Crafting With Kids

Do you craft much with your kids? I sadly don't do nearly enough. I find that while Ruby likes doing it, she has a short attention span and likes to put in the minimal amount of effort into any project. When she comes home from school with crafts the other kids seem to have elaborate drawings, and she just does a couple of squiggles and then runs off to play. Perhaps she just doesn't love making things? Yet she claims to want to do crafty things all the time...

If I've learned anything about crafting with a five-year-old, it's that you need to keep things simple (especially when you have a very demanding two-year-old boy riding sidecar). We got this very cool looking Princess Doll Making Kit for Ruby's birthday and while I love the intent behind this craft, it was a bust in our house. Double sided tape, cutting with grown up scissors, precise placement... did I mention the double sided tape that holds the whole thing together? All of it made for a sad looking doll and a sadder looking mama. With Easter Break coming up, I think we need to stick to the basics. Any ideas out there?

Cupcakes for a Big Boy

I thought it should be noted that my sweet, my love, my little Mr. Henry Pickles turned two this weekend. I don't have much to say on the matter -- I was alone with the kids over the weekend, which was tough, and I do admit that there were times when I was ready to send him off to live in the zoo. But generally, he is such a lovely little light. The world's biggest smiles, sloppiest kisses, longest eyelashes, deepest belly laughs, softest skin, splashiest baths, and most rebel-ist rebel yell all come from this tiny little boy. He is a peach, a treasure, and definitely made of snips and snails and puppy dog tails. xoxoxo

Oh, and check out more info on the cupcakes a the other blog. Henry's verdict was: "Rillly rilly gooooood!"

We Are Family

Ah, this post is painfully overdue. Every year, I make Ruby a doll for her birthday. If I weren't so lazy, I'd link back to them, but every year they've been a little bit different: Kate the Knitted Cat, the Wee Wonderful kitty, a Raggedy Ann-style rag doll, a Ruby doll and now, Amy Karol's Aunt ___ doll from Bend The Rules With Fabric. I've been meaning to make one of these ever since Amy first posted the idea on her blog a couple of years ago, but I think I really needed the template from the book to push me over the edge.

Aaron's sister Daniella lives in another city and we only get to see her a couple times a year. This fact would be made easier if she wasn't one of the most awesome aunties in the world. Ruby and Henry both love the stink out of her and it's painful that she's so far away. Hence, the Auntie Daniella doll. And, soon to be sent off in the post, for Daniella's birthday (which has also passed, I'm such a failure), Ruby and Henry dolls.


These were incredibly easy to make, the hardest part was going out to buy the printer-ready fabric sheets and hoofing over to my parents' house to print the photos (we're a laptop family and don't have a printer). Super easy, super cute and a little weird (I'm such a sucker for a floating head).


These were ridiculously hard to photograph because Henry would not keep his paws off of them. He was even kissing them, which is why there are some wet marks on the faces. He loves his Auntie 'Nella (as he, and no one else calls her). And I do too.

Weekend Thrift

Okay, since this stuff came from a swap meet and a professional estate sale, "thrift" isn't the operative word here. But since I've been itching for spring, this bounty definitely served as a late-winter pick-me-up. And I swear I didn't pay too much. Even for the Jadite. I swear!

Maple Leaf Forever

Ah. The Olympics are over. Olympic fever has officially been cured. Time to get productive again.

I will admit, I screamed twice during the hockey game last night. And I watched the curling attentively. And fell a little bit in love with Charles Hamelin. And Jon Montgomery. And those girls who came in first in bobsled. And Canada. We did pretty good, didn't we?

Above is a gold medal that Ruby made in school. The children got to decide what they were being awarded the medal for. Ruby decided that she should win gold in "skating really fast." She's already chosen the dress she wants to wear when she wins in Ice Dancing in 2026.