20 Mar 2013
After cutting out and mounting a cardboard vintage sheep print, Griff asked “What am I suppose to do with it?” I responded, “Use your imagination”. He spent over an hour playing. I guess I am not such a bad Mom after all.
Awesome vintage image prints can be found at the awesome Graphics Fairy.
20 Aug 2012
Griff attended a summer program this month called “Enchanted Forest”. It is where my “garden gnome moment” came from a few weeks ago. He was taught all things of enchantment in the forest. The finale of this adventure was the making of a fairy house to put into practice all the knowledge (and items) they collected on a wilderness walk and from what they learned through out the two week program. Unfortunately, for them, the second week was very rainy. They were able to squeeze out enough sunshine to pick up all the items to make the houses, but didn’t get a dry enough spell to put them together. Lucky for us, that meant we got to make it at home!
His bag of natures best treasures also came with printed out instructions on how to make a fairy house. We wanted to be sure there was a solid foundation so started with a board broken from a past Tae Kwon Do testing. We found a spot under our Japanese Maple, next to a very protective rock to start our house. After gathering up some moss from my moss garden (I don’t mind sharing for a project as important as this one!) and covering the boards, Griff started adding sticks in a tee-pee arrangement. We then wove the large leaves he found on his nature walk in-between each stick making a very safe shelter for the Fairies.
A few additional adds, from Mommy’s sewing room, made for some great trinkets fit for the most fabulous of Fairies.
A thimble and spool of thread make the perfect place to sit and drink from an acorn top cup. No fairy shall go thirsty on our watch.
Under the protection of the shelter, a soft bed of leaves awaits to cradle her into a pleasant slumber.
Acorns accent the front of the home giving it (what Griff explains as) a “homey feel”.
An pine cone and leaf path line the way for the fairy to find her way into this beautiful place.
And one boy sits very proud of this accomplishment for his fairy. He has explained to me that sometimes fairies disguise themselves as Monarch Butterflies. So if we don’t see a fairy right away, she may just be scoping out her next real estate.
The next morning, there was a Monarch Butterfly flying through the back yard. :)
15 May 2012
For Mother’s Day Griffin and I worked on a project for my Mom that has been on my “to do” list for a long time. After seeing this awesome idea for garden markers on Wabi Sabi Mama, I knew this would be something my Mom would like. We purchased some river rocks from the local craft store and some paint markers.
I simply found the flat sides of the rocks and marked them with the herbs I knew my Mom has existing in her garden, or adds each year.
Soon there was a great collection.
One special rock was chosen by Griff. He wanted one that said “Mimi’s Garden”. He decorated this one by himself.
They were a big hit, Mimi loved them. I can’t wait to see them in my Mother’s garden this summer!
Did you do any Mother’s Day crafts, or find any inspiration? Feel free to share the links!
12 Apr 2012
Knitting: I am still working on Griffin’s sweater. I have to admit, my knitting has been put aside a bit the last few weeks to make room for spring projects. I did have a chance to work on it while in the car heading up north this weekend. That gave me a few hours of uninterrupted (and much loved) time.
Reading: This has been another item on the back burner this week. I do have to highlight one book I’ve been reading with Griff that always makes me smile. “The Tales of Peter Rabbit” by Beatrix Potter. This year this book is celebrating 110 years (if you can believe it!) The website has all kinds of amazing resources, including a pre-school curriculum called “Cooking up Mischief with Peter Rabbit”, a downloadable module full of fun and exploration of the world around us. Griff’s been making us read the original story every night. I think he can relate to the curious bunny who gets himself in trouble because he didn’t listen to his mommy. At the end of the book last night, he even said, I wish I were a bunny that could run and eat veggies in the garden!” Awe…too cute.
3 Apr 2012
I remember making this pen holder tin as a Father’s Day gift for my Dad when I was in the first grade. I’ve been waiting for Griff to get big enough to replicate it for my Dear Husband.
Here’s what you will need:
1 tin can
masking tape
brown shoe polish
Cover the tin with the masking tape. The more layers and texture the better.
Make sure every shiny space is covered.
Next, you buff the masking tape with brown shoe polish. It’s funny how your memory leaves out certain things or maybe it’s just how times have changed. I really don’t remember the shoe polish being so stinky. Warning – I am not sure how good the fumes are to breath, but this is for the sake of the project (I do recommend gloves).
Once the masking tape is all covered, let it dry. It takes about 24 hours. The finished project does not stink and is really cute. Griff was very proud to give this project to his Dad.
Dad loved it.
29 Mar 2012
Our weather has been crazy nuts. Yesterday, we went from sleet to 50 degrees and sunny in about an hour. Then back to sleet and rain after another hour. It felt as though mother nature was confusing her stereo dial with her weather dial! It makes me thankful that we took advantage of all the beautiful weather we had last week. A very springtime project we finished was this cute birdhouse for the back yard.
I purchased a pre-made birdhouse at the local hardware store and some acrylic paints. I used small brushes to keep Griff busy for a while (shhhh, don’t tell my secret!)
We started with a yellow base and painted in dark green on top. To mark this project, and capture my little guy (who is growing TOO FAST) in this moment, I had him put his hand prints on the top of the house.
We added some painted flowers and gardens (that’s what Griffin called his painting) to the sides and front.
It’s the perfect house for a bird. But I have a confession, I haven’t been able to bring myself to put it outside yet. It’s become something I want to keep! I’ll need to get a clear top coat of some kind to preserve it. Please let me know if you have any suggestions. It was such a great project, I think next year, we may try making the birdhouse ourselves too!
Happy Spring!
12 Feb 2012
When I saw this post by Carla over at small + friendly pop into my reader, I knew what project Griff and I were doing for the week. This cute tutorial includes everything you need to make adorable valentines for the birds. Luckily, all I needed was bird seed.
This is a great recipe for the kidlets. Griff was able to do all of it himself. He is able to tell me the difference between the cups these days. I love that.
It gets a bit sticky once it’s all mixed together, so Mom had to help a bit.
Once we transferred to wax paper, cut out our hearts, and added the holes for the string, we were ready to go (we doubled the recipe!)
Carla included a fantastic PDF on her site for the tags to use on the top of the valentines. I printed them out on pink card stock and cut them out while the cookies were cooking.
While the cookies were cooling, I created the envelopes following her tutorial. Once cooled, we added festive pink yarn and inserted them into the envelopes.
Once secured on each side with a staple, the perfect little valentines are ready to go! How cute are these?
1 Sep 2011
Okay, I admit it. I have not been good with projects for Griffin since I started my consulting gig. Griff has been asking and asking when we would do another project. To be honest, I am usually busy running around the house, cleaning, doing errands, and trying to keep up on my days with him. It was time for me to ignore the dirty floors and piling laundry and start a project. I’ve been seeing some beautiful mobiles on many great blogs lately. It made me wonder…hummmm…Griff needs a mobile to match his quilt.
We took some construction paper and cut out leaves, owls and a starburst. Griff worked hard cutting and gluing everything together. I was so proud (of course) at how used the images on some left over fabric from his quilt as a creative guide.
We went outside and found two sticks that were recently trimmed from a nearby hedge. Then we took a hole punch, and used string to string up all of the pieces we had cut out. Griff said “the owls should be holding hands, like Mommy and Griffin owls.” By the time he said it, he already had their little wings stuck.
It took a while to get it balanced, but once it was, it was awful cute. The wind from the windows softly blows it around, reveling all the hard work Griff did cutting, pasting and coloring. What a fun project! Geez, I need to forget about clean floors and do projects with him all the time.
Other cool mobiles I have seen lately:
Do you have a cool mobile? Feel free to leave a link in the comments.
Happy Crafting!
16 May 2011
Griffin saw strawberry plants while we were at our local store. He kept saying how someday he was going to plant strawberries. While listening to his wish, I started to think about how I have always wanted a strawberry pot myself. So I figured, what the heck? We searched up and down for the perfect pot. Something natural that would fit in well with our deck plants. It took a bit, but we found something we could surely work with.
First we “painted” the terracotta pot with dirt. I forget where I saw this, some garden show I am sure. But it made the pot fit in better with the more weathered pots and gave it a more authentic look.
Then the filling began. Griffin was SO excited to paint with and play in the dirt. And in interest of full disclosure, Mommy was too! I was so dirty, and at risk of making a mess out of my camera, I still got up to snap shots.
I pulled apart the plants as Griff kept filling up the pot to the top.
All while singing a “dirt, dirt, I love dirt” song.
It was a fantastic project. We were so pleased with our work. We knew we had to get a picture of us together with our prized project. So with dirt soaked hands, I used my pinkies to set the camera on the edge of a chair, set the time and focus…but I captured a memory that was worth the camera cleaning later!
Happy Planting!
4 Apr 2011
It’s that time again! It’s time to open the windows, dust off the cobwebs and clean the closets. We cleaned out our closets earlier this week to collect more blankets for the NHSPCA. You may remember last years post on “Blankets for Barking Babies”. We donated a large load of old baby blankets, swaddling blankets and towels for the animals waiting for homes. I encourage you to donate your old blankets and towels to your local SPCA as well. The NHSPCA has always held a special place in my heart. It is an amazing building with amazing programs. We have enjoyed many of the story times over the last 3 years.
Last Thursday was no exception. The older Griff gets, the more he enjoys the experience. Each time he gets more and more from the animals.
The pets are so docile and happy to have the children’s attention.
It’s such a great chance to play with them all.
I cannot post enough good things about the NHSPCA programs.
It’s not everyday you get to hold a chinchilla.
This trip, we learned there was something more we could contribute than old blankets.
The NHSPCA is a contender for the ASPCA $100k challenge. This means they were chosen among a handful of smaller SPCA’s to receive a $100k grant (YAY NHSPCA!) This is an amazing opportunity for them and where I can use your help. To help them win this challenge, there is a voting site. You can vote everyday from April 4th-April 15th.
So while cleaning out the old closets, donate what is currently cluttering for a good cause. Your local SPCA could use them. If you’d also like to help my local SPCA, please take a second to vote for NHSPCA and help our fantastic programs continue. Happy Spring Cleaning!
