Play Kitchen Recipes - Free Download

I was talking with my close friend Michelle about how our children were (sigh) starting to become bored with their play kitchens. I'll admit while Ava really has enjoyed her play kitchen she is really more of a puzzles and books kid. Lilly loves to bang stuff around at it but otherwise she really isn't into it yet either. Which actually I hate admitting because we have a kind of amazing and possibly a tiny bit ridiculous DIY play kitchen setup with that cool market. I think part of the problem is that we've had it all a while and I am noticing the appeal of putting toys away and rotating them now that Ava is older. Unfortunately, I can't just put the kitchen up for a while ;) Really it is a little annoying that my kids get tired of playing with their millions of toys and I have to rotate them out and find ways to represent them but ah well.

(Behind Ava is a giant $10 Walmart car oil pan we use for magnet play / learning = pinterest genius)

Anyway, I made up some play recipes for my three year old because Ava loves to follow directions and I figured they would help her see that she could really do a lot more with that 'tired old' (sigh) kitchen. Well it worked like a charm. I made five (the cupcake recipe is double sided) and I found three more on the internet here. They are all a similar format so they are easy to use together. I laminated mine (with a scotch laminator) and put a little ring at the top. I'd say in the least just print them up on card stock.

Mine are in Microsoft Word so if you need to edit out something you don't have that should be pretty easy. We used white yarn for our pasta. Oh! and if you don't have a kitchen you should think about making one of these mats because they are brilliant! I keep wanting to make Ava and Lilly one but let's face it that seems a little silly ;)

So here are my first files to download (hope it works if not just email me or leave a comment):
File 1
File 2 
Please share the link to the this post and not my actual file with friends or on your blog etc.

Oh Lilly (14 months) does have one toy she plays with. It's this random Joker house we now own. I don't know if even Ava knows who the Joker is but Lilly genuinely loves this toy. I was totally against buying it (it's a little violent and has a jail and cannon and we have nothing that goes with it) but it all worked out after the mall Santa told Ava he would bring it for her and our little wooden doll house people have all had their turn in prison - it's kind of added a spicy new element to the story lines around here ;) 

Super Hero Capes - DIY

I got a few emails when I did I DIY gift post a while back and mentioned that I make children's capes for gifts. They are easy, quick and turn out really nicely. In fact I think you would have a really hard time finding something similar to purchase even if you had a big budget. Best of all you can get two capes out of two yards of fabric so they are also really affordable. I do a side with the child's favorite animal and a side with their favorite color if I can get it to coordinate right.

(Super heroes look noble and serious.)

I looked at a bunch on the internet and really didn't find just what I was looking for, the pattern at pukingpastilles was by far the cutest I thought and I just modified it a bit. My pattern looks just like the light pink fabric. I iron my fabric in half pin my paper pattern to it and cut 1 patterned piece and 1 solid piece, pin those together, then sew it all around leaving a little opening at the bottom to pull it through. After that I simply iron it and hand-sew up the opening - that's it! I do usually iron on a felt patch with their first initial and sometimes if I am feeling really crafty I sew the patch on. Also I started making them with Velcro at the neck which seems super important to preschoolers who can't tie them on yet or untie a double knot and some kids will not wear anything around their neck that they can't take off independently. 

Oh and I almost forgot to say - they give you the ability to fly :)

If anyone wants the measurements of my pattern and fabric pieces just leave it in the comments and I will update. But mine are really similar to the one at pukingpastilles. I think making your own pattern from things of the web is very easy if you print out the basic shape and have the measurements. One reader mentioned to me that they cut capes out of t-shirts and that is really brilliant because since jersey doesn't fray so they would be no-sew. 

Happy Crafting and Saving the World from Evil

Ah a New Year - Resolve

(Photos here from a fantastic New Years Eve party at a great new friends house)

Years go by so quickly now that we have children - I can literally see Lilly growing day to day, which is tragic and amazing at the same time. Then somehow, being home, days go by more slowly. Maybe there is some age when you start appreciating the seasons but for me this year (my 30th) was my first. As blissful as our Christmas was, I am relishing January's arrival. I am thinking about crafts and cozy fires. I am already starting to browse seed websites and I am thinking about what crops we can add to what we successfully grew here last year once the spring comes. I am excited about a long hot summer with lots of slip and slides and visits to the ocean. Then we'll be almost back here again with a busy, crisp fall and a magic Christmas. We only get so many trips around the sun - not to be cheesy or morbid - but truthfully some of us just get a handful. I am definitely a goal setter. If I am not planning and creating and changing then I am watching BBC remakes of Austen novels in my PJ's all day. That's it - black or white.

(Last photo of the year, maybe the first one ever with all four of us smiling)

I asked Ava (three) to come up with something she wanted to learn this year to be her 'resolution' and she started doing flips while I was talking so that I was pretty sure she was ignoring me. To ask a three year old to pick something that they could reasonably learn to do over a years time is asking a lot! Then, with her feet behind her ears she excitedly starting interrupting me and said "I want to ya know like put my feet up and ya know learn to stand up on my head". What a super resolution right! Totally doable, fun and completely useless to real life. So of course we all have to pick one, my husband is going to make at least four batches of beer this year (a batch yields about 60) bottles, so no small task. I am going to keep up with my hair all year. I have two kinds of hair: a. kept up with hair and b. three inch roots in a messy bun everyday. 

(Photo - getting ready for my pretend fancy New Years Day meal which featured a tweak of this good fortune soup)

I did a really good job this year of meeting my 2011 goals - more sewing, losing the baby weight, spending dedicated time working with Ava on educational pursuits (she can read pretty fluently now!), growing food, eating much healthier and increasing the organic portion of our food consumption. In 2012 I want to just get better at many of the things I started working on this year. I would love to set some financial goals as well but until our Florida house sells my mind just can't go there! Finger crossed we will be through that huge, year long personal challenge at the end of this month. As soon as it is over we will be re-focusing on our long-term financial goals because that is really important to both of us. There is just something about body image and money, no matter how spiritual you are, that can throw everything off if they just aren't exactly where you want them to be.

Cheers!

Last Minute Handmade Gifts

Here are five handmade gifts that can be made last minute. I am still mostly making mine so you'll just have to trust me that I have tried these and they are great. Also, all no sew.

Healthy Frozen Dinners! - I made my mother and father in law five dinners, they were all hearty, healthy, and a little involved. If they were too easy they wouldn't have made a great gift! The point is to gift meals that are saving your recipient a night of work and kitchen clean up. I included directions, coffee, wine, frozen rolls and bread (made fresh at our market with organic ingredients). I tried to buy nice items and use high quality ingredients. It started out seeming a little overwhelming but what I ended up doing was just having a huge cooking day and I doubled almost everything I made them and froze it for us as well which meant I also had a week of no cooking for myself after my crazy, intense day! ... guess what though I don't have any photos ;)  

 

Name, Birthday or Anniversary Photo Collages - My photos for this project are sitting at Walgreen's right now, that's one of Ava's A's above. Go to this Flickr site (try not to spend hours looking at the galleries) and pick a name or a birth year or anniversary year and download the numbers or letters you like. Next upload them to your favorite one hour photo place and have them printed at 4x6. When you go to pick them up stop by TJ Maxx or Walmart etc. and pick up a good frame with the right amount of openings. It is easier to make dates if you do this last minute because 4 opening photo frames are easy to find! You can make your own of course (like this) by gluing cheap dollar store frames to a board and spray painting it all - but remember you have less than a week now so maybe next year. If you buy a mat that is pre-cut and print them in black and white then they will look a lot more like the classic ones you see everywhere. The one below could also be pretty cool - it looks like it is just those cheap packs of Ikea frames glued to a black board cut to size. 

 Jewelry - there are some awesome jewelry tutorials online. I want this bracelet and it has a video! I would wear this everyday. Making jewelry is easy and can be done in front of the TV in one night. 

We did make bracelets but we went a little lower-end than the one above ;) Ava made these for all her cousins and a few friends too with a bag of beads from the craft store. Everyone loved them. I really wanted to help Ava made bracelets with all their phone numbers on them but the number beads for those turned out to be too hard to find enough of for everyone. Most kids need ten numbers on their bracelet now since almost all of them memorize cellphone numbers. 

Chalk Board - These are great for kids and adults. I made this one for our entry with a dollar thrift store frame spray painted gloss red. I had my husband cut me a cheap piece of wood scrap which I painted with chalk paint to put in the frame (we tacked it in on the back). I made my own chalkboard paint with this tutorial. Apply chalk board paint on with lots of thin layers and then 'season' it well as directed in the tutorial link. If you aren't making several boards or aren't using the chalk paint for other projects then you would be better off just buying the chalk paint pre-mixed, because the DIY version leaves you with a ton of extra ingredients.

I plan to mix up some more paint to make Ava a board book like this one.

Penny Keychain - I am still looking for my last few but simply putting pennies from each important year on a keychain is such a sweet gift! The ones sold by PatsDesign (photo below)  are also affordable and come with a stamped coin. It is pretty simple to drill through a penny but practice on a few first. 

Other things I have made as gifts in the past include superhero capes (for girls and boys) and embellished tea towels. I also really want to make some enhanced silhouettes like these.

There you go! Happy Crazy Crafting!

The Perfect Gift - Simple, Beautiful and Practical

I love holiday blog gift posts! I honestly have a hard time finding just the right gift for a few people on my list. I hate giving candles that will never be lit or 'one more' toy to add to the box. For birthdays I typically give gift receipts but at Christmas I buy ahead or buy on clearance so I don't always have a gift receipt!  My default gift when someone is very hard to buy for is always a restaurant gift card because who doesn't like free food?!

Here are some other gifts though, that have gone over really well for me -

For Babies 

Kid's regulation sized sports balls. Babies love balls and these are a 'grow with me' toy that most babies don't have. At our house my three year old only plays with her soccer ball for 'real' soccer but our baby is memorized by this cool bright red and black ladybug soccer ball.

My other default gift is a classic board book signed to the baby. Even if we have a book - a dedicated book feels like a keepsake, just make sure it is truly a classic book like Ten Little Babies - there isn't anything worse than a dedicated Elmo book that you feel like you have to keep because it is signed!

Older Kids

If I can't figure out what to get a kid over the age of three I always default to nice art supplies or nature gifts. Children love to create and be outside. I have never gone wrong with - 

sun print kit, flower press, magnifying glass, regional plant and animal guides, binoculars, or nature art / activity books like Blossom Buddies.  Another idea that would work for lots of kids is an Audubon iPad or iPhone app.

For Adults

My adult ideas aren't that original but I can tell you my husband's perfect gift involves good beer and an iTunes gift card. My favorite thing to give to women though is small, original framed art from Etsy. You can of course go larger but almost anyone can find a good place for original art. Photographs are easy but I try to branch out, I think you could easily find a piece of art to fit anyone's personality on Etsy. I would pick the print below for myself, it is an 8.5 x 11 limited edition print of 100 for $28 by Elsa Mora the author of Blossom Buddies. This print is beautiful and unique and would be a bargain to frame. A less expensive option would be framed art note cards like the ones from Sarah Jane Studios. I adore her holiday line for framing and I have the three little bears cards framed in Ava and Lilly's room. 

I am working on my top DIY gifts post too - I have some great, easy ones! 

Preschool Activity Swap - such a mom thing to do!

I organized a preschool activity swap for a preschool homeschool cooperative I am a part of here. We basically take turns teaching a lesson to the kids every other week or so and do some cool field trips as well. It went so well we are already working on our next one! So many of my friends have asked me for these and so here are the activities from the first swap:

1. Cookie Matching - This one was made with circles of felt hot-glued with cotton in the center for flipping them more easily. The mom that made them provided some awesome extension activities. There might be a simpler way to make this by using heavy weight interfacing ironed onto felt but these came out perfect. 

Shown here with my own cookie sheet and spatula. 

Lilly (12 months) loves to take these out of the red container and put them back and to inspect the toppings. 

 2. Lego Math - Just print on cardstock and provide a sheet protector. these have been so much fun for us. Ava has some trouble with the subtraction but not with the addition and they are really fun to use with your real Legos. http://thesixkents.wordpress.com/2009/03/23/lego-math-worksheets/

3. Emotion Play Dough Mat - Print in color and laminate. We have had so much fun making angry and scary faces for this poor girl. http://kidlutions.blogspot.com/2011/10/fun-with-feelings-faces-playdough-mats.html

 4. I-Spy Bag - Simple I-Spy bag with card. I did do coins to make it a little more academic. This is a huge pain to sew and if I did it again I would use fleece instead of felt. Also I used painters tape to tape the window in and then sewed through the tape and that made all the difference. I-Spy bags are much easier than jars because you can manipulate them with your hands. However if no one sews or is crazy like me then you could do this in clear plastic bottles or glass jars. 

5. Pom-Pom Magnets and Boards - These pom pom magnet activities are all over the internet so this starter set it nice to build on. You just put your cardstock mat on a cookie sheet when ready to play. Use hot glue to adhere the magnets and remove any paper backing from the magnets before gluing. http://engagingtoddleractivities.wordpress.com/2010/12/06/homemade-toy-magnetic-pompoms/

6. Consonant, Short Vowel, and Long Vowel Cards - 

Print Consonant Cards here http://homeschoolcreations.com/files/Consonant_Cards.pdf

Print the Short Vowel Cards here - http://homeschoolcreations.com/files/Short_Vowel_Cards.pdf

Print the Long Vowel Cards here - http://homeschoolcreations.com/files/Long_Vowel_Cards.pdf

7. Read, Build and Write Mats with sets Word Cards - http://homeschoolcreations.com/Read_Build_Write_Printables.html 

http://homeschoolcreations.com/files/Read_Build_Write_Mats.pdf

I think if I did this one again I would make it worth 3 and have the main mat laminated, sometimes the sheet protector slips on us. We also use magnetic letters at home on a cookie sheet instead of the letters provided. 

8. Clothes Pin Number Match - http://shared.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/math/ClothespinNumberMatch.pdf

9. Felt Board Skeleton - I did this one and we love it, but I don't know if I would recommend it for a swap. Only because if took hours and hours to cut these out and it doesn't take any less time to cut one out than it does to cut lots. We swapped in October though so I thought skeletons would be fun and we love felt board activities. I am showing them here with some word cards and a skeleton print out which I didn't give with the activity but it might have been nice. The kids aren't ready to read those words yet but some of the parents needed some help remembering the bones! 

10. Roll A Rainbow - This was laminated and given with m & m's and a die. http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/57547407?access_key=key-25r11p880rr7qp12ndj2

11. Shades of Color - Walmart is the only place we found that had enough shades of one color on a strip.  http://www.walkingbytheway.com/blog/?p=327

12. Play-Dough Number Mats - The moms that printed these just had to provide one sheet protector but we bound ours like this so Ava could easily just work through all the numbers and letters on her own.  http://homeschoolcreations.com/files/Number_Playdough_Mats_1-10.pdf

http://homeschoolcreations.com/files/Number_Playdough_Mats_11-20.pdf

13. Play Dough ABC Mats - There was the direction here to print these in color but the mom that did this one had them professionally printed in black and white on cardstock and they turned out very well so that may be an option if you want to make these mats worth only two activity choices. Printing 8 sets in color and on cardstock can really add up. http://homeschoolcreations.com/files/Playdough_Mats.pdf

14. Fabric Roads - These denim roads have been a huge hit in our house. That might be because we don't have any other car tracks but Ava loves making a track for cars with these. There are lots of learning extensions as well like talking about directions of cars, setting up traffic lights etc. I am planning to make her more. http://lilmoptop.blogspot.com/2010/10/easy-fabric-roads.html

15. Felt Pizza - This one was me again. I had made these Pizzas for Ava and she loved them so I made this small set for the group. This was time consuming and so I didn't provide lots of toppings but it would be pretty easy for anyone that wanted to create more toppings. The crust is two circles sewn together with a small opening, then flipped inside out, and sewn again just inside the edge in order to catch the opening needed to flip it. I think everything else is pretty self-explanatory. These are just for play but they are also great for teaching fractions too (i.e. "Put cheese on half the pizza").

 This is a photo of Ava's big set at home with a cut pizza and more toppings. 

16. Two-Sided Popsicle Puzzle - http://www.amazingmess.com/2010/07/popsicle-stick-puzzles.html

Ava is fascinated with the color wheel side. I can hear her singing "red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple it's a rainbow!" right now ;)

Notes on organizing - I ended up with one master list that everyone chose off of. I came up with almost all of the activities this time but next time we are going to do some suggesting but still have one master control list. The real challenge is always getting everyone on board with what makes a good swap activity and what really doesn't. For example, providing the ingredients for homemade play-dough is fun but that is pretty easy to whip up on your own. The point of the swap is to spend time pulling together materials that if you did one of each would be very time consuming but since you are doing several (in our case 8) then it cuts your time down and in the end you have a whole bunch of great activities. The other thing is talking to the group about quality, including printing on cardstock, in color, taking the extra step of getting some things laminated instead of just proving a sheet protector etc. We have some crafty and non-crafty members so there are a mix of things you can just take to Office Depot and pay for and things that took a considerable amount of time to make. I figured if everyone did about $30 or so worth of printing or 10ish hours of work or some combination of that then we were fair. So everyone had to pick three but some activities were worth three (like the play dough mats for example) and some were worth two like the magnets pom poms. If you aren't familiar with how much printing in color on cardstock at home or at an office store is then you might want to check that before organizing something like this. I think some of the moms that picked the 'easy' printing activities were surprised by the cost. 

First Birthday Prints and Our Mia Nolting Draws Letters Prints

I can't wait to post about Lilly's birthday it was perfect! In the meantime here is Lilly's takeaway print. I decided it would be more fun just to have this be a keepsake as opposed to my regular first birthday invitation, plus me pulling together mailing anything is almost impossible these days. Even though alas I couldn't get it printed at 5x7 for less than $1.50 a print! So now I have to mail them with the thank you notes anyway, but they are all ordered on Arts Cow for a very good price. We did two different main images because one was from my phone and I was worried about the resolution - but just fyi they both printed well. These both came from KM Thomas and I am always happy with her work and she is super speedy too! Ava's first year invitation is still up on Oh Dee Doh.

Also! I got back my Mia Nolting Draws Letters files back and they are great! I sent her the names and $1 per word via PayPal (so $2 per print below) and two weeks later I got a high res .jpg file. I can't wait to get them in some sweet matted frames but I supposed there are lots of cool things I can do with them. The bonus is that Ava (three) is at the age where she loves to read her name and she was so excited about the prints.