My Snowman Fridge!

I cannot take credit for this super cute idea, I saw it posted on the Facebook Wall of a radio station I enjoy.  I can take credit with making it kid friendly.  The original picture I saw had all the pieces in paper taped to the fridge - I know my toddler girl would have that destroyed super quick.  These pieces are all felt with magnet backing, so she can pull them off and put them back on with minimal disruption.  Gotta think like a toddler to be slightly more clever than they are!

Materials:
Black Felt
Orange/Red Felt (I couldn't find orange, so red went in its place)
Green or another colored felt for the scarf
Magnet tape
scissors

Directions:
Cut 2 large circles out of the black felt for eyes.  I doubled the felt over and cut the two layers simultaneously so that the circles matched.
Cut 8 smaller circles out of the black felt for the buttons and mouth.
Cut a large, 'carrot-shaped' triangle out of the orange/red felt.
Cut 2 long strips out of your scarf felt (green on ours) -leave one the length of the fridge, cut the other in half to become the other pieces of your scarf.
Cut out strips of magnet tape.  I cut 3cm pieces and then cut those lengthwise to make skinny strips.  Attach the magnet tape to the felt pieces.  The Eyes have 4 strips on each, at the edges.  The buttons and mouth pieces each have one piece down the middle.  The nose has 3 strips.  The scarf has 6 strips and the extra scarf pieces (the hanging down bits) each have 3 strips.  Total magnet tape strips = 31

This took about half an hour to make from start to finish.  I can't wait for my kids to see it in the morning - my husband had a good chuckle over it :)

Felt Christmas Tree for kids!

Yes, I'm inspired to be a little crafty this Christmas. I first saw this idea on a Facebook group I love "Ideas and Inspiration for Crafty Parents".  They linked it back to a fellow crafty mom's blog "Empty Bobbin Sewing".  I thought how cute and easy is that?  It's just a big piece of green felt, cut into a tree shape and pinned to the wall.  The rest is just felt shapes cut out.  My kids can decorate and re-decorate this tree as much as they want this season!  I love it!

My Fisher Price Nativity Set

I'm super excited for my latest find. I first saw this Nativity set at a friend's place about 5 years ago. I asked where she got it and she told me she found it in the States. I thought for sure I wouldn't have to go to the States to find this thing. After all, we have Little People here in Canada. And each Christmas I looked and looked and searched, but never found it. (That's one thing about being a mom, you can spend a lot of time in the toy departments!). I came close to ordering it online once, but balked at the shipping fee. Then yesterday, by fluke I saw it. One of 4 left at Zellers. Not only that, but it was on sale too! I was so excited. I couldn't wait to put it out for my kids today.

The reason I loved this so much is because of my own fond memories of playing with the Nativity set my parents had when I was growing up. My mom had made all the figures for it one year so they were not breakable. I wanted my kids to have the same kind of experience. To play out the Nativity story for themselves. That's why this little set is so perfect. It's very sweet.

Storm Day in the country - City Life vs. Country Life

Yes it is November 23rd and yes we are having our first storm day/snow day of the year. Last year in the city my son went to school on almost every day it snowed. There was one exception and it was a particularly bad snowstorm. Even for that the teachers declared was a very rare occurrence as school had never been cancelled during many of their careers. Out where we live now most schools are busing dependent. The transportation department likes to keep it safe for the kids, so if it's bad, we stay in. There was no snow on the ground when I was first up at just before 6, but the storm alert was there and sure enough the school cancellation memo was up on the district website at 5:57. Snow started falling at 7. And I'm glad I didn't have to commute in today. It's pretty much a white out right now. Earlier in the day, my boys took advantage of the snow, our large, hilly backyard and their new sleds and had a blast. Once they were finished and sipping hot chocolate inside, I put their sleds back into the shed. Looking across the street I saw the ATV crew out and about, slip sliding around on the main streets. That's a sight you would never see in the city. ATV's are really big out here. There's lots of trails nearby and it's a real community thing. I just hope they are careful and back inside now that the storm has gotten bad.  Here's a bit of our morning:

                                             My daughter, enjoying the warmth of inside.

                                                        My oldest, showing off his new sled

                                                          My other son doing the same

                                                                    Down the hill

                                                                 So much fun!

What I'm working on

I'm taking advantage of our storm day home and chain sewing all kinds of triangles together. I'm really glad for it as these seemingly endless triangles are to be a Christmas gift for my niece this year. Just what is it exactly? Check back and see in another month, once it's done and properly arrived in the hands of its owner ;)

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

How To Make A Beanbag

 

This easy craft was a moment of chance this morning.  I was preparing my Sunday School lesson and realized that I needed a beanbag.  I wasn't sure if the church had a beanbag or not.  I thought, I have the materials I need to make one of those, they can't be that difficult.  They were so easy.  My kids each wanted one and it took me no time at all to get them together.  They even helped me with the filling part.

Materials:  Scraps of fabric (large enough to make the size of beanbag you want), lentils (or beans or rice, lentils really make a nice feel to the beanbag), thread, small funnel, sewing machine (though you could hand sew these)

Step 1:  Fold your fabric in half so that you cut equal sizes of rectangles.  Use a rotary cutter on a cutting mat to size out and cut your fabric - I made mine 5 x 6

 

Step 2:  Reposition the fabric so the good sides are facing each other, rough sides out.

 Step 3:  Sew the fabric together, leaving a space of about an inch open on one side (that's what you will use to turn the fabric out and stuff with the beans.

 

 Step 4: Turn the bean bag inside out so it's now the right way around.

Step 5:  Put the funnel into the hole of the bean bag and scoop the lentils into the funnel to pour into the beanbag.  (Here's my son filling his).

Step 6:  Once filled, sew the hole up.  Now you are ready to play.  *note - I made 4 bean bags today.  2 of them used scraps of quilting cotton and 2 of them used a more durable decorating fabric.  It's up to you which makes the most sense for you.

This Moment

this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.