Treasure Hunt

Okay hopefully this time my posting works with photos. Not feeling 100% with my allergies acting up. Really just wanted to lay on the couch watching trash tv, but if you have kids you know that's not happening! So when the bickering started I said let's go on a treasure hunt. Fastest any of us has gotten dressed and our the door.
Oops almost forgot the map....


Alright where's our first stop. The secret forest ( thank goodness we bought a house directly across the street from a park)


We found it. Now where? The twirly whirly loop


Quick run around twice...


Now off to deer meadow watch out for deer poop, we narrowly missed quite a bit...


Off to fairy bridge....


Make a wish as you cross and them come back around and see if the fairies heard your wish.


Oh look they did ( thank goodness the fairies keep a supply of prizes in our garage!)


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Kiwi Crate

So I have heard from other Mom's how great Kiwi Crates are so I finally broke down and purchased some for the kids. To me I felt they were pricey for a craft box. I mean I'm all about crafts but $20 a box plus shipping. Boy was I wrong! It is totally worth it. We got a Nature Explore kit for each child. In the kit they both received scissors, a star hole punch and enough craft items for two different crafts.

Here are the kids making their starlight lanterns.



As you can see my three year old son enjoyed this as much as my 5 year old daughter.
Here is his finished one.


Here is hers.



Yes I know my kids never want to get dressed but I swear their teeth are brushed and I did her hair. Hahaha

So Emma saved all the little stars she punched out and made her own constellations. Using as much glue as humanly possible.



This was a good hour and a half just with a small part of the box. There is a lot more fun to be had.

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Rainy Day Activity

I saw this activity at local craft store. Of course, at $1 each how could I pass up 10 mins of quiet time. ( hahaha Just kidding these two are never quiet!) Today was the perfect day cold and rainy. The kids loved it and it actually lasted longer than 10 minutes.







And our finished sun catchers.



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Location:Monterey,CA

Mini Me's

As I'm talking to my Mother In Law, who wants us to visit her in CO. The thought of 4 plane tickets, 2 carseats and rental car prices for a week loom in my head; we come up with a fabulous solution. Mini kids! So last summer we tried Flat Stanley (my kids were only 4 and 1) but we didn't get much of a response. My MiL being the awesome person she is, took photos printed them out and and made a "book" she typed up descriptions of the places Stanley visited. To this day Emma still wants to read it at least twice a week. So this inspired us to make mini dolls. Plus I made it super kid friendly so my 5 and 3 year old could be a part of the process.

Here's what you'll need:
-Crayons
-ink jet printer
-fabric sheets for ink jet (I used Avery InkJet Printable Fabric)**
-muslin
-matching thread
-sewing machine and sewing notions
-small amount of batting


Let's get started


I first found a coloring page person outline, (I googled Flat Stanley and found one). I suggest to enlarge the outline ours was a bit small and I had a heck of a time sewing it.

Print out the outline on ink jet fabric (twice) one for the front and one for the back. Cut these out, match up the seams, pin and then sew around. Leaving a 2-3 inch opening. Turn the doll insides out, so all seams are inside the doll. Do a quick iron job to flatten out.

Now let the kiddos color their new dolls. My daughter Emma made a ballerina and my son colored with blue his favorite color.







(Yes, my kids are protesting clothes and wearing pj's) After they finish coloring, you want to iron the doll to set the coloring so it is permanent. Place a piece of muslin between the doll and the iron so the crayon doesn't stick to your iron.

Then stuff the doll with batting and stitch up the opening and viola your Mini Me is done! Sorry I forgot to take pics before I sent them off.


**You can make your own printable fabric by using freezer paper and ironing it onto your own fabric. I of course found these instructions AFTER I went and bought and used the other stuff. Just google it for more info.

First Blog Post

This is my first post. With all the crafting I've been doing lately I figured instead of clogging up my facebook page with all the items I've done. I'll start a blog and then family and friends have the option of checking my projects out.  I promise my next post will be better. My kids and I are working on our version of Flat Stanley. So stay tuned.....