snOMG Days
If you are anywhere near the Carolinas, if you have a TV or use Facebook, you surely know by now that Charlotte is in the midst of Snomaggedon, the Snowpocalypse, the Storm that Stopped the South, or my favorite, snOMG!Whatever…
Crafts
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POP! Goes "I Love You"
Amelia LOVES Valentine's Day. Seriously loves every sugar-coated, glitter-dripping bit of it. So with late-January snow days to occupy, we've already made valentine cookies, purchased valentines for her classmates, and set about making cards for teachers, grandparents, the dog, and…
Resolved
We had no plans on New Year's Eve, which seemed perfect at first. Just a long, relaxing evening by the fire, watching the ball drop and reading and playing games in our pajamas. This plan entertained our 6-year-old for about…
Giant 3D Snowflakes
I fell into the trap. At the start of the school year, my daughter's school held an open house, and her very wise kindergarten teacher put out volunteer sign up sheets for events throughout the year. I had to sign…
First Stitches
I can't remember when I learned to sew. My mother sewed, and I know I used a sewing machine in late elementary school. But stitching by hand must have come first.I still sew a lot, and my Etsy business is…
Crafts for Kids: Make it Snow!
When it comes to snow, sometimes we have to make our own here in the South.
Decking the Halls for Thanksgivukkah!
Now that Halloween is over and it's finally chilly enough to think about winter, we're looking ahead to a season of celebrations. Next up is the once-in-a-lifetime collision of Thanksgiving and Hannukah-Thanksgivukkah! This might justify a deep fried turkey, but…
Punching Pumpkins
Have you ever stumbled upon an idea that made you wonder why you'd never thought of it yourself? That's what happened to me the other day. I found this. Yes, at first glance it is a fairly complicated tutorial on…
Messing Around
With the start of kindergarten and the strict school schedule that comes with it, I wasn't sure Amelia or I would have the energy for a craft project this week. Well, just the opposite was true – we NEEDED a…
Bringing Home the Beach
There's sand in my suitcase, and I put it there.We just returned from a week on Cape Cod with three generations of family. This is the second year we've participated in what is already an annual event—the cost, hassle, and…
Flowers from Wonderland
I wish I could take credit for this week's project, but I cannot. I have a crafty new friend, and I met her just in time. Her twin girls attended the same preschool as my daughter, and now that the…
A New Kind of Bowling
We're enjoying a few weeks of Camp Mommy over here. What's Camp Mommy, you wonder? So glad you asked. It's the four weeks between summer camp ending and kindergarten starting. That's right, four weeks. We'll be visiting family for the…
Salt Watercolors
A few months ago, I wrote about a project that involved melting channels through blocks of ice with salt and then watching color flow through the pathways. This project is its room-temperature cousin. You'll need: Stiff paper Glue Water colors…
Re-Made Shade
Remember my last post about getting the deck done faster by inviting Amelia to help? Well...one project led to another. Now that the deck is done, our sun-faded patio umbrella looks SOOOO much worse in comparison. But of course, it…
Child Labor!
If you've ever tried to get a project done with kids in the house, you know just how impossible this is. For the past month, my husband has been getting antsy to clean and stain our deck, and we've been…
Can the Wind
Do you remember the Zans for Cans, from One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish? It was a monster that opens cans...so if you have a lot of cans, you should have a Zans for Cans. According to the…
Loony Birds
As a kid, I remember making bird marionette puppets with my mother. Upon more specific recollection, I actually remember watching while my mother made them. And I remember a lot of tangled strings. And now I know why. Because these…
Home Improvement
For this week's blog post, I had a plan. We were going to make bird puppets, really we were. Amelia and I went to the craft store for some feathers and other bird supplies, and then we saw it...there in…
Pinwheeling
When I was a kid, my mother refused to buy anything we could make ourselves. Last week I caught myself eyeing some garden pinwheels in a store, thinking about how to make them. It's official; I've become my mother. Of…
Play With Your Food
Typically, Passover food is nothing kids get excited about. Brisket and matzo just don't compare with the seasonally concurrent colorful eggs, chocolate bunnies and Easter baskets. But this year, our Seder was a contender. We had a Matzo Candy Castle!…
Magic Dancing Princesses Need Space!
A few months ago, I spotted this little cutie on Pinterest. The link is not in English, but the photos are pretty self-explanatory. A little toy in an Altoids box seems charming and appealing in an aesthetic sense, but I…
Spring is Sprouting!
At the first hint of spring a few weeks ago, I ran out to buy potting soil, and the next day Amelia picked out some bulbs. Since bulbs are much more exciting than a bag of dirt, we got a…
Where Do You Put It All?
My house is a firetrap. Seriously, paper comes into our house like moths to the light. And most of it arrives, innocently enough, in Amelia's school backpack. Treasured art projects she made at school. Plural. Every day. Of course, I'm…
Galleries A through Z
It's been a good month for crafts in our house, in part because it's been raining, but mostly because we just adopted a dog and Amelia won't leave the house unless it's absolutely necessary.Turns out that even the dog gets tired…
