Friday, February 26, 2010

Crocheted Neck Warmer

After seeing a ton of really cute neck warmers on Etsy, I decided to make one for myself! Now, this is only the second item that I have ever crocheted. My grandmother taught me when I was pregnant with Izzie because I really wanted to make her a crocheted baby blanket, which I did...even though it took me the entire 9 months to complete!

I'm really excited with the way the neck warmer turned out and have already begun making one for Izzie and Mac too!




Thursday, February 25, 2010

Mac's First Birthday Party

We finally had Mac's first birthday party last Saturday! Her birthday was at the end of January, but due to all the snow, we had to postpone her party. The theme was Winter "One"derland.

I had so much fun planning her party (I love having theme parties)...though, it was a little challenging decorating inside.

We had snowflakes dangling from the ceiling in both the living room and dining room, with a few bunches of balloons scattered around. Most of the decorations were purchased from Oriental Trading.

My husband's mom made these adorable snowflake sugar cookies!

I made Mac a polar bear birthday cake.

She received a Radio Flyer rocking horse from us and is having a great time bouncing and rocking on it!

We made a little goodie bag for her young friends. All goodies inside were purchased from Oriental Trading (snowflake crayons, snowflake stamps, and 2 different polar bear crafts).

Her adult family and friends received this cute magnetic picture frame, again from Oriental Trading.

We had a wonderful, memorable day with family and friends!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Textured Number Bags

Several weeks ago, I made Mac textured number bags for her first birthday and she has been having so much fun with them!

I made numbers 1-10, each with a different fabric and stuffing inside. I had so much fun at the fabric store picking out the various fabric. I was able to get 10 completely different fabric textures! I used scrap fabric and webbing to add the numbers. In addition, I added ribbon to correspond to the number.

A look closer (the pictures would not turn around, sorry!)...

What's inside?

1. cotton balls
2. plastic baggies
3. rice
4. plastic baby wipes package
5. small beans
6. large beans

7. lentils
8. craft beads
9. tissue paper
10. felt

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Valentine's Day Felt Gift Set

Last week, I was so excited when I won the Little Crickets Felt Food Tutorial from Live, Learn, Love! I've been wanting to make Izzie and Mac and felt mailbox set for awhile, so I was thrilled with the Post Office pattern.

I've been working hard and having so much fun creating this set for their Valentine's Day gift!

This is their set...I used Little Crickets tutorial as a guideline and I added some customized details for Izzie and Mac and added a few treats too!

I created 4 envelopes, 4 Valentine's cards, 6 stamps, and 6 name labels.

4 Valentine's Cards

6 stamps and 6 name labels...with Velcro attached to the back of each.

I really hope they enjoy stuffing the envelopes with the Valentine's cards and adding the stamps and name labels.

I decided not to make the carrier bag from Little Crickets. Instead, Izzie received this cute little puppy tote for Easter one year and it wasn't being "used", so I decided to recycle it! I simply sewed the word "MAIL" on the top...quick and simple mail bag for her to carry the letters in!

I really wanted to make the felt mailbox from Little Crickets, but with time running out, I decided to use this adorable pink mailbox that I found at Target for $1. The letters fit perfectly inside...all four can fit at the same time! However, I do plan on eventually making the felt mailbox. Annette at Live, Learn, Love did make the mailbox...if you're curious to see what it looks like, click here.

Well, everyone needs a little treat with their Valentine's Day card..

I found this white gift box at Michael's for $1.49. I added scrapbooking paper to the top, using Mod Podge, ribbons to tie it shut, and Velcro pieces, so a stamp and name label could be added.

And, inside I made 9 Valentine sugar cookies! Yum! Yum!

In addition, I picked up this little box from Duncan Donuts. Again, I added scrapbook paper to the front and Velcro pieces for the stamp and name label.

Inside the box...3 delicious donuts! I'm so excited with the way these donuts turned out!

I hope Izzie and Mac enjoy their Valentine's Day gift and have many hours of fun playing with it...at least, I know I will!!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Hershey's Chocolate

Today was the day that Hershey's Chocolate was founded, thankfully! So, to celebrate...

Izzie completed a "kissable" math activity. She used Hershey's kisses as her count markers. She did sneak a few for her tummy too! Printable cards found here.

And, she helped make these delicious peanut butter kiss cookies, so much for my diet!

I hope everyone enjoyed a little Hershey's Chocolate today!

Monday, February 8, 2010

H is for...

Thanks to the Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD, Izzie knows the sound of each letter! I highly recommend this DVD to all parents! Izzie received the DVD for her 3rd birthday back in September and quickly learned all the sounds and was able to recite the entire alphabet within a week.

She has begun trying to sound out words, while we are reading and will often tell me what letter a word begins with...example, If I say, "Izzie, please put away your toys." She'll respond, "toys...t-t-t...toys...letter T." So, to follow her lead, I found this neat activity...

Inside each heart, there is a picture that may or may not start with the letter "H" sound. As Izzie colored the pictures, we discussed what they were and what sounds each began with. Then, I simply made a huge heart with a pocket (light pink at the bottom), so Izzie could place the hearts that begin with the letter "H" sound inside the pocket. This is also a fun way to practice her speech therapy!

Did you notice that she's wearing her heart pajamas? She insisted on wearing them for this activity!

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Tot School

Tot School

Izzie
is currently 41 months old and Mac is 12 months old.


We had quite a busy week of Tot School! Last weekend, we received 12+ inches of snow and the roads weren't clear until Wednesday, then another snow storm dropped 20 inches on us Friday/Saturday and the roads are nowhere near being clear...so, we are still inside! Yep, we've been in the house now for 9 days straight!! So, we've had a lot of time for Tot School.

Izzie made this cute little groundhog and completed a ton of Groundhog Day activities. Click here to see all of them.

She completed her first Emergent Reader (sight word "see") and loved it! She's been "reading" it all week!

This week's theme for Naturally Curious Tots was "Seasons". Izzie completed this matching pocket chart activity. Click here for more details and for printable link.

Feb. 3 was Elmo's birthday, so to celebrate the girls wore red for the day! Izzie completed several Elmo Dot Art pages and we had a great time reading all the Sesame Street books in the house!

Mac really enjoys music these days and LOVES to dance! So, she's been playing a lot with her musical toys. This stacking ring is a favorite.

The bell out of this set is another favorite!

And of course, she's having a blast with all the different sounds on her Leap Frog table!

For Izzie's stART project, we read Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and she created and painted this cute little guy! To see original post, click here.

In addition, she did several activities about the book. Including the below Emergent Reader (sight word "see"). Click here for more details.

And, she used the heart as a marker when she read the sight-word "see", while reviewing the shapes. Click here for original post.

And, she matched up the heads and tails of the animals in the book.

To have some fun with the sight-word "see", Izzie played a little game that she loved with her Melissa and Doug latches board. Click here to see more details about how to play!

Finally, the girls had a great time playing this week. Here are a few of their favorite activities from the week...

Playing with their stacking blocks...not together...but, very close together!

I found these at Tuesday Morning for around $8. They are perfect for speech therapy practice with Izzie. Notice that on each block, on every side, there's a simple word and corresponding picture.

Mac is also having a fun time chasing balls! It's hilarious to watch her amuse herself with a ball. She will throw and chase the ball over and over and over again! This texture ball is her favorite!

Well, it looks like we may be in the house this week too! So, we may have another productive week of Tot School!

To see more Tot School activities, please visit 1+1+1=1
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