Peg People

Over the summer, the girls and I made a fun little project. Liz from Simple Simon & Co did a really cute peg people video tutorial over on the Riley Blake blog back in May. I filed it away on my "someday" list, but then one of my readers emailed me (thanks Regina!) suggesting that it might be a fun project to do with my girls. So, "someday" became "right away" :)  These little dolls are super cute and a lot of fun to make.

It took us about three days to complete them. I wanted to make sure each step was completely dry before we moved on to the next. The girls needed a lot of help, but they were really proud of their little dolls.

We each made two dolls. These are the two that I made, one for each of the girls...

I bought my "naked" peg people online from Goose Grease. They sell all shapes and sizes of wooden peg people. And they come in a cute little muslin bag :)

The girls have been toting these little dolls all over the place. And for some reason they like to stack quarters on their heads... they call this the "Peg People Cha-Cha". Don't ask...

So if you're looking for a fun project to do with the kids this fall, I highly recommend this one :)

Valentine Gingerbread Houses

Every time I see Cheryl's (a pretty cool life) gingerbread houses that she makes with her kids, I think "I should really do that", but I never have... until now! Cheryl and her kids make gingerbread houses for every holiday, and when she posted a little photo how-to on her blog last week, I decided it was high time we tried it out. So, Friday afternoon we got down to business...

I ran into the little grocery store that's between our house and my oldest's preschool to pick up supplies. Apparently I should have been more prepared and bought supplies earlier in the week at the big grocery store because the selection of Valentine's Day candy was pretty poor. I had to improvise...

Mini marshmallows, conversation hearts, Teddy Grahams, animal crackers, and Pez. And, just like Cheryl, I hot glued my graham crackers together. Best. Idea. Ever. They were sturdy and worked great!

The girls had a blast and spent the better part of an hour decorating their houses. Every time I asked if they were done or started to clean up, they insisted that they still had room to add another cracker or another piece of candy. We will definitely be doing this again.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Pin It Wednesday: Teaching Kids to Sew

This week's theme is "teaching kids to sew". When I was little, I had one of these...

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This little beauty would sew designs onto pieces of foam using yarn. It punched little holes in the foam and drove the yarn into each hole. I remember having a lot of fun with it, and I'm toying with the idea of trying to find one that's in working condition for my four year old to use. She is already asking when she can get a little sewing machine. We're a few years away from that, but the ideas I'm sharing might just tide her over until then. Here are this week's pins...

1. Beginner's Sewing Kit from The Land of Nod

This kit comes with supplies to make felt animals and notebook covers. It's loaded with lots of little goodies... scissors, thimble, measuring tape, buttons, ric rac. And it comes in a cute little case, too! Great gift idea for an older child. Recommended for ages 7 and up.

2. Printable Sewing Cards from Mini-eco

This adorable free printable comes in three shapes: flower, sun, and lion. This is a great activity for younger children. Give them a blunt needle and some yarn and let them go to town. You could also use a shoelace... the plastic on the very end takes the place of the needle.

3. Toddler Friendly Sewing Basket from Childhood 101

This is such an awesome idea, and I plan on putting this together for my girls. The "sewing" in this basket is an embroidery hoop with a non-slip drawer liner stretched in it... brilliant! The printable Mini-eco sewing cards would make a great addition to this kit.

I think there might be a little sewing basket showing up under our Christmas tree this year. I have no doubt that it will provide hours of entertainment. Have you taught your daughter, son, or grandchildren to sew? Any tips?




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Kid Craft: Soda Bottle Beads

I love Family Fun magazine, but I hardly have time to read it, let alone actually do anything but dog-ear the pages of it. There are so many cute projects in the April issue, like this, this and this.

I'm trying to make an effort to start doing more organized arts and crafts projects with my three year old. She loves to draw and make things. That girl can (and has) filled a 100 page drawing pad in two days. She also has a new found love of jewelry. I decided to surprise her with a little Family Fun project during my youngest's nap on Friday. We made our own beads out of plastic soda bottles.

She loved it. I loved it. This is a really neat project, and it doesn't take long to do at all. All we needed were two 20oz plastic soda bottles, Sharpies, a pencil, and some embroidery floss.

Unfortunately, the instructions for this project aren't up on Family Fun yet, and I don't feel right about posting them here before they are, but if they add them later I will definitely come back and update this post. If you want to try it now, there is a similar tutorial on Instructables. They call for pliers and a heat gun, but the magazine tutorial calls for tying string around the beads to hold them together and heat setting the beads in the oven. UPDATED 3/31/11: Here is the link to the instructions on Family Fun!

Once the beads were done, we added some store-bought plastic beads and strung them together with round cord elastic to make bracelets.

My daughter is very proud of her creations, and it was a fun way to spend a little alone time together on a Friday afternoon.




I'm linking up...