tea + crafts

There’s a negative sign in front of the temperature today, thankfully, I have nowhere else to be.  Like most days, I am perfectly fine with that, imagine having somewhere else that I had to be. We just turned on Ratatouille and the kids are eating their respective snacks out of cups.  The baby girl likes to pour her bunnies out and then put them back in one by one, just like everything else.  She already helps clean up the toys, unlike the other child who is carelessly eating cheerios, while half of them miss his mouth and land on the floor, totally unaware. Don’t worry, they are polar opposites and everyday we see it more. 

She picked out her own outfit today, as we stood in front of her closet, she reached for the dress with blue, purple, and yellow flowers. She reached for it yesterday too, so obviously, she’s trying to tell me something.  Earlier she fell over and bumped her head, brother ran over and said, “okay baby, fall down on the floor?”  She responded, muah, with a kiss.

He learned how to play his harmonica last night and now he runs around dipping at the knees, wearing a silly grin, playing a tune that would make Bob Dylan proud.

I’m drinking tea, because my throat requested it and getting things ready for that birthday party we are planning  with fabric covered jars and paper hearts. {find my pinterest inspiration board}

The end.

Christmas bookworms

As promised, here is a fun and easy gift idea for those cute little babies in your life.  I was inspired by Jessica’s, Sew a snake post.  So, I made these little toys for my niece and nephew.  I realize, it’s not quite Christmas, but they can’t read and I’m pretty sure they don’t use computers yet, so they’ll never know.

Introducing, Christmas bookworms…

  For a fun little boy, I made this one out of scraps of fabric.  I cut the pieces to be mostly the same sizes, except for a few thinner ones, for variety.  I sewed them all together in a long strip, then folded it in half (the wrong side out), sewing it almost the entire way, but leaving it unfinished to turn right side out and stuff.  I double hand stitched the mouth to close it off. (This is important with babies, because they are tough little buggers and can destroy anything.)  I used small pieces of felt for the eyes and I’m going to add felt glasses, where you see the outline (with marker.)

For a sweet baby girl, I made this one out of a  multi-colored scarf, that I’ve had for years.  It was even easier since it was already one piece, so I just folded it in half, sewed it up most of the way, turned it right side out and stuffed it.  I also added a cute little bow..  The eyes and mouth I did the same as the one above.  I was just thinking you could also use a cute pair of knee-high socks too.   I’m pretty sure this one is longer than my two month old niece, but I think this worm is durable enough to withstand the loving of a baby.

We picked up some fun little board books to finish off the gift, because what bookworm is complete without a book?

There are tons of variations possible with this idea, so go ahead and have fun. 

{Liv

I got lost… in etsy-land.

Since I’m not researching and hunting for cribs, swings, and all those big item essentials the second time around, I get to spend time perusing fun things like toys and clothes… 

And you know that once you start looking on etsy, you’re in trouble… at least for the next hour or so.   Here are some  of sweet little toys that I found and I thought I’d share the fun with all of you.

{click the image to be directed to any of the shops.}

Etsy Omooreart

 

I just love the variety that you can find when you search for handmade unique toys, the major stores are generally stocked with toys that you might call generic and boring…  because obviously all little boy toys must be blue and little girls must have pink dolls*, right?  Wrongo, my friend.   You might pay a few more dollars for a handmade piece, but you know your getting something that was made by a person who loved what they were making rather than a machine… that is a machine.

And that’s all I have to say about that…

Another Top 10 coming later tonight.

*Most dolls are kinda creepy, no?

{Liv.