creative kids

Do you find there's some things you've accidentally done right in your parenting, but now you're so glad you did??

I have super creative kids!!! I am a creative person myself, so this may come easier to me than some, but I truly believe we were ALL made creative in some way. Even my type A, super organized, perfectionist friends have ways in which they are crazy creative! After all, a linen closet with nice baskets and perfectly folded stacks of matching towels is beautiful, right!? Others, like me, are the messy creative types. And some art forms require a perfectionist's eye--like photography, for instance.

Anyway, here's my secret to raising creative kids: let them. I know it it's messy and I know I probably spend more time cleaning up than many moms, but it's worth it to me because creativity teaches resourcefulness and many other things that translate into life skills:

"How can I really stretch the grocery money this week, even though we're having company twice?"

"I think if I cut the bottom off this too-small jumper of my daughter's, it would make a cute skirt for her instead."

"$50 to get a piece of art from Mongolia framed!? Forget it, I can figure out a way to do this myself." (clearly speaking from recent experience there, ha!)

Last weekend my kids showed up to meet Casey and I at the airport after a little anniversary trip with super hero masks, crowns, belts, arm bands, etc... out of construction paper. The girls had fashioned them all and it was an adorable site, especially when Natalie handed me her "business card", which said "Cat Woman. Meow". When we got home, I suggested they make their masks and stuff out of felt instead. Then I would sew on some Velcro and elastic for them.

This morning I handed Kelby an empty egg carton and he got super excited and asked if he could paint it, to which I said, "you get the paints, I'll get the water".

Natalie is currently setting up an "Art Shop", for which she's been drawing pictures since yesterday. As the project expands to more rooms in the house, I have to suppress my desire for the house to look last-minute-company-ready all the time and just let her do it. She'll be cleaning it up later ;)

Layla's trying to make paper airplanes. With lots of paper. But, she's using scratch paper that I insist Casey bring home just for this purpose--and we can recycle it later.

You might think art and craft projects always need to be planned and supervised, but this is not the case--as long as we aren't trying to make their work look perfect or getting upset that they're ruining perfectly good felt--that only cost ten cents. 

So, here's what I'm saying. Even if you're not a sewer, scrapbooker, or naturally inclined to the arts at all, if you have a few supplies around and in reach of your children, they will use them. And you'll all be enriched :)

Crochet, patterns, books and my famous dad

Oh, my goodness, there have been so many things I want to blog about and as much as I would love to be a daily blogger, let's face it--it's a busy time of year! So, I'm going to combine it all in one post :)

First off, it's been awhile since I've crocheted anything, it seems, but now that I am in that phase of life where I occasionally cart kids someplace only to sit until practice or class is over (no complaining about the sitting, I love it. I rarely get to sit :), I started this project and toted it along to work on whenever I could. Before long, I had this...

It's an infinity scarf. One big loop, so you can wear it like a cowl. It's mine, not Natalie's, but since she had it on, I let her model it for the picture--she's a beautiful model, too :) And now, she wants one too. A yellow one. And because she wants one, Layla wants one. Guess i have something to do on our coming road trip! Oh, I used this pattern and it was just lovely.

My JoAnn finally got the new McCall's patterns and since my mom was going while they were on sale this week, I asked her to pick up these three for me:

How fabulous is that Denise Schmidt quilt!? So excited. And, can you see the top right view on the apron pattern? It has a tool belt. I want to make all three kids aprons for Christmas and I have a great girlie apron pattern, but this one is perfect for Kelby. The skirt pattern is going to be great, I think. I do not like the saddle bag view--I don't know who would want to add ten pounds to each hip, but whatev.

Next up, did you know that thrift stores and consignment stores are the absolute best place to get kids' books?? Well, it's true. My consignment store has a book club--I get one free book per month per kid! Last time, I walked away with 8 books for $6. Not bad. Last night, I went to Savers, my favorite thrift store and came home with quite a load...

This isn't all. There are four more that were in the hands and laps of little ones when I took this picture :)  The Children's Books of Virtues and the Children's book of Faith are in new condition. So are some of the others. And, how awesome is the 1970 edition of the Richard Scary Mother Goose book?? Savers has kids books from .79-$1.99. Plus, for every 4, you get one free. AND, I had a 20% off coupon from a previous donation. Good deal. I see lots of homeschooling unit study and read aloud possibilities in this stack :)

Finally and probably the coolest part of this post!!! My Dad is in a video on Youtube!!! I love this video! It is SO much fun to see where he lives and works in Mongolia and to see him in action. Start looking for him right at 2 minutes. He's in a classroom and in front of an overhead screen. He's in it again towards the end and it's easy to spot him because I think he may be the only American face in there. And if you have little boys, they will love this, it's crammed full of tractors :)




HAVE A WONDERFUL AND GRATITUDE-FILLED THANKSGIVING!!!!

Satin fever

Oh, boy, I finished two of three Halloween costumes this week and I am now officially sick of satin!!! What a pain! It doesn't press, it ravels like crazy and doesn't take well to pinking shears. But, at least I will have one happy little angel and one happy little fairy :)  Also, it's annoying that some costume patterns skimp on finishing.  My kids wear these things way more than just on Halloween, so I take extra care with finishing and preventing raveling!

Kelby wants to be Buzz. No problem. Sweats, felt and hot glue, here I come. No more satin, yes!

In the midst of all this and all the baby bedding that I am plugging away at, I am itching to sew myself some Fall clothes! I got some great fabrics last weekend, but in the mean time, I'm trying to make my Summer things into Fall things.  Here's what I wore to church today:

I made this skirt over the Summer with some vintage cotton. The pattern is Simplicity 2258. The ruffle tee is J.Crew, via Savers, my favorite thrift store :)  The reason I showed you this pic is because I recently found this look on Pinterest...

(From stylebible.ph via Melissa Koster on Pinterest)

...and I think I could make the above skirt pattern work for this too. If I widen the sides a little to give it a looser look and add a ruffle at the top with some belt loops? And, how about this pattern (which I already own) for the shirt? Add a cute cardigan and there ya go.

As for Mad Men, there were some good points made in its favor in the comments after my last post :) I just don't think I'm a drama girl. Except for maybe Gilmore Girls, which I loved. But then again, the last two seasons annoyed me a lot. So, give me comedy please and throw in a few fun reality shows like Project Runway or American Pickers (which has me entranced on Netflix almost every night) and just keep the dramatic life lessons away, hahaha!

Chalkboard paint

I bought a huge frame at a garage sale last summer and finally, before we started our current school year, got around to giving it new life as a chalkboard! Whenever Casey and I undertake a new house project, big or small, we tend to bounce a LOT of ideas around before jumping in. In this case, we decided to buy a piece of plywood, have it cut the right size, paint it, then screw it right into the wall, screwing the frame on over it. I didn't want it hung like a regular picture because I need it to stay put while in use! Here's how it turned out:

So, now that I've used the stuff, here are my tips for successfully using chalkboard paint:

• Buy the roll-on kind. I tried the spray paint first and even though I primed my wood first, I had a hard time getting an even coverage. I used the whole can over several coats and it still looked spotty. Plus, it didn't erase at all.
• Let it cure for 3 or 4 DAYS! Don't use it at all until it's been that long! 
• Before using it, rub a piece of sideways chalk all over it in a circular motion, so it gets in all the tiny cracks. Then, rub that in with your eraser, also in a circular motion. After that, wipe down with a warm rag and you're good to go! 
• Don't use colored chalk! It does not wipe off. The white chalk comes off fine with a wet rag, but the colored stuff stays. 

Although not the same as a real chalkboard, this is working for me! Just don't expect it to erase very well with just the eraser. Every couple days, I just take the wet rag to it and it looks like new :)