Velcro Blocks

These velcro blocks have been "in progress" for more than a year, and I am SO glad to finally be done with them!  I started making them after seeing velcro blocks in a catalog (Lakeshore, I think). 

To make the blocks, I bought a set of table top blocks from a discount store.  I sanded the corners and edges since they were a little rough.  I then glued velcro to the blocks.  Simple, but for some reason, it took forever.  Thanks to my mom for helping me finish the blocks!



These blocks were supposed to be a Christmas gift to both of the girls, but I accidentally left them out after I took these pictures.  Oops!  They've had fun playing with them today :)

Crocheted Monkey Hat Review and a Giveaway

We love handmade knitted or crocheted hats, so I was very excited to find these adorable monkey hats on Etsy.  Tiffany from Luckeymade sent us a crocheted monkey hat for E, and I bought a matching hat from her for O.  These hats are absolutely adorable, and the girls look so cute in them!




The hats are crocheted with 100% cotton yarn.  They are very well made and very affordable...only 15 dollars!




The girls wore their monkey hats when we went on a recent shopping trip, and they received many compliments!




Tiffany is offering a custom shell stitch beanie to one lucky commenter.  In order to enter the giveaway, go to Luckeymade and take a look around at her items for sale as well as the items she has sold.  Come back here and leave a comment telling me which hat you like best.  I'll randomly choose a number on Wednesday, so make sure to leave a comment before then!

Our Pom Pom Garland

O and I recently made a pom pom garland for our Christmas tree.  We used a blunt tipped needle, embroidery thread, and pom poms to make the garland.




O has been learning to embroider at school (and occasionally at home), so she is very interested in sewing now.  We had fun taking turns threading the pom poms onto the thread.  We are both very happy with our garland!




Here is the garland with some of my favorite ornaments.















Our tree is only 4 feet tall...it's a hand-me down, it's fake, its pre-lit with colored lights, and we love it!  Almost all of our ornaments are either handmade or bought while on vacation, so they have stories behind them. It was so much fun to decorate the tree, and tell O and E the stories behind the ornaments as we decorated.

I'm not sure if our pom pom garland is going to survive Miss E...she's determined to pull it off and eat it!  She calls the pom poms "ball, ball," and she's determined to get them.  She was also determined to help us make the garland, so I let her string a few pom poms on the thread...she does not like to be left out of any activity!






Our first advent activity was setting up our Nativity scene.  We never actually set it up...




I'm really looking forward to our daily advent activities.  I'm going to try to relate the activities to the specific Christmas books that we read each day, but I haven't gotten everything organized yet.

Here's a list of some of our planned activities (in no particular order):

set up nativity
hang stockings
make and drink hot chocolate
watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas
make beaded candy cane ornaments
make beaded stars and Christmas trees
make painted gifts for grandparents
cut paper snowflakes
make chocolate and sugar cookie playdough (to play with and to give as handmade gifts)
make and decorate sugar cookies
decorate a gingerbread cottage
go see the lights at the zoo
go see our beautiful ballerina (O) perform in the Nutcracker Ballet
donate toys to Toys for Tots

I have a list of almost 30 activities, but I don't have it with me.  After meeting on 38 kids at work today, my brain is tired and I can't remember any more of the activities...I'll add the rest of the activities when I have a chance.

Personalized Color Blocks

I've finally finished a set of personalized color blocks for E for Christmas.  I'm glad to be done with them and happy with how they turned out.  I hope she likes them!





To make these blocks, I sanded the edges and corners of the blocks before painting them white (I bought the blocks from Casey's Wood Supply).  I then used scrapbook paper, pics of O and E, and numbers and the letters of E's name printed on photo paper to cover the sides of the blocks.  I used mod podge to glue the paper to the blocks and then coated them with a layer of protective mod podge to finish them. 








The pictures on the link are missing, but I will have them up soon (I hope).

Animal Puzzle Blocks

These animal puzzle blocks are a recent handmade Christmas gift that I've made for my girls. 





To make these puzzle blocks you need: 9 blocks (1.5 inches square), scrapbook paper, sand paper, stencils, scissors, mod podge, and a pencil.

I've been thinking about how to make these blocks for a VERY long time...I originally planned to stencil them using paint, but then decided that it would look much better if I cut the animal shapes from scrapbook paper and glued them to the blocks. I really enjoyed working on this project, and I love how the blocks turned out. I hope the girls like these blocks as much as I do!

When making these puzzles, I started by sanding the edges and corners of the blocks. 






Here's what I did next...
chose my animal stencils
traced the animals stencils on the back of sheets of scrapbook paper
drew the graph of blocks over the stenciled animal shape
cut out the squares
then cut out each animal shape from the squares (does that make sense?). 







I glued each animal part to the blocks using mod podge. 







After letting the blocks dry for a few days, I painted them with a layer of protective mod podge.

O's Felt Fairyland

I made this felt fairyland for O for her 4th birthday, and I've been wanting to share it for a while...I could just never find the time to take pictures. 

The idea for this felt fairyland bounced around in my head for more than a year before I finally made it.  I loved making it for her, and I love how it turned out.  Here it is...




The little toadstool house folds up, so it is actually a little hard to get it to stand up.  I need to put something in it to reinforce it.






We bought this little fairy princess for O's birthday ring a few years ago.  I've planned to make a few more like her, but haven't had time...yet.



These rainbow gnomes from Little Red Whimsy are perfect for the felt fairyland.



A little toadstool table and chairs also by Little Red Whimsy.


The removeable pond with floating felt flowers



A gnome crossing the bridge (the bridge is removeable, but the river is sewn to the grass base of the fairyland).



E loves the fairyland, too!












And the best part about the fairyland is that it all folds up to one small package!!!!!!!  (this is a necessity in our small, crowded house!)