Little is Good Project: Easter

I love the holidays. I love traditions. I even like the Easter Bunny. But what I love about any holiday is the excuse to give someone a gift. I love to shop for other people. Myself, not so much. I love giving presents...it's a natural high for me. (Not so much of a high for my budget though). This year, one of my goals is to scale back...not just to save money, but also to teach my kids that little is good. It'll help them appreciate the smaller things in life, right?!? :). With that being said, I decided instead of giving the guaranteed chocolate bunny and cheapie toys in their baskets, that I would make them each a little something special. I told them that I put in a request to the Easter Bunny. He is to only bring candy this year. They are not sure what to think about that one. Hopefully tomorrow will be a good one.

This is what I made for the kids:

Aleana will be getting a framed jewelry holder, red - a smaller version of the one I made for the pinterest party.

I made Trent an angry birds ball. I got the pattern from here. There's a pattern for all of the angry birds - and I plan to make him more as he earns them (chore chart). I hope this will inspire him to work more efficiently.

I made Hannah and Luke a "Wee Mouse Tin House". I got the idea from here. It is the cutest little thing. But, I wasn't too in love with the mouse. Then I saw that she was charging $8 for the pattern - which is a little much for something, well...so little. So (sew) I took matters into my own hands...which is where this comes in:

Printable fabric...like the kind that you can stick in your printer and print images on, and it permanently stays on the fabric. Genius!!! Clip art here I come!

I did have to buy the Altoids tins though. I am not a fan of the curiously strong mint. My dog likes it though. I actually don't mind petting him now either :)

Then I modge podged the tops:

Made the bedding and pillows out of felt and fleece. I added a little stuffing in the pillows for fluff.

For Luke, I picked out a familiar mouse, Jerry.

And for Hannah, Hello Kitty says it all :)

A little something for the kids on Easter...and I had a blast making all of it, with them in mind. So, I still get my high :)

Pinterest Party

During conference weekend, I try to have a girls-night-in (since we have to drag along our kids) when the men go to their priesthood session. This year, I decided to get my craft on...and invite some friends to do the same. Basically, I invited a few friends (there were five of us total). We each had to pick something from pinterest and make it five times. Then we all exchanged our craft goods, visited and grubbed on some pinterest inspired goodies. It was fun, so much in fact, that I feel a tradition in the making :)

For my pinterest pick, I decided to make an earring holder, inspired by this:

Found here: http://blog.bitsofeverything.com/2012/03/framed-jewelry-holder.html

The measurements that she used were for a frame size 12x24. That's a little big for me...so I tweaked her idea and added some of my own. I liked this (below pic) radiator grate better (I did find it at Lowe's - although I asked three men, and they said they didn't carry anything like it in the store. Finally an employee that just transferred to the store overheard me asking the third time - and she, yes a woman, knew exactly where to find it - go figure). The grate is a decent size, and will make 8 frames (8x10 size) and it was priced at about $25. I also added fabric flowers (great way to use those scraps). While the grate holds hook-type earrings well, it isn't really designed for post-back earrings. The fabric flowers are purposed to hold the post-back earrings. I got the frames at DI for about $0.75 a piece and painted them with left-over paint I had from other projects. Total cost is about $5 per finished framed jewelry holder.

The red one is mine. I love anything red and turquoise...

And here's what I got in exchange...

I love it all! And I am already planning on what I want to make for the next time :)

General Conference...

So we play general conference bingo every year to help keep the kids calm and attentive. We eat good food and listen to good words. I just have to say, that I am proud of Aleana. This year, I didn't have time to get everything gathered and ready for conference. Aleana took it upon herself to make sure everything was all set. She printed up the bingo cards and even made paper boxes to hold the bingo candy. Then, during conference, she helped Luke and Hannah. She did all of this without me asking. I really appreciate all of her help and her kind sweet spirit. What a great kid!

Swimmin' with the Fish

March was my month to do the preschool field trip. I decided it was a good excuse to go to the new aquarium in Boise. I wasn't sure what to expect, as the aquarium is located in an old strip mall, right next to a bail/bonds place. But my neighbor did a lot of volunteer work painting the beautiful murals on the walls - and she told me it was worth the drive and money. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. There were so many hands on things for the kids to do. They got to feed fish and rays. They also got to pet the rays, baby sharks, clams, and I-couldn't-tell-you-the-names-of-if-I-tried fish. I think we could have stayed for hours longer, if it were up to the kids. I plan on taking the family back in the next few months.

Loved how the baby sea horses curled around the dad.

The rays ate right out of your hand...so cool.

baby sharks

Hannah finally got to pet a ray

That's a clam...a big one.

Beth and her kidlets

Hannah loved the clams

Natalie and Elias

Starfish, amazingly, feel almost the same when they are alive as when they are dead.

There were also birds to feed. The kids loved it. But I for one, thought those birds were mean little suckers. They were fighting and pecking each other just to get some sugar water. Mean, I tell ya, mean.

It's all fun and games until someone falls in. Poor Elias - guess he really did want to swim with the fishies :)

Cuddle Fish - my favorite of the whole aquarium

After the field trip, we needed to make a quick stop at the mall to get Elias some dry clothes. Hannah and Jesse were done shopping. :)