got framed and hung up at the same time.

These same pieces are no longer listed in her shop, but Nicola of nJoy Art still has this Flying Saucer Painting available as well as some friendly monster paintings, robot paintings, and transportation paintings. (And there are lots of girl and grown-up themed paintings as well.

If you REALLY want a solar system painting from nJoy Art though, she loves commissioned pieces, so she could probably paint you a new one.

Little Brother's room is really starting to look out of this world...if only he had an actual bed. (The story on that is that we were looking for the right bed...and then decided to have our new house designed so he'll have a loft bed built right into his closet, so now we're not buying a bed now and he'll have a totally awesome bed in a few months.)

But for now he is completely happy with his quilt and new pictures for his walls.

And in case you're wondering about that amazing felt board...it was a present from Grandma Kathy for Christmas, and she got the idea from Pink and Green Mama here.

And I promise the details and pattern about his solar system quilt ~~are coming soon...very soon.~~ are posted here.

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Rocket Ship Original Painting from nJoy Art

Faith in God Makes Me Stronger from Shirleen Bland's Art Studio

Carpe Noctem Necklace from Boutique Academia

Spectacular Scent Melts: Clearance @ Lily and Oak

2012-01-21T05:40:00.000-08:00

I just got into scent melts this year, through my friend Lisa. At first I wasn't so sure about them because I've never been a candle-person. Candles kind of freak me out because of the fire danger and having kids around. Scent melts are a great alternative, and I have loved having them in my home.

I've mentioned Lisa's scent melts before, and every scent I've tried has been delightful.

And if you're wishing for spring the way I am, some of her floral scents will help it feel more springy in your home...

...even if it's still cold, snowy, and overcast outside. I can't wait for the tulips to show up in my yard again. (I took this last April.)

If you're already a scent melt lover...or have been hoping to try some...this is a great time to stock up. My friend Lisa changed the name of her shop a while ago from Scrapbug Designs to Lily and Oak.

She's putting all of her "Old Label" scent melts on clearance for over 55% off her already great prices. For just $1.75 you can get a 6-melt clamshell of some of her best scents. These scents are not being discontinued...just the labels on them. This is a great opportunity to try out Lisa's products.

Or if you're looking for a particular scent, be sure to check out her entire selection of scent melts here.

Lisa also has some other fun products that she just put on clearance, so be sure to check out her whole clearance section, including the same style scent melter that you use. (Red is no longer in stock, but there are still lots of other great colors.)

Lisa also offers a lot of other great products. Her glass tile pendants are beautiful...and she even offers a custom glass tile pendant option. Last year, I had her make these pendants for my kids' birth moms as a Mother's Day gift.

And I love Lisa's new selection of metal tray pendants.

Each pendant is made to order, so you'll get exactly what you want.

Snow Day! - Snow Activities to do Indoors

2012-01-20T05:28:00.000-08:00

I know a lot of us are getting snow this week, so I thought I'd share some fun activities to keep your kiddos busy.

We've just had our first real snowfall of the year. Yesterday was a snow day and we just got the phone call that today is too! (A perk of having a husband for a teacher is getting a personal early morning phone call informing us of schedule changes.)

We spent most of the day yesterday getting caught up on some house work and just relaxing in general. I also got some "final" pictures of several new projects I'm excited to share with you over the next few weeks.

Firecracker went and played outside for a little while, but was driven in by the cold fairly quickly. Little Brother and Sweet Pea never did make it outside into the snow...but there will be plenty left for today.

Last year I shared how to make Best Ever Snowflakes using coffee filters. I've still got some coffee filters left over from last year, so I think we'll be making more of these today.

A few days ago (when I thought we might not be getting snow this year...HA!) we tried an idea from Christianne at Little Page Turners to use marshmallows to have fun with "snow." You've really got to check out her post to see the igloo her daughter made...and Christianne has a lot of other fun winter activities and books that are work check ing out.

I knew my kids would have fun, but was impressed with just how into it they got.

Firecracker made the most detailed figures...

...a snowman...

...and this snow dog friend.

And then a snow rainbow to finish it off.

Little Brother got super involved into making his snowflakes...

And I was especially surprised at how well Sweet Pea did all on her own. She lined them up and then came up with the idea that it was the path to Firecracker's school all on her own.

Of course building with them was not the only thing we did...

Of course, whether or not you have snow outside, you can also pretend play with snow inside...and it's a lot warmer. This is Little Brother and his birth mom building a snowmen inside during her visit a little over a year ago.

And it doesn't have to be snow-themed to make a good snowy day activity. Head over to my Children's book page for links to tons of different activities to do with kids.

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Peas in a Pod Pendant Tutorial

2012-01-19T05:25:00.000-08:00

Just in case you missed it, I thought I'd repost my tutorial for this Peas in a Pod Pendant that appeared on Keeping It Simple last week. These are quick, easy, and inexpensive to make.

Peas in a Pod Pendant...

My oldest two kids (ages 6 and 4) are adopted in open adoptions, so I'm always on the lookout for simple, but meaningful gifts for their birth parents. My daughter's birth mom was married this year and is pregnant with a little girl, so I made her a "Three Peas in a Pod" necklace, which can symbolize herself, my daughter, and her new baby or can symbolize herself, her husband, and new baby.

I made a "Two Peas in a Pod" necklace for my son's birth mom to symbolize the two of them.

A "Four Peas in a Pod" somehow showed up in my own stocking to symbolize my three kids and our baby on the way.

And I made several other necklaces as well...once you've made one, it's super easy to make more. You can make them with any number of beads, but the ones I made with two or three turned out the best. (My first one also didn't turn out nearly as well as the others...so if one doesn't turn out as well as you were hoping...you've really got to try a second.

I saw some Peas in a Pod necklaces floating around Pinterest and went looking for some tutorials. My favorites were this Sweet Pea Pendant from Positively Splendid and this Pea Pod Charm from Heidi's Hubbub. You can also find a lot of different Peas in a Pod necklaces on Etsy for inspiration and other ideas.

Here's what you'll need:

Some craft wire...I used 24 gauge, but any gauge close to that will work.
Some beads...I chose green. They came with about 20+ beads on a string for about 3 dollars. I've seen these made with white or lots of other colors too.
Wire cutters, or old scissors to cut the wire with
Needle nose pliers can be helpful, but are not necessary.
A chain for the necklace, if you don't already have one. I bought mine for $2 each at the craft store.

Here's what you do...
I used the directions from Amy at Positively Splendid for the first half, and then changed the second half a bit, so you might want to refer to her tutorial too, if something doesn't make sense here.

You'll want to start with a LOT of wire...24-36 inches. If you find that's too long for you to be able to work with, though, you can work with shorter segments and just twist the ends into the back and start a new wire.

Start by making a loop with your wire, that's just a little bigger than what you need to go around your beads. Wrap the wire around several times.

Twist your short tail back down around the stem and loop.

With the long wire you have left, fashion a small look that can be used to hang your pendant from your necklace. Twist the wire around the stem a couple more times.

Now we're going to weave the wire in and out through our big loop to make the back of our pod.

Keep weaving the wire, until you've loosely filled in your large loop.

Next, I wrapped the wire around the end, to make a small loop for threading wire through, in the next phase.

Now we're going to string our beads on.

Wrap the wire around your stem a couple times.

Now we're going to make several larger loops by running wire through the small loop at the bottom and twisting it back up around the stem.

You'll want to make 3-5 of these larger loops which will be the basis of the sides of our pea pod.

Wrap the wire around the top stem a couple times. Now we're going to start wrapping those larger loops to bundle them all together with little loops.

Continue wrapping with the little loops until you've gotten all the way around your pea pod.

Pull your wire through the back.

Trim and work the wire back through the pod.

Pull tight and cut the wire close to the pod and make sure the end, isn't sticking out where it could catch on clothing or scratch the wearer.

String it on a necklace, and you're done!

And if you're looking for a cute way to give one of these as a gift, you can see my tutorial here for using the same beads and wire to make bows or ties around your gift.

And if you're looking for a sweet little nursery painting to go along with a Pea in a Pod Necklace, nJoyArt offers a boy Sweet Pea ...

And a girl Sweet Pea...

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The Many Faces of Firecracker

2012-01-18T05:50:00.000-08:00

What do you get when you try to take a picture of one little hair clippy?

This...

I've mentioned many times that our older two kids are adopted. It's easy for us to know where some of their looks came from...

For instance, Firecracker's smile here looks just like her birth mom's.

The shape of her face and near-sighted vision came from her birthfather.

Some traits we know she got from all of us...like her brains. ;)

Behavior is a little harder to determine though...We never know which of their traits are inherited from their birth families and which are learned from us. In the end, it really doesn't matter, and it's likely a combination of the amazing genes they got and the awesome parenting they're getting.

But Firecracker's birth mom was famous for wacky photos...especially while she was in college, her Facebook albums were full of funny faces with her roommates...

...so...Alanna,I'm blaming this on you. ;)

(The tutorial for the melted crayon LOVE tiles in the background can be found here.)

All these pictures to try to get a peak at one of the hair clippies Alanna sent Firecracker for Christmas. I'll have to get more details from her on how she made them because they're really cute and maybe even more importantly, stay in her hair REALLY well.

Thanks, Alanna!

We LOVE YOU!

And as wonderful as those hair clippies are...we THANK YOU even more for bringing this beautiful, wacky, and amazing girl to our family! We just finished (last night, as I'm writing this) having her girly outerspace-solar system-stars themed birthday party. It's been a crazy day...but the girls had a lot of fun...and I'm tired...so I'll leave the mess for tomorrow and there will be plenty of pictures to follow later (like I'll probably be cleaning it up as you're reading this post.)

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Volcanos, High Tides, & Coconut Trees: Favorite Books about Hawaii

2012-01-17T05:44:00.000-08:00

It was just a little over a year ago that Firecracker and I went to Hawaii to attend her birth mom's wedding. Firecracker's birth family has quite a few connections to Hawaii, it was a fun trip to take. I also just recently finished Firecracker's Hawaiian Stripes Quilt, made from fabric she chose while we were there.

So I thought I'd share some of our favorite Hawaiian themed books.

Grandma Calls Me Beautiful by Barbara M. Joosse is a favorite. Actually just about every book by Barbara M. Joosse is a favorite with us. We were first introduced to one of her books by Firecracker's birth mom. It uses imagery from Hawaiian culture for a Grandmother to tell her granddaughter how much she loves her and how beautiful she is.

High Tide in Hawaii by Mary Pope Osbourne is part of the Magic Tree House series. While this particular book is quite similar to the others, Firecracker was especially drawn to this one because it's set in ancient Hawaii. Overall, I've been impressed by the Magic Tree House Series. They're great first chapter books for early readers. Firecracker can read one in an hour or so if she's focused, and she learns little facts along the way as she reads the books.

And I don't know if Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault is really set in Hawaii or not...but the letters are going up the coconut tree. This has been a favorite of all our kids, and the rhythm makes it a fun book for me to read aloud to our kids.

And finally...I think this one is my favorite of all...Dear Katie, The Volcano Is a Girl by Jean Craighead George . It intermingles the telling the Hawaiian legends along with the scientific explanation of how the Hawaiian Islands were formed, and has beautiful illustrations. Of course the main character's name was appealing to Firecracker too. I made sure to bring it with us on our trip. We only visited Oahu while we were there, so we weren't able to go to any erupting volcanoes, but we did get to see some volcanic rock up close...

...and have a relaxing little picnic inside the Diamondhead Crater

...and read Dear Katie, The Volcano Is a Girl while sitting in a tree inside a volcano's crater.

And in case you're not able to find this book at your library...here's a pretty good read-aloud video of it.

Do you have some favorite Hawaiian themed books?

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EASY Hawaiian Stripes Quilt - How To...

2012-01-16T05:07:00.000-08:00

All three kids needed a quilt or bedspread to fit their bed this year because they'd each moved up a size since their last one. Thankfully, Little Brother's and Firecracker's should last for a long time, since they're now in a twin size bed. I knew if I didn't get the quilts made for Christmas, it would be a long time before I got them done, since we'll be moving into our new house and having a new baby...all in a couple months.

A year ago, Firecracker and I went to Hawaii for her birth mom's wedding. While we were there we went to the big swap meet (seriously the place to go for cheap souvenirs when you're in Hawaii). Knowing then that Firecracker needed a nice bed spread, I let her choose some fabric. Firecracker's birth family has a lot of ties to Hawaii, and I thought it would be a fun way to remember the trip, rather than some cheap tourist trinkets (although we brought home a few of those too.) Then the fabric sat under my bed for pretty much a whole year.

I knew I needed to choose a simple pattern if I was going to be able to get three quilts done. Plus the big floral prints are so big and bright that I thought it would look too busy if I tried to do a pattern with more detailed piecing. I searched Pinterest for some easy quilt ideas and pinned them to my quilt board.

I had the yellow and brown solids in my stash, but there wasn't a lot left. They weren't quite long enough, so those strips are pieced together a little and I kept them thin, so they'd go farther. I think they help break up some of the flowers. And the quilt is still big and bright and busy...which is just how Firecracker is.

This quilt is approximately 60 inches by 90 inches. That's a little on the small side for a twin quilt, but Firecracker sleeps in a loft bed, so a lot of overhang on the sides would get in the way of the bars. This is just big enough to tuck in at the ends and around the sides of the mattress.

So here's what you'll need...

Decide how wide you want your quilt. Since mine was 60 inches wide, I started with two yards of each fabric, because it will shrink a little when you pre-wash it. You can get away with buying less fabric, but then you'll need to do some piecing to get long enough strips. (I had a lot less of the yellow and brown, so I had to piece those together.) 2 yards of 3 different fabrics gave me enough for the 90 inch long quilt, plus some strips left over for another project.

Then I cut out strips the length of my fabric using a quilting ruler and rotary cutter. I liked the randomness of varied widths, so I my smallest strips were about 2 inches wide, and I think my widest strips were 9 inches wide.

Once I had my strips cut out, I laid them out on the floor and arranged them the way I liked them.

Then I started sewing. I made sure to always start sewing from the same side and have it trimmed and even. The other side, came out with different lengths because that just happened to be the lengths of the strips.

After sewing each seam, I pressed the seams to one side. I find that easier than pressing them open.

Once the whole thing was sewn together, carefully folded the quilt in half and used the even side to trim the uneven side. You'll also want to be sure to measure after it's folded to make sure that the even side really is even.

The trimming was probably the hardest part of making the whole quilt.

For the back, I decided the cheapest way to buy the fabric was to buy 4 yards of fabric (just over double my width). Then I cut that into two 2-yard lengths. Since the fabric was just under 45 inches inches wide, it wasn't quite long enough for the quilt, so I used some extra floral strips to fill it in. A little nontraditional, but I like the interest it gives the back of the quilt.

To prepare the quilt for quilting, I used basting spray. I'd never heard of it until reading this basting tutorial from Heidi at Honeybear Lane. I love the stuff...and I don't think I'll ever be able to go back. She mentioned using pins to make sure the sides were secure...I didn't use a single pin and the basting spray held it perfectly.

I used bright pink machine quilting thread to machine quilt it...and I don't have a fancy sewing machine or anything. I just rolled the sides in.

I love the subtle decorative touch it adds.

And even though Firecracker got the simplest of quilt designs...she was thrilled with it Christmas morning.

I had fun using some of the scraps and trimmings to embellish the wrapping.

And she didn't even remember helping me choose the fabric.

The biggest challenge may be that she's used to dragging her quilts all over the house...and we're going to insist that this one stays on her bed...

(My mom made that cute blue neck buddy for Firecracker for Christmas. You can find out more about the pattern on her blog here.)

...because it's actually a little difficult to "make" a loft bed. Click here if you'd like to see our favorite children's books about Hawaii.

(We love the front-facing bookshelves we put by each of the girls' bed. They're great for holding books, a sippy cup, etc. You can find the tutorial to make them here.)

If you're thinking of making a quilt from strips, here are some of the quilts that I pinned for inspiration. Ultimately, I went for more of the look of this first one...although I love all the embroidery on the last.

Stripey Quilt from Alexis at Fifi and Florence.

Stripey Quilt from at Noodlehead

400 Kids Made This Quilt from the long thread.

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A Frog Prince: Favorite Fairy Tale

2012-01-14T05:30:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I shared how to make an easy little Valentine Tree with twigs and felt scraps as well as sharing the rest of the mantel...

Which also included our melted crayon LOVE tiles.

...and also this little painted stone frog.

Firecracker was the one who thought he should be included. (He'd previously lived on the bookshelf next to the mantel.)

When I got to thinking about it, he did seem to fit on a Valentine's mantel, because it reminded me to pull out one of my favorite fairy tales.

A Frog Prince by Alix Berenzy

I first came across this book as a teenager when I worked at the local library shelving books. I'd keep my eye out for particularly amazing children's books thinking I'd build a stash for someday when I had kids. I only ended up actually buying a couple (those were the days before the internet was big and cheap used books were easy to find), but this was one of them.

The story starts out like the traditional Frog Prince story, but has an unusual and endearing twist...and the illustrations are gorgeous! The frog retrieves a ball from the bottom of a pond for a distraught (and very spoiled) princess who promises to be his friend and have him as a guest in the castle. However, instead of turning into a prince when the princess is mean to him, the frog decides to go on a quest to find a princess who will truly appreciate him and see him for what he is. After several kind, noble, and brave deeds, he eventually finds his princess asleep in a castle.

His kiss wakes her up, and she sees his princely character, even though is is just an "ordinary frog in fancy clothes."

And they are married and live happily ever after.

I think it has a great message about appearances and what truly makes people worth having as a friend.

Firecracker read the whole thing herself said her favorite part is when the nasty witch gets her eyes pecked out by the birds helping the frog escape.

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nJoyArt: New Sponsor Spotlight

2012-01-13T05:00:00.000-08:00

If you follow me on Pinterest (my Cakes and Party Ideas Board in particular) , you might have guessed that we have some kind of space party coming up at our house. Little Brother got his solar system themed quilt (I promise...the post about it with the pattern ARE coming) as well as several other solar system themed gifts for Christmas, which inspired Firecracker to ask for a solar system themed birthday party.

Which led me to searching the for various solar system and space graphics...which led me to this original painting...

Rocket Ship by nJoy Art

...and then this one...

Flying Saucer by n Joy Art

And then by the time I saw this amazing Solar System Print, I knew I wanted it for Little Brother's wall to go with the quilt...it's in the mail...and I.CAN'T.WAIT for it to show up in my mailbox.

nJoy Art has a lot more to offer than just Space and Solar System art, though, so I emailed Nicola to see if she'd be interested in becoming a sponsor, so I'd have an excuse to show her amazing work off to all of you.

And she said, YES!

So I'm pleased to introduce Nicola of nJoy Art as the newest sponsor of Helping Little Hands! (And make sure to read to the end of the post to find out how you could win an amazing painting of your own.)

Nicola has almost 100 different works of art listed in her shop, and nearly all of her pieces are the original works of art, with a few prints available.

Here's just a small sampling of what you'll find.

All sorts of children's pieces

Peace Love by nJoy Art

Flowers are Natures Way of Laughing by nJoy Art

Monster Pair by nJoy Art

Butterfly Kisses on Poppy by nJoy Art

Bro-Bots by nJoy Art

Amazing pieces for YOU

POPPIES, 36x24 Acrylic Canvas by nJoy Art

GOLD LEAVES, 24x36 Acrylic Canvas

And several that would be great for Valentine's gifts that could stay up all year.

Lovebirds at Sunset by nJoy Art

Modern Art Heart by nJoy Art

And once you're finished drooling over all of her amazing paintings, Nicola's offering a chance to win one! Once her Facebook page reaches 300 "likes," she'll be giving away one amazing piece of original art to one lucky Facebook follower, and you get to vote on which piece it will be. Go here to "like" nJoy Art on Facebook. Then go here to vote on your favorites by "liking" the individual paintings.

Easy Felt and Twig Valentine's Tree Tutorial

2012-01-12T05:12:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I shared my melted crayon LOVE tiles that I made for our mantel. Once I finished them, though, there was still something missing. We needed something with a little more height to it. After looking around on Pinterest I had this and this for inspiration, I remembered an empty red vase hanging out in our kitchen begging to be used.

A few scraps of felt, thread, and a glue gun later...

It was really easy and free (since we had all the supplies on hand) to put together.

And to round out the mantel, I put back our family name sign that I made at a ladies' craft night about a year ago.

And Firecracker added this painted stone frog that my mother gave me years ago which had been painted by a family friend. At first it seemed a little random for a Valentine mantel...but there are some fun love stories/fairy tales involving frogs...so I'll have to share my favorite soon to help justify his place. Besides, I like to indulge Firecracker's taste...and I don't want the whole mantel to look too red & pink anyway.

Materials:

Bare twigs/branches (You'll want them to have lots of knobby places to hold hang the hearts.)
Felt scraps
Thread
Glue (I used a glue gun...but you could easily use regular glue for a more kid-friendly project.)

I had Hubby help me cut some twigs off the tree in our backyard (because I'm short and was too lazy to get something to stand on.)

Then Firecracker and I pulled out some felt scraps and sent to work cutting out hearts. Much to her disappointment, I threw a few white and grey ones into the mix for some contrast.

I started out using a single heart and using a needle to pull the thread through and tie a knot. It was a bit more difficult that I realized it would be though, since some of the pieces of thread were so tiny.

After trying a few things, here's what I found easiest for making the little heart ornaments.

Fold a felt scrap in half.

Cut out two identical hearts. I didn't worry about them being perfectly symmetrical, but you could always trace them if you want them looking more even. All my hearts were small, but I still tried to vary their sizes so that some were a bit larger, and some were tiny.

Open up your hearts, and add a dab of glue. (I used hot glue so the hearts would be ready faster, but regular glue would work too. You'd just need to give the hearts time to dry.

Add your thread, so both ends are caught in the glue.

And sandwich your heart back together.

And hang on your "tree."

Hubby's not so sure about the "tree"...He thinks it looks too bare. He says it looks like someone thought the twigs were lonely and added some hearts to help them feel better. But I think it's growing him.

And if I want, I can save the little hearts in a baggy for next year and this will take up almost zero room to store...especially since those LOVE tiles will be finding a permanent place in the kids' play room after our move.

So what do you think? Is this idea a keeper or does it look like some too-lonely twigs? (It's okay...you really can tell me the truth.)

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Melted Crayon Art Tutorial: LOVE Letter Tiles

2012-01-11T05:55:00.000-08:00

I've never really been big on decorating for holidays, other than Christmas. We've always lived in such small spaces that I didn't want the extra clutter. I had every intention of leaving our Silent Night painting up until we move sometime around April...but then inspiration struck. The Nativity painting came down and these went up.

I stumbled across this graphic on Remodelholic...

...and I thought...wouldn't that look great with melted crayon dots instead of sprinkles?!? (A little less messy too.)

And I LOVE how it turned out.

I'd planned on doing the whole word LOVE on a piece of wood or something, but when I went hunting around in the garage for something that would work, I found 4 tiles I'd bought over a year ago to make some trivets...and I think they turned out to work perfectly.

I'd also originally thought to use all red/pink/white, but then decided to use a mix of colors so it could be used more of the year. I wish I knew what accent colors I wanted to use in our new living room because I would have used those. The colors turned out so bold and bright that I think when we move, these are going to find a permanent home in the kids' playroom. (I know...I can hardly believe we're finally going to have a playroom...other than our living room.)

I think this technique would also work great to make monograms for the kid's rooms. I love the vivid colors and the texture you get with melted crayon art.

And it's SO easy and uses up some of those old crayons you're sure to have lying around.

Here's what I did...

You'll need to start out gathering your supplies.

You'll want some kind of backing...tiles, canvas, wood, etc. (If you're using wood, you'll want to paint a base coat of whatever color you want the letters to be.)
Old crayons...if your house is anything like ours, you've got no shortage of them.
Candle and matches (I dripped some wax on my candle, so make sure it's not a really pretty one you care about.)
Template to trace your letters from. I printed my letters off the computer and used "Ariel Black" font with bold added.

Once I had everything gathered, I traced my letters onto the tile with pencil.

Then I chose a crayon and peeled off the paper. You put the tip in flame of your candle until you see it start to soften and form a drip. This only takes a second or two. Then you touch the tip of the crayon to your tile. Reheat your candle, add another dot, etc.

I used one color and randomly added dots all over the tile, except where I wanted my letter to be.

Then I moved on to a second color, adding dots all over. (I know...it looks a little like I bled all over the tile.)

And you keep building up different colors of crayons until you've covered your tile, except for your letter.
This is with 3 colors. I try to use a mix of dark shades and light shades as I go.

And this is with several more layers added...

and you'll have a little pile of crayon nubs...and a dripped on candle left.

Then repeat for your other letters.

A few things I've learned about melted crayon dot art...the cheap jumbo crayons from the dollar store are awesome to use for these...especially if you use them on your first layer or two. They often come in different (and often lighter shades) than the crayolas (so add some contrast), they're big, so they provide more coverage faster...and of course they're generally crummy to actually color/draw with, so I'm happy to use them up and have them out of the house.

Lighter blue is especially hard to get with the general packs of Crayola, so the light blue you see here was a dollar store jumbo. I also added some purple, silver, and grey for contrast.

I found a glittery green crayon and love the look it gave the V...the lightest green was a dollar store jumbo.

The yellow was the trickiest because it needed to be bold to stand out...and yellow just isn't that bold...but I didn't want it to look orange. I added a little gold for contrast, and some regular yellow. Most of the dots were done with a "dandelion" crayon (which we had a lot of since they come in the 24 crayola packs). I also added some flesh tone to give a little contrast without looking too orange. I'm not super thrilled with the yellow, but taken with the other tiles, it looks great.

Once I do figure out what color the accents in our living room will be at our new house, I'm excited to come up with some more melted crayon letter art.

And if you have a problem with too many old crayons like we do...

...you might be interested in some of our other melted crayon art projects.

And...as luck would have it...the mantel just looked like it was still missing something...something with a little more height...so the next day I came up with this little Valentine Tree. ~~I'll share how to make it soon (hopefully tomorrow), so check back. :)~~ Click here for the tutorial.

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More Brown Paper Wrapping Ideas

2012-01-10T05:44:00.000-08:00

I had fun Christmas Eve staying up and doing the last minute wrapping. Hubby helped me for a little while, and then went off to bed while I finished up the embellishments. It did take a little longer than if I'd just slapped some regular Christmas paper on them...but not much longer.

I had a box of scraps I'd been saving from the Christmas gifts I'd made, some Christmas fabric that a family member gave me last year, and some other buttons and yarn...oh...and a glue gun...which I've decided is essential if you're going to do scrappy wrapping with brown paper.

(I have to give credit to Rebecca of Older and Wisor for introducing me to Scrappy Wrapping and the idea of using a glue gun to wrap gifts. She is a gift wrapping genius.)

No step-by-steps for these...but I'll give you a quick run down.

My favorite one first...The Bunting Wrap.

This would work great with other colors for any occasion. All I did was cut out triangles...I didn't even worry about them being exactly the same. Put a stripe of glue across with the glue gun and throw down the triangles.

Sweet Pea had fun pulling at the flags before opening her gift.

And it went with the sweet Bird and Bunting Quilt that was wrapped up inside. Click here for the directions and template.

Little Brother got a solar system quilt (again...more details to come). I had some long scraps from trimming the edges as I prepared it for quilting, so I just tacked the end on the back with the glue gun and wrapped it around a few times.

Another long thin scrap became a bow after I wrapped it back and forth 5 or 6 time, added a few contrasting scraps, and tied it in the middle. Then I glued the bow on with the glue gun.

He loved his Solar System Quilt...which I'll have more details as well as the templates available for in a week or so.

The scraps I had from trimming Firecracker's quilts weren't quite as long, but I loved the patchwork look of them, so they're slightly shorter strips which are each secured with the glue gun on the back. The bow was made the same way as above and glued on.

She loved that the wrapping matched what was inside (details for this quilt coming soon)...

I've seen quite a few string wraps on brown bag packages, so I thought I'd try a few of those on the smaller gifts. I secured with the glue gun on the back, wrapped, and then glued the end again. I also found it helpful to include a spot of glue when I switched directions with the string.

Firecracker's main "toy" gift this year was a kid-camera. So when I wrapped that one up, I added a couple of photos to the outside and tied it up with some yarn. My kids always LOVE photos, so this is a great wrap option, even if the gift isn't a camera.

I've also had a lot of fun with these scrappy button bows. I glue strips around the package to look like ribbon. Then I just use several strips...sometimes all the same fabric, sometimes different fabrics, and tie them in the middle with another scrap. If them seem like they need a little more at that point, I glue a few craft buttons over the knot.

Sweet Pea noticed her pink and purple buttons immediately, because those are her favorite colors.

Or even just a simple string tied around the brown paper is charming. Yarn like this always makes me think of my Nana...because her gifts are always wrapped simply with yarn...usually red.

And they looked lovely under the tree. It was obvious to the kids right off which ones were from Mom and Dad and which ones were from the other important people in their lives.

I've still got plenty of brown paper left...and I'm looking forward to experimenting some more during the year.

You also might want to check out my previous post about brown paper wrapping that is especially Mail Friendly.

Or this tutorial on how to use beads and wire as embellishment on smaller packages.

And my sister Katie at The Red Kitchen has some other fun ideas with brown paper. You really should click over and see her kitty cat package...

Peas in a Pod Pendant Tutorial

2012-01-09T07:00:00.000-08:00

I'm excited to be a guest today over at Keeping It Simple. I'll be sharing how to make one of these Peas in a Pod Pendants, and I'm even giving one away!(Two easy ways to enter...follow my blog and/or follower her blog and leave a comment. Drop by to say hello and enter.

Fun with Flashcards

2012-01-06T14:22:00.000-08:00

The other day, I was up on Firecracker's loft bed, trying to get her bed made up nicely with her new quilt, so I could take some pictures of it...which I'll share with you next week. (Anyone else notice what a pain it is to make up a loft/bunk bed?!?) The whole time I was up there wrestling with the sheets and quilt, Sweet Pea was down in her bed babbling away and practicing her letters.

My mom gave us several sets of flashcards for a Christmas gift, and Sweet Pea especially LOVES them. She especially loves to find R's...

YEAH!! I found an R!!!!

And B's...

Because those are the letters her name starts with.

But 2's are just as important, because she is 2 and proud of it.

(Not sure what will happen when she turns 3 in March...whether she'll be excited to be a bigger number or disappointed that she's no longer 2.)

These are a few of the ones my mom made for us...I'm not sure where the uppercase cards were at the time of the photo shoot. Like I said...Sweet Pea LOVES them and carries them all over the house...so they could be anywhere (although judging by the other pictures, I probably should have looked harder between the wall and her bed.)

My mom also sewed up this sweet little bag to put them in.

When Sweet Pea saw that I had them for pictures, she could hardly keep her hands off them. So we pulled the buttons out...

...and she had fun putting buttons on the dots. 6 was her favorite because it had purple dots, so then she could put purple buttons on them.

Sweet Pea's infatuation with them has really made me think that we need to get back into the swing of doing more preschool activities in the morning. So hopefully in the next week or so I'll be sharing more children's books and activities regularly like I used to.

If you're in the same boat and wanting to do more learning activities with your kids, flashcards like these have a ton of uses.

If you'd like to make some similar flashcards of your own, the printable PDF is available from my sister Katie's Etsy Shop From The Red Kitchen.

This way you can print your own flash cards...and print them as many times as you want. They work great as gifts and if your kids ruin one or two...or you want an extra set...you can just print them out.

She has lots of different sets, plus some that are not shown here.

The alphabet card set comes with both the upper and lower case sets...The lower case are my favorite because children come across far more lower case letter when reading than they do of uppercase letters...but most sets just have uppercase. The alphabet set also include common punctuation symbols.

I love the countable (and button-able) dots on the number cards...plus they start at 0 and go up to 20, so they cover all the "hard" numbers that the 1-10 sets miss.

Katie also offers sets with shapes and colors.

For the best deal, you can order all four of her sets (alphabet, numbers, shapes, and colors) as a bundled deal for less.

And I even talked her into offering my readers a little discount. Enter the discount code "HELPINGLITTLEHANDS" when you check out for a 10% discount off your whole order. (So that's 10% off your flashcards...as well as any buttons, or other cute things you might pick up while you're there.) The offer is good until Saturday, January 14th.

Bird and Bunting Quilt - With Pattern & Tips

2012-01-05T05:27:00.000-08:00

I'm finally ready to share the details (and template) for the Bird and Bunting Quilt I made for Sweet Pea for Christmas. )

And details on the other quilts I made will be coming soon.

The inspiration for this quilt came from this Rainbow Bunting Baby Quilt that I saw over a year ago on A Pretty Cool Life.

I thought it would be fun to finish the edges with a satin stitch, add some bias tape for the bunting to hang from, and add a little bird for some added sweetness.

It was quick and easy to put together (for a quilt) since the back is all one piece and the bunting is appliqued on.

If you've been wanting to learn how to applique...this is a great quilt to try.

Sweet Pea loves it...

...as well as the fleece fitted sheet that is tucked in under it.

Unfortunately, there's still more of this...

(Those front-facing book shelves by her bed are a tried-and-true favorite...you can find the tutorial to make them here.)

...and this (those are mischievous eyes)...

...and this (Don't let her fool you...she's hiding...not asleep) at naptime...

...than we get of this...

But that's just because she's beginning to grow out of napping.

I thought I'd share a few details of how I put the quilt together as well as the template for the appliqued pieces.

Here's what you'll need...

Heat'n Bond Lite or a similar product. You can buy this from the bolt at the fabric store or in packages in the craft section of other stores.
A little less than 2 yards of background fabric. (I made mine 60 inches long, but you'll want to buy a little more than that to allow for shrinkage when you wash it.)
Lot of fabric scraps for the bunting triangles. You can have them all different, or could even just stick to a couple of favorite fabrics.
About 4 yards of bias tape...although I made my own. You can see Dana's tutorial on MADE for more details about how to do that.
All they typical supplies for sewing: pins, scissors, sewing machine...etc...
Printed copy of the Free Bird and Bunting Quilt Template. Click Here to Print

Here's what I did...

I cut out a lot of triangles from my Heat'n Bond Lite. (There are other products that will work too...this is just the one I'm used to. I used 24 triangles for my quilt...but you'll want to cut out a few extra. Once I went to lay it out, I realized that some fabrics didn't go well next to each other and it's nice to have a few extra for experimenting. Iron the Heat'n Bond Lite onto the WRONG side (back) of your fabric, and cut out the fabric triangles.

Then peel off the paper backing and lay them out on your quilt top. I always like something about my quilts to go beyond the borders a bit, so I liked the look of some of the flags on the edges going off the side, but that's personal taste.

I also layed them out so their corners would overlap just a bit. This is because I planned on the top edge being covered up with the bias tap, and I wanted the flags to meet at the edge of the bias tape...not under the bias tape.

Once you're satisfied with where they are, iron them in place. I didn't want them to move while I moved the quilt to the ironing board, so I did a quick ironing job right on my carpet, just to hold them on. (Careful not to melt your carpet!)

Then I moved over to my ironing board, to iron them more thoroughly and make sure all the edges sealed.

You'll especially want to check the tips and corners to see if they're loose and if so, re-iron.

Trim off any overhanging flags.

Now you're ready to sew the edges. I used a satin stitch...which is basically just a zigzag stitch set to a very short stitch length.

When selecting thread for applique, you want the thread to match your fabric as well as possible. If I don't have the exact thread color to match, I generally prefer a slightly darker thread to a thread that's too light. Also, it's not really practical to have bobbin thread for every single color...so I match as close as I can...here I used white.

I start by doing a few short regular stitches to secure the end of my thread.

Then I set the zigzag width and stitch length I wanted. (Each machine will look different here and if you've never appliqued before you'll want to experiment with the stitch length and zigzag width on some scraps before doing your quilt.)

I just satin stitched the two longer sides of the triangles because the shorter side will be covered up by the bias tape. Since the ends were going to be covered up, I did a small straight stitch to secure the end again.

Once all the bunting triangles are satin stitched, I pulled out my bias tape. I made my own half-inch single fold bais tape using Dana's tutorial, but you can also buy it pre-made.

You'll want to pin it on well, so it fits the curve of your flags.

I laid it out, so that most of the bias tape overlapped the flags.

I sewed one side, close to the edge...

...and removed the pins as I went to make sure it laid perfectly smooth.

If you remove your pins like I did, you'll want to repin it before sewing the second side to make sure it stays smooth.

Now it's time to work on the bird applique...or you can leave it off if you want a simpler quilt. Trace the pieces for the bird onto some Heat'n Bond Lite. You'll notice the pieces in the pattern are reverse of the direction the bird is shown on my quilt. That's because you always have to trace images onto Heat'n Bond in reverse. I liked this bird because it's simple and it's tail hangs down onto the flags just a little. There are lots of other bird appliques available out there if you prefer.

Iron the Heat'n Bond onto the WRONG SIDE (back) of your fabric, and cut out again.

Peel off the paper backing.

Arrange on your quilt. Make sure the beak is tucked under the bird's head just a little.

Iron well, making sure all the edges are sealed.

Satin stitch around the edges of the bird.

Since the ends of the stitching are visible here, I don't do any stitching to secure the thread initially. Instead, I pull the front threads through to the back, and hand-tie a knot with the back threads to secure it.

And that's it for the quilt top. I'm not going to go into the details of how to quilt and bind the quilt here, because quite frankly, there are a lot of tutorials out there by people who know a lot more about it than I do, and you probably already have your own method.

I have started to use Basting Spray to prepare my quilts for machine quilting and I LOVE IT. I don't think I'll ever go back to frame quilting or using pins. Basically, I machine quilted around the flags, line, and bird. I did all the stitching in the blue fabric with blue thread, and did a couple extra lines through really wide blue spaces.

If anyone is interested in more details about the machine quilting and binding process let me know, and maybe I'll do a tutorial for those next time I finish a quilt.

Tips and Tricks for a $0 Kitchen Makeover

2012-01-04T05:35:00.000-08:00

A lot of us are thinking about getting more organized. After all the extra clutter of Christmas decorations we're all craving a more organized house. I hope you'll like some of the little tips and tricks I came up with...but first I wanted to give you the punchline...

...Take a good hard look at how you're using your space in your biggest problem area. You might not need to buy anything to create more space if you just use the space you have in a better way.

Last week I cleaned my kitchen...really cleaned it...so much so that seriously this qualifies as a kitchen make-over, even though nothing new was installed, painted, nailed, etc. Our kitchen has never looked this good since the day we moved in.

I have never been an impeccable house keeper...and with three kids running around the house and a tiny kitchen...well it's not always pretty.

To our kitchen's credit though...for a tiny kitchen it really does have a lot of storage and is pretty well designed. Hubby's parents gave us a new mixer for Christmas, so I knew we had to make room for it...

but where...

...when our kitchen counters look like this...

Some days our counters look better than this...some days they look worse.

Sadly, I didn't even take a "BEFORE" picture of the most transformed corner because I didn't intend on doing anything with it when I started rearranging things.

Something had to give...because I really wanted to use that mixer (which I've still be too scared to use...but I think I might go back some bread when I'm finished writing this post.)

So here's a little of what I did...

Remember that cute little can I made to hold the measuring spoons? Well, it didn't really hold them all very well, so Hubby took matters into his own hands and found another random can to be a second one. Which of course meant that we had two cans taking up space and had two places to look for a measuring spoon. I like having a lot of measuring spoons so I don't have to constantly rinse and dry them while I'm cooking...and I don't like them all hooked together with a ring because then you get them all dirty, even if you only use one.

So I decided to try this pretty little crystal dish. It is a wedding gift that has mostly gone unused, and it's the perfect size and shape...narrow at the bottom for the handles, and wider at the top for the spoons...

and just right to sit on our Little Red Shelf...

...which has been de-cluttered and cleaned a bit.

The main breakthrough for this kitchen clean-up was moving the dry goods containers. One of the first things I did when we were unpacking was line them up along the back of the counter, in front of our raised bar. We had a space behind and around our dish drainer that did nothing but collect junk. I figured if I moved the dry goods containers there...then we wouldn't be able to fill that space with junk...and since they're in sealed plastic containers if a little water drips on them now and then, it won't matter.

(That painting is one my parents picked up for me when they went on a trip to Guatemala several years ago.)

Of course the dry goods containers neatly lined up, made me want to do something prettier with those little corner shelves. They'd mostly held our vases...which mostly gather dust, and some other random objects that Hubby would put there from time to time to get them out of the way. I also thought it would be fun to add a few more touches of red...

...so I washed out the vases and put a red wash cloth in one vase.

The red wash cloth and the little red dish were both part of this gift, and can act as pretties for the shelf and are still easily accessible when I want to use them. That little flower tile is a souvenir from a trip Hubby and I took to Mexico 10 years ago.

For the other vases, I added some old sweater scraps from this scarf and this hat. (Now those scraps are not taking up space with those craft supplies...and if I find they're in the way, I can always just toss them.)

Those sparkling cider glasses were given to us in the hospital when Sweet Pea was born, and the little cream pitcher is from my Nana.

I used the rest of the sweater scraps to add a little red to one of the glass bowls. It's a pretty bowl that I picked up from a garage sale...It's kind of a weird shape though, so we've never really used it. I don't think we'll keep the bowl long term when we move, but for now I like how it looks in the cupboard...up at the top because I don't really need to use it.

It's in our see-through cupboards, which already had the red bowl I painted a while ago and the pie plate and casserole dish from this gift.

The wooden bowl I'd been using for the oven mits was really too big and therefore collected other things that didn't belong, so I switched it out for this little red basket.

I thought the Pi Plate would be a fun decorate piece, but I think it will go back in the cupboard soon...It's already slipped down a few times. Maybe when I move, I'll get a hanger for it and actually put it on the wall. You can see how I made the fabric covered can for the spoons and spatulas here.

And then I used the wooden bowl to help contain some of the runaway fruit spread across the counter.

I also put away many of the cookbooks that I almost never use into an upper cupboard and sifted them so they'd be against the wall, rather than against the raised bar. Unfortunately the printer needs to stay there for the time being. I also moved the knife block to this counter to free up space on the other one for...

(See that Junior cookbook squeezed in there...Firecracker got that for Christmas and she LOVES it.)

...the new mixer.

I picked up that red vase at Goodwill a while back and added it to be pretty. I may put it away soon...it's too tall for those corner shelves and it does seem a bit silly to have it on the main counter without a functional purpose...and that jar of cornbread mix has since been delivered to the neighbors.

There are still a couple of things I'm not entirely happy with...but haven't thought of a great solution. Maybe you have an idea? We'll be moving in a couple months to our new house, so if an easy solution doesn't come up, I'll find something more permanent there.

Here they are...a weird spot behind the printer. I put this cute little white glass jar from Goodwill there. Right now it's empty. I don't quite know what to put in it. I'm thinking that it could use maybe some black vinyl lettering or something...but I don't know what to put on it or in it...or even if it should stay in my kitchen. If I decide it needs to go, it could be a great container to give a gift in.

I'm also not super happy about the placement of my wheat grinder. It's something I use probably about once a week, give or take. If it was put away in a cupboard, I'd probably be too lazy to get it out and end up just using white flour instead of the healthier wheat flour.

And of course...what is better to do in a clean kitchen than cook in it?!? This is Firecracker making our New Year's Cupcakes. It cracks me up how she's lined up all the measuring cups.

Easy Matching Shirt for Flannel Pajama Pants

2012-01-03T05:39:00.000-08:00

Two of the three kids were in need of pajamas this year...ya know...because the ones they got last year are above their ankles now. As of nap time on Christmas Eve I still hadn't started Little Brother's. I didn't have much time because I needed to get them finished during his nap...and there were about 20 other things I needed to get done before Santa could come.

I pulled out some flannel and sewed up the pants. Sewing pajama pants is about the easiest kind of clothes you can sew. I make mine like this (just a little roomier than for knit pants since flannel isn't stretchy...and you'll have to leave a little extra at the ends for hemming.)

Sewing flannel pajama tops is a pain though...so I never do it. I usually try to take an existing T-shirt and make it matchy somehow. It turned out as I was going through my stash of blank T-shirts that they were all either too small for Little Brother, or had a girly cut to them...except for one black T-shirt. I started looking for some brown scraps to applique a dog onto it for him, but didn't have any in the right colors...and I was feeling a bit of a time crunch.

And because I was in a time crunch and I was totally making this up as I went, I didn't take pictures for a full tutorial. I've been wanting to try combining freezer paper stencil and applique for a while, so I'll definitely be trying this again, since it turned out so well. For now, though, here's a quick rundown of what I did...

I scanned in a scrap of the flannel fabric to get a computer image I could enlarge. Since the dog is looking through a white hole in the fabric design, I traced the edge of the dog + the hole onto a piece of Heat'n Bond (in reverse) tracing on the outside of the lines and being a little generous. I ironed that onto the back of a white T-shirt scrap, cut it out, peeled off the backing, and ironed it onto the shirt. Then you sew around the edge of applique to secure it. (You can get no-sew versions of Heat'n Bond or similar products...but I never trust that they will hold in the long term after a lot of wear and washing.)

Then I traced out the outline of the dog (being less generous and tracing more on the inside of the lines) onto a piece of freezer paper. Then I cut it out and ironed the outline of the dog onto the white applique. I had a couple colors of brown acrylic craft paint, and used the design on the flannel as a guide for painting inside my dog outline. Usually, I water the acrylic paint down a little before painting on fabric, but I didn't this time because I was in a hurry...it probably would have been better if I had, but oh well. Once you've done your painting, let it dry thoroughly, remove the freezer paper, and iron over the design to help set the paint.

(Note this picture was taken after the shirt was worn for a couple of nights, and then washed and dried. You can see the paint cracked just a little...if I'd watered down the paint just a tad first, that probably would not have happened.)

Then as a last step, I went around the major outlines of the dog and a few details with a black fabric pen to help them stand out a bit.

And it was ready for Little Brother to open on Christmas Eve, along with his sisters opening up theirs.

For more details about the girls' coordinating pajamas, you can see this post.

And Little Brother had fun being silly...

...and opening up his presents in his new puppy pajamas.

Because the only thing better than opening Christmas presents...is opening them in a new pair of pajamas...

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Monster Pair Original Painting from nJoy Art	Faith in God Makes Me Stronger from Shirleen Bland's Art Studio	Personalized Transportation Collage from nJoy Art

Wire and Bead Bows and Ties - Gift Wrap Tutorial

2012-01-02T13:03:00.000-08:00

I made some Peas in a Pod necklaces for several people this Christmas. As I've mentioned several times...I'm trying to venture out and do a better job wrapping gifts attractively, and I wanted to try to do something that would match a little.

I've gotten a couple things from Maile of Boutique Academia, and every time they come in a little brown jewelry box with a classy wire bow.

I'm not sure how she does it...but this was my inspiration...and I was reusing the same box. :)

I wasn't sure I could pull off a neat little bow, so I started simpler. Here's what you'll need...besides of course the gift and box to wrap.

I wrapped the wire around the box, the way you would if you were using ribbon. I cut off a piece of wire, longer than I thought I would need, centered it on the front of the box, and wrapped it around to the back.

On the back, I pulled twisted it around a couple times to make sure it would hold, and then brought it around the other side to make a cross shape.

Then I brought the wire back to the front of the box, and twisted it around a couple times. It may be helpful to use some needle nose pliers when twisting to really get it snug. I also pulled it around the first wire to keep them all together.

Then I threaded a bead on...

...and trimmed the end...next time I'd probably leave the ends just a tad longer.

And twisted the end around a large yarn needle. I liked the little swirls it made and they also keep the bead from falling off.

Repeat for the other end of the wire...

...and you're done.

For a little variety...and because I only had a couple of the little boxes, I also tried sewing up a little fabric bag.

I wrapped the necklace in a little scrap of fleece to keep it padded, and tucked it inside.

Then I wrapped some wire around the bag to hold it closed, and used some needle nose pliers to twist it tight.

This time I decided to try a bow. I wrapped the wire around my finger to make half the bow. Then I twisted that loop around itself to make it stay.

Then I did the same thing for the second loop of the bow...so the loops aren't really tied together the way they would be if you were using ribbon.

Then since my loops weren't quite matching, I added a few beads to dress it up a bit. I added the beads the same way as for the box...thread the bead on, twist it around a large yarn needle, and trim. I liked the ends being two different lengths.

That's it...

If you'd like to make a Peas in a Pod Pendant of your own...I'll have the tutorial up first thing next week, so stay tuned!

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Eiffel Tower Pendant from Lily and Oak	Girl with the Savior Print from Shirleen Bland's Art Studio	Binary Love Pendant from Boutique Academia

Happy New Year and Moments that Matter Most

2012-01-01T05:36:00.000-08:00

Moments are the molecules that make up eternity. ---Elder Neal A. Maxwell

It is not so much the major events as the small day-to-day decsions that map the course of our living. ---Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley.

My main goal for this coming year is to focus more on the things that matter most and pray that I will have the wisdom to recognize what they are.

Happy New Year! What goals are you working on?

And in case you missed them, you can see some of my Favorite Projects from 2011 here.

Last Minute New Year's Clock Cupcakes

2011-12-31T05:24:00.000-08:00

I don't usually do anything in the way of decorating and such for New Years, but this idea was too easy to pass up. I saw an idea on My First Playhouse's Facebook page for making a clock with iced sugar cookies. When Firecracker asked to make cupcakes yesterday, I figured we could make a clock with cupcakes. (Much easier in my opinion than cutting out, baking, and frosting sugar cookies.)

Ours didn't turn out quite as picture perfect (mostly from my lazy piping), but Firecracker made the cupcakes on her own, and it only took about 5 minutes to frost them.

We used our favorite 7-Minute Frosting (which really takes about 15 minutes to make) because we like how much lighter it is. It has plenty of sugar, but no fat since it's made from egg whites.

I have real piping bags and tips...but I'm usually lazy and just put the frosting in ziploc bags and snip off the tip. I pulled out a little of the frosting in a small ziploc baggie to do the numbers. Then I colored the rest of it blue, put it in a large ziploc baggie, and piped the frosting on top of each cupcake.

Seriously...easier than doing it with a knife and a lot less messy, and they look better.

We arranged them in a circle around the plate, and Firecracker added the hands for the clock in the middle. Do yourself a favor though, and make the clock hands BEFORE you put your cupcakes around the edge. I drew the hands on paper first, and put it under the plate for her to trace.

I know it's already New Year's Eve...but there's still time to make these.

We'll be spending our day sledding...and hopefully the kids will be so worn out they won't even try to stay up until midnight...maybe...

My Craft Corner in Progress

2011-12-30T12:14:00.000-08:00

As I was working on Christmas gifts this year, I kept thinking how nice it will be to have a craft space to work...somewhere other than the kitchen table.

Well...this is it...a corner of our bedroom with two windows and some extra lighting above (well it won't have open sky lighting like it does now...but some extra can lights). The windows look out on the backyard, so I can watch kiddos walk home from school or play in the yard (when we have something in the yard other than dirt.) There's a garage sale table living in my in-laws barn which should fit and be just big enough to fit my sewing machine and cutting mat.

Hubby wanted to take those stray boards and push them over under the windows, so he could joke that my craft corner is already a mess. ;)

Of course with a new baby, I probably won't get nearly as much crafting done next year as I did this Christmas...but I won't have to clear it off every time we need to eat a meal either.

Have a good weekend!