O's Job Jar

O and I recently made a job jar for her to motivate her to do more jobs around the house.  (she has a chore chart, but we both tend to forget to even look at it).  The job jar is filled with craft sticks, and we wrote one job on each stick.  She chooses 3 sticks after lunch, and she get to choose 2 of the 3 jobs to complete.  She's excited about her jobs, and I hope this will help us keep things a little neater in our small, crowded house!

Here are a few of O's jobs...

dust shelves
clean cabinet doors, refrigerator door, stove door, etc (she LOVES this one...she dampens a sponge and cleans everything with it...fun!)
organize art shelf
organize bedroom (this one seems to be impossible lately)
make her bed
vacuum hallway (using small vacuum)
fold dish towels
clean mirrors
clean glass doors

A Fake Fall Leaves Activity

E started stuffing fake fall leaves into this empty tennis ball container, and I thought that was a great idea! 






After she put all of the leaves in the tennis ball container, I showed her how to put one at a time in a 2 liter bottle.  I showed her how to push it down with just one finger at a time.  She copied me exactly and was able to push the leaf in the bottle easily.   After that she tried to use her thumb and a couple of fingers at a time.  She wasn't as successful, but it was fun to watch her try different ways of doing things.






Check out those long fingernails!  I felt like a bad mama when I saw how long her fingernails were in this picture...I have a hard time keeping them cut...they grow SO fast!



After she finished the activity, she put the leaves on her head and said "hat, hat."  She puts EVERYTHING on her head and calls it a hat...love it!

Fall Fairy Houses

My sister and I cut foam pumpkins (from Michael's) to make Fall Fairy Houses for our girls.  I think my sister and I were more excited about these houses than the girls were. 

The girls and I put our fairy houses in our rice pit this afternoon.  I had lots of fun playing with them.  E joined me, but O was too busy working on her own project (and wanted some "alone time").








I cut the doors, windows, and top of the pumpkin using an x-acto knife. It cut easily and the cut is smooth. My sister used a pumpkin decorating knife and the cut was much more rough and more difficult to cut.

(The idea for using foam pumpkins to make fairy houses came from Pink and Green Mama). 

A Kiwi Snack

One of O's daily snacks is kiwi.  She loves it, and I love that it is so healthy and easy to prepare.  I usually peel and slice her kiwi, but occasionally she wants to fix it herself. 

First, she washes the kiwi.  Then she slices it in half.


Finally, she eats it with a spoon. 


It doesn't get much easier than that!

Corks in a Container

Yes, it's another "putting objects in a container" post!  It's what she loves, so it's what we do!

My mom had a bunch of corks when we were at her house this weekend, and she asked me what she could do with them.  I told her we should find a container with an opening that was the same size as the corks.  She disappeared soon after that (I thought she was washing clothes, but she was really searching for the perfect container), and found the perfect container.  E was SO excited!  I wish I'd videotaped her because her excitement over this activity is not adequately shown by the pictures (especially since I'm trying to crop them to show less of her face!)





After she put the corks in the container, she enjoyed closing the top.




She opened it and tried to shake the corks out.



I eventually showed her how to take the whole top off to shake the corks out of the container.



E was supervised very closely during this activity since corks are a choking hazard.  I was very glad that she was so into putting them into the container that she spent very little time putting them into her mouth!

Knitted Kitten Hat Review

This is the first of several product reviews that I have scheduled in the next few weeks.  I hope you enjoy them!  I try to choose good quality, reasonably priced items to review.  Many (but not all) of the reviews are from Etsy shops.  I love to buy from Etsy to support the makers of handmade gifts.  If you've never shopped at Etsy, take a minute and browse.  You won't regret it! 

I LOVE cute hats for kids, so I was excited to find handmade knitted kitten hats at Sweaternana.  I was thrilled when Diane from Sweaternana agreed to send us a hat to review.  I requested a gray hat since our cat is gray, and she made it and sent it to us immediately. 

Not only are the hats well-made and adorable, they are also very durable!







Although, I originally planned for this hat to be for E, I decided that the girls can share it.  O fell in love with it as soon as she saw it.  She was especially excited about the braids "because they're just like Mary and Laura (Ingalls)." 












I chose Sweaternana as a shop I would like to review because her hats are very affordable...only 15 dollars for a beautiful, handmade hat!  Many of the hats that I looked at on Etsy were close to 30 dollars, so this seems like a steal!





These hats are made with 100% acrylic, Lion Brand Yarn.  They are machine washable and dryable.  Our hat is very soft, and I know the girls are going to wear it often this winter and for years to come!

Here are few more cute hats from Sweaternana... a bee, a bear, a snowman, and a panda bear.  I would love to be able to make hats like this for my girls one day, but for now I'm happy to shop at Etsy! (and maybe one day I'll learn how to knit with needles instead of just on a loom!)

Handmade Purse from Fat Connection

Pauline from Fat Connection sent O this adorable purse for her 4th birthday (I took pics then and just realized that I'd never blogged about it!  Sorry, Pauline!).  O loves her purse, and E loves it, too.  Luckily, O doesn't mind sharing, and E looks adorable with the purse over her shoulder as she walks around. 

Fat Connection is having a sale now, so you should check it out.  I love the iron-on transfers, and I may have to get this cat fabric to make something for my cat obsessed baby!

E's Rolling Elephant

I made a rolling elephant for one of E's handmade Christmas presents.  She LOVES animals, so I hope she loves it. 


The elephant was unfinished (it came from Michael's, but I don't think they sell them anymore).  I primed it with white paint and then painted it blue.  I glued the scrapbook paper to the elephant using Mod Podge, and then coated it with another layer of Mod Podge to protect it and give it a finished look.


I'm very happy with how this gift turned out and with how easy it was to do.  I'm doing a lot of Mod Podge and scrapbook paper gifts this year. 

I've just finished one of my most favorite handmade gifts EVER, and I'll be posting about it soon, so stay tuned...