Water Bottle Vase

My daughter's ballet teacher gives each girl a rose after each recital.

She wanted the rose to have its own vase. She picked an empty water bottle.

After we put it in, I jazzed it up just a bit.

I cut off the label and used it to get the approximate size for a strip of construction paper.

I wrote Beautiful Dancer with chalk.

Taped the new label on in place of the old.

She got a kick out of it.

Mine was pretty basic, but you could glitz it out more with scrapbooking paper, embellishments, glitter, and the like.

Her next recital is the Nutcracker and my plan it to let the girl design her own beforehand.

Name Banners

Man, I am a SuCkER for crafts...

On our way out from a oh-so-productive stop at work, (Both kids and a work related to do list, who was I kidding?! The work got done, but clean up sure took forever.) CB lays eyes on the vast assortment of die cuts in the prep room as I hurriedly try to accomplish one last task.

Awe sets in, her eyes are large and full of wonder.

"I would just love to cut my *C*."

I take a deep, fighting-the-frazzled breath...I really just want to go home...I know where this headed...Crafty Towne...

"Oh! We could make a name banner!"

{Like I could deny that excitement, especially when it is targeted at such a great learning activity.}

So we cut out all the letters of both children's names along with a few embellishments.

We took them home and hit up our crafty stash.


Little did I know that this project would last them over an hour. I am not exaggerating. They were both all over it. It involved paper cutouts, crayons, glue, glitter glue, rhinestones, and a little bit of no-mess watercolor.

And a whole lot of wonder at the simple grandeur of making something pretty.

Budding Photographer

As a long time fan of digital photos, I have an even deeper appreciation for them now. The girl has discovered the thrill of picture taking.

"I am a photographer. I am going to remember this day forever."

Her early work includes (but is by no means limited to) about 8 shots of our wall and a lovely close up of her brother's nostrils.

She likes to document the cluttered tendencies of our play.

She is a fan of closeups of whatever happens to be laying around.




And some snapshots of the beloved Toy Story:



She has captured some shots I truly love...

Like this one of BBD's feet and his train:


And this one that catches the son so accurately:


And this super cool self-portrait:

Pine Cone Monsters

We needed some Halloween decoration in our home.

We had pine cones and miscellaneous craft supplies.

Now we have

Pine Cone Monsters.

The children dictated color, amount, material, and placement. I hot glued.

After playing with hers for awhile, the girl brought it back to me and informed me that it was not done. It needed legs "as big as my fingers" and a "bow tie on top of her head".

They were thrilled with the little boogers.

{It says, "EeeeOooowwwwEeeeeeRrrrrrr!"}

In the mood for more pine cone craftiness? Check out: Pretty Messy Pine Cones

Linking up to all kinds of fabulous parties...please check out all my glorious buttons on the side bar.

Making Memories AND Books

CB received a just because card in the mail from her great grandparents. She was jumping up and down with excitement. She hugged it and said solemnly, "I don't ever want to get rid of this card. I want to keep it forever. I know, we should turn it into a book!"

Great idea! So we did.

BBD got a card too (a birthday card as a matter of fact), but it turns out that the 3 year old mischief-maker should not be left alone with materials you are planning to use in a project...who would have thunk it?! ... so his book is made out of a photo print that was meant for a different project that never made it into being.


How to:
* Trim paper to slightly smaller than your cover. {If you go the photo print route, you will also need to trim a piece of card stock for the back cover.}


* Illustrate and dictate {the kiddo tells you what to write or you can write down whatever they say about the picture as they make it-this helps develop the concept that print carries a message and what you have to say is a big deal cause you rock}.


The girl wanted a page from her brother and I included in her book. She is a team player like that.


* Place completed pages inside and staple along the side.

* Enjoy your creative musings.

"That's a good book!"

Daddy was impressed because we made these beauties in that pocket of time between dinner and bath time. We are cool like that.

They are great for bedtime reading.

Linking up to all kinds of fabulous parties...please check out all my glorious buttons on the side bar.

Hello, Sunshine!

Celebration chair cover for school:



My student of the week is called "Our Sunshine".

You are looking at nothing but felt, hot glue, and a little bit of Sharpie action.

Nice and simple.

{For the cover: No measuring, just eyeballed. Trim. Fold. Glue.}


{For the accent: I traced a bowl from the home center. Cut the rays. Cut out sunglasses and glued. Drew a nose, eyebrows, and a smile.}