Ultimate Wrap Bracelets -- Crafty Weekends Review & Link Party

Disclosure: Tuttle Publishing gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation. 

Tonight I am going to share a fun new book and kit called Ultimate Wrap Bracelets by Patrizia Valsecchi and photographer Antonio Attini. This kit comes with beads, buttons, cords, and some charms as well as a cardboard work surface.

Therese Makes a Tapestry

Disclosure: I was sent me a copy of this product free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Today we get to share with you a beautiful new book that is fictional but based on some facts and real people. It is set in France during the reign of King Louis XIV in the Gobelin Manufactory. Therese Makes a Tapestry written by Alexandra S. D. Hinrichs and illustrated by Rennee Graef shares the tale of a young girl, Therese, who lives with her family in the grounds of Gobelin.

Feathers for Peacock -- Book Review & Craft

Disclosure: Wisdom Tales Press gave me a copy of this product free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Today we get to share a beautiful book that is being released in April. Feathers for Peacock by Jacqueline Jules and illustrated by Helen Cann is a beautiful story about friendship and the book itself is gorgeous!! If you hurry you can enter to win a free copy of this book over at Goodreads (the giveaway ends today)!!

Mango, Abuela, and Me -- Book Review & Craft

Disclosure: Candlewick Press gave me a copy of this book free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

What happens when a faraway grandmother comes to live with you and share your room? And what if she does not speak the same language as you? How are you going to get to know her? This is the storyline of Mango, Abuela, and Me by Meg Medina and illustrated by Angela Dominguez. 

I Am Rosa Parks -- Ordinary People Change the World Blog Tour & Giveaway!

Disclosure:  All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Today we continue the Ordinary People Change the World Blog Tour. The Ordinary People Change the World Series is by Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulous. There is a giveaway from Penguin Kids below for the whole series as well!! Today's book is I Am Rosa Parks. 

I Am Lucille Ball -- Oridnary People Change the World Blog Tour

Disclosure: Penguin Kids gave me a copy of these books & promotional items free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

On Monday I told you about the Ordinary People Changed the World Blog Tour this month. We shared I Am Abraham Lincoln on Monday. Today we get to share with you the first book in the series that we read, I Am Lucille Ball. We had the pleasure of reviewing this book back over the summer. It is the book that made Hazel fall in love with the series although now that she has read all of the books in the series thus far I do not think it is her favorite. Brad Meltzer and Christopher Eliopoulos are doing an amazing job of bringing real life heroes to kids. And we are talking about people who deserve to be role models for our kids. 

Hatshepsut of Egypt -- Multicultural Children's Book Day Review

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge from Goosebottom Books. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

Today we are honored to review a book about a very strong woman, Hatshepsut. Have you heard of her? I hadn't, so I found this book fascinating. The book is Hatshepsut of Egypt by Shirin Yim Bridges and illustrated by Albert Nguyen. It is part of The Thinking Girl's Treasury of Real Princesses.

This is a series of books that share real princesses with girls. These are not your average fru fru princesses who wear pretty dresses and sit around waiting to be saved by a prince. These are women who had strength and guts to rule countries.

Adult Coloring Book Review & Craft -- Crafty Weekends Link Party

Disclosure: I was sent these books to review free of charge from Barron's Educational Services. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase from them.

I have to admit I have jumped on the adult coloring book bandwagon. i love them!! They are so relaxing and fun. Today I am going to share with you three adult coloring books from Barron's Publishing and a craft you can do with your finished pages or wrapping paper, scrapbook paper or other things. We will start with Christmas Magic illustrated by ArsEdition. 

All three of the books have pages that have white or black backgrounds. This is no different. The pages in this book have a Christmas theme but also a winter theme. There are many pages with snowflake motifs and just designs. The colors will make it feel Christmasy or wintery. Here are some pages I colored or began to color. I found some of the small snowflakes a bit hard to color because the spaces were so small.

The Little Christmas Tree -- Book Review & Craft

 Disclosure: Kregel Publications sent me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

It is hard to believe Thanksgiving is this week. Christmas is just around the corner. Today we get to share a book that is being added to our must read every year list for Christmas. These are books that bring the Christmas story and season alive. The Little Christmas Tree by Andrea Skevington and illustrated by Lorna Hussey is a definite must read. When we read it again last night Hazel commented on how she LOVES this story. 

The Time Garden -- Adult Coloring Book Review -- Mommy Time

Disclosure: Penguin Random House Books gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Have you discovered the adult coloring books? It seems like everyone is getting into it. Even Starbucks has their new fall cups in adult coloring book style.

 And yes, I let Hazel use our gel pens to begin to color in a cup after I washed it out.

I found some gel pens on clearance for 30 cents each and bought them for Hazel. Then I started working part time and bought some various packs of gel pens for myself at work. Hazel immediately asked to share all the gel pens. I think we are a bit obsessed with them. 

The Story of Queen Esther -- Exploring Iran/Persia

Do you know the story of Queen Esther? Many people do not even though Esther is a book in the Old Testament as well as one of the great female Bible heroes. She even has a Jewish holiday where they celebrate her and her courage to save the Jews of Persia. Her story is Hazel's favorite Bible story and Hazel was very excited when I explained that Esther was Queen of Persia which is now called Iran and the country we have been exploring with Global Learning for Kids this month. 

Queen Esther by Edwin Long 
[Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Quilting with a Modern Slant Book Review

Disclosure: Storey Publishing gave me a copy of this book free of charge to review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Now if you have been reading Crafty Moms Share for a bit of time you know I am a quilter. I tend to be a traditional quilter--using more traditional patterns. My mother has been experimenting with more modern patterns lately and it has intrigued me.  When I saw Quilting with a Modern Slant by Rachel May I decided I wanted to check it out and really see what modern quilting is really about. 

 

Where You Go....I Go Book Buddies Review & Craft

Disclosure: Parragon Books sent me a copy of this book free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the book for your convenience.

For July's Book Buddies, Parragon Books sent us Where You Go ... I Go by Beth Shoshan and illustrated by Petra Brown. This is a sweet book told in the point of view of a young elephant talking to his mother. The book goes through a day in the life of the elephant. 

Indian Crafts

Disclosure: This post contains Affiliate links where I will receive a nominal fee if you purchase through it.

Since it is the last day of the month, we are finishing our exploration of India with Global Learning for Kids and preparing to move on to Lebanon in July. To finish India we made some crafts of things we had read about. Two of the craft ideas came from Super Simple Indian Art by Alex Kuskowski. This book has several great ideas that use things most kids have in their craft supplies.

Little One-Yard Wonders Book Review

Disclosure: I was sent this book to review free of charge from Storey Publishing. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

Today I get the pleasure of reviewing Little One-Yard Wonders by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins. This is the newest addition to the One-Yard Wonders series. I love these books!!

This book has 101 sewing projects for children and babies. It has everything from clothing to toys and room decor. Just on the cover you can see a floor cushion, shoes, a diaper bag and the mushroom tea set and more!! The first project I wanted to try was the Summer Days Hat. This hat is perfect for Hazel with her long hair that she always wants up. Her sun hats tend not to fit over her pony tail.

Sew Useful -- Book Review

Disclosure: Search Press gave me a copy of these books free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. They also sent me a copy to giveaway! As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Today I am sharing with you a wonderful book for helping you organize your house (and especially your craft room). The book is Sew Useful by Debbie Shore.

Exploring Ramadan

We are participating in the Multicultural Kid Blogs Ramadan for Kids Series. This is our post for the series. As a Christian family, we do not know much about Ramadan except that it lasts a month and includes fasting. So our first step was to find out more about the holiday. We started with a DVD from the Holidays for Children series called Ramadan.

It is an older video we found at our library. It explains the holiday and some of the why for the holiday. It also shared a craft that was similar to the craft on In the Playroom: Watercoulour Mosque Silohouette Pictures. So we did not do this one. Next we read some books from the library.

Spring Candy Bird Houses

Have you entered my current giveaway? This is one you do not want to miss!!

We finally have spring weather in the Boston area and we definitely have a bit of spring fever at my house! The weather is too nice to stay inside all day. However we took time the other morning to make these adorable bird houses from graham crackers, Peeps and frosting. I saw the idea at Yesterfood. When I saw them, I knew Hazel would want to make them. She is after all obsessed with birdhouses and bird cages.

 
 We Had fun making them. Hazel remembered making gingerbread houses out of graham crackers and this reminded her of that. We used a tube of decorating frosting, but it took a few tries and some time to get them to stay together. 

We had two kinds of Peeps. The new birthday cake flavor (which Hazel thought was ok) and the original ones in pink (which Hazel does not like since she does not like marshmallow, but I love them). She made the house for the pink one and I did the blue one.

For similar ideas check out these posts:

• Graham Cracker Nativity 
• Valentine's Day Gingerbread House 
• Building a Bird Nest
• Yarn Bird Cages

Simple Cloth Daisy Doll Book Review

Have you entered my current giveaway yet?

Disclosure: Search Press gave me a copy of this book free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. They also sent me a copy to giveaway! As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

So just before Christmas Hazel informed me she wanted a soft doll that looked like her so she could sleep with it. Now I have all of my Christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving, so it was out of the question. Then I received a copy of Simple Cloth Daisy Dolls by Wenche O. Steensen. I knew I would make her a doll so I could write a proper review of the book.

Easy Valentine Tic-Tac-Toe Game Craft

I have been seeing these felt tic-tac-toe games for Valentine's Day everywhere. Some are for sale and others are crafts made by kids or parents. I wanted to give it a try. I thought about sewing it all and making the lines out of stitches, but I wanted it to be simple enough for a child to make so I decided on gluing on ribbons.