Artwork Overload

By Cori of Peace, Baby! Batiks

Kids are prolific artists, and they want every creation hung in your home gallery, whether that’s the fridge, a wall, bulletin board, or, in our house, a door. Every so often I have to take my son’s art down and sort through it – mostly to make way for new art!

Not sure what to do with the creations you take down? Here are some ideas.

Save It
I save the projects I have fond memories of making or artwork that is particularly special or marked some kind of “first”: The first time he drew something I recognized, the first time he wrote letters, the first time he drew a face, etc. I keep these in a folder that is already stuffed full – and he doesn’t start kindergarten until 2013! Time to sort through that folder, I think …

Share It
Grandparents, aunts, and uncles love kid artwork, and chances are their fridges are empty. Share your little one’s creativity by sending artwork to them.

Repurpose It
There are a ton of ways to use your child’s artwork to make other pieces of art. Here are a few of my favorites (found, of course, on Pinterest!).

• Paint Cut Paste shared a great weaving project that would work great for those abstract pieces your kids have made! 
• Another great use for abstract art and early scribbles is to cut it into shapes (or use a punch) and mount it on canvas, as seen at Squash Bottom Babies. 
• I love this idea from Prudent Baby to use your kids’ artwork, tiles, and Mod Podge to make fun trivets or coasters. Great gift idea! 
• Or, cut the artwork into squares and piece it back together as a mosaic. More frameable art! 
• I’m a scrapbooker, so a couple of years ago, I took some of my son’s finger paintings and used them as a background for a scrapbook page about his artistic efforts. 

How do you handle the artwork overload at your house?

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Gobble Gobble - quick Turkey Treat

Reposted with permission from TinyStitches

Sugar cookies (homemade* or store bought), chocolate frosting, candy corns, mini chocolate chips, and mini red M&M’s … simple, cute, and perfect for a little treat for little hands to decorate and share with the neighbors!

SUGAR COOKIES*
2 cups sugar
1 cup shortening (Crisco)
3 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
3 cups flour

Cream sugar and shortening; beat in eggs; add milk and vanilla.
Mix baking powder, soda and salt into 1 cup flour.  Add to sugar/shortening/milk mixture, mix well.  Add remaining flour and mix well (dough may be very stiff)
Chill dough thoroughly. (5 minutes in the freezer if you are in a pinch)
Roll 1/4” thick on well-floured board (or between 2 pieces of waxed paper), and cut with your favorite cookie cutters.  For practically round cookies, use a cookie scoop to dollop dough onto a cookie sheet 2-3 inches apart. Smash balls down with the bottom of a glass and reshape if necessary with fingers.
Place on a greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375°F until edges start to turn golden brown… about 8-10 minutes.  Remove promptly from baking sheet.

* * * * * 

Need some cookies with staying power?  Here are some great options that will help yield hours of imaginative play from little ones.

Plain Animal Crackers, wool felt by northwoodstoys

Sugar Cookie and Icing Bag Set by RedDirtKids

Toddler Apron with Cookies by babybysam

Felt Cookie Baking Set by lindaskraftykreations

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Displaying Kids Artwork

Were you inspired to encourage your children to create more art after reading Plume De Nikola's post Art Festival Time? A great reminder to not only allow our children creative time, but to also encourage them to try and experiment with traditional art techniques and mediums.

Lots of parents struggle with how to display all of the projects their children create at home, in the classroom, and during extra curricular activities. Displaying a child's creative efforts is important to developing their sense of self and cultivating their future creative pursuits.

Clutter and organization experts suggest providing a defined space, with limits, for displaying your child's work. If you'd like, involve them in selecting the location, but be sure to display their work prominently in your home where everyone can see it. It's also important to pick a setting with spacial limits. A defined amount of display space, encouraging them to make choices about what projects to keep and what to part with.

A simple google search proves there are tons of creative ways to display your children's artwork. Everything from large push pin or magnetic bulletin boards, to a small collection of large frames or the front or side of the refrigerator.

Having a gallery wall to display all of the children's artwork has worked well in our home. During the school year, everyone's work is displayed on the gallery wall. I'll write their name and class grade on the back and tape or pin it to the wall. When space runs out, we photograph each project, selecting just a few to save, and recycling the rest, making room for new projects.

Recently PreschoolDollDesigns, posted a simple way to display artwork, photographs, certificates, homework or other 2-D treasures your children come home with on her blog. It's a clothes line for art that you attach to the wall with nails or cup hooks. Simple, inexpensive and super chic!

Photo from PreschooDollDesign

You'll need clothes pins, ribbon, two nails or cup hooks, tape measure and wall space. The number of clothes pins and the length of ribbon will depend on the length of your wall display space. Once you've selected your wall space, determine the height of the clothes line and it's length. Place a nail or cup hook on each end. If your dedicating an entire wall space to the display of your children's art, consider stacking two or three rows of display space, spaced two feet apart.

To create the actual clothes line, thread the ribbon through the spring of the clothes pin. Repeat for the number of clothes pins you have space for. PreschoolDollDesigns recommends spacing them every 10-12 inches. The great thing about this set up is that they slid, easily accommodating small and over-sized projects. Once you have the desired number of clothes pins on your ribbon, tie a loop at one end. Hook over one of the cup hooks or nails. Stretch the ribbon to the second hook/nail and tie a second loop. The ribbon will stretch a bit over time with projects hanging on the line, so tie the ribbon straight and taught with little to not slack.

Here's a similar artwork display line in use in our home.


PreschoolDollDesign has great suggestions of where to hang your art clothes line, along with four other ways to fabulously live free on her post, 5 Ways to Fabulously Live Free. I also loved looking through her Etsy Easter Finds ... 20 things for under $20. Lots of great finds the kids will love, and so will your budget.

Visit PreschoolDollDesign on Etsy and on Facebook.

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Monday Organizing

Part of being organized is doing your best to keep things from getting lost. Binkies, toys and blankies are the last thing you want to lose while out and about with a little one. These little clips are fantastic for helping keep your child's necessities close at hand, and somewhat self-managed while being pushed in their stroller or sitting in their car seat.

Green Baby Big Stroller Nursing Clip by Ahmelie
Punk Rock KAWAII Pacifier Clip by RockerByeBaby
Blue Green Dots Pacifier Clip by brooksboutique
Makin' Mischief Pacifier/Toy Clip by boogerandtash
Owl Soothie Fabric Pacifier Clip, universal by pacifyme
Personalized Pacifier Clip by bushelandpeckbaby

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Monday Organizing

This week we're sharing two organizing DIY projects to keep small things together and at your finger tips while shopping, so you can save time and money.

FIRST:: Shopper Card Key Ring, from TinyStitches

Lots of stores now offer customer cards, shopper cards. They are free cards the store uses so they can offer you special discounts and coupons. My poor wallet didn't have enough card slots, so I implemented this tip I saw on the Martha Stewart Living TV show during her first season.


Round up the supplies::
Your non-credit card, plastic cards (reward card, library card, grocery card, preferred customer card, video rental card, etc.). Cards that are scanned (bar code) are better than those that are swiped (magnetic strip), but you can* make the swiped ones work too.
A key ring.
A single hole punch.

Double check the back of the card for the placement of the bar code and/or magnetic strip. Select a corner that is free from the bar code or magnetic strip and punch in approximately the same location in each card. *Cards with a magnetic strip that need to be fully inserted into a card reader are better off not being stored on this ring, as the placement of the punch and ring make it very difficult to get the card full inserted into card readers.

Once every card is punched, start threading them on the key ring, working carefully so the card doesn't break. Now you can drop the ring into your bag and because their are a half dozen or so on the ring, they will be easy reach for.


SECOND:: Beautified Coupon Organizer Tutorial, from RaeGun

Earlier this month, Modern Handmade Child Magazine launched a new feature, their blog. If you love the great ideas, projects and information shared in Modern Handmade Child Magazine, you're going to love the resources shared on the blog too!

For example, last week EtsyKids Team Member, RaeGun shared how to beautiful a very plain and very plastic coupon organizer. So find your oh so boring plastic coupon holder, get a piece of fabulously chic fabric, dust off your basic sewing skills and make yourself one of these cuties so you can save yourself some money in style!

Visit the Modern Handmade Child blog for the full tutorial.

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Monday Organizing

The Bag ... the carrier of all things important, and not so much. I can't tell you how many times I've dumping the entire contents of my bag to find, change for the parking meter, the baggie of crayons or a favorite board book, a ringing cell phone, wet wipes or a band-aid.

Necessity is the mother of invention, and check out these little diddees. Perfect for helping to make everything in your bag chic and easy to find!

Mini Crayon Caddy by twolittlemonkies
Red Polkadot Diaper Organizer by RowleyBaby
Candy Stripes Designer Wipes Case by elephanttales
First Aid Bag by Heartfelt3
Customized Bag Tag by swankypress
Wallet or Accessory Case by woodponddesigns

So what do you do to avoid 'the dump' and keep your most essential items instantly accessible?

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Monday Organizing

Fabric basket storage:

Fabric Storage Bin with handles by woodponddesigns
Auto/Car Trash Bin by nanabrowns
Sock Monkey Small Fabric Bin by woodponddesings
Neat 'n Tidy Playmat by Design4Generations

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Monday Organizing

A new year always brings on the strong desire to clean out, de-clutter and organize.

During the month of January, every Monday I'll offer up a few ideas from EtsyKids team members on ways to organize your life, while also making it beautiful with chic handmade items.

This week, the focus is on hair accessories. Oh my goodness, what a cluttered mess they can make! Little girls love their bows, ponies, headbands and clips, but dumped in a drawer it makes it hard to find what your looking for during the morning rush. Check out these chic organizational tools you can put to use immediately!

Hanging Natural Birdie Hair Clippie Holder by EverydayClippies

Bling Bling Turtle Hair Accessory Holder by AllThingsGirly
Clippie Tote by SweetPeaKidz
Damask Princess Jewelry & Hair Accessory Holder by SoZoeyBoutique
Custom Hand painted Children's Hair Bow Holder by TTotBoutique

Find more EtsyKids Team Member offerings like these here.

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Fall is coming and Ive got the Organizing bug again

Too bad It doesn't stick around long...hee hee! I wanted to share one of the most helpful tutorials I have ever found online. It's a tutorial for fabric folding and it's so simple but will change your life! I not only use this technique with my fabric but also with clothes and boy does it make a difference! AND once you get used to it - you can eye it and won't need the guide anymore YAY! I hope you all have a WONDERFUL Holiday Weekend! For the tutorial CLICK HERE!

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STOP!

Before I start preaching - I may as well say that I am the worst about doing for myself...so my finger is pointing at me to! ;)

I 'officially' have my very own studio! I signed the lease on Thursday and me and the boys moved me in this weekend (YAY) BUT that has reminded me how important it is to take a step back from your day to day and breathe. You MUST NOT continue on empty just to keep everyone else happy! Let's face it - if you're not happy ( I mean real happy - not the fake smile happy) and giving back to yourself then everyone will end up not happy eventually!

I was cruising through lots of parent magazines last night and found a few good tips for Happy Mommy.....Like to hear 'em - here they go:

~Take a walk outside and Breathe - we need fresh and air and we need sunlight. If you're stuck in the office and/or in the house 24/7 your body will start to fatigue.

~Play music and Dance and/or Sing

~EAT! Your body will let you know what it wants - so give it what it wants in moderation. And Water is a MUST! Be nice to your body and it will be nice to you!

~Get out of the house by yourself even if its just for a night. Get a hotel room down the street. Watch TV uninterrupted, read magazines, catch up on your stack of books - heck - even just taking a bath without the background noise of a household is nice!

~Take people up on their offers...to babysit, clean, cook, whatever - DROP the 'I must do everything myself b/c no one does it like me' act and just say please and thank you! You'll feel so good that you did and the people that are doing the favors will feel GREAT that they could help! WIN WIN!

~Even if you have to get up half an hour early - shower, brush your teeth and dress every day - it makes you feel good and gives you a fresh start to the day!

SMOOCHES! XOXO

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7 Days to an Organized you....well....

...so here I go again - organizing attempt number 10,329...tisk! I saw this one on Yahoo's home page and fell in love (as I always do) because it's just a little bit every day - -doesn't seem quite as overwhelming! I'm very excited to get started Monday! I won't type out the entire article because you can read and print it for yourself HERE ...but I will hit the high points!

MONDAY: Organize your in-box: Slip into the office an hour early for an uninterrupted cleaning session.

TUESDAY: Calm Cabinet Chaos. Roll up your sleeves and tackle your kitchen Cabinets.

WEDNESDAY: Create a hassle free hall closet. Plow through the gear crowding the closet.

THURSDAY: Lick the linen Closet. Pull out all like items and organize by shelf.

FRIDAY: Manage your meds. Sort through the prescriptions in your medicine cabinet.

SATURDAY: Draft your family. Time to include them in the organization efforts. Identify on a cleaning schedule weekly and monthly tasks for each person.

SUNDAY: Plot your pleasures. This day is all about you! Order Take out, spin your favorite tunes and resist the boob tube temptation. In a notebook, scribble wish lists...

Ok Divas - I'm outtie - we've been at the pool all day and now we're gonna watch the Wolfman and Alice and Wonderland...for the 1000th time! hee hee

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Wall Art Wednesday - week 3

Bean Stock, hand painted Growth Chart by bobsandbits
Giraffe Safari, hand painted Growth Chart by GrowinLikeAWeed
Jungle Growth Chart, Customize by LittleElephantCo

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Wall Art Wednesday - week 2

Letterpress Alphabet Print by sweetbeets
Modern Alphabet Print by gracehesterdesigns
Modern Alphabet Wall Art by MamaMayI
Alphabet wall art by Kindlynoted

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Wall Art for Little Bedrooms

At the slightest hint of Spring, the cleaning, de-cluttering, purging, rearranging, and redecorating side of me jumps into action, especially in the kids bedrooms - holy moly kids can cram a ton of stuff in their rooms, especially over the winter, [what's with that?]! Once their rooms are sparkling and orderly, the rearranging and redecorating begins! In our house, this kind of redecorating is more rearranging than redecorating, 'cause there isn’t much budget for “decorating.” So we move furniture around, add and subtract accessories from one room for another, turn sheets into curtains, and do all we can to make the room look totally fresh and different.

Art work is always something I struggle with in my kids rooms. I want something fun, creative and inspiring, but I also want it to work for my 3 year old or my 10 year old, and still work when they're 16. [I know I ask a lot for my $1]

The EtsyKids team has an amazing selection of “wall art.” Prints or original works in a variety of different themes, colors, sizes and prices. How fun to be able to add a new dimension to a child’s space with an original piece of art. Here are four to get your search started.

Alligator Gator Love by weandthebean
Random Frogs by cicifactory
Underground Homes by LittleDumplingPrints
Oh by FlutterBrush

I'll be sharing more EtsyKids wall art over the coming weeks. Look for them on Wall Art Wednesdays.

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UGH~hee hee

Those of you who follow on facebook and twitter know that Ive been trying to de-clutter my sewing space....(((twitch))) so I started last night on the top two shelves. This picture is half of my room. I have more shelves on the other side and cubbys.

So It was unbelievable how much fabric I hade that I dont even like?! Whats up with that! So Ive split it up and Im giving to several friends and hopefully they wont hoard it as I did ;)

So I found THIS AWESOME TUTORIAL on folding fabric for storage and honey boo its changed my life! I have so many different size pieces that its always been a terrible mess to keep it all stacked. But not anymore! AND I tried it on Tshirts and it works beautifully! Cant wait to hit the kids closet lol!

You can see in this picture the top two shelves I referred to earlier - The left side, my vintage fabrics, I did before the tutorial - and the right side I did after the tutorial - and please believe I will be re-doing the vintage. I hope this is helpful for lots of you - Im THRILLED! Ill be sure to post pictures after I am finished (and hopefully it will look like this!! Smooches!
(you can click the picture below to go to the tutorial)

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Challenge Yourself!

Hi Diva's! I'm SO late this weekend - its seems my life is a constant whirlwind -
me and the kiddos went to see 9 today (and it was smashing indeed).

I decided that I would chill out for a couple of weeks - I finished up a few orders that had been lingering. But the big change was I cleaned up my topsy turvey house when my brother came to visit on labor day - it had been so long since I had packed up the sweat shop that I had forgotten how cool it was to be able to walk through the house without tripping! LOL! We continued to do a 'clean sweep' before we go to bed at night and so far so good....
well...my friend Gail, who just finished up her degree a couple of days ago decide to celebrate by starting a 365 challenge - yep - you guessed it - that's a full year of creating something every single day! She has been doing school so many years and now that she has time to create - she can't wait! I was inspired by her - so, I to will be participating in the 365 challenge, BUT not the sewing you would expect - I figure if I'm going to challenge myself that I should think out of the box. I will use this challenge as a way to try all those projects that Ive found in magazines, books and online and make them - it's almost like I'm giving myself permission to be 'free'. Instead of feeling like I have to be consumed with keeping new things in my shops - I'm going to be consumed with trying new things and keeping my house in order! Then, when I get an order online - It will be refreshing instead of daunting to sit down and sew! YAY! I'm very excited and I will keep you all posted on my projects! I'm sure everyone can find new ways to challenge themselves and I'd love to hear your ideas! XO

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Better Than Sliced Bread

What is convenience worth?

There was a time when I would sacrifice my time, because it was cheaper. I didn't buy prepackaged snacks, because it was cheaper to buy it in bulk. I wouldn't buy pudding cups, because I could make it myself. Going out to eat killed me-How could I spend my grocery budget on ONE meal?

Well, times have changed!

I am the mother of four-count them-one, two, three, FOUR kids. Four. Let's kick it up a notch: three of those kids are ages five and under. My hands are full, and convenience is the new pink. I'm always looking for ways to save time. It's also a nice bonus if it helps to keep the drama at a minimum. And it's extra-extra special if it helps my little people develop some independence.

So-better than sliced bread: Kool-aid single serve packets.

I LOVE these things! I don't even look at the price when I put them in the cart. My kids all have their own water bottle with their name on it. When they need a drink, they can pick out a packet of THEIR CHOICE, and make their own kool-aid. It's so easy. They just tear off the top, pour the powder in the bottle, add water, and shake.

So easy! So convenient. Try it at your house.





originally posted by tip tops: http://tiptopsspot.blogspot.com/2009/07/better-than-sliced-bread.html

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Apologies and Funny

I wanted to apologize for not posting last week. I have been soo busy with my family and etsy lately I dont seem to get a chance to breath except when I am asleep. LOL.

Proof of that is last week my four year old decided to entertain himself but boy did I have a mess to clean up. It was hilarious and I am posting photos of him, but this is one of my down falls of working at home, I get soo engulfed in what I am working on I forget to pay attention to my child. LOL. Nothing bad has happened so that is good, but still it worries me right now especially with another one on the way.

So here is what happened my four year old decided he wanted to help me out with house work, he wanted to wash the sink out for me after I washed the dishes, I thought good he wants to help out, so I let him. When I left him to it, he was rinsing the sink out with water and a scrub brush and that was it, after a while I hear a small little chuckle coming from the kitchen and this is what I found.

He was soo proud of all the bubbles he made, now mind you that sink ful is of only bubbles, there isnt a drop of water left in there, when I undressed him there was sooo much soap in his clothing, that when I washed them to get the soap out I didnt even have to include and laundry soap, they came ready to wash. LOL.

So, as you can see my son has kept me pretty busy lately, etsy orders have kept me fairly busy also, not complaining here, just making a realization, being a work at home mom is very busy work. LOL. So all of you out there that are parents and working from home, I hope your children are as entertaining as mine and keeps you as involved as mine does his best to do. LOL.

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LIVING ORGANIZED

As I scurry around here today on this beautiful sunny Saturday - going from the computer to the sewing machine to the cutting table to the closets I'm cleaning out - you get the picture... I wonder how many other women/moms there' are running around doing similar activities?

I began reading the book 'living organized' by Sandra Felton, a couple of months ago and the book is truly eye opening. After reading it I realized that I really DON'T have to do every thing. Even small children can do simple things like take a rag and wipe the TV screen or baseboards and my boys LOVE to use those disposable toilet brush thingys and clean the toilet b/c after they get to 'pop' the heads off into the trash - so every Saturday they each get one toilet to clean.

I am, by nature a 'Messie' as opposed to a 'Cleany'. Messies tend to pile things up and deal with them later to postpone being uncomfortable in the present, where as Cleanies deal with things as they come so they are not uncomfortable later.

In the chapter on 'Making Changes' Sandra, offers a set of questions for you to ask yourself just to get your brain to thinking in a new direction, and I'd love to share those with you now - so grab a pen and pad and lets make some changes! :)

1. Describe your thoughts and feelings about the amount of work you do, especially in relation to the amount of work done by others in the family. Is it well balanced?

2. List the names of people in your household. Beside each name list one job you could transfer to them (after proper training - of course)

3. Are there any changes you can make in your life, such as establishing a car pool or dropping an activity?

4. If you hesitate to share activities with others or to simplify, what is the reason you think might contribute to that hesitation? Are you willing to question whether it is a wise reason to keep? Are you willing to abandon it?

5. If someone asks you to help them and you feel it is an imposition you should not participate in, will you be willing to say no when you would previously have said yes? Can you think of an example that might arise?

I hope this helps some of you Fab Divas :D We only have one life - and we don't need to spend 90% of it doing the grunt work - LOL! Enjoy this beautiful Day!

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