ABC Books

When Peyton turned 3 years old, I made him a personalized ABC Book. I didn't do any fancy scrapbooking or anything at the time, so his was pretty basic. "A is for Art" with a picture of Peyton holding up a piece of his artwork. That sort of thing. But he loved it. And he still does.

And that book has lasted with no problems until about two months ago. When Ella accidentally ripped the bottom of some pages off the spiral binding. Peyton was devastated. I tried to comfort him by telling him that I would make him A BRAND NEW ONE! I was thinking that I could make his brand new one super awesome. And I could make each letter's page all layered and beautiful. But that idea was obviously ridiculous because he didn't want a new one. He wanted the same one. Sweet, sweet boy. So I tied the broken part with a little blue ribbon and he was happy again. Besides, kids don't care about the beauty of scrapbooking, they care about seeing pictures of themselves. (Click on the pictures for a close up.)

As I've mentioned before, sometimes I lag on the mommy ambition I once had, so Ella didn't get hers until this last Christmas when she was almost 4.

She has always adored Peyton's ABC book, so I knew she would love one of her own. And she does!

And honestly, it did take a while to put the books together - figuring out the perfect picture for each letter and all, but it was worth it. The only letter I actually had to take specific pictures for was the X. Luckily, we have a xylophone, so I made each kid pose in front of it. All the other letters I was able to figure out. It was like playing a mental game - trying to match each letter of the alphabet with one single picture out of the thousands that I have of my kids. The very last page just has The Alphabet Song on it. (Click on the pictures to see a close up.)

After I had all the letters represented, I printed the covers and back pages on card stock. Then I printed each letter page on photo paper.

Then I took them into a copy store and had them spiral bound with a clear cover on the front and back.

The whole process was really inexpensive. The only thing I would suggest is that you don't get plastic comb binding - the kind of binding where each little spiral opens. Get the kind of sprial binding that coils all the way down the book. Unless, of course, you enjoy fixing bindings every other day. Because kids can break those plastic comb bindings open by pure mind control. With their eyes closed and both hands tied behind their back. Really, it's quite amazing.

Anyway, back to Ella's book. I didn't want to make it too much fancier than Peyton's, because that wouldn't be fair, so I kept the letter pages in the same style and just prettied up the cover a bit. To the card stock, I glued on coordinating paper and lined the title paper with pretty brown ribbon. Cute, right?

Peyton and Ella love their ABC books so much. And I love that their books are made with all the love in the world.

Happy ABCs!

Caterpillar Party Kit

I love making party favor kits! I just finished this Caterpillar Party Kit for a 3-year-old's birthday party and I'm so thrilled with how it turned out.

Just imagine the pride of 12 sweet little party guests creating 12 sweet little garden caterpillars. The cuteness!

So here we go!

Little supply bags for each guest:

(Since this party kit is for really little kids, I pre-painted the caterpillars' heads and tails and pre-cut the body circles for easier crafting. Because I want moms to like me.)

all filed neatly:

in a cute reusable box:

with a birthday message for the birthday girl that can be used as a table topper or birthday card:

all wrapped up in a brown paper package tied up with... ribbon (Did you totally start singing right there? I should have wrapped it with string in homage, but matching ribbon is much prettier. Sorry, Maria.)

ready to be opened and enjoyed!

It's party time made simpler!

Things Peyton Teaches Ella on the Drive Home

TUESDAY: The Toilet Song

Here's the brand-new song Peyton learned at school. (Thanks, recess friends!) And taught to Ella on the 15 minute car ride home. It's awesome in its my-kids-have-reached-THAT-age-ness:

Totally reminds me of the Parenthood diarrhea song. And don't you just love Peyton as a back-up dancer?

Just in case you're jealous that your child isn't as fluent in potty songs, here are the lyrics:

We will, we will...

Rock you!

Sock you!

Pick you up and drop you!

Flush you down the toilet!

I hope you enjoy it!

FRIDAY: The Pain of Childbirth

Ella: I want to be a baby again.

Peyton: You can! When you die and you go to heaven if you're really good in heaven then you can be born again and be a baby. But it's going to hurt because you have to have sharp scissors sticking out of your tummy.

Ella: Why?

Peyton: Because when you're in Mommy's tummy there's a tube so that you can eat. And when you come out of Mommy's tummy you have to have the scissors to cut the tube. And it's going to hurt!

Ella: Why?

Peyton: Because that's what happens when you are born. And you are going to whine and cry a lot!

Ella: How do you know?

Peyton: Because I have a scrapbook and it shows all about how I was born and the scissors.

Ella: I want to see it!

Peyton: Okay, when we get home I'll show you.

And when we got home he showed her the picture that has obviously scarred him for life:

Maybe I should clarify things a little for him, but, really, this is way more entertaining.

And these two car rides home are much, much better than what I usually get to listen to. You know, the standard screaming about how one kid gave the other one a mean face or is humming too loud or has the nerve to breathe.

Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments

The day after Christmas, I yelled across the house in my happy Let's-Make-Something-Cool mom voice, "Who wants to make cinnamon ornaments?"

Peyton: "NOOOOOOO!"

Ella: "I do! I do!"

There you go.

I wanted to try out this recipe, even though cinnamon is one of my least favorite scents ever. Why? Because I planned on making them for the family. And I'm willing to be a craft martyr. Look how much I care! I had my children make these for you because we love you so much and because we're awesome. Also, I had half a jar of applesauce in the refrigerator and I hate waste.

Really, I don't mind a basic baking-in-the-oven cinnamon-mixed-with-something-else smell. I just cannot stand that cinnamon-scented candle /cinnamon-scented pine cone / cinnamon-scented fake fakety fake smell. You know, that super strong smell that hits you in the face when you walk through that certain aisle in your local craft store. I was hoping these would smell real.

I had let Ella pick out some new cookie cutters the other day. Hobby Lobby had about fifty different kinds. My little sweetie picked out the princess crown and the teddy bear. So we pulled those out, plus the star that I had from making the Wired Star Ornaments, and we got to work.

I used this recipe from McCormick, but I changed it up a little bit. I also added a couple tablespoons of white glue, because I heard that it helps make the ornaments a little stronger. Six days and a 25-hour road trip later and our ornaments aren't broken yet, so maybe the glue helped.

Cinnamon Ornaments

Makes 12 to 15 ornaments

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 2 1/2 hours

Ingredients

3/4 cup applesauce

1 bottle (about 4 ounces) ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons Elmer's white glue

Supplies

Plastic Wrap

Rolling Pin

Wax Paper

Cookie Cutters

bbon

1. Preheat oven to 200°F.

2. Mix applesauce, cinnamon, and glue in a small bowl

until a smooth ball of dough is formed. (You may need to use your hands to incorporate all of the cinnamon.)

3. Using about 1/4 of the dough at a time, roll dough to 1/4-inch to 1/3-inch thickness between two sheets of plastic wrap. Peel off the top sheet of plastic wrap. Cut dough into shapes with 2- to 3- inch cookie cutters.

Here's Ella, cutting with all her almost-4-year-old might:

4. Place ornaments on a wax paper-lined baking sheet. Use a straw to poke a little hole in each one.

5. Bake 2 1/2 hours. Cool ornaments on a wire rack.

When they are done baking, and you go to pull them out of the oven, hold your face waaaaay back. I did not hold my face way back. I went right on in like it was nothing and the cinnamon smell came straight up out of the oven and smacked me in the face. And attacked the inside of my nostrils. Like it had something to prove. CINNAMON! GEEZ! I GET IT! YOU'RE STRONG! And honestly, I didn't use McCormick cinnamon. I used the cheapest store-brand cinnamon I could find. So I probably deserved it.

If I got in a fight with cinnamon, it would totally kick my butt. And, in fact, I think we just did get in a fight. Yay for you, cinnamon. I hope you sleep well at night.

Anyway! The first open-the-oven-door cinnamon smack-down was the worst of it. They do have a strong scent, but it's not overwhelming. After they cooled, I strung some raffia through the holes and called the whole adventure a success. They were really easy and really cute. Next year I may even have the kids paint them. I'll just make my husband get them out of the oven.

Happy Crafting!

Wired Star

When I saw this craft over at Family Fun, I just thought it was the sweetest thing ever. So I got all the supplies and my kids and I got to work.

Some things I realized:

1. The craft at Family Fun calls for 18-gauge wire. For some reason, I can never find it. I used 16-gauge and it was okay.

2. Wire is sharp. Especially the 16-gauge and heavier kind. And it can be a huge pain in the butt if you aren't a wire professional. I am not a wire professional and step #2 just about drove me crazy. I'm just not any good at using wire cutters to twist wire. After that step, though, the rest was a breeze.

3. I would recommend doing this craft with kids older than 3 and 5. We were able to finish three stars each by staggering them over a couple of days, but the wire wrapping can get a little tedious for the young ones.

Wired Star

Supplies

3-foot length of 18- (or 16-) gauge gold (or silver) colored craft wire

Small jump rings like these (or you can use a little bit of the extra lightweight wire to make a loop)

Star-shaped cookie cutter

Wire cutters

20- to 24-gauge colored lightweight wire

Ribbon

Iridescent beads

Make sure a grown-up does the first two steps. And don't yell at me if you cut yourself on the stupid wire.

Grown-Up Job: Press the 16-gauge craft wire around the cookie cutter twice to form a star shape.

Grown-Up Job: Use wire cutter to twist the ends together and cut off any excess. Stupid, stupid step.

Take one end of a piece of the lightweight colored wire and secure it by wrapping it around the star outline.

Wrap away! When you get to the end of each piece of colored wire, just twist it around the star a little.

Use whatever colors your child wants and go for it! For extra fanciness, thread some pretty beads onto the wire as you wrap the star.

Sometimes the stars won't be a perfect star-shape, but that adds to the child-made charm!

Attach the little jump ring to the top of your star and thread a ribbon through.

We gave ours to the grandparents (we love you!), so I printed up some little tags.

So pretty, right?

Peyton and Ella were so proud! I like that this is a very sturdy craft that will last forever. The second step I really, really disliked, that's true. But the end result was worth my pain and irritation. And wine helps, too. I'm just saying.

Happy Crafting!