Well after a rough night of sleep, we got up late and have had a relaxing morning. Our plans have changed since Hazel has an ear infection. She was suppose to go to the library today for the Move and Groove class. My mother-in-law was going to take her since they are suppose to be cutting down my tree today at 10. It is now 11:15 and no one has shown up.
Hazel wanted to "cook" this morning. However since we already ate breakfast, we made homemade play dough. I tried one of the recipes in The Toddler's Busy Book by Trish Kuffner. She has many recipes in the Appendices and it has many great craft and activity ideas for toddlers. Hazel enjoyed mixing and then playing with the playdough even while it was still warm. We made four batches, red, green, yellow and blue. We had to scrounge for enough salt and cream of tartar for the last batch though. It was nice to not smell the typical store bought playdough smell. The recipe says it can last for 6+ months. We shall see.
This afternoon I hope to make some crafts with Hazel to decorate for our Fourth of July Party. I have a great idea for placemats. We stopped at the library yesterday and Hazel made a flag out of construction paper and cardboard. It would be easy to do in a bigger scale as a placemat and put clear contact paper over it to protect it from the food. I also saw a craft in one of my books about painting red, white and blue fireworks. I figured we could try that as well and then after the paint is dry cover it with the contact paper. If they work well, I'll have Hazel make them for the adults and then have each kid make his or her own.
I have also been trying to find a good chai latte recipe to make at home. Of course I have been changing any that I find so it is less Weight Watchers Points, but I figure eventually I will find the right combination of spices and such for me. I have been missing my daily chai, but don't want the sweetened stuff you can find around here or to spend the money on them all the time. I guess I'm spoiled when I go to the Cape and can order it unsweetened.
Well that is it for today. I will let you know how our afternoon crafts go.
Two More Craft Books from the library
This morning after my dentist appointment I stopped at the library to pick up two of the books I requested from other libraries. Thought I would give a quick review after flipping through them here. And of course I just checked my email to see more of the books I requested arrived today at the library, so it looks like I'll be going back tomorrow.
The Little Hands Nature Book by Nancy Fusco Castaldo--flipping through this quickly, I cannot wait to dive into it and find some good activities to do with Hazel. This book has great activities for ages 2-6 with an educational side to them as well.
Little Hands Celebrate America! by Jill Frankel Hauser--I got this one for craft ideas for my Fourth of July party. It is full of lessons and then a craft on different things in America--pledge allegiance, flag, constitution, so so much more. It looks like a great way to introduce some of the American history topics especially if you home school.
Now onto the other books that I haven't written about:
The Little Hands Big Fun Craft Book by Judy Press--Packed full of craft ideas for 2-6 year olds. I really am loving this series. It is not as educational as the ones above, but does include Celebrations from Around the World.
Kids Create! by Laurie Carlson--This book says it is for 3-9 year olds and definitely is for older kids. It goes through paper and paste crafts to clay crafts and printmaking and seasonal crafts. Lots of great ideas, but I think I want to get it out again when Hazel is a bit older.
Nature's Art Box by Laura C. Martin--looks like a great book, but again is definitely for older kids. Will return with the desire to take it out in a few years.
Crafts for Kids Backyard Book by Greta Speechley--thought this might give me ideas for our Fourth of July BBQ--activities to do with the kids is always a good thing.--It has a few good ideas, but not much that is different from what I have already seen.
Look What You Can Make With Newspapers, Magazines, And Greeting Cards edited by Kathy Ross--a lot of papier-mache and some new ideas, but mostly things I have seen before.
Look What You Can Make With Paper Plates edited by Margie Hayes Richmond--full of easy ideas to make things with paper plates. Some I could do now with Hazel or save them for when she is older. There are animals, holiday stuff, mobiles and more.
Another book Hazel has been enjoying:
The Little Moon Princess by Y.J. Lee--great tale about how the stars became stars
And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel--a new take on Hey diddle diddle with some other nursery rhyme themes thrown in
The Little Hands Nature Book by Nancy Fusco Castaldo--flipping through this quickly, I cannot wait to dive into it and find some good activities to do with Hazel. This book has great activities for ages 2-6 with an educational side to them as well.
Little Hands Celebrate America! by Jill Frankel Hauser--I got this one for craft ideas for my Fourth of July party. It is full of lessons and then a craft on different things in America--pledge allegiance, flag, constitution, so so much more. It looks like a great way to introduce some of the American history topics especially if you home school.
Now onto the other books that I haven't written about:
The Little Hands Big Fun Craft Book by Judy Press--Packed full of craft ideas for 2-6 year olds. I really am loving this series. It is not as educational as the ones above, but does include Celebrations from Around the World.
Kids Create! by Laurie Carlson--This book says it is for 3-9 year olds and definitely is for older kids. It goes through paper and paste crafts to clay crafts and printmaking and seasonal crafts. Lots of great ideas, but I think I want to get it out again when Hazel is a bit older.
Nature's Art Box by Laura C. Martin--looks like a great book, but again is definitely for older kids. Will return with the desire to take it out in a few years.
Crafts for Kids Backyard Book by Greta Speechley--thought this might give me ideas for our Fourth of July BBQ--activities to do with the kids is always a good thing.--It has a few good ideas, but not much that is different from what I have already seen.
Look What You Can Make With Newspapers, Magazines, And Greeting Cards edited by Kathy Ross--a lot of papier-mache and some new ideas, but mostly things I have seen before.
Look What You Can Make With Paper Plates edited by Margie Hayes Richmond--full of easy ideas to make things with paper plates. Some I could do now with Hazel or save them for when she is older. There are animals, holiday stuff, mobiles and more.
Another book Hazel has been enjoying:
The Little Moon Princess by Y.J. Lee--great tale about how the stars became stars
And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel--a new take on Hey diddle diddle with some other nursery rhyme themes thrown in
Relaxing Morning so here are some Birthday party ideas
This morning we are having a relaxing morning. Hazel slept in until 6:20 (much better than her usual time between 5 and 5:30). She is having fun coloring now, so I thought I would share some of the birthday party ideas I have been gathering.
To start I don't believe in going broke for a birthday party. I believe in an at home party with friends and family. I like to have a theme, but that is because I like to go a little crazy planning it. Hazel's birthday is New Year's Eve. We usually have a party for our friends and family on January 1st. When she is a bit older we are hoping to have a small kids' birthday party for her half birthday as well. I tend to make most of the food and cake myself and I buy the appropriate paper supplies, but often buy special napkins and solid color everything else to save money. It is not about how much you spend but how much fun you have.
For her first birthday party we did a cupcake theme. We made invitations with pictures of Hazel saying "Our Little Cupcake Is Turning One". Needless to say instead of a cake we served cupcakes. I also made paper cupcakes and filled them with candies for favors. Of course this was before cupcakes were so in so I had trouble finding cupcake related items. Right after her party cupcakes became the very in thing. Resource: I bought a template because I couldn't find anything for free, but this site looks like it would work: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/templates-f143/cupcake-box-templates-go-linseys-card-t350478.html.
For her second birthday, we did a tea party. Our theme was "Tea for Two". Since it was still mostly an adult party, we served many different flavors of tea and typical tea time treats. I made a birthday cake and had my nephew paint a miniature tea set for the top of it that I bought at Joanns. I also had a bigger paint your own for everyone to sign so Hazel has a memory from the party of who was here. For the older kids that came we had white mugs to paint. I also had put together a bag of kids activities including a coloring book with pages I found on line with crayons and stickers. For a favor, I found garden teacups and saucers at Micheals on clearance in the fall for 39 cents each and bought them up knowing we were going to have this theme and put two tea bags in a nice bag and attached a tag that said "Hazel's Tea for Two" on one side and "Thanks for Coming" on the other. I attached the tags with a string to the bag and had them hanging out of the tea cups. Resources: http://www.coolest-kid-birthday-parties.com/tea-birthday-party.html, http://www.coolest-kid-birthday-parties.com/free-coloring-pages.html, http://familyfun.go.com/parties/tea-party-704536/#lollipop; http://hubpages.com/hub/Tea-Party; Pink Princess Tea Parties by Barbara Beery (I borrowed it from the library), Come to Tea by Stephanie Dunnwind, Let's Have a Tea Party by Emilie Barnes, The Totally Tea-rrific Tea Party Book by Tanya Napier. I borrowed all of these books from the library, but found I wanted to own some of them because of the many themes they had in them. From these books I took decoration ideas, recipes, etc. I also got many facts about tea and the history of tea and tea parties and printed them. I stuck them into my centerpieces and decorations so the adults could have something to read in case they got bored.
To start I don't believe in going broke for a birthday party. I believe in an at home party with friends and family. I like to have a theme, but that is because I like to go a little crazy planning it. Hazel's birthday is New Year's Eve. We usually have a party for our friends and family on January 1st. When she is a bit older we are hoping to have a small kids' birthday party for her half birthday as well. I tend to make most of the food and cake myself and I buy the appropriate paper supplies, but often buy special napkins and solid color everything else to save money. It is not about how much you spend but how much fun you have.
Today's Adventures
So it was a typical Monday for Hazel and I. We ran errands (grocery shopping and the library). Hazel loves going to the library. She likes to see the children's librarian and play with the toys there. I however wanted to check out some kids' craft books I found on line last night. I of course found many more than the two I had written down. I'm still going through them, but here is what I found:
My Very First Nature Craft Book illustrated by Anna Curti and published by Little Simon--I flipped through this one already. The crafts are simple, but age appropriate for Hazel, so we may try some in the next few days or whenever the rain stops for us to go out and get the supplies.
Once Upon a Time in the Kitchen by Carol Odell--this looks like a great book especially for older kids or for a literature party or cooking/literature class. Also would be good for homeschooling. It gives a recipe with part of a classic story (including Little Women, The Jungle Book, Winnie the Pooh and many more).
The Little Hands Big Fun Craft Book by Judy Press--haven't had a chance to really look at it, but it was on my list to get--love the Little Hands Fingerplays & Action Songs by Emily Stetson and Vicky Congdon.
Kids Create! by Laurie Carlson
Nature's Art Box by Laura C. Martin
Crafts for Kids Backyard Book by Greta Speechley--thought this might give me ideas for our Fourth of July BBQ--activities to do with the kids is always a good thing.
Look What You Can Make With Newspapers, Magazines, And Greeting Cards edited by Kathy Ross--figured it never hurts to have more ideas to recycle things.
Look What You Can Make With Paper Plates edited by Margie Hayes Richmond--I keep finding different wreaths to make so I stocked up on paper plates, now I have some more ideas.
My Very First Nature Craft Book illustrated by Anna Curti and published by Little Simon--I flipped through this one already. The crafts are simple, but age appropriate for Hazel, so we may try some in the next few days or whenever the rain stops for us to go out and get the supplies.
Once Upon a Time in the Kitchen by Carol Odell--this looks like a great book especially for older kids or for a literature party or cooking/literature class. Also would be good for homeschooling. It gives a recipe with part of a classic story (including Little Women, The Jungle Book, Winnie the Pooh and many more).
The Little Hands Big Fun Craft Book by Judy Press--haven't had a chance to really look at it, but it was on my list to get--love the Little Hands Fingerplays & Action Songs by Emily Stetson and Vicky Congdon.
Kids Create! by Laurie Carlson
Nature's Art Box by Laura C. Martin
Crafts for Kids Backyard Book by Greta Speechley--thought this might give me ideas for our Fourth of July BBQ--activities to do with the kids is always a good thing.
Look What You Can Make With Newspapers, Magazines, And Greeting Cards edited by Kathy Ross--figured it never hurts to have more ideas to recycle things.
Look What You Can Make With Paper Plates edited by Margie Hayes Richmond--I keep finding different wreaths to make so I stocked up on paper plates, now I have some more ideas.
June 13, 2011 First Entry
I am starting this blog for a few reasons. I would like to keep track of books I like, crafts I hope to do with Hazel or by myself (and for her), ideas, etc. And I would like a place to share these ideas and finds and hope others will be able to share them with me.
Now a bit about me and what I'm doing...I am a 40-yr-old stay-at-home mom of a 2.5-yr-old. We have decided to send her to a Waldorf School, so I'm in the process of learning more about Waldorf education and finding natural toys (Waldorf toys). I also am doing several different things with her to fill our time. I am trying to be true to the Waldorf philosophy of no television. This is a struggle with my husband and his mother, but we are trying it. Our daughter fell in love with Elmo and Caillou before we made this decision. I want to share books, ideas, places, etc. and hope this will help someone and hope to hear from you.
This weekend, I bought a serger and hope to figure it out so I can start making clothes for Hazel faster. I have been playing with knitting as well. I'm allergic to wool, so I have been doing most of my knitting in cotton. I'm working on a dress and a sweater for her.
Ok, enough of this info for now. Will share some of the books I have been reading for my own knowledge and the ones I have been reading (over and over) to Hazel.
Now a bit about me and what I'm doing...I am a 40-yr-old stay-at-home mom of a 2.5-yr-old. We have decided to send her to a Waldorf School, so I'm in the process of learning more about Waldorf education and finding natural toys (Waldorf toys). I also am doing several different things with her to fill our time. I am trying to be true to the Waldorf philosophy of no television. This is a struggle with my husband and his mother, but we are trying it. Our daughter fell in love with Elmo and Caillou before we made this decision. I want to share books, ideas, places, etc. and hope this will help someone and hope to hear from you.
This weekend, I bought a serger and hope to figure it out so I can start making clothes for Hazel faster. I have been playing with knitting as well. I'm allergic to wool, so I have been doing most of my knitting in cotton. I'm working on a dress and a sweater for her.
Ok, enough of this info for now. Will share some of the books I have been reading for my own knowledge and the ones I have been reading (over and over) to Hazel.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)