It's been awhile!

I have been crafting in the meantime! Here are the last two projects I've done.

First, I made my son's long sleeve shirts into short sleeve ones. He has some sensory issues and hand washing at daycare is a nightmare with long sleeves. Right before we discovered this issue I had taken advantage of Gymboree's massive sale and there was no way those clothes were just going to be worn at home! I just took a few inches off the length because we live in Alaska and (Duh) it's kinda cold here. If you want true short sleeves you can use another shirt as a length guide and add a little extra for hemming.

Next up I made some homemade lotion bars. I found a simple recipe HERE.

I bought the products she suggested through her affiliate links and this cute LEGO MOLD.

I assembled the goods and got to work. I must tell you that was harder than it seems because it's -40 right now and my supplies had just came in from our mailbox. Yup frozen solid.

 I'm not sure why my photos hate me and won't line up pretty but you get the gist!

Happy Crafting!

Matching elf hats

I decided to make new baby an elf hat for a few reasons. First it's super cute, second I needed to learn how to switch colors, and third because I have a friend starting a photography business and I thought she might like it when my boy out grows it :) Once I started making it, Daphne decided she wanted one too. I used this pattern by Carrie Piper. And you can see the project details over at my Ravelry.

Thanks for looking!

Helping a toddler with gift giving

It is hard to explain to a child that the present you just bought is not for them! Especially when it is for a birthday party. Birthday parties are for friends and friends have common interests so a present for a friend is usually a want for my daughter. We had this issue this week and sure enough she did want the present when she saw it. I did the usual reassuring of  "you will get presents on your birthday", "you are going to chuck e cheese for your birthday", and "this is for friend because it's her birthday and she wants you to come play at her party". She continued to ask to open the gift but never got to tantrum mode or worked up about it. The day of the party I unrolled enough wrapping paper to wrap the gift in. I used old Christmas paper and flipped it over to the blank side. Then I gave my daughter stamps and highlighters and let her color the paper for her friend's present. She. Loved. It. Pictures follow :)

Helping a Toddler understand "soon"

The baby is coming. Not today or tomorrow but before your birthday. This is what I tell my almost 3yr old. Now that there is less than a month until his eviction date (hoping he beats it) and a bit more than a month until her birthday I did a fun little craft to help her understand when it will be time. I saw this when my husband deployed and I had heard of it from some friends who used it to get their children through deployment. It's a tear chain, one loop for everyday that needs to pass before it is that very special day. One friend's husband wrote a message on each loop so that his boys had encouragement from him everyday. My version is much simpler and much less profound but serves it's purpose of helping a toddler visualize when a future event will occur. I even added a blue loop for baby brother's eviction date and ended with a pink loop for her birthday!