meet Kitty

 

Jackson was sad, so he asked me to make him a kitty, named Kitty. He liked the head, but promptly requested the body to go with it. Then he drew it for me, then he modeled it for me (hands on floor, crawling around), then he cried for it to be created immediately.

He'll wake up to a finished Kitty.

Myself, I like the whiskers. They are authentic whiskers for ceramic animals toys and novelties. They may be cut to proper length.

jackson's valentine's, 2013

Kindergarten. He doesn't know yet that there are Angry Bird, Star Wars, Transformer, Hot Wheels brand cards. We did the same thing as last year, the flags on the pencils, despite my crazy Pinterest-fueled dreams of crafting handmade, clever, cute things to hand out.

Jackson sat at the table and wrote out all 25 names, decorated them, then wrote his name 25 times on the backs. Cade got into it too, making cards for his three teachers Vanesa, Carolina and Jennifer.

Happy Valentine's Day!
xoxoxoxoxoxox!

paper calla lilies

Pretty happy with the way my latest project for Oh Happy Day turned out - go and see it here!

easter's on it's way

We're busy getting ready for Easter......



I want to make these awesome easy carrot garlands, that Abbey made on Aesthetic Outburst. Since Jackson's really good at cutting strips of paper, I think we can manage this.

I want to make some modern looking easter eggs tomorrow.

  

We've got a bowlful of bunnies for cupcake toppers.

And I just want to sit and stare at the bunnies in this picture. (Found via Sparrow and Spark).

And wish I had the time to hand-paint an egg like this one.

Happy Easter! 

feathers too good to pass up at the local craft store

yarn-covered letters

I just saw this project on BloesemKids and can't wait to do it with Jackson. Maybe Cade. Maybe not. Maybe not even Jackson yet now that I think about it. File under future project.

a far cry.....

It's a far cry from Abigail's awesome gingerbread extravaganza (!), but we did our own little gingerbread village....

 

~ and Jackson and Mimi, 2009:

plastic straw himmeli

Inspired by the top photo, and this blog post on Time of the Aquarius, Jackson and I set out to make our very own himmeli, a Finnish Christmas tradition. (In the old days, himmeli was hung above the dinner table to ensure that the coming rye crop would be plentiful. There are many different shapes and sizes of himmeli: the bigger the size, the larger the rye crop would be).

It was just easier to tell Jackson we were making a spaceship. 

99c straws from the dollar store + string + one hour = florescent yellow green and orange spaceship hanging over the table. 

  

bird silhouette collage

Ahh. I love that bird silhouette collage on craft paper. I want to go make one with Jackson right now. (Don't worry, I won't let him use the exact-o).

(from 16 House blog).

vintage dandelion fabric

Sooo tempted to get this vintage dandelion fabric. I don't even know what for - maybe that little white chair in Cade's room, or maybe just a little foot stool.  Don't you love it?

paper lion garland

I like these paper lion garlands. I see a project here.

tie-dye tissue paper

Yesterday we made tie-dyed tissue paper with these instructions. I wish I had a picture of Jackson's face when we unfolded the paper. He was pretty pleased.

pillows

CB2 sells these pillows. I can't wait to make our own once I get me some fabric paint.

DIY crayons

Jackson and I made homemade crayons for the favors for his birthday party. He helped me sort out all the little broken pieces, peel the paper of them, put them in the silicon ice cube trays, then I melted them in the toaster oven for about 20 minutes at 200°.

(Unfortunately I hadn't seen this blog in time).

future projects

Put this on the To-do list.

cityscape stamp set

Last weekend, Jackson wanted to do stamps. I'm loathe to share mine with him. Call me selfish. Maybe I should get him these. I think we could make some great cities.

Or good, old train stamps. I'm pretty sure that would be a big hit. 

just lovely

Abigail went and did it again, knitting this beautiful, soft little gray blanket for Cade. Remember this beautiful blanket?? I had mentioned to her that Jackson had recently started sleeping with it, and calling it his own, so she knit Cade this beautiful replacement. Cade loves it. Here he is modeling it:

Thank you, Auntie! It is a treasure we will cherish!

snake kit

This is pretty cool. Of course, their snake doesn't have four eyes like the one Jackson and I made together, but still. I like that you paint it yourself before you sew it.

From Banquet Atelier & Workshop. Seen on Creature Comforts.

a project two years in the making

Every month, we took a picture of Jackson and Cade, lying on their back, in their diaper, in their crib. I printed out the date on a small piece of paper and put it in the crib with them.

I had made a small book documenting Jackson's growth with 3"x 5" photos. I also just made one with Cade's.

I had some wallet size photos printed and finally framed them, in chronological order. It is so cool to compare Jackson and Cade each month, and to see how much they changed from newborn to infant.

My favorite picture is Cade's last one. He refused to lie down. And he is holding the date sign in his mouth.

It's perfect.

PS. I am missing one of Jackson's monthly photos because it got left on the computer at MSLO when I left. Such a bummer.

we sewed together

The sock snake we made the other day. He has four eyes and his name is Szo-szo.