Getting My Crafty Feet Wet

So, it's not so easy to craft with a baby. I know that many of you are probably thinking, "Duh!"

With so many blogs named things like "While She Naps" and "Nap Time Crafts" etc... I kinda thought there would be more time. Maybe if I had a designated space to craft in, it would be easier. Much of my craft energy is sucked up just thinking about the time it would take to set up and clean up. That's when I just say, "Nah" and go on Pinterest instead. The weekends fill up so quickly now too. It really is a whole new world. I knew it would be. I just didn't know in what ways.

Anyway, I have made three things lately that are blog worthy. Probably even worthy of their own posts, but as they say, "Those were the days."

Project 1. Cookies for my niece Ava's first birthday. My sister in law stayed home this year. Awesome opportunity! No paycheck. Womp, womp, womp. So when first birthday time came around I offered to help with the party in lieu of a birthday toy or outfit type gift. The cookies that I made were the party favors.

This was a whole family effort. Cliff watched the baby while I worked pretty much round the clock. Marilee did get in on the action during some of her feedings though. The party colors were pink and purple and timing was perfect to get Easter m&m's for the "cherry" on top.

 I had grand packaging ideas courtesy of Pinterest.  In the end, I stapled the bags shut and hot glued a scalloped cut out over the staples. I mailed out 60 of these babies and only 11 broke in transit. Not too bad. My SIL needed about 40 for her party.

Project #2 My other niece, Elle, also turned one this month. (Both nieces are only a day apart in age!) While I would have loved to do something just as grand for my little Elle, I simply didn't have the time or energy.
I decided to give them something sentimental. The inspiration pin:

Source: eighteen25.blogspot.com via J on Pinterest

Cute right? There are so many changes in the first year that I thought it would be great to capture them in one place. Also, what do you do with all the cute snapshots other than put them in an album? I wanted those little moments to be available for more frequent glances.

Here is my version:

I am not even going to apologize for the photography. It is what it is these days.

I chose a shadow box frame. I used the scalloped punch that I already had and mounted the photos with thick mounting stickers that stand out a bit. Elle's room is pink and white, so I used pink and white scrapbook paper for the background. I had planed to make a flower for one space similar to the star above, but I couldn't vote any of the pictures off of the island. This Auntie loved them all too much.


Sleeping, crying, the little hands. I know I want to remember all these little things!

I spy a Molly Monkey! Yes, it turns out it's a favorite!

This project was quick and easy to make. I lifted the pictures from my brother's flicker and facebook accounts. That took the most amount of time. The rest was a breeze.

Project #3 hardly deserves to be called a project. It comes from one of those pre-printed panels and was sewn together in minutes. Although, I would like props for dragging out the ironing board. That thing hasn't seen the light of day this year.

I was super psyched to find this panel because Marilee is going to a birthday party this weekend and I needed something extra for the gift. My colleague volunteered at the LA Zoo for quite a while and was especially involved in the new elephant exhibit. So this is perfect for them.

I had emailed my friend about sizes and such and she told me:
They like primary colors and especially spring green. The baby is thin, so elastic waistbands are a must. They prefer gender neutral stuff and they love animals.

Source: crazy8.com via J on Pinterest

I am pretty excited about the gift. I found this adorable spring green panda sweater at Crazy 8 and paired it with some black leggings.

Animals- check!
Spring green-check!
Elastic waistband- check!
Gender neutral- well, c'mon how cute is the bow?

Crazy 8 is my new favorite kids store. I haven't bought Marilee anything from anywhere (except for socks) because we have gotten tons of  gifts and  hand-me-down motherload from my niece Ava and a few other friends. But, I have gotten a few things for Ava as thank you treats and the prices are fantastic! Also, I like that the clothes look like they are for children. Baby Gap can be hit or miss. Sometimes it's awesome. But I went there once when I was pregnant and everything looked like a shrunken version of Banana Republic. I don't need my babes to look like they are going to a cocktail party after a full day at the office.

It feels good to be back in this space. Summer is just around the corner. We have grand travel plans, but hopefully, I'll get back to crafting too. It really is part of who I am and I miss it! How have all of you been?

A Quick Note of Thanks

Sara made us this wonderful quilt that looks like a piece of notebook paper.

I think it's safe to say that both Marilee and I love it!
What makes it extra special is that we had picked out her name years ago after we were first married. That first year here in LA I had to take a bunch of classes to get my CA credential. During the dull moments I would write all our initials, and write out her name dozens of time. Cursive, print, you know, just like in high school. Only I was 32. I have to dig up those notebooks. I bet I could find the pages.

So, in other news, this Tuesday feels like it should be a Friday already. Nothing serious or bad, just seems like I've already put in a full week. How about you?

Mama Can Multi-Task

 I read somewhere that a woman's brain becomes more flexible after having children because of all the multi-tasking.

Who's the Cake Cookie Boss now?!  Sixty cupcake cookies for my niece's first birthday. Ready to be shipped to NY.

Nouveau Decor

 
Binder clips and links. Fresh new look daily.

For the Love of a Mobile

Marilee is at the stage where she will look at a mobile for a good 10 to 15 minutes. In my world that is a lifetime! Naturally we want to have mobiles all over the house. We were gifted a crib mobile with a music box, so we moved this mobile to over her changing area.

I saw this idea first on Pinterest and wrote about making one here. It's terrific because the breeze from our heater makes it move and twirl quite a bit.

Recently we set up a pack and play in the office and I wanted to add a mobile in there as well.

The Michaels dollar aisle yeilded some cardboard birds and some assorted wooden shapes. Then this Sunday we were given a present with such beautiful wrapping paper I was completely inspired.

A little Modge Podge, paint and wrapping paper and we were in business. I do plan on adding some ribbon to the embroidery hoop as in the mobile above, but otherwise I am quite pleased. Most of this was done while nursing so that alone is an accomplishment!

I go back to work tomorrow and I am feeling pretty good about it. Cliff is going to be the modern stay at home dad and I think he is looking forward to that new job too.  Mostly, I feel incredibly blessed to have a good job in this economy and a sweet family to come home to.

Here is the last of my Picnik projects.  Remember they are closing down the site on April 19.
This is a repost from February 2010.

Family Fun Magazine has the best ideas! This month two ideas for Valentines grabbed my attention. The Google Eye Valentines and the scratch off Valentines.



Since both ideas were stellar, I decided to combine them and do both.

I took a close up picture and edited it in Picnik. In Picnik I added a Valentines boarder and "sticker" with text. The text on the heart has pun filled messages such as "Eye think your great!" Puns are so great for my English language learners.  Then I had the photos printed at Walgreens. Next, I covered the heart "sticker" with clear contact paper and silver metalic craft paint mixed with a dab of soap. The easiest part was adding the google eyes. I got these great stick on google eyes at Michaels. They came in assorted sizes which just makes everything even sillier.

"Eye" think they will be a hit with my pupils.

Update: Yes, they were a hit. In fact some of the students kept them in their pencil boxes. I think as teachers we sometimes forget to be silly with our students. They really do love it.

Favorite Picnik Projects Before They Close

This week I am going to repost some of my favorite projects using Picnik. I believe their last day is April 19. There is time to make any number of projects if you don't delay.

Anyway, this post actually comes from my old school blog, My Many Colored Crayons. This was one of my favorite projects ever. Enjoy!

Portrait of a Drug Free Future!
It's Red Ribbon Week at OFS and this year we are celebrating with a door decorating contest. I have a slight problem with bragging about the Crayons and today is no exception. Check out this door!! See our Red Ribbon bracelets? The little "red ribbons" contain student writing on why they pledge to be drug free. I think it has a good chance at winning!

And, I really want to win which is silly since the prize hasn't even been announced.

I was inspired by a portrait project in this month's Family Fun magazine which unfortunately is not linked yet. However, their project had multiple steps and involved acrylic paint. It just seemed a bit complicated when multiplied by 25 students. Last week was the Hispanic Heritage Month Dance. This week is the book fair and OCR testing, so teaching them how to draw a self portrait was out of the question.


My version of Cheater Self Portraits used few supplies and worked out well for fourth graders with little experience with water colors.

Here's our tutorial for Watercolor (Cheater) Self Portraits:

Supplies:
drawing paper cut to 8.5" X 11"
water colors
a digital picture
a computer with internet access

1. Take a picture with your digital camera. I think a close up or a relatively simple scene would work best. (This picture is not of a student but, from an ad.)

2. Go to Picnik and upload the photo(s) for free! Choose their "create" menu and then scroll down the special effects until you find the one that is called "Pencil Sketch." Apply that effect to your picture.

3. Print the picture out on the drawing paper. At work I have access to a laser printer. At home I used an inkjet and I found worked well even with water colors.

4. Paint the picture with water colors. Less is more. It's nice to let a little of the print come through. It makes the details like a nose, much easier.
I gave my students two copies so that they could practice controlling the paint and mixing colors. I am pleased with the outcome. It took two hour long sessions to complete.

Update: That was the post from way back in 2009. Naturally, we did win the door contest and the prize was a new Connect Four game. Sweet! Later I went on to make another watercolor of my colleague's daughter. I thought it came out super cute.


I had always planned on making several others as Christmas gifts for various people. And, of course, now I want one of my own kiddo. I wonder how many I can get done between now and April 19?