Lucky Kitty

Junior Hygienist Tool Kit...

Hi Friends,

Been a long time, but it's good to see you all again!  Today, I wanted to share a fun and easy craft that I managed to whip up during a nap time. 

You see, The Hubs is a few short months away from becoming a dental hygienist - a dream he's had for many years now - and I thought that Mr. Toddler Pants might want to join in the fun and help Daddy practice for his last big licensing test.

Problem is, they don't make dental hygiene play sets for toddlers.  Guess it's not what all the toddlers in the focus group were asking for...

I found a plastic set of dentist tools - kinda lame and over-priced, then found the Play Doh Dentist Drill and Fill - this one looked fun, but a little mature for Mr. Pants and more focused on dentist, not hygienists...

SO... once Little Man rested his little head this afternoon, I quickly went to the supply stash in the garage...

Felt scraps... check, pipe cleaners... yes, craft glue... duh... flattened out bottle cap... why yes, I do have a few of those... perfect! 

This couldn't have been easier - glue felt around pipe cleaner for the handle, then fashion the ends to look like the crazy instruments in Daddy's kit.  Even more fun - since they're pipe cleaners, Mr. Man can twist and turn them any way he wants whenever he wants. 

For the mirror, cause you gotta have a mirror, I glued the bottle cap at one end of a pipe cleaner, then wrapped the other end with felt...

Let the pretend teeth cleaning begin!

Now we can all have a good time and a cleaner mouth... win win! 

*pretend dental hygiene kit is for pretend cleaning only - you should still see your hygienist at least twice a year for regular cleanings and check-ups*

 

FREE! Golfer Bunny Pattern!

With Easter right around the corner and spring in full swing around here, I wanted to make something fun and festive for my Little Man to wear out for egg hunting and general Spring flinging...

 
Golfer Bunny!

My little guy loves golf.  How do I know this?  When I brought him to the office during the snow storm last winter, he immediately ran over to the golf clubs, chose one, and began setting up and hitting golf balls with it... seriously.  Have I mentioned that I'm not the sporty type?  Nature vs. nurture...

I'm pretty darn fond of this Golfer Bunny - so fond in fact, that I want to share the spring time love - click here to download the pattern sheet! 

Oh, and if you do happen to make your own Golfer Bunny, pretty please post pics?

 

Felt Sushi?

Before I became a mom, I never really gave much thought to the items around my house and how they would feel if they were thrown (perhaps accidentally) at my face.  Wooden spoons, the cardboard part of a paper towel roll, robots, Spiderman, sippy cups - you get the idea.

I'm pretty much convinced at this point that I gave birth to some sort of baseball pitching phenom.  Not sure how this happened - I'm a band/ choir/ theatre nerd and the Hubs played with his GI Joe's up until at least his freshman year of high school... so, not a sporty family.

Anywhoo, since Mr. Toddler Pants likes to throw everything like he's throwing out the first pitch at a Yankee's game, I thought it was high time to make him some soft toys that he can do some serious practice with.

 

Felt Sushi!

These were super duper easy to make... here's how...

Start with giant pile of felt scraps...

 

Cut out a few pieces that are all the same width - they can be any length - depends on how much of each color you want in your sushi roll...

 

Then the fun part - roll and glue... roll and glue... roll and glue...

 

Voila!  Sushi Rolls!

 

Oh, and the best part?  These can totally hit me in the glasses and it doesn't hurt a bit...

Sketchbooks Are Go!!

The time has finally come! 

The Sketchbook Project has hit the road - first stop - Austin, TX!  Woo Hoo! 

They will be at the Austin Museum of Art on Saturday, March 12th from 12pm - 6pm and at Spider House on March 13th also from 12pm til 6pm.

My sketchbook, along with over 20,000 others will be on display for all to see, but here's a little sneak peek...

My theme was Capture the Flag...

 

I thought it would be fun to make my Sketchbook a coloring book for my Little Man.  I thought it would be even more fun if he colored some of the pages, thus making this a group project and one of our first collaborations as mommy and son.

 
 

 He was into coloring in the book sometimes, but sometimes he would just say 'NO MOMMY!'

 

All in all, it was a fun project, but I think next time we do art together, it will be just for fun with no deadlines...

 

I am so excited to see all the other sketchbooks too - it's so cool to think about how 20,000+ people interpreted this project...

 

{this moment}

{this moment} 

 

A Friday ritual started by SouleMama that I discovered on Curious Bird. 

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.

Happy Weekend!

 

{this moment}

  {this moment}

 

A Friday ritual started by SouleMama that I discovered on Curious Bird. 

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.

Happy Weekend!

xoxo

Oh, I'll Stencil You In...

I'm a sucker for cool stencil books.  Some of my favorites include Ed Roth's Stencil 101, and Lotta Jansdotter's Lotta Prints.

So, when I stumbled over Marthe Le Van's Stencil Me In, I knew I had to hurry up and hit that purchase button right quick!

Where to start?  Well, first, I happened to co-host a baby shower for a buddy back in early December and what a perfect excuse to use stencils for a onesie decoration station!  Even people that say they're not crafty can join in the fun!

We forced... um, I mean encouraged everyone at the shower to take a turn with a stencil...

Here's a pic of the decoration station...

 

Kinda sad that all I had to purchase were the onesies and bibs... everything else I had on hand... think I'm a craft supply hoarder, but that's a different post for a different day...

...and here's the awesome fruits of the party people's labor...

 

So fun!!! Lil Weezy is gonna have super awesome custom onesies for at least a couple of months until she out grows everything... ah babies...

But what about my Little Man?  Poor cobbler's kids, they never get shoes.  I thought that in addition to the millions of toys he would be receiving from Santa, he might appreciate a custom tee or two - time to break out those stencils!

I specifically only used stencils from Stencil Me In this time around, since it is my newest stencil book and therefore my favorite... for now...

Behold!

 

Three new shirts - all cool and custom for Mr. Toddler Pants!

First I had to do robots - that boy loves him some robots, I tell you what...

 
I didn't realize that my orange fabric paint happened to be orange glitter fabric paint... bonus! 

Then I did a cool jellyfish...

 

...and finished up with what I thought was three things that begin with the Letter B...

 

The Hubs informed me that the image on the bottom is a rocket ship, not a bomb... So, this shirt is now 'two things that start with the Letter B and a rocket ship'...

Stenciling - it's fun, it's easy, you don't have to have a single artistic bone in your body, just grab a tee, a little paint, and your favorite design and you're good to go!!

xoxo

Happy New Year!

 

Happy New Year!  Can you believe that it's 2011 already?  It's kind of blowing my mind today.  The last decade has blown by so quickly and yet, it was really the decade that I became so many new things - a wife, a mom, a crafty business owner... I even managed to switch jobs three times - from Marketing Director at a indie record store, to office manager of a commercial real estate office, to my current job of being the Mr. Wolf of a start-up orthepedic implant sales, design, and distribution company... crazy, right?

 

So, what will 2011 have in store for us?  I'm pretty darn excited to find out.  My Little Man will be turning two this year, The Hubs will finally be graduating from school and starting his career - 8 years in the making, we will hopefully be able to find and purchase a new house - maybe even one that has two bathrooms... what?  I know, crazy...

 

What about resolutions for the New Year?  I always try to make resolutions that are simple and that I might be able to keep.  In 2007, I resolved to eat more mint.  Yep, mint.  It was my biggest failed resolution ever.  I don't think I've touched anything minty in years.  2008 was to take more pictures.  I didn't realize this resolution until the birth of my son in 2009, but thankfully, I'm better about keeping this resolution nowadays.

 

So, for 2011, I resolve to try and do the following:

1.  Take more pictures - always need to keep this one on the list.

2.  Blog more - My blogging took a nose dive this year and that's a shame because I enjoy it, so, I am going to try to commit myself to keeping a better eye on it this year.

3.  Find time to be creative - with a Little Man around, my crafty business has fallen by the wayside, which is okay, I'd rather hang out with him, but I still need to have creativity in my life, so, this year, I resolve to creatively find ways to be more creative and crafty.

4.  Stop being a stress ball - this last year of my husband's schooling has been the most challenging yet - financially, emotionally, pretty much every aspect of our lives has been affected by school and not necessarily in a good way.  I need to resolve to go with the flow more and find solutions to situations instead of freaking out about them.

5.  Continue to try and be the best mommy I can be - not that this even needs to be a 'resolution' - it's just good to have it on the list... as reference...

...and that's it... for now!  I hope each and every one of you has a happy and healthy New Year!

 

xoxo

A tree fit for a toddler...

We've always loved having a real tree for a Christmas tree for many many years.  I've made it a bit of a mission to have a great collection of personalized special ornaments for these trees as I didn't have those sorts of traditions growing up.

This year, however, our house has been invaded by a creature the likes of which had never occured to us... he's a Man-ster... he's a Toddler-saurus Rex... he's 18-months of pure fury... Weighing in at 24 pounds and 4 ounces... He's our sweet baby boy...

 

...and he's not very fond of Santa or Christmas...

We knew that he would absolutely destroy any sort of Christmas tree situation, so, we had to get crafty... and get crafty is exactly what happened...

It all started with some holiday themed scrapbook paper and cookie cutters...

 

The Hubs and I drew the outline of many different holiday shapes onto the different papers.  Then, he spent hours and hours and hours cutting them out... glad I missed this part.  After all were cut out, we made ourselves a tree shaped collage of sorts on our 'why is there a door in the middle of this wall' closet door...

 

 I think it turned out perfect!  Little man has inspected it thoroughly and determined that since it does not pose a danger to him and will not get him into any trouble, it isn't really worth the time to fiddle with it... :)

 

Turkey Day Bibs for Tots!

We were oh so lucky this past Thanksgiving when our dear family friends invited us out to Fredericksburg, TX to spend the holiday at a ranch house. 

Last year, when every holiday was 'baby's first', it was easy to find accessories and outfits to mark all of our special occasions.  This year, however, being 'baby's second' holiday season, has been a bit of a challenge.

Not one to give up so easily, I decided to make Quinn and his baby buddy Clover some special bibs - just for Thanksgiving.

Instead of trying to find the perfect pattern, I thought I would just wing it, so, I drew an outline around an existing bib...

 

Freehanded my embroidery design...

 

and voila! Baby's Second Thanksgiving bib.

 

Had to add the pockets - our little ones tend to drop lots of things and if it lands in the pocket, well, that's what we call 'seconds' at our house...

I think the babies were pleased...

 

 

...or maybe just distracted by all the delicious choices we had at our dinner...

I am so glad we were able to spend Thanksgiving with such good friends and that our babies got to dine in style!

P.S. Homemade cranberry sauce is the total baby jam...