Top Ten Tuesday: Kids' Craft Supplies

My daughter, at 3 years old, is a very busy girl. She is on the move from the time she opens her eyes in the morning to the time she reluctantly closes them at nap time or night time. She is also great at keeping herself entertained...however, her methods for self-amusement generally involve messes, bruises, or a crying little brother.

When Wendy is given a little more guidance in her play, we all benefit. Her attitude is better, her behavior is better, and we get to share some special and funny moments. She really likes to make things, so I am in the process of stocking up on some craft supplies for her.

Here are my Top Ten craft supplies to keep on hand for a 3 year old:

1. Crayons and Washable Markers - these are an obvious necessity for an easy craft time. Wendy loves crayons, and she really loves markers - see?


That's why WASHABLE markers are essential. I've been really happy with the easy clean-up of Crayola's washable products.

2. Construction Paper - I just bought a giant stack of construction paper at Sam's Club yesterday, and I can't wait to use it! I think today we'll be making these turkeys and talking about Thanksgiving. (And if you don't subscribe to Impress Your Kids, you really should. That site is jam-packed with wonderful ideas!)

3. Stickers - Wendy is fascinated with stickers, and loves to put them on her potty chart & use them to embellish her original artwork. She can go through them pretty quickly, so we use the cheapest ones we can find, and she likes them just as well as the expensive ones.

4. Felt and Craft Foam - I really need to get a few different colors to keep on hand for projects. It's cheap and extremely versatile.

5. Googly Eyes - who doesn't love googly eyes? You can use them to turn any project into something fun.

6. Pipe Cleaners - bendy, colorful, and fun, and no mess involved! Pipe cleaners are great for shaping into animals, letters, numbers, or "jewelry."

7. Glue Sticks and Safety Scissors - glue and scissors are another obvious choice. Wendy knows how to use scissors, but hasn't quite developed the coordination and strength to make it work. We're going to practice as we do our crafts, because it is an important preschool skill.

8. Glitter Glue - kids LOVE sparkles! Glitter glue is fantastic, because it lets you have the fun of glitter without it getting absolutely everywhere.

9. Popsicle Sticks - great for making puppets, Christmas ornaments, buildings, bookmarks, and so many other things! They are cheap, and can be painted, colored, and glued. You can get big bags at most craft stores, or wash the ones your family uses!

10. Yarn, Feathers, Leaves, Acorns, Buttons, Sequins, Pinecones, etc. - being able to make her projects "fancy" makes Wendy happy! And I know she's not the only Fancy Nancy out there...

What have I forgotten? What craft supplies do your kids love to use?

For more Top Ten Tuesday lists, visit OhAmanda.com!

Top Ten Tuesday: Knitting

My blog has been so quiet lately! I've been taking some time to work on things, so I haven't been online much. Hopefully we'll be in more of a routine soon, and I'll be able to write - I miss it!

For today, I'm participating in Top Ten Tuesday at OhAmanda.com.

Top Ten Things I Want to Knit:

1. Mittens - I have some great self-striping yarn that I would love to use to make mittens for Wendy. I just need to find a pattern or figure it out on my own.

2. New Hat for David - I made him a hat a couple of weeks ago, and I love it, but it is too small. It barely fits him, so I'd like to make the same pattern again and make it bigger.



3. New Hat for Wendy - I don't think Wendy has a warm hat that fits right now, and I need to get working on that!

4. David's Blanket - I started a blanket for David the day we found out he was a boy, and I haven't finished it yet! Other projects have taken over. I really need to get on it & finish it up so that he can use it this winter.

5. An iPod Cozy - I saw this pattern on Ravelry, and I'm pretty sure I could adapt it for my iPod. If you knit - these would probably make good Christmas gifts!

6. Sweater for Wendy - now that I am back in the habit of knitting & have learned some new skills, I'd like to tackle a sweater. I've never made a sweater before, but I think I can do it. All I need is the right yarn & enough time to get it done!

7. Jumper/Dress for Wendy - I have this pattern saved in my queue (I like to use that word whenever possible) on Ravelry, and Steph at Adventures in Babywearing wrote about it last week. I like the fact that the pattern is knit from the top down, so that you can add length as your girl grows - Wendy is growing so fast, it's hard to keep her in dresses that are long enough.

8. Pillow covers - we could really use some pillows for our couch & floor, and I'm sure I could knit something that I would like a lot better than what I've seen in the stores.

9. Socks - I would love to knit a pair of socks! It looks a little complicated, but I think once I finished one, I'd be able to do them pretty quickly.

10. Christmas presents - and since some of the recipients might read my blog, that's all I'm going to say about THAT.

Are you a knitter or crocheter? What's in your list of projects?

My Little Elf

This has been done for quite a while, but I was waiting to post it until I got all the announcements in the mail. Here is my beautiful boy at three days old, wearing the elf hat I knitted for him the weekend before he was born.


I think he's pretty special.

Knitting Projects

Some of you who know me in real life know that I love to knit. The things I make are pretty basic, since I have constant distractions that might interfere with a complicated pattern. For example, I started a blanket for David on Friday, and it was the most complicated pattern I've tried to date. I got about 4 hours into it, finished a row, and realized I was one stitch off for that entire row. Since it was a new pattern, I couldn't figure out how to fix it. I had to unravel the whole thing.

Since then, I've started again, using a simple pattern of my own design, and it's going beautifully! I've got about 6 inches done. It's a beautiful berry blue color, and fairly tightly knitted so that his wee fingers won't get tangled up in any open stitches. When it's done (hopefully before he's born!) I'll be sure to post pictures.

I'm going to interrupt that project as soon as I find some good yarn, because just LOOK at this picture:


I found this hat on Etsy, right here. This lady's store is fantastic; she's got several styles of wonderful newborn hats, all shown in professional photos like the one above. I love this hat, and I'm pretty sure I can make it, even without a pattern. And if I do, I want to get a similar picture of David once he arrives.

I'll be sure to let you know my progress with the knitting. It's something I really enjoy, and I definitely take pride in my projects! There's also something amazing about knitting for baby while pregnant - I'm knitting something for David, while God is knitting David together!

Lots To Do

Somehow (I think it has to do with my muddled mind & nauseousness) December snuck up on me. And here we are, almost a third of the way through the month, and I'm not ready. We have our tree & stockings up, but that's it. I haven't done any baking, shopping, Christmas cards, nada. To top that off, we're hosting some friends for a couple of days in less than two weeks, and our house is NOT company-ready.

And so, on that note, here is my to-do list for this week, in no particular order:

• Steam-clean dining room carpet. Again. Threaten cats within an inch of their lives.
• Take Wendy for a haircut.
• Schedule long-overdue 2-year pictures for Wendy. Hopefully get them done this week.
  
• Make Christmas card list. Order/make cards.
• Work on Christmas budget. Yuck.
• Make Christmas gift shopping list.
• Plan a rough Christmas baking schedule.
• Make grocery list for baking supplies & Christmas dinner supplies.
• Figure out how to fit everyone who is visiting into our tiny house.
• Generally work on straightening/cleaning house.

I'm off to a great start - it's almost noon on Monday and I'm still in PJs, having accomplished nothing. Sigh.

But I don't want to end on a downer - here's a cute picture of Wendy from a few minutes ago. She was really playing with her baby doll for the first time! She changed its diaper (even wiping its little vinyl bum!), then had me dress & swaddle it so that she could rock it to sleep. She's a good Little Mama!

Projects

In roughly 6 months, JellyBean will make his/her arrival. On one hand, that seems like a loooonng time from now, but with all the things I want to get done, I know time will fly. We have a large bedroom upstairs that we've been using as storage since we moved here. We want to convert it into Wendy's bedroom/playroom. Several things need to happen in order to accomplish this:

• weed through storage stuff & get rid of as much as possible
• find another way to store the stuff we want to keep
• remove defunct chimney from the middle of the room
• patch hole in roof from defunct chimney
• build shelves on either side of the window
• paint
• new carpet
• move Wendy's stuff upstairs

That's a pretty substantial list. The first 4 items will be the most complicated, especially finding somewhere to store things. We've been working on paring down our belongings, and this will be another time to get rid of a bunch of stuff.

One thing I wonder about, though, is the Christmas stuff. Where do you store your tree & decorations & wrapping paper & stuff? Do you have any hints for me??

Now Is The Time To Knit!

My mom taught me to knit when I was about six. I didn't really do much knitting until college, and since then the projects have come and gone. Now that I have a toddler girlie, I've really been interested in knitting things for her, especially since she and I are both sensitive to wool, and most cute knitted things in stores are at least part wool.

It may seem odd to be knitting in July, but there are several things I wanted to get done for Wendy & some other munchkins before cold weather hits. I've also got to take advantage of the knitting bug when it hits - I'm not always in the mood to sit for hours and clack my needles together.

I went to the craft store yesterday to buy yarn for her winter hat. While there, I literally stumbled upon this book - it was laying on the floor where it had fallen out of a rack. As soon as I saw the cover, I knew I had to investigate - and then I had to buy it, along with yarn for a couple more projects.

This is where, if I were a big-name blogger, I'd tell you I have a copy to give away. Sorry. I don't. But I seriously recommend looking at this book if you're a knitter. There are adorable patterns for everything from sweaters to mittens, dresses to blankets.

I'm a fairly basic knitter, and there's a pattern in the book for a chunky cabled hooded sweater - I bought the yarn and gave the book to my mom, and she started it last night. We're going to line it with fleece when it's done, and it will be Wendy's nice jacket for the winter. It's going to be blue, just about the shade of her eyes, with a cream fleece lining. Doesn't that sound nice?

(It pays to have talented family.)