Quick craft fix: Crayon Rolls and Flannel Boards

I got together with a couple friends the other day. The idea was that our kids play while we do some crafts. Some days are more successful than others. This particular day was great. We managed to finish two crafts. A flannel board and crayon rolls.

1. Flannel Board
Making the board is super easy. Just take an old piece of cardboard (any size) and a piece of flannel that is about 3 inches (on all sides) bigger than the cardboard. Lay the flannel, right side down on a table and place the cardboard on top of it. Heat up a hot glue gun. Glue down the extra fabric. Make sure to pull the fabric tight so it wont sag. You're done with the board. Seriously, you are.
Now for the more time consuming part. You now need to cut out different shapes, animals, people, etc. I always have tons of felt laying around and my friend, Erin, was kind enough to cut out trees, mountains, rivers, flowers, etc for all of our boards. My daughter loves it!

2. Crayon Rolls by Make It and Love It












Erin said she wanted for us to do flannel crayon rolls so I search my pinterest board "She's Crafty" and found a pattern. This pattern is really simple and easy to follow. It took us less than 2 hours to finish three rolls. We used only flannel, which makes sewing really easy. And also makes the product supper sturdy. I love how they turned out.

So if you need a quick craft fix, consider these. Or check out my pins on pinterest for more inspiration. Just remember to kick off your shoes and have fun!

Confession #20: Shh don't tell anyone, but I'm just winging it

Multi-tasking

 Well, a friend of mine recently, after seeing my facebook update on how well my daughter is doing with potty training, told me I should write a potty training blog. Honestly, I laughed. I don't know what I am doing when it comes to parenting. My husband and I was constantly asking ourselves "Was that stupid?" or "should I have said that?" So the thought of me knowing enough to write about this subject just seems ridiculous. Nevertheless, I found myself here, blogging.
I want to just make it clear that I am no expert on this subject. I am a mother of only one 18month old and I myself am a younger sister, so I didn't get much training until now. Everything that I say it just my opinion. Nothing more. Take it, or leave it.

First time on the big toilet

I had been playing with the idea of potty training my daughter since she was able to walk. But didn't really put much effort into it. Let's be honest, I was too lazy. All I really have done for the past few months is let her get used to her little potty (with and w/o clothes). And I also let her come with me most of the time I go to the bathroom. Not may favorite part of parenting but I believe it has helped. I always remember to say "pee" while I am peeing. My thought here was that she might associate the sound of my pee with the word "pee."
Over the following months Liana (my daughter) has gotten pretty good about saying "pee" every time she sees me go to the bathroom. She showed a lot of interest in it so I started sitting her on her toilet when I am going. Most of the time she would just sit there, and say "pee" but nothing would actually come out.
Then about a week ago, she did it. We were on our potties, like normal, and I heard it. She did too and right away yelled (at the top of her lungs) "PEEEEEEE." She was super excited and proud of herself. When she was done she looked in a saw the pee. And gave me the biggest smile ever. We dumped the pee (which was just as exciting), washed our hands and I gave her a high five. I then tossed her diaper in the hamper (I use cloth diapers), replacing it with underwear.

Liana at 6 months (Crazy what a year can do)

Since that day she has gone in the potty more often than not. She lets me know she needs to go (sometimes after the fact) and runs to the potty. She doesn't really know how to pull her underwear off yet so I still need to help her. But she is using the toilet. Today she wore the same diaper the whole day until she went number 2 (something that hasn't happened in the potty yet). I was half tempted to put her down for her nap in her underwear. But don't want to get ahead of myself.
So that is my story. It really isn't anything I have done or anything. It's just my daughter. She is just done with diapers.
I should mentioned because I use cloth diapers, they don't wick like normal diapers. Some people say this helps with potty training. Who knows. I don't. All I know is that my daughter is one step closer to adulthood and I am one step closer to saying "I miss my baby!"
Now if only I could get her to sleep through the night....

(no shoes were worn in the making of this blog)

Confession #19: I can sew (mail felt tutorial)

It's no spam

 Felt Envelope Tutorial

My daughter (18 months) loves checking the mail with me or my husband, so that got me thinking: if only I could make some mail just for her. And since I have TONS of felt in my craft closet, it was only natural to make them out of felt.
felt is such an amazing thing. Hats off to whoever invented it! I made these for my busy bag exchange group on Facebook but I wanted to share it with everyone on here as well. So, relax, kick off your shoes cause you've got mail.

What you will need:

Lots of felt in different colors (at least 4 different colors, an 1/8 of a yard each four be plenty)
A few inches of either gray or white felt for the stamps
Scissors
Sewing machine
thread to match the felt colors
4 small dot Velcro pieces

Directions:

Tracing with recycled paper

1. Take a piece of thick paper and cut out a 12inch by 5 inch rectangle. Cut one end of the rectangle so that it resembles the top flap of an envelop. This will be the pattern you will use to trace your envelops.

2. Lay the pattern onto one piece of felt and trace and cut out. Repeat with all four colors. Try to trace with a marker that will not leave a dark line or when you cut it out, cut the ink off so it wont be shown.

Sewing on the stamps

3. Cut out small squares for the stamps and sew each one onto each envelop with a zig zag pattern. This will give your square a more stamp look. I used a dark brown thread for this to make the edges pop.

4. Cut out the little shapes for your stamp. I used stars, hearts, circles, and triangles. But any shape works. Cut the shape small enough that it will fit inside your stamp square.

I wonder who it's for?

5. Once you have the stamp sewn on, I added some wavy lines in the middle to make it look like the letter was addressed to someone.

6. Sew the shape onto each stamp by tracing the shape. I used thread that matched the shape. yellow for the yellow star, pink for the pink heart and so on.

7. You are almost done! See it's super simple. Next you want to fold your envelops so that it is in the shape of a normal envelope (see photo below).

Four beautiful envelops. 

8. Once you fold it, all you have to do next is do a straight stitch down each side of the envelope.





9. Now all you need is is place the Velcro where you
you want it and press it in really well. You can add a stitch or two to each one to hold it better in place. But I skipped this step and they have help perfectly. Your envelops are now done!

10. The last step is to cut out matching shapes. I cut out 1 star, 2 hearts, 3 triangles, and 4 circles. That way my daughter learns matching shapes, colors, and numbers.

32 finished envelops. 

I made these for my busy bag exchange group so I made a total of 8 sets, one for my daughter and one for each member of the group. It look me about an hour to finish one set from start to finish. Well worth it!
Liana was super excited to play with these. She decided that they were a good place to cut her Matchbox cars.





What is a busy bag exchange you ask?

Weighing the mail

Good question. First off, a busy bag is something that your child can use to self entertain so that you can make dinner, do the laundry, or (in my case) make more busy bags. They are all homemade (see my pinterest board for more ideas) and usually pretty creative.
The idea of the exchange is that you get in a group of 5 or so other moms with children the same age as yours. You come up with an idea (like the felt mail) and make 5 (or 6 if you want to keep one) sets. You mail them out to each member of your group and wait until busy bags start coming in the mail! It is super exciting. It feels like Christmas sometimes. I am completely addicted!!
Well, more on busy bags later... I will be posting soon with 10 wonderful busy bag ideas in the weeks to come. Hope you enjoyed my tutorial and have a wonderful Easter.
He has risen!

These are a few of my favorite things: March's 10

I haven't really had much time this month to actually get much crafting in, but I keep my promises, so here is a list of some great upcycled crafts that I have been dying to try (and will when I have the time).

by Stuff To Craft

1. Soda Bottle Sprinkler (free if you already have a hose)

I love this idea. And as soon as I plant my flowers in the yard, I will be using this to water them.

by Veseys

2. Slinky bird feeder ($2 for the loop)

This is awesome! It looks great and it's so creative. This website is selling the bird feeder already made but you could make your own with a slinky, a metal loop and peanuts.

by Infarrently Crafts

3. Shrinky Dinky (free)

All you need is some of those plastic salad to go containers and some markers. Awesome!

By Plum Adorable

4. Bleach pen shirts ($4 if you don't already have a bleach pen)

I am so excited for this. I love the idea of making an otherwise ordinary tee, into something super cute!



5. Foam Stamp (free once you order take out)

So simple yet I wouldn't have ever thought of it. Take a old Styrofoam container and carve a design on it. Instant stamp!

by Indestructible

6.  Upcycled crayons (Free, if you already have the molds)
You've probably heard of melting your old crayons down and melting them in muffin pans, but how about those awesome chocolate or oven safe soap molds? It makes for some cute new crayons.

by Groove Press

7. Earing holder (.99cents for that grater at the thrift store)

In the words of Martha Stewart "It's a good thing." Love it!

By Duo Fiberworks

8. Sweater pots (Free if you already have an old sweater and plastic pots)
What a great way to reuse old sweaters. I have so many, and am excited to try this.

by Crafty Endeavor

9. Yarm Garland ($2.00 of the balloons)

I love this idea and it doesn't have to be used just for Easter.

By Ikat Bag

10. Mail Box (free)

Liana loves to check our mail and I bet she would love it even more if she could have her own mail box. Going to have to make this one for sure next time I get a big box!














There are tons more awesome crafty ideas out there that I just can't wait to try. But they will have to wait, cause I am busy making busy bags! More to come on that....

Confession #18: Building is not just for boys.

I found a blog by Ana White on making a reading nook. It seemed so awesome and it had simple instructions. I followed her directions on how to make the frame. The only difference is that I used smaller screws to secure the base. I left like it would crack the wood with the screws that she had me use.

I couldn't find a curtain that I liked at our local thriftstore but I did find a cute duvet cover for less than $2.00. So I cute the cover in half, and hung one side onto the frame. I measured and trimmed and repeated with the other side. I trimmed the cover on all four sides. I also used the leftover trimmings to make the loops at the top. I made them the same way you would make bias tape. I pinned them on top the top of the cover while it was connected to the frame. So that way I knew they were in the right place. I made 6 smaller bias strips for the back. Pinned them and sewed them on.

Finally I threaded them onto the top rod (just like they say to do in the blog). Beautiful! It only took me one evening to do the sewing. And less than that to build the base.

I draped the cover over to measure

Trim all four edges of each side

I made fourteen large loops (bias strips) and 6 thin ones

Making the bias strips

Sewing all the strips on.

All the strips are pinned

Once sewed, thread on all the strips (every other one)

This side done!

The back with 6 ties.

Sharing the nook with friends!

She must have loved it!

And as always I did this barefoot (well, I did ware shoes while I drilled holes in the wood outside). I am so happy with the result of this project. I decided not to staple the bottom like Ana did in her blog. I want to be able to wash the cover if need be. So I made 12 more thing bias strips and tied the cover secure at the bottom. Hope this inspires you to create your own special fort for your child. It was so simple, and fun.
And under $20! You can't beat that!

Confession #17: Traveling with kids CAN be fun

Sorry (again) for the lack of blogging. I guess I have been too busy with life. haha
Well, I don't really know how to put our trip to the Dominican Republic in words. All I can say is that it was wonderful. Living down there two years ago was at times vary hard. Manly because teaching in an unorganized, undisciplined school comes with many challenges and grey hairs. But going back down there for Operation Christmas Child was another story. We saw this country in a whole other light. Our students were more enjoyable and it was stress free. Perfect! God sure blessed us throughout our trip.
We helped distribute many boxes to many different kids throughout the country. It was a great experience for us and our daughter. Liana enjoyed every minute of the trip. She would have probably been happy if we had never come back to the states.
I am having a hard time putting our trip into words, so here are some photos for your viewing pleasure. So kick off your shoes and relax

Liana dancing with the sunday school girls

A sleep on Jhonn

Some of the girls share their boxes with Liana

Letting Liana help open her box

Low rider!

Sean is praying for a girl in the hospital

Surprize!

Visiting our old school

What's so funny?

Making friends

The Janssens at the beach

Enjoying her new shades

Confession #16: Granola bars should never be store bought

I know it's been a while since I last blogged, and I'm sorry for that, but I am right now in finals week of school so I have been busy pulling my hair out! I plan on writing a little bit about our trip to the Dominican Republic but for now I am just going to give you the best granola bar recipe (that's peanut free) that I have come across. I am making this right now! I am using the first part as a base and going from there.
Mix 1 cup homemade apple sauce with 1 tea cinn and 3/4 tea homemade van extract. Add in 2 1/2 cup oatmeal. And I expanded from there.
1st Batch: 1 cup crushed walnuts and almonds and 1 cup crazins and raisins.
2nd Batch: 1/2 cup chocolate chips, 1/2 cup crazins, 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
3rd Batch: 1 cup marshmallows and 1 cup chocolate chips

Recipe inspired by Brown Eyed Baker

Enjoy! And I will be posting regularly again next week.