Cross Stitching - Star Wars Ships

My son is only 3 1/2 but LOVES Star Wars.  We were changing his room theme and I wanted to find a pattern related to Star Wars.  He loves the different ships and I found these awesome tiny spaceship patterns on Etsy.  I chose three out of the six patterns to make - the Millennium Falcon, Tie Fighter and Rebel X-Wing (I didn't like the idea of ships with the word "slave" or "death" on his wall).  

Each one was easy and quick to cross stitch because they are small.  I like how they used similar colors.  The ships looked great next to each other and I didn't need to buy a lot of different colors. The wording wasn't too hard, I had to rework some letters but I think it came out very legible.  I found the great film strip inspired frame at Michael's.  Just like with my daughter's Snow White cross stitch, I was excited to put the finished projects in the frame, so I need to go back and stretch the aida fabric more but it looks great in my son's room!

Cross Stitching - Snow White

Last year on Black Friday, I went to Barnes & Noble and bought the Disney Classic Cross Stitch Kit. I put it away and forgot about it.  Then this summer we decided to update the room themes for our kids.  My daughter chose Disney Princesses so I let her pick which pattern I would make, Sleeping Beauty's castle or Snow White.  Fortunately for me she chose Snow White because the castle was advanced and I hadn't cross stitched in 30 years!  

To relearn how to cross stitch, I watched a couple YouTube videos then I was on my way!  The pattern was easy to follow but I didn't realize how big Snow White would be, which is fine, but it took my 3/4 of the summer to complete!  At least the finished project was worth it.  I found the sparkling red frame from Hobby Lobby.  I was so excited to be done, I put the project in the frame right away but I need to go back and stretch the aida fabric more.  Overall the project was a great addition to my daughter's bedroom. 

Crocheting - Amigurumi Skunk

Last Spring, I finally got around to make an amigurumi for my son.  I already made my daughter a fox from the Woodland Crochet book and my son wanted the skunk.

This pattern worked well.  As usual, the hard part is sewing the pieces together but it seemed easier than the fox because the pieces were a little bigger.  My son loved the finished result!

Crocheting - Black Cat Hat

After a hiatus, namely summer vacation and the start of school again, I am back with projects I or my family have completed.  First new post is timely for Halloween.  A long time ago I printed out this Black Cat Hat crochet pattern from the Repeat Crafter Me Blog.  One of my oldest friends is giving birth this month and along with a Crochet Bear Lovey, I wanted to make her baby a hat.  She has a cat and with Halloween coming up, I thought this would be perfect.  

I used the pattern for a baby 0-3 months old. The pattern itself was easy to follow except for the eye, I wasn't sure if I had to put multiple stitches in one stitch or if she meant to do the sequence of stitches (turned out to be a sequence).  Other than that, I didn't get tripped up at all.  The hardest part is sewing all the pieces together.  I reworked the whiskers multiple times too because they never seemed long enough.  Overall I am pleased with the finished result!

My Daughter the Art Teacher - Using Scraps, Stickers, Paper, Glue Sticks, Colored Tape and Crayons

My daughter wanted to teach me how to do an art project the other day.  We sat down at the craft table together and I followed her directions. First we started with a piece of construction paper and scraps from scrapbook paper.  She showed me how to cut, then paste, the scraps onto the paper in a specific way.  Next we choose Disney Princess stickers from leftover sheets and she showed me where to stick them on the scrapbook paper. Then she took a long piece of green tape to place across the bottom of the picture and I did the same.  We also each chose two pieces of paper from the Disney Princess mini notepads left over from a party and again my daughter showed me how to paste them onto our works of art. Finally we each drew little pictures with crayons, happy faces and butterflies.  While she took her bath I showed her little brother how to make the same pictures and helped him create one.  Our finished works are below.  Overall having my daughter teach me how to do a project instead of creating one for her to do worked out great.  She used creativity, motor skills, verbal skills and we used materials already at our disposal.  Excellent activity!

The Finished Works

My Daughter's Work of Art

My Work of Art

My Son's Work of Art

My Little Pony Pop plus Play-Doh Creations

My daughter combined two of her favorite toys the other day - My Little Pony and Play-Doh.  She has various My Little Pony Pop figurines you snap together and can customize.  She took the ones she has and decided to make manes and tails for them out of play-doh.  Very creative and cute!

Multi-Materials Craft - Use Scraps from Previous Projects!

I've saved pieces from different craft projects we have worked on together.  One day, my daughter got out a bunch of them and started creating a picture.  This is such an easy project and great way to use up scraps.  Just give your child a variety of materials such as tissue paper, poms, buttons, crayons, paper etc. and glue or tape and voila! The possibilities are endless!  

Creatology Easter Foam Flower Pots with Bunnies

Another Easter craft we completed were these cute customizable foam flower pots.  I helped my daughter create the foam pot part, then she chose what to put together and place them in the pots (with my help).  We gave a few to our neighbors who hosted an Easter egg hunt in their backyard! 

Creatology Easter Foam Structure - Egg Shaped House

For Christmas we had great success building a couple Creatology foam structures for decoration.  We tried this Easter egg shaped house and we were less successful!  The house itself had trouble staying in the slots.  My daughter did have a lot of fun decorating it though!

Tissue Paper Plastic Easter Eggs Craft

Having attended an Easter egg hunt this year already, we had plenty plastic Easter eggs to play with around the house.  My daughter came up with an idea to decorate some with paper.  We had tissue paper left over from a craft box so I suggested that instead.  My daughter used a combination of glue sticks, colored tape and sticks to stick the different squares of tissue paper on the eggs.  It turned out to a be a fun, cute activity.  We still have a lot of plastic eggs left over to play with but now we have some colorful decorative ones as well!

Creatology - Bunny & Chick Easter Craft

Easter will soon be upon us, so this past weekend it was time for Easter crafts!  I bought a few Creatology craft kits last year for this year and while the other two crafts are currently a work in progress, my daughter and son made these adorable bunnies and chicks.  Now that my son is three, he can work on these types of crafts more often with my daughter and me. I liked this kit except the pieces we had to glue on.  I much prefer kits with pieces that are all stickers.  For the chicks, my son helped stick on the eyes and beak.  I put the glue on the wings and feet and with help, he placed them on his chicks.  For the bunnies, my daughter stuck on the eyes, nose, pink part of the feet, pink parts of the ears and drew smiles.  I helped stick on the toes (so tiny) and glue the feet on. The pomps for the tummies are very cute but aren't big enough to stay in the holes, so I used scotch tape on the back to keep them in place.  We sent one of each animal to the grandparents and a couple family friends for Easter.

Valentine's Day Heart Card Kit

My daughter has been very into coloring, so we haven't worked on many craft activities lately.  Valentine's Day is the exception.  Last year she did a wonderful job making valentines very similar to the ones below for each member of her preschool class and family.  We decided to do the same type of project.  Like last year, we used a Target brand kit: Spritz Valentine's Day Heart Card Kit.  My daughter loves having a choice of stickers for each card.  I would spell out the name of the student or teacher or family member, she would place the stickers on the card, then decorate the rest of it.  They came out great, especially giving her even more choice with which color heart and frame to use.  The only downside of this kit is the heart falls out of the frame fairly easily unless you have stickers on both.  I decided to place each valentine into a sandwich size plastic bag to keep it together along with a Hershey kiss (we were the only ones to give out valentines without candy so I rectified that this year). I printed out labels with my daughter's name to save time and so everyone knows the cards are from her.  Overall, they look very cute, it was fun to work on them together, and they will stand apart from the usual store bought themed cards. 

My son made cards as well.  Same Target brand. He is only 2, so we used the cards where you just add the stickers (no heart part to worry about).  I spelled out everyone's names, he placed each name on a card then added two stickers.  He didn't have interest in more stickers than that!  I taped on lollypops and added labels with my son's name.  They are very cute!

My daughter's Valentine's

  

My son's Valentine's

Crocheting - Pink/White Stripe Piglet Baby Hat

I did recently crocheted a new animal hat for a friend's new granddaughter.  I used my favorite pattern from the Tiger Hat Pattern by the Repeat Crafter Me blogger for the main part of the hat.  Then I used her Black Cat Pattern for the ears.  I had originally planned on making a kitten hat but it turned into a piglet hat due to the colors I used and placement of the ears.  For the twisting ends of the hat, I used my awesome friend's crocheting website and striped hat pattern at Classy Crochet as a model.  I tied the bows myself just as a cute finished touch!