making the monster mash

Harrison has become sooo creative, I'm so proud! In fact for a while there all he wanted to do was play on a tablet all day 😪 Then he discovered the art of origami and since then any little piece of scrap or what not has become something he 'can use for something'. Love it! A child after my own heart! He even has an obsession with storage devices like I do, lol. 😊💙 the last few weeks he's been making 'monsters' and today I got inspired to sit down with him because as he said himself 'I just see them in my head and then make 'em'. 

We used all kinds of little bits & pieces 😊: Googly eyes, foam, pipe cleaners, felt, jewels, pom poms, paper, & beads (and many I found at the dollar store).

   This just makes a great boy craft :) Katie got into it today too and Ellie likes being a monster on their creations and on craft supplies lately so it was fun for all!  He's so creative! I 💛 his little monsters he brings me with an 'I love you, mommy'! I ᏝᎭe my boy!, as he would say, 'so so so so so so soooo much!'!

Tic tac toe, and checkers to go!

My itty bitty is turning two next week! Oh my goodness! 💜 I finally just got her weaned too. Every kid is so different, and the more you have the more apparent that becomes ☺️ I tried to gently and slowly wean like the first two, but in the end I had to cut her off cold turkey. She wouldn't taper off. Buuuuut she was ready to go off the momma milk. We were both afraid we wouldn't have as much cuddle time but now we both know we Can cuddle without the boob, lol.  I feel I did good over all! My first got 15 mos., the second 16 mos., & she got 23 mos. Now I'm going through the search for engorgement relief. So far sage has worked wonders! Do not bind your chest! :( I tried it for one day and it made my problem worse! Not a good idea, but I read it soooo many places... Grrrr.

Anyway!!!!!! I have been inspired to make some homemade toys for her birthday this year. Believe it or not she is hard to shop for! We are at a point now that we don't need any more unnecessary stuff!  Her birthday comes so close after Christmas and whatever a two yr old could really enjoy, we likely already have from the previous two 😁 This project I made 'just because', not for the bday, well just because I had the idea and it's more for the five yr old and I'm running with the inspiration 💗

This transportable 'real-life' game is equipped with checkers & tic tac toe game boards and a pocket for your pieces 😊 heehee

What you'll need:

*One piece checker board felt (or if you are super awesome a quilted board) This is measured with one inch squares

*A piece of fabric measuring 28in x 10in

* Nine 4x4 inch squares ( 5 of the same and 4 of the same; or do like I did and just use the right and wrong sides )

*Something of a strap for tieing it all up when you're little ones are done i.e. a ribbon, shoelace, rope, or a 2in x 18in strip of fabric sewn together like a strap

*Game pieces ( I made mine from just 3 types of felt )

*All Sewing is done with 1/2 inch Seams! *

✨First, sew or cut your strap.

✨Next, quilt together your 9 squares.

✨Then, affix your strap to the top of the quilt block at the edge as shown above.

✨ Cut out your checker board; they are 8x8. I cut a nine by eight square piece and folded and sewed down one side for the top edge of my pocket. I also cut with a 1/4 in excess border. But all measuring from edges was done from the line 1/4 inch inside!

✨if you haven't done so already cut your  28x10 piece

✨Right sides together sew the quilt block onto the larger piece so that the strap is on the inside now^^^^

✨sew the checkerboard onto the left side centered one inch from the edge leaving the top open

✨Now, fold in half (the short ends matching) right sides together, and sew down edge so you now have something of a tube.

✨Adjust it so the seam would lay in the middle (still inside out)

✨pin it closed and sew the top and bottom leaving an opening to turn it out. If you ever made a pillow this would seem familiar to it.

Here mine is sewed and turned out with the opening on the top left. Notice the strap is where it's supposed to be too. Careful to not sew it to something else while it's flapping about inside, when sewing your top and bottom!

✨At this point make sure it's flattened right and your edges are right to then sew a seam done the middle between the two 'boards' 

✨After that it should be safe to close your hole by hand

Then you can make/assemble your pieces! I think two separate colored buttons as checkers would be soooo cute! I just sewed a double layer of felt circles for checkers and our tic tac toe markers are cut colored felt owls that have been stiffened with modge podge.

There are so many possibilities for pieces and really they're so interchangeable ! I had not planned originally to make each of of my darlings one of these but as I was making it I was getting requests to what they wanted theirs to be like, lol! I should've known, ha! That's okay of course  :) I want them each to have their own 💜 !

I hope these directions were easy to follow ! I realize I shoud have had a pic of it sewn before turning out but I hope it still makes sense!!!! Let the games begin!!!! ☺️

Yum yum house fun Ꭷ,Ꭷ

We made graham cracker houses this year and boy was it so fun ! Even Daddy got in on the family fun ❤️ ! I didn't find the time to make actual gingerbread houses, which I've never done before anyway, but making the houses out of graham crackers was just as great 😊 & with less disappointment that could be there, if an oopsie daisy were to happen. It was extra great because I could use all the little extra cut off pieces and make each house a little different from each other structurally too.

We made our own little village 🎄💚❄️⛄️ Even the 23 month old got to join in, although she ate so much candy she was bouncing off the walls the rest of the night! She actually did 'get it' at first too, putting candy in the icing on the roof, but then got all sugar silly and more occupied with the candy and goofing. ; ) You can't do something like this and not expect a big sweep pile at the end! That's just part of the fun 💗 !  I was looking at other blogs trying to decide if I should do royal icing, hot glue, or even burnt sugar. I was mostly concerned because I knew they would have to hold strong to stand up to a 5,3, & 1 yr old! Royal icing held perfectly! I made the actually houses the previous night and we decorated the next  night ❄️ This was my first time making royal icing and made the following recipe both nights. The second night was better than the first and my lesson to share here about making it is to start with less powdered sugar and add more if needed! 

1 pound confectioners sugar

3 egg whites

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

In the end they were so beautiful and I was mostly surprised how wonderful my boys turned out. I guess I shouldn't have been, he ᎥᎦ  amazing!, lol! He is only 3 and rocks the minecraft better than I assume many adults do 😋 They all did great though! And it was nice quality family time. 

^ellie, harry, katie, daddy, & mommy^

I, myself, have never made an actual gingerbread house so this was new fun for me too 🎀 I think I will always make a chocolate chip cobblestone wall though! It was sooooo delicious to eat! Ha! Like a super s'more cookie, it was gooood ; )

Hope the holiday is very merry for you too! Happy Christmas ! ❤️💚❤️💚❤️

The first December snow ❄

The firsts now of the season came before thanksgiving so it was a little early for snowflake cutting ❄💜❄

It is amazing how much Katie's change from year to year ❤! Half of those are hers, beautiful! ❄

patchy the pillow

Arrrgh! 😊 My oldest baby begins kindergarten in just a few days, oh my! Where did the time go!? When I was in kindergarten it was only a half day, I'm going to miss her! Before we know it they'll make preschool mandatory 😕 I do wish I had it in me to homeschool but I'm not going to kid myself.... It takes a special kind of person and not me! I love teaching my children! Don't get me wrong! I'm just more the 'bonus' knowledge teacher.... The basics and socialization are better for them in the classroom 🍏 with each kid I've become more disoriented and scatter-brained, lol. Too bad that's too true! 

Anyway! Because it is a full day, after lunch they have a little rest time. So when I saw on my Katie's supply list a small pillow my mind thought instantly 'ooh, project' 😋 I don't think of where to buy one- no way! Opportunity! It never ceases to amaze me how much we can learn from our kids 💜 I've literally spent hours coordinating fabrics and when it came to letting my little lady pick some for her pillow she found a color scheme she liked and just grabbed three next to each other on the shelf. It would seem so obvious wouldn't it? But I was in shock by the ease. I think I may over complicate my life sometimes. Haha. 💕🎀 

To do this project you don't even have to buy fabric though, really! It's such a scrappy bit you use! 

To make it like mine, which is about half the size of a standard pillow, you need to cut:

*35 squares 3&1/4 inches x 3&1/4"  ( certainly you will want to make your own grid plan to personalize it unless you're playing jazz 😊 with scraps .. It's 7 squares across and 5 down)

*one rectangle 16&3/4 inches x 12&1/4 inches of back fabric or double your  35 squares and make it patchy on both sides

*stuffing of some sort, thread.... And your sewing tools ✂

These measurements are kind of odd I know but it made it the right size we needed and in the end each square is 2&1/4 inch with 1/2 inch seam allowance.

I like to give plenty of room for stitched seams to stretch so there's less a chance of a split seam in the middle of the pillow.

Here are seven vertical rows of five sewn and ironed, ready to be 

Sewn vertically and ironed again. 

Then with right sides together line up your backing, pin, and sew :) 

Leave a small gap, but big enough for your hand!, for stuffing. 

Turn right side out.

Stuff.

Pin your hole closed, edges turned inward, and sew it up.

Simple, simple, simple!

If you've looked at other posts of mine you might recognize the owl :) by happy accident I made the two coordinate. Katie picked the other 4 fabrics and I added the other two to make it more traditional not even realizing they were what I'd used before.

I can hope someday when she has a dorm or apartment or chair she'll have a sort of matchy fun pillow set. 💗💕

 

 

harry, katie, mommy

katie, harry, ellie

you're never too old for a B:r+hd@y W:$h !

 Hubby's birthday is today and since he works 2nd shift he got a morning celebration (wake up, heehee) 💗🌞💭 we love him dearly and hope he has a wonderful year ❕💠❇💫

 

And because it goes back to before we were married with children : P

http://youtu.be/Qnug5_h6DJQ