Child's Apron from Dress Shirt

I've started trying to wear an apron in the kitchen when I cook (though I often forget to put it on).  I think it would be nice for Ben to have an apron too - so he can feel included in meal-preparation and learn to keep his clothes clean.  Here's a cute idea on how to sew an apron from a dress shirt.

East Bay Vivarium

http://www.510families.com/content/good-free-fun-east-bay-vivarium

East Bay Vivarium

1827 5th Street

Berkeley, CA 

 

http://www.eastbayvivarium.com/

Kennedy Park

http://www.510families.com/content/kennedy-park-carousel-petting-zoo-and-train-ride

Kennedy Park

19501 Hesperian Blvd

Hayward, CA 

Heart Crayons

My friend Marnie's blog, http://carrotsareorange.com/, has a million and one great suggestions for fun projects.  I'm going to steal a few here that I want to do for Ben soon, or down the road.  This is an idea for the upcoming Valentine's Day holiday:  Heart Crayons.  While Ben is somewhat obsessed with pens (which at this point I try to keep away from him), we haven't done much in terms of helping him to "write" or understand the concept of using an instrument to make markings on paper (and hopefully not the wall).  I think this might be a fun way to introduce it all to him.

To prepare for this project, I'll need to obtain the following:

• Crayons
• Heart mold (silicone works best)

Plan for the Playhouse

Front Panel:

Front Door:
Window:
Mail Box Template:
- Mail Box: light blue (or other color) fabric
- Flag: red fabric
- Letters for "MAIL" - color in contrast to box
- Mail box stand: brown/black fabric

Back Panel: Window with mesh & birdhouse
Owl Template

Left Side Panel:  garden
Fruit and Garden Templates









Right Side Panel: Tree with Flowers
Tree Trunk Template 
Squirrel
Flower Template

Inside:

Felt Story Boards

When I was a kid, I had a small felt story board that was just a plain green.  I then had a box of felt fairy tale characters.  There were pieces to build a castle with, as well as a king, queen, princes, and princesses.  There was a fire-breathing dragon, and other small animals.  It wasn't complicated all - the felt pieces were just outlines - no embellishments or clothing or anything fancy.  But, I spent hours with the story board. I loved making up stories about quests - and it laid the foundation for my enjoyment of the Knights of the Roundtable stories when I got older.  A recent search of felt storyboards on amazon.com turned up some really fancy storyboards.  They seem overly complex - and while I know they still leave room for imagination, I still think simpler is better.  I'm going to keep searching around the internet to see if I can find that old felt box that I had (I feel like it was made by a Scandinavian company for some reason...).  In the meantime, I'm trying to design a general board for Ben - thinking that I could then have felt categories - such as nursery rhyme characters.  But, given Ben's age, I was thinking we could start out really simple - teaching him shapes and colors.  All we need, for example, is a red square, a blue circle, and a yellow triangle (and maybe a more complex purple star or green diamond).  But first, I have to figure out how big to make my felt board...

Dinosaur World

Who doesn't love dinosaurs?  In thinking of different worlds to invent for Ben, my mom immediately thought he might enjoy one populated with Dinosaurs.  I always loved playing with those plastic dinosaur figurines.

So, it seems like we would want a prehistoric time mat (like the car mat) to use as a backdrop for play with the figurines.  I think the background may could be really simple - perhaps just a swamp water feature, a volcano/mountain, and a sky for the pteradactyls.  I also liked this felt board for examples of dinosaurs we could make for story boards if we wanted to go in that direction.

Pirates!

Lately, pirates seem to be all the rage.  In terms of imaginary play, pirates really are a treasure chest of fun.  You can find treasure maps that lead to buried treasure.  You can dress up, wave flags, have a parrot on your shoulder...so I've been thinking of a fun way to inspire Ben's interest in the Jolly Roger.  My mom and I have been imagining playmats with different themes, and I've also been thinking about felt story boards.  I haven't quite figured out which one would be the best, but I thought I'd collect some ideas here.

I love this Pirate Playhouse on etsy, but I don't think I'd want to create a house like this.  Instead, I might create a treasure map like the one here as a base - and then create felt/fabric pieces that could be attached and reattached.  Ideas for pieces include:
1. an "X" to mark the spot
2. treasure chest
3. jolly roger flag
4. pirate ships
4. parrot
5. pirates

This felt storyboard on amazon has some great examples of pirates with different costumes that could be used to populate the pirate world. 

Another possibility would be to make a big felt pirate ship as the base - and then create the other parts to attach and move around the ship...

Mail Carrier Bag and Letters

Mail Carrier Bag and Letters

Christmas Stocking!

It's hard to believe that Christmas is right around the corner - well, I know there's still Halloween and Thanksgiving first, but still, I need to start thinking about it!  And, most importantly, Ben needs a Stocking.  For our first Christmas together back in 2000, Jake and I exchanged stockings that we'd made for each other - it's still crazy to me that he made me a stocking - ah, the early days of love...Growing up I had a felt stocking with an angel on it that my mom made for me (I think she made it).  I loved that stocking, and the image of the angel stayed with me, creating a love in me for little angel ornaments and other cute felt creatures that reminded me of the stocking.  I'd like to create something easy and fun for Ben that he can use for years and will give him wonderful memories of waking up on Christmas morning, running downstairs, and seeing his stocking full of candy, fruit, and trinkets. 

I Spy Bottle

I Spy Bottles - I think these home-made bottles are so cute and fun!  I experimented over the weekend making one for Ben.  I used rice and black/orange Halloween sprinkles.  I put in plastic spiders and some little plastic pumpkins I had lying around from past years.  Right now Ben is too young to truly enjoy the fun of discovering all the treasures inside the bottle, but he does like the sound the rice makes when he rattles it around.  I'm going to start collecting little things to make more holiday I Spy bottles and get more creative with coloring the rice and using beans and other filler that will be pleasing to both the eyes and ears.  When he's a little older and more sophisticated, I think it would be fun to take photos of the objects in the bottles so he can then be on the look-out for the objects he's supposed to be spying.  Happy Hunting :)

Eco-friendly Nursing Pad

I stumbled on this free tutorial and thought about the nursing pads that Anne purchased while nursing Ben. I wondered if, in fact, this might be a sewing project should another baby arrive.

http://sosewsomething.com/2011/05/20/washable-eco-friendly-nursing-pads-a-free-tutorial/

Country Books

I have a lot of old travel guides lying around - many from trips that Jake and I have taken together, and some from trips that I wish we could have taken!  Used bookstores won't buy the guides because they're outdated, so I've thought about just donating them to Goodwill, but there's the same problem - do people want outdated guides?  So, the other day it dawned on me...I could break the guides up and make little books about various countries.  Down the road when Ben is ready to learn about geography, we could have little lessons on various countries - he could look at the maps and color photos, we could cook food from the country (or get take-out depending on the degree of difficulty)...he could learn about traditional clothing from each place, customs and holidays, and maybe some phrases in new languages.  I figure this project is going to take me awhile, so the first thing to do is figure out what these books are going to look like, and how I'll bind them together.

I'm going to start with the first guide I pulled from my stack:  Puerto Rico.  It will be my test country.

My next step is to search around the internet for book ideas.  I want to be able to include pages for him to write on - maybe questions that he can use the internet or other books to answer.  Maybe a place for him to include his own questions and thoughts about a specific country.  I could just include blank pages, or the book could have rings that open and close for the addition of new pages (like a small binder).  Do I laminate the pages?  Lots to think about here...so I better get started.

Stencils!

I like stencils, but have never really worked much with them...I was thinking I'd like to put some on Ben's clothes...or decorate cloth that he could play with...I'll have to think of something, but in the meantime, I've been looking at this site:  Free Stencils - here are a couple of my favorites:

Car Mat

My mom and I have been designing a car mat for Ben.  I want roads (of course), as well as a water area for his animals and green spaces for houses and trees.  My mom found a number of examples on-line, but this one was truly outstanding.  It's modeled after the town of Santa Barbara - I particularly love the Old Mission-style Courthouse (I've been there in person and it's beautiful).  My mom likes the parking spaces for the matchbox cars in front of the buildings.  The detail is amazing...some people are truly creative - and I have no problem piggy-backing on those efforts.  Here are more pictures of the mat up-close: Car Mat.  I'm looking forward to designing a similar one for Ben and playing with him and his cars for hours.

Playhouse

Like most kids, when I was young, I enjoyed playingunder tables and building forts.  I always wished I had a playhouse out back, a treehouse, or some other special place that I could make my own away from the adults.  I think Ben would also enjoy such a place.  My mom and I found this amazing example of a felt playhouse: Felt Playhouse.  I love the detail.  We were thinking we could drape it over a card table - and then also make the top something that Ben could play with when he wasn't inside the house (under the table).  We'll have to check out the measurements and see what works - but in addition to the creative ideas on this house, I think we could make some pretty cool walls and decorations on each side of the "building."  I'm looking forward to designing this one - and watching my mom implement it!!  Perhaps I could even take on a small sewing project of my own to help out - making the flowers could be fun.

Weekly Recipe Organizer

I'm trying to think of a good way to organize my meal plans for the week.  I like looking ahead for the week and knowing what I'll be eating.  Plus, it also helps me get organized for grocery shopping trips over the weekend.  We have hooks on the side of our refrigerator.  I intended them to be used to hang aprons (and I hung my apron there this morning).  But, this recipe organizer looks like it could be hung from the other hook: Hanging Weekly Recipe Organizer

Sewing Project: Montessori Placemats

Right now Ben sits in his highchair at the table for most meals.  He seems to understand that it is a place for eating and generally does pretty well.  I know it'll be awhile before he's at a booster seat and actually AT the table with a placemat, but when that time comes, I think he'll be ready to help learn how to set the table - and I think placemats like these would come in handy - teach him where the plates and forks and cups go, and give him a sense of responsibility at mealtime. 

Homemade Baby Food

With a food mill and a food processor, making baby food at home has been really fun.  Frankly, it's also been a good way to get rid of some of those vegetables in my refrigerator that I can't eat on my own or figure out a good meal to make with.  But, I do need some inspiration - or a reminder of what new foods I should be introducing to Ben.  So, I wanted to keep track of a few websites.

Wholesome Baby Food
Homemade Baby Food Recipes

Vintage Bibs

I found a pattern for "vintage bib" on the allfreesewing.com site ..... it looks easy...famous last words.

Update (8/25/11):  The bibs have been sewn!  Photos coming soon - both with vintage ties and velcro closures.  My mom did an amazing job.  They are super-absorbent and Ben loves them!