2.04.2011

Valentine Tissue Wreath


valentine's day wreath
This is one of my favorites so far!

Henry got busy painting a piece of white butcher paper (we get it from the bakery, you could use any kind of construction or heavier paper). While he painted, I cut out a wreath shape from cardboard (Chalk in My Pocket, where I got this idea, used a pizza delivery box for this).

I then got busy making 'flowers' out of tissue paper. I quickly cut rough (about 8") circles out of red and pink tissue paper. Then I just bunched it up in the middle and twisted a little. I handed it to Henry to dip in the paint. He then placed them on the wreath where he wanted them.

valentine's day wreathvalentine's day wreath

I was hoping Henry would do the next part. Stapling the flowers to the wreath. But he had no interest, so I didn't push it. He tried once, but couldn't push the stapler hard enough to get through the cardboard. So I ended up doing that. I also cut hearts out of the painted butcher paper. After they were all attached to the cardboard wreath, I let Henry have at it with red glitter.

There were bare spots yet, so I just used scrap pieces of tissue paper and stapled them on until it was mostly covered.
valentine's day wreath

I love the result!


 

Labels: , , , , ,

2.03.2011

Yummy Edible Valentines


Growing up, frosted graham crackers was one of my favorites. Every time my mom made cupcakes, cake or brownies, the extra frosting always went on graham crackers. Even though these are pretty yummy, I'm not sure why they were a favorite, maybe its just the memories that are my favorites - or maybe its just because Mom makes everything better. 

I got this idea from Toddlers Busy Book

valentine's day food
Frost some graham crackers with your favorite frosting.
Sorry, no recipe - we own a bakery, so I didn't have to make it.



valentine's day food
Add your favorite candy hearts.
I don't like the regular ones, so we used SweetTart hearts.


valentine's day foodvalentine's day food

Eat up!

 

Labels: , , , , ,

2.02.2011

Valentine Countdown Tree


valentine's day countdown tree

Paint one small tree branch
Stick branch in small pot
Decorate tree
Look at and smile

Pretty simple recipe for a pretty decoration that your toddler or preschooler can definitely help with.

I just cut a couple of branches off one of our trees (probably not ideal during blizzard conditions). I was planning on only doing one and for it to be white (I cut two just so Henry could have a choice in which one to do). But after we finished the first one, Henry wanted to paint the other one green. We used a sponge to paint them.
valentine's day countdown tree

I put some Styrofoam peanuts in a small pot and topped it off with some flat clear marbles. Once the branches dried, I stuck them in.

I cut out some hearts out of construction paper and hole punched them. Threaded a thin ribbon through the hole (I planned on Henry doing that part, but he lost interest at this point). Tied them together. Henry then hung them on the tree.

valentine's day countdown tree

It wasn't until today when 
Henry said "Its Valentine's today!"
that made me think we needed a countdown. 

I used the hearts we made on the tree for this and wrote the numbers 1-14 on them. Everyday Henry will find the next number and take it off our tree and we'll tie it to another ribbon so we'll have a garland of hearts! The tree will also be undecorated on Valentine's Day and ready to be decorated for Easter!
valentine's day countdown tree


 



jamie @ hands on : as we grow
Henry is 3 years.
George is 10 months.

Labels: , , , , ,

2.01.2011

February Ja-'MIE' Project


My February ME project was actually done last week because I was so excited to get it done and I had some time 


Who doesn't have some time when you're stuck inside all day every day?


It was a rarity, but I took the opportunity of my hopefully-someday-soon-to-be-sister-in-law watching the boys for a morning and did something for me.

One of the very first posts I found when I was just at the beginning of my newfound addiction of blogs was My Favorite Things Board at Rosy Red Buttons. Camilla explains how to make this message board step by step.


I don't have the step by step here, or even a before and after... just the finished project.


So I bought myself a nice magnetic white board and spray painted it black. I'm not as brave as Camilla so I taped it off completely with paper and whatnot.

I am an incredibly sloppy-messy-uncareful-accident-prone-in-a-rush-person so I was extremely impressed with myself that I actually took the time to tape it off (especially since Camilla said she didn't) - however, my hands somehow ended up completely black by the time I was finished painting (I still have remnants on my fingernails a week later).

My one big suggestion is to live with the white board as is for a couple weeks and play with layouts.

I started with it exactly like Camilla had it, but realized I didn't have the need for a full month calendar. So I did some rearranging (and then again... and again) until I was happy with how I would be using it.

I had troubles getting the fabric to slide under the edges of my board, I could only get it on one side. So I decided to trim around the fabric with the small green ribbon I was using for the criss cross message board. (I guess I don't have a closeup of the edge)


Since I couldn't get the fabric under the edge, I also couldn't get the ribbon, so I had to cover up those goofs with cute buttons!


I also have been dying to make these rosettes! They are also one of the first posts I found that I had to do myself! I found a great tutorial at The Secret Stitch Club. To sum it up: cut a strip of fabric, knot it, twist and glue it as you go.


I use this for the boys. The message board is for invitations, pictures, etc from other kids. The middle section is for the days of the week (activities/crafts planned, outings, appointments, etc). The left side I have for Notes and Ideas. And I love the fact that its magnetic, too!

- This turned into a calendar for Preschool too!

Labels: ,

1.31.2011

I didn't think we did much...


Getting ready to post this tonight, I didn't think we had done much this week. But thankfully, since I'm doing Project 365 - I take pictures every day now, so I catch more on camera than I think.

-- and we do keep pretty busy!



'I Spy' Sensory Tub
I pulled out the Indoor Sandbox that we put together in December.

I found some miscellaneous items around the house (small foam letters, paper clip, a small padlock and key, pom poms, etc) - I drew a quick sketch of all of them on a piece of paper - trying to keep it color coded as best I could. I threw all the items in the sandbox and let Henry have a little scavenger hunt for the items. This stayed out all morning long - granted it made a mess, but a sheet makes a much easier cleanup.



Scissors Practice
I've never let Henry have at it with scissors before. Actually, until he went to daycare, he never had used one. The first day there, he did. So I thought it should be time he learned how to use them carefully. He's a bit awkward with them, using both hands to open and close them, and most of the time holding it sideways.

For practice, I cut a bunch of scrap paper into strips so he could do one quick snip through them.


Sock Sorting
Henry has been really into matches and pairs lately. Sock sorting may be a new chore for him! I gave him a pile of his and George's socks and told him to find the pairs that matched.

And yes, he used the loader to haul the pairs away.



Shed Building / Decorating
Henry always has a cardboard box on his table to use as a shed. Well, the shed we normally use isn't large enough for a couple many of his vehicles. He was getting frustrated. So I was building him a bigger shed when his Dad and Grandpa came in and started telling me how I should do it... So, they started over with a fresh box and created this shed with a peaked roof and an opening on the top for Henry to reach into. Henry has spent the last 2 days decorating it with markers.




ABC puzzle matching
Henry has this wooden alphabet puzzle. It really bugs me because there's no way to match up the letters without knowing the order of the ABC's. So, every time Henry does this, I sing the ABCs and stop at the letter he's on. I repeat it like this twenty-six times. This time, Henry was cleaning out his toy box in his room after he put it together and we came across his foam letters and numbers. So I had him match up the letters. This seemed like it would be an easy task for him since he knows his letters already - what was hardest was finding the letters. He also had troubles when he dug out a foam number and didn't know what to do with it. This helped him recognize that numbers were different than letters.



So, I guess we've kept pretty busy this week again.



Tot School - Henry is 34 months
Tot School






post signature

Labels: , , , ,

High Five!


High Five! to This Week's 5 Hands On Finds!

These are 5 Activities and Crafts that I've found on blogs that I follow 
but haven't had time to try them out yet, but want to make sure I do them.

Cute Clown faces with Balloon Noses found at Kat's World


Alphabet Bowling from Toddler Approved!
I need to get some of these bowling pins!


A great craft from the Toddlers Busy Book :
check it out at Crafts~N~Things



Bunches of snowman/flake themed printables links 


Similar to our Shaken, not Stirred, Hearts
Coffee Can Golf Ball Painting at Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds




If you were featured here:
please place the High Five! button 
somewhere on your blog







post signature


Labels: