Story Time Fort Kits

 My grandsons have been hard at work making homemade gifts, they have lots of friends and wanted to make something special for them. Their mother, knowing how much they love playing "pretend", decided they would put together a "Storybook Fort" for their friends.

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My daughter involved all her children in putting together the "Story Time Fort" Kits. First was to find a twin size sheet that would serve as the "tent".  Our grandchildren have an extensive library and wanted to share some of their books. They chose several books for each kit, depending on the age of the recipient and tied them up with raffia.

                                                                                  They also made a sock puppet that corresponded to the books chosen to gift to their friends. Their mom helped with the eyes and hair. 

Mom then made a pouch and included clips to hold up the tent, glow bracelets, and a book light. The books went in the pouch as well.

They are learning about poetry in homeschooling classes; so it was their task to come up with a poem for the "Story Time Fort" and WooHoo!.....A "Story Time Fort Kit" was created. 

My guess is this might be THE hit under the Christmas Tree for those kids, better than playing with the boxes; which is what our kids did while their toys just gathered tinsel under the tree.

Homemade Knitting Loom

Check out the easy homemade knitted scarves my grandsons have made for their aunts and cousins for Christmas.

 Blessed with a big family, my daughter needed to find a homemade gift that her boys could make for their aunts. She found instructions for this cool homemade knitting loom, made from an empty toilet paper tube and craft sticks. She substituted pencils for the craft sticks and they seemed to work much better. The yarn was easy to slide off the pencils and the loom was just the right size for little hands to grasp. Following is a link to instructions to make the loom and to learn spool knitting: Spool Knitting

 

The picked their favorite colors and went to work creating "one of a kind" gifts for their aunts.  So much better than buying yet another bottle of lotion at the dollar store! What a great lesson they are learning about the true spirit of Christmas

Once they knit an appropriate length to enable them to loop a couple of times they will pass on the projects to their mother.  My daughter will then join the ends together and squish them in the suitcases for a 3000 mile plane ride home. Woo Hoo, that's my Christmas gift; she can just put bows all all their heads and I'll be a happy camper!

They are proud of their creations and their aunts will get a cozy scarf to keep them warm this winter.  They also made their mom some headbands which she loves, so soft, not those headache bands that she has always dreaded to put on.  Aren't they just the best boys ever? Of course, they are!!

Double Word Score F A M I L Y

I've been on a mission in my home to add a little color lately. My husband and I have very different styles and over the years the one thing we can meet in the middle on is the color brown. We both like chocolate brown and dark woods. Unfortunately that has left us with a very dull interior. We are realizing we need to rethink this plan, so I am out to find ways to add a touch of color in fun ways that will please everyone in our household.

This was our latest project. I saw the idea to use scrabble tiles to write your families name on pinterest, and in my effort to brighten up our home I decided that we would put them on a painted canvas.

This was a great project to do with our kids. While I mixed paints and did a first coat of paint they worked on configuring all our names into a crossword. We ran into a little trouble when we realized that scrabble doesn't come with three B's but my boys quickly rearranged the tiles so that we connected the B's and had enough.

Afterwards, I let the kids paint a second coat and we mixed a little orange and red to create textured background. Then after it dried I helped them place the letters and glue them on.

In hindsight I wish I had put a little bit of separation between the letters so that it filled the canvas better, but all in all I am happy with the way it turned out. It looks beautiful on the wall with our family pictures and brightens up that space just a bit.

If you stop by please leave a comment, We love 'em!
 

Happy to be linking up with the following parties:
Skip to my Lou
Hope Studio
Coastal Charm 
Not Just a Housewife
French Country Cottage 

Newborn Pink

Is there anything sweeter than the pink of a newborn babe? My baby had a baby, it seemed just impossible that she could be having a baby herself. We had called her our "snuggle bug" and then teased her about becoming a "snugglesaurus". Now she was giving birth before my eyes to this exquisite little pink creature. I had flown out to Monterrey, California when i heard he was going to make an early appearance and joined my very anxious daughter sitting beside a Koi pond, with waterfalls and original art by Charles Schultz. I had to pinch myself to remember this was a hospital not a resort. We had sipped on raspberry tea the night before he arrived.  Is that why he was just the hue of a fresh picked raspberry? That was 8 years ago and  he has grown so big now.  We call him our little "professor" because he is constantly inventing and is such a deep thinker. Doesn't he look deep in thought at only five minutes of age? I just couldn't resist sharing this sweet little drop of newborn pink. I've been blessed to have six of these little suger plums drop into my life, changing me forever. Just a drop of newborn pink, who knew? Linking to Pink Saturday to show off my little pink drop.

Birthday Traditions

My youngest had her 4th birthday this past week. Her birthday always creeps up on me a bit because it is right before Halloween. I am the Children's Minister at our church and so this time of year means planning a Fall Festival. With all that going on I have a hard time also planning a birthday party. One thing that helps is having a few birthday traditions. I know that no matter how much planning I do that those little things we do every year are going to make it so special.

Here are a few of our birthday traditions:
We have a special birthday tablecloth that we use for every party. Each year I use a permanent marker to trace my kids hands on the tablecloth and write their names and age on it. My children love this tablecloth and each year the look to see how big their hands have grown.

A few years ago my mom had a birthday crown and banner made by Cassie at Goldilocks Creations. She did an amazing job and the banner and crown match our tablecloth. The banner is made of felt and has clothes pins on either side so it can clip to curtains or window shades. It also has clips between each banner so you can clip pics of the past year to the banner for the kids to look at.

Another traditions we try to do most years is to having the kids make their own birthday cake. Sometimes this just isn't possible but it sure is fun when we can do it. My kids adore being in the kitchen with me and so they can't wait to make their own cake. This year it was a Rupunzel tower cake. The tower is made of donuts and we used M&M's for vines.

I would love to hear from some of you... what are some of your birthday traditions? Check out Potpourri Friday and some other memory keepers at Time Travel Thursday .

Vintage Pink Mohair

 Love this shade of pink! The pleats on the shoulder and back, the way it falls so beautifully. Pink Mohair just envelopes you in delicious warmth. Bring back pink Mohair....

 Remember Lana Turner, surely some of you are old enough to remember Lana Turner. I found this Pink Mohair Jacket in my favorite little shop Honeysuckle Hollow in Hendersonville. I can just see some tall (not me) elegant lady wearing this jacket to a symphony performance or a play like "Imitation of Life". Loved Lana Turner...

Ok, I wasn't even born yet when her reputation as a glamorous femme fatale was enhanced by her performance in the film noir The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) but my sister and I love to watch old movies together. I felt so honored that my older sister would want to spend a Saturday night with me instead of going dancing with her "honey".

Hope to have this in Sabrina's  Etsy shop soon.  She has some other things on her plate right now, like home schooling, getting a teaching degree, being children's minister for her church, and oh last but not least a Navy wife. Well, someday...

And these little shoes, found in a thrift store are that same wonderful shade of pink. Love the little button on the side. Linking this post to Pink Saturday, when you go over there check out the little pink number by Ralph Lauren.

Graceful

What a HoneyPond find in the hill country of Texas. Amongst all the cowboy paraphernalia was this delightful little shop called Graceful. Graceful it was! The owner was a master at creating vignettes that showcased her jewelry, clothing, and gifts. What creativity! It was hard to take it all in during one visit. Hope all you fans of White Wednesday enjoy this HoneyPond.