Ever since I started freezer paper shirts in May I have been addicted. constantly looking for new ideas and wanting to try more intricate designs. I started simple with just one stencil. And though there were three colors in the giraffe shirt they were meant to blend. (both giraffe and transportation shirts were painted by rock after I applied the stencils)
Then I tried slightly more complex designs with more colors not meant to blend: robin (need a change from batman) and link (from legend of zelda)
here is the pattern I sketched out for link:
Finally, the one that was by far the most difficult: Sebastian many colors, intricate design, and black outlines around most details. This was a gift for a birthday this month... my niece will be 5!
The next project I will tackle is Teemo from League of Legends. My husbands main charachter when he plays the game that has also become Rock's favorite. I simplified the original photo and I plan on putting it onto a lightish green shirt. It will be a challenge but I look forward to when I can start it! Maybe I will post a step by step of what I did?
What is more Pinteresting than some yarn creations?
I have been slowly increasing my ability in crochet with some help from free tutorials and patterns I find online. Here are some (of many) that caught my attention on Pinterest:
Like I mentioned previously, I have become infatuated with Pinterest, I just love it! I have used the interenet to help with my pre homeschooling for Rock and have found several ideas without Pinterest... but now with pinterest I have found so much more. Previously I really liked www.totallytots.blogspot.com and all the blogs associated with them, as well as notimeforflashcards and the activity mom (see my left sidebar for more). Through Pinterest I jsut found two others that I have started to turn to: filthywizadry.com and mydeliciousambiguity.com - both have great crafts i want to try
I have a new addiction. Sure it seemed harmless at first but now I am hooked. I was just wanting a few more ideas for crafts and things for my boys. But Pinterest came with so much more!
I am often looking for crafts and cute things for my boys. Sewing, crochet, paper craft, you name it.... if I think I can manage it then I pin it.
Here are some of my recent finds that I want to try...
You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.
Rock is 20 months, well, will be in a week, and my how the time has gone by. I have really enjoyed all the time I get to spend with my little man the past year and a half. he has grown up so much and learned quite a bit. Changing each day, he has so much more he wants to explore and do, so he does.
Learning the ABCs through craft, rhyme, and play has been quite an adventure. I started off doing a week for each letter but realized that would take a while to get through the alphabet, especially once a new little one is in the house. so now we do three days per letter. As I mentioned before, I get my ideas mostly from online searches and other blogs. If you want to see some of my inspiration check out TotallyTots, 1+1+1=1, and NoTimeForFlashcards. (links in blogs i read on the left and my blog buttons at the bottom). When I can't find something I like or that I feel will suit my little one then I just make it up as I go with ideas I have seen elsewhere. We have done A-J so far and are up to the letter K
Here are the overviews (and pictures) of each letter so far...
Letter A: "A" alligator craft, ants on my Aa's, the ant and the grasshopper Aesop's fable (drawn by me), astronaut "a', "a" apple tear and glue craft, Aa review sheet (Rock learned to say apple during this week and now loves to eat apples as well) Astronaut Aa recognition - not quite age appropriate yet.
Letter B: "B" bird, letter b collage from magazine, b is for bugs and butterfly handprint craft, b is for bear (the bears are laminated "b" magnets that we used on the back of a cookie sheet to trace a paper "b") boat (not picture: origami boat that we really used in water) bees coloring sheet that went with bug lesson.
** Letter A and B were my trial letter to see what interested him and what we could do without, letter tracing and recognition from other letters is still a little above his level
Letter C: C is for Chameleon, Cow puzzle (coloring sheet glued to cereal box before cutting), catterpillar fingerpainting and picture frame, before picture frame is cookie recipe we used (eggless cookie recipe - didn't turn out too great), then barely visible is the chameleon coloring sheet that Rock barely colored... I have found that he prefers puzzles, cutting and gluing... and markers
Letter D: Dessert collage, Dog craft from simple shapes, dog/dragonfly coloring sheet, dragonfly paper roll craft, drum from coffee can, "d" duck with five little ducks book/rhyme, and coloring. This is where we started doing three days instead of five, so I start grouping words when I want to do more than three :)
Letter E: "E" Elephant (i incorporated several different elephants i found online to creat one i really liked), elephant handprints Eskimo, Egg hatching, Enter/Exit and other opposites coloring sheet that i drew that morning (i got a little behind on prep work).
**I really start to incorporate more books into lessons from now on, i was doing one or two a week now we do it almost daily (Rock loves to read!) Letter E books included:
I Love My Mama by Peter Kavanagh, Little Elephant's Trunk by Hazel Lincoln, Mama do you love Me, Horton Hatches the Egg, Ollie, and some opposites board books
Letter F: "F" Fox, footprint fish in fish bowl (with sprinkling of "sand" - though i used cumin because it is waht i had on hand :) ), cut and paste frog with twisty tongue, Farm box (i made the box before hand for durability and he still plays with it from time to time - - adapted from First Palette's ClothespinFarmAnimals) Books included: down on the farm by merrily kutner and this is the farmer by nancy tafuri
Letter G: Goat "G" and coloring sheet (read down on the farm again because it follows a little goat throughout the story) Garden coloring and matching game with cardboard watering can (reuse of farm for pulling veggies), gutiar, gorillas papercraft and lowercase g
Letter H: "H" hands, hippo hat , "h" horse with 'real' mane and tail, hammer shape matching and review coloring sheet (both from 1+1+1=1), coloring sheet we also used a hole punch (in bottom center of page), Rock loved to hammer becuase he had seen dad do it recently to some nails that were sticking up on the porch - i even let him help me with the real hammer to "hammer" in the nails again.
Letter I: "I" Iguana, Igloo cut and paste with snowflake stickers, 3d inchworm "i" with leaf sticky notes, inchworm measuring with mama made inchworm (each section is approximately an inch long making it 6 inches long)
Letter J: J Jaguar, "j" jellyfish, jellyfish shape matching, jungle animals matching, homemade jungle pattern matching game
As I get ready to continue Rock's letters I have leaned more towards matching, puzzles, cutting and gluing. I ocassionally add in some painting because he enjoys that as well. Brainstorming for each letter has been a lot of fun and the time I put into planning has been well worth it. We also do some videos from youtube his favorite is this Phonics Song
Oh how great it is to be a mother.This age is so much fun! I hope I can continue to be as enthusiastic about Rock's learning even with a newborn in the house. I en joy this time we ahve spent together so far and know my time will be more divided but I trust that I will still have plenty of time for both my children.
So last time I was here I stated I had a new baby on the way. Now I'm just waiting, anytime now, yup. I have been wanting to do a lot of crafts lately. Not sure if it is because I know I won't have much time once littl eone #2 comes around or if somehow my pregnancy hormones are releasing creative energy. I created some slippers for my son from The Crochet Geek's tutorial of high top booties... now my niece wants some too. I also made a crochet newsboy cap for my sis which she loves. here are the booties, sorry no pic of the hat.
I found that I have a lot of black and white yarn so my crochet has been very black and white :)
Also, I started Rock with his letters at the end of September. I search for most of the crafts and ideas online. Two of my favorite sites are Totally Tots: Now I Know My ABCs and 1+1+1=1: Tot School, but there are many others that I have used along the way. This really helps with my need for creative outlet as I prepare crafts and lessons for my son each week. Here are some of the favorites of mine that we have done so far. (sorry can't figure out how to turn photos right now... too tired yet not able to sleep)
F - footprint fish
elephant handprints
Goodnight gorilla little g
Lowercase i inchworms
Letter F - Farm and fence
I will probably do a homeschooling/letters blog soon and also an update on new baby of course, once he/she arrives. Hopefully it isn't months before i blog again, but one never knows.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
I did a little bit of sewing yesterday and ended up with a few crude completed projects. I made a spiderman ball with a balloon as the "stuffing" and a quick pair of shorts for Rock to wear while running around the house (i would just let him wear the diaper but he likes to take it off... he hasn't figured out how to take his shorts/pants of yet) The shorts are also good for sleeping. Those projects are posted below (I used the ball pattern again just slightly bigger) Another quick project i did was transform one of the shirts i never wear into a quick tank top for Rock. The collar needs some sort of adjustment still but i left the sleeves and bottom hem raw using my pinking shears to add a little more to it (since it was tshirt material it doesn't fray) I am trying to figure out some other items around the house that I can repurpose because my fabric box is in storage for now. It is somewhat sad since i have several started projects in with my fabric that i could be working on but i still try to find other things so my sewing machine gets some use :)
So I pretty much finished the project I was working on for Father's day. It still has a few finishing touches and seams I need to reinforce but I won't post again after this for it. So here it is:
I do need to find a new 5 subject notebook to throw into it and will sharpen the pencils before gifting it. But I am fairly satisfied with it. I did omit some extra things like a pocket i was going to have next to the pencils and the extra elastic to hold the pencils near the bottom. But the elastic was enough trouble the first time. (I have never sewn with elastic b4 and will have to try again... later)
I am still trying to figure out what to have Rock do with me. I have debated making candy clay so he can play in it and make something specail for dada to consume :) or perhaps a simple hand/footprint I am still deciding.
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you
and that your joy may be complete.
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
It is June and Father's Day is right around the corner (after Flag Day... which happens to be my father's birthday). So I was contemplating some ideas for this father's day and searching all over the web as to what I will do for the special father's in my life. I may just do something simple for the grandfather's, including my dad, perhaps a picture postcard like a did for Christmas... but with different photos :P I will have to think on it a little more but not too long because Father's day may sneak past me if I do.
For my husband I have decided to get more creative yet inexpensive. The project/s I am doing are from items I already had around the house. I found this and decided I would steal use it:
And I wanted to make a creativity/art case type thing and know I have seen things like what I want online:
So I am in the process of adapting the designs to make a little more hubby friendly to fit what he may want... and his new mustache pencils :) I am using an old pair of my jeans and art supplies from around the house
Here is what I have (click for larger view):
This is the first time I have used the sewing machine my mom brought down for me (along with some other sewing materials... like the velcro and elastic). I already broke the needle so I will have to replace that before I can continue. But otherwise It has been great.. much better than hand sewing :) It is a family heirloom that was once my great grandmothers and is now mine:
I also want to involve Rock in part of the process of making the gift so I will have him "write" a note to dada that will be included in the gift. Perhaps I could do a Thumb Bunny loves you card... or maybe some footprints with a little saying of some sort?
Last night (it was a quarter til midnight) I finished the ball for rock... note to self for next one... if free hand drawing pattern make narrow football shapes... if they are plump footballs you get a round ball... like this:
But at least my lil monkey doesn't mind (and i don't either).... He was very happy to receive something mama made just for him.
I will just have to make sure my next football has narrow sides!
Rock learned to clap New Year's Eve... he now frequently stops just to clap his hands. He even did it a few times today during church... like during prayer, and the sermon :P
It is so much fun watching him try new things and even greater to see the joy he has when he accomplishes something by himself. Earlier today he walked with his walk/ride toy (with a little help). He also likes to push it while on his knees... it is really cute. See:
He hasn't figured out how to turn yet and the hallway is pretty short but i still absolutely love watching him!
(sorry for poor quality, it is a camera phone video)
I also made my own egg noodles for dinner tonight. That is the first time i have ever made my own noodles... I am excited that they were so tasty and i can have noodles anytime... I'm a noodle-fanatic :P
I used a really simple recipe from http://www.allrecipes.com/ (sorry don't have exact link to recipe)
It was:
Homemade Egg noodles
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 pinch salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter
Directions: In a large bowl, stir together the flour and salt. Add the beaten egg, milk, and butter. Knead dough until smooth, about 5 minutes. Let rest in a covered bowl for 10 minutes. On a floured surface, roll out to 1/8 or 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired lengths and shapes.
Allow to air dry before cooking.
I was moving recipes i was wanting to try to a word document and decided i NEEDED to try this one now! I'm glad i did.
Only 9 more days till i no longer have internet at home.
But don't let it faze you. Stick with what you learned and believed,
sure of the integrity of your teachers—why, you took in the
sacred Scriptures with your mother's milk!
There's nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way
to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—
showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way.
Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.
So... ten days and we will be turning off our internet. That means I will be on the computer a lot less lol
We are doing it to save some money but i think we will find out we will be saving a lot of time as well. I know when i was pregnant i had tons of time because i just sat around the house with no tv or computer. I was able to sew and crochet and get so much accomplished. So i am in the process of transferring some patterns and tutorials i would love to try into files saved on the computer. I will only be online when i get to the library starting the 11th.
More crafting less procrastinating!
Here are some projects i am currently working on while getting ready for the switch:
I am in the process of sewing a welders cap for my landlord... still working on the hat band (will probably make another, too, once i have it figured out... all hand sewn btw)
And also a Football for Rock and my nephew who will be here in a couple days out of this lovely fabric (it used to be a very misproportioned toddler shirt)
I also am really loving this Pillow Buddy Tutorial... since this was one of the top gifts of last year i may need to pound some out and gift to some nieces and a nephew :)
Just a quick post :)
Ummm... i also will be doing another post sometime soon about Rock's first Christmas
Another challenge from The Paper Mama... this time it is Halloween (of course)
I don't really have anything too fancy for Rock. I was making a Jester outfit for him so he and daddy could be court jesters together (Here is the outfit I had made for my hubby last year)... but Rock is too big for the material I had cut out and started sewing together last month (and I thought I made it big enough for growth) so I made something even simpler... no sewing involved... a firechief hat!
My little Rock as the Firechief:
Rock's Oma, my mom, was a volunteer firefighter for years and his uncle is a First Lieutenant at a station in Virginia.
so what better halloween costume than a real life hero
I'm putting the sepia photo into the contest ... will you enter, too?
Training your body helps you in some ways,
but serving God helps you in every way
by bringing you blessings in this life and in the future life, too.
This is why we work and struggle:
We hope in the living God who is the Savior of all people,
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