Our Weekend Trip

We went to the lake last Sunday and it's been the most unplanned and spontaneous trip that I've ever had, but you know what sometimes unplanned and spontaneous is good. It's a little bit unusual for me to say, because a person who is always on time, never skips or forgets an appointment and unplanned trip don't go together, right? WRONG!

I've had an amazing time. The weather was nice,

the lake was cool,

the chipmunks were everywhere,

we saw a very interesting bird ( I need to do my research on what it's called)

and we left with 2 baskets full of delicious wild mushrooms.

What can be better? I started to think that may be some of our stress and problems in life are in our desire to plan and schedule everything and then follow that precisely....

Well, in my organizer from now on there is one phrase written across: Hurray to unplanned!

Lacing Your Way into 3D

My last post on shoe lacing made me think of more ideas on where else this technique could be used besides shoes ....

Here is an idea: recycling old children books.

I think we all know these series.

Well, let's do hole punching and lacing again but a little bit more this time.

Where will it take us?

I think this new storage container will find a good use around the house.

What will be your lacing creation?

Have fun!

Sincerely,

Shoe Lacing - or The Most Simple Toy

We are learning some shoe lacing technique with my 3 year old. May be she is too young to master that skill and besides, all her shoes are having Velcro strips, but nevertheless!

I my mind I've had a design on how the shoe lacing toy should look like with different colors, magazine cut outs and etc. but it never materialized. I guess some things are meant to be simple.

I've started with simple cardboard piece with the size comfortable enough to hold in little hands.

Using simple hole puncher - I've made two rows of holes.

Then I run a long shoe string through to try on and then my daughter took over.

This is her first attempt to do lacing on her own.

It is amazing but this simple toy kept her concentrated for 40 minutes. She was doing it over and over.

By the way, I went on line to look similar toys that are teaching lacing technique and they are all around $14.00. Well, we definitely score - no money spend(again)!

Sincerely,

Pierrot - My New Spoon Doll

Please, meet my favorite character! He is a "romantic with the temperament of the tormented artist, a stoic who hid his pain from others except for perhaps a single teardrop..." (Gwen Bruno)

Pierrot (pronounce /pjεro/ ) character in French pantomime

His face painted white

His baggy white clothes are hand-me-downs and too big for him, sometimes even with sleeves too long for his hands to be visible.

Loose tunic with big buttons has pocket to keep a variety of small objects, usually only of sentimental value.

May be a scroll with romantic poem to Columbine?

Or, by the way, that's how Pierrot looked before:)

Sincerely,

Note: If you like to read more about this character, please follow this link

New Craft Tray from an Old Drawer Box

A little while ago, I've had a post about Blog Party called "Where Bloggers Create", I was drooling over some studios and crafty places, but since I am not as lucky and I don't have my personal room dedicated to crafts (at least not right now), I've decided to start small: a Craft Tray, for example:) I used to do my projects in so many different places in the house and it is always a big deal to clean up when project is not completely finished yet. Not any more, now I can put my project away at any time and start right away, when time allows.

Well, here is my little opening story. I am a Kitchen Designer, and in the beginning of my career, many years ago, I've ordered a wrong cabinet as a Sink Base, it came with the drawer :). Well, that problem was fixed very easy, but that drawer was sitting in my garage ever since. I treasure it as a memory of my first learning experience, but now I am going to put that monument to a better use.

This is a 5 minute project.

Drill holes for the handles (rope, in my case).

I wanted my handles to look rustic, to add some personality to a very Blah drawer box, and I have used a very rough rope

Feed the rope through the holes and

tie the knots. Secure them with hot glue (if needed).

That is it!

Not for me though. This craft tray is my practicing arena for a Set of Hot Marks that I've got as a gift last Christmas.

Here is my experiment with hot marks - letters. I decided to try out my favorite phrase by Theodore Roosevelt,

slightly modernized:) - my tribute to texting era, I hope Mr. Roosevelt will excuse some of my abbreviations.

Here it is my personal little island for my Crafty Adventures, but some day I still hope to have my own Craft Room. We have to dream big, right?

Sincerely,

A chance for my Cinderella

Recently I've learned that all those cute dress-up shoes are made only for the girls with narrow feet. What do you do when your feet are not narrow? Do you tell your child that those dress-ups are just silly? Do you teach her to play Dinosaurs and stay away from Princess pretend play? Do you tell her that Princess doesn't need any shoes? or... do you give her a chance? I am a Pro-Chance kind of person.

These shoes came as a Birthday Gift in a set along with Crown, Magic Wand, Beautiful Necklace, set of three rings and a purse. Out of all the pieces in the box, my daughter grabbed her shoes first (she never had a pair of "real" Princess shoes before) just to discover that they don't fit. Can you imagine her disappointment? After discovering that stores couldn't offer me anything different, I've decided to take a closer look and see what could be done.

See the screws on the bottom, what are they for?

Now, I have an idea!

Old Headbands + Narrow Shoes = Recipe for Success

Unscrew 3 out of five screw to open up a bottom (like you see above)

Feed the headband through the bottom opening (making sure you are not blocking the holes for the screws) across twist the headband and feed through the top opening. You are creating - 8 type shape.

Put the crews back. Secure the twist point in the middle with matching color thread

Apply the same embellishments using hot glue and voila- Cinderella is ready to go!

Oh, precious first heels!

They are just perfect:)))

Well, if your girls are lucky and all dress-up shoes fit them well, then for you this is probably the silliest tutorial ever, but if you are a member of our wide-feet club you may find it useful. Who knows!

Sincerely,

Something Silly - "Mary had a little Lamb"

We recently got a Karaoke Machine and the only disk that we have (that came with it) plays only kids songs (100 different songs to be exact). Our entire house filled with "Wheels on the Bus". "Twinkle twinkle little star" and now "Mary had a little Lamb". With every song, my little one gets out the toys that can illustrate the song - so... you are looking at a picture with a cute Lamb but I don't even dare to show you our floor full of buses, stars, farm animals and everything else! We are like Cirque De Sollie acrobats when crossing the room... Is it wrong to tell her tomorrow that Karaoke is not working any more? (Just kidding!)