It’s another year of handmade Valentine’s Day cards. I’m still trying to keep things simple and fun for my daughter. We have less to make this year (only 22!), which is good because it was a struggle to get through all of the (34!) pencil cards last year.

I [...]]]>

It’s another year of handmade Valentine’s Day cards. I’m still trying to keep things simple and fun for my daughter. We have less to make this year (only 22!), which is good because it was a struggle to get through all of the (34!) pencil cards last year.

I enlisted some help from technology for these. She wrote her Valentine’s Day message once, I scanned it, printed out a bunch of little versions, and glued them to the back of these cute heart-shaped notepads. I told her that she could decorate them anyway she liked and she chose to just color in the hearts. That was fine with me. We knocked these out Sunday morning and have plenty of time for her to make a few special cards for friends and family.

notes: I found the notepads at Target in the seasonal aisle. Here are cards from past years:

• pencil cards at age 4
• paper flowers a la Martha Stewart at age 3
• hearts cut from original artwork at age 2
• valentine’s day art at age 1

Are you making Valentines this year? Share in the comments!

I usually start with, “What are [...]]]> I’ve been volunteering in my daughter’s school library for over 4 months now. My job is to help the kids pick out books. Not to choose topics, but to help them locate different subjects and authors and to use a shelf marker when browsing so books stay in order.

I usually start with, “What are you interested in reading today? We have lots of books on [insert holiday] and [insert season].” There are usually a few takers on those subjects. Also popular are the usual suspects — Curious George, Scooby Doo, Clifford, Maisy — and the occasional requests for animals and fish. However, the overwhelming answer for boys is football and superheroes. For girls, it’s princesses and fairy tales.

I found it interesting that girls never ask for books about superheroes, especially since I grew up watching Super Friends, so I asked my daughter about it. “Mom, I want to read about girls.” Fair enough. Most superheroes are guys. In fact, I could only find one Wonder Woman book in the entire Easy Reader superhero section at Barnes and Noble.

So I set out to see if I could find some superheroine books. It wasn’t easy, but I found a few great stories that my daughter and I really enjoyed. These girls and women are pretty amazing, even without capes. Ok, so one has wings and one sewed herself racing clothes, but you know what I mean. (All book links go to amazon.com)

My Name Is Not Isabella: Just How Big Can a Little Girl Dream?: My daughter really liked how Isabella imagined herself as great women in history: Sally Ride, Annie Oakley, Rosa Parks, Marie Curie and Elizabeth Blackwell. I like that she was learning about women who changed the world without needing a super power. There’s a similar book for boys, My Name Is Not Alexander, which is on our to-read list.

Ladybug Girl: I thought that this was going to be a superhero book, but it’s more about creative and imaginative play. When her mom and dad are too busy to play and her brother says she’s too little, Lulu becomes LadyBug Girl and invents her own fun. (She does save some ants in distress.) I still liked it and so did my daughter. We’ll definitely be checking out the other books in the series.

Tillie the Terrible Swede: How One Woman, a Sewing Needle, and a Bicycle Changed History This by far was my daughter’s favorite book of the three. It’s the story of Tillie Anderson who came to America from Sweden and worked as a seamstress before becoming an avid bicyclist. After realizing that her long skirts were getting in her way, she used her sewing skills to make a “shocking” pants outfit more suited to riding. Today she’s considered the world champion of women’s racing.

What are your favorite superheroine books? Share in the comments!

I’ve never played Angry Birds. My husband and daughter have, though. It’s not my first choice in children’s video games, but once my daughter was exposed to mean pigs stealing eggs, there was no going back.

Instead of constantly being the Debbie Downer who doesn’t have the game on [...]]]>

I’ve never played Angry Birds. My husband and daughter have, though. It’s not my first choice in children’s video games, but once my daughter was exposed to mean pigs stealing eggs, there was no going back.

Instead of constantly being the Debbie Downer who doesn’t have the game on my phone, I asked Santa if he would bring us the Angry Birds card game. We haven’t played yet, but it’s made by UNO, so I’m hoping it will be a fun alternative.

Once I learned there was an Angry Bird plush pattern, I knew I had to make one to go along with the game. So far, the bird has been a big hit. I’ll let you know about the game once we get a chance to play.

pattern: Obsessively Stitching has patterns for all of the characters. (I had no idea there were so many different birds in this game!)

stash: Red and white fleece are leftovers from other projects. Black and orange fabrics are actually craft felt, which worked better than I expected.

Matisse the King of Color: This was a spur [...]]]> We’ve been doing a lot of reading lately and the main subject has been art. Since it’s too soon to write about my holiday projects, I thought I’d share some of the books we’ve been enjoying. (All book links go to amazon.com)

Matisse the King of Color: This was a spur of the moment choice from a display at the library. I didn’t expect my daughter to devour the pages with such interest. It’s the story of Matisse’s friendship with his nurse Monique, who later becomes a nun and inspires him to create the Chapelle du Rosaire. The book is illustrated in his bold, colorful style. It’s also part of a series of books about artists written by Laurence Anholt. We will definitely be checking out others in the collection.

Me, Frida: My daughter first learned about Frida Kahlo from an online resource at school called PebbleGo and was excited when I brought this home. The book focuses on Kahlo’s time in San Francisco with Diego Rivera, in which she became more sure of herself, her artistic style and her talent. It doesn’t mention how her health problems influenced her art, although my daughter already knew about that from PebbleGo.

Through Georgia’s Eyes: My daughter also learned about Georgia O’Keeffe from PebbleGo. This short book fits in a lot of history, starting with O’Keeffe’s artistic aspirations as a child all the way up through her life at Ghost Ranch. I really like how this book emphasizes her determination to earn a living as a painter despite being told that only boys became artists. A girl wishing to be one was “scandalous!”

When Pigasso Met Mootisse: This book was a recommendation from the school librarian, who knows how much my daughter loves art. The story is loosely based on the real-life relationship between Matisse and Picasso and does a good job comparing and contrasting their styles. Plus, it will make you laugh out loud. Seriously!

Do you have any favorite art books for kids? Post your links in the comments!

This year my daughter suggested we make thumbkin pumpkins with the leftover ingredients. She made them [...]]]> It never fails. Whenever I make pumpkin pie, I always have a little bit of squash and pie crust dough left over. I save the squash for muffins, but there’s not much I can do with the dough.

This year my daughter suggested we make thumbkin pumpkins with the leftover ingredients. She made them in school earlier this week and thinks they’re the perfect excuse for eating lots of whipped cream.

We rolled up the leftover dough and divided it into several 1-inch-sized balls. Then she took her thumb and made a little well in the middle.

Since I start with plain pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling, I had to add some sugar and spice to my squash:

1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
2 1/2 T brown sugar
1/4 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground ginger
small pinch of ground cloves

We spooned a small amount of squash into the thumb imprints. Then we baked these on a foil-lined cookie sheet along with the pie.

They turned out great. Personally, I’d add more pumpkin, but I’ve got a whole pie. These are really for my daughter, so as long as she’s happy, I’m happy. She ate them with a very generous dollop of whipped cream.

* * * * *

I hope everyone in the U.S. had a great Thanksgiving! Congratulations to Laura Snazel on winning the Yarn Harlot book. I think I’ll give away another sewing book next week.

Last month I posted about my daughter’s suncatcher. Today, I’ve got another kid-approved creative gift idea: Create Your Own Pop-Up Books. The day after my daughter received this she was tearing into the box before I was even awake. She actually had a lot finished before she woke me up for [...]]]>

Last month I posted about my daughter’s suncatcher. Today, I’ve got another kid-approved creative gift idea: Create Your Own Pop-Up Books. The day after my daughter received this she was tearing into the box before I was even awake. She actually had a lot finished before she woke me up for help.

I was thinking we would actually plan a story before working on this, but her enthusiasm could not be contained. Each page is it’s own story decorated with markers, pop-ups and stickers. “The clams are happy. Mr. Owl is mad.”

There’s lots of potential here for kids of all ages. It literally kept her occupied all day long, with breaks only for meals. I’ve you have children in your life who like books and art, I’m guessing they’ll love it.

creative birthday gifts: You can find my first post about the suncatcher here.

p.s. I’m writing about these books because I think they are cool and my daughter loved them. I have no affiliation with pop-up anything. I’m just spreading some creative love.

Of course, I had just started working on a cowl to match her hat and mittens. Will [...]]]> I found my daughter’s scarf. It was on the lost and found table at school. She’s no longer wearing it, though, because she likes the fleece scarf better. You saw that coming, didn’t you?

Of course, I had just started working on a cowl to match her hat and mittens. Will she wear it when it’s finished? Maybe if I line it with fleece.

What are you working on today? More creative spaces here.

They are the words that all knitters, crocheters and sewists don’t want to hear:

Mom, I lost my scarf.

I’m not too worried. I’ve stitched her name and my phone number in all of her handmade woolens. I’m also in the process of replacing the lost scarf with [...]]]>

They are the words that all knitters, crocheters and sewists don’t want to hear:

Mom, I lost my scarf.

I’m not too worried. I’ve stitched her name and my phone number in all of her handmade woolens. I’m also in the process of replacing the lost scarf with something to match her kitty cat hat and mittens. I’m not too invested in this little brown scarf. Now, if it was one I made out of Noro Kureyon…

It will probably turn up tomorrow, but it’s going to be cold in the morning. Usually, I’d just give her one of mine to wear. However, the thought of one of my scarves spending the night out on the playground makes me kind of queasy.

So, I made a little stand-in scarf. It took more time to take a photo and write this post than it did to make the scarf. I used a fleece scrap from my stash, folded it from selvedge to selvedge, cut a 5 1/2 inch wide strip and trimmed off the selvedges. The fringe is 4 inches long and 1/2 inch wide.

It actually turned out really nice. So nice, that when her brown scarf finally makes it’s way home, I might have to keep this for myself.

I’ve been wanting to make this scarf since I learned how crochet. It worked up fast and I highly recommend it for your gift making/giving this season. This version is a little shorter than the pattern specs because it’s a gift for a little girl. I think she’s going to love it.

I’ve been wanting to make this scarf since I learned how crochet. It worked up fast and I highly recommend it for your gift making/giving this season. This version is a little shorter than the pattern specs because it’s a gift for a little girl. I think she’s going to love it.

details: Yarn was gifted to me by a friend. It’s Katia Mexico (Ravelry link) and leftover from a sweater she made. The pattern is One Skein Scarf from Debbie Stoller’s Stitch ‘N Bitch Crochet and is a free download from joann.com (pdf link).

modification: I made my chain with a hook size larger and I still feel like it’s a little too tight. It gives the scarf a slight bend or curl. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but next time I might chain with a hook two sizes up to see if it lays more flat.

I tried to be proactive this year and started the Halloween costume conversation at the beginning of October. My daughter insisted she wanted to be Abby Cadabby again. I encouraged her to try a different costume and brought it up several times. Nope. She was sure. Abby Cadabby.

So I [...]]]>

I tried to be proactive this year and started the Halloween costume conversation at the beginning of October. My daughter insisted she wanted to be Abby Cadabby again. I encouraged her to try a different costume and brought it up several times. Nope. She was sure. Abby Cadabby.

So I bought her a bigger pair wings because what I threw together for her last year was just too small. A few weeks later she casually mentioned that she wanted to be a cat. And then she couldn’t decide between the two. After a week of indecision, I finally made a tail and some ears and said, “Great news! You’re going to be a cat for Halloween!”

A cat is a great last minute costume, especially if you have all the materials in your stash. And it’s not just great for kids. The tail is long enough for a mama cat, too!

Step 1
Look through your child’s wardrobe for a monochromatic outfit. My daughter could have been a brown or black cat. I chose black.

Step 2
Make some ears. I cleaned up my rough pattern for you. When printed, the larger piece should be 2 1/2 inches tall. Sew pink to black, then black to black. Stuff with a little bit of fiber fil if you like, then stitch onto a headband. (I used a Goody Slide Proof Headwrap.)

Step 3
Make a tail. I used black flannel from my stash and cut a three inch wide strip from selvedge to selvedge. Sew up the sides, turn right side out and stuff. Sew a loop of elastic the size of your child’s waist to the selvedge ends.

That’s it! It took less time to make the costume than it did for my daughter to decide what she wanted to wear. The only thing I had to buy was the liquid eyeliner for her nose and whiskers. I think I’ll use it for some cat eyes on myself tonight.

I’d love to see what you are making for Halloween this year. Share a link in the comments!