Scrappy Stripes

Some of you may remember a while ago when I was deliberating about patterns to use for a scrap quilt.  Well I finally settled on this one as inspiration and got started. 

My first craft project in our new house and in my new craft corner in my bedroom.  YEAH! 

And I've got this little helper, helping me choose fabric from my stash.

Some of you might also remember the hand print quilt I  helped my daughter's kindergarten class put together last year for a histiocytosis fundraiser.  This year I'm making a quilt that will be raffled off for the same fundraiser.  I needed something quick to put together because it needs to be done in just a couple weeks.

I just love seeing bright quilt fabrics coming together to make a quilt.

So even though I'm not posting much...I am busy.

Nuclear Physicist - Radioactive Baby Nerdy Outfit

Okay...so neither the baby nor the outfit are actually radioactive...although he does radiate some cuteness.

Before Anson was born I got on a roll and made a whole bunch of nerdy baby outfits.  (Like the Little Pi Guy and Fresh Baked Pi onesies.) When Anson was wearing his Nuclear Physicist outfit...

...complete with a radioactive bum...

... and matching radioactive bum pants, I snapped a few pictures to share.

Repost: Other Mothers

With the move and the new baby, I've been a major slacker this year for Mothers' Day.  I haven't gotten anything ready for my kids' birthmoms...or for my mom (who's also celebrating her birthday today) or my mother-in-law...or any of the other wonderful mom figures in my life.

And I also don't have an inspiring Mothers' Day post either...so I thought I'd go ahead and repost the one I did for last year, because even though I've been a mom for the past 7 Mothers' Days I remember how hard Mothers' Day was when we didn't have our kids yet...

So here's to all you amazing Other Mothers...

...I'm thinking of you.

Especially my kids' birthmoms...who gave me the ultimate gift...their most precious treasure...

I'm so glad they're a part of my life and my kids' lives.

I'm thinking of all you other birthmoms out there who get to see or hear from your child...

And I'm thinking of you birthmoms who wonder...where they are and who they've become...

I'm thinking of you who considered adoption and chose to single parent.  And I wonder how that little baby is...

I'm thinking of all you foster moms...

And single moms...

And moms who have angel babies waiting for you in Heaven...

And all you who desperately want to be moms, but aren't yet...

And all you moms who love your children who struggle...

Mother's Day used to be hard for me.  Not just because I didn't have kids...but because I didn't know if I would ever have kids. 

Seven Eight years ago for Mother's Day, Eric and I told our parents that we had started paperwork to become approved for adoption.  Six Seven years ago, I celebrated my first Mother's Day as a mom.

I.   AM.   SO.   BLESSED. 

If Mother's Day is hard for you...I'm sending a hug...and thinking of you. 

Teacher Appreciation Gifts

Teacher Appreciation Week totally snuck up on me this year.  Last year I relied on the blogging world to remind me it was coming up, but I haven't been keeping up on reading blogs much lately.  I'm not sure what I'll do this year...probably have Katie write her teachers a note of her own and help her bake some cookies or a loaf of bread to deliver along with it.

I thought I'd link to some of my favorite teacher gifts from last year.  You can see all my teacher gift ideas here (scroll down to get past the Christmas ones).

I think the all-time BEST teacher gift is a heart felt letter.  You can see my tips for one here.

My daughter's teachers also loved the signed mat art we made last year.  You could put anything inside from a class picture to a nice quote or student artwork as well.  I arranged with the computer teacher to go in during computers and have all the students in the class sign the mat.

I recently did a guest post for Or So She Says on the topic of teacher gifts...and was so busy with the move that I forgot to post about it here.  If you'd like to see that post you can go here.

Smiles and Visitors

We just got the internet up and running a couple days ago after being without it for over a week.  It's nice to have it back...and it was also nice to have a break from it.

We've still got quite a few boxes around the house and are still in the process of getting shelves built in all the closets and nooks...but we've made more progress than I thought we would have by now.  I'm hoping to have pictures taken soon, but for now you'll have to be happy with this little guy.
My craft area is mostly set up, and I'm starting to get an itch to sew something again. 

Anson is hanging out next to me while I'm writing this and starting smiling, so I grabbed the camera.

We also had our first house guests...Josiah (Seth's birthdad) and his family came for a visit.  It was great to see them since it had been a long time.  Seth LOVED playing with his half-brother...wrestling, playing in the dirt...you know boy stuff.  And we have plenty of dirt in our yard to play with.

Anyway, I'm hoping to be posting more often soon...about the house as well as all the projects I did before Anson was born.

Love and Lollipops: Favorite Blogs Tour

This is the last (but definitely not least) of the blogs from our Favorite Bloggers Tour.  I've used several of Georgia's projects as inspiration for things I've made for my kids.  You're going to love her!

Hi there Helping Little Hands readers - It's really great to be here guest blogging today.

I thought I would share some of my favourite posts of the past two years of blogging with you. (I can't believe it's been two years!)

 

I don't sew (really), but after being so inspired by ideas I saw around the net, I gave some small felt toys a try. I made this very hungry caterpillar

to go with the book as a Christmas gift for one of my nephews.

This colour car mat was part of a Colour Fun series I did and it thrilled me to hear friends say that they had recreated it for their little ones.

Squeezy pictures are one of my older son's favourite art activities and are great for strengthening those finger muscles too. I took his squeezy art creations and turned them into these pretty cards.

Our pot scourer creations were also great fun to make.

I love how something as simple as an orange can lead to so many learning opportunity's and lots of playful fun.

A chocolate bar wrapped up like a school bus made for a fun teacher gift at the end of the school year. 

I never would have thought that this  no-sew caterpillar and butterfly  would have been so popular with my readers.  

And lastly, a skeleton made from your name...can you spot the name?

Thanks so much Polly for giving me the opportunity to share some of the fun we get up to over at Love and Lollipops. It's been great to be here :).

Busy, Busy...

I know...It seems like I've dropped off the face of the planet.  Life is good.  I probably won't get back to posting every day like I was...but I'm hoping to get back to posting a couple times a week...but not yet.  (And if you've emailed me or left a nice comment...I've been really slow at responding...sorry.)

We'd hoped to be moved into our new house the first week of April...but that didn't happen.  We DID move our FIRST few boxes of things over to the new house today though, and we'll be moving most of our stuff in this weekend.

We were too cheap to pay the building company to have nice shelving put in the closets, so Eric and I will be starting on closet shelves tomorrow.  Wish us luck...

I should have nice pictures of our finished house to show you...but I don't...so here are a few other pictures of what we've been up to...

Anson is his church outfit.  The onesie has a tie appliqued on with old T-shirt fabric.  The pants are made out of an old T-shirt too...and I'm hoping to get the pattern posted soon.

Seth reading to Rebecca...he is SOOO looking forward to kindergarten next year.

The weather is finally getting warm enough that the kids spend a lot of time outside.  Becca has learned to ride her tricycle...no small task since the pedals only work about half the time.  She also likes it when Seth gives her rides.  We got this tricycle years ago for Katie for $4 at a garage sale, and it has had some serious miles put on it over the years.  It's time to buy a new one...I just keep hoping that one will show up at a garage sale or something.  We may just have to spring for a new one soon.

All of the kids are still in love with Anson and always wanting to hold him.

Seth found his own way to keep Anson happy...pushing him around in his bed/cradle.  (By the way...we were given this for a shower gift.  It has been AWESOME.  It was the perfect height for when I was recovering from the c-section to not have to bed over too much...and not have to bend over the side of a crib.  It keeps the baby tipped up a bit to help with spit-up.)

We also get plenty of wind and tumbleweed in these parts...this was a particularly impressive one...

And a nice visit from Nana and Granddad...

And just another cute baby picture...because you just can't get enough of a cute baby...

Pen Pals and Picture Books: Favorite Blogs Tour

Pen Pals and Picture Books is a blog I only discovered in the last month or so, but they have such great ideas for kids and books, you'll want to check them out.

Hi!  We are Robyn and Whitney.  You'll usually find us jabbering about children's books (etc) over at Pen Pals and Picture Books Monday-Friday.  Today we're very happy to be Polly's guests (thank you so much for letting us be here!) and also a BIG CONGRATULATIONS to Polly and her entire family.  There's nothing more wonderful and miraculous than the arrival of a new little one into a loving family.... enjoy!

Now about PP and PB.  We are book crazy.  We collect, read, drool over, laugh at and often plan activities around our favorite children's books.  We'd LOVE to have you come stop by sometime soon and see what we're all about.  Without further ado we'd like to share a few teasers from our site...

Using the book As the Crow Flies (which is a great introductory to maps book) I collaborated with my son to create a couple of maps seen here.  Simple activity, hours of play.  -Robyn

Activities inspired by Jan Brett's The Mitten.  Here you'll find a sewing lesson for children and taking a favorite book, then turning it into a play!  So much fun!  -Robyn

Here we have a little color mixing fun ala Mouse Paint and the lovely little hands of my four year old.  Plus! This post has painting tips to make it more managable for mama! Fun, easy, I'm in! -Whitney

Things that Go?  Yes please!  In conjunction with Mo Willems beloved Pigeon (Don't let Pigeon Drive the Bus & Pigeon Loves Things That Go) we experimented with art that 'goes'.  -Robyn

These food faces were a tasty and HUGE hit at my house!  They are book inspired too, of course. And the secret ingredient? It's fun! -Whitney

This activity created a whole lotta fun at my house! (And, after we'd tried it out together, my kids played with it on their own.  They even took turns-- and it was without quarreling! Amazing, right?)  All thanks to Jan Brett and an empty box  -Whitney

There you have it, a small taste of what goes on over at our site.  We'd more than LOVE to have you come for a visit and browse a while.  Thanks again to Polly, and give that new baby an extra hug and kiss from us!

Just Lu: Favorite Blogs Tour

Hello, friends of Helping Little Hands! I am so happy to be here today to give Polly a bit of time to breathe and enjoy the newness of a new baby and a new house. :)

I am Lorene, or Lu, and I blog over at just Lu. I am married to an amazing man and mom to two adorable little things. I've been blogging since early 2010, but I'm not very good at sticking to just one topic. I blog about all of the good things in my life, from crafting to food to books and more! Since my daughter was born in August, I haven't been blogging as regularly, but I still love sharing the things that are meaningful in my life, so feel free to come over and say hello!

One of my favorite things that I've done on my blog was the Housewife MacGyver series that I hosted last year. Thanks to many, many amazing guests (including Polly!), we had a year of becoming more self-reliant in many different areas, such as financially, domestically, around the house, and spiritually and emotionally. You can get more details and see all of the posts here. On the more crafty and creative side, I dabble in a little bit of everything.... My all-time favorite project (so far, anyway ;), as well as my most popular post, is my Beach Rock Souvenir Collage.

On top of being fairly easy (despite my tendency to complicate things :), the project was inexpensive, brings back sweet memories of a favorite vacation, and is a beautiful addition to my home -- the trifecta of any craft! (If you decide to create one of your own, I suggest you just glue the string for the word(s), not follow my crazy convoluted method...:)

The Felt Game Board is another favorite and popular project, that, for better or for worse, illustrates my tendency to complicate things, but still end up with an awesome end product... It's not the quickest of projects, but it is still one of my favorite and most popular posts. Get the tutorial here for this inexpensive, double-sided portable game board, featuring tic tac toe and checkers. For the younger set (and a simpler construction), see the felt activity board tutorial. 

If you have a birthday party coming up and want some simple, non-character dominated hats, check out my Fabric Party Hat tutorial. I provide a template for a young child's hat, and the instructions for creating your own template to fit any size party-goer. A few of my other favorite DIY projects (because I am indecisive like that :) include (from left to right):

An Elephant's Welcome (cardboard sign) Quilled (curled paper) Monograms  Rock n' Roll guitar pick and stamped washer earrings  The Dahlia Top Harley Davidson T-Shirt Quilt The Daddy Diaper Pail  Paper Bag Brag Books  Pink or Blue: button jewelry set

I'd love to have you stop by! Thanks for having me, Polly -- and enjoy all of the exciting and new things in your life!