Like mother, like Daughter

Earlier this week I decided I'm taking a week off from summer kids' activities because I need to sew!

My 10 year old came in and watched me work a while on Monday afternoon (I'll post my project when I'm done with them all) and then asked if she could have my scraps. She always wants them...little pack rat...but never makes anything from them.

Later that evening, she asked if I could help sew up the opening and get the ears on tighter because her stitches didn't work and she needed help. I'm not sure what I expected to see, but it wasn't an almost completed project!I had no idea she'd even been sewing? She had even used my sewing machine...need to teach clean up post-project next!

 I showed her how to finish it (and my part looks worse than hers! - my excuse is the terry cloth didn't give me much room for a blind stitch so the nose is crooked.)

I asked her how she did it and she said she found a pattern online and followed the instructions (using things from the allowed scraps baskets). I thought, By yourself!?!? I was so surprised. I guess when you want to create, you figure it out!

Here's where she found the pattern and instructions:

Little Mouse Pattern

(I don't think it's meant to be made from terrycloth, but it worked just fine.)

She calls him Pipsqueak.

Happy Birthday Banner

Finally - after having a lot of these fabrics bagged for several years, I finally got around to doing this project!

It was an idea I think my mom saw someone else make for their house and told me about. I loved the idea of a durable reuseable birthday banner, and not wanting to make one every time I had a different color scheme (or a different child's favorite color birthday), I decided to go rainbow theme. 

I have mostly girls (and my one son recently had a party, so he won't be due for another 4 years...plenty of time to do something else - or nothing at all because teenager boys don't have decorated parties, right?) ;)

Plus, the next three parties (girls of course), I have in mind themes that would be perfect for rainbow.

I used my embroidery machine to applique each letter on a scrap of fabric. Then I sewed a backing/lining (right sides together and flipped of course), leaving the top open. I thought about top stitching around each of the finished rectangles (about 5"x7" finished), but I would have had to fight with clear thread or keep changing my thread or have white stitching around each rectangle and I didn't want any of those.

Then, I just sewed them all touching into a length of extra wide double fold bias tape. (It only took 1 3-yard package, with some leftover.)

I put buttonholes in the ends to make it easy to hang from whatever.

Cute, right? 

(And I used all stuff I had in my leftovers box or general supplies, like thread. So, it wasn't free, but it "felt" free!) :)

Oh, I should post my updated menu board. (Too bad I left my kids' tacky request postits up for this picture!) oops. Anyways -  I really like my new method for the menu board! I'll try to remember to do that next and not make you wait another 4 months for a post!

Preschool (Dice) Math Games - post #1

I love MATH!

I love my kids.

I like games...

Put them together, and you've got endless possibilities.

Today's game #1:

Roll a dice (10 sided - purchased at educational store locally)

 (this version practices number recognition)

We played a second time using large dice from Dollar Tree (came in a two pack)

(This practices 1-to-1 counting of both dots and fuzzies)

Then, (whichever dice you used) count out the number rolled from the pile of fuzzies (also from Dollar Tree)

At the end of the game, line up fuzzies of both players (1-to-1) and compare who has the longer line.

(The person with the most fuzzies wins.)

Game #2:

Sort fuzzies into piles by color. 

(If you have more colors than 6, leave out extras or group into similar colors.)

Each pile represents a number 1-6.

When you roll that number, take a fuzzy from that pile.

The person who gets 1 of each color first wins!

(This can mean 1 fuzzy from each pile regardless of color variations within each pile - 

or 1 of each color, including multiple colors within each pile - whichever is easier for your child to understand)

I won the first game.

 She won the second time playing game 1. 

And I won the second game...although I downplayed that since it was approaching naptime. 

Regardless of who wins in our house (and no, the youngest does not always get to win - good sportsmanship is important to learn early) - we all get to finish the game's objective (at least in preschool games).