Together Tuesday - Egg pots

* Eggs pots
I’m sure you will have lots of eggs in your house this time of year as we do in ours. Use some of those egg shells to make little pots for your nature table. Two of the symbols of Ostara/Spring are seeds and eggs, why not combine the two into one activity?
To make an egg pot you will need an in tact egg shell half (or 2/3 of shell), some soil and some seeds. If the egg shell is not already decorated from egg dyeing, decorate it now. Then add some soil and plant some seeds. Keep the egg pots on your nature table throughout the early spring. When it is time to plant outside, just plant the whole pot right into the earth.

It's Wooly Madness, I tell you!!

Today at K&F we are going mad. Mad, I say! Mad for wool and sheep!! Here is a sneak peek at some of this week's offerings ...

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I love a good challenge

I think my favorite customs to complete are those where I read the specifications and think ... hmmmm ... how the heck am I supposed to do that? I love a good challenge. I also like to win, but that's a whole other story ;)

Last year, one of my challenges was a DreamScape where the front was to be LWI dyed and the back needed to be a solid color.

Apparently, after doing that, I promptly forgot about it until a few weeks ago when I had to do a custom DreamScape where the back and front were both LWI style, in similar colors, but not exact (pink/purple/blue on front, blur/purple on back). Again, I promptly forgot about it until last week and the week when I got a custom order for a BedBug where the front was LWI dyed in one set of colors and the back was LWI dyed in a totally different set of colors. I love the way it turned out and will NOT be promptly forgetting abotu this challenge. Look for more double LWI dyed diapers in the near future!

Cinderella, Cinderella

Custom for Alyssa. Cinderella at the bottom of the stair case, with her glass slipper back on the stairs, as the clock strikes midnight.

Together Tuesday

Today's Together Tuesday activity comes from our Earth*School unit "Spring Fling".

Baby Bunnies
This is a very cute art activity that makes an even cuter keepsake, especially when you make them every year. All you need is a piece of construction paper (light color), white paint, any bunny colored paint your child likes, pink paint and a paintbrush. Paint your child’s foot in the bunny color of his/her choice, excluding the toes. Paint his/her big toe white; this is the bunny’s fluffy little tail. Have your child stamp his/her foot onto the paper. Now add some details. On the bunny’s face (the heel), use pink paint to add a little nose. Paint your child’s index and middle fingers and use them to print the ears. Let dry and cut out your bunny to display in a spring time mural (below). Don’t forget to save the bunny so that you can compare how big the bunny has grown when you make one next year :)

Today, in K&F's garden

Come and see what's "growing" on! Peter Rabbit, crocuses, bees, mushrooms, veggies, daffodils, flowers ... Today at noon est!

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Cake Ball Cupcakes

This is the most cooking fun we have had in a long while! Two days of chocolate, sprinkles and cake!

I am fairly obsessed with The Pioneer Woman blog. I have made tons of her recipes, wait on bated breath for the next installment of "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels", and drool over the photos of her ranch and animals. It is my favorite blog, right up there with Cake Wrecks. Well, when Ree posted about making these little cake ball cupcakes with another blogger, Bakerella, who's blog I also enjoy, I knew this would be the perfect activity to do with the kids.

Day 1

I baked the cake ad did all the mixing, so no pictures of that. Holden was recruited as Chief Cake Ball Maker






This is messy work, mama!






Holden was quick to point out that mine were too big and his were just right. That's why he was the Chief Cake Ball Maker, and not me ;)




Really bad picture of me while making the cake balls into cupcake shapes. I actually had the right cookie cuter on hand for the job. Surprise, surprise! (Ha ha, I am a cake decorator supply harder ... and a kitchen gadget and craft supply hoarder as well)




Day 2

Dipping in sprinkles was the "funnest" part!




Yuuuummmm!!!!




Precision decorating, look at that concentration




Finished!

Together Tuesday

Beginning today, every Tuesday will be "Together Tuesday" - the day I will post an Earth*School activity for you and your little ones to do together :)

* Shamrock bean bag games
Bean bag games are popular in our house. You can make simple beanbags by cutting 2 identical squares of wool felt or other fabric, sewing up three and a half sides (right sides together), turning them inside out and filling with rice, beans, popcorn seeds, then stitching closed. Paint a shamrock on a bean bag and play Pass the Shamrock.
Pass the Shamrock (sung to The Wiggles’ “Hot Potato”)
Pass the shamrock, pass the shamrock.
Pass the shamrock, pass the shamrock.
Pass the shamrock, pass the shamrock.
The shamrock. The shamrock. The shamrock. The shamrock.

Switch!! (at this time you stop and quickly start passing the
shamrock in the opposite direction).
Keep passing and singing faster and faster!

Other simple and fun bean bag activities:
Toss the bean bag back and forth to each other
Line up cups at one end of the room and try tossing the bean bag
into the cups
Bring in your basketball hoop and play beanbag basketball
Try balancing the bean bag on various body parts – don’t forget
unusual parts for balance such as your elbow, the back of your
knee, the back of your neck, your big toe, etc.
Walk across the room with the beanbag balanced on your head, nose,
outstretched hand
Place a bunch of bean bags on the floor in a trail and hope over them

(From Earth*School "Late Winter Holidays" unit, copyright 2005-2009 Bonnie Elizabeth Vontz)

Leprechaun Traps

Leprechaun Catching 101

1 - Set the scene. This year, the scene comes complete with a grass covered hill, a rope to climb up the hill and a nice little bush at the top. Picturesque, no?


2 - Set the trap. See, this unsuspecting-looking hillside is really a cardboard box with a hole cut into it. A leprechaun sized hole, no less. If you look directly into the hole, you can see that Holden has hidden some "gold" in there (no really, he actually parted company with some of his pennies for this). Absolutely irresistible for a leprechaun.


3 - Be clever. Check out the sign, it clearly states "No Leprocons". Clever. Those leprechauns will never be able to resist.


4 - Wait. That is, of course, the hardest part. Of course, it is a lot easier if you are asleep.



Aren't they peaceful when they sleep? Sigh.

Will they catch a leprechaun? Will those cunning leprechauns outsmart the Devious Duo? Tune in tomorrow to see what happens ...

*************************************************************************************

Wouldn't you know - the leprechauns visited us last night! Clever as the trap was, they did not fall in. Instead they left the following note:

Clever, clever little kids
Try to find where our gold is hid
To catch a leprechaun you set a trap
Thinking maybe we would leave you a map
There will be no map for you this year
But plant these magic seeds here
Wait a day and you never know
What will start to grow ...

As luck would have it, we had the perfect mini pots for the little seeds so they are now sitting in the window in the dining room. I am not sure the kids will make it til tomorrow to see what grows. Right now, the guesses are a gold tree (Holden's guess) and a miniature pony tree (Kenna's guess).

ETA ... I was just reminded that I never posted what the magic beans grew. Well, *someone* had a very forgetful day on St. Patrick's Day (forgot to take Kenna to gymnastics, forgot to move the car, forgot to go to the store ...). The beans ultimately grew little M&M flowers, which looked awfully adorable in the mini pots they were planted in :)

Yeeeeee haaaawwww!!

We're rustling up stuff for your little cowpoke today at K&F. Here's a little sneak peek ...

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Stocking today at noon! Also, be sure to check out the HC$ Auction for a pair of Funky Giraffe jammies over on our Hyena Cart shop!

Cherry Blossoms

Hanna linked me to a painting to use as inspiration for her DreamScape. I had a heck of a time trying to figure out what to do for the cherry blossom trees, because all my cherry blossom designs are just branches. I searched and searched, and all the designs I could find were branches, no trees. Then I realized that I could reorient one of my branches to make it look like a tree instead, and viola! Perfect! Gotta love it when the perfect thing happens to be something you already have ;)

Go make this now

Seriously. Right now. You will thank me later.

Yes, it takes almost 24 full hours. Yes, by the time it is finished you will want to eat the whole loaf in one sitting. But it really only takes about 10 minutes of actual work and the results are fantastic. You won't be disappointed. Unless, of course, you don't go make this. Right now. Seriously.

Can you see him???

Look closely ... can you see him? This is the back of an LWI piece that I dyed this week. As I was laying it out to cut I noticed him. He's right there, smack dab in the center. An owl face. Pretty cool!! Too bad you can't see him on the right side ;)

Easter/Spring is Hatching at K&F

can you believe that Easter and Spring are *almost* here? It does not seem like it here in CT, with the fact that we got another hefty amount of snow dumped on us Sunday/Monday. But I have it on good authority that the weather will be warming up soon!

Check out K&F today at noon to see what we are hatching up for Spring and Easter! Here's a sneak peek!

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PS - Stay away from the Robin's Nest necklace from Artistic Detour - I *need* that necklace ;)

Just kidding, of course, but I do *need* it ;)

Gum, anyone?

Mel's gumball fitted

Interview your kids

A friend posted this, saying it was going around Facebook. Since I have not yet succumbed to Facebook, I figured I would fill it out here instead.

Interview your Kid

Holden's answers first, he is 5; Kenna's answers second, she's 8 1/2

1. What is something mom always says to you?
* if you yell at me again you are going to be in trouble (I just said that to him a few minutes ago)
* worry about McKenna (I *do* say that to her very often!)

2. What makes mom happy?
* for me to not be dumb (what??)
* my cuteness and natural beauty (yes, modesty is one of her best qualities, *snort*!)

3. What makes mom sad?
* with me punching her face (ummm ... yeah, that *would* make me sad, lol)
* when we fight

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
* with tickling me
* by tickling me

5. What was your mom like as a child?
* nice
* very tiny (too true, lol!)

6. How old is your mom?
* I dont know
* 33 (she's right)

7. How tall is your mom?
* 50 pounds (niiiiice)
* hmm ... like 5 point something, like 9? (I'm 5'2")

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
* work
* hang out with Auntie Dami

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
* scrapbooking
* hang out with A

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
* sewing
* getting the most colorful hands (see post below, lol)

11. What is your mom really good at?
* sewing
* sewing

12. What is your mom not very good at?
* playing video games
* making me stop laughing

13. What does your mom do for her job?
* sell diapers
* sew

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
* grapes and cheese (the grape thing is an inside joke, and I am surprised it was Holden and not Kenna that said it. I was teased in college daily by a friend who would always answer for me when someone would ask if we wanted to go eat somewhere "No thanks, I had a grape last Thursday.")
* you have lots of favorite foods. Crab legs and margaritas. (The way she talks about me and margaritas, you would think I am some kind of lush. I drink about 4-5 margaritas a year, other than that it is always decaf green tea.)

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
* for me to not be unplugged every single day
* that she is my mom 'cause she is *sweet*!!! (she told me how many exclamation marks to put in, lol. And I have to say "Awww!!!")

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
* the kuka - it 's a duck that is pretty ugly, who is trying to get a melon from a chicken, and keeps running from it and bouncing, and he wants it for hibernating, but the melon had eyes that glow in the dark, but they didn't know and they ate the melon and then they falled off a cliff that was very sharpened and one goed "ahh! the cliff, the cliff!" (gee thanks)
* bugs bunny because you love bunnies so much

17. What do you and your mom do together?
* play games
* read, of course

18. How are you and your mom the same?
* 'cause we both go on computers
* we are both really short

19. How are you and your mom different?
* 'cause I play Mario and you don't
* she is 33, which is very old

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
* 'cause she doesn't unplug me that much
* because she always gives me strangling hugs

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
* to the beach (so true!! I am dying to go to the beach - there is another 6" of snow out there today and it's still coming down)
* pumpkin picking (another truth - how I love the pumpkin patch!)

A work in progress

This is turning out to be one of my favorite projects ever. A blanket for one of my favorite customers, based on a DreamScape I did a few months back, The Seasons of Rox's Apple Tree. It is obviously far bigger than the DreamScape, and needed to incorporate all 4 seasons on a single tree, so that was a challenge. There are many, many hours going into this blanket, and I am in love with it so far. I keep adding to it as I go, so I am going to start at the beginning and post pictures of each season as I go along and decide that season is finished.

Hand dyed bamboo velour, hand drawn/cut velour tree applique

Winter

A bare winter tree with little mounds of snow appliqued on. A little cardinal sits in the tree, while below, a bunch of cardinals get in a snowball fight, and another lone cardinal apparently has fallen into a snowbank and can't get up. snowflakes are falling. I may go back and add a snowdrop flower as the snow melts on the way to spring ... I have to see on the scale so I don't have gargantuan flowers. Scale has been tricky on this!

Spring is here! (Don't I wish!!) Spring blows in with lots of rain, creating loads of little mushrooms and spring flowers on the ground. Leaves are budding on the apple tree now, and apple blossoms are starting pepper the tree. A mama blue bird feeds a worm to her newly hatched babies in their nest, while a little brown squirrel looks out from his hole in the tree ...

The wheel of the year turns and brings on summer. The apple tree has lots of green leaves now. Flowers spring up in the grass. As the season turns to fall, a great sunflower grows and attracts bees ...

There is a chill in the air now. Fall is upon us. The leaves on our apple tree have turned yellow and orange and brown. Apples weigh down the branches. A hedgehog sniffs around, looking for a nice fallen apple to eat. A chipmunk and a raccoon busy themselves getting ready for winter in the tree.

Some close ups ...

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And the whole thing, not made into a blanket yet -

Why do I even bother?

Somewhere around Thanksgiving, I decided I needed to break down and buy gloves to wear when I dye. Nevermind that I have been dyeing at least once a week for almost 5 years now and have never, ever worn gloves once. I was perfectly fine with looking like Smurfette or a creature from the black (or red, or green or purple) lagoon on a daily basis. I was so used to it that when my hands were completely flesh colored it startled me. Then i felt the need to go and buy gloves. let me say how much I hate gloves. Wearing latex gloves is like torture - I hate the way they feel. Dye gets in them anyway. Then water gets in them and I get the clammy wet-inside-latex-gloves feeling that makes my skin crawl and I have to tear them off. It's almost as bad as, but not quite, my raw meat aversion. *Shudder*

I wore the gloves! I swear! And somehow I managed to dye my stomach as well. Now I look like I have a hickey right next to my belly button, and we are going swimming tomorrow with friends. And I wear a bikini. Sigh. Why do I even bother?

Pac Man

I got the kids these really cool things for Christmas, called Magnetiles. They are thooughly addicting to play with. The kids have come up with all sorts of nifty things with them - a cat and dog, a helicopter, a train ... most of these creations are McKenna's (who is 8 1/2). Holden's (just turned 5) creations are usually limited to, "Look mama - I made a dance floor!" or, 'Mama! Mama! I made a pattern!!". so imagine my surprise this afternoon when he came in to show me that he made Pac Man! he had to point out to me though that the "real" Pac Man is flat, but he couldn't make his flat ;)

He, of course, wanted a photo session with Pac Man.

Hey bud, let's see Pac Man!

Ummm ... great. Now can I see *you* too??

Ahhhhh ..... it's eating me!!!!

and just because I wanted to play around with some of the functions I never use in photoshop ...

I think the Easter Bunny may be bringing the see through set next month. *I* want the see through set!