Full Sleeves

Sometimes you just need to make a good mess.

Sticker Love

Can you tell that stickers are the new object of Miss G’s affection? Our house (and daughter) is currently covered in them.

Finger Painted Butterflies

4 / 3 / 122 / 8 / 13

Crafternoon project numéro deux involved lots of paint, pre-cut out paper butterflies, chubby little fingers, some symmetry, and a whole lot of mess. Of course Miss G was all over it.

Squeeeeeeeze…

Spread it around…

Marvel at the beauty of your artwork while whispering ‘wooooooooooooow’…

Then fold it over and smush!

Open it up to reveal your beautiful butterfly!

Now do it all again.

Over and over if you wish.

Grassheads

4 / 3 / 124 / 3 / 12

Poor Bradley… Lately it seems as though his days off have been rainy, cold, and windy and today was no exception… What can you do? Embrace it with a family crafternoon! And that’s just what we did. We covered our kitchen floor in plastic, gathered our materials, and made one of my teacher favourites – grassheads! I think I’ve made these with my students ever single year. So far, every class, whether it was Grade Four or Kindergarten, loved them. Hopefully Grae does too. Here’s what we did…

We got started by gathering our supplies – a nylon sock, grass seed, soil, empty yogurt container, jute, googly eyes, a red permanent marker, scissors, a spoon, and a glue gun.

Tip: Don’t put the nylon sock over your head robber-style. It may scare the socks off your little one.

Lesson learned and ready to go. Put the toe of your nylon sock into your container and roll the top portion over the container. The toe should be dangling just above the base of the container.
Scoop a few spoonfuls of grass seed into the toe of your nylon.

Make sure all of the seeds get down to the very bottom of the sock (otherwise your grasshead will be a grassface also).

Fill the sock with soil, pushing it down every now and then to create a nice round head shape.

When your head is the shape and size you desire, make a knot as close to the soil as possible in order to keep the contents of your grasshead nice and tight.

Next, using a permanent marker, draw your grasshead’s mouth. Remember that the nylon’s toe will be the top of your grasshead’s head, and the knot will be the bottom.

Next, pinch a little bit of soil, along with the nylon, up from the centre of the face to create a nose. Tie it off with some jute. (An elastic or pipe cleaner works just as well for this job.)

Your grasshead should now look like this. If you want to give him ears, this is the best time to do it. Use the same method as you did to create his nose, but this time on the sides of his head.

Now choose some googly eyes.

Put eyes into a couple of dabs of hot glue and apply pressure to ensure they’re secured well.

Voila! You have a hair-less grasshead!

If you’re feeling silly, you can celebrate with a grasshead kiss.

Bathtime! But first, chop off the excess nylon leaving about 3 inches of nylon dangling from your knot. This will serve as a straw of sorts later, helping your grasshead slurp up water from its jar. Fill a sink with lukewarm water and fully submerge your grasshead for about 1 minute. Afterwards, gently squeeze the excess water out of the grasshead, being sure to keep the seeds at the top. This is a good time to mold your grasshead a little if you wish.

Fill a cup or jar with lukewarm water, place the grasshead’s ‘tail’ in the jar, and rest the head on the rim of the jar. Add water as needed and watch your grasshead grow a wild head of hair! Once the grass hair has really come in, you can cut and style it as you wish. Mohawk anyone?

I’ve never tried it, but several of my students’ parents have told me that come late spring / early summer, they set their child’s grasshead in a little well in the garden, the roots took, and the grasshead lasted until fall. Might be interesting to try… We could have a garden supervisor of sorts.

Easter Card Making

4 / 2 / 124 / 2 / 12

With Easter quickly approaching, we got busy making cards for Grae’s grandparents today. Here’s a sneak peak…

Lazy Sunday Morning

3 / 18 / 123 / 18 / 12

We had a wonderfully lazy morning today. We meant to get out of the house, but it simply didn’t happen. Instead, this did:

Peep toes.

Bingo dabbin’.

Apple sandwiches.

Tea party.

Hilarious hair.

Magazine reading.

St. Paddy’s Day

3 / 17 / 123 / 16 / 13

Today Grae and I had a busy day filled with all things green. It started out with a happy little munchkin waking up extra early and extra hungry, so we got to it and prepared a green breakfast.

Finding something green to wear was a bit of a challenge as this little lady has very little green in her closet, but it was nothing a ridiculously big green bow couldn’t fix. It was so adorable in fact, that we ended up having a little impromptu St. Patty’s Day photo shoot.

The weather forecast called for a rainy, snowy morning, but by 9:30, neither had made an appearance so we packed up our things and headed down to Granville Island to get some fresh air and do some exploring. We picked up our usual Granville Island treats (Terra Bread cheese flutes for G and a coffee for Mama) and headed to the playground where Gracen played in sand, slid on repeat, and made some friends.

Afterwards we headed back to the Public Market area and visited the birds, boats, and performers like usual. Apparently Grae was pooped after a crisp morning outdoors because she was out like a light after just a minute in the car.

After a great nap, I prepared lunch while Gracen begged for pieces of green onion below me. I ended up giving her a whole green onion and the little monkey was pleased as punch, headed to the living room with it, and chowed down. Luckily she saved enough room for our green lunch.
The afternoon turned out to be beautiful too, so we took advantage of it and headed outside to do some art. Grae was beyond excited to use bingo dabbers (sadly, we didn’t have green, so we ended up with blue and rainbow coloured shamrocks, but oh well…) and dug the sidewalk chalk as usual.

By late afternoon, G had worked up an appetite, so we whipped up a quick green smoothie to hit the spot.
Shortly after, it was time for our last green meal of the day. Of course this little monkey carefully picked out and ate each pine nut and avocado chunk before eating anything else.

Gracen’s second St. Patrick’s Day… Whew! How things have changed in a quick year. Just take a look at my chubby-cheeked, spiky-haired little munchkin last year.

Silly Sticker Girl

3 / 15 / 123 / 15 / 12

Grae found this scrap piece of paper on the table this morning and immediately swiped it. She got the stickers our mail lady had given her yesterday, plopped her nearly-naked self down on the floor, and got to work.

(Don’t ask about the outfit… Panties, socks, and a hat seem to be the only necessary clothing items nowadays. This look is also often paired with just one purple sneaker or pink gumboot. And don’t you dare offer to help her put on the other one. She certainly doesn’t want that.)

Peeling and sticking stickers is serious business and this was the first time Grae was really able to do it all by herself.

The second her last sticker hit the paper, she jumped up, ran to her room paper in hand, and held it up to the wall above her pillows. I asked if she wanted me to stick it up in that spot and she nodded her head with utmost certainty. I have a feeling that framing Monday’s finger paint project has given her the idea that all artwork immediately gets plastered to her walls.

Finger Paint Fun

3 / 12 / 123 / 12 / 12

Today was a freezing cold, wet, windy day in Vancouver. It was miserable, really. But it couldn’t have been more perfect. Gracen and I had a wonderful day. We stayed in our pajamas until afternoon, played games and acted silly, read book after book, ate a delicious lunch, and got messy with some serious finger painting action. I don’t know what’s taken so long… We’ve painted her hands and feet and stamped them, we painted with brushes, we’ve done mess-free finger painting in zip-close bags, but we’ve never done full-on finger painting. My poor girl’s 18 months old and she’s never finger painted before! Bad mommy. So today we got started. And Grae loved it.

Ready and waiting.

Cautious in the beginning.

Getting into it.

Woohoo! This is fun!

Amidst a masterpiece.

Tie-dyed hands.

Le pièce de résistance.

So proud. (It turned out so beautifully that we headed out to Ikea to pick out a frame for it. There’s something special about having your little one’s artwork up on the walls…)

I told Grae she could choose its spot and showed her several potential places on her bedroom walls, but she simply shook her head at each suggestion. She took the frame from my hands and placed it on top of her little shelf where she insists on keeping all three of her other frames (I’ve tried moving one to a new location while she’s in another room on several occasions, but I always come back to all three back on the shelf).

I see much more finger painting in our future…

Play Dough Prints

3 / 2 / 123 / 2 / 12

♥ Gracen & Mama ♥

Homemade Bird Feeders

3 / 1 / 121 / 6 / 14

Despite the incident we had at Granville Island a couple of months back, our little lady remains a dedicated bird lover (unlike her mama). So today we headed out into our sunshiny backyard, supplies in hand, to make a couple of simple, toddler-friendly bird feeders. Here’s what we did…

Seedy Bagel Rings:

For this project, we used wild bird seed mix, some wholewheat bakery bagels, some ‘just peanuts’ peanut butter, some jute (it’s biodegradable and can be repurposed by birds when building their nests), a spatula, and some scissors.

First things first, cover one side of the bagel with peanut butter.

You want it nice and thick so that the seeds really stick.

Then plop it, peanut butter side down, into the seed mixture.

Really push it down into the seeds to collect as many as possible.

It should look something like this.

Next, spread peanut butter on the other side.

And cover it completely with seeds.

Almost done! While you tie a loop of jute through the middle of the bagel, have your little one wash the gobs of peanut butter off of her hands.

Tada! Here’s the finished product.

Now tie them up in a tree and wait for hungry birds to flock your way.

Toasted O Loops:

For this feeder, we used jute, scotch tape, low-sugar toasted O cereal, and some scissors.

First thing, cut a piece of jute, tie a triple knot at one end, and wrap a small bit of tape around the other end so that it doesn’t fray.

Next, string the o’s onto the jute, one by one.

It’s a slow process… Especially if your munchkin eats five o’s for every one she strings!

When you’ve got a nice long string, make a loop and tie it at the top.

Then knot it onto a tree branch. It doesn’t get any easier than that!

I’m sure we’re inviting all kinds of scary crows and seagulls into our yard with these tempting treats swinging from our trees, but if it provides some entertainment for our little bird watcher, it’ll be worth it.

Play Dough Day

2 / 29 / 128 / 11 / 13

Today I had barely finished mentioning making play dough and my little Lulu had already retrieved her apron.

Now, I have always been a fan of the 2:1:1 recipe (2 parts flour to 1 part salt and 1 part water). It’s fast, it’s easy, and it really only requires having two ingredients on hand. I’ve used it through many, many years of babysitting, nannying, and teaching without even considering giving another recipe a try. That is, until I decided to give this “fussy” recipe a go this Christmas. Yes, it requires both oil and cream of tartar – not to mention cooking – but if you’ve got the ingredients, extra time, and patience to let it cool, it’s totally worth it. It’s soft, super pliable, and lasts for a ridiculously long time. Plus, it’s really not that hard.

Here’s what you need: Some flour, salt, cream of tartar, vegetable oil, water, food colouring, and a cute little sous chef to help you along the way.

First things first, pour your water in a large pot.

Next, add your salt. Preferably into the pot. But hey, whatever works.

Then, add your cream of tartar.

And your food colouring. (Of course for this little one, purple was the colour of choice.) Give everything a little stir.

Then, over medium heat, warm the mixture until hot, but not boiling.

When hot, add your oil and your flour, cup by cup.

Don’t worry if it looks all chunky and gross. We’ve used this recipe several times and we’ve always experienced this stage. It’ll all work out in the end.

When you’ve added all of the flour, give the dough one final stir and plop it out onto a well-floured counter. Sprinkle some extra flour on top if the dough appears sticky. Be careful – it’ll be very hot still.

Once it’s cooled, kneed the dough well, incorporating all of the extra flour.

Then give your munchkin a chunk and let her go to town.

Fun for hours!

Here’s our slightly tweaked version of the recipe if you want to give it a try:

5 cups of water
2 1/2 cups of salt
3 TBSP of cream of tartar
5 TBSP of vegetable oil
Food colouring
5 1/2 cups of flour

Mix water, salt, cream of tartar, oil, and food colouring in a large pot. Cook on medium heat, stirring regularly until mixture is hot.

Add oil, then stir in flour a cup at a time, mixing in between each addition. Mix until playdough pulls away from pot and is no longer sticky.

Dump dough on a well-floured counter, let cool a bit, then knead.

Store at room temperature in an airtight container for several weeks.

Enjoy!

Little Artist At Work

2 / 21 / 129 / 22 / 13

Our Valentine’s Day tea mural wall has served us well…

We literally scribbled / drew / coloured for over an hour today.

G’s 2nd Annual Valentine’s Tea

2 / 14 / 129 / 22 / 13

Today we hosted Gracen’s second mamas and munchkins Valentine’s tea. It was a very different scene than last year’s party where us Kuwait mamas sat around a blanket of rolly polly babies while chatting and sipping on hot coffee. This morning was wonderfully chaotic, and by the end of it, I think all of us mommies had worked up a sweat. Just goes to show how much things change in one year. Here are some photos from this morning’s mamas and munchkins tea, complete with three curious and busy toddlers and one adorable 6 month old.

The decor:

Sidewalk chalk art.

The mantle.

Pink tulips, a free Valentine’s print, a paint chip garland,and a candy bar we didn’t even get to because there were so many other sweets.

Gracen’s bedroom door decorated with hearts she painted and hung {mostly} by herself.

Mama treats:

Dark and white chocolate covered strawberries.

Raspberry white chocolate scones.

Fruit salsa and cinnamon sugar chips (adapted from this recipe).

Pain au chocolat.

Cookies from Mozart Bakery. (There was also the most delicious dip with strawberries and heart-shaped fruit cut outs, but somehow I missed taking a photo. Shoot.)

Munchkin treats:

Fruit leather hearts.

Melon hearts.

Mini heart-shaped margherita pizzas.

Activities:

Mess-free finger painting station.

Mural wall.

The munchkins:

Jackson.

Ainsley.

Keagan.

And of course this little pizza monster.

The action:

Snack time for Ainsley and Jackson.

Drool never looked so cute!

Finger painting toddlers.

Obsessed with Keagan’s soft blanket. In fact, she loved it so much that she insisted I take her ponytails out so she could roll around on it without her head hurting.

Checking things out.

Recess time at the school across the street looks pretty cool.

Baby love.

Team cleaning.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

♥

Valentines by Grae

2 / 14 / 121 / 28 / 13

I remember loving making Valentine’s Day cards for my friends when I was little, so I was very excited to make them with Gracen for the first time this year… Here’s what she shared with her little friends and cousins today:

‘Have a colourful Valentine’s Day!’ cards with homemade heart-shaped crayons for her little friends. (We cheated a little bit and borrowed this already made card.)